The Thumb

Over Labor Day, I aggravated my thumb. A combo of Bike the Drive, putting in the garden, and other household projects. Seemed minor, but I kept irritating it to the point where I couldn't write. And a development guy who can't pen a hand-written thank you note...well, it's all over. Find a new career. Went the doctor, and for two weeks full-time, and part-time after that, I'm in this contraption. Upcoming photos of event will document my progress. Talk to the hand...uh thumb...uh cast-like-thing.

Mozart with the Monks at Grant Park

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"This evening's Tibetan Mozart Requiem, presented in celebration of the composer's 250th birthday, grew from the Grant Park Music Festival's mission to serve Chicago's rich cultural heritage and to expand its audience's knowledge of the city's diverse cultures through innovative programming.

At several points in the Tibetan Mozart Requiem, members of the Buddhist Drepung Loseling Monastery of Atlanta will perform traditional chants using a "multi-phonic" vocal technique developed through years of practice that allows the intonation of "many sounds" simultaneously across a three-octave range by a single voice. The performance, inspired by a similar venture by the Stuttgart Philharmonic in 1996, was designed to juxtapose Western classical music and theological interpretations of death and redemption with those of Tibetan Buddhist culture, tenets central to both religions.

"By juxtaposing the forms of artistic expression and the liturgies of two different religions," His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, "one may arrive at an unexpected understanding of the affinities as well as the special characteristics of these two traditions."

So, it wasn't really incorporated--just the Monks doing their thing in between sections of Mozart.


MOZART Piano Concerto in Major, K. 503
MOZART Requeim Mass, K. 626 (Levin version)
Tibet Chant
Introit
Kyrie
Dies Irae
Tibet Chant
Tuba Mirum
Rex Tremendae
Tibet Chant
Recordare
Confutatis
Lacrimosa
Tibet Chant
Domine Jesu
Hostias
Sanctuas
Tibet Chant
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Tibet Chant
Lux Aeterna

Ms. S's Mom and Ms. G in town

Concert in Grant Park with the Joffrey, Architecture Foundation boat tour, dinner in Little Italy, King Tut at the Field, Bahai Temple, dinner at Thai Pastry were just some of the highlights of this whirlwind visit.

Cubs v. Astros Bleachers

"Carlos Zambrano stifled the Astros for seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out five, but Houston tagged Bob Howry and benefited from a costly error in the eighth to steal one from the Cubs. Jacque Jones homered and Juan Pierre set a new career high with four steals."






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We sat in the Bleachers, but because we came late, we sat in the last row, under the scoreboard. It was shady and cool. Cool. (The theme seemed to be red on the girls, blue on the boys...)

Hecuba with the Goodbye Girl

A relentless production (lots of yelling), a good cast, a good script, but Marsha Mason didn't cut it for me. Can't put my finger on it, but it was the believability thing.

The Boy Detective Fails

First, check out this video prologue.
















House took on the challenge of staging a novel, it was all over the place, but still great. Jake, where did that accent come from???

Lettice and Lovage at the Court

We were both thinking we might make an early exit after a long week, but this production kept us to the end. A little over the top, but fun.

Henry IV Part I and II

A six hour marathon production of the Henry IV plays back to back with a dinner break. This production will go on the the Royal Shakespeare as part of their "present the entire canon in a year" festival. We both thought it was a pretty strong production. Hotspur was hot. And my trainer, Mr. H., had some cool cameos.

Alumni Weekend Is All About the Golf Carts

OK, so my main interest in alumni weekend was the award to James Q. Wilson, since generally grad students don't get caught up in reunions.

Still...for me, it's all about who gets to drive the golf carts. Watch out if anyone with the initials J. J. is behind the wheel.

James Q. Wilson receives Alumni Medal

James Q. Wilson (Ph.D. ’59) was honored with the 2006 University Alumni Medal. We put together a very nice dinner for him at Frontera Grill.




From the University's press release:


Wilson has had a distinguished career as a political scientist, a criminologist, a scholar of public administration, a policy analyst, a government advisor and a public intellectual. Wilson is considered to be America’s preeminent political scientist. The American Political Science Association honored him with its James Madison Award for a career of distinguished scholarship in 1990, and with its John Gaus Award for exemplary scholarship in the fields of political science and public administration in 1994. He served as president of the association from 1991 to 1992.

Wilson is most widely known for his “broken windows” theory of crime, holding that public disorder and police acceptance of nuisances and low-level crimes lead to further deterioration of the urban environment and public passiveness, which in turn foster higher crime rates. Wilson’s solution, emphasizing community-based foot patrols and enforcement of nuisance violations, was later implemented in New York City and was credited with reducing crime significantly during the 1990s.

Wilson’s book American Government. is more widely used on university campuses than any other government textbook. As a policy analyst and government advisor, he has served as Chairman of the White House Task Force on Crime, on the board of directors of the Police Foundation, as Chairman of the National Advisory Commission on Drug Abuse Prevention, on the Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Crime, and on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Most recently, Wilson was a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, and in 2003 the White House honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

As noted in one of the written recommendations to receive the Alumni Medal, “Wilson has often expressed . . . the importance of his education at the University of Chicago and the debt he owes to our University. It was at Chicago where he acquired his devotion to sound empirical research, his appreciation of the "big questions," his courage to cross disciplinary boundaries, and his willingness to think thoughts out of fashion . . . Though he has taught at Harvard, UCLA and other places, he regards himself intellectually and professionally as a man of Chicago.”

First Cubs Tix of the Year: v. Reds

Electric Zambrano!!!



"Carlos Zambrano tossed six strong innings but took his first blemish in the month of May. Juan Pierre collected a pair of hits, and Jacque Jones launched his ninth home run of the season, but the Cubs were unable to complete the sweep."











Wave your hands in the air like you just don't care. Damn that K. Griffey, Jr.

Dysfunctional Family Theater Can Be Fun!

OK, so our running joke about going to see Steppenwolf is: "another dysfunctuional family evening..." Love Song, their current offering, was actually a funny dysfunctional family. As always, a strong cast. As Ms. S said: "if this script had been around, we would have been using the scene with the reclusive brother and his possibly imaginary girlfriends as audition material..." Sam Shepard and Patti Smith, where is that Cowboy Mouth...

Bike the Drive

The fifth annual, one of our favorite Chicago events. Bloody hot and humid, but still fun. Ms. S did the sensible thing and pedaled only while it was still fun. They had photographers all over the route, hence the dual pictures of Mr. P.

John List: Inaugural Lecture

John List delivered his inaugural lecture on natural field experiments. He's done some work by going to sports trade shows to see how people value objects (they value stuff they have in hand more, even if they've been given it for free)...but who knew, he also has papers on philanthropy, for example, do matching offers work.

Bill T. Jones

Bill T. Jones was the final speaker for the 2005-2006 University of Chicago Presidential Fellows in the Arts series. Classic Bill. I would go see him read the phone book, anytime....

How cool that it was at the U of Chicago.

Also went to a wonderful party for Lois Stein, the Dean of Students for the Social Sciences Division, who is retiring.