Category: Family

The Phantom of Westminster Abbey and Clos Maggiore

Linda and I spent today on our own while our friends were off doing other stuff. We slept in and then found a nearby teeny tiny Japanese restaurant, Ichi-Ricki, for lunch. I’m glad the reviews I’d read warned me it was nothing but a door with a paper sign, because otherwise we’d have missed it. The restaurant is actually in the basement, and has only six tables. The sushi was very good.

After lunch we visited Westminster Abbey, which somehow we’ve missed in all our trips to London. There are a lot of people buried here who spent their lives living off public funds. There are also a few people who actually did something useful.

Outside, we walked through the cloisters, the museum and the garden. One of the more interesting sights was England’s oldest door, which apparently dates from 1050 AD, and appears to still be functional. I looked for a Home Depot sticker, but didn’t see one.

In the evening we walked to Her Majesty’s Theatre to see Phantom of the Opera in its original venue. God, I hate that show. Great music, good staging, completely ineffective story telling. My third time seeing it, and I like it a bit less each time, I guess because it seems like such a missed opportunity to tell a great story. The original movie with Charles Laughton is actually much more moving. It paled next to BIlly Elliot, that’s for sure. Not helped by the fact the audience was full of drunk Chinese who couldn’t follow it. The downside of going to a famous show, I guess.

After the show we cabbed it to Clos Maggiore, three times voted London’s most romantic restaurant. My third visit, and it always wows. Not terribly expensive, great wine list, great food and service. Everyone loved it.

We had a 2007 Ramonet Gevrey Chambertin Blanc and a 1999 Pommard by Ferdinand Laurent Pillot. Both excellent. Martin also had a 1995 Rieussec by the glass with his foie gras. But the 1965 Castarde Bas Armagnac I finished with blew them all away. Great meal.

 

London

We’re off to London for a few days before heading out of Southampton on a twelve night wine cruise. This was Linda’s first experience with the airline beds that recline all the way, and they certainly make a difference; we both got about five hours of sleep, and arrived in London already on schedule (although the afternoon nap always helps, too).

Linda claims the food on Delta was the best she’s had on a plane, but I skipped it, except for the salad and pumpkin soup (which I admit was exceptional). We were lucky to make our connection in Atlanta. The only reason we did is because the receptionist in the Delta lounge bumped us to an early flight out of Orlando. Unfortunately his attempt to bump our luggage failed, and it didn’t show up until after dinner.

We used Eddie Manning Limo to pick us up at the airport. We’re traveling with Audrey and Emilio, and Martin, none of whom have been to London before, and the three parties all had different planes distributed between two airports. Eddie was able to react to a 5-hour delay and put another limo on the job with just one email. I used them before and will use them again because they’re so accommodating.

I’m very impressed with our hotel. It’s The Sanctuary House in Westminster, just south of St. James Park. The rooms are spacious by London standards, and everything is brand new or freshly painted. The only downside is extremely creaky floors. For $240 a night it is a steal. We had lunch in the Fuller’s pub downstairs.

Before dinner we showed our friends how to use the underground by taking a ride from the conveniently close St. James Park station to Embankment, and from there walked up into Covent Garden and through the theatre district. The area around Leicester Square has become quite the casino district now that you don’t need to be a member to go into the casinos. It’s lit up like a mini Las Vegas.

Our destination was l’Atelier, one of our favorite restaurants in the world. Because of our large party (and possible our inability to dress for dinner, having no luggage) we weren’t able to sit at the counter, but instead ate upstairs in La Cuisine, which offers the same food but without the interaction with the people behind the counter. The multi-course tasting menu and matching wines were superb, and everyone enjoyed the three-hour experience.

After dinner, Audrey and Emilio were more than ready for bed (as they were the ones with the five hour flight delay) but Martin was game to stroll back through Piccadilly Circus and have a midnight Champagne cocktail with us at a trendy looking Italian restaurant and bar.

On Wednesday we met at 11am and headed for the British Museum. Near the museum we found a little Korean place called Han Kang that had good reviews and indeed we had an excellent lunch.

The British Museum was just a few blocks away, and we spent a pleasant three hours looking at dead people and the things they used to own.

After resting up back at the hotel it was time for the evening’s entertainment. The underground stairs are hard on Audrey’s knee, so she and Emilio took a cab to the Victoria Palace Theatre, but Linda and Martin and I walked, a pleasant half mile stroll.

Billy Elliot is one of my favorite shows, and it’s better here in London than anywhere else. Great, as always. It was fun for Martin to see how much better a show is in its original theatre, and a treat for Audrey and Emilio to experience it for the first time.

After dinner we took a cab to Kensington to an Indian restaurant we like called Zaika, where a snippy receptionist informed us that because we were 15 minutes late the kitchen was closed. I guess it would have been the bum’s rush anyway, so we instead had a nice dinner at the nearby Strada Cucina Italiano, a well-disguised member of a massive chain that is much nicer than the website suggests.

A busy couple of days to start off our trip, but we’re on-schedule and ready for more.

 

1985 & 1985 Bordeaux

Every year Hart Davis Hart hosts a comprehensive Bordeaux retrospective, and this year’s event focused on 1985 and 1986 Bordeaux. HDH pulled out all the stops, with two bottles of almost every notable wine, including the first growths. There was also a lovely buffet of nice charcuterie as accompaniment.

With only 90 minutes to sample more than 40 wines, there wasn’t time for elaborate notes, but I did jot down scores in the nicely done notebook provided. My general observation was that the 1985 vintage was better than 1986 for nearly all the wineries, with the 85s still having great structure, coffee and other complex earthy aromas, tannins that will allow them to continue to age, and yet still plenty of fruit. The 86s, on the other hand, mostly seemed soft and thin, with some fruit but little structure. Too bad I have more of them than 85s in my cellar!

This event was infinitely more professional and enjoyable than the 1986 Bordeaux event we attended in New York. At that event I felt like the bargain wine was the 1986 Ch. Talbot, and I still felt that way as far as the 86s at this event. It’s not the best, but for the price it’s excellent.

However the 85s were far better, and the clear standouts to me were the first growths, with Mouton, Latour and Lafite at the top, and Haut Brion and Margaux lagging. A surprisingly weak pair from La Mission Haut Brion. The best buy is Lynch Bages, which I rated near the top first growths.

