Watch out, Bean

This is way cool ...

I love Chicago.

Saturday in the park

So today is our anniversary. Five years. I know. Crazy, right?

Jessi and Scott came down to stay with us for the weekend, and on a whim we went into the city with them today …

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect fall day -- just like five years ago.

… Ok, almost perfect. We were late getting out of the house and missed our train heading out. But we didn’t sweat it; the driving was good and our day wasn’t hinged on a train schedule.


… We immediately headed for Millennium Park and soaked in the atmosphere. And Phoebe -- dressed in her pumpkin orange sweatshirt, brown pants and looking adorable as ever -- loved it too. It was her first trip to the city after all …

We caught a lunch at a Corner Bakery. I had the chicken pomodori panini, Kates had the Bavarian turkey sandwich, and Phoebe seemed to enjoy just watching us eat …

We walked Michigan Avenue and peaked inside some of the art shops …

And eventually hopped a bus to the Museum of Science & Industry. We had hoped to see the Smart Home exhibit, which costs an additional fee, but with barely 90 minutes to spare before the museum closed for the day we opted to get our money’s worth seeing the general exhibits instead. We saw the trains, the farm machinery, the airplanes …

And Phoebe made friends with the baby chicks in the genetics wing. I held her to the glass, she put her hands on the pane, and all the chicks came barreling toward her, pecking at the glass in front of her. Very cute.

By 4:30, we were on a crowded CTA bus and heading back to Millennium Park to retrieve our car. Once there, appropriately, we saw two wedding parties strolling through the park …

From there, we cut over to Ontario and ate at Ed’s -- Ed Debevic’s. The cheeseburger I ordered wasn’t nearly as good as I’d remembered, but the place was lively -- complete with the diner’s spunky wait staff and a slew of high schoolers streaming through in homecoming dance attire … Good eats. Great fun.

And don’t forget the dancing on the tables ...

This is what Pheebs thought of the scene …

Sunday reads

Now this has been my kind of weekend.

... On Friday night, Kates and I attended a cohort's wedding at one of our city's most picturesque, historic sites, followed by a lively, entertaining outdoor reception on the lake. The night was made with wonderful scenery, great jazz music and fun conversation with friends and co-workers ...


... And on Saturday, we had more of it. Kates and I opened up our house to friends and family for a classic backyard barbecue ...

... As for today? We got some rain early this morning, but the sun rose and it appeared as though it would be a beautiful day for a ball game. .. No dice. As we started arriving at the field an hour before gametime, it was clear the field was not ready. ... Beyond frustrated -- this was the second rainout in as many weeks -- we tried calling around town to other ballparks, but found no better conditions ...

So. ...I've cleaned up our kitchen after last night. Watched the Cubs lose. Took a little nap. And now I'm giving you my reads of the week ...

a Guster expands sound, band on new album ... I downloaded the new CD in anticipation of seeing these guys next weekend at Summerfest. I've only listened to it once so my jury's still out ...
a Do-it-yourself music: Heap doesn’t need band for backup ... I was working the wires earlier this week and when I saw this one, I gasped in excitement. People are starting to notice Imogen Heap, and that makes me happy. (for my post on her concert a few weeks ago go here)

a Goodbye AIDS. Celebs Move on to New Causes ... Interesting story. good points.

a Life after cancer sweeter than ever for Sheryl Crow

a iTunes + MySpace x Music Geeks = Mog, A New Site For Music Obsessives ... sign me up! See the site here.

a How Millennium Park created a unique nexus of culture ... I came across this story last week while doing some research on the Silk Road event. Fascinating and so true ... I relish every day I get to go into the city and get to drive past Millennium Park for even a few seconds. It's truly a sight to see ...

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

Friday. A night at the movies -- at home … Kates and I rented ‘The Graduate ’ as preparation to see ‘Rumor Has It’ (which we never did see) and ‘Upside of Anger.’ … Of the two, it’s easy to see why ‘The Graduate’ has survived and regarded as a classic. For the most part, the performances, especially Dustin Hoffman, are terrific, and the way the movie was filmed -- even with the late ‘60s feel -- was quite intriguing. Top it all off with the wonderful music from Simon & Garfunkel and … yeah. Great movie. ... 'Upside of Anger' on the other hand. A couple good scenes, but mostly it left too many plotlines unfinished, I thought.

