ADORESIXTYFOUR

Every Picture Tells a Story: 2/2/12

2012-02-02T06:35:00.001-06:00

This is how things looked a little over a week ago--and how they're supposed to look in Chicago in winter. Things don't look like this now. It's warm. Trees are budding. Flowers are pushing up through the supposed-to-be-frozen-solid grass. Mother nature is soooooo confused. How will the groundhog react when he's dragged kicking and screaming (assuming for a second that groundhogs do, in fact, scream) from his toasty hole this morning?

One Year Ago Today

2012-02-01T07:58:00.000-06:00

Chicago was buried under nearly two feet of snow.

Today? It's relatively warm--in the upper 40s--and what little snow there is on the ground can be found in smallish mounds at the edges of parking lots or against garage walls.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 2/1/12

2012-02-01T07:04:00.002-06:00

On the Way to Work This Morning...

2012-01-31T07:41:00.002-06:00

January has come to its end--please don't ask me where it went, for I do not know--and the last of the Christmas trees and holiday wreaths litter alleys all around my neighborhood.

The presence of the wreaths is logical, I guess--many people keep them up well into the New Year, and even the heartiest of the "live" wreaths has to dry up sometime.

I've always wondered about those trees, though: Do they sit in people's yards and gangways for days before someone summons the energy and will to drag them to the trash, or do people really keep formerly living trees up in their living rooms this long?

Granted, I saw a fully decorated white Christmas tree peeking out of the second-story window of an apartment building just last week, but that tree was clearly artificial. It may have been up well past the reasonable time to take it down, but it posed no potential hazard beyond annoyance. I've been there--once left my artificial three-footer up until around Valentine's Day.

But leaving up a real tree for that long? That's just asking for disaster.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/31/12

2012-01-31T07:40:00.002-06:00

I've read tons of shit written about Lana Del Rey, yet have successfully (thus far, anyway) avoided hearing one note of her music. Even when I watched her (now-infamous) "performance" on Saturday Night Live, I did so with my headphones off; she looked stage-frightened at best and woefully unprepared at worst. Does her music suck that badly, or does it offend the eardrums of the populace because Del Rey seems to have been assembled via focus group? Her first album drops today, so I guess we'll all find out.

This Week's Travel Reading

2012-01-30T12:02:00.002-06:00

(This week's photo was taken while actually in transit!)

One of the main reasons why I wanted, for the longest time, to be a film critic was that, as a resident of Chicago, I had the pleasure of reading Roger Ebert multiple times a week in The Chicago Sun-Times. I have all of his "Great Movies" collections--though, oddly, I bought the third one first, the first one second and the second one last. I always found him to be one of the great writers about film--an essayist first, a critic second--and his "Great Movies" books are filled with in-depth analyses of inarguable great movies like King Kong, Ran and the Adventures of Robin Hood; movies than need to have a case made for them, like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and The Man Who Laughs (which I reviewed here); and movies that are as repugnant as they are great; he does a splendid job exploring the dichotomy of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, at once a singularly vital link in the history of visual narrative storytelling and one of the most virulent examples of racism every committed to celluloid.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/30/12

2012-01-30T07:34:00.001-06:00

Pigeons huddle together for warmth under the heat lamps at the Western Avenue Brown Line stop.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/27/12

2012-01-27T09:31:00.000-06:00

This Week's Travel Reading

2012-01-26T11:07:00.001-06:00

In case you don't know, Archer is an animated series on FX that spoofs the spy genre (self-)centering around none-too-bright not-so-secret agent Sterling Archer, his boss (who also happens to be his mom, with whom he has a, um, complicated relationship) and his coworkers. It's colorful, relentlessly and aggressively politically incorrect and often hilarious.

The companion book, which came out in conjunction with the 3rd season premiere of Archer last week and serves as a faux guide on how to be a super spy, certainly has its moments as well. It's written almost entirely from the perspective of Archer himself. The problem with that, though, is that there are no other characters to provide relief from Archer's sexism, racism, homophobia and general idiocy. On the plus side--the cocktail section provides actual recipes for drinks, so yay!

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/26/12

2012-01-26T07:27:00.002-06:00

Happy birthday to my best friend, JB!

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/25/12

2012-01-25T08:19:00.001-06:00

On The Way Home Friday Night...

2012-01-24T11:20:00.002-06:00

It snowed vigorously enough Friday afternoon that my employer let us out early. Here's what I saw on the way home.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/24/12

2012-01-24T08:04:00.002-06:00

Just because it's carved in stone doesn't mean it will last forever. Consider this cornerstone on the post office at Irving Park and Southport, where decades of wind and precipitation have worn away all but the largest names engraved there.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/23/12

2012-01-23T08:03:00.001-06:00

It had been there as long as I could remember--the rundown-looking pizza place on Irving Park Road just west of Kedzie.

Even before I'd moved into the neighborhood, I'd known Manzo'. One of my best friends from high school loved the place, so we ate there from time to time in the dining room that, in my memory at least, was dark and ancient, the kind of place where wise guys would meet up with aldermen to deliver payoffs and marching orders, hoping to hell that that the booths weren't bugged.

The photo above was taken last summer. At the time, I didn't know it would be the last photo I'd take of Manzo's.

Last week, Manzo's was torn down.

I wasn't overly surprised. Like I said, Manzo's looked worn out, even from the outside, and the supermarket next door had gone out of business at least a decade earlier. After the barricade went up around the adjoined buildings, I looked at the sign on Manzo's front door. It thanked patrons for their 20+ years (Manzo's was much older than that, so this must have been a message from the then-current owners) and announced that they would reopen in a new space with a new concept and new attitude--in other words, another restaurant, but nothing like Manzo's.

A sign attached to the barricade announced that a Chase bank branch would be built on the site. Great. Yet another bank branch swallowing up yet another corner. Yet another corner that looks like yet another corner. No business with a personality--even a well-worn one--of its own.

No Manzo's.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/20/12

2012-01-20T08:03:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/19/12

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if this face is intentional art or happenstance, but it was peeking out at me the last time I went to the Davis.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/18/12

2012-01-18T07:58:00.000-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/17/12

2012-01-17T06:57:00.000-06:00

Before the Thaw

2012-01-16T11:50:00.006-06:00

Before much of it melts today (only to freeze over again tomorrow), here are a couple of snow shots from Saturday.

This Week's Travel Reading

2012-01-16T11:50:00.003-06:00

Yes. I know. Christmas is over with. However, I must say that it's never a bad time to read a story in a bad Santa is dispatched with a shovel and the none-too-bright title character performs a yuletide miracle that goes horribly, horribly wrong.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/16/12

2012-01-16T07:31:00.001-06:00

On the Way Home Last Night...

2012-01-13T08:24:00.004-06:00

After what had been, up to Wednesday night, a surprisingly--even disturbingly--mild winter, reality finally set back in yesterday as we got hit with our first proper snowstorm of the season. It wasn't nearly as bad as, say, Snowmageddon 2011, but many buildings and objects looked like they'd been spray-painted white on my way home last night.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/13/12

2012-01-13T07:47:00.003-06:00

The newest magnet on my fridgie seems appropriate for today.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/12/12

2012-01-12T08:04:00.001-06:00

They can be found in every alley throughout my neighborhood, propped against garages or covered by large plastic bags or, like this one, lying on its side--the pines and wreathes and spans of garland, waiting for the garbage truck to lumber by.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/11/12

2012-01-11T07:30:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/10/12

2012-01-10T07:39:00.001-06:00

This Week's Travel Reading

2012-01-09T11:59:00.002-06:00

It's a shame that Dan Abnett spends a good chunk of the novel hiding the fact that the Ice Warriors are the main bad guys when somebody at the publisher decided to plunk a picture of the Ice Warriors right on the dust jacket. To be fair, though, longtime fan likely would have figured that out anyway, and seeing the fan-favorite monsters from the original Doctor Who series might entice said longtime fans to buy the book. (It worked on me.)

