Pulling the Plug V
The Ritz Camera I used to go to to get film developed was closed when I walked to it this noon with four rolls of film. It'd been closed since March 15. Mid-March! Has it been that long since I got film developed? Guess I'll have to find a new camera shop.
Monday, August 05, 2002
Television-Impaired
For the last three years, I have had next to no TV reception. Didn't even have my television at Magazine Street hooked up to the antenna until just a couple of weeks ago. I don't watch a lot of television, mostly video tapes and DVD's. But two weeks ago, I ordered cable. It was to be installed -- and was, eventually -- Saturday.
I signed up for AT&T Digital Cable on the InterWeb, scheduling the installation appointment, etc. Saturday, I woke promptly at 7 a.m. so I could tidy up my apartment -- especially the space right in front of the television. 9 rolled around. Then 11. Then 12. And still no cable guy. No phone calls, no doorbell. I read magazines. I wrote letters. I read the newspaper. I did dishes. I talked to my grandmother.
Because AT&T had left the reminder messages on my work voicemail, I figured I should check it to see if they'd called me there. They had. "Looks like you're not home," the cable guy said. "I guess you'll have to reschedule." I was home. And no one had come by. So I called AT&T to reconfirm and see what the deal was. They only had my work number on file, and the guy was running late. He could still come by Saturday afternoon.
So I waited a little longer. Eventually, the guy showed up. He was sweating -- said he usually did 20 installations a day between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. -- and seemed slightly irritated that I didn't know whether the cable was already turned on, that I hadn't preprogrammed my television, and that I didn't know where the cable lock box was in the building (It's down in the basement behind the stairs, I now know.). No one told me I had to prepare for the cable guy, so I was a little miffed that he was miffed. But that didn't last long.
In any event, it didn't take long for him to hook the cable up, either. Then he used the phone to check on his other appointments -- he'd lost his cell phone that morning but wasn't worried because AT&T would replace it for free. Before long, he was on his way.
I turned on the TV. And the first thing that was on was Little Shop of Horrors. Not a bad welcome to the new world of cable television! But it wasn't until later in the afternoon -- after a trip to the comic shop and Charlie's for a belated lunch -- that my TV Party on the Big Blue Couch began. Here's what I watched:
That was my Saturday night. What did I learn? One, that, despite my intentions to use the television for productive things like CNN, the Weather Channel, nature documentaries, etc., it'll also be easy for me to get sucked into crap TV. Two, that I don't like the lack of control provided by TV. Unless I get Tivo or something, I'll need to sit through programs at their own pace. Can't pause. Can't take a walk. If you want to watch something, you have to watch it. And three, that I'll be as much of a multitasker while watching TV as I am on the Web and at work. I'll flip between multiple shows on multiple channels. I'll read while watching.
Oh, add four, that I might become an extremely boring person. When a friend called late last night, all I could talk about was TV. Getting cable, what I'd watched, what excited or concerned me about television. Um, kind of like this Media Diet entry.
I apologize.
Nevertheless, I did watch the evening news before going to bed last night. And this morning, I ate my oatmeal and banana while watching CNN. That's OK, isn't it?
For the last three years, I have had next to no TV reception. Didn't even have my television at Magazine Street hooked up to the antenna until just a couple of weeks ago. I don't watch a lot of television, mostly video tapes and DVD's. But two weeks ago, I ordered cable. It was to be installed -- and was, eventually -- Saturday.
I signed up for AT&T Digital Cable on the InterWeb, scheduling the installation appointment, etc. Saturday, I woke promptly at 7 a.m. so I could tidy up my apartment -- especially the space right in front of the television. 9 rolled around. Then 11. Then 12. And still no cable guy. No phone calls, no doorbell. I read magazines. I wrote letters. I read the newspaper. I did dishes. I talked to my grandmother.
Because AT&T had left the reminder messages on my work voicemail, I figured I should check it to see if they'd called me there. They had. "Looks like you're not home," the cable guy said. "I guess you'll have to reschedule." I was home. And no one had come by. So I called AT&T to reconfirm and see what the deal was. They only had my work number on file, and the guy was running late. He could still come by Saturday afternoon.
So I waited a little longer. Eventually, the guy showed up. He was sweating -- said he usually did 20 installations a day between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. -- and seemed slightly irritated that I didn't know whether the cable was already turned on, that I hadn't preprogrammed my television, and that I didn't know where the cable lock box was in the building (It's down in the basement behind the stairs, I now know.). No one told me I had to prepare for the cable guy, so I was a little miffed that he was miffed. But that didn't last long.
