Morse Ave Is Great!

Archie Loves Everything

2007-04-29T09:37:00.001-05:00

Folks -- Archie Gait Loves Everything and Everyone in the World is the only place to be. Trust me!

If you can't beat 'em...

2006-02-14T18:31:00.000-06:00

...AND you can't join 'em....

The only thing I could think of to do was to love 'em.

Archie Gait loves everything.

Scandal!

2006-02-07T11:10:00.000-06:00

Hey -- want to read Newsweek this month? It'll cost you however much it costs to buy Newsweek.

Are there any features in the table of contents for the Newsweek Magazine and Nightclub?

I know. Maybe I can totally rip on the staff of that fine publication and then go to their offices and demand a free issue. That seems logical.

----

Fuck that -- I'm sick of apologizing for that joke.

Happy Thanksgiving

2005-11-24T10:35:00.000-06:00

Howdy folks. Sorry it's been so long since I've had anything to post here, but with the holidays coming up and all, there have been too many distractions.

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Have a lovely holiday!

Puddle Problem Solved?

2005-11-17T11:40:00.000-06:00

Well, it looks as if the alderman's office has finally come up with a solution to all those puddles we've been seeing around lately: by lowering the ambient temperature several degrees, the precipitation, which formerly fell in a liquid state, now falls in a crystalline, semi-solid state. This prevents the puddling and dampness previously experienced. It also has the nice benefit of looking very pretty. I can foresee no problems or bad side-effects arising from this solution and so I tip my hat and shout, "Huzzah!" to the alderman and his staff. Way to go!

Question Marks

2005-11-14T14:20:00.000-06:00

From the guide to grammar and writing.

Use a question mark [ ? ] at the end of a direct question. It is considered bad form to use a question mark in combination with other marks, although that is often done in informal prose in an attempt to convey complex tones: He told you what!? That combination (or similar combination) of punctuation marks is sometimes called an interrobang, but the interrobang currently has no role in academic prose.

A tag question is a device used to turn a statement into a question. It nearly always consists of a pronoun, a helping verb, and sometimes the word not. Although it begins as a statement, the tag question prevails when it comes to the end-mark: use a question mark. Notice that when the statement is positive, the tag question is expressed in the negative; when the statement is negative, the tag question is positive. (There are a few exceptions to this, frequently expressing an element of surprise or sarcasm: "So you've made your first million, have you?" "Oh, that's your plan, is it?") The following are more typical tag questions:

He should quit smoking, shouldn't he?
He shouldn't have quit his diet, should he?
They're not doing very well, are they?
He finished on time, didn't he?
She does a beautiful job, doesn't she?
Harold may come along, mightn't he?
There were too many people on the dock, weren't there?
(Be careful of this last one; it's not "weren't they?")

Be careful not to put a question mark at the end of an indirect question.

The instructor asked the students what they were doing.
I asked my sister if she had a date.
I wonder if Cheney will run for vice president again.
I wonder whether Cheney will run again.

Question marks are not used at the end of statements.

Hope everyone can show up for this federally funded, pork barrel, $800,000 meeting.
We know they keep track of what's going on.
It was called, "Questions for my new neighor."
If this story was about bread, it would be moldy by now.
From what we hear below, RPCC must be failing.

When a question constitutes a polite request, it is usually not followed by a question mark. This becomes more true as the request becomes longer and more complex:

Would everyone in the room who hasn't received an ID card please move to the front of the line.

Rules of Apostrophe Use

2005-11-13T21:46:00.000-06:00

From the Apostrophe Protection Society:

The rules concerning the use of Apostrophes in written English are very simple:

1. They are used to denote a missing letter or letters, for example:
I can't instead of I cannot
I don't instead of I do not
it's instead of it is

2. They are used to denote possession, for example:
the dog's bone
the company's logo
Jones's bakery (but Joneses' bakery if owned by more than one Jones)

... but please note that the possessive form of it does not take an apostrophe any more than ours, yours or hers do
the bone is in its mouth

... however, if there are two or more dogs, companies or Joneses in our example, the apostrophe comes after the 's':
the dogs' bones
the companies' logos
Joneses' bakeries

3. Apostrophes are NEVER ever used to denote plurals! Common examples of such abuse (all seen in real life!) are:
Banana's for sale which of course should read Bananas for sale
Menu's printed to order which should read Menus printed to order
MOT's at this garage which should read MOTs at this garage
1000's of bargains here! which should read 1000s of bargains here!
New CD's just in! which should read New CDs just in!
Buy your Xmas tree's here! which should read Buy your Xmas trees here!

