Midwest Vacation

I split a week between Chicago and the Lansing area. Below are the highlights; my sister was present for a lot of it.

Tuesday 10/19
Big Star - Mexican take-out.
Rainbo Club - one of Nelson Algren's watering holes. My sister and I took photos in the photobooth where Liz Phair took the cover photo for Exile in Guyville.

Wednesday 10/20
The Field Museum
Blues Heaven - the old Chess Records studio.
The Signature Lounge - watched the sunset over Lake Michigan and the Loop from the top of the Hancock Building.
The Second City - show was called Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies.

Thursday 10/21
Grant Park
Self-guided architecture tour in the Loop -- saw a few buildings I missed last time I was in town.
Billygoat Tavern - basis for the old SNL skit, "Cheezeborger, cheezeborger, cheezeborger".
Chicago History Museum
Lincoln Park
Benoit Pioulard @ The Empty Bottle
Soul Dance Party @ The Double Door

Friday 10/22
Robie House - exemplar of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style.
Harold's Fried Chicken
Bass Pro Shop
Woody's Oasis
Easy Action, The Meatmen @ The Loft

Saturday 10/23
Lunch with my padrino
Altu's Ethiopian Cuisine
The People's Temple, Fun Ender, Fields of Industry @ Mac's Bar

Sunday 10/24
Brunch at The State Room w/ Dad & Nancy
Tanger Outlet

Monday 10/25
Burchfield Park w/ Dad, Chicha, & Mr. Darcy

Tuesday 10/26
Walking tour of The Monadnock Building
Art Institute of Chicago
Lou Malnati's
Drink w/ Angela Yonke (Okemos reunion) @ Phyllis' Musical Inn

Wednesday 10/27
Reckless Records, Belmont Army, other stores in Wicker Park

Dunno if this has been posted before. Lots of photography of our favorite ghost town. They have a site of Gary, too.

http://detroiturbex.com/

How the City of New York spends its money

So at my new job, we're designing a $10,000,000 shed for salt. Check out the review (featuring this glowing model I built!) on Curbed.com.

Celeb Sighting

I was walking to the subway after work last Monday when I ran into a couple guys I hadn't seen in a while (Kyle Wilamowski and Ben Goldman, for those who know them). We chatted for a while and when we parted ways I noticed that the sidewalk was totally vacated except for big guys with ear pieces. One of them stepped in my way and said "Other side of the street". I remembered that Michelle Obama was in town fundraising; her entourage came through shortly thereafter.

Jill Abood on The Catcher in the Rye

A workfriend from my days at the downtown Lansing library now works for the East Lansing library, where she is required to do new media stuff even when obviously uncomfortable.

David Byrne on Detroit, or, this shit gonna drive Tarek crazy!

David Byrne on Detroit.

Animation

Made this little cartoon with a couple internet friends.

The Siege of Blackthorn Castle from Graham Mason on Vimeo.

Michigan Miracle

Babies born on 8-8-08, 9-9-09, 10-10-10 -- story here.

Potically Speaking

Speaking of politics, I just found out Carl Levin was here this morning touring my lab's building. Unfortunately no one told me until he was gone so I couldn't expound the plight of grad students to him.

Buster Keaton in Samuel Beckett's "Film"

Part I


Part II

The Old Gray Lady Visits the U.P.

A few weeks ago, I was relocated from Escanaba to Iron Mountain, where I continue fight for the forces of light against the forces of night in a Tolkeinian battle for the political future of my beloved peninsula.  A few days ago, our candidate was interviewed at my office for a New York Times article on the race that you can find here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/us/politics/13michigan.html
Ours is one of four close house contests the Times is highlighting this year.  Media attention is going to go up and up, and more and more money is going to be pumped in the race by both sides.  It will be insane.

I Love A Parade

MSU @ UMich Highlights

The End of Their History

After the recording they had their own house party at John’s home. His parents were traveling. It was early September. Detroit “punks” gathered there, The Underdogs, Scott Richard Case(SRC) ,Alice Cooper. Suzie Quatro arrived very late along with the drummer Nancy. About 10AM the next morning the house was trashed inside and out.pleasure seakers
At the time John’s parent came back! Beer bottles had leaked a trail across the hall rug and now onto Mr. Ford’s foot. Everyone was immediately expelled from the house.
To release red album, Jim sketched silhouettes of the band members for the sleeve using the photo for theback cover of Black album. A local radio station WABX played the cuts from Black and the Red albums. But it was too late. Gary left the band in January ’69.Tom quit too. It was the end of their history.

The big guy

This is a photoshop doodle I worked on a few weeks ago, which I noticed makes for a nice desktop background. Right click to "save as!"

On a side note, right now whenever we shower water pours out of our downstairs neighbor's light fixture. This neighbor is actually the worst person in the universe, but that is also a crappy situation. But I gotta have a shower every day or I start to feel crazy and feral. So I took a really fast and weak shower today, like a drizzle, and I don't think it rinsed off all the soap properly, and now I feel itchy.

Onward,

-Graham

I'm Looking For Someone

Chicago is Your Boy

Before you earn the right to rap any sort of joint, you have to love it a little while. You have to belong to Chicago like a crosstown transfer out of the Armitage Avenue barns first; and you can't rap it then just because you've been crosstown. Yet if you've tried New York for size and put in a stint in Paris, lived long enough in New Orleans to get the feel of the docks and belonged to old Marseille awhile, if the streets of Naples have warmed you and those of London have chilled you, if you've seen the terrible green-grey African light moving low over the Sahara or even passed hurriedly through Cincinnati -- then Chicago is your boy at last and you can say it and make it stick: That it's a backstreet, backslum loudmouth whose challenges go ringing 'round the world like any green punk's around any neighborhood bar where mellower barflies make the allowances of older men: "The punk is just quackin' 'cause his knees is shakin' again."

Celebrity Sighting: Mary Gaitskill

The author of the story that became the film Secretary. I saw her on the BART. I started whispering to Natalya. She looked in my direction and made a small crook-of-the-mouth smile. Then I realized she was smiling at a baby. We got out at the next stop.

Jeans

If I were to buy jeans other than Levi's, which brand should I buy? Nothing expensive, please!

Netflix Rentals by Zip Code

Check out this NYT interactive graphic, categorizing the top 100 movie rentals by zip code. You can tell where the hipsters live by Pineapple Express rentals.