Lunch Partner

Another chance to quote Carl Sandburg:

Bee Song

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Bees in the late summer sun

Drone their song

Of yellow moons

Trimming black velvet,

Droning, droning a

sleepysong.

So this little bee kept nibbling on my fruit plate. He wouldn't go away and swatting at him didn't seem like a good idea -- I was afraid he'd get mad and sting me. So I spared a small piece of watermelon and put it a few feet away. That distracted him sufficiently for me to enjoy my fruit plate as well as pull out the macro lens and take pictures of him eating a summer lunch.

You're Kidding?!?

It's Deja Vu All Over Again.

Remember a few weeks ago when that cupcake shop opened and there was a line so I took a photo and posted it? Well, I'm walking down the street and I get this deja vu feeling because there's the now-three-week-old cupcake place and there's STILL a line. I won't stand in a line for a cupcake but I am now rather curious about them. Eventually the line will go away, right?

Oh That's What It Is

A few weeks ago, I almost fell over this thing when I was backing up to look at/photograph one of the Cardinal Banners. I didn't know what it was at the time. It says "State Street That Great Street" and looks a little like a hitching post. I know we have mounted police that patrol the Loop, but they usually don't tie up their horses. A few days ago I was in the area and saw one in use: It's a single bike rack.

This Little Piggy

This is part of an composition at the Museum of Contemporary Art by an artist named Kristi Lippire. In a complementary exhibit to the Calder retrospect, the MCA has artists whose work is in the same style/inspired by Calder.

This piece, really titled Three Under Parr and based on some photographs by another artist named Martin Parr, is made of found objects. Individually, each pig petit four is an art sculpture. Combined, they create a larger artistic piece.

Form Joy Balance

The stairs at the Museum of Contemporary Art announce their special Alexander Calder exhibition.

1 - 2 - 3

Darn nice of the Blue Angels to line up in numerical order so I could take their picture as they zoomed by.

See the one pilot waving? Me neither ;)

Ouch!

When these planes zoom over the buildings it's really loud on the sidewalk. It's even louder when you're up on one of the building roofs. Usually I flinch and cover my ears (not always -- just when they fly directly over the roof). This time I wanted a photo.

It's hurt-your-ears loud. But really so fun to see them so close.

Oh, just so you know. It's Chicago Air Show Weekend and that means we get treated to three days of practice flyovers in addition to the official shows on Saturday and Sunday. OK, I might be one of the few that considers five days of demonstration jets and bombers, acrobatic fighters, and parachute jumpers a treat ;)

Fog Rolls In ...

Time to quote Carl Sandburg again:

"The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over the harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on."

I wasn't going to post another sunrise series (since I posted one on Sunday) but this morning's sunrise was pretty cool. Along with the sun came a fog bank rolling in from the North. First it looked (to me) like sand dunes taking over the lake and Navy Pier. In the last one it almost looks like a giant wave crashing over a tiny Navy Pier sand castle.

To see a winter Fog Attack that I posted a while ago: Click here

All Sunrises are Different

Three Days, Three Sunrises: August 3, 4, 5

One More Refrigerator

This 1970s Kenmore Refrigerator, also part of the Fine Art Fridge series on Michigan Avenue, has been artsy-ed up by Chicago artist Kathryn Trumbull Fimreite. This one is called Green Lifestyles. In keeping with the name, it is covered with little pictures of "green" things people can do -- like the ones shown in the collage: riding public transportation, eating local, and using re-usable grocery bags.

Cold Feet

Is it a planter?

No.

Is Nature just taking over a lost item?

No.

It's another Fine Art Fridge on Michigan Avenue. This one is called "Running Down, Out to Pasture" by Mike Helbing. Before it was art, it was a 1952-ish General Electric Refrigerator.

Voodoo Retro Rod

I almost missed this Fine Art Fridge. This one is called Recycled Voodoo Retro Road by VooDoo Larry Grobe, a custom hotrod car designer and detailer.

It used to be a refrigerator (specifically a 1953 Philco Advanced Design) but now it is a work of art. And, according to the sign, whoever used to have it is presumably saving about $150 a year (the estimated cost of running an inefficient old back-up refrigerator) and got $25 rebate from ComEd's appliance recycling program.

Refrigerator Madness

Another make-art-out-of-some-odd-object display has taken over Michigan Avenue.

The new one is interesting, although it may not generate the tourist interest like the cows or the globes or even the furniture. (Yes, we Chicagoans like to put old stuff out in the street in the summer, as well as in the winter).

It's refrigerators. Specifically, old and inefficient ones. Commonwealth Edison is sponsoring the Fine Art Fridges display to draw attention to how much excess energy old refrigerators use. These old refrigerators are usually found in basements and garages - having been replaced by newer models in the homes. But, since the old ones still work, people tend to keep them around for use as a freezer or to keep water and soda cold. According to the accompanying sign, using that back-up old refrigerator can cost a typical household up to an additional $150 a year. ComEd, however, will take your old refrigerator away, recycle it (another reason why people hesitate to discard the old refrigerator: How do you deal with safely getting rid of that coolant stuff), and give you $25.

Or, you could decorate it and haul it down to Michigan Avenue. If you do it now, no one may notice. (I'm kidding!)

This one is called ColdSpot: A Gulf Story.

It is by artist Nicole Beck.

She created a oceanside scene on a 1956 ColdSpot Super-Mart Refrigerator

A scene on one side of the FineArt Fridge

A message on the other side of the FineArt Fridge

The front of the ColdSpot Fine Art Fridge

Summer (Traffic) in the City

Two reasons why I prefer walking to driving in general and definitely during the summer in Chicago.