Hyde Park

From Tom & Jenn's terrace.

Hyde Park Spring

Outside Ribs 'N' Bibs. The hood of the closest police car is smashed up.

Winter Afternoon at the Point

I rode the new bike (Mk II) down to the point. People were cross-country skiing around the edge of the park.

The bike in its earlier configuration.

Batavus Old Dutch

Tati Cycles loaned me this bike while mine is being built. I'm really enjoying cruising around HP on this thing, and after only two outings I have received three positive, spontaneous remarks from passersby about the bike. But the Batavus Old Dutch weighs about 45 pounds, which is far too much to comfortably carry up three flights of stairs.

June BBQ

Jay & Christa grilled with us last night.

Z & H

(Pictured above: the Melody breakfast sandwich, consisting of corned beef, swiss cheese and egg on french bread.)

The best thing to happen to Hyde Park since the re-opening of Hyde Park Produce in the former 53rd Street Co-Op is the arrival of Z&H on 47th street. First off, its the only place to get Clover coffee on the south side. Second, Everything that we get there is good: sandwiches, cookies, coffee, root beer, cheese, ice cream, cereal, scones, etc. I got a scone from Z&H that was so good that eating it immobilized me while my cat escaped from the apartment and jumped on the neighbor's roof, where she got stuck. After I finished the scone, I had to climb out and rescue her. Finally, if you go there often enough, the guys who run the place, Sam and Tim, will learn your name and say "hi" when you walk in and "bye" when you leave.

The sandwiches at Z&H are better than those at the fancy sandwich restaurant that just opened in Wicker Park, and they are half as expensive.

Pictured below is the Jackie Treehorn breakfast sandwich: brie and paté on toasted croissant.

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).

DASEIN

On 55th street.

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.

"...we have University of Chicago here..."

When the owner of Chant describes the kind of people who come to Chant, she says, "We get professors, we have students here, we have university of Chicago here", (40 seconds in) and when she says "we have University of Chicago here" it cuts to a shot of Melody, me and Christa sitting and talking. Jay is off-screen to the left.

Here's the link to the video.

The owner also says that she created Chant because "there is no nice place to hang out in Hyde Park".

Thanks to Chris K. for telling me about the video.

Z&H Marketcafe

Z&H Marketcafe up on 47th street stocks fancy cheese, varieties of paté, and coffee made from a Clover machine. If you go in a couple of times, the guys who work there will call you by name.




Like any good hangout in Hyde Park/Kenwood, there's lots of Foucault floating around. In this case, it's a copy of Le government de soi et des autres.

Fall in Hyde Park

Fall in Hyde Park, originally uploaded by Nat Hansen.

Last week, Hyde Park was in the grip of some extreme autumn weather, with piles of crunchy leaves, temperatures dipping into the 40s, and increased squirrel activity.

Now it's just cold.

Polling Place

Nov 4, 2008: Hyde Park Neighborhood Center, originally uploaded by Nat Hansen.

Hyde Park neighborhood club.

Melody spent her morning and afternoon defending the rule of law at some polling places up on the north side.

Backyard Fixtures

Hyde Park, backyard, morning.

The light fixture looks like it belongs on a U-boat.

Dereliction on 53rd Street

Shuttered stores on 53rd street in Hyde Park.

Concrete Traffic

Spotted on 60th and Drexel: Sculpture by Wolf Vostell, "Concrete Traffic", in front of Lorado Taft's Midway Studios.

Summer Breeze

There was a faux-rock monolith and a smoke-snorting mechanical bull on the U of C quads yesterday.

58th and Woodlawn

One of the pleasures of being in Chicago is walking past the Robie House every day on the way to school.

The End of Summer

Yesterday was the first day you could tell that summer was ending. Not only were undergrads moving mattresses into grubby apartments, but it got a little chilly in the evening.

Regenstein Emergency

I wanted to check out Schneewind's Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant to get some readings for my Phil Perspectives class yesterday, but there was some emergency going on. All of the readers were assembled out in front and there were three fire engines and some police cars parked out front. I didn't stick around to see what was going on because PJ showed up and gave me a ride home in his new bassmobile.