April 18, 2005

• It has been over a week since the last post, so here goes…

  We welcome Peter (our partner in Fwak, and business manager in Sydney) who is here in L.A. for a week. And I have just returned from a 4–day adventure in Chicago with Miss Lisa Jones. What a trip and where to start…

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  Chicago! - Lili

  
  
  The view from our hotel room

  CHICAGO was awesome. A BIG CITY.. like New York, but with older charming buildings and a fascinating history. In some ways, it reminded me of Melbourne, Australia… the flatness, the oldness, the hip neighborhoods. We did a ton of walking – 5 to 6 hours a day – mostly through the very majestic & touristy Downtown/Loop area, Wicker Park (the “Silver Lake” of Chicago), Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park.

  Some highlights:

  Visiting the Chicago Board of Trade. Ok, I know this doesn’t sound very exciting but it was!!! Apparently the CBT is one of the last places on earth where they do it old-school style just like in the movies. Thanks to a friend of a friend (who works there), Lisa and I were invited to be on the floor of the trading room at belltime 9.30am.

  

  Imagine something like a giant casino game where the traders are a fascinating mix of farmers, street kids, ex-cops and football players… people who can ‘play the game’ with fast reflexes and physical strength (in the case of football players). This was supposedly a “slow morning” but we’d never seen anything like this. The floor was packed with guys shouting, shoving each other, making weird hand signals, running around with pieces of paper… as the prices of agricultural commodities (soybean, wheat, corn, etc.) kept changing on the large display boards around us.

  We wanted to know: So how are things different on “Wall Street”?

  James, our very entertaining tourguide, explained that nowadays trading is done electronically. The futures traders of today are more likely to be MBA graduates… or even videogamer-types hired to spend hours staring at numbers on computer screens and hitting keys really fast. (Even if they have no idea what they’re actually doing) It’s all about intuition and fast reflexes. 

  To think that we had an insider’s view of the World Economy in action… Very cool experience!

  The Untouchables Gangster Tour of Chicago! Our guides were two guys dressed as gun-toting rough-talkin’ gangsters and we were taken around various neighborhoods of Chicago (where all the massacres and shootings took place) while hearing the story of Al Capone and other Prohibition-era gangsters. If you ever go to Chicago, you must do this tour. Highly recommended entertainment!

  
  
  …note the fake bullet holes behind “Big Julie”:)

  Two interesting pieces of trivia:

  • “Machine Gun Jack McGurn” was the first dude to carry his gun in a violin case… an image which has since become a cartoon cliche.
  • There’s a church in Downtown Chicago – the Holy Name Cathedral -with a single bullet hole in the outside wall. (They had covered up all the others) Couples who get married here like to get their wedding photos taken with their fingers in the hole. How very Chicago…

  Vosges Chocolates! (We later found out that they also have stores in NYC and Vegas) Hmmmm… The Red Fire Bar is dark chocolate spiced with Mexican ancho, chipotle, chilli peppers, cinnamon… There is also an Indian curry-spiced chocolate bar, and a Japanese wasabi-and-black sesame-ginger bar and a selection of exotic truffles… The spiced Hot Chocolate drink was to die for…

  Oz Park. (Lincoln Park) This is where Frank Baum wrote “The Wizard of Oz”. Of course, we had to take pictures of the Tin Man.

  

  Other places: Topolobampo restaurant, Quimby’s Bookstore, and Berghoff bar…

  There were tons of other places we didn’t have time to check out. Will have to go back soon one day…

  Here are more photos (Flickr photoset).

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  Goodies from Mexico

  Back in L.A. there’s a big package of Mucha Lucha tazos, chip packets and Santo comics from Oscar (Mexico). This is awesome stuff. Thanks so much, Oscar! 

  

  

  
  
  Only in Mexico!

  
  
  
  
  We can’t wait to read these!

  Furthermore…

  

  • We have received some special ML tshirts from Blue Demon Jr with our names on the sleeves
  • My photos from last week’s MADL custom toy show in Chinatown (Flickr photoset).
  • Tomorrow night is the iam8bit show at Gallery 1988. See you there…

  • 2:11 pm
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