Category: events

Grant Park Music Festival

That was the last week of GPMF, and it was one of my favorite pieces (and to be honest, who doesn’t like Carmina Burana?!). I had two subscription tickets and an extra one, so my guests and I went. It was absolutely perfect, not to mention that I had a chance to showcase Chicago night lights! The photos are partially mine, partially my guests.

Yesterday’s Rally

One of my favorite real-life people on Instagram, Matt Kaplan, reported on yesterday’s meeting. Proud of Igor doing his part in this battle!

Surprisingly, there were some Fox News people, so there was a little bit of coverage there.

Conferences Prep

Lots of people are helping me both for PG DATA and for Prairie Postgres, but I still feel like I am doing “something” related to both non-stop.

We are waiting for our official website to be completed and released to us.

I am building our event in the EventZilla.

I am building the call for papers in Sessionize.

Communicating with the caterer, although another team member did most of the talks.

Approving social media posts and newsletters.

Our regular September meetup is coming.

My talk at Django US.

Recording of my P99 talk.

My September tutorial is still only half-done.

I have houseguests, and I feel like I do not have enough timewith them.

I can keep this list going on forever.

And summer is almost over!

“Parade” On Broadway In Chicago

Yesterday, my guests and I went to see Parade at the CIBC theater. I knew nothing about this show except that it was “about antisemitism,” and it shocked me. It sends a very clear message that all forms of racism are related, and no one is “better” than the other. It also demonstrates how easy it is to frame an innocent person, and how easy it is to turn public opinion against somebody. It was an incredibly heavy show, but my friends liked it.

All photos and videos, except for the first one, are from the official Broadway in Chicago website.

Continue reading ““Parade” On Broadway In Chicago” →

Annual Ukraine’s Independence Day March

Please attend

It’s Not Only NASCAR…

The plan for Sunday that my guests and I had was to go to the market in the morning, and then straight to the Field Museum. We planned to be there by 11 and probably stick around until 3 or 4 PM.

We left the house a little bit later than we planned, and waited for the next L-train a little bit more than we planned, but it was still fine; we didn’t need to rush. We had two options: either to take the Red Line to Lake, and take bus 146 from there, or take the Red Line all the way to Roosevelt, and then walk. I decided on the first option, because it was a hot day, and the walk might not be so enjoyable, and also, it’s more fun to see something through the windows rather than being underground.

When we got out of the Red Line at Lake, we saw that State Street was closed for a small/medium size rally. It looked like it was about to pass to the North, so we waited, and about 15 minutes later, we finally saw our bus. It was packed, and when we entered, we realized that there was a Bears game at Soldier Field. That meant not only that the bus was packed, but also that it was barely moving, and all the traffic was stalled. People started to get off the bus and walk. I felt like an idiot for choosing the bus in the first place, and we still had to walk! We finally arrived at the Field Museum at 12:30, and we had to start with lunch.

Fortunately, everything was great after that: we stayed in the museum until it was closed. We saw the Evolving Planet exhibit, the T-Rex 3-D movie, and the new exhibit Reptiles Alive!

As usual, there were more things we didn’t see than the ones we saw :).

Get Out. Speak Up. Act

The destiny of Ukraine can’t be decided without Ukraine.

The Sentinels at Theo

Love it-love it-love it!!!

I am copying this review from the Evanston Round Table, because I think it will be removed from the newspaper website very soon!

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What I Liked Most About Our Aquarium Visit

The best part was that they didn’t change anything about the fight against climate change. Not only did all the notes in the exhibits stay as they were, including the Wild Reef and Amazon Rising, but they are also repeating this message during the dolphin show and other spotlight events.

I remember how, at the beginning of the year, several Chicago museums sent out the patron surveys asking the visitors’ opinion about the museum’s mission, supporting science and education, etc. I believe that the answer was almost unanimous, and when there is a will, there is a way.

“The Magic of Rogers and Hammerstein”

It’s one of my favorite summer concerts, and for the past several years, I have been trying not only to attend this concert but also to get tickets closer to the stage.

Before the concert, my neighbor and I tried a new French cafe. Just a couple of days before, I noticed a new cafe on North Michicgan Avenue, and thought the it would be nice to check whether they are open in the evening:I constantly lament about the disappearance of the inexpensive food options in the early evening hours; the places I oculd have a dinner before a show ora concert without breaking the bank. Panera, Cosi and Pret – all of them are mostly gone, and those that are left, close at 3 PM. The place which I spotted, Lea, reminded me of Toni Patissery, that didn’t survive the pandemic. I noticed that they are open until 7 PM, and decided to give it a try before the Friday concert.

It was great, both the food and desserts, and reasonably priced ($32, including the tip) for the meal below.

The concert was great, and although it looked like it was about to rain, it didn’t rain except for a couple of drops during the intermission. The seats were great, and I could see everything what was going on on stage. After my most recent surgery I can see very well even without glasses or contacts (except for the reaing glasses), but it was a little bit problematic to see things on stage. However, in June, I got contacts for both eyes for a perfect long-distance vision. I do not wear them every day, because I am fine without any visial aid most of the time, and also, when I have them on, I need a stronger reading glasses (I can’t even see the phone without them).

But for the performance, it was perfect! Eve though we were not in the front row, I could see everything!

I have a ticket for one more concert, which I will probably skip, and then Carmina Burana with my French guests in August.