My scores:

Margaux

1985 Ch. Margaux 92
1986 Ch. Margaux 93

1985 Ch. Palmer 93
1986 Ch. Palmer 89

1985 Ch. Rauzan-Segla 94
1986 Ch. Rauzan-Segla 87

St. Estephe

1985 Ch. Cos d’Estournel 88
1986 Ch. Cos d’Estournel 90

1985 Ch. Montrose 87
1986 Ch. Montrose 85

St. Julien

1985 Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases 93
1986 Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases 93

1985 Ch. Loeville-Barton  89
1986 Ch. Leoville-Barton 86

1985 Ch. Gruaud Larose 92
1986 Ch. Gruaud Larose 89

1985 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou 86
1986 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou 84

1985 Ch. Talbot 90
1986 Ch. Talbot 93

Pauillac

1985 Ch. Latour 98
1986 Ch. Latour 92

1985 Ch. Pichon-Longueville, Lalande 94
1986 Ch. Pichon-Longueville, Lalande 88

1985 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild 99
1986 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild 94

1985 Ch. Lafite Rothschild 98
1986 Ch. Lafite Rothschild 94

1985 Ch. Lynch Bages 97
1986 Ch. Lynch Bages 95

Pessac Leognan

1985 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion 91
1986 Ch. La Mission Haut Brion 91

1985 Ch. Haut Brion 92
1986 Ch. Haut Brion 94

St. Emilion

1985 Ch. Cheval Blanc 95
1986 Ch. Cheval Blanc 92

Pomerol

1985 Ch. Trotanoy (corked)
1986 Ch. Trotanoy 89

1985 Ch. Certan de May 89
1986 Ch. Certan de May 90

 

Tru

Five years ago Dani and I visited Tru while on her college tour, and we had one of the greatest meals of my life. But then a year later Linda and I returned, and had seven courses of glop in a bowl. So we hadn’t been back. But after a comprehensive 1985 and 1986 Bordeaux retrospective tasting, Tru was just a block away, so we decided to give it another try. Good call. It was another of the greatest meals I’ve ever had, beautiful in its presentation, and with incredible, often unexpected flavor combinations that worked so well they seemed obvious in retrospect. And the matching wine pairing was creative, off-beat, and perfectly matched to the food. Tru has been restored to my list of the US’s top restaurants.

Amazing raw scallop course, and a Glass of Madeira.
Seriously, this was the best shellfish dish I’ve ever tasted. perfect scallop, thinly sliced, with flavors of cilantro and umami.
Alaskan Halibut in coconut broth.
Chicken with black truffles, floating above a log and forest floor detritus.
In addition to the floating chicken, there is also asparagus with crispy chicken skin and foie gras.
This is how all fruit rollups should be served. The clothespins are less that a half inch long.
Tru doesn’t monkey around with dessert.
The menu. The red Greek wine served with the chicken was particularly noteworthy, combining the character of fine Bordeaux with bright cherry bark notes.

Masala Chickpea Burger Recipe

Dani made these vegetarian hamburger patties that were actually better than regular hamburgers.

Ingredients

  • 2 cans chickpeas
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • I carrot, grated
  • 1/2 large zucchini, grated
  • 1 cup grated uncooked sweet potato
  • 1/2 white cabbage, chopped/grated
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 nub of ginger root, minced
  • 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 2 tablespoons of oil (for burgers)
  • 1/2 onion, minced
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • extra oil (for frying)
  • whole wheat buns

Preparation

1. Drain and rinse canned chickpeas. Place in a covered microwave safe bowel with a tablespoon of water and microwave on high for two minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine brown rice and chickpeas. Use an immersion blender to mix until achieving a pasty consistency.
3. Add grated carrot, zucchini, sweet potato, white cabbage, cilantro, ginger, and spices. Continue blending with immersion blender.
4. Add whole wheat flour and oil and stir with a wooden spoon.
5. Add minced onion and stir with a wooden spoon.
6. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet.
7. Form palm-sized patties and place in the skillet. Cook about five minutes on each side, or until golden brown. You may want to cover the pan while cooking to ensure the sweet potato and flour are thoroughly cooked.
8. For non-vegans you can add a slice of colby cheese during the last minute of cooking.
9. Serve on toasted whole wheat or onion buns. These are great with ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish. Also consider adding a slice of onion or tomato. If you’re feeling adventurous spicy dressings like jalapeño mustard also go well.

NU

I took a walk with Dani around the Northern Evanston area and the North part of the Northwestern University campus so she could put up flyers about her thesis project. I hadn’t been on that part of the campus before, and found a couple of interesting shots.

The enormous Tech building is old enough that this was a good thing to put in the wall by the entrance. Reminds me of The Graduate.
Outside the Tech building there is a short metal ladder that goes into a planter(!) and leads to a small path and a hidden bench. Not ADA compliant. The engineers need to design a catapult for those who can’t use the ladder.

Dani’s Salmon Wraps

This was a great lunch wrap sandwich Dani made.

Ingredients

  • 1 package cooked shredded salmon
  • 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • a pinch of brown sugar
  • garlic powder
  • 3 or 4 sticks chopped celery
  • shredded lettuce
  • shredded carrots
  • tortillas

Preparation

1. Pour olive oil into a microwave safe mixing bowl. Add balsamic vinegar and sugars.

2. Microwave for about 30 seconds, just long enough to gently warm oil and encourage sugars to dissolve.

3. Gently add a few shakes of garlic powder to the oil/balsamic mixture and stir. Sample the mixture and add more sugar or garlic to taste.

4. Chop celery to about an eighth of an inch thickness.

5. In a mixing bowl, combine salmon and celery. Drizzle on oil/balsamic mixture and stir well.

6. Lay out tortillas. Add shredded lettuce/shredded carrots in a line along the center and then add salmon mixture alongside. Fold the tops of the tortilla down and roll tortilla like a burrito.

Dani’s Spinach and Zucchini Lasagna

This was the best lasagna ever:

Ingredients

About 9 Pasta sheets (make your own or use fresh pasta from Whole Foods)
1 15oz package of part skim ricotta cheese
3/4 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup parmesan
1 egg
Approximately 4 cups of fresh spinach
2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic, sliced thin
2 zucchini, peeled and sliced thin
1 onion, chopped and browned
olive oil
Italian seasoning (oregano, sweet basil, marjoram, thyme, and rosemary) to taste
about 1 1/2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium sauce pan, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onion and sauté until brown, stirring occasionally.

