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Life in Chicago: August 2009
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009. Biking to Milwaukee (with Some Help from Metra). He idea was simple. Inspired by a recent long-distance bike ride, I would push myself to bike all the way from Chicago to Milwaukee. I eagerly looked up the distance online: About 90 miles. The trip was set. As I set off from the Metra station on my bike, I feel a sense of freedom. Ahhh… the open road. Downtown Kenosha. (Click on photo to enlarge.). After browsing for a bit and purchasing a bottle of water (important in the mid-...
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Life in Chicago: November 2008
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Saturday, November 29, 2008. Mumbai on Devon Avenue. T’s finished,” says Kanu. He’s standing behind the counter in Al-Mansoor Video. On Devon Ave. at Rockwell St. A TV suspended from the ceiling plays news from an Indian network, received here by satellite. 8220;Now that it’s over,” he adds, “now we are relaxed.”. Another man walks into the store, and then a man and a woman. They all have dark skin. 8220;How’s your family? 8221; the woman asks Kanu. “Everyone’s okay on your side? Everyone stares at the TV.
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Life in Chicago: January 2009
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009. Lost and Found on Lawrence Avenue. He afternoon was cold as I waited for the Lawrence Ave. bus. A thin man with stringy, graying hair kept watch nearby, both of us trying to keep warm as the sun set on a Chicago winter’s day. Nothing out of the ordinary on this unremarkable stretch of sidewalk— except for a rectangular patch of black and white sitting on a mailbox nearby. I flipped the card over. There, a familiar sight: the torn, blue-and-yellow ticket of Blockbuster. 8220;A...
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Life in Chicago: Underground Music
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Monday, September 28, 2009. 8220;We tried playing on Michigan Ave.,” said Santomastago, 37, who has a thin face sporting a scruffy beard and mustache. “The acoustics are better here.”. 8220;We have the advantage here of it reverberating,” explained Burnett, 25, of the music. “It’s a very pleasant sort of sound.”. This is, after all, a big city. Yet reports of the decline in popularity of classical music seem not to hold here. “We do some modern stuff for fun,” said Santomastago, who, like...Nestled betwe...
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Life in Chicago: October 2008
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Sunday, October 12, 2008. N the last posting, I wrote about Chowpatti. A vegetarian restaurant in the suburb of Arlington Heights. On a wall in the dining room, two reviews hang side by side. One, from the Daily Herald. Newspaper, lauds the restaurant; the other, published in North Shore Magazine. Isn’t as kind. That article, by Steve Dale in the magazine’s June 2004 issue, reads as follows:. The article ends with the restaurant’s hours. 8220;We got, you know, news from North Shore Magazine. She continue...
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Life in Chicago: April 2009
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Un burrito muy grande. Nside the Tribune Tower, an old journalistic maxim on the wall reads, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”. In the front window of La Bamba. A Mexican fast-food restaurant on Halsted St. at Wrightwood Ave., a neon sign says, “BURRITOS AS BIG AS YOUR HEAD.”. I thought I’d check it out. 8220;¡Hola, amigo! 8221; says Francisco, a short, thin man wearing a “La Bamba” baseball cap, as I approach the counter. 8220;What kind you want? There, on a p...
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Life in Chicago: May 2009
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009. Rage against the machine. Life in Chicago articles are generally "family friendly." This story, however, contains some mild profanity. N the farcical Second City musical “ Rod Blagojevich Superstar. The same could be said of Sam Wolfson. Wolfson is co-owner of String-A-Strand. The text (brace yourself— it’s a bit long) reads as follows:. AL CAPONE WAS A Piker Compared to Mayor Daley and HIS BAND OF CROOKS THAT RUN CITY HALL. VOTE THE STROGERS and DALEYS OUT OF OFFICE. ENOUGH ...
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Life in Chicago: July 2008
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Thursday, July 31, 2008. Tourist in My Adopted City. Red, double-decker bus— the kind I’ve seen so many times but generally don’t pay attention to? On board we go. And I thought: Why not? It could be fun. 8220;We are on the Maaaaag Mile! 8221; announces Judy, our guide for the two-hour circuit through downtown. “This is Chicago’s magnificent mile.”. As we turn from Mies van der Rohe Way onto Chestnut St. in Streeterville, Judy tells us, “Look all the way to the top there, folks. That’...8220;Up at the 94...
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Life in Chicago: June 2009
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Saturday, June 27, 2009. An Incredible Journey, Part III. He first time they met, Stewart was playing a gig in a pub. She liked his music— or maybe she liked him— enough to invite him to play at her 40th birthday party. He accepted. At the end of the engagement, she told him she looked forward to having him play at her 80th birthday party. Stewart found the comment odd, but he said nothing about it. Stewart found the photo album odd, too. But again, he said nothing. A week later, the woman asked Stewart ...
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Life in Chicago: August 2008
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Saturday, August 30, 2008. Nder a bright sun, the bus pulled up to 103 St. and Torrence Ave. The driver waited as I unloaded my bike from the rack. I surveyed the scene: An empty lot stood across from a gas station; right near me, a pole had an advertisement for “Round trips to prisons at an affordable price.” The stench of what smelled like rotting fish filled the air. Fortunately, the scenery would change. I peddled off down the street, heading south and then east, towards the Indiana border. Moments l...
