Stars Motel

Lately I've had several obsessions which sometimes converge... taking pictures, cool old signs, and the changing face of Chicago. This is the sign for the Stars Motel on Lincoln Avenue, just across from Lincoln Village shopping center.

The sign really is a beauty, and is in quite good shape. I'd love to see it lit up at night, but doubt that's possible these days. The poor thing is looking more than a little abandoned, though, as it stands alone, next to an empty parcel of land surrounded by a hurricane fence, waiting for the developer to come get going.
Realizing that I'm romanticising, I'm sad to see this sign go. Granted, it's part of the seedy strip of motels that used to dominate Lincoln Ave, north of Foster. I've wondered from time to time... who sees their signs and says, "now, this is the place I'm eager to spend the night!"?

There are several websites I've been watching lately. One is a group on flickr.com, called Vanishing Chicago, where people take pictures of parts of Chicago that are soon dust in the wind. The other is a blog here on blogspot called A Chicago Sojourn, where the blogger gives bits of detail on the photos he takes in and around the city. Really fascinating stuff, all of it.

So, when you drive around the city, past blocks and blocks of development, cranes, and teardowns, think a moment on the pieces of Chicago's history, seedy or glorious, that will be gone forever very soon.

Nice to remember some things for longer than it takes to replace them.

when dreams die...

This is the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. The day before he died, Martin told us that he might not come with us, but he had already seen the promised land. Witnesses say tears were rolling down his face as he spoke these words.

xx Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.
xx And I don't mind.
xx Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
xx And so I'm happy, tonight.
xx I'm not worried about anything.
xx I'm not fearing any man!
xx Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!
(See/hear/read the entire speech.)

Bobby Kennedy was out campaigning at the time, and had planned on speaking in a neighborhood in Indianapolis that the police told him was unsafe; in fact, his police escort left him when he entered that neighborhood. He was the one who brought the news to the largely African American crowd who had gathered to hear him that King had been killed. Below is the text of his speech. (Lots of youtube videos have the speech, this one has a nice montage of photos.)

x Ladies and Gentlemen - I'm only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening. Because...
x I have some very sad news for all of you, and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.
x Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.
x For those of you who are black - considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible - you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
x We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization - black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love.
x For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
x But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond these rather difficult times.
x My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote:
xxx . "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
xxx . falls drop by drop upon the heart,
xxx . until, in our own despair,
xxx . against our will,
xxx . comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
x What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
x So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, yeah that's true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love - a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke. We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past. And we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.
x But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.
x Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.
x Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much. Robert F. Kennedy - April 4, 1968

Even 40 years later, the tragedy of promise cut short brings back sharp feelings of pain. Two months and a day after this speech, Bobby also was dead.

How do we honor those who have gone before us? How do we keep dreams alive? Continue to work so that their deaths, their sacrifices, their work is not in vain? Like Bobby suggested, let's start by praying for ourselves, for our country, and for our world as we attempt to live out the answers to these questions.

You're on vacation... permanently

Imagine the shock of many vacationers arriving at Midway and other airports, only to discover once they got there that not only was their flight canceled, but the entire airline was discontinued. Horrible? Terrible? Yes.

But now imagine the shock of the employees of the same airline who received the same shock when they arrived at work today. No advanced notice given to travelers. No advance notice given to employees.

I feel bad for the vacationers. I can't imagine what my own reaction would be if I were in that situation. The website advises those people who bought their tickets by credit card to seek refunds from their credit card company, but no refunds are available for customers who bought with cash or check. At least, not from the company. Customers can submit claims as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

But while many people have had their vacations ruined, imagine those people whose lives have been ruined because their employer has suddenly ceased to function. God help them as they look for new jobs in this economy. God help us all.

A Sad Life

Now and then I feel a bit sorry for myself... my life is not the most thrilling one on the planet, and I do have my share of problems; not everything is always copacetic. But I'm also realistic enough to realize how much I've been blessed. Especially when I see a movie like the one I just finished watching, La Vie en Rose, about the life of Edith Piaf. How one person can survive such a hard life is beyond me: her parents deserted her; she was raised in a brothel; numerous important people in her life died suddenly, violently and tragically.

It was probably just over a year ago that I really became aware of who she was, and began familiarizing myself with her music. Thankfully, they used recordings of her voice for the film - it is so distinctive, they couldn't have gotten away with anything else.

I love her songs, "Hymne à l'amour" and "Non, je ne regrette rien". Both are so passionately sung that one doesn't need to know French at all to appreciate them. Here's a bit of film of her singing probably her most well known song, and the title song of the movie, La Vie en Rose.