City Center

Yesterday after work I had nowhere to go, so I took the opportunity to walk through Chicago's new Millenium park, which is finally open after years of construction and a final budget of $475 million, some $325 million over its initial budget. It is a perfect example of my love-hate relationship with Mayor Daley. I think he is a sleazeball autocrat who's used to getting what he wants, but I think that he does some really great things. I felt the same way about Clinton.

My favorite feature of the park is the bean (which is actually called "Cloud Gate," a name that will never stick), where you can see the skyline of the city distortedly reflected as you walk past. There's also the Pritzker Pavillion, which, from the side, looks like a galleon with its sails just beginning to billow out in the wind. Finally, there's the interactive Crown Fountain, where 50-foot-tall glass sculptures projecting images of regular Chicagoans spray water into a shallow (less than an inch deep) wading pool where people are encouraged to walk.

And people were walking there. When I passed through at around 7:00 p.m., there were hundreds of people wandering around, staring at the bean, splashing in the pool, and lining the edge of the Pritzker Pavillion, where a Frank Sinatra tribute band was warming up for Von Freeman, a local jazz legend.

Before this, Chicago lacked a distinctive city center, a place where people from all over would congregate just for the sake of congregating. A coworker who thinks the new park is hideous argues that everything I like about the park was already available a few blocks away at Grant Park, but I think she's wrong. Grant Park is a sprawling, open space that's either clogged up by festivals and events or completely barren; when there's nothing going on there, there's really nothing going on. It's all or nothing, while Millenium Park is more of an attraction in and of itself, and it's not intended to be co-opted by festivals.

A few days ago, I finished reading Erik Larson's book about the 1893 Columbian Exposition, The Devil in the White City, on the bus as it passed the new park. I couldn't help but see some similarities: the grossly overbudget public installation, driven by the will of a megalomaniac, that sought to establish Chicago as the premier city of the United States, and also to create something that would bring the city's disparate populations together. I think that, in both cases, the megalomaniacs in charge were correct in saying that cost was not an object. (We can only hope that Millenium Park doesn't attract any prolific serial killers, as the Columbian Exposition did.)

Things I Hate Today

...Cab drivers who beep at you while you're walking down the street. Sure, they want to get your attention, but don't they realize that people who want cabs usually attempt to flag them? Yet another reason to support my severe restrictions on cabs in the city, which I will outline in a later post.

...People who preface mean-spirited statements with "I'm sorry, but..." or end those statements with "But that's just my opinion." Are you really sorry? I doubt it. And we know it's your opinion; you don't need to use these passive-agressive mannerisms to alert us to that fact.

...The fucking guy who enters an almost empty bus, sits right behind you, and starts yelling into his cell phone.

I'm sure there are more, because I'm in a bad mood, but that's enough complaining for now.

Etc. stuff

Funny for geeks.
Top ten science fiction movies of all time (thanks Travis). Of course, there are twelve movies on the list. But hey, they're scientists.

Random Links

The Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On should be a lot higher.

Eurobad '74, a gallery of horrific interior decorating tips.

Three hundred years of Scottish broadsides. Poetry, crime, religion, the selling of children and spouses. And other things.

The Stockstock Film Festival. Wow, this looks cool. After working with stock footage at Bulletproof, I really want to play around with it some more.

For the "oddly unsettling use of a baby to become famous" files, Who Is That with Jeremy? And where are Child Protective Services when you need them?

If you get as bored as I got today, you too can go to Yahoo picks and browse through their archives.

Documenting

I had a surreal experience yesterday at BulletProof Film. Carmine, the guy who's in charge of the documentary I've been helping with, asked if I wanted to come back to the editing room and "look at some stuff." We watched a rough cut of the film, and he asked me to note down any problems I saw with it. I did this for a while, and then we got into a conversation about the main themes talked about by the interviewees.

The item in queston was one of the interviewees talking about how his father was killed in World War II. Carmine and I figured out a "storyline" that would start with his story, go to others who talk about the war, and end up with a section that talked about the beginning of the Cold War, using some of the public domain footage we found.

The crazy, surreal thing was that Carmine was listening to me. I'd suggest something, and we'd discuss it, or he'd just do it. Here was a professional filmmaker, with several films under his belt, asking my advice and acting on it. It was a great feeling, something I don't think I've ever felt before: the feeling of being competent among professionals.

A Cat Above All Others

Fame has finally come to the Hockins. Their cat, Zora, was recently selected as the Cat of the Day by the site of the same name. An outpouring of adulation followed. Presidential hopeful John Kerry called for a day of national healing: "We must follow the example of this brave cat, a true survivor in the American mold, who was plucked from the adversity of her own metaphorical Vietnam!" President Bush, under attack for never actually reporting for duty at the Animal Rescue while he was in the Texas Air National Guard, conceded the election to Kerry and admitted that his presidency was just "a fraternity prank gone horribly awry." Osama bin Laden, seeing the quality of pets arrayed against him, gave up his fight against the devil Americans and surrendered to Pakistani officials. Zora was elected president of the Teamsters, and Jimmy Hoffa came out of hiding.

Congratulations, Shane and Angela, and especially Zora.

Graduation and Filmmaking

So I'm graduated now. I'm Master Michael W. Phillips Jr. The ceremony was interminable and horribly hot. The commencement speaker was the president of Dow Chemical. Why don't we get former presidents and Supreme Court judges? Oh yeah, because the most famous person to graduate from Central was Dan Majerle, who used to play in the NBA. Our most famous former student, Jeff Daniels, dropped out.

The best part about the ceremony was that I looked up in the stands and saw my oldest friend sitting with my family. We weren't sure Moosie would be able to make it, but he surprised all of us.

I initially neglected to mention that I graduated sitting next to my friend and former girlfriend Jennifer. It was really nice to be there with her. We started the damned graduate school thing together, and it was fitting that we should end it together, although she cheated and actually graduated in May, so she will forever be able to say that she finished first. She waited to walk so I wouldn't be there alone. Jennifer, I'm sorry I didn't mention you in the first draft of this.

I should feel proud, or happy, or something, about graduating, but I really don't. It feels a bit like a letdown. Perhaps because it means absolutely nothing to me professionally—it's the capstone of a career I abandoned before it even started.

The good news is that I'm working as a volunteer for Bulletproof Film on a documentary prompted by Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech. Various scholars and activists talk about what evil they've encountered in their lives. My job is to track down visual representations of what the speakers are talking about. I've been downloading a lot of footage from Archive.org, which is an incredible storehouse of footage from films, newsreels, and other sources, all free for the taking and in the public domain, which means we don't have to pay for the right to use it, which is a godsend for a cash-strapped independent production company.

I've worked there two days so far, and I'm going back next week. I wish I didn't have to eat or pay bills, because then I would be able to work there more often. It's a great bunch of people who welcome my input; Carmine, the guy in charge, told me yesterday that I'm "officially part of the project."

Random thing: Nixon's speechwriter wrote this speech for him, in the event that he decided not to resign. (Thanks to Travis for the link.)