See Y'all in '23!

View Out on the Porch

 

View out the porch on a very early evening in Chi-town...

Nice Fall Day (2020)

 

Nice fall day. Leaves in bloom(?). Roscoe walking north on Sheridan (Chicago).

After Reference, Take a Dip!

 

Things to do immediately after your library shift (chat reference in my case): Hit the beach!

Darn! Binny's Closed! ZZZ

Binny's Closed! Now what?

Update (6/3/2020): "Binny’s Pledges to Reopen 11 Damaged Stores" (Sun-Times)

Update (6/11/2020): Yup, got drinks for the weekend!

Today's Hike

Some beautiful shots from today's hike downtown to State & Roosevelt. (Actually the last one was when I got back home -- resting up & munching on a sandwich).

90th Anniversary of Germania Broadcast - Thanks to All!

Monday, July 24th was the 90th anniversary of the Germania Broadcast (background). We celebrated this pioneering German-American radio show in typical 21st century fashion : namely through Facebook posts and Twitter feeds. Daddy would have been proud to know that his work spanning more than 40 years was recognized by such worthy groups as the Consulate General of Germany (hence the photo above), the Goethe Institute and the Chicago History Museum. Thank you to all!

90th Anniversary of 1st Foreign Language Radio Show in Chicago/USA

 

Just a reminder: July 24 marks the 90th anniversary of the Germania Broadcast, one of the first foreign language radio shows in the U.S. Starting in 1927, it was produced in Chicago by my father William L. Klein. The program ran for more than 40 years and was an integral part of Chicago cultural life (particularly German-American, naturally). More info here: http://www.germaniabroadcast.net/ 

Leading up to the event, I'll be posting on a number of topics including what kind of music and entertainment they actually played plus a look at all the amazing events they sponsored including concerts, festivals and even trips abroad: [link]

Finally, I'll be publishing the complete brochure which they put out in 1952 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary: [link]

TechWeek Reception at CapitalOne HQ

 Reception at the extremely nice HQ of CapitalOne.

Hippy Talk Circa 1970

 Early 1970s article from the Chicago alternative magazine 'The Seed'. Love the hippy talk: "head shop", "trick", "bust" and "rap".

At the Reference Desk with an Eye on a Couple of Things

Wednesday evening. Seventh game of the 2016 World Series. Audio was off but we could take a peek at the video every once and a while if only to check the score.

Lost in Space

Yesterday's stroll through the southwest side of Chicago. Finally found Ogden and Western (though when I got there, I had to ask what way was north).

Chicago FestWeekend

 Three days of incredible events:

• RibFest on Friday, 6/10
• LitFest on Saturday, 6/11
• Blues Fest on Sunday, 6/12

File Under, 'Things I Don't Usually Think About'

So I was at the local Subway Sandwich place, ordering a Ham and Cheese. The guy at the counter asked me what I wanted on it.

"Mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato," I replied.

"In that order?"

I was stumped. I mean, I don't usually get down to that level of detail.

"Go with whatever works best," I finally blurted out.

Calumet 415

Interesting photos from the historical photo blog, Calumet 415:

• Map of the area destroyed by the Great Fire, Chicago, c.1871
• The world’s first live “broadcast” via telephone on Michigan Ave, 1896, Chicago.
• The intersection of Clark, Broadway and Diversey, c.1905, Chicago.
• Clark, Diversey and Broadway, 1921, Chicago.
• A shanty town on Northerly Island, c.1930, Chicago.
• Looking south on Michigan Ave from Pearson, 1944, Chicago.
• A derailed ‘L’ car above Lake and Wells, 1974, Chicago.

Also, links to Ultralocal Geography (Chicago).

+1 for RibFest Website

Yeah, I went to the Ribfest and had a great time. Beyond the event itself what impressed me the most was the website. Great professional job! (And responsive to boot.) 

Jesse Jackson & Me

I ran into Jesse Jackson while in Milwaukee. I've run into him a couple of times before. One memorable occasion was in West Berlin during the Eighties. He had made a speech to thousands of Berliners at the Gedanknis Kirche (i.e. the center of town) finishing with the line, 'we defeated the 3rd Reich in Germany and we'll defeat the 4th Reich in South Africa'. The Berliners cheered. Then he added that he'd be at a party in Dahlem later that evening.

Party in Dahlem! With Jesse Jackson! The moment we heard that, we headed straight to the location -- a lefty social center for students. Unfortunately what Jackson forgot to mention -- probably because he didn't know -- was that they were charging at the door! Charging at the door? Impossible! So instead of going in, we waited. Finally a car arrived and Jesse Jackson got out. "Jesse," I said, running over to him, "I'm from Chicago and they won't let me in!"

He turned to me. "You're from Chicago", he asked. "Come with me!"

We walked arm-in-arm into the place. I headed straight to the liquor table. I filled up my glass and then sauntered back to the entrance to wave to my companions who were still outside. I motioned to the doorman to let them in. Having just walked in arm-in-arm with Jesse Jackson, the doorman assumed that I had a certain elevated degree of mojo -- so he let my friends in.

I reminded Jesse of this episode when I saw him in Milwaukee. He was in good spirits and laughed.

TechCocktail Chicago

Hard to find room at the bar!

Dear John Letter: In Which Leo Klein Turns Down 'History' in Favor of 'Multimedia' (Circa 1997)

I came upon of slew of emails I had written while at NYU in the mid-to-late 90's. I hadn't seen them for years. Here's one from 1997. In it, I'm telling the Grad Adviser from NYU's History Dept. that I'm dumping him in favor of the far more attractive "Multimedia" Program at NYU's 'Interactive Telecommunications Program" (ITP):

Dear Mr. W*:

You were assigned as my adviser, so I guess you're the one to whom I should address this message.

The gist of it is that I am a new grad student in the History department. Over the summer however I had a moment of epiphany while taking an intense course in multimedia. It was something I found intensely rewarding and when the course ended (a week ago, by the way) I felt like a kid at the amusement park when a really good ride is over. In other words, I wanted it to continue or at least for me to pursue something similar. Since then, I heard that Tisch offered a program in this area called the Interactive Telecommunications Program. So I ran over there and spoke with a Mr. G* who told me to come back on Friday, Aug. 29.

I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen on Friday except I think he may be able to sign me up for two courses. I won't be an official student there of course since I've succeeded in missing every deadline for application possible and will have to wait till next year to be officially entered into the program.

I know this is rather pathetic--much like being engaged to be married and then falling in love with another woman. It's particularly awkward since I don't know exactly what I am supposed to do or how to go about doing it other than I want to somehow be involved with that program at Tisch. After I meet with Mr. G* again on Friday, I'm sure I'll have a clearer idea.

Sincerely, LEO

All Work, No Play - Happy New Year, World!

Not much fun at the moment. Working on a big web design project (with a deadline).