Tag: Chicago

Reading Around on August 17th

swanksalot0 comment

Some additional reading August 17th from 14:48 to 16:44:

  • Laundering Lies – “It’s one thing if Dick Armey, or some other repulsive hack, goes out and gives a speech which contains a bunch of lies. It’s another thing for a major news outlet – print or teevee – to give its stamp of authority on those lies. I’m sure he’ll be back.

    I’ve said a bunch of times that elite journalists oddly cling to authority rather than expertise as the reason they need to have very well-paid existences. But then they don’t bother to use that authority to actually inform their audiences. Instead they use it to bolster the claims of conservative liars.”

    televisiontramp52.jpg

  • Foods of my labors | The Blog | Chicago Reader – Last week I spent a fair amount of time doing laborious data-scrubbing of our restaurant listings; by way of making lemonade from lemons, here are some of the more intriguing restaurants I discovered. I can’t recommend them personally, but that’s sort of the point: they’re the places that piqued my interest enough to go on my list.
  • Gapers Block: Rearview – Monday, August 17 2009 – Monday, August 17 2009
    by Seth Anderson
    photo of Victor Hotel’s Back Door?

Back Door?

Reading Around on August 14th through August 15th

swanksalot0 comment

A few interesting links collected August 14th through August 15th:

The El Capitan stopping at the train station in Chicago 1939.jpg

  • Atm Skimmers: ATM Skimmer Ring Hits Chicago Suburbs – Reader Kellie reports being the victim of an ATM skimming scam in the Chicago area. Mostly, she was amazed that the thefts weren’t reported in the local media, and she asked bank employees why. Here’s what they told her
  • PRESS NOTES: GODARD X 2 (OR 3) – From the Current – Two of Godard’s most breathlessly awaited sixties classics—Made in U.S.A and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her—are now available on Criterion DVD, and for the New York Press’s Armond White, it’s not a moment too soon. “They provide a refresher course in movie aesthetics: something desperately needed this summer,” writes White. “Both these widescreen spectacles can help remind moviegoers how important it is to appreciate movies as a visual art form that represents the world and the imagination with creativity and integrity.” In Black Book, Edmund Mullins also can’t quite contain his excitement: “If you don’t think this is cause for celebration, you haven’t seen the films… [T]hey collectively represent one of the more thrilling moments in Godard’s constantly evolving canon.”

    Michael Atkinson singles out Made in U.S.A in a review for IFC.com, calling the film “one of the fifteen essential rockets Godard launched that made the decade his and his alone.”


  • “2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (Criterion Collection)” (Jean-Luc Godard)


    “Made in U.S.A. (Criterion Collection)” (Jean-Luc Godard)

  • Chaihanna | Suburbs Northwest | Polish/Russian/Eastern European | Chicago Reader – Chaihanna, often spelled choyhona, means “teahouse,” and in Uzbekistan the teahouse is the center of social interaction…

    Along with the majority Uzbeks, minority Russians, Tajiks, Kazakhs, and Tatars have overshadowed smaller but significant groups of Bukharan Jews (who emigrated en masse after the fall of the USSR) and even Koreans who were forcibly settled there by Stalin in the 30s. . The cabbage, carrots, and tomatoes aren’t predominantly spiced by chiles, though they’re heavily impregnated with other flavors–cumin, clove, garlic, dill

Reading Around on August 14th

swanksalot0 comment

Some additional reading August 14th from 12:05 to 12:45:

William Blake:

0312-0057_elohim_creating_adam.jpg

  • Think You Can Rip Someone’s Image From the Internet and Use it For Free? Think Again, You Just May End Up Sued and Lose | Thomas Hawk Digital Connection – “It was interesting to hear yesterday from photographer Christopher Boffoli who has done a lot of freelance work lately for the West Seattle Blog. Boffoli wrote me and told me about a situation where a Seattle based Realtor, Laura Miller with Catalyst Commercial Partners, used an unauthorized photo of his for a real estate listing (photo above) of hers and ended up having to pay him a $1,000 small claims court judgment over it.