In any event, it didn't take long for him to hook the cable up, either. Then he used the phone to check on his other appointments -- he'd lost his cell phone that morning but wasn't worried because AT&T would replace it for free. Before long, he was on his way.
I turned on the TV. And the first thing that was on was Little Shop of Horrors. Not a bad welcome to the new world of cable television! But it wasn't until later in the afternoon -- after a trip to the comic shop and Charlie's for a belated lunch -- that my TV Party on the Big Blue Couch began. Here's what I watched:
4 p.m., Discovery: Mystery of the Persian Mummy In the 10 minutes I saw, researchers discovered that the mummy's makers hadn't punched holes up through the mummy's nose but instead drilled up through the chin and palette to reach the skull. Then they liquefied the brain to drain it.
4:30 p.m., Starz!: Snowboard Academy I'll review this in a coming entry of The Movie I Watched Last Night.
6 p.m., WENH: Lawrence Welk Dick Dale hosted this collection of classic Welk vignettes featuring people performing then-pop standards. I imagine that if you lobotomized the king of surf guitar and gave Valium to talented musicians, you could produce this show, too. Welk was a white-bread dictator who squeezed all of the creativity and talent out of his performers. Regardless of my fond memories of watching this show at Gramma's, I can't get past Welk's controlling nature: "Since I'm the boss, I'll hold this and let you dance," he said to Dale. Now, Dale's no stranger to selling out as a pop phenom, but this episode takes the cake. Welk even tried to cash in on Manhattan Transfer's mid-'90s popularity. I could only watch half an hour.
7 p.m., Comedy Channel: Comedy Channel Presents... Dane Cook does extremely unfunny standup about how he wishes he were a lizard, how confusing cab fares are, how frustrating the DMV is, and how cool it'd be to have a time machine. So I bounced back and forth between this and...
7 p.m., E! Entertainment Television: Revealed with Jules Asner Dana Carvey is profiled as a late-'70s/early-'80s standup comedian who talkes about how he met his wife; his show with Mickey Rooney and Nathan Lane; a failed pilot with Desi Arnaz; how he ended up at Saturday Night Live; the elements of his impressions of Ross Perot, George Bush, and Johnny Carson; his friendship with Mike Myers; and other aspects of his career.
7:30 p.m., WFXT: The Simpsons No Simpsons because Seinfeld was delayed -- perhaps because of the Seattle-Cleveland game? At 7:45, the show switched over to programming "already in progress" to catch up with the Simpsons episode, which focused on a controversial mural.
"I went to Tufts. It was my safety school. So don't talk to me about hardship." -- Julia Louise-Dreyfuss as Elaine on Seinfeld
8 p.m., WCVB: The Man with the Golden Gun This James Bond movie won out over Henry Rollins' tired schtick over at the Comedy Channel. By this point in the evening, I was also reading while sitting on the Big Blue Couch. Seems that even television can't hold my attention. I was also bouncing back and forth between this and...
8 p.m., Turner Classic Movies: Charade Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn shine in this suspense movie, but even it didn't hold my attention for long. Walter Matthau's character is also notable, and the dynamic between Grant and Hepburn was delightful.
Quotes of Note from Charade:"Do you know what's wrong with you? Nothing." "May I have a cigarette please? It's like drinking coffee through a veil." "Women make the best spies." "Agents."
Opposite that, on the National Network (gah, please.) was Slamball. I didn't need to see much of it to know it wasn't my bag.
That was my Saturday night. What did I learn? One, that, despite my intentions to use the television for productive things like CNN, the Weather Channel, nature documentaries, etc., it'll also be easy for me to get sucked into crap TV. Two, that I don't like the lack of control provided by TV. Unless I get Tivo or something, I'll need to sit through programs at their own pace. Can't pause. Can't take a walk. If you want to watch something, you have to watch it. And three, that I'll be as much of a multitasker while watching TV as I am on the Web and at work. I'll flip between multiple shows on multiple channels. I'll read while watching.
Oh, add four, that I might become an extremely boring person. When a friend called late last night, all I could talk about was TV. Getting cable, what I'd watched, what excited or concerned me about television. Um, kind of like this Media Diet entry.
I apologize.
Nevertheless, I did watch the evening news before going to bed last night. And this morning, I ate my oatmeal and banana while watching CNN. That's OK, isn't it?
North End Moment XXV
Walking back to my office just now from the mail room, I spotted a little mouse on the hardwood floor in front of the elevator. I stepped on its tail to trap it and quickly realized that I had in fact trapped myself. If I moved, it'd escape. I didn't want to pick it up by its tail -- I'm not squeamish, but I'm not that brave, either -- so all I could do was wait for someone to get off the elevator or walk through the part of the office I was trapped in. Luckily, Tim quickly came along.
