SOMEBODY'S WATCHING YOU

Cindy and Steve sent me a link a couple weeks ago that freaked me out. It's a Beta program for Amazon.com's online map service that goes a little farther than simply showing you an intersection on a cartoon grid. It shows you actual photographs of the fucking street corner. (Was it really necessary to swear right there? You're damn right it was!) Everywhere I clicked on the map of Chicago, there were photos of buildings, people, cars - like I was actually there with a camera snapping pics of random shit. I almost felt like I was walking around the city. And if you plan on driving some place you've never been, you can actually SEE landmarks in the photos and will know to look for them. It just all seems a little Big Brotherish to me, minus Howie flexing in front of all the mirrors with his light sabre.

Here's the intersection near where I work.That's Greektown Gyros on the corner, where they serve up a fantasmic Italian Beef/Sausage Combo. So damn tasty. Across the street is the Paradox Gentleman's Club outside which I park my car every morning. (That's how rumors get started, incidentally, and I deny them all!) The currency exchange behind you is where the crackheads hang out. I'd turn around if I were you! Then there's the Holiday Bar & Grill - a decent greasy spoon...but they've yet to master the art of a good tuna melt (their tuna's always cold!)

This A9 web-pic-map thing is a relatively new deal, so it's only available in select cities. Go for a walk in a city you've never been to!