Translation Troubles for Chicago

I was a little surprised when roaming around Beijing over the weekend to see a new construction site emblazoned with the Olympics motto "One World, One Dream". Olympic slogans have been in the news lately in Chicago where they realized the original slogan, "Stir Your Soul", doesn't exactly translate well into all languages. Therefore, Chicago 2016 has decided to go with "Let Friendship Shine" instead. The move comes only a few weeks before the IOC comes to town for their city inspection, but I'm sure Hizzoner will have everything ready by then.

For the record, the Chinese translation of "Stir Your Soul" would be something like "燃烧你的激情" while the new "Let Friendship Shine" theme might be translated to something akin to "让友谊大放异彩".

That Toddling Town

Quick, pop quiz.
If I told you about a place where:
-the previous head of the government is currently in prison for racketeering and fraud

-there are protests in the main city's factories

-the government in the main city is regularly viewed as being hopelessly corrupt, its currently struggling in these difficult economic times, laying off workers and cutting back on city services

-the current head of the government is on his way to jail for corruption

-just yesterday a city sanitation employee who has worked for the city for 15 years (and been arrested 15 times previously) and who was bringing in $80,000 a year, was arrested again

Let me help you, the star NBA player recently was cut and required 10 stitches after "peeling an apple in bed".

Is anyone surprised that I'm talking about a state in the US? What the hell is wrong with Chicago (and Illinois)???

One wonders how long Blagojevich's arrest was planned and if it was delayed until after the election? One wonders what impact this will have on Chicago's Olympic bid. Further, the ultimate question is who is Senator Number 5?

Rebirth of Cool

Look at the 2 above photos. Let the image set in, a smiling President Obama and his equally happy (and tall) wife next to that funny looking monkey and his drab (and crazy) wife. Despite the economic difficulties the country faces, there are signs already the country is in for a new era of Camelot, and already hip Chicago is going to get even hipper.

The election of Obama is bound to benefit Chicago in one major way, its 2016 Olympics bid surely just got strengthened and now the city is bound to be a front runner for the Games. Obama and his Chicago gang of staffers will make regular trips back and restaurants are sure to gain a lot of hype from it, especially Rahm's favorite, Manny's.

But beyond that, just look at the 2nd photo, of the Obamas coming out of Chicago's Gold Coast institution for high end Italian, Spiaggia. The very chic Michelle, the very cool, relaxed and a little detached Barack, long strides and hands in his pocket. I have no idea how Obama will do as President. It's important to remember that he's only 4 years removed from being a STATE Senator.

At the same time, looking at the above, its hard not to feel hope about what comes next for America. It's such a departure from what we've seen and what the alternative was that you can't help but be excited. President Obama, he's cool like dat.

Now When Will Deep Dish Arrive?

The founder of this blog and former main editor is a Chicago guy and as such, has presumably spent many a night partying away at Crobar. The infamous Chicago nightlife hotspot has outposts in Lebanon and Buenos Aires and took stabs at the New York and Miami scene. Well, now its coming to Beijing, opening in the Solano complex just north of Chaoyang Park's west gate and extremely close to Lucky Street. Still no word on when it will open, but like a lot of things, it could be open before the Olympics.

Sure the Cubs and Sox have yet to come to Beijing, and you can't get a decent deep dish pizza (or any for that matter), but having Crobar is a step in the right direction.

One Step Closer for the Windy City

News is out that the IOC announced its final candidate cities for the 2016 Olympics and the final four are Madrid (Spain), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and finally Chicago. Doha was in the running to be amongst the finalists, but in the end they didn't advance.

We're over a year away from the final decision, but my money is that it comes down to Rio and Chicago. Tokyo will be a hard sell with this year's games being in Beijing and Madrid struggled with its bid for the 2012 Games. I would love to see it go to Chicago as its such a great city and it deserves it, however there has never been an Olympics in South America and so it seems highly likely that Rio will win out, but we'll have to see how the applicant process goes. Anyways, good luck to Chicago!

Foie Pas No More

The Chicago city council recently overturned its ban on foie gras, to the cheers of all Chicago foodies. I was sure I talked about the ban somewhere, but now I'm struggling to find it. In any case, the ban is a thing of the past. The fears that Chicago restaurants would lose their spot as arguably the best in the country and that it would damage their business didn't really pan out and very few restaurants were actually fined under the ban.

