Patch Notes

I spent this previous weekend in LA, celebrating my Grandma's life, because she has now passed. Unfortunately, Michael Jackson died the same week and that's all they were playing on the radio as we sat through traffic, so Thriller is now classically conditioned to remind me of my Grandma.

Speaking of Jacksons, we saw that ugly fish-of-a-man Jessie Jackson on the airplane. My dad went over and chatted with him, he's the Engineer in charge of restoring the church Jessie Jackson reverends at. The man was flying to LA to speak about Michael Jackson's death for no other reason than 1) he's black and 2) Jessie Jackson needs publicity bad. We later found out that he demanded a second autopsy and investigation.

From Phone Pics '09

Jon snapped this photo and sent it to Rob. Rob said Jon failed because the photo was mostly of some random girl, to which Jon replied "Opps, my phone must be stuck on Michael Bay mode."

We didn't have a funeral service for my Grandma, we had an "open house" where my relatives and I threw a party pretty much as her friends and our distant relatives flew in to chat with each other. My dad's side of the family is rather Christian Science, so there are no rituals or clergy needed. It was a pretty lively atmosphere, with a brief stoppage for testimony and stories.

Anyway, I realized (was told) this weekend that no matter what, I will always be a child to my relatives. Us 3 Kimball kids spent the entire weekend doing chores to set up the party and clean up the house, which is actually lived in by one of my Aunties as well. Literally, from the moment we walked in, we were bossed around to sweep this, clean up that, or move that while they spent time making decisions and figuring out how to keep us busy. The first day, Jon and I visited Ralph's (6) times, without really being allowed to recuperate after our 6am Central Time flight.

From Phone Pics '09

One of the chores is "Paint the door"

Here's a list of some of the more banal things I was told:
-"You can't borrow Grandma's car because if you get in an accident they will take her whole estate."
-"Don't eat more than one brownie."
-"You are now a garbage man."
-"That's not a flotation device."
-"It's dangerous to lie on top of that."
-"Stop drinking so much."
-"You should have been a pilot."

Look, I don't mind working; in fact, I consider myself one of the more willing manual laborers you'll find. But I do mind being bossed around and generally treated like I'm 12. I was particularly chuffed because they tried their damnedest to keep us from going to see John Burchardt, our buddy in the Marines. Asked if I'd rather see Burdchardt than my Second Aunties and Uncles. I said of course I'd rather see John, at least he knows my fucking name.

Anyway we did manage to sneak away at some points, and it wasn't so bad. Jon and I flogged the hell out of the rental Dodge Charger on Santa Anita road in the mountains. I took it slow on the way up, it didn't have that much power and I'm kind of a wuss, but on the way down Jon drove it so hard the brakes started to fade and we could smell them cooking. We also think we exasperated a suspension problem on the Charger, it drives a lot worse even on the highway now.

From Phone Pics '09

It's really not that bad of a car. I ended up liking it.

At one point Jon and I stopped at In & Out, where I was asked by an employee to wake up some dude in the drive-thru line that fell asleep in his car. I knocked on his car and he woke up in utter shock and threw up his fists like he was going to fight me. Honestly, I have never been less afraid in my life.

We also managed to crash John Burdchart's marine buddy, Cantrel's, wedding, which was at the bride’s house. One of Jon's favorite facts is that the Marine's average divorce rate is 105%. Which means, on average, each marine gets divorced more than once.

We met the bride's father and congratulated him, Jon drank a lot with Burdchart, and Jon and PFC Kohler tricked Burdchart into dancing with one of the many fat chicks there. Infact, I've never seen so many fat people in one place before.

I ended up driving the bride and groom to their honeymoon suite about 20 minutes down the road. In the car he spent most the time telling me about cool things about the Marines while I made sexual innuendos about what they were going to do that night. Which was nothing probably, the bride is already preggers. Zing!

Anyway, congratulations guys, that is the circle of life.

So two weekends ago, Omaha steaks was having a 50% off or more sale on their steaks, so I swung by and picked up 6-6oz Top Sirloins for $25. Not bad for the quality of meat that they give you. Then I proceeded to thaw them, coat them in olive oil and add a decent amount of salt. After that, I crushed as much black pepper on top and bottom as I could.

