I've just seen a face

 Wendover Will, West Wendover, Nevada

 The Elizabeth Montgomery "Bewitched" statue, Salem, Massachusetts

 Brad Pitt in wax, Niagara Falls, Canada

 Art Carney, Westbrook Public Library, Westbrook, Connecticut

 Bob's Big Boy, Baker, California

 Millenium Park, Chicago

 Eldo J. Coons, RV/MH Hall of Fame, Elkhart, Indiana

 The Gemini Giant, Launching Pad restaurant, Wilmington, Illinois

 Mammy's Cupboard, Natchez, Mississippi

 Harlem, Georgia, birthplace of Oliver Hardy

 Sonny Bono statue, Palm Springs, California

 The Citrus Place, Terra Ceia, Florida

Me and a painting that looks like me, Yale Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut

Happy birthday, Bob Newhart

"I don't like country music but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'." More about our visit to the Bob Newhart statue here.

Signs and things around Chicago, the Miami of Canada

We had some fun riding around Chicago on top of one of those open air double-decker buses. I couldn't get enough of the buildings and signs along the way. What a great city. I also like a city with a nickname and Chicago's got a ton of them. "The Windy City" is probably the best known, but one theory purports that "windy" isn't a reference to the weather; rather, the talkative nature of the city's politicians. "The Second City" is another, and was first used in a snotty New Yorker article comparing New York to Chicago. The origin of the name "Chicago" itself is funny too: an Indian word for smelly onions. Here are a few more, from wikipedia:

• "The Miami of Canada" - As referred to by Mr. Burns in an episode of The Simpsons.

• "New Gotham" - Because of the vast amount of footage used of the city for the 2008 film The Dark Knight.

• "The Chill or Chi Ill" - Also used by rap musicians from the area.

• "City by the Lake" - Used in the Smashing Pumpkins' song "Tonight, Tonight."

• "City on the Make" - From "Chicago, City on the Make" (1951), a prose poem by Nelson Algren.

• "The City That Works" - According to former Mayor Richard J. Daley.

• "The Big Onion" - An homage to the original Native name for the area (which meant "onion"), in parallel with a popular New York nickname, "The Big Apple."

• "City in a Garden" - English translation of the Latin motto on the city seal: "Urbs in Horto."

• "Beirut by the Lake" - From a Wall Street Journal article during the Council Wars of the 1980s.

• "My Kind of Town" - According to the song "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" (music by Jimmy Van Heusen, words by Sammy Cahn, 1964) popularized by Frank Sinatra. (Originally from the film, Robin and the Seven Hoods, about a fictional popular Chicago gangster).

• "Paris on the Prairie" - From the 1909 plan for the City of Chicago created by Daniel Burnham.

• "Sweet Home" - From the Robert Johnson song Sweet Home Chicago.

• "Heart of America" - Chicago is one of the largest transportation centers in America and its location near the center of the United States.

• "That Toddling Town" - According to the lyrics of the song "Chicago" (music and words by Fred Fisher, 1922) also popularized by Frank Sinatra (as well as Tony Bennett).

and last but not least:

• "Hog Butcher for the World" - Described in a poem by Carl Sandburg.

Super size me: Chicago's enormous Rock & Roll McDonald's

Two stories, two lanes of drive-through, too too much!

It looks more like an airport than a McDonald's.

They've got some cool pop culture exhibits upstairs.

