I’ve been thinking about the long list of things there are available to do on Labor Day Weekend in Chicago and the list was actually best summarized by my mother in law who emailed me about Labor Day weekend plans already this morning (Tuesday). We can either:

1. Do a house project. In our case that means rip up the garden and replant things in a better organizational arangement. Or we could power wash the deck and start replacing boards that have rotted. Part of the problem with buying a 25 year old home is that the 25 year old parts of the home all look ok from a distance but really need updating when you look closely.

2. Go to Naperville’s Last Fling or one of the many other festivals and have a fun labor Day Weekend. if you don’t go out to party this weekend, bring the party home and give the BBQ grill one last big workout. We may end up having my brother and both sets of parents over for dinner. Hmmm, what to cook? There are also Labor Day Discounts on Broadway shows in Chicago through September 10th. See Billy Elliot for $59 and Shrek the Musical for $49 per person.

3. Go to the beach, in our case that is Michigan City Indiana, but Chicago has many beaches that should be enjoyed before the winter comes again for 6 months of cold and dreary weather.  Even if you just drive out to fall asleep in the sun, Labor Day Weekend  is one of the last chances to do this with the family, even if the kids have already started school for the year.

4. Go shopping. There are so many Labor Day Sales right now I can’t even list them. If you ever need furniture, this would be the weekend to go look at some. I got a 50% off email in my inbox 5 minutes ago from Darvin Furniture and I have seen other announcements from Macy’s, Carson’s and Bassett. It is a 3 day weekend (or 4 day if you take Friday off) and one last chance to finish projects with your house which in many cases means finding the right furniture for the space. I know how hard this is, considering my many months of searching for a sofa/couch for our living room. We also need a twin mattress and a King mattress to replace the horrible one I bought at the Harlem Furniture Room Place in March, it has sagged two divots where we sleep in 6 months of use, how horrible was that? We have to toss it out and start over, it’s $900 lost. 

I’m not sure if I will get to all these projects within 3 days but I am looking forward to getting at least some things done on this Labor Day Weekend.

Are you looking for funn/cool things to do that are happening around Chicago this weekend? Here’s the roundup of free and interesting events for August 20, 21 and 22:

1. If you were a big fan of comics when you were a kid, the WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO COMIC CON will be at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont this weekend with lots of specialty comics for sale. Check out the latest in video games, anime, graphic novels and more. Several Star Trek stars and other prominent comicon celebs will be on hand for meet-and-greets. Aug. 20, noon – 8 pm, Aug. 21, 10 am – 7 pm, Aug. 22, 10 am – 5 om Tickets start at $25 the meet-and-greets are usually more. The address of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont is 5555 North River Road, Rosemont, IL (847) 692-2222, WizardWorld.com.

2. Summerdance on Saturday and Sunday - It’s free! @Grant Park 601 South Michigan Ave in Chicago, IL. Lesson begins at 4pm, band starts at 5pm and goes until 7pm. Even if you don’t dance this is one of the best Chicago community events I’ve been to. This week we have free East Coast Swing dance lessons by Margot McGraw-Toppen & Riley Wimes, Jr. and live music by Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing Gitan, performing Gypsy Swing music and Sunday there is free Bachata and Cha-Cha dance lessons by Latin Rhythms and live music by Orquesta La Inspiracion, performing Old School Salsa music.

3. Free Chicago Movies in the Parks. They have taken this idea from Grant Park and rolled out movies city-wide: August 20 “The Blind Side” (Golden Gate Park, 13000 S. Eberhart Ave.) August 20 “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” (Hamlin Park, 3035 N. Hoyne Ave.) August 20 “Shrek 2″ (Nichols Park, 1355 E. 53rd St.) August 21 “The Wiz” (Washington Park – DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Pl.) August 21 “To Catch a Thief” (Jonquil Playlot Park, 1023 W. Wrightwood Ave.) August 21 “The Blind Side” (Avalon Park, 1215 E. 83rd St.) August 22 “How to Train Your Dragon” (Unity Playlot Park, 2636 N. Kimball Ave.)

4. Ukrainian Days Festival 2010 - Got Perogi? August 21 : 2:30 pm – 10 pm and August 22 : 1:30 pm – 10 pm. Ticket Prices: $5 suggested donation and free for kids under age 13. 773-252-1228 in the Smith Park Neighborhood: West Town 2526 West Grand Avenue in Chicago, IL 60612 312-742-7534.

5. The Gold Coast Art Fair - Nothing is more boring than a fancy condo with no art on the walls. Some great choices by local Chicago artists are available this weekend at the Gold Coast Art Fair. August 20 : 12 pm – 7 pm, August 21 : 10 am – 3 pm and Sunday August 22 : 10 am – 5 pm. Ticket Price: Free! 847-926-4300 amdurproductions.com Located at Butler Field in the Grant Park Neighborhood: Grant Park Museums 400 East Monroe Street in Chicago, IL 60603.

