I have loved Lyle Lovett's songwriting, musicianship, and singing for decades. I had the chance to see Mr. Lovett perform with a full orchestra years ago in Minneapolis.

Sunday night, I saw him perform again - this time with a trio at the intimate City Winery in Chicago's West Loop. I logged on as soon as tickets went on sale to grab front row seats.

The lanky Texan opened the evening with a version of "Here I Am," a song originally arranged for a big band (which Lyle referred to as his "Large Band"). But tonight, he accompanied himself on guitar with help from James Harrah (guitar) and Victor Krausse (upright bass).

Harrah has an impressive resume; he has accompanied everyone from Madonna to Herbie Hancock. Krausse is less famous than his sister Alison, but he has been playing with Lyle for decades. Both musicians excelled at their craft. Between songs, Lyle asked his bandmates questions about their musical upbringing and their philosophy. The respondents seemed less comfortable in their role as interviewees than when playing music, but the Q&A gave the audience a chance to experience Lovett's wit and charm.

The band showed up without a set list. The trio played whatever Lyle felt like. When an audience member shouted "LA County," Lovett tuned his guitar and performed that song. When another in the crowd asked, "What if you had a boat?", he responded, "We'll work up to that one." Sure enough, they played "If I Had a Boat" a few songs later.

Other highlights of the evening included the emotional "If I were the Man you Wanted," "Nobody Knows Me," and "Waltzing Fool." He mixed these tearjerkers with upbeat tunes like "Give Me Back My Heart" and "She's No Lady." At one point, he paid tribute to Steven Fromholz, one of his early influences, by playing a set of Fromholz's compositions.

The trio entertained for over two hours.

They closed the set with Lovett's ode to his home state, "You're not from Texas," and returned to the stage to sing "Waltzing Fool" as his only encore.

Lyle Lovett is my favorite living country artist. On this night, he reinforced that opinion.

More Photos!

I did not know what to expect Saturday night when I saw Christian McBride in concert at Garcia's in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood.

The bassist's music spans multiple genres. With Joshua Redmond, he recorded some excellent smooth jazz. He accompanied many great singers, such as Peabo Bryson and Ann Wilson, as they crooned torch songs. He has jammed with legends like Chick Corea and DeJohnette, playing everything from bebop to avant-garde jazz.

Friday night at Garcia's, McBride brought his new band, Ursa Major, which consists of himself and 4 young musicians - Ely Perlman (guitar), Nicole Glover (saxophone), Mike King (piano), and Savannah Harris (drums). The set consisted primarily of straight-ahead jazz with delightful melodies, interrupted by instrumental solos and improvisation.

The strength of this young crew made the evening special. McBride is a brilliant musician, but he served as the glue on this night, allowing his proteges to shine. When the bassist did take a solo, it impressed as much as you would expect.

Christian McBride continues to innovate as his career matures. This tour shows his willingness to pass that innovation spirit on to the next generation of jazz musicians.

GCast 218:

Analyzing Contracts and Other Legal Documents with Legal Agent

Legal Agent is a Copilot service that works with legal documents in Microsoft Word. It is currently in preview. In this video, you will learn the perquisites for using this product, sample prompts to analyze a contract, and how to integrate it with a playbook.

Episode 906

Peter Laudati on The Eat Jersey Challenge

Peter Laudati and his wife decided to eat a meal in every city and town in New Jersey. Then, they decided to create a video and share the experience on social media. Finally, Peter created a web site that visualizes this journey.

Peter talks about the technologies involved in this project, his issues when deciding whether to use AI, and the challenges he faced.

Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatjerseychallenge/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569640546791
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@eatjerseychallenge
Interactive Map: https://eatjerseychallenge.com

GitHub Project for the map website: https://github.com/jrzyshr/eatjerseychallenge
GitHub Project for the workflow tools (very much in progress): https://github.com/jrzyshr/ejc-tools

6/7
Today I am grateful for front row seats to see Christian McBride and Ursa Major in concert last night.

6/6
Today I am grateful for a successful event yesterday hosting university students from the Discovery Partners Institute Summer Intern Program.

6/5
Today I am grateful to see "Catch as Catch Can" starring Gary Cole last night at the Steppenwolf Theatre.

6/4
Today I am grateful to those who expressed empathy when I spoke of a toxic manager from my past.

6/3

6/2
Today I am grateful for all the folks who show up to play pickleball at the local park.

6/1

5/31
Today I am grateful for a visit to the Space Center in Houston yesterday

5/30
Today I am grateful for:
- My first time firing a gun yesterday. I fired 4 different kinds, including a machine gun.
- Texas BBQ lunch with Paul yesterday
- Seeing Tim Meadows perform last night at the Houston Improv

5/29
Today I am grateful:
- to deliver a presentation at the AI Camp in Houston yesterday
- to attend a reception hosted by Long View last night

5/28
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with Fabio, Cherry, Juan, and Donna.

5/27
Today I am grateful for conversations yesterday with James and Peter.

5/26
Today I am grateful to celebrate Memorial Day weekend with friends and good food this weekend.

