Slice of Life: Move Over, I’m Driving

Written By on June 17, 2011 in animals, Little Italy, Taylor Street

It’s always nice to travel with a co-pilot.  But I don’t think that either of these dogs in Little Italy have a...

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Raccoons Are Not Afraid of the El

Written By on December 29, 2009 in animals, CTA, The Loop, video

Digging through some old files I came across this piece of video.  It shows a raccoon getting its dinner on an El platform while passengers and trains come and go.  The critter doesn’t seem to care. The video is pretty poor quality because it was shot in 2003 with a Sony Clie UX-50 — a kind of souped-up Palm Pilot.  It was state of the art at the time, but the art has changed a lot since...

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Slice of Life: For Love and Cheeseburgers

Written By on December 21, 2009 in animals, Grand Avenue, LaSalle Street, slice of life

A wee moggie gazes out  the windows of the Anti-Cruelty Society (157 West Grand Avenue), hoping that someone will take pity on him and bring him home for love and snuggles and cheeseburgers.  Alas, no one comes this...

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Slice of Life: Junkyard Dog

Written By on September 24, 2009 in animals, slice of life

Being a junkyard dog isn’t everything it used to be.  Back the Little Rascals days, there was some cachet to the job.  Now, between burglars throwing sedative-laced steaks to you, and minor league baseball teams being named after you, it’s hardly worth the effort to get up and bark at the occasional passing photographer. This dog was photographed in Chicago’s meat packing...

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Slice of Life: Day of the Ducks

Written By on July 23, 2009 in animals, Lincoln Park, slice of life

OK, they’re not ducks.  They’re geese.  But either way, they’ve taken over part of Lincoln Park. Here’s some Lincoln Park ducks just so you don’t think I don’t know the difference between ducks and...

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Quickie: Hot Monkey Love Yields Red-Headed Stepchild

Written By on January 17, 2009 in animals, Lincoln Park

It’s true.  Just check out the article and photo in the Chicago Journal . The baby in question is a langur monkey at the Lincoln Park zoo.  It’s being called “Pumpkin” because that’s a nice, safe gender-neutral name to go with until its keepers can figure out if it likes Barbies or G.I. Joe’s.  It’s also kind of the color of a pumpkin.  And pumpkin is a term of...

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Slice of Life: The Pigeon Warming Center

Written By on December 31, 2008 in animals, Dearborn Street, Randolph Street, The Loop, Washington Street

Every winter there is a migration of television microwave trucks from the garages of channels 2, 5, 7, 9, and 32 to the City of Chicago’s official warming center at 10 South Kedzie.  But what about the city’s pigeons?  Where do they go when the weather outside turns frightful? The answer is Daley Plaza.  Unnoticed by most of the millions of people who wander through the plaza during the city’s frigid...

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