If you can’t find something on this list that suit’s your fancy, check out the Art Institute of Chicago’s new Modern wing, seen in the photo at the top of the post. It’s a cultural icon and worth a trip downtown even from the suburbs.

I will be cleaning my house this weekend, doing yard work and entertaining guests, so have a great weekend and enjoy these outdoor events while it’s still warm and before the kids go back to school!

The Chicago Air & Water Show is scheduled for Saturday, August 14, & Sunday, August 15, 2010 and over 2 million people usually view the event from the beach around Lake Michigan It is the largest free air show in the United States. If you want a good seat for the Chicago Air and Water Show check out the areas on the beach from Fullerton Avenue to Oak Street Beach. North Avenue Beach is the main location for the show, but also the most crowded. Note there is no parking near the beach, the only places to park are on side streets (usually full of the resident’s car already anyway) several blocks away. So, either take the CTA 151 or 156 buses from downtown or Union Station if you plan on coming in from elsewhere in the city.

This year’s Chicago Air and Water Show is scheduled for Saturday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday August 14th and Sunday August 15th. As always the times and performers subject to change if needed (with weather or unforeseen circumstances). Most of the time the show runs exactly on schedule because they rehearse it about 5 times in the week before the actual show. (my work building is near downtown and the windows rattle a bit that week.)

Some of the airplanes you will see at this year’s show are:
U.S. Navy Blue Angels (F-18s)
AeroShell Aerobatic Team
Chicago Fire Department Air and Sea Rescue Team
Lima Lima Flight Team
The Firebirds
Sean Tucker & Team Oracle
Ed Hamill and his Air Force Reserve Bi-Plane
Red Bull MiG
U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights

Note: The City of Chicago site does not confirm any civilian performers this year and we’re only 2 weeks away, so some of these on the list may not perform. We just don’t know because they are not publishing that information before the show this year. (a little odd!) Regardless of who is in the show, I am sure that the aerobatics will be amazing and entertaining for the whole family.

It is also fun to go downtown the day or two before the Chicago Air and Water show and see the practice runs of all the military and aerobatic planes over Lake Michigan. Its the same show although the timing is spread out and may be throughout the day. There would be far less of a problem with parking at that time though.

While you are downtown,  it would be a great time to stop by and do some shopping or try out a new restaurant in Chicago. Make it a full day of fun.

** Update: The Sun Times is reporting that in order to promote a new movie, someone is requiring Vince Vaughn to jump out of a plane with the Golden Nights Parachute team. Yikes, that has to be the most dangerous promotional stunt ever done. Even more dangerous than Tom Cruise almost rolling the car on the TopGear test track while promoting Knight & Day with Cameron Diaz. I wish Vince the best of luck with his jump, Bill Murray survived, so Vince should be ok.

Chicago Night Skyline

Chicago Festivals happening in AUGUST 2010.

Plan ahead now for the month of August. Its your last chance to take some vacation time, get out to meet friends at the festivals and hopefully get a little tan without getting burnt to a crisp. The weather is hot and humid now in Chicago, remember your sunscreen, your water bottle and the cash for all of these festivals. Some are free to enter but all of the Chicago festivals have food and drink vendors as well as things for sale depending on the fest. There are more and more festivals listed each summer in Chicago and its near impossible to keep up. Don’t worry about attending every festival, concentrate on the ones near you and with the groups you are a part of. I think sometimes these fests listed can be anything from a huge event like Lollapalooza to a small neighborhood gathering of a dozen or so people, so do some research online before heading out the door. And if the event is in the city, plan ahead extra time for finding parking. Have a great August!

29-Aug. 1: Free! Fiesta del Sol

30-31: Chicago Luxury Ice Cream Festival (yummy)

31-Aug. 1: Free! Gold Coast Art Fair

31-Aug. 1: Lincoln Park Arts and Music Festival

31-Aug. 1: Summer on Southport

31-Aug. 1: Serbfest

31-Aug. 1: Wicker Park Fest

August 1: Belize Day in the Park Free fest.

6-8: Lollapalooza  Concert Series Weekend with Lady Gaga

6-8: Taylor Street Italian Festival

7-8: Free! Crafters Round-up

7-8: New! Festival Cubano

7-8: Northalsted Market Days

7-8: Retro on Roscoe

13-15: Ginza Holiday

13-15: New! Rockin’ on the River Ribfest (yummy)

14-15: Free! Air & Water Show

14-15: Free! Armenian Fest

14-15: Free! Gethsemane Garden Center Art Fair

14-15: Wrigleyville Summerfest

15: Croatian Fest – Free!

20-22: North Side Summerfest

21-22: Caribbean Festival

21-22: Free! Chicago Carifete

21-22: Ukrainian Days Festival 2010 Free!