The city, using faulty knowledge of the treatment of the ducks whose livers become foie gras, should have never banned foie gras to begin with and it really made Chicago a laughing stock for awhile. The city has so many problems, to be concerned about duck liver and to send health inspectors to restaurants to search for foie gras in the cleanest kitchens in the city instead of checking out rat-infested diners and other small establishments was embarrassing. It was a disgrace.

It's great that logic has returned to the city council.

And I Don't Wear Jerseys I'm 30 Plus...

The other night I had a discussion with a friend who is a true kicksologist, far above and beyond my own admiration for shoes of all kind, not just "gym shoes" (showing my Chicago pride with that). Growing up in Chicago during the 90s, Jordans were the shoes (as Spizike said, "it's gotta be the shoes") that everybody wanted, and I wasn't any different. Okay, I know it was true of the entire country, but hell, after being in China for awhile, you realize how important Jordan was. Jordan was Chicago, Chicago was Jordan. As I got older, I strayed away from my youthful obsession with Jordans, but after all these years, the release of the Air Jordan XX3, the final edition of numbered Jordans came out and I had to cop them immediately after seeing them. One more nod to my love of all things Chicago and final thanks to the man who took the Bulls from a laughing stock to league champions.

But nearing 28, am I too old to be rocking Jordans (especially the basketball high tops)? At what age is it time to start editing out that part of my wardrobe? Is Jay-Z right, is 30 the limit?

Remembering the Roar...

I've been away from this blogging game for awhile, but golden week can't serve as an excuse for my failure to post on this particular story. The reasoning is more internal, trying to deal with the event in a composed, normal way and not react like the typical fan. There are few events that could force me back to Chicago from China and the majority are all family related, but if the Blackhawks ever made it to the Stanley Cup finals, I'd be hard pressed not to make the trip back. Good ol' Dollar Bill, William W. Wirtz passed away on September 26, a story that is now 2 weeks old. As a lifelong Hawks fan who experienced many a night in the old barn on the west side (remember the roar being the salute given to it during that final season when it was on its last legs) and the UC, Wirtz was always a villainous character to me as well as many Hawks fans who would curse his name for being a tight wad, refusing to put home games on tv, as well as a number of other injustices. The man basically ran an NHL Original Six franchise, once one of the league's strongest, into the ground, with the franchise being named the worst in professional sports by ESPN, failing to be able to give away tickets, barely getting the stadium to half capacity, and putting out a team that has consistently failed to make the playoffs (and hasn't won it all since '61).

It's easy to recite the bad, but there was also some good, as strange as it sounds to Chicagoans, he was a strong advocate for hockey and played a crucial role in shaping the NHL during his reign in Chicago and also was involved with a large number of charitable organizations.

If I was at the UC for the season opener, I don't think I'd be among the fans who booed the moment of silence for him, but a part of me can understand the fans who live and die with the Hawks that did. For me, its time to move on, the move by Peter Wirtz to step down instead of ascend to the top spot was a class move. Rocky Wirtz's takeover and his proclamations so far serve as a fresh start that hopefully will lead to the franchise moving in the right direction. Though still cursed with some old problems (Havlet going down in the first game of the season), the future looks promising for the Hawks, and the fans deserve it.

Where in the World Is A Modern Lei Feng?

A wise blogger once said there are two things a blogger should never post about, whenever he updates his blog and excuses for why he hasn't been blogging. I'm going to break that rule here though...I'm now half way around the world, leaving the comforts of my US home and in the middle of the daily grind to return to the motherland, though I'm far away from what I know, stuck in Shenzhen. From this new vantage point, I will be able to offer plenty of insight and an examination of a new city, as I discover Shenzhen, perhaps my readers, who at this point can probably be counted on 1 hand, will discover it with me. Unfortunately, at the present time, Topway still hasn't deemed it necessary to follow through and actually come and hook up my internet, so things will be infrequent and I'll be coming to you live from the nearest Starbucks, hopefully this will be rectified soon and I'll be back to more regular entries. Thank you to all who've stayed patient and I hope you'll continue checking back despite the total lack of new content in recent weeks, thanks!!!

