Day 74: Green Lights

Posted on March 16, 2011 by eaj81

This is a photo of a Chicago firetruck (specifically the Uptown Truck 22) which shows the green lights on the front of the firetruck.  Many people wonder why Chicago has the green lights on their trucks and how that started… well, here’s your answer:

Origin of Red and Green Lights on the Fire House
Commissioner Albert Goodrich (1927 – 1931) of the Chicago Fire Department had a nautical background. He applied the marine scheme (red light = port, green light = starboard) to fire apparatus, and the idea became a tradition of the Chicago Fire Department. It is also used to mark the bay doors at most Chicago fire stations.

Other cities also use green lights on their trucks- specifically the SFFD (San Francisco Fire Department).  They use the green light to signify a Truck Company. SFFD used to use the letter “T” on the front cab of trucks in the 1980s. The green lights have since then replaced the “T”.

If you know of any other information on the green lights used on fire trucks, please share!

 
Posted in Chicago | Leave a comment

Day 73: Top of the Tower

Posted on March 15, 2011 by eaj81

One of the things I love about the Chicago is the way the city skyline changes colors throughout the year to support a cause or a sports team. This photo was taken of the top of the Willis Tower (always known to me as the Sears Tower) when they city gleemed blue and orange for the Bears journey to the playoffs.

Posted in Architecture, Chicago, Skyline | Leave a comment

Day 72: Lightning

Posted on March 14, 2011 by eaj81

I definitely enjoy watching and photographing storms.  Here is a storm that I caught some good photos of from the balcony in Uptown. You can see the lightning striking in the background–something that is difficult to catch on film, but quite rewarding when you do.

Posted in Chicago, Nature, Weather | Leave a comment

Day 71: Fireworks

Posted on March 13, 2011 by eaj81

Here is one thing I love about the city in the summer– Fireworks.  Every Wednesday and Saturday night throughout the summer there is a firework show.  You can get a great view of them launched from a barge from the beer garden at Navy Pier.  If you haven’t had the opportunity yet, I highly recommend checking it out.  The beer garden at Navy Pier hosts some pretty great live music and is voted best in Chicago.

To find out more about the beer garden at Navy Pier, click here.

Posted in Amusement, Chicago | Leave a comment

Day 70: Green River

Posted on March 12, 2011 by eaj81

As many of you Chicagoans know, today is the St Patty’s Day celebration which includes the annual Chicago River Dyeing. This has been occurring in Chicago for the past 43 years and is soley contributed to the efforts of Steve Bailey. Steve Bailey was the Business Manager of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union #110 and chairman of the St Patrick’s Day loop parade from 1958 until his death November 15, 1966. This all came about when a local plumber had come in to see Bailey wtih his white overalls dyed green from trying to find a leak into the river. After many trials of how much dye to use and concern from enviornmentalists on the type of dye that is used, 40lbs of a vegetable-based dye is currently used to dye the Chicago River a perfect shade of Irish Green for a day. If you haven’t seen this spectacular site, I highly recommend it. This year the river dyeing will happen at 10am. This picture was taken last year after the river had been dyed Irish Green. Note: On a sunny March day the river seems to glow with Irish Green… For information about the 2011 St Patrick’s Day Celebration, click here.

For the full story behind the dyeing of the Chicago River, click here.
Posted in Amusement, Chicago, Festivals, Holiday, Life | 1 Comment

Day 69: Thoughts for Japan

Posted on March 11, 2011 by eaj81

I know that the goal of this blog was to showcase the great things around Chicago since I love this city so much, but I also have a great respect for other cities around the world.  One of my favorite cities that I was lucky enough to visit was Tokyo.  When I’m not busy taking photographs, I spend the rest of my time as a Product Development Engineer for a company that uses Asian suppliers for some of it’s manufacturing needs.  Over the past few years with my company, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Japan on a few occasions to meet with our vendors. 

