Ten Thousand Ripples In Evanston

This Buddha emerged at Callan & Howard

          Not sure when this Buddha head was deposited onto this stretch of Howard, but it was fairly recent. The voting for the different locations ended February 15th on where the three hundred pound casted concrete Buddha heads would be placed in Evanston. This list is no longer on the internet, making finding the Buddha heads a purely serendipitous experience as it was intended to be. This one sits just outside the future site of the Peckish One, a new city backed microbrewery that will help revitalize Howard. Northwestern will almost surely have a Buddha head. In total there are to be ten different locations throughout Evanston, which is the only suburb that was selected to participate in the project.


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Participatory Budgeting Project Expo

             What projects will appear on the upcoming Parcipatory Budget ballot for ward 49? Go the the expo to find out. Wednesday April 3rd at 7 pm at the United Church of Rogers Park and Thursday April 4th at Pottawatomie Park will be the two times and places to find out. The final public vote will take place Saturday  April 27th through May 4th. This writer sincerely hopes that fixing the brick paved street of Wayne Ave makes it on to the ballot.

             The unfortunate thing about these notices is that most of them end up on the ground by the wind blowing them off of the door and gates they are stuck to with the same flimsy masking tape year after year. This particular notice was only hanging on by two pieces of tape and in order to take a photo one had to be taped back into place. Numerous copies of this notice were picked up off the ground. This is another link to Wayne Ave's beautiful brick paved street and its current plight as described by a local neighbor on Everyblock.

Warren Park's Speed Limit

Advertising Circulars An Urban Blight

             This apartment building at Birchwood and Ashland managed by EJM generates more than its fair share of litter and garbage. The parking lot in back is usually full of amazing amounts of trash. Various kinds of trash occur at this location. This particular blog post illustrates the blight of advertising circulars. Evanston Now recently had a great article regarding these nuisance papers. The problem is worse in Rogers Park where either of their own accord or through youthful indiscretion these papers are let loose upon the world and then litter an entire block. This block of Birchwood is often a ghost town with lots of litter on the parkway, giving the appearance that the thugs are in control which is strange given that most of the block is made up of single family homes. Are we to let a few badly managed apartment buildings dictate the look and character of the block?

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Narc Car Pat Down On Howard

             The warm weather returns and so do the usual suspects? Nice to see the narc cops doing their job and trying to keep the drug trade off of Howard. This photo was taken just before three o clock. How has the drug dealing been around Howard lately?

Rep Kelly Cassidy - Coffee & Conversations @ Sol Cafe

                April 3rd on Wednesday from 6-7 pm State Representative Kelly Cassidy will be at Sol Cafe on Howard street to discuss state issues. And don't forget about the TalkShop! open mic every Friday & tonight at Sol Cafe 7:30-9:30 pm, five dollar cover which includes a small coffee or tea.

Parkway Vandals

        Just as there are parkway piggies there are parkway vandals. This stretch of Rogers Avenue gets a lot of use and abuse. The  "L" train is often stalled on the bridge, buses fly by on the way to the bus terminal at Howard Gateway Center and Joe Runge's is always towing cars in and out of the lot.  It is heavily traveled and heavily littered. There is no reason that even with all this activity that it can't be a safe, clean street as well.

            The nice brick pavers that encircle the trees on the parkway are constantly being knocked over by hoodlums at night. This raises the question should these pavers even be here if this is going to constantly happen and not be corrected? There are just somethings you can't have in the city. There is a reason why the Buddha heads are three hundred pounds. If something isn't nailed down it will be screwed with.
       

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Astor House Under New Management

               Once part of the dreaded Menetti brothers portfolio which included the infamous Lawrence House things are finally looking up for this majestic building on Pratt just west of Sheridan. According to Benjamin Woodard's new article on DNAinfo.com one of the principal owners of the Chateau has bought the property with a group of investors with plans to fix it up. The picture above is from February and was taken from the vacant lot across the street once home to an important Jewish temple.    