On the Way to Work This Morning...

2012-01-09T08:29:00.002-06:00

Christmas has long since passed. New Year's Eve and Day as well. And now, January 6--whether you call it Epiphany, Three Kings Day, Orthodox Christmas or the 12th Day of Christmas--is receding in the rear-view mirror. So the time has come to take down the city tree at Daley Center Plaza. Ordinarily, this would fill me with melancholy.

However, since I was already filled with melancholy this holiday season, for various reasons, and was none too pleased with this year's official Christmas tree, the city crews winding up the lights and bringing the tree down will be met with a listless shrug.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/9/12

2012-01-09T07:33:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/6/12

2012-01-06T08:50:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/5/12

2012-01-05T08:07:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/4/12

2012-01-04T07:45:00.002-06:00

Random stickers on a lamp post near my apartment.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/3/12

2012-01-03T07:32:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 1/2/12

2012-01-02T08:58:00.001-06:00

New Year's Day

2012-01-01T07:41:00.002-06:00

The festive New Year's postcard above was mailed from someone in Minneapolis to someone else in that same city nearly 100 years ago, yet the card itself, featuring artwork by famed postcard illustrator Ellen Clapsaddle, looks like it could have been sent yesterday.

Happy New Year, everybody!

New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T09:35:00.003-06:00

You all know how much I love lighting candles. You may also know how much I love angels. Put the two together? Awesome sauce.

May this lovely pine-scented angel candle light you (and my) way to a (hopefully) brighter New Year.

Holidaze: 12/30/11

2011-12-30T09:30:00.001-06:00

My Year at the Movies 2011

2011-12-29T08:08:00.000-06:00

Here are some (but not nearly all) of the movies and marquees I saw this year.

Holidaze: 12/29/11

2011-12-29T08:03:00.000-06:00

Holidaze: 12/28/11

2011-12-28T07:42:00.000-06:00

Christmas Dinner

2011-12-27T11:39:00.003-06:00

I was on my own Christmas Day, having spent Christmas Eve Eve at brunch with Superbadfriend and dinner with Dee and JB and Christmas Eve at dinner with Mom. I was well prepared, however, for a hearty Christmas dinner of pierogis with various fillings (potato, sauerkraut, cheese, meat, plum) garnished with garlic, red onions and green bell pepper. (See what I did there? Red and green? Christmas? hello? This thing on?) After dinner, moving from in front of the TV was pretty much an impossibility, but that hadn't been part of the plan anyway.

Holidaze: 12/27/11

2011-12-27T07:57:00.002-06:00

Holidaze: 12/26/11

2011-12-26T07:37:00.000-06:00

Holidaze: 12/25/11

2011-12-25T09:54:00.005-06:00

From my more-than-slightly-strange home to yours, I wish you a Merry Christmas.

It's Not Too Late...

2011-12-24T09:41:00.000-06:00

...to catch Donny & Marie for your Christmas Eve entertainment! (Or, maybe, it is.)

Holidaze: 12/24/11

2011-12-24T08:41:00.004-06:00

I found a neat set of three hand-painted holiday glasses at a neighborhood second-hand store. Here is one of them, filled with water. (Water, I tell you--I would neeeeeever drink vodka straight in such a large, if highly festive, glass.)

Holidaze: 12/23/11

2011-12-23T08:39:00.002-06:00

Another tree that looks a whole lot better than the one in Daley Center Plaza.

On the Way to Work This Morning...

2011-12-22T11:03:00.004-06:00

The Christmas tree below is in the Thompson Center. See how full and green it is? See how it has been decorated with care and attention to detail? Lovely tree, isn't it?