5/25
Today I am grateful to all those who gave their lives in defense of our country.

5/24
Today I am grateful to my friend who invited me to the cemetery to pay my respects to some of her family.

5/23
Today I am grateful to see comedian David Koechner last night in Wicker Park

5/22
Today I am grateful to see Spamalot last night for the first time in over 20 years!

5/21
Today I am grateful to Husam for helping me prepare for my presentation yesterday.

5/20
Today I am grateful for a phone call from Debbie yesterday.

5/19
Today I am grateful to see Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera last night in Evanston!

5/18
Today I am grateful:
- to hear Walter Isaacson and Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel speak at the Chicago Humanities Festival yesterday
- to watch a documentary about Heart's Ann Wilson, followed by Q&A with the singer last night

5/17
Today I am grateful to see comedian Matt McCusker last night on my first visit to the Riviera Theater.

5/16
Today I am grateful to see "Covenant" at the Goodman Theatre last night.

5/15
Today I am grateful for:
- a company happy hour in the Aon Center tenant lounge
- a successful workshop at my user group last night

5/14
Today I am grateful for coffee with Michael this morning.

5/13
Today I am grateful to ADPList and Jantzen for some new professional headshots

5/12
Today I am grateful for some good news from my blood test results.

5/11
Today I am grateful to relax at home last night, watching silly movies.

5/10
Today I am grateful to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday with three wonderful mothers!

5/9
Today I am grateful to attend the annual "Switch on Summer" event for the first time, seeing the city activate Buckingham Fountain for 2026!

5/8
Today I am grateful to see Brendan Hunt's one-man play, "The Movement You Need" last night at the Goodman Theatre!

5/7
Today I am grateful to mentor a successful workshop yesterday.

5/6
Today I am grateful to speak at the ChannelPro DEFEND conference yesterday in Schaumburg

5/5
Today I am grateful to arrive home before the rainstorm last night.

5/4
Today I am grateful to see the SATCHVAI Band in concert last night, featuring Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Thursday was the opening night of "Catch as Catch Can" at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. The lights came up on Gary Cole and Tim Hopper sipping tea in a kitchen. I was immediately confused. Why were they referring to one another as "mother," and why did they sound like women? After a few minutes, I realized the two men were playing the characters of elderly women. Audrey Francis came on stage later, playing an elderly man.

Confused yet? It gets stranger.

Three actors also played six different roles – the parents and the children of those parents. Gary Cole (a man) stars as Roberta Lavecchia (a woman) while Audrey Francis (a woman) plays Roberta's husband, Lon. But the pair also play the couple's adult children - Gary as Robbie (a man) and Audrey as Daniela (a woman). Similarly, Tim Hopper portrays both mother Theresa Phelan and her son, Tim. The actors took a chance by embracing these roles. Each of them plays one character of the opposite gender and one character of a different age. It can be confusing at times, but it mostly works.

Early in the play, costume changes signaled a transformation; later, an actor would walk off stage and return a minute later as the alternate character. Still later, the transitions occurred without the actor exiting the stage. The audience needed to be alert to changes in voice and personality to detect the switch.

The story follows two families and the stress caused by Tim's homecoming as he tries to reconnect with his mother and friends, but reveals his internal struggles. Each character grapples with the challenges in their lives, their decisions, and the effects of those decisions.

Playwright Mia Chung's dialogue is both humorous, poignant, and authentic. Her characters talk like real people. When trying to define his relationship with his ex-wife, Robbie begins a half-dozen sentences, but is unable to complete any of them. Tim asks Robbie, "Do you know who you are?" and Robbie struggles to answer. But when Tim asks, "Do you like who you are?" Robbie responds, "No," without hesitation.
"Catch as Catch Can" is a story of generational conflict, family dynamics, and mental health struggles. It is confusing, but the strength of this trio of actors makes it work.

This run marks Gary Cole's return to Steppenwolf after an absence of many years. I remember him best as horrible boss, Lumbergh, in the quirky comedy, "Office Space." So it is appropriate that he return in such a quirky production.

Microsoft held its annual Build conference last week in San Francisco.

I always make a point of watching the keynote to see what the company is announcing, emphasizing, or most proud of this year.

Here are the announcements that stood out to me in this year's keynote.

Microsoft introduced 7 new AI Models, branded as MAI(Microsoft AI)

- MAI-Thinking-1 – reasoning model

- MAI-Code-1 – coding-focused model integrated with GitHub Copilot

- MAI-Image-2.5 – advanced image editing/generation

- MAI-Transcribe-1.5 – speech-to-text across 43 languages

- MAI-Voice-2 – multilingual voice generation

A GitHub Copilot app dedicated to using the AI tool to write, review, and manage code.

New features in GitHub Copilot

- Agentic workflows

- Multi-step autonomous coding tasks

- Session orchestration

- Deployment-oriented workflows

New Windows enhancements:

- They seemed excited about the Vertical taskbar, but I don't see this as an enhancement

- AI-powered Intelligent Terminal

- More on-device support for AI

New chips for more powerful machines to run models locally

Microsoft Foundry

- Support for thousands of models

- Better Fabric integration

Rayfin SDK and CLI allow developers to build AI applications and deploy them to Microsoft Fabric.