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Weinstein Brothers Funeral Home For Sale

           













             
                  Just across the street from the new coffee shop Ellipsis on the Rogers Park side there is an old funeral parlor up for sale. This business had a dramatic deadening effect on this stretch of Devon Ave. There are a ton of parking lots on Devon for this funeral home and others where there should be buildings and businesses. Ironically there is a poster in a back window advertising for Batesville caskets (A Hillenbrand Industry). Most of the signage is gone, but a few remain in the back lot and the back door (Notice this lot will be chained July 11th cars left here will be towed at owners expense). An air raid siren or megaphone still sits above the front door on Devon. The front door offers a few numbers to call in case there is no answer at the door and has a sticker proclaiming that it is protected by Stand Guard.

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Ellipsis Coffee House Opens Saturday

         

         
         
          3-27-13 the awning arrived for the new Ellipsis coffee shop at Lakewood and Devon, it was seen being driven northbound atop a pickup truck on Western in the morning. Through a tiny break in the butcher paper a sneak preview of the inside was captured on "film" the next day

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Graffiti Blasters In Action

          Graffiti Blasters in action at Artesian and Montrose a few weeks ago. They were just about done cleaning this building of graffiti. You can see how they got rid of a small bit of graffiti on the beige brick. Didn't want to get too close because the chemicals they are using are toxic.

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Cop SUV Versus Car @ Morse & Sheridan

           Update #1 3/27/13 1:11 pm CST- DNAinfo.com has the dirt on the driver of the civilian car. Apparently the driver smelled strongly of marijuana and "burning pot". Even if marijuana was legalized that is still a no-no to smoke pot while driving. That has got to be one of the worst case scenarios as a pot dealer, crashing into a squad car high on your product.

Coca-Cola Relieves Fatigue In Anderson

             Back in November 2012 Edgeville Buzz broke the news of an old Coca-Cola sign being unearthed after an old auto garage was knocked down. Someone there posted the black and white photo in the Edgeville Buzz discussion of this sign. People really like that name Andersonville, which is a mouthful to say, the Trib was on to something when they shortened it to just plain old Anderson. Of course to be completely correct the sign is in Edgewater, the true name of the neighborhood. Wish there wasn't that ugly green fencing in the side lot precluding the opportunity for a nice photo like the one from the old days. A bigger more complete picture if you continue reading. Also the brand new porch is a out of place with the old sign, too bad it isn't a darker more vintage shade.

Either visit Edgeville Buzz to see the old photo of this advertisement or continue reading

Occupy Rogers Park Moves HQ To Sol Cafe?

             

A fox in Anonymous clothing?

            Strange how a classic comic like V for Vendetta's version of a Guy Fawkes mask spins off its sinister grin to a real life group haunting the internet (Anonymous) and Occupy Rogers Park. The fox has a creepy smile, a facetious smarminess. An optional title for this post that was thrown out on an account of being too inflammatory and fantastic was, "There goes the neighborhood". Just when this writer thought things were looking up for Howard this happens.

            Occupy Rogers Park had their last meeting this week at the Mess Hall (to become a Jewish spiritual center) on Glenwood off Morse. They just announced on their Facebook page that ORP will reconvene at Sol Cafe April 7th (on their usual day Sunday) presumably at 5 pm. Morse and its environs have become too tony to host the likes of leftist agitators such as Occupy Rogers Park.  Is Jim Ginderske and company now making Howard their new stomping grounds? Will Food Not Bombs be out on Howard giving out free food instead of on fancy pants Morse? Morse of today is just too safe and bourgeois for ORP. Howard is a better fit. Occupy Rogers Park will be a welcome addition to the border of Chicago and Evanston aka Chevanston, Illinois.

Leaf Hoarder Evicted

     
          The leaf hoarder in the neighborhood finally was evicted (joke) and the window fixed. Too bad it wasn't restored to being a double pane window, but at least the building isn't open to the elements. This is the apartment building at the corner of Ashland and Birchwood at the south east corner.

