Weekend goings on

This past weekend was action packed! Among a multitude of other events, TheWife and I caught a show (three acts) at the Pabst Theater with some tickets I won from WUWM. Lenka and Missy Higgins were excellent. Opening act Lenka had a fun and quirky pop edge, and Missy kicked ass on the singer-songwriter front. The middle act was Justin Nokuza. His vibe was best described as soulless pretty boy. Uck. An additional bonus? Missy Higgins latest CD was available for $5 (as MP3s) on amazon.com. Bonus!

The most interesting thing for me was seeing the Pabst with only a 3 or 4 hundred people in it. There was lots of empty space, and this being a pop show, looking around was encouraged. What is it about a grand old theater, half empty, that is so enjoyable?

Before the show, we tried to go to Water Buffalo for dinner. Fortunately, they were a bit backed up, and we ended up going to Rustico, an italian pizza/sandwich place a couple of doors down. The salad and pizza we ordered were excellent (a crispy/chewy crust loaded with italian sausage porcini mushrooms)and , as were the libations - New Glarus's Alt really hit the spot (packed with flavor, the malt and hops perfectly balanced)!

Beard of Avon

After years of not making it down when the Somniloquist was in plays, The Wife and I decided to wait no longer. He's currently appearing in The Beard of Avon (not a typo), showing at Prairie Lakes Theater in Des Plaines. Not too bad a trip from home (around an hour), but our baby sitters (Mom and Dad Fishmonger) live 45 minutes to the NorthWest! So, we made a night of it. Dinner was not at The TikiTerrace as initially planned, for The Tiki Terrace does not seem to exist! I can only assume that they moved, and took their building with them, for there was no trace of a building at the address I had. Instead, we went to Chef of Siam, which is just down the road. It turned out to be a good choice. The tempura appetizer was excellent, and my Pad See Eiw was delish. Service was quick and attentive, and got us to the show with time to spare, even though I'd spent 15 minutes driving around looking for the tiki place.



At the theater, we were joined by TheSter, which was an unexpected surprise! But, the show, you're wondering... how was the show? The show was great, of course! An interesting and funny plot, amusing characterizations (especially The Somniloquist as Henry Wriothesley and Terry McEnroe as DeVere - quite a couple they made!), and a load of Shakespeare jokes (of which I probably only caught 1/10th) all conspired for an enjoyable evening. William Shakspere and Anne Hathaway (watch that generate the search hits!) were excellent together, as well. If you've got a weekend night free during the remaining run (January 12 through February 4, 2007), make the trip out to see it.
Photos Info Tickets $18

Our trip home from the play was... excruciatingly uneventful. As in, The Wife said "Gee, it seems like traffic is slowing down" (A rarity on the interstate at midnight), just before we passed the off-ramp. Well, traffic stopped as soon as we hit the top of the overpass. A moment later, a fire truck appeared behind us and parked across all lanes of traffic, closing the road. We were trapped there for over 45 minutes. Meanwhile, we could watch approaching traffic as it was routed around us on the frontage road and then past us onto the highway. It was infuriating and maddeningly boring. Fortunately, The Wife had a book to read and I had a newspaper. Well over a dozen emergency vehicles showed up while we waited, but we never did learn what had happened. Still, on the balance, a very nice evening, and as an additional plus, with The Boy away for the night, we were able to sleep in! Ahhh... sweet, sweet slumber.