September 30, 2013. This scene was all I got on my walk during my lunch break. I knew when I got it, though, that it would probably be my choice for the day. The title refers to Robert Doisneau's "Le Baiser de L'Hotel de Ville." I've made that reference before in a photo I called "Le Baiser de Milwaukee Avenue," or maybe "Le Baiser de L'Avenue Milwaukee." I don't remember offhand. Unfortunately, the building doesn't have a very poetic name. I looked it up to see if it was known as anything other than "55 East Jackson," and found that it was also known as "CNA Plaza North." Not good enough.
Two months of this project are complete, now. Just ten more months to go!
Monday, September 30, 2013
061/365 - Le Baiser de 55 East Jackson
Sunday, September 29, 2013
060/365 - Gompers Park
September 29, 2013. The Gompers Park fieldhouse was designed by Chicago architect Clarence Hatzfeld. Work on the park began in 1927. In 1929 the park was named after Samuel Gompers, first president of the American Federation of Labor. I passed by this evening on a trip to the grocery store.
059/365 - Brauer House
September 28, 2013. Squared Off played to a small, but enthusiastic audience at the Brauer House in Lombard, Illinois. Here is some bartender love for you.
Friday, September 27, 2013
058/365 - Polka Dots
September 27, 2013. Chicago seems to be enjoying its gift of a couple of summer days as October approaches. This scene is from Millennium Park, with the Crown Fountain in the background.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
057/365 - Balls
September 26, 2013. After band practice, a visit to Stella's gave me this shot of the pool balls being racked.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
056/365 - Touch & Go
September 25, 2013. It's a chess party! At Michigan and Jackson, south of the Art Institute, you can join in.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
055/365 - Hannah's Magnifier
September 24, 2012. Tara gave a gift to Hannah, visiting from the UK, of a magnifying glass pendant on a very long chain. Here, Hannah models it at Township. Brava!
054/365 - Love on the Breakfast Aisle
September 23, 2012. I happened upon a very affectionate couple while looking at cereal Monday night. I ended up just buying yogurt and bananas. Beanies and flip flops? The weather isn't that confusing. And it seems the inability to recognize appropriate wardrobe is contagious.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
053/365 - Dig
September 22, 2013. It was a cool first day of autumn, and I didn't expect much to be going on at North Avenue Beach when I rode over, but there were a few volleyball games going on, several tourists taking in the shore and the skyline from their Divvy bikes, and at least six engagement or wedding shoots going on.
052/365 - Going Broke
September 21, 2013. This is a new piece by Don't Fret that I first spotted the day before on my way home from work. Thankfully, it was still up for me to get a photo the next day when I would have better light.
Friday, September 20, 2013
051/365 - Matching Smiles
September 20, 2013. I met Helena, on the right, Thursday night when she was working Wurstfest. I ran over to Daley Plaza on my lunch break to catch about two minutes of music from the Opposition Party, whose keyboard player is a friend of a friend that I've been wanting to see play. After a brief bit of grooving to the Afrobeat of that band, I spotted Helena and went over to say hi. I found her with a woman that I think was also working, who was sporting the same smile. Whodathunkit?
Thursday, September 19, 2013
050/365 - Wurstfest Jesus
September 19, 2013. I saw Nate's announcement that he (as DJ LA Jesus) would be performing the next day at Wurstfest in Daley Plaza toward the end of my work day. I hustled over after work and caught the last fifteen minutes or so of his set of dance tunes, and met some of his charming family. It was super meaty as far as food offerings, so I didn't have anything, but I understand carnivores had some very tasty choices. There's still a day (Friday the 20th) for you to sample the sausages and hear some music, so head on down - especially if there's a repeat of the weather.
049/365 - Anger
September 18, 2013. Squared Off played a show and birthday party for bassist/bartender/manager and fellow Texan Dice at Ultra Lounge alongside Ratguts, Michigan's SNAFU and Anger, whose guitarist, Dave Simon is pictured here. We loaded in our gear during a heavy downpour and thunderstorm, and had a great show despite our dampness. Happy Birthday, Dice!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
048/365 - The Nap Store
September 17, 2013. There's a store on Milwaukee Avenue where you can go buy some nap time? That sounds like a thing doesn't it? Look at all these nappers in their PJ's getting some rest, dreaming of the juice and cookies to come. I wonder if storytime comes before your nap, or if that's an expensive upgrade.
