Nature's Canvas - Fall Colors Chicago

October 12, 2010 - Chicago - Fall has dabbed its vivid colors along Lake Michigan in Rogers Park at Pratt Beach, seen this afternoon.

Dog Beach Afternoon

Chicago - It was a beautiful afternoon at the dog beach in Uptown, north of of Montrose Beach, in Lincoln Park.

Moon Over Chicago (Photo)

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Cockatiel on the Beach

A cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) was spotted on Loyola Park's beach on August 10, and The Bench got photos. Most likely an escapee, the bird seems quite happy to be munching on seeds and flower buds in the dune area just north of the Pratt pier. Cockatiels are native to Australia's arid interior. Let's hope the little guy either returns to his cage or is smart enough to fly south before Fall sets in. Or, for that matter, before a local hawk eats him.

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.

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.

Tent People Living On Rogers Park's Beaches

At least one person, and quite possibly two, are living in tents along the Lake Michigan shoreline of Chicago's northern Rogers Park neighborhood. The life guards don't care. And two 24th district cops lied to The Bench about one of them.

As reported on June 24 by The Bench, a man has set up a tent at water's edge on the south end of Loyola Park, in the fenced off space reserved for wildlife.

Today, The Bench spoke with the Loyola Park beach dweller. He calls himself "Rainbow" and describes himself has a staunch liberal. He told me about his experiences as a prisoner around the country.

"Let me tell you," Rainbow said, "county jails are worse than regular prisons. You only get an hour a week for excercise in the county jails. It sucks."

But Rainbow learned valuable skills in those lockups. He showed me, for example, how to make a marijuana pipe out of the foil wrapping on a colored artist's pencil.

Rainbow keeps a "memorial" in the sand, in which a candle is kept lit to memorialize "everyone who dies everyday."

He says he eats well. "You should see the eight or nine dumpsters behind Devon Market," he told me. "Yesterday I got ham hocks right out of one. Still good. I bought a can of beans there and cooked it all up here, on the beach."

Do the lifeguards mind him being there? "They don't mind," he said, "I earn my keep by cleaning the beach." Litter all around his camp site, Rainbow said this with a straight face.

Meanwhile, up on Jarvis Beach, a police dispatch went out just as I was finishing my interview with Rainbow. Somebody living up there called 911 to report that somebody was living in a tent there. So I race up, camera ready.

I arrived at Jarvis Beach just as CPD squad car 2422 pulled to the end of the street. I snapped some photos of a tent, not exactly on the beach but on the grass of the small park. I asked the cops if they were there for the guy living in the tent.

"Why do you want to know?" one officer asked.

"There was a 911 call about it," I said.

"It's not illegal to pitch a tent," one cop said. He covered his name plate.

"Then why are you here?" I said. "Why was a car dispatched here, for a tent?"

It was so sadly typical. Two jerk cops who wish they were James Bond, protecting national security secrets, acting like bigshots. I won't bore you with details. In short, the two cops left without telling me anything, without getting out of their car, without inspecting the tent.

So the cops don't care enough to get out of their car and inspect a tent at Jarvis Beach that they were dispatched to look at, and the lifeguards don't care about a squatter littering and smoking dope with a huge spread in the wildlife space on Loyola Park beach.

Nice.

RELATED: One Classy Beach

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.

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

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.

Dreaming on Loyola Park Beach

A nice photo by friend George.

Dreaming on Loyola Park Beach, northern Chicago, Illinois.

Only In Rogers Park

A mail box on the beach?

Situated on the sands of Loyola Park in Rogers Park, Chicago, some good samaritans keep this former mail box stocked with plastic bags to be used by dog owners. I don't think I need to go into further detail.

Click to see larger image; the scribbles on the mailbox are amusing.

Thanks For Nothing, Chicago Park District

Bulldozing Loyola Beach, Chicago

This developer took bulldozer to beach on December 31, 2007. This exclusive photo by The Bench captures him in the act, breaking ground for his latest dream of castles and trenches, moats and fortresses.

Will Katy Hogan move to stop this evil developer? Can she do it in time?

Westgard's Puddle Freezes

One of the biggest public works projects in Chicago history is blocked by ice, rendering it impassable. The Westgard Drainage Canal, a massive excavation project completed just this summer, failed to drain water as promised.

As a result, a large body of water formed at the mouth of the canal, and the recent cold snap caused ice to form. That ice has stopped the flow of water into the canal, thus causing nearby residents to consider sand bagging and even possible evacuation to higher ground. The new body of water has been named Westgard's Puddle, after the namesake of the failed drainage project. Some scientists are already likening Westgard's Puddle to another large man-made body of water, the accidental Salton Sea in Southern California.

The enhanced photo to the right shows the coldest regions of the flood waters in blue and the warmest areas in red. Scientists have not been able to form a complete theory as to why the Westgard Drainage Canal has failed so completely, but some say it is simply a matter of poor engineering.

These photos, taken from above the canal, were obtained exclusively by The Bench. These aerial views of the Westgard Drainage Canal show what happens when humans try to fool Mother Nature, as the builders of the canal did.

Located in northern neighborhood of Rogers Park, the photography team endured frigid cold and unfriendly ruffians to get these photographs.

About Last Night

Rogers Park witnessed an incredible sunset last night (6/27/07). These photos were taken at Loyola Park Beach, looking north along Lake Michigan toward Evanston at 7:40 p.m.

Video: Mr. Boombox Entertains Drunks in Park

Artists Screwed at the Wall Festival, Rogers Park

2007 Artists Screwed at the Wall Festival 14th Annual Rogers Park Event June 16th & 17th Theme: “Crappy Paint Job"

Are you painting the cement bench at Loyola Beach Park? Did you pay $30.00 to paint over a nice fresh stretch of concrete? You did? The Loyola Park Advisory Council, LPAC took your money, but what are you getting in return?

You're getting a crappy, peeling, dirty wall on which to paint your artwork. You've been screwed, neighbor.

In years past, the wall has been sandblasted clean of layers of old paint. Not this year. RPB photographed the wall at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. The wall was painted over in white paint, and a sloppy job it was, too. The wall has several layers of paint on it, and it is already peeling severely. If you thought you were going to get a clean slate to paint on this weekend, you are in for a rude surprise.

Thanks for nothing, LPAC!