Last month, I wrote (a lot) about going to back to Northwestern University for a sort of reunion/ fundraiser weekend of the Department of Communications, which ended in a big gala, ​A Starry Night, hosted by Stephen Colbert, filled with alumni performers from Broadway, movies and TV.  (And written by good pal of these pages, the Lady Shellington, Shelly Goldstein.)  I also mentioned attending an event of current students, part of the acclaimed American Musical Theatre Project, started a few years back by Dominic Missimi, which has turned out some impressive grads, like Heather Headley, and also presented some world premiere production and workshops for writers to work with students, all of which I wrote about here that describes the program better, and in much more detail.

The hour-long event was terrific, and I was impressed by all the performers who were showcased.  And I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of them join the list of illustrious alums from the school's theater department.  Unfortunately, there was no video to embed with the article, but I did my best to find alternative clips of some of the songs, as well as a few performers who especially leaped out.

Well, it turns out that there was video of the showcase, and they've just uploaded it onto the Northwestern Commfest site.  And I've embedded the full thing below.

The whole event is worth watching, since all of these young performers were truly impressive.  But as I said, two of them especially stood out.  And rather than find alternative clips and entirely different things (but it was the best I can do), I can now show them to you directly.

What impressed me with all the performers -- but most-especially with these two -- is that they don't just sing the songs, but perform them.  (A trait I've noticed with Heather Headley whenever I've seen her.  Clearly, this program is where they got it from...)

One person I mentioned in that earlier article was a recent grad, Meghan McCandless.  (And no, there is no truth to the rumor that all women in the Northwestern theater department have to be named "Meghan M."  It just works out that way.  Some get roles in Broadway shows, others get royal weddings...) She actually performs in three songs throughout the video, and it's worth checking them all out.  But if you only want to watch these two particular performance, this first one, a song titled, "I Need More," from a show Fly by Night that had its premiere production at Northwestern through the American Musical Theatre Project starts at around the 9:15 mark, and you can jump directly to it.

The other song, is from a workshop world premiere production the AMTP did of a show called, Michael Collins, about the Irish revolutionary.  It has book and lyrics by Ryan Cunningham and music by composer Joshua Salzman, both of whom received the Jonathan Larson Award, named after the songwriter of Rent.  The number is introduced by Cunningham, and feature the same student who played the title role in that initial production.  It's a very good song and a wonderful performance -- and unfortunately, I don't know his name.  I didn't catch it at the live event, and Cunningham says it so fast, I can't decipher it.  It's something like "Judson Dresner," but as much as I tried to do some research, it was for naught, and that's the best I can do.  But here he is and that song, "Live Like You're Going to Die."  The sequence begins around 26:45.

As I said, the whole concert is worth watching, there are quite a few gems, introduced by the program's director David Bell.  The performances begin around two minutes in or so.  Most of the introductions and information before the songs are pretty interesting, though you can always scroll past.  But if you don't want to watch the full thing, do at least jump to those two songs.

By the way, this freeze frame below is the other Meghan M., Ms McCandless.  So, if you want to scroll through for all her numbers, that's what you should look for...
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When deciding on a "Today's Tweet," this is an absolute no-brainer.  The Chicago Tribune has never been especially known for its whimsy, but they tweeted this today –

Today is the 94th birthday of Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick, who won a Tony Award for Fiddler on the Roof, a Pulitzer Price for Fiorello!, and such other musicals with Jerry Bock as She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, The Rothschilds, Rex (with Richard Richard Rodgers), and the opera Captain Jinks and the Horse Marines -- and much more.

I interviewed him years ago when I was a student at Northwestern, and he returned to campus as Homecoming Grand Marshall.  I made a radio documentary from it and two decades later when I finally tracked down his address through a mutual friend to send him a copy -- and when I told my mother that I finally found someone who knew where Harnick lived, she said, "Oh, you mean, Aunt Joan?"  I was floored.  I never had any idea that they grew up together and went to college together.  Though. no, she didn't have her address.  When I sent him the radio documentary though and explained my further connection, he sent a handwritten note back, and the first line was, "OH, MY GOD!!!  JOAN SERED!!! (which was her maiden name.  And yes, this is the Aunt Joan who I wrote about here back in January for her surprise 90th birthday party.)  Though they've periodically crossed paths over the many decades, I was able to get them together seven years ago when we all saw a production of his show She Loves Me at the Writers Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois.  (And yes, this was the production I've written about several times that starred Jessie Mueller before she left for Broadway and won a Tony Award for starring in the musical Beautiful.)

