CUBS WIN DIVISION!! Experience 21; Fun Facts 13 and 14

HOLY COW! The Cubs won the division! As I've been saying since we arrived in Chicago, IT'S GONNA HAPPEN! After being swept earlier this week by the lowly Florida Marlins, the whole city was shaking in its boots, worrying that the Cubs might once again pull one of their trademark tank moves at the end of the season. But last night they won big over Cincy, and then the city held its collective breath waiting to see if Milwaukee would lose their game and the Cubs would clinch the division. As we waited at home for the results on tv, we could hear helicopters circling Wrigley Field, waiting to get pictures of fans streaming out into the street from the packed sportsbars nearby (the Cubs were playing out of town in Cincy). Soon, champagne bottles were being uncorked everywhere as San Diego beat the Brewers and the Cubs were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs!

I don't think I have to remind many of you that I've been waiting my whole life for the Cubs to win it all. My theory is they've been waiting for me to come home, and now that I'm here they're ready to do it!

Fun Fact: The headline in the Chicago Tribune today was a banner: NEVER IN DOUBT followed by (Well, maybe for a short time.) When you haven't won in 99 years, you have to develop a pretty good sense of humor :^)

Fun Fact: Susan was able to score a ticket for the playoffs and will be in attendance at the first home playoff game, scheduled for next Saturday. Can't wait!

Yes, Thai! - Restaurant 22; Fun Fact 12

On Wednesday we met our friends Paula and Peggy for dinner at a restaurant in their Andersonville neighborhood called Yes, Thai. You should definitely click on the site for the restaurant, as it has a rather interesting graphical presentation (that is completely out of sync with the traditional style on display at the actual restaurant.) This is the best Thai food we've had here in Chicago so far. The ingredients are incredibly fresh and the vegtables used in the dishes are much more varied than is usually the case in most Thai restaurants we've been too. But the prices are still extremely reasonable and the portions are huge. To top it off, the company was excellent too! All in all, this was a great dining experience.

Kate had basil chicken and Susan had veggie pad thai -- both were unusually tasty. We'll definitely return to Yes, Thai sometime soon. There's no liquor license at Yes Thai, so if you like a drink with dinner be sure to bring your own. Fun Fact about Yes, Thai: Word is that the girl on the web site used to also adorn the menus, but the owners received so many complaints that they took her off there.

Raj Darbar - Restaurant 20 (and Indian Garden - Restaurant 21)

After golfing at beautiful Lake Opeka (see below), we had planned to meet some friends up in Evanston at the Blind Faith Cafe for dinner. Unfortunately, Susan got stuck in such an enormous traffic jam on the way home from golf (welcome to city life :^) that we weren't able to make it on time. So we decided to walk down and try out an Indian restaurant called Raj Darbar not too far from where we live, near Diversey and Halsted. This is the best Indian food we've had here yet. (Earlier in the blog we mentioned Standard Indian. We had also visited Indian Garden on Devon which was better than Standard Indian, but still probably not a restaurant we'll be returning to soon.) At Raj Darbar, Susan had chicken shahi kurma and Kate had saag paneer. They were both quite good, but we both agreed that Susan's was the better of the two. The atomsphere was also quite pleasant and the prices were very reasonalbe. All in all it was pretty good compensation for missing our date for dinner in Evanston. We're looking forward to stopping in at Raj Darbar again and checking out some of the other entrees!

Lake Park Golf Course - Place 25

Susan and her golfing buddies recently visited beautiful Lake Opeka and the 18 hole par-3 golf course that hugs it. After some difficulty finding the right location, Susan and the girls found the course and settled in for a challenging round of short holes that required good pitching and putting skills. Who knew a golf course on a lake would be so close to O'Hare? Across the lake, a band played a range of ethnic songs as we worked our way through the course. It was all very surreal. Sadly, many a ball found a new home in beautiful Lake Opeka on the day we played. Might be a good idea to start the season here next year, rather than end it!