National Bank Trade Token

              According to the E-bay listing this trade token was good for fifty cents if you opened a new savings account in the amount of five dollars or more and kept it active for six months. Sadly this token can no longer be used as the National Bank of Rogers Park @7044 N Clark closed in 1931 (presumably due to the Great Depression). Today it is up for sale for 12.99.  The arcane study of tokens is exonumia.

Chai Is The Hindi Word For _____?

          Will miss the questions of the day. Would get maybe ten percent correct, but usually they were  thought provoking. This writer bought his last coffee at Charmers Cafe earlier today. Will miss the Chiclets, the spoonerisms, (only one that comes to mind now is Fart Smella instead of Smart Fella, which probably was a roast beef sandwich) of the Dagel and Beli, the abundant free papers like News-Star or the Onion, the New York Times and the friendly baristas . Charmers first opened its doors back in May of 2006, making it nearly a seven year run.

          The barista above was nice enough to pose for this picture for posterity. In addition to a large dark roast this writer bought a commerative t-shirt and a cinnamon bun. Found the Ten Thousand Ripples cardboard sign at Fargo and Greenview, after stopping in Charmers it was replaced back to its rightful place at Greenview and Jarvis. The more things change they stay the same, happy to have known you Charmers and company. Rumour has it that the coffee service will continue with the new restaurant and hopefully the free and for sale papers will as well. And hopefully it will continue to serve as the unofficial community hub for Jarvis Square, just more along the lines of Selmarie of Lincoln Square.

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The Leopard House In Its Natural Habitat

         
             This house on Estes is a Rogers Park oddity that has existed in its current state since? The eighties or nineties? Perhaps DNAinfo.com and Benjamin Woodard could do a little story on when, how and why this unique house came to be. This shot was taken earlier in the month when there was still snow on the ground. DNAinfo.com wrote up a great piece on the graffiti house of Pilsen, much better to have a Leopard house. It is also known as the Cheetah house, looking at the pattern and color it more closely resembles the spots of a cheetah which has that brighter yellow background and brighter tan spots. Leopard skin is a lighter almost white yellow and the spots a lighter yellow.

Links to other pictures/stories - Apartment Therapy and Yo Chicago and Yeah this is really Chicago.

Praise God! North Of Howard

 This used to be painted in black letter on white. Please continue reading to see the before picture.

Illini Advances To Next Round & Mytimesprose Censors Itself

Duotone - gold and blue a nod to UCLA

           
           Since Mytimesprose is all things UCLA, its only fair to have some home town coverage of the Illini. Nice to see that Mytimesprose bleeped themselves tonight. Hey that's some F*&^n progress, give credit where credit is due. Have to say UCLA is this writer's most unfavorite team of the college world, would pick USC over UCLA every time. UCLA last won the NCAA tournament in 1994-5 season and they won a bunch of titles in the sixties and seventies.  The above screenshot is from 10:40 pm 3/22/13. This is a good use for the Twitter Feed on DNAinfo.com however, sports is minute to minute and these are entertaining updates. Vive le difference!

"Illini nation they dodged a bullet. They had a great first half in which they had sixteen point led but had a lousy first 12 minutes of the second half. And then the Illini shook off the cobwebs and they beat 10th seeded Colorado Buffaloes to advance to Sunday's game against second rated Miami. John Groce was his usual animated self for his opening round matchup today. First half was all Illini. DJ Richardson gets the pass from Tracy Abrams knocks down the three. He finished with 14. Back come the Buffaloes." 

         
            Watching the ten o'clock news tonight we see that seventh seed Illinois beat Buffalo. Sportscasters talk a mile a minute, took awhile to take down word for word Jim Rose's recap of the Illini victory on channel 7. Couldn't write down anymore after that, darn Tivo only holds half an hour when not recording. Wasn't able to get John Groce's whole quote but he said the group showed "resiliency" which is an actual word. The Illini won 57-49. The real test with be the next game against the second seeded Miami. Illini have never won an NCAA championship and were last in the Final Four in 2005 and before that in 1989.

