Is anyone up for some pre-Christmas bowling? I'll be taking a mini-vacation in Minneapolis this weekend, but the next few weekends are looking good.

Jen

I am so tired of looking at that picture everytime I visit the blog! Time for a little update.

Well, the holidays are in full swing now. This weekend alone, we have a holiday ice skating party this Saturday, and then a Glogg party later on. We already have "Christmas" set up with my sister and her husband and Matt's mom's family, because the two of us won't be able to spend the real Christmas with them together. It tell you, it's exhausting.

On Thanksgiving alone, Matt and I had brunch with Matt's mom's family, and then dinner with Matt's dad's family. We had to have "Thanksgiving" with my sister on Sunday. Isn't it funny? How you can just move a holiday so you can spend time with your family?

Besides all the holiday cheer, I have been busy working on a show at the gallery that opens this Friday. As usually, check out the lovely Chicago Gallery News for a full listing of all the happenings in Chicago.

Tonight is the second installment of Sweet n'Slow: Music and Art Showcase. This event, which is the brain child of my friend Reba, showcases art from local artists and ambient and eclectic music. I handle the art portion of the show. This show, we are showing a film by Annie Heckman, and my photographs! Check out our myspace page(link above) and be added as a friend. So, it's 5 bucks, and the show starts at 8:30. See you there!

Jen

Ahhhhh, doesn't this just look lovely? Like a beautiful autumn day. . .




Yeah right! It was freezing here. Here being up in Minneapolis and St Paul this past weekend. Matt and I braved a snowstorm and over 9 hours of drive time to get all the way up there. As you can see, the snow didn't even touch Minneapolis, even more specifically, the sculpture garden of the Walker Art Center. It only managed to follow the near exact route we took. Go figure.

It has been nearly 20 years since I had been in Minneapolis/St. Paul. I can't remember the exact things I did while on the trip. I do remember walking in the skyway - basically all those above ground bridges that carry people from building to building, probably to keep them out of the cold - and also visiting the Minnesota Science Museum. The only proof I have of that visit is a couple random pictures of nothing in particular and a t-shirt (that I still have and that still fits) with a screen print of a triceratops, which happened to be my favorite dinosaur.

As an adult, Matt and I had to cram the best of two cities into a day in a half, which is barely enough time to spend anywhere remotely interesting. The first half of our day, we spent in Minneapolis - checking out Nicolette Mall - only because it was near our chosen breakfast spot - and then headed to the Walker Art Center. I've basically heard through the art world that this is one of the best museums in the Midwest and well, that is actually not in Chicago. The spoon above is called "Spoonbridge and Cherry" by Oldenberg and van Bruggen, in the free adjoining sculpture garden, that also has a small conservatory as well. The below image is from this giant walk-in, cave-like installation which consists of cardboard, plywood, foil and duct tape.


Next we headed to St. Paul, and spent a small amount of time at Rice Park, where you can find all of the Peanuts characters cast in bronze. Rice Park is really beutiful, and I can only image how nice it is in the summer.


Of course, we had to stop by the Minnesota Science Museum, just so I could revisit a familiar, uh, face. Or skeleton. Whatever. Here is me and my friend the triceratops.


Here is Matt and fun with video.


It was a fun trip, but man, it was too short!

Jen

Today on the train, I sat across from this guy who took up three seats: one for himself, one for his bags and the third seat was specifically for his straw hat that had a "Miller Beer" patch on it. Sweet.

So, I had a fantastic Halloween weekend, which now seems like ages ago. Friday night, we saw Mike's band, Bifunkal, kick out the jams at Fizz. They started out the set with some Hall and Oates and then followed it up with some Beastie Boys. I met this guy who had the EXACT replica of Danielson's shower costume from The Karate Kid. It was amazing. Apparently it took him close to 2 years to track down everything from the shower curtain pattern to the Chargers jersey.


That night I went as a deviled egg, which may now be my favorite costume of all time. The people at Fizz had a lot of clever costumes on, however, no matter where you go, someone is bound to be dressed up as Slutty Bo-Peep or a hooker cop. You know, the usual skimpy, "sexy" outfits. When did Halloween become all about dressing as a 'ho, and losing all creativity? Stepping off soapbox now.

The next night, Matt's band, Virus. . . Attack! played their first show in Chicago at this pretty horrible venue called Bordo's. It's actually a restaurant, but after hours, they clear out the tables and it becomes a club? I guess. To top it off, the place didn't even have any sort of sound system for the bands and the DJ in the adjoining bar kept asking the bands to turn it down so people could hear the music the DJ was spinning. What?!?!? We had fun anyway.

Matt and I went as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. Yes, I know what you are thinking - Courtney Love dresses pretty damn slutty, but I guarantee my dress was WAY longer than half the ladies costumes I saw in the bar. Virus. . . Attack! was kind enough to let Courtney make a guest appearance singing Celebrity Skin. We have it on tape, and if I don't look like a complete moron, expect it on You Tube soon. Here are pics from the event.


Oh, make me over!


Kurt and Courtney, till death do us part.


Courtney, Sister Reba and Princess Leia