northavechessboards
I'm trying something new this year, possible for the first time because of Google Maps recently adding RSS feeds to every customized map made there; I call it a "placeblog," consisting of photos and write-ups of various random locations around Chicago I visit on my bicycle this summer and fall, only instead of presented by date they're all plotted on a city map, so that you search and browse by location instead of age. I'm originally uploading the photos here at Flickr, so that people can check them out in a normal fashion if they want; and then you can <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2009bikeblog">click here</a> for the actual placeblog/map, or <a href="http://www.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&output=georss&msid=112356573111939317036.000469d4bd545c821ff53">click here</a> for the RSS feed, or simply stop by the main headquarters for all my Chicago bicycle maps at [<a href="http://www.jasonpettus.com/maps/">jasonpettus.com/maps</a>].
Here: The locally famous chess pavilion at the North Avenue Beach, which like Washington Square Park in New York is constantly filled with semi-pro players battling it out over small wagers. It was built in 1957 from a Mid-Century Modernist design by Maurice Webster, including Modernist king and queen sculptures on either end by Boris Gilbertson; the whole thing was paid for with a $90,000 donation from Laurens Hammond of the Hammond Organ Company.