28-29: Bucktown Arts Fest Free!

28-29: Lake View Music Fest

28-29: Randolph Street Market Festival

28-29: Taste of Greece 2010

A few summers ago I was suprised to see a vintage sailing ship docked on the Chicago River at the point where it joins Lake Michigan that looked like it was from the 1700′s. It was the Tall Ships visiting Chicago and they are back this summer with more sailing excursions to offer local Chicagoans a really unique experience. There is one Tall Ship here now that I have seen floating by our office building downtown but be ready for 20 tall ships to arrive at Navy Pier on August 24-29, 2010. This will be a rare vintage sailing event for Chicago.

The ships have come all the way from Canada, Germany and The Netherlands in addition to the ones from the US. You will be able to tour the Tall Ships that weekend in August while they are at Navy Pier (the local tour boats will give up their docks?) and they have several tours and sailing ticket packages available. To tour the Tall Ships the cost is $15-20. To take a 60-90 minute sailing ride on Lake Michigan it costs from $45-55 and a special trip to be on the Tall Ships as they are in the Parade of Sails it is $189.00 per person. (Navy Pier 600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago)

It is a bit expensive but it is a once in a lifetime experience, its not like it is easy to maintain these boats and they aren’t very common anymore. You can get a $2 discount with a specially marked Pepsi can and some tickets are available at neighborhood Dominick’s stores at a 35% discount in advance. Tickets can be purchased online at: websales.omniticket.com/cnp

There will also be nightly fireworks shows the weekend the tall sailing ships visit. If your kids like the Pirates of the Caribbean or just Pirates in general they may really enjoy seeing these old navy ships in action.

It is also good to remember that Navy Pier is also where Chicago Architectural Tours, Sea Dog Tours and Shoreline Sight Seeing tours are docked on a daily basis. So when your relatives come to visit and want to see Chicago or the kids need a summer field trip, these can also be fun affordable tours to take on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Parking is easy, there is an enormous parking garage inside Navy Pier Just turn North of the pier and drive along side, large signs direct traffic in to the parking under the buildings. Expect parking to be around $25.

Schedule:

August 24
(Ticket sales start at Noon)
Parade of Sail
Begins at 4:00 pm

Opening Ceremonies at Navy Pier’s East End Plaza: 5:00 p.m. as the ships make their approach. Festival viewing tickets required.

Tall Ship Viewing
Close of Parade of Sail to 9:00 pm

Fireworks 9:00 pm
August 25-28
10:00 am– 9:00 pm
Festival Grounds open (advance or walk-up ticket purchase required)

Tall Ship Viewing and Tall Ship Dockside Boarding

*Box offices will open at least 1 hour in advance of event opening times

Fireworks 9:00 pm
August 29
10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Festival Grounds open (advance or walk-up ticket purchase required)

Tall Ship Viewing and Tall Ship Dockside Boarding

*Box offices will open at least 1 hour in advance of event opening times

Fireworks 9:30 p.m.

The Taste of Chicago starts this weekend and it is going to be a rainy and hot couple of weeks. There are some great music performances planned for free at the Taste of Chicago and there is a new Taste of Chicago iPhone App to help you find the right food within a very crowded festival.

Parking: If you plan to drive in traffic, you can park directly under the event in Millennium Garages for around $23. $5 off coupon here 

Event Dates: Jun 25, 2010 – Jul 4, 2010

Event Hours: 11 am – 9 pm Daily Except Saturday, July 3: 11 am – 7 pm; Sunday, July 4: 11 am – 6 pm Ticket sales end 30 minutes before the Taste of Chicago closes.

Location: Main Entrance Michigan Ave. & Congress Dr. Chicago, IL 60604

Food Tickets: Food and beverages are sold with tickets and the tickets are sold 12 at a time for $8.  Each food vendor has the ticket prices posted on their booth. Over 200 food items are available at the event, and no food item costs more than 12 tickets. Credit Cards are accepted at the ticket booths. An I.D. is required when making a credit card purchase.

Free Music: Rob Thomas is singing on Friday July 2. Lots of others listed here at the end of the post.

Some new changes to this year’s Taste of Chicago are that the restaurants able to  and sell food there have to be located from within Chicago’s city limits. This has turned off a lot of suburban food fans who would have otherwise come out to the Taste of Chicago but since the emphasis is more on city boundaries and not Chicagoland as a whole a lot of suburbanites are planning on staying away. Many of the big well known restaurants and food brands known in Chicago are really located in the surrounding suburbs and they were always included before.