    I’ll let Boffoli tell part of the story”

  • Change of Subject: Getting aboard a health plan — it’s time to throw a lifeline to 60 million Americans – “they’re fine with the idea of providing coverage to everyone. But only if it costs them nothing and leaves them with all the advantages, priorities and prerogatives they currently enjoy. In other words, the old “I’d haul you up, but you might swamp my rowboat” argument.

    Others tell me they view access to quality health care as something they’ve earned — either by working hard or being related to someone who works hard. And if others want it, let them earn it too — the old, “Go build your own rowboat, you slacker!” argument.

    Still others say that those without coverage can always fall back on the patchwork of public hospitals, charity and Medicaid — the old “You don’t need a rowboat. Driftwood will do” argument.

    Obviously, though, too many swimmers are drowning:”

  • Krugman- Republican Death Trip – NYTimes.com
  • – “President Obama is now facing the same kind of opposition that President Bill Clinton had to deal with: an enraged right that denies the legitimacy of his presidency, that eagerly seizes on every wild rumor manufactured by the right-wing media complex.”
  • Court extends Tribune Co. control of Chapter 11 case — chicagotribune.com – “A bankruptcy judge said Tribune Co. can keep control of its Chapter 11 case for three-and-a-half more months as it looks to sell off some assets, including the Chicago Cubs, in its bid to exit bankruptcy protection.

    Judge Kevin J. Carey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., on Monday gave the publisher of the Chicago Tribune an extension to Nov. 30 to file its reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy and to repay creditors. He also set a March 15, 2010, deadline for the media giant to win creditor support for a plan.”

  • delicious blog » Sharing Made Easier: Email and Tweet Your Bookmarks – “If you use Twitter and want to send bookmarks to your Twitter feed, associate a Twitter account (only a single Twitter account can be associated at one time) by logging into Twitter under the Twitter panel. You have the option to send all your saved bookmarks to Twitter by selecting the “Tweet all bookmarks unless private” checkbox when you add the Twitter account. If you’ve selected this option, your Twitter account will appear by default in the Send field.”
  • Juan_Gris
  • Juan Gris

Dwyane Wade buys Chicago townhouse

Seth Anderson0 comment

Summer Hoops - Lomo
[Summer Hoops, Rogers Park somewhere]

Sam Smith reports:

Has Dwyane Wade purchased his Chicago dream house as a prelude to signing a free agent contract with the Bulls next summer?
Or is Wade just a clever real estate speculator at a good time?

Prying eyes want to know. And at least basketball franchises in Chicago and Miami.

ChicagoMag.com’s real estate blog reported Monday that Wade has purchased a four story riverfront townhouse in Kinzie Park, which is just west of the Loop across the river from the East Bank Club. The price is said to be about $1.4 million, which hardly seems like what you’d pay for an occasional getaway place back in your hometown if you are planning to establish roots in Miami by signing a major extension.

[Click to continue reading Chicago Bulls Blog: Dwyane Wade buys $1.4 million Chicago townhouse]

Hey, DWade for Ben Gordon1 is definite upgrade; even though Dwyane Wade is injury-prone, he is certainly one of the top guards in the NBA.

Sam Smith still doesn’t believe in outgoing links, but Google is2 our friend:

The Kinzie Park townhouse is part of a development of former industrial parcels across the river from the East Bank Club that also includes high-rise condos. The townhouses have private yards fronting the river along a shared promenade. Wade bought a 3,900-square-foot unit with a two-car garage and a rooftop deck.

The property was on the market for almost a year, says the seller’s agent, Harold Blum, and it sat vacant for a while. “But then we furnished it and we got two offers,” says Blum, who would not reveal whether Wade’s offer was the higher of the two. Wade closed on the sale in late June, but information on the deal only surfaced recently at the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.