Levinson at DePaul - Perfomance 7; Book 11

On Tuesday Susan dropped in on Sandy Levinson's Constitution Day lecture at DePaul University, just a few train stops down the line from here. He's a law professor at the University of Texas who also travels in political science circles quite a lot. As the title suggests, this book decries the undemocratic nature of much of the U.S. Constitution and concludes with a passionate call for a constitutional convention before it's too late. Amongst Levinson's concerns are the undemocratic nature of the Senate, the seemingly unchecked growth of the executive branch, the undemocractic electoral college, and life tenure for judges.

It was an interesting lecture, but I wonder if he's right to say that calling for a new constitutional convention need not entail demeaning the founder's handiwork, especially since at one point in the book he likens our relationship to them as similar to that of an abused spouse (!) filled with excuses for why we stay with the Constitution as is, despite its many abuses.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the question of what sort of disruption is necessary to locate compelling alternatives to the founding fathers' (paternal) authority in contemporary politics, as I have been working through a paper that focuses on representations of the founding that can be seen on YouTube. Check out this irrereverant and humorous short about George Washington for a taste of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsymvcqVc1s&NR=1

Stephanie and Moe Come to Town; Boat Tour - Experience 20; Beers 19 and 20

This weekend our friends Stephanie and Moe were visiting from Portland, Maine. We had fantastic weather and a great time, starting out with dinner at our favorite rib place, Carson's, where Susan used to go quite a lot with her aunt in earlier days. On Friday we went to Wrigley Field, where the Cubs pounded the Pirates 13-9 on route to a weekend sweep of their last homestand and sole possession of first place in the division by 3 1/2 games with only 6 left to play. With a magicnumber of four, things are looking pretty good for the Cubs at this point. Their pitchers are coming on and their big hitters have all gotten hot in the last few weeks! Susan tried to get playoff tickets over the web this weekend, but sadly she did not get lucky in the lottery.

On Saturday we took an architectural tour on a boat on the river which was fantastic. Our tour guide was an extremely knowledgable and enthusiastic volunteer who crammed huge amounts of interesting tidbits into an hour and half tour. For dinner, we returned to Nacionale 27, our new favorite restaurant in Chicago. After three interesting appetizers, we all enjoyed our entrees quite a lot as well. Susan had sole with tasty potatoes and leeks, Kate had salmon with an interesting topping and sauce, Stephanie had chicken and Moe had halibut. Kate had a Palma Louca beer from Brazil which was very good. Susan had an Imperiale which also good, but not quite as tasty as Kate's. We also had great deserts of flan and coffee brulee. On top of great food, this place has a great atmosphere -- all the hustle and bustle of a city club without any of the pretension or snobbery.

On Sunday we were planning to go a matinee of a play, but when we got there we discovered that the play had been cancelled! So it was back to the apartment to catch the end of the Cubs game, another route of the Pirates, 8-0. Stephanie and Kate made some great falafel and bean and chick pea stew, followed up by coconut / lemon fudge. Yum! Great weekend all around!

Cubs Win! Magic Number is 8; Fun Facts 10 and 11

The Cubs routed the Pirates yesterday 13-8 in a wild game that featured several home runs thanks to a strong wind blowing out of the park. With 8 games left, they are 1 1/2 games in front of Milwaukee. Their magic number is 8, meaning that they need some combination of Cub wins and Milwaukee losses that adds up to 8 in order to win the division. It should be an exciting last week of the season!

In Friday's game, the Pirates scored in the first, but the Cubs came right back with Soriano taking the first pitch downtown to tie it up. The Cubs scored several more runs, but then gave up the lead for a while, as the starters for both teams looked liked they were delivering glorified batting practice. The Cubs eventually came back, putting it away with 5 runs in the sixth, as Aramis Ramirez hit his second 3-run home of the game. He almost hit a third one at his next at-bat, missing the left field basket by only a few feet.

Fun Fact: The last time we were at a game with our friends Stephanie and Moe was at Fenway Park in Boston when Nomar Garciaparra hit 3 on the day after Kate and I had our civil union performed in Vermont in 02.