-Modern Lei Feng

Sunday Photo Thread: Earth Day Edition

B-dot is headed to the T-dot, so either the other half of this blog will need to pick things up or there will be a week long vacation for our dear readers...In any case, I'm leaving you wiht some more recent pictures of Chicago...

Sweet Home Chicago

First off, let's take a minute to admire that logo. Is that not one of the coolest logos you've ever seen? Anyways, last Saturday afternoon I was spending "quality time" with my father, sitting at my parent's house (mainly for the huge tv with HD picture) watching Sid the Kid and the Pens battle Ottawa in the NHL playoffs when the game was interrupted around 3 pm for the US Olympic announcement. After a lot of babbling, when it came down that Chicago would be the US' candidate city, I must admit my dad and I let out a little cheer and a high five. My dad, a lifelong Chicagoan, was excited about the possibility of the Olympics in Chicago and I must say I am, too. Though right now there are still a few big hurdles and we're more than two years away from the IOC announcement, but its an exciting time.

Despite being America's 3rd largest city, Chicago is regularly disrespected and overlooked, but Chicagoans are used to it and have an attitude befitting our status as the "Second City", unlike those in NYC, we have adopted a midwestern modesty and people in the city tend to have far more civility than you'll find in other large cities. Yet the Second City tag no longer is fitting for Chicago. Chicago has an extremely vibrant art community and 2 excellent art musems. Right now, there is no hotter food city in the United States with some absolutely amazing chefs holding court in Chicago. It has a great music scene and is arguably the home of blues in the north. Also, the city is well known for its architecture, both modern and classic.

Chicago has made 3 previous attempts at hosting the Olympics and came up short 2 times and then losing out to St. Louis (what?). While Chicago was the unanimous choice to host the 1904 Olympics, the games were ultimately moved to St. Louis to be held along with the 1904 World's Fair.

My fear was that the backing of major companies would tilt things in LA's favor, but Chicago corporations came through and it seems the USOC also wants to go with something new (many of LA's venues were used in the 1984 Olympics, some even were used in the 1932 Olympics). There is sure to be an abundance of energy behind the Chicago bid.

Chicago has an excellent plan in place for the Olympics focusing on some of the things the IOC looks at most. The majority of events will take place along Chicago's lake front and will make it very convenient to get from venue to venue while also offering a very scenic area. Further, the Chicago plan is heavy on urban redevelopment and longterm sustainability. The South Loop has undergone a lot of urban renewal (read gentrification) in the past few years, but the plan for the Olympics will focus some much needed resources on the South Side, but won't solely be gentrification, instead offering a lot of new housing to low and middle income individuals.

Despite all these positives, many around the world are unfamiliar with the many positives that Chicago has. The Olympics would be the perfect opportunity for the world to discover the beauty of Chicago. I have high hopes for the Chicago bid, there isn't a city I would more like to see host the Olympics, here's to Chicago 2016!!

Sunday Photo Thread: Chicago 2016/Honoring Jackie Robinson Edition

Since I was downtown yesterday for the Herve This seminar so I figured I'd take a few pictures while I was there.

3 Chicago Landmarks: The Marshall Field Clock, Chicago Theatre sign, and Marina City in the background.

This was before the announcement (more on that this week), but thought to get the poster (I LOVE that logo) and the flags in the background

Under the El tracks

Of Interest to Chicago Foodies...

I used to really love the Movable Feast blog when it was updated on a regular basis, now posting our sporadic, but still can get my attention. Today, there was an announcement for a molecular gastronomy seminar led by Herve This. Its to take place this Saturday, check out Movable Feast for more information.

Saturday Photo Thread

Art : 4 Ways

798, Beijing - 2006

MCA, Chicago - 2007

Georgetown, Washington DC - 2006

A Dream Worth Dreaming!

The US airline, Jetblue, has recently issued a passenger's "bill of rights" that includes:

• Travel vouchers will be awarded to fliers with an amount scaled to the time of their delay.
• Travelers are entitled to a full refund if their flight is canceled within 12 hours of its departure.
• Passengers are to be deplaned if a flight has been grounded for five hours.

Furthermore, the "much asteemed" Chicago City Council, having tackled the "evils" of foie gras (still bitter about this) are moving on to the "friendly skies" and have put forth a plan to make any airlines who want to fly into Chicago abide by a passenger's bill of rights.