Note: Special care must be taken over the use of your and you're as they sound the same but are used quite differently:
your is possessive as in this is your pen
you're is short for you are as in you're coming over to my house

words that don't exist

2005-11-08T23:19:00.000-06:00

Just a little service to you, my friends. Make sure not to use these words (or at least these spellings!)

defuncted
un-lock
re-locate
with-out
out-look
un-supervised
re-newed
~~charette~~ (I stand corrected)
sneeky
with-in (new! november 16th)

Puddle Jumping (again)

2005-11-05T21:39:00.000-06:00

I thought we'd had the problem licked -- the rain had stopped, the puddles either drained or dried up manually, but a week and a half later and we're back in the same spot we were before. More puddles, this time filled with those incredibly frustrating yellow leaves that seem to have invaded the entire street.

bloggers working together

2005-11-04T04:17:00.000-06:00

I just saw this post on the Broken Heart of Rogers Park which says:

"For a refreshing out-look, with photos of, and sassy comments about Rogers Park, please visit the world famous I Love Morse Ave. Blog!"

It warms my heart to a) be advertised like that; b) be called "world famous" (I think that's an exaggeration, though there are readers of this blog from Brazil); and c) be called "sassy" (or at least my comments were...)

Many people think that this blog is at odds with other blogs, or that I am at odds with other people, but that is not the point of this at all. I'm glad that we can finally move past all that.

Crazy Gray Sky

2005-11-01T17:08:00.000-06:00

No more crazy blue sky.

Good Advice

2005-10-31T21:46:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween everybody! Try not to anger the god...

Puddle Jumping (Updated Again!)

2005-10-27T13:48:00.000-05:00

As has already been mentioned in the comments -- the puddles have been removed. Soon after my encounter with the pancake-eating DevCorp North employee, I saw several of the orange-vested fellows soaking up all the water with wads of paper towels, making our streets more attractive and friendlier to pedestrians, and proving that we can make a difference!

Puddle Jumping (Update!)

2005-10-26T15:13:00.000-05:00

I approached a DevCorp North worker and began asking him about the issue with the puddles in the street. He was too busy eating pancakes and refused to respond. I attempted to take photos of him, but he got very angry and aggressive, so all I have is this artist's conception:

Big Shots Ignore Wet Puddle on Ground

2005-10-25T04:02:00.000-05:00

No one noticed. All the big shots walked right past it and dozens other like it. Twice. Or three times. Maybe four. Not Jim. Not Stevie. Not even Big Fat Tony Polkadoodle.

Streets with puddles are not inviting places to walk.

Yet all these people are forced to walk right past this water which, as you can see in the picture, was only gaining in volume due to the well-evidenced rain drops. Nobody did anything about the rain either.

self-censorship

2005-10-22T22:10:00.000-05:00

This post has been removed by the author.

musings

2005-10-21T17:14:00.000-05:00

There is ample evidence that Rogers Park is a unique animal in the zoo of Chicago neighborhoods. There is more of a community than anywhere else in the city, but at what cost? The soap opera drama feeds upon itself and continues unabated. The grandstanding, name-calling, and muckraking are unparalleled. Regardless of the claims of the combatants, it really gets us nowhere because it puts everyone into an us-against-them mentality. It is a "you are with us or you are against us" atttitude that forces people to choose sides and alienates those who may want similar results, but personally need to come at it from a different angle.

I would love to see Rogers Park become the peaceful, safe, vibrant community that everyone else wishes it could be. It's something we know it can be. I just can't get on board with the people who are always yelling and pointing fingers and...

...whoopsy! I meant to say, "Look at this pretty and exclusive picture!"

Drama=Sales

2005-10-20T00:58:00.000-05:00

What other equations can we come up with?

