Lifetecture

I went to see a blockbuster movie on July 4th. The only good thing about the one with Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy are the Chicago scenes. It’s a celebration of sites usually neglected by film-makers; under the freeway, on top of the El, down by the river, the top of the Carbide and Carbon Building. Overall I was traumatised by the blood and gore and generally agree with this review. I don’t know if it was because I was not part of the target teenage male audience, but it was good to see Catherine and Jose again and I got to ride the bike almost over to Logan Square.

On the way back, the violence of the movie bled into the streets. Bottle rockets and amateur fireworks were exploding around me as the celebration of America’s birthday degenerated into anarchy. To avoid injury, I took the Blue Line back, but first I stopped at Margie’s Candies, a Chicago neighborhood institution. Read the rest of this entry »