Just for steaks, I bought a stainless steel skillet so it could get hot and could burn the steaks. (Odd I know, but quite necessary) I preheated the skillet to as hot as I could get it, along with my broiler, and then proceeded to sear both sides of my steak. (Just barely burned type of thing). Now, the problem is that I tend to over cook my steaks just a bit, so beware if you're trying this at home. The trick, from what I've read, is to throw it immediately into the broiler after both sides have seared and cook to your liking. I like mine Medium-Rare so I usually pop it in for only 5 min or so.

The wonderful thing about doing this is that even at medium, the steak is still so juicy on the inside, yet kinda crisp on the outside. Pepper adds to the flavor of the meat, not dilutes it like marinades. Anyways... Delicious.

I'm cooking steak tonight or tomorrow, so I'll try and include pics.... but I dont have a camera....

I went with Wai to the Chicago Art Institute's Modern Wing opening weekend, while it was free, to see if the long wait for it to be finishedwas worth it. I was hoping to use my newfound artfag skills that I picked up from But Is It Art? and thought that this would give me a good opportunity to flex my faux inellectual muscles. The pictures below tell the story.


First off, the museum was packed. It was a bit overwhelming, I've never seen so many people jammed into a museum. The good weather had something to do with it, but the fact that the Modern Wing had been under construction for years with a highly visible walkway connecting to Millenium park has even left me wondering where the magic bridge goes to. They were handing out chips and free stuff outside, but I was forced to eat all my chips before I entered the museum. They said it was to keep the museum clean, but I knew it was just to sell $6 sandwiches in their cafe.

There was an all black choir performing right on the grand staircase, I knew this would be an event.

So like I do with all classy joints when I first get there, I had myself a pee. The bottom floor where the bathrooms are located is a children's themed area. Not explicitly so, but the inclusion of children's books and interactive displays talking about scale and perspective gave it an artistic edge. I really liked this book:


There was also a Touch gallery, for blind people. I didn't take pictures, that'd defeat the purpose.

We found our way to the new 3 story modern wing soon enough, and I decided to check out the photograph section first. I then almost crapped my pants, as the first picture I saw was none other than an Andres Serrano photograph. His Piss Christ opens up the book But Is It Art? and his work at the Chicago Art Institute did not disappoint:


Also in the photography section was the obligatory "I could do that" image.


This one was my favorite of the gallery, although I must say I liked a lot of them and wish I could have taken more pictures.

The gallery was amazingly designed. Pieces were set opposite each other, hanging, spaced oddly, on the walls and in the middle of nowhere. I was extremely impressed with the curators. Wai and I had a disagreement over this one on the ground. She thinks it's a closeup of a sidewalk. I think it's a coral reef.


We meandered along, although I could have spent much more time just in that section. We passed an old Chinese man playing an er-hu, the two stinged classical Chinese instrument. Wai heard a song that reminded her of her childhood, and the performer was clearly a professional. It was another something I could have stayed and listened to for hours. I did him a favor, and did not take a picture.

Here was another piece that was just propped up against a wall.


Another favorite exhibit of mine was the industrial design section. I found this prominently placed lamp to be interesting:


In the same room was just this pile of candy on the floor. It was beautiful to look at. So we ate it.


From that exhibit, my favorite:


The museum took the opportunity to expand it's collection of reknown artists as well. Here's a new Jackson Pollock, before his drip period. The lady in front was there to introduce the piece and answer questions, we must have showed up at just the right time.


The modern wing is huge. We only had enough time for a fraction of the rooms, and I think that you could easily spend two or three whole days there soaking it all up, even without taking a critical eye. The advertisements for the Modern Wing say that the building is The First work of art. Always proud of the skyline, it's built out of high rise glass and steel.


Finally, we headed out to the Nicholas Bridgeway which connects to Millenium park. It was the reason I originally came, but by the end I didn't want to leave. The museum is an amazing addition to Chicago, I can't wait to go back. If nothing else, then to at least see the Art Institute's Masterpiece once more: