Sonny Rollins-- Thursday, August 28

Thursday was the first night of the Chicago Jazzfest. I was super excited because Sonny Rollins was playing a free concert at Millennium Park. I love Sonny Rollins. He's the 1st jazz musician I ever paid attention to. Because my dad does his taxes. Here's the story-- when my dad was young and supporting a wife and small child, he was working at Blue Cross & Blue Shield. He started moonlighting at H&R Block during tax time to make a little extra cash. He started doing taxes for his co-worker Gloria. Gloria happened to be Sonny Rollins' sister. So he started doing Sonny's taxes too. Gloria's son, Clifton, is now Sonny's trombonist. And my dad does his taxes too. So Sonny's the 1st jazz musician I ever really heard of and I've had an affinity for him my whole life. When I got married "St. Thomas" was my Recessional song. Love that song. It's just so happy. You can't hear it and not smile. I dare you. He played it last night and and at 80-something, Sonny's still an amazing musician. I managed to focus on the music for a chunk of the time. Which was impressive considering we had arrived at the lawn 1 1/2 hrs early and managed to drink lots and lots of wine. There was some horsing around as a result. Maybe not as focused on the music as we should have been. But as far as I'm concerned, that's what free summer concerts in the city are about.

Alex with a Jazzfest pamphlet

Laura with her empty bottle of wine over her head and empty glass. Trouble right behind.
Alex now converted Jazz pamphlet into a paper airplane. Trouble starting.

Me with the Pavilion behind us

That little speck dressed in white is Sonny

I LOVE the Pritzker Pavilion. So cool.

Mom & little girl boogieing to Sonny

Portrait of Alex. By Drunk Laura.Drunk texting. Always a good idea.

No wine for Tim. Thus the expression.

How to explain? On the L ride home, we started throwing around a block of leftover gouda. Laura kicked up her legs. Next thing you know, Alex was rubbing the gouda on her leg? There was cheese everywhere. Tim was in the role of adult trying to get us to stop. But there was no stopping us. We were totally retarded.

Happy Birthday Maureen!-- Sun., August 24

It was Maureen's brithday on Friday. We celebrated on Sunday with brunch at Sola. Yummy cocktails and Portugese donuts. Oh and stuff like eggs and potatoes. Maureen had just gotten back from Peru so we got to hear about the trip. It was also nice to see Emily who I haven't seen since Henry was born! Something about a group of girls with brunch and cocktails that feels so SATC. Would be great to spend every Sunday this way...

Random Friday night-- Friday, August 22

It was a random Friday night. It had been a rough week at work. Time for the Huettenbar and some frosty cold German beers. Which led to karaoke at the local lesbian bar. Which led to passing out. And an all day hangover on Saturday. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Tim after a Beam and Coke before hitting the bar.

Carlos' traditional self-portrait. He didn't drive. So we got drunk Carlos!
Miriam & Sara at the Huettenbar. Karaoke idea is percolating.

Brett & Carlos

I mentioned that we got drunk Carlos, right?

Tim, Alex & Mindy chatting. Or making fun of each other.

Me & Carlos being nice to each other. We were both drunk.

Over to Spynners for karaoke. Miriam feelin' "Beast of Burden"

Tim & Carlos making faces.

Carlos & Mandy and more faces.

Tim rockin' out to Liz Phair.

Brett got a hold of the camera. This is his crotch. FYI- he's a lawyer. And a dad.

Tim & Brett and more faces. I don't think they ever grow out of it.

Miriam still tossin' back at the end of the night.

