A Thanksgiving Revue

Preface

I originally wrote this late Monday after my return from Chicago, but a server crash at my blog's host sucked my nearly complete post into the void as I was publishing it. I rewrote about the second half of this from memory today and all in all, I find it better for the waiting.

Accidental Adventure: Racing to the Airport

We started Thanksgiving Day off with something to be thankful for: making our flight! I recall waking up about 2:30 a.m. the night before and "remembering" that I'd forgotten to set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. so we could make our flight. I reached over, flipped a switch, and woke up on my own at 5:41 a.m.! Shit! He who is partly of German descent, he who never wakes up late, he who has to work really hard not to be the first one to show up at parties ... blew it! Fortunately, my wife, who is my polar opposite in matters of punctuality, is well-practiced in the art of being successfully late. Somehow, I was able to realize this, and for the most part just followed her lead. We got to the gate just as boarding began for the 7:05 flight. I will set TWO alarms from now on. (And I'm still not completely sure what happened. I checked the alarm on our return and found it also on a weak station and at very low volume.) Never again will I react to the news of someone missing a flight with that old feeling of smugness, or a smirk, or the desire to make some kind of sarcastic remark!

The wife and I had a great time visiting her folks in Chicago, where they recently relocated. We'd been there once before, too, and it's the only northern city we could see ourselves living in for any length of time. I think the in-laws are especially enjoying the embarrassment of cultural riches possessed by the Hog Butcher for the World. A brief run-down on the sights and sounds the mother-in-law lined up follows.

Movie: National Treasure

After enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and lounging around all day, we saw the historical fiction thriller National Treasure on the evening of Thanksgiving Day. I rate it an A. The movie was exciting from beginning to end and the good guys were all very charming. Whether you like the suspense of an action movie or that of a mystery, you will be pleased.

Exhibit: Jacqueline Kennedy

At the Field Museum, we saw two temporary exhibits, Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years, and Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas. I was surprised to find that I liked the former more than the latter. In fact, the wife, her mother, and her sister were already in the gift shop before her dad and I had finished the exhibit! (The wife's dad has an appreciation for fashion and said that my mother-in-law, "is my Jackie," afterwards as we were talking about the exhibit.) This exhibit did a superb job of capturing the poise and elegance of the former First Lady, and the grace she lent to her era. For those who remember the Kennedys, the exhibit will bring back fond memories. For those of us who do not, the exhibit succeeds in making them real: You see exactly why there is a fascination with Jackie Kennedy that continues even to this day. The fact that she helped restore the White House seems almost trivial by comparison. Nevertheless, she spearheaded that effort and helped set policies for its decor and furnishings that honor American history and craftsmanship. I recall touring the White House about 15 years ago and thinking that the place must have always looked more or less as it did then. Timelessness is the hallmark of good taste. We can see this in her wardrobe, which seems immune to the hazards of changing fashion. But paradoxically, good taste is also marked by subtlety, the inconspicuousness of something that looks so exactly as it ought, that we can fail to appreciate it because it seems so obvious. We can see this by touring the White House.

Exhibit: Machu Picchu

This exhibit does a nice job of showing how an interdisciplinary scientific approach can solve the great riddles of history. Here, we finally see what Machu Picchu is, and get an idea of how advanced the Inca were. The exhibit features their craftsmanship, which included metalworking, and discusses their many achievements in such fields as engineering, civil administration, mathematics, and astronomy. The fact that it shares the stage with the Jackie Kennedy exhibit is the same sort of injustice other prominent women suffered when they had to be photographed with her: This exhibit stands on its own merits, but is overshadowed. See it anyway. Marvel at the sophistication of this ancient people, of our great strides in understanding them, and at the great remaining mysteries we will probably never solve.

