Some don't like it hot

Hey y'all, time for another update from Adam country. It's summer, and it's hot. Super hot. Makes me fondly remember that kiddy pool we had at Robeson street. I've had more time to get over the events of the Game 7 that shall not be named, but before I really let it go I'd like to publicly compare the 2010 Celtics to the 2010 Butler basketball team. Magically making it to the finals but sadly falling to the enemy in a hard-fought effort, valiantly giving it their best. I truly loved that Celtics team, and as someone on ESPN brought up maybe even more than the 2008 team that won it all. This year's team clearly had its ups and downs, seemed to be falling apart at the seams, but they stepped up huge in the playoffs and defied all expectations. You never knew from one night to the next who would be our best player, every night had a different hero and it was always about teamwork. And to top it off, the Boston celeb contingent put an ad out in a Boston newspaper thanking our team for giving it their best.


As a fitting comparison, did anyone else watch the footage of Lakers fans lighting a taxi cab on fire during their celebrations? Stay classy, City of Angels.
The other big news was my roommate's wedding in Atglen PA. I was a little nervous at first about not really knowing anybody, but their friends and family were so welcoming, it was awesome. I've been hearing them plan their wedding via skype ever since I moved in, and it was wonderful to see it all come to fruition without a hitch. I got to meet their relatives, as well as Nate's friends from RISD who were unbelievably nice to me. It was a gorgeous day, beautiful ceremony, I even played a little Debussy as the grandparents were seated. There was great food, beer, company, and even dancing! I was considering putting up a picture of Nate and Elf posing for the camera, but I think this does them more justice.



They're still unpacking all the gifts they received, but I know they're just thrilled to be together and in Chicago. As some of you might have heard, I am moving into a new apartment with 4 friends, I'll go into more details for the next post.
How about that World Cup? Fun stuff, I did get to watch our goal in the 91st minute which got us out of the group stage. Unfortunately I also watched Ghana defeat us in extra time. As I've noted before, you can't have the ups without the downs. Luckily Ben gave me something a few years back that is the perfect consolation prize.

I hate them so much

Normally I give myself time to take a breath, step back, and analyze the situation. Can't do that now. I can't sleep. I hate the Lakers. I hate every single player. The person I hate the least is probably Ron Artest, because of his history. And because everyone else on their team was there in 2008 when we manhandled them. I am glad to know that everyone else from Boston in my generation, who admittedly disliked the Lakers but didn't truly hate them, now hates them with everything they've got. As in, violence will ensue. Maybe we needed this tough loss to bring us back down to earth, to realize that even though Kareem and Magic are occasionally funny on tv and movies, they are still the enemy. Maybe we needed this to remember how great the Celtics legends were, and to be thankful of every single game we were able to watch. I love the Celtics. I am saddened at how our postseason ended, but I will never forget how we upset Cleveland and Orlando. Remember how we felt after Orlando beat us in Game 7 last year in Boston? They ended up losing to the Lakers in the finals (with much less dignity than we did), but turned that loss into a great regular season this year. I hope we can do the same. Obviously with better results.
Oh Boston, our decade of sports dominance is officially over. I am glad that I'm not there right now to walk the streets and feel the general malaise, then again I did just experience Chicago's ecstasy as their Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. Let's all take a deep breath, and be thankful our longest championship drought is only 38 years (Bruins, but let's not go there, that wound still hasn't healed). I know Bill Simmons will have his own take on the series, how we completely folded in games 1 and 6, got pounded on the rebounds, Ray Allen's demise post-game 2, blah blah blah. For the rest of my life I will fondly remember the sheer disbelief of beating Lebron (and perhaps single-handedly destroying the city of Cleveland), and then beating Howard, and to a lesser extent beating Wade. The Lakers can never take those series away from us. Unfortunately they won't make a DVD set of those games, but we should still be proud of our team. And now I will try to sleep confident that the younger Bostonians will feel the need to disembowel anything and anyone wearing purple and gold, that is until we redeem ourselves and destroy them next time. And there will be a next time.

Don't Freak Out!