Chicago, Illinois hosts one of the largest and most unusual McDonald's in the world. On the block bounded by West Ontario, West Ohio, North LaSalle and North Clark sits a behemoth tribute to American fast food culture. More than just a McNugget dispensery, it's a bi-level combination restaurant/museum three times the size of the average Mickey Dees, with a two-lane drive through and seating for 300. The decor is chic with plasma screen TVs and Italian lighting, and lattes, gelato and biscotti are served in the coffee bar upstairs. Outside, two 60-foot arches beckon you to take a break today. Pop culture artifacts going back to McDonald's early years are displayed upstairs and an adjacent building in the parking lot houses tributes to Elvis, the Beatles and other rock and roll luminaries. Chicago's Hard Rock Cafe is in the same neighborhood and may be why this particular theme was chosen. Best of all, clean public bathrooms are available to all seekers -- quite a rarity in the middle of a huge metropolis. The original 1983 McDonald's on this block was demolished in 2005 so this incarnation could be built to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original franchised McDonald's restaurant in nearby Des Plains, now a museum itself. And the food... well, it's exactly like every other McDonald's in the world, which, depending on your outlook, is either a good thing or a bad thing. And, yes, I'll have fries with that.

Aye carumba! Burritos As Big As Your Head in Chicago

"Can I take your order?"
"Yes, I'd like the burrito as big as my head, with the enchilada as big as my sternum, the chalupa as big as my patella, and a side of the chimichanga as big as my medulla oblongata."

Saw this place out the window of the Untouchables bus tour window in Chicago and had to snap a picture. I love the expression on the lady's face. Looks like the burrito as big as her head she just ate is doing a Mexican hat dance in her stomach right now.

Another Fine Ness: Chicago's Untouchables Tour

Site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Where John Dilliger saw his last movie

The alley where he was shot

One hilarious photo op after another

We haven't had a chance to see the new Johnny Depp movie "Public Enemies" yet, but we did take Chicago's Untouchables Tour recently. It's a two-hour guided bus ride that goes past key sites from the movie and other must-see crime scenes from Chicago's checkered past. Very entertaining too, as led by our two tour guides dolled up in the glad rags of a couple of 1930s tough mugs. They explain what a Chicago overcoat is (a coffin) and a Chicago typewriter (a sub-machine gun) while driving past famous crime scenes such as where the St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred (an empty lot today). The Biograph Theater, where John Dilliger took in his last picture show before taking a powder courtesy of Uncle Sam in the alley next door, is especially impressive. It has been lovingly and authentically restored to just how it looked in 1934 when Dillinger was given a case of lead poisoning by the G-Men waiting for him, and was used in the Johnny Depp movie. So take it from me, it's a great tour and I won't soft-soap ya for the love of Mike, it's a fine how do you do, you can bet yer bottom dollar, sez who? sez me!

Holiday Inn's new logo and signage: Inn-excusable

The late, great Holiday Inn sign

Looking out the back of the station wagon with a Holiday Inn sign on the horizon... life is sweet!

The interim sign from the 1980s-2000's: corporate but still a little kitschy.

The new signage (ZZZZzzzzzzz, snore)

Nice motel, really boring signage.

They still had the old logo on their deluxe coffee cups inside, though.

A reworked old gem.

An homage to the master.

We had a very pleasant stay at a Holiday Inn hotel near Chicago's O'Hare airport recently. Nice room, great service, friendly staff, terrific internet deal on the rate, quiet, clean. No complaints at all. Well... almost. It seems the InterContinental Hotels Group which owns the chain has begun what they call a world-wide relaunch of the brand that includes a redesign of their logo and signage. There are some things that should just never be redesigned. The Mona Lisa. The Taj Mahal. The Holiday Inn sign. When the chain began in the 1950s, road travellers were beckoned by a giant green and yellow gleaming 42-foot tall monolith with a friendly hand-written-looking script typeface and a chaser-bulbed arrow topped with a shining neon star to lead you to to the comfort and luxury of the best motel chain on the open highway. When you saw that sign you just had to ooh and ahh. It was a true American icon blinking you in the face. In the 1980s, they did away with the big signs for a more contemporary backlit box, but they kept that distinctive script, to remind you of those comfortable kitschy American roots. But now it seems even the script is gone, replaced by a bland sans-serif typeface suitable for any generic purpose. Bring it back, oh please bring it back. Doing away with that old logo is Inn-considerate, Inn-correct, Inn-comprehensible, Inn-defensible, and, well, you get the idea.