The gun shop out of the way it was time to sight see and being in Oak Park we started tripping over his houses. Needing a smoke we stop in front of his studio and compare notes with what happened. She also was fine with the guns in the case but when they started coming out, she felt nervous.
I was looking up the street at a parade of Asian tourists walking in the middle of the street. I photographed the parade when one of them spoke. We know the rest… raced over to her made the snap with her friends giggling and finding out her nationality thanked her in Japanese to the shock of the rest of the crowd.
Hungry, i chose a national chain of cafés for a snack when the Outer Cove Ontarian noticed the Cosy Corner in downtown Oak Park and wondered if we could get something typically “american” there.
Ah, perfect i would have gone for the nationally bland when she chose a blandness of a more local flavour. Much better as there was still a waitress who could give suggestions - the from away was always asking for them. At Penney’s Noodle Shop in Bucktown, at Wishbone the next day and now. It seemed the big item was any chicken dish.
She had the patty melt, I had and egg mayonnaise on toasted rye with a root beer.
The waitress kept coming back to see if the food was good, a photograph had to be made, the Japanese parade passed us while eating and we waved.
The people behind us were from Dominican and laughing about the photo professor there.
My fear was what to show but ended up making it a Michael Crummey The Wreckage tour as part of the book takes place in Chicago – personally would much rather have done the Fogo Island part of the tour but…
This meant all the shadier parts of the city while heading over to the old stockyards. Stopped at the new Comiskey Park mentioned the foresight of the city leaders in pulling down a landmark to put up the last generic ball park in the States. The subtext of the tour was architecture and dislocations of peoples – all of which Chicago is famous. So past the site of the Maxwell Street Market until the city determined that the south side needed a yuppie ville - we did pass the Maxwell Street Market Theme Park where it is now designated space to be quaint - past the former Robert Taylor homes where there is now a Starbucks, mentioned that the expressways went through the black neighbourhoods. Through the stockyards and the neglected areas that surround Bridgeport. Down to Pullman to see the planned city and where the riots took place. Back up through the East Side and South Chicago passing the vacant land of the steel mills and pulled down houses. Finally passing the “restoration” of Soldier Field into something that Steven Spielberg could use in Close Encounters. Past Presidential Towers which used to be Skid Row and where places were set aside for the poor until people actually moved in
Dark now and knackered, dropped her off at the hotel and crawled out to the Kennedy for the drive back to Peasants Pissoir only to find that due to the warmth of the day she had left her coat in my machine.
3 comments:
Lucas didn't make Close Encounters, though.
oos. it was a toss up between lucas and spielberg and i chose the wrong one.
How many women have been around your machines?
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