Update - Minnesota rolls past UCLA 83-63

Morse & Lakewood On A Postcard

               No swearing or cussing on this old postcard for sale on E-bay for nine bucks. A one cent stamp sent this card all the way to Menominee Falls, Wisconsin to Miss Ethel and Mildred Jeffery. This postcard was postmarked November 30th, 1914.

             Your postal received. We both thank you very much for remembering us on Thanksgiving. I didn't cook a big dinner as we had to be in the store all day but mother brought us up some of her dinner. Turkey, cranberries, onions, mash potatoes, plum pudding, celery, fruit, etc. (last word hard to make out) Were we not stuffed? Bert and Alma

Please continue reading to see how Morse & Lakewood looks today.

Neighborhood Watch - The Mail Box

Sexcalade @ Joe Runge's

               Coolest thing about the Runge lot on Rogers ave is the Sexcalade ESV, chicks dig it. Otherwise the lot was a pigsty. This writer took about 20-25 minutes to clean up the debris in the small side yard and the yard in general. Runge has complained in the past about criminals hanging out by his place and actually robbing a customer. Well, if it looks like a trashy crime infested area it will behave like one. Joe Runge has no explanation as to why the area inside his place and parkway were in such sad shape. The picture that follows the jumpbreak of the side yard was after most of the trash was picked up. It is obvious that some bums or winos are hanging out at the Rogers "L" viaduct and inside Joe's yard with all the liquor bottles and detritus from fast food and chip bags, not fun stuff. These pictures are from this morning.


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Shambhala's Last Snow Fall

                The Farcroft towers forebodingly off in the distance to the right. This is Shambhala Meditation Center's last winter and this picture taken just after the last (major) snowfall. On the door you can still see the meditation schedule which is Tuesday from 7 pm til 9 pm, Sunday from 9 am til noon, and Queer Dharma is on Sunday night from 6:30 til 8:30 pm. "Free meditation is available during the first hour of each sitting time"  Queer Dharma is also available at the Chatarunga Holistic Fitness Center in Hyde Park 1525 E 55th st # 302 from 7-9 pm.


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#B%^&$ Step Back By Gerald Farinas

DNAinfo.com in HDRish

            Using his considerable reach on the big board media Twitter Feed of DNAinfo.com Gerald Farinas media strategist and minority owner of Chicago Phoenix told some unknown person to "B$%^&! step back". You tell 'em Gerald, the nerve of some people. We don't really know you either Gerald, but we still support you. By and large Gerald's tweets are entertaining, but then they just get a bit bizarre and too personal. Keep it classy Gerald.

             Yes we know that Twitter is by and large for gutter and nonsense talk, but does that have to be the case on our neighborhood news site? Looks like Chevanston will have regular updates of Gerald's most outrageous tweets. Keep 'em coming Gerald.

Anderson Neighborhood & Neologisms

Screenshot of first recorded usage of Anderson
as a Chicago neighborhood

          Andersonville's monicker was recently shortened by the Chicago Tribune to just Anderson (earlier today). Our neighborhood sleuth Benjamin Woodard noticed this, the first recorded usage of Anderson in lieu of the longer Andersonville. This was bound to happen. Hard for things to go unnoticed these days or to happen organically without instant recognition of a phenomenon.

Update 3/20/13 5:44 pm  - The Tribune writer just amended the article, now using the more common name "Andersonville". The screenshot above will be kept for posterity as the first recorded instance of  the shortened Anderson. DNAinfo.com has also been a forerunner in using shortened neighborhood names like Wrigley instead of "Wrigleyville"

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Energy Producing Walgreens @ South Evanston

Alley door to temporary Walgreens off Chicago Ave

       
            The building that once housed Video Adventure and the old Walgreens on Chicago and Keeney is no more. Walgreens opened up a smaller pharmacy in the mall next door which only carries medications and medical appliances. Evanston Now reported earlier in the month the plan to officially move ahead with the new green Walgreens on Chicago Ave and has an updated rendering. As discussed last year the store will have solar arrays and wind turbines and has been touted as being the first net zero consumption retail store (and should actually consume less energy than it creates).

