Down Chicago’s Drain

I didn't hear of this event in time to get a chance to see it. Pocket Guide to Hell, creators of commemorative historical reenactments, staged a street pageant in honor of the meeting of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, near the site of the actual events. The three-part drama started with a recreation of Marquette and Joliet's journey to the Mississippi as the first recorded Europeans to visit Chicago. Part two starred the colorful Captain George Streeter and his claim to free land in the shallow waters of the Lake just offshore of Chicago. Part three commemorated the reversal of the Chicago River. For those who did not make it to the pageant, here are videos of the event:

Like A Second Hand Sea from ryan griffis on Vimeo.

Like A Second Hand Sea from ryan griffis on Vimeo.

Like A Second Hand Sea from ryan griffis on Vimeo.

The Gowanus Canal runs through the old industrial heart of Brooklyn and has functioned as a wastewater drain for over a century. Despite modern regulations, waste chemicals and raw sewage often overflow the sewage system into the canal. Like the Chicago River, local urban nature lovers have been trying to clean it up and bring a bit of life back to the waterway. A recent NY Times article meets up with some of them.

Public Laboratory has more about Eydmund Diegel's aerial kite mapping project to find all the sources of pollution in the canal.