So we got up early and headed out for the Sears Tower. The views are pretty impressive. Even with the fog you can see all of Chicago and many of the suburbs. Pretty neat stuff. Did the manigficent mile thing and ate at an awesome Asian resturaunt Wow Bao. Bao is a bun filled with whatever you like, and their only 1.29 each. Even Vegetarian options are available. The picture is of the Cloud in the wonderful Millenium Park. it’s awesome how the whole city is reflecting behind me. Went to Navy Pier which is nice but a tourist trap. We went through a glass haunted house that was only worth it with the coupon we had, but it had cool bubbles that left colors on your clothes. Spent the evening at the Arts Institute which has one of the largest collections Ive ever seen and Edward Hoppers Diner painting. And then we had CHicago pizza to finish off the night. It was good but hurt my stomach. Yummy.

So we stayed in Naperville for the cheaper hotels and the train ( I hate driving in big cities when walking works much better)
and we got there in time for the 330 train, which got canceled. So we explored naperville which is pretty cool. it’s like a college downtown, except for families instead of college kids. Pretty nice place. We got into chicago at 500 and headed for the red line which we took to wicker park area. Wicker Park is where all the cool punk clubs are and its home to tons of little boutiques and resturants. We hit Reckless Records which is a pretty great record store and Quimbys, the best bookstore Ive ever seen for alternative comics, and zines. Pretty neato place, although at the time all i was looking for was Civil War 2, but the place doesnt carry superhero books. oh well I guess they are readily available elsewhere. By the time we headed back we caught the 1030 train which got us into naperville at 1130, hit the hotel and were asleep pretty quickly. fun fun fun.

So we just got back from chicago. awesome trip. will write more later tired now. i did buy the gnarls barkley album while i was there found the fifth season of next generation for 30$ and picked up a bunch of back issue comics at quimby’s. I’ll write more later, but heres a quick one sentence review for this weeks comics three days late.

civil war # 2 . yeah. this is what a summer event should be. wow.

superf****ers # 3 James Kolchacka has this book growing on me. The ‘heroes’ are all retarded and all stereotypes. grotessa is the best female comic hero ever. ha!

We’re leaving tommorow morning for a trip to the windy city, so dont waste your bandwith coming here until at least Saturday evening. Were staying in Naperville and taking the train into the city each day. Any suggestions on must do Chicago excursions? Have a great week!

Scored Jessica’s Ds Lite at 7:45 this morning at Wally World. Guy said it was the last one they had. Havent really heard of anyone not being able to find one, so I guess this launch wasn’t as crazy as the Japanese launch. It’s funny I remember almost two years ago when the Ds launched I had Jessica drive me to gamestop in Memphis and we played around with the pictochat function. I think we were both nonplussed with the system and its 199 price tag was too steep for me to even consider it. After I got my Phat last fall, I think we both have come to love the little handheld, and it’s amazing games. I was intrigued by the PSP originally but now it looks like a shiny rock, with no real software, while the DS, is the machine to play the games gamers want to play. Funny what a difference two years and the house that mario built returning to its former glory make.

We just got back from Comic Book I-Con in Des Moines, Iowa and it is a nice well lit, smaller sized one day comic book con, which is a nice alternative to the larger Wizard World. The con is basically a dealers room, with a small gaming area to the side and a room set aside for panels and video’s. We watched the Star Wars fan film reign of the fallen which was very good for a fan film, and had pretty decent acting. Also sat through a Q and A with Steve Gonsales of the Sci-Fi channel’s Ghost Hunters show, and he offered something for fans of the paranomal. I once again spent more on admission ( a very nice $5) than i did on merchandise( $3 for a bishop and cable minimate set), so I guess I just enjoy the experience more now than the hunt for the bargain comics. Oh well. Jessica bought some mini comics and made some connections for her Zine Vending Machine she is running on the U of I campus. Good small size con for the two hour drive. And probably just the right size for a Iowa Comic-Con.