NOTE: This is what I heard and what resonated with me, so take it all with a grain of salt. Check the official Microsoft Build page and watch the video to decide for yourself.

I accepted an invitation to speak at the AI Tour in Houston on May 28, 2026.

Microsoft organized this tour, held in cities around the world, to promote its suite of AI technologies. This was my fourth time working at an AI Tour event, and my first time delivering a presentation.

Over 3,600 people attended this sold-out event.

Fabiao Padua of GCPS - LATAM also attended, proctoring one of the workshops.

My Presentation

183 people attended my presentation titled "GitHub Copilot as an AI agent in the developer workflow." It was a 200- 300-level presentation showing how Copilot tools can increase developer productivity and velocity while maintaining consistent quality, and how to extend Copilot with MCP Servers, Cloud Agents, GHCP CLI, and other tools. The presentation included many demos - a challenge when working in front of an audience and relying on the wifi in the room. But it went well, and I received some good questions and positive feedback afterward.

Partners

Many partners sponsored the event, setting up booths in the exhibition area to connect with potential partners and showcase their offerings.

Because I am on the Partner team at Microsoft, I took the opportunity to talk with the folks at Microsoft partners Long View, SHI, Insight, CDW, and Improving. I asked them about their relationship with my employer - what are we doing well and how can we improve?

Post-Event Reception

Immediately following the tour, Microsoft partner Long View hosted a reception at a local restaurant. I took the opportunity to meet with more people from Microsoft and the partner to learn what they are doing and discuss opportunities to collaborate.

Conclusion

This event was a great experience. The attendees appreciated an opportunity to learn more about our technology.

I appreciated the chance to teach them and to connect with colleagues from around the world.

Links

https://aitour.microsoft.com/

https://aitour.microsoft.com/flow/microsoft/houston26/landingpage/page/cityhome

More Photos

https://giard.smugmug.com/Tech-Community/AI-Tour-Houston-2026

Episode 905

Sailaja Mantripragada on AI Governance

AI tools can enable users to access data to which they do not or should not have permission, revealing security problems in an organization.

Sailaja Mantripragada describes the Just in Time AI Governance framework she created to address these issues.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The statement above is the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Historian Walter Isaacson believes it is the greatest sentence ever written, so he titled his 2026 book "The Greatest Sentence Ever Written" and analyzed it.

He broke the sentence into words and phrases. He spent a chapter analyzing each - discussing the authors' intent in their choice of language, the context and society in which it was written, and revisions from the original draft.

Isaacson breaks his analysis into seven chapters, each of which breaks down a fragment of the historical sentence.

- We
- Self-Evident Truths
- All Men
- Created Equal
- Endowed by Their Creator
- Certain Inalienable Rights
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Each chapter spans only a few pages, but the fact that he devotes an entire chapter to the word "We" should tell you the thoroughness for which he strives.

Some chapters speculate on the meaning of words. When discussing the phrase "All men," it is natural to ask whether eighteenth-century authors used it to include all humanity, including women. A letter from John Adams to his wife Abigail indicates they did not.

Some chapters describe changes to the text from the first to the final draft. The phrase "self-evident" replaced the original "sacred," for example. Jefferson's first draft contained a condemnation of slavery. Southern delegates successfully lobbied to have this section removed.

Some chapters examine the origin of ideas. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as human rights evolved from the writings of John Locke, who wrote of the rights to "life, liberty, and property."

Walter Isaacson is known for writing massive biographies. His biographies of Kissinger, Franklin, Einstein, Jobs, da Vinci, and Musk each weigh in at over 600 pages. By contrast, "The Greatest Sentence Ever Written" is less than a hundred pages. He added a few appendices to beef it up to over 50 pages.

Now is a good time to reflect on the Declaration of Independence as we approach the 250th anniversary of its signing. Despite feeling more like a pamphlet than a book, this volume is an enjoyable read.

GCast 217:

Using Copilot Prompt Files in Visual Studio Code

Copilot prompt files allow you to create shortcuts for reusable prompts. In this video you learn how to create a prompt file and pass parameters to it.

Episode 904

Cory House on Generative AI Coding Tools and Processes

Cory House experienced significant productivity gains when he began using generative AI tools to help him write code. He talks about Claude Code and other Gen AI tools, how he uses them, and how you can decide the best tool for your coding style.

The title of Andy Weir's 2011 novel, "The Martian," refers to Earthman Mark Watney, who is stranded on Mars when a sudden sandstorm blows him from the sight of the rest of his crew, leading them to believe he is dead. They leave Mars without their crewmate, who survived with only minor injuries. With only a few months of provisions, Watney must rely on his wits to survive. The next planned Martian expedition is scheduled to arrive in four years, and Mark is likely to die of exposure, starvation, thirst, lack of oxygen, or accident well before then.

But Mark is an experienced botanist, engineer, and problem solver. His ingenuity, perseverance, and resilience led him to grow food, maintain the oxygen and water machines, and survive. Sometimes, his plans go awry (he survives an explosion and a leak in his habitat's airlock), but his ingenuity (and sometimes a bit of luck) always finds a way to resolve the problem.

