Yesterday I slept half the day since I was so buggered from work last week. Then I spent about 2 hours trying to cash a Western Union cheque so I could buy food and put fuel in my car. If you've ever seen the Western Union pizza boy ads on TV, I assure you it's a complete lie. After that I was bored so I went to say hello to Ferdi and we played AOE2. Elephants, camels, and trebuchets conquered all!

By late evening, it seemed like this was going to be a quiet weekend. Then I came to my senses and realized that just because I have eaten a burrito at Taco Bell does not mean I've experienced all of American culture, and I owe it to my hosts to learn as much as I can about Chicago. So I went to Rosa's Lounge to see Melvin Taylor and The Slack Band play the blues.

Melvin Taylor I was told is one of the best blues guitarists in the world. From where I was sitting it looked pretty easy. Some of his songs were more jazz than blues and it was very relaxing to see him effortlessly traverse the scales in his solos. Of course other songs were very much the blues. They were fun to listen to and every time I hear the V IV I V7 chord progression I want to smile. I think the Slack Band drummer gets the same because he was grinning all night (he was also wearing a big black and white headband which added to the effect). Melvin even told a joke with the wah-wah pedal... at least it seemed that way to me. Anyway, he had an impressive mastery of his instrument which held my interest for all three sets. That's pretty hard considering it was just him, a drummer, and a bass player with rare singing.

The manager Tony got up and told the story of Rosa's in between the sets. I wasn't really listening but I heard him say it all started when Junior Wells was visiting Italy and he met the young Tony there. Junior said "Come to Chicago... I'll be responsible for you." So Tony ended up migrating to Chicago and starting a blues club there. He then asked everyone to thank Mama Rosa for all the hard work she'd put into the bar because it was coming up to her 23rd anniversary working there. Old Rosa, Tony's mum, was behind the bar serving drinks and having a smoke. After 23 years working in a blues club I think she was pretty deaf but she got the idea that everyone was clapping for her.

Everyone I talked to was pleased that after only 3 weeks in Chicago I'd found the right place. I have to agree... Rosa's is a real gem and I plan to return there. I'd like to say I have a nose for finding the best scene but really it's all about clicking the right links on centerstagechicago.com.

After Melvin finished and Rosa's closed, I headed north-east to The Oasis with Sarah, her husband (damn damn damn I forgot his name), Pauly, and Andrea. Sarah, Pauly, and Andrea all work for a tour boat company. They were at Rosa's to celebrate the birthday of Dave, who is the tour boat captain. Since the company doesn't own an ice breaking tour boat, during the winter months they can just sort of stay home and chill out. Sarah's husband works for Microsoft! He has been there for 8 years and is an expert on their .NET platform. His job is to consult with other companies and advise them of the best way to use Microsoft technologies. I had to come clean with him and say "look sorry mate, I'm actually more of Linux person myself." But he didn't care, probably because people have said that to him so much before. I also asked "so do you own MSFT options?" My guess is that would be the most frequent question he receives from people he meets. Luckily I didn't ask whether he had met Bill Gates; that would be way too predictable.

The "O" as it's called was a bit of a dive but we were there because it had a 5AM liquor trading license. It looked every bit the typical American bar as you would see on TV. We had a beer there and then it closed so we went to this 24-hour Mexican restaurant for tacos. The tacos were OK. There was a jukebox there with all Spanish songs. I was actually looking for some ACDC and had already inserted my quarters when I realized this, so a Mexican bloke chose the songs for me. The first one I think was the Latino answer to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On... terrible. The second was a horrible little jig that could inspire violence. The guy escaped the restaurant shortly after starting the songs. He probably thought that was quite funny.