A Really Cool Ad for A Really Great Cause -- October is Breast Cancer Awarness Month

www.bcrfcure.org

Yesterday I read a movie review by the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips in which he theorized that his liking the film (if only somewhat more than expected) would likely foretell its relative failure at the box office. Phillips included this quote from legendary playwright Henrik Ibsen: "The majority is always wrong."

Seems quite apt to a lot of things, and in championing a really unique, daring and compelling ad for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, I sure hope that it will prove as effective, if not much more so, than a more traditional approach. Because I think it's much cooler than the norm and therefore am unsure if the majority would agree.

Even though I have seen many reminders that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, including pink ribbons on celebrities, promotions on many websites and pink shoes & gloves worn by NFL players in commemoration, and although breast cancer is certainly a vital cause and one that affected my family--my maternal grandmother was a breast cancer survivor--I wasn't prompted to make a donation to the Breast Cancer Research Fund (bcrfcure.org) until I saw the ad below, a couple of times.

I don't know if it's been running elsewhere, but I've only seen it Playbill programs, accompanying theater and cultural events. The first time was in the Playbill for the musical "Rock of Ages" in Chicago; due to the more brazen, cross-cultural nature of show, a celebration of "hair metal," I wondered if the ad was particular to that program. But when it showed up again in the Playbill-published program for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where it really stood out among a bunch of staid ads about corporate philanthropy, it really impressed me.

My kudos to whoever signed off on this ad for the BCRF and the artist, Marisa Acocello Marchetto. Donations can be made at bcrfcure.org or by calling 1-866-Find-A-Cure.

Now Reflecting Their Middle-Age Devotees, Teenage Fanclub Gains A New One -- Concert Review

Concert Review

Teenage Fanclub
with the Radar Brothers
Lincoln Hall, Chicago
October 6, 2010
@@@@

Never before all that familiar with Teenage Fanclub, except for enjoying the bit that I'd heard, I guarantee that had I seen the now middle-aged Scottish band members walking down Lincoln Avenue before the show--perhaps to grab a hot dog at Chicago Dog House (on Fullerton), upon which Fanclubber Norman Blake lavished praise from the stage--I would have had no clue that this was the band I would soon be watching.

Not only would I not have guessed that this was a rock band rather than a group of accountants, I wouldn't have realized that I was encountering members of a band that had considerable success in the early '90s (particularly in the UK), that released a cornerstone album called Bandwagonesque, which Spin Magazine named the Best of 1991 (over Nirvana's Nevermind, U2's Achtung Baby and REM's Out of Mind), that was hand-picked by Kurt Cobain to tour with Nirvana on the Nevermind tour and that was repeatedly called by Cobain, "the best band in the world."

I clearly recall seeing the iconic Bandwagonesque album cover back in the day, but I really didn't know any of their music until 2006 when I put together my first "Hidden in the Isles" collection of UK bands largely overlooked or underappreciated in the US. At that time, I got their 2003 compilation Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds: A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub and especially loved the punningly-named song, "Neil Jung."

I can't say that I've given then much thought or many "spins" lately, until seeing in the Chicago Tribune that they would be playing two shows this week at the Lincoln Hall club, a year-old venue to which I hadn't yet ventured (this is the Tribune's brief Q&A with Blake, who it says is "oft-dubbed 'the nicest man in rock'").

While certainly feeling that they deserved a bit more public acclaim--particularly after seeing them--I was happy that I could get a ticket for $20 at the door for Wednesday night's show and easily take my pick from a limited number of chairs in the balcony, the only option for this middle-ager to sit down.

After a nice opening set from the Radar Brothers, led by a singer seemingly on the far side of middle-age, Teenage Fanclub played an entirely enjoyable 90-minute set. I had read that the band has three principal songwriters and all three took turns singing, without anyone being clearly lesser than the others. Although I had taken a pre-show crash course on Bandwagonesque and their well-reviewed new album, Shadows, a good number of songs were unknown to me, but it didn't matter. All sounded quite fine and though the band was pretty-laid back, matching the nice vibe in the comfortable venue with perhaps 150 of their contemporaries--many seemingly much more indoctrinated to the Fanclub than I--their singing and playing was quite stellar and well-appreciated.

