I’m hungry.
ChickenFat Klezmer Orchestra, the band I play guitar in, is playing at the Folk & Roots Festival this Sunday. I’m pretty excited about it.
ChickenFat Klezmer Orchestra (aka the Alte Schteibeles)
Folk & Roots Festival
July 12, 1pm
Welles Park (Montrose and Lincoln)
We’ve got some demo mp3’s available here.: http://music.chickenfatklezmer.com/
Over 60 imaginary city blocks handcrafted in cardboard by Chicago artists comprise the excellent exhibit The Exquisite City.
Notable artists include Jay Ryan, whose model is shown, and Neko Case, who created a stunning nineteenth century hotel burning down in the Great Chicago Fire (complete with smoke rising to the ceiling).
The level of creativity and attention to detail that went into the models impressed me greatly.
Check out the website for various events, including an opening reception tomorrow night.
http://exquisitecity.com/
Exquisite City
Chicago Tourism Center (across from the Cultural Center)
72 E Randolph, Chicago, IL
Through March 15
Free
(See more photos of the Exquisite City at Flickr)
I didn’t intend to spend election night at the Obama rally at Grant Park. I didn’t have a ticket to the viewing area, so I planned to spend the night watching election returns at a friend’s house.
Still, I figured it would be worth stopping by Grant Park to see the crowds and get some photos before I went home.
But when I got there, the crowd was alive. It was like New Years Eve, the 4th of July, and AwesomeDay all wrapped into one. Excited smiles were on every face. I can’t remember when I’ve seen so many joyous, hopeful people all in one place.
I never left the rally until well after Obama’s victory speech. It was exhilarating to be in the crowd, and I felt I couldn’t miss that historic night in Grant Park.
After Obama spoke, there was much cheering and celebrating. The world felt different and more optimistic. Seeing all the happy young kids there, I realized they are now going to grow up in a much different country. It was pretty amazing.
The 1st (!) Chicago International Poster Biennial is going on until October 30th October 9th.
It’s down in beautiful Daley Bicentennial Plaza.
The work is great. This exhibit highlights an underappreciated art form in an underutilized park, so get down there and see it!
Brendan Scanlon, the Chicago artist known as “Solve”, was murdered last month.
A show of his work opened today at the Swim Cafe at 1357 W. Chicago Avenue. It’s a great body of work–definitely worth checking out.
He showed a ton of talent at 24. It’s depressing that we won’t know what he would have achieved.
I went out to photograph the remnants of the Peerless Candy Factory today.
While I knew that a century-old candy factory couldn’t survive in Lincoln Park’s condo economy, (and despite the fact that I don’t really like hard candy of the type made there), it is sad to see the Peerless Candy Factory coming down.
It was a link to Chicago’s sugary, industrial past. In the 21st century, it was hard to believe a train full of corn syrup snaked its way from downtown Chicago through residential neighborhoods to supply the factory.
I suppose the economic forces that brought Peerless down are the same forces that make my neighborhood desirable to live in. It would be nice to have it both ways.
I visited Millennium Park for the opening day of the Museum of Modern Ice yesterday.
It was nice, but the foot of snow we received covered it in frost, which muted the colors quite a bit.
I heard on WBEZ that it was funded by the CN Railroad. So, um, thanks CN Railroad! You will be the first choice for all my rail shipping needs.
See my Museum of Modern Ice Flickr set for more photos.
When I was in Russia, a friend I met there introduced me to Nogu Svelo, a Russian band. They’re weird and awesome, but for a long time I couldn’t find their music in the US.
Now, they’re available on eMusic, and have videos on YouTube:
