Posted by shana on Apr 2, 2009 in
Chicago Thursday Ooooh, Chicago is all abuzz these days. As many of you (Chicago residents for sure) know, Chicago is one of four cities still in the running to host the Olympics in the summer of 2016. Olympic hopefuls (hopeful to host, not compete) have been flying high ever since Barack Obama became the coolest thing ever, figuring that pretty much clinched our bid. And now, today, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is coming to town.
Of course, not everyone in Chicago is excited about the idea of Chicago hosting the Olympics. Like the people whose houses are going to be torn down to build the Olympic Village, or the people whose taxes are going up to pay for the houses being torn down… the police are actually leading the protests, if you can imagine that, taking advantage of this opportunity to highlight their discontent over contract negotiations with our fair mayor, Mr. Daley. Others simply say they would really like it if Chicago spend money on things like education and housing before taking on this additional responsibility. I wonder how the protesting in Chicago compares with the reaction the other bid cities (Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro), and if this is pretty common when a city considers hosting a major international event involving lots of capital and infrastructure investment…
I was actually in Beijing in the late fall of 2005, as they were really getting going on their Olympic prep work for 2008. They were already selling t-shirts and were halfway through remodeling national landmarks, not to mention tearing down hutongs and the like. China tried for a whole etiquette makeover too – when I was there, they were handing out brochures to locals to teach them about Western manners so as to make a good impression – things like shaking hands and not spitting all the time and the like. Very interesting.
November 2005, off Tiananmen Square
Anyway, the IOC is coming to town, and with such sports heros as Michael Jordan and Oprah (?) on their side, the Chicago 2016 folks are all geared up to show the boys around town and see what they think. Everything downtown is covered in Olympics ads or protest flyers. With all this tension in the air, all the e-mails and news articles flying, I don’t know how much longer I can take it til someone makes a decision!
Sadly, here’s the news on that front:
(minus however many seconds/minutes/hours, etc, it’s been since 8:56pm on Thursday) Aaahhh!!
Fortunately, Mac and I came up with an impromptu song for the day to help cut the anticipation, and it goes like this:
Shana: Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry
Mac: Cry!
Shana: You better not pout, I’m tellin’ you why
Mac: Why!?!
Shana: The IOC is comin’ to town.
Still Shana: They’re makin’ a list and checkin’ it twice
Mac: Twice!
Shana: Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice
Mac: Nice!
Shana: The IOC is comin’ to town!
Mac: Hey, hun? I’m actually on the phone…
Tags: Chicago, ethical dilemmas, music
Posted by shana on Mar 30, 2009 in
Monday Product Endorsement Today I was going to endorse the Chicago Art Institute’s current special exhibit, “Becoming Edvard Munch,” and particularly, I was going to endorse going to see it with a buddy you haven’t hung out with in a while, as I did on Friday.
Munch, one of Oslo’s most renowned artists from the turn of the last century (bonus points to anyone who can name another without wikipedia-ing it), is best known for his famous “The Scream,” a really depressing but really striking representation of, well, existence, I guess. Anyway, I went to the museum dedicated to his work when I was in Oslo a couple summers ago (because besides eating fish and buying little troll figurines, there’s not a lot else to do in that town…), and I was surprised by how much I liked a lot of his stuff. So I was glad when this exhibit came to my new town.
The exhibit featured stunning works by Munch and a few by his contemporaries (Monet, Gaugin, you may have heard of some of them?) and is all about his development as an artist throughout his life. I was disappointed to learn about his unfortunate femme-fatale obsession, like so many of those hopeless late 19th century artists, novelists, poets, etc (Baudelaire, anyone?). Seriously, guys, get over it. But other than that, I was quite pleased with the exhibit and glad I went.
I was further going to endorse getting you butt down to the Art Institute anyway, before they raise their entrance fees again. Ouch. Tough to move anywhere from DC, the city of a million great free museums, but still, tacking on another 50% seems like a lot…
Anyway, all of this was in my head, including that picture of the ad I took downtown so I’d have something visual on the blog (no photography allowed in the exhibit, bummer), when I heard a song coming out of Mac’s office. And then I heard it again. And again…
Apparently, it’s been in his head for weeks, and he apparently does this every now and then – play it over and over – it’s just that this is the first time I’ve been home for it.
The song is: Forever Young
He listens to the (original) Alphaville version, even though it’s Rod Stewart whom you’re most likely to hear singing it on your favorite local light rock station, of course, among many others who’ve covered it as well. Who’s ever heard of Alphaville?
So I decided, what better case for endorsement is there than Mac happily bopping his head and singing along at work all day? And there you have it: Forever Young it is. Happy Monday.
Tags: art, Chicago, music, wikipedia THIS
Posted by shana on Feb 23, 2009 in
Monday Product Endorsement I’m very proud to announce that our first ever Monday Product Endorsement is not a product at all (as you probably noted given the awkward omission of the word in this blog title) but a place: SPACE in Evanston, IL.
One of the biggest perks of being a fan of kind of obscure folk singers is that (if they tour) when you go see them in concert, you’re one of a couple hundred at the very most, never one of a couple thousand, or a couple hundred thousand, for that matter. Case in point: last night Cheryl Wheeler played at SPACE, a fortunately pronouncable acronym for the Society for the Preservation of Arts and Culture in Evanston (imagine if they had been, say, the Group of People in Evanston Who Like Artsy Stuff, for example). Cheryl Wheeler is one of my absolute favorite artists ever ever ever. From hilariously insightful to heart-wrenchingly true, her lyrics tell stories and paint pictures, and her skillful and beautiful guitar playing carries them with me everywhere I go. I fell in love with her during my junior year of college while dogsitting for a favorite professor of mine who owned some of her cds, and this is the third concert of hers I’ve been to.
And yeah, she always looks kind of like this: moppy hair, grey-ish t-shirt and sneakers, and she makes funny little faces while she sings. And she’s like 60. But once you’ve gotten over those aspects of this picture, I hope you notice the close proximity from which it is taken. Now get this: I’m not using a zoom. For real. One of my very favorite musical artists ever, of all time, someone I hugely admire and love, within easy spitting distance of where I sat for two hours. Easy! Not that I would ever spit on Cheryl Wheeler.
Mac and I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived at SPACE, with a small sign out front that read “Cheryl Wheeler @ 7:00″. We went to get in line, as it was 6:30 and the concert was open seating, but found there was no line, or at least there wasn’t until we started one. When they opened the doors, we had our pick of seats – about 20 small tables, only three rows deep, each surrounded by four chairs. That’s it. Capacity: 80. We went straight for the front (obviously) and took our seats. My jaw remained solidly dropped for at least five minutes, and I almost peed in my pants at least once, I was so excited.
Here are a couple more pictures of the venue:
The concert, of course, was amazing, hilarious, insightful, moving, perfect. I love Cheryl Wheeler. Mac loved Cheryl Wheeler. This I had anticipated. I endorse her every chance I get. But we also really, really loved SPACE. What an awesome place to see a show! Every spot was a good spot, and the extra super good spots (like the ones we had) weren’t hard to come by either. Check out their website, see if anyone playing there looks interesting, and just go. If you’re at a loss for what to see, I’d be more than happy to make recommendations (anyone free March 6?).
While I’m at it… if Cheryl Wheeler is ever in your neck of the woods, wherever your neck may be, just go see her too.
I’m so full of endorsements today! This is going to be fun.
Tags: Chicago, music
