I’m looking forward to checking out Andrew Bird and Ian Schneller’s “Sonic Arboretum” at the MCA this month. More info from AV Club.

• Explaining the strategic cancellation of a television show mid-season (in this case, NBC’s Community) from a modern network’s perspective. Hint: it’s all about the money.
• John Norquist, long-time mayor of Milwaukee (and current head of an urban planning non-profit in Chicago), explains how he thinks about city transportation. Hint: it’s all about the money.

• The Michelin Guide published its second year of Chicago restaurant reviews, and only Alinea received the three-star top award. Their more budget-minded Bib Gourmand award went to 56 area restaurants, including such slouches as Frontera and Avec.
• Jeff Mangum is going on tour for first time in at least a decade. While ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ has rightfully been canonized, things were not always that way. Take a look back at Rolling Stone or Pitchfork’s modest review of the album (with vintage site design). Also worth checking out: the title track slowed to a 13-minute glacial pace.
• Wikipedia’s list of sandwiches, complete with pictures. Most are legitimate and appetizing, but it looks like a few came together very late at night.

The Midwestern United States at night with Aurora Borealis is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 29 crew member on the International Space Station. [...] Part of the International Space Station appears across the top of the image. This photograph highlights the Chicago, IL, metropolitan area as the largest cluster of lights at center, next to the dark patch of Lake Michigan. The other largest metropolitan areas include St. Louis, MO (lower right), Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN (left) and the Omaha–Council Bluffs region on the Nebraska–Iowa border (lower left).

• The Tribune on the latest in the ongoing saga to save the Uptown Theatre. The short of it: no money and no change yet, but more talk is something, right?
• A concept car from 1938: the Phantom Corsair. More info from wikipedia. I still like it, even after JV said it looks like it belonged to Batman Hitler.
• Dependable ol’ Wilco did a nice set at NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series last weekend.

Ye gods they are loud machines. A few more photos planespotting from my porch.

• New camera technology is coming that allows photographers to change the focus of a photo after the snap. The data captured by the “micro-lens array” puts a simple two-lens 3D shot to shame.
• With some old documents and a little urban archaeology Forgotten Chicago maps out the evolution of Chicago’s El system, exploring its many abandoned and demolished lines.
• Hats. All of ‘em. Thanks, Wikipedia.

• Solarized is an attempt to optimize screen display colors for high contrast regardless of situation (and using either light or dark backgrounds). The site itself uses the sixteen-color palette.
• To my disappointment, I didn’t hear about Chicago’s robot opera performance until it was too late. Even after reading a review, I’m unclear what exactly transpired, but it sounds cool—though I’m doubtful it “proved Chicago the next stage in the future of opera.”
• A wikipedia list of fictional books from television and movies. See The Royal Tenenbaums; The Simpsons; and lists from other media.

A photo of Chicago and the southern tip of Lake Michigan taken onboard the ISS (you can see it in the foreground). The photo comes from an In Focus photo collection covering the recent changing of the guard at the ISS. NASA loves documentation, and this video shows the hugs and handshakes when they opened the hatch in February on Discovery’s last trip.