Mike Chinander

An ornate, arched stone entryway of a vintage red brick building. The entrance is framed by two light-colored stone columns supporting a horizontal lintel and a large semi-circular arch, both covered in intricate Sullivanesque-style carvings of floral and geometric patterns.

An interesting additional photo of the building; it was built (or at least designed) before the 1909 street renumbering, so the address numbers on the columns (1152-1254) aren't the current addresses (71-73) .

​A circular window on a red brick building, flanked by two terra cotta women in flowing robes.

Happy birthday! I saw this beauty (or beauties) on a walk in Washington Park over the weekend. 56th & Michigan.

A screenshot of the Chicago Data Portal website showing a table of "Food Inspections" search results for "ascione." The table includes several entries for restaurants named ASCIONE and BISTRO ASCIONE, listing details such as: * Inspection IDs (e.g., 2631262, 2631288) * License Numbers * Facility Type: All listed as "Restaurant" * Risk Levels: Ranging from "Risk 1 (High)" to "Risk 3 (Low)" * Addresses: Primarily 5500 S SHORE DR and 1500 E 55TH ST in Chicago, IL * Inspection Dates: Most recent dates shown are from February 2026, with others from 2025. * Inspection Types: Categorized as "License" or "Canvass." Would you like me to extract the specific data from this table into a spreadsheet-friendly format for you?

They recently passed their Chicago inspections for the Flamingo space; I wonder how soon they plan to open.

During Open House Chicago, I always marvel at all the models the architecture firms have around their offices.

It had an uncanny valley feel.

Ja needs to come up with a drone strike (powered by Ubiquiti™) celebration.

And you know he'll take credit if Mina does credit the Patriots' defense.

If it's going to be renamed after a fictional Italian-American, it should be for Robert "Rocky" Balboa. Then the signs would only need to have an 'a' added à la the Douglas -> Douglass change.

An abandoned tennis court with weeds and grass growing through large cracks in the pavement. A sagging net remains in place, surrounded by lush green trees and a chain-link fence under a clear blue sky with the Obama Center in view in the background.

It doesn't have architectural history, but they should also do something with these Jackson Park tennis courts located about a block south of the Obama Center.

A "Welcome to Hyde Park" informational sign featuring a photo of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and a detailed street map of the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, including a legend of local landmarks and transit stops.

Someone already made 'corrections' to the sign at 57th & Harper.

Three more interstellar objects will be detected entering (and leaving) our solar system. Avi Loeb will proclaim that all are definitely alien spacecraft for contradictory reasons.

Had this happen to me a few weeks ago on a Sunday outbound Metra Electric train. It was exacerbated by an icy platform that hadn't been salted yet that morning. Another rider and I had to balance trying to hurry to an open car and walking safely on the icy platform.

Mandating Roman numerals for all State communications can't be far behind.

I need Hurts to have a big game to make my fantasy league's playoffs; two turnovers on one play isn't helping (and now another).

I'm planning to visit Montreal for the first time early this summer so welcome any general tips. I was just looking at their bike-share program, Bixi, and they have something I wish Divvy offered, trailer rentals. bixi.com/en/trailer-p...

Photo looking out over railroad tracks leading towards the tall buildings of the Chicago skyline partly shrouded in mist on a cloudy foggy morning.

How many of this view are you including?

A screenshot of a year-in-review statistic on a black background. The header text reads "PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT." In the center is a circular graphic featuring the show's logo in bright yellow neon text, surrounded by neon illustrations of a dolphin, plants, and geometric shapes. Below the image, large white text reads "Top 0.4% of viewers," followed by a sub-caption reading, "You watched 125 of their videos this year—that's dedication."

I found out a lot about what @pablo.show found out this year.

A screenshot of a mobile app screen titled "WiFi." At the top is an illustration of a vertical modem with green indicator lights. Below, bold text reads "You're offline" followed by "There's an outage in your area." A clickable row with a red exclamation mark icon says "View outage details." Underneath is a purple promotional card for "Xfinity Mobile WiFi PowerBoost." The navigation bar at the bottom shows the "WiFi" tab is currently selected.

From the Xfinity app. I have no idea how accurate it is, but it's Comcast's estimate.

