1 more vacaysh post

Wow, Lots of pictures and words from Chrissy. It was a very eventful trip, so that's ok.

Here are some more:

Chrissy and I on a really bad boat tour of starved rock. The tour Guide basically pointed out people fishing and described erosion as "falling dirt", which I guess is true. The funniest part was when she mistold the story of how starved rock got it's name, and used "like" for every other word. When someone asked her what year it happened she said "like, a really long time ago, like, over a hundred years".


The actual answer is 1763. After supposedly assassinating the chief of the Pontiac tribe, the Illiniwek fled to the rock to escape the vengeful Potawatomi tribe, The Potawatomi surrounded the rock forcing the Illniwek to starve on the rock.



We sarcastically give the boat tour two thumbs up. (which in sincere terms is two thumbs down)

After our historic indignation we went to one of my favorite historical landmarks:

2 awesome shirts and a pair of kickin sunglasses... 10 dollars.

Last night we had a wing night show at the Playground:

Matt and his wife Laura. Just wanted to put this picture on the internet. That's what it's for right?

Day 2!

OMG you guys, Louie is letting me guest blog! This is Day 2 of our one tank trip. I want to flashback to Day 1 for a second.

Flashback!

Flashforward! The forecast was scattered thunderstorms all weekend, but lucky for us the skies cleared up overnight.

Lobby of the Starved Rock State Park Lodge. The lodge was built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps... more like the Civilian Funservation Bear Corpses.

The first canyon we walked to was St. Louis canyon, and we agreed it was the best.... for obvs reasons. Then we went back to the Lodge for a cute lunch on the veranda before hitting the trails again.

Another great hazard sign- nice bangs, shadow man! This is a great hiking park with many trails, and because of all the canyons there are many sections that are nice wooden steps and planks.

There are many signs reminding vistors that it is illegal to go off of marked trails, even though the trails lead into canyons like this one where you can easily walk into the sandstone formations. It takes a little bit more effort to be a big man hero and climb out onto a tree limb over the Illinois River.

Probably the best thing about these guys is that they held that pose, arms up, for a solid five minutes while their girlfriends took their picture.

So many canyons!

A scenic overlook!

Louie just asked me why it was taking me so long to post, so just one more thing. More fun from yesterday at the visitor's center:

awwww! Get this guy on cuteoverload.com. The ear to head ratio alone will qualify. He's all, "Please syr, do ye have a cup of corn chowda for a travelin otta just off the trail?"

awwwOh, wait a second...

Looks like someone should make a hazard sign for all the cute forrest creatures :(.

Vacaysh

=
Starved Rock Park Illinois

Day 1 (as written from the perspective of Day 2)

So it's been a fun couple of days so far here in starved rock. Chrissy and I have so many pictures it will be difficult deciding which ones to "photo blog". She is going to guest blog later tonight and give her more feminine take on the trip.

So when we got to Starved Rock...


Rain... And Lots of it...

So we spent some time in the visitor center:

Ew Bugs....


Chrissy makes a fur trade with a French Canadian.

This sign made me laugh way too loud for a visitors center.

We venture out in the rain and go up on starved rock. Free Viewfinders! That's progress.

After the fun it started pouring, so we did something we can't do in Chicago... Super Save!

another weekend happens

Wow, weekends huh? Yeah, amazing stuff.

Here is an itemization... (while you enjoy these pictures look for secret clues as to a major change in my life)

Friday there was a festival near my work called "Manifest" It involved a lot of cool performance art.

This guy was studying notes on the ground and then finding the name on a big board behind him and scratching it out. It was really cool, because the entire time the performer/artist was so involved in his task that he never once glanced out the window.

This woman was meticulously moving soap from one pile to another. Again, really engaging.

This whole week has been the Playground anniversary. There have been a ton of fun events including a fake star wars themed bah mitzvahs, a 12 hour improv marathon, and a prom.

Here we are at the prom.

Sayjal, Damien (sp.), Chrissy and myself.

WING NIGHT! (minus Matt)


Jorin looked pretty awesome in his all black tux. Our friend Brian (on the right) was visiting from NC. He will be moving to Chicago soon. Great guy.

Chip may hate me for this, but it is maybe my favorite photo ever. He looks like an account manager on a business trip to San Francisco who is letting loose after having meetings all day.

That's my take on it.

Oh, did you figure out the clue? Ill give you a hint, it resides on my upper lip.

Sashay

Here is a short history of the Chicago Sashay Company:

-The name "Chicago Sashay Company" actually originated in a Wrigleyville bar called Barleycorn. After an IO class one evening, our then nameless group went upstairs at barleycorn (which at the time was an almost always empty dance floor). We would go up and dance the night away, sometimes performing on-the-spot improvised dance that looked choreographed. We would do this by following each other, sometimes there would be a leader and sometimes the group mind was so strong, there wouldn't be a leader at all. It was beautiful, and all unspoken.

After an hour or so, patrons would come upstairs to see what the commotion was about and the upstairs dance floor would fill up and sometimes people would join in our dances. We welcomed them with open. flailing arms.

A promoter at Barleycorn came up to us one day, and said he liked what we were doing and asked if we would do it at other clubs he promoted. He then asked our name, and Anthony, without thinking about it, blurted out "Chicago Sashay Company".

Our slogan is "Follow our feet to you're heart". It's also our philosophy.

That was over two years ago, now we dance before the wildly popular live game show "Don't Spit the Water".

We will be doing Improv (and possibly some dance) at IO on Thursdays for the next few weeks. Please come and enjoy.

Karaoke event good time

Mark was feeling down last night when he found out that Lakisha had been eliminated from Idol.



But you know what cheers Mark up? Singing Creed to unsuspecting bar patrons.



I sang ELO.


Sean doesn't do Karaoke, which in turn made me upset, which in turn made him scared.



Chip was brave enough to play Karaoke Roulette. I picked "Cold, Cold Heart" by Hank Williams. Chip did well, but didn't get that the song was a metaphor of our relationship.



This guy won at karaoke.

Bomb scare at Columbia. All surrounding Buildings evacuated.

Spent about an hour outside enjoying the weather. Some kid must have been ill-prepared for a test.

Ok, so first off. Dee Dee wins the slogan competition!

#1 because it was funnier than my slogans,
#2 she is the only one who followed the rules
#3 Damian is a smart @$$

So I realized I have a ton of pictures that I want to post. So instead of captioning what their about, I will take them completely out of context.

For example:



I followed these guys for 3 miles. When they turned around, I was gone.



Lindsay and I don't like each other. We have to force it.



Grant Made Dave sing the menu, then critiqued him heavily. Mike is dead.



Sean whispers to my girlfriend: "I can make you much happier"



Fake beard? No! Real beard!

This is what this picture is:

I was traveling (walking) down Michigan Ave. to go eat food (lunch) when, all of a sudden, I felt like I was being followed by a Segway. I was. My pace quickened as the Segway moved closer, luckily I got away right in time. (Segway users are notoriously violent people, it's the modern equivalent to a motorcycle gang)

I looked back and realized who this person was. It was some sort of marketing campaign to advertise "Honey Bunches of Oats" to people on the street. She was giving small boxes away for free. Then she came upon a group of workers on strike outside the Congress Hotel. I thought it an odd juxtaposition of corporate propaganda vs. the proletariat. (And BTW, I am super smart, LOL)

They all gratefully accepted the cereal, which made me think of slogans for "Honey Bunches of Oats":

"Now with clusters of righteous indignation!"

"They'll make you revolt!"

"The people who made this cereal were not on strike, like you are"

If you are reading my blog please post a slogan of your own in my comment section! Yay!

Variousness

Yesterday I went upstairs in our building to gaze upon the Immigration Rally going on down below.


I'm not too political, but I do always think it's kind of cool when so many people rally for a cause. It's inspiring.



I walked down michigan and right outside the Museum of Art this kid was playing violin like a virtuoso. People were stunned by his cuteness and amazed by his mad skillz. He had over a hundred dollars in that helmet. I gave him a dollar.

Went to see "Hot Fuzz" at AMC. Go see "Hot Fuzz".

It's great, but maybe a a little too similar to the script I'm working on... And way funnier. May have to make some changes.