Back from Chicago

I am just back from Chicago.  It was one of those lightening trips that I sometimes take,* trying to squeeze as much as possible into a couple of days.  While there were a few things I would probably have done had I had an extra day or two (the Smart Museum of Art and a side trip to Powell's Books in Hyde Park, though I certainly had enough books already in my bag!, perhaps the National Museum of Mexican Art, checking out the public art in the Loop along Dearborn), I definitely got a lot done.  I saw a couple of plays on Thurs., as well as the DePaul Art Museum.  I also managed to get back to the hotel and checked in on the dying seconds of the Raptors game.  Incredible!  It's still sinking in that they actually pulled it off.  I'm so glad that it didn't go to a Game 7.  While the Raptors would have been heavily favoured with all the injuries to the Warriors, you just never know.**  I realize some people will always place an asterisk on this win, but they can go suck eggs, frankly.

On Friday I went to the Art Institute for close to 3 hours (and in fact the Cultural Center in the half hour before the Art Institute opened!).  I saw quite a bit of the Art Institute, but did skip a few sections, primarily the folk art wing and the older (pre-Impressionist) European art.  I was a bit bummed that the major Caillebotte was not on view, but it was in Berlin (in exchange for a major Manet (In the Conservatory) for their Manet special exhibit).

I guess it wasn't the worst trade in the world.  In addition, they had one of Caillebotte's Floor Scrapers on loan from the Musee d'Orsay as sort of a three-way trade, though I don't know what the Musee d'Orsay was asking in return...

I then ran off to the South Side to pick up some mail that had been piling up, since my last trip to Chicago.  Given that the bag was now quite heavy, I went straight back to the hotel.  Then I walked up to the MCA.  I have to admit that I wasn't that interested in the Virgil Abloh exhibit, though there has apparently been a fair bit of local buzz about it.  And I was really turned off by the pop-up store selling his gear.  But I got to see it all for free due to reciprocal membership privileges.

At any rate, I headed over to a fairly new Target to buy some snacks, then crossed over the Chicago River to get over to Millennium Park to see a free concert.  They were doing Beethoven's 8th Symphony and some world premiers after the intermission.  It was definitely odd programming, and a fair number of people, including myself, left at the intermission.  Apparently, Beethoven thought the 8th was a better symphony than the 7th, though I have to say I don't agree with that assessment.  And that was pretty much the trip.  I had contemplated going up to the Green Mill for old time's sake, but just was too tired.  I also wanted to get to Midway by around 8:30 in the morning, so I didn't want to be out too late.  I think the one thing that was a bit of a disappointment was that I didn't eat particularly well (mostly fast food and a very mediocre Thai restaurant on Lincoln), but I suppose I can correct that on the next visit.

I did manage to get through a fair bit of reading on the trip.  I wrapped up Achebe's Arrow of God, which is the third book in his African Trilogy (focused on the impact of colonialism in Africa).  I have to say that I didn't care that much for it, perhaps because I got tired of the number of times one person would tell another to "eat shit."  Also, quite a few of the metaphors involved excrement, and I just got tired of this as well.  The ending was sort of bleakly ironic, however, though it didn't completely redeem the novel.  I also got through 2.5 (out of 5) books in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy.  I'm not entirely sure I read the last one, Mostly Harmless, so I decided I would reread all of them, for the first time in probably 10 years or so.


* Interestingly, I had to compile a list of all the dates I have been out of the country for the past 5 years.  I made another lightening trip to Chicago in 2016, an overnight trip to Cleveland in 2015, a slightly longer trip to Minneapolis and Chicago in 2016, and Buffalo/St. Louis/Chicago in 2015.

** I thought that the Raptors really should have won Game 5 except for a combination of really hot shooting by Curry and Klay and cold shooting by Lowry, Gasol, et al.  Then the NBA basically came out and admitted that the blown foul call (or rather no-call on Gasol) would likely have swung the game the other way.  In a sense, I thought Game 6 probably should have gone to the Warriors, but perhaps Curry used up all his luck in Game 5.  Needless to say, I am very glad the team doesn't have to go through the stress of a Game 7.  Now we just wait and see what Kawhi decides to do, though I don't think there will be too many hard feelings if he leaves in the end.