:: Ray's Periodic Rantings ::

:: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 ::

An afternoon in Red territory

On Saturday I did some canvassing for Dan Seals in a nearby suburb, Prospect Heights. The experience was a bit soul-destroying. More than just a Republican stronghold, it is an area where a generation of kids has just gone off to college, leaving their parents behind. I know this, because I was armed with a Democratic voter list, which consisted largely of names between the ages of 19 and 25. When their Republican parents were home, they weren't thrilled to see me.

In fact, nobody there seemed particularly happy. The neighborhood spirit that might once have existed with all the children around was gone, replaced by morosity as these baby boomers and up started to die off and move away, their 60's ranches torn down one by one, and replaced by mcmansions filled with nouveau riche who don't ever leave their air-conditioned comfort.

The one extended conversation that I did have ended up being with a former Marine, daughter away at school, tossing back a Miller Lite in his garage. Regarding the Iraq war, his exact words (or close to them) were, "There are people out there that hate us. I'd rather be fighting the terrorists over there than right here in Prospect Heights." How does one even begin to dispel such a hardened dillusion? How does one explain about Christian soldiers only making things worse in the middle of a centuries-old Islamic conflict, to a disinterested, incurious military guy who has been trained to believe whatever the Republican president (certainly not that Clinton guy) spoonfeeds him via Fox "News"?

I can only hope that, come election day, enough Americans have opened their eyes to see the malfeasance being committed by the people they elected, and that they get angry enough about it to finally throw the bums out.
:: Ray 10:33 AM [+] ::
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Planning to vote Republican?

Here is some helpful information about some of your favorite candidates.

Senate Races:
--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl
--MD-Sen: Michael Steele
--MO-Sen: Jim Talent
--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns
--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee
--TN-Sen: Bob Corker
--VA-Sen: George Allen
--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

House Races:
--AZ-01: Rick Renzi
--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth
--CA-04: John Doolittle
--CA-11: Richard Pombo
--CA-50: Brian Bilbray
--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave
--CO-05: Doug Lamborn
--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell
--CT-04: Christopher Shays
--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan
--FL-16: Joe Negron
--FL-22: Clay Shaw
--ID-01: Bill Sali
--IL-06: Peter Roskam
--IL-10: Mark Kirk
--IL-14: Dennis Hastert
--IN-02: Chris Chocola
--IN-08: John Hostettler
--IA-01: Mike Whalen
--KS-02: Jim Ryun
--KY-03: Anne Northup
--KY-04: Geoff Davis
--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht
--MN-06: Michele Bachmann
--NV-03: Jon Porter
--NH-02: Charlie Bass
--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson
--NM-01: Heather Wilson
--NY-03: Peter King
--NY-20: John Sweeney
--NY-26: Tom Reynolds
--NY-29: Randy Kuhl
--NC-08: Robin Hayes
--NC-11: Charles Taylor
--OH-01: Steve Chabot
--OH-02: Jean Schmidt
--OH-15: Deborah Pryce
--OH-18: Joy Padgett
--PA-04: Melissa Hart
--PA-07: Curt Weldon
--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick
--PA-10: Don Sherwood
--VA-10: Frank Wolf
--WA-08: Dave Reichert

Happy voting!
:: Ray 2:50 PM [+] ::
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Vote!

Midterm elections are looming. November 7 is the big day. If you are unhappy with the direction this country is heading under the leadership of George Bush and the Republican-controlled Senate and House, then get out there and vote Democratic.

In our district, IL-10, Mary and I support and are campaigning for Dan Seals for Congress. I have met Dan, heard him speak, and talked with him personally. He is intelligent, educated and well-spoken, and he stands for things like fiscal responsibility, rational domestic and foreign policies, energy independence, and healthcare reform.

His opponent, Mark Kirk calls himself independent. In fact, he is the Republican Assistant Whip, votes the party line on almost all issues except reproductive rights, and supports virtually all of President Bush's failed policies.

We need a congress that won't just rubber-stamp the incompetence of the Bush administration. We need oversight and responsibility, and we won't get it from the Republicans, or Mark Kirk.

Vote Democratic, and in the IL-10, vote for Dan Seals.

Not sure what district you are in? Find out here.
:: Ray 11:58 PM [+] ::
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Guerilla art?

Today on my way to work, I spotted this bit, which someone had placed on the statue of longtime Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet on Wacker Dr.



It reminded of something that made me grin during Chicago's famed Cows on Parade exhibition in 1999. Artist Robert Koutny made and placed matching cow pies with several of the fiberglass bovines. My favorite was one that really made a dig at the gambling encouraged by the Illinois Lottery. Alas, I have no photos, and my recollection is no longer detailed enough to include what it actually said.

