Welcome to WeeklyWilson.com, where author/film critic Connie (Corcoran) Wilson avoids totally losing her marbles in semi-retirement by writing about film (see the Chicago Film Festival reviews and SXSW), politics and books----her own books and those of other people. You'll also find her diverging frequently to share humorous (or not-so-humorous) anecdotes and concerns. Try it! You'll like it!

Month: September 2011

“IHeartRadio” Show at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on September 23, 2011

Las Vegas, Nevada, September 23, 2011 “IHeartRadio” hit the MGM Grand tonight, bringing some of the hottest live acts currently touring together in an eclectic 2-day extravaganza billed as “the biggest live concert festival in radio history” in the September 18, 2011 Las Vegas Magazine & Show-Biz Weekly article entitled “Titans of the Airwaves” by Josh Bell. As Bell phrased it, “Clear Channel is pulling out all the stops to promote its new IHeartRadio service.”

First up singing to the audience of 12,000 were the Black Eyed Peas with Will.i.am and Fergie. Noting that they first formed in 1995, were signed in 1997 and put out their first record in 1998 the energetic group said it used to perform for $20 a gig. “Now we get paid a whole lot more zeros than that. We’ve had a great career…We’ll never stop making music,” said Will.i.am. The group invited the audience to join in signing along to the theme from “Dirty Dancing” and it was the most successful sing-along request of a 3-hour concert. Biggest impressions of the group: Fergie’s shorts were cut so high and short that she might as well have worn a thong and there was a lot of energetic jumping up and down.

That level of energy made it difficult for Kelly Clarkson to compete on an equal footing. The former “American Idol” winner and singer-songwriter sang many of her hits like “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “Walk Away” but her request for an audience participation moment resulted largely in a crowd that didn’t know the words, and she finally relented and announced, “We’re not doing any more sad ballads to bring you down.” Clarkson looked slimmer than in some previous performances and sported a flattering hairstyle.

Every so often, for no more than a total of 5 minutes, it seemed, Ryan Seacrest would put in an announcing appearance, although others, such as Joe Jonas and a local DJ (Elvis Duran) carried most of the MC-ing heavy water. Another change in the night’s programming saw John Mayer drop out due to illness.

After Clarkson’s stint, Bruno Mars, who played Little Elvis in “Honeymoon in Vegas” in 1992 when he was 7 performed, and it was as though he was channeling the high-pompadoured singers of yesteryear like Fabian, Frankie Avalon and Jackie Wilson. Mars’ big hit “Just the Way You Are” was well-received, but it was astonishing how retro his look was: dark suit, white shirt, thin black tie and a pompadour that made JFK Jr’s hairdo look flat. Mars performed a bit of fancy footwork and seemed to give off a vibe that he thought he was very cool, indeed. The middle-aged lady in front of me in the nose-bleed section began waving her cell phone and pumping her arm in the air; I wanted to tell her to cool her jets. We were a long way from catching young Bruno’s eye.  A song dedicated to Amy Winehouse (“I miss you. I love you.”) Seemed like blatant capitalizing on the recent death of the British songbird.

The next performer out of the box began by telling the crowd, “I think the IHeartRadio show is the most eclectic I’ve ever been in.” The introduction for Carrie Underwood, American Idol’s darling, was given by Joe Jonas, and Carrie was one of the strongest performers of the night. She danced around the stage, looked lovely, belted out her ballads, and all I could think of was how far she had come since the cow-milking segment featured on her early “American Idol” appearance. She is a polished performer now, much slimmer, and genuinely beautiful. It was now nearly 9:30 p.m. and the show had begun 2 hours earlier.

