open house weekend Chicago

The Chicago Architecture Foundation (using the term foundation vs. organization makes sense for an architecture group) offered the public an open house last weekend. Most of the sites open to visitors were clustered in the downtown loop area. 
 

We started our self guided tour at the House of Blues since we found a reasonable priced parking garage near there. We were given a guided tour of the backstage “green” rooms and the exclusive club area of the venue. We have seen an act or two there over the years.

good ceiling panel

artists are asked to sign-in on the walls

Our next stop nearby was the architecture firm, Thornton Tomasetti. It wasn’t a stop that we had really planned but it was on our walk over to the other sites so we went in. It turned out to one of the better stops of our day. We were guided around the firm’s offices. As you might imagine there are many many drawings, pictures and models of projects. I tried to get a picture of the models but was told that because of trade secrets that would not allowed. The Australian designer/engineer who volunteered to guide over the weekend was a great host and answered many questions. Also the view out their office windows were great.

looking down

looking up

Another worthwhile stop was the Sky-Line Club. It’s one of the oldest private clubs in Chicago.  I asked about the number of members - around 300!  I didn't ask about their rates.  A Sussex old ale house was carefully dismantled and reconstructed to create the club atop one of Chicago's early office high-rises almost 100 years ago.

I'll have my tea in that leather chair.

My favorite shot of the day was taken from the Sky-Line Club rooftop terrace:

You have heard the expression, "a picture is worth a thousand words".  I think that is an exaggeration.  Maybe 200 - 300 words for great pictures.  Just a handful of words for this whole set of pictures in my comment section would be great.  If you like going the picture route browse over to Unknown Mami's blog for picture collections.

new Beatles fan

As an American teen in the sixties I was practically assured exposure to Beatles music. I became a fan but also enjoyed many of the other bands at the time. I still consider them at the top of my list.  (Abbey Road is my favorite album if you are wondering)

It doesn’t surprise me that there are many tribute bands based on the Beatles today. What I like about tribute bands or bands that cover popular rock classics is being able to enjoy live performances of my old favorites. This past weekend our daughter and her husband were extra nice to invite me to watch American English with them at a nearby suburban festival. This was the third time I’ve seen American English. They sound great and play the Beatles role well with their costume changes. If interested check out their web site American English.

American English

Our daughter gave me a pleasant surprise (oh not all of her surprises were pleasant) during her teens when she became a fan of the Beatles. Now it appears that her daughter is becoming a Beatles fan. Our daughter likes this if only for the break from the non-stop Disney Frozen songs.

Of the many songs she heard the other evening, I think our new fan enjoyed “Get Back” the most. I was holding her during the song and singing along (benefit of her young age - she doesn’t ask me to stop singing but I’m sure she will before long) when I noticed a huge smile on her face when I sang “get back jo jo.” I asked her dad about the significance of “jo jo”. He laughed and said it is also the name of a cookie at Trader Joe’s. She also related to the word “Arizona” because she had gone on trip there not long ago.

new fan

Yesterday I found a clip of “Get Back” and sent her mom the link. Here’s the conversation they had:

Mom: Papa sent you something.
GrandDaughter: Where is he?
M: It's a music video
GD: Arizona!!! (very excited)
M: Get back Joe-Joe
GD: It's the Beatles (even more excited)

get back to a cookie

Well maybe I need a trip to Trader Joe’s to get back to Joe-Joe’s.

mayoral ideas

Don’t worry if elected I will still blog. Yeah, like you were worried about that.

No this blog is not getting political. I like my blog to be a political free zone. However, today most any action (buy a drink at Starbucks, drive a Ford pick-up) by most anyone can be spun up into a political thing. It’s getting too crazy. Instead of worrying about crazy I would rather laugh about it.

I don’t care for news being spun but I do like a pun.

The source of my ramblings today was an article in todays newspaper (someday in the future we will need to include a footnote explaining what a newspaper was). Can you believe someone has started an online campaign to get Kayne West to run for Chicago mayor. I don’t even want to give you the link to the site because I think it’s an awful idea (a little searching and you’ll find it).

I actually know very little about Kayne but it’s not really him that annoys me. It’s his wife. That Kim K-an would be the last person I want to hear about. If she were the city’s first lady we would certainly hear about her and her pets and who knows what. The current mayor is married but we don’t hear much of anything about his wife. I would need to look up her name.

Celebrities have certainly jumped into politics before. Reagan was an actor before his acting gig at the White House. I’m not a Californian, but they got pumped-up by Arnold the “Governator”. Even Clint Eastwood (I like him as an actor) was mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea for two-years.

