I woke before dawn to view the lunar eclipse. An oak tree and light cloud cover obstructed the view outside my apartment, so I hopped into my car and made my way toward the Adler Planetarium at 2200 S. Lakeshore Drive.I found a crowd of roughly two-hundred gathered at Adler. Sixty-four cars and vans lined the Planetarium’s driveway, joined by a half-dozen local morning news crews and a solitary motorcycle. To my chagrin, the clouds were as troublesome at Adler as they were in Hyde Park.The Planetarium staff was busy serving coffee and doughnuts to visitors. After taking a few shots of the gathered crowd, I approached Santiago, an Adler Planetarium volunteer. He was showing a group of seven young males a star that his telescope was pointed toward–a star located over 3 billion light-years away.Casual visitors were seated along a grassy knoll that pointed toward the moon. I noticed a young man sitting by himself on the bottom edge of the knoll.
DC: Is this your first time viewing a lunar eclipse?Tom: Yes, it is.DC: Where are you from?Tom: I’m from Cleveland, OH actually.DC: Oh, wonderful, I’m from around those parts.
Tom revealed that he’s originally from a western suburb of Cleveland. He moved to Chicago on Friday to start his freshman year at Columbia College studying computer animation. He was accompanied by his roommates Nate and Tim. Tim was dressed nearly head-to-toe in black, and he sported a black FCUK hat atop his head. Tim has a talent for photography, so I asked Tim if he’d show me photographs he had taken over the course of the day. He pulled out a beautiful digital SLR camera and flipped through a roll of images he made of downtown Chicago and the eclipse. He also told me about his skill at repairing broken iPods. Working alone, he replaced his 30GB hard drive with an 80GB version.I chatted with Tom until the eclipse reached totality. The moon turned a deep orange-red in response, before turning pitch-black and disappearing completely from view. The news cameras struggled to capture the occasion. How do you represent nothingness on a television screen?When CBS News went live, the moon was obscured behind the clouds, so the production team simply replayed a clip of the moon taken from earlier in the evening. Before its departure, the WGN news van driver slowed in front of the CBS News truck.
WGN Cameraman: “Hey, check out this new van they got for me.”CBS Cameraman (shaking his head): “Wow, new paint and everything.”
All this time, Adler Planetarium staff-members are circulating through the crowd offering answers to any and all questions that were raised. A man in a safari hat conducted a countdown to the eclipse. A video clip of the event is available here.
Anthony Cardoza, 23, of Jamaica, Queens participated in the Search & Rescue (S&R) operation that saved the life of the informant who identified the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein’s two sons: Uday and Qusay Hussein. 13 Americans died in the mission, and seven suffered injury. Anthony found himself in an military hospital for five and a half months following the ordeal. His life narrative is awe-inspiring and, in my humble opinion, there is much wisdom to be learned in listening to his story and other young veterans of the Second Iraq War.
I met Anthony in line at the Apple Store. The picture above was taken by a photographer based in New York as I spoke with him Wednesday afternoon. Anthony was the fifth person to arrive. He currently works as a manager at a fast-food restaurant, so after claiming his space in line, he started passing out packages of food he had brought with him from work. He and I became fast friends, and after a few minutes he disclosed a bit about his background in the Air Force. When I learned of his participation in the S&R Mission for the Uday/Qusay Informant, I felt compelled to take notes. When I asked him if he had interviewed with professional news organizations, he said, “No one from the press has asked me to tell my story.”
When the CNN crew arrived, I directed them to Anthony and encouraged them to enter into an in-depth interview with him. From what I’ve heard, they instead recorded a short video clip and asked him superficial questions related to his service.
I’m launching a new blog provisionally titled “Greetings, Stranger.” The first post will be the first installment of Anthony’s story.
I met Robert R. on 5th Ave. as he was trying to find his way to the New York City Public Library. He asked for help from the pedestrians around him, and the only one who knew how to respond to his call was Anthony Cardozo. Without any hesitation, Anthony offered his arm and asked Robert where he needed to go. I moved as quickly as I could toward Anthony to assist. I volunteered to walk alongside Mr. R. wherever he wanted to go, so Anthony went back to the line to watch over his spot and I took over responsibility for taking Mr. R to the Library.
When we arrived at the Library, he asked me to guide him to the second floor Children’s Department so he could check out three books: The Fortunetellers, The Cat Who Wished to Be A Man and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. You see, Mr. R is a professional storyteller who teaches history for a living at the high school (Cathedral HS) level, and oral history at the graduate level. He’s in the process of writing an article on animal protagonists in folklore and fantasy literature.
