My second day in Chicago is documented in this very visual posting:
HERE
Toby
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Toby On Tour 2004 Day 1, Part 2
Nels met me at O'Hare. I haven't seen that airport in 10 years and I could go another 10 with no problems. I must admit that being back in Chicago did give me a bit of a giddy feeling.
TRAFFIC makes that feeling go away. Like a native would, Nels knows all the tricks. Most of these tricks seem to involve small, narrow poorly maintained streets and a large population of people who have no respect for the awesome damage that a Ford Ranger could wrench upon their little bodies. What we in California describe as jaywalking, has been elevated to a new and horrific level. Competitive Road Blocking. All you need to play is a metal plate in your head and none of the sense that was in your head before the plate was installed. Nels traversed the potholes like a pro, but to my dismay refused to hit any of folks who were "Just asking for it".
PLANNING is not my strong suit, ask anyone. Go ahead, I'll wait.
PLANNING is not my strong suit. However I think I can see a plan and tell you where the holes are. Today I was a hole spotting, patch'em-up fool. And then we got an e-mail from Dean Richards, the entertainment reporter from Channel 9!!!!
BRIEF SIDENOTE: If you were in Chicago in the 80's.... Channel 9 for craps sake!! networks rise and fall but Channel 9? Empire carpets jingle... "588 2300 EMPIRE!!" and the "Kids of Chicago, havin' a good time, they're all watchin'... CHANNEL 9" jingle have their own rooms in the soup bowl that is my mind.
SO, Channel Freakin' 9 might want to cover the festival. I had carpet bombed Chicago's media outlets last month with little success. There was talk of a guest appearance on Kup's Show but it fell through since Irving R. Kupcinet passed away last November (if you aren't from Chicago, that joke went WAY over your head, but if you know who Joe Franklin is, you get the idea).
IT'S 3:30 local time (only 1:30 on my coast) but I'm really tired. Maybe its because I'm trying to kick this sore throat, maybe its just because I've had a lot stuff to do. It might be the strange relief from the stress of the last few... daysweeksmonthsyears... I don't know. But I do know that tomorrow I'm gonna meet Dean Richards from Channel 9, a few photos will be taken (I don't know Dean, but CHANNEL 9!!!) and then I'm just gonna stop by WTTW Chicago's PBS affiliate and drop off a few comp passes for the folks that make Image Union, a show that blew my mind at the tender age of 12 or 13 when staying up after Dr. Who was a bold endeavor. Right now I feel like Abe Frohman, the Sausage King of Chicago (insert your filthy jokes if you wish), not even Edward J. Rooney can wipe the grin from my face.
AND I am exausted, so please forgive the typos.
toby
TRAFFIC makes that feeling go away. Like a native would, Nels knows all the tricks. Most of these tricks seem to involve small, narrow poorly maintained streets and a large population of people who have no respect for the awesome damage that a Ford Ranger could wrench upon their little bodies. What we in California describe as jaywalking, has been elevated to a new and horrific level. Competitive Road Blocking. All you need to play is a metal plate in your head and none of the sense that was in your head before the plate was installed. Nels traversed the potholes like a pro, but to my dismay refused to hit any of folks who were "Just asking for it".
PLANNING is not my strong suit, ask anyone. Go ahead, I'll wait.
PLANNING is not my strong suit. However I think I can see a plan and tell you where the holes are. Today I was a hole spotting, patch'em-up fool. And then we got an e-mail from Dean Richards, the entertainment reporter from Channel 9!!!!
BRIEF SIDENOTE: If you were in Chicago in the 80's.... Channel 9 for craps sake!! networks rise and fall but Channel 9? Empire carpets jingle... "588 2300 EMPIRE!!" and the "Kids of Chicago, havin' a good time, they're all watchin'... CHANNEL 9" jingle have their own rooms in the soup bowl that is my mind.
SO, Channel Freakin' 9 might want to cover the festival. I had carpet bombed Chicago's media outlets last month with little success. There was talk of a guest appearance on Kup's Show but it fell through since Irving R. Kupcinet passed away last November (if you aren't from Chicago, that joke went WAY over your head, but if you know who Joe Franklin is, you get the idea).
IT'S 3:30 local time (only 1:30 on my coast) but I'm really tired. Maybe its because I'm trying to kick this sore throat, maybe its just because I've had a lot stuff to do. It might be the strange relief from the stress of the last few... daysweeksmonthsyears... I don't know. But I do know that tomorrow I'm gonna meet Dean Richards from Channel 9, a few photos will be taken (I don't know Dean, but CHANNEL 9!!!) and then I'm just gonna stop by WTTW Chicago's PBS affiliate and drop off a few comp passes for the folks that make Image Union, a show that blew my mind at the tender age of 12 or 13 when staying up after Dr. Who was a bold endeavor. Right now I feel like Abe Frohman, the Sausage King of Chicago (insert your filthy jokes if you wish), not even Edward J. Rooney can wipe the grin from my face.
AND I am exausted, so please forgive the typos.
toby
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Toby On Tour, 2004 Day 1
Title: From John Wayne Airport (SNA) 7:52am
Posting may be delayed due to lack of modern necessitiies!
No free Wifi AND the indignity of additional security!
