My Congresswoman

June 15th, 2009

Since moving here, I hadn’t paid particular attention to much of local politics, except, of course, for our embarrassment of a governor. But today I got a mailing from Jan Schakowsky

download ghosts of mars dvd release effexor immediate 14ct prilosec ems cardizem , who apparently is the Representative for my District. After living in the District of Columbia for nine years, my first thought, naturally, was “What’s a Congresswoman?” Then I remembered that I had already heard of her through this wonderful little story.

During the campaign of 2004 — which this morning seems about as long ago as the campaign of 1832 — Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., went to the White House for a congressional meeting with President George W. Bush, wearing a new campaign button.

The president gave the button a perplexed look, and asked, “Osama?”

No, said Schakowsky, it was Illinois’ Democratic Senate candidate, Barack Obama. Bush shrugged and said he’d never heard of him.

“Mr. President,” said Schakowsky, “you will.”

Not only is it good to feel like I have a voice in Congress again, it’s good to have someone who can think so well on their feet.eye the movie free s darko movie download off shore coreg pharmacy 25mg

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My First Book

May 24th, 2009

As some of you know, I was holed up in my apartment this winter for a few weeks working on a book. I was referencing it on Twitter and Facebook, but kept it off the blog except for an allusion to “an exciting work opportunity free mighty joe young

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” shortly after I began work on it.

Well, I’m proud to announce that it will soon be out, and is available for pre-order from Whitman Books.

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It’s a limited-edition commemorative book about the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. I’ve seen the galleys and they did a really beautiful job with it. It’s packed with pictures and features replicas of souvenirs from that historic weekend and comes in a protective slipcase. I wrote the text for it, including a brief biography of Obama, an account of the transition period, and essays about all facets of the Inauguration.

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Best of all is an oral history of the day told by a diverse group of people, some of whom flew all the way across the country, others who walked from their home. Yes, I realize the irony of saying that the best part of my book is the section I didn’t write (although I did ask the questions, and edited all the responses into a flowing narrative), but I think we got something very special in that section. It puts the reader on the Mall that morning, which there was no way I could have done with my own words. If you were there, you’ll be able to flashback to it. If you weren’t there, you’ll feel like you were after reading it. tramadol strong is

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Now as you can see, there are two books in that picture. Although I contributed some text and ideas to the one about Michelle Obama and the First Family, the bulk of my work was on the book about the Inauguration. But the two of them are sold as a set. I haven’t seen the Michelle book yet (my advance copy is on its way), but I’m sure they did a great job with that, too.

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I should point out that this is not a political book at all. Outside of a few paragraphs in the opening section that touch upon events that were crucial during the campaign, there is virtually no analysis of the reasons why Obama won the election. That wasn’t the point of the book, and, besides, there are others who could analyze that better, and in greater depth, than I ever could. In other words, while I gloss over the Jeremiah Wright controversy, I did not once use the phrase “whackjob wingut” to refer to Sarah Palin.

Although this whole thing came together very quickly, I’m very proud of the work I did. And apparently Whitman was happy with it too, because I’m about to start work on a second book with them. So that means that I won’t be blogging with as much frequency as in the past month, but I’ll throw something up here once in a while when I need a break.

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The John Hancock Center

May 19th, 2009

Sunday was the start of a few days of spring-like weather, so I grabbed my camera and did some walking. I took a lot of shots around town, and I’ll be posting them here periodically. For some places, I’m waiting until the trees bloom so that the pictures are more interesting. But my first stop on Sunday, the Hancock Observatory, didn’t require any foliage, just a clear blue sky.

When you emerge from the elevator on the 94th Floor (1,030 feet up), you’re given an old-school tricorder-looking thing containing an audio tour narrated by David Schwimmer (Seriously, it’s straight out of a classic Simpsons episode. “Hi, I’m David Schwimmer. I got my start in Chicago. I have a theatre in Chicago. And I’m here to tell you about my favorite city…Chicago!”). But it’s fine for tourists and he gives you a good description of what you’re looking at and how it relates to the city’s history.

Still, the selling points are the incredible views you get.

As you can see, there was a haze looking south, so most of my shots of Downtown didn’t come out as well as I had hoped. This is the best of them.