Saturday. Christmas Eve. … We ran errands, wrapped Christmas presents and took in a wonderful and inspirational 5:30 service at our church … we opened gifts -- and yes, folks, (cue angel chorus) I am now the proud owner of a white 30GB video iPod. We had our Christmas dinner -- a frozen pizza (with cheese, sausage & pepperoni) grilled to perfection in our oven. … By 9 p.m. we were driving to the in-laws for an 11 p.m. church service. … and in bed by 1 a.m.

Sunday. Christmas Day. … a gluttony of presents under the tree. And Santa was good. Many books …and lots of candy in our stockings. There was a break from the presents for more church, and then of course, more presents … the afternoon disappeared and soon the extended family was joining us for a turkey dinner, another agonizing Packers loss and, more presents.…And by 8 p.m. we were off to my parents. There we shared great conversation, decent TV and, more presents. In bed, a little before 1 a.m.

Monday. The day after Christmas. … We toured the Madison capitol building and gazed at the giant Christmas tree ...

... We strolled through Madison’s East Towne Mall for food, and iPod accessories …and a couple hours later through Milwaukee‘s Mayfair Mall (a.k.a. Yuppy Central) for the iPod accessories we didn’t find at the first mall. … home by 8 p.m.…and filling my iPod until 1 a.m.

Tuesday. Chicago. … We drove into the city amid sun, with a burning desire to see and do all the things we hadn’t had time or energy to do yet this holiday season …

We gazed at the gigantic Christmas tree in Daly plaza and the windows of Marshall Field‘s -- which led to me following Kates inside Marshall Field’s for trying on lots of shoes …

We were walking through Millennium Park as the sun set …

... and to Navy Pier, where we strolled through the gardens, the shops and a walk to the tip of the pier, and then a tasty Mexican dinner back in the peace and serenity of the garden …and filling my iPod (while waiting for a load of laundry to finish) until 3 a.m.

Wednesday. The farm…We had McDonald’s on the way out of town and then stopped at Grandma’s house for a mid-afternoon snack (barbecue) before heading on to indulge in laughter and togetherness at the farm. …We stayed up ‘til almost 2:30 a.m. trenched deep in a game of Phase 10 that should go down as legendary in family lore -- I surged ahead to start off the game, reaching Phase 5 in the first five hands and leaving everybody else at Phase 3 or lower. But I Phase 5 would be my home for the next six hands, as the other players caught up and passed me. That trend continued through the rest of the game with several players surging ahead and then falling flat on various phases (Kates on Phase 6 for seven straight hands and Sara remained there for eight straight hands). It culminated with Orrin coming from behind to reach the final phase, 10, but alas, he would remain there for five hands until all of us landed on Phase 10 -- together the way we had started some four hours earlier. On Orrin’s sixth ‘Phase 10’ hand, Kates laid the cards down and won. …

Thursday. Still at the farm. … Sleeping ‘til 10. Had breakfast at noon. Drove the five-mile loop of farms that make up Richland County, stopping at an Amish furniture store and an antique store on the way. …A mid-afternoon lunch of leftover Chinese takeout that Kates and I brought ….We watched 'Love Actually' (and I cried) …then a late supper (chicken sandwiches) …and a game of Spinner that was soon aborted when we realized we hadn’t been following the rules and ice cream took precedent. ….What followed that was an interesting pouring over views and thoughts that started with the question: What’s the biggest issue we’ll face in the next 30 years. …The question was inspired by John’s reading of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s autobiography of Abraham Lincoln … John said war with China. Kates said religion. I said terrorism …we talked candidates for the next presidential election. We talked natural disasters. And city planning. And heaven and visions. …and I fell asleep on the couch.

Friday. Still at the farm … a late Christmas dinner with the Perry family. More presents … and an early bed time for all of us.

