Althouse: At the Lake Michigan Café...

January 30, 2011

At the Lake Michigan Café...

(Enlarge.)

... you can be as sullen or sharp-edged as you like.

24 comments:

Jason (the commenter) said...: We have a very similar sculpture on the waterfront in Saint Petersburg. They have something like that in practically every city I've been in. I'm trying to wonder when they were edgy in the non-literal sense. The 70's maybe?

These seem to be their redeeming qualities: they're something to look at, they don't cost much (cheap), and they're big.; 1/30/11, 6:14 PM
Unknown said...: You're lucky. In Philadelphia, they just have a clothes pin.

PS Bleak landscape, but magnificent use of color, Madame.

Did you use a filter?; 1/30/11, 6:18 PM
traditionalguy said...: This Sunday the Atlanta weather was a peaceful 70F with very warm sunshine. Winter has a while to go, but there is hope now.; 1/30/11, 6:28 PM
Pastafarian said...: OK, since I can be sharp-edged and yet dull-witted, allow me to advance a little theory that I've been working on:

You remember "The Usual Suspects"? The hook was that the meek, timid Kevin Spacey turned out (spoiler alert, for the 12 people on earth who haven't yet seen it) to be Keyser Soze, a criminal mastermind of legendary fiendishness.

Here's my theory: The commenter we know as Freeman Hunt is an actual Keyser Soze.

Freeman Hunt is the reason that small children are afraid of the dark. And I'm not sure, but Paddy O might be her accomplice /evil sidekick.

Now, my evidence at this point is sketchy. But I'm working on a very convincing graph in green crayon plotting the frequency of acts of evil before Freeman Hunt's birth, and afterward. I call it "the hockey stick of malevolence" (aka The Stick of Claude Lemieux). Come to think of it, I bet that bastard Lemieux is involved too, part of their gang.; 1/30/11, 6:38 PM
traditionalguy said...: Could it be that Pastafarian is really Hercule Poirot living under witness protection in Madison? Your personality gives you away, mon ami.; 1/30/11, 6:51 PM
HT said...: FYI, and FWIW, my favorite tagline is Althouse Digs In

Great photo.; 1/30/11, 7:02 PM
The Dude said...: Large modern sculpture can be well done. That one isn't.; 1/30/11, 7:17 PM
ricpic said...: Slowly, toward the north, where the white shapes assemble;
And do they share a truth, or do they jostle and dissemble?
It matters not surrounded by that solitude of stripped down space;
It matters only that they fully occupy their place.; 1/30/11, 7:27 PM
MadisonMan said...: Well, the wv is water, so I have to comment.

There is nothing more invigorating than standing on Lake Michigan's shoreline in January or February with a brisk northeast wind blowing and waves crashing around you. Then you go somewhere and get a hot drink. Perfect.

Did you stay at the Pfister? I really like that hotel.; 1/30/11, 8:09 PM
Big Mike said...: Chicago has large outdoor sculpture by Picasso that bears a marked resemblance to his dog Lump.; 1/30/11, 8:34 PM
lucid said...: What a beautiful photograph!; 1/30/11, 8:38 PM
Calypso Facto said...: Kind of looks like a mid-lake ice heave even.

MM: last time I stayed at the Pfister, I stooped to pet a cute beagle in the lobby while checking in. Only later at the Brewers game did I find out that the dog was Westminster Grand Champion Uno, there to throw out the first pitch. Oh, and the Cincinnati Reds were there too. Whatever.; 1/30/11, 8:56 PM
MadisonMan said...: I don't know why I didn't think of California Dreamin' the first time I saw that image, but now I am thinking of it.; 1/30/11, 9:18 PM
HT said...: MadisonMan said...

I don't know why I didn't think of California Dreamin' the first time I saw that image, but now I am thinking of it.

____

I'm playing it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0UcQDUR-fU) now.

To me, it doesn't work.

Here's what comes up for me when I think of that song, and this might date me. 1978. December, mid December, out in the park just got finished smokin with friends, sittin up in a public structure (the castle), walking around. Leaves blowing round. Most have fallen off the trees, but a few linger. Down vests. Sheep lined collars, cordoroys. Suede shoes.

This picture is January, not in any place that's remotely temperate like California or the south. This picture doesn't have a trace memory of warmth.; 1/30/11, 9:27 PM
BJM said...: OMG...Tim Geithner...nekkid.; 1/30/11, 10:06 PM
Penny said...: "FYI, and FWIW, my favorite tagline is Althouse Digs In".

Oh?

Some Althouse commenters are concerned with how well she digs out?; 1/30/11, 10:30 PM
Unknown said...: Isn't Lake Michigan gorgeous? Even here in Chicago it is truly spectacular. I'm lucky enough to be there several times a week with my pooches. Thanks for capturing some of its beauty.; 1/30/11, 11:42 PM
HT said...: You mean digs out like from the snow? No, I'm not too concerned for her there. Maybe that's why she got remarried. It's why I would.; 1/30/11, 11:45 PM
Penny said...: "You mean digs out like from the snow?"

Um hm. If you say so, Rev.

Got my eye on you.; 1/31/11, 2:17 AM
Robert Burnham said...: You need to photograph that sculpture from a viewpoint about 90° to the right of where you were standing.

Then you'd see the sculpture as it is: The White Elephant.; 1/31/11, 8:00 AM
virgil xenophon said...: Pastafarian/

Freeman Hunt?? OUR Freeman Hunt??
The Arkansas Traveler herself? What
cosmic event, what evil deed, what off-hand comment triggered your finely-honed suspicious mind, Pasta-man?; 1/31/11, 8:04 AM
TMink said...: Wonderful image, super tone. Did you consider cropping out a bit of the snow in front?

Trey; 1/31/11, 8:29 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Looks like the satellite dish installers quit in the middle of the job.

Hope they come back before Super Bowl.; 1/31/11, 10:13 AM
Phil 314 said...: Northwestern campus is on the Michigan lakefront AND has several sculptures. When I was a student walking along the lakefront on a typically windy, cold and exceedingly gray day the sculptures felt oddly "dead". (they were all "modern" too)

Maybe it was because the backdrop of the winter lake was cold and forbidding like...

death; 1/31/11, 3:27 PM