more chicago style

hey, so check this out! they're makin a movie about humboldt park in the neighorhood i live in, ukrainian village! here's the imbd link ... for those unfamiliar with chicago geography, humboldt park is a predominantly puerto rican neighborhood of chicago just south/west of ukie village. my ma (100% ukrainian) grew up in humboldt park in the 50s n 60s when the area was still mostly ukrainian/polish (slavic immigrants, mostly post-world war two refugees, my ma was a DP) ... regardless, the way they've set up shop in my neighborhood makes me think the scenes here are gonna play a major role in the movie. so for those of you who see it (cause i probably won't) look for a bodega with a puerto rican flag outside it. that used to be (swear to god) "ukrainian village grocery store" and was as ukrainian as they come. recently a big ol' dominicks came to my block forcing this small grocery store out of business (usually this would infuriate me, but ukie village grocery store SUUUUUUCKED! only produce they ever had was moldy potatoes and rotten garlic (literally) ... i only bought beer there) so the store front had been fallow for a few months until last week when i came home and saw "BODEGA" where the "UKRAINIAN VILLAGE GROCERY STORE" sign used to be ... anyway, it's not like humboldt park is THAT bad that they would need to shoot the film literally 8 blocks away, but i'm sure the owners of the former grocery store aren't mindin' the fat check they gettin from the producers.

and one more chicago reference (specifically to hipsters and wicker park), this one from the prolific david cross in his wired article Games Gone Wild! ... that post is via pimpernel who is havin' his hair, toes and nails did and can't blog at the moment. real talk.