Catching Up - (2) - Videoblog

This being a follow up to Catching Up - (1), and a record of my second trip to Chicago over the cusp of August/ September 06. My first was in August 05.

Yes, indeedy... I tripped once more to Chicago, this being a more relaxed kind of trup. A museum (amply chronicled in photos and video below), a visit to one of the tallest buildings in the world (not the one you think), and a lazy indulgent day from which proceeds this hodgepodgy post... part travelogue, part rant, and part... well... documentary or whatever...

The Aurora

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are dimming the cabin lights for a moment... if you look outside, to your left you will see a rather rare sight for this time of the year. The green shimmering band is the Aurora Borealis, better known as the Northern Lights..."

And at 31,000 feet, about 15 minutes out of Chicago's O'hare airport, for the first time in my life I was face to face with the solar wind. Or a glorious manifestation thereof. Too bad my camera was checked in eh?

Of course, the disappointment that followed was a total geek moment - I excitedly told a bunch of friends what had happened - and then had to explain to them what the northern lights are. Ah well. Thank God for instant messaging, and science-teachers for parents, because I could boast to them with 100% gloat value.

Travelogue

Chicago is a wonderful city. Walking down Michigan Avenue you get a feeling of wealth - not unlike NYC, but different in shade. Chicago's wealth seems more real somehow. There is less despondency in this city - oh sure, it has its pockets of despair (one need only look at some el-train stations to see it) but the despair is more muted than in NY. There is more hope here... can't put it better than that.

So anyway... Chicago is a happier city, and since I had been here before I could afford to not be a "tourist" and just indulge in one or two good things. The first was the Field Museum of Natural History... everything from dinosaurs to Egyptian mummies! Spent nearly half a day ogling all kinds of morbid stuff.

The other high-high light (bad joke) was a trip up the John Hancock tower (one of the tallest buildings in the world) to look down at a magnificent view. This also gave me the opportunity to exercise my zoom lens a bit.

But then again... both those stories are best told via the visual (and audio-visual) medium... so here goes.

Photographs

Managed this time to shoot an entire trip without featuring my own ugly mug in a SINGLE pic. Quite an achievement.

So Click here to read about my visit to Chicago last year.
Click here for Photos from the current visit

Videoblog

Now this is really special... a first for Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae.

click here or just click the play button below to view a YouTube video - part 1 of a tour of the reconstructed Tomb of Unis Ankh at the Field Museum of Natural History.



Then proceed to view some interesting impressions from within the Tomb of Unis Ankh... Click here, or click play below - whatever!



Finally, and in the most gimmicky piece, check out a shortish documentary on mummy making! :) Click here or... you know the drill!



Hope you liked em, credits and all! So that's all Folks!

Peace (long overdue)... aaaaand Out!