Time=Money
y=mx+b

sometimes...

2005-10-19T12:47:00.000-05:00

it's all i can do to hold my tongue, keep my own counsel and post a picture of a tree turning some pretty cool colors on a beautiful day.

that time of year

2005-10-14T17:46:00.000-05:00

crazy sky

2005-10-13T17:44:00.000-05:00

apology

2005-10-11T11:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry about last night's post. Was just in a bad, negative, non-productive mood. All better!

Agony

2005-10-10T23:21:00.000-05:00

I stubbed my toe. I think I'll blame Joe Moore.

falling fast

2005-10-10T08:11:00.000-05:00

Seems like the time for flowers will soon be over.... Ah well, time for leaves turning colors and snow scenes....

cart

2005-10-07T00:26:00.000-05:00

Man oh man is this a dramatic shot! I made it even more dramatic by making it black and white. If only I'd entered this into the "conflict" category of the rogerspark.com photo contest, I know I would have won.

Flyer

2005-10-04T21:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry it took so long to get to this. My camera really didn't like the soaking it got, but at least I was able to salvage this exclusive photo.

You may have noticed the kids at GAAF handing out flyers for various events and organizations. They were nice and polite as they eagerly handed me a slip of paper advertising the exclusive photos of Craig's excellent blog. I took the flyer home, but it seems that not all of the flyers were treated so carefully. Walking through an alley, I came across this scene. I guess this duck, which was the gift of one of the booths at the fest, was going to use it for nesting material or something.

The lesson here is that while we may have the best intentions with the things we hand out, they don't always end up where we'd like them to.

GAAF

2005-10-03T11:28:00.000-05:00

GAAF

What a great weekend it was. Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest was a huge success, even with the huge rainstorm that soaked all of us out there at the time. But, into everybody’s lives a little rain must fall, right? And it was gone as quickly as it started…just like the fest.

The great thing was how it brought out all the folks of the neighborhood and got them to explore the area a bit more than they might have already done. Plus, there were so many local “stars” out on Saturday and Sunday nights, it was all I could do to keep my cool. I don’t want to drop any names, because I’m more discrete than that.

I’ve got some “exclusive photos” that I’m going to share, just as soon as I can figure out how to get all the water out of my camera.

bricollage

2005-09-29T13:43:00.000-05:00

fence

2005-09-28T07:58:00.000-05:00

Glenwood Ave Arts Fest Part 2

2005-09-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

I was really happy to be able to meet up with Juggles the Juggling Juggler today as he worked his way down Morse Ave., practicing up for the Lifeline Theater/Morseland/Heartland Cafe/Special Service Area #24/Devon Bank/Al Goldberg Artspace/Rogers Park Builders Group/First Commercial Bank/DevCorp North funded Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest. This guy is a real class act and an absolute treat to watch. He just juggles up and down the street without a care in the world! I asked him a few questions about his craft and his life.

AG: So, Juggles, what's it like to be a cheerleading puppet for the SSA and DevCorp?
Juggles: Excuse me?
AG: I'm just kidding. But seriously, how do you feel about the fact that you're just a tool of the Rogers Park alderman's office and that they're using you and this Arts Fest as a way to direct attention to places other than the corruption, graft and sex scandals that pop up every day? My readers demand answers!
Juggles: I'm sorry, I don't follow you.
AG: Again, just a joke. My readers don't care about that sh*t. What I really want to know is, can you teach me how to juggle?
Juggles: Of course I can! Anybody can learn to juggle!

And so Juggles spent the morning, teaching me how to juggle, and everything was bright and beautiful and lovely.

Glenwood Ave Arts Fest

2005-09-26T18:52:00.000-05:00

I'm really looking forward to the Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest this weekend. There's little I like more than a street fair, with the food, the music, the artists, vendors and all the festoonery. "The Special Service Area #24 funded Art fest" should prove to be a great time. It would seem that people are getting ready for it well in advance, as these photos prove. I hope to have an exclusive photo and interview with a special GAAF participant tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Attack!

2005-09-24T12:28:00.000-05:00

I was just trying to take some cool pictures of some cool stuff when these two thugs approached me and began giving me a hard time.

