WBEZ | Culture

Remembering Wayne F. Miller

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:27:00 -0500

I met Wayne F. Miller for the first and only time in 2008. He was a soft-spoken man who, with his camera, had documented many of the 20th century’s events that I’ve always been interested in: The Pacific Theater during World War II, Chicago’s African American communities during the Great Migration, itinerant farm workers.

Technically, Miller was a master. He understood light. His blacks were rich and his whites were crisp. He understood composition. His placement of lines and shapes and shadows and forms draw your eye from one part of the frame to another in the order and direction he wanted your eyes to go.

But Wayne Miller wasn’t interested in the technical aspects of photography. For me, what set him apart and made him special was the humanity he brought to his work and the dignity he gave to his subjects. Miller found and captured the moments that make us human. He loved creating and presenting photographs that showed what human beings have in common. As he says in the forward to his book"Chicago’s South Side 1946-1948":

"We may differ in race, color, language, wealth and politics. But look at what we all have in common-dreams, laughter, tears, pride, the comfort of home, the hunger for love. If I could photograph these universal truths, I thought that might help us better understand the strangers on the other side of the world-and on the other side of town."

Of all his many accomplishments, and all the monumental events Miller captured over his career, his favorite photos were the ones he took of his kids, and of children in general. After I met Wayne, I was given a copy of his 1958 book "The World Is Young". It features pictures of kids just being kids. At the time, I didn’t have a family. And the truth is, I was never interested in children or comfortable around them. So I really didn’t crack the book. It was much more interesting to look at the dramatic photos Miller took of the Navy men on the aircraft carriers during the war. But right after my son was born in 2011, I opened that book again with new eyes. It clicked (so to speak). And from that moment to this, it has provided countless hours of inspiration as I document my own boy’s life. For the person and the photographer, it’s a master lesson that some of the greatest moments on film don’t show war or poverty or sadness.

Although Miller’s photographs fill books and gallery walls, he told me that he never considered himself an artist, and"“certainly didn’t set out to create art". He said "What the hell is fine art? Fine art is a day that you’ve done well."

If that’s the case, Wayne Miller—husband, father, environmentalist, patriot, photographer—didn’t make fine art. He lived it.

Special thanks to Paul Berlanga of the Stephen Daiter Gallery for introducing me to Mr. Miller. Here’s a conversation I produced with Wayne and WBEZ’s Richard Steele in late 2008.

Catching up on our rock reading: The Beats and Rock Culture

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:48:00 -0500

Most people at this time of year are compiling their stack of books to bring to the beach, so what say we music fans catch up on our reading and take a look at some of the best recent rock-related tomes?

Topping this list is Text and Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll: The Beats and Rock Culture (Bloomsbury) by U.K. journalist and University of Leeds lecturer Simon Warner. The goal is a noble one: to explore the historical intersections between poets and novelists Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and the rest of the Beat gang of the ’40s and ’50s with the rockers of the ’60s and later eras, as well as the influence of the Beats’ prose on the rockers’ lyrics. And with an academic thoroughness that doesn’t hamper the flow of his own pen, Prof. Warner does make dozens of illuminating connections between the two worlds, some obvious (Dylan and Kerouac; Ginsberg and his various brushes with the Beatles; later-day Beat rockers Patti Smith and Jim Carroll) but many much less so (we also get a discussion of Cream lyricist Pete Brown, a consideration of Kerouac, Tom Waits, and the song “On the Road,” and a look at Burroughs in the work of Genesis P-Orridge).

Unfortunately, for such a heavy read (it checks in at more than 500 pages in hardcover), Warner slights some Beat/rock connections that deserve a lot more discussion, including the admitted influence of Beat writers on pioneering rock critics Lester Bangs and Richard Meltzer; the way that Burroughs’ cut-and-paste methodology was adapted by Kurt Cobain (who pops up only very briefly), and the enduring allure of On the Road as a sacred text and a way of life for three generations of young musicians who’ve climbed in the van to cross America on indie-rock tours and/or indulge in the never-ending “quest for kicks.”

