i added the question mark because, well… i’m here for another two days.  but so far, holy shit..  chicago, you rule.

every time i come here, i want to live here a little more.  i think, however, my opinion is shaped entirely by the fact that i have never seen a chicago winter.  i’m sure my tune would change slightly.  but in the meantime, goddamn.. i love this city.

we got in thursday morning and were picked up at the hotel in … a limo?!  jesus.  maybe that was a bit overkill, but the truth is - we had a group of seven and it was the same cost as a van.  needless to say, i enjoyed the 30 minute drive from o’hare feeling like i was en route to a chicago-style prom.

we arrived at the producer’s office which was SUPER COOL.  one of the coolest office spaces i’ve seen in a really long time.  i would plug the company, but you know, gotta keep some semblance of anonymity on the blog so i don’t find myself writing one of those “oh man, my job fired me for my blog” stories.

anyway, we had a REALLY great pre-production meeting, which i was a bit nervous about.  things went smoothly and we were on our way to a successful shoot.  after all the meetings, we went back to the hotel where i captured a quick disco nap and then headed to do some damage at filene’s basement.  i picked up two awesome new plaid shirts to add to my ever-growing plaid shirt collection.  then we met up for dinner at hugo frog’s, which is this ridiculous seafood place owned by the same folks who run gibson’s steakhouse which is a famous place in chicago.  so… basically, we had our choice of the most ridiculous seafood or the most ridiculous steaks.  i chose steak.  i was not disappointed.

hours later, completely stuffed and slightly buzzed from a handful of greyhounds, we headed back to the hotel.  an offer was made to check out this place that did live jazz, but i could feel the monster food hangover coming on and decided it was best to lay low.  i also had some late work to finish up from the day, so i came back and took care of that.

this morning, we woke up nice and early and headed out to the shoot.  the folks were super professional and our talents were all amazing, so even though we were scheduled to wrap at 6:00, we were completely done at 2:30.  HOT DAMN.  it’s going to look so good too.  we got some really great material, so i’m excited to see it in its final form.  for lunch, we ate geno’s east pizza .. which was also incredible.

now i’m back at the hotel room.  i’m about to head out on a michigan ave. field trip.  i’m going to hit up H&M and urban outfitters and then try to find some of the places they’re shooting transformers 3.  i saw a picture of it and it looks like they’ve turned the riverfront area of michigan ave into a post-apocalyptic wasteland with burnt out cars and concrete strewn everywhere.  how often do you get to see that?  i’m down!

after that, i’m heading off to pitchfork fest in time to catch some of the main acts.  i’m torn between michael showalter and broken social scene, who both go on stage at about the same time.  i’m afraid BSS might win this one.

after that, i’m heading out on my own to go see the hood internet play at a small club in wicker park.  not one to fly to distant cities and attend dance parties on my own, i decided to make an exception since the hood internet is just TOO fucking good to pass up live.  so that should be a good time.  chicago, get ready for RVA’s sweatiest bearded dancing dude to wreck shop in your neighborhood tonight.

that’s it for now.  i can’t say enough amazing things about this trip.  i wish all business travel could be this fun.

again, if anyone who reads this blog is going to pitchfork, tweet at me and maybe we can have an awkward real-life meeting thing.