Tag Archives: chicago
Observing the security
After several positive posts, the time has come to write a little rant. Even before entering the US, one thing was clear to me. They appreciate security. It doesn’t necessarily have to work. As long as it makes them feel safer, a security theater is all they need. At some schools, it’s mandatory to have transparent backpacks in order to prevent shooting scenarios. Others want to cut loss on lives by giving the students a fair fighting chance. Bulletproof textbooks are sure to give them an edge over a gunner!
In the meanwhile, plenty of watch lists are created, to keep everyone safe. Don’t worry though, the overfunded homeland security department has done its best to protect us against major threats, such as sinister blinking devices, or deadly biological warfare. Oh, and of cou
rse, dropping your iPod into the toilet will also be professionally handled by a full-scale terror alert. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I think they deserve our utmost respect for keeping the country safe, though, especially now that the majority of Americans are officially homegrown terrorists. Of course, a lot of security is in place not because it really works, but because it covers the asses of those responsible. As my favourite security guru, Bruce Schneier, so eloquently advises, refuse to be terrorized!
Here on Roosevelt University, the security is also tight. There are security guards everywhere, and I’m glad that we’re allowed to go to the restroom without having to identify ourselves. Last weekend, for example, I had to show my temporary meal card four (!) times before I could have my lunch. First time when entering the building, second time when entering the cafeteria, then at the counter, and then the fourth time to some overzealous security-conscious guard inside.
The irony is, though, that the temporary meal card is a simple printed business card with no photo or security measures whatsoever. The cost to make a copy of such a card is under one dollar, and literally anyone can use it. On the card it says that it was valid only for the first weekend, yet it’s been used for three weeks already. Some of my friends have thrown theirs away after those two days, and couldn’t get their meals until they managed to get a replacement. The security people were treating them like scum for having thrown out a worthless piece of paper that was no longer valid!
Student ID is something we use everywhere except eating at the University Center. They completely rely on it for security and identification. However, to get my student ID, I did not have to prove my identity! I just walked in and said who I was, they took a picture and I was good to go. Those people should realise that the security chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and that if you take several eyes of thick steel and pin them together with a paper clip, it isn’t going to work. It’s pointless to check student ID at every corner, if one can get a student photo ID just based on their claim to be a student.
Security is not only a problem at the university. For example, at the jazz festival, a simple blue shirt with the sign SECURITY gave you the right to boss everyone around as you pleased. Tell them where and when to go, what and how could they photograph, where to sit, how long to stay at a given place… and they did so with great zeal and obvious pleasure. I have never seen less professional and significant, and at the same time more annoying security.
In the Michigan lake, the lifeguard people go to great lengths to protect you. They care about your wellbeing to such an extent, that they do not let you swim further, than twenty meters from the beach, where the water is slightly below chest-level for me. I expected that there would be some sort of a barrier in the water, and people observing the swimmers from a watchtower on the beach. That was obviously not enough, because there was also a chain of lifeguard boats facing the beach approximately every thirty meters, with people yelling at you to swim back when you entered neck-deep water. Oh my. I was having a really hard time restraining myself.
It was really hot on the beach, and so it came as little surprise that later on, one woman collapsed and fainted. She was quite dehydrated, and possibly in need of an IV, so we called 911 to send an ambulance. First on the scene was a police car. They added to the overall chaos by “taking care of the situation”, but that was understandable. Maybe they were around with nothing else to do, so they took the call as well. However, before the ambulance arrived, two more patrol cars came by with their sirens ablaze, and a huge firetruck! Now, I understand that the woman was in need of water, but sending a whole firetruck to the beach still seemed like a bit of an overkill to me… no wonder that those departments are eternally low on funds, if they spend their resources like this. :-( I hear sirens several dozen times per day in my room. If every call is handled in such manner, I’m no longer surprised.
Sears Tower Skydeck
Despite certain attempts at its crown, the Sears Tower is still the tallest completed habitable building in the world. Some say that it has been surpassed by the Petronas Towers, and the Taipei 101, however I consider it highly unfair that the antennae on top of the Sears tower are not considered part of its architectural height, while this is not true for the spires on top of the Petronas towers. Take a look at this height comparison and judge for yourself. :-)
With its 527.3 meters tip height, Sears Tower is definitely the most dominating jewel of the Chicago skyline, and towering next to the 311 South Wacker, it makes the view out of my window rather extraordinary. This building also has a feature that makes it very attractive to visit – the skydeck all the way up on 103rd floor. Personally, I found the view even more interesting than that from the top of Eiffel tower in Paris.
The suburbs just go on forever. I’m sure we could see at least 50 km in each directions, but the city just never ends. Also, the lake was quite gracious. If at any time you find yourself in Chicago, this place is definitely worth attention.