As you might expect, Warner does spend quite a few pages on the Fugs, including a moving tribute to Tuli Kupferberg. I’ve expressed admiration for these legendary ’60s weirdoes in this space before, as well as for bandleader Ed Sanders’ must-read tomes Tales of Beatnik Glory and The Family (the best book on the Manson clan). Now comes Sanders’ first-hand history and celebration of his group, Fug You: An Informal History of the Peace Eye Bookstore, the F*ck You Press, the Fugs, and the Counterculture in the Lower East Side (Da Capo).

Sanders’ recounting of the early ’60s through 1970 is episodic but always charming and engaging. “In this book of remembrances I decided not to drain to its dregs the urn of bitter memory, to paraphrase Shelley’s famous line,” he writes. Instead, “I have chosen to accentuate the energy, the wild fun, the joyful creativity, and the schemes of Better World derring-do and to consign as much bitterness and bad memories as possible to the halls of darkness.”

Fair enough, and, really, how scholarly, encyclopedic, or “objective” would we want the auteur who helped bring us “Group Grope” and “Boobs-a-Lot” to be? The lingering buzz of what we do get is more valuable: A deeper appreciation, sans Baby Boomer/Sixties clichés, of a period of anything-goes, no-rules creativity, and the feeling that, damn, it must have been a lot of fun to be there.

I actually was there for a different happening in a different era some years later: the burgeoning indie-rock scene across the Hudson River from the Lower East Side in the Hoboken of the early and mid-’80s. Recalling those particulars, as well as the broader nationwide underground they typified (and which would in turn nurture the alternative-rock scene of the ’90s) is one reason to revel in the pages of Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock (Gotham) by Brooklyn-based music journalist, DJ, and musician Jesse Jarnow.

The other reason is, of course, to chart the history of the long-running band led by guitarist Ira Kaplan and drummer Georgia Hubley. Having seen their first shows at Maxwell’s in 1985, I for one would never have thought that I’d be looking forward to seeing them again for the umpteenth time 28 years later at this summer’s Pitchfork Music Festival, let alone that they’d have given us 13 wonderfully consistent albums in that stretch (including the latest, Fade).

Regardless of one’s familiarity with the band in its many incarnations, there’s plenty to learn in these pages. Not that these musicians are especially forthcoming: Kaplan and Hubley never have been big talkers, and they’re never more reticent than when chatting about themselves. Yet Jarnow knew that in some ways, they’d be the least interesting part of their own biography, and a more colorful, less Everyman band might only have distracted from the bigger story of indie-rock as it morphed and developed for better or worse from the nascent days of post-punk fanzines and college radio stations to Pitchfork, podcasts, and corporations looking for cool tracks to pilfer for hip TV commercials.

Follow me on Twitter @JimDeRogatis or join me on Facebook at Jim DeRo.

Theaster Gates is Chicago's true artist

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:45:00 -0500

Upon entering the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s Kovler Atrium, audiences will find rows of pews from University of Chicago’s Bond Chapel. The pews were removed in order to provide Muslim students a place to pray. Above the pews hangs a large-scale double-cross sculpture filled with household items such as umbrellas, dented cans for non-perishables, and wine glasses.

The installation will be activated with performances throughout the summer by artist Theaster Gates. The installation is titled 13th Ballad and intertwines concepts and theories, a familiar practice for the Gates. Here we see the relationship between religion, migration and accumulation. Gates’ work intervenes and it is this intervention that serves not as another example of gentrification, but of the possibilities of art in the face of despair.

Gates is a multidisciplinary artist, working with performance, sculpture, installation, and large-scale urban interventions. He received a degree in urban planning, but also studied ceramic. This combination of fields informs the multifaceted approach to his artistic practices. His works are not just objects. He manipulates, reconstructs, and activates them in order to breathe further life into the end result.

In 12 Ballads for Huguenot House (a work created in both Chicago and Kassel, Germany for dOCUMENTA (13)) and 13th Ballad, his work mimics Chicago itself. Chicago is a city on the precipice of two narratives. Which way will we go? Which way will we allow our buildings and schools and neighborhoods and people to go?

