Activities/Actions: - Took the kids to visit Dong-dong
- Took the kids to downtown to library, and see a play at Millenium Park
Stat:Course condition:
How I felt:(the 5-point scale)
- Physically 5
- Mentally 5
- About my nutrition 3
- About my sleep 4
How hard did I work? n/a
(the 10-point scale)
Note and reflections:Dong has a visit from the kids--my friend's daugthers and son. Kimmy is a three years old girl who loves Dong-dong very much. She is really excited when I take her to visit Dong-dong. We did this couple times before. This time, she call Dong-dong "my baby Dong-Dong" with her sweet voice. The girls (Kimmy and Na) are following Dong-Dong around. It is fun, but my apartment is a bit hot.
About 4:30p, we leave for library but we cannot get there before it closes so I walk them to Crown Fountian. This fountain is a very-popular spot for kids (and adults alike) because they can be cooled down by water stream falling down from the 50-foot-tall glass block towers displaying LED screen with Chicagoan faces. Periodically, the stream of water will shot out from the mounth of the faces for exactly 30 seconds. The kids have fun at the fountain for awhile before I bring them to see a show called "The Balloon Man" at Pritzker Pallion. We get a red blanket provided Target. The kids and I enjoy the show. The stage is constructed on a 20 foot truck so that it can move and assemble very quickly. The play has developed by
Redmoon Theater, who
"creates theatrical spectacles that transform streets, stages and architectural landmarks into places of public celebration utilizing an original language capable of speaking across cultural, ethnic and generational boundaries." The show tells a tale of "a team of a roving team of scientists [recruiting] a hapless children’s entertainer and an intrepid youngster named Beatrice to search for that rarest of species – the wild
Picnob!" I think that they do not depict scientist so well. Hey I am a scientist. The show tries to educate and entertain kids with global warming and some science topics through rock n' roll songs. See an article from Chicagotribune'a critic below.
We come home almost 9:30. Long day, but fun.
****
Dong-Dong is nice today too.
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(http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/reviews/critics/chi-gs42bj0s8.9jul23,1,4015194.story?coll=chi-ent_critics-hed)
Redmoon's 'Balloon Man' gives mad science a run for its money
By Nina Metz Published July 23, 2006 Redmoon Theater calls its latest spectacle "The Balloon Man," but the title is a red herring. The poor guy in question — the kind who makes balloon animals at birthday parties — lies sprawled out and unconscious for most of the show after he is run over by a truck bearing bushwhacking scientists in white lab coats and bad wigs.
The show, performed outdoors on the north end of Millennium Park's Great Lawn, is one of several free performances featured as part of the city's Family Fun Week at the park. "The Balloon Man," which seems best suited for children ages 4-7, continues on selected days through the end of the month.
Created and directed by Jim Lasko — along with Frank Maugeri and a stable of writers — the production centers on a young girl named Beatrice (Lindsey Noel Whiting) who befriends the scientists and helps them in their attempt to track down the elusive Picnob, a Muppet-like Sasquatch who rides a bicycle equipped with a kettle grill perched on the handlebars. (Actor Joe Roche apparently drew the short straw here, and gamely dons the heavy Picnob costume.)
I found some of the story line difficult to track — intricate, unexplained details pop up continually — but most children in the audience didn't seem bothered by non-sequiturs. (And it seems silly to complain when admission is free.)
Local band The Bitter Tears provides the musical accompaniment, and while the melodies are kicky and appealing, they don't have that distinctive, junkyard rock 'n' roll sound usually associated with Redmoon — and that's a disappointment. Some of the lyrics, though, are priceless. After each disastrous attempt to capture the Picnob, the scientists cheerily sing: "Oh, that sure failed!/We didn't plan that so hot/But we're eliminating doubt, and that's what science is all about."
Brennan Buhl is the head scientist and ringleader, and his quick-witted, blithely obnoxious performance — part P.T. Barnum, part game-show host — is what really holds this thing together. His nutty professor is the only defined personality to come through — by sheer force of Buhl's loopy, muttering, outsize sensibility. It works exceptionally well in the expansive, outdoor setting.
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