Category: events

In Helsinki

Although I am not working a “real” job these days, I booked several days in Valo because I still need to work on many other things, even if these things are not “real” work (define real!). In addition to an office, Valo gives me a free gym, unlimited coffee drinks, including cappuccino and espresso, and an absolutely delightful breakfast and lunch buffet at a discounted price. Honestly, if I had it at home, I would rarely cook.

However, this time, I do not need to rush, and I do not need to ask to extend my hours, and I have some other life as well :). I can leave before 5 PM, and randomly wander the city.

On Tuesday, I didn’t go to coworking at all, and Boris and I biked to IKEA, had lunch there, and biked back

And on Thursday, we managed to fit in a (shorter) bike ride after I was done with my “not real” work, and then went to a concert at the Helsinki Music Center. I’ve been there multiple times, but each time, I love it more and more, and admire how well-thought-out each and every piece is!

Previously, Boris used to get ticket in the middle, and although the visibility is great from each corner, we found that you cnt’ hear a soloist well enough when you are facing the back of the orchestra (and the soloist). This time, he got the tickets in the second row, right in the middle, so it was a paradise!

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra presented three pieces: Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks concerto, Mozart’s Clarnet quintet, and the best part – Folk songs by Luciano Berio, sang by Fluer Barron. She was absolutely magical, I just can’t get over it! She was also playing harp, and the last note she sang was the first note picked up by harp, and it all sounded like nothing you can imagine! I didn;t find any recordings, so you have to believe me! A magical evening!

Movies At The Obama Center

I can’t believe I was at the Obama Center yesterday!!! Still can’t believe it! I got a free ticket for the shorts from the Black Harvest Film Festival as a member of the Gene Siskel Center, and I could make it, and it was amazing! The films, the people, and the smell of a new facility :). And the night view! And friendly staff! And just everything!

Watching ‘One Day In The Life Of Andrei Arsenevich”

Yesterday was Igor’s birthday, and we went together to watch One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich, Chris Marker’s documentary about the last days of Andrei Tarkovsky, whose full retrospective ran through September at the Siskel Center.

I really-really liked it. I find it difficult to say “I enjoyed it,” because it shows the last days of a terminally ill person, but it is really remarkable how positive Tarkovsky looks and sounds even when he can hardly lift his head off the pillows. The documentary included footage of him filming his last picture, The Sacrifice, and this scene alone told me more about him as an artist and as a person than I ever knew.

The documentary cites Pasternak, who apparently told Tarkovsky early in his career that he would make seven films. “Only seven?” asked Tarkovsky. “Yes, but the good ones!” replied Pasternak. And that’s exactly how many films he made, not counting his school works. Also, it mentions Tarkovsky’s fascination with Leonardo Da Vinci (which I share), and I thought that that’s something they had in common: Leonardo produced very few paintings during his long life, but each is a masterpiece. Isn’t it true about Tarkovsky’s films?!

Shostakovich’s Fourth

On Thursday, my neighbor and I went to our first CSO concert of the season. Klaus Makela, still a Director-designee, opened it with Sibelius’s 7th and Shostakovich’s 4th. Hearing Shostakovich’s 4th for the first time in my life and being completely unprepared for what I was about to listen to was so shocking that, several days later, I am still processing what I heard.

I didn’t know the story about this symphony, how it was created, and how the premiere was withdrawn (surprisingly so, because I heard so many details about Shostakovich’s reaction to the infamous Pravda editorial), and now I am trying to place in time his phone conversation with Stalin relative to writing and rehearsing of the 4th Symphony.

According to my grandmother, Stalin told him: “You should compose marches, young man, do you hear me? Marches! Our people want to march, and they have to music to march to!” (For the sake of my Russian -speaking friends, the exact wording was: “Марши надо писать, молодой человек, марши! Народ хочет маршировать, а не подо что!”

You can read the story of the 4th Symphony withdrawal, the hiding of the manuscript, and the first performance in Moscow in 1961. What I am wondering is how in the world Shostakovich could think that it would be possible to perform it?! After the above-mentioned article in Pravda. How?! I talked to Boris about it, and he said: and how could the rest of his music be performed? But I still think that the 4th Symphony is something incomparable with any other of Shostakovich’s works. So bold. So powerful. So full of grotesque and bitter irony.

I am now listening to the recording, trying to capture all of the details of Part III, because I definitely missed a lot during the concert, completely taken away by evolving havoc :).

Goodman: The Attic

It was a last-minute idea: I hadn’t been to Goodman in a while, saw the show was extended, there was one free seat in the second row, and I had a discount code from my other subscription. And it was about the circus, about trapeze artists, and I love the circus.

It was beautiful, and the artists were above and beyond; however, to be completely honest, the story itself was not as moving as I expected, so maybe I could use this time more productively. Beautiful though, can’t deny that.

Photos and videos are from the Goodman Theater website.

