Halloween in Chicago

No place celebrates Halloween like the midwest, I think. People really go all out for it here. It makes the city look really nice, with pumpkins and small gourds everywhere.





And, of course, jack-o-lanterns. Here's ours.



Finally... costumes! I'm a bee. Actually, I like to think that I'm John Belushi, a nice Chicago boy, circa 1975. Note the scraggly beard.



Happy Halloween!

Weekend in Michigan

I spent a nice weekend in Michigan a little while ago. Here are some images from the weekend.

Go Blue:



High-powered offense:



St. Clair River, from Harsen's Island and the Casa del Beyer:

Funny and illegal

I am enjoying Stephen Colbert's satirical presidential campaign, but I've been wondering when anyone would take it seriously enough to ask whether his campaign abides by FEC rules. The two problems are that he's receiving free airtime from Viacom (his parent company), and that Viacom is not offering equal time to the other candidates. Finally, the Slate Explainer asked and answered. Yep, illegal. But I don't care; run, Stephen, run!

McGee of the Day

It's been a while since our last McGee of the Day, but today's is an obvious choice. Max McGee, the former Green Bay Packer who scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history, died yesterday at the age of 75.

Here's Max: "When it's third-and-10, you can take the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time."

"Do you believe the citizens of this area paid $74 million to have no remedies (if the team leaves)?"

This was a question asked by U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez of a lawyer for the Sonics in today's hearing. I don't know how the answer to this question is relevant to the meaning of the KeyArena lease -- it's quite possible that we paid $74 million for a crappy lease -- but I like where his head's at.

The team says all lease disputes have to go to arbitration, which will surely lead to a compromise and not specific performance of the lease. The Sonics say certain lease disputes are exempt from arbitration. We'll see. Contract law favors arbitration, but hopefully the judge realizes this isn't your average contract.

Of Indians and Wahoo

As much as I'm delighting in the Cleveland Indians leading the Red Sox, I always hate to root for the Indians because they employ the most racist mascot in sports. Here's Chief Wahoo:



Huge nose, bucked teeth, stupid grin, red skin. Sounds like your typical Native American to me. But isn't it harmless? Well, as we saw last night, this logo does affect behavior: fans wearing redface. I know it's probably just a couple stupid fans, but, a) for crap like this, just a couple is enough to be insulting, and b) my first reaction to the photo was "hey, look at the crazy fans who dressed up for the game... they sure do support their team..." -- it took me a second look before I could put the photo in proper context and even register how insulting the image should be. Even a person like me, who is particularly sensitive to racially-charged mascots, has been numbed by the logo. It's sad that we can become so numbed to behavior that has been considered racist for many decades.

If the Indians want a new mascot, by the way, here's a list of possible alternatives (found by my mom). And if anyone wants to argue some more that there's nothing wrong with logos like Chief Wahoo, read this first.

ADDED: The issue is getting some more coverage now. That's good. Perhaps, if the Indians reach the World Series, even more attention will be paid to the subject.

Overkill?

I'm as fired up about the Stanford win over USC as anybody, but I'm not sure I like this t-shirt, an ad for which arrived in my email box from the Stanford Athletic Department:



Yeah, let's celebrate the win, but I'm not sure I want to celebrate that it was the biggest upset ever. It's basically saying: "No team this bad has ever beaten a team this good! Go Stanford!" It's also saying: "You thought Appalachian State was bad, but we're worse! We're a 1-A team by name only! Go Stanford!" Ack. We have a lot to learn about winning.

City life

The food in Chicago is amazing. Simply amazing. While there about three competent restaurants in Anchorage, there are probably 10 within a one-block radius of this apartment (including about four sushi restaurants).

I'm taking full advantage. So far, I've had sushi, Indian, Thai, Italian, Cajun, and pizza. And man, the pizza. First of all, it's really really good. Second, it's everywhere. There must be a city ordinance that demands that there be a pizza restaurant on every block. You walk down the street, and the ever-constant Chicago wind blows the smell of pizza toward you. Pretty much everybody smells like pizza. It's like a pleasant dream.

Into the Wild

The movie, based on the book, is out in many cities now. The ADN is all over it, including this article about how most Alaskans view Chris McCandless as an idiot who was unprepared for the wilderness, not as a mythic hero who rebelled against society. I guess people will see what they want to see in him: most Alaskans can't forgive a lack of proper appreciation for the dangers of the wild; everyone else is holding out for a hero.

Eat it, USC

We're back, baby.

Congrats to Beez

Ben Wang ran the Chicago Marathon today, in what might have been the worst conditions possible for a marathon: 88 degrees and muggy. 300 people were taken to hospitals, and one person even died... an awful story. The race was canceled before quite a lot of people were able to finish.

But Ben finished in just over 4 hours. Good job, Beez!

Day 1 in Chicago

So, I'm here, and the weather is warm. I'm not used to 80 degree temperatures, but that's what we've got. It's nice, though. Look at this nice neighborhood:



Trees. Sun. How lovely. And soon there will be falling leaves. Won't that be great?

And then around the corner there are big big buildings. And people fishing in the river. It's just like Anchorage, really.



So there you go. People here are excited about sports right now, with the Cubs in the postseason. I'm going to go ahead and throw my complete support behind the Cubs, and I don't even feel guilty about it. This team is already so cursed, my little sports curse should have no effect. And if the curses cancel each other out (and the Cubs win), then there might be rioting in the streets, and that'll be fun to watch.

And I saw a small boy wearing a Rex Grossman jersey today. I felt bad for him, and I was a little angry at his parents. How can you buy that for a poor, innocent child? That's child abuse.