back from chi-town where we spent some much needed time with good good friends. ain't nuthin like food, folks, and fun. we saw all 20mins of bluesfest.
here are some of the most fantabulous things we came across ::.
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a beautiful tribute to a hero / a public prayer booth / a caterpillar roll at sushi wahi / legosman and legoskid
more on the prayer booths :: this art piece is part of an annual sculpture exhibition on the navy pier walk, also one of the world's largest outdoor sculpture exhibits headed by leading critics and curators to explore issues in contemporary sculture. there are 28 pieces chosen from artists all over the world. public art is extremely difficult to do.
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prayer booths designated by a clasped pair of hands at the top of the booth lure in patrons who can kneel on a bench while their prayers are taped by a recording device inside. artist dylan mortimer created the prayer booths. inside, viewers will find a set of instructions: "To Operate: Lower the kneeler, rest arms at the base of the enclosure, and knees on the kneeler." mortimer says he doesn't know if people will actually pray there. "But one way or the other, I think it will get them to question prayer in the public realm." the piece was also featured in kansas city in 2003. mortimer plans to head up to SVA in nyc for his graduate studies.
.::. ?upgrade? .::.
in an attempt to keep up with gmail yahoo has upgraded their services. i can always use another 100mb of junk mail. now i've got 2gb combined with a gmail account. it's a disaster waiting to happen. which one is better? i haven't really tested out gmail. help me out people...whats the word? oh, i hooked up another gig on spymac. so that's 3gs.
urban hedonism planning ::.
it's great to visit chicago with like-hearted friends where we can discuss issues like gentrification and a heart for the poor. i thought i was the only one who cared about such things enough to even try to double major in urban planning. at the same time going to such nice urban places always get me questioning, why am i here in nj? chicago is indeed a carefully planned city. it is attractive. however, there are incredible disparities between the rich and poor. the metropolitan area is becoming vastly middle-class with young urban professional transplants. why wouldn't you want to live there? you have a gym, starbucks on the corner, jamba juice across the way, a pleasant night life, a piece of property that may appreciate up to 20 percent and of course a view of the lake. here's the other side, one out of eight people standing in a checkout line at a chicago supermarket probably can't afford to buy the groceries in their cart. more than 840,000 people live in poverty in the metropolitan chicago area, a number that would surpass indianapolis as the 12th largest city in the u.s., said the 2003 report on illinois poverty. there is so much development visually unfolding before our eyes as we walked around. almost every block. old warehouses becoming tomorrow's condos. it's beautiful to look at but in the books it's truly unbalanced development. the people who are getting dislocated are not just those in the projects, the obviously poor, but it seems that there is no mid-range housing options for the city's bravest-firefighters, social workers, and government workers. these are people like me, those who tend to the soul(s) of the city. this urban planning is bent on feeding the pleasures of the flesh. a new american dream has dawned.
posted by affectionate @ 6/16/2004 03:17:00 PM
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