In my travels there, I was introduced to many wonderful people, a very proud culture based on centuries of tradition and a style of architecture unlike anything you can find in the US, let alone Chicago.  However, it still had a lot of the “big city” qualities that I love about my own hometown.  The atmosphere is electric with the hordes of people filling the streets well into the night and the constant visual stimulation of oversized neon signs and billboards that adorn the rooftops and facades of every building.  The open air arcades and countless Pachinko Parlors with music blaring into the night air draw you in like a Vegas casino.  There is just so much to see and do that it’s overwhelming. 

During my last visit, I took an early morning stroll wandering aimlessly through the streets of Tokyo with my camera.  I spent over 5 hours walking around in amazement of everything I saw.  I passed countless shrines, several temples, an Imperial Garden, the Rainbow Bridge, a bustling fish market and the iconic Tokyo Tower.  There was a great mix of historical structures that were hundreds of years old and modern, almost futuristic, skyscrapers juxtaposed within the landscape.  That along with the beautiful snowcapped Mt. Fuji looming in the background of the skyline makes it one of the most awe inspiring places I have ever seen.

Friday at 2:46pm (Japan time) an 8.9 offshore earthquake hit Honshu, Japan followed by at least 19 aftershocks- most of them in magnitute of 6.0.  This earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that swept over cities and farmland along the northern part of the country sweeping away boats, cars, homes and people as widespread fires burned out of control. This tsunami now threatens coastal areas throughout the Pacific (including Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and California).

This is the worst earthquake that Japan has seen in it’s history- surpassing the worst previous quake in 1923 in Kanto, with an 8.3-magnitude temblor that killed 143,000 people, according to USGS.

Having been there to witness the beauty of Japan first hand makes me that much more heartbroken to see the destruction and devastation created by today’s earthquake and tsunami.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the fine people that I have had the pleasure of working with as well as all their friends, family and loved ones.  In their honor, I’d like to post a few photos from my last photo walk in Japan a little over 2 years ago.

News articles for Japan’s tradgedy:
Posted in Architecture, Bridges, Life, Nature | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Day 68: Along the Museum Campus

Posted on March 10, 2011 by eaj81

This photo was taken in the museum campus, which lies in the Southeast corner of Grant Park.  The museum campus was created to transform the vicinity of the museums (Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium) into a pedestrian-friendly park with jogging paths and biking trails. 

This area is a great place to view the city skyline, relax and take in the beauty of the scenery and capture some amazing photos.  This one in particular was taken while walking between the Field Musuem and the Shedd Aquarium.

Posted in Chicago, Life, Museums, Nature, Skyline | 2 Comments

Day 67: Along the Lakefront Trail

Posted on March 9, 2011 by eaj81

This photo was taken along the Lakefront Trail and shows a little glimpse into the weekend city life– biking along the trail, traffic on Lake Shore Drive and the beautiful skyline in the background. 

(Click here for map of trails)
Posted in Chicago, Life, Parks | Leave a comment

Day 66: The Trump Tower- A Different View

Posted on March 8, 2011 by eaj81

Back in January I posted a picture of the Trump Tower in Chicago.  This too, is the Trump Tower… just a different view of the building–one which I feel may sometimes be overlooked by the average person.  This photo was taken from a water taxi, as noted before, I feel that taking the water taxi on a nice day gives you that different perspective of the city and lands you with some great shots.

Posted in Architecture, Chicago | Leave a comment

Day 65: Alexander Hamilton

Posted on March 7, 2011 by eaj81

The Alexander Hamilton statue was built in 1940 and is located on Stockton and Cannon in Lincoln Park.  Designed by John Angel with a cost of $1M dollars to produce, the statue was commissioned by Kate Sturgis Buckingham.  She considered Hamilton “one of the least appreciated great Americans” as she believed that he had secured the nation’s financial future and made it possible for her own family to gain their fortune.   The Hamilton structure is gilded in gold and sits on the simple red granite base that was previously mounted to the modern exedra structure.

On the other side of the red granite base is inscribed ..
Gift of Kate Sturgis Buckingham [1885 – 1937] ..
Kate Sturges Buckingham … a philanthropist and art patron also donated the famous Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain

Posted in Architecture, Chicago, Parks | Leave a comment