Rocky in the Rain

Tonight I went and watched Rocky II in front of the Art Museum in the rain. That’s definitely an experience. The bright lights shinning through the rain onto this magnanimous gothic structure, which is now covered by the semi-built stage for Live 8.

It’s pretty cool watching the famous scene where he runs up the Art Museum steps in front of the very place in which is was filmed. What I remember most about this montage was when he ran through the Italian Market. It brings me back to my childhood when the Italian Market was actually Italian and untouched by gentrification. Now it might as well be called the Korean Market, and there are art galleries there. Galleries in the Italian Market? What is the world coming to?

What I remember most about the Italian Market was not the great food, the saw dust on the ground which soaked up the fish guts, or the burning of plywood in the middle of the street to keep warm. One day, I went there with my dad, and we parked near a slaughterhouse. We made several trips to and from the car. I heard a lot of bahs coming from there. Then, a few less. Then, only a handful. Then, total silence.