This week your PopCulteer brings you a doodle done while he was on hold with a soulless corporation. It’s a freehanded attempt at drawing one of the towers of the Hilliard Apartment complex in Chicago, near Chinatown. I had a very blurry reference photo up on the computer screen and did this on printer paper using a cheap art marker I got at Five Below.

I switched to a wider marker to do the trees and shading.

The Hilliard Apartments are part of the Hilliard Homes complex, which began life as a more sensible and humane attempt at low-income housing, finished in 1966. The towers were reserved for senior citizens, while nearby half-circular buildings housed heavily-vetted low-income folks. Because the place was so nice it was the only “project” in Chicago that didn’t require a full-time police detail.

The buildings are on the historical register and were refurbished and repurposed for mixed-income use less than twenty years ago. Best of all, aside from looking really cool, this tower is practically next door to a White Castle (and two blocks from Chess Records).

After scanning, I had to squoosh the drawing a bit to fit it into the space above, but you can see the original aspect ratio at the link below.

To see it bigger try clicking HERE.

Meanwhile, Monday at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a recent episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM a recent edition of Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis.  You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page.

Psychedelic Shack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM. You can hear two classic episodes of the show Sunday at 2 PM.

At 8 PM you can hear part one of David Mitchell’s history of British comedy on an encore episode of Comedy Vault. Part two will debut Wednesday night.

Tonight at 9 PM we bring you an overnight marathon of Curtain Call, beginning with several salutes to Stephen Sondheim so that you can hear selections from A Little Night Music, which opened on Broadway fifty years ago last Saturday.