Chicago odds and ends

Goya's "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" - it was just in a dimly-lit corridor:

Recognize the pattern on this grandfather clock?

Strange statuary in the park next to the museum: this one actually moved - when you least expected it.


Big mirrored curvy thing:


Every dinosaur is improved by having me stand in front of it:


I have no idea what's going on here. It appears to be a car with eyes and a tongue--which has a gold pig and something else hanging off it. This and the dinosaur are on loan from China.




These signs were everywhere. I'm not sure what we were supposed to do - look up and get it in the face? Walk in the road?

The Art Institute of Chicago

As you may have gathered, I went to Chicago to attend the Central Meeting (there are three - East, West and this one) of the American Philosophical Association, to give a reply to a paper. The hotel the conference is in (the Palmer House - see blurry picture at end of previous post) is a block away from the Art Institute of Chicago, so rather than endure boring Philosophy talks, I went for a gander.

And, turns out it was stuffed with art that even I recognized. Allow me to give you a few examples:

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

Last week Thomas's friend Sofi called and asked Thomas if he would babysit her Guinea pigs for "a while." I said that he could but, looking back, I realize that I had gerbils in mind, living in a small plastic cage with cute little tubes going in and out of it. A few hours later, Sofi and her mom, Susan, arrived in their giant SUV and unloaded THIS monstrosity (along with several bales of hay, a giant sack of "food pellets," an even larger sack of wood shavings, a set of plastic gloves(?), six typed pages of instructions(!) and two squealing rodents). Their names are Tangerine (the feral orange one that won't let anyone touch it) and FayFay (or something like that), the b/w one that shivers miserably if you hold it. (Thomas objects to my characterization of the beasts; he claims that FayFay LOVES being held. He does admit that 'Tangie' is a sadly emotionally damaged individual.) Look at the mess these creatures make on the floor, as they dash about, scattering their shavings everywhere!Here they are, making mad grabs for a bit of hay, their favorite treat. (Although we seem to be going through mountains of organic romaine lettuce and I know I haven't been eating it.) They also make very bizarre noises, a bit like R2D2. Meanwhile, what are these guys doing in our front yard? They showed up a few days ago and were milling around our street for a few hours. It was too cold outside to go out and ask.

Simon's Chicago Adventure

Time to settle in for the long haul (about 5 hours). Fortunately, AMTRAK gives you MUCH more room than English trains:


Three episodes of "Life On Mars" and a dead laptop battery later: The Windy City! The City of the Broad Shoulders! No, not Gary, Indiana, the other one:


I have to say, Union Station looks a lot better on the outside than on the inside. Pulling in to a platform is like getting stuck in a tunnel. Not exactly welcoming:


They've got some tall buildings here, I don't know if you knew:


And here we are: the APA Central's permanent home, it seems.