:: Ray's Periodic Rantings ::

:: Monday, March 26, 2007 ::

Big weekend

James and Ingrid came up from Indianapolis for the weekend. We hadn't seen them since October, so there was a bit of catching up to do, and some culture to take in.

Saturday afternoon we journeyed over to the Northwest side of the city for lunch at drive-in extraordinaire Superdawg, a long-time favorite of mine. Then it was on to the American Science & Surplus store, another old haunt, to shop for wacky stuff.

But the big event was Saturday night, when all donned our Utilikilts and best clubwear, and drove down to a nondescript commercial space on the near West side for a Burning Man-inspired party called Resonate Chicago 2.0. The event took place in several different rooms, large and small, with the everything BM from the requisite chill spaces to elaborate video projections and a killer sound system. As we checked in at the entrance, an acquaintance of mine played solo electric guitar in an atmospheric, Robert Fripp style. I truly felt at home, however, when I caught the tail end of a simple performance shortly thereafter: a woman in an evening gown ate fire, accompanied by a man in a tux playing The Doors' Light My Fire on a violin. They had everyone watching entranced and silent. Afterward, the techno started, and we did plenty of dancing on the floor of a large eggshell studio. Outside, a small marching band played live under a fire sculpture. And best of all, the police came, but didn't shut the party down.

Congrats to all the elements of the Chicago burn community that pulled off this event! It was one to be proud of, and I consider myself lucky to have been able to attend.

Sunday we lunched at Sushi Station, a local sushi-on-a-conveyor-belt joint, then headed into the city again for the Theater Oobleck production at the Chopin Theater, The Strangerer, which had a lot more going on in it than I can summarize in one or two sentences. In a twist, one of the characters spoke about how one of the things that plays are universally good at is putting people to sleep, and indeed I had trouble staying awake though parts of it. Which isn't to say that it wasn't good. Quite to the contrary, it had some ingenious moments, but I had a belly full of sushi and had been out quite late the night before...

Afterward, we took an afternoon meal at a hole-in-the-wall Polish restaurant a couple of doors down from the theater. I still down know the name of the place, which is in Polish, but they have great food.

James and Ingrid said their goodbyes and departed for Indy, and then Mary and I drove down the Hothouse for this month's installment of Girlie-Q. With "Chicago" for a theme, the show was quite a fun romp, and it capped off the weekend nicely.

Next weekend: house projects!
:: Ray 11:37 PM [+] ::
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New heights in hypocrisy

On Saturday, Mary and I escorted at a suburban clinic, as we do once a month, or so. One of the antis who was out protesting struck a unique high in hypocrisy, as I see it. A woman, not a small woman (which, I have nothing against, but it is a factor, as you shall see), praying aloud over the loss of life inside, wore a really nice brown fur coat.

I don't know enough about fur to identify the coat, but I could tell it was real, and of high quality.I could tell that a lot of little creatures, raised in captivity, were killed to make it. Remember, it was not a small coat...depending on how small the creatures in question are, we are talking about a lot of them.

I am not anti-fur. In fact, I have a rabbit fur hat that I wear when it is below 20 degrees outside. It keeps me warm, and I thank the rabbits that gave their lives for that purpose every time I wear it. But to wear the pelts of dozens of dead furry creatures while protesting the loss of life at an abortion clinic strikes me as the pot calling the kettle black.
:: Ray 12:05 AM [+] ::
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Scan me!

Today I went to the hospital for my first CT scan. My doc wanted a better look at my kidneys, just to be sure that a number that has been out of whack in my urine for a long time is nothing to worry about. The whole process was surprisingly civilized. After arriving on time for my appointment, for which I had pre-registered by phone, I had only to fill out a short form regarding medications and allergies that might affect the test. Significantly, I did not have to reduntantly transcribe my name, address, and insurance info. I was given a pager (nice to know that hospitals have caught up with restaurants), which went off after a short wait.

I changed into some hospital duds (not a backless gown, although I think the colon procedures still call for those), spent a few minutes in an internal waiting room, then was ushered to another waiting room. An IV port was inserted in my arm, and then after a bit longer of a wait, I was taken to the scanning room.

The equipment itself is pretty cool looking...a big, PC beige colored donut (OK, so they could benefit from a consultation with the industrial designers at Apple), with a table that moves through it. Stuff spins inside the donut while you are being scanned. It is all very Star Trek-like.

For the last couple of scans, I was injected with a form of iodine, which made me feel hot and sweaty for a moment. That was a bit freaky, but as the worst of the whole procedure, it wasn't that bad.

Hospital tests have come a long way since the last time I had any major ones. Here's to progress!
:: Ray 10:22 PM [+] ::
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Act now

Gentle reader, if you are as concerned about global warming the resulting change in climate that we are causing, please tell your representative in Congress about it. Here is an easy way to do so...sign up to let Al Gore personally deliver him or her a postcard on your behalf on March 21.
:: Ray 2:16 PM [+] ::
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