An amazingly crowded, unusual, fun, and massive Inauguration Day

If you think you have seen or been in crowds before, it is nothing compared to the situation in D.C. today. As I woke up this morning around 6 and turned on the news, I heard reports that people were all over the city before the sun even rose. When we headed to the Metro [...]

Packed like sardines

Today Nirav and I walked around D.C. and gawked like the tourists that we are, at least for now. As both of us are here we seem to be looking at things through the same eyes but with different ends in mind. Coming from the Obama campaign, Nirav is determined to move out to D.C. [...]

Across the pond from D.C.

I am here in Alexandria, Virginia – across the Potomac River from D.C. – ready to explore the city that has everyone’s attention. Nirav (the kind friend who invited me to join him on this adventure) discovered that our tickets are in the purple area for the swearing in ceremony, which means we will be [...]

My Bloody Ears…er Valentine

The following is a reprint of review that I wrote in the Chicago Flame’s arts and entertainment section called Inferno a few weeks back.
Last week, My Bloody Valentine, late 80s/early 90s noise-pop-rock aficionados, came to the Aragon Ballroom as part of their first US tour in 16 years. Unfortunately, MBV has not aged like a [...]

A convention of business and madness

It has been a long week thus far in Denver. After a series of lectures, small group discussions, some fieldwork, a Rockies game (and a little bit of extra entertainment) I have finally had time to sit down and give an update about my experience in Denver. There will only be little snippets right now [...]

BOT update

Well I made my address to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees last week. It was an interesting moment because there was a whole lot of discussion about the University going on at the meeting. Unfortunately, I was one of the few people that seemed to be critical of the goings on. I am [...]