In another medium sauce pan, heat another tablespoon of olive oil. Add garlic and sauté until garlic begins to brown, then add spinach and quickly sauté until reduced in volume.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, egg, and Italian seasoning. After the spinach is done sautéing, add the spinach/garlic mixture to the mixing bowl and stir.

Spray a 9×9 inch pan lightly with cooking spray (I used grapeseed oil). Add a small amount of tomato sauce to the bottom, then line the bottom with a layer of pasta (about three sheets).

Spread half the ricotta mixture on top of the pasta. Next add a layer of sautéd onions, then lay out the thinly sliced zucchini into a third layer. Cover with a layer of tomato sauce.

Repeat: pasta, ricotta mixture, onions, zucchini, and more sauce.

Top with a layer of pasta. Add a bit more sauce to keep the top moist during cooking. Then add the remaining 1/4 mozzarella and parmesan to the top.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, checking occasionally. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Wynton Marsalis

We decided to check out the downtown venue used by the Chicago Symphony, but since they are playing opera at Ravinia, we went to a jazz concert by the Wynton Marsalis Quintet.

Before the concert we had lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in the country, The Berghoff, which serves a unique and flavorful take on German food, with a few other cuisines thrown in.

Then we visited the Museum of Contemporary Photography, an exhibit space at Columbia College, one of the half dozen colleges lining the area between Michigan Avenue and State Street. The exhibition was more about politics than great photography, but it was interesting. The most engaging exhibit was actually a film where talented and well-rehearsed performers acted out a domestic drama constructed from excerpts of political interviews.

Next we walked over to Millennium Park and had a look at the bean. I think the popularity of this simple sculpture caught everyone by surprise. It’s really neat to be able to see the whole Chicago skyline, wherever you stand.

Across the street we had dinner at The Gage, another fairly old restaurant. Linda, Dani and I had eaten here before and were underwhelmed, but this night Dani and I had a terrific meal of grazing small plates at an ideal, quiet (unique for this place) corner table, and capped off by a stunning glass of 1968 D’ Oliveira Bual Madeira.

Then it was time for the concert. Man, can those guys play! We had box seats on the side that offered a perfect view. And what a delight to hear unamplified music in a space with great acoustics. The two hour concert offered lots of opportunities for each musician to solo, so we heard some of the best trumpet, sax, piano, upright bass and drum work ever. I don’t know how Wynton Marsalis coaxes some of those sounds from a trumpet, but in his hands it’s like a living thing. He also proved to be quite a personable host, stopping to explain some of the unexpected turns the group took in each piece, and why they were occasionally laughing. We really enjoyed the whole afternoon, and especially the concert.

 

Roller Derby

Last night Dani took me to her highly anticipated roller derby game. She explained the rules before we went, which helped me to understand what was going on. It was a little hard to understand the announcer, so things were baffling at times, but for the most part I was able to follow it.

My only exposure to roller derby was on TV in the 60s, when it was akin to “pro” wrestling. But the revived sport is completely different. The teams are amateur women from all walks of life who simply enjoy it. As a result, there’s a lot more sportsmanship than other sports. That’s also true of the fans. I’ve never scene such a broad demographic: all ages, sexes and apparent socioeconomic backgrounds. And they seemed happy to clap for either team when they did something impressive.

They don’t take themselves too seriously, either, as everyone–even the officials and the announcer–is using a funny fake name. The announcer was Bryan Mumble.

It can certainly be an exciting sport, because the score can increase dramatically in a short time, so lead changes are common. The only problem I saw was that the outcome of the game was largely controlled by the amount of penalty time players spent on the sidelines, and there are literally hundreds of minor penalties. Apparently they are going to change this next year, and eliminate the minor penalties, which I suspect will make the game even faster paced and more exciting.

I can’t say I’d become a regular fan of derby (or any sport, for that matter), but I would go again. It’s a fun evening, mainly because everyone including the players is having such a good time.

Gotye and Missy Higgins

Last night we went to Chicago’s other outstanding outdoor performance space, The Charter One Pavilion near the Field Museum, to see Missy Higgins and Gotye. Charter One Pavilion offers a great view of the city, and you can walk along the lake past the planetarium while you’re waiting for the show.

We’ve long been Missy Higgins fans, and she is a top star in Australia, but has had trouble generating traction in the US. So it’s a bit ironic that she’s now playing bigger arenas as a warm-up act for a guy with one Internet hit video.

For this all-aussie show, the first act was a solo performer named Jonti who fiddled with various electronic boxes, played a bit of guitar and tried to sing. Since it was his first concert, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the sound guy wasn’t providing him with a monitor mix.

The sound guy and lighting guy also weren’t giving Missy Higgins any help. In fact she played the first half of her set in the dark, before he managed to finally turn some low level background lights on. Missy played mostly songs from her latest album, which is a strong release, but she also played a few older tunes, and at the request of an audience member played Scar, one of our favorites. I think this replaced River, a much more downbeat song she played the night before in Colorado. I like the song, but Scar was a better choice. About a fourth of the crowd seemed to know who she was, and she held everyone else’s attention much better than when I saw her at House of Blues as the headliner, and everyone was drunk. I think this was her set list: Secret, Everyone’s Waiting, Scar, Hello Hello, Unashamed Desire, Watering Hole, Where I Stood, Warm Whispers.

After a very long set change out, and when it was truly dark, Gotye came on about 9:30pm. The reason for the darkness became apparent when the rear stage video projection came on, and ran through virtually every song, playing somewhat abstract and usually abstruse videos. I actually like Gotye’s music much better live than on his CD. It’s complex and varied, and his singing voice is much stronger than you’d guess if you’ve only heard his big hit. During the show he moved between various percussion, keyboard and effects stations, some of which were expertly reset by a swarm of roadies. He used a tremendous amount of technology. The downside was that, since everything was choreographed to the videos, it was impossible to tell that it was being played live. When something was obviously live, it was usually impressive. And his backup musicians (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards) were excellent. When it came time for his big hit, Somebody That I Used to Know, the women in the audience did a credible job of singing the female part. I believe Gotye’s set list was: The Only Way, What Do You Want, Easy Way Out, Smoke and Mirrors, Thanks for your Time, State of the Art, Backseat Driver, Don’t Worry We’ll Be Watching You, Dig Your Own Hole, Eyes Wide Open, Save Me, Somebody That I Used to Know, Heart’s A Mess, Giving Me a Chance, Bronte, Night Drive, The Only Thing I Know,  I Feel Better.

