I was sad to learn of the passing of Dennis Wolkowicz, the creator of the Silent Summer Film Festival which I’ve written about here before. Known professionally as Jay Warren, he came up with the idea of presenting silent films to a Chicago audience the way they were meant to be seen: on a big …
Phil’s Tavern
Since we moved to the West Loop, the long-boarded-up Phil’s Tavern has been a reminder of this neighborhood’s past as Chicago’s Skid Row. While other buildings have been re-habbed or torn down to be replaced by brand-new residences and retail, the one-story building with its shuttered bar and the still-open Herzog Store Fixture stood at …
The Ever-Changing World of Chicago Radio
It took about a year for the plug to be pulled on an ambitious (or some would say ridiculous) project: FM News 101.1. As of today, you will hear music on 101.1 FM instead of talk. The CEO of the station’s owner cited “lack of audience engagement” as one of the reasons: that’s doubletalk for …
Morning Greenery
Since it’s been so dry here in the Chicago area, I’ve been up every morning around 5:00 am watering all the plants around the house. We put in a bunch of new stuff out front and it would be a shame if it all dried up. This is what the ornamental grass along our driveway …
Chicago Board of Trade
There are only a couple of weeks during the year when the sun shines on the façade of the Chicago Board of Trade Building at the angle you see here. I happened to have my camera with me the other morning, so I captured it. With the morning sun shining at this angle, you can …
Cloud Gate (and Bike the Drive)
This past Sunday the 11th annual Bike the Drive event was held on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive. After riding the 30-mile route, I took the time to ride around downtown Chicago a bit, and wound up at Millennium Park, where I shot this photo of the Cloud Gate (aka “The Bean”) sculpture. There were over …
Happy New Year!
A couple shots of the legendary cheeseburger spot in Chicago, the Billy Goat Tavern on Lower Michigan Avenue. Happy New Year!