            While the new store will be green, it will still have an anti-Earth surface parking lot for temporary car storage. Parking is still a necessary evil, but it would've been nicer to have the building hug the sidewalk instead of the typical suburban design with the setback. Parking ala Aldi grocery at California and Granville on the roof would've made it easier to live with as a pedestrian and you could've still had solar panels above that.


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AMLI Leasing Office Opens March 25th

              Very cold this fine March morning (3-19). A brisk walk around the perimeter of AMLI @ 737 Chicago Ave (South) Evanston, Illinois  was taken to investigate the progress that has been made this past winter.. A green sign on the the revolving door explained that there are hard hat tours by appointment only and that AMLI is scheduled to open March 25th which is this coming Monday.

              Contact 847-440-9966 for questions or to set up an appointment with a leasing consultant. Normal business hours will be Monday - Saturday 10 am - 6 pm and Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm. The commercial spaces are spacious with high ceilings which should attract decent businesses. Sidewalk scape looks sharp with brick pavers and planters. The emerging building actually exceeds expectations. Prices start at 1500 bucks for studios and go all the way up to 3320 for a three bedroom and two bath apartment.


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Crumbling Retaining Wall Of Elevated Track @ Dubkin Park

Mr Snowman shortly before his death

      The entire Redline is slated for a rebuild someday. This section of the "L" wall is literally falling apart. It is sad to see the snow family disappear before our very eyes. But they will return next year happier then ever. Rebar sticks out in an approximately fifteen foot chunk of the wall, orange plastic mesh sits just inside near the track.

Correction - it isn't orange plastic, it is rusted steel.

Please continue reading for close up of retaining wall

Do Not Enter Except Buses

People Who Don't Give A S#@% By Gerald Farinas

         

              Gerald Farinas enlightened Rogers Park and Edgewater on his microblog last night with an incisive look at what the f^&* is wrong with this city. Apparently there are some sons of b^&$*es out there who think just because trouble doesn't happen on their block then who gives a s%^&. He ends the discussion with the dramatic conclusion that these people are idiots. Well said fellow (micro)blogger Farinas. The above screenshot is from just before midnight last night from DNAinfo.com.

             Chevanston decided to followup Gerald Farinas' fresh look on city problems and we did our own polling. 75.7 percent of the population at large just don't give a s%^&. 7.3 percent of the population wished there was something they could do to help but were still glad the violence wasn't in their back yard. 1.2 percent of the population didn't understand what the problem was and looked dangerous. The rest that were polled said they didn't give a flying f$%^. But looking at the population that didn't give a s%^& closer we see that half of them actually really couldn't give two s%^&s. There was an across the board 24 percent who added "What the f$&* you gonna do?"

Blogger's Note - Sorry Mr Farinas, Chevanston thought you were a tighty whitey guy. If you return the underwear gifted to you from Chevanston for Valentine's Day we will gladly exchange them for you for some boxer briefs.

Blogger's Note #2 - Gerald can be serious when he wants to be, he has a great blog called 312 Chicago Phoenix which does an excellent job covering Gay and Lesbian topics on the the local, national and world stage.

Red X's @ Greenview & Farwell

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Pratt & Clark - Site Of Daytime Shooting? 24 Hours Later

                    The Chicago Tribune covered the latest daytime shooting in Rogers Park which happened yesterday, this time at Clark and Pratt. Looking around the intersection today there weren't any gangbangers around. Some graffiti but none appeared to be gang related. The large apartment building (1673 w Pratt) at Pratt and Clark is part of the troubled Menetti Brothers "portfolio".

The 15-year-old was dropped off at North Shore University Health System in Evanston about 2:15 p.m. and told staffers he'd been shot at 1:15 p.m. at Pratt Boulevard and Clark Street, police said.

        There is caution tape under the scaffolding @ 1673 w Pratt, but since there wasn't a crime scene and the teenager who was shot was just dropped off at the hospital, it doesn't appear to have anything to do with the shooting. There is a no loitering sign posted on the Pratt side of the building. The building is managed by 6770 N Clark LLC 773-465-1577. This is just west of the troubled intersection of Pratt and Ashland that saw a lot of shootings last year. So is this the new intersection in the fight over gang turf?