The book begins with Mark's journal, detailing his struggles to adapt to the planet, grow potatoes, and maintain a positive outlook. It later switches to a narrative, as we look inside NASA headquarters when they learn that Mark survived, and inside the returning spaceship as they return to Mars to rescue their abandoned comrade.
NASA directors wrestle with politics and public relations, while the returning space crew struggles with the guilt of inadvertently leaving a man behind.

Weir frequently switches from scientific explanations to adventure to Mark's lighthearted cynicism. The adventure and cynicism make the story fun, while the science makes it believable. I cannot speak to the veracity of Weir's calculations and scientific assertions because I am neither a botanist, an engineer, a physicist, nor an astronaut. But all the science sounded plausible to me, and the details added an element of reality to the book.

"The Martian" is a fun ride that successfully balances science, drama, excitement, and humor.

Before Spamalot became a hit on Broadway, where it won multiple Tony Awards, the musical began life at Chicago's Schubert Theatre. I happened to be working in Chicago at that time, so I bought a ticket and witnessed the original production. That impressive 2014-15 cast included Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, and Hank Azaria.

Two decades later, I returned to the same theatre (since rechristened the CIBC Theatre) to see the current touring company of Spamalot.

The Thursday evening performance was a joy to behold. While the set featured upgraded video screens, the thrust of the play remained the same - a musical adaptation of the classic film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," which is an irreverent interpretation of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

The audience - including me - was familiar enough with the "Holy Grail" movie that they began laughing at the start of a scene before the actors revealed their jokes. The recognition of a black knight or knights saying "Ni" or a cart filled with plague victims was enough to inspire chuckles. It did not matter that we had heard the jokes before. We loved them, and we could not wait to hear them again.

Major Attaway was marvelous as King Arthur, and his barely competent knights (Sean Bell, Chris Collins-Pisano, Leo Roberts, and Ellis C. Dawson III) had us all rolling with their antics. Amanda Robles played the Lady of the Lake completely over the top, effectively hamming up her performance in every scene in which she appeared.

While lacking the star power of the original cast, this version of "Spamalot" was hilarious and delightful.

Episode 903

Harald Fianbakken on Microsoft Sovereign Cloud

Microsoft PM Harald Fianbakken discusses a new Azure offering: Microsoft Sovereign Cloud. He describes the private, public, national options and what issues each option is designed to address.

Links:
https://www.microsoft.com/sovereignty
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-sovereign-clouds/

Olivia Pentland felt trapped in a loveless marriage to her husband, Anson. Anson was so proud of his family's history that he decided to write a book about his ancestors. His book celebrated their place among the New England elites and ignored any failings. The Pentlands were among the earliest European settlers in Massachusetts and still retained high status in the Durham, MA, community. But that status was challenged when Irish Catholics and immigrants moved into Durham and began to achieve financial success.

Louis Bromfield's 1926 novel "Early Autumn" tells the story of the Pentland family as they deal with the changes in society and their place in it. When Anson's son dies, it signals the end of the Pentland name, but the family has already been fading for years.

Anson's father, family patriarch John Pentland, admires Anson's wife, Olivia, more than his own son, placing pressure on her to hold the family together. She feels conflicted when Irish immigrant and politician Michael O'Hara begins to court her.

A series of events during the autumn begins to disrupt the family; but they serve only to reveal problems that already existed.

When divorced cousin Sabine returns from Europe, her free attitude shakes the conservative family; but their values began to shatter years before.

When the last male descendant dies, it signals the end of the Pentland family name; but the family has been fading for decades.

Dark family secrets are revealed; but the changing social structure doomed the family more than any scandal could.

"Early Autumn" is the story of societal change as the American Dream replaces the older values of aristocracy. It is the story of a family bound by tradition, doomed to lose its status to those they consider inferior.

The myth of Robert Johnson inspired playwright York Walker to write "Covenant," a play that centers on a bluesman of extraordinary talent in the early nineteenth-century Deep South. I witnessed Director Malkia Stampley's production of "Covenant" on Friday evening at The Goodman Theatre.

Johnson, who died at the age of 27 (allegedly, a jealous husband poisoned him), was such an excellent musician and songwriter that a local legend claimed he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his talent and success.

In Walker's play, Johnny James (played admirably by Debo Balogun) returns to his southern hometown after two years of touring. Townsfolk speculate that his newfound musical talent is the result of a Faustian bargain. James reconnects with and courts Avery (Ashli René Funches), and the two run off together to play music on the road and elope, much to the displeasure of Avery's mother, played with extreme coldness by Anji White. The couple's departure also troubles Avery's sister, Violet (Felicia Oduh), and her best friend, Ruthi (Ashli René Funches). When Avery returns home with a severe brain injury, this reinforces everyone's belief that the Devil is involved.

Multiple times throughout the evening, the actors broke the fourth wall to tell a story of "a man" or "a woman" who had experienced something significant. The audience learns late in the show that each story ties into the plot, providing significant backstory and clues to what is going on in the present.