"Could you tell someone that I caught a mouse? I'm not quite sure what to do."
"Sounds like a job for Cynthia or Sylvia."
Soon, several people gathered by the elevators to watch me and the mouse. Sylvia soon came with a sticky trap: the Waltham Watchman. We put it on top of the mouse, who promptly died, perhaps from shock. It was pretty shocked when I stepped on it. Then we folded it over to cover the whole mouse and put it in a plastic bag for disposal.
Here is the dilemma. I don't like the idea of killing mice. They're living things. Kinda cute, too, when you look at them. But they shouldn't live in our office -- or our office building, really. As Sylvia said, "They're pests," and pests spread pestilence. So we kill them. How would you have handled this? Catch and release on the back alley? Some other method?
Walking back to my office just now from the mail room, I spotted a little mouse on the hardwood floor in front of the elevator. I stepped on its tail to trap it and quickly realized that I had in fact trapped myself. If I moved, it'd escape. I didn't want to pick it up by its tail -- I'm not squeamish, but I'm not that brave, either -- so all I could do was wait for someone to get off the elevator or walk through the part of the office I was trapped in. Luckily, Tim quickly came along.
"Could you tell someone that I caught a mouse? I'm not quite sure what to do."
"Sounds like a job for Cynthia or Sylvia."
Soon, several people gathered by the elevators to watch me and the mouse. Sylvia soon came with a sticky trap: the Waltham Watchman. We put it on top of the mouse, who promptly died, perhaps from shock. It was pretty shocked when I stepped on it. Then we folded it over to cover the whole mouse and put it in a plastic bag for disposal.
Here is the dilemma. I don't like the idea of killing mice. They're living things. Kinda cute, too, when you look at them. But they shouldn't live in our office -- or our office building, really. As Sylvia said, "They're pests," and pests spread pestilence. So we kill them. How would you have handled this? Catch and release on the back alley? Some other method?
Friday, August 02, 2002
Reports from the Road
Last Friday, I flew to Madison, Wisconsin, where I met up with my parents and sister. I had some trouble with my American connection in Chicago, but even though they'd canceled my original flight, I was able to get a standby seat on an earlier flight (imagine that!). My bag was not so lucky, but it eventually followed. The drive to Green Lake, Wisconsin, took about two hours. We were heading there to meet up with relatives from my father's side of the family for a mini family reunion and golf outing. Most everyone else took the whole week, but we were only able to spend the weekend in Green Lake. Despite not being able to see and catch up with most of the family, we did have some quality time with cousins from Iowa -- and we were able to see quite of a bit in the area.
Oakwood Lodge has been in business since 1867.
We stayed at Oakwood Lodge, a B&B that's been hosting travelers and vacationers since 1867, when it was built as a guest house for the Oakwood Resort, the first resort opened west of Niagara Falls. Because the original resort has been subdivided over the years, most of the buildings have been razed, and several other guest houses have been relocated, you can't really get a good sense of what the original property was like. But checking out a plat map from 1901, you can see that it was huge, stretching from where Oakwood is now toward downtown and the marina.
"Republican" meant something very different back then.
One of the days, we drove to Ripon, home of Ripon College and Ripon Foods Inc., maker of Rippin' Good Cookies. Ripon is also the birthplace of the Republican Party -- one of six or so cities that claim the title, including Jackson, Michigan -- and the little white schoolhouse that housed the first mass meeting in the country March 20, 1854, to organize the Republican Party still stands. When it was founded, the Republican Party was dedicated to fight the spread of slavery. About 55 people gathered to dissolve the local Whig and Free Soiler political parties -- and to protest the extension of slavery into the Kansas and Nebraska territories.
Surprising diversity in the Republican Party!
Today, the birthplace of the Republican Party neighbors the Republican House, a Chinese restaurant. We didn't eat there, but I was amused by the juxtaposition -- and the fact that an Asian eatery was trying to capitalize on the Republicans. Wonder how many conservatives take part of the chop suey.
We also spent some time driving around the Green Lake Conference Center, a Baptist retreat. The center abuts the Golf Courses of Lawsonia, named after Victor Lawson, publisher of the once-defunct Chicago Daily News. The center covers more than 1,000 acres, most of them heavily wooded, and features many interesting concrete-constructed "prayer towers."
Where the chapel car is parked.
Green Lake is also home of a chapel car -- one of two still in existence. "Chapel Car Grace" was used as part of the chapel car ministry of the American Baptist Publication Society and the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Starting in 1891, Baptist evangelists would ride the rails in the American West to spread the Gospel, distribute Bibles, and establish Sunday schools and churches.
By the God of Grace.
