Last week Friday was a "Night in Chicago". While it in no way was able to reach the quality of a "Night in Tunisia" (more on this later), it was still a great time.

Ryan and I got to the Steppenwolf theater at 7:25 for a 7:30 show. He got out of the car before I parked it and ran in to buy tickets. When I got to the parking garage, the man asked me for $11 and I opened my wallet and found that I didn't have enough on me. I got out of the car to see 4 cars in line behind me (all of them as late as I was for the show) and yelled, "Ryan! Money! Parking! I'm poor! No money!" while all the cars honked. Ryan came running with money, gave the attendant $20, and received $11 change (?!? yeah... the math didn't work for me either). We did make it on to time to see Tennessee Williams' "One Arm", which I thorougly enjoyed. Ryan is a theater snob, so he "wasn't sure how he felt".

After the show, we drove over to Subterranean to see The Fantastic Four. The band consists of members from Soulive, John Scofield Band and Robert Walter's 20th Congress. Yum. Eric Krasno of Soulive was the big draw for me. Did you notice the we gig with the same guitar? I bet you didn't... actually, I bet most of you don't care! Kraz also took shots at bass and keys while guest Jake Cinninger of Umphrey's McGee played his guitar.

This show was excellent by all standards (setlist can be found at http://stewsday.blogspot.com), but we still felt strange afterwards. After the show, we came to the collective realization that we just weren't showgoing hippies anymore. Ryan and I used to hit 3-4 jam shows per week. Now we're lucky if we get to them on a bi-weekly basis. Have our standards just risen? Do we just have better things to do? Are we just getting older? I wish I could say yes to only one of those, but the answer is yes to all of them. You heard it here--we've just outgrown the days of dreads, body odor, e-tards and laborious 30 minute jams. We're now into tight curls, pheromonic attraction, green tea and the afformentioned "Night in Tunisia". Ryan and I returned to Madison that night and retired our "trips to Chicago" lifestyle for good.

On Sunday, I took this picture from my car then went to the Elvehjem Museum of Art with Ross and Flick. I never hear about Madisonians going to the Elvehjem even though it's right on campus and full of great works. I always hear, "I just got back from MoMa or the museum in Chicago" bullshit and suggest to people that they've got a diamond right under their nose. Most of those art snobs would just probably bump it anyway... and I digress...

One of my favorite works, Takashimaya, by Thomas Blackwell (American b. 1938, Oil on Canvas), is on the third floor. Please do yourself a favor and go up and see it. Also take a look at the clown-looking hologram up there. On the way out of the museum, Ross somehow lost a shoe and fell in the middle of the street. Those of you who know Ross would understand why this is funny. Those of who don't konw Ross eventually will when he becames a famous North American bullshitter.