Once again, here I am again, how many days without a blog?  Hey, it gets busy at Christmas, and the strain taxes my creativity.  Ok, so I do admit to a certain tendency toward procrastination.  Sure, I can put things off as well as the next guy, but you know, it’s not exactly a chronic condition!  Whatever the task at hand … eventually … you can be sure that sooner or later … I will almost certainly get “a round to it.”  But you know, I have always had this hankering to live in a round building.  I don’t know exactly why, I mean maybe it is the procrastinator that resides deep in side.  Whatever … it would definitely be interesting to actually live in  a nice round building.   Like,  Marina City for instance.

In Downtown Chicago on the north bank of the Chicago River over on Dearborn Street rises the 65-story high Marina City twin towers.  Completed in 1964, it is actually credited with beginning the residential renaissance of the American “inner city”, which was needed after the “urban blight” and the “urban flight” of the 1950′s and 1960′s.   AND, at the time it was built it actually claimed the title as the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world.  The bottom 19 floors serve as a parking garage for the remaining 46  floors of commercial and (mostly) residential units. Because of it unique characteristics, it made cameo appearances in movies like The Blues Brothers and The Hunter, which included a car chase scene through the parking garage and even … you guessed it … a car plunging off the tower right in to the Chicago river.

Now why would Marina City interest and even attract procrastinators? Well first of all, there is this marvelous roundness on the outside.  Secondly, based on what I’ve read, it is even round on the inside … the apartments have almost no interior right angles!  And if you happen to work downtown you can even “sleep in” and still manage to be only a little bit late.  Oh,  did I mention that it has extremely high-speed elevators that can make it from the ground floor to the 61st floor roof deck in 35 seconds?  And I bet they can go down even faster!  What more could someone that procrastinates want?

Rocky

On the morning of the last day we got a late start and didn’t have much time for breakfast.  So we ducked into a little place for a quick bagel and coffee. I got my little breakfast bag, and headed to the cashier.

“Hey, pretty damn good only $3.05, not bad for New York”, I said to myself.  So I plopped down three bucks, and five pennies … and headed off to gobble down my goodies.

Then the cashier blurts out….”YO!”

I stopped and looked at him. And then he adds, “What r doze?”

I asked, “What do you mean?”

“Doze brown tings”

 ”The pennies?”, I asked.

“I don’t know what dey are, but we don’t take dem here.”

Translation for non-New Yorkers:

Checks are rounded to the nearest nickel, and pennies are not accepted.

So ended my first trip to New York.

Rocky

Dark energy? I read that this stuff is supposedly responsible for the expansion of the universe that will  lead to the Big Freeze that will ultimately doom the universe. Boy, that does not sound particularly good now does it?

I figure that this is important stuff.  Furthermore, I must need to have at least some basic understanding of all this in order to survive, so maybe if I begin with a combination of Michio Kaku (my personal universe go-to guy) and rely on more info from NASA … that should get me going.  I realize that NASA no longer launches  space shuttles, but they  did just shoot up a rocket the other day … so I figure they must still be open for business.  And that nifty diagram, I got it from the  NASA website, hope they don’t mind.

So let me get this straight …. there was this Big Bang (not the sitcom) that created the universe.  Since then the universe has been expanding at various rates.  Now Michio would have us believe that there is this dark energy in empty space that is actually pushing the universe into an accelerated expansion.  However, not only does space have its own dark energy, but this dark energy actually comprises more than 70% of matter/energy in the universe.  Oh, did I mention that Michio also says there is also a whole bunch of invisible dark matter out there?  But it is the dark energy that is actually contributing to the accelerating expansion of the universe that will eventually lead to the Big Freeze.  Wow.

Boy, I feel much smarter now.  But I have a few questions: What exactly does this amazing information do for mankind?  What are these physicist doing?  Are they actually getting paid for this?  Who exactly are they working for?   Is it those idiots in Congress?

Rocky

PS Personally, I also suspect that dark energy had something to do with me not writing any posts for 9 days, but I have no proof.

Man this was hot stuff back in the 1930′s.  The train was a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Zephyr, one of the first diesel locomotives.  In 1934, this train averaged over 77 miles per hour as it covered the Denver to Chicago run almost 12 hour faster than the record for a steam locomotive.  In some ways, rail travel has not changed much since the 1930′s.

