My Kinda Town

Sorry to disappoint and end all speculation, but my absence has not been because I have been in pursuit of Jessica's defamer (the search still ongoing, by gum), but rather because I was in Chicago! Yes, thanks to the lovely and talented Abby Bollenbacher (who came with, and whose car we used) I was able to head out to Chi-Town this past weekend to see John in his show "More Amazing Than The Time Michael Jackson Came Over To Your House To Use The Bathroom" at Second City. It was a marvelous trip and a wonderful time with several great friends, as well as a chance to visit perhaps my favorite-est city in the world.

Start with the trip, which began on Friday afternoon, meeting up with Abby for an early afternoon departure. Now, it's a four hour trip, at least, so I had packed up on CDs and music for the journey, but it turned out they pretty much weren't needed, as Abs and I can talk a blue streak and have epic conversation, and the four hours in the car just flew by. Next thing I know, I'm staring at the fountain that you see at the opening of "Married with Children." We meet up with Abby's brother Brian at his job - he works for Chicago's Shakespearean Theatre, and we got a comprehensive tour of the place, which is a GORGEOUS facility. One of...no, THE nicest performance space I've ever seen. If you ever get the chance and have the 65 or so dollars it costs, it is worth every penny to check it out.

After our departure from there, we head downtown and are lucky enough to find a good parking space only a couple blocks from the theatre, and after grabbing some coffee and grub, the four of us (me, Abby, Brian and Elizabeth - my dear friend in Chicago who met us there) went in to watch John's show, which was hysterical. Short but fast paced, it was a tremendous series of skits which all had me roaring. (Personal favorites were the guys who find out that Jesus has just moved in upstairs and John as a nervous valedictorian speaker who ends up reciting Sean Astin's wishing well speech from "Goonies" verbatim.) A tremendously funny show, and both John and Chuck have grown amazingly as performers during their Second City work. If anyone can be in the city next week to see the show and support John and Chuck and the rest of the cast, I highly recommend it.

Saturday was a wonderful experience, as well. While Abby and Brian went shopping for pageant stuffs, I got dropped downtown (around the Loop) and had a day to do pretty much whatever. And boy did I take advantage. Visited the Cultural Center and saw Millennium Park, browsed some of the big-@$$ stores, and most significantly for me, I saw a movie at the Gene Siskel Film Center. (Formerly simply dubbed The Film Center, it was redubbed in memory of Gene when he passed away, as he was one of its champions and supporters.) This was the equivalent of a trip to mecca for me, given how I idolized both Gene and Roger growing up (and still do, really). It's a lovely theatre, a bit on the small side but quite nice, with a large lobby area and quite a few alcoholic beverages for sale at the concession stand (heh). I grabbed a ticket and a soda (at 3 bucks, that's cheaper than at my theatre) and also a few souvenir mugs for me and Heather (at 3.50 for a very nice beer mug and 2.50 for a cappucino cup, they rank as the coolest and cheapest souvenirs I've pretty much every gotten). Then, I headed into the theatre itself, learning from a plaque that the screen was "donated by Roger and Chaz Ebert." Then, I headed up to the back row, as I normally do, to grab a seat...and in the back right corner of the theatre, I notice a small plaque over the chair: "Gene's Favorite Seat." Well, you know where I was sitting. :) The movie itself was "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul," a German film from 1974 about an elderly woman who falls in love with a young Arab man. The film was very good, though it ended a bit abruptly for my taste, but all things considered an excellent film to experience at the Center.

Then it was a quick meet-up with Abby and Brian before it was off again to hang out with John and company...at, oddly enough, the lobby of the Marriott hotel. It was a gorgeous setting with big comfy couches and live music, and we shot the breeze for an hour or so about the show, life, everything. Then it was back on the El to Brian's place after a long, tiring day (I had so hoped to meet up with Elizabeth again, as well, but scheduling problems, missed phone calls, and just plain being tuckered out made me miss that...sorry, my friend). Then, after the brief possibility of seeing the production of R&J at Brian's theatre, we instead decided to hit the road, where, thanks to Abby's lovely company and a lively and lengthy game of Famous Names, the trip once again just flew by.

All in all, a wonderful trip, and one which I won't soon forget. (I may have another story to relate in the coming days, as well, but I'm keeping this entry upbeat, so...) Thank you again, Abby, for making it possible, thank you Brain for putting us up and being an amazing host, thank you John for the show, thanks to...well, everybody!