Belchy Bartokomous Or Farty McFly?

Things are coming along nicely. In a few days, I will be at the copy shop making the next issue of my 'zine. It's all written and all. So, hooray! In the next couple of weeks, I will be going camping. Hooray again! The 4th of July is this week. I've been BBQ-ing like there's no tomorrow. Fireworks! HOORAY!

Here's a bee drawn on a building that caught on fire near my apartment.


I've been seeing some fine automobiles lately. I have to think it's somehow connected to the Transformers movie.


The girls posing for Katie's (left) going away party, part II. For those that don't know, Katie is going to be a "Marilyn Monroe-type actress" at Disney World. So, that means a trip to Disney this October!

 
Margarita's for Katie!


Nick showing off Black Moses by Isacc Hayes. Karli's mom gave it to him with some other good finds from garage sales in Minnesota.


This is my new favorite photographer. He is located across the street from the Two-Way Lounge on Lincoln.


Matt and Amanda at the Two-Way Lounge. I don't know when the Two-Way became a Hipster bar, but it's strange. Seeing a packed bar full of kids with funny haircuts is much different than a couple of regulars. It's a good time, but a very different atmosphere. It's only a matter of time though until the douchebags arrive and PBR goes from $1 to $3...


Nick, Rob, and Matt figuring out the economics of the Two-Way.


To me, this much patriotism is suspicious. What are they hiding behind the flag that is eight stories tall and six windows wide? Is this a front? Whatever it is, I have to say: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!


Tearing down a building on Clark somewhere near the Gold Coast.


I'm all about environmentalism, but I have limits. This is the worm bin at work. We are suppose to dump our food into this bin and have the worms convert it into dirt. Nothing too odd since I grew up with a composter and had a similar set up in Grand Rapids. But, this is downtown Chicago. This thing is going to stink up the office and bring in more bugs than you can imagine. Also, what are we going to do with the dirt in downtown Chicago? We don't have plants because we don't have windows. I'm sure you will hear more about this. It's the talk of the office already...


Beth and John showing off John's Pasta Party 2007.


PIZZA FEST! IT'S PIZZA FEST. This is Pizza Fest? Really? What a disappointment. Well, it wasn't well planned. Pizza Fest is a great idea and everyone I knew wanted to go to it. But, they scheduled it at the same time as the Taste of Chicago and no vendor was going to be here instead. So, only three pizza stands at Pizza Fest. I think they had more sunglass vendors than pizza. It was their first year. If they do this next year and hold it in September, I bet it would be awesome.


Mike, Megan, and I hung out at the beach for a little bit since Pizza Fest was a bust. Sat in the patio area overlooking downtown and then walk the beach. Feet in the water. Nice...

..
What a strange lifeguard situation in Chicago. If our lifeguards are in a rowboat wearing rain coats, it's no wonder they never filmed Baywatch here.


Cooking hot dogs at Angela and Brent's apartment!


Karli teasing the very pleasant Gracie.


Words fail me...

That's all. It should be another busy week. At some point, I need to pick up some batteries because they are on their last leg. No batteries = no pictures. With all the festivals, parties, and trips coming up, I need to remedy that soon. Much love, Mike

Sometimes, You Just Get One Chance.

So here we go!

Wednesday BBQ Night.

Back at Kuma's Corner for Heavy Metal burgers. Mike seems to be pondering the meaning of ketchup.

What's more appropriate that Mike and Nick eatting a burger called "The Mastadon?"

Karli is featuring "YOB"

Cliff is having the "Iron Maidon" with a side of "ruggage."

This is my "Metallica."

Rumor had it that Humboldt Park was having an art fair this weekend. So, on our way to breakfast at the Flying Saucer we cut through the park. No art fair, but a great car show. Unless this is the HP art fair?

I wish these cars had information on how much time and money it took to do this because these cars are incredible.

My favorite feature of this car is the curb feelers.

When this Caprice rolled in, everyone stopped and watched it park, which took ten minutes to do...

Where are the airbags?

I like the spedometer and clock on the dashboard of this car. Very classy old Ford.

My neighbor back on Crestwood in Muskegon, Michigan use to have a Model A Ford like this. John (my neighbor) use to drive this around and let me ride in the rumble seat. For those that don't know, a rumble seat is the seat that pops out of the trunk of this car. After a short drive we'd head back and watch the Detroit Tigers game on his small TV.

None of my friends Buicks in high school looked like this.

I really like this Dodge Charger. It says "We like Dukes of Hazzard, but have our own style."

Now this is a Camero.

I'm not sure what's going on in the bed of this pickup truck.

This is an old Dick Tracy car with crazy upholstery.

Nothing says "American Family Road Trip" more than this car. I'd love to take a wife and a couple of kids to California in this.

This is one of my favorite vehicles.

This is the inside of the vehicle above. Probably one of my favorite features of this car is the interior based on my childhood bedroom. All it's missing is some punk rock posters, a bed, and lots of books of sketches and drawings.

Perhaps this should be my next tattoo?

If I still had my Volkswagen Rabbit, this is what I would do with it.

Can you imagine driving down the road and seeing this in your rearview mirror? What a dream machine!

This is the car Prince would drive.

My mistake. THIS is the car Prince would drive...

Look at this minivan. There was one other minivan in the show and it was a Sierra as well. Although, this one has been pimped. I didn't take a picture of the other one because the only unique feature was the interior smelled like Raspberries.

The van features six TVs. That's more than any house I have ever lived in has had.

I'm not sure, but I think this is a Transformer.

This car is a labor of love. What a great old Impala. I really like the orange and chrome. The engine was all chrome with etchings throughout. It has hydrolics. A car I'd love to drive REAL slow by Pere Marquette Beach.

After breakfast at the Flying Saucer, we ended up at Belmont Street Festival. It was pretty dead. The only thing of interest was the mostly girl punk band at one of the stages.

If there's anything true about Megan, it's that she's classy and has good fashion sense.

What do you get a good Catholic Irish-American girl? Well, the Kennedy's board game, of course! My favorite card inside was rating "Teddy's Social Standing." If only they knew then what we know now...