I received the following email from CharBroiled last week:

my celeb fantasy league has ended, and i destroyed them!!! woohooo!!

Led by Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, CB’s team of celebrities received the most attention from the pop culture websites in the last few weeks. I think visiting those websites is a complete waste of time. On the other hand though, quantifying, ranking, and betting on the level of attention these people receive, which is directly related to how big a trainwreck their lives are, seems like a worthwhile experience to me.

So, Char, keep up the good work!

Yesterday, as the sun was rising over Chicago, I drove up the ramp onto Lake Shore Drive from Lawrence Ave. At this early hour, I was tolerating NPR’s membership pledge drive, considering any unresolved issues from our recent lab move, and cursing the CTA bus that just cut me off, when I saw something so amazing, so wonderful, that all of my worries and complaints melted away.

I had dreamed of this day for years, and driving in Chicago for several months only intensified my longing. But I was resigned to the improbability of it. In 11 years of driving, I had never witnessed the event, and nobody I had ever spoken to had either. But yesterday, the devil’s gaze must have been distracted somehow. I won’t blame you if you don’t believe what I’m about to tell you, but I was there to see the result.

A City of Chicago police officer had pulled over a taxi cab. And he had his ticket book out. And he was screaming at the cab driver.

Oh the glory of it all! If I ever see such a beautiful scene, I will surely go blind.