Saturday. New Year’s Eve. … Kates and I made the trek from the farm back home. Unpacked. Showered. And were on our way to Chicago within two hours later to meet our pals Steve, Emily, Glen, Heather and others to celebrate the night away. Great conversation. Great music. Good food. … With about 30 minutes left in 2005, we had settled into a luxurious fourth-floor Jefferson Park condo with a picture perfect view of the Chicago skyline (only on this night it was just foggy enough to almost hide the Sears tower). We counted down the minutes on the host’s computer (which was hooked up to a projector that splashed it in big-screen form across the dining room wall) … and then moved onto the cold balcony where the 10 of us huddled together, clanked our wine glasses and watched in awe as four separate fireworks splashed across the foggy Chicago night sky. … After a raucous game of ‘Scene It,’ we were home a little before 3 a.m. Happy New Year.

Sunday. My last day of vacation. … The unpacking. The coming back to reality. The depression of knowing that this vacation went by too fast and I must return to my job tomorrow …

Miracle on State Street 7

Months of waiting and anticipation gone by, Friday was the night -- Miracle on State Street 7 at the historic Chicago Theatre, presented by 101.9 The Mix, featuring The Fray, Alanis Morissette and Ben Folds ...

I took the day off to relax, while Kates celebrated her last day of work in 2005. ...By about 2:30 p.m. I was parked in front of her school ready to help pack up her classroom (...as if having summers off isn't a nice enough perk of being a teacher, you should see all the teachers coming out of the school with laundry baskets full of gifts from their students.)

By 3:30, we were off, cruising down I-94 to Chicago. Rush hour traffic was hardly a problem and we were spinning into the theater district shortly after 4:30. ... Our parking pass validated, we strolled down Michigan Avenue to Bennigan's and grabbed a table for two. Kates had the tortilla soup and salad, I had the Mediterranean Chicken...

Blistering cold, Michigan Avenue Christmas decorations and all, this was definitely a night to suck up everything life could offer. From dinner, we found a Starbucks -- I had the hot caramel apple cider, Kates had the white chocolate mocha -- and then crossed the street to Millennium Park and watched the ice skaters -- if only we had time to join them ...

A pit stop at Borders and some light reading later, we merged with the crowds (which by the way was an older, more affluent and behaved crowd -- a defining and pleasant difference from the immature teenies that flood Summerfest every year) entering the Chicago Theatre and were ushered to our seats on the floor level. ... The theater couldn't have looked more perfect. Add to its ornate decorum, the stage was set for The Fray with a huge, glowing 'Miracle on State Street' backdrop that morphed from shades of green to purple to blue to red and came complete with giant snowflake-shaped illuminations. Kates just smiled as we entered. I let out an excited, sinister laugh ...


Before we knew it, Eric, Kathy & Tommy Lee were appearing on the stage, attempting to warm the crowd and introducing the acts ... Although it remains as much a mystery to me as it was before the concert why Tommy Lee was picked to host the show. Despite some prodding from the DJs, he never did take off his shirt. He was on the stage for maybe 10 minutes the entire night and never said anything mildly interesting or amusing, or really coherent for that matter. And he didn't appear to be at all interested in the bands that were playing ...

Nonetheless. The Fray led off the show and were ... Predictable? In an attempt to have some familiarity with their work, I downloaded their latest album shortly after buying the tickets. But found nothing to be overly excited about. ...Their sound could be compared to a Coldplay or REM, I guess, and 'Over My Head' is getting good radio play for obvious reasons. But I haven't been able to get over lead singer Isaac Slade's whiny, nasally, Rufus Wainwright-like voice. (We saw Rufus two summers ago -- interesting enough, before another Ben Folds performance. Rufus is a good piano player, perhaps, but we couldn't stand him then, and still can't ...) ... Based off my listens to the Fray's album, their performance was as much as I could expect. Slade was positioned front and center, sitting at his keyboard with his bandmates strumming their guitars and falling in behind him. Their set lasted about 30 minutes and featured five or six songs (which ones, I couldn't tell you because I haven't learned the names of all of them yet -- but I can tell you they were all from their latest album...). The music was good, and they finished --to no surprise -- with 'Over My Head.'

It kind of hurts to say it, but that was largely the theme for the rest of the show -- predictable. Good music. But nothing to blow you away.