Another Fun Fact: Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the last time that legendary Cubs announcer sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch. On Friday, they played a recording of him singing it, while his widow, Dutchie Caray sang along with the rest of us. It was a great moment. Afterwards, as she made her way back to her box, which was just above where we were sitting, she waved to the crowd and threw her Cubs cap out to some lucky fan below.

Cubs in Dead Heat (well, almost)

After a Cub loss and Milwaukee win last night, the two teams are tied for first as the season winds down. Problem is, Milwaukee has twelve games left to play and the Cubs have 10, so their fate may turn out to be, to some extent, out of their hands. You can't beat this situation for excitement, but we'd be happy to see the Cubs establish something of a margin this weekend when Pittsburgh rolls into town for the Cubs' final home games of the year. Our friends Stephanie and Moe from Maine will be here and we'll be heading over to Wrigley with them on Friday. Being huge Red Sox fans they are more than familiar with the ups and downs of a hard luck team trying to change its fortunes!

Fiddlehead - Restaurant 18; Two Brothers Beer 18; Ann Sathers - Restaurant 19

Fiddlehead is a restaurant in the Lincoln Square neighborhood that uses (mostly) organice ingredients in their dishes. The place has a great feel, with the space including a full bar and tables with a good view of the street. The wait staff are very helpful and friendly. This is a great place to come and relax, have a drink, and take your time eating dinner.

We started out with an excellent grilled shrimp, mushroom, and tomato appetizer (doesn't sound good on paper, but it was delicious) along with some very good bread. Susan had a Two Brothers beer, from a local brewery in the western suburbs of Chicago which was very good. Kate had a 312, another local beer brewed by Goose Island, mentioned earlier here in the blog. For dinner, Susan had an excellent chicken dish with mashed potatoes and mushrooms while Kate had a goat cheese in phyllo dish.

We had to scoot right out of there to get to the movie on time, but then we returned afterwards (to the staff's amusement) for a truly remarkable piece of banana creme pie before we braved the 40 degree weather to get home to welcome Athens friends Jonathan and Barry into town for a food show, to sell Jonathan's most excellent Vino de Milo products, such as the ones shown above. If you haven't tried them yet, check out the website for a store near you! It was great to see them both to catch up on all the Athens gossip and to visit Ann Sather's for breakfast, a place in the neighborhood that Susan used to go to for breakfast with her Aunt. And who knew Jonathan was such a crack puzzler? With him on the team we were able to finish a Friday NYT puzzle, no mean feat!

The Brave One - Movie 7

Jodie Foster. Enough said.

For those who need more: Jodie Foster's new movie, The Brave One, is an interesting meditation on the anger and fear that follow after a woman's fiancee is killed in the park by some violent strangers in the park. Apart from the rather implausible ending and the fact that Foster seems incapable of playing a love scene in a convincing manner, there is much to admire in the rest of this movie, which skillfully blends revenge and humor into a coherent whole. There is a lot of violence in this film, but so much so that it comes to seem comic book-like after a while.

Jodie Foster. Enough said.

Kayaking the Chicago River - Experience 19; Fun Fact 9

Last weekend we rented some kayaks and explored the North branch of the Chicago River. It was quite an urban experience! There are several signs posted along the River noting that raw sewage is occassionally dumped there when it rains a lot, and that the water is not suitable for human touch! Does that qualify as a FUN fact? Fortunately we did not have to have any contact with it. The North branch is largely undeveloped (perhaps for that reason), so if you can suspend knowledge of the toxicity, the ride is a fairly pleasant one with a variety of birds and plants of interest along the way. It also has some distinctly urban aspects to it -- the El passes over the River at one point and there is a doggy day care place that sounded more like a dog asylum when we paddled by. There was a strong wind the day we went so we only paddled for a few miles. Luckily the wind, and the current, were at our backs on the way home. Chatting with some fisherman on the banks where we returned, we were horrified to learn that some folks do eat catfish caught out of the river. Ugh! In any case, the rates weren't bad ($14 / hour) and the ride was interesting. We may go back in the fall and head south towards downtown come spring (see picture above -- note tiny kayaks to the left of the ship.)