On the one end, there is the city of progress and prosperity. This is in some ways the surface Chicago. That does not exclude the very real lived reality of many Chicagoans who suffer little. But to those who have an intimate relationship with the parts of the city that are too often plagued with neglect, this is not the full story. On the other end, there is the city in decline.

In a conversation with Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev for a book on 12 Ballads for Huguenot House, Gates said, “I spend a lot of my time asking: how can I activate places that have been neglected, underresourced?” Gates’ work in large part deals with ideas of reconstruction and repurpose. What can be done with this? What is missing from this object’s narrative? This is not just characterized through the philosophical. Rather, he literally reclaims materials to, if not recreate, then reiterate its value and historicity.

“I realized that what I was interested in was not only found objects but also discarded knowledge – that there was a relationship,” Gates continued. “I was willing to take on the burden of not only the material waste but also the knowledge waste that was so disposable.”

This first began with the purchase of his own home and studio, an abandoned store on Dorchester Avenue in the Grand Crossing neighborhood. His efforts later extended to purchasing more buildings in and around the area, repurposing them as archives and a cultural center. For 12 Ballads, Gates aimed to unite two unused buildings (one in Chicago, the other, built in the 19th century and located in Germany) by using parts of each to rebuild the other.

In Gates’ work, we see the importance of discovery and the challenge against abandonment.

“Gates embraces two counterstrategies, reactivation and employment, not only to fuel his art practice but also to offer tangible and practical examples to civic agencies for reimagining neighborhoods such as his,” said MCA Chief Curator Michael Darling in the essay, “Theaster Gates: Rescue Me.”

Most importantly, his work does not rely on just what is there, but also on what could be there. Theaster Gates is Chicago. In a city full of artists of a variety of different artistic practices, Gates rises above the rest to create multidisciplinary works that speak to the spirit, anxieties, and troubles of Chicago itself. That his prestige and success reaches beyond the limitations of this city speaks to the criticalness of his work. Gates both is Chicago and speaks in conversation with Chicago and the realities of the city. If Chicago is a city of “potential,” then Theaster sees it already. He sees it right now.

13th Ballad runs through October 16.

Britt Julious blogs about culture in and outside of Chicago. Follow Britt's essays for WBEZ's Tumblr or on Twitter @britticisms.

Photographer and forester Wayne Miller dies at 94

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:52:00 -0500

ORINDA, Calif. — Photographer Wayne F. Miller, who created a ground-breaking series of portraits chronicling the lives of black Americans in Chicago after serving with an elite Navy unit that produced some of the most indelible combat images of World War II, died Wednesday. He was 94.

Miller was also known for his work as a curator on an international photojournalism exhibition called "The Family of Man" and for contributing the photos to Dr. Benjamin Spock's "A Baby's First Year." He had lived in Orinda for six decades and become ill only in the last weeks of his life, his granddaughter Inga Miller said.

Born in Chicago, Miller trained for a career in banking but became a photographer when famed fashion photographer Edward Steichen picked him to be part of the military unit assigned to document the war. While assigned to the Pacific theatre, he took some of the first pictures of the atomic bomb-devastated Hiroshima.

His best-known wartime photograph shows a wounded pilot being pulled from a downed fighter plane. Miller had been scheduled to be aboard the plane before it was shot down, and the photographer who took his place was killed, according to Inga Miller.

After returning home to Chicago, Miller spent two years in the late 1940s on the city's south side capturing the experiences of black residents, many of whom had moved north during the war in search of jobs and the promise of civil rights. The originals from his "The Way of the Northern Negro" series are now held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Smithsonian Institution.

"He was tired of what a good job photography was doing of showing the way we were destroying each other and he decided to come back and have the medium connect people in a more meaningful fashion," said Paul Berlanga, director of Chicago's Stephen Daitler Gallery. "He wanted to bring the white and black races together, and thought to make a photo documentary to introduce black Chicago to white Chicago and to white America."

While he mostly turned his lens on ordinary Americans, his subjects for the series included emerging stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Eartha Kitt.