Unfortunately, the tree in the Thompson Center isn't Chicago's official Christmas tree. This is: I know the city it trying to save money by accepting a donated tree from the area rather than building a tree out of many, smaller farm-grown trees. Those cost more, and it takes more manpower to assemble and decorate that tree. I further realize that, since this is a donated tree selected from a group of trees from around the greater Chicagoland area, and thus you kind of have to take the best of what you can get.

But for fuck's sake, people--put some effort into it!

The Daley Center Plaza tree looks especially awful when viewed from the middle of the Plaza itself, where this picture was taken--the beige building behind the tree doesn't hide its defects like the Daley Center does (when viewed from the opposite angle). And the straight string of lights draped down the tree only enhance the careless, disheveled look of the thing, like the city workers decorating it beheld their efforts, shrugged and said, "Eh, good enough."

No. It's not "good enough." Not at all.

Considering that Chicago's Christkindlmarket has garnered considerable praise recently, with favorable comparisons to similar markets in Vienna and Dublin, our world-class market should be complemented by a world-class Christmas tree.

I'd rather have a series of smaller, finely decorated trees positioned strategically around the plaza--or, if it came down to it, no tree at all--than to have this embarrassment on public display.

The official Christmas tree of the city of Chicago should not look more shitty than what my neighbor down the block, with far less money and far fewer resources, can throw together.

On the Way Home Last Night...

2011-12-22T08:11:00.002-06:00

You have to be fast to snap a shot of the CTA's holiday train. I was not fast enough. (A train passing in the other direction did not help.)

Holidaze: 12/22/11

2011-12-22T06:38:00.000-06:00

The Boys Beneath the TV

2011-12-21T11:29:00.004-06:00

Lined up beneath the TV screen are several vintage figures collected from various places. The one on the left is the newest, found at kitschy toy store Uncle Fun a couple of weeks ago. The rest were picked up either from the long-gone Wonderland Multivintage--the same place where the aluminum tree and the Angels Three came from--or were found amongst Grandma's Christmas decorations (as was Angelique.

Holidaze: 12/21/11

2011-12-21T07:26:00.002-06:00

Is it just me, or does this decoration make it look like a two-headed reindeer. Beat that, Rudolph!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

2011-12-20T11:25:00.001-06:00

Three times the Santas means the gifts get delivered three times as fast, right?

Holidaze: 12/20/11

2011-12-20T07:30:00.001-06:00

"Naughty, you have been. Lump of coal in stocking, you will get. Hmm."

The Angel with the Flower

2011-12-19T11:29:00.003-06:00

I've seen angels holding flutes, lutes, lyres and guitars. I've even seen angels holding bouquets. But a single, huge flower? Not really, no. Maybe that's why this angel stood out from all the others at the Dollar Tree. That, and she was the only one of her kind there, shoved all the way to the back of the shelf. She deserved to come out and celebrate the holiday atop my coffeemaker, did she not?

Holidaze: 12/19/11

2011-12-19T08:11:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/18/11

2011-12-18T07:08:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/17/11

2011-12-17T08:07:00.002-06:00

This tree in a bank parking lot in Boystown is so much nicer than the one in Daley Center Plaza.

A Fistful of Rudolphs

2011-12-16T11:08:00.000-06:00

One of the first entries I wrote for this blog when I started it 10 years ago (again, yikes) was about the TV Christmas classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I've always identified with the outsider, the different kid, the freak. I still want to live on the Island of Misfit Toys--I think I'd fit in.

This could explain why I have so many Rudolphs.

My first ornament as a child was a white glass Rudolph, and that love of the "different" reindeer carried well into adulthood. The plush Rudolph in front has been around for years and was purchased at Montgomery Ward, where Rudolph's story first began way back in 1939 when Ward's copywriter Robert May came up with the story of the little buck everyone laughed at until they needed him to save their sorry furry asses. That original storybook was sold at Ward's years before the song (most famously covered by cowboy star Gene Autry) and the TV special.