"You're Archie Gait, aint'cha?" he shouted. "We don't like your positive attitude around here."

So I snapped this shot as he raised his hand to beat me down. I wasn't wary of them at first because they weren't dressed in clothes like this which I understand to be their uniform. Sad days. Sad days indeed.

So before they could give me any more of their attitude, grief or violence, I sped off, but vowed to return another day. They won't stop me!

2005-09-23T03:14:00.000-05:00

The moon is back to normal! Thank goodness!

Watch out...

2005-09-22T00:59:00.000-05:00

The moon is a squiggly line tonight.

Love!

2005-09-21T13:00:00.000-05:00

The swirly heart of love on Morse Ave....

wknd

2005-09-19T09:35:00.000-05:00

Good weekend -- hung out up at the Rogers Park World Music Fesitval at Gale Park which was really nice, even if some of the bands weren't my thing. It was good to see that park have some positive things happen in it.

And I read this interesting description of some looting:

"As the night wore on, and the terrors aggregated into an intesnity of miser, the thieves, amateur and professional, dropped all pretense at concealment and plied their knavish calling undaunted by any fears of immediate retribution. They would storm into stores, smash away at the safes, and if, as happily was almost always the case, they failed to effect an opening, they would turn their attention to securing all of value from the stock that could conveniently be made away with, and then slouch off in search of further booty. The promise of a share in the spoils gave them the assistance of rascally express-drivers, who stood with their wagons before doors of stores, and waited as composedly for a load of stolen property to be piled in as if they were receiving the honestly-acquired goods of the best man in town.... The scenes of robbery were not confined to the sacking of stores. Burglars would rain into the private dwellings that lay in the track of the coming destruction, and snatch ... anything which their practical senses told them would be of value. Interference was useless. The scoundrels ... were inflamed with drink, and were alarmingly demonstrative in the flourishing of deadly weapons. Sometimes women and children, and not infrequently men, would be stopped as they were bearing from their homes objects of especial worth, and the articles would be torn from their grasp by gangs of these wretches."

Even worse, from another source:

"In this chaos were hundreds of children, wailing and crying for their parents. One little girl, in particular, I saw, whose golden hair, worn loose on her back, had caught fire. She ran screaming past me, and someone threw a glass of liquor upon her, which flared up and covered her with a blue flame."

flrs

2005-09-09T13:26:00.000-05:00

Relief

2005-09-07T23:28:00.000-05:00

Hey folks -- Kerry Finerty is spinning at Morseland on Friday Sept 9 and your 5 dollar donations go to Direct Relief International. Check it out! It should be a lot of fun and it's another opportunity to help out victims of Katrina....

making a mark

2005-09-07T09:53:00.000-05:00

Fink was here!

Happy Labor Day!

2005-09-05T14:16:00.000-05:00

I hope everybody has a safe and happy Labor Day!

2005-09-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

Here's a gargoyle guarding over the corner of Morse & Sheridan. Guard us against run-on sentences and misspellings and bad grammar, Mr. Gargoyle! Please!

New Orleans

2005-09-02T04:08:00.000-05:00

I know it's not on Morse Ave, but I figured I'd mention it --

Here's what's wrong with some things I've heard and read about New Orleans:

1) A reporter talking to a woman and her son who just moved to New Orleans from Texas and ran a concession stand on the beach which had been destroyed by the hurricane.

Reporter: And you just moved here so you weren't expecting anything like this.
Woman: Uh, no.

Reporter: What was your initial reaction when you saw your business was gone?

What the fuck kind of question is this? What kind of reporting is this? Why do you need to even ask a woman what her reaction was when she saw her business was gone. Her reaction was "Oh shit, there goes my business."

2) "Looters should be shot on site."

First of all, the word is "sight," not "site." Secondly, that sort of reaction, and that sort of writing do nothing to solve any problems. It's such a gangland reaction from people who are allegedly against gangland activities. It's frustrating to no end and the misspelling just adds to my anger. Grr.

3) It feels like we're all two days late with this.

Respect!

2005-09-01T10:54:00.000-05:00

Hey: this is everybody's responsibility. Let's keep this beautiful neighborhood clean. Kudos Berny & Joe. A great initiative.

never forget

2005-08-31T09:11:00.000-05:00

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Morse Avenue's beautiful flowers. Here are some truly lovely ones.

what a deal!

