Tonight the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Philidelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime to win the stanley cup. The deciding goal was scored by Patrick Kane and was acknowledged about 30 seconds later, which made for one the most anticlimactic overtime Stanley Cup winning goals in NHL history. Honestly, this is about 3 degrees off the epitome of Timbit players ultimate dream scenario. In the ideal scenario the goal is scored on a penalty shot in OT of game 7 against your lifelong rival.
Seven months ago, who would have thought that The Chicago Blackhawks (pronounced Black-Hawks... you people have dirty minds) would have won the Stanley Cup, apart from Nostradamus that is? I have one work for you "Me". That's affirmative, last American Thanksgiving I happen to be visiting some family in the windy city and I made a bold statement: "This is the yaer for Chicago". A simple statement from a simple man, but you can't argue with razor sharp insight.
To celebrate the fulfillment of my epic prediction, I have decided to post some picture from that fateful trip.
Theatre lovers will recognize this shot. Actually anyone who watched Perfect Strangers probably recognizes it.
Note the last few seconds of the opening clip Perfect Strangers.
Here is a nice shot I took from beside the Wrigley Building.
My favorite quotes about Chicago.
This first quote is from Vince Vaughn. Vince is a big Chicago fan and you can tell if you watch his movies. You could have spotted him during the payoffs at the home games. The quote is from the movie Swingers. In the movie, Trent (Vince Vaughn) uses Roenick and the Blackhawks against his buddy and Gretzky's Kings on "NHL 94" for the Sega Genesis. Trent is dominating his friend when he says:
"Y'know, it's not so much me as Roenick; he's good!".
Here is the clip:
The second quote that I love is a baseball quote, but involves but involves more sophisticated cultural references than Vince Vaughn. I think it was a tour guide who told me this. (For those who don't know, Chicago's north side is rich white collar crowd and the south is your mainstream blue collar crowd. Madison avenue is the separator of the two sides and The Art Institute of Chicago is roughly at that same latitude. The Cubs generally draw fans from the North and the Sox from the South) So the tour guide tells me:
"If you live north of the Art Institute then you are a Cubs fan, if you have never been to the Art Institute, then you're a Sox fan".
To tribute that guide here is a pic from inside The Art Institute of Chicago. You may recognize it from a famous scene in the movie Ferris Buller's day off.
The scene in question:
Here is some abstract art at the Richard J. Daley Center, also known by its courtyard Daley Plaza. It is featured in at least one Blues Brothers movie but I could find any clips so make due with the pic.
Finally, here is a shot from my amazing accommodation at my first cousin once removed. He and his family live just outside of the downtown core in an amazing converted warehouse. The place is ridiculous but I will keep the shots of it to myself. This was my view from my bedroom: Standing 1,450 feet and 110 stories high, Willis Tower is the tallest building in the western hemisphere, but it will always be the Sears Tower to me.
Now before I start posting clips from Family Matters I'm going to end this blog post.
Also for those who haven't noticed, since my trip to Chicago the banner (wide picture at the top of my blog) is actually a shot from the trip. It is Millennium Park. I am in the reflection of the giant bean, if you use a little perspective and physics, you can figure out which one is me. A hint is that I took the shot.
