Monday, November 7, 2016

a concert, a meal

Anything to distract at least me from the news cycle and the election! Anything!

Off we went to Fogartyville to hear a Celtic music group called Brock McGuire.  Three old guys and a lively skinny youth who danced and sang.  We love the intimate venue and the warm welcome from the local volunteers.  Arlene, the young woman who runs the Peace Center, and Francis, the Goodwill Ambassador who must be 85 if he's a day and is all of about 5 foot 5... he is so upbeat just seeing him makes you smile.

The group was good- all excellent musicians and as charming as only Irish men can be,  The tunes got repetitive to me but all were very listenable.  The songs were classic mournful songs of wanting to return home- with one exception- a lovely song about the fifteen year old Irish girl who was the first person who came through on Ellis Island when it opened in 1892.  The singer was Dave Curley and the band was made up of three guys- one being Brock (last name) and the other last name McGuire and the third guy on keyboards was a music teacher as well as a musician. I kept saying to Phil "I know that guy from somewhere" and he agreed that the young man looked very familiar.  So when I googled him I found out we had seen him on January 31st at the same venue- with the group RUNA.... post address below to copy into your browser- I had really liked his work that previous evening although not the female singer's rushed delivery of the lyrics- again I will look to find his recording of Black River...

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2016/02/runa.html

We wanted to get dinner after the concert since we had a  big lunch later in the day so we headed over to the Starlite Room where we knew the bar was open and serving food after 10 PM. This is not a late night town....LOL We had a nice meal there and arrived home around 11:30 now one more day of the election torn from our calendars like the old movies---- it can't come soon enough for probably 99% of Americans- but for sure for me....






for apps - Phil had the tuna and I had deviled eggs



we split a salad


then I had mussels and he had the grouper sandwich



we whiled away the evening and are headed out tonight to see our buddy Dan at Blue Marlin for a late dinner.... it is really now the first week back in the regular routine for Phil - off to see his trainer (no I haven't sent him to obedience school LOL) and his usual forays to the grocery/drug/banks/costco etc....  School registration starts this week and I think I will take one class and see how it goes. Our school has undergone some traumatic changes this summer as USF ditched us (we took up too much room in their facility) and we had to find a new home which we did - with the Ringling College but the new facility isn't ready yet so classes are scheduled all over the place... the "main campus" has moved to Temple Beth Sholom.... so we will see how this works out- it is about twice as far as we are used to going for classes and that could be an impediment.  So as always- stay tuned....

Sunday, November 6, 2016

in the swim

so I have been "home" a week and Phil has been home three days- and yes we are already in the swim of our time here... discussing classes to take or not take; going to theater, symphony and opera; where to dine first second and third..LOL; and of course no "winter" would be complete without a couple of wine dinners at Michael's Wine Cellar.

So despite it being Phil's night number two we headed downtown to Michael's for a Robert Kacher wine dinner.


 the passed hors d'oeuvres were all excellent- sorry no photos- with my favorite being the duck pate


both the course above and below were outstanding- I gave a slight edge to the scallop and lobster course but Phil favored the duck and pork belly combo which did totally rock... so I couldn't argue the point LOL






Chef Jamil always works at top level when preparing these menus to pair with the wines- he gets a chance to be creative in a way he may not be able to at the restaurant Michael's on East where the menu has to be served day in and day out and appeal to a much broader group of patrons.

So a fine evening for our first Saturday in warmer climes.... and we are celebrating the win of the Cubs in the World Series and the award of Two Michelin Stars to our friends Noah, Cara, Genie, Aaron and Tory at Oriole! - in their first year of operation! This was a real big week for a lot of reasons.... but while we celebrate for a number of them the whole City of Chicago gets to celebrate the ending of the 108 year drought in baseball with the World Series win by the Cubs!  I don't think I have ever seen such an outpouring of pure joy as when they won the nail biter of game seven in extra innings... some of my FB friends' posts really hit the nail on the head when the game was tied at 6-6 in the ninth... one posted "HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, NOW WHAT?" LOL- so go Cubs and Yea! Oriole (posts of our four meals there this past summer are given below to cut and paste into your browser- sorry for some reason they don't hyperlink)

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2016/07/oh-oriole.html

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2016/09/starry-eyed.html

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2016/10/birthday-bash.html

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2016/10/this-is-how-it-should-be.html

So I will end this one with the photo I took off FB - Wow ! FIVE million people came out for the parade/rally on Friday to celebrate (which is more than half the population of the 9 million metro area) Go CUBS!

a musical interlude or introduction

So I picked Phil up at the airport on Thursday night and Friday night we started our "winter" life with a trip to hear the symphony orchestra.

this year our tickets are for Van Wezel due to specific music selections and timing of concerts rather than Neel Auditorium.


so off we went for the Rite Music- 

 It began with a favorite piece- the Egmont Overture from Beethoven- which we did not knwo was related to a Goethe work-


 That was followed by a masterful performance of a difficult piece - the Mendelssohn violin concerto.  the violinist played on anantique violin from Guarneri crafted in 1695!

Then it was on to the Stravinsky - which I found intellectually interesting but Phil was not keen on at all...LOL (can't love everything) I did find the following quite edifying though- from the program notes- LOL - heavily edited LOL



And tomorrow a wine dinner and the next night a concert- so we are back in the swing of things right off--- so stay tuned for more... "travel, food, theater, and an occasional rant" just as we bill it above LOL