Oh, and I almost forgot: He also happens to be completely blind. When I asked him about his vision, he said to me he feels he can experience 95% of what a visioned person can see. “I never had vision, but I have very good awareness.” He happens to be a fan of the Chicago Bulls & Chicago Bears. In fact, he said he has been a Chicago Bulls fan since the days of Michael Jordan. Robert told me several stories about Chicago that I had never heard before, including the story of the 1979 Chicago Mayoral Election (the only mayoral election in American history to turn on the weather).
Needless to say, Mr. R is excited about the upcoming Harry Potter launch. For him (and hundreds of millions of others around the world), the release of the last installment of the Harry Potter series is far more exciting than the Apple iPhone release. (If it weren’t for my involvement with Taproot and my father’s birthday this weekend, I’d be inclined to agree.)
So Mr. R. asked the librarian, Mr. Peters, if he could do a query on the number of reservation requests that have already been filed in the NYC Public LIbrary system for the latest book. As of 10:47am on Thursday, June 28th, there were 30 copies ordered for the library branch, and 958 requests for those 30 books. The release date is weeks away, and Amazon has received over 1 million pre-orders. Mr. R speculated with the librarian over the likelihood of Dumbledore returning from the dead. Mr. R claims he has a friend who sat shiva (7 days of mourning) for Dumbledore when she learned that he died.
I understand that Jim Dale is going to make an appearance at midnight at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. Jim Dale is the narrator of the Harry Potter audiobooks. He’s a legend in his own right, for he has the ability to use any of 45 distinct voices for the novel’s characters.
Mr. R has a 6 room rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side, where he pays roughly $600/month. His family has been in the apartment for 47 years. Next time I’m in New York, he said I could crash with him. He lives alone at present, so there’s plenty of room. He left me his phone number so I could call him anytime I am in town.
Last thing: Mr. R. also sings in an a cappella group. He performs sea chanties. I told him how I had dressed as a pirate for my fraternity’s year-end formal this year. He grew excited, and said he’d be happy to send me a compilation CD of his favorite sea chanties to learn so I could be 100% in character for Halloween next year. Bangarang.
I typically weigh 150 lbs (~68kg). I currently weigh 139 lbs (63kg). So through this experience, I dropped roughly 11 lbs (5kg). The last time I weighed 139 was my first-year at UofC, after a summer of cross-country training and biking. If you’re unsatisfied with your latest weight loss regimen (or you’d like a great tan), grab a lawn chair and find your nearest Apple Store.
http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6193985.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news
ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Reuters, Bloomberg News, NPR, German NPR, Tokyo TV, Kyoto TV, Korean Tech Journal, Businessweek, E-business, New York Post, New York Daily News, New York Times, The Tribune Co., CW11, the Early Show, and many, many more.
If you find a link to news, radio or TV coverage that includes a mention of Taproot Foundation, please send it via email to dclayman@gmail.com with the Subject Header “Taproot Media Coverage”.
Luigi - Thank you for bringing lunch to me Tuesday, and for the pillows last night. They got drenched in the rain last night, but they’ll be in working order by this evening. Call me if you’re ever in Chicago.
Marilyn - I’d like to thank you and Time, Inc. for putting together the survival pack. I was thrilled to meet another Taproot Volunteer. The magazines are helping me pass through the slow periods. I shared the sunscreen with Becca, Jessica, Anthony and Kai. The ear plugs cut the volume from the street in half and will likely add an hour or more to our sleep tonight. I went up and down the line with the earplugs — around 8 of us used them. Were able to sleep through the sirens and car horns on 5th because of your thoughtful gift.
Raven, Noel & Mr. Hurley - Where would I even begin? Likewise, as long as I’m in Chicago, you’ll have a place to crash on weekends.
In order of arrival:
1. Greg Packer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Packer)
2. David Clayman (Future Inforte - CHICAGO SAP Consultant)
3. Jessica Rodriguez (Whipsmart woman with wicked soundbites
4. Rebecca Boorsma (Hair stylist)
5. Anthony Cardozo (Air Force Vet, Arabic Speaker, Purple Heart)
6. Kai Pauli (Security Guard at UN, German Speaker)
7. Benjamin Sherman (Unknown)
8. Vincent Nguyen (Entrepreneur, myitablet.com)
9. Damian Charles (High school student)
10. Mark Conn (Watch him wink!)
I’m maintaining the list for #1-#10. Mark (#10) is maintaining a list for #11-#20. #20 will make a list for #20-#30, etc. Right now we’ve got about 15 in line. The first 10 received numbered T-shirts from a company named “Incipio”. Vincent made the arrangements. A group pic of #1-10 will be posted on myitablet.com.