A Couple o' Things

First:  NatGeo has a slide show of vintage... which is to say WPA-era... travel posters about our National Parks.  A couple of examples:

I've been to both of these National Parks (i.e., Carlsbad Caverns and Arches) and the posters capture the gestalt perfectly, as do the others.  Recommended.

And then there's this:

Follow the logic of Chicago Sun-Times writer Richard Roeper in his column about the Chicago Blackhawks' bandwagon in the city:

A. Sportscasters and newspapers are claiming "the entire city" is rooting for the Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup.

B. After what must have been an extensive genetic screening process, Roeper "couldn't spot one fan who appeared to be a minority" at United Center. No, not even this guy (ed: photo at the "there's this" link above). Or Michael Jordan.

C. Hence, the "entire city" can't be rooting for the Blackhawks because there appear to be minorities in the city. And because, evidently, generalities in sports writing are no longer acceptable in Chicago media.

Read the whole thing and chase the links, if'n you're a hockey fan.  Or even if you're NOT.  It's that good.

Wyshynski brings to mind an evening once upon a time and long ago when The Second Mrs. Pennington and I were in a crowded elevator after a game at The Joe in Dee-troit, on our way from the arena to the parking garage.  When I say "crowded," I mean 25 or more people packed into a smallish elevator, the sort of occasion where you're glad to be among friends.  So, the door closes and the elevator begins ascending to the garage.  A drunken wag announces... out o' nowhere... "Wow.  We're ALL white people in here!"  There were a few guffaws but it was mostly embarrassed, self-conscious titters.  You hadda be there, Gentle Reader, to appreciate (a) the honesty and (b) the sheer weirdness of the moment.  

JLA, for the uninitiated, is on the river downtown in deepest, darkest Dee-troit.  And Dee-troit was described in the mid-'80s as "America's First Third World City," mostly because the city is 90% black... which is mainly because of the White Flight that happened after the 1968 riots.  It WAS unusual to be in downtown Detroit and to be surrounded by nuthin' but white folks.  Ah.  Memories.