From Cancer, to the Chicago Marathon

It was evening downtown, on a walk from Cityfront to Union Station, and I came across this well-lit poster from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I loved reading about Jenna Benn and Doug Loizzo's heartbreaking stories of cancer and inspiring plans to run this year's Chicago Marathon.  

Blackhawks, City Flag and Chicago Police

I never paid too much attention to the city flag of Chicago, until last year in the Blackhawks' thrilling pursuit of the Stanley Cup.  My friend Keith had a T-shirt of the Blackhawks logo in the semblance of this powder-blue stripes and red stars flag.  It was a homage to the Chicago Police force.

a T-shirt something like this

'One Dollah' Boat Rides on the Chicago River

I remember Peter, an old colleague from way back when, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Institute of Psychiatry, where we worked as Mental Health Workers.  He was a sweet, thoughtful and spirited Chinese man, whose accent we teased now and then.  For example, in reference to these Wendella boat rides on the Chicago River, he'd pronounce more like a slangish "One Dollar" (or One Dollah, as we'd quote him).  

Be Safe, Be Alert, Wherever You May Be!

Each year, nearly 3,000 people are hit by vehicles in Chicago. In 2013, 29 pedestrians were killed in car crashes. Many of these collisions are preventable by all of us obeying simple traffic laws. 

Be Safe, Be Alert is a city-wide traffic safety campaign that urges drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to follow traffic laws, pay attention, and create a safer city. Whether walking, biking or driving, it’s your duty to be safe and be alert. 

While walking: use crosswalks, look both ways before crossing and avoid talking on a cell phone or dulling your perceptions with headphones. 

While bicycling: share the road, obey the rules. Stop for pedestrians in crosswalks and at traffic signals. It’s the law. As bicycling facilities increase in Chicago, so have fines for dangerous bicycling behavior. 

While driving: stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. It’s the law. Don’t be surprised if you hear a police siren pulling you over next time you blow through a crosswalk in front of a crossing pedestrian.

It’s up to you. Keep your speed to 30 mph or less on city streets. The danger of killing a pedestrian or your passengers in a crash goes up as motor vehicle speed goes up.
Just one crash could change your life forever. Be safe, be alert.

Reference: About the Campaign in www.ChicagoPedSafety.org.

Whichever city you may live in or simply visit, please be careful, for goodness sake.

Leftover 'Carcass' from the Urban Jungle

I got into cycling 20 years ago, and was soon nailing down 3000+ miles of riding a year.  My family and I lived more than 50 miles from downtown Chicago where I worked, and in the summer that was a great opportunity to ride a 'century' during my workday.  My friend and co-worker Neil lived in Chicago already, so I'd meet him at his apartment and we'd ride the last 10 - 15 miles together.  

We learned to safeguards our bicycles.  Mine had two U-locks (aka Kryptonite), one for each wheel, plus a heavy padlock around the middle sprocket and chain.  We removed all accessories, including toolbag and pump, slipped them in our backpacks, and up we went to our office.  To get showered and washed up, of course.

Apparently bicycles were a theme in my recent excursions to Frankfurt and Chicago, and this one I shot had definitely seen better days.  They say the city is an urban jungle.  How apropos as this one looks like the leftover carcass from a lion's or tiger's feeding a long time ago.

YouTube Ladies in Downtown Chicago

Bethany is a teenage girl from California

Michelle is just another soul dreamer with childlike faith

Rosanna, who resembles Zooey Deschanel, has New Nerdy Nummies every Tuesday!

I am curious about advertisements in general, while surfing the internet or walking around downtown Chicago.  I reflect on how effective they are, how they resonate with me, and whether I ought to have a look.  Besides fun and easy-going, these pretty young ladies are fortunate to be part of a YouTube marketing campaign.  That fateful intersection between online and in-person is key, I think, going forward.  I am definitely not their target audience, but I am writing about them and posting photos I took.  I didn't subscribe, but I did create links to their YouTube channels in the captions above.  So you don't have to search for them, if you care to have a look-see at their stuff.

"Divvy" is an Idea Whose Time Will Come

This neat row is Chicago Gets Ready to “Divvy” Up the Rewards of Large-Scale Bike-Share.

I played with line, perspective and light a bit, recalling what I saw in Frankfurt a month before (Bicycle Racks Designed as Bicycles).  Chicago is very much a bus and train, a car and walk city.  Bicycles are rather sparing.

Years ago I walked out of the train station in Copenhagen, and the surrounding was awash in bicycle after bicycle.  You see, in Europe, gasoline is so expensive that scores of people have incentive to hop on their two-wheels.

In any case, Divvy is a good idea, and will need more time and effort to take root.

Bronze Bull Invokes Markets and Sports

I must've walked by this bronze bull on East Washington Street a hundred times, and never bothered to stop and have a closer look.  I was walking from the Ritz-Carlton to Union Station one brilliant Spring morning, and I had time to explore.  Bronze Bull stood outside the Chicago Cultural Center, and invoked the kind of pre-2008 market we'd all like and the kind of team that the Bulls were in the 1990s.  

3D Cubist Painting of Downtown Chicago

I have this pet notion that the space around is made up of multiple, intersecting planes, just like a three-dimensional Cubist painting.  Except that it may be more than three dimensions, if we are to put any merit on String Theory.  I am wondering if it is possible to break the threshold of the present, and therefore travel time, without sophisticated machinery or vehicles.  Can we slide along planes to do so, for instance?

Downtown Chicago is full of glass that reflects a myriad of surfaces and shapes, lines and light, people and movement.  Burberry and Forever XXI.  A restaurant and bar.  Me.  

Keira Knightley Smolders for Coco Mademoiselle

Keira Knightley

I love Keira Knightley.  The 29-year old British actress is an underrated beauty in film.  But Chanel clearly appreciates her smoldering looks.  This advert is on Pearson Street, near the Ritz-Carlton, just east of Michigan Avenue.