[Click to continue reading NBA and Olympic Star Buys in River North – Deal Estate – August 2009 – Chicago]

Coincidentally, Flickr-eeno phule and I were just walking past here a couple weeks ago, albeit on the other side of the river. It doesn’t look like I took any photos of this area, but then I didn’t see anything photo-worthy either. I’d like having DWade as a near-neighbor, not that I’m much of a celebrity stalker (well, except for the time Michelle Obama was eating across the street). The Chicago Bulls can dream, right?

Footnotes:
  1. who signed with the Detroit Pistons over the off-season [↩]
  2. usually [↩]

Ridealong

Seth Anderson0 comment

As Mo Ryan, the Chicago Tribune television critic tweeted earlier today, there is Fox television drama being produced by Shawn Ryan. I might even watch an episode or two – especially if Chicago is the central character in the drama.1

City of Chicago Department of Police

Fox has given a put pilot order to “Ridealong,” a Chicago-set cop show from “The Shield’s” Shawn Ryan.
Project’s a personal passion project of Ryan’s, who grew up in nearby Rockford, Ill. “Ridealong” will center on three groups of police officers –ranging from uniformed beat cops to the female chief of police.

Ryan is set to write and exec produce the hourlong drama, which comes from 20th Century Fox TV.

Ryan plans to shoot the skein in Chicago, which he plans to make a major part of the show.

“It’s a city I’m very familiar with, and one I haven’t seen photographed much, at least on TV,” Ryan said, “In my opinion, Chicago has become the center of the universe: It’s the place that Barack Obama comes from, it’s a candidate to host the Olympics, and it’s where Oprah dispels her wisdom.

“When I pitched it to the people at Fox, (Chicago was) the first character I described,” Ryan said. “It’s a gorgeous town and is the most interesting architectural city in America.”

Ryan said Chicago is also a “city with a big crime problem at the moment,” which will inform the show.

Ryan said “Ridealong” will mostly take place on the streets of Chicago, and will be populated by unique people — including the central lead character, a Polish-American cop who plays up his heritage.

[Click to continue reading Fox on Ryan’s ‘Ridealong’ – Entertainment News, TV News, Media – Variety]

I wanted David Simon and Ed Burns to extend their show, The Wire, and set it in Chicago, but I guess they are busy working on the Haymarket Riot film without a working title. Ridealong (possibly) is an acceptable substitute.

April 6 2007

Ms. Ryan2, interviewed Mr. Ryan:

No filming dates have been set, but if the “Ridealong” pilot gets the green light, it would be shot in Chicago in the spring. If Fox orders a full series, Ryan wants to film that in the Windy City as well.

“These things always come down to finances and I’m told that at the moment that Chicago is film-friendly and feasible,” Ryan said.

The show is “mostly about cops, but we will deal with how cops are affected/stymied/supported by local political elements,” Ryan said. “Ridealong” will also feature a “young, female chief of police and her attempts to navigate Chicago politics.”

So how will the show be different from “Hill Street Blues” — or Ryan’s own influential cop drama, “The Shield”?

“I’ll take comparisons to either of those shows any time,” but Ryan said “Ridealong” will be “very different” from either the NBC classic or the influential FX drama.

“I definitely would not be interested in doing the network version of ‘The Shield,'” he noted.

“Ridealong” will be “filmed primarily on the streets with our cops’ vehicles serving as their offices. It will be part cop procedural, part buddy comedy, part political thriller, part undercover drama… or it will just be a huge mess,” he said. “But I’m going to try to make it good.”

[Click to continue reading The Watcher: ‘Shield’ creator’s new cop show a ‘love letter’ to Chicago ]

Alleys are life, embodied

Worth paying attention to, maybe they’ll need some photos for location scouting?

Footnotes:
  1. television shows don’t really hold my interest, with a few notable exceptions [↩]
  2. no relation to Shawn Ryan, as far as I know [↩]

Moony Davis will let congressional term expire

Seth Anderson0 comment

My Congress-critter1 has decided not to seek re-election. Wonder who the front runners for this Congressional District are? Please, Walter Burnett, don’t run for the seat.

