Fwd: Logan Square Blogger Entry #3

Here's an excerpt from The Logan Square blogger: "Gentrification really pisses me off. I mean how can we maintain the diversity of Logan Square with its cool bodegas, Spanish speaking Latino residents, many of whom make below the median income, and the great dive taquerias and places to get the famous "jibarito". People have the right to stay in the neighborhood with out young professionals taking over. The Latino, Spanish speaking couple that live under me have told me numerous times how they lament the loss of their friends of ten years over the last year,in our two unit building. With globalization transforming our cities, young,white, urban professionals are taking neighborhoods,like mine, which are up for grabs, with cheap rent, awesome gritty bars and greasy spoons that my friends like to hang out in, and turning them into another Starbucksville or bland anywhereland. The Latinos,those that speak Spanish, and those of lower median income, making less than $24,000, of this neighborhood, need to fight against this influx of, for lack of a more appropriate nomenclature, yuppies.

Ugh, I'm glad I got that off my chest. The injustice of gentrification just incenses me, so glad that I am on my toes, trying to totally be aware of how other people do things and just aren't aware of the unintended consequences they have on other people's lives. Well, I am off to a rally of sorts, I'm taking my old rusty, trusty, Schwinn to a bicycle themed art installation at my favorite coffee shop in the whole of Logan Square, New Wave Cafe, there I'm sure I'll find a bunch of homies that cuncur, as we embibe PBR and eat elotes and taquitos."

Rearview Sunset

My friend Brett Champin published a book. It's called Rearview Sunset- A Novel.

Demolition of a Cabrini- Green highrise

Check this out.


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Izens Shoes

Izens Shoes is one of the only original shops still in business here on the North and Pulaski strip. If you need shoes, dress or gym shoes, this is a place I encourage you to go. It still eeks out an existence with Payless and Footlocker across the street and the $10 dollar bootleg shoe place on Grand and Pulaski. Those of you that romanticize mom and pop stores, this is the real deal, and needs to be celebrated.

Mr. Izen's Story:

"My grandfather, Samuel Izen, came to Chicago from Russia with his 17 year old son Julius around 1903. They opened a very small shoemaker's shop on the near south side in the vicinity of Maxwell and Halsted Streets. He lived in back of the store to save money so that they could send for the rest of the family - my grandmother Peltie and the children Rose, Max, my father Morris, Molly, Ben and baby Libby.

"My father and mother opened a Florsheim shoe store on North Avenue near Crawford (now Pulaski Road) in 1923. The businessmen in that area flouished because the Pioneer Trust and Savings Bank on the corner was one of two banks that remained open during the great depression. IZEN'S SHOES is still in that location. It retains the Izen name even though it is owned by people who bought the business from our family."

- Author unknown

Auto Show

I usually wouldn't go to the auto show, but I went with Liam. If there is any place to realize Liam's fantasy of driving an automobile, its the auto show. It was two hours of climbing into and out of cars and messing with buttons, lights, and the radio without anyone yelling at him. Liam also loved riding up and down the 50 foot tall escalators through McCormick Place. The whole day was kid led, no adult agenda, I loved it,and so did Li.

St. Liam

Liam busted out with a little theology today. We were sitting at the kitchen table is when and I asked him what he learned in school today. He said" sin is when you kill a lamb". I laughed and asked him what else he knows about sin, " he said when you have sin in your heart you don't go to heaven with God" and " when you don't have sin in your heart, you don't go to heaven either". I told him that is when you do go to heaven. Soon, Katie came over and I asked him to repeat his knowledge of sin. Katie gave him a good definition, " Sin is when you do something that God doesn't want you to do, when you sin you say I'm sorry, and God forgives you." We asked him to try it.Then, knowing that he can't have pop, Liam sipped the straw from my Subway beverage, and said, " Sorry, God." We laughed and told him that he couldn't just do what he wants then ask for forgiveness, when he wants to do something he knows he shouldn't, he should tell himself, no. So, he went for my pop again, and before I could shield him, he said no. He proceeded to pretend to be tempted and deny himself about five times. Pretty funny, I realize that I can't just expect Liam to pick up concepts about God or morals only from his Baptist preschool, or from Sunday School, we are the ones that should be molding his spirtual life and understanding first, this is an awesome task, difficult when I may be childlike in my own pursuit of God, but necessary nonethless. Thanks Liam for you theological pursuits and insights.

