Mixed Nuts of Living Downtown

The past weekend, the Transformers 3 crew was in the downtown area shooting some scenes for the movie. Yeah, it's a big deal. I love that my city and my neighborhoods are being featured in blockbuster movies. And I especially like watching the movie and looking for Chicago's cameos. But Hell's Bells - I hate it when the filming interferes with my travel plans! Yesterday I was trying to get to my volunteer shift at SummerDance and my bus was suddenly rerouted at least half a mile in the opposite direction! As annoyed as I was about that, I did think it was kinda cool to see a few of the streets (West Randolph at Wacker and South LaSalle Street) all dressed up and staged for their "movie debut". LaSalle Street south of Wacker Drive is a very popular setting for several movies including: Untouchables and Dark Knight. So it's no surprise that they are using it in this Transformers movie. As I was passing through on the bus reroute, I noticed several signs posted in the area warning that it was being used for movie filming and "loud explosions and gunfire" would be used, so don't be alarmed. Funny..... On the way home after SummerDance, if it hadn't been for an approaching thunderstorm that I didn't want to get caught in, I'd have gotten off the bus and rubber-necked and snapped photos with the rest of the passersby! But then I'm fascinated with the filming of movies in Chicago. Yesterday wasn't the first time I've been inconvenienced by it. And I'm sure it won't be the last time. The Transformers crew is scheduled to film more downtown scenes through mid-August.