All of these performers suffer from a misconception about why people go to concerts. They seem to think the audience is there to hear them reproduce their CD. But in fact the audience is there to get to know them. A little more talking between songs–stories about how the songs were written, or anecdotes about their careers–would build a much stronger following. This is a lesson that was admirably demonstrated by Train, who have weaker material than these acts, but a much stronger fan base and a well-deserved reputation for putting on a great concert.

 

Donald Fagen (Steely Dan), Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers) and Boz Scaggs at Ravinia

For our final Ravinia concert of the year, Dani and I went to see The Dukes of September, a twelve piece band headed by Donald Fagen (half of Steely Dan), Michael McDonald (lead singer of the Doobie Brothers), and Boz Scaggs. They played hits from all three of them, sharing vocal duties, and also performed some of their favorite oldies. Top notch horn section and backup singers. Donald Fagen does indeed move like a muppet. Lead guitarist Jon Herington was awesome, particularly on my favorite number, Reelin’ in the Years.

Road Trip: Iowa

There is a lot of corn in Iowa. Seriously.

I think we might have crossed back into Wisconsin when this photo was taken, but you get the idea. Actually most of the day we were driving through southern Minnesota, and it was all corn fields, too.

We spent the night at the Hotel Julien in Dubuque, which is right at the corner of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. The recently renovated downtown Dubuque is cute and clean, and pretty devoid of people, at least on a Sunday evening. The hotel, thought to have once been owned by Al Capone, has recently had a $30 Million renovation itself, and is quite nice. The woman at the front desk was extraordinarily gracious, and seemed please to have customers. Not sure how they’re going to pay off that investment, though.

In the morning we drove across the bridge into Illinois, and a fairly boring drive. I was surprised that the corners of Wisconsin, Minnesota and even Iowa that we drove through were all more scenic than the middle of Illinois.

A good road trip. Friday-Monday, 900 miles roundtrip.

 

Road Trip: Minneapolis

State two in our three state road trip: Minnesota.

First stop: The Mall of America.

Well, it’s really big. The usual mall stores, some home grown ones, and a lot of restaurants. Many restaurants. Many chain restaurants. And a theme park. The mall is on 3-1/2 levels, each level pretty much equivalent to a standard mall. It surrounds the fours story high Nickelodeon themed park, which has a LOT of rides crammed into it. The mall was popular, although there weren’t a lot of people on the rides. Mini golf was busy.

Second stop: Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis. Very nice Starwood property, actually cheaper than the touristy semi-dump of last night’s stay in the Wisconsin Dells. Joining the Starwood preferred club (free) gets you free cookies, nice bathroom condiments, a high floor, a free drink in the bar, and free wireless. Good deal.

Third stop: Chino Latino, recommended by Jeremy, and billing itself as “Food from the hot zones.” Hopefully not contagious. The place was REALLY NOISY, but extremely trendy and delicious. We had Chinese 5-spice ribs, Tuna Drano balls (wasabi, tuna rice, wasabi roe and a touch of eel sauce), and really delicious spicy queso dip with mushrooms in it.

In the morning we walked to Hell’s Kitchen, and underground labyrinth of dining rooms that serves amazing lemon ricotta pancakes and an excellent huevos rancheros.

Then we headed for Iowa. On the way, we stopped at Mystery Cave, an interesting wet cave in a Minnesota State Park. Everywhere we’ve been on this trip, everyone we’ve encountered has been really nice, and the ranger guide here was particularly friendly and informative.

 

Road Trip: The Wisconsin Dells

Dani and I are on a quick weekend road trip to add three states to our list.

I’d always thought Orlando, and especially its International Drive (the old section) was the tacky capital of the universe, but I’d never been to the Wisconsin Dells. I’m nearly speechless at the colossal, all-consuming tackiness of the place. It’s so tacky its attraction is its very tackiness.

While International Drive is an embarrassment to Orlandoans, Dellers seem to revel in it. A watermark without a pyramid, coliseum, Trojan Horse of flying saucer would be a downright embarrassment. It’s a place where a family restaurant can advertise “Where size matters” and fit right in.

And as for culture, they got that to, in the form of museums. What vacationing family wouldn’t want to visit The Museum of Torture?

The Dells seems to be divided into two areas, the original Downtown, where things are a bit smaller and cuter, and the part that’s on the Interstate, where everything is GIGANTICALLY TACKY.

There are no bland buildings here, everything is outrageously themed. And the reason they need to be so huge is that most of the water parks are indoors. I was surprised by this, since I figured they were probably seasonal. But this is August. And this morning the temperature was 46 degrees!

As someone who wears loud Hawaiian shirts every day, I can appreciate tacky. I can even revel in it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to Paul Bunyan’s for a Lumberjack Breakfast…

 

Train, Matt Kearney and Andy Grammer

I’d always heard that Train was a very fan-friendly band, and they certainly demonstrated that last night at Ravinia. Through constant interaction with the audience, including inviting guests up on the stage to help them perform, they kept everyone excited and on their feet for most of the two hour concert. This personal touch led Dani to conclude it was the best concert she’s seen. I have to agree that’s why people go to concerts, more than to hear a recitation of a CD. I just wish Train’s material was a little stronger. But the fans sang along with every song, and the band played all their hits and much of their new album. My favorite of their songs is the melodic Marry Me. Apparently their drummer is ordained through an online church and has actually been marrying fans on stage, but there was no wedding last night.

I actually preferred the music of the two warm up acts. Andy Grammer writes catchy pop tunes, and has an amazing interactive video of Keep Your Head Up you can watch at http://www.andygrammer.com/videos

We saw Matt Kearney with Owl City in Orlando, and I was looking forward to seeing him again. Unfortunately his new album has taken a rappish turn, and his band was only moderately proficient. But his album City of Black and White is definitely worth checking out.

Restaurant Michael

We didn’t actually have this, but the picture is representative.

Last night we went to Restaurant Michael in Winnetka, about four miles north of Evanston. The original plan was to take the Metra train, but it was a cool, rainy and blustery night, so we opted for a cab. The restaurant is the latest project of award-winning chef Michael Lachowicz. Despite its proximity, I’d never heard of it until it popped up on Groupon back in the spring. I didn’t see anyone else having the meal we had, so I guess everyone else used it back in the Spring.