Parts of "Covenant" are laugh-out-loud funny, parts are suspenseful, parts are touching, and parts are terrifying. One scene was clearly intended to be terrifying, but the laughter of a group seated to my left spoiled the effect.

Balogun plays a charming, likable Johnny, but leaves the audience wondering whether he is hiding a dark secret. In fact, everyone hides a dark secret, which is revealed little by little. Ultimately, it is Funches who steals the show as layers are peeled back from the mystery.

"Covenant" is a dark and fun ride.

GCast 216:

Adding Guardrails to a Microsoft Foundry Agent

Guardrails prevent harmful or unwanted inputs and/or outputs to be used in an Agent. This video shows you how to create and assign guardrails to an agent created in Microsoft Foundry.

Episode 902

Vlad Avesalon and Alex Nova on world.org and the World App

The world app offers a way to use biometric data to identify someone as a human when logging onto an application. Vlad Avesalon and Alex Nova explain its uses and how it works.

Links:
https://world.org/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksstefanova/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vlad-avesalon/

Brendan Hunt was relatively unknown until 2020, when he co-created and co-starred as Coach Beard in the popular Apple TV series, "Ted Lasso." Despite the enormous popularity of "Ted Lasso," Hunt's path to success was far from a straight line. He grew up in Chicago, the child of divorced parents, graduated from Illinois State University's Theater program, and joined an improvisational comedy troupe in Amsterdam.

This week, Hunt returned to his hometown to tell his life story at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater. Brendan drew the title of his one-man show, "The Movement You Need," from a line in the Beatles' hit song, "Hey Jude." Hunt's obsession with the Beatles was a large part of his life and of the stories he told in this show, which I saw Thursday evening.

Some of the actor's stories are happy (he had a chance to meet Paul McCartney); some are tragic (his mother was an alcoholic and his father's Vietnam War experience left him with PTSD); many are relatable (he shared embarassing details of his attempts to meet girls during his awkward high school and college years); and some are bizarre (trying to find his friends while tripping on acid at a discoteque on the outskirts of Amsterdam). But he told them all with a combination of humor and sensitivity.

He enhanced the stories with musical interludes, humorous anecdotes, a bit of ad-libbing, and old photographs.

"The Moment You Need" made us feel joy and sorrow as we listened to an eventful life and the lessons learned from it.

I first learned of Joe Satriani in the 1980s when a friend gave me a copy of his album, "Surfing with the Alien." Although I loved Satriani's blazing guitar work, it took almost four decades for me to see him in concert.

Saturday night at the Chicago Theatre, Satriani joined forces with his friend and former student, fellow guitar legend Steve Vai. Together, they form the band "SATCHVAI," a name derived from the co-leaders' last names.

A SATCHVAI concert is like three concerts in one. On some songs, Vai stepped offstage, allowing Satriani to show off his skills; Satriani spent other songs in the wings while Vai took control. But for most of the evening, the two shared the stage and the spotlight, impressing the crowd with their lead guitar skills. At times, one of the pair would step to the fore for a burning solo; other times, they played almost the same notes simultaneously. But they were at their best when their guitars called and responded to one another.

The pair was joined by three top-flight musicians - Kenny Aronoff (drums), Marco Mendoza (bass), and Pete Thorn (rhythm guitar). Mendoza sang lead on one song, but his voice was unnecessary, as the group's instrumental numbers were far more impressive than the bassist's vocals. Halfway through the show, the band broke into an instrumental version of "Happy Birthday" to celebrate Mendoza's birth anniversary.

The concert opened with a humorous video of a producer auditioning dancers to accompany the duet's music.

They also drew on the substantial song catalogs of both musicians, including at least five songs from the aforementioned "Surfing with the Alien" album. During the title track performance, the giant video screen behind the stage displayed a blurred version of the comic-book anti-hero, Silver Surfer, which had graced the album cover until the copyright expired.

This tour is nicknamed "Surfing with the Hydra," a nod to Vai's 3-neck "hydra" guitar. Vai dramatically unveiled the monstrosity before playing his hypnotic composition, "Teeth of the Hydra." Often, the echoes of one neck continued as he played the other two.

Satriani followed with his "If I Could Fly," an excellent song made famous when Coldplay "borrowed" significant parts of it for their hit, "Viva la Vida."

The concert concluded with a rousing version of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild," which brought the audience to its feet for a singalong.

From the first note to the last, the outstanding technical skill of these two artists made this a concert to remember.

Photos

Episode 901

Brady Gaster on Squad and a Multi Agent AI

Brady Gaster and his friends have developed Squad an AI tool built on top of GitHub Copilot that spins up multiple agents - each with a different role in the software development process.

Links:
https://github.com/bradygaster/squad
https://bradygaster.github.io/squad/

5/3
Today I am grateful to see the Alexander McLean Project in concert last night at Jazz Showcase.

5/2
Today I am grateful:
- to sing karaoke last night for the first time in my life
- to attend and speak at the #StirTrek conference yesterday for the first time in over a decade

5/1
Today I am grateful to see so many old friends last night in Columbus.