Random Wednesday night-- Wed., Aug. 20

Last Wednesday was one of those random Wenesdays that turn into a really fun night. Mandy came across a Mixology 101 thing. It was $15 and they had a "class" and then a bunch of free samples afterwards. The class was sponsored by Canadian Mist and LAME. Alex and I sat in the back murmuring jokes and snickering. Mandy was like, "Shhhh. Behave." It was finally over and the VP of Marketing made the mistake of saying that it's company policy to pay for cabs if anyone "needs" one. So we go to the sample room and proceed to get a little messed up on Candian Mist. I ran into Geoff, a college friend, there. So it was the 4 of us drinking "Mist-opolitans" and some sort of chocolate whiskey drink, etc. We were given 2 drink tickets each for whatever whiskey drink we wanted. The poor bartenders didn't know how to make half the drinks-- the attendees were giving the bartenders the booklets with the drink recipes in them. Alex finagled 3 tickets and told the bartenders, "Just get me a tall glass, put some ice in and fill it up with whiskey." You can imagine what that all led to. Goofy, giggling, silly buzzed up conversations. Alex went to the VP of Marketing and told the guy we needed a cab. The guy walked us out. Between Alex's demeanor and the giggles that Mandy & I got on the way downstairs, I'm sure the guy thought we were trashed. He gave the cabbie $40 and told him to take us all home. Alex was embarassed by the whole thing. But I thought it was awesome. We told the VP that we'd spread the Canadian Mist gospel. So here it is. My favorite drink was the Misty Cider:

Misty Cider

1 bottle (750 ml) Candian Mist

1 gallon apple cider

5 cups ginger ale

3 cups brewed tea

4 cinnamon sticks

4 whole oranges sliced

Mix all ingredients together in a large kettle. Heat until steaming, but do not boil. Pour into a heat-resistant pitcher. Serve warm. Makes 45, 5-oz. servings.

Warning: Leads to the giggles on the cab ride home

2008 Beijing Olympics

I’m kind of obsessed with the Olympics. I’m normally not a “Rah! Rah! USA!” type person. But around the Olympics? I get nuts. I’m not sure why. I just get swept up. My allegiance, based on my heritage, goes like this:

1. USA;
2. Panama (not normally a contender in, well, anything, but just in case);
3. Canada (My grandmother was Canadian. That’s where my blonde cousins come from. My mom’s Hispanic genes kind of stomped on that.);
4. Most Spanish-speaking countries (Panama is a small country—I need to broaden my scope.);
5. Germany (That’s where my branch of Bopps originally came from. I think. Plus there’s all that good beer).

My cheering for the above teams can sometimes lead to ugly scenes. For example, Tues. night I was cheering for the US Women’s Gymnastics team. We (ok, “they”. Technically I’m not competing and shouldn’t say “we”) screwed up. Fell on our butts a few times. So the Chinese team had to screw up in order for us to win the gold. So what did I do? I kept yelling “Fall!” during every release on the uneven bars, every tumbling pass on the floor exercise. Tim thought I was being mean. I asked how it was different from him rooting against the Cubs. He said that the Cubs are a bunch of douchebags and these were innocent little girls. I get his point—pro atheletes are a lot less sympathetic v. some little 12 year old Chinese girl who was plucked out of daycare at age 3 and expected to carry her country’s hopes and dreams on her slight shoulders on a regular basis. But there I was, continuing to yell “Fall!” It ain’t pretty. But there you have it.

So I’ve been watching for a week and here are some thoughts:

1. The Opening Ceremonies were awesome! Granted, when you have THAT many people under at totalitarian regime, you should be able to muster up a good show. And boy did they.
2. At the Opening Ceremonies, the Danes were wearing jeans or jeans SHORTS and red polo shirts. They looked like they should be in a sports bar in Schaumburg, not the Olympics. Target employees are better dressed-- at least they have khakis on.
3. And did Ralph Lauren, who did the US athlete’s uniforms for the Opening Ceremony, have to make his polo pony quite so big? It’s huge! Takes up the whole breast pocket of the jacket (hee hee, I said breast). I think NBC should consider having Michael Kors or some other fashion person doing some sort of fashion police for the Parade of Nations
4. I love handball. For real. I got a little tutorial on the rules. Thank you ESPN. But why doesn’t ESPN carry it? http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/fanguide/sport?sport=hb
5. Men doing the butterfly and all those muscles propelled out of the water…oh, my.
6. I like that the horse jumping is co-ed. And has old people in it. I don’t like the fake landscaping that’s supposed to simulate a gallop in the countryside. You’re not faking anyone out. Just put up the obstacles and call it a day.
7. The Australian softball team had on tank tops. It looked funny. It looked even funnier when the catcher had on her gear. I’d love to see Pudge like that.
8. Have you watched synchronized diving? I can’t believe that they actually walk in sync and jump at the same height in sync. But actually do those twists and dives in sync? Insane.
9. Bob Costas is an idiot. I’m not tell you anything you don’t know. But I felt it needed to be acknowledged.

