Entries from September 22nd, 2004

Redesign

September 26th, 2004 · 4 Comments

Since Chicagoist is getting upgraded and migrated to a new server I thought it was time to spiff my personal site up. I upgraded to Movable Type 3.11 and am doing some redesign. Not everything is completed so if some pages look franked up that’s why. Everything should be functioning, even if it looks odd.

Update: 09.27.04 @ 7:11am: I think this is going to be in transition for a while. Hopefully things will remain functioning through the transition, but I’ve got a busy couple days so we’ll see how long it takes for me to get everything straightened out.

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Spectacle ’04: Sink. Sank. Sunk…

September 25th, 2004 · 2 Comments

Part 1: Sink :: Sink. Sank. Sunk..., Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago
Part 1: Sink :: Sink. Sank. Sunk…, Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago

Part 1: Sink :: Sink. Sank. Sunk..., Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago
Part 1: Sink :: Sink. Sank. Sunk…, Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago

Part 1: Sink :: Sink. Sank. Sunk..., Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago
Part 1: Sink :: Sink. Sank. Sunk…, Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago

Part 2: Sank :: Sink. Sank. Sunk..., Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago
Part 2: Sank :: Sink. Sank. Sunk…, Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago

Part 2: Sank :: Sink. Sank. Sunk..., Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago
Part 2: Sank :: Sink. Sank. Sunk…, Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago

Part 2: Sank :: Sink. Sank. Sunk..., Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago
Part 2: Sank :: Sink. Sank. Sunk…, Ping Tom Memorial Park, Chinatown, Chicago

Last night Margaret, Sam & I went and saw Spectacle ’04: Sink. Sank. Sunk…, a Redmoon Theater production, in Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown.

It’s hard to describe the show we saw:
Part 1: Sink. is from 6:00 – 6:45: The characters in the spectacle are scattered throughout the park and you can interact with them.
Part 2: Sank. is from about 6:45 – 7:45: There’s a concrete narrative and the characters all collect in a central playing space.
Part 3: Sunk…: The finale is a progression down to the river where the ending takes place.

Whether you’re a little kid or an intellectual theater aficionado you’ll like this performance, so just go. It’s still playing tonight and tomorrow night. And it’s free – you can’t beat that.

Passing up authentic Asian fare in Chinatown, we went and got some Americanized Pan-Asian at Penny’s in Wicker Park afterwards. It was really good. And cheap. Afterwards, the old favorite, Ginbucks.

Low-quality video clips:
» The band in Part 1 (.mov, 588k)
» Hobo Limerick (.mov, 588k)
» I Love Trains (.mov, 452k) The entire performance stopped and they did this dance almost every time an El or Metra train went by the park.

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Getting Drunk at Marshall Fields

September 24th, 2004 · 12 Comments

What’s better than discovering the 80% off rack at Fields? How about browsing it with drinks & hor’dourves?

Margaret and I were discussing how lame Fashion Week in Chicago is and beelining it to the 80% off rack when a woman walked up and asked us if we wanted a bottle of Pelligrino. Parched from shopping, of course we said “yes.” Ten minutes later a guy walks up offering white wine, which we eagerly take, giving him our water bottles. So we’re browsing the clearance racks some more and a cute waiter comes up and asks me if I want an apple martini. I look down at the white wine in my left hand and the hangers of clothes in my right, stumble through my words saying something like “I.. uh.. white wine.. uh. .. hands full… shopping…..” He says to me, “The correct answer would be “YES!” So, “Yes!,” I say. There I am with white wine in one hand, an apple martini in another, and clothes hanging off my wrist when a waitress comes up asking me if I want chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick. Are you freaking kidding me? Of course I want that!

This of course was all a part of Marshall Fields’ Fashion Week festivities, which we both now agree that we love!

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Thirsty? Sucks to be You

September 23rd, 2004 · No Comments

Thirsty? Sucks to be You
Coke Machine, Red Line Grand Station, Chicago

What a tease!

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Death by Bocce

September 22nd, 2004 · 13 Comments

Leo's
Leo’s Lunch Room, Wicker Park, Chicago

Holy crap. I almost just got killed by a bocce ball. Deep breaths.

I was walking down .. uh.. across.. east on Division when this yellow bocce ball came flying out of a 2nd or 3rd story window about a half of a foot in front of me. I don’t know if I’d have died had it hit me, but an official bocce ball weighs like over 2 pounds.. and coming out a 2nd or 3rd story window.. I’m sure I’d be maimed or something.

I stopped in my tracks, trying to calm my heart attack, when the ball bounced 2 times (LOUDLY) and rolled under a car. I stayed standing for what seemed like a few minutes but probably was a few seconds.. and then started walking. A quarter block later I just stopped and was like “I ALMOST JUST GOT KILLED BY A BOCCE BALL” and while I was standing there wondering if there’s anything more strange to be killed by and amazed that the people were all still doing their thing oblivious to my near-death experience, a man and two little kids came out of the building that expelled the ball. They walked in circles looking for it, finally seeing it under the car.

1 phone call and 2 blocks later I saw that Leo’s was closed by the Health Dept. today. The last inspection online is from 2003, so I don’t know what the deal is.

But back to the important news. I was almost killed by a bocce ball!

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