I know, everything looks different! You're scared! You don't know who to trust! Fear not. The content shall maintain its high quality, I give you my word. The visuals just needed a little sprucing up, that's all.
Where to begin? As the school year ended, I had my last guitar class at the Pilgrim Lutheran school. Unfortunately some of the older kids missed our last day because they were on a field trip, but I still got to photograph a few.
Here are Adrian and Riley showing off their guitar/pokemon skills:
And here are Hayden and Hayley, the best brother-sister guitar duo since the Gallaghers (zing!)











It was a great semester, the kids who practiced showed a heck of a lot of improvement, and I learned more than I thought I would along the way. Maybe I'll be back in the fall to teach them again, but if not, don't stop believing!
Directly after this last class, Mom and Ellie flew into town for a weekend of adventures. Needless to say, we sampled all of the finest Chicago had to offer. Ellie captured some great moments and views, so we'll start with a classic shot from the tour boat:
We took an architectural boat tour of downtown Chicago, so they take you up and down the river telling you about all the cool buildings and architects and history and so on. Tons of information, most of it quite interesting, and ample time to set up your sweet camera to grab cool pics like this:
We spent some time in the Art Institute, saw awesome paintings, and walked around the loop just taking in the amazing weather. Even made it to Old Faithful:
Ok, my sources are telling me that may not actually be Old Faithful, but rather Buckingham Fountain. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
We heard some killer jazz at the Jazz Showcase, another fantastic recommendation from Uncle Charlie. And then we saw a Cubs game!!!!
Like I said, the weather was AMAZING. Apparently parking spots are so tough to find in Wrigleyville that someone decided to try the warning track. Probably a lot cheaper, why not.
So that was a blast. In other news, my Calypso band has returned from hibernation, and we're back to rehearsing. It feels good, real good. Bricklayers Foundation is moving into a new practice space, which is inspiring. I'm writing more music for my solo album, and as always reading up a storm. I finished the Blade Runner book, very fine indeed. It's nice mixing a little sci-fi into my collection every once in a while. I read Vonnegut's Galápagos, which blew me out of the water (pun probably intended). After that I cruised through Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Dimitrios, a brilliant detective novel with suspense that just grows and grows and some unforgettable characters and stories. Now I'm onto Mountains Beyond Mountains, detailing one doctor's quest to actually help a third world country (pre-earthquake Haiti), but most of the messages could be applied to so many other places. Obviously there are parallels to what Gabe is doing in El Salvador (getting clean water, building schools and hospitals, fixing roofs, etc) so that brings it a little closer to home, which is cool.
Dogs and cats are mostly doing well. Here are a couple of wonderful little guys I got to spend a week with, Oliver and Gus:
On a sad note, Elmer the puppy bulldog I've been walking isn't doing well. Apparently he's had a few heart attacks, I honestly couldn't believe it. He's in the hospital, and it's not looking good. It's very surreal to me, they say it's the breeder's fault, but he's so young it doesn't make sense to me. Mega bummer.
Luckily the Celtics have been carrying their load. As if beating the Heat, and Cavs, and Magic weren't enough, we're one win away from beating the Lakers. Granted, this series is far from over, but I think we can do it. Our bench has been huge, and everybody's been helping in one way or another, that's just good basketball. But here's a thought that few in Boston will agree with: even if they lose the next two games, let's give our 2010 Celtics a parade. First off, who knows if Ray Allen will come back, let alone the rest of our team. Second, this has been an unbelievable run. If you had asked anyone in mid-April when the postseason started how the Celtics would do, it was pretty unanimous that we would maybe make it to the second round and then definitely get destroyed by Lebron. But we keep beating these amazing players one by one, and it really makes you see how important this whole "team" thing is. The Impossible Dream Red Sox got a parade after losing to the Cardinals, simply because they exceeded everyone's expectations. Of course, I think we're going to win, but it's food for thought.
Lastly, I'm seeing the Chicago Symphony do Beethoven's 7th Symphony this Wednesday. Rock and Roll!
And here's a little parting gift, care of the Bean: