Big John Up Close

Two more views of Big John, the John Hancock Center, dominating the Michigan Avenue skyline. These are much more up close than the earlier posting.

South LaSalle

The Chicago Board of Trade anchors the south end of LaSalle Street. Visitors are allowed into an observation room to see the classic form of trade in several markets, especially grain and other food items.

If you walk out the front door and down one block, the building on the right is The Rookery. Here we see the flying staircase designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as part of a 1905 remodeling of the lobby. Well worth a visit.

Big John

Two views of Big John, the John Hancock Building on the Magnificent Mile, Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Fisher Building

Walking around downtown Chicago is literally walking through a 3-D history of city architecture. All it takes is an open eye to notice. If a person needs help opening an eye, the Chicago Architecture Foundation offers several guided walks all over the Loop and surrounding areas. In the next few posts we will look at some of the buildings seen on these walks.

Today we see two views of the Fisher Building, opened before the elevated train and the remodeled to move the front door away from the el to another side. It is an interesting building right near the Harold Washington Library.

Colorful Characters

Among the colorful characters I have seen would be the firehouse dog seen here on the way to a school outing, and the biggest name in clowns, WGN's own Bozo. I had the chance to work with Bob Bell in the late 1970s when Bozo appeared on the Jerry Lewis telethon when I was working backstage and he was the epitome of the professional clown. A real pleasure to work with. This photo was from about 1978.

Towers

Our first cruise was in early August, 2000, from New York to Halifax and back. It was so enjoyable that our second cruise was in August, 2001, along the same route. In both cases I came back with strong pictures of the New York skyline. They have been hard pictures to look at since then, and they will continue to be. But justice has been brought to Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the destruction of the twin towers. The feeling of closure is real.

SUNDAY POSTER

Sunday Poster selected in honor of the recent apparent arrival of spring to the Chicago area.