Grace, the car resting in Green Lake, was the last Baptist chapel car -- the seventh -- to be constructed. Built in 1915, the car cost only $21,000 to build. It was used primarily in California, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah and ceased service in 1946. Over the course of its history, three missionary couples served on the car, with Rev. A.C. Blinzinger riding the rails with the God of Grace for almost 20 of those years.
Make your ministry mobile!
Inside, there are enough seats for about 65 people to worship. Just behind the lectern is an additional room that served as the minister's bedroom. And on the far end of the chapel car was a small kitchen and rest room. I know I said the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers was so large you almost didn't need to leave to live, but can you imagine living on a train car for 20 years?
Looking back in time.
In the beginning, railways would waive trackage fees so the chapel cars could ride their rails for free. That changed in 1914, when the Publication Society began to pay for the railways' transport of the chapel cars. Despite this cost -- and the declining need for cars as churches were founded throughout the West -- the chapel cars remained in service for another 32 years.
All in all, an extremely fun and comfortable vacation with the family -- and a lot of lost local history.
Last Friday, I flew to Madison, Wisconsin, where I met up with my parents and sister. I had some trouble with my American connection in Chicago, but even though they'd canceled my original flight, I was able to get a standby seat on an earlier flight (imagine that!). My bag was not so lucky, but it eventually followed. The drive to Green Lake, Wisconsin, took about two hours. We were heading there to meet up with relatives from my father's side of the family for a mini family reunion and golf outing. Most everyone else took the whole week, but we were only able to spend the weekend in Green Lake. Despite not being able to see and catch up with most of the family, we did have some quality time with cousins from Iowa -- and we were able to see quite of a bit in the area.
Oakwood Lodge has been in business since 1867.
We stayed at Oakwood Lodge, a B&B that's been hosting travelers and vacationers since 1867, when it was built as a guest house for the Oakwood Resort, the first resort opened west of Niagara Falls. Because the original resort has been subdivided over the years, most of the buildings have been razed, and several other guest houses have been relocated, you can't really get a good sense of what the original property was like. But checking out a plat map from 1901, you can see that it was huge, stretching from where Oakwood is now toward downtown and the marina.
"Republican" meant something very different back then.
One of the days, we drove to Ripon, home of Ripon College and Ripon Foods Inc., maker of Rippin' Good Cookies. Ripon is also the birthplace of the Republican Party -- one of six or so cities that claim the title, including Jackson, Michigan -- and the little white schoolhouse that housed the first mass meeting in the country March 20, 1854, to organize the Republican Party still stands. When it was founded, the Republican Party was dedicated to fight the spread of slavery. About 55 people gathered to dissolve the local Whig and Free Soiler political parties -- and to protest the extension of slavery into the Kansas and Nebraska territories.
Surprising diversity in the Republican Party!
Today, the birthplace of the Republican Party neighbors the Republican House, a Chinese restaurant. We didn't eat there, but I was amused by the juxtaposition -- and the fact that an Asian eatery was trying to capitalize on the Republicans. Wonder how many conservatives take part of the chop suey.
We also spent some time driving around the Green Lake Conference Center, a Baptist retreat. The center abuts the Golf Courses of Lawsonia, named after Victor Lawson, publisher of the once-defunct Chicago Daily News. The center covers more than 1,000 acres, most of them heavily wooded, and features many interesting concrete-constructed "prayer towers."
Where the chapel car is parked.
Green Lake is also home of a chapel car -- one of two still in existence. "Chapel Car Grace" was used as part of the chapel car ministry of the American Baptist Publication Society and the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Starting in 1891, Baptist evangelists would ride the rails in the American West to spread the Gospel, distribute Bibles, and establish Sunday schools and churches.
By the God of Grace.
Grace, the car resting in Green Lake, was the last Baptist chapel car -- the seventh -- to be constructed. Built in 1915, the car cost only $21,000 to build. It was used primarily in California, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah and ceased service in 1946. Over the course of its history, three missionary couples served on the car, with Rev. A.C. Blinzinger riding the rails with the God of Grace for almost 20 of those years.
Make your ministry mobile!
Inside, there are enough seats for about 65 people to worship. Just behind the lectern is an additional room that served as the minister's bedroom. And on the far end of the chapel car was a small kitchen and rest room. I know I said the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers was so large you almost didn't need to leave to live, but can you imagine living on a train car for 20 years?
Looking back in time.
In the beginning, railways would waive trackage fees so the chapel cars could ride their rails for free. That changed in 1914, when the Publication Society began to pay for the railways' transport of the chapel cars. Despite this cost -- and the declining need for cars as churches were founded throughout the West -- the chapel cars remained in service for another 32 years.
