FierceOrange - Now with 100% Less Orange, Ferocity

Bump!

2007-10-28T15:30:00.001-05:00

Bump.

Out and About - Prague Fall Edition

2007-10-21T14:40:00.000-05:00

Amy!

Out and About Watch - Prague Walk Edition

2007-09-09T16:41:00.000-05:00

Some photos we took on a walk back at the beginning of summer:

Out and About in 60 Minutes Watch

2007-08-27T17:02:00.000-05:00

So I was in Milan for work the other week, and I had a total of 1 hour of waking time to myself. I timed my break to be during dusk, and I dashed from the office into the city streets, determined to photograph every single thing I could find. Below are some of the shots I made during those 60 minutes.

Postcard Watch 1

2007-08-19T15:29:00.000-05:00

So here we have an unsent postcard showing the skyline of Brno, Czech Republic, in 1935.

But wait a moment! What's that advertisement painted on the building on the lower left?

"Lamplota Coffee & Tea." It's the ultimate ghost ad!

Eiffel Tower Watch

2007-07-07T17:59:00.000-05:00

Going up to the top!

2007-07-07T17:15:00.000-05:00

Photos! Of us! In Paris!

Here we are in front of Napoleon's tomb at the Musee d' Armee.

The military museum was spectacular!

One of my favorite types of shots - the street scene with only one window illuminated. The apartment's sleeping owners were very reluctant to get up and turn their living room light on, but after I spent half an hour ringing their doorbell and pleading and complaining, they relented.

Another street scene in Paris. The vintage Mini Cooper is one of many owned by the French Ministre d' Fotogenique Objets, and is moved from week to week depending on tourist flows.

Night shot!

Fierceorange working again.

2007-06-28T16:14:00.001-05:00

So where do I begin updating, when my last real post concluded with the words, "Have a happy Halloween!"? Well, I can start with an unusual photo from this spring, on Charles Bridge:

Also, I think I might as well save you some time and suspense, and show you the best picture I've taken in the past year:

So where is this, and what were Amy and I doing there? That info's for the next update...

Back in the saddle again!

2007-06-28T16:10:00.000-05:00

Really!

The New Fierceorange - Now With 100% Less Orange!

2007-06-28T14:15:00.000-05:00

And here we are.

This Week in Prague Photos

2006-10-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

I've gotten requests for more photos of the bone crypt, and of our house - I'll put up more this week. So there will be spine-tingling horror and perverse gloom for everybody! Also, more photos of the bone crypt!

It was another busy week in Prague. We visited an astonishing cathedral, that of St. Vitus, in the middle of the castle. We also visited the national library, and saw awe-inspiring sights from the library's tower, which doubled as a historic astronomy lab. But first: photos of beautiful breakfast crepes!

Those are my formal cooking pajamas. I earned them with a 2-year apprenticeship at La Bottega del 30 Cooking School in Italy. Blue tartan was our cooking fraternity's colors.

The shirt is by Hanes ($12, Corpus Christi Airport).

And Amy competes with the renegade grand master!

Well fed, we went out in search of the towers that flank Charles Bridge. We wound up in the national library, which also had a tower, and seemed to have a funnier tour guide besides.

They don't officially allow photos in the library. So we had to sneak this one. Oddly, it looks exactly the same as the shot in all the guide books, which makes me think that everyone else does the same thing.

And then we got to climb the tower! Here's Amy and some of the other sights!

We Have a Home!

2006-09-25T08:40:00.000-05:00

So we departed our hotel room, known to us (well, me) as Base Camp Zulu. Our new home (Base Camp Victory) is a beautiful apartment overlooking the National Museum and Wenceslas Square. In the below picture, the Museum seems to be almost staring into our house in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable:

And our living room:

And our kitchen:

And me in the living room:

Prague Watch - Out and About Edition

2006-09-17T18:27:00.000-05:00

So this morning we figured out how to use the train system to get out of town. An entire country beckoned; there are grand castles, charming wineries, and sun-dappled rolling green hills. But we decided to visit the bone crypt in Kutna Hora/Sedlec instead.

