Orangutans and Reincarnation

I went to the Denver Zoo Saturday afternoon and was pleased to find that many of the animals were quite willing to have their portraits taken.  I think the nice weather put them all in a good mood.  In fact, as soon as he saw me, the orangutan in the photograph above ran right up to the window next to where I was standing, sat down, and gazed up at me fondly.  He was so friendly that I have to wonder if there might be something to reincarnation and that this might be an old pal of mine.  If true, I would feel honor-bound to break him out of there. How would you feel if one of your pals was locked up 24/7 and fed only bark, leaves, flowers, and fruit? Springing him would be tricky, however, and if we stopped anywhere afterwards for a beer, I would have to wonder if we would be denied service by the bartender.  People can be so narrow-minded.

Matisse And Friends

I went to Members Preview Day this past Saturday at the Denver Art Museum (The DAM) to see Matisse And Friends, a new major art exhibition at the museum.  I was very impressed with the exhibit, and almost fainted dead away when one of the guards told me that it was okay - and even encouraged, no less - to take photographs in the gallery.  Most of the time at these special exhibits, if you try to take a photograph, they beat you senseless and then throw you right out the door on your head.  But since the paintings are on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C, it is actually the citizens of the U.S. who own them, and therefore we can do whatever we want.  Which is one reason why the exhibit is furnished with chairs, couches, and other furniture, to let everyone sit down, relax, and enjoy just looking at the paintings.  I imagine that if you wanted to, you could even take a Matisse home and hang it on your wall for 6 or 8 weeks, if you just asked. And no, I didn't ask.

Chicago Nostalgia Continues...

I just loved the 1130 South Michigan Building in Chicago where my sister Susan and brother-in-law George had 40th floor studio apartments, and later a large two bedroom 24th floor unit looking south down South Michigan Avenue.  I took the above photograph around 1970, showing their living room view.  You always knew the time and temperature when you lived in that apartment, and also had a strange tendency to always drink Pepsi.  I went back to Chicago a few years ago, and although the building is still there, the view is much different. Gone is the old Illinois Central Railroad Building across the street, as is the Pepsi sign and the building that once supported it.  Also gone are the strange mix of industrial and retail buildings on South Michigan, replaced by a yuppie infested "New South Side."  Even the Hotel Crillon, also seen in the photo above, offering rooms for $2.50 a night, is gone.  A pity since that is where I intended to stay.  Another tourist bargain gone forever.  I weep.

More Chicago Nostalgia

I took the above photograph of my Uncle Bill (on the left), father Nelson (in the center), and brother-in-law George (seen on the right and more recently in last Sunday's post) around 1970 in the living room of Susan and George's 24th floor apartment at 1130 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  My father is seen perusing George's new book on the history of the National Football League, a birthday gift to him from my sister. And my father, by the way, was 61 years young when this photo was taken, the same age as I am today.  Talk about scary.  In any case, the following year George, my father, and I went to Soldier's Field, located just across the street from that apartment, to see the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Colts play the College All-Stars.  It was an annual charity event sponsored by the Chicago Tribune, and the game we attended was the first held at the newly remodeled Soldier's Field.  I remember George being very impressed with the place, and my father not so much.  In any case, not too many years later that annual game was permanently canceled, probably because the NFL decided they were more interested in thuggery and money than charity. As the old saying goes, the more things change...

Detroit: An American Autopsy

I picked up a copy of Detroit:  An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff the other day at the bookstore where I work.   Since it was on the bargain table, I figured it was worth a look, and it is actually pretty good. LeDuff is an excellent and entertaining writer.  He gave up a dream job with the New York Times in LA to take a job at the struggling Detroit News in his old home town.  He figured that painful times in Detroit make for great stories, and he was absolutely right.  In the photograph above from the book I am standing in front of the old Packard Plant, which has been deteriorating since the 1950s.  And I don't know who the woman in the photograph is, what she is wearing, or what she is doing.  Honest.

A Psychic Gypsy Thief Problem In Colorado?

I never realized Colorado even had a gypsy population, let alone a problem with psychic gypsy mediums, until I drove past  a gypsy joint on 13th Street here in Denver and around the same time read an article in the Denver Post that a "psychic gypsy medium" had scammed a 65 year old woman - a business executive and a business school graduate, no less - out of $97,000 to cure her negative aura.  He told her the money was being kept in a cave near Estes Park, Colorado and would be returned to her once her aura was fixed. Personally, I have never once doubted that I have a negative aura, but I would never spend close to 100 K to fix it.  To hell with my negative aura, as long as I will still get social security, has always been my motto. Just another version of the glass half full, I guess.

Mozambique Musings...

I mentioned to my brother-in-law George that Cheyanne - daughter of my friend Valarie and a teacher of teachers with the Peace Corps in Mozambique - will be heading home to Denver in December.  George suggested that because of Africa's Ebola crisis, perhaps Cheyanne should be quarantined  for 21 days before she arrives at Valarie's house.  I explained to George that Mozambique is on the opposite end of that huge continent from West Africa and Ebola is not an issue there, but now that I think about it, how could it hurt? Granted, Cheyanne would miss Christmas and New Year's with her family, but you can never be too safe, right?  I am sure that Cheyanne (seen on the left in the photograph above in South Africa with her friend Teagan) would be a good sport about it.  Right?  Right?  In any case, be sure to check out Cheyanne's Blog at www.timeinmozambique.blogspot.com.