A couple of four months ago, I posted a photograph of a discarded hot-pink sofa in the alley behind our apartment. Well, yesterday brought another interesting garbage photo-op: next to the dumpster was a seemingly brand new tan bidet complete with shiny chrome spigot (uncannily similar to the one shown here) that some unsophisticate removed from their domicile.

Unfortunately the local junkman - who roams the alley in a old red pickup chock-full o' old tires, barbed wire, and rusty bedframes - snatched it up before I could grab my normally ever-present camera. He picked it up and put it *on top* of the already-groaning 6-foot-high pile of junk in the truck bed that heaves precariously over every speed bump in the alley.

The junkman made quite the find that morning: that bidet was probably worth its weight in gold, or at least domestic Wagyu steaks. These babies retail for over $500.00 apiece. That's almost as much as a government-issue toilet seat*.

Edgewater neighbors: if you see the junkman's red pickup, run, don't walk! Before the tan bidet falls off and lands on your car/head/dog/baby stroller.

* Correction: according to Wikipedia, 'President Reagan held a televised news conference in 1987, where he held up one of these shrouds and stated: "We didn't buy any $600 toilet seat. We bought a $600 molded plastic cover for the entire toilet system." '

Labels: chicago, humor, toilets

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Seen yesterday next to the Foster Hall-SSRB ramp on 59th Street at the University of Chicago. I doubt it's genuine (there really aren't any flowers here to smell, per se, barring a few overripe tiger lilies).

Click to view full size, where the lines "All Activity is Being Monitored" and "In Cooperation with the Initiative for Community Protection" are clearly visible. Googling the term turns up nada, so it's clearly a red herring rather than an attempt to razz an existing UC organization.

Scav Hunt relic? Emergency phone-camera kiosk backlash? Subtle jab at the "Chicago School" and capitalism? "All Your Smell Are Belong to Us"?

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Say what you will about the Edgewater neighborhood: our trash got flash.

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A place where I find peace.

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  Where frosted glass frames the winter sun's fire
We watch the flickering light 'twixt tree and spire

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  The gates have been opened...



...they have arisen? Where have they gone?

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  Willowbrook Ballroom on Archer Avenue in Willow Springs, IL: place of legendary music (from Count Basie to the Village People) and hauntings, notably the story of Resurrection Mary.

Labels: chicago, history, music

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  If only a photo could convey the sharp, evocative scent of burning brush in Willow Springs Woods (FPDCC.gov Region 6 - Palos Division) last week; a perfect fall day in the southwest suburbs.



Traveling a bit further west on Archer Avenue to the Red Gate Woods forest preserve area, we found this old mossy stone wall or foundation, partially buried under what could be a century or two of accumulated soil and undergrowth.



Who lived here in the woods along Illinois' most haunted highway? Early Polish or Irish immigrants who built the roads and canals along this ancient native American trail? We do know what's buried here today in Red Gate Woods: the remains of CP-1, the first sustained nuclear "reactor" built by Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago.

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Well, I'm not sure what else to call this...the "Golden Grommet"? If anyone knows the title of the piece and the name of the artist, please let me know in the comments. Otherwise, just admire this for what it is ... and understand why it kept in the basement of the University of Chicago's Walker Hall, away from light and prying easily offended eyes.

I'm half-tempted to invite a couple of people to take a picture with a hand on each side of the...er...artwork. Instant "Golden GOATSE"!



This piece of wisdom comes from the women's room wall in the Social Sciences Building, University of Chicago, home of the History Department (and no longer the home of the Economics Department. No indeedy.)

Labels: chicago, history, photo

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For the uninitiated, Archer Avenue (also known as IL-171) is a stretch of road in the southwestern Chicago suburbs with an extraordinarily haunted reputation. From the legend of Resurrection Mary, the quintessential "ghost hitchhiker," to reports of mysterious chantings and ephemeral hooded figures gliding up a bluff at St. James Sag Cemetery, Archer Avenue is considered by many aficionados of the paranormal to be the "Ground Zero" of Haunted Chicago.



We visited St. James Sag (above, the bluffs where the mysterious hooded figures reportedly disappeared) right around Halloween, but the Willow Springs area is spooky year-round, from what we hear.

The intersection of Willow Springs Road and Archer Avenue, where we photographed these whimsical hearses outside the Ashbary Coffee House is a remarkably charming, quirky small town area near the Cook County Forest Preserves. If you find yourself at the Ashbary, be sure to check out the café library and upstairs meeting room - and try one of their delicious peanut butter lattés, a perfect warm-up for a chilly hike through the Willow Springs Woods.

(Be sure to click on the image for full resolution - the license plate reads "GREYL 80," and yes, the sign on the door does say, "Hearse Chicks Get More Stiffs". Claire from "Six Feet Under" would be proud!) For a fascinating look this eerie little corner of the Midwest's largest city, check out Ursula Bielski's excellent book Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City.

As Homer Simpson might say: "Mmmm...ghosts..."

Labels: chicago, culture, history, photo

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  Found in a 1954 copy of "The Demand for Meat," by Elmer J. Working [JSTOR], published by the University of Chicago School of Business' Institute of Meat Packing.

Note that while the demand for pork ebbs and flows between the war years with the economy as a whole, whole ham's popularity never reached the pinnacle of sliced bacon. No surprise there.

However, salt pork seems to remain the "red-headed stepchild" of the pork family, never matching the elegant Post-War cachet of chops. In fact, its levels drop below the horizon by the early 1950's, suggesting salt pork carried the shameful whiff of poverty.

An interesting find from the age when Meat was King in Chicago. I love the font used to caption the graphs: wouldn't that make a great T-shirt?

Labels: books, chicago, food, history, science

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I narrowly ducked into the foyer before hail the size of chickpeas (some larger) started battering down on the street Sunday afternoon. About halfway through the video, note the unfortunate, umbrella-less pedestrian running down the street.

Labels: chicago, news, science, video

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  What's worse than buying over a hundred lottery tickets?



[Seen in the muck between parked cars on my street...]

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Do they serve bran muffins instead of communion wafers? Is the priest Fabio?

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Very tasty Mediterranean eats (in the restaurant, of course), and a fascinating "pilgrimage" bathroom, to boot. On North Avenue, in Chicago.

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  This guy's taken the gas-price blues to a whole new level:

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- A Valparaiso man climbed atop a convenience store with a guitar and megaphone Monday night to sing a song protesting high gasoline prices. Police halted the impromptu 15-minute concert at a Family Express store and took singer Jay Weinberg to jail.

Weinberg's song, called "Price Gouge'n," resonated as he sang from above pumps dispensing fuel at $3.78 per gallon. Dozens of supporters chanted: "I can't afford it. I'm banging on my dashboard. I can't believe they think I'm a fool." Eventually, three Valparaiso police officers arrived and arrested Weinberg on charges of criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Some of the listeners, including his wife, Danielle, drove to Porter County Jail to bail him out. Weinberg left the building around 7:30 p.m. and was greeted with cheers. [via AP/Google]

[With apologies to the creator of the above cartoon; I've seen it several times before but this version lacks a signature. Anyone who knows the name of the artist that should be credited, feel free to leave a comment]

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