City Lights

With a shout-out to Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

My Art thing

Here is my nod to serious modern art. The chair is in focus, which is an ironic commentary on the empty place set for the urban denizen who, victimized by false urgencies and threats, stays moving. But the moving subject is never in focus. Meanwhile, the clear focus and fine finish of the furniture inspires an admiration for clearly delineated surfaces and finishes among those who cannot bear to think, in ironic or other terms. Huge prints of this photo can be bought for thousands of dollars, if you pursue me, and insist. Ironically, I can't sit still long enough to hear your offer. In the meantime, isn't that a marvelous green paint job on that chair? And the dyed fake maple veneer wall treatment kills.

The last thing you'll see if you...

Ignore all the warning signs on Fifth Street downtown. Actually this train was stopped for a red light. But don't count on trains stopping. Be safe.

Self Portrait with Skyway Map

This is the "before" picture in the "before and after" set.

Get out of your office during breaks. Get. Out!

Go to YouTube and watch full frame.

Take a mile hike on the skyways! It takes fifteen minutes or less at a healthy pace.  The YouTube video above gives a visual impression of the trek (lo-fi alright!).  You can get a map of skyway hikes from the Commuter Connection.  The map shows the exact itinerary of this particular hike, and I will be adding more to this paleo-video effort as I grasp the tools.

But here is the message: Get out of your office during your lunch break!   You are going to be around this planet for a few more decades...stay limber, stay alert, keep moving.  The skyways offer a year-round hiking option, with carpeting, live music whether you like it or not, climate control, and a world snack-o-rama to indulge or deny, depending upon your diet cycle.

You know this, right?

Most skyway intersections have these backlit, big blue maps showing you where you are and where you can go. It is up to you to figure out which way is north, but you can do it, and this whole universe of second floor amenities opens up to you.

Sunset, Bell Tower, Skyway.

So its that time of year when the sun is setting as I head for my car in the parking lot. Looking south on 4th Ave., I see the street lights come on, the tail lights trail toward the freeway on-ramp, and the bell tower of the Methodist Church ablaze like a special birthday candle. It somehow offsets the melancholy of the season, a free iconic glimpse into a highly touted world.

Mayor sighting on Nicollet Mall

Surely not in response to my satirical post of several days ago, Mayor R.T. Rybak stopped at the Dandelion Kitchen food wagon on Nicollet and scored a lunch. Usually I avoid taking pictures of celebrities I happen across on my walks, such as a Jason DeRusha, any Mondale, or Denny Hecker. My blog is not a star vehicle. Obviously. But given my recent "poetic licensed" appropriation of this innocent yellow mobile enterprise, I felt there was some kind of karmic payback going on. So here is a celebrity picture AND a link to a set of nice reviews of the Dandelion Kitchen. Which isn't really leading an assault on skyways ... in case you took my post seriously.  Jeez.

P.S. to any civic authorities who might read this: There are locations on the skyways that would make good winter homes for the various enterprises serving fresh hot stuff out of polychrome trailers. I am mentioning the Fifth Avenue Towers dead-end skyway as one in a forthcoming column. I know, the logistics are mind-boggling. But so was getting John Philip Sousa to write a special march for the opening of the Foshay tower in 1929.

History is not for the fainting heart.

Nachos surprise of the skyways

The Taco Johns nachos with chicken were a pleasant surprise. I was hungry and out of time, so I didn't expect much from a fast food solution. I was in for a surprise: the chips were crisp and fresh, and the cook had taken the trouble to layer the beans, cheese and chicken among the chips. (Rather than just dump a soggy mass of mono-TexMex filling on a layer of bagged corn shingles --I have only found one place in the skyways that was that bad, and I will reserve judgment until I have tried them again.)

So this brings up the problem of trying to provide useful "food guide" info without hurting small businesses that mean well.

While I ponder that, I am thinking of doing a review of the nachos on the skyways. But I would prefer to have some audience input here, to spread the pain and joy around. Contact me with your favorite/worst nachos story, pix if you have them.