Blizzard!

Lake Michigan, Chicago

February 2, 2011

Blizzard swept through town last night. It's sunny now, but last night's commute was awful. As a kid, I saw footage from the Chicago blizzard of '78, and still remember the image of a guy staggering down the middle of deserted street through blinding snow and wind. Having had to walk home several blocks from public transportation last night, in wind so fierce that it actually blew me over at one point, I now know how that guy felt.

Minnesota

Flying over Minnesota

South of Minneapolis

October 30, 2010

Catching up

Key West sunset

September 2010

Tthis one would be a good start for my first entry in several months!

In case you haven't heard, been a bit of a party in Chicago

Congratulations to the 2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks

Stanley Cup Champions!

Chicago celebrated this achievement with a massive parade and rally in the Blackhawks honor. 
This video is Captain Jonathan Toews' speech at the rally followed by the crowd singing along
to the Fratellis "Chelsea Dagger", which is used as the goal song at the United Center.

 

(note: video is not filmed by me; and the sound gets a bit round just after the 1:00 mark)

One goal.

Chicago skyline, partially lit for the Blackhawks Stanley Cup Final round

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup tonight.

You can do it, Blackhawks. We're behind you. We believe.

Light the lamp. Bring it home tonight.

Join the annual Ride of Silence

There is an important event happening in Chicago tonight: the Ride of Silence, gathering at Daley Plaza at 6:30 and departing at 7pm.

If you've ever seen around town a bike painted completely white and chained to a spot, these are known as "ghost bikes", memorializing a person who was taken in a car-vs-bike accident. Every single one of these memorials is one too many.

I am both a driver, and I ride my bike around town. As a cyclist, I know what it is like to be concerned for my safety on the road. As a driver, however, I recognize that there's an awful lot of cyclists who don't think the rules of the road pertain to them: they ride without helmets or without reflectors/safety equipment; they blow through stop signs; they wear dark clothing after dark or in the rain. I have had angry cyclists do things like pound the roof of my car when I am in a safe, non-blocking position on the road while I've waited for a parking spot.

Both drivers and cyclists need to be more aware and better prepared on the road. The "rules of the road" apply to everybody.

If you're a driver, stay alert, especially in the summer when the number of bikes on the road multiple.

If you're a cyclist, don't assume that people see you. Do everything you can to be visible, to bike safely. Yes, it may be 'more effort' to stop for every stop sign, but what's more important to you - a bit of extra physical effort, or your life?

Chicago at night

Buckingham Fountain, Chicago

Skyline lit to honor the Chicago Police Department

May 1, 2010

Can't wait to see the city skyline lit up for the Blackhawks :)

Free entry to national parks for one week!

Starting Saturday, April 17th, the National Park System will be waiving ENTRY fees for one week. Perfect excuse to go out and enjoy the spring weather and support the NPS!

More cupcakes!

Yeah, I know, it's a rough job but somebody has to do it. Swirlz Cupcakes rolled out their new spring flavors, and I had to, you know, stop by and try them out. And photograph them, while I'm at it. Nom, nom.

Tiramisu

Maple Pecan Pancake

Passionfruit

A dying American city

If you like The World Without Us book or the Life After People TV show, you will find this look at Detroit interesting.

Detroit struggles to live on; but its downtown is becoming a real-time look at how the earth recovers its own, and how nature reclaims what man has built. The city has suffered a number of financial setbacks and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country; and as a result, as businesses and people have left downtown, the city is slowly being taken over by disuse, decay, and Mother Nature.

It's the Sports City

Antti Niemi, Blackhawks goalie (#31)

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames

April 4, 2010

With the Blackhawks regular hockey season wrapping up and the playoffs about to begin, I've been spending a lot more time on my hockey blog than my travel blog.

Chicago is a SPORTS city. I wouldn't call it a "baseball city" or a "football city" or any other specific sport; the city and its citizens simply love sports. For professional sports, there's two baseball teams (Cubs, White Sox), a football team (Bears), a basketball team (Bulls), two hockey teams (Blackhawks - NHL, and Wolves - AHL), and if that's not enough, a soccer team (Fire). The city hosts marathons, half marathons, fun runs, biathalons, triathalons - the list goes on.

Some of the sports events are free, and the rest vary in price, but you will never be bored by the variety of sports available to you in the Windy City.


Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks for clinching the Central Division title for the NHL this year!

The new spirit in the air

It was almost inevitable that some airline was going to do it sooner or later: Spirit Airlines is going to start charging passengers for carry-on baggage - up to $45 each way. (Purses, computer bags, diaper bags and other items that fit under the seat in front of you will still be free.)

Spirit already charges between $15-45 for checking bags domestically and $20-45 for international flights.

That really is the last straw for nickel-and-diming airline customers to death. "Sure, come fly us, but don't bring any clothes with you, or we'll nail you for it." I can understand the idea of charging for overweight bags or second bags, to discourage people from overpacking - and thus save on fuel charges.

But really, if you want to get $40-80 more out of each customer per flight... just charge more for the tickets to begin with. These new charges are bad for two reasons: first, Spirit is going to alienate customers. (And they're not that big of an airline to begin with.)

If it's an issue about things like people continuing to attempt to bring too many/too large bags into the main cabin: charge them $25 to carry on, but $10 to check the bag - most people will opt for the cheaper option. (But then make sure you improve your successful baggage arrival percentage, or people will complain they had to pay to ship their bag, but it got lost.)

Two: other airlines are keeping an eye on Spirit to see how successful they are with this new fee. If Spirit doesn't suffer from customer backlash on this, expect the big boys to start rolling out similar fees. And you can bet that those with frequent flyer status won't have to pay these fees, which means, once again, that the less-frequently-traveling customers are the ones being hit up to prop up the companies' bottom lines, instead of the travelers who make up 70% of airlines' business.

Spring is sprung

Ooops... haven't written in a week. See, it's the end of the hockey season and I'm just a wee bit caught up in playoff-season-fever. My team of choice is the Chicago Blackhawks<, and they've been like a roller coaster since the Olympics, but whew, what a game last night...

Anyway, spring is officially here, and temperatures today were downright summer-like. Suddenly the streets are filled with pedestrians and rollerbladers and cyclists, restaurants have set out their sidewalk café sections... ahhhh. The winter has been far, far, FAR too long and Chicagoans have practically been busting at the seems for these days!

To get you in the mood for spring... a few bright blooms!

Life After People

Love this show; but this particular episode is fascinating for its look at Chicago.