Kinetic Loop

This week I had an experience that made me feel like I was arm-wrestling (with both arms) during stops on the road to Agua Verde, accompanied by a college orientation fair. The purpose was about as useful as sandpapering an anchor, and the whole interminable thing left me feeling like an aged salmon. And despite drinking at least twice my normal intake of coffee, all I managed to do yesterday was sleep, take Advil and watch part of X-Files season 1. Moreover, as an introvert (a sociable introvert), my energy was totally sapped and I can’t take even a small crowd for at least the next two weeks.

In other news, according to the WSJ, Bush is hosting Putin at his “Maine retreat” over the weekend. Here’s what I think they’ll do to further diplomacy, aside from clam-digging:

• Yahtzee
• Ouija board
• Reruns of ‘The Facts of Life’ (pre-Clooney)
• Reenactment of ‘The Facts of Life’ (with Putin as Tootie, Bush as Natalie, Kaplan as Jo, Rice as Blaire, and Bolten as Mrs. Garrett)
• Truth-or-dare (with special guest Lord Browne, who’s bringing Doritos)

Japan’s ‘lost generation’ and other discontents in U-M photo show
A detailed look at the work of 11 Japanese photographers in Out of the Ordinary/Extraordinary, curated by Michiko Kasahara [who has a master's degree in photography from Chicago's Columbia College] of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.

Hyde Park corner
“Before defining the “Chicago school” Mr Van Overtveldt clears his throat to discuss what he calls the “Chicago tradition”. This, he says, is characterised by hard work; a belief that economics is a true science; belief in advancement by excellence alone; an often brutal debating culture; and an accident of geography.”

Trading Partners
“Coudal.com is certainly a promotional tool for the firm, but just as certainly a constantly updated trove of interesting links and cleverly entertaining goof-off projects. Which is more or less how the Swap Meat started.”

A short history of movie theater concession stands. Plus: A candy quiz!
“Candy suffered a setback during World War II, however, when sugar was rationed. Popcorn production, on the other hand, was given the go-ahead by the War Production Board because of its health benefits and popularity.” Now I want to open a theater just so I can sell candy from the 40s and 50s.

Kingsley Amis’s Troublesome Fun
As Amis himself once remarked, “Any proper writer ought to be able to write anything, from an Easter Day sermon to a sheep-dip handout.”

Director Herzog always has a ball with confusion
“He’s about accepting accidents, really, which can often be the most interesting moments in a film,” says Christian Bale, who stars in the true-life story of Dieter Dengler, who beat incredible odds by breaking out of a Laotian POW camp and surviving a jungle trek to freedom.”

And in retail news:

J. Crew to Focus on Women’s Suits
“The company will launch a new suit collection in the third quarter and plans to offer suits in 100 stores.” ’bout time.

Cheese slices into pizza profits
“Block cheddar cheese hit $2.06 a pound this week on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a 55 percent increase from the end of 2006 when it was $1.33 a pound.” Fun facts: “Dallas-based Pizza Hut uses 300 million pounds of cheese annually. Papa John’s International, also based in Louisville, uses about 100 million pounds of cheese a year.”

Saks tries price points for new customers
“Sadove said the average Saks customer earns $200,000 or more, and craves the taste of human brain.”

Oh, sorry. “craves brands such as Fendi or Chanel.”

Then the monks can get their nails done.

I liked her bright yellow dress and how she was in the middle of a circle of cars:

I should have taken this when this fisherman on his strange bike was closer, but at least I got it. I miss a lot of photos of people that I desperately want to take. This morning, for example, I did not take a picture of the large man walking up to Prudential 2 with a more than a dozen different colored balloons.

Viagra:

Not so much Viagra:

Imagine Hitchcock’s ‘Lifeboat’ on Lake Michigan with plastic tumblers of margaritas:

I usually write on yellow legal pads (and write out scenes on index cards, and take a Moleskin when I go out). But the other day I didn’t have any of those right in front of me when I wanted to write something down, so I grabbed a just-empty box of Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies (so good!) and ripped it into four pieces, including two big ones — front and back. I’m not quitting my yellow pads, but I’ve written on nothing but the inside of Annie’s boxes for a couple of days now (we get bomb-shelter packages from Amazon, so supply is good).

And yeah, I’m walking around clutching a crude torn-out piece of a bright purple Cheddar Bunnies box, and I must look like a crazy street preacher with “The end is nigh!” scrawled on my Cheddar Bunnies board, but I think the temporary change in writing surface is beneficial because I’ve been writing a hot streak on them.

