What Happened?

I can't help asking what happened here? I was looking at a new building under construction at Roosevelt & South Komens (4050 West-ish) and saw this across the street; the colorful decay caught my eye.

Garfield Blvd.

A couple of southside buildings: Schulze building at Garfield Blvd (55th) and South Indiana.

Little Niko's at Garfield Blvd. and South Calumet. I have no idea what this was; maybe a little restaurant? It's located a couple of blocks west of Washington Park.

SAAB Story....boo hoo

My friggin' SAAB passed out again for the second time in two weeks. This time it left me sittin' in the middle of Halsted just south of Roosevelt. Lots of unhappy folks behind me giving me the HORN! Oh well, guess it could have been worse; could have stalled on the Dan Ryan! I think it might be time to go buy a Prius!

Bye, bye, off we go to the SAAB mechanic. I hitched a ride to the office; got to ride up high and chat with the tow truck driver about how many SAAB's he picks up around the city. I went boo hoo........

East 75th Street

Saw this cool retro BBQ joint, Lem's, on East 75th Street a few blocks from the Dan Ryan. I'm sure it's tastee -

A few blocks down from Lem's BBQ is Soul Vegetarian East on 75th and South Indiana. Great veggie food and the Eternity all natural deli and juice bar next door serves up some killer soft serve soy ice cream! Don't miss it!

Cutting Edge

If you ever need to get your knives sharpened, this is the place for you! Northwestern Cutlery at 810 W. Lake Street. Bring them in and they'll sharpen 'em while you wait. Lots of cool cooking stuff to look at while they do it.

They wrap them in a cool little newspaper package for you to take away - nice!

Spooky Stair

Looking up from the bottom of a stairwell in a vacant apartment building we're rehabbing on Douglas Blvd. in North Lawndale. All the old plaster has been removed and the wood lath is still in place. Cool, huh!

Puppet Bike Guy

Last Sunday we went down to the Celtic Fest in Grant Park. Walking down Michigan Avenue we ran into the Puppet Bike guy on the corner of Randolph Street. Watched the kitties dance and carry on to a Hank song - Why Don't you Love me Like You Used to Do.

Be sure to check out the website at PuppetBike.com!

Hounds in the Bungalow Belt

The Bloodhounds played some bluegrass Saturday afternoon at a birthday Tiki party set up in a great northside back yard ! The sun went down and our fingers got chilly - autumn is on the way!

Hounds at the Lake

The Hounds chillin' after the Theater on the Lake gig Saturday, September 8. Steve's scratching Jim's skeeter bites - ooohhh! We played out on the patio right on the bike path at Fullerton.

Steve with a cold glistening Goose Island. What a great day to play! Look at that blue lake - don't get much better than that on a September afternoon!

Galapagos

Driving around the West Humboldt neighborhood this morning the colorful side of Galapagos Charter School caught my eye! It's located on the 3800 block of west Iowa, near Avers.

Sometimes Mountain Boys

The Sometimes Mountain Boys last night (or maybe early this morning?) in an after show jam at the Abbey Pub on Elston at Grace Street.

Mitzi, Annalee, and Rita joined them for a few songs during the second set.

Chicago Storm: Mother Nature Wins!

Yesterday afternoon we had a doozy of a storm blow through the City. Very high winds snapped trees mid trunk all over the north side. I heard winds hit 70 mph. Seems like there were a bunch of microbursts because many areas seemed untouched. I had one big branch fall and hit the corner of my garage - no big deal. The shot above is looking down the 1900 block of west Barry Street just outside my door! Lots of car and home carnage - yikes! When I got home at 5:30pm, the clock inside my house said 3:20pm - oops, no electricity. It didn't come back on until 6am this morning. Interesting night spent in the dark with my camping headlamp on. Mr. Electricity is our friend!

Here is a close up of the tree that snapped in the photo above -- I think it's a maple. Actually quite beautiful inside. Looks like a really healthy tree with no sign of rot. Took some pretty strong wind to do that!

Here is where the rest of the same tree landed. Ooooph!

Fiber Cement House

This cool fiber cement house was done way before fiber cement got trendy as a siding material -- I'm pretty sure it's been there about 10 years or so. I believe it was designed by Booth Hansen Architects. The roof shapes are really nice; and the panel detailing super clean. It's located at 1122 W. Schubert St. tucked in there behind a White Hen Pantry on Lincoln Avenue.

