John Williams

Mark has a deep appreciation for music.  I remember smiling to myself after getting in his car on our first date and he was playing music from the soundtrack of Star Wars and wondering what I had gotten myself into.  It still makes me smile just to think of it.  As Mark and I's relationship progressed so did my knowledge of another man, John Williams.  I must admit, I had never heard of John Williams before, but I definitely had heard his music before.  As I am sure pretty much every other person on the planet has...truly.  This man is a creative genius and although I don't have quite the love affair that Mark has with him, I admire him for what he does.  He's composed the music for Star Wars, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T., the Indiana Jones series, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, and the first three Harry Potter movies - and so many others.  

Mark had gone to a John Williams concert previously in California but has talked about going to another one pretty much ever since we got married.  Seeing as John is 86 years old, we knew he could "retire" anytime and so when Mark approached me last fall about going to this concert I knew we had to go.  This is what brought us to Chicago!

Sunday morning we got up and going early and walked over to The Field Museum.  This museum was incredible and probably the most amazing museum I've ever been too.  It became immediately apparent that we could spend days here and we only had about two to three hours.  

Isn't the building amazing?!

We spent a good chunk of our time looking at The Ancient Americas exhibit.  It was so interesting to see that area from the time of the Ice Ago to present day.  We learned about the Aztec empire and the city of Tenochtitlan.  It was fascinating.  

We also spent some time looking at the Cyrus Tang Hall of China which was really interesting.  They had lots of rubbings, bronzes and ceramics and it was neat to learn more about their culture.  

Mark was pretty bummed because "Sue" was not up.  Sue is the largest, most extensive and best preserved tyrannosaurus rex ever found and lives at The Field.  But they are building a new area for her and so are still putting her back together.  We were able to see them working on her but that was it.  I guess we will just have to go back!

The highlight here was probably seeing the mummy exhibit.  This is a special exhibit they have right now and it was so fascinating.  They had fourteen mummies and I don't think I have ever seen one before.  And oddly, or maybe not oddly, it made me feel a little weird or insensitive.  It felt strange looking at someone that had lived thousands of years ago.  I also had no idea that people in Peru have been mummifying people long before Egyptians.  It was interesting to learn the different ways they did it and why.  

In Egypt, most mummies were embalmed and their organs removed.  They were layed flat on their backs with their legs extended outward and were encased in wood coffins and stone sarcophaguses.  And were usually buried in secure tombs.  In Egypt, they mummified people to help their spirits live on in the next world.  In Peru though, they weren't embalmed and their organs were left inside.  They sat in a crouched position with their legs drawn up against their chests.  They were buried in fabric, clothed and given a false head.  And they were buried in accessible underground pits.  In Peru, they mummified people to allow the living to remain connected with the dead.  Interesting.  

Peruvian Mummies

On the right, is a mother and child.  

Replica of the pits they were buried in

Egyptian Mummy

They created these miniature servants to be buried with them to serve them in the after life

I love learning. 

We then grabbed some lunch at the museum and then walked over to the Shedd Aquarium.  This was a-mazing!  Again, we felt like we were so rushed but it was amazing to see what we saw.  We both loved how they organized their aquarium, which seems silly but it was just awesome.  Everything was in these large floor to ceiling tanks so you could see everything.  It was so cool.  

They had dolphins which we saw from a distance but didn't have time to watch the show.  But my favorite was watching the belugas!  They had five (maybe six - I can't remember) and they were so much fun to watch.  I loved them.  

We then made the walk over to the Chicago Symphony Hall.  We were able to attend a Q&A before and hear from the other conductor (who would be conducting the first half of the concert) and one of the individuals playing the trumpet.  It was fun to hear what they had to say.  

The concert was incredible.  The venue was beautiful.  The players were amazing and definitely artists in their own right.  But there was something incredible though about John Williams.  I teased Mark that I just wanted to watch HIM watch the concert but promised that I wouldn't (I contained myself to just a few glances).  It is amazing to watch someone you love, love something so much.  

Here is what they played...I thought it was a little Star Wars heavy...but I was in the minority I think. ;)  Either way, it was amazing.  

Richard Kaufman conducted the first half:

- Overture to The Cowboys

- Suite from Jane Eyre

- The Adventures of Mutt from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

- A New Beginning from Minority Report

- Adventures on Earth from E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Intermission

John Williams conducted the second half and the encore:

- Flight to Neverland from Hook

- A Child's Tale: Suite from The BFG

- Out to Sea and Shark Cage Fugue from Jaws

- With Malice Towards None from Lincoln

- The Rebellion is Reborn from Star Wars: The Last Jedi

- Rey's Theme from Star Wars: The Force Awakens

- The Throne Room and End Title from  Star Wars: A New Hope

Encore

- Marion's Theme from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark

- March from Superman

- The Imperial March from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

After the concert we headed to dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe and it was so yummy.  

It was a great day.