It's Gonna Happen (It Really Is)

The Cubs had a huge win last night, coming back from a 6-4 deficit in the ninth against the Reds. Although they played somewhat sub-par in the rest of the game, they executed perfectly in the 9th, with a lead-off walk, followed by a single from Derrick Lee, and a triple to the gap in right-center by Aramis Ramirez to tie it up. Finally, Mark DeRosa hit a single up the middle for the win, completing a 5-5 day at the plate for him, his second this year against Cincy. It was very exciting to see and a huge confidence boost for the club. With 2 weeks left in the season, it's definitely looking like . . . it's gonna happen!

Harry Potter VI = Book # 10, Fun Fact 8

Finally catching up with the rest of the world (isn't that what sabbaticals are for?), I just finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the sixth of seven volumes), and it was definitely one of my favorites in the series so far, despite the incredibly sad ending. As if it weren't enough to have to battle the evil Voldemort, how will Harry go on, finally left to himself, with no parental figures left to help him, just his peers for support? Are these really kids books anymore? In any case, J.K. Rowling has certainly sets everything up for a huge finale in Book 7, and I plan to jump right in.

Fun fact: J.K. Rowling has been spotted in Scotland cafes working on an adventure / mystery novel, presumably aimed at adults.

White Bicycles, Hotel California, and Laurel Canyon -- Books 7-9

These three interesting books all deal with the music of the 60's, each from a slightly different angle. White Bicycles is written by producer Joe Boyd. It covers a period from 1956-1973, sweeping back and forth from London to Boston to Burbank, and ranging from blues to Dylan to British folk to Pink Floyd to Nick Drake. It is probably the best read of the three, written in a way that captures the vibe of the 60's without trying to hard to be hip forty years hence. Hotel California bills itself as a 60's book, but it's really more about how 70's confessional and country / folk came to be at the fore of the industry in one of its biggest boom periods to date. This book covers the likes of Joni Mitchell, Linda Rondstadt, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, The Eagles, Gram Parsons, and so forth. It's not as good a read as White Bicycles, but it is still much more palatable than the standard rock book. Laurel Canyon covers much of the same ground, focussing on, well, Laurel Canyon and its inhabitants. Although this book seems to have received the most publicity, I found it to be the least readable of the three.

While reading them I also watched the 2005 Scorcese documentary on Dylan, No Direction Home. While it started out a bit too ponderously for my tastes, it definitely picked up steam as it went on and turned out to be quite an interesting treatment not only of Dylan, but of the 60's more generally.

Lesbian Bowling League - Experience 18; Timberlanes Bowling Alley - Place 24

Last Friday was the first night of the biweekly lesbian bowling league at Timberlanes Bowling Alley. This is a great little place has 8 lanes to bowl in and a great old bar tucked in behind the lanes. It's located just a few blocks away from where Susan grew up, near Irving, Lincoln, and Damen. What a great vibe this place has!

Susan got a maroon colored ball from a friend from the league who has since graduated to a bigger and better ball. She got it redrilled by the helpful but somewhat odd fellow at the family owned Simmons Bowling Shop just down the street, where the proprietor still rolls out 6 feet of foam rubber for you to try out your new ball on.

It was great to bowl with all the girls! (See photo above :^) The folks I bowled with were really supportive. There are some really great bowlers in the group, however, I do not seem fated to be among them! In any case, Timber Lanes and Simmons are both a very delightful blast from the past -- so delightful that the scores from bowling night are, luckily for me, largely irrelevant!

