Published at May 27, 2006
in general.
Chicago has made my top 5 favourite cities in the world. What a fantastic vibe and culture. The next time I’m walking the streets of Toronto and I hear an American observe how clean our city is, I may just have to excuse myself and assume they have never been to Chicago.
We pulled into Chicago Friday evening to a magnificent skyline, then proceeded to drive 40 minutes west to the suburb of Lombard, Illinois. Like most major cities Chicago has its nice parts and its poverty stricken parts. It feels as though we drove right up the gut of that separation. Bared windows, fist-fights in the streets — hello America. Lombard was a nice little town once we reached it’s city limits. Continue reading ‘Sweet Home Chicago’
Published at May 27, 2006
in general.
This post almost needs a guest writer, but I will do my best to do our time in Gary, Indiana justice. What is there to say about Gary? It’s one of those places I never imagined my self visiting, and one of those places I could probably never pick out on a map, but still instinctively know exists. Why you may ask? Gary Indiana is the home town of the greatest showman of the later half of the 20th century: Michael Jackson. Yes my fare friends, Michael Jackson. Sadly we did not think to locate his home, because inside we knew something was a little fishy with Gary. It wasn’t until later we learned from some Chicago people that Gary has been on the list of murder capitals in the USA. Google searches now that I have returned home reveal some other interesting information. Oh Gary, where’d ya go wrong?
So we strolled the hallowed streets of downtown Gary, past the Statue of Liberty as well as Gary himself. It was an interesting slice of Americana. It’s cash industry is/was steel, and the odour in the air reminded me a lot of Hamilton.
Gary, we hardly knew ya.
Published at May 27, 2006
in general.
I was looking to throw up some links today but felt that inappropriate until I took a few minutes to regale you all with details of the ‘Chicago Or Bust’ Tour. Let’s begin.
We departed the GTA and headed west with a brief stop in KW to acquire the 4th member of our road trip team. With the car full we loaded the tunes, set the volume and cruised. Having made the drive out to London/Sarnia before it was pretty much more of the same — especially in the rain. Our border experience was relatively painless, having spent 20 min or so in line. Once into Michigan we were ready to experience the American way. First stop: Arbey’s.
Now we all know what we read and see on the media: Americans are fat and love fast food. It’s very hard to comprehend this until you see it for yourself. At the Arbey’s we were able to obtain 5 items for $5.95. A 5 item combo? That is crazy. Sandwich, fries, drink….but wait, we had 2 more items to choose! What to pick: onion rings, chocolate shake, mozzarella sticks, apple desert. So many items, and so little time.
Sadly the first part of the road trip was relatively tame — with no over sized items to see we had little reason to stop. I think that is one disadvantage of taking the interstate, you don’t get to experience the towns you visit. Well, we fixed that with our first major stop before Chicago.
Gary, Indiana.
Published at May 23, 2006
in asides.
Make your own cool looking pinhole camera. I’ll probably give this a try when I find some free time.
Published at May 18, 2006
in general.
It’s time again. It’s time for a Road Trip. For lack of a better name this trip shall be dubbed: The ‘Chicago Or Bust’ Tour.
The Mission: 4 gentleman shall make the trek from Toronto to Chicago with the intention of finding mischief along the way. Once in Chicago visit with a friend from school and have a ridiculous good time. The Goal? Try and make it back in time for work on Tuesday morning. This should be accomplished barring any unscheduled run-in’s with the clink (aka the slammer or metal bar hotel).
Good Times? Let them roll.
Published at May 6, 2006
in general.
Music stores are great; be they stores that sell music, or stores that sell musical instruments. I was in both this past day. I always enjoy going into the latter and watching people try out the guitars. For those few moments when they play the guitar they think they are the most talented guitar player on the planet. You can see it in their posture and their eyes. They’ll play that most advanced riff they know to demonstrate their abilities. For those brief moments everyone lives their rockstar dreams — and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Long live rock and roll.
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