Clint Eastwood shows what politics can do to a celebrity. He was seen on stage talking to an empty chair at one political event.

Kayne would not need to talk (rap?) to an empty chair, since he has his empty wife.

 

jelly donuts, gators and bunnies

The crack ninja news team at Lisleman’s Institute for Better Postings have been busy searching the web for spiders good news stories. (now if you are doubting my crack ninja news team, then, well first off I respect skeptical minds but what do I need to do to convince the doubting Thomas out there? Take a picture of Lisleman in his ninja suit? Oh you would be sorry then.  And we do have spider webs in the office.)

notice the jelly donut?

Our smaller neighbor planet has been getting photographed often over the past few years. Thanks to the camera on a mars rover (Opportunity I think) we have this odd quote coming from a NASA astronomer:

"It looks like a jelly donut, … And it appeared, it just plain appeared, at that spot and we haven't driven over that spot."

Ok, he didn't say it was a jelly donut and he probably was up late and didn’t have breakfast yet. But did you catch the part about this thing just appearing? Sure here on earth small objects appear all the time but we have lots of people who litter. Could someone be littering on Mars? Maybe the Chinese are much further along in their space exploration that we realize. Maybe someone is throwing rocks at our rover. Maybe I should move on to the next story.

Another picture needing close examination. Look deep into the ear. Now I’ve certainly have pulled my share of waxy buildup from my ears but never a bunny. I’ve heard certain mushrooms can bring you visions of bunnies dancing, but ear bunnies?

The sculptors of the Mandela statue said they had added the rabbit to the statue after the department refused to allow them to engrave their signatures on the trousers of the statue, South Africa's Beeld newspaper reported.  Where on the trousers I wonder, the inseam, back pocket?

Do the sculptors know the now famous sign language signer at the Mandela memorial? That sign language signer should have made balloon bunnies during the memorial. The whole thing makes sense now.

This next story is an update on a story that was first reported back in Nov. 2013. A traveler spotted a 2-foot-long alligator under an escalator at O’Hare International Airport. (for the geographically challenged - Chicago’s O’Hare airport is NOT in the tropics or even close)

I doubt the Chicago police have a gator investigation team but they did track down a women who it appears (charged not convicted yet) placed the alligator in the airport. She told police that she lost the gator at the airport. Also, they were told that she “was so (high) on crack cocaine and heroin and had taken some pills” during her airport visit.  I suspect the drugs could have something to do with bringing a gator to a busy airport. She apparently didn’t fly out of the airport (well not physically, mentally I can’t imagine where she went) and possibly just wanted to take the gator outside for fresh air.

surveillance on the "L" subway

On the subject of ninja suits, what do you think of this:

This certainly calls for an investigation by the crack ninja news team at Lisleman’s Institute for Better Postings. Don't you agree?

(proofreading provided by C. F. Eyecare) 

For those of you who want to read more on these news stories:
Mars Jelly donut
Mandela ear bunny
O'Hara airport gator 

great old photos

Only one of the photos in today's post was taken by me. Since the other photos are old you'll be able to figure it out.

The October issue of National Geographic features the Power of Photography story. We love our subscription to National Geographic. The only problem really is getting rid of the magazines. They are so good it is hard to throw them out. We even checked to see if our library would take them. They didn't want them.

"By wresting a precious particle of the world from time and space and holding it absolutely still, a great photograph can explode the totality of our world, such that we never see it quite the same again." from the article by Robert Draper

On the last page they have been showing an old photographic from their archives. I noticed in the description of the October issue photo this blog mentioned, NatGeoFound.tumblr.com - this is where the old photos posted here are linked from.

if you know where to look you can see the top of the building the tourists were on in the last picture

You can find more photos from around the world at Unknown Mami's Sundays in my City (click the button below)

follow the fragmented road on friday

I’m off to read the wizard, the wonderful wizard of FF.

Grab your little dog (stuff animal will do), kick your scarecrow and snap at your local lion, it’s time to read FF posts, kids!

The FF wizard doesn’t live in Kansas anymore (don’t know if she ever did) but she probably knows a few good witches. I do know she has a little dog (don’t know about her ruby slippers).  Also it’s green around her place until it turns brown then white. After fighting the flying monkeys here, click your heels and go see Mrs. 4444 the FF wizard.

My Oz theme today came about because of a bad dream. Well ok, I did have a weird dream. Awhile ago a favorite post of mine (do you have favorites?) was messed up when I had to switch the site where I stored the pictures (do you mend your broken links?). The pictures in that old post were from Oz park in Chicago. So I thought why not use those missing pictures (I recovered them) as fragment dividers today.  I just know you'll like my idea.

