photo courtesy reallyboring via creative commons license

I'm not sure if I agree entirely with Chicago Tribune's architecture critic Blair Kamin when he says, "You let go of the past if you can build something better." Specifically he was talking about how Meigs Field appears on the 2009 "Chicago Seven" list from Preservation Chicago. Blair says,

"Preservationists aren't going to do themselves much good if they champion examples of postwar modernism such as the Meigs Field terminal. PC calls the steel, glass and precast masonry terminal 'delightfully modern.' I call it second-rate."

You gotta appreciate his honesty and bluntness.

But what about his statement "You let go of the past if you can build something better"? Do you agree with that? I'm not sure if I entirely agree with it, because there's something to be said about history. But I can tend to be too sentimentalist and not enough progressive.

Walking down the corridor in Chicago's Grand Avenue station, the train starts flying by. One of the windows on the train is totally smashed. The pattern created is incredibly exquisite with beautiful lines emanating out from one spot. I didn’t have time to take a photo, I continued to think about that wonderful window. I wanted to share it with others.

Walking down that corridor I realized that one of the reasons why I do photography is expressing love for places. Others who take photos of their city/places often capture these images because of expressing love for their places.

Just before this realization, I was reading commentaries and sermons on the "love chapter" of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. That morning it brought onto me the challenge to love people more. And I was feeling kinda crappy for not being better at this. I tend to be an introvert and not reach out to people as much as I should.

But then I realized that in my introverted ways I am sharing some love. When people see my photos and recognize a place, they feel something in common--that place. And it's just not any place, but a special place, because someone took the time to photograph it and share it. There's a feeling of belonging to a place when you see others photographing it and taking care of the place.

I especially like taking a scene and transforming it into something beautiful and wonderful. As with my Obama inauguration photo. People who were there are amazed that they stood at that very scene. And for those who weren't there, they are awed by how a place can be so imbued with beauty.


If we can love each other and places like this, it makes us more connected. The more connected we are, the more we love each other. Horizontally--on a person-to-person basis, we care called to connect to each other. Connect through love. Anything without love is nothing.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

--1 Corinthians 13
(One of the sermons about 1 Corinthians 13 that I was specifically reading that day on the train that gripped me was Absolute Zero by Byron Harvey. )

I thank God that He has helped me realize why I take photographs of our city. I hope that anyone reading this will realize that maybe you take photos of your city, because you love your city and want to connect that love with others.

FYI. A google image search for "cutest hermit crabs" has ZERO results.

In the past two years of Congress the word "spending" was said 3,677 times by the top ten users of the word. Compared to 175 times by the top ten users of the word "saving." In the Congressional Record for 2006-2008, "spending" was said 21 times more than "saving."

Here's the top ten users of each word:


Interesting how Dick Durbin of Illinois ranks second for both of the words "rising" and "falling."


Dick Durbin is also the #1 user of the word "down." Barely anyone says the word "up" in Congress.

Here's the story of how I captured the 42nd most interesting photo taken on flickr for January 22, 2009.

While sitting at work in the Tribune Tower, the TV was tuned into WGN's coverage of the Inauguration. As I listen in, I couldn't help but notice that it sounded just like a parade. People just chatting about things, filling air-time.

Just outside the tower, the Chicago Tribune is sponsoring a rally with two Jumbotron screens broadcasting the event for anyone to come and watch. Wanting to be part of the action, I go outside to take photos. I snap some shots. I am mildly pleased, but didn't think I got any WOW shots.

A couple nights later I process the photos into HDR shots (I shot multiple exposures of the same scene and then mix them together into one image). They were turning out ok. Just about to turn off my computer, because it was 2am, there is one more image that I wanted to process. Most of my shots from that day were wide-angle shots, but this one is more tightly-composed. (see Step 1 below for the multiple exposures of this shot).

After processing the HDR, the blue color in the jumbotron just wasn't jiving with the background. (See step 2 below for color HDR). The blue made the jumbotron REALLY pop. Like, pop way too much. There was so many other interesting things in this photo, like the Michigan Avenue bridge watch towers, and the great architecture (the London Insurance Building, Hard Rock Hotel, 333 N Michigan, and the Jewelers Building) that I didn't want to diminish their impact. A black and white scene brings them all to the forefront to equal weight as partners to the Barack Obama broadcast.

The people just have a great dark heavy weight at the bottom framing out this shot. Normally in HDR shots, people are moving around in between the exposures. In this situation the people worked out great, because they were incredibly still. Mesmerized by Obama's inauguration speech. Or maybe everyone was just frozen into place by the weather.

The grayscale image was still rather flat (see step 3 below). I did some adjustments with curves in Photoshop. See step 4. Actually, in my opinion I totally wonked out the curves much more than I normally do. But this shot looks better with the higher contrast. It brings out the snow much more.