Another bit by Eric, Kathy and Tommy and out came Alanis -- and with gold-colored frizzy hair to match her gold top! She went right into to 'Hands Clean' and followed with 'You Learn,' 'All I Really Want,' and of course 'Crazy' -- which sounded way better as a live cover then her recorded album version. ... Finally the energy level was upped a little bit when the band's last 'Crazy' cord streamed right into 'You Oughta Know.' The crowd sang along nearly drowning out Alanis. ... Then the crowd REALLY did drown out Alanis when she ended with 'Ironic' -- hearing the crowd sing at the top of their lungs and the cool guitar arrangement to back it, that one song was possibly my favorite moment of the entire show. ... But she too played for barely 30 minutes and left us saying, 'Too short, too short, too short.'


Ben would be better, right? Sort of. ... My eighth time seeing him, I know exactly what to expect and can still be surprised. The quality of the music aside, more and more, it's like reuniting with an old friend. You just sit back and pick up where you left off ... But, much like Alanis, I found the choice of music a bit odd. He led off with 'Bitches Ain't S**t.' -- humorous and fun, yes. But hardly the upbeat, energizer he usually leads with. He followed with 'Gone' and then 'Zak and Sara' -- one of those that always make me smile and never grows old. 'Still Fighting It,' 'Bastard' and 'Landed' were there too.

Midway through, and true to form, Ben announced he would play a Christmas song. The obvious thought is 'Lonely Christmas Eve' off the Grinch soundtrack. But he tells the crowd instead he will play a song he originally wrote for the movie and was deemed 'unacceptable.' He rolled into its jazzy, pounding intro, and then, of course, stopped to tell more of the story -- that his inspiration for the song was some guy who broke into a restaurant to steal money and died when he fell on a fryer -- or something like that. My attention kind of drifted off the during the story ... and aside from hearing Ben play the piano, I don't recall the song being all that memorable either.

There was 'The Ascent of Stan' and then 'Narcolepsy.' ... If there was anything surprising about Ben's performance, this was it for me. Never a big fan of 'Narcolepsy,' which is arguably his darkest and loudest tune, I found Friday night's performance of it, um, awesomely rambunctious. (I don't know, that's the first description that came to mind.) The piano roared on it and the band accompaniment was tight and together. Period.

'Not the Same' came next, and, as always, featured all of the cool crowd interaction and harmonies the song typically evokes. In fact, as Ben was teaching each of the parts to the crowd, he remarked it was the best he had heard. ... Ha!


Next the fast-paced, piano pounding One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces. And then it was over. ...No 'Army'? No 'Philosophy'? No 'Rockin the Suburbs'? Not even (thankfully) 'Brick'? This time, the performance lasted barely 45 minutes. And again, too short, too short, too short.

Not perfect. Nothing extraordinary ... But. Sigh. A very enjoyable night.

Going, going, gone

Wanna know what it’s like to do a whirlwind trip of Chicago museums in a span of a few hours? I’ll tell ya …

The assignment was for me and a photographer to attend today’s media preview of the new ‘Pompeii: Stories From an Eruption’ exhibit at the Field Museum for our entertainment section and then, while we’re down there -- and to save as much company time and money -- hit as many of the other hot exhibits as we could.

So I awoke this morning to the sound of my ‘Fuer Elise’ alarm clock at 5 a.m. and left the house an hour later, exiting our house under the early morning pallet of stars and full moon beginning to set over our garage. I met my photographer in the news office parking lot, we drove to the train station, boarded the train and then rode it to Chicago, tracing a perfectly still Lake Michigan as an orange sun rose over it …

Pompeii -- it’s a remarkable exhibit, full of valuable artifacts, jewelry and furniture buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., but unearthed only within the last century. The artifacts, illustrations and restored frescoes provide a glimpse into how established and wealthy the people of Popeii were. But what puts this exhibit over the top are the dramatic casts -- made by shooting plaster into the holes left behind when the volcanic ash and rock hardened and the corpses decomposed -- showing entire families crouched together in an attempt to shelter themselves from the storm of ash, or frozen in time as they tried to flee the devastation. Most of them, the exhibit told, died when ash filled their airways and prevented them from breathing …the exhibit is $19 and runs through March 26, 2006.

