Steve Berlin
@ethicssteve.bsky.social
Attorney/ethicist/Exec Dir @ChicagoEthicsBd/dad/mugwump/music/photography/baseball/Flâneur/film+pinot noiriste. Opinions mine unless noted.
The Atlanta Marriott Marquis atrium. This hotel is a classic brutalist building—not as ornately brutalist as Boston’s City Hall, but in the same family.
December 7, 2025 at 1:18 AM
The Atlanta Marriott Marquis atrium. This hotel is a classic brutalist building—not as ornately brutalist as Boston’s City Hall, but in the same family.
Reasons obscure brought me back to this Harry Belafonte gem.
But I am glad I’m here.
But I am glad I’m here.
December 4, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Reasons obscure brought me back to this Harry Belafonte gem.
But I am glad I’m here.
But I am glad I’m here.
I had not heard Keith Jarrett’s rendition of My Wild Irish Rose before.
It’s kinda wonderful. 🌹☘️🎹
It’s kinda wonderful. 🌹☘️🎹
December 3, 2025 at 2:57 AM
I had not heard Keith Jarrett’s rendition of My Wild Irish Rose before.
It’s kinda wonderful. 🌹☘️🎹
It’s kinda wonderful. 🌹☘️🎹
As I get older, and live through more Midwestern Winters, I appreciate Sibelius more and more.
And being able to walk to Trader Joe’s.
I don’t remember this persistent a pre-December snowfall in a long time.
And being able to walk to Trader Joe’s.
I don’t remember this persistent a pre-December snowfall in a long time.
November 29, 2025 at 9:46 PM
As I get older, and live through more Midwestern Winters, I appreciate Sibelius more and more.
And being able to walk to Trader Joe’s.
I don’t remember this persistent a pre-December snowfall in a long time.
And being able to walk to Trader Joe’s.
I don’t remember this persistent a pre-December snowfall in a long time.
A great Beatles album.
I Iove the Beatles from so many levels and from so many memories.
I Iove the Beatles from so many levels and from so many memories.
November 29, 2025 at 2:44 AM
A great Beatles album.
I Iove the Beatles from so many levels and from so many memories.
I Iove the Beatles from so many levels and from so many memories.
Thanksgiving weekend brings back musical memories from my HS years, 72-‘76. Elton John in particular. 🦃🎶😌
November 29, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Thanksgiving weekend brings back musical memories from my HS years, 72-‘76. Elton John in particular. 🦃🎶😌
Here’s to the late Lalo Schifrin. His music occupies definitive space in my cerebrum—my musical and cultural memory.
November 26, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Here’s to the late Lalo Schifrin. His music occupies definitive space in my cerebrum—my musical and cultural memory.
I’ve always liked this Springsteen song. A fluid cocktail with such weird harmonies, but it works.
November 25, 2025 at 2:43 AM
I’ve always liked this Springsteen song. A fluid cocktail with such weird harmonies, but it works.
My late dad bought the Warren Commission Report as soon as it came out in 1964, while in the USAF at Wright-Patterson. This shocking, haunting crime only becomes moreso with each passing year. “I dreamed that I could somehow comprehend that someone shot him in the face.” youtu.be/BlWwA5x-P9k?...
November 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
My late dad bought the Warren Commission Report as soon as it came out in 1964, while in the USAF at Wright-Patterson. This shocking, haunting crime only becomes moreso with each passing year. “I dreamed that I could somehow comprehend that someone shot him in the face.” youtu.be/BlWwA5x-P9k?...
I have loved this particular Beatles album more than many others. A gem. Always.
November 22, 2025 at 12:55 AM
I have loved this particular Beatles album more than many others. A gem. Always.
Schubert’s piano sonatas are on my mind. Perfect November night music. The A major sonata, D. 959: as perfect a work as he ever wrote.
November 21, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Schubert’s piano sonatas are on my mind. Perfect November night music. The A major sonata, D. 959: as perfect a work as he ever wrote.
Revisiting an old friend. This album is a masterpiece. Some of the Beatles’ finest work. “She’s Leaving Home” is more and haunting, even after almost 60 of listening to it.
November 19, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Revisiting an old friend. This album is a masterpiece. Some of the Beatles’ finest work. “She’s Leaving Home” is more and haunting, even after almost 60 of listening to it.