Long live guerilla art! But please take the time to check your spelling.
:: Ray 11:13 PM [+] ::
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A Political Observation

As a fairly hardcore liberal, I tend to vote Democratic, and I think we wouldn't be in many of the messes we are in now if they had been in power for the past several years. It is ironic, but somehow the Democrats have become the party of fiscal responsibility, and frankly, the party that I feel would do a better job of handling national security and emergency preparedness (recall that under Clinton, FEMA impressed Floridians with its response to the hurricanes of that period).

I am not a blind Democrat, however, and I hope that you, gentle reader, will appreciate an insight that has come to me over these past several years: the worst thing I have seen in government, at the federal, state, and local levels isn't the Republicans, Democrats, liberals, or conservatives. The worst thing for this country is single party rule. I don't care which party it is, whether the Republicans in Washington or the Democrats who control my home state, Illinois, if the opposition doesn't hold at least one among the house, senate, or executive (or local equivalents), then it has no oversight ability, and the party in power runs amok with disastrous results, and spending and scandals ensue.

And so while I hope the Democrats retake both the House and Senate this November, I pray they retake at least one. And if they should take both, and it looks like they will be able to hold them for a while, then I might not be so enthusiastic about them retaking the presidency in 2008.
:: Ray 11:57 PM [+] ::
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Detroit

Mary and I had a pleasant time in Detroit, this past weekend. It was wonderful, if not a bit overwhelming, connecting more with my still somewhat newly discovered (and large) biological family, despite the sad occasion. I was glad to finally be able to show Mary some of where I came from, such as the house I was raised in, and the campus of Cranbrook, the prep school where I came of age.

We visited the Koltys family plot, which happend to be in the same cemetary as the burial ceremony, and spruced things up a bit. The grass tends to grow over the headstones if you don't keep it edged. I was intrigued that the family marker now has lichen growing on it, which I don't remember being there 15 years ago. It gives interesting surface texture and a patina of color to the marker, but I am a bit conflicted over whether or not to scrub it off the next time I am there. Should one attempt to defy nature and entropy, however briefly, or acquiesce to the passage of time? I lean toward the latter, but I can't help pondering what the deceased might prefer.

Two food experiences that I had looked forward to (see the October 10 post) did not dissappoint. I had forgotten about the apple spiced flavor of the hot fried donuts served with the freshly pressed apple cider at Franklin Cider Mill. These delights melted in my mouth, and it was all to easy to wolf down several of them before realizing that I now had belly full of fried dough. No regrets, though. They were that good.

It didn't work out that we were able to get to Lafayette Coney Island when we were hungry, so we substituted Athens Coney Island on Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, which I knew to also be a good place in an ocean of mediocre ones. I was a bit disconcerted that they had remodeled. The place looked entirely too fancy to serve a decent Coney, but the waitress assured me that the same owners still ran the place using the same chili recipe, and she didn't lie. Yum.

Saturday evening, I drove Mary down Woodward Avenue to show her the city. It happened that we drove past Comerica Park during the seventh inning of the final game of the American League Championship. A short time later, the Detroit Tigers won. On our way out of the city, we drove past the old Tiger Stadium on Michigan Avenue. The former home of the Tigers was dark and quiet, not a soul around to celebrate the team's first winning season in quite some time. Together with the windowless, abandoned old Michigan Central train station across the street, that corner of town seemed quite sad.

Afterward, we returned to our hotel to discover that the "private event" that we had been notified would have exclusive access to the pool and recreation area that evening, was in fact a swingers party. Mary and I seemed to have a reason to pass through the space several times, as it separated our room from most of the rest of my family's rooms, and we were amused to see it quite crowded with couples in sexy costumes, having what looked like a great time. It takes all kinds, I guess.

See a few pics of our trip here.
:: Ray 11:10 PM [+] ::
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An overdue political rant

For six years the Bushies have been in power. That's six horrific years that they have had control of foreign policy. For five of those years, they have had control of Congress, too, with a virtual rubber stamp on whatever they wanted to do abroad, and complete control over spending and domestic policy.

So the best they can do after six years in power when North Korea surprises them by testing a nuke is to try to pin it on Clinton? Rove and company really can't do any better than that? Bush expects us to believe that cutting all ties and naming North Korea part of an "Axis of Evil" didn't have anything to do with it? What kind of fantasy world do these guys live in? It is certainly not the reality based world that I see around me, in which a dwarf with funny glasses who sells stuff to actual terrorist states now may very well have nukes to offer.

As a protest sign said recently in so many words, will someone please give George Bush a blow job so we can impeach the mofo?
:: Ray 10:07 PM [+] ::
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Regional delights

Mary and I will be going to Detroit in a few days for a funeral. The occasion is sad, but I find myself looking forward to the trip. Time permitting, I will be visiting some of my old haunts for the first time in about a decade, and eating foods I have long missed.

