CHICAGO — Here's what we're reading on this chilly-ish Tuesday.
No Parking in Yosemite? WTF!: From the Navy Pier Ferris wheel (aka a Spider Trap Nightmare) to the Kennedy Expressway, Chicagoans aren't shy about expressing their feelings on Yelp. However, reporter Ariel Cheung was shocked to see the faults people find with national parks, from complaining the desert was too hot to umbrage over the poor dirt quality at Yellowstone. Mother Jones' Tim Murphy clearly found the best way to celebrate the 99th birthday of the National Park Service.
Animal House: Reporter David Matthews is reading about Zoo Zajac, a pet store (more like warehouse) that's home to 250,000 animals. The 130,000-square-foot German store — deemed the world's largest pet shop by Guinness — is run by an overweight owner who exclusively wears shirts from The Mountain, zips around his colossal store/tourist attraction via moped, and started selling animals since he breeded hamsters in his basement as a young boy, according to Bloomberg Business. The owner, Norbert Zajac, has spent decades adding exotic animals and merchandise to his collection in a bid to attract visitors, many of whom end up not buying anything at the store. “If I just sold only animals, I would lose €250,000 a year," Zajac told Bloomberg. His store also holds the distinction of being the only pet shop in Germany that sells dogs, a controversial strategy during a time more pooch lovers prefer to adopt.
Take a Hike: If you're one of the millions of fans of Bill Bryson's travel memoir "A Walk in the Woods," the New Yorker's Robert Moor wants to know why. After all, Bryson failed in his attempt to thru-hike the entire 2,181 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Same for Cheryl Strayed of "Wild" fame, who only slogged 1,000 of the Pacific Crest Trail's 2,600 miles. "Why are the most famous accounts of hiking the world's most famous long-distance trails written by people who did not hike the whole distance?" wonders Moor, who takes pains to point out that he succeeded where Bryson did not. Moor comes across as a slightly petulant child, but anything that gets people to read "A Walk in the Woods" is fine by reporter Patty Wetli, who highly recommends the book for its description of Gatlinburg alone.
Should We Be Worried About Another Recession? Stock markets all over the world have been tanking this past week, putting the United States' benchmark S&P 500 index on track for the worst performing August in 17 years. As Slate.com details in a "Crystal-clear Explanation of Why Global Stocks Plummeted," core segments of the Chinese economy are sputtering, like consumer spending, construction and financial services. And some economists fear certain provinces and regions could be facing outright recessions. Once China’s slowdown gets big enough, it doesn’t happen in isolation—it drags the rest of the world along. Get briefed on the whole situation.
The Difference Is Maddon: Senior Editor Justin Breen loves the recent column from Laurence Holmes discussing the positive impact manager Joe Maddon has had since taking over the Cubs. Holmes credits Maddon's demeanor and having the guts to bench players like Starlin Castro as key reasons the Cubs become one of the best second-half teams in baseball this year. And Sports Illustrated is certainly buying into Maddon and the Cubs. The magazine put the North Siders on its cover this week.
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