A screenshot of a mobile "Outage details" screen containing the following information: Estimated time of restoration is 12/04/2025 at 08:30 PM CST; Services impacted are TV, Channels, Internet, On Demand, and Voice; Outage reported on 12/03/2025 at 07:38 AM CST; Status is "Under investigation"; and Cause is "Network damage."

Hopefully, they're being overly pessimistic on their estimated restoration time. That 8:30pm *tomorrow*.

A photo shows the trunk of a deciduous tree with rough, brown-gray bark that splits into three main trunks near the ground. The base of the central trunk shows significant damage from gnawing, with the outer bark and sapwood removed in a ragged ring, exposing lighter wood. Sawdust or wood shavings are visible on the ground around the base, which is covered in fallen brown and yellow autumn leaves. In the background, is the Columbian Basin and the Museum of Science and Industry. A green banner with the word "SPECIES" and the text "American Beaver" is digitally superimposed near the top of the tree trunk, suggesting the cause of the gnawing damage.

A slightly wide, low-angle photo of several young, thin-trunked trees in a park in late autumn or early winter. The ground is completely covered with a dense layer of fallen leaves in shades of orange, brown, and red. One of the trees on the left has a section of its trunk wrapped in a protective mesh or wire fencing. Another tree near the center has a visible ring of light-colored, chewed wood around its base, indicating beaver damage. In the background, there is tall, dry brown grass and brush, and a large, stately, light-colored stone building with many windows and columns is partially visible beyond the trees. The sky is overcast.

A beaver (or maybe a muskrat) found the one unprotected cherry tree. #JacksonPark #Chicago

Glancing at the graph, you would think there have been large changes in 'road quality', but the y-axis only ranges from 77 to 82%.

Is John going to let you keep your key to the Omnibus bunker?

Carrie Fisher: Even In Space There's A Double Standard For Women YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

This morning, I watched this clip of Carrie Fisher interview with Colbert. youtu.be/R1E6IexeSrQ?...

If the Pacers end up waiving him, the Wizards should sign him. They're not trying to win, and he would provide highlights for the fans that still show up to their games. He was also a Hoya.

“Besides, squirrels are just zhuzhed-up rats,” Mr. Dumaine adds. “Don’t let the tails fool you — they eat garbage too.”

A light-colored stone building with a circular corner tower, photographed at dusk. The building is illuminated, with warm light glowing from the windows. An American flag flies from the roof, and the building is situated on a grassy hill with trees around it against a colorful twilight sky.

The Chicago skyline at dusk, viewed from across a body of choppy water. The skyscrapers are lit up against a dramatic, cloudy sky, with a dark spit of land and trees in the foreground on the left.

A great blue heron and a great egret stand together on a large log over calm, greenish water. Their reflections are visible in the water below them.

Here are a few more photos from today.

A group of people gathered around a circular stone fire pit on a grassy shore next to a large body of water at dusk. The fire is glowing in the pit, and the scene is framed by several large trees under a cloudy sky.

A wide, green golf course fairway on a sunny day, with two golf carts visible on the grass. A line of dense trees stands in the background under a clear blue sky.

A view through the leafy branches of a large tree showing four people standing on a green behind a black metal fence on a sunny day playing croquet.

A group of people gathered around a small bonfire on a grassy bank at dusk. They are silhouetted against a purple and orange sunset sky, with the silhouette of a city skyline, including a large domed building, visible across a body of water in the background.

Another hellish Saturday in Chicago with (camp)fires and people wielding (golf) clubs and (croquet) mallets. #Chicago #JacksonPark #PromontoryPoint

A screenshot of a podcast app showing two downloaded episodes from today. The first podcast, from "Good Game with Sarah Spain," is titled "Asking for Help with Allison Schmitt" and is 41 minutes long. The second podcast, from "casuals with Katie Nolan," is titled "WNBA Finals, Phee vs. Cathy, and Not Marrying a Billionaire with Sarah Spain" and is paused with 1 hour and 28 minutes left.

Double dose of @sarahspain.com today.

Frankenstein 2, The Moderner Prometheus

Do you know what determines the launch window? The article states that for February, it opens on the fifth. The moon phase then is waning gibbous. I expect it has to do with the relative positions of the sun, Earth, and moon to optimize communications.