For the third consecutive year, Columbia has won an award for its float entry in the Chicago Gay Pride Parade, which took place June 29 in Chicago’s Boystown neighborhood. Columbia’s ABBA-themed “Dancing Queen” float won honorable mention from judges at PRIDE Chicago, the parade’s organizer. In years past, Columbia’s float has won for the best organization float award for previous themes like “Nancy Sinatra” and “The Sound of Music.”

Columbia is a step closer to purchasing the land at 16th and State streets for the construction of the Media Production Center. The Community Development Commission voted unanimously to recommend to City Council the sale of the $3.2 million parcel of land for $200,000. The one-story Media Production Center will include two sound stages, a motion capture studio and an animation lab, among other amenities, for film, video and television majors.

The current scene on Wabash Avenue in the Loop is a bit cluttered. Green mesh lines chain link fences and sandbags lay on hammered, uneven concrete surfaces and on fence ties. Concrete barriers line the sidewalks and close off southbound traffic lanes. Construction workers sit with their lunch pails and white hard hats. Wooden boards lie on top of holes and lead into temporary entrance ways to businesses and schools. The noise of jackhammers and equipment sound loudly.

At this year’s Taste of Chicago, some menu items of more than 70 local restaurants will be a little less indulgent and little more nutritious. The Mayor’s Office of Special Events has required participating food vendors to add a more healthy option to their selection at the Taste. Cindy Gatziolis, spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, said the office has been noticing a more calorie-conscious trend in food and wanted to encourage the vendors to offer something lighter.

With so many bands and so little time, making decisions on which sets to check out at Lollapalooza, Chicago’s biggest music festival of the year, and which to miss out on can be a bit stressful. Of course, headliners like Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West are givens, but with so many promising smaller acts performing in different areas at the same times—in forecasted temperatures of above 90 degrees, nonetheless—pre-planning is absolutely necessary.

With so many bands and so little time, making decisions on which sets to check out at Lollapalooza, Chicago’s biggest music festival of the year, and which to miss out on can be a bit stressful. Of course, headliners like Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West are givens, but with so many promising smaller acts performing in different areas at the same times—in forecasted temperatures of above 90 degrees, nonetheless—pre-planning is absolutely necessary.

About two years ago, I went to a concert at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., to see one of my favorite bands at the time. I was 18 years old, wore electric blue tights with a pair of Chuck Taylors and couldn’t wait to dance and get sweaty with other underagers like myself. I was so excited to actually see a band I loved at a great venue in the city without having to track down a fake ID just so I could be admitted into a show, since Chicago venues seemed to shun underage crowds at concerts.

I’ve always wanted a column. In my cocky naivete, I felt that my own musings about things like street corner preachers and the idea of reclaiming the Hitler moustache as an acceptable style of facial hair as a way of removing it’s stigma deserved to be shared with the masses who read The Chronicle. However, I’m not a word person, and my opinions oftentimes should not be shared with everyone. (Sometimes, not be shared with anyone.) To those who have listened to all my rants, tangents and moans: Thanks. This includes, but is not limited to, all of my teachers, those in my classes, people I work with, friends, roommates and occasionally random strangers I sit next to on the el.