I love Chicago on a quiet Sunday, from the Orleans/Franklin bridge.
Stately, gorgeous.
Stately, gorgeous.
November 18, 2025 at 3:43 AM
I love Chicago on a quiet Sunday, from the Orleans/Franklin bridge.
Stately, gorgeous.
Stately, gorgeous.
A favorite, haunting piece of piano music—the engulfed/sunken cathedral. Dreamlike Debussy.
November 16, 2025 at 12:29 AM
A favorite, haunting piece of piano music—the engulfed/sunken cathedral. Dreamlike Debussy.
Veterans Day 2013, Santa Fe. Here’s to when our beleaguered species has no need for veterans.
November 12, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Veterans Day 2013, Santa Fe. Here’s to when our beleaguered species has no need for veterans.
I’m generally not a Querschnitt/highlights fan, especially with Rigoletto—a beautifully concise, thrilling opera. My favorite Verdi work.
But tonight I needed the highlights, and just the highlights, of this complex, dark opera.
But tonight I needed the highlights, and just the highlights, of this complex, dark opera.
November 12, 2025 at 1:12 AM
I’m generally not a Querschnitt/highlights fan, especially with Rigoletto—a beautifully concise, thrilling opera. My favorite Verdi work.
But tonight I needed the highlights, and just the highlights, of this complex, dark opera.
But tonight I needed the highlights, and just the highlights, of this complex, dark opera.
Chicago is a gorgeous, “golden-noir” kind of city.
November 8, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Chicago is a gorgeous, “golden-noir” kind of city.
It’s funny, but if I had to pick a single movement of single symphonyfirst, this one comes of mind. Mozart.Jupiter.
November 8, 2025 at 2:39 AM
It’s funny, but if I had to pick a single movement of single symphonyfirst, this one comes of mind. Mozart.Jupiter.
I have listened to this album more any other in the last four years.
November 7, 2025 at 12:03 AM
I have listened to this album more any other in the last four years.
I love this Chopin mazurka, op. 24, #2, in C major. It’s re-centering. 🙃🙂
November 6, 2025 at 2:29 AM
I love this Chopin mazurka, op. 24, #2, in C major. It’s re-centering. 🙃🙂
I have rich memories of this building, 333 W. Wacker, where I worked from 1984-198. For the late, lamented Altheimer & Gray.
Kohn, Pedersen & Fox, 1983. A Chicago jewel.
I remember sitting at my desk one lovely evening in April 1986 and experiencing a mild earthquake.
Kohn, Pedersen & Fox, 1983. A Chicago jewel.
I remember sitting at my desk one lovely evening in April 1986 and experiencing a mild earthquake.
November 5, 2025 at 1:39 AM
I have rich memories of this building, 333 W. Wacker, where I worked from 1984-198. For the late, lamented Altheimer & Gray.
Kohn, Pedersen & Fox, 1983. A Chicago jewel.
I remember sitting at my desk one lovely evening in April 1986 and experiencing a mild earthquake.
Kohn, Pedersen & Fox, 1983. A Chicago jewel.
I remember sitting at my desk one lovely evening in April 1986 and experiencing a mild earthquake.
Every so often, Ippolitov-Ivanov’a rendition of a grand Georgian/Tbilisian procession satisfies like nothing else.
November 4, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Every so often, Ippolitov-Ivanov’a rendition of a grand Georgian/Tbilisian procession satisfies like nothing else.
One gift from the late Leon Fleisher: to play a Chopin mazurka with such verve, melancholy, understanding, and richness.
November 4, 2025 at 1:23 AM
One gift from the late Leon Fleisher: to play a Chopin mazurka with such verve, melancholy, understanding, and richness.
Ah, November. The amazing young Yuncham Lim delivers this delicate version. Curiously, after nearly 60 years of attending piano recitals, I’ve never heard Tchaikovsky’s lovely keyboard calendar live. Don’t know why.
November 2, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Ah, November. The amazing young Yuncham Lim delivers this delicate version. Curiously, after nearly 60 years of attending piano recitals, I’ve never heard Tchaikovsky’s lovely keyboard calendar live. Don’t know why.
Ella Fitz’s Blue Skies hits the spot. Especially if you like scat singing. 🎶🎤
October 31, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Ella Fitz’s Blue Skies hits the spot. Especially if you like scat singing. 🎶🎤