Historically speaking, they probably don't really deserve to be in the same sentence as Nirvana--and even the Wikipedia article citing them as "compared to the Byrds, Big Star, Neil Young and Dinosaur Jr." elevates them a good bit beyond my as yet acquired affinity--but for those who enjoy easy-to-digest power-pop with a good dose of intelligence, Teenage Fanclub remains a mighty fine exemplar.

With the set seamlessly meshing songs from the band's early days with a number of cuts off Shadows, highlights included Star Sign (which I captured on the video below), I Don't Want Control of You, The Concept and their earliest single, Everything Flows, which closed the show.



Teenage Fanclub Setlist from October 6, 2010 as pulled from the TeenageFanclub.com message board:

It's All in My Mind
Sometimes I Don't Need to Believe in Anything
The Fall
Alcoholiday
Star Sign
Baby Lee
I Need Direction
About You
Planets
Ain't That Enough
I Don't Want Control of You
Don't Look Back
Your Love is the Place...
Sparky's Dream
The Concept
--------------------
Discolite
When I Still Have Thee
He'd Be a Diamond
Everything Flows

Delightfully Quaint Chamber Musical Gets It Write, By Force of Quill - Theater Review: Daddy Long Legs at Northlight Theatre

Theater Review

Daddy Long Legs
a new musical with music & lyrics by Paul Gordon, book & direction by John Caird
Northlight Theatre, Skokie, IL
Thru October 24, 2010
@@@@1/2

My Dear Reader,

It is my sincere hope that this letter finds you well and exceptionally buoyant of spirit. While the contrivances of life can periodically seem entirely unkind, altogether the passing days have predominantly been agreeable for yours truly. Or as colloquially expressed by Mr. Joseph Fidler Walsh, he of the Ohio Walshes (and subsequently the Eagles), "I can't complain but sometimes I still do. Life's been good to me so far."

Inspiring my current correspondence is a hearty hankering to enlighten you regarding a positively enchanting piece of musical melodrama entitled "Daddy Long Legs," now being enacted by the Theatre Northlight in the heavenly hamlet beknownst as Skokie.

Although cosmetically quite dissimilar from the multifarious extravagance that was Hugo's "Les Miserables" upon the lighted stage, despite sharing in Mr. John Caird the same directorial mastermind, this intimately co-acted, epistolary chamber musical is likewise engagingly lyrical.

Congruently derived from a classic novel, one originally penned by Miss Jean Webster in 1912 and embodied through numerous manifestations in the intervening decades, the Northlight rendition of Daddy Long Legs was freshly composed rather recently by Mr. Paul Gordon, who previously received a Tony Award nomination for correspondingly having fashioned both music and lyrics for a theatrical enactment of "Jane Eyre."

Photo credit: Jeanne Tanner

The winsome and wonderfully-voiced Ms. Megan McGinnis, well-trod upon the Great White Way--including as Eponine in the aforementioned Les Miz--is disarmingly charming as Miss Jerusha Abbott, an orphan covertly bestowed a collegiate endowment by a shadowy benefactor she designates "Daddy Long Legs" in frequent letters drafted as the sole stipulation of his largesse.

Quite suitably satisfying, albeit secondarily, as the secretive patron and subsequent suitor, is Mr. Robert Adelman Hancock, and one was instinctively engendered to imagine this twosome decorating the same scenery quite superbly in Lerner and Loewe's even more loverly My Fair Lady.

While quite eminently worthwhile, Mssrs. Caird and Gordon's Daddy Long Legs--in which at Northlight Ms. McGinnis reprised the role she had originated, although this show has not heretofore broached Broadway--also reminded of another, superior ode to the archaic art of letter-writing, Mr. Stephen Sondheim's "Passion."

Can you even imagine, my ever-esteemed compatriot, the societal cultivations should today's communicatively expeditious students--or even, self-inclusively, all of our excessively digitized citizenry--be compelled to manually compose expository correspondence on a monthly basis? (WTF?? LOL!!)

Excusing my digression, allow me perchance to reiterate my high regard for this wonderfully quaint piece of theater. Musically I must admit to being uncertain if any of the melodious numbers, however artfully operatic in their storytelling predominance, will remain indelibly-etched in my consciousness. (Although a gentleman in the odeum's foyer was peddling a sound recording seemingly unavailable through the voluminous merchants of Amazon, my frugality precluded it from being afforded.) Yet, as a truly sumptuous evening of exquisite entertainment--or afternoon, for I attended a matinee in the near-exclusive accompaniment of amused octogenarians--Daddy Long Legs is exceedingly deserving of my lavishing upon it this extravagant expression of admirably anachronistic verbosity.

