Thursday, October 14, 2010

On the bright side...

...you may have crippling depression and no job and no money and no friends and no food in the fridge and a weird untraceable smell in your apartment and bedbug paranoia and probably psoriasis on your chin, but at least you don't look like...




THESE PEOPLE.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Cool 3D Murals

Man shot in backside on Northside.

Man shot in buttocks in Uptown

 
October 11, 2010
A man was shot in the buttocks in the Uptown neighborhood early Monday on the North Side.
The 34-year-old man was shot in the buttocks at 2:35 a.m. in the 4400 block of North Sheridan Road, police News Affairs officer Ron Gaines said.
The man was standing on the street when unknown gunmen pulled up in a vehicle and fired three shots, shooting him in the left buttock before fleeing southbound, according to a News Affairs release.
He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in “stable” condition and has since been treated and released, police said.
No one in custody and Belmont Area detectives are investigating.

original article: http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2791096,uptown-buttocks-shooting-101110.article

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Isn't a shame? A little bit of magic gone...


Stumbled on this during my research on Austin, TX, as my new fantasy place to move.

http://www.austinenchantedforest.com/

Crazy artsy people doing crazy artsy things in the woods, but apparently the Austin City Council WAS NOT so enchanted.  Further research yields little information on the current status/re-opening possibilities of this magical place; the actual forest still exists it seems, and apparently there is also a housing subdivision which bears the same name...enchanting indeed.

R.I.P.

Pics or it didn't happen!: My neighborhood

Found this online. My neighborhood in 1963. That cute little row of buildings is gone now- replaced by a McDonalds (a favorite "community" meeting spot) and some other crap.  The church still stands.
source: uptownupdate.com

Jake's Chicken near my place. Always thought the windows were kinda kitschy and fun.
source: uptownupdate.com







A few fast facts about my home region.

A few fast facts about my home region. Copy/pasted from an email to my Mother. Original source: CityData.com
I'm originally from the Cincinnati region. Moved to Chicago 2 years ago.

Of the top 101 cities (populations of 50,000+) with the lowest average
amount of sunlight per year:
Areas such as the Pacific Northwest, Lake Erie, upstate NY rank highest, BUT...
53. Columbus, OH
54. Cincinnati, OH
55. Hamilton, OH

Lowest maximum amount of sunlight per month (out of 101):
21. Cincinnati, OH
24. Hamilton, OH

Coldest winters. Predictably MN and ND rank the highest, but...
90,. Chicago, IL
Various other cities in Chicagoland also are on this list.

Various other cities in our region also make it onto the list of
cities with the greatest yearly variance in temperature.

Other fun stats:
Fattest women, Top 101 Counties:
4. Hamilton County, OH 164.6lb average
17. Marion County, IN 160.3lb average
(Sounds like we're lookin' pretty good, huh?)
Of course, with the lousy weather around here, what else is there to
do but stay inside and eat?!
There didn't seem to be any listings for fattest men, though I think
we can both guess that it's comparable!

Interestingly enough... of the 100 Safest Cities of 5000+ residents
the number 24 rank belongs to...


Batesville, IN


Yes, I kid you not. Well at least ONE of us won't get shot!

Top 100 large cities (50,000+) with declining populations (2000-2002)
include some of our perennial favorites such as:

13. Cincinnati, OH (ranking only a few rungs below such gems of urban
decline as Flint, MI, and Detroit)
17. Dayton, OH
(31. Gary, IN. Apparently, at least according to this site, a higher
percentage of people are leaving Cincinnati than are leaving one of
the most crime-ridden and economically disadvantaged cities in the
U.S.)
69. Muncie, IN
86. Hamilton, OH

Of cities or 5,000+ with the highest declining population:
68. Rushville, IN

Indianapolis is interestingly absent from many of these lists
(although surely its weather can't deviate THAT much from the rest of
the region), but hey, they have the Colts!

In a ranking of the 100 most populated U.S. cities, Indianapolis ranks
at number 12.
Of course, I think we'd both be willing to argue that Indianapolis
sucks a whole lot less than Cincinnati! (Cincinnati ranks at #54)
Chicago, unsurprisingly, is the 3rd largest city in the U.S.

Anyway, I hope this was at least entertaining. It kept me entertained
during my convalescence! It seems like the moral of the story is, as
they say: Time to get the hell outta Dodge!