“Today the business once transacted by individuals in every community is in the control of corporations, and many of the men who once conducted an independent business are gathered into the organization, and all personal identity, and all individualities lost. Each man has become a mere cog in one of the wheels of a complicated mechanism. It is the business of the corporations to get money. It exacts but one thing of its employees: Obedience to orders. It cares not about their relations to the community, the church, society, or the family. It wants full hours and faithful service, and when they die, wear out or are discharged, it quickly replaces them with new material. The corporation is a machine for making money, but it reduces men to the insignificance of mere numerical figures, as certainly as the private ranks of the regular army. ~ Fighting Bob La Follette, speech on the Dangers Threatening Representative Government, Mineral Point, Wisconsin, July 4, 1897

My wife and I have decided to travel to Europe separately this time because we were able to redeem credit card points and get round trip tickets for free. The  catch was that we only had enough points on our credit cards to get tickets on different airlines. So on Sunday, I will travel by myself to Madrid, check into the hostel that we’ve reserved and take in the surrounding sites alone. The next day I’ll meet my wife at the airport and we’ll begin our Europe trip 2009 together.

The reason for my nervousness is that for that first day I won’t have my GPS enabled wife with me when I land in Madrid. I’ve become so used to having my beloved, “Cat Cat”, (in reference to Tom Tom) to guide me through unfamiliar territory that I find my own sense of direction beginning to fade. Cat, (my wife) has an almost GPS quality sense of direction that I’ve come to absolutely  rely on through our many trips. She points and I turn! It’s a simple system. We rarely if ever get lost and if we do, (get lost that is), it’s usually my fault.

So to combat my temporary lack of Cat Cat, I’ve looked up the area that I’m going to be staying in and have begun to familiarize myself with the routes and surroundings all through the magic that is Google! By entering in the address of the hostel, I not only found the best route to take to get there, but have also been able to do a virtual walk around the neighborhood to familiarize myself with those surroundings.

At first I was a bit surprised by what I saw. Graffiti was everywhere! Did we just book ourselves into a gang infested area? If this were Chicago, I would assume that we did, but by doing the virtual walk, I realized that the area seams to be pretty good. Graffiti didn’t seem to be an indicator of the safeness of the area.

After spending a couple of hours, “walking around” Madrid online, I feel fairly comfortable that I know the area. I’ve spotted several restaurants that look promising and walked through areas that from an arial view looked great but on the ground really didn’t look that special.  Ahhhh Google, as the, “Wildwood Weed” song lyrics say, “we all thought it was kinda handy, take a trip and never leave the farm”! Thanks to Google Maps, I have a pretty fare understanding of the neighborhood now. I will print out those maps, and be able to explore a bit before my wife joins me and I go back to our fool proof system of she points and I turn.  Next stop, Madrid

Luzzat is a wonderfully quaint little Indian restaurant tucked away one block west of Sheridan Avenue on Jarvis and right off of the Jarvis Red Line El stop in the East Rogers Park area of Chicago.  There are only six or so tables as well as a carry out window. Nothing fancy, but the place was clean and well kept. The first thing that you encounter when you walk through the door is the delicious aroma of curry and exotic Indian spices. They have some posters of India on the wall and some other decorations as well as soft Indian music playing. Like I said, it’s not fancy. It’s a bit like being invited into someones home. You can feel the love and pride that is used to prepare the food.

Luzzat is BYOB, (bring your own bottle), and there is no corkage fee. Across the street is a great little wine shop called Taste just in case you happen to forget to bring a bottle.

Tonight’s special was Chicken Curry, which I happen to really like, so I ordered that along with a vegetarian samosa and hummus.  My wife Cat, had  a craving for spinach so she ordered the Palak Paneer which is spinach and home made cheese bits simmered in spices and gravy. She also ordered the Sag Chicken which is basically the same as the Palak Paneer, except it has Chicken in spinach instead.

The hummus came with naan, a delicious Indian flat bread which had just been grilled as well as a cilantro based dipping sauce and a sweet red sauce. The hummus was creamy and smooth with a hint of garlic and was topped with a light oil, (I presume olive oil), and some slightly hot peppers  slices and olives.  The vegetarian samosa was a piping hot and steamy crispy pastry with a filling of potatoes, peas and coriander leaf, (cilantro).

The entree’s were served next accompanied with  a good amount of deliciously aromatic basmati rice.  My Chicken Curry was cooked to perfection. It had just the right amount of spiciness to it and the curry sauce was creamy and delicious. Cat’s two spinach dishes were also delicious.  The only difference that I could notice between the two was that one had these large bits of the home made cheese, (the Palak Paneer), while the other, (the Sag Chicken), had bits of chicken instead. Both were flavorful and came in abundant portions.

I can honestly say, this is the best Indian food I have ever had! The cook took great pride and care in the preparation of her food. As mentioned above, it almost had the feeling like we had been invited to dine at someones home where the cooking is done for the love of it, not just to make money. The staff was small with the feel of a family business.