But enough of all that.  On with the show.  Here's a wonderful, hour-long interview with Sheldon Harnick from four years ago when he was 90, and you'll see he's vibrant and entertaining.  My only suggestion is that you skip the ponderous first three-minutes from the host. 

At least it's a start.  Hopefully there will be more.

Northwestern just posted a four-minute video on its website about that "A Starry Night" gala event I wrote about here the other day.  It's mainly a behind-the-scenes look at the night, with several of the performers talking about why they came back to the school for the show.  However, interspersed are a bunch of clips from the event itself, and it begins with a few seconds of the opening video with host Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers -- supposedly talking from the elegant and fictitious "Northwestern Lounge" in New York City.

A few quick notes about some of the people you'll see in the video. whose names (though not credentials) might be a bit more under-the-wire  --

Craig Bierko starred as Prof. Harold Hill in the recent revival of The Music Man.  Heather Headley starred in Elton John's Broadway version of Aida and was in the original Broadway cast of his The Lion King, as well as starred in the musical version of A Color Purple.  Frank Galati -- who is the fellow who looks like Santa Claus -- was a long-time professor who, while teaching there, got an Oscar nomination for co-writing The Accidental Tourist, and won two Tony Awards for writing the adaptation and directing The Grapes of Wrath, and also directed the musical Ragtime.  Stephanie D'Abruzzo got a Tony nomination for the Tony-winning musical Avenue Q.  Harry Lennix currently plays the Assistant FBI Director on The Blacklist.  And Sharif Atkins was a regular cast member on E.R.   Also, student performer Lucy Godinez won a local award for her performance in the Chicago production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights.  

(And for readers of these pages, you can see my pal Shelly Goldstein, who gets mentioned around these parts, in the image below.  The Lady Shellington was Head Writers of the show, and as a fine chanteuse even appeared in on of the sketches.  She's the first person you see in full on the right -- or five people to Stephen Colbert's left.  Or as I prefer to put it, Stephen Colbert is the one who is five people to Shelly's right...)

I'll keep checking for more material from the night, which I hope shows up.  But at least for now, there's this.

Among the many performers participating were --

Stephanie D'Abruzzo (C93)
Nancy Dussault (BSM57)
Gregg Edelman (C80)
Craig Bierko (S 86)
Ana Gasteyer (C89)
Kathryn Hahn (C95)
Heather Headley (C97)
Marg Helgenberger C82)
Laura Innes (C79)
Brian D'Arcy James (C90)
Richard Kind (C78)
Gary Kroeger (C81)
Stephanie March (C96)
Seth Meyers (C96, H16) -- on video
Dermot Mulroney (C85)
Tony Roberts (C61)
Kimberly Williams-Paisley (C93)

There were a few other performers who I didn't recognize by name, but when I saw them knew who they immediately.  And not everyone did a musical number or sketch, but rather introduced others and told stories to tie things together.  

(And I must add here, too, that the Head Writer for the event was my pal, the occasionally-mentioned here Shelly Goldstein.  It was a terrific evening, and hats off to the Lady Shellington, who also performed in one of the sketches.)

Fun, too, was that had a chance to finally meet my email buddy, Morty Schapiro, who is the president of Northwstern.  And I had a nice talk, too, with Pat Fitzgerald, the football coach and former All-American linebacker on the team.  (I told him that I knew my dad -- who had season tickets for 51 years! -- would want him to know how important Northwestern football was to him.)  Both fellows were extremely nice.

And finally (!), something I didn't think would ever happen, but the elves back in Los Angeles taking care of the homestead were jealous, something I didn't think in their DNA.

So, back to the show.

Seth Meyers wasn't able to attend in person, though the show evening with a very funny video of him and Stephen Colbert, sitting at the elegant, fictitious Northwestern Lounge in New York.  They reminisced about both having majored in "Talk Show Hosting" while at NU, with minors in Quips, Chit Chat, and Pretending to Listen to a Boring Guest.

The opening number was a funny duet performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo, who got a Tony nomination for her role in Avenue Q which won the Tony as Best Musical, and Ana Gasteyer, best-known for her years on Saturday Night Live.  One of my few quibbles of the night is that, being such a big admirer of D'Abruzzo, I'd have loved to have seen her get a solo number, but with such a line-up, I understand the limitations...