During the early 1950s, Miller reunited with Steichen in putting together "The Family of Man," a Museum of Modern Art exhibit featuring hundreds of portraits by photographers from all over the world. A book of the same name based on the exhibit sold more than four million copies. An iconic photograph of Miller's that was part of the exhibit showed his son David being delivered as a baby by his grandfather. It was included in a phonographic time capsule Carl Sagan put together that was launched with the Voyager spacecraft in the late 1970s.

Miller also produced an intimate book of his photography called "The World is Young."

He spent the next several decades as a photojournalist for Life, Ebony, the Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. For six years, he was president of Magnum Photos, a photographer's cooperative. Magnum's current president, Alex Majoli, praised Miller as a pioneer who "paved the ground for the rest of us who tried to depict the streets, the real life."

"It might have seemed like golden years for photographers now, but he had to invent himself in many ways, a character trait I highly appreciate in people," Majoli said.

Miller stopped working as a professional photographer in the mid-1970s, but he found a new passion crusading for the preservation of California's redwood forests. He and his wife, Joan, restored a clear-cut patch of forest and helped lobby for the passage of laws that provided incentives for landowners to protect rather than log trees. According to his family, the forest was Miller's main photographic subject after his retirement.

So you want to be a famous musician?

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

On May 15, prolific noise rocker Ty Segall announced that he will be releasing a new album this August called Sleeper: his seventh solo record and first 2013 addition to an impressive discography of over 35 releases (both solo and collaborative) since 2005.

But while some people idolize the 26-year-old garage-punk prodigy from San Francisco (his name was even trending on Twitter on the day of his announcement via Pitchfork), others still have no idea who he is.

Segall exists in an odd bubble of half-fame and half-obscurity, in which he can play to sold-out venues across the country and still hang out in local record stores without being bothered too much. Unfortunately, most aspiring rock stars won't even get that far.

The digital age is both a blessing and a curse for modern-day musicians. Websites like YouTube and Kickstarter can equal big business for artists, as online campaigns allow them to reach out to their fans directly via socia networking and potentially become viral sensations overnight.

On the other hand, free music streaming sites like Spotify and Pandora provide little financial yield for the musicians themselves ($0.004 per play if you're unsigned) and cannot be relied upon to cover the ever-mounting costs of travel, instruments and gear, recording sessions and software, album distribution and any additional publicity required to become a household name.

Also, it should be noted that unless you're playing sold-out ampitheatres á la Paul McCartney and Justin Bieber, ticket sales won't net you a fortune either.

Lots of musicians get a jumpstart due to wealth or family connections, like when Taylor Swift's investment broker father spent millions of dollars to finance her first album in 2006 and when Lana Del Rey's millionare parents bought her out of one contract to sign her with another more lucrative label for instant stardom in 2011.

Does it depress you that Kelly Osbourne (daughter of Ozzy) got a record deal to sing horrible Madonna covers, while scores of other truly talented bands and artists have dwindled into obscurity? Unfortunately, this kind of gross nepotism runs rampant in the music business today (see Jann Wenner putting his 22-year-old son in charge of RollingStone.com) and in most other areas of the entertainment industry as well.

So, how do artists make money when they don't already have the money to spend?

Selling merch: Retail CDs, vinyl, t-shirts, buttons, stickers, lighters, koozies and other creative items that are cheap to buy in bulk (and thus more likely to turn a profit).
Campaigning on Kickstarter: Need some extra cash for your next album or tour? This popular crowd-funding site is worth a shot (hey, it worked for Amanda Palmer!)
Dominating YouTube: Racking up views on this global channel could not only catch the attention of a major record label, but also garner you up to $1,500 per one million streams from advertising and/or corporate sponsorships.
Making a deal with iTunes: Independent artists usually see the most revenue from their albums via iTunes digital downloads. Full album downloads at roughly $9.99 could add up quickly, especially as you build your fanbase through touring and social-networking around the world.
Getting your song on a TV show: Start making those L.A. connections, because licensing fees for even just a small clip of one of your songs on a show like Breaking Bad could amount to a cool $250,000-$600,000 paycheck.

Many relatively well-known musicians still keep their day jobs; not surprising, considering that the average musician makes only $34,000 off their music in America each year before deducting expenses from touring, recording, etc. (which, given the rising prices of gas and fancy recording software, can wrack up quite the bill).