Happy V-Day

I love when majorly famous people fall. The saying goes, "pride before the fall". John Mayer and Kanye West exemplify that saying.It serves as a reminder of how human we are. And while it is great to see those guys get their just desserts, it also serves as a reminder to me that while I am not a famous a hole musician, I too am an a hole a lot of the times. My self centered attitude is not far off from those dudes, and it takes saying something things stupid, or many things stupid, to realize how much you hurt people and to be really able to listen to them about how your actions and attitude affects them, without getting defensive.

So I want to put it out there that that time came this today, I just finished fighting, then talking to Katie, and came to realize how much I need to work getting over myself and really putting her and the kids as a priority. Katie just puts so much of herself into Liam and Ava, and managing our families' life , and I mean I just don't get it; and I get ticked off when she asks me to take out the trash, pick up laundry, spend to talking to her about her day, or get off my butt and do something, and I'm wrong. I need to reject my passivity for the sake of my family and my relationship with Katie. So here is my love letter to for all to see, I recognize what I need to do to get our lives on track for this season in our life and I commit to doing it.

Food and Liquor

Our block club has been diversifying its interests, the winter slows a lot of the craziness in the neighborhood, so rather than tackling problems, we've kinda taken the opportunity to build into developing relationships with residents on Karlov and Kedvale, to the west of us, meeting politicians that represent our block, and by getting to know business owners along North Avenue and Pulaski. Dave initially became friendly with the of Don Carlos restaurant while working the polls last week. That bloomed into a conversation that included ideas for opening a high end wine and specialty beer shop next door to the bar,that will offer panini's, imported cigars, food, and a lottery machine. The owner wanted to meet with the community about the idea. So, Dave, being the organizer that he is, gave an invitation to the man to come to our block club meeting last night.

Dave also fliered the three blocks to get people to come to the meeting. We did get one person from Kedvale, and multiple people from our block. Dave led the meeting by encouraging the man to detail his plans, show his approval letters from the alderman, and chamber of commerce, as well as to give details about committing to hire local unemployed people and youth, especially from our block. The audience peppered the man with concerns that ranged from keeping the place clean, to our concerns about another liquor store in our area, to actually scrapping the plan in an effort to provide space for a head start program. He seemed intent on his plan to open the store within six months. Dave gave the man our unequivocal support, but I said we needed to thin about it. Generally, the owner left with a petition signed by all that support the project, and a general sense of agreement from the block club that we want to support local business, we as an entity will not get in the way of a liquor store, although most rather have a day care, so as long as we can keep him accountable to his agreements and that we will have enough of a relationship with him to approach him if the business begins to have an adverse effecton our community. All this to say, it was a good meeting, the beginnings of a respected community organization, albeit a little scrappy one that has its hands in the happenings of our neighborhood. Thanks for your work Dave.

Super Dave

We had record snow in Chicago, and Dave shoveled to whole west side of the block and helped neighbors shovel out their cars to get to work on time. Later, he fliered the blocks of Keystone, Karlov, and Kedvale, as well as all the businesses on the 1500 block of Pulaski, and the businesses on the 4000 block of North Avenue. Dave wants to have a super block club that takes the triangle bordered by Grand, Pulaski, and North Avenue, can't say I don't dream of a community organization myself. Dave made a connection with the owner of Don Carlos bar and wants to inform residents of a new venture the owner wants to bring to the neighborhood.

