Catch-up

Oct. 26th, 2010 07:17 pm
mojosmom: (Default)
Okay, now that I've calmed down from last night's excitement, I'll talk about what I did this weekend.

Friday night we went to see Carmen at Lyric Opera. Carmen was "meh", Don Jose got better in the second act, and Escamillo was excellent.

Saturday was the University of Chicago Humanities Day, which is always chock-a-block with interesting programs. I went to hear: Justin Steinberg on "Dante's Right of Way through Hell", Martha Feldman, the keynote speaker, on "Castrato De Luxe: Blood, Gifts, and Goods in the Making of Early Modern Singing Stars", and a panel discussion on "Robie House, 100 Years New", with Katherine Fischer Taylor, Donald Hoffmann and Geoffrey Goldberg. I had signed up for "The Hews of Modern Babylon, June, 1941" with Orit Bashkin, but I really needed to do some grocery shopping, because Sunday was going to be very busy. So I went to the grocery store (and the Hyde Park Cats bake sale!), between the keynote and the Robie House panel. At that last, they announced that there would be a reception at Robie House, which is just one block from where the event was. So I went to that, then went home to dinner, and then back to Robie House.

That night, there was a site specific installation of multi-media artwork there, called Projecting Modern, by Luftwerk, a collaboration between Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero. It was fantastic! They used projected images, light and sound, playing off Wright's use of light and angles. It was mostly on the third floor of the house, where the bedrooms are, an area that is not normally open to the public, even on the guided tours. I wasn't going to miss that chance!
Closet/dressing alcove, master bedroom, Robie House

The weather was gorgeous, warm and soft, so there was much hanging out on the balcony with glasses of wine and noshes. And more light projections:
Projection - eaves

Sunday was the Chicago Humanities Festival Hyde Park Day. A few years ago, they decided to have a day of events in Hyde Park, a couple of weeks before the main event. This year, I volunteered. First, because I thought it would be fun, and, second, because volunteers get two free tickets for every program worked. My stint covered two programs, so that meant tickets to four CHF events! Even though they are cheap anyway, when you go to a bunch it can add up, so volunteering is a good deal. I was at the Oriental Institute, mostly ticket-taking, and helping set up and clean up, but got to sit in on a panel discussing rare medical texts. It was most interesting, with a doctor, an art historian and a special collections librarian talking about the books from their different points of view.

Then I dashed up north, getting stuck in Bears (football) traffic on the way, for a reception that followed a performance of 26 Miles, a play being produced by Teatro Vista in collaboration with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. (One of the great things about the Chicago theatre scene is the way so many of the ensembles do collaborate.) It was held at a nearby wine bar which has a roof deck, and since the weather was again fabulous, we mostly hung out outside. They had food, too, so I didn't need to worry about dinner.

So that was the weekend.
mojosmom: (opera)
Sorry, just couldn't resist.

Yesterday was Humanities Day at the University of Chicago, coinciding, as it always does, with Family (formerly Parents') Day. Also as always, the offerings were many and varied. I attended Larry Rothfield's lecture "Nobody Thought of Culture: Behind the Looting of the Baghdad Museum", which expanded beyond the title to discuss the even worse looting of archaelogical sites. The keynote address was given by Jacqueline Goldsby, on the bookish subject of "A Salon for the Masses: Black Chicago's Book Review and Lecture Forum, 1933-53. Most interesting was the public nature of the influential Forum, at a branch of the Chicago Public Library, as contrasted to the private salons of the Harlem Renaissance. Finally, I went to hear Shulamit Ran on "Taking on the Credo: A Chanticleer Mass through a Jewish Prism". Very enlightening to hear how she tackled that one! I didn't go to the final session, as I had an opera that night and wanted to a) eat, and b) rest up.

The opera was the second in two nights, as I had had to change my ticket due to my Charleston trip. So it was a very French weekend at the opera! Friday night was Massenet's Manon, with Natalie Dessay in the title role. She was amazing, as usual. Last night was Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, with Nicole Cabell as Leila, and Nathan Gunn and Eric Cutler both looking quite hunky (and bare-chested) as Zurga and Nadir respectively.

Low culture today, though. The Oriental Institute has a Sunday afternoon film series, which is usually on erudite archaelogical themes. In honor of Hallowe'en, however, today's film was The Mummy. They showed it in the auditorium, though, not in the Egyptian galleries, which would have been even more appropriate. It's such a great film, even if it is rather over the top. I have to admit it's a bit of a giggle to see Ankh-es-en-Amon (a/k/a Helen Grosvenor) togged up as an ancient Egyptian complete with '30s spit-curl bangs!

Fall has clearly arrived. It was quite windy today, and the leaves that were blowing around were all sorts of colors. The Oriental Institute was dressed in red:
Wrapped in fall

I had some milkweed on my back porch this summer. It never did attract butterflies, but looked pretty. Today, I noticed that it had gone to seed:
Gone to seed

January 2018

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