Performance: Vienna Boys Choir

We got to hear the world-famous Vienna Boys Choir sing at the century-old Orchestra Hall. The program from the online description of the event should give you a fair idea of their repertoire. They were also very generous in giving three encore performances, which included The Blue Danube and an African hymn to freedom sung in the original language. The performances themselves included at various times members of the Choir stepping forward to play the horn or the piano, perform solo, and even on one occasion, conduct (when their adult conductor's deeper voice was needed for a part). The conductor, Kerem Sezen, added humor to the performance without upstaging it. I thought he did a perfect job. Any further commentary on my part would, given my abysmal musical education, be about as useful as saying something like "Those boys sure were well-behaved." I'll quit while I'm ahead. See them perform if you get the chance.

Comedy: Second City

We rounded out Friday evening with some comedy, including a little blue state political humor at Second City. (Don't take my comment "blue state" as a pan: the comedians did the right thing and poked fun at a few Democrats, too. But I will say that the "Bush is dumb" theme is probably a wee bit old, regardless of one's initial assessment of its humor value.) This was the second time we went and I was impressed at how good, top to bottom, the comedy skits were on both occasions.

Interlude: A Mostly Lazy Saturday

We took it easy for the most part after Friday, my form of relaxation being attempting to get the in-laws' wireless home network up to full functionality. About midafternoon, the wimminfolk went shopping on the Magnificent Mile while the wife's Old Man and I slaked our thirst at the Green Door, a nice pub housed in one of the few wood frame buildings left in the commercial district. I'm in the middle of that thrilling once-in-a-lifetime journey from beer snob to beer connoisseur, so I'm not (yet?) one to order a black-and-tan. Nevertheless, I tried one at the barmaid's suggestion and strongly recommend the one they serve there: the Blue and Black (Blue Moon Belgian White and Guinness). The Barmaid noticed my enthusiasm for trying new beers and recommended we try the nearby Grant Street Ale House, which, unfortunately, was closed. Hopefully, it was just for the holiday weekend. I'd like to visit that establishment some time and review it here. (Here's the deal: you're open when I show up and I link to you.) That evening, we all got back together and saw another movie, this time at the IMAX at Navy Pier.

Movie: The Polar Express

This gets a B-. This is pretty much the typical believe-in-Santa Christmas movie (This remark may cause me to rack up some couch time if the wife reads it.) and is OK for what it is. The animation is superb, and probably should be seen in 3-D to be fully appreciated. (The wife recalls eyes looking "creepy" in 2-D previews at regular theaters.) As is often the case with new special effects techniques used in movies for the first time, the movie was partly an eye-popping orgy of what could be done with the technique. One interesting technical issue that an article in our in-flight magazine made me aware of: movement of hair in this film was not as well-done as it was in The Incredibles. Hair poses a big technical problem for computer animation. (I would have loved to have been able to link to that article. Hint, hint, oh wizards of airline innovation and hence profitability at Southwest. By the way, being able to print our boarding passes probably saved our bacon Thursday morning, come to think of it.) I'm guessing here, but perhaps because making hair move the right way is really hard in 3-D, the characters almost all had short hair or stiff hairdos, like pigtails. The movie would have gotten a solid B had its producer resisted the ever present (and always idiotic) Hollywood urge to introduce gratuitous left-wing agitprop. (A train car full of old toys being returned to the North Pole exists seemingly for the sole purpose of affording the chance to introduce your child to the idea of recycling in a syrupy ("re--uh--bi-cycling, I think he calls it?") and anthropomorphic way. Now that I think about it, this movie has just helped move another copy of Shut up and Sing by reminding me to purchase it.

Epilogue: The Cats Finally Make my Blog (Sort of)!

I finally got the home net' to work just before an old friend of the wife (who is now in Chicago) stopped by to visit before we left. We had a mercifully uneventful return flight and homecoming. The cats enjoy not having their people around to scold them and venture into forbidden areas when I (the "bad cop") am not home for extended periods. A small glass lamp paid for their curiosity, but that was the extent of the damage.

We both had a great time and enjoyed being with her part of the family for the holiday weekend.

-- CAV