At this point, amongst the never-still throngs who were in constant motion, a stranger climbed over me and, as he passed in haste, something wet spilled on my leg. I could only hope it was beer. An announcement was made that Justin Timberlake plans to host something billed as an Old School Jam on October 1st. It will feature Earth, Wind & Fire, Charlie Wilson and Vanilla Ice. All I could think of was that I had been under the impression, apparently mistaken, that Robert Van Winkle, 44, had melted years ago, and, having just seen Earth, Wind & Fire at Northerly Isle Pavilion (also known as Charter One Pavilion) in Chicago this summer, the band was now featuring the children of the original performers, after nearly as many years as a performing group (i.e.. 42). However, early word regarding Timberlake’s attempts to cross over to action hero in his newest sci-fi film makes his return to the music world timely.

Next up was 52-year-old Perry Farrell, generally regarded as one of the godfathers of alternative rock. The Farewell Tour that Farrell organized for his band “Jane’s Addiction” in 1991 became Lollapalooza, now a 2-day destination tour centered in Grant Park in Chicago. Tonight, Farrell announced that his performance represented “the rock and roll version of IHeartRadio.” With Dave Navarro on guitar, the set was excruciatingly loud and employed a Persian/Arabic-themed stage backdrop with much use of confetti canons. When Farrell talks to address the crowd, he sounds like a cartoon character with his high-pitched voice. It is now 10 minutes of 10 p.m.

At this point, saving the day and the concert, Coldplay emerges, singing “Rule the World.” Chris Martin actually lay down onstage at the end of the song and asked, “Is there anybody out there?” He also told a story that went Snippet of Chris Martin of “ColdPlay.” (See longer video clip on Facebook at my Profile.)like this: “We played down the street in a little club at 3 in the morning when we were starting out, just this band from Britain, and there were just 2 ladies in the place and one of them was deaf, and even she walked out. We said that one day we’d come back and play the MGM Grand.  I hope you’re having a great time.  And that’s all I have to say.  Don’t lose all your money.” And then, almost as an after-thought, before throwing himself into energetic flailing about that seemed almost childlike in its random-ness, Martin added, “The back is the best place to see our band.” If you gave yourself over to the pulsing, exuberant experience, Coldplay was a fantastic way to go out. They exited to huge applause. Only problem was, Alicia Keys had to follow Coldplay.

Much like Kelly Clarkson, doomed to come on after the Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys performed admirably (and overly loudly, much like Perry Farrell), with a backdrop of white doves flying across the projection screen behind her piano. She often stood center stage, solo, to sing songs while attired in a sparkly top like every other female performer. (Sparkles are in this season). It was now 10:30 p.m. and Alicia announced her intention to play a new song, “A Place of My Own” on the Yamaha piano, saying, “It’s an incredible night, I have to say.”

Announcements were made that Lady Gaga would perform with the just-turned-60 Sting on Saturday night, along with Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, Rascal Flatts, Nicki Minaj, Sublime with Rome, Usher, Kenny Chesney and Jay-Z. The ticket price in the nosebleed section I was in was listed as $165, but there were 9 empty seats in my row (Section C 209) and they were going for 2 to 3 times that on StubHub. Some of the seats down front were priced in the thousands online.

Coldplay and Carrie Underwood made my seat worth what I paid for it, but when the witching hour of 11:00 p.m. came and went, with only the possible appearance of Jay-Z (he was a late addition and may never have appeared, I was happy to bolt, waiting for what seemed like hours in the taxi line outside the MGM Grand.) Stay tuned for tomorrow night’s big show, which drew fans from both coasts and  all areas in between. Big draws tomorrow are Lady Gaga appearing with Sting and Steven Tyler.

Film “50/50” with Seth Rogen & Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up”), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“Inception,” “500 Days of Summer”), Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”) and Blythe Dallas-Howard (“The Village,” “The Help”) set out to make a dramedy (a combination of drama and comedy) about cancer in “50/50.”  The balancing act between humor and pathos is a delicate balancing act, but the film, written by writer Will Reiser and directed by Jonathan Levine works in telling the true story of a young man (Adam) who is unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer at the age of 27.  Reiser, who has a bit part in the film as “Greg,” was diagnosed with cancer in real life at age 25.

