Christmas in Chicago 2010

Santa regales the crowd with Christmas Carols during the Christmas party for seniors at Toyota Park sponsored by the Bridgeview Park District.




Dolores Weber of Bridgeview, celebrates Christmas in her finest holiday attire during the Christmas party for seniors at Toyota Park sponsored by the Bridgeview Park District.



A marketgoer at the Christkindlmarket really gets into the Christmas Spirit with some Candy Cane Cordouroys



Alice Erickson purchases a gift from the Hoffman Company German Wood art booth at the Christkindlmarket



Ornaments at the Christkindlmarket in Chicago at the Daley Center



An ice carving of an owl at the Zoolights event held at Lincoln Park Zoo



A skater at the Millenium Park Ice rink enjoys the cool breeze while cruising the ice



Jeri's Grill has a Santa, shhhhh.





An icecarver going to work with a chainsaw on a block of ice at the Zoolights event at Lincoln Park Zoo



Jose(R), a 6th grader at Bridgeview Elementary, plays JIngle Bells during the Christmas party for seniors at Toyota Park sponsored by the Bridgeview Park District.



A mother takes photos of her daughter on Santa's lap at the Zoolights event held at Lincoln Park Zoo




Christina, a resident of Lincoln Square enjoys the lights while walking through the Zoolights event at Lincoln Park Zoo.

The Tearing Down of the Cabrini Green High Rises

Most of Cabrini is gone now. The plan is to make space for a mixed income neighborhood aka condominiums. The residents have been forced to relocate in a bid to make the neighborhood safer. Safer for who?

Check out a cool stop motion video by Ryan Flynn on the Huffington Post.

And Cabrini-Green.com "The Transformation of a Neighborhood" did a great job of covering the demolition process.

Aircraft Carrier

Titus Severino getting gnarly on the Aircraft Carrier Boulder Problem, Star Crossed Lovers V5

Geese!

Family First

This is my old neighbors friends cousin. He didn't want me to get his face in the shot because of the nature of his lifestyle. He thought I was a cop gathering intelligence.

A Real Gem

Bond Blackman of Kansas City, MO., described how he makes jewelry to Maria Kim of Lakeview at the North Michigan Avenue Art Festival.

This is a photo I shot while on assignment for the Skyline Journal last Summer.

Winter

LazerHawks @ The Elbo Room

These photos are from a show a while back. Lazerhawks kick ass live. Check em out here.

Navajo Nation, Costa Rica Road Trip

I took a road trip from Chicago to Costa Rica in November of 2008. This butte is in the Navajo Nation. A large piece of very arid land that stretches along the border of Utah and Arizona and New Mexico. It is the largest reservation in the US.

This is Where I Live: Segment 10: Big Top JoJo and His Traveling Show of Wonder

BigTop JoJo and his Towering Show of Wonder are an awesome Chicago based circus troupe currently performing weekly shows at Excalibur. These photos are from their first public show at The Galaxie , a really cool space dedicated to art and artists located at 2603 W. Barry Ave. The performers put on a  great mix of live freak performances, song and dance, and crowd interaction. If you like a fun time filled with freakish acts, music and dancing check it out. See the rest of the photos on my website.

Blagojevich!

Rod, my neigbor and ex-governer of Illinois was handing out candy and posing for snapshots last night outside of his home in Ravenswood Manor. Corrupt or not the kids loved him.

Mazatlan; Dawn to Dusk

A set of photos taken in Mazatlan Mexico during my road trip to Costa Rica in 2008.

Colorado Aspens

I took this photo 2 years ago while on a road trip to Costa Rica. We stopped in Colorado to spend thanksgiving with some friends and then continued on through Utah, Arizona and then crossing into Mexico through Nogales.

Vintage Frames

The Willow and the Tigerlily's

White Pie Severs and Grey Tiles

Backyard Sunset

RibFest 2010

As another weekend passes another Chicago Street Festival happens. This year marks the 12th anniversary of Northcenter's Ribfest. Close to 50,000 people take over Lincoln ave just north of Irving Park. Almost 65,000 lbs of delicious smoky ribs are served in the competition for the vaunted title of best ribs of ribfest. The ribs shown in the above photo are from Corner 41 and they are phenomenal. Those Darlins put on a high energy performance chock full of some good old downhome southern folksy punk rock stylings. If you are a carnivore and enjoy ribs you should go.

Click here to see more photos.

My friend's Attic

My friends just moved into the neighborhood. They have an awesome creepy attic. These are some random things that were left behind by the previous tenants. The newspapers dated January 30th, 1971.

2010 MaiFest

Summer in Chicago means a festival almost every weekend, replete with music, food, street drinking dancing and entertainment. MaiFest is a celebration of Lincoln Square's German heritage supplying the revelers with giant beer steins, bratwurst and sauerkraut, traditional Lederhosen, and German polka music aplenty. Jesse White Tumblers also made an appearance and enthralled the crowd with their high velocity acrobatics and infectious energy. The man himself, Jesse White, was also on hand to remind the crowd to stay out of the tumblers way or else he might just have to suspend your license. He also took part in the action by doing a headstand while the Tumblers jumped through his legs.  All in all another great Chicago tradition; the streetfest, pulled off brilliantly.