The food was terrific, and the place was almost full. What we received was a delicious five-course French meal for two people with matching wine pairings for a total of $72. Crazy, huh? Considering that was half price, even the normal price of the meal is extremely reasonable. Each course was super, and the matching wines paired perfectly with the food. We had:

  • goat cheese puff amuse bouche (we were actually served this twice, which was great!)
  • corn soup (paired with an Italian white)
  • zucchini with goat cheese in pastry
  • seared salmon (paired with a white Burgundy)
  • roast pork in pastry (paired with an Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • chocolate souffle with chocolate sauce and strawberries
  • chocolate truffles

As at Terra, the other night, service seemed well-intentioned, but not really at the caliber of the food. The servers all seem like they’ve never really been to another nice restaurant, and are just following instructions. This was one of the dressier restaurants I’ve been to around here, with many of the men in coats and ties. That was ironic, because the owner is extremely friendly and casual, working the front desk in jeans and a short sleeve shirt!

According to Groupon, they sold more than 680 of these dinners for two, so it was certainly popular. I wonder, though, how many of those people tipped properly (when you are presented with a bill at the end of the meal only if you ordered incidentals) and how many of them will go back if the same meal costs them twice as much. Since the restaurant only gets about half of the Groupon cost, they certainly couldn’t have broken even on those 1360 meals. But it worked in our case, because we’ll certainly go back.

Terra

A few nights ago we visited Terra, an American bisto just north of Central Avenue in Evanston. It’s about two miles from the condo, so we took the Metra train up, and then walked back.

It’s a small plates sort of place, so we sampled some smoked salmon, hummus, Margherita flatbread and some fish tacos. I loved everything, and Dani like everything except the tacos, which had a seasoning on the fish she didn’t care for.

The menu is really interesting, and warrants several repeat visits. Service was well-intentioned but not quite as professional as the food. The place was very busy, due to the trendy vibe and good prices, I suppose.

It was a beautiful evening, so we walked home through the residential neighborhood west of the Northwestern campus.

Caleb Hawley and Theo Katzman

SPACE is definitely the best concert venue I’ve been to. And when you have the front center cocktail table it’s even better. Last night we saw Caleb Hawley and Theo Katzman there. They’re part of a four-piece band that reconfigures itself by changing shirts between Theo’s and Caleb’s sets. We encountered Caleb at the Johnny Mercer Songwriter’s Festival; his song, Little Miss Sunshine, was one of our favorites.

This was the first concert on the band’s tour, but they were incredibly tight. And they were having a great time. It was easy to see that they were delighted with the way they sounded, and the enthusiastic audience response.

Here’s a panorama I shot.

A little bio info:

Caleb is originally from Minneapolis, but now lives in New York. He received top honors it the New York Songwriters Circle Contest (2008 and 2009), the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (2009), the Telluride Festival (2010), the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (2010), and Rocky Mountain Folks Fest (2011), and placed in the final fifty on the 2011 American Idol Season.

Theo Katzman was a guitarist in the electro-pop group My Dear Disco. He is also a drummer and bassist. Theo’s songs  are particularly melodic and catchy. We particularly liked Emily, which is unfortunately not on his album. He’s the only drummer I’ve seen who wears a big grin most of the time. It’s clear he loves what he does.

 

Coldplay

Coldplay put on quite a show last night at the United Center in Chicago. The show started two hours after the time on the tickets, due to a warm up act we (probably mercifully) missed and one we didn’t miss, but might as well have. With six people, Marina and the Diamonds couldn’t create as much sound or summon as much enthusiasm as Coldplay did in their first ten seconds.

Coldplay was on for almost two hours, and sounded great. In addition to playing all their best songs, there were also great laser effects, a ton (literally) of confetti, hundreds of bouncing balls, and a few other effects. Everyone was issued a radio-controlled wristband made by Xylobands that lit up in different colors. There were red, green, blue, white and yellow ones; they could be commanded to either turn on or to blink out of sync with each other. Interestingly, they pulled out all these effects in the first few numbers, rather than the finale. The last few numbers were played from a small platform at the other end of the arena, and then they ran through the crowd back to the stage to finish up.

I knew Coldplay’s music, but wasn’t familiar with the band, so I was surprised by a few things:

  1. I figured it took more than four people to create that lush sound. Although they might have cheated a few times, for the most part it was bass, drums, lead guitar and either piano or rhythm guitar.
  2. I didn’t realize one guy (Chris Martin) does almost all the heavy lifting; he did all the lead vocals, all the important keyboard parts, and most of the rhythm guitar.
  3. Despite all the synchronized stuff happening, the show is very live. Chris attempted a song requested by some people with a sign, and stopped and restarted another song with no need to reset anything.

In addition to excellent musicianship, the band’s rapport with the audience was great, which really highlighted why they make the big bucks, and Marina and the Diamonds don’t.

Evanston Remodelling

This week we remodeled Dani’s condo, replacing the carpet with wood flooring and painting all of the rooms. We actually started by having the two bedrooms repainted in early July, getting rid of the horrible hospital green color. The painter (Stephen of Chicago Rent-a-Painter) was so good that we decided to have him back after the floors were done to paint the rest, since both projects would require boxing all of Dani’s books and moving all the furniture. Well, the flooring dragged on from two days to five, and we ended up with the painting going on concurrently. Still, aside from the hassle of camping at a furniture warehouse for a week, it wasn’t too bad. The new look is certainly a big improvement.

Las Vegas Dining

We had a jam packed week of fine dining in Las Vegas. Here are some brief thoughts about the various restaurants.

Verandah at The Four Seasons

This is the coffee shop at the Four Season. The weekend brunch, included in the tour, was pretty spectacular, and I’ve been to some elaborate brunches at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress and the Ritz Carlton. I was trying to be good though, so I just nibbled this and that Saturday morning, and skipped it altogether Sunday.

Taqueria Cañonita at Venetian

Sunday we walked a lot of the casinos on the Strip, starting at the Palazzo, which is part of the Venetian. This canal-side Mexican restaurant used to be a favorite of Linda’s but it seems to have gone downscale. The chips are no longer served with a tower of various salsas, and the food was unremarkable. After lunch we hit the Mirage to see the tigers, and then Caesar’s and the Bellagio.

