More of the goodness

Things continue to be awesome, who would've thought. The apartment is still perfect, and here's the proof: a few weeks ago I made another batch of home-made beer (my 4th overall if you've been keeping score). Just to refresh your memory, my first batch was an Oktoberfest, which was fine. Nothing special. I blame it on my first time jitters. Second beer was a red ale, which was too good to be true. Delicious and strong at the same time. Third batch was a stout, dark like outer space. More potent than the red ale, definitely more of an acquired taste, still delicious but not quite as accessible. This time around I was more adventurous, going with an IPA. Slightly more difficult to make, but oh man. We popped open a bottle last night and I almost cried it was so good. The hard part will be saving it for our Halloween party. And to top it off, today I brewed an American Amber Ale which will be ready right on...you guessed it, Halloween. And if you're thinking to yourself, "Adam, come on, an amber ale? BORING!" To this I say, "Ah, but what if we were to add something to it...something, like, I don't know, PUMPKIN?!?!" That's right, the guy at the home-brew store suggested adding pumpkin and spices to it right before we bottle it, so I took the challenge. I've never felt to alive!
So yeah, Chicago continues to rock. We got to see the International Contemporary Ensemble play at a museum downtown, amazing stuff. My roommates and I got a Costco membership so now I can eat a platoon's worth of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in one day. We watched Roadhouse, a fantastic Patrick Swayze action movie which I highly recommend. The big event though was a free concert in Millennium Park of the Chicago Symphony playing some classics, conducted by none other than Riccardo Muti! Check it out:

Seriously, all of Chicago was out on that lawn. The concert rocked, the crowd loved it, and they ended with fireworks! Unreal. All this for the new conductor of the symphony. I wish I could compare it to Boston when we signed Curt Schilling, but I seriously can't.

That rocked. Unfortunately he got sick and is missing some concerts this fall but hey, I probably wasn't going to any of those anyway. That's life.
Will and I also got to see the Chicago Civic orchestra play some amazing stuff, Betsy got us free tickets and we composers do not turn down free concerts of that caliber. I went to a Cubs game with Ross, which was a blast despite the rain delay and loss to the Giants by the final score of 1-0. I saw a concert by a pretty cool band called Walter Meego, and took care of some crazy little doggies:

We've eaten some great local food, continued the barbecues, and we made it to the Museum of Contemporary Art for an exhibit on Alexander Calder which was fascinating. And our calypso band has a gig next weekend, woohoo!
I read Pygmy, another strange one by Chuck Palahniuk. This one was from the perspective of a foreign exchange student living in the Midwest who is secretly a spy sent to destroy us. Nice take on American culture, brutally graphic and hilarious as always.
After that I read Franny & Zooey, which I really liked. Then I finally read Fight Club, although I must admit I kind of preferred the movie. I know, I know, I'm sorry. Great book, but even better movie as far as I'm concerned.
Next was Just Kids, an autobiography of Patti Smith detailing her youth and relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe. Very cool stuff, loved hearing about the artists' life in the 60s and 70s. Next up was another one by Bret Easton Ellis, Lunar Park. Unlike his other works, this was a thriller/sci-fi kind of thing. Parts were amazing, especially the faux-autobiographical sections, but overall it didn't wow me like his other stuff. And lastly, I read Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I didn't realize it was a young adult book when I got it from the library, but as usual he's amazing at combining the humor with the heartbreak. And I just started Thom Jones' collection of short stories called Pugilist at Rest. So far, on par with Cold Snap. Love it.
And that wraps it up! My apologies to the Red Sox, another good year as far as I'm concerned. And come on, Tampa Bay is clearly going to lose their best players in the offseason and suck next year so I guarantee a playoff spot for us. Watching the Pats last Monday night was one of the most fun games I've ever watched. And the Celtics are getting ready for another long season, I am truly excited.