Come Aug. 4, Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-7th) will only circulate nominating petitions for the office of Cook County board president.

Davis announced early in July the formation of an exploratory committee to examine a possible run for that job. But in an interview with the Austin Weekly News, Davis noted the committee was just a formality and that he is a contender for Todd Stroger’s job.

“I am running for president of the Cook County Board,” said Davis, who has already sunk up to $40,000 into his bid for county board president. He spent $20,000 on a poll conducted two months ago that showed Davis had a strong favorable rating out of five possible candidates, including Stroger.

“This is serious business,” he said. “Politics is serious business. It is not the play stuff that some people make it out to be.”

Davis said he would not seek re-election as representative of the 7th Congressional District, since he cannot circulate petitions for both offices. The election for president of the county board will be in November 2010. He said he would let his congressional term expire at the end of that year. The county board president usually takes office on Dec. 1.

“My term in congress will not expire until the end of December 2010, and that is when I will give up my office,” he said.

[Click to continue reading Davis will let congressional term expire]

I would assume the seat will remain in the Democratic Party: in the 2008 election, Barack Obama won 88% of the vote in this district.

Footnotes:
  1. and Reverend Moony enthusiast [↩]

Metropolitan Correction Center Blues

swanksalot0 comment

a Harry Weese joint, 1975

View On Black

such a strange building, really. According to Chicago’s Famous Buildings 5th edition, “The splayed windows (five inches wide at their narrowest) are the maximum that federal standards will permit without bars.” There is apparently a rooftop exercise yard, though it isn’t visible from the street.

Bids Start at $300,000 for Chicago’s Old Post Office

Seth Anderson1 Comment

United States Post Office Parcel Post Entrance
[address listed as 358 W Harrison St, Chicago, IL, but I always think of it being on the corner of S. Canal and Van Buren – directly north of where Congress turns into the Eisenhower Expressway, aka I-290]

After 13 years of failed redevelopment efforts, the United States Postal Service is giving up and auctioning off its largest vacant property: the hulking 2.7-million-square-foot old central post office here.

The suggested opening bid for the auction is $300,000, which is less than an individual condominium goes for in many of the surrounding downtown buildings.

[Click to continue reading Bids Start at $300,000 for Chicago’s Old Post Office – NYTimes.com]

Chicago Central Post Office

[corner of Van Buren and S. Canal]

The building is actually quite a lovely structure, I hope it doesn’t get torn down to have a mixed-use building in its place, or shudder, condos. The article doesn’t mention what property tax on it would be1, but even annual maintenance, utility and security costs are nearly $2,5000,000

The behemoth, which is nine stories tall with 14-story corner towers, is several blocks southwest of the Loop, the downtown central business district. It was designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White in a Neoclassical Art Deco style and built in phases from 1921 to 1932. (Graham, Anderson is the firm responsible for Chicago landmarks like the Wrigley Building, the Civic Opera House and Union Station.) The total cost was $22 million.

A peculiarity of the building is that it was built using air rights over railroad tracks that terminate several blocks to the north, at Union Station, and so it has no basement. In addition, the Congress Expressway literally passes through the structure. The two-story-high tunnel carries six lanes of traffic.

I’ve never been inside2, but I want to

“I miss the grandeur of the lobby,” said Musette Henley, who worked in the building in a variety of jobs from 1961 until its closing day and is now a customer relations representative in the new facility. “They don’t build buildings like that anymore.”

The imposing Neoclassical lobby at the north end of the building, which has cream-colored marble walls and an elaborate inlaid marble floor, is certainly a stunner: 340 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a towering 38-foot ceiling.

Chicago Central Post Office North view

[Van Buren side]

—
couple other photos:
United States Post Office Chicago River view - Agfa Scala

the Chicago River side

United States Post Office East view

Footnotes:
  1. astronomical I assume [↩]
  2. other than by watching the Batman movie, The Dark Knight [↩]

Chicago Crime Scenes Project

Seth Anderson0 comment

I have a Google News alert for the Haymarket Riot, and thus sometimes stumble upon interesting stuff, like this website devoted to a subject near to my heart: Chicago history.

