St. Patrick's Day Style - Celebrating the Green

Lots of places have St. Patrick's Day (Yes, it was yesterday, but TPP was busy.) celebrations, but this one almost has to be seen to be believed.  No photoshopping here.  This is a view along the Chicago river in the center of downtown Chicago just  a bit upstream from where the river enters Lake Michigan.  Yes, the river is actually that green.  Do they grind up Irishmen, who have been drinking green beer, and then slosh them around to get the color?  TPP actually watched them dye the river one year and met the short-straw fireman who was standing ready in his yellow wet suit should they have to rescue anyone from the green depths, anyone who might have had to much to drink.  Also saw a toy poodle who had fallen in, and then been pulled back out, no worse for wear, but definitely a tad greenish, and more than a little bit cold.  So if you think you celebrate the Irish, top this.

Flaunt the green!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my readers, Irish or not. Whether you know this or not, ChiTown has a big Irish population and a correspondingly big St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade, although for most of the party animals, it's just one more excuse to start drinking early and often. One of the funnier things is that they dye the ChiTown River green for the occasion, which raises an interesting botanical question (answered previously). So here's a picture of a drum majorette from a recent ChiTown St. Patrick's Day parade, at least TPP thinks this was from ChiTown, and if not then maybe Rio?  But it sure looks Irish!  And if it's the wrong color, then just dunk it in the river for a color correction.

How's your weather? Or, don't move that snow drift; it may be my car.

Well, today was another day of terrible weather here in Switzerland.  It was sunny, about 10 C, and we toured a botanical garden to see what spring flowers might be open (bear paw hellebores, hardy cyclamens, snowdrops, forsythia, Iris japonica).  You do understand that TPP is being sympathetic about the severe winter weather gripping the eastern half of the USA (Yes, the Great White North has this weather too, but then this weather is their number one export!).  Why here in Zurich the weather is so severe that only cafes with outside tables on their south side were full of people.  However, the Phactors expect payback.  If all goes well, and that's asking a lot for international air travel these days, especially when the itinerary includes a flight change in Heathrow, we shall be back to Chi-town tomorrow afternoon, and somewhere out in remote parking lot WX, near location pole QQV489, sits a not very large snow drift, and inside is our white Subaru. So if anyone is around those parking coordinates, stop by and help us dig it out! There's some cheese in it for you.

Display of the green aqua

Without planning to do so, the Phactor found himself in the middle of Chi-town's St. Patrick's Day celebration some five days early. Although nothing like NY and Boston, Chi-town has a lot of people with Irish heritage, and even more people who are looking for any excuse at all to dress funny, drink, and act foolishly, more or less in that order. So the city goes all out. Here's the Chi-town river, or one very large green beverage, stirred, or more like Evenrude blenderized, not shaken. Drinking this would probably do you less harm than the beverages of about equal volumes that people were actually pouring into themselves. And of course about 1 km from this scene, the river empties into Lake Michigan thus greatly diluting this beverage, just like waiting for the ice to melt in your drink. Somehow this didn't stir the spirit of my Irish heritage hardly at all.

The Daily Beast needs a map to find the craziest cities

Poor Chicago, The Daily Beast ranked Lincolnland's numero uno city only 25th on their list of USA's craziest cities, and in my own estimation it shouldn't be anywhere that high. But what little factoid did they use to amuse everyone about Chicago? The Lakeview Museum's large scale solar system! Neato! Except the Lakeview Museum is in Peoria, Illinois some 130 miles SW of Chicago. What maroon decided to use this particular factoid? Think they looked at a map? Think they read the link they provided which clearly indicates the museum's correct location? Scheesh! Well, there are lots of good museums in Chicago folks, just not this one.