Another thing I like about using the boxes is the different sections of a piece, where it was folded. I’ve been planning a new project, so I’ve made notes about locations and characters in the different sections, and like the different look of it. Oh, and the Annie’s box says: “There are lots of other ways to recycle Annie’s boxes…And the inside of the boxes are a great place for coloring.”

I don’t take my MacBook or yellow pads to cafes, but it’d be fun to take a few box pieces to Intelligentsia and write on them there, with the purple Bunnies box cover facing out.

So, try a change in your writing surface, even if it’s just for a few days.

Ashley Gilbertson on Fresh Air
“Ashley Gilbertson, whose words and photographs we will publish later this year in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer’s Chronicle of the Iraq War, was interviewed today on WHYY’s Fresh Air.

Gilbertson arrived in Iraq on the eve of the American invasion, hoping to pick up some picture assignments. He landed a contract with the New York Times, and his extraordinary images of life and death in Iraq chronicled the invasion, the occupation of Baghdad, the battle for Falluja, the Iraqi elections, and much more over the past four years.”

If only the beautiful developments made by the Windy City could blow some inspiration into the Big Smoke
“When it comes to developing and nurturing their downtown and waterfront, Chicago civic leadership have done a lot of things right. Toronto fails miserably.”

Tonight at Chicago SummerDance: Thomas Gunther Jazz Band, “best known for its hard-driving swing performances.”7:30-9:30.

Miranda July Belongs Here
“Fresh from the airport….to discuss short stories, film, theater — plus toaster tribes, the swimming pool she doesn’t have, t.v. detectives pulling their faces off, and more.”

“Lost” won’t end “Sopranos”-style
“Lost” will end in spring 2010 after 48 hourlong episodes, 16 per season. Lindelof said “Lost” has to move from asking more questions to answering the questions posed during the series’ run.”

Pia Guerra: In the home stretch
(Artist of the excellent Y: The Last Man, which I love. Via Pop Candy). “What we wanted to strive for was a visually simple story. And we wanted to just put it out there so that someone could pick it up and jump right in. We wanted it to be easy to follow, as much like a film as possible. And I think you can notice that right away, when Brian wrote the page-wide panels from the very beginning. So it was like, from the start, it had those type of transitions that you could follow, with a cinematic look, and it was easy to go forward from there.”

Goth’s Wan Stamina
“In general, youth culture tends to be tied closely to the mood of the time (hippies, punk), to a certain kind of music (hip-hop, mod, reggae), to a sport or activity (skate punk, surf rock), or to a social or ethnic group (rastas, skinheads). Goth, on the other hand, is completely flexible.”

Publishers increasingly turn to video to help introduce readers to authors, books
“Powell’s Books…plans its own series of films, starting with a video for Ian McEwan’s new novel, “On Chesil Beach.” There’s also a new online video channel called BookVideos.tv, from Simon & Schuster and TurnHere, which will purportedly have social media functionality.

WWII Navajo code talkers welcome recognition
“The code talkers served in all six Marine divisions and took part in every assault carried out in the Pacific Theater, one of the toughest of the war.”

Hit the road like Jack: Retracing Kerouac’s novel on its 50th anniversary
“On the left, heading south, stands the formidable Iowa State Penitentiary maximum-security prison, where the stone walls are adorned with guard-tower turrets. And right outside, almost at the base of the wall, sits the Putt-A-Round ice cream stand and miniature golf course.” By “like Jack,” he means “not at all like Jack.” On a related note: Route 66 motels stamped historic.

Squirrel goes on rampage, injures 3

If you live downtown and want to get to the Lincoln Park Zoo or Conservatory, you might have noticed that the zoo’s web site only mentions bus routes in their directions. Moreover, Chicago guides like ‘Where’ magazine only mention the bus routes, and the CTA trip planner doesn’t even indicate that it’s possible to get there by train.

But you can take the ‘L,’ if you don’t mind walking a bit. Get on the Red or Brown Line going north and exit at the Fullerton station. Then walk east on Fullerton through a very pretty residential area to the Zoo entrance at Fullerton and Stockton. The actual entrance gate is just south of the Conservatory (look for the dome). On the return trip, you can take the Red Line south to State and Lake or whatever station you prefer, but I like taking the quieter and above-ground Brown Line, though it takes longer.