2005-08-30T12:43:00.000-05:00

Free checking?
Free on-line banking?
Free on-line bill pay?
Color me impressed!

skyline

2005-08-29T21:32:00.000-05:00

Taking a break from looking so deep within ourselves, let us spare a moment to take a glance south. This from Loyola Park at Morse on a beautiful day indeed.

Sun & Speculation

2005-08-26T12:30:00.000-05:00

No pictures today, as the camera's in the shop...or I'm just too lazy. It's beautiful out, though, you'd have to agree, and all appears to be well down on our little Morse Avenue.

There has been some speculation about what this blog is all about -- is it a hoax, the ramblings of some deluded fool or worst of all: another in a long line of evil plots by the nefarious fat cats in city hall (or alderman's offices, or Office Max, or wherever they are) to fool you, the average citizen into believing that life is hunky dory.

I will now reveal everything to you, my friends.

It's just me, Archie Gait, writing some stuff, nothing more, nothing less.

Site traffic!

2005-08-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

Suddenly people are visiting the site and commenting on stuff. It's fantastic. Thanks for visiting, everyone, and for your positive comments, especially Charlie (a local celebrity, ohmygodohmygod!)....

Today's picture!

A view from the el tracks -- what a great spot on Morse, huh? The Duds in Suds (I love that name); a Taqueria; the mini-mart (they've saved my butt on more than one occasion when I needed some incense real quick) and last but not least: Morse Gyros....home of some damn fine gyros.

Funniest blog of the month

2005-08-24T21:29:00.000-05:00

Me funny? I think you're funny too!

But seriously -- it is a real honor for me to win this prestigious award. I put a lot of time an effort into this blog, and while it's not really my intent to be funny, I do appreciate the recognition. I want to thank everyone that's helped me out so far. I couldn't have done it without you!

Private Eyes...They're Watching You....

2005-08-24T09:40:00.000-05:00

Pardon the title of this post, but I just couldn't resist. This is the CPD camera pod on Morse Ave. @ the el. There's a flashing blue light on top (I must have taken the picture at the wrong moment to catch it) that lets everyone in the neighborhood know it's on and taking pictures and that you should not do anything bad lest you end up on camera.

A lot of people don't like these things because they feel it's an invasion of privacy but I think it's like having a police officer standing right there 24/7. The only difference is that this costs a whole lot less....

I say if you're not doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about! Welcome to the neighborhood, camera pod! I salute you!

Pink

2005-08-20T14:14:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know me know that I'm not the kind of guy who will automatically dismiss something just because it's pink. You know that kind of guy -- "pink is for girls!" Well, maybe it is a more feminine color, but that doesn't make it bad! Why do people always stare at me when I wear my pink t-shirts? I mean, come on! But that's besides the point: look at these gorgeous pink flowers I saw on the 1500 block of Morse. Beautiful!

Foliage

2005-08-19T12:50:00.000-05:00

That rain yesterday, though it darkened the sky, did bless us with brand new foliage along Morse Ave. Thank you rain!

The Moon Over My Hammy

2005-08-19T00:44:00.000-05:00

No, I didn't go to Denny's. I was on Morse Ave. (again!) and look what I saw -- the MOON, brighter and bigger than life.

Helpful Tips!

2005-08-18T12:11:00.000-05:00

Saw this on the ground today and thought, my goodness, this is helpful. Which career will you choose?

Crazy Blue Sky

2005-08-17T17:45:00.000-05:00

This is an actual photo of the actual sky. That's way too blue to be safe, mister sky. How'd you get so blue? You stop that right now!

Pretty

2005-08-16T11:38:00.000-05:00

Saw these pretty berries on the 1200 block of Morse. They sure are pretty. I wondered if they're poisonous but then I thought, "No way anything on Morse Ave. could be poisonous!"

It's a bee-yoo-tee-ful day for sure!

Hi everyone!

2005-08-15T10:53:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to start writing stuff about how great Morse Ave is. It doesn't suck at all! So stay tuned! It's the blog your alderman wants you to read!