Even Pitchfork-famous indie artists like Grizzly Bear and Cat Power have struggled to make ends meet; so be practical about the pros and cons of a musician's lifestyle before committing to it full-time.

If you're only making music for the money, then you should get out now. But if you truly love what you do—and don't mind riding in a smelly tour bus, starting out in tiny venues and living off Ramen noodles for months (or years) until you get your big break—then ignore the haters and keep rockin' on.

Leah writes about popular culture for WBEZ. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr.

The Stephen Rodrick interview

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:40:00 -0500

Stephen Rodrick's "The Magical Stranger: A Son's Journey Into His Magical Life," explores the life of his father, a Navy pilot who died when his plane crashed into the ocean, through the lens of current members of his dad's former squadron as he traveled with them on their aircraft carrier. You may also know him as the New York Times author of "Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan in Your Movie," the fascinating look at...well, you can figure it out. He is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a contributing editor for Men's Journal and his work has been anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing, The Best American Crime Writing and The Best American Political Writing. He has also written for New York, Rolling Stone, GQ, and The New Republic. Chicagoans, you can watch him speak Thursday at Northwestern and later at the Boarding House, so check him out.

I know a lot of people in the book opted not to read it until it came out, but how much did you feel compelled to alert about what you would publishing about them?
Not as many as you'd think. Most of my family members and the guys in the Navy said "Write what you see." That was incredibly freeing. The only person who got a pre-read was my Mom and we worked out her problems with it, that wasn't easy, but we got through it.

Why now?
My dad's plane, the EA-6B Prowler was finally being retired. It was my Dad's plane. If I was going to follow his old plane with his final squadron it had to be now. So that was a great motivator.

In an interview with the Awl you discuss your initial efforts to sell the story, which were unsuccessful. As a magazine writer I imagine you have a lot of experience pitching stories: what’s the difference when it’s your own life, both in terms of the pitch and how you feel if it gets passed on?
Actually, I wasn't unsuccessful. I sent in my proposal, my agent slapped a cover page on it and we had an auction a few days later. The editor I mentioned passed on it, but there were other offers on the table thank goodness. We sent it out to probably seven or eight places, some passed, some didn't. The different in pitching this versus a magazine piece is I knew what I wanted to do and was prepared to take less money from a place that would let me tell the story as I wanted it to be written. That isn't always possible in magazines.

What are some of the biggest real-life cliches about living on an aircraft carrier?
The noise. You can not imagine how loud the flight deck is. You can not imagine how a catapult launch will nearly shake you out of your bunk. There is noise everywhere and all the time.

What’s one (or two or three) things you wished you had packed for carrier life that you hadn’t?
I wished I'd packed ear plugs and more clothes. Trying to do laundry on a boat with 5,000 men and women was a real "Lord of the Flies" experience.

In that Awl interview you talk about the parallels between being a military kid and the transience of a magazine writer’s life. For someone considering doing what you do, what tips do you have for making it easier to pick up and move quickly to a new story and location?
An understanding spouse. If you don't have a partner who is independent enough to survive when you're gone 10 weeks of the year, it's going to be tough. And try to park yourself in a place where stories are happening all around. If you're in Chicago, stay in Chicago. Plenty of great stories here.

I’m curious how you pitched the Lindsay Lohan story to your editor at the Times, because while it was a story about Lindsay Lohan and what a mess she is, obviously it was much more than that.

It was really simple: Lindsay Lohan. Bret Easton Ellis. Paul Schrader. The porn star next door. Complete access. That story was green-lighted in about ten minutes. That is the exact opposite of most pitches and it was because I knew Schrader a little and I emailed him directly and didn't have to go through a squadron of publicists. Lohan's people balked, but Schrader insisted to his everlasting credit.

How much do you hold on to grudges when it comes to stories you’ve pitched and believed in, that got killed? Are there any that you still lament didn’t see the light of day?
I try not to bear grudges, but there is a certain pain when you see your idea at another magazine simply because you couldn't convince your editor of the idea. It doesn't get easier as you get old. I did a story on Wilmette native Julia Allison who was basically internet famous for no real reason. It got killed by New York and I place it elsewhere. I think it's one of my best profiles and it's a bummer it didn't reach a larger audience

Which athletes, either who you’ve profiled or you’ve just followed as a fan, do you think have established some of the best post-athletic-career lives and careers?