So, that said the mix of restaurants and food will be quite different this year:

• Abundance Bakery 105 East 47th Street Chicago, IL
• Adobo Grill 1601 North Wells Street Chicago, IL
• Bacino’s Pizza of Lincoln Park 2204 North Lincoln Avenue Chicago, IL
• Billy Goat Tavern & Grill 1535 West Madison Avenue (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• BJ’s Market and Bakery 8734 South Stony Island Avenue Chicago, IL
• Bobak Sausage Company 5275 South Archer Avenue (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Carbón 300 West 26th Street Chicago, IL
• C’est Si Bon! 643 East 47th Street Chicago, IL
• Chicago Joe’s 2256 West Irving Park Road Chicago, IL
• Churro Factory2214 South Wolcott Avenue Chicago, IL
• Connie’s Pizza 2373 South Archer Avenue Chicago, IL  (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Cubby Bear 1059 West Addison Street Chicago, IL
• Doreen’s Gourmet Pizza 13201 South Baltimore Avenue Chicago, IL
• Eli’s Cheesecake 6701 West Forest Preserve Drive Chicago, IL
• Franco’s Ristorante 300 West 31st Street Chicago, IL
• Garrett Popcorn Shops(ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• The Grill on the Alley 909 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL
• Guey Lon 3968 North Elston Avenue Chicago, IL
• Harold’s Chicken #71 2109 South Wabash Avenue (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Harry Caray’s33 West Kinzie Street Chicago, IL
• Hashbrowns 731 West Maxwell Street Chicago, IL
• Home Run Inn Pizza 4254 West 31st Street (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Iyanze 4623 North Broadway Street Chicago, IL
• JR Dessert Bakery 2841 West Howard Street Chicago, IL
• Kasia’s Deli 2101 West Chicago Avenue Chicago, IL
• La Justicia 3901 West 26th Street Chicago, IL
• Lagniappe-Creole Cajun Joynt 1525 West 79th Street Chicago, IL
• Las Tablas Colombian Steakhouse 2942 N. Lincoln Avenue Chicago, IL
• Lou Malnati’s Pizza 805 South State Street (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Manny’s Cafeteria & Delicatessen 1141 S. Jefferson Street (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• The Noodle Vietnamese Cuisine2336 S. Wentworth Avenue Chicago, IL
• Oak Street Beach Café 5700 South Cicero Avenue Chicago, IL
• O’Brien’s 1528 North Wells Street Chicago, IL
• Original Rainbow Cone 9233 S. Western Avenue (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Pegasus Restaurant & Taverna130 South Halsted Street (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Polka Sausage and Deli 8753 Commercial Avenue Chicago, IL
• Reggio’s Pizza1339 S. Halsted Street Chicago, IL
• Ricobene’s 252 W. 26th Street Chicago, IL
• Robinson’s No.1 Ribs 225 S. Canal Street (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Sabor Latino 3810 West North Avenue Chicago, IL
• Shokolad Pastry and Café 2524 West Chicago Avenue
• Star of Siam 11 E. Illinois Street (ChicagoWeekendFun recommends!)
• Summer Noodle & Rice 1123 West Granville Avenue Chicago, IL
• Tamarind 614 S. Wabash Avenue Chicago, IL
• Timothy O’Toole’s Pub 622 North Fairbanks Court Chicago, IL
• Tuscany 1014 W. Taylor Street Chicago, IL
• Tutto Italiano 501 South. Wells Street Chicago, IL
• Vee Vee’s African Cuisine 6232 North Broadway Street Chicago, IL
• Vermilion 10 West Hubbard Street Chicago, IL
• Vienna Beef/Gold Coast Dog  Chicago, IL

I always have the same disclaimers about the food at the Taste of Chicago. Feel free to indulge but these are not foods I recommend eating on a regular basis. About 95% of them are high calorie high fat foods (fried chicken, ribs, sausages, pizza, burgers, sweets) and would be a poor addition to your diet on a weekly basis. The whole purpose of the Taste is for these companies to market to you and then you eat their food more regularly if you like it. Don’t fall into that trap. A day of indulgence is ok, regular weeknight meals are better off being salads in the long run.

** Edited June 24 – Humana Health Insurance Company emailed me to say that they have a program highlighting healthier choices at the Tase of Chicago, likley because I highlighted that there are almost no healthy choices at the Taste. They say that their qualification of entrees for this program are that they are under 450 calories and 500 mg sodium. (no fat limit???) 450 calories? for a sample of food? If someone is on a 1,200 calorie diet, that isn’t really a lot of help. You get a snack for dinner and thats it. Maybe that is what was intended by nature, but people won’t like it. An entire dinner should be under 500 calories (for most shorter women like me) and it still should be satisfying, so samples should be 200 calories or less.

The Taste of Chicago is an indulgence and pretending its anything else is just not very honest. You can look at their menu recommendations at humana.com/tasteofchicago if you are still interested. I understand why companies that are paying for your health coverage want you to make smarter choices, but I think the food companies and restaurants need to partner with them to actually make some healthy and appealing menu options that are available 24/7/365 of else something like this isn’t really going to work.

