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| Finally: bad sandwiches and psychic readings in one spot | |
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| Clark Street, looking north | Carl Sandburg Village: a New Town style development, ironically, in Old Town. Built in the 1960's as an urban renewal project, the housing blocks are typical from that period, and are very out of place in the neighborhood, full of old, brick 5- to 6-story buildings. |
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| Bench in Carl Sandburg Village |
But, of course, you wouldn't drive US 6 without coming to Chicago. It's just silly, especially considering what part of Chicagoland you go through along US 6. There's Calumet City, with its once-vibrant "sin district" now a mostly-empty industrial park; Harvey with its abandoned and run-down apartment complexes and long-derelict mall famously destroyed in "The Blues Brothers;" Indiana's forgotten city, Gary; and the suburban sprawling wastes of Orland Park. What you're getting on US 6 near Chicago is almost the antithesis of Chicago. While the city's north side sits wealthy, hip and vibrant, and its south side sits famously violent and poor, its southern suburbs seem to be the carriers of the burden that helped Chicago grow. For instance, Gary was built by US Steel. However, I would guess that very few of the employees at the mill there actually live in Gary. Harvey was another company town, modeled on Christian values, but left to waste by the manufactures that exploited it and was turned almost uninhabitable because of abandonment and the crime that came with the poverty that moved in, mostly caused by long-standing corruption within its government.
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| An iPaq was shown in as an example of technology used by stock traders. My first real job was building companion CD-ROMs for iPaqs for Compaq, just as they were bought out by Hewlett-Packard in 2003. HP later attempted to sue Apple for stealing the name, but the case was thrown out. |
The main exhibit at the Chicago History Museum has a section that focuses on manufacturing and industry. The meatpacking past and its famous expose in "The Jungle," the shipping that began to build the city, but also its other past manufacturing (steel, and I guess it led the country in furniture production for a period), and the companies who have begun here. Some are white-collar companies. For instance, Rand McNally, probably the country's best known mapmaking company, started here by selling brochures to westbound railroad travelers, detailing the activities that existed once they arrived. Most of the fortunes of these companies though were built off of the backs of immigrants. In Chicago, that was mostly Italians and Eastern Europeans. They worked the stockyards on the south side and they slaved at the steel mills. Not that Chicago is the exception in this respect. You could say the same about the old wealth in almost every major city. The museum was interesting, and much larger than I expected. At the back, behind the Lincoln exhibit, there were two open rooms, both featuring beautiful stained glass windows at the back, and a great view of the park area on the building's east side. Well worth the admission. |  |  |
| Chicago History Museum | Chicago History Museum | Chicago History Museum |
Now I have to rest up for Schuba's. The band, The Heligoats, is supposedly going on at 9 or 10, though I'm skeptical of this, especially considering it's a private party and they're the only band. I feel fortunate that I can go, especially for free, but I may end up hanging out on the street part of the night while waiting for them to start. I feel a bit bad about crashing someone's birthday party, but it's all about the music.I also discovered that the round-trip to Wicker Park last night cost me only $2.50: $2.25 fare out there and a $0.25 "transfer" back. Odd, but nice. After the $2 bus ride this afternoon, I'm down the $5.50 on the card, which means I'll have to add value tonight so that I can get to Midway tomorrow.
And - lucky me - there's construction on the Orange Line to Midway, and I'll have to take a CTA shuttle from Roosevelt to Halstead. I'm hoping though that, on Sunday morning, it should be pretty sparse and it won't delay me too much.
Update (midnight): The Heligoats went on at 10. It was one of the most awkward things I've seen. They did not play well, but it was mainly that the crowd was about 25 people and one surly bartender in a small room. Most of them watched the band attentively, but a few (mostly by me and right next to the band, of course, because that's how it always happens) were totally sloshed and yapped through the set. If I paid for the band to come out and for renting Schuba's, and this was the result, I would be a little devastated right now.
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