Seth Rogen, a Canadian native, enjoyed the standing ovation the film received at its Toronto Film Festival World Premiere. There is much to enjoy and appreciate in the bittersweet story of a life hanging in the balance and a good friend who stands by his buddy. The performances from all are spot-on and the cinematography and music are similarly skillful.

Rogen explained the film’s origins this way:  “We worked with Will (Reiser) on Da Ali G Show, and it was shortly afterwards that we learned he was sick.  As shocking, sad, confusing and generally screwed up as that was, we couldn’t ignore that, because we were so ill-equipped to deal with the situation, funny things kept happening.” (Facebook page for “50/50”). Or, as Director Levine told the Los Angeles “Times,” “Little Will got sick.  Now he’s fine. And we made a movie about it.  That’s crazy.”

It was crazy, in fact, that Jonathan Levine ended up directing the film at all. Levine had originally passed on the project (although he sent a complimentary note regarding the script) and a different director was set to helm, but dropped out.  It was only in the interim, when two of Levine’s family members were diagnosed with cancer, that he stepped in to direct.  As Levine said, “That (his relatives’ cancer diagnoses) made the script resonate that much more for me.  I went through those experiences where things are just so ridiculous and so intense that you have to laugh and I went through those experiences where things are so ridiculous sometimes that you have to cry.”

However, it’s a tough sell to get people into a theater to see a movie with the working title “I’m with Cancer.” Director Jonathan Levine realized that when the movie, ultimately titled “50/50,” was filming. [The second title “Live With It” didn’t take, either.]

It’s just as tough when your lead drops out a week before shooting is supposed to start. Originally, the part played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt was to have been played by James McAvoy (“Atonement”), but his wife went into labor and McAvoy went home. Joseph Gordon-Levitt had only 7 to 10 days to prepare for the part of Adam Lerner.

With the insertion of comic material in such serious subject matter, Director Levine says, “You never want to be too manipulative.  You never want to stretch for a joke.  You just want it to sort of unfold, the way life unfolds.” While the comedy works, some may criticize the serious parts of the film, saying Adam, the film’s central character, remains much too calm for much too long when in such dire straits. In only one memorable scene (while driving Rogen’s car) does Adam really lose it, emotionally. Adam is portrayed as an obsessive-compulsive neat freak who chews his fingernails and believes in the adage, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Calm is an understatement for his demeanor after his diagnosis, considering that the rare hereditary form of spinal cancer he incurs has only a 50/50 survival rate before it metastasizes and a 10% survival rate after it spreads.

In the film, Seth Rogen’s character Kyle, after hearing the news of his friend’s illness, tries to cheer Adam up by citing other cancer patients who have beaten the odds. “F***** Lance Armstrong. He keeps getting it… Patrick Swayze.” Adam interrupts Kyle to mildly remind him that Patrick Swayze died. This seems to come as a news flash to Kyle (Rogen).

Seth Rogen’s reactions are priceless at all points. Although he will soon be too mature to play the part of a walking hormone constantly trying to get laid using any excuse possible, the Rogen vamping on this theme has been wildly successful in several previous films (“Knocked Up,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”). In this film, Rogen is “funny, sad and honest” (the announced goal of the film) at all points, whether he is helping shave Adam’s head, verbally nailing Adam’s cheating girlfriend, or helping his good friend change the bandages on his spinal incision.  Rogen reminded Gordon-Levitt of that scene, saying, “That was exactly how I reacted (to the large incision down Adam’s back—which he describes in the film as “Saw material”). I almost threw up on you.” For fans of “Falling Skies” with Noah Wylie this past summer television season, Adam ends up looking like he has had one of the infamous creatures removed from his backbone in much the same way as the hapless victims of the aliens of that TV show.

Perhaps the most amazing behind-the-scenes story about the film involves the head-shaving scene, which is featured on posters and trailers. As Director Levine described that day, “Will wrote the scene and then, within that, the specifics of the dialogue were totally improvised and the rest was improvised. It was the last thing we shot on the first day.  As I said, Joe (Gordon-Levitt) pretty much had 10 days, we barely knew the guy, and he had to shave his f****** head at the end of the first day.  And it was his first scene with Seth, as well.”

