I should say I was in Hyde Park — it wasn't my dog, but my son's. Not my home, but his, and his wife's. They were, ah, busy elsewhere and, in my full service dad mode, I'd volunteered to go walk the dog.
No hardship. A perfect night. Gorgeous stone mansions lined the street. Why doesn't anyone even try to build these anymore? Mature trees — do I call Northbrook "the leafy suburban paradise"? Hyde Park makes Northbrook look like Nebraska.
At 50th Street I passed the above sign. Obama's block. Odd, I thought, walking on, that they'd cut off traffic for him — he's hardly ever there. I wonder if the residents resent it. They must. Past 50th, a second sign. I took a closer look. Oh. The "P" was taped on. A college prank, probably. And I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. You'd think, having written a book on college pranks myself, I wouldn't be taken in so easily. No shame there. We are all duped now and then. This at least is clever, and harmless. Without effect, except to draw a smile. And when was the last time something presidential did that?
When my son was at University of Chicago, John Oliver did a stand-up set there. He said Hyde Park was straight out of a Dickens novel.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I get a copy of your book about college pranks?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/If-All-Possible-Involve-Cow/dp/0312078102/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2L5MNAP3J9WTD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CiLe4wlk6AkSBUY5RlptMYVEKzAIDna6kd3yY2Jp6-UX5DTmRvAEvZzvMo6E_3ukAfmu8EKOltOLClNY81ZnP8ZYVHqwYaW1uYc_e-ODAIx8_mFt2NYuY8U6QZf8vUtWqs5qi6XLKY4BIotLPYC3EBaJvXObzuTxmAsmgLGLogWzdRRoSv37qenCctnc0aEovCn_BRWN9I7rqRdi0n-K-EhsFtDXuDLUN3ya99595dtenePjczbE9s-KxIOV4krS1Px2siII-MRhs8Gu83iPx2_1T0kpqSID7TYsX5Fg93k.wIP0QiYr7zUlz9nbuZ8fuqe76y2fOrOLboyTgfy5zgg&dib_tag=se&keywords=if+at+all+possible+involve+a+cow&qid=1778946850&sprefix=If+at+all+possible+inv%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1
DeleteNo ebook version that I can find- bummer
DeleteYes, it was published in 1994, before e-books were a thing. Your only option is to spend the six dollars and be burdened with a book of paper — not a practical alternative in your view, no doubt.
DeleteI totally fail to understand why Obama keeps owning the place at 51st & Greenwood, when he no longer uses it?
ReplyDeleteI also don't understand why the street is still blocked off at 51st, with a Secret Service guard post there. I went down greenwood on my bike a week before his nomination, after that, they blocked off the street to everyone but the residents & those walking to the shul across the street.
I like Obama but I agree with you on that.
DeleteThe absolute coolest street in Hyde Park is a small enclave called Madison Park. You go through a gate. Beautiful homes set in a circle. At the end of his life Bill Veeck lived in the Modernist Y.A. Chang building just inside the gate to the left. Very neat structure. Each unit is built around its own walled Japanese garden. James Bond would live there. Or at least Napoleon Solo.
ReplyDeleteDuct tape turned three NO PARKING ANY TIME signs into NO KING ANY TIME.
ReplyDeleteAll are visible from my house. My handiwork has remained intact for seven months.
Great!
DeleteSmall dissent here, the coolest street in Hyde Park is East View Park. While East View Park V Madison Park is a strictly subjective opinion, I'm still correct because Madison Park--and Obama's house--are both in Kenwood. Hyde Park stops on the south side of 51st Street. North side of 51st starts Kenwood. The difference is stark, since even the few spots in HP with large houses are nothing like the mansions in Kenwood. Fun fact, East View Park is an association of mostly six-flats built around its own park, and Obama lived there until he got a million dollar book contract, at which point he moved to a Kenwood mansion about as fast as anybody could.
ReplyDeleteAlso, everybody should buy Neil's pranks book, well worth the money and so much better to have a physical book to thumb through anyway.
ReplyDelete