Impressionism..Chicago style..anyone?...

Haa..the art above is one of Picasso's (slightly vulgar painting..to some perhaps) found at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). Yes, one of the program to loosen up the brain after all those heavy technical, automotive engineering stuff meetings..was a visit to the famous, 'must visit', art museum or the art institute of chicago, located next to the millennium park. I won't bore you with the details. You can always google it bah! hehehe.

It houses a great collection of art pieces. The overwhelming generosity of enthusiastic collectors like Mrs Bertha Honore' Palmer, one of Chicago's most pioneering collector and wife of noted hotelier Potter Palmer, has brought many works into the Art Institute's collection. Mrs Palmer was dedicated to collecting the most innovative art of her time, and her immense generosity allowed many Impressionist works to enter the AIC in 1922. One should not miss dropping by, when in Chicago, to see for oneself, a few of her exceptional gifts...

Every year, AIC host over 30 exhibitions and over 1,400 events and programs. From the early 1920s to early 1960s, German Shepherds helped to guard the collection. One of the most beloved was named Utz von Storfels. Some say his spirit still comes out at night. AIC has 260,000+ objects in their collection. The oldest part of the current museum complex was opened in 1893 in conjunction with the World's Columbian Exposition, to host the World's Congress of Religions. Thousands of Hindus still visit Fullerton Hall, the site where the Hindu Missionary Swami Vivekananda gave his speeches. Their largest painting is George o' Keefe's Sky Above Clouds IV.

AIC played a role in determining whether Chicago should open an aquarium. An Art Institute display of 85+ varieties of fish drew more than 14,000 people on March 15, 1916, leading the Chicago Daily Tribune to declare that "if attendance at the Art Institute yesterday is any indication, Chicago wants a permanent aquarium."

AIC holds the attendance record for any art exhibition in the USA, with 1, 538, 103 for the Century of Progress show in 1933.

So there you are...Chicago is the place for fine arts, architecture, construction, engineering, maritime studies (freshwater lake), shipping, management, conservation, biodiversity. It has a multicultural setting. Despite its early mob lifestyle environment (like you see in the movies)...it is really a great (windy) city..too bad I couldn't get hold of Oprah Winprey..hehe. Obama chose it as his home base, but unfortunately..even by his personal presence in Copenhagen recently, he (Obama, the President of the United States of America) failed in his bid to get Chicago to host the Olympics in 2016...'wot a pity 'as the Brit would have said it...

Chicago oh Chicago...

No..I have not left blogosphere yet. I know my last posting was September 1 and it's October 4, 2009 today, 1.20 am in the morning here in Kelana Jaya. Much has happened since, so I shall not bore you. I am sure other fellow bloggers must have updated you acordingly. Most current news would be that Blair may be the next EC president, that Obama's appearance in person in Copenhagen to bid for 2016 olympics in Chicago, failed. Great floods in Manila including Makati where the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is, earthquake in Padang, and tsunami elsewhere.

I was away in Chicago for the annual RCAR2009 conference. Presented 3 papers for MRC Malaysia. This was a rather strange and slightly a bit out of the normal of my business trips. First, getting the visa from the US embassy was one hell of a hassle, unlike those days in the late 90s where your travel agent do it for you. Now, you have to log-in, do everything yourself, get the appointment for interview and then fill up your details..it must all be done online....

I should have taken the KL-London-Chicago route instead of the KL-Stockholm-Newark-Chicago flight path. Not only was you arrive like a zombie after about 20 hours in the aluminium capsule but what irks you most is, your luggage keys are gone and you realise it only when you get into your hotel room. After more than 20 over years of flying international occasionally, this is the first time my luggage didn't come home with me. Even after I got it back in less than 48 hours...most if not all of the souvenir were gone. I have yet to make a pilferage claim with MAS.

Describing the whole sequence of events since landing at newark and not having extra funds while in the US would only bore you. And can you beat it? I had to text and call my chaps back in KL to remit extra cash into my CIMB account. Lucky thing before I left I made a new ATM card which was also a cirrus debit mastercard. So I could 'cucuk' any ATM in Chicago and get cash. So much so, I forgot to even get some souvenir tshirts from the universities, planet hollywood or hardrock cafe (which was the standard operating procedures for tourists....errrm but again..I was no tourist right? hehe).

I will upload some great pictures when I receive them from our colleagues at all-state and state-farm insurance companies of America. The weather was just great. Cool, bright and sunny. Of course, if not for the wind blowing in from lake michigan, Chicago would not have been called the 'windy city'. What amazes me is the entrepreneurial spirit, the free-enterprise market economy that transformed this once 'lakeside swamp' into a skyscraping megalopolis...and was the icon of the mob and gangsterism or the era of 'the untouchables' if you may, during the roaring 20s...The efforts made and bringing back Chicago river from the dead was most interesting to me. We should learn from them and bring back to live, our dead rivers...

Its quite quiet in Chicago...must be the the economy..I guess they have not fully recovered from the global financial meltdown that began last september 2008. People in general are either still worried about the jobs or are away for their tail-end summer early autumn holidays . Or at least no more reckless shopping sprees..haha. I found a good Thai restaurant just a day before its time to leave. Didn't have time to visit the Malaysian Student's dept at Evanston and the plan to visit Firuz (finishing her PhD)and her family in Nebraska had to also be aborted.

Actually, come to think of it, I should have flown back via LA, stop by at San Francisco a couple of days and fly back to KL via Osaka...haha..that would have been a round-the-world-trip. Or perhaps detour to Vancouver. But...ah ha..you must have a Canadian Visa...or they will fine you US300.

More on Chicago in my next posting...its almost 2 in the morning..enjoy the rest of the weekend folks...