Taste of Chicago Petrillo Bandshell Free Music Schedule:

• Friday, June 25, 2010 – Rob Base, Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Salt-n-Pepa Bell Biv Devoe 5:30 pm
• Saturday, June 26, 2010 – Gavin Rossdale Band From TV (opening act) 5:30 pm
• Sunday, June 27, 2010 – Emily Osment Allstar Weekend (opening act) 3:00 pm
• Tuesday, June 29, 2010 – Los Lobos Los Lonely Boys (co-headliner) 5:30 pm
• Wednesday, June 30, 2010 Mat Kearney Brett Dennen (opening act) 5:30 pm
• Thursday, July 1, 2010 -Trey Songz Teairra Mari (opening act) 5:30 pm
• Friday, July 2, 2010 – Rob Thomas 5:30 pm
• Saturday, July 3, 2010 – Steve Miller Band 3:00 pm
• Sunday, July 4, 2010 – Robert Randolph and The Family Band special guest Carney (opening)

So, we’re off to the Taste and I hope you have a great time and wear comfortable shoes and bring an umbrella!

If you plan on coming downtown to Chicago for any of this weekend’s events beware that the Wacker Drive Construction project is starting to close streets and re-route traffic. The Chicago Department of Transportation sent out this email today. Be careful to make note of the changes at the Chicago Wacker Drive Construction website also. Have a great weekend!

Wacker Drive Construction Update:

The City of Chicago has informed BOMA/Chicago that the first contract of the Wacker Drive Reconstruction project, the Congress Interchange, has been awarded and work is scheduled to begin shortly. 
 
Beside the additional construction vehicles and work, you will notice a new traffic configuration beginning this Thursday night into Friday morning.  The impact to traffic is the closure of Franklin from Harrison to Van Buren as well as the ramp from I-290 to Franklin.  This closure will go into effect by 12:01 a.m. Friday, June 18, 2010.
 
As previously stated the Wacker Driver Reconstruction project involves four contracts:
1. Congress interchange
2. North viaduct structure (Randolph to Monroe)
3. South viaduct structure (Monroe to Congress)
4. Lower-level utility work
 
The private utility work has been on-going throughout the Lower Wacker project limits and in conjunction with the public utility work scheduled to begin in the next few weeks.  The viaduct work is scheduled to begin in January 2011 and be completed by the end of 2012. 
 
For more information on that project or the Wacker project, visit the Wacker Drive Reconstruction Project web site: www.wackerdrive.org.

(Information provided by Chicago Department of Transportation.)

I’m in the small category of people who are looking for new furniture for their home this Memorial Day Weekend and I’ve got the rundown on what I have found at the local Chicago Furniture Stores. My location is near Route 59 in Naperville/Aurora so that is where I’ve been shopping but the chain stores should be consistent with their prices everywhere. this Memorial Day Weekend has more sales than just these, but this is what I can report from first hand experience.

Carson’s Furniture Gallery on Rt 59 has a lot of furniture marked down to 50% off on sale. Its brand new furniture in perfect condition, sometimes even custom ordered. I was in the store last night looking for a black entertainment console cabinet that had a center speaker compartment with that cloth speaker covering and they had a few they sell but the cabinets were not on the floor and would need to be ordered. I saw a cute side table with a floral painted motif in burgundy (hiding by the down escalators) for $275. That is a good deal. There was also an entertainment console and hutch combo on the 2nd floor marked down to 1/2 price of $875.  You get a wide variety of furniture styles at Carson’s Furniture Gallery, but only a few pieces of each style. They also mentioned Carson’s furniture stock only changes twice a year, so if you don’t find anything you like, come back 6 months later andyou may find something different. And check your Sunday Newspaper fliers for sales on specific pieces.

We also were at the Thomasville Furniture store on Rt 59 near I-88 last weekend and although they have nothing in stock that you can take home, they order everything custom, they did have a 20% off sale and an extra 4% off over $1,000 and even more off over $5,000. We ordered a couch in dark gray velvet from them and a king size headboard both on sale. I don’t really like that we have to wait 2 months for the furniture to come in, and even on sale the prices still aren’t great, but they were less than Jayson Home and Garden, so they got the sale. Thomasville was cool in the 80′s but they have lagged behind in their designs and marketing ever since. (Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel have done better although C&B is too modern) Thomasville has updated but they are still ultra traditional and don’t have a lot of modern/minimalist/transitional bedroom or dining sets but they have some modern style sofas.

And who can forget those nice furniture people Darvin on the far south side of Chicago’s suburbs. I was out to the store a few months ago and Darvin has more furniture than you can possibly look through in one day. It is the largest furniture store I have ever seen! They sent out an email today about a 50% off sale this Memorial Day Weekend. I know that Darvin Furniture has very reasonably priced furniture to begin with but 50% off will make it even more affordable. Their furniture leans toward very ornate styles and traditional designs right now. If you like minimalist modern, this is proabably not the place for you. If you like rich wood colors and carved details, check out Darvin.