Detroit is the home of a peculiar culinary snack, the Coney Island hot dog. A Coney is a dog with chili, mustard, and onions. That may not sound very special, but this isn't just any old chili. It is more like a chili sauce, with finely ground beef and no beans, heavy on the cumin. The best place to get one is downtown at Lafayette Coney Island, never, never next door at American Coney Island, as this well written and illustrated article attests. In fact, I have not yet in life met anyone who would even admit to having stepped inside American. I'm can't imagine how they stay in business!

Michigan is also famous for cider mills. I remember trips to Franklin Cider Mill, which featured a turn of the century water wheel powering an ancient cider press, and wonderful fresh, hot, donuts. The other mill we went to was Yates. The appeal there was the remnants of small gauge rail tracks, which appear to have been used at one time to move carts of apples in from the orchard. With good food and cool old infrastructure, both places were ideal destinations for a boy.

The Detroit area is also home to numerous, old, White Castle-style diners. I discovered Hunter House, in Birmingham, when I was in high school (it wasn't the kind of place that my parents ever took us to), and instantly preferred their sliders and chili-fries to anything available at a chain fast food restaurant. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Needless to say, the trip won't be about healthy eating. I am sure Detroit has plenty of fine dining available, but that wasn't exactly my focus when I left for Chicago at age 21.
:: Ray 12:15 PM [+] ::
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Geek race

Today as I left work to ride my Xootr the several blocks from Michigan Avenue to the train station, a guy on roller blades happened to be leaving at the same time. He was a bit of a daredevil, and quickly got one or two traffic lights ahead of me. I was pretty sure he was headed the same place I was, and sure enough, as I approached the station, he was there, outside, still changing from blades back to shoes. I glided right past him, to the door, picking up the Xootr and folding it in one smooth, practiced motion as I walked inside.

I know it's geeky, but it was kind of a tortoise and hare moment, and I took a bit of glee in it.
:: Ray 11:40 PM [+] ::
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Edible ornamentals

Tonight I walked a bit on Michigan Avenue before heading home from work. It is normally a place I avoid, being crowded with tourists most of the time, but every once in a while I like to stroll the Mag Mile.

Aside from the stores, one of the things to see are the raised beds between the sidewalk and the street, which are landscaped or decorated seasonally. On this evening's jaunt, the plantings caught my eye. Some non-blooming plants had been used to interesting effect, rather than just the usual floral annuals. I was just starting to wonder what some of the species were, when in front of Crate and Barrel I recognized one, not from any landscaping I had seen before, but from my kitchen. They had planted Rainbow Chard as an ornamental plant!

As it happens, this variety of chard, with dark green leaves and red and yellow stems, has appeared in our weekly CSA box several times so far this year. Not only does it look cool, but it tastes great sauteed with olive oil and garlic. Right now, there is enough of it growing on the Mag Mile to feed not an army, but perhaps a platoon or two.

Michigan Avenue, salad bowl of the Midwest? Well, maybe not, but I wonder if anyone will harvest the chard and take it home or sell it before it is all removed in preparation for winter. That much of it is worth a few bucks!
:: Ray 11:56 PM [+] ::
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Decompression

Saturday night, Mary and I attended a Burning Man decompression party in Chicago, the first of its kind in the city limits. Decompression parties are held after the big event in Nevada to give both burners and those unable to make it to Nevada a taste of playa-style fun closer to home. Similar events have been held before in the Chicago area, but they have always been in rural areas outside the city, limiting the potential audience a bit, and the energy along with it, in some cases.

Holding a large party like this right in the city has been a bit of a holy grail, but to my perception the Burning Man community in Chicago has always been somewhat fragmented, and I had no idea what they could pull off. I won't say I went in with low expectations -- it's more like I didn't know what to expect. In any case, we weren't disappointed. Despite periodic rain showers, the outdoor party was quite a blast, featuring all the hallmarks of a good burning event: good techno on a good sound system, sculptures emitting fire, poi fire spinners, babes with hula hoops, and lots of interesting people, some dressed wackily, all dancing and having a good time. And it turns out the party drew a contingent all the way from Minneapolis!

It warms my heart that the Chicago Burning Man community has got its act together enough to make an event like this happen. If anything, I feel badly for not having contributed more than showing up in the Dr. Kilovolt suit (although people do seem to get a kick out of it). It is the one downside of having founded a theme camp that is based on a common interest instead of geographical location, namely, Burnstream Court. The Court has become a large part of my life, and I certainly have no regrets about that, but I would like to get a bit more involved locally, too.

For now, however, three cheers for Chicago burners!
:: Ray 10:17 PM [+] ::
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