4/30
Today I am grateful to Brian for sharing a ride to Columbus.

4/27
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with the Lacek family

4/26
Today I am grateful to finally complete my year-end self-evaluation.

4/25
Today I am grateful:
- to organize and host my team's first community call yesterday
- to deliver a presentation on Foundry at Microsoft Family Day

4/23
Today I am grateful to Synoptek for inviting me to a Happy Hour yesterday.

4/22
Today I am grateful for the regulars who come to play pickleball at a nearby park.

4/21
Today I am grateful to attend a Cubs game last night in the Bleachers Suite!

4/19
Today I am grateful to see the premiere of "Fault" at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater last night.

4/18
Today I am grateful:
- to see Pat Metheny in concert last night
- for a successful Global Azure event yesterday

4/17
Today I am grateful for dinner last night with Dan

4/16
Today I am grateful to file my taxes on time.

4/15
Today I am grateful to conduct mock interviews with i.c. stars graduates this morning.

4/14
Today I am grateful for a weekend in Utah.

4/13
Today I am grateful for:
- a visit to Cottonwood Canyon yesterday
- dinner with Robert and Colette last night

4/12
Today I am grateful:
- for a visit to the Church History Museum yesterday
- to see an exciting Mammoth - Hurricanes NHL game yesterday in Salt Lake City.

4/11
Today I am grateful to Craig for an autographed copy of his novel.

4/10
Today I am grateful to see "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at the Goodman Theatre last night.

4/9
Today I am grateful to help coach a successful AI workshop yesterday afternoon.

4/8
Today I am grateful I was able to go without meat and alcohol for 40 days.

4/7
Today I am grateful for my first glass of beer in months.

4/6
Today I am grateful to celebrate Easter with Donna's family!

Fifteen years ago, I attended my first Global Azure event. In those days, it was called "Global Windows Azure Boot Camp." Two years later, I organized a full-day Global Azure event in the Detroit area.

When I moved to Chicago, I discovered that Azure MVP / Microsoft Regional Director Eric Boyd was doing the same thing here. He invited me to help, and I gladly accepted.

Global Azure is an annual event held each spring to promote the education of Microsoft's cloud platform. What began as a one-day event has expanded to three days - April 16-18 this year. Sessions were held on these days in 73 different cities all around the world.

Eric and I decided to limit this year's Chicago Global Azure event to one full day - Friday, April 17! I reserved the multi-purpose rooms at the downtown Chicago Microsoft office, while Eric's company, ResponsiveX, sponsored the event, buying food and drinks for attendees.

Eric kicked off the day with a presentation titled: "Azure Is Now Old Enough to Drive," in which he told the history of Microsoft's cloud platform.

Phanindra Gangina followed with, "Zero-Friction Cloud-Native: Building and Deploying Portable Microservices with Dapr," explaining an approach to building scalable, cloud-native microservices using Dapr as the distributed application runtime.

Brian Haydin shared how he creates, deploys, and maintains AI agents in his talk: "AgentOps for Real: Evals, Tracing, and Regression Tests for AI Agents on Azure."

After lunch (Lou Malnatti's pizza), I delivered a presentation on Observability in Azure, titled "Navigating Cloudy Horizons with Azure Monitor and Application Insights."

Pete Rodriguez delivered the final presentation of the day, discussing how he uses Copilot to support DevOps processes in Azure. Pete's participation was fortuitous because one of the scheduled speakers neglected to show up.

We closed with a Panel Discussion. All five of the day's speakers answered questions on issues in cloud computing. This conversation generated numerous questions from the audience, who stayed well past the scheduled closing time.

The day was a great success. Many attendees told me they learned a lot from the sessions. I am grateful to Eric for organizing the event, to Pete for his flexibility, to the speakers for sharing their knowledge, and to the audience for taking a day to learn and network.

We plan to return next year.

Episode 900

A Celebration of Friends!

Today, I am celebrating the Nonacentennial of "Technology and Friends" with a montage of the last 99 episodes!

Featuring:
Adi Polak
Akash Dubey
AL Rodriguez
Alex Riviere
Alvin Ashcraft
Ankita Guha Biegas
Arunava Majumdar
Barry Stahl
Ben Kotvis
Bill Sempf
Blaize Stewart
Brian Hitney
Brian McKeiver
Burton Smith
Chris Ayers
Chris Woodruff
Christina Aldan
Damian Synadinos
Danny Kim
Dean Schuster
Dee Peterson
Edward Thomson
Esteban Garcia
Fidel Guzman
Glenn F Henriksen
Greg Crist
Guy Royse
J Tower
Jason Bock
Javier Salmeron
Jayson Street
Jeff Fritz
Jeffrey Snover
Jennifer Marsman
Jennifer Reif
Jennifer Wadella
Jeremy Miller
Jerry Nixon
Jimmy Bogard
Joe Guadagno
Joe Sharmer
Justine Cocchi
Karl-Henrik Nilsson
Kathryn Grayson
Ken Versaw
Kevin Griffin
Laurent Bugnion
Andrew Looney
Kristin Looney
Maarten Balliauw
Mads Torgersen
Magnus Martensson
Mark Tinderholt
Michael Eaton
Michael Feathers
Michelle Frost
Michelle Sandford
Mike Shelton
Peter Van Vilet
Prasanna Pendse
Rachel Appel
Raj Krishnan
Randy Pagels
Rhia Dixon
Richard Campbell
Roan Weigert
Robert Bogue
Rob Conery
Rocky Lhotka
Rod Christensen
Sam Gomez
Sam Nasr
Sarah Dutkiewicz
Sarang Brahme
Scott Hanselman
Scott Hermes
Scott Hunter
Stacey Mulcahy
Steve Smith
Sudeep Goswami
Ted Neward
Tim Moore
Tommy Falgout
Trinh Tran
Valerie Gurka
Venkat Subramaniam