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Nine Eleven Back To Eleven Six

F@#&ing UCLA, What The F&%*? S&^*! More Coverage @ DNAinfo.com

         


        "Where did you learn that naughty word?" shouts the incredulous mother to her eight year old son. "F&*(ing DNAinfo.com mom." he replies. Well good to know that four letter words are now part of standard programming on the new local news behemoth DNAinfo.com. MyTimesProse written by Mark Schipper who is a newspaperman and sportswriter is the latest tweeter to swear like a sailor on the defacto community news feed of Rogers Park. Apparently getting your sports news with F this and S that is part of life in this brave new world of Twitter and tweets. The above screenshot is from 9:20 am this morning.

Update #1 3/17/13 10:45 pm - (Time to embrace the new media) - What the f%^& the s$%^ was up with UCLA losing that day anyways? God d#$% it. MyTimesProse was spot on with its coverage come to think of it. "S^&* the F%^&n luck" indeed!

Please continue reading to see the screenshot of MyTimesProse

Annual Meeting Of Rogers Park & West Ridge Historical Society

           

        On the Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society Facebook page it was just announced that they will be holding their annual meeting just down the street from their storefront at Morsel.

The Rogers Park and West Ridge neighborhoods of Chicago are filled with fascinating history. Since 1975, the Rogers Park / West Ridge Historical Society has gathered historical resources and presented programs about the area to thousands. To find out more about the Society, you can attend its annual meeting from 1:00 - 3:00 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013. 

Ten Thousand Ripples @ Charmers Cafe

             Thoreau's Corner was a natural place to be chosen as one of the Ten Thousand Ripples installation sites. This corner was to be filled in with concrete, but the local citizenry revolted against the powers that be, preserving this corner as green space.

Update #1 3/15/13 10:15 pm - Charmers Cafe is to close March 24th according to RP 1000 Words. The reduced hours didn't feel right so the fact that the cafe  is closing isn't such a shock. (Incidentally the post on RP 1000 words concerning the closure occurred at 7:22 pm today and a hastily constructed article appeared on DNAinfo.com @ 7:45pm. Nice scoop Bill Morton.) According to B. Woodard there is to be a wine bar/restaurant operating under the direction of nearby Taste wine shop owners.

Update #2 3/16/13 9:10 am - RP 1000 words update concerning new restaurant/bar.

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Buddha Installation @ Triangle Park

Buddha keeps watch over North of Howard

                 Through an anonymous tip to Chevanston it was learned that two Buddhas were to be installed yesterday in Rogers Park. One at Triangle Park north of Howard and the other at Charmers Cafe. The installation at Triangle Park took place yesterday at approximately 12:30 - 1:00 pm. Written below is what the sign adjacent to the Buddha says word for word

Ten Thousand Ripples
Spreading Peace Through Chicago's Neighborhoods

"The emerging Buddha sculptures by artist India Freitas Johnson represents for her a symbol of peace and self realization. Placed in unexpected public spaces the sculptures becomes a global symbol of peace and an individual invitation to reflect on the possibility of finding peace in the our lives and in our communities.The Buddha image serves as a visual platform for the Ten Thousand Ripples (TTR) project, a collaborative public and civic engagement initiative created in partnership with ten diverse neighborhoods, dozens of community partners and artists throughout the Chicago area. The Rogers Park neighborhood is one of the hosts of this initiative. Throughout the winter and spring months we will be engaging community residents in artistic creations that address their personal meaning of PEACE. The TTR image is just one of many peace symbols (like a white dove or an olive branch) that is born out of a global venture of faith traditions. This image is based on the historical figure of Buddha whose teachings are followed by millions of people around the world. For more information on these installations and schedule of related events please visit www.Tenthousandripples.com"


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Unification Church Of Chicago

           Located at 7077 N Ashland this building was built in 1916 and has been home to the "Moonies" or the Unification Church since the late nineties. This blog entry is also an example of what Rogers Park in 1,000 Words would look like using a jumpbreak. The day these photos were taken (yesterday) People's Gas work being done on the street.             

