The Midway

Didn't ride a single damn ride at the Minnesota State Fair. I might not have been up for some of the crazier ones given all the crap I ingested. But most of our time there was spent seeking out said crap. The light was not so great for outdoor photos most of the day, but got nice and dramatic right at sunset.

Gorge

Actually, by the time I left the Minnesota State Fair, I was hungry again. But had consumed a wild rice and jalapeno beef sausage, grilled lamb, fried cheese curds, fried pickles, jerk chicken, lefse, chocolate covered bacon, apricot glaze beef cheek, french fries, and kettle corn. All but the sausage and fries I only had small quantities of though. Here you see my friend Germaine reaching for a curd as my friend Ian skewers a lamb cube. And that of course is the lefse sporting the Norwegian flag in the foreground.

Krabby Patty

I'm on the road again! Having lots of fun, but boy am I looking forward to staying in Chicago for a while. Anyway, I'm in Minneapolis with my friend Will, who you see here about to tuck into a soft shell crab sandwich. We were at this awesome seafood place called Sea Salt. I had a crawfish po boy. Yum. Tomorrow it's the state fair, where more fried things will be ingested.

2 Prudes and an Aon

1 Prudential Plaza, 2 Prudential Plaza, and the Aon Center, that is. A quick snap from in front of the Harris Theater, where I got to see this awesome dance performance for free, since the festival was a client.

Filtered

The same sunrise from last Sunday, seen as I was leaving the campground which was above the fog. Had to pull over to get this before I continued on to where I was driving to start my run. I could have just done it from camp, but decided to start by a lake so I could sit my lower half in its chilly water after 16 miles of pounding. I did that for the first time the week previous and I think it really works wonders for recovery.

If you're interested, I'm using a new site to upload and analyze my run data which is more easily publicly browesable. Check out this particular run here. Note on the map that I stopped my GPS, and running, at exactly 16 miles, but wasn't quite back to my start point. I almost hitchhiked there when I realized how far it was! But then after walking for a bit I was actually able to jog to the lake, spurred on by thoughts of breakfast.

Fogrise

I was camping last weekend in Wisconsin at Kettle Moraine South. With 16 miles on the training schedule I was forced up rather early on Sunday, and got to witness this awesome sunrise through fog. Without which this particular view would be pretty boring actually.

PRIVADA

Calumet Fisheries was jumpin' when we got there Sunday evening, so I had to park down the street in this vacant lot. We were not prosecuted.

Off gallivanting again this weekend. More regional dispatch to come Sunday or Monday.

95th AT THE BRIDGE

Saw this place on an episode of No Reservations and had to check it out. It's a perfect pit stop on the way to or from Indiana on I-90, right on the border basically. I was there specifically for smoked fish, and got what seems to be the best deal: smoked trout at $8/lb. Been making my bagels a little more exciting this week.

Sea of Heads

Hung out on Saturday at the Warren Dunes beach, which was nice, although pretty crowded. Should have headed straight to the private beach at the awesome inn my lady found. But the throngs set the scene for this striking image. It was in an interesting cross section of humanity there too, although it's just silhouettes of frolicking folk here.

Sunrise, Sunset

Had some Fiddler on the Roof songs in my brain recently. Also, yesterday I saw both, having gotten up quite early for a 14 mile run then heading to Michigan for a weekend getaway. Below is the scene just after sunset from across lake Michigan.

HOME OF

I wish I could have caught a slightly better angle on this guy or his band mates. But as you can imagine it's pretty crowded and hectic outside the main entrance at Wrigley before a game! These old guys are great. If you're lucky you'll catch them oom-pah-ing through the stands during a game.

222

Great seats, thanks to sister and brother-in-law! Although these support beams do make for some obstructed views if you are too close to them. There are actually seats directly behind each one!

Take Me Out

It was a SLAUGHTER of the Cubs by the Phillies. But a nice evening to be at Wrigley.

Summertime Rolls

The title of the Jane's Addiction song below. Above is a sampling of some of the dramatic clouds from yesterday. They made a really hot day a little more bearable. And along with the skyline also made for a stunning backdrop to some really great performances.



Another video from the Jane's show, with their big opening involving a helicopter:

Disco Dude

These rotating mirror dudes make good landmarks at the fest. A nice day yesterday, capped off with an awesome performance by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. A clip below from one of my favorites of theirs. On my way now to a ridiculously hot last day, but with a couple of can't miss acts for me.

Poop in the Plaza

It was a rainy start to Lollapalooza yesterday. But I was well prepared for it, and although the damp started to wear on me a bit in the evening, the rain then went away for the night. Here some folk consult the all-important schedule/map to plot their next move. In the background the Decemberists perform, but I missed most of their show in a poorly chosen bathroom line unfortunately. Highlights from yesterday were Heartless Bastards and Depeche Mode. Previous links are my videos from yesterday.

Inked

Yep, that's me. Thanks to my lady Laura for the fine photo here. I really like the framing and lighting. Now, about the tat. It's my first, although I have had it in my head for quite some time to get one. I'm not sure I even fully know why, but have just been kind of fixated on it. However, I never had a design in mind, nor did one come easily.

What I ended up with finally is something that I think looks cool even if you have no idea what it is, and most people won't without explanation. Although perhaps many viewers here will. Anyway, let me explain what it is. The line drawing in the center represents how a digital SLR camera works, with its various lenses, mirrors, and the light sensor as the two lines at the bottom left. The frame for this is from an actual photograph of the light sensor from my camera.

I've been thinking about this a lot since committing to the idea, and have many angles on it. But the main thing is that I get a real high from art. And in photography I can find it myself in the process, the final product, and the interactions I have on this blog. And regardless of if photography remains my primary artistic output, or if camera technology completely changes, it was this camera that really helped me realize what I could get out of it.

Note: the tattoo is only two days old here, and the solid portions still look a bit painted on. Will update in a few weeks when it's fully healed.

The Ave

Looking down Milwaukee from the fest last Sunday.

The Hair

An ice cream vendor at the Logan Square stage of the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival this evening. The sounds of it coming in my windows drew me down there, and it was pretty cool. A good thing for the neighborhood for sure. Not that this city NEEDS another festival, but why not.

I originally recognized this band as The 1900s, but it turns out it was some other band called Waves, with members of the 1900s. Good stuff.

Tryna Tell Me Something?

A flier found on my car outside work the other day. Actually my car is just fine, thank you.

Ran a half marathon today, unofficially. I may have beaten my best time from last October, although the readout on the watch I'm borrowing disagreed with the analysis of the downloaded data on my computer. But still close regardless. Time to get that new, better GPS watch of my own!