Here is a story about people being nice. Way back in March I saw the first half – but only the first half – of Interrogation. This was very frustrating, as a pretty crucial component of a whodunit is finding out who actually did it. I told this sad story at Grace’s farewell dinner last week at Saujanya’s (whose cooking is incredible, by the way) and it reminded me of my open email thread with the good people at The Artistic Home to clear things up. So I prodded them and, the next day, the full script of Scott Woldman’s Interrogation lay waiting in my inbox. It read beautifully. And now I know who did it! Thank you, kind theatre people.
Only one team had the requisite power and speed
We went back to another Cubs game with Todd and Carolyn – this time against the ‘Los Angeles’ Angels of Anaheim, with scale quotes added for Randi’s benefit and a naming controversy which ended up in court. But I digress. We went back to another Cubs game with Todd and Carolyn, but this time we sat in seats which didn’t fill me with any fear of being hit in the face with a baseball, and I enjoyed it immensely. Presumably the Cubs did too, because they won comfortably.
Held prisoner in my chair as I had my hair cut, I did finally see some of the Olympics through the demented breakfast-news lens of NBC. Sandwiched between advertisements and sponsorship messages came a feature on a sports charity doing great work for schools in Mozambique and the story of a ‘celebrity’ penguin who ‘mysteriously’ returns to the same beach in Rio each year. “THE OLYMPICS! IT’S BEHIND YOU!” I wanted to shout, pantomime fashion.
My favourite view
One direction from my new apartment affords a superb view of Chicago: the full city skyline, lying beyond the Metra tracks and the (less aesthetically pleasing, but representationally accurate) motorway. But it’s not my favourite view. Looking the other way, out from the corner of the window by the landing at the top of the stairs, are the backs of brick houses. This could be North London. This could be Carolyn’s back garden. And this makes me happy.
This morning I wandered downstairs in our new apartment for a morning cup of tea, stuck on the BBC’s Olympics coverage (thanks but no thanks, NBC) and watched Britain beat Canada in a game of women’s rugby sevens. Which was great for three reasons: patriotic fervour, warm memories of London 2012, and the fact that thanks to Jen and my trip to Wellington I now appreciate (and largely understand) rugby sevens.
But to rewind: new apartment! After two great years of living with Billy, last weekend I successfully moved a full 1.3km away into a new place with Randi and our flatmate Amanda. And very nice it is too.
New home!
Our first guests were Jason and Carrie, with whom we played the Would I Lie To You? board game in boys vs. girls teams. You can guess who won from the pictures below.
There was a master strategy. It just didn’t work.
No comment
Last weekend we also saw Star Trek Beyond with Todd and Carolyn, which was great company (obviously) but a disappointing film. There were plenty of enjoyable moments for existing fans, but not enough overall to elevate it from standard action movie sequences if (like Randi) this was your first exposure. My much more successful attempt to indoctrinate Randi into my childhood favourites has been the Robot Wars revival, which we’ve been watching on Sunday nights with great enthusiasm. 3-2-1-ACTIVATE!
It was also great to have lunch with Carolyn’s friend Beric as he reached Chicago on his American road trip, as it was to catch up / argue about market failure with Alex at Oyster Bah. After a bit of a theatre dry spell we also saw This Beautiful City – a musical exploration of mid-2000s evangelicals in Colorado Springs – performed by the ATC’s youth ensemble and produced by the ever-wonderful Grace Cannon. (I write that with some resignation as her Chicago leaving party is next week.) Last but certainly not least, last night Randi and I went out to celebrate her new job… hooray!
The restaurant pretends to be in Santa Monica, but we’re definitely still in Chicago
The weekend before last, Randi revealed her birthday present to me after I had been too rubbish at anagrams to figure it out in advance: a murder mystery weekend at Mont Rest Inn, Iowa! This is a wonderful B&B in its own right, painstakingly rebuilt after a fire. My favourite feature was probably the miniature world’s fair diorama, complete with little binoculars for closer inspection. (I spotted the Boots at the back along the British high street, naturally.)
We were also lucky enough to visit while the owner was paying a visit, and during the tornado warning (“get on the lowest floor possible”, the TV alert announced, before switching to a flash flood warning which instructed us to “seek higher ground”) we accepted her offer of shelter in the basement. It didn’t take long to realise that, just like last time, we were in a strongly Democratic B&B, with mementos from the visits of past presidential candidates on the walls. Lobbying is totally overrated: if you want to meet powerful politicians, just open a B&B in Iowa.