Other actors who excel in their parts are the Oscar-nominated Anna Kendrick (for “Up in the Air”) as Katie McRay, a compassionate 24-year-old therapist-in-training, who has only had 2 previous patients; Blythe Dallas-Howard as Rachael, Adam’s cheating girlfriend; and two elderly patients with cancer, played by Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer  (“Max Headroom”). When Frewer’s character of Mitch dies unexpectedly, the reality of Adam’s 50/50 odds sink in more seriously and the reality of life and death comes home to one and all.

(Dr.) Katie McRay (Anna Kendrick) is all about earnest attempts at touchy-feely closeness (“It’s like being slapped by a sea otter,” Adam says of her robot-like grabbing of his wrist in her office.  He calls it “creepy.”) Katie is all sympathetic smiles and clichéd book learned wisdom. You get the feeling that Katie has read all the books but is still feeling her way along in implementing these techniques in the real world. Another fine supporting performance from Kendrick. Upon learning that Adam considers his mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) to be “an irrational loon,” Katie tells Adam, “You can’t change who your parents are.  All you can change is how you react to it.” (Psych 101).  Kendrick continues her spacey, Diane Keaton-esque comic vamping. You only have to go back to “Up in the Air” where Kendrick shone, to realize that she will play many sensitive/comedic parts in future films.  George Clooney commented (at the time of “Up in the Air”) that Kendrick blew all the other actors (including himself) off the screen with her spot-on performance.

Bryce Dallas-Howard is equally good as Rachael, Adam’s girlfriend. She plays the villain of the piece. This is apropos, since Dallas-Howard is fresh off playing villainess “Hilly” in “The Help.”  Actor-director Ron Howard’s little girl is caught by Seth Rogen’s character making out with an artist at a gallery opening (an artist who, says Rogen, “looks like Jesus”). Adam is back home, zonked out from his illness and waiting for his girlfriend to get home. There is another instance when Rachael shows up very late to pick Adam up after his chemotherapy. She also refuses to enter the hospital to be with him during his chemo treatment. In other words, we see her exit from his life coming from several miles away and “good riddance to bad rubbish” is Kyle’s reaction.

Good friend Kyle (Rogen), playing amateur detective, takes a picture of the cheating couple with his cell phone. Rogen then confronts Rachael at Adam’s house immediately after the gallery showing, saying to Rachael, “You are reprehensible. You’re disgusting…I’ve hated you for months.” The two friends will later creatively unleash their hostility on an oil painting Rachael made for Adam.

The music in the film is outstanding, ranging from the Bee Gees to Pearl Jam, with Michael Giacchino scoring the film, Jim Block and Gabe Helfers music supervisors and Music Editor Stephen M. Davis. Still, Director Levinson, who used hip-hop in his 2007 Sundance film “The Wackness” had much input and was delighted to obtain an Oscar-winning composer (for “Up” in 2010) for this film saying, “So, yes, him (Giacchino) scoring was a major coup for us.” (Giacchino was also nominated for Best Original Score in 2008 for “Ratatouille”).

Up next for Director-on-the-way-up Jonathan Levine is a zombie movie with John Malkovich entitled “Warm Bodies.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt is filming “The Dark Knight Rises” in Pittsburgh. And audiences nationwide will get the opportunity on September 20th to enjoy “50/50’s” message of life’s fragility and the enduring and sustaining nature of true friendship.

 

A friend, who knows I am fond of

following politics at the caucus

level, sent this to guide me in

the upcoming Iowa caucus race.

I hope you find it helpful.

Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” Entertains & Informs About Epidemics

Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) is Patient Zero in “Contagion,” the new movie about a viral epidemic/pandemic, that is directed by Steven Soderbergh. Why Beth has to have a backstory of infidelity is something I cannot explain and, given her brief time on film, I don’t feel the need to shout “Spoiler Alert!.” The rest of the film seems to pay no attention to that plot point (and multiple others), either. Why we had to be told that Gwyneth would die in the trailer for the film is another good question. (Never a good idea to give away all the good stuff in the trailer.)

