Ruminations, Haunts, and Errors

Rather than just patronize local restaurants and relax, this weekend we actually took advantage of a bit more urban culture…

• March of the Penguins. Friday night we sauntered over to the Music Box to enjoy the twinkly star lights, live organist, and (most importantly from Liz’s perspective) watch this movie that was completely filled with penguins big and small, sleek and fuzzy. Fascinating stuff, both in how the filmmakers braved a year in Antarctica to obtain such amazing up-close footage and, especially, in the arduous lifecycle of these birds. That penguins survive into the next generation at all is quite astounding…good thing human procreation doesn’t require four-month fasts while standing in frigid blizzard conditions with a meager few hours of light per day! A small part of me wondered what was gained by having this film on the big screen rather than on PBS or DVD, but I suppose I feel better handing over $18.50 to support projects like this–which have the potential to raise awareness–than in support of the latest crappy Hollywood spectacular cash-maker.
• The Pain and the Itch. Saturday we went down a few stops–feeling slightly overdressed in comparison with the late-afternoon Red Line crowd–had dinner at Vinci and then took in this play at the Steppenwolf Theater. Black comedy is an apt description of this one, the dialogue is most definitely funny but the situations lead to the sorts of laughs done in lieu of cringing or crying. The story elements, and particularly the overserious psychobabble of the young parents at the center, certainly provoke some thoughts about the fine line that often stands between earnest attempts at being progressive in domestic social interactions (like child rearing and dealing with the help) and simply replacing one type of dysfunctional family dynamic with another–especially when people aren’t honest with themselves. As to be expected from Steppenwolf, the performances were very good as was the set design, complete with a backyard porch and falling snow. Perhaps best though was the writing: the dialogue was natural and witty, while the plot elements came out in small, well-timed nuggets that whacked the story along at key points and never resorted to surprises to neatly explain away something; I can recall only three major out-of-left-field items: one came with plenty of time left for it to be properly explained, another late in the second half served mainly to draw a new connection among the characters, and the final one at the end served to put a tragicomic exclamation on the play.

Went over to see/hear Cowboy Mouth at Taste of Randolph, again on short notice as they seem to pop up in town once or twice a year. Entertaining, as always. In many ways they’re just another straightforward rock band–not that there’s anything wrong with that especially when all the band members are talented and they play tightly together.

But their live shows are something else…I have yet to see another lead man–who’s the drummer to boot!–work a crowd quite like Fred LeBlanc does.

We saw RotS last night, and I think this is the best one of the six movies, hands down. Like the other five the dialogue is still mostly crap—Lucas’s ability to make conversations between would-be lovers seem strained and wooden is almost impressive in a car-wreck sort of way–but I think the actors rose above it better than they did in Eps I and II, and they weren’t hamstrung by as many forehead-slappingly inane lines that plagued the first two. However, what really sets this one apart in my view is the tight storyline. Where Phantom Menace careened wildly from one thing to the next with just a weak connection between Big Scenes, RotS moved quickly but smoothly from one event to the next. Where Attack of the Clones struggled to set up storylines, each event in RotS seemed to evolve naturally from the last. Finally, what sets it above the previous high-water mark, Empire Strikes Back, is that the story has broader scope, more subplots, and a greater range between the triumphs and tragedies–especially for Anakin Skywalker.

The connections and echoes of events in the later movies are also numerous, and they provide a richer context. Some are ironic: Anakin Skywalker wielding a blue light saber to battle a Sith who uses a red one. Some are prophetic: Palpatine turning in his seat near a huge window in a tower to watch his current apprentice, and intended future one, battle with light sabers. Yet most importantly the movie gives new perspective on Darth Vader, both in how tenuously he holds onto life after ceasing to ‘really’ be Anakin Skywalker (which helps explain why losing a hand in Return of the Jedi could be instrumental in his death) and in how he yet clings to some humanity; to see the big meanie who was so threatening when I was a child cry out in rage and pain over the death of someone was certainly novel.

A lot of people have been quick to savage the previous two episodes; I’ll concede that the bad acting of IV-VI is usually preferable to the stiff acting of I and II since it’s at least more earnest, but I think a lot of the disappointment simply resulted from viewing some movies from an adult perspective and comparing them with movies loved as a child–when we couldn’t as easily see the flaws. Yet I think that tendency to belittle might obscure what an amazing job Lucas (or at least his design team) did in smoothly evolving elements–from Naboo fashions to clone-trooper armor to Alderaanian spacecraft design–through episodes I-III into forms that match up with the more familiar ones in episodes IV-VI.