By the way, on a random note, Dave worked the polls last Tuesday, he seems to be the only proud Republican on the West Side. Yesterday,he was yelling outside that if we don't get our politicians to listen, he is going to make sure they vote Republican, he also screamed his belief in smaller government for the whole bloc to hear. I have to say I love this guy, I can't imagine our block without Dave. If we leave, things will be o.k.

Great Movie Accents

Just like all movie lovers, I love great actors and actresses, moreover, I appreciate when actors change their accent to fit a regional dialect of their character.

Great Movie Accents:

Brad Pitt- Snatch
Daniel Day Lewis- Gangs of New York
Leonardo DiCaprio- Blood Diamond, Departed
Mel Gibson- Braveheart

Any star from Australia, Britain putting on an American accent.

Rachiel Weisz, Eric Bana, Kate Winslet,Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Christian Bale, Anthony LaPaglia, Bob Hoskins, Emily Blunt, Ben Kingsly, Hugh Jackman, and Cate Blanchett.

True Chicago Snowstorrm

RIP Animal Kingdom

Born and raised in Chicago, I feel like an old sage, although I am only 32. I grew up before the gentrification of this city and in my young age I can tell you tales of old.

I spent most of my childhood in a Polish neighborhood near the intersection of Milwaukee and Pulaski. We'd have to take Milwaukee Avenue down to Logan Blvd., to the Expressway, to Fullerton to get to my grandma's house. You'd pass tons of Polish deli's, bakeries, and clothing stores. Old furniture shops and five and dime stores. One store you'd pass was Animal Kingdom, my only template for a pet shop. Its neon sign with a little puppy and jungle themed mural in front becnoned you in. And when you got in you got to see tropical fish, rabbits, gerbils, among other live animals. The real treat of Animal Kingdom was the fact that they had a real live tiger in a cage, along with chimps, and parrots. As a kid there was nothing better than to see a real tiger in a 10x10 foot cage, up close. In later years, when I came back to Animal Kingdom, that tiger and chimp were replaced with a coyote and some other kind of primate. The economy and hipsters did that place in. Those hipsters love a kitchy, ethnic neighborhood full of taverns and cheap rent and empty storefronts ripe for the pickin', but they sure don't like caged animals or puppy mills. So another True Chicago vestige of old is gone forever,probably replaced by some hipster lounge or club called Kuma's Corner 2, The Avondale Inn, The White Eagle , or worse even, Animal Kingdom.

Fwd: Logan Square Blogger Entry #2

Last night, was at the Handlebar, ate some nut soup. My Native-American friend Tatanka from El Paso, Gunther from the Global Transportation Alliance, and I were talking about all of the systemic problems that lead poverty and violence in the lives of African American youth, we all proceeded to " unpack our knapsack of white privilege" and pledged to, sometime in our life live in the "hood" as a way of solidarity and undermining the systems that bring people down. I feel in some way we were able to do that later in the evening. We went to the Hispanic, I mean Latino, part of Logan Square, and hit up a dive bar on Fullerton, close to Pulaski, called the Leevee.

It was a great time to mingle with the proletariat, I mean I drank my Old Style with, next to a Guatemalan immigrant, I tried to talk to him about how I thought his people subjugated by the Chiquita Banana Co., he didn't know what I was talking about, but I felt we connected. Gunther stood close to a gentleman in his 60's, and struck up a conversation about what its has been like living in Logan Square so many years; while he wasn't expecting a racist rant at all the dumb Polaks, Puerto Rican gangbangers, and the Spanish signs at Jimenez he can't read, I think Gunther got the man to appreciate the real sense of joy he feels living in a diverse, multicultural got ethnic neighborhood. Tatanka, just wanted to leave, so we did. What a night, as I rode my bicycle with Gunther on his unicycle, and Tatanka on stilts, down Fullerton, I could hear a faint whisper of the men we met..... "thank you for spending that brief moment in time with us and being practitioners of your convictions, you are doing your little part to make this world right."