It doesn’t matter, in the overall scheme of things, because Soderbergh and writer Scott Z Burns still do a good job of ratcheting up the tension of this all-star cast in a movie with the tag-line, “Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t touch anyone.”  (This is my normal state, so that part did not panic me.) The scenes of a panicked public gone mad and the adolescent romance between Mitch’s (Damon’s) daughter and her boyfriend reassure us that humanitarianism is not dead and things will return to normal…eventually.

Cast

The cast includes such luminaries as Kate Winslet as Dr. Erin Mears, who helps fight the outbreak of the mysterious virus; Matt Damon as Beth’s husband Mitch; Laurence Fishbourne as Dr. Ellis Cheever, head CDC operative; Marion Cotillard as Dr. Leonara Orantes, a French physician assisting with the fight; Elliott Gould as Dr. Ian Sussmann, who is an eccentric lone wolf researcher; Jude Law as Alan Krumwiede, an aggressive blogger; and Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) as Lyle Haggerty, representing the government. [I couldn’t help myself: I half-expected Cranston’s character to offer the suffering natives some crystal meth when things got really bleak. Which they did almost immediately.]

Origins of the Epidemic

Beth Emhoff travels to Hong Kong and, because “Somewhere in the world, the wrong pig met up with the wrong bat,” her meal in a casino has unintended consequences not only for her, but for the entire world.  Lines like, “It’s hard to know what it is without knowing where it came from” and “It kills every cell we put it in” are not encouraging. Rhesus monkeys must endure additional indignities in order to save mankind (“First we shoot them into space and them we shoot them full of a virus.”) Ultimately, as the plot has it, “We have a virus with no antidote.” This is not good and every cough, whether on celluloid or in the crowded theater, resonates with the audience. It especially resonated for me when my seat mate’s wife said he had been feeling sick all week and the tattooed seatmate began wiping his dripping nose on his hand. (eeeuuuwww).

Historical Basis for Epidemic Plot : Spanish Flu, Swine Flu, Polio, Bird Flu

I used to listen to my mother talk about the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, which killed 1% of the world’s population. Mom was born in 1907, so she was 11 years old when some class members in her small school in Hospers, Iowa, failed to show up for class.  When she went to her friends’ houses to find out where they were that day, she learned that they would never again be coming to school. Or anywhere else. The youngsters had died of the deadly Spanish flu. Paranoia (and school closings) mounted as the death toll rose.

I also remember the closing of public swimming pools in the days before Jonas Salk discovered the polio vaccine in 1955, a time when I was approximately the same age as my mother during the Spanish flu scare. My best friend’s mother died of polio after lingering in an iron lung. Neighbors would not even make contact with the victim’s family at the door, but simply left the funeral food on the front step and ran. Even as recently as “W’s” administration in 2009, there were swine flu concerns, and the H5N1 bird flu still remains dangerous and capable of causing a pandemic, according to scientists.

 Societal Breakdown: Crowd Psychology

The most interesting part of the film, for me, was how society breaks down when faced with a crisis of this proportion. It becomes every man (or woman) for him or her self. Even the do-gooders (nuns, nurses, volunteers) are overrun and pushed aside as food runs short and the supply of what may (or may not) be a palliative measure—a homeopathic treatment known as Forsythia—runs short. It took me right back to my Sociology classes and the studies on crowd psychology.

 Political Echoes of Strident Tea Party-like Activists

In today’s climate, I couldn’t help but think of the strident followers of some political elements, those who think that “he who yells the loudest wins the argument” and are overly proud of their membership in the NRA. I could really imagine those individuals leading the charge to break in to pharmacies to take the drug everyone thinks will make their family safe, or launching aggressive measures to find out where the doctors (who get the drug first) might live, in order to break in and steal same. All this plays out in the film.