"The greatest thing one can possess is imagination," or so approximately pronounces Jerusha Abbott at one juncture during her education-infused maturation. Entirely in accordance, I am pleased to effusively applaud, and enthusiastically recommend, this delectably cozy & warm new musical that celebrates the art of expression so engagingly. 

Very theatrically yours,
Seth

---
Note: For those who, like me, relish ticket discounts, a limited supply of "$20 Day-Of Tickets" are available for purchase in person at the Northlight Box Office or by phone at 847.673.6300. Details can be found here and this link provides more info on the Daddy Long Legs production.

The Muti Blues - The Mysterious Case of the Missing Maestro (and What I May Have Missed)

Classical Music Review

Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Guest Conductor: Harry Bicket
Symphonies by Mozart (#25 & 34) and Haydn (#39 & 89)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
@@@@

In mid-September, with the type of fanfare usually reserved for new Cubs managers--and seemingly greater expectations--acclaimed Italian conductor Riccardo Muti assumed his post as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

As part of his much heralded inaugural fall residency--the Chicago Tribune dedicated a special section to Muti, an honor, in these days of evaporating newsprint, that I recall only the Stanley Cup-winning Blackhawks previously receiving this year--the maestro was to conduct a number of performances through October 17, including three of a program of Haydn and Mozart symphonies.

Although my knowledge of classical music is still extremely sparse, I have come to enjoy it far more than in my youth, and try to take in a few concerts and/or operas each year. So with all the hype about Muti, on Wednesday, September 29, I purchased a gallery ticket (the cheapest kind) to see Muti conduct the Mozart and Haydn pieces on Tuesday, October 5.

Here's what's happened in between, for those who don't keep up with these things:

Last Thursday and Friday, Muti conducted the Mozart/Haydn program, receiving a strong if not quite completely raving review from the Chicago Tribune's John von Rhein.

Saturday, Muti was to conduct a special Symphony Ball concert in his honor, but had to bow out due to illness (Tribune story here, including how the program was quickly revised and guest violin soloist Anne Sophie Mutter also filled in as a conductor).

By Monday morning, the Tribune reported that Muti was canceling the remainder of his fall residency concerts, saying: The Italian conductor, 69, is "suffering from extreme gastric distress" and, on the advice of local physicians, "must fly home to Milan to consult with his doctors," according to a statement released by the orchestra Sunday.

The same article also revealed that Harry Bicket would take over the final performance of Muti's Haydn-Mozart program on Tuesday, the one for which I had just bought a ticket 5 days earlier.

I looked on the CSO Website and it said, as it still does for Muti's upcoming scheduled fall performances:

CSO MUSIC DIRECTOR RICCARDO MUTI HAS REGRETFULLY WITHDRAWN FROM THIS PERFORMANCE DUE TO ILLNESS. TICKETHOLDERS SHOULD DIRECT ALL QUESTIONS TO OUR PATRON SERVICES DEPARTMENT AT 312-294-3000.

Now I imagine that means I could have called and requested a refund, as I don't think the Patron Services Department would be revealing whether it was an overload of Al's Italian Beef or Lou Malnati's Pizza that was wreaking havoc in the maestro's innerds. But as I honestly don't know if I could sonically distinguish the CSO from a very good college or suburban orchestra and would still be clueless if they had substituted pieces by Brahms and Bach for the intended ones by Haydn and Mozart, to skip seeing and hearing 50 gifted musicians because a different guy would be waving the baton, seemed kind of silly.

Although I'm sure that orchestra conductors must be vitally important, as a classical music novice I've long wondered how much the guy waving the baton really affects on a nightly basis. I mean, haven't the musicians been practicing for weeks on end and know the arrangements set forth in compositions written 200+ years ago? And aren't they looking at their hands and the sheet music, not the guy gesticulating wildly?

And if a new guy, albeit another "internationally renowned conductor" (I've never read of one who wasn't), could be brought in on a day's notice and be good enough not just to satisfy a lummox like me but actual symphony aficionados, well maybe this whole mythologizing the mighty Muti is a bunch of hoo-ha.