Since a little before its release there has been some hubbub about political overtones in the story, but like racial slurs in Phantom Menace and Zen on mountaintops I think it was a matter of people bringing their own views into the theater and projecting them onto the screen. Really, I was looking for political needling, and all I could find were two lines:

Padme: So this is how liberty dies? With thunderous applause?
…
Anakin: If you are not with me, you are my enemy.

Yesterday, after the idea came up suddenly the day before, we found ourselves at the Museum of Science and Industry for the first time in many years. While we spent some time in various regular exhibits (hmm, is Petroleum World supposed to provide accurate info or merely make us feel all warm and fuzzy about BP and other petrochemical interests??), the major attraction right now is the Body Worlds anatomical exhibit.

It was certainly fascinating to see how complex the human body actually is; we were struck by how large the lungs are yet how small are the uterus, kidneys, and brain. Liz put it well in noting that, despite being surrounded by cadavers in various states of dissection (and that sometimes were clearly the remains of a person, not some anatomy-class model), the only disgusting things were some of the results of self-inflicted tumors and diseases–notably those such as tar-filled lungs, cirrosis-scarred livers, and bodies most in excessive amounts of fat. I also could see why some have objected to some of the more, uh, unorthodox presentations. While sometimes the positioning of bodies in positions that replicated regular human activities did achieve the stated purpose of showing the interplay of organ systems in ways a body on a slab cannot, I noted that some of the presentations gave a sense of attempted whimsy or artistic attempt (in a gallows-humor sort of way) that I didn’t find so much offensive as out of place in something that was trying to convey scientific understanding. Nevertheless, many of the ‘posed’ exhibits clearly gave a sense of scale and interrelationship of the various body systems that no anatomy book could ever convey.

As for the museum itself, when did it become a science-tinged theme park? Wait half an hour in a snaking rope line for admission tickets. Buy tickets to be granted permission to enter something-or-other 3 hours later. When that time comes, wait another fifteen minutes in yet another snaking rope line. (And let’s not mention drink or snack prices). All while being surrounded by exhibit signage that resembles entertainment marketing. Okay, they probably have to scrape by to get various high-end exhibits, but if they’re going to follow the theme-park plan at least put in the signs that indicate ‘X minutes from this point’.

Tonight we ventured out to Spring, a place we consider one of the gems of the Chicago restaurant scene. The place definitely stands out for its adventurous menu (with a number of clearly marked vegetarian options), good wine list, and upscale but not outrageous prices (definitely not a place to go every weekend). However, it doesn’t feel too pretentious, which is probably due mostly to the staff but is also helped by the somewhat incongruous patches of enamel-painted brick wall (think elementary school) and the slight whiff of seediness that remains in its surrounding Bucktown environs.

This was our second visit, and while we were both happy with the wine (a nice Piedmnot barbera d’alba) and the dessert–sour cream ice cream goes well with chocolate cake and candied beets!–perhaps our expectations for the entrees had been set too high from our first visit, as everything was very good but wasn’t a wow moment. Yet we noticed how the little touches really made it a good experience overall: lighting behind false half-walls that make the whole room seem to glow, confirming that Liz was vegetarian to ensure her receipt of an appropriate version of the appertif sushi, hot towels and shots of chile-laced hot chocolate to finish the evening.

San Francisco now has a smartcard-and-machine-driven tasting room featuring the local Sonoma and Napa wines. Part of me thinks this is a great idea: all those wines in one spot, along with an easy way to keep track of what you’ve tasted (assuming, of course, that by the end you remember the stuff from the beginning!). But perhaps will this turn out to be an example of household tech gone wrong? Only time will tell…

Trolling the streets of the North Side on a Saturday afternoon is definitely an experience, especially a few days after a heavy snowfall…