Monday, September 16, 2013
047/365 - Jackson Fedora
September 16, 2013. Sometimes I ride my bike nine or so miles to work downtown, and sometimes I ride it about a mile to the Blue Line and take the train downtown. When I do that, my work train stop is at Jackson. On my way home today, this fellow in a fedora came down to catch the train as well.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
046/365 - Sad, Wet Clown
September 15, 2013. Today was the final day of Riot Fest, and it was cool and rainy. I found this sad clown wandering away after a stellar set by Quicksand. I was also very impressed with Mission of Burma and Bob Mould. Against Me! sounded great. Suicidal Tendencies were as cyco as expected, tight as hell, and exploding with aggro energy. Peelander Z was insanely fun. The Pixies seemed to start each song a bit tentatively, but sounded really good once they got going, though the absence of Kim Deal was definitely noticeable. White Mystery was rock and roll redhead chaos - and that's good. And the Replacements! So good, even with out-of-tune moments, and a few instances of chord and lyrical forgetfulness. The songs are fantastic, including the cover of "Maybellene." And that's just the bands that I saw on Sunday. The sogginess was completely worth it.
045/365 - Shiny Pants
September 14, 2013. I made it out to the second day of Riot Fest, where I caught music from The Selecter, Dinosaur Jr, Pennywise, Radkey, Flag, Blondie, Public Enemy, and the Violent Femmes. I ran into people I know (including Pat Idle from Austin, TX - it's been more than five years) and met some friendly strangers, particularly when I was with my guitar player Gary. He egged on the posing of these two guys, and helped me get a photo of a girl imitating her rabbit.
Friday, September 13, 2013
044/365 - Harriet
September 13, 2013. I mentioned in a previous post that I would fall back on things, including the animals I live with, when I didn't get anything on camera during the course of the day. This is Harriet the goldfish. There is still a dog to rescue me as well. Today should have been eventful. It was day 1 of Riot Fest, but I just didn't want to leave the house. So I missed Flatfoot 56, GWAR, Andrew W.K., Bad Religion, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Danzig. Fallout Boy (Fall Out Boy?) played, too, but I never considered staying for them. The next two days, I will definitely be at Riot Fest, so don't get too excited about meeting Elsie the dog yet.
043/365 - Do It, Roger
September 12, 2013. The Fabulous Ladies of Fitness brought their monthly dance party to Cole's Bar with a tribute to Roger Troutman and Zapp alongside guest DJ's DJ LA Jesus and Ghosthouse. There were lots of bumping beats, basslines, vocoders and bouncing booties. There was also a guy excitedly insisting that Cameo's "Word Up" was straight up "DC in the 90's." I decided to not music-nerd out on him and argue that Cameo is from Atlanta (I think), and that song is their biggest hit from the 80's (I know). It was still fun that he and his date were dancing away and having a good time. The next FLOF party will be Hip-Hop Halloween at Cole's. It's going to be a blast. Be there if you can!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
042/365 - Loose Lips
September 11, 2013. I thought my photo today would be one I took of one of the cooks at Falafel & Grill. He beckoned me over when he saw me stop at Milwaukee and Paulina to take photos of the commuting cyclists. But then I had band practice, followed by a visit to Stella's. There weren't many people there, but it was fairly rowdy. So tonight I give you "Loose Lips Sink Ships."
041/365 - Deutsch Boy
September 10, 2013. There I was, just riding home from work, and at Adams and State I saw this guy in lederhosen hanging out on the corner. I've since noticed that there's an Oktoberfest set up a block away, so maybe he came from there. Or maybe he's going to hop on the Red Line and take it to the Alps.