OK, OK, I'm sure he's as great as advertised and do hope his doctors in Milan can give him something more than the Pepcid he could have gotten in Chicago (I know if my gut was all jacked up, the last thing I'd want to do is fly 8 hours).

Obviously, he's seriously ill and I don't mean to make light of that. It's a shame for a whole bunch of people and I did admire the strides Muti was making to bring the CSO to different areas of the city (he was scheduled to hold an orchestra practice session in Pilsen).

But understanding the adage, "the show must go on," I just wonder how much I missed out on by having a substitute conductor. If it was immense, at least to the folks in the ritzy seats, shouldn't the performance have been postponed until Muti hopefully recovers?

That said, to this classical music moron, the symphonies played on Tuesday sounded just fine and really nice, even if not of the jump out of your seats and scream "Hallelujah" variety. I don't feel gypped because I saw the back of one guy's head instead of another's. It just seems kind of weird that such a big deal was made about "Muti, Muti, Muti" and yet he's seemingly (perhaps not in theory but definitely in reality) that easily replaceable.

The banners I included here were as close as I came to seeing the maestro; here's hoping I can get another chance, and even more so, that perhaps one day I'll be able to tell the difference.

---

In the CSO program, where stuff about Muti takes up about 25 pages, I thought he answered the following interview question quite adroitly:

Why do audiences sometimes lose their concentration during performances?
Muti: Because the public often expects music to be spectacular, and many times music is the opposite.

Interesting, because I admittedly always love the faster and louder stuff in classical (and other musical forms with which I'm not deeply knowledgeable, like jazz), but know that in rock music a great slow song can be every bit as enjoyable as one that romps & stomps. But if it starts getting too slow at the symphony, sorry but true, I do get bored.

A Post Worth More Than 4,000 Hits -- Highlighting the Remarkable Runs of Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki

In conjunction with this article, please take the poll atop the right column (unless it's gone by the time you read this).

It's an imperfect poll as I have no idea how many non-baseball fans are apt to visit Seth Saith on any given day, and I would presume that even passing fans of the national past-time will be familiar with all six of the names listed.

But my thought is that although Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki are every bit the hitters (if not well-beyond as some would argue) that Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose were in the 1970's, they do not have anywhere near the same renown among the general public. (And the Q ratings of Halladay and Lincecum are likely even less, despite being two of the best pitchers in baseball).

But rather than ruing Pujols' and Ichiro's relative lack of mainstream popularity, I just felt like celebrating their accomplishments, which over the past 10 years have been truly historic.

Albert Pujols
...is the first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. He entered the major leagues in 2001 and put together a better first decade than anyone in baseball history. These are his stats:

Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
2001	21	STL	161	676	590	112	194	47	4	37	130	69	93	.329	.403	.610	1.013	157	360
2002	22	STL	157	675	590	118	185	40	2	34	127	72	69	.314	.394	.561	.955	151	331
2003	23	STL	157	685	591	137	212	51	1	43	124	79	65	.359	.439	.667	1.106	187	394
2004	24	STL	154	692	592	133	196	51	2	46	123	84	52	.331	.415	.657	1.072	172	389
2005	25	STL	161	700	591	129	195	38	2	41	117	97	65	.330	.430	.609	1.039	168	360
2006	26	STL	143	634	535	119	177	33	1	49	137	92	50	.331	.431	.671	1.102	178	359
2007	27	STL	158	679	565	99	185	38	1	32	103	99	58	.327	.429	.568	.997	157	321
2008	28	STL	148	641	524	100	187	44	0	37	116	104	54	.357	.462	.653	1.114	190	342
2009	29	STL	160	700	568	124	186	45	1	47	135	115	64	.327	.443	.658	1.101	189	374
2010	30	STL	159	700	587	115	183	39	1	42	118	103	76	.312	.414	.596	1.011	173	350
10 Seasons			1558	6782	5733	1186	1900	426	15	408	1230	914	646	.331	.426	.624	1.050	172	3580
162 Game Avg.			162	705	596	123	198	44	2	42	128	95	67	.331	.426	.624	1.050	172	372

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2010.

I'm no statistician, sabremetrician or mathematician, but 10 full seasons makes it easy to see that Pujols has averaged 41 home runs and 123 RBI while hitting .331 over the decade. Combining the power numbers with the batting average, and more in depth statistics that hopefully one of my friends can explain, what Pujols has done ranks up there with Mays, Williams, Aaron and the greatest of the all-time greats.

