Artist: McMurtry James

Song: Fireline Road

Album: Just Us Kids

My name is Alice Walker, they never told me why
I’m not named for anybody, it’s a name out of the sky
They thought it was pretty I guess, way back when
I’ll change it some day
I like to pretend, I’m Just a visitor here
Like on one of those shows
In a house ful...l of people I don’t hardly know
But we'll all get to home in a week or so
Back to real life



And I’m picking up the carpet in the corner where I crash
I’m too tired to separate the pennies from the trash
And I don’t guess it matters even why Jesus died
I can tell you about sins

They got this duplex up on Fire Line Road
It’s way out from town, so the rent’s pretty low,
Not much more than a cinder block cell
Just like the one next door
And the next one as well

And the bus don’t run out here but three times a day
The 7-11, it’s a full mile away
And there’s a car in the yard, mostly rust and dents
We moved here in it, but it hasn’t run since

Forget my name, can you forget my face
Gonna lose myself in some finer place
Finer Places, where I’ll go
I’ll leave no trace out on Fire Line Road

And there’s a pile of daddy’s quick-picks scattered on the floor
Among the half empty bottles, that chair against the door
In case he comes home drinkin’, with lovin on his mind
I’d never let it happen, but that don’t stop him tryin’
My sister weren’t so lucky, he got to her too soon
She never saw it coming, he knew just what to do
To keep her silent
I swear to god I’ll kill him if I can
He said she made him do it, after all he’s just a man

Forget my name, can you forget my face
Gonna lose myself in some finer place
Finer Places, where I’ll go
I’ll leave no trace out on Fire Line Road

Now she snorts that crank, and stares at the phone
She ain’t big as a minute, just skin on bone
She bites her nails right down to the quick
And they’ve taken her babies, and they won’t give them back
And I know she loves them and god knows she tries,
But when you’re that far down you’re just going to get high
It’s like eating or breathing to the rest of us
She can’t even feel bad without the stuff

Forget my name, can you forget my face
Gonna lose myself in some finer place
Finer Places, where I’ll go
And I’ll leave no trace out on Fire Line Road

My name is Alice Walker, they never told me why

Sweetness

When "sweetness" passed I lost a bit of my childhood...

Ten years to the day he died, Walter Payton was honored by the Chicago Bears with a ceremony at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.

The crowd roared during a video tribute that showed highlights of his career and included praise from Mike Ditka and owner Virgie McCaskey. Besides dodging and leaping over defenders, Payton was also known for his work ethic and his tendency to pull pranks.

A tribute video showed Payton running up a hill in suburban Barrington and setting off a firecracker at training camp, as he was known to do. When the tribute was over, his wife Connie asked the crowd, “Wasn’t that awesome?”

Surrounded by their son Jarrett and daughter Brittney, Connie Payton ended her brief speech by saying, “We love you. And one more thing: Go Bears!”

The NFL’s all-time leading rusher when he retired, Payton was first diagnosed with a rare liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis and then cancer before he died on Nov. 1, 1999.

As for me, I continue to be a refugee on the other side of the "Cheddar Curtain" living out my days in North East Wisconsin. And one more thing: Go Bears!

Movies Filmed in Uptown V

Above The Law 1988



Eddie Cusack is a Chicago police officer about to bust some members of the Comacho gang when the gang is shot up by a rival drug gang from the neighboring building, led by Tony Luna. Victor Comacho is the only survivor of the Comacho gang and his older brother, Luis, who is the leader of the gang, retaliates by killing Luna's family and kidnaps Luna's daughter, Diana. Cusack must face Tony Luna and Luis Comacho alone because nobody on the police force is willing to help him since he was the only cop who broke the code of silence by testifying against a fellow cop who killed an unarmed teenager, but Cusack is not really alone. A police robot called "Prowler" aides Cusack as he takes down the gangs.

Movies Filmed in Uptown IV

Code of Silence 1985



Eddie Cusack is a Chicago police officer about to bust some members of the Comacho gang when the gang is shot up by a rival drug gang from the neighboring building, led by Tony Luna. Victor Comacho is the only survivor of the Comacho gang and his older brother, Luis, who is the leader of the gang, retaliates by killing Luna's family and kidnaps Luna's daughter, Diana. Cusack must face Tony Luna and Luis Comacho alone because nobody on the police force is willing to help him since he was the only cop who broke the code of silence by testifying against a fellow cop who killed an unarmed teenager, but Cusack is not really alone. A police robot called "Prowler" aides Cusack as he takes down the gangs.

Movies Filmed in Uptown III

The Hunter(1980)

In order to track down bail jumpers, Ralph 'Papa' Thorson goes on a series of routine and not-so-routine searches. Sometimes he takes down his quarry easily. At other times, he's forced to extreme measures which result in the injury or death of a lawbreaker. And then again, there are other moments when his own life is on the line. It's all enough to make Thorson question what he has done with his life.

Biography depicting real-life bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson and his exploits of bringing criminals to jail who jumped bail. He also has a pregnant girlfriend who's expecting a child soon. Subplot involves an old enemy seeking revenge at Thorson for bringing him to jail.