I would also check Macy’s memorial day furniture sale if you have one of their furnture stores close by. Macy’s tends to feature low end and high endfurniture pieces but not much in between. I was not able to find a bed that did not have a huge high headboard (which is the thing they all have now) nor one with an interesting enough wood detail there to buy. I was also disapointed that Macy’s sofas were pretty generic and either too modern or too traditional. Not enough transitional (in-between) designs. The stuff that was cool is from Baker and costs $10,000. I was at the Macy’s on State Street and the Furniture Store in Oak Brook. The Oak Brook store was far cleaner and more organized but the sales people were really pushy. The State Street Macy’s was a disorganized mess with all kinds of nooks and crannies of weird stuff but the sales person was much nicer and more relaxed.

Regardless of where you go to shop please have something in mind before you go, both in style and price since the furniture sales people have been taught to close the sale hard and it is difficult to get out of there and easier to give up when its frustrating to not find what you want. Look at Apartment Therapy, Strange Closets and other home design blogs (in addition to the manufacturer sites and retailer sites) to get a sense of what you like in style for your room and price range before you go shopping.

I have also found some good deals on Craigslist but you get a 50/50 ratio of nice people and not so nice, so beware. We got a great crate & barrel coffee table/end table set for $200 yet the Restoration Hardware patio set we agreed to buy and booked a time to rent a van for sold before we could get over there because someone offered more money. Furniture shopping is always a challenge and an adventure!

It’s time to think of summer and specifically plan your weekend for the Lollapalooza 2010 concert extraviganza. Tickets are on sale now and the bands lineup was just announced.  This is the one concert you should go to each year no matter what your music tastes are. You can miss all the other concerts in Chicago for 2010 and make up for it by seeing all these bands in 3 days this August in Grant Park at Lollapalooza. It is also a great way to discover new music/bands that you wouldn’t know about yet. You have got to get excited that all of these talented people come to Chicago for the greatest party weeked of the summer.  If you haven’t gotten hotel rooms booked, now would be a good time to do that also.

Dates: August 6-10, 2010

Address: Grant Park 337 E. Randolph St. (Map it) Chicago, IL 60601

Tickets:  Tickets are ON SALE NOW!  ONLY a 3-day pass is still available now for $215.00. All the one and two day pass tickets are sold out.

Lollapalooza 2010 Bands Lineup Announced: Here are the bands/singers/musicians/performers that will be playing at Lollapalooza 2010 this summer:

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Soundgarden
Green Day
Lady Gaga
Arcade Fire
The Strokes
Phoenix
Social Distortion
MGMT
Jimmy Cliff
Hot Chip
The Black Keys
The National Spoon
Devo
Cypress Hill
Cut Copy
The New Pornographers
Erykah Badu
Slightly Stoopid
Grizzly Bear
Gogol Bordello
Chromeo
Wolfmother
Yeasayer
X Japan
MUTEMATH
Metric
Dirty Projectors
AFI
Mavis Staples
Matt & Kim
The xx Drive-By Truckers
Blues Traveler
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
The Temper Trap
Jamie Lidell
Frightened Rabbit
F**k Buttons
Deer Tick
Blitzen
Trapper Stars
Raphael Saadiq
The Cribs Minus the Bear
Switchfoot
The Walkmen
Mumford & Sons
Wild Beasts
Rogue Wave
Los Amigos
Invisibles
The Big Pink
The Dodos
Hockey
Cymbals Eat Guitars
B.o.B
Dawes
Warpaint
The Antlers
The Soft Pack Rebelution
Balkan Beat Box
Wavves
American Bang
The Ike Reilly Assassination
Company of Thieves
Nneka Harlem
The Constellations
Miniature Tigers
Mimicking Birds
The Kissaway Trail
HEALTH
Javelin
The Morning Benders
Foxy Shazam
Violent Soho
Royal Bangs
Freelance Whales
Semi Precious Weapons
Dan Black
The Band of Heathens
Dragonette
My Dear Disco
Shawn Fisher
Neon
Hitch
Skybox
The Ettes
Jukebox the Ghost
These United States
MyNameIsJohnMichael

Spinning at Perry’s
2ManyDJs
Empire of the Sun
Digitalism
Perry Farrell
Tiga Felix Da Housecat
Rusko Erol
Alkan Kaskade
Wolfgang Gartner
Flosstradamus
Joachim Garraud
Mexican Institute of Sound
Caspa
Peanut Butter
Wolf
Dirty South
NERVO
Cut Copy (DJ Set)
Beats Antique
Steve Porter
Didi
Gutman of Brazilian Girls
Ancient Astronauts
Ana
Sia
Team Bayside
High Dani
Deahl
FreeSol
DJ Mel
BBU
Vonnegutt
Only Children
Lance Herbstrong (omg, what a brilliant name)

Go to the Lollapalooza.com site to put these bands in your own custom bands lineup and it will be added to your facebook profile.