The Bar at Charlie Palmer’s Steakhouse at the Four Seasons

Before our farewell dinner with our tour group on Friday we had killed a half hour in this bar at the entrance to the steakhouse, and we liked it so much we went back the next night for dinner. Their small plates are a steal for Vegas. For example the four cheese plate with accompaniments was $8, and two Kobe sliders were $10. Compare that to $17 for a Caesar side salad in the restaurant. The ambiance is great, and we had the place almost to ourselves, even though the restaurant was packed.

Noodles at Bellagio

We selected this place for lunch before Linda arrived in town because we knew she wouldn’t like it. As it turned out, we didn’t, either. Slimy noodles and lots of dim sum. Very forgettable. Also very crowded with Chinese speakers, so it must be authentic. It was so bad we went to the chocolate place at Bellagio afterward to recover.

We relaxed at a bar in the Paris to wait for Linda’s flight and our room at the Vdara to be ready.

Yellowtail at Bellagio

Linda requested up-scale sushi for her first night in Vegas, and this place came through. It’s trendy and a bit louder than I’d have liked, but conversation was possible. We had the seven-course Omakase, where you put yourself in the chef’s hands, and he didn’t fail us. Standouts were the tuna pizza with truffle oil and the teriyaki kobe beef shortribs, which were really tasty without being too rich.

Picasso at Bellagio

I’d been to this restaurant before and wasn’t that impressed with the food, but this time it was a home run. Linda and I had the Menu Degustation, while Dani had the Prix Fixe. Her snapper, in particular was deliciously seasoned and perfectly cooked. The highlight of the five-course degustation was probably the foie gras, although it was all excellent.

It’s neat being surrounded by a dozen or more Picasso originals that you could reach out and touch (although Dani and I agreed we much preferred the Monets at the museum in the Bellagio that we saw the day before).

Lotus of Siam

This is the greatest wine list in Las Vegas, and the best Thai restaurant I’ve ever been to by a wide margin. Located in a dumpy strip mall off of Sahara Boulevard, it serve astonishingly good Thai food; in fact, the chef won the James Beard award last year! Best of all is an award winning wine list where many of the wines are priced below retail. We met Linda’s high school friend Suzanne, and her friend Diane, here for lunch. We put ourselves in the waiter’s hands, and he delivered eight or ten terrific appetizers and shared entrees, each better than the last. I took the opportunity to pillage the wine list, and although some of my selections couldn’t be found, we ended up with some stunners. Where else can you find an affordable Clos de Tart from a great year? That bottle alone was over $1000 on the list at Picasso, a fifth that here.

Central at Caesar’s

While Linda had dinner at Pinot Brasserie in the Venetian with her friends, Dani and I walked up to Caesars and the Michel Richard Bistro. Well, it isn’t really a bistro, but more of a burger and salad joint right off the lobby. Delicious Chinese chicken salad, forgettable chicken burger, forgettable tuna burger.

‘wichcraft at MGM Grand

Tom Collicchio of Top Chef fame has a chain of Craft steakhouses. This is his fast food sandwich place, hence the clever name. Excellent chicken salad and roast turkey sandwiches, which we shared.

Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria

Jean Georges is a favorite restaurant in New York, but I was dubious about yet another top name chef doing a Vegas steakhouse. But everything was great, and as it turned out no one (Linda, Dani, Suzanne, Diane and I) had steak. The highlight was the teriyaki short ribs, which were like candy on the outside. The wine list is expensive, but there are a few hidden gems. We started with a Duval-Leroy Champagne, then a 2005 Corton-Rognet by Dupont-Tisserandot, and ended with a 2010 Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz.

Sushi Roku at Caesar’s Forum Shops

We had a great meal here last year, so when Linda needed her sushi fix we returned. The trick here is to order appetizers, such as the tuna sashimi with crispy garlic chips, or yellowtail and spicy tuna on crispy rice, not conventional sushi and rolls, which are just so-so. This is a chain, and we found out the hard way that not all locations are equal, as the one is Santa Monica was awful.

l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand

We’ve been to l’Atelier in New York, London and Las Vegas, and it’s one of our favorite restaurants. Designed a bit like a sushi bar, the best tables place you at a counter facing into the kitchen, where a half dozen chef’s efficiently and quietly prepare your meal as you watch. Across the counter from you, your dedicate server acts as a friendly and knowledgeable host. Linda and I had the tasting menu, ten or so small plates with a half dozen matching wines. Dani had a few small plates ala carte. Everything was superb, but the knockouts for me were: all the breads, the little pizza-like thing with a quail egg and bacon on it, and the partially smoked salmon. Linda loved the foie gras parfait amuse bouche. We’ve also been to the more formal Joel Robuchon next door, but it is stuffy and the food seems less interesting than at l’Atelier.

Triple George Grill downtown

After a backstage tour of the Mob Museum, a couple of blocks north of Fremont Street in the somewhat seedy downtown area of Vegas, we walked to the nearby Triple George Grill. It’s a popular lunch stop, and was quite busy. The interior is old school, but the place was built in 2005. The food was fairly typical bar and grill fair, nothing special.

Guy Savoy at Caesar’s

This three star Michelin chef’s restaurant cemented my opinion of Michelin ratings: that they’re a good indicator of price, but not quality. This meal cost more than double the comparable meal at the best restaurant in the US, 11 Madison Park. It also cost almost as much as three years of Linda’s lunches at Taco Bell. Quality: variable. The first three courses (of 13) were solid 9’s, but after that they all, categorically, devolved into less than 5 on a scale of 10. It’s not really worth reporting them here, because they change frequently. But why would you ruin a piece of nice salmon by freezing it on dry ice? The wine paring was top notch, though. This would be a distant last of all the fine dining experiences during this week in Vegas.

Monument Valley

I’ve always wanted to visit Monument Valley, but it’s not the easiest place in the world to get to. Even though as a kid I vacationed all over the Southwest, I don’t recall ever passing through. So today we did it by plane. We took off from the airport in Page, Arizona. There were four of us and two pilots in the eight passenger Cessna Caravan.

We passed over Glen Canyon Dam, the Lake Powell Resort and then flew up the lake about 30 miles to Rainbow Bridge. Then we headed east to Monument Valley, arriving about 45 minutes after takeoff.

We connected with nine others from our group who arrived in a separate plane, and headed out by air-conditioned van, stopping for Navaho craft demonstrations, scenic viewpoints, and native jewelry stalls. The scenery was beyond spectacular. And the dirt road provided a thrill ride.