May Day Parade

Do you know where Hell’s Half-Acre was? How about the Hairtrigger Block? The Black Hole? Or Dead Man’s Corner. I didn’t either.
I didn’t, that is, until I started reading Todd Kendall’s Chicago Crime Scenes Project blog.
For the last two years, Kendall, an economist by trade, has been writing a blog that details the legendary individuals, spectacular incidents and infamous places that gave Chicago its reputation as a tough, tough town. The site is an incredible resource. There’s a nice mixture of shorter and longer posts, photographs and scans from old newspapers.

…

Your posts, generally speaking, deal with Chicago’s old, sordid underbelly. Mafias. Corrupt politicians. Crime and vice. Working-class and labor struggles. What made these sorts of topics compelling, the right lens for your blog?
Between 2003 and 2008, I was on the economics faculty at Clemson University in South Carolina, and my research focus was the nexus between crime, economics, and public policy. Chicago is the perfect place to study those connections. The Haymarket riot of 1886, activities in the Levee vice district during the 1910s, the Capone syndicate’s activities during Prohibition, and modern drug-selling gangs — all of these are fundamentally about economics. I’m not very interested in serial killers and other lunatics because there’s not much economics there.

[Click to continue reading Chicago Journal]

I’ve added the Chicago Crime Scenes Project to my RSS reader, and will probably link to some of its content when i have a moment. Fascinating stuff.

Margot and Harold Schiff Residences

Seth Anderson0 comment

Walked by here the other day, looks like it is doing well still

City Farm

Dorothy Barry says that she moved in to the Margot and Harold Schiff Residences on a “blue-sky, ain’t-nowhere-I’d-rather-be-than-Chicago” kind of day back in the summer of 2007. She says you can’t do much better than this sleek, new Helmut Jahn–designed building on the north side of the city: She gets a millionaire’s view of the skyline and is just a short ride from downtown and the beaches of Lake Michigan.

At Division Street and Clybourn Avenue, though, she’s also within blocks of the infamous Cabrini-Green public housing. Those towers are mostly torn down, replaced by mixed-income residential towers and townhouses—but their shells remind Chicagoans to do better when it comes to housing the less well-off.

Neighbors call the one-year-old stainless-steel Schiff Residences “the train,” and it does indeed resemble a polished railroad car cruising through the neighborhood. Its walls angle out as they rise up five stories, curving back over to form a roof before sliding down the other side. In a practical city raised on railroads this residential railcar is romantic. Strips of dark windows punctuate the walls, staggered to evoke forward momentum. In the ground-floor lobby, sunlight pours through great panes of floor-to-ceiling glass. Prada or Barneys could set up shop on the ground floor and no one would be the wiser.

But the Schiff Residences are permanent supportive-housing, with onsite case managers and other voluntary services. All of the 96 units are single-occupancy studio apartments. Residents here have struggled with physical and mental illness, substance abuse, and limited education. At the Schiff, you can stay as long as you follow the rules. It opened in March 2007, and already 300 people have expressed interest in moving in.

[Click to continue reading All Aboard – Ideas – Dwell]

Everytrail Photostroll in River North

Seth Anderson0 comment

River North

Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS Trip Sharing with Google Maps

I don’t know what has changed, but EveryTrail is a total battery sucker: an hour walk nearly completely drained my iPhone 3GS battery. Hmm, have to look into that, or else find a similar GPS application that does what EveryTrail does.