Chris Pureka at Martyrs - Performance 6, Place 22, Dead Rogue Ale - Beer 17

Last weekend we saw Chris Pureka at Martyrs, a smallish music club on Lincoln Avenue not far from our home. A girl with guitar and a lot of anguish to share, she reminded us a lot of Ferron, with songs ranging from grim to grimmest, and Mary Gautier's sober Americana songs. One of the folks we were with jokingly asked, where's the honeymoon stage in the relationships she's talking about? Her stage patter did however reveal a sense of humor about the unremitting grey sky in her songs. Her most recent album, perhaps not surprisingly, is called Dryland. We both agreed that a song about her grandmother looking back on her long life and concluding it was a good life was amongst her best.

Martyr's is an intimate little club that can probably seat a hundred or so folks in various tables surrounded by two bars. There is light food available there and a selection of beers, including Dead Rogue Ale, a good tasting beer out of Oregon which comes in at number 17 on our list.

1000 Waves - Place 22

We took some time out of the hustle and bustle of the city last weekend to visit 1000 Waves Spa for the first time. Located just a few blocks from our home, this fabulous place is an oasis for women who need a bit of peace and quiet to rejuvenate them. The Spa features hot tubs, a eucalyptus steam bath, and a dry sauna. Afterwards, one can hang out in their kimono in the relaxation room, which includes a wide variety of magazines, newspapers, tea, and other beverage options. There are also little cubbies for napping in case one gets so relaxed that they need to succumb to sleep. For $20 you can spend up to 3 hours here. The spa also offers massage and aroma wraps for an additional charge.

1000 waves also has a great stress management program for cancer survivors. They offer 5 free sessions at the spa and 5 free massages to any woman who has been diagnosed with cancer. The owner of the spa is a cancer survivor herself and has lost a partner to cancer. This program is a great way to acknowledge the difficulties associated with cancer and to offer survivors a new way to deal with some of the stress. Two thumbs up on 1000 waves, way up! What a great place to have right here in the neighborhood!

We were soooo relaxed and mellow upon leaving. It was a little startling when we immediately jolted back into city life! Maybe 1000 waves should qualify as an experience rather than a place -- in any case, we can't wait to visit again!

Restaurant #17 - Tomboy

After trying to go to two rib joints which both turned out to be closed
(one temporarily for kitchen renovations and the other, sadly, in a more permanent way), we end up at Tomboy, a woman-owned place
in Andersonville that we'd been meaning to try for awhile.

It didn't start off well. Despite arriving after 6pm on a Thursday night, we were the only customers (never a good sign). We were given an excellant table right by the window, but soon noticed several
flies buzzing about on the pane before us (also not a good sign). However, things began to look up when the dyke host approached us brandishing a white hand towel and asked if we minded if she dispatched our uninvited dinner guests. Surprised but intrigued, we agreed and watched in amazement as she proceeded to snap the towel repeatedly and to excellant effect - after 5 or 6 blows, only 1 fly remained. Seeing her boss watching her with disapproval (can't imagine why) our Galahad departed at this point, leaving us (and the remaining fly) staring after her in wonder.

The food turned out to be very good (Kate had a spicey shrimp and spinach coconut curry, Susan had salmon with asparagus and mashed potatoes and a baked goat cheese appetizer was shared). Towards the end of our meal, a terrific live duo replaced the erratic soundtrack (moody European tracks alternating with 80's flashbacks like "Valleygirl") and Susan successfully captured the last fly in her beer glass. All in all, a fabulous meal!

Susan takes another Chicago poker title - Experience 17

Susan is now two for two in tournament poker in Chicago. She recently won the challenging HELO-5 tournament in the open division of the Chicago Poker Grand Championship. In HELO-5 you alternate between Texas Hold 'Em, Lowball (lowest hand wins), Omaha, and 5 card stud. It's pretty challenging (and also a lot of fun) moving from game to game as they each have their own rules and strategies. Although she was already qualified for the Chicago Poker Hall of Fame with her last win, this victory really seals the deal! We just hope her World Series of Poker backers in Athens are taking note!