Tuesday, Aug. 12-- "Mamma Mia!"

Have you guys seen "Mama Mia"? OMG, it was so good. OK, it was also ridiculous. But so ridiculous that you couldn't help but laugh. Pierce Brosnan's singing was so insanely bad that it was funny. I mean, they HAD to know that it was bad and just hammed up the absurdity of it. And every fuzzy camera shot in slow-motion was cause for a fit of giggles. It was still so silly and funny and beautiful (I SO want to book a trip to Greece. Don't think my Oct trip to Boston will really cut it) and just fun. I thought that I could never listen to "Dancing Queen" again after hearing it ad nauseum through my 20s. But god damn it, I was singing along. And I'm going to rat out Tim-- so was he.

The only drawback-- where we saw it. Tim lives in Aurora. I would call it the 'burbs, but it's the 2nd biggest city in Illinois (I swear!) and so he checks me on that. Anyway, there's this huge gizillion-plex movie theater out there which is lovely (except there's no Swedish fish OR Dots OR even Mike & Ikes which are my favorite movie candies). But on a Tues night, the theater was filled with older and I have to believe, drunk women who wouldn't shut up. These women had never heard of inside voices. I love previews and these women in the row behind me were speaking to each other at full volume during the previews. Shushing was required.

I'm going to rat Tim out a little more and tell you my favorite lines of the night:

1. Tim: "Are they showing this in Boystown? We HAVE to see this in Boystown."
2. Tim: (As the credits rolled) "That was better than Batman!" That's high praise from a comic book geek. When he later said he was going to have to deny having seen "Mama Mia", I reminded him that: a. I'd rat him out and; b. he had said it was better than Batman. He confirmed that he still thought it was better than Batman but not as good as Ironman.
3. Tim: "What time is it?" Me: "9:30." Tim: "Sweet! There's still time to go to Target and buy Abba Gold." Which we did and listened to on the ride home.

My my, how can I resist you?

Friday, August 1 through Sunday, August 3-- Lollapalooza

This was Year 3 for me and Lollapalooza. It overlapped for a day with my parents' visit. Didn't stop me from going. As always, it was sweaty and exhausting and fun. It was Laura's birthday on Saturday so I was glad I could see her and celebrate. The Raconteurs were awesome. Mr. Mason Jennings was handsome and as cool as expected. Chromeo was super fun. Dancing to Kanye with a Chicago crowd was a perfect way to end the weekend. I lost Tim Sat night during Wilco which stunk. And it was up for grabs whether it was Tim, Shannon or myself who were going to rumble with the idiot kids at Girl Talk. But still, overall an awesome weekend.

The sweaty Black Keys were the first band I saw on Fri night.

The Ramirez siblings Fri night. Carlos doing the oh, so clever rabbit ears.
Jack White of the Raconteurs. One of my favorite acts of the weekend.

Day 2 started with the lovely Mason Jennings- warranted a text to Nicole

I'm always fascinated with the sign language chicks at the festivals

It was Laura's bday on Sat. Happy Birthday!Laura's brother and his girlfriend whipping up vodka lemonades

Laura, her bro and his girl

Tim & me before MGMT

Tim & Ferrin lookin' cool.

This was 1 water bottle of wine away from getting lost. Broken Social Scene

Laura & Me at Wilco

Wilco doing "Outtasite". They were good, but I've seen them better.

This is was Tim's Day 3. G. Love made for lovely napping music

There were some odd ducks there including these hula hoop girls

Shannon and Me at a packed Girl Talk

The crazy Girl Talk stage Mr. Girl Talk himself crowd surfing at the end of the set

Kanye doing "Gold Digger" He was awesome. One of my favorite acts of the weekend.