Mike's Bargain Bin of Goods!

It's that time of year again. Children's Memorial Hospital and 101.9 The Mix are doing the annual radiothon, which I will be working on this weekend. So donate early and often! http://www.wtmx.com/microfeatures/radiothon.php

So, we went with a few friends to Wormhole Coffee and they have a DeLorean from Back To the Future in the window. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but this got me in the shop...

Mr. Fusion. Your "home energy reactor."

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

MIKE'S BARGAIN BIN OF GOODS!

Look at this beautiful floral patterned couch. Wonderful for any apartment. $100

Did I mention that it comes with a FREE slip cover?!?!

A stylish, comfy chair with matching ottoman. From the Pearson Co. $50

FREE! A random assortment of junk. Take one; take all! We have books like In Cold Blood, Sin In the Second City, and The Quran. There are some movies on VHS and DVD. Do you love candles? How about a gong? Maybe an angel figurine without a face? Let me know and it could be yours for FREE!

We're out of practice with our camera stick. The Chicago skyline was suppose to be behind us...

Again, please support the Eric & Kathy 101.9 The Mix radiothon benefiting Children's Memorial Hospital! http://www.wtmx.com/microfeatures/radiothon.php

Rose In a Box

Rose Dandan. Featured artist in the window at Uncle Fun's on Belmont on August 28th. Please be her friend on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicago-IL/One-of-a-kind-Artwork-by-Rose-Dandan/103068436405451?ref=ts

or purchase at Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DandanArt

Uncle Fun's at 1338 W. Belmont in Chicago for those who have no idea what they are missing!

MEGAN CAN'T BELIEVE HOW GREAT ROSE'S ARTWORK IS! Again, please join Rose's Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicago-IL/One-of-a-kind-Artwork-by-Rose-Dandan/103068436405451?ref=ts

or purchase at Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/DandanArt

Children's Memorial Hospital employee picnic. Can you believe I resigned from this place? Tons of food and fun all the time? And, during the worse economic calamity since the Great Depression? What an idiot...

Balloon animals. Nice

Bucktown Art Festival at the worst named park ever. Senior Citizen Memorial Park. Really? It's a park to memorialize dead old people in general?

A really nice art fair in general though

Frank's N Dawg at 1863 N. Clybourn in Chicago.

Megan had the Lamb Keema hot dog with lamb, English peas, cucumber salad, pearl onions and socca. Very good

The Southerner! It was great and for a great cause. Some of the proceeds go to Children's Memorial Hospital when purchased. This is not your typical hot dog stand. It's very gourmet and the prices reflect that. It's about $8-9 per dog. But, the many of the sausages are homemade and the toppings and bun are incredible. Check out their website at: http://www.franksndawgs.com/

That's about it. Megan got the ol' moving truck ordered and stuff like window ac unit, couch, rug, nightstand, bookshelves are going on Craigslist. There's also a bunch of books, clothes, more candles than you can imagine, and other items up for grabs. Let me know if you are looking for something and I'll send a photo or whatever.

The New Barbarian Rochestarian

After nine years in Chicago, Megan and I decided it was time for a change of scenery. We resigned from our jobs, which will take effect September 17th and will be moving to Rochester, New York soon after. I want to thank all the people over the years who have been so good to me-from the Art Institute, Chicago Architecture Foundation, and Children's Memorial Foundation. There are also a bunch of random friends that I've made randomly that we will miss. As usual, I will keep everyone updated on here as we learn what we are doing ourselves.

Thanks again Chicago! We will miss you!

The Point Of No Return... Or of Return? What Are We Doing Again?

My neighbor Blago in street graffiti dancin' like a fool!

The Gold Coast Art Fair, which ironically isn't even in the Gold Coast.

Free and, in this economy means, crowded

Buckingham Fountain will always remind me of meeting a Czech couple in the middle of nowhere Portugal saying to us in broken English, "Oh Chicago. My favorite show is Married With Children."

Paris on the Prairie

big sail boat in Burnham Harbor

Megan's family calls these style of boats "Rodney Dangerfield's" because of his classic scene in Caddyshack. I have to say, it's pretty appropriate.

The Wrigley Building from the Riverwalk

It may look pretty, but there is no way you are going to get me that close to the Chicago River's water in a kayak

Hard Rock Hotel (Carbon and Carbide Buidling)

Megan enjoying her giant burger and giant fries at Five Guys

Strange architecture in Lincoln Park. Here are two apparent single family homes. They weren't big enough and so a strange tower addition was constructed to combine the both. It's like a Victorian McMansion Medieval castle house...

AIA Chicago gave this frame and artwork to us for our wedding. It's titled "He Was a Friend of Mine." Ok, so there's a dog made of clouds. A sinister cat. We're they friends? Is this title sarcastic? What evil things has this cat done? What is going on?

Chicago Air & Water Show (sort of...)

Let me just start off by saying that I was spoiled growing up because I went to the Air Fair in Muskegon, Michigan when it was an independent operation and awesome. You could climb on the planes, you were surrounded by planes, they flew all around you. So, Megan and I were very let down by our first and only Chicago Air & Water Show. Not only was it crowded with every annoying idiot with a 100 mile radius of Chicago screaming horrible things to their toddlers, but we barely saw planes. Forget about the water show...

Leap Frogs during the national anthem.

Notice the tents and umbrellas. Really? It's an "Air" show. Why would you bring something that completely blocks your view of the air? Common sense...

The Chicago Fire Department water rescue demonstration somewhere behind the giant tent that kept falling down because the owners didn't know how to install the poles...

F18 Super Hornet

Closer view of the Super Hornet

Blackhawk helicopters doing some demonstration on the water. At least we see these prowling the skies whenever President Obama's in town

Human infestation..

So, about 2 hours into the 5-6 hour show, we decided to leave. It was miserable and completely disappointing. Maybe we should have watched from some place other than North Avenue. Maybe we should have known better and not gone at all.

On a brighter note, I found the car that will be know as the Kraus Family Truckster. One day, I'll pack the ol' wife and kids in this Mercedes and travel around the country. Probably be divorced and lose custody by the time we get back. But what an adventure!!!