Hog Butcher to the World...

Yes, today I flew to Chicago, and since the "Windy City" seemed a bit pedestrian for a blog title, I looked for a more colorful nickname for my host city. ("Gem of the Prairie" was out after I had to sit in *!#*!+#@ traffic on the way from the airport!) Still, tonight's hotel window photo could very well be the most picturesque yet. I'm at the Hilton Suites with a beautiful room overlooking Lake Michigan. Not too shabby.

This evening, my buddy and coworker Steve scoped out a new restaurant for us: aigredoux. I had a fantastic heirloom tomato and goat cheese appetizer, followed by a buttery shrimp accompanied by a flavorful lemon-Parmesan risotto. Desert was a mouth-watering sticky toffee cake.

To wind down tonight, I was having fun looking at some of the more bizarre photos from Bay to Breakers. For example...this guy. I mean, in any ORDINARY situation, a man dressed in a caveman outfit carrying a video camera would be downright CREEPY.

I love these next two photos. These two guys had rigged up a rickshaw out of an old leather chair. At this point in the race, they had pulled this thing almost five miles. Then...tragedy. Standing along the route, we heard this incredible POP, like someone had set off a large firecracker. Well...it was a tire blowout. And these guys trudged on, with 2.5 miles still to go!


This is a fun photo. The sexy bee women, closely followed by a very un-sexy naked/fat costume. Great juxtaposition.

And finally, for sheer lunacy...a bee and a banana wrestling for control of a football...as they roll down a hill in the park.