Also pictured is an Olsen Rug delivery van.  Seems that Olsen Rug put a lot into advertising back then..making the van look like the Zephyr was one example.  I guess Olsen was trying to convince folks that they had Zephyr-like delivery service.  In 1935, Olsen Rug even constructed (and maintained until 1978) their own 35-foot high man-made  waterfall (with no river in sight) on the corner of Diversy and  Pulaski in Chicago.  When I was a kid my mom and I rode the Diversey bus right by the big Olsen Rug warehouse, and I would press my nose to the window until the bus got to that waterfall. Ahhh, nostalgia.

Diesel locomotives are still the mainstay of the rail industry.  While there have been advances in computerization  and other technologies, diesels still make the railroads run.  But today, train speeds are limited due to poor track conditions, as well as high rail freight traffic levels that cause congestion and delays.  Since the 1960′s the railroads have been improving on something called “distributed power” to use the economics of scale to reduce congestion by running fewer, but longer trains.  Turns out that if you place additional locomotives at the end and in the middle of the train (that are remotely controlled from the lead locomotive) there are several clear benefits.  You can overcome the challenges of pulling big trains uphill, and better control braking in general, especially going downhill.  As a result, “distributed power” can reduce rail congestion, reduce wear and tear on the tracks, while they even save fuel!

But when you hear about high-speed passenger trains, remember that there are several large obstacles.  First off, nobody talks  about high-speed freight trains … and unless you construct separate passenger tracks … you can only go so fast.   Also the faster you go the better the track condition needs to be, and we currently have some real problems areas across the country.  And when it comes to highway rail grade crossings (you know where the gates come down) you really don’t want any.  You need to build a bunch of expensive overpasses and underpasses.  Otherwise, since high-speed trains moving that fast take so much longer time and distance to stop that any accidents would be catastrophic.  And all this costs big bucks.  Ahhh, progress was so much simpler in the 1930′s.

Rocky

Traveling salesman Aaron Montgomery Ward recognized an opportunity to reach the huge rural  American market that cut out the middleman. By using mail order catalog that Ward distributed all over the country , the folks could order stuff that they could pickup themselves at the nearest train station.  From 1872 until 1896 when Richard Sears emerged as a competitor, Monkey Wards ruled with their “Wish Book “ catalog which grew from a one-page flyer to a catalog of more than 200 pages.

Pictured above is a Monkey Wards electric horseless carriage … and don’t those guys look happy that they got one?  Now, Aaron Ward did not actually build electric horseless carriages, he bought them at a good discount from the manufacturer and put his name on it. Back when I was a young aspiring clarinet player, I head a story from a music teacher that he had been horrified when one of his students told him that his parents had purchased a new clarinet for him from Sears. His horror turned to disbelief when he examined the instrument to find that it was a top of the line Buffet clarinet.  Sears did the same thing, purchasing items from the manufacturer at auction and then selling them under the Silvertone brand.

Sears is still going strong, although not as the market leader it once was; while Monkey Wards finally went under in 2001.  Back in the 1970′s I had a short stint as summer help in the Monkey Wards regional parts center, of which I have fond memories.  Why is it that my team is always the one to go down?

Rocky

Back when I was a kid (in the good old days) they had a different brands of TV commercials than you see today.  When you went to buy gas (at 19 cents per gallon) you did not need to know about the environment or investing in future energy  technologies … you needed to know the Texaco jingle … “You could trust your car to the man who wore the star…the big bright Texaco star!!!”  You just don’t see the singing commercial anymore like the old  Texaco quartet.

Then there was the old Hamm’s Beer commercials featuring the Hamm’s Bear.  They stopped this commercial series in the late 1960′s, and it is sometimes referred to as the biggest mistake in the history of marketing.   I used to confuse the Hamm’s Bear with Yogi the Bear cartoon show.  It is a wonder I wasn’t guzzling beer when I was ten.

But if you wanted clean … then you wanted the Ajax white knight.  Oh those were the good old days.

Rocky

I always wondered what a hippopotamus likes to eat.  Apparently Gregor here prefers bananas over say… Uwe the animal keeper.  Back when I was a kid my father took me a Cubs game, a doubleheader actually.  During the course of the games I managed to devour 10 hot dogs.  He didn’t try to talk me out of it, he just shook his head as I asked for more.  However, after about 16 innings, he laughed and told me something that I shall never forget … “Be careful, you are what you eat.”