Humanitarianism Prevails

One nice humanitarian touch was the “regular guy” played by Oscar-nominee John Hawkes (Uncle Teardrop in “Winter’s Bone,” whose birth name in Alexandria, Minnesota was John Perkins). Hawkes’ character has an ADD son and asks the head doctor (Laurence Fishbourne as Dr. Ellis Cheever) for advice, early on. Cheever says it is out of his area of expertise, but he knows it’s treatable and he can recommend someone in the field. Later, Cheever will personally see that the boy is inoculated. Humanitarianism lives on.

Nevertheless, we are told by Bryan Cranston’s character that Dr. Cheever is going be brought up on charges because he let his new bride in on a secret: the severity of the epidemic. He urged her to evacuate Chicago (which is embargoed) despite being  sworn to secrecy. He wanted her to  make a run for Atlanta, where the CDC (Center for Disease Control) is located. The scripted line is, “They’re looking for a scapegoat.  You just made it easy.”

It is little old meth-maker Bryan Cranston, the government stooge, who informs Cheever that his neck is still on the chopping block, late in the film. Again, this plot strand was about as needless and  disconnected to the plot’s thrust as the personal information about Gwyneth which was  shared early in the film. I write fiction. I know how it goes. You insert an idea, intending to integrate that plot thread later on, but other things intrude, get in the way, or seem more important and the planted seed never grows or fluorishes. That was my biggest complaint about the film: dropped plot conceits that are never fully fleshed out or finished off.

Verdict

The film is otherwise quite riveting, intense and educational. It is hard to care too deeply about characters who drift through  as quickly as pedestrians caught in a giant revolving door, but the main idea (i.e., man’s vulnerability to forces outside his control) sticks with you, propels the film and holds your interest for the duration. After all, it’s almost cold and flu season. In fact, when I sat down next to that tattooed man with 3 others and his wife leaned around and said, “Don’t get too close to him. He’s been sick” it put me on high alert.  I still don’t know if this was her idea of a joke (she seemed serious), but watching him subsequently blow his nose on his hand (!) didn’t do much for my popcorn-eating and I refused to move my paper cup full of Coca Cola to the left cup holder nearest this stranger. From that point on, every cough, every sniffle was part of my experience of the film.

A third plot point that disrupted the smooth flow of the movie was Jude Law’s character of Alan Krumwiede. First of all, with a surname like “Krumwiede,” chances are that Jude isn’t going to be “the good guy,” although, at first, we think he is. He is an aggressive blogger who breaks the story and helps it go wide before the government would like word to get out. I found Jude Law somewhat extraneous in “Road to Perdition” and he is again extraneous here, except to point out that, in times of peril, there are people who profit mightily from the misfortune of others and it has ever been thus.

 n this day and age of Wiki Leaks and Julian Assange, Jude is Julian. Unfortunately, that is another sub-plot that does not seem all that well-integrated into the main storyline. It almost seems that the script wants Jude to function as the “surprise twist” in a plot that is otherwise pretty straightforward in showing how doctors are not “Jesus in a lab coat” and in explaining in riveting detail how a virus like MEV1, (the fictional virus of the film), could well cause widespread death and disruption in a very short time, spreading to as many as one in 12 with 25 to 30% attrition by Day 26.

Earlier Film Precedents

The film is light years better than Dustin Hoffman stumbling around as Colonel Sam Daniels in 1995’s “Outbreak” (he looked ridiculous in that suit) and is better compared to 1971’s “The Andromeda Strain,” which had Michael Crichton as one of the screenwriters. Soderbergh vaulted to stardom at age 26 with “Sex, Lies and Videotape” (featuring a then very thin James Spader) and regained his early form with 1998’s “Out of Sight.” In 2000, he earned a Best Director Oscar for “Traffic” and also directed Julia Roberts to her Oscar in “Erin Brockovich.”