Colbert didn't have a great deal to do throughout the show, although he did introduce several performers and told his connections to them from his time at school -- including a story of his classmate Harry Lennix, who plays the FBI Director on The Blacklist, being the first person to come up to him on the dais after Colbert's controversial speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner (basically, it had to do with George W. Bush and others on the dais being totally silent after a somewhat-concerned Colbert finished, and Lennix saying to his friend, after looking the panelists over, "Fuck all these people"), and he also stuck around to close the evening.  But in addition to the very funny opening film Colbert delivered a 10-minute monologue that was wonderful.

(When he mentioned that he takes on the president every night on his show, there was applause through the room.  He laughed and ad-libbed, "I don't know if you people are applauding because you like what I say, or if you are supporting the president.  I don't think I want to know.")

There was a great trio of sorts with Broadway performers Gregg Edelman -- who had been in the musical City of Angels, and sang a song from the show -- Brian D'Arcy James and Richard Kind.  Terrific as they all were, it was D'Arcy James who had one of the highlights of the evening.  He starred in the Broadway musical version of Shrek, as well as Something Rotten, and was in the Tony-winning musical Titanic.  But as it happens, he was also the original 'King George' in the initial off-Broadway version of Hamilton (returning to the role after the show moved to Broadway, rejoining the cast later in the run), and he performed his show-stopping number from Hamilton, "You'll Be Back."  And it was the best rendition of the song I'd seen.  Most versions play 'King George' as a bit foppish, and make the song comic, though with a dark underpinning.  D'Arcy James however sang it more as a very angry father, controlling his fury while leaving his love on the surface, and it was funny but far more malevolent -- and he brought the house down, getting everyone to join in on the "La-dee-dah-dut-dahhhhs" at the end.

Another highlight was Craig Bierko, who in 2000 took on the risky job of following in Robert Preston's footsteps, and starred as 'Prof. Harold Hill' in the Broadway revival of The Music Man, getting a Tony nomination (as well as winning other awards for it) in the process. He enthusiastically and superbly recreated two songs from the show -- "Trouble" and "76 Trombones."  (One of my other quibbles is that the number was oddly staged at the end -- they made it fun, bringing out some of the Northwestern marching band, but it was done in a way that didn't allow the audience to really applaud, and you could tell they were ready to explode.)

End-staging aside, here's Bierko performing the number in full during an appearance with the Boston Pops, under the direction of Keith Lockhart,

And the show closed with the luminous Heather Headley, who deservedly had two numbers in the show.  The earlier was during a film montage honoring many alumni of the School of Communication.  If you don't know her work, I'll rectify that in coming days.  She was in the original cast of The Lion King, then starred in the lead role of Elton John's Broadway version of Aida, played the Whitney Houston role in a musical version of The Bodyguard on the West End in London and recently returned to Broadway as 'Shug Avery' in ​The Color Purple.

(I should also note for regular readers of these pages that Heather Headley’s first song was a tender ballad performed while a montage was shown of special people they wanted to honor from the School of Communication.  One of whom was Newton Minow, father of the oft-mentioned here Nell.)

This isn't from the event last night, but five years ago, and it's not a great video, but this is the song that Heather Headley ended the night with, "Home" for The Wiz.

Not shockingly, she brought the crowd to their feet.  And with Stephen Colbert returned for some brief comments, and the wonderful evening ended.

Though the "big gala" is tonight, one of the few smaller events I attended during the fundraiser/reunion weekend of the School of Communication at Northwestern was a presentation this afternoon by its acclaimed American Music Theater Project program, which was begun by Dominic Missimi in 2005.  Its center is to train students not just in singing or just in acting or just in dance, but as a combined disciplined, with a focus, as well, in writing.  (One of the alums of that project is the wonderful Heather Headley -- who starred in Elton John's Broadway musical, Aida -- who will appearing at tonight's gala.)

It's a fascinating program that has branched out in numerous projects.  At its core, they invite professional composer-writers in to have workshop productions of their works-in-progress.  But three other projects stand out -- one is in conjunction with the American Theatre Wing (who oversee the Tony Awards), where among the prizes that the winner of the Jonathan Larson Award for young songwriters gets is a production of their show at Northwestern's AMTP.  Also, they have a program in conjunction with the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland, taking a dozen students to work with 20 students at the Royal Conservatoire and put on two musicals (one each written by someone from each group) which they then perform at the Edinburgh Festival for a month.  And the third is The Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project -- a weeklong competition for young songrwriters from around the world, the top 12 of which spend a week in residence working in the AMTP program.

