A Belated Birthday Celebration

After an extended stay in Saudi, a weekend with my favourite band, it was time to spoil the Girl for the birthday I had missed a little while ago. The evening commenced with a showing of the Musical "Annie" (her favorite since childhood). I had grabbed the best seats in the house and we arrived a couple of minutes before the curtain was to be raised, garnering a few surprised looks at our smartly dressed attire that was required for our later dinner reservations. It felt good to dressed up for what essentially was a childrens show, quite distinguished from the rest of the rabble. Coincidence provided us with an opportunity to see Australia's own Anthony Warlow playing the male lead, "Daddy Warbucks",  in a drastically different role to the last time I saw him in Phantom of the Opera. Overall it was an amusing spectacle that the Girl thoroughly enjoyed.

We headed a few blocks uptown to the evenings final destination, Le Bernardin, a French Seafood restaurant that is frequently topping the best restaurant reviews for the last 25 years. Upon arriving at the venue, we were amazed at the sophisticated, yet subtle look of the space. A soft light filled the high ceilinged, large room all the way to the back wall, that sat an enormous Ocean mural.

We were soon seated and commenced our evening with a glass of Dom Perignon. The Girl got to browse the menu and I was delighted when she chose the Chef's Tasting menu - with a wine pairing, that I had been craving since the reservation had been made. Each dish was a small portion of divine taste, paired with an appropriate selection of wine that seemed to enhance each dish. It would be dishonest to try and pull out a single favourite, for each pairing seemed to extend the tastebuds in different ways. It was clear that the combination of carefully selected, fresh ingredients were combined with the preparation of experienced chefs, that had found the intricate details of each component enough to establish a meal I will never forget. 

The service was so much more than expected, enhancing the whole experience, and leaving you with the feeling of being the most important table in room full of strangers. The only fault I could find with the restaurant would be the policy that doesn't allow me to live there forever. If anyone wants to win over my favor, a night at Le Bernardin would be the key to your success.

The Rain Delay

I fled home from Saudi in time to take the Girl up to Chicago, for an evening with Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field. We had secured some members passes for the VIP area in the pit. The concert started with a strong pulse of classic tunes before an hour into it the concert was stopped. Due to concerns for the safety of the patrons they decided to have a short pause while a storm passed through.

In a twist of irony I thought back to the mud bath that PJ played through the first time I was in attendance. In 1995, at the Eastern Creek Raceway, we slugged through an epic 3hr set that saw the heavens open up for a large portion of the show. Back in '95 though I was a whipper snapper, the pit was actually moshing, and the girl would have been nowhere to be seen.

Back to Chicago, the majority of the crowd had taken refuge under or beneath the shelter of the grandstand. We had a nice spot at an entrance to the field to catch the most of the storm.

There is supposed to be a video here that I took of the heavens opening up. Unfortunately technology has gotten the better of me and I can't upload it - if only there was a 12yr old around to show me how. It was pretty cool so just your imagination of the lighting, heavy rain, etc. (Kids that's what we did before technology was around)

After a couple of hours the covers came off and the concert resumed. The band played on until 2am, well after the 11pm curfew, that left some very satisfied fans in tow.

Highlights of the night included: seeing Dennis Rodman (former Chicago Bulls player) in the pit area with us, a rendition of Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns (a song from Mother Love Bone - Stone Gosssard and Jeff Ament band prior to Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready linking up to form Pearl Jam), and the live debut of three new songs off the new album (Mind your Manners, Lightning Bolt and Future Days), the third which may well wind up in the wedding songs rotation if it is released in time - upon request from the Girl.