I meant to walk through Navy Pier a few days ago, but forgot. Here’s a shot of it from 1,000 feet up.

Looking north at Lake Michigan, Lincoln Park, Lake Shore Drive and the North Avenue Beach. I tried looking for my building with my 10x zoom, but it’s blocked out by the taller hi-rises in the area.

From three miles away you can see the lights of the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. That large green expanse beyond the stadium, by the way, is a cemetery.

Half of the Observatory is now a coffee shop where you can enjoy a cup and the less-interesting views out to the west. I think Carly Simon’s lawyers might have something to say about the name of the place.

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Spring Is Here!

May 18th, 2009

Remember back in December when I posted this picture of the view from my window?

My View

The View From My Window

Well, this is how it looked this morning.

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So I went for a walk in the North Avenue Beach and the southern end of Lincoln Park today. I did the same about six weeks ago, during the first really nice day of the year, but I figured I’d wait until the trees were in bloom before going back with my camera. As you can see, it was a smart decision.

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No matter where I am, whenever I’m in sight of the Hancock Center

, my eye is automatically drawn to it.

And, as I do any time I walk through a park in the spring, I have no choice but to think of this song:

Attention Chicago Twentysomething Hipsters

May 17th, 2009

I know I am new in your wonderful city, but, as an elder statesman, I wish to register a complaint. You can not, and MUST not, ironically enjoy a piece of 80s pop culture that you were not capable of hating when it was new.

Yes, I’m talking to you, that guy at the party last night wearing a Teen Wolf pirate camp movie download

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t-shirt. I’m also talking to that crowd of girls in the corner of the bar singing along to “Your Love

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” by The Outfield. If you were alive at the time, you’re not old enough to remember how crappy these things really were. Stop pretending like it has cultural significance just because you watched those VH-! specials on the 80s over and over again on TiVo.

I don’t wish to sound like more of a Mr. Cranky Pants than I already am, but you don’t see me walking around wearing a Paper Lace t-shirt, do you? For Pete’s sake, put down your Chuck Klosterman books and develop a sense of actual taste.

I’ll give you a pass on Don’t Stop Believin’, but only if you can tell me the starting lineup of the 1993 White Sox. You were probably 8 at the time.download spies like us free

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Chicago Street Festivals And Updates

May 13th, 2009

Has it really been seven weeks since my last post here? Wow, seems hard to believe. In all honesty, I really haven’t done too much exploring of the city recently. The new book took up about four weeks where I didn’t leave the apartment too often. Since then, I’ve just kind of settled into a groove consisting mostly of sleeping and watching the Caps. Unfortunately, that ended tonight, but the Blackhawks are still in it, and the town is pretty happy about that.

I’ve been having problems linking some of my recent photos here, so I’ve put them into my Chicago Photos album on Facebook

. I’ll let you know when there are some more.

Yesterday I explored the West Town neighborhood. The main stretch of Chicago Avenue reminded me a lot of Columbia Road in Adams Morgan. Lots of shops for a large Latino population and some good restaurants.

But the main reason for this post is that the street festival season is almost upon us. For all of you who asked how people deal with the winters here, the answer is, “By partying our asses off during the summer.” Beginning next week, there’s a festival going on somewhere in town pretty much every day until the end of September. And there’s lots of great music coming in to town during that time, too. Here are a few that I’m looking forward to in the next two months.

June 12-14: The 26th Annual Chicago Blues Festival

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Noted Musical Acts: Charlie Musselwhite Band, the legendary Sam Lay, Bettye LaVette, and the incredible Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings!

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Noted Musical Acts: Haven’t been announced yet, but I know that the great DC band Jukebox The Ghost free breakfast on pluto will be there at some point.

June 19-21: Taste Of Randolph Street
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Noted Musical Acts: Tinted Windows and the greatest band in the world right now, The Hold Steady

June 26-July 5: Taste Of Chicago
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Noted Musical Acts: Counting Crows, Wallflowers, an entire day dedicated to Bloodshot Records, and how about this on July 4, Booker T. with the Drive-By Truckers and Buddy Guy!

And you also have the Pitchfork and Lollapalooza festivals, too. But I probably won’t be going to them.

Great food, awesome music. I love this town!

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