Chicago and beyond...
Mark here, now back in New York. Was in Chicago at the weekend to visit some of a friend's friends and get a feel for the city while the famous Chicago Air and Water show was on. Once again, I offer several apologies for this blog-no Recon store coverage due to it once again being closed (what hours do these artist types keep?) and no photos due to my USB card adaptor breaking...
So Chicago didn't start well. Up at 4-30am for the flight that was then delayed by forty five minutes thanks to the crew being late. The sight of said crew sauntering up to the desk as if they were going to get a cup of tea was particularly galling.
We were staying, courtesy of my mate Graeme "The Inspektah" West and his online bargain hunting, at the Hilton in Chicago-the original Hilton and very historical. Beautiful hotel and I have to say, Chicago is a beautiful city. Check out http://99cnaclasses.com for more chicago images.
The city comes alive at night and swanning up and down Rush St was very special: Irish bar drunkeness added to the occasion.
The Gruin family, who we were visiting, were hospitable to the extreme to us. They invited us to their new apartment at the world famous Hancock Tower, where we were greeted by fresh salmon, fruit, fine raw steak...you get the idea, their hospitality was much appreciated. The experience of sitting eating fine food and drinking with a perfect view of the whole of South Chicago as a stealth bomber and F18 fighter jets fly past your window is not one I'm likely to forget.
In addition, we visited Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, Soldier Field, home of the Bears and the Field Museum, with a deep pan pizza feast on the last day that my stomach will never thank me for.
Flying back was a nightmare. Delayed four hours and having lost the baggage on the way out, Delta took over an hour to get our bags to us on the flight home. Never, ever would fly with them again. They should wear ten gallon hats or masks and stripey jumpers...
Yesterday, I came across the Kid Robot store in the Village.
Wow. I mean, our resident blogger Dinosauria would likely have collapsed at the wealth of KR toys and gear. The Village has many of these interesting and offbeat stores, comic book shops, record and clothing stores. Sadly po-faced hipsters abound and I can't quite take multi-coloured leopard print skinny jeans seriously.
On the subject of Kid Robot, i was in FAO Schwartz the other week and found their KR/Dunny/Kubrick etc range is...exactly the same as we have in Fat Buddha. I mean, identical in every range we carry. So there you go, the greatest toy shop in world is matched by Fat Buddha. Chalk wan for us...
Next week, I'm hoping to bring you some more original photos and a few surprises but as you may have guessed, it's all a bit up in air for me just now. Fingers crossed...
Until then, ciao.
Mark
So Chicago didn't start well. Up at 4-30am for the flight that was then delayed by forty five minutes thanks to the crew being late. The sight of said crew sauntering up to the desk as if they were going to get a cup of tea was particularly galling.
We were staying, courtesy of my mate Graeme "The Inspektah" West and his online bargain hunting, at the Hilton in Chicago-the original Hilton and very historical. Beautiful hotel and I have to say, Chicago is a beautiful city. Check out http://99cnaclasses.com for more chicago images.
The city comes alive at night and swanning up and down Rush St was very special: Irish bar drunkeness added to the occasion.
The Gruin family, who we were visiting, were hospitable to the extreme to us. They invited us to their new apartment at the world famous Hancock Tower, where we were greeted by fresh salmon, fruit, fine raw steak...you get the idea, their hospitality was much appreciated. The experience of sitting eating fine food and drinking with a perfect view of the whole of South Chicago as a stealth bomber and F18 fighter jets fly past your window is not one I'm likely to forget.
In addition, we visited Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, Soldier Field, home of the Bears and the Field Museum, with a deep pan pizza feast on the last day that my stomach will never thank me for.Flying back was a nightmare. Delayed four hours and having lost the baggage on the way out, Delta took over an hour to get our bags to us on the flight home. Never, ever would fly with them again. They should wear ten gallon hats or masks and stripey jumpers...
Yesterday, I came across the Kid Robot store in the Village.
Wow. I mean, our resident blogger Dinosauria would likely have collapsed at the wealth of KR toys and gear. The Village has many of these interesting and offbeat stores, comic book shops, record and clothing stores. Sadly po-faced hipsters abound and I can't quite take multi-coloured leopard print skinny jeans seriously.On the subject of Kid Robot, i was in FAO Schwartz the other week and found their KR/Dunny/Kubrick etc range is...exactly the same as we have in Fat Buddha. I mean, identical in every range we carry. So there you go, the greatest toy shop in world is matched by Fat Buddha. Chalk wan for us...
Next week, I'm hoping to bring you some more original photos and a few surprises but as you may have guessed, it's all a bit up in air for me just now. Fingers crossed...
Until then, ciao.
Mark
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