This Gets Old

“We’ve been working
Our whole damn lives
But for what?
For them.”
Never Shout Never, “This Shit Getz Old”

Sam Barnett posted a comment about artist Chris Drew who faces a possible 15 years in jail under the Illinois Eavesdropping Act for putting a videotape of his being arrested on YouTube. He was selling art pieces on the street to protest a law making that a misdemeanor. He didn’t know about a draconian law forbidding folks from recording police officers. Chris is also in Never Shout Never.

Charles Halberstadt shared a “Being Liberal” photo of a monopoly board and this statement: “You can tell monopoly is an old game because there’s a luxury tax and rich people can go to jail.”

Since Toni’s birthday falls on Valentine’s Day, she prefers not battling the holiday crowds, so we had Happy Wok carry-out with Dave, Angie, and the kids. I contributed flowers (as did Alissa) and macadamia nuts, and Angie baked a chocolate cake.

Both the Post-Trib and the Chesterton Tribune have “this date in history” section. Yesterday marked the 83rd anniversary of the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Chicago gangster Al Capone’s tentacles reached into Northwest Indiana both in terms of control of booze, prostitution and drugs and with hideaways “Scarface Al” owned. Today is the anniversary of the assassination attempt against FDR in Miami that killed Chicago mayor Anton Cermak. 114 years ago occurred the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine, which helped bring about America’s first imperialistic war after the press wrongly accused the Spanish government of blowing the ship up.

Steve and Ron traveled to Munster to collect some treasures for the Archives pertaining to the 1945 Froebel School Strike. The man was selling stuff on the Internet but also seemed willing to donate some material.

Wendy Foley ordered “Educating the Region” for a friend as a Valentine’s Day present. Got it the mail as soon as I received her note, but I’m afraid it will have to be a belated gift.

I interviewed Ted Karras at his Miller home. He has a championship ring for playing with the 1963 Chicago Bears, something brothers Lou and Alex never achieved. When he had troubling remembering things, wife Anna assisted him. Among his happiest memories: pier fishing in Michigan City with his dad and brothers. Prior to a high school game, Ted injured his finger, went to a shoe store, and used an x-ray machine meant to measure foot size to examine his hand. Sure enough, a finger was broken. He taped it up and played that evening. As I was leaving Anna told me that they were going to watch “Webster,” a sitcom Alex and wife Susan starred in during the 1980s that comes on at 11:30 weekdays on WMEU (The U).

Being in his neighborhood, I dropped in on Clark Metz, temporarily laid up with a broken toe. Normally his dog tries to jump up on the couch next to me the entire visit, but today he was calmer – not so much of a puppy anymore, I guess, although Dave and Angie’s aging dogs Sammy and Maggie never tire of giving frenetic greetings.

IUN’s Gallery for Contemporary Art director Ann Fritz hosted a reception for mixed media artist Javier Chavira. One piece honored the many women who have gone missing in Juarez, Mexico. “Americano” portrays a Mexican-American caught between two cultures. I asked Chavira if he was worried that the pieces he did on cardboard wouldn’t last very long; he claimed not to care, like Picasso. His work was striking, and, as always, Ann put out a nice spread.

In honor of Charles Darwin’s birthday number 203 the Anthropology Department’s annual Darwin Day featured talks on “Evolution of the Use of Cadavers for Teaching Anatomy” and “Evolution of Disgust and Its Role in Dehumanization of Others.” Psychology professor Ceyhun Sunsay discussed how Nazi propaganda predisposed Germans to become xenophobic. I had a slice of Darwin birthday cake. T-shirts and primate Beanie Babies were on sale.

I submitted an article about a male counterpart to Diana of the Dunes to the “South Shore Journal.” I was afraid I missed the deadline, but editor Chris Young said, “No problem,” it had been extended.

Facing the first-place team, the Engineers started hot and despite notching only one mark in the seventh game won the first game before the splits started coming. I kept an eye on the IU game, which the Hoosiers barely pulled out against Northwestern. Dave was announcing the East Chicago-Lou Wallace high school grudge match, which E.C. won 80-75.