• The line of cars with spent Christmas trees lashed to their roofs easily indicated the entrance of the Revere Park recycling location, but we were somewhat surprised that said line stretched almost the full quarter-mile west to California Ave! At least that showed a healthy interest in recycling–or was it just the prospect of receiving a year’s supply of Blue Bags? All those trees and wreaths sure did make a very large, very nice-smelling pile of mulch. And of course, being Chicago, the Fighting 47th’s very own Ald. Gene Schulter couldn’t pass up the opportunity to place large signs around the park indicating just who we could all thank for arranging this nice service.
• Left-turn lanes without left-turn signals seem just plain stupid. On a major thorougfare–Irving Park and California, say–what’s the point? Okay, maybe they help ease straight-through traffic somewhat, but I don’t know of any such intersection in the city with so little traffic that a left-turn signal wouldn’t help traffic flow.
• On that note, Fullterton-Damen-Elston has to rank among the most asinine intersections. The traffic engineers who set up the lanes and signal timings should be fired (or worse, if possible). There’s heavy traffic and funky angles, but the problems are exacerbated by the consecutive left-turn lanes (hmm, again no frickin’ left-turn signals!!) and the asymmetric green-light durations (at least when heading south on Elston). There always seem to be plenty of near misses, honking horns, and angry motorists. Prohibit left turns from Elston onto Damen and even out the light timings already!!
• That our section of N Greenview is not only one-way but also extra wide is quite an advantage when dealing with heavy snowfalls. Three days after the snow stopped it still hasn’t seen a plow, but the width allows a lot of sloppiness when trying to maneuver into a parking spot, and there’s plenty of room for cars to safely pass while skidding in or digging out. I feel sorry for those souls who have to drive and park on the narrower streets in the area–they’re difficult enough when there’s no snow!
• On Clybourn, I saw a car who’s owner only saw fit to clear the bare minimum of snow from the windows, leaving an 8-inch snowpack on the entire roof. I’ll admit to being on the anal side when it comes to clearing snow off my car, but leaving that much on top seems dangerous. Some wind or a sudden stop could easily send a huge chunk of that snow down a windshield–or onto a following vehicle–and reduce someone’s visiblity to nil. Given the potential hazard, I wonder if a cop could ticket a driver for leaving too much snow on the car. (Or, rather, would such a ticket hold up in court?)

Tonight we ventured over to the Mercury Theater for the current production of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged). Like Spamalot last week, this show was entertaining just from its pure silliness and the enthusiasm of the cast. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen another show that works in references to not only Star Wars but also Reservoir Dogs and Daffy Duck as Robin Hood, let alone do Hamlet backwards in 60 seconds. Beyond the broad farce, I think what makes this show really work is not only the satirical skewering of overwrought literary/psychological/sociolgical analyses of Shakespeare’s plays (think of all the crap we wrote in papers during high school and/or college :) but also that every once in a while the performers simply play a scene or soliloqy straight.

Last night we sampled the fare at Improv Kitchen, a club that opened on Clark St. several months back. Their concept is a little different than other improv spots: the performers are in a different room and interact with the audience via video screens and cameras at each table. This allows for some more personalized interaction (e.g., during one sketch they talked with each table to get some information to set up a game show, complete with buzzers and prizes), but more importantly allows them to include some A/V effects in the show–think Drew Carey’s Green Screen show on the WB. The performers started off a bit slow and didn’t quite have the same quality I’ve seen at other spots like Improv Olympic, but it was a Tuesday night (maybe not their ‘A’ crew), there were only three performers, and the crowd consisted of only about 8 people so the number of ideas from which they could develop sketches was quite small; perhaps a weekend night with a bigger crowd will produce a better, more consistent show.

Oh, and the ‘kitchen’ part is literal: they have a full menu and structure the show around it, complete with breaks for eating. While we enjoyed it (if nothing else, how often do we go out for that on a Tuesday night?), I’m sure we’ll get a much better experience next time if we go with several more people prepared for dinner.

Christmas in Bartonia means lots of driving of late, from Milwaukeeland to the southern end of the collar counties. As my passenger has a tendency to succumb to highway hypnosis, all that time in the car lends itself to various ponderings…

• Good driving requires multiple things from people: Rules of the Road, Operating a Vehicle, Situational Awareness, Predictive Analysis, and Temperment. That our training and licensing systems only really deal with the first two aspects probably explains in large measure why so many people do stupid or annoying things on our roadways. (Okay, there’s some implicit training in Situational Awareness, but Not Hitting the Object Right in Front of You and Checking Your Blind Spot are hardly comprehensive.) While the other three aspects are more difficult to teach or measure, arguably they are more important–especially on city expressways.
• WXRT fades out around Racine, so we ended up listening to an all-Christmas music station for a while. Fortunately they played a wide mix of songs covering all styles and eras. The juxtaposition of classic crooners (Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, etc.) and more contemporary acts (Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, etc.) allowed me to identify exactly what drives me nuts about American Idol-style singers: they put vocal embellishments on essentially every note and phrase rather than simply using them for effect. Tony Bennett and Billie Holliday knew that extended notes sometimes need a vibrato to make them interesting, and bent notes or variant rhythms add a nice jazzy style to a song; in contrast, the modern divas can’t seem to sing any part of a song straight, so it sounds to me that they’re either just showing off or else don’t appreciate the more subtle aspects of musical phrasing.