Ends up this photo has caught on like wildfire at flickr. It was featured on the Explore homepage of flickr where the hottest photos of the day are featured. Right now it currently has 93 favorites--making it my sixth most favorited photo on flickr.


view larger

I'd love a facebook app that shows which of my friends has the most friends in common.

For instance, my brother has 59 mutual friends with me.
Tom Saaristo and I have 27 friends in common.
Jeff Millies and I have 16 friends in common.

I'd love to see a list of the top people with whom I have friends in common.


There's an app called friendwheel that generates a circle with lines connected. But it's not a simple easy list. I'd like the list to look like:
59: Erik Maldre
27: Tom Saaristo
24: Tony Regan
21: Kristina Maldre
18: Tom Sherman
16: Mark Bazer
16: Jeff Millies
15: Chris Grodoski
14: Jennifer Holt
11: Sarah Dukes

But I had to make that list by hand. Hello facebook developers! This would be gold!

Funny how back in the day there were all those hats and shirts that said 01.20.09 in anticipation of Bush's last day in office. It's amazing how Obama was able to take control of 01.20.09 and outshine the fact that bush is gone. Now instead of 1.20.09 being the day of Bush leaving, it's actually more about the day of Obama's arrival.

What do you think is the bigger story of 01.20.09? Bush's departure or Obama's arrival?

I should start signing my emails with maπ

Or I could be all sly and sign them ma3.14

Or even more dorkiful:
ma3.14159265358979323846264338327950288
419716939937510582097494459230781640628
62089986280348253421170679821480865132
823066470938446095505822317253594081284
811174502841027019385211055596446229489
549303819644288109756659334461284756482
3378678316527120190914564856692346034
861045432664821339360726024914127372458
700660631558817488152092096282925409171
536436789259036001133053054882046652138
41469519415116094330572703657595919530
921861173819326117931051185480744623799
627495673518857527248912279381830119491
298336733624406566430860213949463952247
37190702179860943702770539217176293176
752384674818467669405132000568127145263
560827785771342757789609173637178721468
44090122495343014654958537105079227968
92589235

(thanks to Lisa S. for the maπ idea)

Chicago hit 9 degrees below zero last night. Antarctica in its summer reached negative 13. That's just four degrees difference! Where are are the penguins! I want some penguins walking around Chicago.

Last year in 2008 we got within 14 degrees of the South Pole. (Also, these temperature readings are from the Amundsen-Scott base in Antarctica. That's the true South Pole. Don't be mislead by people who say they go to Antarctica, but only go along the base. Those areas are like a beach compared to the impenetrable South Pole.)

It's highly dubious that "impactful" is not a word. There are no results on google for a definition search on impactful.

photo courtesy srhbth

Philly has its own style pizza? Does it involve putting a pizza inside a hoagie?

Please help us solve this mystery by giving your speculation about what is a Philly-Style pizza.

October 2008. A week after the Chicago Cubs disgraced themselves in the playoffs. Less than one month before the Obama election.

I’m hungry. For lunch. I leave work and walk through the the Tribune Tower lobby. Occasionally in the lobby there are celebrity sightings. That day in October was a most unusual—yet most appropriate guest standing in the Tribune Tower lobby.

Ronny Woo-woo, the “ultimate” Cubs fan. For those who don’t know Ronnie Woo-woo. He’s this dude who dresses up in a full cubs uniform and attends every cubs game in the bleachers and YELLS, “GO WOO CUBS! WOO! GO CUBS! WOO!” And he does it non-stop throughout the game. Cubs fans have a love/hate relationship with him. It’s cool that he has such passion. But seriously, you can hear this man across the park in Wrigley.

He is simply a fixture of Wrigley Field. Seeing him out of the context of Wrigley is truly bizarre. But he is in the Tribune Tower lobby. Tribune Company still owns the Cubs. In a way it’s fitting that Ronny Woo-Woo is in the Tribune Tower lobby.

First I snap an unsuspecting photo with my cell phone--pretending I'm talking while I photograph him. Then I go up to him and welcome him...

“Hey Ronny! Welcome!”
“Thanks!”
“What’s going on? Too bad about them Cubs ‘eh? ”
“Oh that’s ok. We got Obama to root for now! Obama woo! 2008! Woo! Obamma Woo!”

He literally said that. Although he didn’t yell it out.

I laugh and ask him if he comes down here often. He replied, “Nope, I haven’t been down here in 22 years.”

I’m shocked, “Really?! Well, welcome to Tribune Tower.” He thanks me and I walk out. As I walk down Michigan Avenue, I’m delighted that I ran into him in the lobby. But then I realize that it would have been REALLY cool to give him a tour of the Tribune Tower. I love giving people tours of the building. Imagine hanging out with Ronny Woo-woo showing him around. That would be mad-whack-crazy! But then I rationalize that it would be kinda weird for me to walk around with him, because as I show him the newspaper floor, I don’t really know anybody down there, so it would be a little weird as people would be like, uh, who are you bringing Ronnie Woo Woo around? And he might want me to introduce him to some sports reporters or something. Then again, maybe he already knows the Cubs reports. Oh. And maybe some of the sports reporters might not want to be interrupted by him. But then maybe they would. *Shrugs* Who knows.