All in all, an extremely fun and comfortable vacation with the family -- and a lot of lost local history.
No Media Res(t) for the Weary Traveler
Talk about culture shock! From Oakwood Lodge, a B&B that was originally built in 1867 as a guest house for a resort in Green Lake, Wisconsin, to the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, one of the city's largest conference hotels. The Sheraton has more than 1,200 rooms, and with a steak club, two cafes, and two bars, as well as a health club and swimming pool, you almost don't need to leave to live.
Yet the in-room literature is all about pointing you outside the hotel and into the city. Whether it's the Directory of Guest Services pointing you to barber shops, florists, and restaurants outside the hotel -- in addition to area shopping centers -- or the three in-room visitors guides, the Sheraton doesn't want you to stay inside if you don't want to.
Resting gently by the phone is the trade paperback-sized Front Desk Chicago, a 116-page shopping, dining, and culture quarterly published by Chicago-based Modern Luxury Inc. With an editorial staff dwarfed by its advertising and production teams -- and what must be a cadre of freelance contributors -- Front Desk caters to the Paul Stuart and Kate Spade set. The July 15 edition gives lip service to the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival and Andreas Gursky's MOCA exhibit in between pages devoted to details of the city's best cocktail bars, carry-ons and totes for summer, and a 40-page shopping, gallery, nightlife, and dining guide. Most of the goods and venues featured in Front Desk are way outside of my price range, and the guide's map of Michigan Avenue's Miracle Mile indicates the neighborhood its target demographic is encouraged to stick to.
So I turn to the Chicago Guest Informant -- placed prominently on the glass coffee table in front of the couch -- a European genre comics-formatted (think Tin Tin and Asterix) hardcover. Opening with a custom-published welcome letter from the hotel's VP and managing director (how friendly!), this 168-page annual published by a Woodland Hills, California-based company is slightly less duplicitious in its commercial intent in terms of pastiche listings disguised as articles, and when it comes down to it, is eminently more useful.
On p. 16, we are offered a relatively detailed map of the Loop, stretching north to Old Town and south to Soldier Field -- and including elevated and subway train lines (perhaps for the more adventurous hotel guests). There's a telephone directory of local financial, travel, and other services in the area. And while the content -- features on Chicago's culture, skyline, and seasonal events -- isn't as timely as Front Desk's, it's certainly more contextual.
That said, while Front Desk is quite adept at energizing and mobilizing hotel guests, Guest Informant seems more geared to the bored society matron. Why explain how to buy a diamond? The history and role of the concierge? Customer service quirks in Philadelphia? Nuances of champagne? Despite Guest Informant's focus on regional context, the annual is heavily dominated by dining and retail directories -- skimping on the events and gallery listings given its yearly publication -- and shameless about paid advertorial. A photography how to ran on a page with an ad for Gregory Gaymont Photography. The diamond selection primer ran opposite a full-page ad for Sidney Garber, a local jeweler. And the restaurant guide features 13 paid review/ads ranging from a third page to a full page.
Lastly, the July edition of Where Chicago, which I almost didn't find hidden on a shelf by the television and mini bar. Laudably staffing a Chicago office, Where is a regional visitors guide published by LA-based Miller Publishing Group. The "Where Network" covers more than 40 urban areas in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia, including some real ringers: the Yukon, St. Louis, and Winnipeg. In this month's 112-page magazine-format edition, readers are offered ads to Marshall Field's, Bloomingdale's, and Carson Pirie Scott, as well as some light editorial preceding the entertainment, shopping, and dining guides, which take up about two thirds of the glossy.
Articles address organic produce and cuisine, and the "most luxurious clubs Chicago has to offer," as well as pastiche aggregations of the listings in the entertainment, shopping, and dining guides. The corporate-sponsored Absolut Vision summer gallery series gets heavy play in this -- as it does in Front Desk. But for the most part, Where is all about the ads and listings, despite the detail of its local and regional maps, which are the best of the bunch as well worth tearing out if you don't want to spring for the laminated accordion Streetwise Chicago before you hit the streets.
Perhaps Sheraton's stocking of these three is strategic. Guest Informant goes straight for the blue hairs. Front Desk aims more for the monied near-hipster. And Where caters to the generally white-bread family. The location and placement is sure strategic. Front Desk, the edgy newcomer, rates prominent placement next to the phone. Guest Informant acquires the austere honor of residing on the coffee table. And Where nets the ghetto -- the shadowy shelves of the entertainment center.
