The Chi-town Download

Ok, finally here's the download from my Chicago trip. All the images (except the Miller's Pub cinemagr.am – click through to the album to see it in action) shot with my trusty Mercury II CX.

Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection at the Chicago Cultural Center was a really great show. Skulls and bones and more skulls, oh my. Some really amazing work by Otto Dix, Dana Salvo and James Ensor to name but a few.

Meals taken at Moto and Xoco. Gold Coast Chicago dog at Midway Airport. Runaway favorite course at Moto was gazpacho with grape. The grapes were somehow carbonated and it included the best rabbit I've ever had. Period.

24 Hours in New Orleans

Just got back from the Big Easy, and it's the only place hotter than here. But good friends and good food make it all OK. All the places I ate were new for me which was fun. So here's the rundown.

Cochon Butcher Little sister of perennial Monkey favorite Cochon, Cochon Butcher serves sandwiches, small plates and wine, but the real meat is, well, the meat. Everything from head cheese to duck pastrami to salami and chorizo is made in house and delicious. The pickles were awesome too.

Hansen's Sno-Bliz A definite for summer in New Orleans, Hansen's has been around since 1939. Ernest Hansen actually patented his machine for shaving ice which makes a particularly delicate flake. I got the Banana flavor, and apparently, the locals can tell whether or not you're a local from the flavor you order. Banana was a dead giveaway. The line forms out the door quickly.

Perino's Boiling Pot Out in the West Bank but worth the drive, Perino's serves up tasty seafood. Because it's on the West Bank where the fishermen come in, the seafood is technically fresher than in New Orleans proper. We ate 15 pounds of crawfish, 3 dozen oysters, fried soft shell crab and alligator all for a price you'd never find in the Quarter.

Elizabeth's Elizabeth's features homey mugs (see slideshow above), a tasty brunch and enormous biscuits. Specialties such as Red Neck Eggs, Cajun Bubble & Squeak and a drink called the Corpse Reviver keep things interesting.

Some non-perishable items:

The Front Check out Seth Boonchai's work, "Between the Searching and the Need to Work it Out" showing at The Front through July 5. Or find out more about Seth's work here.

Riverfront Redevelopment A cool project is about to be underway at the Mandeville Wharf to turn it into a really great public space. It's part of the Reinventing the Crescent Master Plan. More information at Eskew+Dumez+Ripple.

video wall video wall (gehry too)

frank gehry designs a LOT O' Buildings... they sprout up like mushrooms. some work: Disney Concert hall some don't. way of the world.

Gehry also has a project on the Gulf Coast, the george ohr museum and campus.

Here in NYC Gehry has a couple of buildings, one monstrosity is the IAC building in Chelsea. I am definitely no expert when it comes to buildings and structures and design, but the IAC building feels very intrusive and forced. Like it hopes to be a spearhead for the look of the neighborhood in the future. admittedly, a lot of the NEW construction buildings in chelsea have that 21st century MOD/INTERNATIONAL style.grey, glass and some crazy angles.

IAC is an interactive conglomerate consisting of 60 brands (including ask.com,HSN, match.com) so it makes sense that they use gehry, who will definitely work for food ;-)

Anyway, the IAC building has lots of video walls, some are HUGE, they are set aside for ad space I suppose, but I'm thinking that they will be open to artists, designers programmers, etc. One cool example is Daniel Shiffman's RUN LOLA RUN LOLA.... check it out: