Someone pointed out that finding these photos is not that hard, anyone can go the Life photo archives, try different keywords and voilà. Why do you think I keep posting them?

These photos were taken when the future President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Kansas City in 1952. During the visit his cortege rode through the city encountering an outpouring of support, as well as a protest. The photographs reflect the look of downtown, full of life and commerce and windows that were actually made to be opened.

I realize most of these photos look alike, but each iteration shows slightly different store signs and window displays.

This seems to be old news, but the news doesn’t always travel fast; I thought it was a catchy tune and a funny video.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rhg1Ngz7y4

Putin The Superhero Banished From Ukrainian Airwaves.*
“Vova”, commonly known as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is a superhero according to Ukrainian band Dress Code, who have released a song devoted to the merits of the James Bond-defying, child-saving, universally adored Russian. Banned in Ukraine, the video is causing quite a stir.
The band behind the controversial homage is certainly profiting from its prohibition. Since the song “And Vova Rules” was taken off air for “political reasons”, the illustrated music video has become a huge online hit in both Ukraine and Russia, where, incidentally, it was never shown on TV in the first place. Putin propaganda, a big joke, or a publicity stunt? Whatever it is, the video’s already been viewed over 350,000 times.
The illustrations are pretty self-explanatory, but here are a few of the lyrics:
“James Bond isn’t fit to shine his shoes. He’s a superman, he’s adored by the rich, by celebrities, by professors, by village folk and the West. He’ll always be there in your time of need. He’ll always protect you. If necessary he’ll whack bad guys, even in a toilet. Indeed, Vova rules, and, surely, he rules just the way it should be done.”

* the part about being banned is likely B.S. that’s why I am linking to the source.

Quality of construction in this area always puzzled me. Every year we see a local weather-woman imploring us to take cover while wearing a complete football player’s outfit; every year we see photos of damage and destruction; every year someone we know has to replace a roof, a window or a whole house. Yet the houses many of us live in are constructed of plywood, duct tape and termite excrement. I saw my house being built and I don’t hold any illusions about my survival chances in case of a tornado. That’s why I have reservations about sleeping naked during the storm season, you never know where my body may touch down.

With that in mind, I had to take a few pictures of the new apartment building currently being constructed downtown.

I’ve never made a trip to Chicago I didn’t like. Travelling by train and booking hotels on priceline.com makes it an affordable and fun weekend trip. While visiting Chicago is always exciting, winter is a good time to enjoy indoor activities. During a recent trip we visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry – probably the most awesome museum in the country which we would’ve enjoyed more if it didn’t close at 4pm; saw a comedy show at the Second City, if you laugh non-stop when watching SNL you’ll probably love this one; saw a Broadway show American Idiot – I liked it a lot and I am not even a fan of Green Day, the first musical I’ve seen without an intermission; we took a tour of Chicago Pedway and walked for 90 minutes without getting out in the cold; went to the top of the John Hancock building – we didn’t use the skating rink but in case you were wondering – it’s small, lame and not even real ice. In between, we ate a lot of good food, walked around in the cold as much as we liked, saw a light show at the Millennium Park and even had time to visit relatives. And all of this in one short weekend. I’ve been to Chicago many times and never had to do the same thing twice or eat twice at the same place (unless I wanted to). There is a never-ending list of things to do, see and eat.

On December 11, 1944 the Life Magazine published an article: Teen-Age Girls – They Live In A Wonderful Wold Of Their Own.

There is a time in life of every American girl when the most important thing in the world is to be one of the crowd of the other girls and to act an speak and dress exactly as they do. This is the teen age.

Some 6,000,000 U.S. teen-age girls live in a world of their own – a lovely, gay, enthusiastic, funny and blissful society almost untouched by the war. It is a world of sweaters and skirts and bobby sox and loafers, if hair worn long, of eye-glass rims painted red with nail polish, of high-school boys not yet gone to war. It is a world still devoted to parents who are pals even if they use telephone too much. It is a world of Vergil’s Aeneid, second-year French and plane geometry, of class plays, field hockey, “moron” jokes and put-on accent. It is a world of slumber parties and the Hit Parade, of peanut butter and popcorn and the endless collecting of menus and match covers and little stuffed animals.

Yes, maybe some things have changed – no one wears shetland sweaters; many teenage girls today haven’t seen a corded phone or read Virgil; “moron” jokes are considered not politically correct and no one paints eyeglasses with nail polish. But now, that I have a bona fide teenage girl in my house, I could replicate most of these photos today.