I highly recommend Luzzat Indian Resturant whether it be for a quick bite or a nice homey sit down type of meal. The prices are very good, (we spent a total of $32.00 between the two of us),  and ended up taking home quite a bit of left overs.  It’s not a fancy place, but the food is so good that even if I didn’t live right around the block, I would make it a point to travel up here to eat at this wonderful gem of a resturant.

Luzzat is located at 1505 W. Jarvis Ave in the East Rogers Park area of Chicago. Their hours are from 12 noon to 9 p.m Wednesday through Monday. They are closed on Tuesdays.  While at this point reservations are not needed, if you want to call to order take out, the number is 773-764-1065.  Map

If you enjoy Indian food, heck if you enjoy food in general, you have to try Luzzat.

Could it be solely that what the queen wants the queen gets? And Queen O wants Michigan Avenue damn it!!! After all, any other production can use the Millennium Park facilities, but who but Oprah can get Michigan Avenue closed for two full days? Even the Pope couldn’t do that! To top that off, Mayor Daley has come out and stated that he thinks, “This is a great thing we’re doing, I wish we could do this everyday in the city of Chicago.”

Sure it’s a great thing… for Mayor Short Shanks and his machine maybe! I suppose Queen Oprah kicked out a hefty sum of cash to pull this off. I know, that’s just speculation, but hey, when did the Daley administration do anything for anyone that did not benefit them directly. As for the rest of the citizens, you know the people that are paying the taxes, the ones that King Richard is supposed to represent, the little people that actually carry this city on their shoulders  in the, “city of big shoulders”, think of this? According to the recent Chicago Tribune Poll 80% of Chicago’s citizens think it stinks! Sort of like the LAZ parking meter fiasco that the Daley Administration pushed through as well!

Thanks, Mayor Daley, you’ve once again proven it’s all about you! You’re the finest Mayor money can buy!

So maybe the red camp is right! Perhaps giving a damn about the health of our nation is less important than corporate profits. After all, as has been pointed out to me previously, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution do not specifically guarantee a fair and affordable health care system to the people, so why change what the founding fathers bestowed upon us?

Come to think of it, those documents written over 200 years ago didn’t guarantee us many of the things that we’ve openly accepted and expected of our government to provide. As long as we’re going to stick to the basics, let’s get rid of some of that other fluff!

Emergency services! Who needs em? Let’s privatize our police and fire departments! Let’s turn them over to a corporation so that our misfortunes can be a source of profit for someone. Let’s give everyone a choice whether they want protection or not.  We can create  insurance specifically for this. Just think of the tax savings we would get. I mean really, what is the chance that your house will actually burn or you will get mugged or worse?

If we privatize these socialistic services, you’ll have to pay for this insurance directly out of your own pocket, but it won’t have been collected out of your taxes right? Just think, you can then choose which  fire department you want  if your house is burning. Only problem is, it will have to be approved by your insurance carrier first.

“911 insurance, what is your emergency? What, you have an electrical fire? I’m sorry madame, you only have coverage for spontaneous combustion. Electrical fires are not covered by your policy. Good luck putting that one out!!”.

“You’ve  just been robbed? Sir, your policy does not cover robbery, it only covers fraud and murder. Have they murdered you sir? Would you like to upgrade your  policy to include robbery in case this happens again?”

Ahhhh the profits that could be made! Wonderful wonderful profits! This could be bigger than OIL!

Sound kind of stupid? Yeah… so does throwing away the chance of finally bringing an affordable and just health care system to our country which is currenly rated as number 37 in health care worldwide. We Americans  are consumed with being number one… why are we so willing to settle for number 37?

For the facts about Health Care Reform, please visit:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/

Now that makes sense, just when they get the experience under their belt, we get rid of them to bring in rookies making half of what they did. Of course this sets well with the rank and file of Chicago’s finest. Who wouldn’t want to retire at 55? It is a rough job, so why not give em a break. In addition, it is usually the cops that have been on the street for awhile that tend to lose their idealism and wander into less than, straight and narrow” ways of dealing with things. So perhaps this is a good plan. Get rid of the tired, worn out, corrupt slugs that are leaching off of our tax dollars. My only question is, “when are you going to retire Daley”?

My request is simple. I’m not asking them to cook the hamburger any special way. I’m not asking for something totally out of the ordinary. All I want is a damn Whopper with no ketchup, no mayo and with mustard. Is that too much to ask for?

Apparently it is. I’ve tried to order this 3 times now and each time I get something different than what I asked for. I’m not trying to be difficult, I’m just trying to eat a bit healthier by getting rid of the mayo. As for the ketchup, I just don’t like the stuff, (except of course on fries).

So I’ve begun to dumb down the way I ask for it. ” I would like two Whoppers without cheese, PAUSE, No ketchup, PAUSE no mayonnaise PAUSE with mustard!”.

Each time I am asked to repeat myself, they didn’t quite get it. OK, so I do. I’ve even had them repeat it back to me, (they did this, I didn’t ask for it because I know it’s too easy for them to spit on my burger if they get pissed at me).

What I get sometimes comes close, but I either get ketchup and mustard, no condiments at all or ketchup and mayonnaise and no mustard!

