Oh Chicago, Part 2 (Looks Like I’ve Got All Day To Play)

Rats! I decided that since I was so tired of sweating I’d take a gamble this morning and head to O’Hare early to see if I could switch flights. No luck, it looks like I’ll be here all day. For being the World’s Busiest Airport Chicago’s O’Hare has there security check-point system working well. It was about 9:30am CDT when I arrived and I was the third person in line. Amazing!

I’ve just plunked down $7 for all-day internets, so consider me to be available, or at least accessable. In two hour’s time I will be searching for the elusive airport electrical outlet. And before you ask, yes I have double-checked my departure gate and will be doing so later as well.

Pictures return tomorrow…

ChiLanta
Between the heat and my newly discovered drinking problem (22 ounce bottles of Fat Tire are dangerous) I spent more time in the hotel room than I had expected. One of the things that I did a lot of was watch tv (because I could get not the internets in my room).

On Sunday morning I caught an episode of TLC’s “While You Were Out” where they made over a couple’s outdoor space in Chicago. I had a inkling to try and track down the site, but the heat convinced me not to head out on this wild goose chase. During my few days of taking pictures around the city I noticed and incredible lack of graffiti in the city. On the show they mentioned that it is illegal to sell spray paint within the city limits of Chicago.

On Sunday evening I caught an episode of A&E’s “Flip This House” (which is different from TLC’s “Flip That House”) where they turned around a house in Atlanta. It was a house in a neighborhood that I am not familiar with, but it was kinda cool to see sights from home while in Chicago.

Another show I caught on Sunday was VH1’s “World Series of Pop Culture”. One of the teams on last night’s episode was from Atlanta, and they were named “El Chupacabra” who were touted as bar trivia players. Here is a blurb from VH1’s website

El Chupacabra has been this trio’s name since they started playing trivia at a local hangout “The Vintage Tavern,” their very own version of “Cheers.

Has anyone played against these people?

Pitchforking, Day 2
It wasn’t all drinking, sleeping, and tv watching in Chicago you know. I did manage to make it out to Union Park for the second night of the Pitchfork Music Festival. As planned, after an unplanned beer-induced power-nap, I arrived in time to catch the last few acts.

When I arrived Devendra Banhart were on stage. It was hot and I was starting to question why I went outside so I didn’t really enjoy their set.

I heard Yo La Tengo next. For years I have heard about Yo La Tengo, but rarely have ever heard any of their music. I enjoyed what I heard, but don’t think that I’ll be jumping on their bandwagon anytime soon.

Spoon was next. This is the second time that I have seen Spoon live. The last time at Variety Playhouse I was very underwhelmed. This performance was better, but I still don’t understand why people like them so much.

The grand finale was a band Os Mutantes. This is a reunion tour thirty years in the making. Their website is in Portuguese, that should tell you how much of the music I understood. I decided to beat the crowd to The EL so I left early.

The funniest thing that happened to me over the two days at the festival was when I used a port-a-potty and realized that my shirt was inside-out. I walked the streets of Chicago, rode the train, and spent at least two hours amongst thousands of people, and not a single person alerted me to this. When you see everyone wearing their shirts inside-out this Fall you will know where the trend started.

I Think My GPS Runs Windows
On one of my runs this weekend my GPS froze at 11:51 into my run/walk. I had to figure out which button combination to push in order to reboot it. On the second time I used it it took a long time to acquire a satellite signal and when it located something it asked me “You are more than 100 miles from the last time you used this. Is this correct?” Yes, I get around…

How Sweep It Is
C’mon, you didn’t expect me not to mention the Mets first series sweep in Atlanta since 1979, did you?

And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – tired
Current Music – none, listening to the Paste Magazine “Paste Culture Club” podcast
Website Of The Day – Next time in Chicago (when the weather is cooler) I will check out the audio tours offered by the Chicago Loop Alliance

If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I’ve picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as “blogged.”

Exercise (b)Log – walking/running ~4miles Sunday

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]