Anyway, if the Flash widget doesn’t load, here are some of the photos I took on this stroll with Flickr-eeno, phule

Union Missionary Baptist Church
Union Missionary Baptist Church
940 N Orleans Stmaps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari…

Hail to the Thief -July 30, 2009
Hail to the Thief -July 30, 2009
update of this photo:

No Coke, Pepsi
No Coke, Pepsi
Mr. Beef, 666 N. OrleansView On Black

Misdirected Remarks – Agfa Scala
Misdirected Remarks - Agfa Scala
West Loop, near Canal StreetBenefits by Viewing On Black

Recession 101 – Agfa Scala 200
Recession 101 - Agfa Scala 200
Kingsbury. Sort of a strange advertising message, no?

View On Black

Both panels read:

Recession 101:

This is the worst downturn since 1929.

According to economists who successfully predicted 14 of the last five recessions.”

wonder who the sponsor is?

Chicago 2016 Olympic
Chicago 2016 Olympic
River North, sans graffiti, at least at the moment.

Chicago 2016 Olympic City
Chicago 2016 Olympic City
River North, sans graffiti, at least at the moment.

GNIKRAP ON
GNIKRAP ON
or something.

City Farm
City Farm
Division and Laramie, or nearby.

www.resourcecenterchicago.org/70thfarm.html

Unknown building in the background with what look to be wind turbines for generating electricity

Flag Waving
Flag Waving
River North areaView On Black

Riverbend Blues in the sunlight – 3 Millions dollars?
Riverbend Blues in the sunlight - 3 Millions dollars?
Polapan version

View On Black

333 N Canal St #3702, Chicago IL 60606 3 br | 3 ½ ba | 4,163 sqft | Apt/Condo/Twnhm $3,100,000 www.trulia.com/property/1083824292-333-N-Canal-St-3702-Ch…

Riverbend in the sunlight
Riverbend in the sunlight
no way I’d pay $3,100,000 to live here

www.trulia.com/property/1083824292-333-N-Canal-St-3702-Ch…

Price/sq ft $745. Yeah, I don’t think so.

Sensational 360 vws from the Penthouse at Riverbend! See every significant bldg in Chgo, up the river & Lake Mich. Never before on the market! This home is beyond compare. 12′ ceil’gs w/flr-to-ceil’g wndws. All bdrms En-Suite. 2 enormous terraces perfect for entertaining. Kit w/Buter’s Pantry. Gallery for artwork.

a quickr pickr post

Coal Plants in Chicago

Seth Anderson0 comment

Kudos to the citizen groups for “taking to the streets“. It is really a travesty that in a world-class, allegedly green city like Chicago, these polluters are allowed to operate their stacks with impunity. Outrageous, indeed.

Withered and Died

Frustrated by inaction at every level of government, several environmental watchdog organizations announced plans today to sue the owner of Chicago’s two coal-fired power plants for alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act.

The coal plants are among the biggest sources of dangerous air emissions in the region, but authorities have moved only haltingly to compel them to clean up.

Just a week ago several environmental groups chided Chicago officials for failing to get tough with the plants, which studies have blamed for scores of ER visits and premature deaths every year. Today the groups essentially took aim at the state and federal governments, which they contend should do more to force plant owner Midwest Generation to slash its emissions of dangerous soot.

The organizations sent a letter to the company and government regulators declaring their intention to sue within two months. They charge that in its own reports to the state Midwest Generation has repeatedly admitted it produced a higher concentration of soot than allowed. Soot, otherwise known as particulate matter, has been linked to heart disease, asthma, cancer, and other ailments.

“How do they get away with that?” asked Faith Bugel, a senior attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center. “Beats me. That’s why we’re outraged.”

[Click to continue reading The latest salvo in the fight to clean up Chicago’s air | The Blog | Chicago Reader]

Satanic Gift

If you ask me, this lame excuse by Midwest Generation is not sufficient. All coal plants should be shut down if they can’t control their exceedances.

Midwest Generation spokesman Charley Parnell says the environmental groups are blowing things out of proportion. “We have acknowledged that there have been exceedances from our operations, as there are with every coal-fired power plant in the country,” he said. “The [government] agencies have always allowed for those exceedances because it’s impossible to run a coal plant without them.”