But there has to be a better approach. Kudos to Front Desk and Where for publishing locally -- and for being more timely. Kudos to Where and Guest Informant for the depth of their local and regional resources and maps. And kudos to Front Desk for its hipster veneer and relative edginess when compared to the other two. When it comes down to brass tacks, however, you're better off ripping out Where's street map and pounding the pavement to find a copy of Newcity or the Chicago Reader if you really want to know where to go or what to do. Because the people in Guest Informant's California sales office? They have no idea.
Oh. There's one more hotel room media accoutrement you can turn to. Tucked snugly in the drawer on the nightstand on the far side of the bed is a Holy Bible "placed by the Gideons," an organization of Christian business travelers formed in 1898. I refer you to 1 John 2:15, 17 -- "Do not love the world or the things in the world. The world is passing away." As are all of the shops, galleries, and restaurants reviewed and advertised in the above visitors guides. But that's another story.
Talk about culture shock! From Oakwood Lodge, a B&B that was originally built in 1867 as a guest house for a resort in Green Lake, Wisconsin, to the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, one of the city's largest conference hotels. The Sheraton has more than 1,200 rooms, and with a steak club, two cafes, and two bars, as well as a health club and swimming pool, you almost don't need to leave to live.
Yet the in-room literature is all about pointing you outside the hotel and into the city. Whether it's the Directory of Guest Services pointing you to barber shops, florists, and restaurants outside the hotel -- in addition to area shopping centers -- or the three in-room visitors guides, the Sheraton doesn't want you to stay inside if you don't want to.
Resting gently by the phone is the trade paperback-sized Front Desk Chicago, a 116-page shopping, dining, and culture quarterly published by Chicago-based Modern Luxury Inc. With an editorial staff dwarfed by its advertising and production teams -- and what must be a cadre of freelance contributors -- Front Desk caters to the Paul Stuart and Kate Spade set. The July 15 edition gives lip service to the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival and Andreas Gursky's MOCA exhibit in between pages devoted to details of the city's best cocktail bars, carry-ons and totes for summer, and a 40-page shopping, gallery, nightlife, and dining guide. Most of the goods and venues featured in Front Desk are way outside of my price range, and the guide's map of Michigan Avenue's Miracle Mile indicates the neighborhood its target demographic is encouraged to stick to.
So I turn to the Chicago Guest Informant -- placed prominently on the glass coffee table in front of the couch -- a European genre comics-formatted (think Tin Tin and Asterix) hardcover. Opening with a custom-published welcome letter from the hotel's VP and managing director (how friendly!), this 168-page annual published by a Woodland Hills, California-based company is slightly less duplicitious in its commercial intent in terms of pastiche listings disguised as articles, and when it comes down to it, is eminently more useful.
On p. 16, we are offered a relatively detailed map of the Loop, stretching north to Old Town and south to Soldier Field -- and including elevated and subway train lines (perhaps for the more adventurous hotel guests). There's a telephone directory of local financial, travel, and other services in the area. And while the content -- features on Chicago's culture, skyline, and seasonal events -- isn't as timely as Front Desk's, it's certainly more contextual.
That said, while Front Desk is quite adept at energizing and mobilizing hotel guests, Guest Informant seems more geared to the bored society matron. Why explain how to buy a diamond? The history and role of the concierge? Customer service quirks in Philadelphia? Nuances of champagne? Despite Guest Informant's focus on regional context, the annual is heavily dominated by dining and retail directories -- skimping on the events and gallery listings given its yearly publication -- and shameless about paid advertorial. A photography how to ran on a page with an ad for Gregory Gaymont Photography. The diamond selection primer ran opposite a full-page ad for Sidney Garber, a local jeweler. And the restaurant guide features 13 paid review/ads ranging from a third page to a full page.
Lastly, the July edition of Where Chicago, which I almost didn't find hidden on a shelf by the television and mini bar. Laudably staffing a Chicago office, Where is a regional visitors guide published by LA-based Miller Publishing Group. The "Where Network" covers more than 40 urban areas in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia, including some real ringers: the Yukon, St. Louis, and Winnipeg. In this month's 112-page magazine-format edition, readers are offered ads to Marshall Field's, Bloomingdale's, and Carson Pirie Scott, as well as some light editorial preceding the entertainment, shopping, and dining guides, which take up about two thirds of the glossy.
Articles address organic produce and cuisine, and the "most luxurious clubs Chicago has to offer," as well as pastiche aggregations of the listings in the entertainment, shopping, and dining guides. The corporate-sponsored Absolut Vision summer gallery series gets heavy play in this -- as it does in Front Desk. But for the most part, Where is all about the ads and listings, despite the detail of its local and regional maps, which are the best of the bunch as well worth tearing out if you don't want to spring for the laminated accordion Streetwise Chicago before you hit the streets.
