Naked Under the Moon

"Aaaah-roooo!" came the yelp from out in Lake Michigan. It sounded like a wolf. No, a werewolf maybe. "Aaaah-roooo!" I was on the end of the Pratt Beach pier on Chicago's northeast side, part of Loyola Park. It was just past 10:00 p.m., and I was one of about 100 people enjoying the moonrise and pleasant weather. "Aaaah-roooo!" came another yelp. Squinting, we looked out into the darkness over the water but saw nothing. "Aaaah-roooo!" Was it somebody in a row boat, a canoe or kayak? I yelped back, "Aaaah-roooo!" "Aaaah-roooo!" came back, and suddenly dozens of people on the pier and the beach were howling like lunatics under the nearly full, bright orange moon. "Aaaah-roooo!" After about ten or fifteen minutes of this, we spotted a white head and shoulders swimming toward us. "Aaaah-roooo!" he called, and the crowd howled "Aaaah-roooo!" back in unison. The swimmer came into shallow water and stood, shirtless. He waded toward the beach and after a brief moment we realized that he was completely naked. "Aaaah-roooo!" he yelped one last time, then quickly donned shorts and shirt from a towel waiting for him on the sand. The moon continued its movement across the sky. It didn't seem to have noticed.

Invasion of Feral Pigs (Video)

One week ago tonight, thousands of inconsiderate slobs invaded Loyola Park in northern Chicago. They left behind incredible amounts of paper and plastic cups, liquor and beer bottles, mounds of still-burning coals on grass and next to nearly every tree. None of them, apparently, gave a damn about why green matters here.

Joker, Smoker (Updated)

"Joke joke" wrote - AGAIN! Seems I hit a nerve. But that's okay. At least "joke joke" gets kudos for writing comments that are civil and show some cogent thought. That is appreciated around here, and hey, maybe I'm wrong. Joke joke, you get the last word (see bottom of this post), and sincere thanks for writing.

This morning's post about smoke from a burning 50-gallon drum at Loyola Beach brought the comment below. The commenter, "joke joke," apparently missed the point of the post. I wrote, "Heavy smoke that smelled of burning plastic engulfed a good portion of the beach front. The receptacles are supposed to be for hot coals only, but people commonly put other trash into them." My point was about air pollution at the park, specifically smoke. I also noted the "immense amount of smoke put out by people allowed to cook over open fires in the parks."

"Joke joke" somehow thought I was writing about garbage and litter strewn in the park, which I was not. "Joke joke" did not address the air pollution/smoke issue in the park, caused by burning refuse and open fire cooking. Perhaps he/she was only joking.

On Mon, 6/30/08, joke joke wrote:

From: joke joke
Subject: no smoking on beaches
To: The Bench
Date: Monday, June 30, 2008, 2:44 PM

If you recall the the [sic] reasoning [sic] was not because of smoke, but because of all the extra trash from cigarette butts. Tons of trash was [sic] collected at the beaches from cigarette butts alone.

Another great blog story missing the point.

From: The Bench
To: "joke joke"

Hi joke joke,

The smoke had the distinctive burning-plastic smell. You're right about cigarette butts being a litter problem, but my post was about stuff burning in the can and smelling of plastic. It was definitely not cigarette butts burning that made the smell I encountered. Thanks for your comment, even though it completely missed the point of the post you were commenting on.

P.S. - Joke joke, if my story missed the point, why would you call it "another great blog story?"

Joke joke responds to my response:

Maybe you should consider a new writing style and being better informed. I read your post and your complaint about the type of smoke and its smell. "The rule is silly when you consider the immense amount of smoke put out by people allowed to cook over open fires in the parks". It was wrong to assert some type of hypocritical rules. You need to learn how to tie legitimate points together and then people will better undertsand the point you are trying to make. You missed the point since the no smoking policy is in regards to littering and should not been used to make your point.

No Smoking at Chicago Beaches?

The Chicago Park District has a rule against smoking at the beach. The rule is silly when you consider the immense amount of smoke put out by people allowed to cook over open fires in the parks.

This hot coal receptacle had a fire burning in on Saturday, June 28 at Loyola Park, adjacent to the lakefront of the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago. Heavy smoke that smelled of burning plastic engulfed a good portion of the beach front. The receptacles are supposed to be for hot coals only, but people commonly put other trash into them.

Red Flag, Green Flag

Click image to enlarge it.

