Dots - Obama, Al Capone and France; Spots - The Half Shell and the Green Mill

Bon soir. Helene and I agreed to leave work a bit early, instead left at fifteen minutes beyond quitting time. The week, shortened by the Memorial Day holiday felt long and with the extra fifteen minutes… interminable. Turning north from Lower Wacker and up the ramp to the Drive, we saw cop cars blocking the road heading south. While we continued inching our way in normal rush hour traffic, south-bound was completely blocked by another four cop cars and two two-story-garbage trucks with concrete barriers strapped on to each side, clearly meant to stop anything trying to get through. As we passed, going in the other direction, I caught the eye of the driver of one of them, a woman in a neon tennis-ball green vest over a uniform steel colored shirt with gray hair... scary. Two military helicopters chopped the air on the other side of us going south along the Lake Michigan shoreline. "Obama" we said at the same time. Yep, typing into my Google for Android,  “Obama in Chicago” resulted in a blog story from the Tribune that the president landed at 4:39pm and was headed for the Loop for fundraisers. Luckily leaving the very area of his first destination, we headed away for a quick bite and a French movie, the Intouchables.

A cheap bill highlighted dinner at the Half Shell. We discussed sharing frog legs to start a French themed evening, but when Helene, with two umlauts, saw they were breaded not sauteed in butter and garlic, she decided on something less American. 

I learned from Helene that the film won the French Oscar over the Artist and the lead actor won best actor. I loved the Artist, also a French film and looked forward to the movie, subtitles and all, especially because of her homeland enthusiasm.  A couple times during the movie, she leaned over to tell me about a location or a building… I know the excitement of seeing the familiar, if even in a movie. After, driving to drop her off,  the funny, uplifting story, the location, the actors prompted loads of discussion, we decided to stop for a drink at the Green Mill. The bar is Chicago. It's been in tourist guides for years. If you travel abroad and mention you are from Chicago, older people do a machine gun action and say "Al Capone", middle age say "Michael Jordan", now, "Obama." Tonight we experienced two icons, the Green Mill is known for where Al Capone hung out.  Judging by the wood carvings on the wall, the booths that now in most restaurants would be removed to add a couple extra paying tables, (but are saved because that's where Al and his henchmen sat to watch the doors) probably hasn’t changed much since. Whether a speak easy or stage venue, live music remains a constant since the thirties when he frequented the club. We decided to stay, despite the cover charge to hear a jazz quartet. Turns out, the group was the Mouton Reunion at the Green Mill for a couple performances, the band was from France. A perfect connect-the-dot evening.