True Chicago Guest Blogger: Eric Runyan

[Guest author’s thoughts] Friday night, after the creator of this informative blog and I helped get our kids to bed for the night, we took the invitation to attend a local “political rally” (can’t think of a better term). From what I could tell this event was put on by our alderman for all the candidates that represent or could represent the people of his ward. I must pause here for a second and say “the people from his ward” were greatly outnumbered by the politico types, the candidates and their right hand men and women.

Because we have kids, which we care more about than this gathering, we arrived late
(8:00 for a 6:30 start time). But we were right on time. As we walked up to the door, we spot Cynthia Soto (someone had to point her out to us) walking out, she currently represents our district in the Illinois house. Perfect, this is the person we wanted to see. We had some questions to ask. Immediately we started talking to her about the issues we have been trying to contact her about for the better part of her term with no real response or action. To make a long story short, she seemed to have little care towards what we were talking about and said we have to understand things are busy, that she is in the middle of a “contested” race in the primary so everything she is doing is focused on winning this campaign. Everything? Just a question I wish I would have asked, “Do you take vacation days when you are not working on matters that affect the constituents of the 4th district?” This was sad to hear.

I opened the door and who is it that I see, the governor of our great state Pat Quinn. (I seem to have just read our great state is accumulating the greatest financial deficit in its history and isn’t shrinking. And focusing energy on campaigning to get re-elected is the best we can do at this time? Another guest blog. )

I never thought I would be a part of something like this. I came to realize I think this was a political machine party. I don’t really know what that means, but it seemed to have a certain look/feel to it…how we were included on the invite list is a mystery to me.

Now to the real meat of why I was asked to contribute to this blog. As we were watching the candidates take the stage and give their stump speeches about why they are the best person for the job, I was thinking to myself ‘what is this that am I at?’ No one said anything that mattered. Buzz words and slogans flew everywhere. Nothing about what you believe or what you care about or what you want to do if elected. Just yelling to convince the people who are already on your side you are the best vote. Did I mention yet, I am not sure how we were invited or why they thought we were the right people for this gathering?

Don’t get me wrong…I love the democracy in which I live and take part in. I know I have it wonderful compared to many other parts of the world where this letter/blog would put me under scrutiny just for thinking/writing it. Our system is manned by and for people that can express how they feel… the beauty of our system, right? A question that swirled in my head for the better part of the night was what forum do candidates have to express where they stand and it not be about yelling and getting you to think they are the best because of some 25 second catch phrase you give to me and the rest of the non-listening audience.

I probably wasn’t at the right event for this to take place, but plenty of candidates were willing to hand me their political flyer and remind me what number to punch to take a look at the people/organizations who endorsed them. In the same short time, you could have just talked to me. I know time is short and there are many more important people than I, but 1-2 minutes engaging in a conversation would go a long way. I am not asking for an emotional connection but something more than the words you throw around that I feel like you’re not even sure that you mean.

This was never clearer than with a candidate running for a sub circuit judge. As we were walking out, she found it important enough to approach us and make sure we saw her face and knew what number to punch (when we voted). When we gave our home address and asked if we could even vote for her, she replied she didn’t think so. We then seemed to be less of a priority. She then proceeded to turn around when someone else needed her attention. Not an “excuse me” or “could you wait a minute” or anything like it. We waited for a few seconds and when it was apparent she wasn’t coming back to us, we walked out the door. Needless to say, I threw her literature in the trash.

I need to end with one positive from the whole night. As we were about to leave, I saw a candidate for one of the sub circuit judges, Steven Fruth. He appeared to be getting ready to leave but I asked him, “In one minute tell me why you should be the judge and what will you do to serve the people that elect you?” He graciously explained who he was as a person and the things he felt were important to him (why do we elect judges?). I then went on to ask him about the most current ruling of the Supreme Court in regards to campaign contributions. He answered honestly giving us the reasons in which he rooted his opinion. He had time for us. I liked that.