Take the basic plot, scenes, gags, and dialogue from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, add several references and jokes from Monty Python’s Flying Circus and other Python (Monty) films, throw in some new and suitably bizarre plot forays, then toss it all in a blender and stir. What do you get? Spamalot, which opened this week at the Shubert Theater for its initial pre-Broadway run.

In interviews leading up to the show’s opening, Eric Idle made clear that this wasn’t just the movie on stage but was a distinct show that was ‘lovingly ripped off’ from the movie. Indeed, while the major characters, themes, and important scenes were included, often these were rearranged in new ways, yet the show spent almost as much time with new gags and in spoofing–maybe skewering is a better word–Broadway shows in general. I found the show a bit uneven, and actually found myself sometimes slightly bored whenever it stuck too closely to the movie (exacerbated by the mildly annoying sense that many in the audience were merely waiting for the Big Scenes to appear so they could recite along). It was definitely at its best when taking familiar scenes in new and silly directions (example: mashing the llama/mariachi portion of the opening credits, Gallahad’s offhand comment ‘I think you’re gay’ during his rescue of Lancelot from Zoot’s castle, and the swamp wedding massacre into a huge multicolored production number), exploring new material, or (especially) lampooning the formulas and culture of Broadway shows.

Apart from a few technical glitches at times with the sound (some static or too much foot noise from the dancers), the performances were good. None of Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, or Hank Azaria particularly stood out, but all were in fine voice and seemed to enjoy the material. Considering that this was only the show’s third day, I’m sure there’s still some tweaks and adjustments in store by the writers and performers that can even out and improve the show. This one probably won’t ever be a blockbuster phenomenon–it will appeal most to Python’s already rapid cult following–but all in all I though it was quite funny and entertaining, so it should do just fine.

It’s the holidays, so it must be time for Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo!

More pictures are available in the gallery.

Wreaths, egg nog, a horse-drawn sleigh on Greenview, and extended rope lines at the Water Tower Place escalators…yep, it must be holiday time again.

• The annual Southport Holiday Stroll was a fun time as usual. Like summer festivals, this event seems to me the city at its best: lots of fun stuff–ranging from the elegant to the quirky–all concentrated in a compact area surrounded by people enjoying themselves and the spirit of, well, being at such an event. Besides, how often does one get to walk down the sidewalk drinking a glass of wine without drawing a second look from the CPD? If beer, wine, and snacks were a regular part of the shopping experience, I think more people (read: menfolk) would enjoy it more. ;-)
• The windows at Marshall Field’s on State St. were a bit disappoinging this year. For one thing they seemed a bit incoherent in places, as many of the attempts to throw quirky references into the Snow White story had no organization and just looked like items thrown in by a committee. For another, there didn’t seem to be enough detail in most windows to inspire lingering for more than a moment. Oh, for the purposes of crowd control it might not be a bad idea to put prominent arrows near the displays to indicate which direction people should walk.
• Wow, the crowds at Crate & Barrel, Water Tower Place, and some other spots were amazingly heavy, more so than at this time in previous years. Was it due to the nicer weather relative to the previous week? I was surprised to find how much they annoyed me…hopefully this doesn’t mean I’m getting old and cranky, ready to move to the suburbs! Maybe there just need to be lanes and traffic cops on the sidewalks and mall concourses.
• Why do people bother bringing big strollers, packed with children and their accoutrements, to busy shopping areas at Christmastime? It causes crowd flow problems, seems like it would be a burden to the parents, yet seems pointless since the children themselves are probably unlikely to be enjoying the experience too much. Packing the chilluns off with grandma or a baby sitter whilst mom & dad get their holiday shopping done seems like it would be less problematic for parents, kids, and co-shoppers alike.

1. Remember not to leave the cake top in the bridal suite. Or at least contact housekeeping and go back to the hotel after realizing you did.
2. Wrap in wax paper.
3. Repeat.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap.
5. Repeat.
6. Wrap in aluminum foil.
7. Repeat.
8. Stick in freezer and keep there for six months.

The cake might be a little dry about the edges, but should be very edible and not taste like cardboard or plastic wrap. Just remember that a little bit of butter-cream frosting and fondant goes a long way.

Can this be extended out for a full year? Check back in May…