Monument Valley is within the Navaho Reservation, and it was interesting to learn about modern Navaho life. Because the roads are impassible in winter, many of the schools are boarding schools. The Navaho people are rich in energy resources, with a coal fired power plant that provides more power than Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams combined. Ironically, most Navaho homes don’t have electricity. Little of this wealth seems to trickle down to the people, so I wonder where it goes. The jewelry and crafts sold at the vendors’ stalls seemed, frankly, very inexpensive, with necklaces starting at $3. Of course the solid silver and turquoise is more, but anything that was labor intensive seemed very low priced.

After about two hours we re-boarded our plane, and were back at the resort by 1pm.

In the afternoon we took a boat ride to Antelope Canyon, a “slot” canyon whose sinuous course the lake has filled nearly to the brim.

 

From Dani’s Blog

This morning we took a scenic flight out over Lake Powell in a little Cessna Caravan, an eight-seater prop plane. We took off at about 8:30am and looped over the lake, circling around the impressive Rainbow Bridge. The water is so low in the reservoir right now that the only way to get to Rainbow Bridge is to hike or to fly. After that we turned towards the Navajo reservation and headed out over monument valley. We landed at an even smaller air strip on the reservation and were picked up by a Navajo guide.

Our first stop on the tour was only about 150 feet from the landing strip and it was a hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling constructed of cedar logs, a layer of insulating bark, and then lots of mud. There was an older Navajo woman in the hut demonstrating traditional arts, crafts, and Navajo homemaking. She spun wool into yarn, had beautiful weavings she was working on, and ground corn into meal.

After that demonstration we headed out for the valley proper…

Our flight over the lake was perfectly smooth. Things got a little bumpier once we were over the warmer plains air, but those bumps were nothing compared to the bumps we felt on the unpaved “road” through the monuments! It was a roller coaster out there!

We had several stops along the road to get out and take pictures of monuments. Amazingly there were Navajo “strip malls” tables or plywood shacks at every stop! Imagine that. I bought a $10 necklace and Dad browsed through the interesting stones they had for sale.

The best thing I bought however was a $2 picture sitting on top of a mustang! It was the most patient horse I have ever met. We were right next to the Three Sisters formation, a location that has been scouted by Hollywood for decades, and everyday this Navajo man brings his horse, decked out in traditional western gear, to stand and have inexperienced people of all shapes and sizes sit on him and get photographed. He was so well behaved for all of that though! The guy helped you mount up, then basically just backed away and the horse didn’t move or do anything at all, except stand there, presenting his best angle. Oh, and he was really fuzzy too.

Dad and I both took lots of pictures of the monuments. It was amazing and beautiful country. Looking out at the sweeping desert definitely made you want to saddle up and ride into the sunset. The temperature discouraged such activities though. It could have been much worse, I’ll admit. It probably was only in the mid 90s today because the rain cooled things off a bit, but it was still too hot to be out for long. Despite our early start and layers of sunscreen Dad and I both got a little bit of color.

We headed back to the air strip and took off for our return flight to Lake Powell where we were met by Julie and Ron, who spent all day playing musical passengers. Today there were several activities and combinations of activities you could choose from, and most involved Tauk transportation which must have been a scheduling ordeal for poor Julie.

We opted for the Monument Valley tour and a boat excursion onto Lake Powell to see Antelope Canyon.

We had a little down-time between our return from the airport and our boat tour. We had lunch with a man and his son, who had also been out to Monument Valley with us. It turned out he was a radiologist and he gave me some comforting news about medical school: it’s easier than undergrad! Thank goodness! He also suggested some other medical schools I might consider applying too including Duke and the University of Vermont.

After lunch we headed back to the room and chilled for a little bit, examining our pictures from today. The boat tour left from our hotel’s backyard (literally) so it was a short walk over. Dad and I opted to not sit on the top deck in full blazing sun. The canyon was cool, and it was neat to be so up-close to the canyon walls. The color is quite dramatic because there is a shift between the white calcium carbonate that coats the walls up to the high-water mark and the red oxidized iron in the sandstone above.

We discovered a shady spot aft for part of the return trip and took some good photos of the rock formations. I played around with my camera settings and polarizer, experimenting a little.

After the 90 minute cruise it was back to the room for a bit before we headed over to the Rainbow Room for dinner. We were seated alone at a table for six so I guess we can’t complain about the elbow room! Our server, Glade, was an interesting character! He suggested two delicious appetizers, corn fritters and a spinach queso that was lighter and fluffier (due to a ricotta-like cheese) than most spinach dips. I had 16 spiced chicken that had a sweet prickly pear sauce drizzled on top. I was impressed considering how many times we’d been warned about the service here! Glade was very fascinated to learn that French restaurant edict does not involve the waiter pouring the wine or water, but rather leaving it on the table for the guest to pour.

Tomorrow will be an early morning and we’re going to float down the Colorado river starting at the mouth of the dam and then head on to Bryce.

Scottsdale

We had a relaxing day at the Fours Seasons. After breakfast we went for a short walk through the desert and took some photos, then back to the room to cool off. Even though it was overcast and in the low 80s, it felt hot and surprisingly muggy.

In the evening we met our Tauck Tour Director and group. Everyone seems extremely nice. It’s about half kids, all of whom seem very well educated and well-behaved (although half are boys, so you get the picture). Ages are in the 8 to 14 year range. We had dinner at a table with girls in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades, plus some of their attached attached adults. The adults are partially parents and partially grandparents. As usual, Dani is the only person in her age group, but she seems to enjoy mixing with everyone.

Our tour director, Julie, is the usual super-competent and friendly Tauck guide. She devised a clever ice breaker that involved all the kids circulating to collect information from everyone, in a sort of scavenger hunt.

Tomorrow is a busy day to start a busy week so we’ll head to bead early.

 

From Dani’s Blog

This morning when I opened my eyes I was convinced I had slept the entire morning away only to discover it was actually 7:45am. We went to breakfast in the dining room. They had a nice buffet with lots of little offerings. The mini everything bagels were delicious, and just the right size. But the show stealer was definitely the bacon. I have to believe they smoke it locally because it is so flavorful and fresh.

After breakfast we took a short (very hot) walk over towards the base of Pinnacle Peak, a redundant name if you ask me. I took lots of photos. Pinnacle Peak is in the background of this photo framed by some cactus.