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I went to go see the new Science Storms exhibit at The Museum of Science and Industry last Thursday at a special preview. (full disclosure: It was free to attend, but I did have a hefty cab ride to pay for both ways) I was excited to see that a few hundred people had shown up to see the new exhibit and explore the Museum of Science & Industry with their kids and families. It was also nice to see that the revamped areas around the exhibit were more modern and kicked it up a notch with what a Museum display can be. Here are some of my thoughts on the Science Storms Experience:

The Good Stuff :

The overall design of the space was better than I remember most museums having. There are some seats, since people do need to let their feet rest from time to time. There is space between the activities so kids can gather around and see. There were people with lab coats on explaining how the interactive features worked to the kids, I am not sure if they are there every day but if so, good job. Kids like to ask questions and parents don’t always know the answer. I liked the overall use of projection screens on walls for video rather than tiny tvs and the use of touch screen tvs for interactive features like the electricity coil rocket. I also really liked the table with the un-related periodic table of the elements. The ability to identify the elements based on the marker from a camera above your hand and the table was cool. Also the projection of the reaction that was happening was cool too. This feature was completely intuitive and easy to figure out without reading any instructions. Big displays like the tornado and the avalanche disk are going to attract initial attention and others will allow kids to interact for a longer period of time and discover more about science. All the exhibit functions looked cool. The dramatic lighting, the safety railings and even the way they rigged up the electricity ball thing in the ceiling all looked cool without compromising safety or science.

The Not So Good Stuff:

The name of the exhibit is confusing, I thought Science Storms was going to be about the science of weather. The promo email they sent me also had an artist image of Chicago with a thunderstorm/tsunami heading in off the lake (not possible but dramatic none the less) and it wasn’t about that at all. Yes there were a few exhibits about tidal waves, tornadoes and thunderstorms and even avalanches which are in the whole natural phenomena category, but there was a lot of space devoted to the basic laws of physics and science. Electricity? Periodic table of Elements? Fire ? Not really storms. I thought the name should have been something like Explore Science or divide the exhibit into 2 areas separately. It looks like a project that had serious scope creep and they just tossed things in because they were interesting and not necessarily related to the concept.

The exhibit was sponsored by AllState. How weird is that? Yes learn about tornadoes with your kids and then insure your house. Ugh. It would have been different if AllState really used some of their data to present something we could learn from, but just standing there smiling at us with a giant logo was a bit creepy.

The Bad Stuff:

This list is short, basically the bathrooms were gross. Having someone there cleaning constantly may be needed on busy days like Saturdays. Kids are messy. Yuck. ALSO,  The Networld Exhibit that shows the Megabyte & Terabyte as the largest data storage quantities needs to go away quickly. It was closed for the evening but I have a sneaking suspicion it is still open during the day. It was originally sponsored by ComEd, but now it looks like it was sponsored by AOL/Compuserve in 1993. Please take this out or close this up as quickly as possible it offers no value and shows how dated a museum can become if it strays too far from the established science principles into trendy stuff. If they want to do a new exhibit on technology, great, but this is not it. I also could not find the car exhibit, but if it is still there with a half empty corridor and a 1985 Pontiac Fiero as the modern car of the future ditto on that one too!  

Regular General Admission tickets to the Museum of Science and Industry are $ 15 for Adults, $10 for kids. Its Extra for other special exhibits like the Green Home.

Address: 

5700 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 684-1414

MSIChicago.org

A special exhibit of Matisse artwork is coming to The Art Institute of Chicago. Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917is a look into a trans-formative time early in the artist’s work. I am a big fan of Henri Matisse’s well known works because of the vibrant bold colors, unique settings and still lifes. I am looking forward to seeing the rare early works of this artist.

The Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917 Exhibition is running only from March 20th through June 20th so  that is only 12 Saturdays to go see it if you need a weekend. Saturdays are crowded, get there early and if you don’t like lines, check it out during the week. The address and phone number of the Art Institute of Chicago are below if you would like to contact them for more information.

Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60603
(877) 307-4242
artinstituteofchicago.org

General Admission Tickets to the Art Institute of Chicago are $20 and plan on taking public transit because parking isn’t really a part of the complex and can be expensive.  The world of the Art Institute of Chicago is vast and if you go for this special Exhibition on Matisse, plan on spending the day exploring their regular display pieces as well, they are all quite amazing. I recommend the modern wing for looking at the new exhibits as well as the basement with the unique armor art.

Everyone was a buzz last night as Evan Lysacek won the gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver Canada. Chicago is buzzing because Evan Lysacek is from this area originally although he trains in California.