 Soderbergh Speaks

It’s been 10 years since “Ocean’s Eleven” and Soderbergh, who suggested to Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that after his next 3 films he is going to take some major time off. However, he wanted to do “Contagion” because, he said, “It felt ‘zeitgeisty’ to me in the same way that ‘Traffic’ did when we were making it…that there was something in the air. In this case, literally.” The political tone of angry mobs in this film is not coincidental. As Covert said in his review of the film, “‘Contagion’ plays like a parable of a stricken body politic.  The film describes an America where confusion and fear explode when things get crazy, where ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.”

So, see it for its medical information and pay attention the backstory and try not to criticize overmuch the lost thread plots that seemed like good ideas when they were first thrown into the mix.

 

Chicago: A Typical Day in the City, September 7, 2011

I signed myself up for a class at the “Tribune” building on Facebook. The class began at 9:00 A.M. , so I rode the bus to the 400 block of North Michigan Avenue and entered the impressive-looking old stone building.

The building has inscriptions on the walls that reflect the laws as they pertain to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.   I was met at the door by a young girl who directed me to go “down the hallway and turn left and you’ll see a Welcome sign.” Unfortunately, she failed to mention the room number and that I had to take an elevator to the basement, as well. Therefore, I found myself standing in front of a nice sign on an easel with absolutely no idea of where to go next.

At that point a very nice gentleman in a suit and tie took it upon himself to attempt to guide me to the correct room, which had never been mentioned in any literature. We went back to the lobby, but the welcome girl was gone. We asked at the desk and that yielded little, so he took me to the 7th floor (wrong) and, again, back to the lobby. There, we learned that I would have to take the elevator to the basement, which had never been mentioned in any directions. (My guide suggested I write this down on the “appraisal” form following the class.)

The class went about as I had anticipated and we were released to “the real world”  about noon. I knew  the statue of Marilyn Monroe was right next door, so I took the pictures you see below of the Marilyn statue that is all the rage in Chicago this summer season (replacing the giant eyeball that held that distinction last year.)

After enjoying the Marilyn phenomenon—complete with tourists lined up to pose under the giant statue—I caught a bus to travel the rest of the way down the Miracle Mile to the 900 block (or so) where Water Tower Place is located. I had thought I might be able to walk it (from the 400 block) but thought better of it now that I had paraphernalia from my morning class.  As I got off the bus, I began walking in the wrong direction, as it turned out. Nothing looked familiar and I was standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change when I noticed there was a policeman next to me, so I asked him, “How much farther is Water Tower Place? He laughed and said, “It’s 2 blocks back THAT way.” I turned around and began walking towards my destination, but, as I neared the Hancock Building, I heard the unmistakable sounds of “live” music being played in the courtyard outside the Cheesecake Factory and decided this would make a far better lunch venue than the interior of Water Tower Place.

My waiter, Peter Weaver, was very nice and obligingly posed with the 3D glasses I had found in my coat pocket while walking to the venue. They were left over from a Peter Gabriel concert (in 3D) that was shown at the Icon Theater on Roosevelt at 7:30 p.m. the previous evening. I only know one Peter Gabriel song (“In Your Eyes” from the movie “Say Anything”) but I always liked that one song, so I went. There were many unusual effects for the audience, as during a song called “Red Rain” when the rain appeared to be coming down on the audience and the idea of Peter holding a small mirror and reflecting back the lights on the audience via this hand mirror, which was weird. There was a full orchestra backing his vocals, called the New Blood orchestra, with a very young director named Ben Foster and arrangements for orchestra by John Metcalfe, who came out only to direct Gabriel’s big hit, “In Your Eyes,” which he sang as an encore. (“In your eyes, the light, the heat. …I reach out from the inside…”) Who can forget the iconic scene with John Cusack holding the huge boom box on his shoulder and playing that song for Ione Skye?

I ordered the half sandwich and soup, with salad ($10.95). To be honest. the soup wasn’t that great, but everything else was fine and my waiter was wonderful. I have film of the group playing, but it says it is too large to upload to this site, so you’ll have to imagine them singing various Motown songs, like “My Girl” and “Stand By Me.”