Robert Grainier was a loner who spent much of his life working on the railroads built across the American Northwest during the early twentieth century.

Denis Johnson's novel, "Tran Dream," follows Robert's life. His earliest memory is of traveling on a train to meet his adopted parents. He has no memory or knowledge of his birth parents or even when or where he was born. Most of his life revolves around the railroad - building the tracks or riding the trains. Robert is forever haunted by the memory of the day he helped co-workers try to lynch a Chinese worker. Robert never learned what alleged crime the immigrant committed, but he joined in the attack before the man escaped. Robert meets and marries his wife, Gladys, who bears him a daughter, Kate. While their husband is away working, Gladys and Kate perish in a forest fire. Their bodies are never recovered, and it takes him many months to accept their deaths.

This novella lacks plot twists and an overarching story, other than the life of an ordinary man living a mostly isolated life. It is an episodic novel without a coming-of-age story or a moral. It is the tale of a man navigating the changes of the twentieth century and the struggles of his own life. But Johnson writes simple, elegant prose, and the author develops his main character into a sympathetic outsider.

Banana Yoshimoto's first published novella, "Kitchen", is the story of Mikage Sakurai and Yuichi Tanabe, both of whom lost parents at a young age. Mikage was raised by her grandmother, who passed away at the start of the story. When Yuichi's mother, Eriko, died, his father changed genders and raised him as a mother, while running in a drag bar.

The two young people attended the same university, but did not know each other well. However, Mikago's grandmother became close to Yuichi after patronizing the flower shop where he worked, so he came to her home to offer his condolences and invited her to move in with him and his "mother." The teenagers grow close until Mikage moves out, and reconnect shortly after the murder of Eriko.

The story deals with human relationships, grief, and expectations. The protagonists appear to be moving toward a romance that never occurs; ex-lovers drift in and out of the story; and we get glimpses of relationships through conversations and acts of kindness.

Although death is central to the story, it takes place "off-camera." The grandmother passes away in the first few pages. Neither the reader nor Mikage learns of Eriko's death until well after it occurs. Rather than focus on characters dying, Yoshimoto focuses on the reactions of those left behind.

The title comes from Mikage's comfort in the kitchen. She sleeps there after her grandmother's passing. She finds the act of preparing food therapeutic, so she cooks for Yuichi and Eriko, and eventually enrolls in culinary school.

The volume I read also included a second short story, "Moonlight Shadow," which also deals with death. When an automobile accident kills two young people, it brings together two others. Hiiragi was the sister of the boy killed and the boyfriend of the girl. Satsuki was the boy's girlfriend. Satsuki and Hiiragi connect and deal with their shared tragedy. These two stories do not connect directly, but both deal with death, grief, loneliness, and relationships.

Yoshimoto's style is concise and direct. Usually, this makes it easy to read, but she has the striking habit of revealing a significant incident in a single sentence, as in the death of a major character.

I read the English language version (translated from Japanese by Megan Backus) and enjoyed it very much. This touching story is well worth the time to read.

GCast 215:

Creating an AI Agent in Microsoft Foundry

Learn how to create an AI Agent in less than 10 minutes using Microsoft Foundry.

Episode 899

Eldert Grootenboer on Reliability in Azure Messaging

Azure Service Bus PM Eldert Grootenboer talks about new features in Service Bus and Event Hubs that add redundancy and reliability to these queueing services.

He describes the configuration options of geo-replication and the trade-offs involved to help you decide which configuration to select.

"Fault" is a play that launches directly into farcical theater right from the start. The lights come up on Shaun and Judy having wild sex in Judy's ostentatious living room. Judy (who does not learn Shaun's name until halfway through the show) repeatedly slaps Shaun for not expressing his admiration for her beauty in exactly the way she desires. At the moment of climax, Judy's husband, Jerry, arrives home to find the two together - his early arrival to celebrate an enormously successful merger he closed that day.

The first half of the play keeps the energy high as Jerry chases Shaun, threatens him with a bottle and a sword, and handcuffs him to a chair. Witty dialogue between the husband, wife, and lover enhances the frantic action.

Halfway through the 90-minute play, the action slows, giving way to confessions and lamentations, witnessed by their imprisoned guest, whom the couple asks to judge who is at fault for the failings in their marriage.

