The September Issue Of Chicago Magazine Has Arrived

I received the September issue of Chicago Magazine the other day, and was surprised to find that the cover story is about 12 "epic adventures," led by Chicago tour guides, that actually take you away from Chicago, featuring locales ranging from Central Illinois to the Amalfi Coast and River Nile. I then started to notice a lot of full-page ads touting vacations in such places as Traverse City, Michigan, the State of Kentucky, and St. Pete/Clearwater, Florida. What's the deal with that? We love our city, but here are the best ways to escape it? There was also an article in "The 312" about Riot Fest, a major music event taking place in Chicago's Douglass Park this month. It used to be held in Humboldt Park, until residents rose up in arms after fans caused $182,000 in damages. It then moved to Douglass Park, where neighbors are also not exactly thrilled about having to deal with it. Not want Riot Fest - along with its 50,000 fans and very loud music - in your neighborhood? Go figure. And as usual, every month I get a kick out of reading The Hot List, featuring "10 places everyone's talking about (in order of heat)." Invariably, to me, it is a list of restaurants serving foods I would gladly pay money not to eat, in that exact same order, and which no doubt cost an arm and a leg. Pick up a copy of Chicago today, but be sure to stay away from those restaurant reviews.

Orientation Week At DU

This is orientation week at the University of Denver, and groups of freshmen and their parents are attending orientation sessions, being treated to cookouts, and given tours of the DU Campus, as seen in the photograph above. Which is a good thing. It helps the students get familiar with the campus, and shows their parents where their money is going,  DU tuition and fees are around $55,000 this year, about the same as Harvard University. Which is only fair, since DU likes to call itself "the Harvard of the West." I have been unable to confirm whether or not Harvard is calling itself "the DU of the East" these days, but will keep leaving messages with the President of the University in hopes of finding out. Regardless, that is a lot of money. Back when I attended the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), it was $1,000 per semester, which I thought was pretty steep at the time, although that university had the added benefit of being right across the street from Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox, my South Side heroes. DU is across the street from Spanky's Urban Roadhouse, where I assume all those parents will be bellying up to the bar after receiving those tuition bills. Cheers!

The Horror. The Horror. In Other Words, The Day After Labor Day.

I always hated the day after Labor Day when I was a kid going to school at Fort Dearborn Grammar School in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago. Back then, it seemed like only yesterday that class had ended for the school year, and I was free. And now so soon back to drudgery. Of course, these days, most schools start in August, including Chicago Public Schools, even if those schools don't have air conditioning, which Fort Dearborn certainy didn't. My opinion is that if workers at places like Starbucks can have unions, why not students, even elementary school students? They could negotiate the date for the first day of school, as well as starting times, holidays, sick days, coffee breaks, etc. Time to organize, kids! And by the way, I took the photograph above of Fort Dearborn the last time I went home to Chicago, back in April of 2010. And my ghostly presence can be seen in the second row, far left, of my 1965, 7th grade class photo. The good old days - they were terrible. You can quote me on that.

Labor Day Weekend In Idaho Springs

Today is Labor Day, which marks the unofficial end of summer. It is unofficial, of course, since it is still in the 90s here in Denver and across much of the rest of the country, too. And so to cool off, yesterday afternoon my sister Susan and I drove up to Idaho Springs, an old mountain mining town 30 miles west of Denver, although truth be told, it wasn't much cooler up there, either. What it was was pretty damned crowded, and not a parking space in sight near the pedestrian only Miner Street, the main drag, as seen in the photograph on the left. Just like in Golden, all the nearby street parking was "residents only," and the public parking spaces were all taken. When I finally did spot someone pulling out of their space and hurried over, I found the minimum charge was $5.00 for two hours. No option for half an hour or even an hour, unlike every other city and town in the civilized world. Those damned crooks! Just kidding, of course - kind of.

Idaho Springs was founded in 1859, during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, and was the location of the first substantial gold discovery in Colorado. The town is filled with Victorian era homes and commercial buildings, and the downtown historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Buffalo Restaurant and Bar, seen in the photograph on the right, has been in business since 1899, the centerpiece being a bar built in Chicago back in the 1880s. When I first moved to Denver back in 1981, Idaho Springs had the reputation of being a working class former mining town, with lots of fixer-uppers. It was best known as the place where you stopped for Beau Jo's Pizza on the way home after a day of skiing. Just for fun, I checked the real estate listings on the internet when I got home, and unless you want to live in a 400 square foot, 1 bedroom, 1 bath cottage, prepare to pay premium prices for a home there these days. But before you buy, I advise you to spend a month there during the winter to see if it really is for you. Remember - winter can last 9 months out of the year in Colorado's high country.