How far are we from having a national passenger's bill of rights passed by Congress? Is it even thinkable in China?

Having flown a lot in China and the US (though not so much in recent years), I can say it is absolute hell to fly domestically in China, far worse than anything in the US. First, when you aren't talking about the "big 3", airports are far from the gleaming facilities they are in the US. Departure times are basically taken as suggestions rather than a schedule. There was a period when I flew to Shenyang on a regular basis and every flight I took out of that airport would start boarding at or after the time the flight was actually scheduled to leave.

The worst, though, has to be flying from Beijing to Hohhot. Now, I absolutely hate flying and would have been more than happy to take the convenient and reasonably priced train, but time constraints forced me to the air. The flight was delayed 8 hours and it got so bad that they actually rounded us passengers up on a bus and took us to an airport restaurant for a meal. During that meal, I heard from passengers who flew the route on a regular basis and they were saying the typical delay was 4-8 hours, though one recently experienced a 12 hour delay after having just flown in from Europe. I'm not sure if things have improved since then (this is a few years ago), but I would still advise taking the train for this route.

Probert School of Hockey

I'm sorry, I saw a post on Mirtle's website today about Bob Probert starting his own hockey school and couldn't resist. While Probert was a decent player when he put his mind to it, probably one of the best playing enforcers and also definitely had great hands for such a big guy
(especially in light of what he usually used them for), most remember just one thing about Probert, his fighting. For much of his career, especially during the late 80s and early to mid 90s, he was the undisputed heavyweight champion fighter in hockey. On top of that, during a number of those years, Probert couldn't play in Canada due to a cocaine conviction on the border. For those who remember those aspects of his career, the mind fairly boggles about what he'd teach the youth of Canada.

These classic tilts with Tie Domi made them both cult heros with their teams and in Chicago and Detroit, you still see Probert jerseys around the arena on a regular basis.

Sunday Photo Thread - Blackhawks Love/Hate Edition

Some random pictures taken over the past few days:

The Roots in concert, always an unbelievable show and well worth your money, even if you aren't a big fan of hip hop, its still worth it, they transcend any one genre label. Plus, they put on a great set (last nights they were on stage for over 2 hours).

blurred picture of the classic Chicago Theatre sign and the El station (looking south down State Street)

is it a bad photograph or possibly art?

For whatever reason (probably because I'm part Russian), I've long been a fan of Russian hockey players (Bure, Mogilny, and now Ovie), but I've had an obsession with the obscure Russian players of the Blackhawks (Krivokrasov, Yakubov, and this year, Arkhie).

For a man whose career NHL stats look like this:
Games - 4
Goals - 0
Assists - 0
Points - 0
Penalty Minutes - 72
Shots - 0
+/- - -3
David Koci is VERY flexible!

Savvy surely dropping some wisdom on his young charges

HAVLAT!
What can I say? One of the only bright spots to this season...

Saturday Photo Thread: GO IU/NCAA Tourney Edition

Despite so many years in B-town, I surprisingly have few pictures, so all I can offer is the one below:

Stairs 1
Chicago : March 2007

Walking into the Light
Chicago : March 2007

Concourse
Chicago : March 2007

"Spring is Here! Why doesn't My Heart Go Dancing?"

I don't know how the weather is in Beijing right now, but in Chicago we almost reached 80 degrees today. Is it still March??? What is going on? If anybody needs proof of the existence of global warming and isn't scared yet, this should do it for them.

I bemoaned the mild winter which meant my home away from home, the "pond," was actually that for much of the winter. Though during the 2 weeks or so it was actually "winter," I was able to snap the shot below:Anyways, being outside today and especially coming out of the rink tonight and wearing short sleeves, it made me reminisce (cue "Back in the Day") about beautiful spring days in Bloomington and night walks home from the library while thinking about anything and everything (and especially what a young lad's mind turns to during the spring). I love spring (almost as much as I love the fall) as its a time of rejuvination and makes one feel anything is possible. Well, just wanted to share a bit of my hope...

I also wanted to note that while it seemed 12 Months in the Middle Kingdom was taking a break for awhile, he's back and with some great pictures.

Sunday Photo Thread - Late, Late Edition

This will be the height of laziness, no title, no date, no comment, no nothing...