As P.J. O'Rourke would say, this helps us fully realize we're in a foreign country. Here is something really foreign.

Meanwhile, Amy took the below photo of the Jewish Cemetary in Prague from a museum window while waiting in line for the restroom.

But, rest assured it's not all crypts and cemetaries today: we also have a cool photo of Prague Castle lit up at night!

Out and About Watch - Over There Edition

2006-09-12T16:39:00.000-05:00

So today we finished our first full day in Prague. Some highlights include the Castle:

And a self-portrait while we're at the Castle:

And me being goofy on the staircase outside:

And the view of Charles Bridge:

Other highlights of the day include: visiting TESCO, buying a cell phone, going for a walk in the castle gardens, finding a good English language bookstore, seeing the sights of Charles Bridge, and tiramisu ice cream. Sept. 12th definitely goes down in the books as a "win."

Gotta Leave Town, Got Another Appointment...

2006-09-10T14:18:00.000-05:00

Fierceorange updates to resume soon! Whoo-ah!

al-Zarqawi Watch: OWNZORED!!!1 Edition

2006-06-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

So Iraq's most-wanted terrorist is now a battered corpse. In times like this, we must look inside deep our hearts, and make sure we react in a measured and sensible way. Sure, we could feel a primal, fierce glee. Sure, we could gloat over how people like al-Zarqawi will, despite the effort and expense involved, eventually see a half-ton of Air Force bombs dropped on them and their friends at their suburban split-level house outside of Hibhib.

Sure, we could do these things, and in fact we do, because it's the only appropriate response. Any other reaction to al-Zarqawi's splattering should inspire serious soul-searching.

Of course, nobody in the media can talk about the air strike without a quote about how more terrorists will rise up to take his place. The numbers range from "200 million" (as quoted by the dweebs on NPR this morning) to "more than one" (the more conservative estimate quoted in the above-linked article.) Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed this already when he commented that "whenever there is a new al-Zarqawi, we will kill him." Just so.

Tomorrow we'll go back to worrying about arrogant Republicans and illegal immigration, but let's savor this victory for a bit.

Advice Watch - My Brilliant Mind Edition

2006-05-03T17:16:00.000-05:00

Alright, so everyone's talking about how expensive oil is. "$72 a barrel!" says ABC News. Instapundit readers wonder whether the answer to the problem is ethanol or hybrids or invading Saudi Arabia or some combination of these.

To my brilliant mind, the solution is obvious. Oil is $72 a barrel. And the cost of oil isn't going down soon. So we need to look at the price we're paying for the barrels it's stored in, and get it reduced. If we can negotiate a reduction in barrel costs of $5, then oil can stay the SAME PRICE, yet we'd be paying only $67 for a barrel of oil. The answer to spiraling oil prices is clear: AMERICA NEEDS CHEAPER BARRELS!

Out and About Watch - In Detroit Edition

2006-04-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

You know what nobody needs right now? A commentary on Iran, traffic on the Eisenhower, and Chicago Public Radio. So instead, I'll recommend the exuberant rock music of Electric Six's "Fire" CD, and post pictures of the trip to Detroit that Amy and I took.

Here's the Eastern Market, which is just like Whole Foods except that's it's mostly outdoors, cheap and enjoyable.

And this wouldn't be my website if I didn't post a ghost ad from Detroit.

But now I'm back on topic! Here's a spice shop within the Eastern Market. In the back they had jars of nutmeg, saffron, and omakroot of Baal (I quote from memory.)

And the Mercury Motel and Diner!

Politics Watch - I Already Miss Berlusconi Edition

2006-04-13T13:05:00.000-05:00

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been defeated at the polls. The newswire reports that "The Palestinian Authority's new foreign minister has welcomed the victory in Italy's general election of the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi." The fact that Berlusconi's challenger is welcomed by the Palestinian Authority tells us all we really need to know.