Following my lunch, when I spilled an entire glass of water over the table (not on myself, however, fortunately),the music stopped and I paid my bill and proceeded to Water Tower Place with the sole goal of going to Sephora and maybe to the Coach store. Here you see me with the two girls who work at Orogold, the make-up store just before you enter Sephora on the 5th floor of Water Tower Place. Mor Bare and Nina Angel. Nina is the blonde;  I didn’t believe her that that was her real name, but it is. They were excellent saleswomen and sold me a bionic mask that is going to turn me back into a teenager with use just once a month. Both are from Israel and very pretty.

Unfortunately, the budget of a retired English teacher did not allow me to purchase as many products as I probably need (and want), but I did secure the most important ingredients to lovelier me…or so say Mor and Nina. I asked Nina if I could use her name in my next book. She agreed.

I told the girls, as I left, that I still had to make the obligatory stop at Sephora, as I needed some other things, besides the gooey warm stuff that would save my skin.

Therefore, I walked the 20 feet or so to the entrance of the Sephora store, where I entered saying, “BOIING. I need BOIING.”(Boing, for the uninitiated, is an under-eye concealer that my daughter turned me on to.) My clerk at the Sephora store turned out to be the store manager, Domingo Gonzalez, who has worked for Sephora for 6 years. He helped me find a brush and some night eye cream to replace my empty container and posed, obligingly, with my 3D glasses and the orange I had taken from the “Tribune.”

Now, it was time to travel down the escalator and find the Coach store, where I would buy a new fall purse. This would set me back a fair amount, if you know anything about Coach products! ($228, before tax, …and tax in Chicago is 10% or something outrageous..highest in the country.) Mor and Nina, if you’re reading this, now you know why I had to pass on certain cosmetic items that I’m positive would have helped me immensely. I needed a new purse, so what’s a girl to do?

I checked out all the Coach items and settled on the one that was the last of its kind in the store, and…said clerk Erin Watt…was the one most of the girls in the store have purchased because it has some gold in the “C” logo. [And it’s big. I mean really big!]

Here are the two girls who helped me at Coach, Erin Watt and Kelly Rady (Kelly is the blonde)

 

 

 

 

 

My last stop was within Macy’s, where I bought a pair of earrings on sale for $9 ($10 with tax) and met Katai Fenesk and Daniel Marban. (I had Katie? Katai? write her name down for me, and I confess I cannot tell whether it is Katie or Katai, but both were very nice and they told me the store had recently been remodeled (hence the pictures of the store’s interior). Since it is the old Marshall FIelds, that might not set well with some folks, but the only complaint I have is that the escalator was not working…but at least it was the “down” escalator. (From which I took one of these photos.)

Somehow, I convinced Katie (Katai? Katwi? Katui?) that a photo of the two of them in men’s watches would be so much more interesting if they used the props (i.e. the 3D glasses and the orange.) Surprisingly. they didn’t need much convincing. They seemed to get into the spirit of “a day in Chicago” and here they are with the aforementioned glasses and orange. I apologize to KatieKatai/Katwi/Katui but I can’t tell what comes after “t” and at this point. weren’t we all bored anyway?

 

I’ve been putting captions under all these photos and under this one it said, “Macy’s employees go for World Orange Eating record, but the captions are not appearing. (Go figure).

Here are some shots of the interior of Macy’s. featuring their new remodeling and their broken escalator (which I am standing on to take this photo).

And, last. and certainly least, since it is blurry, is a picture of the interior of the bus (#146) I rode back to Roosevelt Road. One girl had very red hair that was clown-like in its color and consistency. Two others were reading books. One was reading “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

The red you see is not a hat, but the actual hair color, layered atop a brunette shade. Very…unusual.

I returned from my adventures at 4:30 and, in preparation for tonight’s Republican debate from Simi Valley, I took a nap. After that, I watched the debate and twittered during it and wrote a piece that you should all go read on Associated Content, which actually pays me for my contributions, unlike THIS blog, which is mine and makes not one farthing.

Tomorrow, back to the IA/IL Quad Cities. I hope you have enjoyed ” a random day in Chicago.”

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