Ice Ice Baby

Yes, that's ICE. My car looked like a glazed taxi donut. Ooh...I'm hungry all of a suddenI

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Out in the suburbs surrounding Chicago there are four different highways owned by the Illinois Tollway Authority. As you might have guessed, these roadways all sport a series of toll plazas where drivers get to pay for the privilege of driving on the tollway system.



Fortunately, to break the monotony of regularly timed payments, the scenery along the tollways is dotted with Oases where a parched passenger can get a belly full of food and non-alcoholic drink; buy some worthless, travel-related trinkets; play some games; buy some expensive, not-necessarily-travel-related doodads; and spend some quality time alone on a modified chair in a small cubicle to work out some uncomfortable issues that may have built up on the long journey...



They all possess an understated air of grandeur, oxymoronic as that may sound.




Each offers a spectacular view...if you're wowed by cars and trucks whizzing by beneath your feet!



Panda Express...the least (I hope) of several evils available
at the Oasis.



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Bloopers, Episode 1

Occasionally I slip up and forget to post on a given day. I hereby make up the rule that as long as I eventually make a post to cover the skipped day or days, then I'm within the legal bounds of the covenant I made with...myself. Hah. Write to the president, CEO and King of Phlog. See if he responds to your complaint.

Hah.

And, so, anyways, in keeping with the theme of mistakes, here's a photo for which I had a very brief window of opportunity while sitting at a red light. The camera was on a setting I didn't wish to use, and the extra second fiddling with it cost me dearly, and of course the vehicle that pulled up beside me before I could squeeze off a good shot was a big ol' badass pickup truck. Grrrr!

But you still can read the message on the board. Despite the fact that it's out in front of a church, and that it touts some sort of spiritual revelation if you obey its innocuous suggestion... aside from all that, it's a pretty clever gimmick.





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When you have to work it, you realize it's the only day with a turd in the middle of it

Enough already!


Marlin Brant? Alas, it was too good to be true. This was a
no-show/prank call. I mean, really, who would do such
a thing to their kid?


Idling backstage while the rest of the cast was on...



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Wise Gas So Expensive?

A wise thief must be afoot....



ARRRRGGGHHH!



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Ideal Idle Idol Idyll

While this post's title may imply that nothing was done, that's only what one might assume from the imaginativeness of the photos posted here lately. I've just been busy, sleep-deprived and photographically uninspired.

And, yes, today's post is one of those shoot-something-just-to-keep-to-your-word photos, a shot of the screen displaying the Excel spreadsheet I created to keep my taxi revenue in order.

Exciting stuff.



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Wings

I happened to catch a fare into the city that took me west of downtown and past Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke's hospital. I had gone there quite often when the ex-Mrs. Farrago's father lived with us, and his Parkinson's disease demanded much scrutiny and frequent correction. That was only four years ago at the latest. This hulk wasn't there back then!!

It's very wingy.



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Passage

The hallway in my apartment building looks creepy only in photograph. It's really a nice warm fuzzy place.



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Bobba Q

Mmmmmmm... Good Eats!

I ate here tonight right before the Bleacher Bums rehearsal I had on one of my days off from Emma's Child.



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Eye

This is what most of Phlog's photos are taken with, the obvious exception being this photo. This is also the last photo taken with my Motorola Krave mobile phone, which was replaced by my new iPhone.



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Randomly

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Moon Lighting

The inspiration was better than the execution, here, as the sky and moon were not actually as blurry as they appear.




Too Cute for Words




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SHOWTIME!

Some backstage business on opening night of Emma's Child...








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GUSH!

iPhone!

Click on the photo to see the iPhone at its prettiest iPhone-ness!


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Anticipation

The set is almost finished. Lines are getting tighter.
The show is coming together. We open in two days!



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Winter Takes a Break

It's a Melty, Melty, Melty, Melty World



Apparently there's some sort of drainage through this
school building...?

Emma's Child — T Minus Three, and Counting...
The medical props/set pieces are IN!!


The tech crew reported tonight. The first tech rehearsal
is a BITCH!



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"Birthday"

Over at my other blog I have occasionally waxed enthusiastic about the Chicago Karaoke Underground Party, though I haven't ever shared any images.

One of the many cool things that goes on at this party is that we celebrate the birthday of anyone whose occurs that month with a group serenade with Birthday by the Beatles. We do it as close to midnight as possible, which usually lends to quite a rich "harmony." And then there's cake. The party truly is a regular blast!





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Increments

Emma's Child set moves closer to completion, cast moves
closer to ready.



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Deceptions

That's Snow Mountain!



Electric Fire

A set piece from Emma's Child: A campfire.



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Moving

More Fun With Motion Blur






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Looming

Our show opens in one week. There's a mildly frightening sense of "behindness" with regard to the set — with which I have nothing to do — and with the performances, my own included. But it'll come together. It always seems to come together.





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Scale

The photos above and below show the scale of the snow that is on the ground in the Chicago area. The depth of the snow in these shots does not reflect the depth of the snowfall, but rather the amount of snow that has been pushed aside and piled up for traffic. In some places it feels like I'm driving through a white-walled corridor.




...And the rehearsals continue...



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Ten Days 'Til Opening Night

Rehearsal for Emma's Child in progress...



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Snoozer Bowl Sunday

My TV during the game Sunday.



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The War on Snow

The Warriors


Casualties of War




The Occupation




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Suburban Sunset

Perhaps my favorite time of day to shoot (pre-dawn or post sunset twilight). I love how light plays and spills on surfaces.





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