Let today’s whirlwind adventure begin… although I’m not really headed South or West?!!!

There’s a great new photography exhibit going on downtown these days.
Located on the plaza of North Riverside… just west of the Lyric Opera House.
“Butterflies & Buffalo: Tales of American Culture”

The first thing that strikes you is the HUGE camera sitting there on the plaza. Turns out, it is indeed the largest camera ever! So big that it actually rolls into & travels in a full semi-truck! Created by photographer Dennis Manarchy to capture cultures all across the country. This traveling photo exhibit is actually a truly functioning camera, using 4.5′ x 6′ film, which will be crossing the country to capture images & cultures from a truly personal vantage point. Up close & personal. Oversized prints from oversized negatives to capture every detail of every culture. The photography project is being timed to coordinate with the 200th anniversary of the invention of the camera. At the end of the traveling tour, the camera & images will be donated to the Smithsonian Institute in 2014.

From the website of Dennis Manarchy:
Unknown legacies lie among us.  Rich cultural heritage and folklore quietly resonate within our landscapes. The United States is the most ethnically diverse nation in the world, yet we have struggled to find commonality in our differences, and in our rapid daily quest to achieve the ‘American Dream’, we have lost touch with our roots. Now is a pivotal time.

Symbolic of our fragile surviving cultures and the enduring strength of the American spirit, “Butterflies & Buffalo” will forever preserve our nation’s dynamic cultural history through the largest film camera in the world and a 20,000-mile nationwide documentary journey. The magnificence of over 50 cultures will be captured and shared with the public to commemorate extraordinary people from all walks of life. Join us on this amazing journey. 

Click here to see more about this incredible photography project.

Have you EVER seen a larger camera lens?!

Here’s the centerpiece of the exhibit. A large portrait emblazoned on the side of the wall overlooking the plaza, the Chicago River and the back side of the Chicago Lyric Opera House.

More of the photos by Dennis Manarchy posted on the side of the building…

Here are a few of the stunning examples that are traveling along with the camera. Huge enlargements with incredible details. Each photo capturing the true personality & essence of the subject.

And my personal favorite… don’t you just want to be her friend?! She’s gotta be fun!!!

Don’t forget to click here for a video about this fantastic photography project!!!

And counting.
Seemed like a good idea & so far away when I signed up for it.
Seemed like I would have had more time for training when I signed up for it.
Where did all that “time” go?!    Instead… fingers crossed.

Studios are open & my shelves are stocked for the Ravenswood Artwalk. Go for a stroll up and down Ravenswood for lots of art, studios, galleries, shops, demos & fun. Be sure to come up to the second floor of Lillstreet Art Center to say hello in Studio 205 West.

I’ll be in my studio all day long… not so sure about tomorrow’s schedule yet.
But even if I’m not there, my studio will still be open and one of my studio neighbors
can help you out. There’s a lot to see all around the building… and all over Ravenswood!

Ravenswood Artwalk
Saturday, October 5th – 11:00am-7:00pm
Sunday, October 6ht – 11:00am-6:00pm

Just one month until my next “adventure.”
Training has begun…

Twelve years ago today our world changed forever.

Every summer, a small section of rural Bristol, Wisconsin transforms back to the olden days in the 1500’s. Inhabited by hundreds of people in full costume reenacting the merry days of the Medieval times. Of course there are the rest of us “normal” people there to enjoy some revelry, some jousting and some just good-ol’ people watching!!! Well, today was the last day of the “show” and the crazy cast of characters were everywhere!!!

For those of you who may never have been to a Renaissance Faire… it’s a big festival full of everything needed to take you back to the Renaissance times! There are authentic buildings throughout, bands of strolling musicians, artisans & craftsmen, performers, jousters, food booths and of course, the Royal Family and their full entourage. Many people are in full costume, all trying their best to “stay in character.”

Throughout the Faire, you will frequently run across a “pop-up” performance of singers or dancers. Kind of like a Medieval Flash Mob. I’m always amazed at how they are all SO into it. Never breaking character. Always being authentic. Even when “normal” people like us are just standing there gawking at them… and taking pictures!!!