Cultural Events

Last week marked the opening of the new theater season. So far, I attended the following events;

  • The Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas concert at the Guarneri Hall. It was good (the pianist, Adam Neiman, was excellent), but the lecture before the concert was unnecessarily long and not very informative. I have a feeling that everyone was just waiting for the speaker to be done and to listen to the music. Also, because of that lecture, the concert ended later than scheduled
  • Dirty Dancing at Nederlander Theater. I never saw the movie, so I couldn’t appreciate all of the details my neighbor was admiring, but I liked the music, the acting, and how the dances were staged. Not out of this world, but really nice.
This one taken by me
  • Liliom – John Neumeier’s ballet at Joffrey. The libretto is based on the play Liliom, which was also the basis of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. Great, as always 🙂 (well, so far, the only ballet I didn’t like much was Eugene Onegin)

Pictures below were taken by me:

To be continued next week 🙂

Bike The Drive 2026

This year’s Bike the Drive was the 25th, and participants could get the anniversary T-shirts and jerseys, all in Chicago’s official colors. That was my fourth Bike the Drive, the third one in which I did the 30-mile challenge, making the whole route and back, the second one we did together with Boris, and the first one in which Anna joined us 🙂

The photo above is the only one I copied from the Chicago Tribune; all the rest are ours, and the best were taken by Anna. She has enough balance to take pictures while biking, and we had ride coverage like never before!!!

Continue reading “Bike The Drive 2026” →

Odyssey

Last week I finally watched Odyssey. I watched it on Thursday at the AMC Dine-in Theater, not because I wanted to eat while watching, but because it was the only convenient option in terms of showtime and distance to the venue. That was my first time attending a screening in this theater, so now I know how the theater looks and what the best row is to sit in.

I think that’t the third Odyssey movie I watched in my lifetime. I liked, but without a hype. I think it says something that for thousands year, people still find inspiration in this epic. It’s a great story, and if after all these years, we still find something that draws us to the that plot, it’s not for nothing. The movie is very well done, the cast, the quality of cinematograthy, etc., except stepping away from the historical accuracty with costumes and armory (the wrong helmet types are bothersome, but I am unsure whether it was done on purpose to cater to the public expectations or not). Also, I didn’t like Polyphemus representation in a Gollum-like style, I like more the “traditional” presentation from the previous movies, and I think that Ancient Greeks thought about Polyphemus that way!

As much as I try not to read any reviews before watching anything, it was hard not to notice, that people were discussing the moral grounds of Odyssey’s decision, like sactrificing the lives of some of his men. But I believe that was the most true-to-the-story part! A special significans of Homer’s Odyssey is it’s representation of a snapshot in time, not only want people believed back than, but what they considered to be honorable, caurageous, what they considered being a treason, what they admired and hated, and what the “defaults” were.

I heardfrom some that this movie was better at IMAX, but to be honest, it was already enough noise for me to plug my ears from time to time, and I had no desire to be in a middle of a battle

Today’s Positivities

  1. Mom’s internet was finally fixed! I am exceptionally thankful to Igor, who was able to come and be present during the technician’s visit. I am still switching my mom to another internet provider because I don’t want another poor customer service experience, but at least she has internet and is happy.
  2. I attended the first Chicago GNU/Linux meetup, and it was 2.5 hours of infinite positive emotions! Interested and enthusiastic people, great conversations, lots of new plans and new connections, and a great feeling that I am doing something good and making a positive impact.

A Very Eventful Day And Bats Monitoring

Yesterday was one of the record days in terms of the number of times the weather changed, and how much it took to an extreme. I had a nice early morning bike ride before work, then, it was a tornado warning during the day. Fortunately, it didn’t touch Rogers Park, but in the office, we were instructed to shelter in place, and it continued for 45 minutes. The rain was pouring, and it was very windy, and it was hard to believe it will get better any time soon.

Then, suddenly, things started to clear up, and by 4 PM, there were no traces of it. I was hoping I could go to the beach right after I get home, but for some reason, the beach alert ws not removed. The red flag was up, and a lifeguard was marching around the pier. I was extremely disappointed, but decided to repeat the attempt at 7 PM. The problem was that I also wanted to attend the Bat Monitoring event, which was scheduled for 7:30, so I had very little time. Still, I decided that something is better than mothing, and I didn’t regret it! Just half on hour was plenty to be thankful to the lake and the happy fact that I live so close to it!

The Bat Monitoring was another super-interesting thing. The presentation took place at the Loyola fieldhouse. Liza Lehrer, Assistant Director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo, gave an overview of the Urban Wildlife Institute’s bat research program and its key findings. I learned a lot! For start, I didn’t know we have bats right here, in Chicago! I didn’t know that they migrate, like birds, and that some of them hybernate in winter! And I didn’t know they are closer to humans than rodents.

The most exiting part was a live demo! It turned out, that there is a special equipment one can use to detect and record the bats that are flying around us! Also, there is a program which can autoamtically decode the sounds and identify the species, and also record the place were recording was made. The Lincoln Park Zoo people had two of these sets, and we had an opportunity to see them in action! It was surreal – I never ever thought that there are bats, and so many, right there, by the beach, where I walk almost every day.

If it wouldn’t be so late, I would stay longer!