Perhaps Sheraton's stocking of these three is strategic. Guest Informant goes straight for the blue hairs. Front Desk aims more for the monied near-hipster. And Where caters to the generally white-bread family. The location and placement is sure strategic. Front Desk, the edgy newcomer, rates prominent placement next to the phone. Guest Informant acquires the austere honor of residing on the coffee table. And Where nets the ghetto -- the shadowy shelves of the entertainment center.
But there has to be a better approach. Kudos to Front Desk and Where for publishing locally -- and for being more timely. Kudos to Where and Guest Informant for the depth of their local and regional resources and maps. And kudos to Front Desk for its hipster veneer and relative edginess when compared to the other two. When it comes down to brass tacks, however, you're better off ripping out Where's street map and pounding the pavement to find a copy of Newcity or the Chicago Reader if you really want to know where to go or what to do. Because the people in Guest Informant's California sales office? They have no idea.
Oh. There's one more hotel room media accoutrement you can turn to. Tucked snugly in the drawer on the nightstand on the far side of the bed is a Holy Bible "placed by the Gideons," an organization of Christian business travelers formed in 1898. I refer you to 1 John 2:15, 17 -- "Do not love the world or the things in the world. The world is passing away." As are all of the shops, galleries, and restaurants reviewed and advertised in the above visitors guides. But that's another story.
Technofetishism XIV
Started using several new applications today. First up, tools for the iPod. xPod from BITcom helps you move MP3's off of your iPod and onto your hard drive. It's freeware, and it's been quite useful in terms of getting all of the MP3's Strand set me up with before I had my own PowerBook moved over to iTunes. PodUtil seems to work similarly, although it has the added feature of managing contacts on the iPod, as well. I've only played around with this one a little bit. Lastly, Podtext. This is an application that allows you to upload text files to your iPod -- files that can be read much like contacts. You can't use it for anything too long -- it runs out at 2,000 characters, which is more than many iPod text apps -- but for short text files, it seems to work pretty well.
I've also started using Opera as my default browser today. Blogger Pro doesn't support Opera, so I have to continue using Explorer to update Media Diet, but otherwise, Opera is an excellent alternative. It's faster, smaller, and more flexible than other browsers, and it offers some interesting features -- such as the 20-100% zoom. Again, I'll use Explorer to manage Media Diet, but for all other things? Opera is my browser.
Started using several new applications today. First up, tools for the iPod. xPod from BITcom helps you move MP3's off of your iPod and onto your hard drive. It's freeware, and it's been quite useful in terms of getting all of the MP3's Strand set me up with before I had my own PowerBook moved over to iTunes. PodUtil seems to work similarly, although it has the added feature of managing contacts on the iPod, as well. I've only played around with this one a little bit. Lastly, Podtext. This is an application that allows you to upload text files to your iPod -- files that can be read much like contacts. You can't use it for anything too long -- it runs out at 2,000 characters, which is more than many iPod text apps -- but for short text files, it seems to work pretty well.
I've also started using Opera as my default browser today. Blogger Pro doesn't support Opera, so I have to continue using Explorer to update Media Diet, but otherwise, Opera is an excellent alternative. It's faster, smaller, and more flexible than other browsers, and it offers some interesting features -- such as the 20-100% zoom. Again, I'll use Explorer to manage Media Diet, but for all other things? Opera is my browser.
Big Brother Is Watching VI
Eleven motion-detecting video cameras are being installed in alleyways in South Los Angeles to help combat litter and graffiti. People triggering the cameras while "loitering" in an alleyway will activate a recording that says, ""Stop! This is the LAPD. We have just taken your photograph. We will use this photograph to prosecute you. Leave now." Littering and tagging can bring six-month jail sentences and $1,000 fines.
Thanks to the Drudge Report.
Eleven motion-detecting video cameras are being installed in alleyways in South Los Angeles to help combat litter and graffiti. People triggering the cameras while "loitering" in an alleyway will activate a recording that says, ""Stop! This is the LAPD. We have just taken your photograph. We will use this photograph to prosecute you. Leave now." Littering and tagging can bring six-month jail sentences and $1,000 fines.
Thanks to the Drudge Report.
Comic Book Collections II
Not so much comic books as pulp magazines, but the family of a recently deceased 92-year-old man donated 35,000 science fiction and pulp magazines dating back to the 19th century to the University of Calgary. We'll see how they catalog and archive the materials -- much less make them accessible to the public, but this amazing research treasure trove might very well dwarf the MIT Science Fiction Society Library, which claims to offer the "world's largest open-shelf collection of science fiction."
Thanks to BoingBoing.