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Holy Tire Tracks Batman!

              7450 N Greenview has had work being done on it this past year. Tough when there isn't much dedicated parking in the area for a building of this size. It appears that this building and the one on the corner are owned by the same company. This parkway has been thoroughly abused in the past year with litter and construction debris and the tire tracks don't look so great. The workmen have been better at picking up the parkway of late. Hopefully some day soon this will be a thing of the past. Yes understandable for there to be some corners cut when working with a building of this size under the circumstances.

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Family Federation For World Peace And Unification

Cult or religion?

         
           The flag that flies in the front yard at Fargo and Sheridan (7450 N Sheridan) carries its church symbol which comes in red and black. Tough to get a good picture of the flag emblazoned with the red icon without a good breeze. What is most noticeable about this place is the baby blue school bus. This interesting religion and church keeps a pretty low profile in the quaint, sleepy burgh of Rogers Park, Illinois.
         
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Buddha @ Sol Cafe

Reader submitted photo (G.E.)

                 By popular demand here again is the Buddha @ Sol Cafe located in Chevanston, Illinois. This is the first official reader submitted photo emailed to philipmcgregorrogers@yahoo.com. If there are any pictures or words you would like to have considered for publishing or if there are any stories you would like to see covered or tips please send them to the above email address.  Two photos were submitted, the one beyond the jumpbreak is in this publisher's opinion the better of the two. But both do an excellent job of portraying the new Buddha on Howard. Note that the new street lights haven't been installed yet, they are still lying on the vacant lot at Ashland and Howard. 

Please continue reading to see the other photo

Farcroft Sales Office & Showroom

                         

        In case you want to check out what a sample unit of the Farcroft looks like you don't have to walk all the way to Fargo & Sheridan. You could mosey on down to the sales storefront at 1441 w Jarvis ave which is just steps from the Jarvis L stop and kitty corner from Charmers Cafe.  A reminder that the apartments which are one and two bedroom are for rent starting at 850 and up to 1250 a month.                                      

                                                                                 

To see the inside of the Farcroft sales storefront please continue reading

Ms. Demeanor's Photo Du Jour

Photo Credit - Ms. Demeanor

               Ms. Demeanor posts photos every day, a lot of them are of Rogers Park. This is one of her best. It is of Wayne Ave looking east towards the four greystones which have the same shared front yard (fenced in). They must be all owned by the same company or person. These buildings were recently unitized with green awnings. Looking back at Rogers Park's history there was an infamous murder in one of these greystones. Will update this post after consulting the tome at home. Most of the time you are looking at courtyard buildings from the street towards the building. This view is much more interesting. Too bad more courtyard buildings aren't open to the street like this one. This picture is entitled "Another snowy day", which is looks like what we are in for today. This photo was taken February 27th. Ms. Demeanor also maintains the blog entitled "How to build a substation" chronicling the creation of the electrical substation at Farwell & Glenwood.

(Last edited 3/12/13 1:20 pm)

Why Did Marie Antoinette Recently Reemerge In Uptown?

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     This is a reproduction of the last painting of Marie Antoinette by Nicholas Serov (incidentally this oil reproduction can be all yours for $579 bucks on E-bay). The last image we had of her until she recently resurfaced on the streets of Uptown in front of alderman James Cappleman's office.

          There were protesters from Uptown Rising and Occupy Rogers Park there at Alderman Cappleman's office last week up in arms about perceived slights against the lower class and undomiciled of Chicago. The last time Ms Antoinette hung out with a mob like that she got guillotined. You think she would've learned her lesson a few hundred years later. If someone returns from the dead wouldn't they try to avoid the situation that got them killed in the first place? If ever there was an inopportune time or place to make your first public appearance as Marie Antoinette this would be it. No wonder she looked horrified.