The other Rudolphs accumulated over time. I found the flocked one on the left at Quake (the best second-hand toy store in the world, I tell you--and within walking distance of La Casa!). The semi-plush one in the middle was picked up at the neighborhood Village Discount Outlet for cheap--and it sings! The one on the right? That popped up at Walgreens this year. And all the way in the back? The book that started it all (well, a facsimile thereof).

Holidaze: 12/16/11

2011-12-16T07:07:00.001-06:00

These Angels Three

2011-12-15T11:45:00.000-06:00

Angelique is not the only ancient angelic ornament on display this year at La Casa del Terror. In addition to her twin sister (on another shelf in the living room), there are these three little ladies that I found at a long-gone second-hand store in Wicker Park--the very same store, in fact, where I found the aluminum tree.

They all date back to the same era as Angelique (somewhere in the late 1940s or early 1950s) and are in pretty decent shape except for the one on the right, who apparently had a rough life before landing in my hands--she was intact, but had no face. Even though I possess virtually no artistic skills, I still managed to draw a passable, pleasant expression on her face and place her and her little friends in a well-lit corner of La Casa del Terror.

Holidaze: 12/15/11

2011-12-15T08:06:00.000-06:00

The Christmas Unicorn

2011-12-14T11:25:00.004-06:00

Quite some time ago, I had a friend who was really into unicorns. One Christmas, while wandering through a Carlton Cards store (which we used to have in Chicago, but they've all long since vanished here), I found a lovely and elegant Christmas unicorn.

So lovely and elegant, if fact, that I seriously contemplated keeping her for myself.

That would, of course, have been supremely selfish of me, so the Christmas unicorn was given as planned and received with much apparent approval and joy. I still wanted one for myself, but I was out of luck--Carlton didn't have anymore in stock, and stops at several other Carlton stores yielded no better results.

Fortunately for me, though, Carlton reissued that unicorn the following year and for a few holiday seasons after that, tweaking the color of the paint job a little each time. That next year, I had my unicorn and kept it high and prominent on my tree every year.

That is, in those years when I bothered with a tree at all.

This is not one of those years.

The reasons for this vary from year to year. Sometimes, I know that I'll be too busy during the holiday season and won't be around La Casa del Terror often enough to enjoy the decorations. Some years, the holiday spirit is extinguished early because of my job or my love life (or, more accurately and perpetually, the lack thereof) or whatever. And some years, I can't find a proper space in La Casa to place my "big" tree (and by "big," I mean the three-footer, as opposed to Grandma's 18-inch lighted tree, which stands in the living room window every year).

This year? A little bit of each.

My hours at work have been long. The personal loneliness/horniness that's always nibbling away at the periphery is front and center and nasty as can be (and not in a good way). And even though I cleaned the apartment thoroughly in October and have kept it reasonable straight since then, there is no open space where the "big" tree will properly fit.

The "big" tree, therefore, remains in its box in the closet, as does the aluminum tree, which is just as tall and even more of a pain in the yuletide to set up.

Still, I wanted the Christmas unicorn on display somewhere in La Casa, so now it's hanging out (quite literally) in my bathroom. An odd place to hang a Christmas ornament, I'll grant, but every time I see it, it makes me smile--and these days, I'll take all the smiles I can muster.

Holidaze: 12/14/11

2011-12-14T07:05:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/13/11

2011-12-13T08:04:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/12/11

2011-12-12T07:52:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/11/11

2011-12-11T08:09:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/10/11

2011-12-10T09:06:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/9/11

2011-12-09T08:04:00.004-06:00

Angelique makes her annual appearance, bathed in early morning light while atop my intercom.