We left the Field onto a sunny pavilion that overlooks Lake Michigan and provides striking views of the colorful Chicago skyline and Millennium Park. The sight left us breathless for several seconds as we gazed at the view and then laughed in unison and remarked on the beauty of it all …

Moving on. To the Shedd and the ‘Crabs!’ exhibit -- which I took interest in mostly because of our hermit crab pets at home. At the Shedd, however, we’re talking more than 30 different species of crabs ranging from the size of your fingertip to the giant Japanese crabs that weigh about 40 pounds, look the size of tire and move with their 3-foot long legs. Amazing creatures …

A short cab ride later, we were at the Museum of Science & Industry to review the rebuilt and restored U-505 Submarine. Beginning in 2004, after years of being exposed outdoors to the harsh Chicago weather, the museum dug an underground a new, climate-controlled exhibit hall, lowered the giant sub into it and covered it with a roof. … The result is an astonishing new exhibit that transports patrons through a long, winding hallway of artifacts, archived newspapers, photos, films and finally, a balcony that provides a breathtaking view of the 33-foot high, 250-foot long, 750-ton ship… And for $5 more you can walk through the ship, ducking and dodging through every nook and cranny from the diesel engine room to the cramped sleeping quarters. …After the tour, walk the ground floor underneath the ship, take in more displays of artifacts taken from the captured German sub and several short films, including a fascinating account of how a Naval crew towed the sinking ship back to the U.S., conducting the highly classified operation without any protection in U-Boat infested waters …

Before we left the museum we also wanted to check out the Robots exhibit. But I say, unless you’re REALLY into robots, don’t bother. It was a bust … it’s two small rooms of glass-enclosed robot toys made during the ‘50s and ‘60s. The first few are pretty intriguing to look at, but they get pretty old pretty quick.

A train ride back and our assignment was complete …three museums, four exhibits, in four hours and a reminder of the unique experiences and people that make me want to continue practicing journalism. Not bad.

But my day wasn’t done …

70s degrees and sunny. A crisp, colorful, fall day made for the movies. The kind of day that begs you to cruise around in your car, listening to some eclectic music and holding your open palm outside the car window for the air to rush over it. … So that’s exactly what I did.

For the third night in a row I went down to the harbor and sat silently watching the orange moon rise beyond the lake. Trying to capture the scene as closely as I could with my camera, sucking in every bit of the fish-smelling water, crashing waves and cool breeze …

* * *

Just another reason to love baseball …

Game 5 of the NLCS ...

Last night, lying with Kates as the two of us count down the innings and watch the Astros come within two outs of their first-ever World Series, ironically 45 years to the day MLB officials met in Chicago and designated them as a franchise …

The crowd was so loud I wondered out loud how any of the Cardinals players could concentrate …

Then, one of my all-time favorite gamers, David Eckstein pokes a single through the left side …

Jimmy Edmonds walks …

And Albert Pujols absolutely crushes a pitch to left field. ‘Oh my goodness,’ was all I said when the ball hit the bat. You knew it was gone … Make that long gone, as it sailed over the Crawford boxes in left field to the part of the stadium where the retractable roof’s track meets the stadium supports. It was a shot that would have landed in the upper deck of most ballparks.

It was unblievable. And memorable.

The Astros fans were suddenly, and humorously, quiet. St. Louis wins the game 5-4 and lives to see another game, not to mention Busch Stadium, which is set to be demolished as soon as their season ends …

Talking baseball, the Cardinals win was huge. It puts them back in the exact situation they found themselves in last year when they came from being down three games to two, and sent Houston back home before losing to the Red Sox in the World Series. So I wouldn’t be surprised, as much as I found myself rooting for the Astros last night, if the Cardinals do it all over again …

Want more?

a So quiet, you could hear a pennant drop

a With one magical swing, Albert Pujols brought the dead back to life.

a Pujols's Homer Soars To Legendary Heights

* * *

Cleaning up ...

...Back and forth on the train today, I read my newest copy of Paste and was fascinated by the cover story about Cameron Crowe. ... I adore every one of his movies, the way music fuels his imagination and, at this point, can only dream and aspire to the type of artistry he exemplifies ... And I'm totally pumped to see 'Elizabethtown' now.

...I got this link emailed to me from a friend. You could spend hours playing this -- and make sure you have the volume on your computer turned up ...