Illinoise

In continuing with my tradition of making lists, I figured that compiling one which touched on a few of the higlights from my past week in Chicago might not be such a bad idea. As one could imagine, summer in Chicago is generally a lot more fun than summer in the desert. That said, the midwestern humidity and the costliness of having a couple of drinks each night were two things that definitely did not contribute to this "best of" list.

So, presented in no particular order...

Good times in the Windy City

1. Late night commuting on the 'L' and the characters that enhanced such experiences (beatboxers, rappers, etc.)

2. Walking off of the Addison 'L' stop only to see Wrigley Field just a few footsteps away

3. Chicago's own Temptation non-dairy ice cream

4. Meals at the Chicago Diner: in particular, the "chicken parmesan" sandwich which I ate at least 4 or 5 times this past week. I still think it's completely bizarre eating something that looks so much like the real thing.

4.5. Jake's blowup mattress. Thanks, bud.

5. Seeing Michigan ave. packed with what seemed like hundreds of thousands of people screaming, yelling, and clapping each night after Lollapalooza

6. A free, mid-day Tortoise show in Millenium Park at the Pritzker Pavillion

7. Having lunch two tables down from Sam Beam of Iron & Wine in a downtown Thai restaurant

8. Sunrise along Lake Shore Dr.

9. Falling asleep at the gate of my departing flight in Midway ten minutes before it left and waking up to a missed flight

and also...

Best sets of Lollapalooza

1. Radiohead
2. Rage Against The Machine
3. The National
4. Broken Social Scene
5. Explosions In The Sky
6. Chromeo
7. Foals
8. Yeasayer
9. Holy Fuck dj set
10. Iron & Wine

For videos from a few of the above sets, see http://www.youtube.com/nicholasantonjett

Personal favorites from the weekend were seeing The National's "Fake Empire", Radiohead's "Videotape" and "Idioteque", Gnarls Barkley covering "Reckoner", Explosions In The Sky's "The Only Moment We Were Alone", Broken Social Scene's "Cause = Time", Foals' "Electric Bloom", Yeasayer's "2080" and Chromeo's "Bonafied Lovin." I know I'm forgetting like 30 others and all of the crazy dj sets I saw at the Perry's stage but oh well. Ok, that's all I got. Thanks for reading.