Now I thought quite a while about those wise words.  I did not really think that I would somehow evolve into a hot dog, but I also never again ate 10 hot dogs in one day.  Now that I see what Gregor eats and where that has gotten him … I am thinking … so what’s wrong with hot dogs anyway? Furthermore, my father smoke and drank to an excess … and he ate sauerkraut! A role model for the ages.

But I basically consider myself a thoughtful person that also enjoys an occaisional hot dog, so I like what Deepak Chopra has to say on the subject of what we will evolve into:

If you want to see what your thoughts were yesterday … look at your body today.

If you want to see what you body will look like tomorrow …

… look at your thoughts today.

So what was on Gregor’s mind?  And what in the world is Uwe thinking?

Rocky

When I first met you baby, you fed me on chicken and wine.
It was steak and potatoes and lobster and babe I sure felt fine.
But now all you give me is seaweed and alfalfa sprouts
And sunflower seeds and I got my doubts -
Babe, you left me here with the Chicken Cordon Bleus.

So wrote Steve Goodman, folk music singer-songwriter (1948-1984) in a song titled Chicken Cordon Bleus. Go ahead and give that link a click and a listen, right now … the rest of the blog can wait.  Goodman is more well-known for songs like The City of New Orleans which hit the charts when sung by Arlo Guthrie, The Lincoln Park Pirates, and the song they play at Wrigley Field after every Cub win … Go Cubs Go.  And many, many more that maybe didn’t climb the charts all that high.

Let’s face … don’t these word just hit you in the gut?

Babe, can you see that old dog, he’s out in the street.   

 He’s got a big smile on his face ’cause they let him meat.

Case closed, and then Steve really hit it out of the park … and across the street on this one:

Babe, I’m goin down to the bakery
And I’m going to find me a jelly roll
And some cannoli.
Some French pastry.
A chocolate éclair don’t sound too bad.

I mean I am all for creative wrting and expressing oneself … but when Steve Goodman found the perfect words that just say it all.  Just get those second stringers out of the way, and let the first team do their thing.

Keep in mind Congress and the President didn’t go compose their own political national anthem … they left it all to Frankie Scott Key.  Likewise, please be advised Rocky has found his anthem.

Rocky

Well, well, well …. what do we have here?  Why it’s Bobo and Friends, who else?

Actually this was officially the very first performance of this dynamic trio.  Now you can’t see their name tags from this view, but the top hat on the left is Paul … and the capster on the right is Mike. The marquis player (and master mind) of this act was an amazing juggling dog named Bobo.  Unfortunately, he must be just out of camera range in this particular shot.  Actually, while he rarely missed a photo opp,  Bobo was practically invisible when there was real work to be done… or so I’ve been told.

Bobo and Friends juggled everything from apples to bowling balls, playing a wide range of venues from parades to gymnasiums.  While Bobo claimed the headlines, Mike and Paul provided the selfless support that really made the act go.

So where are they now?

Bobo left the act first and hit the road on his own to find fame and fortune in Europe.  Mike evolved into a king  pin of the entertainment industry.

And Paul?

Paul got himself a bigger hat, a nice red bow tie, a stylish umbrella and plays to one packed house after another.  He basically wows  ‘em wherever he goes.

Happy Birthday you old juggler you.

Rocky

… On November 9, 1975 … the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald set sail from Superior, Wisconsin heading for Detroit, Michigan … With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty. 

The National Weather Service had forecast a typical early November storm, but by 10PM the  storm was upgraded to a gale warning.  By 2AM on November 10th a full storm warning was issued with wave forecasts of up to 18 feet.  As the winds increased to over 40 miles per hour,  the waves may have actually exceeded 30 feet.  The next afternoon, at the height of the storm the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared from the radar screen and it sank to the bottom of Lake Superior in 500 feet of water, only fifteen miles short of safe habor.  The entire crew of 29 was lost.  Even to this day there is still debate over exactly what caused the ship to go down.  There is even a History Channel show that runs through all the possible theories.

The story was immortalized in Gordon Lightfoot’s song ‘The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald’.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
 Of the big lake they called ‘Gitche Gumee’
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.

 According to a website called Lightfoot Odds & Ends , Lightfoot wrote the song “over three days in November 1975, finishing it around noon of the third day. He went straight to the studio that afternoon and recorded it on the first take.”  At that time, Gordon Lightfoot reached out to the families of the crew; and he remains very close to them even today.

Rocky