The Great Outdoors!

Ah, this is the life. Drag half of your furniture, the baby and a bunch of crap to the park, drop litter all around you, light up a smoky fire and slap some kind of meat on the grill. Would it be easier to stay home? Sure, but then you wouldn't be outdoors, enjoying all that fresh, smoky air!

One Classy Beach

These photos were taken around 6:30 a.m. on June 24. Let's see, we have a tent person in Katy Hogan's bird sanctuary. We have a chair set up under a tree, which is reminiscent of a couch in somebody's front yard. We have an a cucina set up in the park, complete with leftover, rotting fruit. Man, this is one classy beach.

Fish Tale: This One Didn't Get Away

John used to live in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. He and his father would often go fishing on the pier at Pratt Beach, on the south end of Loyola Park. (Click photos to see larger images.)

Today, John lives in Elmwood Park. Today, John caught a huge fish when he came to enjoy a beautiful day in his old stomping grounds. I watched John and two fishing buddies walk out on the pier.

The water has been unusually clear recently, and they only got halfway out when they spotted a huge carp.

We all guessed it weighed between 45-50 pounds. Within a few minutes, John had the behemoth fish on a hook.

He pulled it along the pier and eventually got it to the edge of the water, where he proudly showed it off for photos by the crowd that had gathered.

Then, he released the big carp, which swam calmly off to safer waters.

Artists of the Wall Screwed AGAIN

They're screwing you again.

In 2007, the Loyola Park Advisory Council (LPAC) and the Loyola Park Advisory Council and Rogers Park Community Council (RPCC). charged people $30 or more to participate in the Artists of the Wall Festival. The people were screwed by not getting a clean slate, so to speak, on which to paint. In years past, the wall was sandblasted clean and painted white. But not last year, not the year before or before that. Years of thick layers of paint have built up, and last year they did not sandblast.

Instead of sandblasting, this year they used a weak mixture of baking soda and compressed air, which only partially removed some of the old paint. But as you can see in the photos (click for larger images) and in the video below, the newly "prepped" wall is peeling only hours after it's been painted white. The new white paint job is not even complete, but it is already spoiling.

The Bench showed you what a lousy job the Loyola Park Advisory Council (LPAC) and the Rogers Park Community Council (RPCC) did last year. We're showing you their shitty work this year, too. One of their members assured me more than a month ago that they would clean the wall properly this year. They have not done so, and all indications are that they will screw the people once again.

Shame on the LPAC and RPCC.

ALSO SEE:
Artists Up Against the Wall
I Hate to Say I Told You So...
Artists Screwed at the Wall Festival, Rogers Park

Smoke 'Em

Click for larger image

UPDATED: LOYOLA PARK BEACH OPEN FOR BUSINESS

FOOD VENDORS NOW WELCOME ON LOYOLA PARK BEACH!

CORRECTED/UPDATED - The Bench mistakenly said yesterday that this vendor was not licensed. In fact, there is a tiny permit on the cart. This only reinforces The Bench's assertion that Chicago Park District is selling out to push cart vendors along the beach.

This is great news for food vendors in Chicago.

This vendor set up shop on Saturday, May 24 at the south end of Loyola Park on Chicago's north side.

The vendor was back on Sunday, May 25 and Monday, May 26 - and why not? There's money to be made selling chips and soda and hot dogs at the beach.

This adds a whole new dimension to Rogers Park's already famous dining scene. And now - apparently - anybody can just set up shop on the beach! How long will it be before the Park District allows 20 more vendors onto Loyola Park's beach?

According to Chicago Park Concessions Management, to sell food you need several things. Their web site says, "Each concession must have at least two (2) persons certified with the Chicago Dept. of Health Certified Foodservice Manager Certificate." The Bench observed several periods when the vendor had only one person tending the food cart.

Loyola Park Wall Being Sandblasted

This morning, Streets & Sanitation had two men cleaning the wall. One man was chipping away while the other was blasting with high pressure air. He told me there was actually no sand, but "a little bit of baking soda" in the air stream.

Last year, Rogers Park residents who shelled out more than $30 each to paint small stretches of a wall along the beach pathway at Loyola Park were screwed. The wall was improperly "prepped."

It was merely whitewashed, leaving several layers of old paint from previous years. The result was immediate peeling with days of the "prepping" and months of the artists' work looking like hell.