(Unrelated side note: the program is now overseen by David Bell, who directed the world premiere of the musical Peggy Sue Got Married.  I mention this because the show was written by my friends Arlene Sarner and Jerry Leichtling -- who had also written the film's screenplay -- with music by Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons.  And as whimsy would have it, I attended that world premiere just outside Chicago, when I was home visiting my folks.  But I digress) 

At the "reunion" event, they had students performing songs from shows that had all had their premieres at Northwestern, developing as part of the AMTP.  The songs were all terrific, and so were pretty much all the students.  One stood out, a recent graduate, Meghan McCandless.  I found some videos of her, and this one was quite good.  It's not her alone, but singing the lead with an a capella group.
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There were a couple of songs I especially liked that I believed were initiated at the AMTP, but I couldn't find video of them performed there.  However, I tracked down other videos for them.

This first had been performed by Meghan McCandless who was absolutely with it.  It's called, "I Need More," from a show called Fly By Night.  Here's it's sung by Ashley Moniz, who does a nice job with it.

Finally, here's a song, "Live Like You're Going to Die," from a show, Michael Collins, based on the life of the Irish revolutionary, that premiered at the AMTP.  The musical was written by Ryan Cunningham (who is now an Associate Director of the project and was at the event this afternoon) and Joshua Salzman.  The young man (whose name I didn't catch, alas) who had starred in that initial production sang it at the showcase.  But I was able to track down another recording and wanted to include it here as a further example of the work being done.  Here is that later version --
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The reason that I'm in Chicago right now is specifically because there is a fundraiser/reunion of sorts for the School of Communication at the beloved Northwestern University.  I'm not big on reunions, tending to avoid them at all costs, but there is a fundraising event tonight which was near-impossible to miss.  More on that later -- I probably won't be back in time tonight and won't write about it until tomorrow.  And besides, I'm staying with relatives who live walking distance from the school, so that makes commuting to it Really Easy.

I don't expect to go to many of the reunion events, though as long as I'm here anyway, I've gone to a few.  Last night, there was a Welcome Reception which I attended.  There was good food -- always a plus, though I only knew one person there.  That was my pal Wally Podrazik, who I've mentioned here, the curator of the Museum of Broadcast Communication, among his many other hats.  However, I ran into a few "Facebook friends," who I do know through that social media service.  One of the very recent grads I spoke with (I think from 2016) was a young woman named Dana Balkin, who was a hoot.  An explosive, but deeply-warm personality who I have a feeling could have talked until next Tuesday if it became important to -- "I know that I have a shy personality and am much too laid back." -- yet was equally happy to listen to the conversation and even ask questions, a rare and impressive combination for a professional talker.  She acknowledged that she never plays poker because her face is too expressive about everything.  "When I text someone, my roommate can tell what I'm writing just by looking at me."  And yes, not shockingly, she's an aspiring actress.  I only mention her name here because I sense she'll do well.  Plus, she gets a lot of bonus points for her favorite TV series being Columbo, which speaks a lot about her personality, as well...

There were also two reunion-group gatherings I went to.  This wasn't a reunion by class year, but for the whole School of Communication (known as the School of Speech, when I was there).  Most of the events they're holding are general lectures or presentation.  The "reunions" are being handled by activity.  So, one that I attended was for the radio station, WNUR.  And again, I only knew one person there -- his name was Wally Podrazik.  It was nice though to see their new set-up, which is very impressive, and it's not all digital.  Bizarre, but wonderful to see is that they've retained the LP collection, and it's huge. And alongside everything are two turntables for the albums.  One of the DJs there at the time was pulling out albums for her shift, noting that she particularly loves music from the '60s, and especially the Beach Boys.  (Wally particularly liked hearing of her appreciation of that era's music, since he is a major Beatles expert and lectures on them across the country.  However, I noted to the girl, Tuuli, that "Wouldn't It Be Nice" if he liked the Beach Boys as much, and "God Only Knows" why he didn't.  Fortunately, I got a big enough laugh that I wasn't looked at like a blithering idiot.  Actually, I had as much fun talking with the current students as I did seeking out any "reunion" folk. Also, there was happily even more good food there.