As I mentioned before, Idaho Springs started out as a mining town, and when the gold petered out around 1913, it became a stop on the way to other places further west, and is now totally dependent on tourism. There are several former gold mines that offer tours, including the Argo Gold Mine and Mill, seen in the photograph on the left. There seemed to be a fair amount of tourists milling about when I was there, which gave me an idea. Perhaps what they should do is offer one week stays, at a premium price, where people can live in rustic cabins, actually work in the mines for 12 to 14 hours a day, and really get to know what life for the miner was like back then. This could rival the popularity of dude ranches out here in the West. I must talk to the Argo people as soon as possible about this. Happy Labor Day Everyone!

The Chicago Cubs Have A Shot. The White Sox Are Just Plain Shot...

It is September, the final month of the regular baseball season. And yesterday my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, lost 10-0 to the Detroit Tigers, one of the worst teams in baseball, and are now 30 games under .500 and 18 games out of first place. Plus, this past week, it was reported that they are considering relocating to a different city, that they fired their vice president and general manager, and two women were shot while attending a game Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. And besides all these issues, I am beginning to suspect they will not turn things around and have a winning season. Meanwhile, on the North Side of Chicago, although the Cubs have lost their last two games to the Cincinnati Reds, they have been playing good baseball of late, are 7 games over .500, and a mere 4.5 games out of first place. Granted, it is a weak division, but they actually have a chance to make the playoffs. Between North Side and South Side, I guess this is the year for Cubs fans to be excited about their prospects, just as they were on Opening Day back in 2010, when I took the photograph on the left of those fans celebrating a Cubs victory while walking down Clark Street after the game.

And yes - in 2010 I did indeed attend Opening Day at Wrigley Field while visiting my old home town. And why there instead of Guaranteed Rate Field? Because - and follow me closely here - THEY TORE DOWN COMISKEY PARK and replaced it with one of the worst stadiums in baseball. And I have to say, I was pretty impressed with all the energy and celebration in Wrigleyville that day after the game. I can only hope the White Sox decide to build a new retro style ballpark such as Coors Field or Camden Yards across the street from their current stadium, on the site of the original Comiskey Park, and put together a true winner for next season. Or even the season after that. Or for that matter, the season after that. Are you beginning to understand White Sox fans now? Also, they should really not let people bring their guns to the game. It can lead to problems. And no thanks required. I am more than happy to help out with my advice.

Racing The Light

I just finished reading Racing The Light, Robert Crais' latest Elvis Cole and Joe Pike private detective novel, set as always in and around LA. It came out in November of 2022, but I just got a copy of it recently. This series is very popular, and the waiting list at the Denver Public Library is always a long one for Crais' new releases. This time, Cole is hired by an elderly (my age) mother after her son, a not-very-successful podcast journalist, disappears. The situation becomes very dangerous very quickly, and Cole calls in his partner, Joe Pike, for much needed help. Complicating matters is the return to LA of ex-girlfriend Lucy Chenier and her son for a visit. I really enjoy reading this series, and I found Racing The Light just as good as all the others. I definitely recommend it. Just don't let the 9 month waiting list at the library scare you off.

Late Summer At The Zoo Part II

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the Denver Zoo Wednesday afternoon to take a few photographs. Despite the heat (97 degrees and not a cloud in sight), I was surprised at the number of animals who were willing to pose for a portrait, including the monkey in the photograph on the left. It's compound is right across the walkway from the orangutan's spacious grounds, and each time I visit the zoo, I always try to get a photo of this guy before I head over there. But until yesterday, I never succeeded. Thanks buddy!

The giraffe in the photograph on the right was acting kind of shy, but still allowed me to photograph it as it peeked from behind a stantion. Back in the good old days, you could walk to the other side of the giraffe compound and take photographs of the people who bought food from a booth and were feeding those giraffes. These days, you have to make a reservation in advance, and only people who pay can go over there. In my opinion, pay to play is becoming way too common these days.

Akili, the 3-year-old mandrill in the photograph on the left, is looking pretty pensive, sitting high up in the mandrill compound. As soon as I took that photo, a group of Hindus (I think) wearing traditional robes appeared in the viewing window, and she immediately jumped down and ran right in front of them, trying to make friends. It makes me wonder whether if I wore Hindu style robes to the zoo, I would be able to better interact with the zoo animals. Or would I simply be taken away for a mental health examination. Of course, if that happened, it would be still another opportunity for a blog photograph. Sounds like a win-win situation in either case. I'll definitely give it some thought.

The elephant in the photograph on the right was also extremely friendly. It walked right up to the gate, put his or her trunk through the bars, and waved it in front of me. I suspect it wanted me to feed it (which would have immediately got me either thrown out of the zoo or jailed), and so I resisted the temptation to do so. Also, I was not carrying any elephant food, or any other kind for that matter, and so the poor thing had to do without. Could the zoo be scrimping on food to save money during these inflationary times? I strongly suggest blog readers send e-mails to Denver Zoo officials and demand that the zoo stop starving the elephants to death just to save money. Be sure to let me know what kind of response you get!