Well, since I'm starting this post in Chicago, I might as well use the font named for it.
Anyway. Where do I begin? I suppose that I should begin at the beginning.
Mom and I flew into Chicago Monday morning. Rode the "L" to the hotel. The Blue line has some slow spots, but some quick spots as well. There was a bit around the Chicago Avenue stop that was LOUD!
After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we went over to the Navy Pier to kill some time, as check-in time wasn't until 15:00, and it was only 10:00. After walking to the end of the pier, and eating a "Cheeseborger" with chips at Billy Goat Tavern, and then a Dazzler at Häagen-Dazs. By this time, it was just after 12:00. We then went to see Speed Racer at the IMAX theater. Now that it was 15:00, we went to the hotel and checked in. We then walked up Michigan Avenue (and the "Magnificent Mile" and went up to the observation deck of the John Hancock Center and looked around there. After dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, we went back to the hotel to conclude the day.
Day 2 was a bit stressful in terms of getting to the places we wanted to go. We started out by going to the Museum of Science and Industry. We started by waiting for the #10 bus…and waiting… and waiting… After a long time of it not showing up, we gave in and took the 146 bus, and then took the 6 bus to the Museum. Afterward, we went to the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. It was a windy day! Afterward, we went to dinner at Pizzeria Uno. Interesting thing about Pizzeria Uno. The guy who founded the place, Ike Sewell, also founded Pizzeria Due and a Mexican restaurant in the same area.
The next day, we went to the Field Museum, and then went up to Millennium Park. From there, we took a ride around the Loop. Then after a bit of shopping on Michigan Avenue, we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours. Then, back to Navy Pier for dinner, and then a fireworks display.
On Thursday, we flew back home.
This post contains various links to Wikipedia for places we went to. Check 'em out!
28 May 2008
20 May 2008
Musical Confusions
If you have a sizable music library like I do, you may notice that certain songs sound like each other. Such that when you hear them on your iPod, you hear the start of the song, think it's a certain song, and then realize a few seconds later that it's not the song you thought it was, but something completely different.
Take this example: "Stop and Stare" by OneRepublic sounds almost exactly identical to "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay. Weird, right? Get this, now. I have four songs which open with sound effects that make it feel like you're listening to a record. I keep them all in a playlist called "Record Open." They are: "Where It's At" by Beck, "Say You'll Be There" by the Spice Girls, "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" by “Weird Al” Yankovic, and "I Don't Wanna Wait" by the Veronicas. However, each record open has a distinctive sound to it. The Spice Girls song has a distinct pop in it which none of the others has. The other three sond more similar. It gets somewhat confusing if all four of these are in the same general playlist.
Then there are songs that sound like each other. A recent example involves The Veronicas and P!nk. The song from the Veronicas is "4ever," and P!nk's song is "U + Ur Hand" I'm not sure if it's the chord progression, the general meter of the song, or what, but those two songs sound very similar to be a coincidence. Just do a YouTube search with the names of those two songs, and you'll see what I mean. Whenever I hear one, I kinda sing along to the other, especially during the last chorus. Like I said, I don't know what it is about these two songs.
Take this example: "Stop and Stare" by OneRepublic sounds almost exactly identical to "Speed of Sound" by Coldplay. Weird, right? Get this, now. I have four songs which open with sound effects that make it feel like you're listening to a record. I keep them all in a playlist called "Record Open." They are: "Where It's At" by Beck, "Say You'll Be There" by the Spice Girls, "Trapped in the Drive-Thru" by “Weird Al” Yankovic, and "I Don't Wanna Wait" by the Veronicas. However, each record open has a distinctive sound to it. The Spice Girls song has a distinct pop in it which none of the others has. The other three sond more similar. It gets somewhat confusing if all four of these are in the same general playlist.
Then there are songs that sound like each other. A recent example involves The Veronicas and P!nk. The song from the Veronicas is "4ever," and P!nk's song is "U + Ur Hand" I'm not sure if it's the chord progression, the general meter of the song, or what, but those two songs sound very similar to be a coincidence. Just do a YouTube search with the names of those two songs, and you'll see what I mean. Whenever I hear one, I kinda sing along to the other, especially during the last chorus. Like I said, I don't know what it is about these two songs.