Not so much comic books as pulp magazines, but the family of a recently deceased 92-year-old man donated 35,000 science fiction and pulp magazines dating back to the 19th century to the University of Calgary. We'll see how they catalog and archive the materials -- much less make them accessible to the public, but this amazing research treasure trove might very well dwarf the MIT Science Fiction Society Library, which claims to offer the "world's largest open-shelf collection of science fiction."
Thanks to BoingBoing.
Thursday, August 01, 2002
The Movie I Watched Last Night XXVIII
Sunday: Shaft
I was bored in the hotel room upon arriving in Chicago this weekend -- too early to go to bed, and too late to go out. So I turned to Showtime. Shaft is a movie I didn't want to see in the theater and probably wouldn't even rent, but there it was, on the television, and I watched it. You know what? It's not bad. I'm not too well versed in blaxploitation films -- much less the original Shaft -- but I enjoyed this. It's only a slight revision because Samuel L. Jackson's character is the nephew of the '70s character -- so it's not a totally nostalgic redux a la Charlie's Angels but instead more of an update. The black cop turned renegade tracking down a monied bail-jumping racially motivated killer plot works well, and the interactions among the cast work well. Fun. A good call back to the original, but not worth going out of your way for.
Sunday: Shaft
I was bored in the hotel room upon arriving in Chicago this weekend -- too early to go to bed, and too late to go out. So I turned to Showtime. Shaft is a movie I didn't want to see in the theater and probably wouldn't even rent, but there it was, on the television, and I watched it. You know what? It's not bad. I'm not too well versed in blaxploitation films -- much less the original Shaft -- but I enjoyed this. It's only a slight revision because Samuel L. Jackson's character is the nephew of the '70s character -- so it's not a totally nostalgic redux a la Charlie's Angels but instead more of an update. The black cop turned renegade tracking down a monied bail-jumping racially motivated killer plot works well, and the interactions among the cast work well. Fun. A good call back to the original, but not worth going out of your way for.
Rock Shows of Note XXX
A friend was laid off yesterday, so a bunch of us got together after work for drinks in the North End. Several people were going to go to the Beth Orton show at the Avalon, and in the spirit of spending time with my newly "liberated" friend, I decided to tag along. I'm not the biggest fan of the Avalon, but I do enjoy Beth's "Trailer Park" record -- even though I must admit I momentarily confused her with Gillian Welch.
While Beth Orton's mix of singer songwriter-styled rock and trip hop was fun and interesting -- the band hit an amazing groove as the show neared its end -- I must say that the highlight of the evening was seeing Hem. Even though Comicopia's James Wu went to the show specifically to see Hem, I'd never heard of -- or heard -- them before. Fronted by Sally Ellyson, who has an extremely beautiful voice, Hem blends piano-based music with dual guitars and the occasional mandolin. They're kind of quiet, but very effective. Awesome. Just goes to show how important it is to catch opening bands. They can often be better than the headliner.
A friend was laid off yesterday, so a bunch of us got together after work for drinks in the North End. Several people were going to go to the Beth Orton show at the Avalon, and in the spirit of spending time with my newly "liberated" friend, I decided to tag along. I'm not the biggest fan of the Avalon, but I do enjoy Beth's "Trailer Park" record -- even though I must admit I momentarily confused her with Gillian Welch.
While Beth Orton's mix of singer songwriter-styled rock and trip hop was fun and interesting -- the band hit an amazing groove as the show neared its end -- I must say that the highlight of the evening was seeing Hem. Even though Comicopia's James Wu went to the show specifically to see Hem, I'd never heard of -- or heard -- them before. Fronted by Sally Ellyson, who has an extremely beautiful voice, Hem blends piano-based music with dual guitars and the occasional mandolin. They're kind of quiet, but very effective. Awesome. Just goes to show how important it is to catch opening bands. They can often be better than the headliner.
Other People's Reading Piles VI
Tom Hopkins is almost done designing the 30-year Web archive for Painted Bride Quarterly, an independent literary magazine sponsored in part by the English department at Rutgers University. It's an impressive effort. Issues date back to 1973, and all of the editions are available as downloadable PDF's. I have some qualms with the quality of some of the scans, but overall, the world needs more Web-based archival efforts like this. Kudos to Nester and Tom!
Tom Hopkins is almost done designing the 30-year Web archive for Painted Bride Quarterly, an independent literary magazine sponsored in part by the English department at Rutgers University. It's an impressive effort. Issues date back to 1973, and all of the editions are available as downloadable PDF's. I have some qualms with the quality of some of the scans, but overall, the world needs more Web-based archival efforts like this. Kudos to Nester and Tom!
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