I’m excited because Evan Lysacek is one of the local skaters I saw skating back when I was involved with Figure Skating. To be completely truthful, I had quit my skating due to being a bit old (at 18) and deciding to go to college since that whole Olympic dream thing wasn’t going to happen for me without some big jumps, and I wasn’t really a jumper.

I was teaching Saturday afternoon skating lessons at the Darien Sportsplex after I graduated and this kid was in the yearly ice show tearing up the ice. Everyone said that he was another Timothy Goebel, who was a kid I skated around on practices daily for a few years at Center Ice of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. Timothy Goebel went on to win a Bronze medal in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympics. I say kid because he was at least 5 years younger than anyone else and he was working on triples when we were still trying to get the double flip right. (I never did) Timothy went on to move to a full time training facility with Carol Heiss Jenkins in Ohio and I went on to Illinois State University.

So, this kid Evan was really something amazing on a local level then, and we’re talking maybe 1998-1999 here. Next thing I know he is Novice Champion in the USFSA magazine, which is a stepping stone to getting noticed by big coaches and he was on his way. I can’t say I knew him nor skated with him, but I am still proud that two guys from this area with the same basics available were able to make it up through the ranks of the best. It does make Naperville proud. (and Darien too)

I am puzzled about how the news is reporting some of the people debating Evan Lysacek’s win and debating the “new” scoring system. I don’t know if the scoring system is the best thing for the sport but I do know that it chose the best skater for the gold. It has been obvious that the change in scoring to a prescribed point value for each element performed has made a blurry system much more clear. What I am not sure about is don’t they disclose the points in a detailed list to the public so we can see what has been given credit and how much, so there is no room for debate? I really think the complaints about the new scoring system would be moot with the detailed list of elements and points for each skater released publicly.

I really think Evan’s program won because of strategy. He and Frank Carrol calculated what Plushenko’s program would score and choreographed something that could out score it without a quad. Its simple math and studying your competition well from the outset. This is legal and what most skaters aim to do. Plushenko did the same thing but he bet that nobody else would skate a clean program because he is often the only one that does. Well, many people did and there were a bunch at the top that all deserved a medal (Johnny Wier and Stephane Lambiel especially) but alas there are only 3 regardless of how clean everyone skates and how much everyone over-trains. Expect the over engineering of many more programs in the future.

On that note, I am not sure about how the system has changed how skaters value their programs because they have gone from jumpfest-gymnastics-tumbling-runs back and forth across the ice to cram everything (serpentine footwork, multiple combo spins, “transitions”) in fests now. I am exhausted looking at the multiple combination spins including the outside edge and many contorting positions while most of this expression in the name of “points” isn’t really fitting with the story or the music for certain skaters. Basically it feels forced.

BUT, on the other hand I do get excited at the use of the full body to complete a movement and in expressing the feelings of the music. After skating, I spent some time dancing and the dance world made the figure skaters look like a bunch of sticks on ice and I am glad that the skaters took notice of that. (even if it took Kristi Yamaguchi on Dancing with the Stars to bring up the topic) Yet it seems like most of the movements are so rehearsed with blank expressions like skaters are sleep walking through it from doing them repetitively every day for months. I guess I do long for the real performers to come back in some middle ground where artistry is in balance with technical difficulty and people really enjoy performing rather than dread it, regardless of the pressure. I also would love to see skaters pushing boundaries and loading programs because they want to innovate and not because they have to.

One thing still plagues almost every skater I see on TV and that is a lack of confidence and the fear of falling. I understand, I was a horrible competitive skater. I would get so sick with nerves I would almost throw up before performing. My lips and hands would turn blue. I would stumble through performances not knowing whether I was coming down straight or completely sideways and sometimes I would forget to breathe. Yea I was that bad. But I was a completely different swing dancer. Something was different after it wasn’t about competitions anymore. I wanted to be in the center of the swing circle for sing-sing-sing every night and I was better when I knew people were watching. I wanted to show off and I wasn’t nervous at all. That was when I found that I did like the spotlight and only then did I loose the nerves. You have to love the crowd whether you fall or not. You have to want to perform for them if it’s 10 people or 5 million. Its not about you, it’s about performing.

My advice (to be taken with a grain of salt as always) for young up and coming figure skaters today is to go out and see other types of performances regularly. This means Ballet, Broadway Theater, Modern Dance, Improv Comedy,  Music Concerts, Opera, and all kinds of sports too. (taking some lessons is a good idea too) Examine how these performers go out on stage and nail it every day without falling. Examine how they bring so much energy to a performance. Look at the way they tell a story and how they use their body to express it. Find what draws you into their performance and how you can do that on the ice. Rewrite the rules of figure skating. It doesn’t exist in a world (with points) by itself anymore. Everything overlaps and inter-relates these days. Find some other arts and sports to pursue in your interest and you will be a more well rounded skater and person. Hopefully you will be more relaxed too.