(A note: none of the photos so far in this blog are shot by me. I do not have my camera yet, although I hope that will change soon. I try to preserve original location, and/or copyright of pictures I use here for illustration.)
Chicago Jazz Festival
What better welcome could the city of Chicago give me, than a huge, open air jazz festival with free entrance, starring top musicians of the genre? I mean, a presidential welcoming committee and plenty of purrrty strippers in those little devil costumes, as well as unlimited supply of Guinness would surely be nice, but a guy just can’t have everything, right? :-P
The main stage was quite large, with nice set of speakers, and plenty of lights and flowers, set up under the impressive skyline of the city. Although the festival took three days, the schedule was really tight, and none of the performers got to play for longer than an hour, which was, in some cases, immense pity. The opening concert by Herbie Hancock must have also been fabulous, but it wasn’t free, and I didn’t feel like spending that much money.
Most of the musicians I haven’t heard before, but they were all very good. Admittedly, some of the pieces were a little too… artistic for my taste, but other than that, I was satisfied. For those of you who ask whether it was a more supreme világos than Therion Goes Classical in Miskolc, the answer is no. But it was awesome nonetheless, you can’t justly compare these events, they were completely different.
Most of the people present were of more ancient making, and the place was crowded, but I didn’t mind. Being the lucky bastard as I am, I always had a fine place in the first row from the stage, which wasn’t reserved for the sponsors, so the stage was close enough to reach. I found it difficult to understand why there were people translating sing lyrics to the sign language at the stage. No offense meant, but deaf people just can’t enjoy a jazz concert. No more than blind people can enjoy a skydeck view, or people on a wheelchair hike through the mountains. Maybe cruel, but what’s the point pretending otherwise?
Most performances were using a grand piano, an acoustic bass, drums, and various brass instruments. I always used to shun brass in favour of string instruments, but now I feel they are underrated. Even the most common trumpet is an amazing instrument when blown into by someone like Jeremy Pelt.
I will only mention my personal highlights of the festival. For Saturday, that would definitely be the performance of Ernestine Henderson and Frank Wess. Oh my, the lady can sing. Also, her songs are very colourful, with lyrics worth trying to understand, and very sophisticated melody. At her side, Frank Wess, a venerable jazz legend, and the best saxophonist I’ve ever heard. Those two were having such a great time on the stage, I felt my mood improve just by looking at their faces. :-)
The highlight of Sunday night were most definitely the Mingus Big Band. A bunch of very talented musicians playing ingenious compositions by Charles Mingus. Their conductor was making a hell of a show, as he turned up dressed in traditional African robes, and his performance was vaguely similar to the rituals of storm summoning. :-) You should definitely go and see those guys if you get the chance.
Also, it was the first time that I’ve heard the sousaphone live. It’s a kind of tuba, a really huge brass instrument, which substitutes for string bass quite nicely. It has a deep, deep, sound that is rather pleasant, which was a bit of a surprise for me.
Another thing worth noting is, that some bands have been very strongly agitating against the Bush administration, which was always answered by the mass of people cheering. I think that republicans have had it in Illinois. A shining example of this is the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, who are also definitely worth listening to.
At last, I would like to express disappointment at all the people I’ve asked to come along. In the end, only one guy went to enjoy the show with me. Most of them were just ignorant of this event, which I cannot quite understand. :-( It was even held right in their backyard! Well, a proverbial saying concerning pearls and animals of the suidae family comes to mind. Also, I wouldn’t hesitate to refer to them as criminals and meganoobs. ;-)
Oh well, I have to say that am most grateful for this event, and I had a fantastic experience enjoying some very fine live music after quite some time.
The land of food
Although I was well prepared to hunt for my own sustenance, this proved to be unnecessary. The nourishment-providing facilities are so far very reliable, always stocked up on plenty of fine meals and beverages, which I am free to help myself to three times per day, in quantities as heavenly high as I can consume.
Not from our cafeteria, but quite similar.Whether I’m in for a nicely done beef steak with mashed potatoes and fine sauce, American-style pizza, a pita stuffed with tuna, cheese and vegetables, Asian food, or a great dish of tortellini, it is just a fraction of what makes for the utter tyranny of choice. So much free food, and I can’t even taste it all! ;-)
(Oh yes, we actually had one of these the first day I came. :-D Mwhaha!)Although there is a wide choice of drinks, you can’t actually get water. That’s a shame, because I’m used to drinking sparkling mineral water with my meals. Here I’m limited to a variety of sodas, milk, cocoa, chocolate, several types of coffee, and some ice tea.
