Fantastic and free!

There is so much to do in this City and a good deal of these things are free. This week Chuck and I attended the Calexico Concert at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Our timing was just about right, and I think there must be a good balance between people that come to picnic in the lawn in the back and people that chose the seating pit. There were plenty of seats, but it still looked pretty full. The perfect size crowd.

Calexico put on a really good show and we were thinking they brought so many people from Tucson up on stage I was surprised my Aunt Leslie wasn't there! She lives in Tucson's Barrio Historico, and has been a fan of theirs for a very long time. I'm amazed that somehow this was the first time we've managed to see them live. The first guest was Salvador Duran who belted out an amazing song of his own and supported Calexico on a track I recognized from their album with Iron & Wine, In the Reins. Another song featured Pieta Brown in a song about losing a hubcap in the desert outside Tucson at night, which I can attest is very, very dark. I've recently been enjoying Pieta Brown's album Remember The Sun and I was really excited when she came on stage. My one complaint would be that she didn't come back again after that song! To wrap up the guests they brought out Mariachi Luz de Luna for about the last half of the performance.

Then Saturday I spent most of the day with my Mom & Dad at the Art Institute. Also Free! They were having a special event "360 Degrees, Art without Borders" which I still haven't completely figured out, but the museum was packed with lectures and events, the Symphony was doing free performances as well, though we were worn out from the museum and didn't wait in the massive lines to check that out. Instead we saw all we could in the museum, including a Henri Cartier-Bresson photography exhibit and some of their amazing permanent collection. They are currently undergoing a huge addition of a Modern Wing by Renzo Piano which has meant various galleries have been closed on and off. (I can't wait until it's done, which should be May 2009.) Nonetheless, I think I could probably do a blog a day for a month about specific pieces of work I was excited about...but...I think I'll just leave it at this: Chicago has lots of cools stuff! And free is a really good deal!

Oh, and pictured above are some photos my dad put up on his Flickr today of one of the performances at the Art Institute we stopped in briefly to check out. The space was just beautiful and the musicians, Swing Gitan, were really good and seemed to be enjoying themselves! I don't think I've seen an accordion played so well...

As for the rest of the weekend, we of course watched the debate Friday night. And today has been pretty nice and relaxed. We mostly spent the day listening to our most recent downloads from emusic & worrying about our cat Lucy's sleeping pattern. (those of you following me on twitter may have caught that!) She finally did get a nap and is currently bugging us about dinner.