1. THE LEANING TOWER OF NILES
Though Niles’ replica of Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa is only half the original’s size, it’s still a genuine rubbernecker. Built in1934 in front of the current Leaning Tower YMCA, this was originally designed to store water. 6300 W. Touhy Ave., Niles
2. AHLGRIM FAMILY FUNERAL SERVICES AND MINIATURE GOLF COURSE
Where else can you pay your final respects to a loved one,then play nine holes of mini-golf? Answer: Palatine. About 40 years ago,Roger Ahlgrim installed a mini-putt course(now called “Ahlgrim Acres”) in the funeral parlor’s basement, mostly for private use. Now, the public comes to play past red-eyed skulls and tongue-in-cheek coffin obstacles, but only during non-service hours.201 N. Northwest Highway
3. UNCLE FUN
This emporium of weirdness sells the discarded pop culture items of bygone eras. Need a New Kids on the Block cup or a Ricky Martin lunchbox? No problem. How about Miss Cleo Tarot Cards? Chances are Uncle Fun will be selling Jessica Simpson artifacts (i.e. her cosmetics line) in no time at all. 1338 W. Belmont, Chicago
4. THE BILLY GOAT CURSE
Baseball, already replete with superstition, has had its share of curses, but none so strange as the Curse of the Billy Goat. When the Cubs battled the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, Billy Goat Tavern owner Vasili “Billy Goat” Sianis brought his pet goat to the game. When both were ejected, Sianis supposedly put a curse on the team: Never again would the Cubs win a pennant or play a World Series at Wrigley Field (1060 W. Addison St.). Although the curse has “officially” been lifted several times since, the Cubs can’t seem to shake it.
5. DEL CLOSE’S SKULL
When comedy icon Del Close died in 1999, he donated his skull to the Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn St.), where it remains on call for performances (recently, “I Am My Own Wife” and “Pericles”). Even in death, Close gets the last laugh.
6. `SPINDLE’
Though this car kebab in Berwyn’s Cermak Plaza Shopping Center got its 15 minutes of fame from a cameo in 1989’s “Wayne’s World,” it has been confounding driversby ever since. Los Angeles artist Dustin Shuler created “Spindle” by skewering eight cars on a 40-foot-tall spike. Shuler’s “Yellow Pinto Pelt” (a “skinned” Pinto hung up on a nearby Walgreens wall) preceded “Spindle” by a year. Cermak Plaza, Berwyn (Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road)
7. TV’S `CHIC-A-GO-GO’
Hosted by a terrycloth puppet named Ratso (right), this rock ‘n’ roll kids show has featured live music from Neko Case, Sleater-Kinney, Alejandro Escovedo and Shonen Knife, among others. Think of it as “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” meets a kiddie “Soul Train.” “Chic-A-Go-Go” airs reruns on CAN-TV (public access Channel 19; 322 S. Green St.), 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays and rerunning at 3:30 p.m. Wednesdays.
8. TRIBUNE TOWER’S `STONE STUDDED’ FACADE
What other building has chunks of The Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Alamo embedded in its facade? Longtime Chicago Tribune editor and publisher Col. Robert McCormick started collecting historical stones in the 1920s, and others have continued to contribute pieces to the Tower’s facade. Today, more than 150 bits of history are embedded in the building at 435 N. Michigan Ave.
9. THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT CHICKEN COOP AND STABLE
Along the alley behind the 12100 block of S. Harvard Avenue, sits a small, 106-year-old garage-like structure that was designed in an Americanized Japanese style by Frank Lloyd Wright (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). Wright didn’t believe in attics or basements, but apparently an elegant domicile for chickens and horses was OK.
10. BEVERLY UNITARIAN CHURCH (GIVENS CASTLE)
Real estate magnate turned novelist Robert G. Givens built this castle in 1886 — some say as a gift for his wife. The design, according to the church’s Web site, was inspired by a sketch Givens made of an “ivy covered castle on the River Dee … in his ancestral Ireland.” Givens lived in the castle, off and on, until 1909. After his death, the castle changed hands a few times before converting to a house of worship in 1942. 10244 S. Longwood Dr.
*WE THINK SO. SOME THINK NOT.
Midsize cities think they have a monopoly on keeping it weird. SEE STORY ON PAGE 7.
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What’s weird in your neighborhood (city or suburb)? Send your suggestions to ctc-tempo @tribune.com. Please include your name and hometown.