Holidaze: 12/8/11

2011-12-08T07:03:00.000-06:00

Holidaze: 12/7/11

2011-12-07T07:19:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/6/11

2011-12-06T07:17:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/5/11

2011-12-05T07:35:00.000-06:00

I like A Christmas Story as much as the next holiday-besotted fellow, but does there need to be a musical version, really?

Holidaze: 12/4/11

2011-12-04T08:16:00.000-06:00

Holidaze: 12/3/11

2011-12-03T09:30:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 12/2/11

2011-12-02T07:29:00.001-06:00

On the Way Home Last Night...

2011-12-01T08:26:00.000-06:00

Holidaze: 12/1/11

2011-12-01T08:13:00.002-06:00

Do you see this lovely Santa glowing in the night on Whipple Street? Do you know when this picture was taken? TWO DAYS AFTER HALLOWEEN, DAHLINGS!

Holidaze: 11/30/11

2011-11-30T07:23:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 11/29/11

2011-11-29T07:13:00.001-06:00

Where I Was Sunday Afternoon

2011-11-28T07:40:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 11/28/11

2011-11-28T07:27:00.001-06:00

Holidaze: 11/27/11

2011-11-27T08:26:00.000-06:00

Holidaze: 11/26/11

2011-11-26T09:22:00.002-06:00

If you're out shopping this Black Friday, you may run across strange sights--like, for example, this topiary deer sitting on a bench at Harlem Irving Plaza.

Holidaze: 11/25/11

2011-11-25T09:37:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving is over. The effects of last night's tryptophan-tastic meal have worn off and you have awaken from the food coma. (Yes, I know the whole tryptophan-in-turkey thing is a myth--just go with this, would you?) What do you do now?

If you are suitably deranged, you trundle out to the nearest hopping mall, drive around for an hour or so looking for a parking spot within a one-mile radius of said mall, and fight tooth and nail, elbow and knee with your fellow shoppers for the Black Friday deals of your choice.

If, however, you are like me--undeniably deranged, but not suitably so--you hang close to home, spin a holiday CD or three, and decorate your space for the holidaze to come.

This year, those decorations at La Casa del Terror include the lovely lighted Santa seen above. More photos of decorations new and old, from here and from there, will appear in this space in the coming days.

Gobble Gobble 11/24/11

2011-11-24T08:32:00.002-06:00

From the living room window of La Casa del Terror to wherever you may be this day--in your own living room, at a party, visiting relatives or relaxing in a scenic vacation spot--I hope you and yours have a happy, safe and comfy Thanksgiving.

Gobble Gobble 11/23/11

2011-11-23T06:56:00.001-06:00

Gobble Gobble 11/22/11

2011-11-22T07:54:00.001-06:00

Gobble Gobble 11/21/11

2011-11-21T07:53:00.000-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 11/18/11

2011-11-18T07:52:00.000-06:00

On the Way to Work This Morning...

2011-11-17T08:02:00.000-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 11/17/11

2011-11-17T06:50:00.001-06:00

On the Way to Work This Morning...

2011-11-16T11:25:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 11/16/11

2011-11-16T07:56:00.002-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 11/15/11

2011-11-15T07:23:00.002-06:00

This is the structure that supports the tracks that my train to and from work rides on every day. It does not fill me with confidence.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 11/14/11

2011-11-14T07:01:00.001-06:00

On the Way to Work This Morning...

2011-11-13T10:04:00.000-06:00

The decoration of the tree in Daley Center Plaza and the construction of the Kristkindlmarket village around it continue apace.

For Dinner Last Night...

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-06:00

Homemade beef stew from Superbadfriend. Perfect comfort food on the first snowy day of the season.

BTW: This entry is going up at 11:11 a.m. CST on 11/11/11. What does that mean? Not a damn thing, really. Just very symmetrical, that's all.

Every Picture Tells a Story: 11/11/11

2011-11-11T07:55:00.001-06:00

Every Picture Tells a Story: 11/10/11

2011-11-10T06:56:00.001-06:00