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Several stores opened pop-up shops on Navy Pier as part of the festivities surrounding the launch of the 109th Chicago-to-Macinac Island sailboat race held by the Chicago Yacht Club. One of the stores offered patrons the opportunity to acquire what looked like some high-end cigars and to then smoke them under a small tented area overlooking Lake Michigan.
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Today was the start of the Chicago Yacht Club's 109th Race to Mackinac, a 333-mile sprint from Chicago to Mackinac Island in Michigan. The race begins with a parade of boats past the east end of Navy Pier. More than 300 boats pass by, most with sails down. Then the boats head through the breakwater to the start line. The starts are staggered.
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Mwata Bowden, a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), brought his band, One Foot In, One Foot Out, to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art for a Tuesdays on the Terrace performance. Bowden is not to be missed, particularly when he brings Ari Brown (tenor saxophone), Avreeayl Ra (drums), and Harrison Bankhead (bass), all AACM members, with him. Let's not forget Phil Q. on trumpet and Bowden's son, Khari B., who added poetry and rap to the mix.
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The Lincoln Park Boat Club held the 37th Annual Sprints Regatta on July 7 through the 9th in the lagoon that seperates Lincoln Park from Lake Shore Drive. I was in Maine at a photography workshop during the week, but managed to make it back for Sunday's finals. The event features 1,000-meter, side-by-side, Henley style racing. I don't have this year's numbers, but last year, over 1,000 athletes participated, with 27 clubs from 10 states in the chase for victory.
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Just about every event passes through the Trump filter in this day and age. Today, the Lions Clubs International held a parade on Chicago's State Street to commemorate the Chicago-based organization's 100th anniversary. One parade participant proudly told me that the Lions Club is the largest service organization in the world, with 1,400,000 members in somewhere around 200 countries. The organization focuses its efforts on visual impairment, hearing loss, disaster relief, diabetes awareness, and other good causes.
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On Monday of this week, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events installed a statue by Chicago artist Scott Reader across the river from the Trump Tower. As is evident, the statue is simply the words "Real Fake" in gold lettering. Quite appropriate for anything associated with President Donald J. Trump.
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Everyone knows what happens in Chicago on the last Sunday in June: The Gay Pride parade. Having lived on the periphery of Boystown for over two decades, I've been to my share of Gay Pride parades. Each year the parade is a little more corporate and a little less outrageous, reflecting the mainstream acceptance of gay people.
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The 11th Annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is just three months away, which is why the annual benefit gathering was held tonight. About 175 people showed up at the Promontory Restaurant, Bar, and Performance Space to celebrate what has become one of the top jazz festivals in the country and certainly the top one in Chicago.
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On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi established the first self-sustaining controlled nuclear reaction under the Stage Field Stadium located on the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus. The laboratory was a squash court, which is an appropriate given the speed and force that a squash ball ricochets off the walls of a court.
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Oak Park, Illinois may be the location of a number of important Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, including Wright's home, but Hyde Park is the location of one important Wright work, the Robie House. The house was built between 1908 and 1910 for Chicago businessman Frederick C. Robie.
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Best to position yourself in one place over a 2.5-hour period. The changes are gradual, but dramatic. Today, the Chicago skyline was partially cloudy: Mid morning there were high cumulus clouds and large blue patches.
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The weather on the drive from Chicago to Milwaukee today was pretty intense. No precipitation. Just large cumulus clouds hanging above. As we got closer to Milwaukee, the clouds became more dense, losing their form and dimensionality, but after lunch the sun kept popping through, creating interesting light.
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Several weeks ago, I received a notice that the Chicago Tribune was offering a two-hour tour of its Chicago Avenue printing and distribution plant, referred to as the Freedom Center. My impression was that this was a one-time event, so I immediately purchased two $25 dollar tickets. It turns out that the Tribune offers the tour nine times a year
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Tonight, Chicago's jazz community staged a benefit concert at the University of Chicago's Logan Center to help Ellis cover medical and rehab bills. That community loves her so much that the organizers had to turn away musicians who wanted to participate in the 2.5 hour concert.
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Whatever. Today, with towel in hand, Tail Dragger gave a mesmerizing performance. On the surface, it was rooted deep in Chicago blues traditions that many others have sucessfully mined over the years. Yet, Tail Dragger is the real deal. There are not too many veterans like him around any more. I am glad I dragged myself out of bed into the heat.
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Earlier in the day I had the opportunity to see Big Bill Morganfield, who is Muddy Waters' son. Absolutely terrific. Solid band, talented showman, and great guitar player. He was sitting behind me tonight during Nellie Travis' set. Very nice guy.
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Today, I saw what I perceive to be my first pro-Trump rally in Chicago. Ostensibly the rally was to protest the possibility that Sharia law would be instituted in the United States, but at the end of the day, at least some of those present were Donald Trump supporters who were making a symbolic stand in front of the bronze statue of an 11-foot high George Washington on the northwest corner of Wacker and Wabash. Not surprisingly, a group of counter-protesters was in place at the northeast corner, which often serves as the locus for Trump protests in Chicago.
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Many people expressed a lot of concern when the City decided to move the 2017 Chicago Bluesfest to Millennium Park rather than continuing to use the longstanding location at Petrillo Music Shell and the side stages in Grant Park. People did not want to substitute concrete for grass. Overall, I think the City did a great job in prepping Millennium Park for the onslaught of blues enthusiasts and casual passersby who heard the music wafting from the four stages as they enjoyed the Bean and the Crown Fountain.
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Each year, a group of elementary school students shows attendees of the Chicago Blues Festival what they have learned. Whether or not the next Muddy Waters, Lonnie Baker, or Guy Clark Jr. emerges from the program won't be known for at least a decade or two. In the meantime, the kids are having a rollicking good time. If nothing else, I suspect we will see many of these kinds in the audience in future years.
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Marshall Field and Company exists now only as a sign that Macy's hasn't removed out of fear of alienating the Chicago market and its fond remembrances of the once venerable Field and Company. Much the same can be said of Maxwell Street Market, which has been moved to a new location and is a shadow of its former self. Yet, Brian Doroba (guitar)
