The Inside Scoop

Jen and I traipsed to Ravinia last night for a Rufus Wainwright concert, and he did not disappoint. Compared to his last performance at Cornell, he was much more flamboyantly gay, which may have explained why he strutted onto the stage wearing lederhosen ("I know, these pants are really tight and kind of uncomfortable...don't ask"), subsequently shimmied into a bathrobe, and at the end, was wearing a rather short skirt (or a long jacket). The rest of the audience also seemed heavily populated by gay and lesbian couples. To top it off, the encore included a Broadway-style dance routine with the rest of the band. Er, scratch that, full orchestra. After all, Rufus travels with the usual accompaniment: percussion, guitar, back-up vocalists, strings, sax, trumpet, french horn, flute...it's lush, it's dramatic, it's popera at its best.

Unfortunately, the concert was somewhat marred by the preceding day's thunderstorms. "Extremely Wet Grounds" announced the signs at the entrance. (If I were still at college, I would have tried stealing one for apartment-decoration purposes.) Or, maybe we were simply being newbies, because we'd forgotten to pack a waterproof dining room set with us. Looking around the lawn, I suddenly realized I'd left at home my plastic tarp, golf chairs, table, china and citronella candles. No matter, I remembered to bring my wine.

In contrast, I grabbed dinner at a Thai place with Joseph tonight, and my jaw nearly dropped when the waitress handed us menus, and then he asked for the secret Thai menu. I mean, those exist?? The food was phenomenal too, reasonably priced and authentic, meaning I would take my parents there. Woot!