That's a good question. Many of the players I written about—Brett Favre, Riddick Bowe, Dennis Rodman—has struggled mightily in retirement. Grant Hill is retiring this year. I suspect he will do great things

What are some of your favorite pieces of creative nonfiction?

Updike's "Hub Fans Bid The Kid Adieu." Anything by Julian Barnes. The flying stuff by James Salter is the best.

How does it feel to be the 350th person interviewed for Zulkey.com/WBEZ?
Grateful and unworthy.

Follow Claire Zulkey @Zulkey You can find previous Zulkey.com interviews here.

What are we going to do about 51st Street?

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:00:00 -0500

When the Orange Line was built in 1993, the planners left an opening in the ‘L’ structure to accommodate a future extension of 51^st Street. Twenty years later, that opening is still there, still awaiting the extension of 51^st Street.

If you’re familiar with the South Side, you know that 51^st Street is a major half-section street. It carries significant traffic from the lake (where it’s called Hyde Park Boulevard) straight through to Kedzie. West of Kedzie, 51^st gradually trickles into a minor side-street until it stops at Harding, just short of the Orange Line viaduct and Pulaski Road.

A 1902 city map shows 51^st continuing to an intersection with Crawford (Pulaski). But shortly afterward the Belt Railway constructed a spur track through the area, cutting off 51^st a block short of Crawford. Since this was a remote part of the city, closing the street didn't matter very much.

By the 1930s the West Elsdon neighborhood was growing up. A streetcar ran on 51^st as far west as Lawndale. Plans were being made to elevate the Belt Railway. Then 51^st and its car line could be extended, perhaps all the way to Cicero Avenue.

More years pass. The 51^st Street streetcar gives way to the trolley bus, and eventually the diesel bus. More houses are built, but a Belt Railway viaduct isn’t. The barrier is still there, and 51^st remains a local street.

Curie High School opens. There’s again talk about elevating the Belt Railway tracks and extending 51^st, so the bus line can serve the new school. Nothing happens.

The Orange Line is built. The planners leave that gap in the ‘L’ structure. Now the railroad tracks will surely be elevated, and the bus run through to the Pulaski-51^st station. Nothing happens—and the bus line is cut back to serve the Kedzie-49^th station.

Will 51^st Street ever be extended to Pulaski? Perhaps it should be kept the way it is. Archer Avenue passes through just to the north. Adding another arterial street to the area could cause traffic headaches.

Still, the opening in the ‘L’ is there in case the city ever changes its mind.

Untitled: Photo of the Day - May 22, 2013

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:35:00 -0500

Adventures in urban gardening

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:00:00 -0500

Rahm Emanuel may not be everyone's favorite mayor in regards to improving our city, but his new plan to transform vacant lots on Chicago's South Side into thriving and profitable urban farms in just three years is definitely a step in the right direction.

Farmers for Chicago will make up to five acres of city-owned lots available to local non-profits, who will in turn cultivate the land and create a network of area farmers to help relieve food desert-related issues.

Green-thumbed Chicagoans will also get the chance to build their own enterprises, as food from these farms will be distributed to more than a dozen local farmers markets, corner stores, restaurants and grocery chains.

The city hails this program as one of the first of its kind, but the idea of urban farming is nothing new. Community gardens have thrived in Chicago since the 1940s, and have experienced a newfound popularity in recent years thanks to the efforts of organizations like the Chicago Park District. And with city garden co-ops popping up in almost every neighborhood this summer (including the now nine-year-old Chicago Honey Co-Op, which offers chemical-free honey and beekeeping classes in addition to partnering with community gardens city-wide), helping hands are always welcome.

Other awesome resources for potential volunteers include:

Chicago Botanic Garden- a science conservation center of over 50,000 members
Garfield Park Conservatory- one of the largest and most stunning conservatories in the nation
GreenNet Chicago- a coalition of nonprofits committed to green and sustainable open spaces
The Chicago Farmers- a public forum for community farmers since 1935
NeighborSpace- Chicago's only nonprofit land trust dedicated to the protection of city gardens
Chicago Gardeners- a network of links to Chicago's best garden bloggers
The Local Beet- an online hub for Chicagoans looking to eat local

Interested in growing your own food and flowers at home? Here's a few tips to get started:

Shop local

Visit your neighborhood nursery or farmers market for an assortment of gardening delights that won't break the bank. Home Depot may have lower prices on tools, soil and fertilizer; but for plants (especially herbs and flowers) locally-grown is the way to go. You can also buy seeds and food-producing plants at most local stores through the Illinois Link Card system. Another way to save money when gardening is by making your own compost. Instead of throwing away apple cores, eggshells and coffee grounds, store them in a sun-lit container and then mash them into soil for a nutrient-rich plant base on a budget.

Grow up

Don't have a lot of space? Get creative with plants that grow up instead of out. With a little pruning, vines like peas, beans and squashes can climb up a trellis or a pole, which can be leaned against the side of a sunny window if you don't have a balcony, porch or patio. Also, look for companion pairs that grow well together to control the insect balance in your garden and maximize cultivation in a tiny space. Alfalfa sprouts, lentils and garbanzo beans can thrive in small containers, while hanging pots for stemmy vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers can double as beautifully cascading décor.

Stick with the sustainable

Consult the 2013 Farmer's Almanac for a list of Chicago-specific planting dates for certain edible crops. Heirloom tomatoes are a great starter plant, as they are relatively easy to grow and taste delicious straight off the vine. Fresh herbs like basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and oregano are great for windowsills, since they require minimal maintenance and can flourish year-round indoors. Also, look for plants that don't need a lot of sunlight (think fall and winter produce like lettuce, peas, spinach, kale, carrots and potatoes) so that you can continue to grow your garden even after the few precious months of Chicago summer have come and gone.

Leah Pickett writes about popular culture for WBEZ. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr.

Chicago's biggest 'L' rebuild

Wed, 22 May 2013 05:00:00 -0500

The south end of the Red Line is now officially closed for rebuilding. The project is supposed to take five months. Many Chicagoans are reminded of the Green Line renovation of the 1990s, when service was suspended for nearly two years.

However, if we want to talk about the biggest Chicago ‘L’ rebuild, we have to go back to the 1950s.

Sixty years ago, the Garfield Park ‘L’ was one of the city’s major transit carriers. Trains ran west from the Loop along the general line of Van Buren Street to a terminal in Forest Park. The ‘L’ tracks were also used by the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin electric interurban line.

In 1953 the city began clearing land for the new Congress (Eisenhower) Expressway. Plans called for both ‘L’ and interurban trains to operate in the median of the completed highway. In the meantime, part of the Garfield Park ‘L’ was in the way, and would have to be torn down.

The expressway project was going to take years. CTA might have shut down Garfield Park service for the duration and told riders to take the Lake Street ‘L’. Instead, a temporary elevated structure was to be erected along Van Buren Street.

Local aldermen objected. The temporary ‘L’ would be ugly, and probably unsafe. A compromise was reached. Garfield Park trains were rerouted along Van Buren Street—but on the ground.

The Van Buren bypass opened on September 20, 1953. Trains ran at street-level between Aberdeen and Sacramento, about two-and-a-half miles. The tracks were fenced-in, with crossing gates at each intersection, and took up most of the street. Only a single lane was left open for west-bound auto traffic.

Garfield Park trains did not make passenger stops along Van Buren. However, they were forced to halt for red lights like ordinary street traffic. This made the ride slow. Many patrons moved over to the Lake Street line, or simply switched to their cars.

Meanwhile, Chicago, Aurora and Elgin service into the city was cut back. Their trains now operated only as far east as Forest Park, where riders had to change to Garfield Park trains. Patronage fell off rapidly, and the interurban went out of business in 1957.

On June 22, 1958 ‘L’ trains began operating on the expressway median as the new Congress line. The remaining structures of the old Garfield Park line were demolished. And after five years, the automobile reclaimed all of Van Buren Street.