One of my favorite parts is finding all of the “characters” who inhabit the lands. So many in full costume. Always in character. Interacting with the crowd. “Living” at the Renaissance Faire. My favorite character every year is the “Spider Lady.” She weaves her web throughout the summer and it becomes a large string “installation piece” that people can walk through & add things to. She continues to work on it, and encourages kids to help her decorate the string web. She’s so sweet with everyone… without ever saying a word.

Throughout the park you continue to run across other characters… all of them interacting with the public, entertaining the crowd while having a great time themselves!

Okay… so some of the “public” comes in costume as well. Quite a few actually.  Although not everyone quite gets the time period. Not everyone maintains a sense of appropriateness. Not everyone realizes that “any costume” doesn’t fit in just because it’s a costume?! Somehow “steampunk” has now been added to the mix? As well as wolves, vampires and even Little Red Riding Hood??? Although I must admit that this merry trio were one of my favorites… The Knights Of The Round Keg.

And let’s just say… not everything is pretty. Some people take it one step too far. Some “characters” decide to push the envelope a bit… I’m not quite sure how this one fits in thematically, but it was well done & pretty darn creepy!

There’s a LOT of people who come to the Renaissance Faire in costume. And some that rent or purchase costumes while they’re there. There’s typically a LOT of skin showing. A LOT of chain maille. A LOT of cleavage spilling out over the corsets.

And some are just a LOT… a lot of wrong!!!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist… yeah, I know it’s mean. But seriously!

One of the favorite shows every year is “The Mud Show.” Three guys who play in the mud, jump in the mud, even eat the mud. They get the crowd all riled up and then pan-handle & beg to get some cash from the crowd. And they get a LOT of cash!!! Very funny… every time!

At the other end of the park, the jousting ring offers several performances throughout the day.

We decided to go to the last performance of the day which was “Joust To The Death.” And apparently they weren’t kidding?! Jousting, swordplay and a little more blood than I expected! Our “blue knight” didn’t quite survive the battle!

But my favorite part every year is “Vegetable Justice.” I could sit there for hours!!! The concept is simple… a guy in the stockade slings insults at the person PAYING REAL MONEY to throw tomatoes at him! The guy in the box is brilliant. Very quick. Very witty. Very funny. And only once in awhile a tad inappropriate… which just makes funnier!

Even the little kids can get into the fun…

No matter what insults are hurled… you can’t say that everyone wasn’t forewarned!

Martin Luther King had a dream.
And fifty years ago today he shared it with the world. He made a difference.
Share your dreams. You can make a difference too.

Today was the Chicago Triathlon… and it was my third in a row. 2011. 2012. 2013.
My Trifecta of Triathlons! Swim a mile. Bike twenty-five miles. Run six miles.
Each one formidable in its own right… but today we put them all together!!!

So here’s my story… Triathlon morning starts very early. The transition staging area opens at 4:15am. And if you want to get a good spot, you need to get there early before the other thousands & thousands of people! My assigned start time was 8:36am which put me in Wave 34. Yes… be there at 4:15am and then wait until 8:36am. Four hours!!! Luckily, my friend Pammy was there with her husband Jeff who was doing the Sprint race. So she was there to hangout with me all morning. Talking. Chatting. Taking my mind off the race.

The good thing about needing to wait four hours is that you’re there to do a LOT of people watching… as well as a beautiful sunrise! Those who start in the earlier waves do the shorter Sprint Distance. basically half of everything. So they start a lot earlier, during the sunrise, and are generally finished and headed home before I even get started! But still, we all get the stunning & race-soothing sunrise!

Plenty of lifeguards on hand getting ready for the race…

Another “classic” part of the triathlon experience is the lines of porto-potties. Long lines for everyone of them. So it also becomes a matter of timing. If you need to go, you need to get in line. But you want to be close to your start time, but not stuck in line when your wave time gets too close!

As the sun gets a little higher, waves of swimmers start out every four minutes.

And then swim towards the finish line…

So finally, after a couple hours of waiting anxiously, it was my turn. Wave #34 ready to go! Yeah, that’s me… the bald guy in the center putting on my color-coded purple swim cap!

As luck would have it, when I jumped into the lake with my wave, I went down to the bottom and my first big kick to get me started hit the rocky bottom of the lake. And scraped my foot up pretty bad. The cold water helped… so I didn’t really notice how bad it was until I got to my bike to put on my shoes! Ouch!!!

