David Schmid

Retired partner of a professional services firm. A food, wine, Dylan, and theatre lover.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Cooked Spring Tofu Soup. Refreshing.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Watched the first season of Fox’ Memory of a Killer. So-so TV drama. Story done much better (and much more concisely) by Michael Keaton’s Knox Goes Away.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Watched the British limited series, Adolescence. Devastating.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Rewatching some of the classics from the 60s onwards. Apocalypse Now (redux version). Made by a (semi-crazed) filmmaker at the height of his talents. One of cinema’s best depictions of madness in all of its forms.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Cooked Risotto With Meat Sauce from the Trattoria Brutto cookbook (focused on Florentine cuisine). The addition of chicken livers adds a rich depth to the sauce.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Watched the first two seasons of The Capture, a British conspiracy thriller, on Peacock. Thought provoking and well acted (starring Holliday Grainger of C.B. Strike fame). Can’t wait until season three is released in the States.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Ate at The Barn in Highland Park, IL. A new outpost of Amy Morton’s Evanston restaurant. Stick with the Evanston location. Better service, better ambiance, better food (even though the menus are the same).

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Read The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith (the pseudonym for J.K. Rawling). This is the longest in the Strike series (1,024 pages) but it was well worth the time investment. Given the many reprints of texts, it might be easier to read it in book form rather than on a Kindle.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Partially watched Avatar: Fire and Ash. The first one was interesting but not great. I fell asleep during the second one. I only made it an hour through this one. No more please.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Watched Seasons 1-4 of the HBO Max miniseries, Industry. I thought that each season was worse and more soap-opera-like than the previous one. Its popularity increased with each season. Go figure. At least Season 5 will be the last one.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Saw Windfall at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. Thought-provoking themes lost in numerous breakings of the fourth wall. It prevented me from closely engaging with the characters and themes.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Watched Sirāt, the Spanish submission to the Academy. Another stellar international film from the past year. Reminds me a bit of Friedkin’s Sorcerer.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Ate at Follia in Lake Forest, IL. Good Italian food. Like sister restaurant, Tocco, in Winnetka, it is full of itself (e.g., outrageous corkage charge paired with a wine list with no vintages, no hats allowed). At least it has better service than the atrocious level at Tocco.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Saw Joe Jackson at Park West in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighbourhood. Since 1979, this British singer/songwriter has consistently released great eclectic music. At over 70, he hasn’t lost a beat.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Read Butter by Asako Yuzuki. A gift from one of my daughters. It was worth reading for its commentary on the role and treatment of women in modern Japan (or any “first-world” country). A bonus was its description of food: detailed and passionate.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Watched Jurassic Park Rebirth. I was hoping that there would be no more punishment after the last entry in the series but this one isn’t half bad. Scarlett Johansson plays a great action hero.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Ate at Rosebud Deerfield. Food OK. Ambience felt more like a tavern than a classic Italian restaurant. Not a keeper.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Watched The Assassin, a British miniseries thriller. Keeley Hawes is one of the top British actors working in television today. Hope that they make a series two.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Rewatched 1980’s Ordinary People, Robert Redford’s directorial debut. It is a beautiful, tragic but hopeful film as much now as it was almost 50 years ago.

[David Schmid @SchmidRetired]

Ate at Carson’s in Deerfield, IL. Long a top place for BBQ ribs around the city. Still is. However, everything else (service, other offerings, wine list) is spotty.