Holiday Party with the Dean

The Dean hosted his annual wonderful holiday party for the staff. A good time was had by all.

Wisconsin

Went to see Ms. S's family for Thanksgiving. We drove this time, and confused ourselves with Black River Falls. The dark parallel universe version of River Falls?

Our camera person must have been on strike. This is the best of four pictures from the trip.















We played a rousing game of Apples to Apples after dinner.

The Nutcracker

There's no Sugar Plum Fairy in this one...big thumbs up for another great production from The House.

From Chris Jones's review in the Tribune:

"The House Theatre of Chicago's new "Nutcracker" begins with that famous holiday party. A brave young Marine named Fritz is expected home from war. But things quickly go terribly wrong for Clara. Her family's celebration is suddenly interrupted by one of those knocks on the door dreaded by every military family with someone in harm's way.

That's probably enough to reveal that this is not one of those traditional kinds of "Nutcracker," beloved by little girls in party dresses and reliant on ballet, spectacle and oversize toys. This one might make little girls -- and bigger persons of both genders -- cry.

Clara still gets her wooden soldier in this ambitious and heartfelt version by Phillip Klapperich and Jake Minton, and the contents of her toy box still come to life. But the battle with the Rat King isn't merely the stuff of whimsy, but a surrogate battle for Clara's coming to terms with the death of her brother. When "Uncle" Eric Drosselmeyer hands over a Nutcracker who looks a lot like Fritz, he has a live-saving mission in mind. Clara is lost in a psychological labyrinth -- one that resembles the struggle faced by a similar girl in the movie "Pan's Labyrinth," which I suspect was an influence on this show. And House is off on another of its regressive theatrical journeys into the mysterious mind of a child."

The Crucible

When was the last time you thought about this play? High school, right? A strong production at Steppenwolf.

Becker Center Conference

Went to most of a day long seminar at the Becker Center on campus.

California Trip

A work trip, primarily to be at a U of Chicago alumni event with Warren Winiarski, who wrote the chapter on Machiavelli for the Strauss and Cropsey's "History of Political Philosophy." Who knew? Oh yeah, there's also that judgement of Paris thing he's famous for in other circles....

A really wonderful event: great wine, great food, great weather, and Winiarski was absolutely charming.

And then got to spend some time with the ever fabulous Mr. R.