Kinetic Loop

Finally, my question, “what the hell is BoA going to do with the LaSalle photography collection?” is answered.

Here’s a Sun-Times article on the Lakeshore East neighborhood, which is accreting between Wacker and Randolph, east of Columbus Dr. It looks as though Magellan has some nice buildings there, but the temp drops 10 degrees east of Columbus and the wind chill is insane.

Andre Kertesz’s Polaroid photography (”Eleanor and Me”) is at the Stephen Daiter Gallery on W Superior St through December 22. “…unlike other masters of the 20th Century who used it experimentally to work with form and color, [Kertesz] approached it existentially and it saved his life.”

Downtown Detroit is making some progress, but you can get coffee in Chicago.

This guy returns to downtown Chicago for the first time since 1975 and tears Macy’s a new one.

Steampunk History: The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, Chicago’s White City

The Tribune architecture critic reviews the new Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, which opens Friday. The Spertus architects are apparently “shapers” of the crappy plan to stick the Chicago Children’s Museum in Grant Park.

The December issue of Wired has a feature about Bill Baker, head structural engineer for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, locally of Sears and Hancock fame. It’s a fascinating piece about Baker’s ‘buttressed core’ structural system for designing supertall buildings over 1,000 feet. Baker’s supertalls include the Trump International here in Chicago and the Burj Dubai, which could be more than 3,000 feet. He also built the Gehry-designed Bridge in Millennium Park.

Richard B Woodward admires the new biography of Raymond Chandler.

Funding the honeymoon: “Some even use grant money to cover the expenses of new spouses who work as research assistants, doing everything from collecting Panamanian swamp larvae to catching frogs in Ethiopia.”

In David Lynch hometown news, “A Missoula man is charged with felony burglary after Christmas trees and wreath-making supplies were stolen from the Montana Wreaths & Pink Grizzly Christmas Store.”

Best WSJ headline ever, on Nov 27: “Invasion of Jellyfish Envelops Japan in Ocean of Slime.”

Gorillas on a plane: “Tinu, Izan, Oyin and Abbey were all lightly tranquilized as they were loaded into giant wooden crates Thursday for the 18-hour journey to their new home.”

In craigslist: “Chinchilla with cage, two open bags of food, open bag of timothy hay, dust bathhouse and dust.”

This is an open letter to the fucktards who have any say whatsoever in packaging the iGo (formerly Think Outside) Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard for Smartphones.

The Stowaway comes with a giant sticker placed over the entire height of the keyboard. And it’s not the kind of sticker that comes off without much trouble. No, it’s the exceedingly vexing kind of sticker that forces you to damage the back of the keyboard just to remove the residue. The kind of sticker that requires razor blades. The kind of sticker that requires you to soak the side of the product in alcohol at least four times (no effect). The kind of sticker that is probably designed for use in outdoor applications.

So, anyone — probably the manufacturer — who had a hand in letting this $150 product ship with a giant sticker that leaves residue that is maddeningly difficult to remove, requiring one to spend at least a half an hour dealing with this shit, you are a fucktard without peer. Like the blister pack isn’t bad enough.

Moreover, the link to download the drivers is a 404 Not Found. And there is no listing for this product name on the page where you download the drivers, even though they’ve been selling it for years.

The Stowaway had very good reviews, so iGo must have changed something, because this is a regrettable purchase.

So. What are they discussing?

a) The Higgs field and its implications
b) Doing one last heist
c) Who’s going to win Project Runway

Kinda reminds me of the abductees in the X-Files waiting for the alien ship to take them again.

Odd, that this family will have a picture of their visit to the Pritzker Pavilion, and so will a complete stranger (me, who then blogs it). One for Thanksgiving.