Wandering Through Chicago's Arts and Culture

Independence Day, 2021 Some reflections after a walk in Winnemac Park The Walk I live near Winnemac Park on Chicago's North side, a forty-acre jewel that has five baseball diamonds, a soccer field, a prairie reconstruction, a children's play-lot and some community gardens. It is bordered by Chappell Elementary School on the West and Amundsen High School on the East. (None of the Chappel kids wear full armor to school and most of the Amundsen kids are not blond Swedes despite the Chappel "Knight" mascot and the Amundsen "Viking" mascot.) There are apparently no descendants of knights or vikings around to object to cultural appropriation, so for the moment the mascots are secure in their sinecures. The park also features Jorndt Field, a football field with an artificial surface believed to have a capacity of 6,000 spectators. (I was unable to find a definitive answer to this question using Google.) By walking around the edges of the park and making a back...

Joffrey's Bolero Performing arts companies are stressed into creative innovation even more than usual during the Covid panic of 2020–21. One of the best responses has been by Chicago's Joffrey Ballet. As evidence, I offer this 19-minute new work recently published by the Joffrey on YouTube. The replay of the February 27th world premier will be available on YouTube through March 1, 2021 according to the most recent information I have. Joffrey Ballet of Chicago presents Bolero What would Maurice Ravel say were he able to see this incredible production using his iconic "experiment" Bolero? My guess is that he would not only approve, but enthusiastically so. Music is first-class (a London Symphony recording) and production values are high thanks to Jack Mehler's lighting and Big Foot Media directed by Tim Whalen. Choreography was by Yoshihisa Arai with Costumes by Temur Suluashvili, both Joffrey artists who we are more accustomed to see as dancers rather than the r...

The Great Chicago Snow of 20–21 Breaking a couple of records Chicago has had a pretty good run of mild winters, up until now, that is. According to Block Club , my local neighborhood news organization, we have seen more than 17 inches of snow fall in recent days, ...making it the snowiest three-week stretch in 40 years. Here's a video slide show of what the local streets looked like on February 16, 2021 when I ventured out after a couple of days indoors. But there's more! According to Block Club If the snow continues Wednesday, as expected, it will mean the city’s seen 10 consecutive days of snow — breaking Chicago’s record. The record was set in 1884 at nine consecutive days of snowfall. But if we have snowfall today and if it continues through Thursday, as is quite possible, we will set a new record at 11 straight days of snow. Also according to the Block Club article More than 34 inches of snow have fallen in the city in the past three weeks, and temperature...

Life After Facebook Reflections on How Life Improves When Social Media Is Abandoned The Problem Most people that use Facebook regularly will quickly admit to the fact that the social media platform is highly addictive as well as an almost complete waste of time. We will do almost anything to generate that endorphin-stimulating "Like" that others bestow on our egos so easily and thoughtlessly. We post meme after meme or make silly and pointless comments or "respond" to someone else's pointless posting with our own pointless emoji so easily delivered. Underlying all of this activity many if not most people will discover, if they look deeply into their own hearts, that the quest is not unlike the quest for the Holy Grail. Like The Quest for the Grail, the reward is to become a highly valued citizen, respected and admired for our perceptive insights and even, perhaps, leadership toward some sort of ShangriLa that is only dimly imagined. Like the Quest for the Gra...