Steve McQueen's Last Movie

Movies Filmed in Uptown II

Backdraft 1991

Brian McCaffrey's father's a fireman and he was there, as a child, when his father died. When he grew he tried to be a fireman but quit and left town and for a few years tried other jobs. He would eventually return and try to be fireman again. However, he finds himself working under his brother Stephen whom he doesn't exactly have a good relationship with. When Brian gets his picture in the paper and is lauded as a hero when in fact it was a mistake, a politician offers him a job working under the department's arson investigator, Donald Rimgale. It seems that Ringale is working some unusual fires wherein someone is killed. Brian initially refuses but when he has too many confrontations with Stephen, he takes the job. And he gets a lesson on what it means to be a fireman.

Movies Filmed in Uptown

Next of Kin 1989



Chicago cop Truman Gates has alienated his rural Kentucky relatives by living in the big city. Truman is happily married to Jessie, a violinist and music teacher. Back on the family spread in Kentucky, Truman's older brother Briar Gates, who has had to struggle ever since the local coal mine was closed down, resents Truman for moving to Chicago and for convincing their younger brother, Gerald Gates, to do the same. Gerald, a truck driver for a vending machine company, feels torn between Truman and Briar. But things are about to take a deadly turn, thanks to Chicago's Isabella crime family, which is led by John Isabella. In an attempt to legitimize his enterprises, John is bringing his son Lawrence Isabella, a recent business school graduate, into the Isabella family operation. That doesn't sit well with Joey Rosselini, whose plan to succeed John as the head of the family is now threatened. Insulted by being forced to groom Lawrence for a position that he feels should be his, Joey reluctantly lets Lawrence accompany him on a little trip to convince the owners of a local vending machine company to sell out to the Isabellas. Joey's method of achieving this goal is to hijack a company truck filled with merchandise, but its driver -- Gerald Gates -- leads them on a chase, and nearly escapes before Joey shoots him dead. By the time Truman figures out that it was Joey who killed Gerald, Briar has arrived in Chicago looking for Joey. And then Lawrence is found dead. John wants revenge, and Joey tells John that it was Truman and Briar who killed Lawrence. Briar later ends up killed by Joey in a shootout. Having had more than enough, Truman gets his family together for an all out war against Joey and his henchmen!

Hello,

Well, here goes. I have always had a lot to say but never have really been one to keep a journal. I have lead an interesting life full of colorful characters and unbelievable stories. I am doing this because they are both starting to fade from my memory. Faces and events once so vivid in that movie that runs through my mind are starting to deteriorate...

Let me share a little bit about myself and invite you into my warped world of "screwed up" insights and opinions. I am a 30 something Chicago native, a husband and a father of three. I live in North East Wisconsin, it is as beautiful as it is laughable. I'll explain more as we go along. I work in a Methodist Church with Families and run a Teen Outreach Center/ Music venue.

That all sounds pretty normal so far I'm sure. I am also the son of a Chicago Police Officer who was banging my "hippy" Mom behind his wife's back. They met in a neighborhood (Greek) Diner on the North Side she worked at in the late 60's & 70's. And in 1971 I hit the scene. I was raised by Truck Drivers, Red Card Players, Carnies, Outlaw Bikers, Cowboys, Thieves, Gangsters, Drug Dealers and a loving gentle Southern Grandmother. I love and miss them all dearly.

My boyhood was spent in a wonderfully dangerous place known as "Uptown" on the North Side of Chicago a.k.a. Hillbilly Heaven. It no longer exists, part of the goal of this Blog is to preserve some of the stories connected with this place and the wonderful and delightfully screwed up people I encountered as a boy!

-Jeff

About my home, the neighborhood of Uptown in Chicago was the place ...

Here, you could always find someone who was very different from you, and yet you could also find someone who was very similar to you as well. You would find a few people who hated you (mainly because you represent a quality or group of people they despise--much more subtle than racial prejudice), but you could also find someone you can sincerely trust.

Uptown once known as Hillbilly Heaven possessed a diversity was not necessarily racial & economic harmony, more like a detente between a couple major groups, and many others caught somewhere in-between.

Yet at the same time, everyone seemed to speak at least one grain of truth, even if it was hidden in anger or other (literal) mental illness. If you read the news or listen to extremists, you would think that people fell into two main categories in Uptown. The truth is, most Uptown residents fell somewhere in between, and would have rather connected with you than fought with you!

Geographically, Uptown is located on the North Side of Chicago, next to Lake Michigan. The boundaries are [approximately] from Irving Park Road north to Foster Avenue, and from Ashland Avenue to Lake Michigan (In Street Numbers: 4000 North to 5200 North, by 1600 West to approximately 10 blocks east or until you start drowning). Uptown includes areas which don't always want to be associated with the name Uptown, such as Buena Park and Sheridan Park.

The name "Uptown" has a stigma, especially for real estate agents....I miss it dearly! I miss the people, sights, sounds and smells!

More to come

I'm back... It has been a friggin' year. I am only back because I have a cousin that knows nothing of her family. My Uncle Tommy died some years ago and on his death bed a daughter flew in from Georgia to be at his side. I suck at this, writing that is. I am a professional loud mouth! Someone has got to tell the stories! Jamie I'll do my best...

For Tommy, George and Juanita!