Yarrrr—wwnnnnn…. October 9, 2006
Posted by Carolyn Tang Kmet in Chicago, General Musings.add a comment
Last night, we all gathered round a table full of tapas to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. Quite fun, multiple, spontaneous rounds of “happy birthday” sung at the top of our lungs, and I learned that I could balance a spoon not just on my nose, but simultaneously have one dangle from my chin as well. To think how many years of my life I’ve lived with this undiscovered talent. The shocking bit, is that we were all quite sober.
Then we headed over to the Cadillac Theater to see the pre-Broadway debut of Pirate Queen, written by the same team who brought Miss Saigon to life. I love walking into theaters, there’s always that feeling of awe when you step through the front doors. Red carpeted stairs, marble columns, and the program hawker on his plywood platform. Women in heels and shawls, men groomed and doting. It’s like a taste of old-school class. We got to our seats, orchestra level, about a dozen rows back, but off to stage left.
I am sad to report, however, that Pirate Queen was a bit of a disappointment for me. The plot line is, as can be expected, identical to every other cookie-cutter musical out there: Girl meets boy. Girl falls in love. Girl loses boy to clutches of evil queen. Girl rescues boy. Girl and boy sing lovely duet. Curtain.
That is essentially the same plot as can be found in Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, even Swan Lake. I understand the concept of Joseph Campbell, but I think he intended his archetypes as a guide, not as a formula to be plugged in with different costuming. The musical numbers were not memorable, and were it not for the two bare-chested dancers in the opening number, Stephanie J. Block singing the lead role, and some comic pauses put on by Queen Elizabeth, it would have been a waste of three hours.
The older I get, the more I realize that it doesn’t really matter how good the movie is, how delicious the food is, how potent the wine. It’s really more about spending time together. Michelle et al, are my family here in Chicago. And despite a crappy, over-priced, over-hyped musical, we all had a good time.
A Beautiful Spring Day May 22, 2006
Posted by Carolyn Tang Kmet in Chicago.add a comment
On Saturday, Dave and I spent our one-year anniversary wandering around Chicago like tourists. First stop, Vosges Chocolates in the Nordstrom mall on Michigan Ave. The naga bar is superb, absolutely smooth milk chocolate spiked with sweet Indian curry powder. The trick is to let a piece of chocolate sit on your tongue for just a bit, so the heat of your mouth warms the chocolate and the flavors fill your mouth. It’s the kind of taste that is very subtle, then after you swallow, pow! It hits you, and days later, you still remember the flavor.
We enhanced the experience by simultaneously browsing the Lego Store. Huge fun. They even had a Lego chef outfit that I’ll have to remember come Halloween. And, a whole buffet of colorful Lego blocks! You can purchase a single piece, or a whole collection! I’m not really sure what you can do with an assortment of random Lego pieces, but just running my fingers over the nubbies, I was brought back to childhood, when you could build things without purpose. I am in serious need of some regression…
We continued walking down Michigan Ave to check out the Urban Garden Show in Grant Park. It was pretty interesting, as different landscapers displayed their interpretations of an urban garden, meaning, very little grass. Instead of grass, we saw moss, wood decks, concrete, dry stone riverbeds, etc. The same feeling prevailed through each exhibit though…tranquil, lounge-y, pseudo-Asian. I guess the idea is to counterbalance the hustle and bustle of the city with quiet minimalism. The best part was how Dave unintentionally got us in the back door, thus bypassing the $12 admission fee. No wonder I love that man.
The next stop on our mini-tour was Navy Pier to hitch a ride on the SeaDog. I was so excited, as I’ve often seen the bright yellow speedboat racing through the waters, spray everywhere! We took the 30-minute Lake Tour, which went south to look at Museum Campus (Sky, Ocean, Land = Adler, Shedd, Field museums); then zip zip zip, up north to look at North Ave. Beach; then zoom, zoom, zoom, out west to look at nothing before heading back into dock. Very fun! Kind of makes you want to go out and buy enough Legos to make your very own speedboat.
Such a nice day. Topped off by a great picnic on the floor at home, with candles. Perfect.
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