Austin Powers meets Michael Gove
For the murder mystery itself, we were assigned characters and costumes with the other guests, and learnt the basic outline of the case, before settling down to a scrumptious meal to discuss who might be to blame. This is a bit of a mistake in the format, really, because the food is so delicious (freshest salmon ever?) that it’s hard to stay focused on catching the killer. Especially when the killer turns out to be one smug looking Randi Lawrence. So yes, she escaped justice without facing a single accusation.
They also do themed nights without any murders: this table was set for the Titanic
The next morning we stopped by the Maquoketa Caves State Park, which is distinguished by an extensive series of caves to wander through. (Top tip: the wandering is much enhanced by the thought that you’ve bought a fresh pair of shoes and socks to change into later.) An unusual park and highly recommended!
In the caves
Still in the caves
Escape from the caves!
Finally, on the way home, we were only about 15 minutes shy of being these people. Darn.
Just slightly late for this photo of a collapsed Blue Line station to be interesting
Welcome to Tokyo!
I’m just back from Japan – the only country with its own emoji silhouette – after a short but productive work trip. As such, I didn’t have much time to do touristy things or take touristy photos, but I did manage to squeeze in visits to Yoyogi Park and the Shibuya crossing. I guess the stereotypes about Japan are obvious, but worth repeating anyway: people were wonderful and friendly, the trains and the subway are unsurprisingly fantastic, and bowing is woven into all social interactions. I liked it.
As a bonus, Robert and Julie – most notable for their Smoking Adapters travel blog – were kind enough to take me out in the evenings, and together we sampled lots of Japanese food (excluding anything with tentacles) from their favourite Tokyo spots.
One thing I wasn’t quite so thrilled about were the earthquakes. Over lunch with Vivek on Tuesday I experienced my first ever earthquake – nobody around us batted an eyelid – and then the next morning I was lying in bed when terra firma became noticeably less firm again. That’s not cool. We use the expression “on solid ground” for a reason. Although it is reassuring to see animated videos on the subway explaining how earthquake-proof it is.
With Kenji, Robert, Julie and Kosuke
There was a lot of this
A pretty accurate depiction of Tokyo’s wonderful subway system
Outside the Imperial Palace grounds
Side note: flying with United is usually a ‘perfectly adequate’ type of experience, but on the way back home they served up a katsu curry like they had actually read my mind and extracted its deepest wishes. Much appreciated. I also did my usual catching up on recent PIXAR films by watching The Good Dinosaur, but thought it was… well, ‘perfectly adequate’, but nothing great.
Today’s utterly unhelpful and unconnected post title is brought to you by the delightful discovery that it is possible to listen to a cover of Shut Up and Dance in Spanish! So go do that right now.
Since coming back from London, the top priority has been been finding a new apartment (check) followed by persuading someone else to live with me and Randi (check), filling out apartment-acquiring paperwork (check) and persuading utility companies that I am a real person (in progress*). In the meantime we said goodbye to Todd and Carl from Groupon (if I weren’t so reserved, I would just crawl under a table and weep) and Catherine from Chicago (ditto, although since she’s going to war to fight the Trump nightmare, it’s also comforting).
Racing for the galaxy with Jason, Carrie and Randi
Also: Lauri and Calvin both had birthday parties, plus Randi and I had consecutive weekends with Jason and Carrie to brunch and play Race for the Galaxy. It’s an excellent card game which Katie got me for my birthday and, despite initially seeming like the most complicated thing in the world, is actually very easy to pick up and play. (Not so easy to beat Jason and win as of yet, but I’ll keep trying.)
Not being people who watch a lot of films, we were slightly at a loss for next steps after deciding on a whim to watch ‘something’ last weekend. After lazily searching for ‘IMDB top movies’ (not really giving the collective wisdom of the crowd much to work with) we ended up with 12 Angry Men, which is a justified classic and makes me impatient to be called for jury service. (Note to the UK: I’m willing to fly home for it.) Jason tells us there’s a Chinese remake – 12 Citizens – in which students at a law school hold a mock jury trial as part of a Western law class. Take that, dramatic tension.
Tomorrow I’m off to Tokyo! ??
(*Sure, it’s slightly annoying to spend one lunchtime queuing up at the sole open counter of an ‘alternative financial services‘ establishment, just for the privilege of paying a registration fee and having my passport scanned. A registration fee to be paid in cash, note, which requires use of the cashpoint in the corner for a $2.75 surcharge. But whatever, it’s a one-time thing. It’s much more sobering to be stood behind folks who are just there to cash regular cheques and buy regular bus passes. It’s obscene, really, to have a financial system which makes the act of using money more expensive for those with least to start with.)
Helen on It’s (waiting) time.: “Fabulous news, congratulations to you both! X” Jun 8, 21:51