However, one of the most joyful sections I found was the salad bar, with plenty of vegetables, fruits, olives, mushrooms, cheese, chicken, ham, dressings, or other salad ingredients readily available. Yummy! Not to mention the fruit salads, full of pineapple, grapes, melon, and mmmm, strawberries! :-D
I really feel like I’m getting the worth out of over $2500 my scholarship pays for the meal plan. It actually is like eating out in a decent restaurant three times a day. It’s just that… they don’t ask you to pay. ;-) Gone are the sad plates of dozen soft, nasty smelling fries, immersed in UHO, and a tiny little piece of meat they serve at my home university. I should just really take care and watch my intake, or else… :-(
I was moderately astonished to learn that at the end of every day, they just throw out what’s left into the garbage. And it’s not just some few insignificant remainders. They keep most of the meals in large amounts even past 7 pm, so when they suddenly close, the food trolleys are still quite full. Instead of having some sort of respect for high quality food that could easily feed thirty people, they just trash it. Such a waste. I mean, why don’t they donate it? I’ve seen beggars on the streets, surely they would appreciate it. Or some orphanage, or whatever else comes to mind.
Excerpt from the traveler’s journal:
The luxury of having access to unlimited quantities of great food comes at a price, though. Some of the natives exhibit incredibly advanced cases of spatial and logistic impairment, carrying around their bellies blobby rings composed generally of triesters of glycerol and carboxylic acids with a long unbranched saturated aliphatic chain, which can often reach weights of few hundred pounds. This phenomenon is becoming more common now than ever, and its increase is so dramatic, that people sometimes consider it epidemic, especially in southern parts of the country. For the first time in my life, there were moments when I felt really skinny.
(An ancient depiction of some future Americans. ;-))The question is, can you blame them, though? What would you do, if you had access to fine, practically unlimited food from your early childhood, developed the wrong kind of habit, were surrounded by other huge people that made it look normal? What you get at the restaurant when you order lunch for one person, could do for two or three meals in Europe. And the art of simply stopping at just the right time is, unfortunately, not quite trivial to master.
The spatial aspect
The following is an excerpt from the adventurer’s journal.
I’ve been lucky enough to get a room on the uppermost floor of Herman Crown Center (HCC), one of the best places possible. It’s a seventeen-storey building equipped with several facilities to make our lives easier, quite decent interior, and of course strict security.
The location doesn’t get any better central than this, as the building is placed at the Loop, the “historical” heart of the city. Being the second-largest central business district in the whole States, after Midtown Manhattan, it is a very peculiar place. It’s got some sort of emanating energy, and has so far been rather enjoyable to explore.
The place is incredibly close to just about anything a lazy person could need. The main Roosevelt university campus is just next door, you don’t even have to leave the building. It’s just one block from Grant Park, which is located right at the beach of lake Michigan. Simply sweet. Also noteworthy is nearby House of Blues, a venue where several cool gigs will take place this year. Can’t say I’m not looking forward.
My floor is reserved for grad students only, so it’s quite peaceful so far. I’m curious whether this will still be the case after a few weeks, when all the people have arrived. Apart from Satyam, my roomie, a pretty cool Indian biotechnology guru, and Melissa, our sweet most precious residence assistant, I haven’t had an opportunity to socialise with any of the neighbours yet. Nonetheless, the people I’ve met all around have more than made up for this. If there’s one thing I can’t complain about, it’s lack of social activities.
Herman Crown Center and the university building
That’s not the case when it comes to the room itself, however, which doesn’t quite live up to my expectations. It’s small, the furniture is old, there is dust everywhere, wardrobe door is broken, and the window is a disaster. My bed sucks and the Internet access is slow, (for university standards,) and unreliable. The air-condition is always on, and I haven’t figured out a way to disable it. There is no fridge, no toilet, and not even a sink in the room… Actually, on the second thought, it’s not so terrible. Guess I’m just spoiled by the Norwegian standard of student housing.
The one great thing is the view. The two largest skyscrapers on following photo are visible at a very nice angle, which makes for a first class view some very rich people are used to, I guess. I’ll supply a genuine shot when I get my camera. The tallest of these buildings is the Sears Tower, which is with its impressive height of 527.3 meters currently the tallest completed building in the world. It will probably be surpassed by Burj Dubai sometime in the following years, though. Anyway, it feels kind of fancy having it standing there right outside my window in its full height.
The window of my room is something that just eludes my understanding. It is composed of three sections. One smaller on each side, and one large openable center piece. Unfortunately, the window is very dirty from the outside, and there is a metal safety grid guarding the center piece, so it’s impossible to wash from the inside. Thus, I can’t even appreciate the magnificence of my view fully. :-(
I’ve been inquiring about the annoyance of having a grid on my window, and was told it was there to prevent suicides. “We wouldn’t like having you jump down,” the person said. After collecting my jaw from the floor, I’ve decided that pushing the topic and asking why the grid was only on the central piece, while the side ones could be easily broken to jump out, was pointless.