After that, I went to a small reunion for the Mee-Ow Show.  That is a student-run stage show that was created my senior year as an alternative to the long-established and high-regarded Waa-Mu show that, while it's a student show, has more faculty involvement.  (The "Mee-Ow" name is not just a twist on "Waa-Mu," of course, but refers to the school's nickname being the Wildcats.)  I wrote for that first-year show, having one song in it that I wrote both the music and lyrics for.  Actually, I had two songs, but I went to a rehearsal one night and saw that bizarrely they had edited out about 30 seconds from the middle of the song, making it sort of stupid.  When I asked the producer why, he said the show was running long, and they had to shorten it.  I noted that they'd stand more success at that trimming the interminable 11-minute sketch that preceded it, rather than by cutting the middle of the song.  My argument did not win the day, and I was given two options: leave the song as is, with the cut, or take the song out of the show.  I chose the latter.

I didn't know anyone at this event (Wally Podrazik was apparently not involved with it...), though there were two actors I knew of, and spoke with -- Richard Kind and Craig Bierko.  Richard and I spoke a bit about Larry Gelbart, since he had been a speaker at the wonderful, but unfortunate  memorial for Larry a few years ago.  Also, I asked him a few questions about a Stephen Sondheim musical he was in, Bounce (among other names it went by, including Gold), but which never made it to Broadway. (Though he did star there in a revival of Larry Gelbart's play, Sly Fox.)  Craig Bierko notably got a Tony nomination for playing 'Harold Hill,' in the Broadway revival of The Music Man -- of which I've posted several videos here -- but I mentioned that I was going to praise a movie he starred in that he probably didn't hear a lot, Sour Grapes, which Larry David wrote and directed.  He laughed, saying that no, he didn't hear about that much.  It's a very funny movie, but deeply mean-spirited as two best friends keep one-upping the other with practical jokes to get back at the other, as an argument between them gets out of control.  Normally I don't like mean-spirited at all, but this was very clever.  Craig noted that he thought that Larry seemed to have put in all the nasty things that were probably took dark for Seinfeld.

As reunion events, none of them struck my fancy, since I'm not a big reunion guy, though I enjoyed the few conversations I had, and liked talking with the students at all of them.  But mainly, I'm here for the even tonight.  More on that upcoming.

I'll just say that it's a gala with about 30-40 alumni from Broadway theater, film and TV (no doubt why Kind and Bierko were around), which is being hosted by fellow-alum Stephen Colbert.  I figured that as long as I was planning a trip into Chicago around now, this was the time to make the trip...

I went to downtown Chicago today for a concert, but first wandered through the Loop a bit.  It was a Day of Art since the city has a wonderful tradition of outdoor artwork from renowned artists.  It began in 1967 when Pablo Picasso designed a terrific, fascinating, albeit odd sculpture when Richard J. Daley was mayor, and it resides in what is now Daley Plaza. 

​When I walked by today, it was in a setting unlike any I had every seen.  Because it was the early part of lunch hour, the plaza (and, in turn, the sculpture) was ringed by food trucks.  I had two reactions:  the first was what a shame to have such a magnificent piece of hour off-set by this mass of half-a-dozen big vehicles.  The second though was to note how accepted this great work is as a daily part of the city (no pun intended), and there was something almost charming to have it blend in to it all

Continuing my walk, I passed by what is probably my favorite of the outdoor "world-class" artwork.  Much as I really like The Picasso (as it's known in town), I love the piece designed by Marc Chagall for the city in 1977.  I believe it's called "The Four Seasons," and is a gorgeous, joyful mosaic that presents each season on a side of a large rectangular block.  It's pretty in photographs, but they don't come close to doing it justice, because only up close can you see that it's not a painting, focus on the tens of thousands of little colored stones that make up the work, and walk around all four sides.

The work sits on the east side of what was originally the First National Bank of Chicago Plaza, but is now called Exelon Plaza.
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There's a good deal of other outdoor art by world-famous artists throughout the downtown, including another one I particular like that's of a 53-foot tall flamingo by Alexander Calder.  However, I didn't pass by it on this trip.

But it was one other piece of art that was really the destination of my walk, and why I took the El in early.  For as much as I love the Chagall and Picasso (and Calder), this one sculpture stands out tall above them all.  It's the second of the three fiberglass horses that my cousin Diana Leviton Gondek designed for the city.  I wrote about one yesterday, down the block from Wrigley Field, and this one sits outside the Office of the Mayor in City Hall.

