What a great weekend. I love it when I have the chance to step out into the city and experience something new. Friday night after work a co-worker invited me to Improv Olympics, an improvised sketch comedy theater near Wrigley Field. I'd never been and the show that evening was improvised Shakespeare so the story line was based upon Shakespearean stories and acted out with the language of his work. It was hilarious! Awesome little theater/bar too, so you feel right in the thick of things. After the show we walked through the rain and I finally tasted Ian's macaronni and cheese pizza after a handful of recommendations over the years. Yet another Chicago experience I had been lacking! And yes, it is as amazing as it sounds!
Saturday I headed out to Taste of Lincoln Avenue, one of the bigger and better street festivals throughout the city of Chicago in the summer. Met up with Stacy and Marlena. Beautiful weather and wonderful people watching as we wadded through the crowds before the show. We caught a fantastic set by Tyrone Wells. I have friends that love him but I had never heard much of his work. Very entertaining though, coming back to the Chicago area in October and I think I may have to go! After Tyrone was the show we'd been waiting for, Tonic! Once again my love for 90's alt rock bands reared it's head and has yet to let me down. Their set was incredible, one of the loudest shows I'd been to in years and this was outside even! Tons of mini-jam sessions and songs that time warped me back into the mid-90's. Absolutely loved it.
Above: Emerson Hart, lead singer of Tonic and full band shot.
So I get to experience a lot of really awesome stuff at my job. I have meet some of the most talented, creative, and genuinely awesome people I've ever encountered in my life. I've ventured out to places and events that I probably never would have come close to and I get to see and hear hour after hour of amazing music. Tonight peaked the awesome scale so far for this year. John Legend made his Festival debut and sang a large portion of his first song from one of the pavilion entrances. I took a shot of it on my camera phone, quality is a bit sad but I get to witness and be a part of awesome stuff like this. Little bits of entertainment that literally make people's day, week or even year. I don't know how someone who works in an industry like this could ever grow tired of seeing the pure joy and excitement on people's faces when they hear and see these amazing artists.Photo Credit: R. Jenkins (C) 2009
By some stroke of a miracle I found myself with three full days off this 4th of July. Without a second thought I headed home to Iowa City for the holiday and enjoyed every moment of my visit. Dustin and I enjoying some Morning Glories.
Cooper, never a fan of loud noises, kept close to us during the random fire crackers going off within earshot all weekend. He got a nice grooming and bath too. He always stays put until the water in the hose starts to get cold, then he inches away slowly as if I wont notice.
There are moments in life when I get overwhelmed by "a musical experience." Whether that be a moment of realization that I'm at an amazing concert that I'll remember for the rest of my life, I hear that perfect song at that perfect place and time, or I experience a moment that I know will never happen again... it's rather hard to describe. Moments like this to me are little religious experiences, they can present longing, hope, sadness, intense joy - they put me in my place. They can make me feel strong and big within this world or they can make me feel small and in awe of all that has come before me. That feeling of awe was felt this last weekend at work. Joe Cocker, who performed at the original 1969 Woodstock Festival graced our stage. The show was incredible, from the moment I heard his band during sound check I was giddy. I was about to witness an artist that stood on the same stage where Jimi Hendrix tore into his famous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, where Janis Joplin, CSNY, and the Grateful Dead all stood. It was an earth-shattering moment in music and American history and now in some indirect way I am attached to that moment. Seeing couples dancing on the lawn and reacting to Cocker's presence, just listening to his famous gritty voice, all of these things together produced swells of emotion in me more than once throughout the night.
I am deeply grateful I can say that I have seen someone who played at the original Woodstock.
A co-worker and I in front of a psychedelic painted VW van we had on site to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock.
I love this. It was written by a Chicago musician not much older than my self named Todd Carey. I just hope to one day achieve all that he speaks about
Passion: What do you care about? How much do you want to put into it? Does it drive your life? Make you get up in the morning?
If you haven't found it yet, that's ok. Keep searching. It is worth pursuing. Passion gives me purpose, and I don't want to live without it. If you put it into the fire, it's going to burn hot, and it's going to burn for a long time. That's all I can ask for, and that's all I'm thankful for now. I'm happy to have a reason, happy to know, happy to share.
You know what? It's contagious, too. Brush up against someone who wants to truly live inspired, and all of a sudden you are truly alive. Imagine even going to a movie that shakes you, and you'll know what I'm talking about. You already know what I'm talking about.
The challenge is keeping it going, and keeping it close and within reach. Try, and when you figure it out, share it. It will help us all.
What a great weekend. I love it when I have the chance to step out into the city and experience something new. Friday night after work a co-worker invited me to Improv Olympics, an improvised sketch comedy theater near Wrigley Field. I'd never been and the show that evening was improvised Shakespeare so the story line was based upon Shakespearean stories and acted out with the language of his work. It was hilarious! Awesome little theater/bar too, so you feel right in the thick of things. After the show we walked through the rain and I finally tasted Ian's macaronni and cheese pizza after a handful of recommendations over the years. Yet another Chicago experience I had been lacking! And yes, it is as amazing as it sounds!
Above: Emerson Hart, lead singer of Tonic and full band shot. 
