Dear Chicago...

In a couple of days I will be going on vacation to Chicago. To say that I am excited is an understatement. It’ll be my first real vacation as an ‘adult’. I haven’t been there since we moved away, with the one exception being Thanksgiving break of 2004, and that time was spent cooped up in my grandmother’s condo watching movies. This time around I plan on really milking my time there dry, and have made plans to soak it all in. With that said, here are a couple of things I love about Chicago:

The Blues, and the Blues Aesthetic
The City of Chicago is rich in cultural history and I plan to immerse myself in it. During my second semester of college I found myself taking an American Studies course on the Blues, and its cultural and historical significance. Needless to say, it was one of the most rewarding classes I’ve ever taken and to this day I find myself revisiting my books. Perhaps nothing else grabbed my attention as much as the Southern Black diaspora to the northern cities. The paintings of Jacob Lawrence are engrained in my mind and have shaped the manner in which I perceive the city. They are a brilliant visual representation of that mass migrations of Southern Negroes to the industrialized cities of the north. Lawrence’s paintings, to me, becomes the unifying force between the distinct Delta blues sound and the more familiar style of blues that was popularized by the likes of Muddy Waters, BB King, and John Lee Hooker. I should Chicago wasn’t the only destination, I think it’s safe to say that no city benefited more from it than Chicago. Many consider it the homes of the blues, after all. If you’re not familiar with Lawrence’s work, here’s a good resource .

http://www.whitney.org/jacoblawrence/

Mike Royko
In my opinion there has been no better American journalist/editorial writer than Mike Royko (ok, maybe H.L. Mencken is up there as well). Royko was a Chicago native that deeply loved his city and this was reflected in his writing (as can be seen by his columns written about the Cubbies and Mayor Daley, just to name a few). He wrote for all three Chicago major papers (including the now defunct Chicago Daily News) and won a Pulitzer for his commentary. His style was that of the common man, of the guy who has an ongoing tab at the tavern across the street, and his readers loved him for it. Below, there’s a link with a handful of some of his writing. Coincidentally, it has two of my all-time favorite Royko articles (titled “Picasso and the Cultural Rebirth of Chicago” and “Jackie’s Debut a Unique Day”). He wrote and thought the way people should write and think
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/730719.html

The Cubbies
I’m a diehard football fan, and I love the Dallas Cowboys, but I’m not as obsessed with them as I am with the Chicago Cubs. Cubbie baseball evokes pastoral images of America. It’s very surprising that the Cubs are able to do this, to make people think of open fields and good ol’ times, especially since Chicago is very much an urban and modern city. A trip to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field is definitely in the works and is quite possibly one of the highlight of my trips. I’m hoping that Big Z—Carlos Zambrano—is the starting pitcher when I’m there, but that won’t be the case.

Previous piece of writing

The Dark Knight, IMDB, populism, and egalitarianism on the web

I don't think there was any doubt in anyone's mind--at least not in mine-- that 'The Dark Knight' was going to break box office records. How could it not? It had one of the most extensive viral campaigns for any movie. It reached a point where you couldn't turn anywhere without seeing something for this movie. Add to the mix the death of Heath Ledger; there was most definitely going to be a certain aura surrounding the film, which would eventually lead to huge profits for the studio. Even I bought into the hype.I saw the film on Friday night, and it would be a lie to say that I was not caught up in the excitement. I, along with hundreds of people, were in a line that had extended to outside the theater. Needless to say, every seat in the room was filled. I should mention that I liked the movie. I can’t decide whether I loved it or whether I just though it was pretty good, but I know that I liked it enough that I am willing to go see it a second time. The acting was outstanding—particularly Heath Ledger playing a very demented Joker—and the direction was impressive. The writing did everyone a favor by wanting to recreate the dark Batman of the 1980s.With that said, The Dark Knight is NOT the best film ever made, and to say so is both ludicrous and appalling. IMDB users, however, overwhelmingly disagree with me. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/ratingsAs of right now, 69,135 people who voted gave the movie an average of 9.6 out of 10, with 54,224 people giving it a 10. That’s roughly 78.4% of total voters that think that The Dark Knight was flawless (or as close to perfection as you can get), that it far surpasses anything ever made both in storytelling and narrative, technical filmmaking, editing, acting, etc. The people have spoken!Obviously I’m being very tongue in cheek, but I think what’s at hand here is the negative effects of the internet, and its egalitarian nature. Anyone with an internet connection can give their two cents and their opinion, unfortunately, counts just as much as the discriminating expert.A couple of months ago I read a very interesting book titled ‘The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture written by Andrew Keen. In his book, he writes that the internet "worships the creative amateur: the self-taught filmmaker, the dorm-room musician, the unpublished writer. It suggests that everyone — even the most poorly educated and inarticulate amongst us — can and should use digital media to express and realize themselves. Web 2.0 'empowers' our creativity, it 'democratizes' media, it 'levels the playing field' between experts and amateurs. The enemy of Web 2.0 is 'elitist' traditional media." At the risk of coming off as an elitist, I think Mr. Keen touches upon a very interesting point. I don’t agree with him entirely, as I do feel that the internet is a great opportunity for people who actually have something of value to contribute to society .However, I think that as a society we mustn’t water down culture and its production. Culture is essential for a society and a civilization to exist and survive, and thus a certain set of standards must be set in place and maintained. After all, just because I have access to a medical book doesn’t mean that I am qualified to give out any medical advice.