It's a shame that Berlusconi lost. Not just because he was a strong American ally. Not just because he professed belief in "freedom, the individual, family, enterprise, Italian tradition, Christian tradition and love for weaker people." (I guess it doesn't translate well, that last part.) No, it's a shame he lost because Berlusconi was passionate, outspoken, and had an impish sense of humor that drove people crazy.

Here's a quick roundup of some of his greatest hits over the years:

BBC: Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told US businessmen they should invest in Italy because it has "beautiful secretaries" and "fewer communists" than before. Mr Berlusconi's latest controversial remarks came at a business function at the New York Stock Exchange. "Italy is now a great country to invest in... today we have fewer communists and those who are still there deny having been one," he was quoted as saying. "Another reason to invest in Italy is that we have beautiful secretaries... superb girls," he added.

BBC: Italy's Silvio Berlusconi has stunned the Finnish government by saying he used his "playboy" charms on the country's president, Tarja Halonen. The Finnish government called in the Italian ambassador over the issue. Mr Berlusconi's gaffe followed Italy's success in hosting the European Food Safety Authority, which opened in Parma on Tuesday, instead of Finland. Adding fuel to the flames, Mr Berlusconi poured scorn on Finnish food, saying he had had to "endure" it. "There is absolutely no comparison between culatello (speciality ham) from Parma and smoked reindeer," Mr Berlusconi was quoted as saying.

Spectator: Mr Berlusconi’s great genius, from a British perspective, was not just that he was a natural Eurosceptic, certainly by Italian standards. It was more that he was bored by Europe, and the po-faced business of haggling over Portuguese fish subsidies or wrangling with Denmark over defence procurement opt-outs. In December 2003, thanks to the EU’s system of rotating presidencies, Italy’s PM found himself in the chair at a key meeting on the constitution. A working lunch loomed, and Il Cavaliere stared mournfully round the table at his fellow leaders, all briefed and ready to fight their corners on EU voting weights. ‘Let’s talk about football and women,’ Mr Berlusconi announced, turning to the then German chancellor, Herr Schröder. ‘Gerhard, you’ve been married four times, why don’t you start?’

In a world of soulless, focus group-driven politicians like John Kerry and Al Gore, Silvio Berlusconi stood apart. I'll miss him.

Out and About Watch - Signs Part 3 Edition

2006-04-12T23:27:00.000-05:00

Look at this St. Charles Rd. gem - an awning installed half a century ago preserved the lower half of this rental agency ad. (It's not technically a "ghost ad" as the business it's painted on is still going strong.) I love the old-time phone number, and will call TE 25540 for all my chain saw rental needs.

Meanwhile, over on Butterfield, Q's Pizza has a terrific vintage sign. If a good or service isn't advertised by a hundred-light-bulb arrow pointing at it, it's just too subtle for my tastes.

Alternately, if a giant arrow is unavailable, a throwback to space-age stars and satellites will do just fine. Imagine how much more fun Starbuck's would be if each location had one of these above it. They'd be easier to find, although these days in Chicago, the best way to find a Starbuck's is to try random doors until you find one, generally on the fourth or fifth try.

Factory Tile is in South Bend, Indiana.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't post a photo of Kiddie Land, an old-time amusement park on North Ave and Cumberland. Their website is here.

Tax Watch - Very Minimum Wage Edition

2006-04-05T00:06:00.000-05:00

So, as the deadline for tax filing draw near, I thought I'd share that my W-2 from Ford Motor Company for last year was sixteen cents. As in, $0.16.

I'm not being silly or making up some ironic auto-industry metaphor. I'm just saying, the company and I parted ways in summer 2004, and this reduced my Ford wage-earning ability in 2005. So Ford paid me sixteen cents last year. Here's a scan of the W-2 form that I got in the mail a few months back:

Fierceorange Watch - Updating Edition

2006-03-27T00:27:00.000-06:00

So I need to put up a post or two to bump the Auto Show pics into the archives. This is one post, and it's otherwise useless. But there's actual pictures below!