Flying has truly become a pain in the butt. At least I was really early.
Jason T. was a lifesaver, giving me a ride to the airport (what was I thinking I was gonna do?) he even stopped by McDonalds so now I've got a wicked case of the coffee sweats. That must be why I was pulled for an additional security check. The check was painless but I had to wait for ages because the couple in front of me (combined age 204) had so many body parts that had been replaced by titanium that the security guys couldn't do a complete scan of me without getting false positives from them. This is not a joke, all the security folks were rolling their eyes, trying to find a loophole that would allow them to just roll the couple along without punching their boarding passes. Mind you it didn't help matters that the lady in the couple (at their age I would just have to take her word for it) thought they were going to Atlanta, whereas the man (ditto on the ID thing) thought they were going somewhere else and the person who dropped them off had already left (no doubt to make sure that the life insurance policies were up-to-date).
Toby
UPDATE: Guy has just informed me the air traffic over the southland has been frozen or diverted, looks like I was lucky to get out when I did.
Posting may be delayed due to lack of modern necessitiies!
No free Wifi AND the indignity of additional security!
Flying has truly become a pain in the butt. At least I was really early.
Jason T. was a lifesaver, giving me a ride to the airport (what was I thinking I was gonna do?) he even stopped by McDonalds so now I've got a wicked case of the coffee sweats. That must be why I was pulled for an additional security check. The check was painless but I had to wait for ages because the couple in front of me (combined age 204) had so many body parts that had been replaced by titanium that the security guys couldn't do a complete scan of me without getting false positives from them. This is not a joke, all the security folks were rolling their eyes, trying to find a loophole that would allow them to just roll the couple along without punching their boarding passes. Mind you it didn't help matters that the lady in the couple (at their age I would just have to take her word for it) thought they were going to Atlanta, whereas the man (ditto on the ID thing) thought they were going somewhere else and the person who dropped them off had already left (no doubt to make sure that the life insurance policies were up-to-date).
Toby
UPDATE: Guy has just informed me the air traffic over the southland has been frozen or diverted, looks like I was lucky to get out when I did.
Monday, September 13, 2004
FLASH: Sucker Steals MY Identity - Ha Ha Ha!
THIS JUST IN:
I just got a call from George at my bank. Really nice guy but it seems that we're always talking when it's bad news.
Usually I'm overdrawn and George is nice enough to assume that I made a small bookkeeping error and we fix it right up. This time George was delivering the bad news. I am the victim of identity theft.
My debit card (what I carry in lieu of cash) may have been compromised and has therefore been cancelled. My new card will arrive right around halfway through my trip to Chicago or more accurately, right in the middle of me not being able to get it.
This means that except for a $20 bill that Craig gave me for my birthday, I have no cash or access to it on the eve of my big trip. GREAT
Not that there is any money in my account anyway but now the checks that I am waiting for, and hoping Guy can deposit in my absence, will contain funds that are off limits until this is resolved.GREAT
George also mentioned that there may be as many as 5 or 6 million victims in this particular case, since it seems databases has been compromised.GREAT
I only hope that SBC and Nextel are as prosaic about this turn of events as I am, because I can't pay them, GREAT
tw
I just got a call from George at my bank. Really nice guy but it seems that we're always talking when it's bad news.
Usually I'm overdrawn and George is nice enough to assume that I made a small bookkeeping error and we fix it right up. This time George was delivering the bad news. I am the victim of identity theft.
My debit card (what I carry in lieu of cash) may have been compromised and has therefore been cancelled. My new card will arrive right around halfway through my trip to Chicago or more accurately, right in the middle of me not being able to get it.
This means that except for a $20 bill that Craig gave me for my birthday, I have no cash or access to it on the eve of my big trip. GREAT
Not that there is any money in my account anyway but now the checks that I am waiting for, and hoping Guy can deposit in my absence, will contain funds that are off limits until this is resolved.GREAT
George also mentioned that there may be as many as 5 or 6 million victims in this particular case, since it seems databases has been compromised.GREAT
I only hope that SBC and Nextel are as prosaic about this turn of events as I am, because I can't pay them, GREAT
tw
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
I, the Jury...
| 13 months ago I sat on a Jury, it had been about 2 years since the last time I had sat on a jury. I'm all for civil duty, responsibility to the body politic and what-have-you, but I think I'm carrying someone else's load too. The thing that really blows is that to get out of it you have to admit that you are and idiot (which so far I refuse to do) or that sitting in judgment of your fellow will create an unfair economic burden on you because you are practically destitute (while this is true in my case, it is also private none o'yer damn business kind of information and what's it to ya, judge?). Meanwhile I know full well that many of The Thursday Knights have never served on a jury and have never even been called. What gives? |  juryD Tossed up by numbersix. |
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Mr.Pickles the Drunk Birthday Monkey Says...
"EEK! EEK!"
What did you expect, some deep philosophical birthday message? He's a monkey for crying out loud.
Hey, two of my favorite things! Monkeys in clothes and knowing my friends are older than me.
What did you expect, some deep philosophical birthday message? He's a monkey for crying out loud.
Hey, two of my favorite things! Monkeys in clothes and knowing my friends are older than me.
Happy Birthday, Guy!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GUY!!
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
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