An unwritten "Not Welcome" sign

One of the aspects of my new job that I like is I get to travel all over Chicagoland and learn more about the city. This past week I have spent my whole days on the South Side (79th and Halsted and 81st and MLK). Not just borderline... like ground zero of the South Side. It is unbelievably depressing to drive by and see window after window boarded up; to see graffiti laced churches and needles on the ground. One interesting aspect of Chicago I have touched on before is how Chicago must be the most segregated city in America. Jefferson Park is where the Poles live, Greektown is where the Greeks live, Devon is where the Indians live, et cetera. A white man certainly walking around in a suit... I certainly stuck out a bit. Today I decided that I was going to count all the people that drove by where I was working until I saw a non African-American. 501. It took 501 people before I saw someone who was not African-American. I think the segregation in this city is troubling at the very least. I don't know if anything can be done by the government; and I know the suburbs are much better. I hope I am not coming across as racist. That is not my intent at all. I am simply opining about observations I have been making.

1. As a huge fan of Conan O'Brien, obviously I am on his side with his falling out with NBC. However, after I read that he is getting a settlement for $44,000,000... it is hard for me to have any more sympathy for the guy. Not only will he get that money, he will likely get some huge contract with Fox, HBO, ABC or whoever else he signs with.

2. It looks like when all is said and done, Avatar will go down as history as the second highest grossing movie of all time - behind Titanic. However, when you look at the numbers after they are adjusted for inflation, the top five grossing movies would be:

A - Gone with the Wind
B - Star Wars IV
C - The Sound of Music
D - E.T.
E - The Ten Commandments