Official A2K Gathering in Chicago, May 7th, 2006!

I want to know more about the horse ...

I think it's much funnier that Goethe Street, named for the famous German writer, is pronounced "Go-thee" Street by the natives.

We also have a statue dedicated to Goethe:

That sounds right, Walter. Actually, it's true that American English as spoken in the Midwest is pretty standard and not at all hard to understand. They just have a lot of trouble with words or names that are not of English origin.

Actually it is funny. This statue doesn't look like Goethe at all. It seems the mason has confused two of his orders on delivery. I wonder where the real Goethe ended up.

Hahn, Hermann

(Geboren: Kloster-Veilsdorf, nr Rudolstadt, Thuringia, 28 Nov 1868; Gestorben: Munich, 18 Aug 1945). German sculptor. He entered the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich in 1887 and a year later went to the Akademie where he studied under Wilhelm von Rumann until 1892. In 1896 he took over Rumanns teaching at the Akademie; he became an honorary professor in 1902 and was appointed full professor in 1912, training a whole generation of sculptors who were nicknamed the Munchner Archaiker. Although he became a member of the National Socialist Party, he was compelled to give up his teaching post in 1937. The small bronze statue Eva (e.g. Munich, Ver. Bild. Kstler) established Hahns reputation as a Jugendstil artist. It was only in his middle years that he developed into an outstanding representative of neo-classicism, as is demonstrated in particular by his two monuments to Moltke, one made in 1899 for Chemnitz, in the Hauptmarkt, and the other in 1909 for Bremen, on the facade of the north tower of the Liebfrauenkirche, and the monument to Liszt made in 1900 for Weimar, in the Grossherzoglicher Park. While he still adhered to the portrait figure in these statues, in his monument to Goethe for Lincoln Park, Chicago, unveiled in 1914, he turned the poet into a symbolic figure in the guise of a youthful hero from antiquity.

This is the Thomas statue in Lincoln Park

As expected, it doesn't look like me either.

Sturgis, I assume that it was after you kissed that Chicago cop on the lips that you had to puke in the river, thus rendering it green?

Thomas wrote:

As expected, it doesn't look like me either.

But if you would dress like it ...

The Naked Guy with Big Bird isn't on Wacker Drive, is it?

Not to mention, I adore the Chicago Symphony and love Symphony Hall (I heard Barenboim there when I was there last year -- fabolous acoustics!) I'm so looking forward to going there again.

Thomas wrote:

Not to mention, I adore the Chicago Symphony and love Symphony Hall (I heard Barenboim there when I was there last year -- fabolous acoustics!) I'm so looking forward to going there again.

Thomas was here in Chicago last year and he didn't call me? I'm very disappointed.

It was February last year, when we didn't have nearly as many friendly disagreements under our belts as we do now. Sorry -- won't happen again.