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Just after we write about the
abject dullness of Pioneer Court as a civic amenity, we come to the one time of year when its true potential is on display. The plaza is abuzz with activity preparing for this evenings annual
Magnificent Mile Lights Festival.
Friday's lone flute player will be augmented by a day-long
schedule of concerts that culminates in the America's most admired rodents (and the progenitors of the corruption of U.S.
copyright law.) leading the
Tree-Lighting Parade that finds over a million spectators filling every available square inch of space on Michigan Avenue, resulting in human beings actually
stacking themselves atop each other as parents raise their kids on their shoulders to try and see what's going on.
Last year, the Trib's Rob Manker wrote a
great history on how the event evolved - from how Saks Fifth Avenue first strunk white lights on the trees outside its store in 1959, to how the sparse first parade in 1992 actually halted at stop lights.
And so, you've got to ask yourself one question: what kind of Chicagoan are you? Do you feel convivial, punk? Well, do you? If you're completely happy living in the virtual realm, switch on ABC7 tonight and watch the parade in safety, warmth, and with great camera angles. If you still delight in your own humanity and the physical world in all its imperfections, messiness and tactile delights of sight, sound and sweat, get your claustrophobia in check, and come on down!
Mickey . . .
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