Using a 162-game average, which makes comparing players of different eras a bit easier, here's how Pujols compares in average, home runs, RBI and OPS (On-Base + Slugging Percentage; more info here) for his career to date vs. the entire careers for the others listed.

                                 HR   RBI   Avg.   OPS
Albert Pujols              42    128   .331   1.050  (still active)
Babe Ruth                  46    143   .342   1.164
Ted Williams              37    130   .344   1.116
Lou Gehrig                 37    149   .340   1.080
Barry Bonds               41    108   .298   1.051
Alex Rodriguez           43    129   .303   .958   (still active)
Hank Aaron               37    113    .305  .944
Willie Mays                36    103   .301   .941
Reggie Jackson          32     98    .262   .846

Clearly, the numbers state it with more clarity than I can, but what Pujols is doing has only been topped by a select few (only Ruth bests him in all 4 categories). And unlike his closest contemporary, A-Rod, or recent stars like Bonds and Sammy Sosa, Pujols has never been tainted with having failed a test for performance enhancing drugs or even strong anecdotal evidence, especially as more stringent testing is now in place and he's not exactly dropping off much.

Ichiro Suzuki
...is the right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Like Pujols, he began playing in the major leagues in 2001. But he previously played 9 seasons in his native Japan, where he had 1,278 hits and a .353 career batting average (seasons in Japan are shorter than the 162 in the U.S.; previously 130, now 142. Ex-Cub Matt Murton just broke Ichiro's single-season hits record in Japan, but it took him more games).

Although Ichiro can't compare to Pujols due to the lack of comparable power stats, beyond the hitting stats I'll show below, he has also been one of the best fielders and base runners in baseball.

With his 10th 200-hit season, Ichiro just broke his own major league record for most consecutive seasons of 200 hits or more, and tied Pete Rose for most such campaigns in a major league career (and Rose played 24 seasons).

Look at Ichiro's stats below and think about this: Ichiro has 2,244 hits in just 10 seasons. If he were to have the same number of plate appearances as Rose (15,864;  impossible due to his late-start in the U.S.) and maintain the same consistency as he's had over 10 years, Ichiro would attain 4,850 hits. Rose holds the major league record with 4,256. 

Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
2001	27	SEA	157	738	692	127	242	34	8	8	69	56	14	30	53	.350	.381	.457	.838	126	316
2002	28	SEA	157	728	647	111	208	27	8	8	51	31	15	68	62	.321	.388	.425	.813	120	275
2003	29	SEA	159	725	679	111	212	29	8	13	62	34	8	36	69	.312	.352	.436	.788	112	296
2004	30	SEA	161	762	704	101	262	24	5	8	60	36	11	49	63	.372	.414	.455	.869	130	320
2005	31	SEA	162	739	679	111	206	21	12	15	68	33	8	48	66	.303	.350	.436	.786	113	296
2006	32	SEA	161	752	695	110	224	20	9	9	49	45	2	49	71	.322	.370	.416	.786	106	289
2007	33	SEA	161	736	678	111	238	22	7	6	68	37	8	49	77	.351	.396	.431	.827	122	292
2008	34	SEA	162	749	686	103	213	20	7	6	42	43	4	51	65	.310	.361	.386	.747	102	265
2009	35	SEA	146	678	639	88	225	31	4	11	46	26	9	32	71	.352	.386	.465	.851	129	297
2010	36	SEA	162	732	680	74	214	30	3	6	43	42	9	45	86	.315	.359	.394	.754	113	268
10 Seasons			1588	7339	6779	1047	2244	258	71	90	558	383	88	457	683	.331	.376	.430	.806	117	2914
162 Game Avg.			162	749	692	107	229	26	7	9	57	39	9	47	70	.331	.376	.430	.806	117	297

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2010.

One thing that's fascinating to note is that Pujols and Suzuki, both having played 10 full seasons in the majors (averaging 156 and 159 games per season, respectively), each have a lifetime batting average of .331, which tops all other active players.

Pujols is actually percentage points ahead, .3314 to .3310, despite having 344 fewer hits over the decade. Largely by virtue of being a lead-off hitter, Ichiro has 557 more plate appearances than Pujols, who typically bats third in the Cardinals' lineup. But this turns into 1,046 more at bats for Ichiro, due to Pujols drawing exactly twice as many walks, 914 vs. 457.