We retreated back to the air-conditioned comfort of our room after lunch out by the pool, and spent a quiet afternoon reading and playing on the internet. This afternoon a thunderstorm rolled in and sprinkled a little rain on everything. The rain sounds quite different here. It plinks when it hits the rocks because there’s nothing to soften the impact.

We met our tour group tonight, and I am most definitely (for the first time ever) not the youngest person on the tour. There are at least 15 kids under the age of 15 on the trip. We sat with a nice family from Connecticut and a grandmother from Maryland traveling with her granddaughter. The banquet-style dinner was nice and the chicken wasn’t too rubbery.

Most of the group came in today and was fading pretty rapidly by the end. The tour starts in earnest tomorrow as we trek to the grand canyon…

Four Seasons Scottsdale

We had an uneventful flight from Chicago to Phoenix (best line by the Southwest pilot: “Well, we’ve found Arizona, now we’re just looking for Phoenix”) and a 45 minute limo ride from a real tech-head that involved discussions of tablets, iPhones and transfer speeds of different type of networks; I’m sure Dani was about to climb out of the car by the time we reached the Four Seasons in Scottsdale.

The Four Seasons is a scattering of low-slung rooms on a pile of rocks. This view is from our back door:

Weirdly, it rained today, something it hasn’t done in Chicago for a long time, so it’s actually wetter and cooler here than it was there. This might be the last temperate weather we see on the trip, though.

Arizona doesn’t believe in daylight savings time, so we’re now on west coast time, making it earlier than it seems. We’re here a day before our tour starts, so we’ll just relax at the hotel tonight, and meet our tour director tomorrow evening.

 

Cozy Noodles

Cozy Noodles is a funky little cafe near Ace hardware, on Davis, but on the other side of the tracks from the business district. The striking thing about the place is the collections of tin toys, Pez dispensers, license plates, canned good, and other oddities that line the walls. Despite its name, it doesn’t serve comfort food (unless you’re from Southeast Asia), but rather Chinese and Thai food. Our food was good — “spicy” definitely means spicy — and the prices are very reasonable.

Ravinia: Santana

Santana was good, but of course they couldn’t compare to last night. They were very generous with their time, playing all their hits, and as near as I could tell every song from their second and third albums. In fact, they outlasted us, and were still playing encore numbers as we boarded the train for Evanston.

Ravinia: Marvin Hamlish, Idina Menzel, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Idina Menzel performing Defying Gravity with volunteers.

Tonight we went to a concert I was expecting to just be so so, and it was fantastic. It was in the open air stage a Ravinia. The hundred degree weather of the past week had abated, and it was a lovely evening in the mid 70s. The concert grounds were packed, with people picnicking on all the lawns. It looks a bit like Coney Island. We had great seats in the pavilion, thanks to being a donor this year.

I’ve heard several concerts there, but I never realized what fantastic acoustics it had until tonight. The Chicago Symphony sounded incredible in the space (and was the best sounding orchestra I’ve ever heard).

Marvin Hamlisch opened the show, and even in his late 60s is as good as ever. He conducted medleys from A Chorus Line and My Fair Lady, and played the piano for several parts, plus a solo of The Way We Were. His commentary–much of it adlibbed and related to a bad mic–was hysterical. Then he conducted the orchestra to back Idina Menzel.

Idina was extremely sick, which had the effect of getting the audience rooting for her, and the show was quite magical. I think she was really touched by how great the reception was.  She spent a long time telling stories (stalling, as she put it) which were very funny (and sometimes quite salty). And then she drafted members of the audience to help her sing some of the songs. I’m not sure how she did it, but all five people she selected had terrific voices. The crowd went nuts when the volunteer for Defying Gravity managed to hit all of the high notes perfectly. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen, and an unexpected surprise to everyone, I think even including Idina.

For her encore Idina performed a new song that I loved. Here’s a youtube video of a previous performance, not nearly as good as what we saw tonight, but it gives you the idea. And here are the lyrics:

“You Learn to Live Without”

You learn to take your coffee black
You learn to drink your whiskey neat
You learn to take your shower cold
And sleep on tired feet
You learn to order dinner in
You learn to send the laundry out
You learn to amuse yourself
You learn to live without

You tell yourself you’re rich at last in money and in time
You draw a bath and then unplug the phone
You pour yourself a pinot from 2003
You sit a spell, a queen upon her throne
You go to bed alone

You learn to fall asleep alone
You learn to silence ticking clocks
You learn to turn the shades at night
And double check the locks
You learn to speak so calmly when
Your heart would like to scream and shout
You learn to smile and breathe and smile
You learn to live without

You find the coat and tie you thought you’d given to Goodwill
You stumble along a long lost set of chess
You see him there in corners and in closets and on shelves
And truth be told you’d like to see him less

You stumble through the morning but you waken for the day
You tell yourself that all is going well
But now and then a sense of loss just slams you in the chest
You know that no one else can really tell
You make it all seem swell

You learn to count the quiet winds
An hour with no unprompted tears
And not to count the deadly days
As they fade into years
You learn to stand alone at last
So brave and bold and strong and stout
You learn somehow to like the dark
You even love the doubt
You learn to hold your life inside you
And never let it out
You learn to live and live and die and live
You learn to live without
You learn to live without
You learn to live without

July 4th

July 4th was hot in Evanston. 102, to be precise. We stayed in, except for a run to Whole Foods, but in mid-afternoon the power went out and we were thankful our dinner plans included Dani’s new portable gas barbecue. Fortunately, after a few hours (and moments after Dani lit candles) the power returned.

We had bison burgers and Dani made her traditional 4th of July cake. Then we watched the Evanston fireworks–four blocks away, at the beach–from her balcony.

Here’s a short video I made of the finale.

Kinky Friedman

One of the funniest authors I know is Kinky Friedman. He began his career in the 60s as a folk musician with the band The Texas Jewboys, and also played backup for Bob Dylan and many others. His biggest hits were Sold American and They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore.

Then, in the 1980s, he reinvented himself as a mystery novelist. His detective, named Kinky Friedman, was a lot like him, and most of the characters in the books were his real friends. Willy Nelson even appears. It’s impossible for me to read a page of one of his novels without laughing out loud.

In the 2000s Kinky began writing non-fiction, and ran for governor of Texas. He also has a line of tequila.

Last night Dani and I walked down the street to SPACE, our favorite performance space, and listened to Kinky play his songs, tell jokes, and read from his latest book. He also graciously signed a couple of first editions I brought with me. He’s a nice guy, and I’d definitely go to see him again.