Worst first sentence ever- Fun Fact 7

Tonight, in the cold glare of the lights in the Borders on Diversey, Clark and Broadway, we may very well have come across the worst first sentence in all of human history (of course a signal of bad writing is bad atmospherics and exagerration, so this seems a fitting opener for this entry.) Susan thought she had it, with the opening sentences of A Woman in Berlin: "It's true, the war is rolling toward Berlin. What was yesterday a distant rumble has now become a constant roar. We breathe the din." I mean really, can one breathe din? But then Kate came up with one even better than that in Why They Kill: "The James River flows through Richmond Virginia like human time." Ok, maybe we haven't read all the first sentences in human history, but how much worse could it get than that?

The Bourne Ultimatum - Movie 6; The Grind - Place 21; Fun Fact 6

Today we went to see The Bourne Ultimatum which was a perfect choice for a slow Labor Day Monday. If you've seen any of the other Bournes then you know the pace and plot of this one two, but knowing that doesn't take anything away from this enjoyable movie. Afterwards, we met our friend Ellen for smoothies, etc. across the street at a little spot called The Grind. After we noted that there are no more Ludlum's for the Bourne franchise to exploit, Ellen said she heard an interview with Matt Damon in which he said that if there had been another one the next film in the series would have been called The Bourne Redundancy. Great fun fact. It'll be interesting to see whether they really are able to stop at the triology given the continued success of these movies.

APSA Comes to Town; Nacionale 27: Restaurant 16

Last week, the American Political Science Association came to Chicago for its annual meeting, which was held downtown at the Sheraton and the Hyatt on the River. It's a big meeting of about

7 - 8,000 political scientists. This year's theme was interdisciplinarity, hence the theme, Political Science and Beyond. It reminded me of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story who often said "to infinity and beyond."

It was great to see several friends from Athens, as well as a number of other parts of the country. Julie and Annie came up to our place and visited for a while, and then we came down to have dinner with them at Gino's East, a pizza place close to their hotel. Annie has grown alot in the few months that we've been gone!

It was also great to see Vince and Mariel who joined us for dinner a great new restaurant we discovered called Nacionale 27 down on West Superior Street. This venue features food from a variety of (all 27)Latin American countries and may well be our favorite restaurant so far in Chicago. We started out with a few appetizers that were gratis from the restaurant and they were out of this world -- a spicy / bbq scallop combination and a smoky mussel combo that were both fantastic. We added a few of our own that featured goat cheese and pumpkin that were also very good. We each had various fish entrees which were also good, but the appetizers were the real star of this show, along with great flan for dessert. The prices were moderate for this quality of food. We'll definitely return here sometime soon!

Recipe #3 - Jamaican Rice

I had my doubts the whole time I was making this, but it turned out to be fabulous. Well worth the effort!

Jamaican Rice (from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons)

1 small (2 pound) sugar or pie pumpkin or 1 small butternut squash
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 TBSP minced fresh ginger
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1 TBSP curry powder
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 cups thinly sliced collard greens, mustard greens, or beet greens
1 can black beans
salt and black pepper to taste
2 ripe plantains or bananas (optional)
1 tomato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the pumpkin or squash in half, remove seeds, and bake on a cookie sheet face down (the recipe says for an hour, but mine was overdone at 50 minutes, so just pull it out when it's easily pierced with a sharp knife). Remove from pan and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, add rice and salt and return to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. (Here, the recipe says to steam rice for 20 minutes, but I used brown rice and steamed for 30 minutes - worked fine.)

While rice cooks, heat the oil in a large skillet (I used my trusty wok). Add the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown. Add the ginger, garlic, allspice, curry powder, and jalapeno. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes more and then remove from heat.

When cool enough to handle, scoop pumpkin out of the skin and chop into large pieces (mine was too mushy to really chop, but it tasted good)

When the rice is done, reheat the onion spice mix over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Add the greens, toss well, and cook five minutes more. Add the pumpkin and beans, toss, and heat enough to warm. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you want to garnish with plaintain or banana, cut in half lengthwise and pan-fry over medium heat for 2 minutes on each side. Spoon rice onto plate and top with a generous handful of tomatoes. Serve the plaintain / banana on the side. Serves 4 - 6.