Photos from the free concert in Ronan Park

Unfortunately it began to rain around 7:30, so these photos are during Cocinando's set. Courtesy of fauxtank.

Free concert tonight at Ronan Park

Cocinando and The Uptown Strings will be playing tonight, from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Cocinando's sound is described as Afro-Latin Jazz with a twist of Folk, and The Uptown Strings is "bistro meets swing meets jazz".

The concert will be held in that concrete circular entrance off Lawrence, and bring your own chair.

If you enjoy yourself, be sure to thank 33rd Ward Alderman Richard Mell; 5th District Congressman Mike Quigley; 20th District Senator Iris Martinez; 40th District Rep. Deb Mell and sponsers Pollo Campero, The Joyce Foundation, LISC Chicago, and the Old Town School of Folk Music.

-soluble

Albany Park has been in the news lately-

Nancy Collins won 14 grand yesterday, courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times. She's finally going to buy a computer. Read about it here.

A drunk driver injured two cops yesterday and 3 people unsuccessfully tried to rob a currency exchange.

The refugee kids in Albany Park beat the Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center High school soccer team (the Von Steuben team is supposedly one of the best in the region). These refugee kids come from Iraq, Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burma, and Uganda among others. Says the Chicago Tribune:

"They're survivors," said Greg Wangerin, executive director of the nonprofit Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries in Uptown, which partnered with Von Steuben as a way to help traumatized refugee children from Iraq, Bhutan and other countries build toward stability. "They've gone through thick and thin to get here." In other words, he said, "They're not an easy group to defeat."

They finally removed that downed tree branch on Ainslie between Albany and Troy yesterday.

-soluble

Nothing.

It is mighty strange to say that I have seen nothing exceptionally interesting since Sunday (read all about garbage in soluble's Sunday post).
-jay

Cigarettes and Safety

I try not to go out much after 9pm alone but, as a dirty smoker, sometimes you have to run to the corner store to pick up something. I went to Jerusalem Liquors, as I have made myself a regular face, and find it a safe place to be (when five men are working in a store that can be measured with a tape measure, there's a certain sense of security). The man working the cash register reprimanded me, a 22 year old, for being out alone at 10:30 at night.
-Jay

something big went down last night?

Last night, a plastic garbage bin was burned in the intersection of Albany and Ainslie. Its melted carcass, full of aluminum cans, has been lying there all day. There is another garbage bin in the same condition in the alley off Ainslie, and further west, a massive tree branch sits on the sidewalk.

-soluble

Along Montrose-

In my walk down Montrose (from Sacramento to Elston), I noticed Marie's Golden Cue's marquee. The marquee reads "We have smooth shafts and clean balls".

Off Lawndale and Montrose, every single window front is boarded up with plywood. It's a ghost block, with no evidence of fire. Very eerie.

If you're ever by Elston and Montrose, be sure to check out Afghan Kabob. The food is surprisingly delicious (even cops stop here to eat!), the owner is a real treat, and hanging on a wall by the TV is an Afghan battle rug, depicting the Soviet invasion.

(this is not the rug hanging in Afghan Kabob, just the most similar one I could find)

-soluble

Car in lot, off Sacramento and Lawrence

"About 30 people gathered outside Representative Deb Mell's office in the 40th District at 3657 N. Kedzie Ave. in Albany Park today, chanting and circling her office in an effort to get her to support House Bill 174. "

Read more at Gaper's Block.

The Fruit Truck is back-

The best place to buy fresh fruit and vegetables is, hands down, this truck. Maria has been selling produce off Ainslie and Kedzie (right next to the brand new traffic lights) for 15 years. Maria and her daughter drive down from a local farm in Michigan every morning, but from what farm, she won't say. Maria is shy, refuses to answer any of my questions, and has her daughter do all the talking for her english-speaking customers. The prices border on cheap- but the fruit is anything but. Today I purchased some cherries and rasperries, and both are so soft, juicy and sweet. Much better than Jewel, HarvesTime, and Andy's Fruit Ranch.

Maria also sells large sunflowers.

-soluble

Max Grinnell, out doing interviews to promote his new book "24 Great Walks in Chicago" had this to say about Albany Park:

"Anything you learned while writing this book -- a fact, a place, etc. -- that astounded you? Or, at least, surprised you?

In two words: Albany Park. I've taken my students from the University of Chicago there for years, but this neighborhood is truly a microcosm of the future of cities in the United States. There's no majority ethnic group in the community, and it's such an interesting blend of Central American, Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Korean culture. I didn't really know it well enough until I started working on this book, and it is a place that all Chicagoans and visitors should visit."

- Gaper's Block

Baby doll on roof, in alley between Gunnison and Ainslie.

Courtesy of Fauxtank

Albany Park is out to get cops

A couple of days ago, there was that car crash that injured 3 people and a police dog..... and this morning, a state trooper is in critical condition after his vehicle collided into a pole and burst into flames.

-soluble

Grates and Babies

I am just wondering what the group of men were doing on the corner of Albany and Ainslie. I often people watch, where normally uneventful things happen. Children and moms buy ice cream from the bicycle ice cream man, tricked out vans park on the corner and blare Ranchero music to impress all the sweet honeys walking by, and groups of young people walk and shout (not talk) about who gave head to whom.

Today was a unique scene. A group of four men had a grate pulled off the parkway, a grate I am assuming covers the incredibly sanitary water system we all love smelling while taking a romantic stroll with our boos, and were standing around this open hole. A group of middle aged women stood across the street and watched as these men stared down into the hole (oh, the rugged manliness of 'working 'men), until the men seemed satisfied they had seen everything in the bottom of this unexplained hole, pulled the cover back on, and dispersed.
What could they have been doing? My only thought was there was a baby down there, but they seemed a little too relaxed for that. And if there is a baby, I'm just hoping that it died on the fall down.

-Jay