Out and About Watch - More Signs Edition

2006-03-26T23:45:00.000-06:00

A recently-demolished building had covered up this sign for about 50 years. Call CAnal 6500 for your Monarch Beer! The Monarch company survives as Monarch Imports, part of Barton Beers Ltd.

On an out-of-the-way street on Chicago's west side, the Burger Baron tirelessly plots the overthrow of the all-powerful Burger King.

Wow - bakery signs don't get much better than this one!

Oh wait - yes they do.

The sign for the Berghoff, formerly Chicago's oldest restaurant.

Rant Watch - I Finally Break Down and Call "BULLSHIT" Edition

2006-03-20T20:43:00.000-06:00

Even though I'm a cynical, jaded, world-weary rockstar with his own private island and go-cart track, I still managed to be shocked by this article:

"Humans spur worst extinction since dinosaurs", screams the headline. The author, "Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent", notes that:

OSLO (Reuters) - Humans are responsible for the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs and must make unprecedented extra efforts to reach a goal of slowing losses by 2010, a U.N. report said on Monday.
"In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the history of earth"...
It estimated the current pace of extinctions was 1,000 times faster than historical rates, jeopardizing a global goal set at a 2002 U.N. summit in Johannesburg "to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss".

OK, OK, I'm convinced, we're all screwed, and by next Tuesday the only animal species left will be squirrels and my neighbor's pug. But does the article cite any specific numbers about this ongoing catastrophe?

According to a "Red List" compiled by the World Conservation Union, 844 animals and plants are known to have gone extinct in the last 500 years, ranging from the dodo to the Golden Toad in Costa Rica. It says the figures are probably a big underestimate.

844 animals in 500 years?!? That's it? The environmentalists have their woven hemp boxers wadded up over this? You have something called the World Conservation Union spend its time coming up with examples of the environmental apocalypse, and the best they can document is one animal vanishing every seven months? Even the United Nations´ Global Biodiversity Assessment guesses that there are 13.6 million animal species on Earth. With these odds, a given animal species has a better chance of winning the Indiana Powerball than it does of becoming extinct.

Of course, the WCU asserts that "the figures are probably a big underestimate." Way to stick your pencil necks out there, fellas. Maybe someday you'll gather enough new data to say that your number is "very likely" underestimated.

So, I am forced to call "bullshit" on Reuters, and Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle, and Monday's U.N. Report from Oslo. For good measure I must also call "bullshit" on the 2002 U.N. summit in Johannesburg "to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss". They're worrying about the Costa Rican Golden Toad in Johannesburg, which has one of the worst violent crime rates in the world? A little prioritization is in order! Less worrying about biodiversity loss, and more trying to develop Robocop!

The time has come to call "bullshit" where calling "bullshit" is due. The above article reminds me of another that I read, about Papua New Guinea, a few weeks back. Conservationists visited one of the most remote parts of the world, an eastern province of Papua, where "there was not a single trail, no sign of civilization." And they found a total of approximately thirty new animal species. Thirty! Other scientists visited the "slopes of Aprada tepui in southern Venezuela, one of the most inaccessible and unexplored regions of the world." They found: a new species of frog. As in, "one." And thought it remarkable enough to write an article about it.

Meanwhile, conservationists insist that "estimates of undiscovered species on Earth range from 10 million to 100 million." If this were true, these scientists would have been at least waist-deep in undiscovered species. Hell, they'd have to wear snorkels to keep from drowning in previously unknown species. I call "bullshit" on conservationists who overestimate undiscovered global biodiversity. That's right, biatches! I've figured out your game.