"This is great, glad to see you guys doing this," I said to the man chipping off the old paint.

"Yah," he replied, "there was some guy up here who made a big beef about cleaning it."

Now, who could that be, hmmmm?

Related:
Artists Up Against the Wall
Artists Screwed at the Wall Festival, Rogers Park
I Hate to Say I Told You So...

Busch Gardens, Chicago!

Welcome to "Busch Gardens" in Chicago! That's right, here in the Rogers Park neighborhood, you see, we have more than our fair share of drunkards and dope addicts.

They love to hang out in Loyola Park and drink by the "Circle Garden" near the east end of Morse Avenue.

Despite the beautiful tulips planted by the Rogers Park Garden Group, this bad behavior continues. Can we expect the same at the Metra Station on Ravenswood?

Loyola Park Pathways Repaired (No Thanks to Joe Moore)

Nice! Yesterday, a crew from the Chicago Park Department repaved the pathways in Loyola Park.

The pathways had been in severe disrepair for years, and posed many hazards to bicyclists and pedestrians alike.

Ah, the smell of fresh asphalt! That's progress, folks, and the crew did a great job.

This would probably have been done years ago if 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore had any sway with Mayor Daley. The mayor hates Joe Moore.

I'm told that they will paint the paths next week.

Even Lake Westgard was repaired (bottom photo).

Unfortunately, the dangerous Westgard Canal Zone remains, with its deep gouges in the earth.

In the bottom photo, a woman with a cane is seen carefully negotiating her way through the dangerous hazard that was illegally dug last summer by a local mechanics lien lawyer.

Loyola Park Repairs Continue

Repairs by the Chicago Park District in Loyola Park are progressing nicely. For years, hundreds of feet of crumbling curbs along the inner pathway posed a hazard to people trying to sit on the benches.

The pathways, along the western perimeter of the park, are also in bad need of repair.

Photo by contributor geOrge

Public Works Update: Loyola Park

Kudos to the Chicago Park District for beginning repairs on the curbs along the beautiful rows of benches along Loyola Park's beachfront in Rogers Park. Better late than never, we say.

These benches are a favorite hangout of 49th Ward senior citizens and habitual drunkards alike.

For years, the curbs have been a hazard to negotiate, especially if you're a senior citizen or a habitual drunk. Habitually drunk senior citizens were in mortal danger every time they stepped onto or off of these curbs.

Meanwhile, along the same stretch of beachfront, the twice-failed Westgard Canal Zone and Lake have flooded over, imperiling thousands of local residents.

Recently, the canal was doubled; a second trench was dug out of the Chicago Park District soil in an effort to increase drainage capacity, but this failed as miserably as the first trench did nearly a year ago.

Mess Grows at Loyola Park

There's a mystery at Westgard's Canal in Loyola Park.

Last summer, a local man dug a trench to drain a large puddle at a park along Lake Michigan, near the eastern end of W. Lunt Avenue.

Single handedly, he marched with a little shovel to Loyola Park on Chicago's north side, in the eccentric Rogers Park neighborhood. The trench he dug was crude, but failed to provide drainage for the better part of a year. (Photo, top, taken April 4, 2008.)

The man was so proud of digging a little trench to drain a puddle that he boasted about it on his web site. (He was later so embarrassed by it that he deleted the posting.)

Within the past 72 hours, new digging was executed at the site now referred to as "Westgard's Canal" (bottom two photos).

It's another trench, a mirror of the original. Whoever did the new digging, which is just as crude as the original, did not care about tidiness.

It is now more treacherous than ever for somebody to walk through the area, with increased danger of twisted knees or ankles.

The newly expanded mess looks as inefficient as the original mess. Who did this? Was it Westgard again? Or some other attorney?

Through the Tulips

Thanks to the Rogers Park Garden Group, these tulips add a colorful dash of beauty to Loyola Park Beach in Rogers Park, Chicago. The bulbs were donated to RPGG by a generous local resident. Beautiful!

Whaling at Loyola Park

This cute whale thing-a-ma-bob is one of two at Loyola Park Beach in Rogers Park.

Whales are fun, especially when you have one saddled up and ready to ride.

Or so I'm told.

Danger in Loyola Park

Thanks to George for this warning:

This “exercise area” is near the Morse Avenue entrance to Loyola Park. There are two 6-10 inch bolts that are bent over, and someone could very easily catch their foot in one - especially a young child. ~ George