2 posts from June 2007

The 17-year cicada invasion has hit Chicago-- mostly the suburbs really. I made this recording last weekend on a North Shore trail ride around 3-4 miles into Skokie, where they were unmistakable. 

Imagine hundreds of thousands of crickets on steroids.  Most were hovering around tree branches, a few aggressive ones float alongside you, occassionally one will drop onto your head or your leg.  But they're harmless.  They don't sting and won't putup a fight if you pop them in your mouth and chew. (So I've been told...)

They've been swarming around the North Shore and western suburbs 24/7 since May and will likely stick around a few more weeks.  Two or three months of trauma is, perhaps, a small price to pay for a Tudor home in Winnetka by the forest preserve.

From Arts Journal's video page:

This is the kind of story I love.  A cell phone salesman from Cardiff reveals his undiscovered talent for opera, stunned the audience and judges (including Simon Cowell), then goes on to win Britain's Got Talent.  Paul's an eminently likable guy and his tenor is simply beautiful, but the clip's inspiring (1) because he's modest about his talent but determined to compete and (2) the audience, fed a diet largely of gimmicks and worse, was genuinely moved.

Could a guy like this win in America?  Hard to say really.