Yee Ha!

Trad Fest

Here is one across the street from the Garafolo addition at 3239 N. Leavitt. A modest, well done urban frame single family. The detailing is simple and well crafted; the proportions pleasing. I like the white painted trim and hairdo on the porch roof!

Funky Addition

Took a walk this afternoon and passed this in progress Doug Garafolo house addition on the 3200 block of North Leavitt. The addition has been in this state of completion for at least 3 years.

OMA at IIT

Thursday at noon: Illinois Institute of Technology's student center by OMA at 32nd & S. State Street. I love the ORANGE!

Wild Blueberrys, Dolly Sods, WV

On Saturday, after bluegrass week, Mitzi and I took a drive to Seneca Rocks, WV. Had lunch at the Front Porch and watched a lot of bikers come and go while we ate a pizza. We took long drive on a gravel forest road up the mountain to the Dolly Sods wilderness. It was a hazy day, but we still had a great view of the surrounding Allegheny Mountains. We picked some wild blueberries in the area shown in the photo above.

Mando Mary

A warm, sunny Friday afternoon at Augusta Bluegrass Week in Elkins, West Virginia. Mary T. doing some woodsheding with her new F-Style mando!

Bluegrass Jam

Augusta Bluegrass Week is in full swing! Here's an instructor jam in progress on the Hallihust porch -- Chris Jones on guitar, Pete Wernick (Dr. Banjo), and Orin Starr on mando!

The Hounds

The Woodstreet Bloodhounds playing some bluegrass at the Chicago Antique Market on Saturday afternoon, July 28th. Three of us have pearl snaps on our shirts - -can you guess which ones?!

River North Modster

Modster condo building at 156 W. Superior in River North. And, first post with my new camera!

Julia C. Lathrop Homes

Set out on a walk Sunday afternoon and ended up on the path behind Lathrop Homes that parallels the river north of Diversey. The walk-up buildings look to be in pretty good shape for being built in 1938. This building is fairly modest one, but nicely scaled with lots of brickwork detailing. I hope these buildings will be rehabbed and not demolished as the Lathrop Redevelopment unfolds.

Here is the central heating plant on the river - the Damen bridge is in the background. It was a beautiful day with some really nice wispy clouds! We also stumbled upon the Diversey Floating Wetland just south of Diversey near the heating plant.

Bliss and Cherry

Anyone ever been to the intersection of Cherry & Bliss?! Well, I never have -- until I took a trip this morning to Calumet Photographic on Goose Island.

Johnny's Lounge

Johnny's Lounge at 3425 N. Lincoln is so background and faded that it's pretty hard to notice-- and that's what makes it so great! I've lived in the neighborhood for 15 years and have really never seen any activity. A while back Mitzi and I walked by on a Friday evening about 10:30 and noticed this old guy in a suit opening the front door. We went in and were drop-jawed; like walking back into the 60's. Kind of smelly , but pretty cool - lots of weird, old stuff to look at behind the bar. Johnny's about 80, has a thick Croat accent, and in between chatting with us, was snoozing a bit behind the bar. This guy Richard, a dude in bikers spandex unlocks the gate to let people in. Crazy stuff! Oh, by the way, the vacant lot next door to the north is home to a few of Johnny's old air stream like trailers! Highly recommended!

The sun faded Hamm's sign out in front. Johnny's name nowhere to be seen!

Earth Machine

The Chicago Center for Green Technology had a compost bin sale this morning. Went out and picked up an "Earth Machine" urban composter. Here it is all new and shiny in my back yard!
Here's a shot of the awesome natural landscaping and flowers along the front entry to the Chicago Center for Green Technology located at 445 N. Sacramento Boulevard.

Golden Ride

Here's a cool old car I spotted one afternoon while out looking at buildings in the Westhaven neighborhood around Lake & Wood Streets. I like the detail by the door handle! You can see some multi-family housing under construction in the background.

Tasty Gospel

Rick, Mitzi, Annalee, and Rita singin' some gospel at the Taste of Chicago Fox Stage on Sunday, July 8, 2007.