The swim course starts pretty much across from Buckingham Fountain in Monroe Harbor. You jump in and swim south towards the Filed Museum. Then you turn around the buoy and swim north all the way to the Chicago Yacht Club. Just a smidge over a mile! With thousands of spectators lining the banks and cheering everyone on!!!

Finally… after a grueling swim (with me doing the side-stroke the whole way) you finally get out and “stumble” trying to regain your land-legs! Then it’s a barefoot run (or jog… or walk…) back to the bike transition area.

And then it’s off on the bike… of course, this is my favorite leg of the race. It’s a quick 25 miles from the Yachet Club up to Foster Avenue on Lake Shore Drive. You cross the median and turn back towards downtown… doing that loop twice! I had a great ride. I felt more in control this time than previous triathlons. I felt good in my positioning – never getting caught behind someone else, or hitting too many potholes or the gap between lanes on Lake Shore Drive. After a slow swim, it’s always fun to get on the bike and play a little catch-up to the rest of your wave that left you behind in the water.

After the bike portion, you run back to the transition area to change into your running clothes & shoes. And that’s when the heat hit me!!! Sure, it might be because the “breeze” that I was creating for myself on the bike was gone. Sure, it could have been the blazing sun. Sure, it could have been the temperatures up in the high nineties. Either way you look at it… it was HOT!!!

The run portion of the race takes you from the transition area along the lakefront, through the Museum Campus down to 31st Street Beach for the turn-around. And then it’s back north again towards the finish line in Grant Park. Did I mention that it was hot??? Running all the way down there in the blazing sun was tough for everyone. Even those who looked like tip-top-shape-marathon-runners were slowing down, stopping and complaining about the heat. It wasn’t just me. One of the highlights of the route was where the fire department had set-up a powerful wind machine to shoot water across the route to cool everyone off. It was like a fake thunderstorm to run through both coming & going.

When you finally make back to the Museum Campus, you can start to hear the crowd at the finish line. It’s around the Field Museum, through the LSD underpass and up a short hill into Grant Park. At the top of the hill you can actually see the finish line… and oddly, the adrenaline kicks in and so did my legs!!! A quick sprint to the finish line… and I was done with another Triathlon!!!

And yes, I’m sweaty. Sweaty enough to literally wring out my shirt!

My goal was to finish faster than last year’s time. Unfortunately, I did not make it.
My “official” race results gave me a time of 3 hours, thirty-four minutes and forty-four seconds!
3:34:44

Still faster than my first Tri race, but not last year’s Tri race And I blame the weather.
Okay, and maybe the fact that I hadn’t really done any run training as I’ve been dealing with some foot pain for the past few months, but besides that…

My swim time was a minute longer than last year – just under 1 mile in 0:50:08 minutes.
My bike time was minute faster than last year – just under 25 miles in 1:13:43 …
… which makes an “official” average speed of 20.6 mph which I was pretty happy with!!!
My run time was seven minutes longer than last year – just over 6 miles in 1:20:43…
yikes… did I mention it was SWELTERTINGLY HOT?!!!

At the finish line, there are a lot of vendors & volunteers passing out free food, water & wet towels. With painful legs, I kept walking around, stretching and chatting with my parents who had come to cheer me on. Luckily for me, and my stressed out legs, there were piles of bananas everywhere!!!

At the end of the day you picked up a bit of swag. Souveniers from the race… and my finisher’s MEDAL!!! My third Tri medal which I think officially makes it a “collection,” right???

And then there’s the “real” reason to do a Triathlon…
you can EAT whatever you want afterwards!!! I’ve earned it.

So of course we went to my favorite restaurant… Rose Angeli’s on Wrightwood.
I love that place. The food is great… but trust me, after a Triathlon the food is friggin’ fantastic!!!

I decided to go for broke with my favorite… Tortellone Con Salsa di Noce.
A gorgonzola filled tortellone tossed with grapes in a walnut pesto cream sauce. Yummy!!!

And the only thing that makes it better… dessert!!! My parents decided to split the chocolate fondue, but I couldn’t decide. My “usual” bread pudding with the best caramel sauce ever… or the special pear lasagna with homemade pumpkin ice cream?! I struggled. I couldn’t decide… so I had both!!! Again… I deserve it.

So there it is, my third Chicago Triathlon! From start to finish another great day.