I pedaled across the bridge that spanned above the south shore train line and coasted down towards Columbus avenue which formed the western border of the festival. Temporary steel barricades and chainlink fences lined the east side of the street, containing what was probably 70,000+ strong inside. But I was surprised to see what looked like already a hundred or so people on the west side of the street lined up with blankets and backpacks & such.

We were the freeloaders. Sacrificing the proximity and sightlines which the festival goers inside had the benefit of for the thrifty option of listening to the music from across the street for free. We took what we could get.

I slowly pedaled north on Columbus looking for a good place to park my bike and take in the atmosphere. There's one area in Grant Park that has tennis courts and sand volleyball courts, and this was where most of the people seemed to congregate (i thought it would have been cool to get a volleyball game going, but sadly didn't bring a ball). The sound was pretty good considering we were off to the side of the stages, and some lucky few even had a good sightline of the video screens of the stage. But most of us had a better view of the port-a-jons lining up on the other side of the fences which, sadly, some festivalgoers inside occasionally felt the need to not wait in line for their turn and decided to go relieve themselves behind the toilets, often to stern talking-to's from security & the Chicago PD. And even more sadly, it wasn't just the guys standing up and relieving themselves either... several 'ladies' decided to squat down and give it a try as well. I don't think they realized out open and in-view they actually were.

So with that, the evening wasn't perfect, but there was another incident that really made it worth riding down to witness. By the time Rage hit the stage, there were easily a couple hundred people in the park where i ended up, and quite a few young Rage fans. There was some singing along with de la Rocha, some marching around and fist-pumping... although i'm sure no where near as much as was going on inside. A few times the band stopped playing and Zach pleaded with the crowd inside to take it easy and step back 5 or 6 steps (I've been in those situations in the past, so i know exactly what crowd-crushing activities were going on in there). But with the angry music Rage throws down, you almost have to expect that... as well as expect what was about to happen.

Across the street was a media entrance. Occasionally we'd see cameras go in and out, as well as some ladies who didn't look they were dressed to be down front amongst the sweaty throngs of lollapaloozers. But the point is, there was an opening to get in and out of the chain link fence. then, on top of that, about 45 minutes into Rage's set, some security staff unhinged some of the steel barricades as well. i can only think this was because Rage was the final act of the evening, and soon tens of thousands of people would be streaming out of the park and they wanted to open the area up to ease the congestion. i don't think they completely thought things through though, as they had not only opened up a way for people on the inside to get out, but there was now an opening for the outside people to get in.

And what happened next was fantastic. It wasn't just a couple brave kids that decided to chance it, no. Dozens, if not a hundred strong, seized the opportunity and stormed across Columbus and tried to penetrate the media entrance. i could only imagine the word was being spread and they joined in unison, feeling they had the numbers to give it a try and made a break for it in organized chaos. A few lucky ones i think made it inside before the mounted police and security busted things up and shut down the opening, leaving a few who tried but failed still on the outside.

From my vantage point, it seemed to go off peaceably. The crowd caught the police and security with their pants down, but all recovered pretty quickly. The scene had the potential to be really ugly, as a helicopter above flooded the street with a spotlight and paddywagons, squads, and police atv's swarmed in from north and south. But although several people who didn't get in were disappointed and had some choice words for the authorities (what else would you expect at a Rage Againste the Machine show after all?), order was restored pretty easily.

I'm sure the people inside had a good time (at least those who didn't get crushed near the stage)... and I'm sure it was all worth every penny. I know i got my money's worth for the evening.

Found me some Sioux City Sarsaparilla at CostPlus World Market.

STRANGER: D'ya have a good sarsaparilla?

We recognize the voice of The Stranger whose narration opened the movie.

BARTENDER: Sioux City Sarsaparilla.

The Stranger nods.

THE STRANGER: Yeah, that's a good one.

-- From The Big Lebowski.

i was on my third and final taco when out of the corner of my eye i saw some company come waddling up towards me. now, i'm used to shoo-ing away downtown pigeons while eating lunch outside. but it's not every day that there's a mallard duck on the lunch scrap prowl.

now, your common pigeon is usually just plain annoying. they're everywhere, swooping in and wandering around the ground, pecking at a dropped fry just before pecking at a dropped cigarrette butt and twitching away at the slightest of movement in their direction.

i've seen ducks swimming in the chicago river and sunning themselves on it's banks, but rarely in the city do i see them move too far away from the water. but today here i was, a hundred yards away from the river, and here's a web-footed duck waddling my way. and it was no random waddle like the bird-brained pigeon, this duck had his sights on me and knew what he was doing.

i had just finished my second of three tacos when i saw the bird. and yes, i had let some lettuce and cheese fall to the ground, so i figured that's what the duck had zoned in on. but as i started to eat taco three, i realized the duck wasn't paying any attention to what was on the ground. i honestly believe he wanted the taco in my hand. and this brave duck waddled right up to me, practically right at my feet, and extended it's neck up toward me with its bill opening like it was ready to gobble up some food.

i was shocked at what i was witnessing. if it was a pigeon, all i'd have to do is lift a foot and the bird would move away. but not this duck. i took some lettuce and threw it a few feet away, and the duck was unfazed... i think he really wanted steak, the little carnivore.

i looked around, hoping there was someone around witnessing this, but there wasn't. i wished i had a camera to document this for posterity. but i didn't. and it was starting to freak me out. i stuffed the remaining half of my tacos into my mouth and grabbed my garbage wrappers and stood up to throw them away in a nearby trash can. when i turned around again, i noticed the duck had jumped up on the corner stoop where i had just been sitting and it was looking right back at me.

creepy!

and now, just moments ago i was taking orrie out for his last walk to the park for the day, and as we were walking down Monroe we crossed paths with another wild animal: a raccoon. orrie spotted him cross the street about a quarter of a block ahead of us. normally, orrie flips out when he sees things like squirrels and rats outside. but i think this one even kinda puzzled the border collie a bit. "what the hell is that" is what the look in his face said to me as we walked a little bit closer.

the raccoon definately knew about us, and high-tailed it up a nearby tree. i watched him for a while, and orrie soon lost interest and ended up doing the business to which we usually need to attend to on our last walk of the night.

after all that was done, i started walking back toward home, keeping an eye out in the tree that the raccoon had crawled up. again, i wished someone else would come by to share the moment with, but in a city of millions of millions of people once again there was NO ONE around.

what was fun about the raccoon was i kept looking at him, and he kept looking at me. i was fascinated, but i started to wonder if the animal was as curious about me (and my dog) as i was about him or if we were frightening the hell out of him. eventually, the little furry thing in the tree even let out a big long yawn (i think raccoons are nocturnal, so i doubt the little guy was tired, but perhaps it had just woken up recently and was still shaking the cobwebs out from his attic).

after a while i figured it was time to let the little thing go about it's own business and i started to walk away, occasionally peeking over my shoulder to check out what it was doing. sure enough as we were about thirty feet removed from our previous location i saw the raccoon climb down from the tree, and it was actually following us. we were on the other side of a fence, so i wasn't worried about some kind of rabid raccoon terror following us home. but sure enough, it starts climbing the fence. spry little bugger it was. and this fence is twenty-five feet tall, and the raccoon kept climbing all the way up until it was up perched at the height of the fence. it was a really cool sight to behold, a raccoon sitting atop a fence, basking in the glow of a streetlight with the loop skyline right behind it.

so, there you have it. wild kingdom in chicago.