Hack
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Hack Nite Cap
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 03.31.10 at 10:00 AM
They were probably in their early 40s, dolled up for a night out, with makeup showing the strain of many hours' service. The brunette gave a Roscoe Village address and we shoved off. I hopped on the Kennedy to skip a few traffic lights and when we exited on Addison, they asked if we could stop at the White Castle on the corner of Kedzie.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Hack Fruitless Loops
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 03.24.10 at 11:00 AM
Two types fill a cabdriver with dread: those looking to score and those looking for a free ride.
A man flagged me down from a bus stop on Fullerton in Lincoln Park. He was headed some three miles west, apparently sick of waiting for the #74. The trip passed in silence until we pulled off onto one of the K streets and he said to stop. "My wife's been cheating on me and I'm gonna go in there and kill her. I got no money. What you think about that?"
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Hack Ohio House
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 03.16.10 at 12:33 PM
I don't remember where I picked him up but he was going to the Westin off Michigan Avenue. He talked about living here years ago in that nostalgic way that hints at wild times and freedom long since traded for comfort. As we waited for the green at Ohio and LaSalle, he looked out the window at the northwest corner and said, "My uncle used to own that place in the 70s before selling it to the archdiocese of Chicago." He was pointing at the triple stack of diamonds comprising the sign of the Ohio House Motel.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Hack Fog
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 03.09.10 at 12:13 PM
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Hack Chicagoland Media Lit & Lectures Books "Hack": Dmitry Samarov Is Chicago's Taxicab Salinger (Though He Preferred a Comparison to Tolstoy)
Posted by Alison True on 02.25.10 at 02:39 PM
Medill student Lauren E. Bohn turns in a piece a week on interesting Chicagoans for her broadcast journalism course, and she recently made a video about artist and Reader blogger Dmitry Samarov (a tie winner for Reader's choice as best blogger in 2008).
Chicago's taxi-cab Salinger from Lauren E. Bohn on Vimeo.
Hack MEN ONLY
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 02.25.10 at 11:00 AM
Friday, February 19, 2010
Hack Still the Only White Cabdriver in Chicago
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 02.19.10 at 10:33 AM
Friday, February 12, 2010
Hack Banter
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 02.12.10 at 02:26 PM
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hack Soldier
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 02.10.10 at 09:00 AM
A little after 5 AM Sunday and the line for the cashier at the garage stretches all the way back to the pool table. This is a disaster. Fourteen hours driving and this is the reward? She's the one that double- and triple-counts every nickel too, so I decide to go back out and try to squeeze one last dollar out of the night. What I got was more than there was any need for at that wretched hour . . .
Monday, February 8, 2010
Hack Vampire Hours
Posted by Dmitry Samarov on 02.08.10 at 09:00 AM
I first drove a taxi in the early 90s in Boston. In 2001 I made a zine called Hack about my early days in the business. There was a second issue about a year later and that would've been that, but in 2003 I returned to the taxi trade here in Chicago. In 2007, I revived Hack as a blog and now I'll be posting about my adventures behind the wheel here at the Reader's blog. When I'm not driving, painting is my primary diversion, examples of which can be found here. Thank you very much for your attention.