That's two horses down, one to go.  After taking a picture of the horse, I set about writing about it for a posting  on Facebook.  I'm not the fastest typist on a mobile phone, so it took a while.  During all this, a few people came out of Mayor Emmanuel's office (I made sure to get the sign in my photo) and noticed me there, taking pictures and doing something on my phone that was taking forever.  They politely, but warily asked what I was doing.  "I am the cousin of the artiste!" I explained.  (Okay, I didn't say "artiste," but that was the subtext.)  They took that well, since they all like the horse.  As well they should

The end of my Day of Art took me took Symphony Hall for a concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  I had lunch first with one of the executives of the CSO on the top floor of Symphony Hall, which was a treat -- it's a very old building with great architecture.  And the concert was great.  Their music director Riccardo Muti was in town, so he conducted.  A couple of pieces by Debussy and two by Tchaikowsky.  And it sounded as rich and vibrant and meticulous as I've heard them.

But the horse.  That was the treat...

Happily, I made it to the Cubs game today after the brutal weather yesterday that got the game cancelled.  I was concerned that they wouldn't reschedule it until later in the year when I wouldn't be in town, but the Game Gods were smiling and set it up for today.  I had a meeting planned, but was able to switch it to another day.

There's an El near where I'm staying, and it lets you off a block from Wrigley Field -- remarkably convenient.  But rather than going to the ballyard first, I turned the other direction and walked two blocks to Police Station #19.  That's where one of the three fiberglass Horses of Honor that my cousin Diana Leviton Gondek was commissioned by the City of Chicago to design, in memory of fallen policemen.  Another is in Mayor Emmanuel's office in City Hall and I believe the third is in the 44th Ward.

Which brings us to the ball game.  Needless-to-say, the weather was  far superior than the day before.  But that's not difficult when the day before it was in the upper-30s with possible thunderstorms and possible snow,  Today, it was sunny and clear.  But it was still pretty cold.  People were bundled up, with winter hoods, gloves and scarves.  The family sitting in front of me left in the sixth inning.

But it was still a good enough day for a game.

Cold as it was -- probably in the lower-40s -- a Cubs win (and against the hated rivals, the Cardinals) made the day all the warmer.  They took an 8-1 lead and held it for most of the game.  Then they had a meltdown in the seventh inning and gave up four runs, but held on to win 8-5.

Huzzah!  

When flying into Chicago, I was sitting next to a charming young woman from Australia who was participating in a conference.  She noted that she'd heard the weather was supposed to be colder than usual, and was curious if I knew what it was that day.  It was 30 degrees, I told her.  "How much is that in Celsius?" she asked.  (Okay, she's from Sydney, so she pronounced it, "Silsius."  But I digress...)  I did some figuring in my head, and then said that it was zero.  "Oh," she replied, "That's not good."  She added that it was the end of their Fall in Australia, so it was nearing Winter ("Wintah"...), so she figured she'd be okay.

That night, talking with my aunt, who I'm staying with, I mentioned that it was pretty chilly outside.  "Well, yes," she replied, "but then you're from Los Angeles."

Los Angeles??  This has nothing to do with "Los Angeles"!  It was 30 degrees in mid-April!  They cancelled the Cubs-Cardinals baseball game, because it was too cold to play.  Not because, "By Los Angeles standards, Major League Baseball has determined the game should not go on."

This morning, I went to downtown Chicago to visit the Art Institute, and not a single person I saw making their way through the Loop was wearing a windbreaker.  They were bundled up.  Everyone.  Some in winter gear, parkas, others in their heavy Fall jackets but with scarves and woolen hats.  Not one chilly soul in their Spring finest.

And not one of them that I'm aware of from Los Angeles.

I have a ticket to the Cubs game tomorrow.  It's supposed to be a balmy 42 -- though with the possibility of thunderstorms in the morning, ending before game time, though possible light rain later in the afternoon.  I have pretty good seats.  Hopefully after three hours sitting there, the weather gods will be smiling.  Down on everyone, including those from Chicago and Los Angeles, and all points in between...

UPDATE: the new forecast Wednesday morning is -- chance of thunderstorms and SLEET in the morning, high in the upper-30s with possible light rain in the afternoon and two inches of SNOW in the evening!  For April 18.  Play ball!!!  Hey, as they say, "April blizzards bring May flowers..."  But yes, I live in Los Angeles.