I debate this over and over in my head, and then I just rationalize that by this point he would have either left the building, or someone else would have shown him around by now.

An hour later I come back to the lobby ready to ask security what ended up happening to Ronnie. But lo and behold who is STILL standing in the lobby? Ronnie Woo Woo. He’s been there the whole time. I’m all excited and bouncy seeing him again. I go up to him and welcome him and said something stupid like, “Oh wow! You are still here!” The security guards behind the desk just kinda roll their eyes. So I know to just leave it at that. I wasn’t about to get in the middle of that.

Haha.

Image from shutterstock.com

Sporting events
2008: Summer Olympics
2009: The second World Baseball Classic, The Women's Professional Soccer league will debut
Winner: 2008. Nothing trumps the summer Olympics

Politics
2008: Presidential election
2009: Nothing
Winner: 2008. Obama!

Chinese Year
2008: Brown Earth Rat Year
2009: Brown Earth Cow Year
Winner: 2009. Year of the rat? WTF. I’m glad that’s over (well, starting February 4, 2009).

Year of
2008 has been designated as the:
* International Year of Planet Earth.
* International Year of Languages.
* International Year of the Potato.
* International Year of Sanitation.
* International Year of the Frog.
* European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
2009 has been designated as the:
* International Year of Astronomy.
* International Year of Natural Fibres.
* International Year of Reconciliation.
Winner: 2008. Year of the potato. C’mon! (I can’t believe I missed that one!)

Roman Numeral
2008: MMVIII
2009: MMIX
Winner: 2009. Just look at that! MMIX. This is the year of the MMIX!

Number
2008: 8, the number of infinity
2009: The highest single-digit number in the decimal system
Winner: Gorsh. This is a tie. You have infinity, which should be anything. But 2009 presents a good case too, especially since 8 doesn’t really represent infinity. It’s more of an infinity imposter. Ok. Winner goes to 2009.

Etc
2008: Leap year
2009: No leap year
Winner: 2008. It even has more days than 2009!

THE FINAL WINNER!
By count of the seven categories, 2008 wins 4-3. What a narrow win! I’m sorry 2009, but all you are is really a precursor to the year 2010. This year should totally be called “the year before 2010” or “2010-1.” We all can tell who is gonna win the Battle Royale next year between 2010 and 2009. 2009 is so weak. I can’t wait for 2010 to march in. 2010 is so future! Year of the jetpack for every American!

Do you like the sound of fun little bell-things? You might like Terry Riley's Celestial Valley. But please keep in mind it is only good played at a low volume. When I first heard this song, it sounded pretty neat, so i jacked it up on my headphones, and it immediately sounded like crap.

You can listen to this song on the Terry Riley: Celestial Valley page on last.fm.

Do not eat Chex Mix before you work out. Ugf.

The number in parenthesis is the number of hits the post got in 2008.

1. Top 250 words spoken at presidential candidate debates (7,634)
   A timely post. Fun graphic. Caught fire on flickr. (there were four images, they each got 5441; 6366; 4292; and 560 views. I can see why this is #1 for 2008.
   
   
   
2. Pur water dispeners are better than Brita (3,079)
   I hope this post cleared the water on water dispensers.
   
   
   
3. Cheapest Digital TV Converters: $49.87 and $59.99 (3,013)
   A helpful post, unfortunately most of the products listed aren't available anymore.
   
   
   
4. Highest scoring word on Scrabble: SINGHIOZZEREBBE, 2118 points (2,971)
   Oh Scrabulous, how we miss thee.
   
   
   
5. Average cost of gas for apartments (2,777)
   Wow. Illinois is pretty cheap.
   
   
   
6. Parking Meter Talk (2,508)
   Nice to see some of my artwork make it onto the top 10.
   
   
   
7. Most popular baby names: Aiden, Jayden, Hayden, Brayden, Jaden (2,294)
   Must be all the Aidens of the world reading this post. It's like an army.
   
   
   
8. Call to God: Prayers on sticky notes, left on public pay phones (2,250)
   Another art post in the top 10! I need to make more art posts. :)
   
   
   
9. How healthy is Dove dark chocolate? (2,231)
   The mystery flavonoid count lingers on.
   
   
   
10. The standard comeback when called a dork isn't on Google: Dynamite Out of sight Radical Kid (1,664)
    Another unsolved mystery: the origin of the acronym D.O.R.K.
    

And if you are curious, you can also read the most-read posts made in 2007, and my six favorite spudart posts in 2007. (Soon I'll be making my fav picks of 2008).