All Dolled Up

Guten Tag,

 Hayley and Roberto at Docent Appreciation Night. This is a work party we have every year to thank our volunteers for giving thosands of hours of free labor to the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Hayley and Roberto once again Vincent is an efficient killing machine. That is if wine is the target getting killed. About 384 of our guests for Docent Appreciation Night at the Hotel Intercontinental on North Michigan Avenue. Pretty swanky... Once again, proving that you can dress me up, but you can't take me anywhere. Nick setting up the new hammock at Murder House. SUCCESS! The Muskegon Exiles headed out to the suburb of Lyons (?) for a party where this couple installed an inflatable pool in their family room. Nick is testing the water. Matt and Tyler were disappointed because they thought it was "a pool of Jack Daniel's!" My new best friend Clark. If you pet him, he will be your best friend too! WARNING: This dog will drool all over you and will require you to wash you pants because of the sheer amount of slobber. All in for the pool party! Tyler, Mike, Katie, and Andrew out for fresh air and cigerettes at the pool party. In the backyard, they are installing a gnome garden, fire pit, and a trampoline that you can bounce onto from the roof of the house. Truly, this is a home owned by children and I applaud them. Matt, Andrew, Clark the St. Bernard, and Katie at the pool party buffett. Tyler starting up the grill. The grill! Matt, Tyler, and Karli grilling. At the Lincoln Park Zoo for the Earth Day celebration. As expected, the LPZ invited hippie jam bands to play making it the worst place on Earth to be as yuppies with stollers and hippies joined forces. It was like the South Park episode when hippies decent on South Park and take over everything. I would be Cartman... Outside of LPZ, all was good on a nice, warm Chicago day.

Later! Mike

Chicago Is the Center of the Universe.

Hey Everyone, Summer arrived in March and decided to leave in early April. But, I guess it allowed spring to visit for the rest of the month. Man, is it awesome outside. Everything is green and sunny and awesome. I can't wait for all the events Chicago is going to have this summer. There's no better place to live in the summer than Chicago!

CHICAGO WINS! Well, at least we slaughtered LA is getting the right to bid for the 2016 Olympics in 2016. To me, this really is a moral victory. This was a win by a "real" city over a "fake" city. LA is fake to its core. No one is really from there. Hollywood is a industry of illusions. Celebrity is their main industry. It's not a city, but hundreds of square miles of suburban fantasy, sprawl, and automotive hell. On the other hand, we've got Chicago. There are true Chicagoans and transplants, like myself. We are an industrial, commercial, financial, and cultural powerhouse. Chicago is the greatest city in North America and one of the greatest in the world. YEAH!

Some political art in Wicker Park.

 One of the saddest events to happen in my life recently was discovering the Village Theater is closed. Where else can I see first run movies for $5. I can't do that in Muskegon. Now, I can't do that even in Chicago. Another sad event was visiting the Mike's Inn MySpace page. I remember actually wanting to go to that bar. Now, it looks like all the other douchebag bars. My heart is broken...




Symphony at the Chicago Cultural Center.  Exhibit of mentally disabled people at the Chicago Cultural Center. Ruby Bradford is my new favorite artist. I'm not kidding. This is awesome and says so much more about our society than most of the blowhards in the art community.
My favorite person in here is Judge Hatchett. Nice!  I forgot who did this, but this is really good too. Actually, this whole show was really great and I wish my batteries weren't almost dead on my camera. This work is about the terror after Hurricane Katrina outside the Superdome.


Here we are at Federal Plaza planting. There's also a group of anti-war tax protesters. About three of them. Can you find them? This was just a couple hours ago and another example of why Chicago is better than your city...

Love and miss you all. Mike

PS - Saw Grindhouse and it was pretty good. Robert Rodriguez is a far superior movie maker than Quentin Tarantino (And yes, I do know Rodriguez was the writer and director of the Spy Kids trilogy). Here's why, Rodriguez knows how to tell a story, be humorous, innovative, and allows the movie to be entertaining. Tarantino is self-absorbed, references and copies films without adding his own flare, and largely full of shit. I imagine when directing and watching his films, he probably is jerking off to how awesome he is the whole time. And that is why his half of Grindhouse was pretty boring and uninteresting.

PSS - Grindhouse may be re-released fairly soon as two separate movies because the 3+ is a bit difficult to take. Mostly because Deathproof is so disappointing with such a great premise...

"You Went To College For How Long? You Should Be a Doctor, Not a Loser..."

I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend. I had a pretty good one down in Chicago. I can't wait until we get back to that perfect 70 degree Chicago weather and I'm wandering the streets again...

R2-D2 Mailbox at Clark and Addison. Why? I'm not sure. There must be a nerd lobby at the Post Office or something. There are two other ones in the Chicago city limits at Navy Pier and just north of the river on Michigan Avenue. I wonder how many of these have been stolen and are up for auction on Ebay by now...


Conceptual art piece by some homeless man, I imagine. This is a block away from my old apartment on Geneva Terrace.


Easter Dinner. I've never had lamb before except in gyros. Which has a similar difference from steak and burgers.


Here's some of the side dishes. Some asparagus with orange peelings and all.


Megan, Ronan, John, Dan, and Heather during dinner.

They are really going to town on the Brown Line Expansion now. They've closed down the 4th rail and started tearing it up. I should think about a career change that involves mass transit construction.

That's it.

So, A Coyote Walks Into a Quizno's...

Look what happened right behind my office yesterday! http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070403coyote,1,351721.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=3&cset=true

I'm Ready To Retire...

X-mas is over


When the branch hit the sidewalk, a squirrel leapt about 8-6 ft. in the air and chased the tree crew around. Certainly the best way for me to wake up and head to work in the morning.


Dinner at Carnivale


Desert at Carnivale


Trouble-a-brewin'


Police race in once action takes place.


Suddenly, those cop shows aren't looking so fake...


Thin Lizzy cover band!


Lone Star advertisement


Glessner House. My company saved this house in 1966 and that's what lead me to having a job about 40 years later.


Chicago is pretty.


Look at all that water. Good stuff!


Rem Koolhaas' Student Union at IIT




Hey Chicago! You're looking good these days. Good times!!!