mojosmom

I think winter might be really and truly over. (Having said that, it will probably snow.)

Yesterday, it was 60-ish. I went off to my AAUW meeting, a wine tasting, so what if it was only 11:00 in the morning? Well, maybe 11:30 by the time we started pouring the wine. Then I headed over to the Chicago History Museum, just a short bus ride away. See, my courtroom partner is a Civil War re-enactor, and he let slip that his troop was going to be participating in an event there. Naturally, I said I'd have to stop by with my camera, which got him all flustered and embarrassed. But when I got there and found him, he was quite the actor. He posed for me with a rather inauthentic empty plastic the vodka bottle, which was highly amusing, because he never drinks.

(My partner is the guy standing up.)

In the evening, I went to a lovely concert of 16th-century Italian vocal music, with three fantastic sopranos, a harpsichord, and a variety of violins and lutes.

Today, it was at least eighty, and sunny, and gorgeous. I was inspired to heights of cleaning, mostly because I want to get the place straightened up before I leave for Washington. This afternoon, I went to a rather curious opera, Death and the Powers, by Tod Machover, with a libretto by Robert Pinsky. It's got robots performing an opera within an opera, about a very wealthy guy who dies and goes into "The System", which he has invented to immortalize himself through technology. I kind of liked it, but I don't know. When an entire page of technology notes precedes the synopsis, I have to wonder about the priorities involved.

It was a short opera, just one, 90-minute, act, and because it was such a fabulous day, and the Park Grille's outside seating area was open, I treated myself to dinner there. Salmon tartare, risotto con pomodori secchi e salsiccia, and a sweet potato chiffon (like a mousse) for dessert.

I also managed to finish two books this weekend, Laurence Cossé's A Novel Bookstore, about a shop that sells only good novels, chosen by a secret committee, and James Cain's Mildred Pierce, which contains one of the best passages ever: "Are you insinuating that my daughter is a snake?" "No -- is a coloratura soprano, is much worse."

Now you must excuse me because it's time for the new Upstairs Downstairs!

Friday night was the kickoff event for the Third Annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival - Cassandra Wilson at Rockefeller Chapel, with the Kenwood Academy Chorus (Kenwood is public magnet school). Awesome! This was the only ticketed event; all else was free.



Saturday morning I went early to the AAUW book sale to help set up. (Psst, that book was there again!) Only came away with two books, though.

Left there, and went to hear Marguerite Mariama at the Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center, and from there to the Oriental Institute, where I heard Samuel "Savoirfaire" Williams, a jazz violinist:


and also Tatsu Aoki and the Miyumi Project, a fascinating mix of jazz and traditional Japanese music. Then back to Rockefeller Chapel to hear Tammy McCann, catching a bit of Miguel and Sylvia de la Cerna's music drifting out of Robie House on the way.

The weather had been overcast, with rain forecast. But fortunately that didn't happen, and so when McCann finished shortly after 5:00, I went to the mainstage over at the Midway Plaisance:


I heard the tail end of Edwin Sanchez Latin Jazz, and then wandered over to the vendors' booths for some pad thai and a glass of wine (I held off on the gelato until later). That was followed by Dee Alexander and then Orbert Davis.

By then, it was about 9:30, and I decided to go over to International House to hear a bit of music there. I wasn't sure if I could hold out until the midnight jam session. In any event, when I got there, there was a huge long line waiting to get in, so I decided not to wait. I was pretty tired, so went home.

But it was a fantastic day, as always, and all the best people were there:


(More photos here.)

Today I slept until after 9:00!

Thursday evening was the first in what will (I hope) become a regular series at the Chicago Cultural Center: Chicago under the Dome. Preston Bradley Hall is often used for concerts, but these events have some cabaret seating in addition to the regular rows of chairs, and beer and wine! This concert was Jim Gailloreto's Jazz String Quintet, with Patricia Barber sitting in on a few numbers. She was the big draw, of course, and the room was full.

Also full, on Friday night, was Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion, for the Stars of Lyric Opera concert, which has become a yearly event and is always packed. I got there around two hours before the concert began, and got a decent enough spot on the lawn. There is a seating area, which opened right about the time I got there, and people were already lined up all around the lawn to get seats. The first half featured singers from the Ryan Opera Center, the artist development program run by Lyric. The big guns (Deborah Voight, Vladimir Galouzine and James Morris) were in the second half. Morris had my favorite piece of the night: a very shiver-making "Credo" from Verdi's Otello.

There was at least one diehard Wagnerite in the crowd:


Today I had a couple of meetings. An Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers board meeting in the morning, followed by a member tea of a new chapter of the AAUW (American Association of University Women) that I have been sucked into. That was at a very hotsy-totsy place, the Women's Athletic Association, which is situated in a landmark building on Michigan Avenue that may have the last elevators in Chicago that actually have elevator operators!