I know, I should bring it back, but I’ve heard too many stories about how the teenage help will spit on your food if you piss them off, and I for one will not take that chance. I grudgingly eat my Whopper while trying to think of a foolproof way of asking for what I want and not insulting the kitchen help.

Now this isn’t unique to Burger King. McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell and Wendy’s are all guilty as well. So I have begun to adopt a dumbed down way of ordering food. I over enunciate my words, I pause so that they will be sure to hear each and every syllable spoken and try to be sweet as syrup to the order taker in hopes that they might actually give a damn about my order and try to get it right.

Hey! Maybe that’s the problem!!! As I write this, a revelation just hit me. When I tried to program my cell phone to work with voice recognition, I did almost the same thing that I do when I order fast food. I over enunciated and spoke slow and deliberate. And it didn’t work!!! Finally in exasperation, I mumbled my words, and spoke as if it were a chore to get each word out, and it worked! The phone understood everything I said!

Maybe I should try this next time I visit Burger King!

“Yeah…Gimme two Whappers wid nuttin on em, wid sum tard and the salad stuff too!”

Peace out!

They say that death and taxes are the only certainties we face in life. In my youth, the passing of a celebrity was just a blurb on the news. Not that it was meaningless, but it didn’t really affect me. If it was someone I was fond of, I felt bad that they were gone, but I always figured, it was their time.

Now as I’ve reached my 5th decade of life on this cosmic speck of dust we call Earth, I’ve begun to realize that the hourglass is tolling down our time as each second passes thru the venturi from present to past. People that I grew up with are beginning to reach the end. Ed McMahon was there each night to announce, “Heeeerrrreeesss Johnny!”, Farah Fawcet graced the walls of man/boy caves around the world as “THE” pinup girl of my youth, and Michael was…. well, Michael!

The first time I watched Michael Jackson perform, it was on TV. I’m not sure what show it was, but there was this kid that was my age and he was rocking! I had heard The Jackson Five on the radio, but I thought it was a woman singing! I was amazed!

Michael was a poor kid from Gary which was right over the border from Chicago. He was one of us! As I grew up, so did Michael. His style changed and he took control. He became the King of Pop! He had his ups and downs as we all have, but Michael was always on stage so everything he did was in the spotlight.

I know Michael was eccentric, but through it all, he left the world a better place with his music and the style that was and will be forever Michael.

Farah was the dream of every teen age boy and man during the 70′s. My first recollection of a pin up was Raquel Welch, but that was before I began to, “like girls”! Then Farah came on the scene just as I began to notice.Just the mention of her name became synonymous with HOT!

In the end, Farah opened her fight with cancer to the world so that we could all learn; leaving a lasting impression that she forever will be one of the most beautiful and bravest women in the world.

Ed was the pitch man for more than just Johnny. His career spanned many decades and included stints in everything from carnival barking to veggie slicer salesman on the boardwalk, to his most famous character that we all knew as Johnny Carson’s right hand man. In one of his final interviews, Ed commented that it took more energy to scowl than to smile, so he practiced the latter. For all but the youngest readers, I bet you can still hear his laugh in your head if you think about it. It was booming and memorable and made us smile.

Yesterday, the Earth became a bit lonelier as several more grains of sand passed through that venturi of time. My youth became a bit more distant, and my future a bit closer. In the end, we know that when our time comes, we leave behind the memorabilia we’ve collected, but I truly believe the memories and the love goes with us. If that is so, then Ed and Farah and Michael will live on for eternity in the memories of millions. Thanks for those memories.

]]> http://www.dogheartstudios.com/dancingfrogsreadingroom/?feed=rss2&p=155 0 http://www.dogheartstudios.com/dancingfrogsreadingroom/?p=147 http://www.dogheartstudios.com/dancingfrogsreadingroom/?p=147#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:01:02 +0000 drenar http://www.dogheartstudios.com/dancingfrogsreadingroom/?p=147

Vandalized Meters at record levels!

The number of Chicago Parking Meters being vandalized since Daley’s sell off of the Chicago Parking Meters earlier this year has grown to record amounts. As you might recall, Daley and his cronies pushed through a deal which leased the Chicago Parking Meter concession to a group called  LAZ Parking which is owned by Morgan Stanley.  In a deal that will cause the city of Chicago to lose up to 4 billion dollars over the course of the 75 year lease, Daley managed to get the sign off by all but 5 Aldermen on a deal that was not put up for public scrutiny.  In addition, the Daley administration allowed LAZ to increase the meter amounts to record levels, hurting the cash strapped citizens and who live or visit Chicago.

Is it any wonder that people have started to rebel? Daley has once again thumbed his nose as the citizens of Chicago by not looking out for the best interest of the people.  Daley seems to think that it’s his city!  The next election will tell!

The Attorney General is currently looking into this sweetheart deal that Daley pushed through. Hopefully this deal can be rescinded before it’s too late. In the mean time, if you come across a meter that is broken, call the number on the meter and they will give you a code that you can put on your ticket to get it dismissed. Hmmmmm, sounds like a good deal to me!  One simple call and you get a free pass to park all day? Who said you can’t beat city hall?