Oyster crackers - Do you ever wonder about that name? Probably not. I do. I enjoy eating them in my soap or chili. Does anyone eat oysters with oyster crackers?

Just another observation - do you think there is a connection between “The Walking Dead” zombie show having a record number of viewers while our government was suffering a shutdown?

I think low-key is the missing key to having a relaxing time. Low key can save you money too. Maybe the best key was the roller skate type and they don’t make those anymore.

I'm still too young to be singing the blues. Goodbye yellow brick road. Oh I've finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road. However, you can keep any of the horny back toads I happen to find.

reflections can be tricky

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

I'm sure you have read that on your vehicle's side mirror.  (if you often cut off cars while changing lanes pay attention to this reflective trick)  A curved mirror bends the image in a way that tricks our minds.

I bring this up because this illusion might be the reason my granddaughter reacted strangely when I brought her close to the Cloud Gate sculpture at Millennium park recently.  Most of Chicago calls it the bean.

Chicago looks different on the bean

You see she is much too young to read so she would not know about the ways mirrors can trick us.

I think her mind was telling her that I was trying to drop her down into a strange place.  At one point she kicked her legs straight out as if she was being dropped.  Even for adults the inside part of the bean is very strange experience.  A bit like a fun house at the fair.

Of course she is also very young and it could be that she was just hungry or in need of a nap.

I'm NOT Alice and I'm not going in there!

I linked this to Unknown Mami's SIMC meme which has photos linked from all over blogland.

flashback fragments

recipe for fragmints (thanks Keetha for a post title that gave me this idea)

• Mix many types of thoughts together.
• Let sit for a few minutes.
• Scoop out the funnier ones that rise to the top.
• Feed the bottom stuff to your dog.
• Sprinkle minty leaves on top.
• Bake in your favorite word processor.

Post your fragmints and link it to Mrs. 4444’s blog to share with the FF party.

When I search back into old blog posts, I generate flashbacks. If I’m looking at an old FF post then I have flashback fragments.

Is it possible to combine flashback, flashdance and a flash mob?

I found the above digital online card at a social site recently (probably G+). We have a few teachers in the family and I know there are teachers that follow the blog. So this one is for you. Wishing all the teachers a wonderful school year.

()()proofreading provided by C. F. Eyecare()()

Still a work in progress, but I’m very close to having perfected my sleeping. Yes I’ve had restless nights when some event in my life caused it. (Are you still awake? Good, because I want you to read the blog and comment. Don’t start getting sleepy.) I stumbled on an article about brain waves blocking noises in the night. Now I’m wondering if those same brain waves block my hearing my wife’s earth-shattering gentle reminders to get off my ass and do something.

I bet the sleep study was fun to perform. The researchers altered the noise levels over a three-night period; the first night was quiet and the second and third nights were noisy. Basically, they kept turning up the volume until they woke the person up.

How fun would that be?

“Hey it’s my turn to hit the horn!”
“Holy Sh--, did you see that one jump?”

I got off my ass and did something the other day when the most important item in the kitchen went dead, the microwave. Here's the whole story.

I was warned that our children might write a book about our family life, titled “Vacuum The Grass”.

Yes my wife once told one of the kids to "vacuum the grass". Both of us have mistakenly uttered wrong words with a passion at times. Usually it gets a laugh but depending on the mood at the time one of us might not be ready for the laugh.

I'm certain any parent of a gaggle of kids has experienced calling the wrong name out for a child. Most kids jump at the chance to correct you. Often they start before you get the whole wrong child’s name out. Our daughter told us once that she figured she was really in big trouble when her name was replaced with the dog’s name. I have no idea what the dog thought. (but the dog did have a human type name)

Lastly, while searching through old posts I rediscovered this clip I found back in 2006. If you ever have plans to push a car into Chicago river from a high building, then watch this first.

Just around Chicago

Enjoy a few photos we have taken around Chicago.

 

Check out a variety of photos from around the blogs at Unknown Mami's place.

caught the blues yesterday

I caught a train leaving town yesterday. Destination Union Station Chicago.

Crossing under the 'L' which forms the Loop and over to Grant Park for the Chicago Blues Fest.

great comfortable weather, 
variety of Blues music, 
and not too crowded - It was a good day to catch some blues.

I met these two Chicago ladies on my walk back to train. They didn't say a word just stared.

Check out a variety of photos from around the blogs at Unknown Mami's place.