Another thing I've noticed: it seems like every time a new plant or animal species is discovered, we immediately hear about how it might cure cancer. It's never athelete's foot that might be cured, or bad breath; it's always cancer. In the Mayan Riviera, scientists have have found 40 new species, assuming you count blind shrimp and fishes as new species. Which I don't. Never have, never will. To hell with blind shrimp. But anyway, the scientists immediately discovered "bacteria and sponges [that] may have potential biomedical applications including cures for cancer." Of course, the marine biologist is careful to note that "research is at an early stage." So, you know, if the biologists get millions in funding to do scuba diving research in the Maya Riviera, but they don't come up with squat, don't say they didn't warn you. I call bullshit on biologists who claim without due diligence to possibly have cancer cures.

While I'm on the topic of health frauds, I need to call bullshit on milk and milk's health benefits. Let me ask you, dear reader, a question: is milk good for you? "Of course!" you cry. "Studies constantly prove it!" Of course they do; these studies are funded by the American Dairy Association. The ADA is basically a lobbying group for the American milk-producing industry. Those people have more money than God on payday. They can buy any study, and any conclusions, that they want. They could have the study results printed on $100s and delivered by nude supermodels if it so pleased them.

Is milk good for you? Hell if I know. I do know that ADA propaganda is everywhere, and only rarely do people call them on it. Here's a fun fact about milk: the National Institute of Health estimates that "Up to 80 percent of African Americans, 80 to 100 percent of American Indians, and 90 to 100 percent of Asian Americans are lactose intolerant." The full-disclosure advertising campaign should be: "Got Milk giving you 'nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea' unless you're a Northern European?"

But milk screws over the white folks, too. It turns out that a link has been found between milk and ovarian cancer. "Researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institute followed more than 60,000 women for an average of 13.5 years. After taking other known ovarian cancer risk factors into account, researchers found that women who ate four or more servings of dairy foods a day...had twice the risk of developing serous ovarian cancer, one of the most common forms of ovarian cancer."

You didn't read THAT on a billboard featuring some milk-mustached pop-culture icon, did you? Of course not. And I'm guessing the scientists who did the above research will all be trampled to death in a series of freak cattle stampede accidents.

And speaking of bizarre , implausible coincidences and events, the formerly beloved T.V. show "Lost" continues to show no signs of direction or purpose. It's hard for me to call bullshit on new "Lost" episodes, because it's hard to remember the last time we saw new episodes fewer than eight weeks apart, but nonetheless, it must be done.

And I'm spent. I'll post photos or something tomorrow, honest.

Auto Watch - Please Buy a Prowler Edition

2006-03-03T16:53:00.000-06:00

Dear reader:

So I don't own a Plymouth Prowler, and chances are, you don't, either. But one of us has to get one, because spring weather is coming soon. I have no money to spend on this. That leaves you to pick up the slack. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do, although I promise to chip in for gas.

Allow me to explain why buying this car is such a brilliant idea.

First off, the magic of depreciation has made them surprisingly affordable. This was a very limited-edition, rare vehicle. Yet today you could negotiate a dealer down to about $25-30,000, just slightly more than a new fully-loaded sensible sedan, or a used BMW, or any SUV, depending on your tastes.

Secondly, you'd be able to stand out from everyone else on the road. Let's face it: people have ingrained stereotypes about what your car says about you. But you can leave behind all the associations of owning a Honda/BMW/Ford by buying a Plymouth Prowler. Everyone on the road will be saying, "Hey! Lookit that hotrod sportscar thing! I've never seen one of those!" People of the opposite gender will be intrigued by, and attacted, to you. People of the same gender will be envious and intimidated. Everyone will pay attention to you, making yours the safest car around as well as the sexiest. All this for $500 a month.

But the most important reason to buy this car is for the experience. Sure, you'd miss the $18 or so per day it would cost you in car payments. But forty years from now, when you're showing your grandkids family photos, they'll say, "WOW! What's THAT?" And you'll be able to say, "Oh, that's when we bought a Prowler and drove around Chicago at all hours of the day and night. Let me tell you about the time we put the top down and drove to las Vegas..."

So, please, for your own sake, buy a Prowler. And give me a ride now and again.