Leopold and Loeb

Jay, Christa, Melody and I went on Paul Durica's Leopold and Loeb Pocket Guide to Hell tour of Woodlawn back at the beginning of the month. Paul explained his interests as a mix of "true crime and labor issues" and began the tour with an account of how Leopold and Loeb's murder of Bobby Franks was both very odd, and yet, at the same time, part of a pattern of weird crime taking place in Hyde Park and Woodlawn in 1924, which included bullet-riddled bodies being dumped out of cars on 56th and Kimbark and some poor chap who was kidnapped, anesthetized, castrated, and dumped in a field in south Chicago. Paul then led us on a sightseeing walk that included the carriage house attached to Leopold's mansion, the site of the actual strangulation of Bobby Franks, and the boarded up Franks mansion.

Paul mentioned that in the fall he'll be giving a "secret history of the University of Chicago" tour, which we're looking forward to.


Above: The Harvard school, where Bobby Franks was a student.


Above: Paul describes Leopold's interest in ornithology. Behind him is the Leopold carriage house.


Above: A member of the tour took detailed notes throughout.


Above: The Franks mansion is one of the last surviving buildings associated with the crime.

One big lesson of the tour was that Lepold and Loeb definitely did not pull off anything resembling a "perfect crime". They botched it from the start in a number of ways that seem typical of a couple of grad students (for example, Leopold lost his idiosyncratic and readily-traceable glasses near the spot where they dumped Franks's body).

Philosophy Summer BBQ 2009

End of the year philosophy party in Classics quad.

New York Moving

During my visit to NYC last weekend, I (and a bunch of his friends) helped Wyeth move two vanloads of his stuff from Gowanus to Greenpoint. After the move was finished, we caught our breath up on the roof. Ahzz.

Shakespeare and the Law

A scene from last weekend's Shakespeare and the Law conference at the University of Chicago Law School. In addition to the presentation of academic papers, there was also some acting--in this scene, Judge Posner, playing Polonius, is lying dead off to the left. Martha Nussbaum, playing the queen, is standing next to a student playing Hamlet, and Supreme Court Justice Breyer, who is playing the king's ghost.

Phantasm Street Wars

Upcoming events in Rockingham, NC:

-Outlaw Street Drag
-Phantasm Street Wars
-Cobra Club Lightning Trucks
-Smokeout Bike Rally

Our Literal Speed

Went with some other contemporary art fans to see some of Our Literal Speed, which tried to make art history and criticism into art. The example we saw involved "Rosalind Krauss", "Yve Alain Bois" and others lip-syncing a pre-recorded panel discussion about Picasso and Braque.

Conscience of the Art World

The Guerrilla Girls at the I-House, University of Chicago.

The gorilla mask, though visually striking, makes it hard to understand what the wearer is saying.

DASEIN

On 55th street.

I Am the Lawrus

I am the Lawrus, originally uploaded by Nat Hansen.

Art in Melody's office. By Wyeth.

Contextualism

I misremembered the time of Jason's contextualism class and showed up an hour late. When I arrived, the room was empty, and I wondered whether I got the room number wrong. I knew I was in the right place, though, when I found these sentences on the blackboard.

America's Most European Supermarket

Since Treasure Island took over the old 55th street co-op, I've wondered why it calls itself "America's Most European Supermarket". I think it's supposed to mean that it's fancy, but as Melody has pointed out, it more obviously suggests that it's small and you have to pay extra for bags and bag your own groceries.

Melody and I discovered that Treasure Island stocks PG Tips, Heinz baked beans, and HP sauce, which are essential elements of an English breakfast.

So, if Britain is European, then Treasure Island has earned its title.