Monday, September 9, 2013
040/365 - Ninja Washers
September 9, 2013. Today's photo of the day greeted me when I came up from the subway downtown this morning. The first photos on the card yielded results when I ran across these ninja window washers only about three stories off the ground. I've seen them, and photographed them, previously on a different building when they were much higher, but today was the day. One even posed for me. Later in the evening had some interesting situations, too. A nice dinner at Tocco in Wicker Park changed in mood quite suddenly toward the end when it became the venue for Bondage Bingo. As luck would have it, Shereen got the first Bingo of the night and got her ass paddled by a tattooed babe in a lowcut cocktail dress. You go, girl.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
039/365 - Lakefront
September 8, 2013. In summers past, I've made probably three to five trips to the beach each week. Most of that was simply riding a couple of miles on the Lakefront Trail before or after work. This summer, not only did I not have work to put me near the lake, but I had all kinds of other crap going on to keep me occupied or in enough of a depression to not go anywhere in daylight hours. So, now, summer is ending, if not gone altogether, and I've tried to cram in a few visits to Lake Michigan. I've typically not lingered and not gotten any decent photographs. Today was probably the second day in which I did any shooting, but it wasn't particularly summery. The temperature was on the cool side, around 75ºF, and it was cloudy and windy. That didn't prevent me from leaving with a handful of decent photos, but it sure made me miss the summer that I didn't participate in.
038/365 - Gone Blonde
September 7, 2013. Busty Mannequin, as I've called her, has made appearances in my previous 365 project. She's sort of a safety net, since she's always there and changes outfits often. The more certain "safety net" subjects are the animals I live with and self-portraits. If I have a day with no worthy photos (or no photos), I just turn to one of those three subjects. Saturday was one of those days since I backed out of a camping trip, and while I was out on my bike at four a.m. I visited Busty's window to find her in this red satin dress with a fur, a hat, and a long blonde wig.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
037/365 - Loves Me/Loves Me Not
September 6, 2013. After work, I went to a couple of gallery openings, one of which featured a fantastic large-scale sculpture by an artist I know named Jason Hawk. His works in metal and other materials are among some of my favorite work, and partially responsible for encouraging my desire to create in three dimensions, which I've barely toyed with in the past. This is a detail of the work, a "love machine" which dominates the room in which it is displayed. Go see it, and eat some of the candy. You may not know this, but SweetHearts candies actually have flavors. We tend to get them into our mouths after months inside their boxes when they've gone stale and all their flavors have become one general SweetHearts sugary flavor with just the slightest hint of difference between each color of candy. Jason's piece has lots of fresh candy, and the presence of discernible flavors is astounding. The art, which includes artists besides Jason Hawk, and mediums other than sculpture is worth looking at, and all based broadly on the theme of love. The art is on display at the Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St in Chicago as part of this year's Beethoven Festival.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
036/365 - Big Star
September 5, 2013. On my way home from work, I decided to have some tacos from Big Star. Eating by myself, I ended up talking to Eric and Andrew, with whom I shared a picnic table. Here's Eric, recently moved to Chicago, enjoying his first visit to Big Star.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
035/365 - Jelly
September 4, 2013. I found out this morning that the Shedd Aquarium has been open until ten p.m. on Wednesdays since June. I then found out that tonight would be the last night. Of course I went, with a coworker and a friend, for Jazzin' at the Shedd. It was open until a decent hour for some of us, there was a bar, and there were jazz bands playing at three different spots throughout the aquarium. Also, there were no kids, so that was nice.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
034/365 - Surprise!
September 3, 2013. Returning to work after walking the block with my camera, this joyful face greeted me. She may be finding this exuberance through caffeine, but that's fine.
Monday, September 2, 2013
033/365 - Montrose Blue
September 2, 2013. The Montrose Blue Line station on the CTA, the station I use most often these days, is one of the stations that sits in the middle of the Kennedy Expressway. During rush hour, I can see traffic on the highway fall farther and farther behind. I don't know that that remains true, though, since the Blue Line has a lot of slow spots from Logan Square to downtown. I do know it takes me about the same amount of time to ride my bike from Kostner and Argyle to Jackson and Wabash as it does for me to ride to the Montrose station and take the train downtown.
032/365 - Eamon
September 1, 2013. The second month of my current 365 project begins with my boy Eamon surveying the sidewalk outside the storm door from a new coffee table. He's old enough to vote now. We should probably get him registered.
031/365 - Vincent
August 31, 2013. I had another gig with Squared Off, this time at the Hideout, a place I've wanted to play in Chicago for quite some time. The show was a party for a scooter rally, and aside from us were the Friendly Lens and the 4 Strokes, whose drummer, Vincent, is pictured here. There were also DJ's including Ric Vespa, who DJ'ed the Oi Festival in Milwaukee where the current lineup of Squared Off made its first appearance.
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