Jason Alexander, who famously played George Costanza for years on "Seinfeld," directed this dark comedy. The show transitions from wild laughter early to disturbing tales of marital trauma later, but it always kept me engaged.

Enrico Colantoni is very good as Jerry, and Nick Marini is better as Shaun, but Rebecca Spence steals the show as the emotional Lucy.

I attended the opening night of "Fault" on Saturday evening. I was surprised to see the theater only half full. I expect seats will sell out more quickly as word spreads about this delightful dark comedy.

It is not that Pat Metheny cannot speak to the audience. He addressed us at length after playing for almost an hour, and he sounded comfortable and happy to communicate.

But for most of Friday evening at Chicago's Symphony Center, the virtuoso guitarist chose to let his music do the talking. It is with his guitar that Mr. Metheny is most comfortable communicating. He played his signature jazz fusion - some more jazz and some more rock - to the delight of a sold-out theater. He switched among guitars and drew a variety of sounds from each. Personally, I most enjoyed the Spanish style he played on an acoustic guitar, but his technical proficiency makes all his music enjoyable.

And he assembled a band of top-notch musicians (bass, keyboards, drums, percussion, and (sometimes) vocals) that accompanied his performance admirably. This sextet provided a fuller sound and a different experience from the trio I witnessed in 2021.

But Metheney's excellence made this another excellent show.

Episode 898

Jeffrey Snover on Unifying AI at Harvard

Jeffrey Snover's retirement did not last long. A few days before announcing his new position the Berkman Klein Center for Internet Studies at Harvard University, Jeffrey Snover shared with us what he is planning to do there and how he is preparing for this role. Different AI groups (e.g., accelerators, "safetyists", and skeptics) tend to have their own taxonomy, making it difficult to determine where they agree and disagree. Snover plans to create a taxonomy and tools to facilitate communication and find areas of agreement and disagreement between the camps, which will help to make informed decisions when creating policies.

The Goodman Theatre's production of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" highlights a single day in the recording studio, giving us a glimpse into the lives of all those involved.

Blues singer Ma Rainey (played by E. Faye Butler) is a prima donna, often throwing tantrums until her demands are met. Her agent, Irv, and studio executive Sturdyvant placate her because they both know she generates more profit for the studio than all their other artists combined.

Conflicts arise within Ma's band as they await the tardy lead singer. Young Levee clashes with his older bandmates due to his inflated ego and differing musical tastes. Al'Jaleel McGhee steals the show as Levee, taking us through his range of emotions.

The show reveals how different people resolve conflict in different ways. Ma, the diva bullies her employers; Irv plays peacemaker, conceding nearly every demand; and Levee lashes out in anger.

Rather than changing sets, Linda Buchanan chose to segment the stage into different rooms and use lighting to highlight the area where the action took place. This kept the pace moving throughout the two-and-a-half-hour performance.

As with all of Wilson's plays, this one deals with race. Ma knows her white patrons would dismiss her based on her skin color if they were not making money from her voice. Levee and the band members distrust their white employees but must work within a racist system, stacked against them.

Director Chuck Smith brought raw emotion and music to this revival.

GCast 214:

Using M365 Copilot to Edit a PowerPoint Image

M365 Copilot has a new feature that allows you to edit an image directly within your PowerPoint presentation. You no longer need to bring it into an external image editing tool.

Episode 897

Ken Versaw on How to Manage AI-First Software Development Teams

Ken Versaw discusses how Artificial Intelligence has changed the way that his team operates, he now manages his team, and the challenges AI brings.

Episode 896

Chris Woodruff and Joe Guadagno on morespeakers.com

Chris Woodruff and Joe Guadagno are experienced speakers who would like to help new speakers. They created morespeakers.com allowing new speakers to connect with experienced once and schedule mentoring sessions. They talk about their motivations for creating this service, the technology and challenges that went into creating it, and how to use the service.

Links:
https://morespeakers.com
https://github.com/cwoodruff/morespeakers-com
https://aspnet-htmx.com/
https://www.josephguadagno.net/2026/01/30/the-technology-behind-morespeakers-com

Henrietta Lacks was 31 years old when she died of cervical cancer. Before her death, doctors at Johns Hopkins University scraped a few of her cancerous cells for future study. To their surprise, these cells outlived Ms. Lacks by decades and reproduced almost without limit. Scientists studied these cells, leading to numerous scientific breakthroughs. This all sounds wonderful until you learn that Henrietta gave no consent and had no knowledge of the use of her cells. Further, the market for these cells grew into a multi-billion-dollar business, while the Lacks family received no compensation and struggled to afford their own medical care.

Rebecca Skloot's 2010 book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," tells Henrietta's story. But it also tells more. Woven within the Lacks biography is a discussion of the evolution of legal and ethical standards around consent and the use of human body parts, the scientific advances resulting from the study of these cells, the effect on the Lacks family of the cells' success, and Skloot's attempts to pull this story from a family that had grown to distrust the establishment and a white reporter.

Skloot's book raises several ethical and legal questions. What rights do scientists have to use byproducts of medical treatment, including parts of a patient's body? What privacy and monetary rights do the patients have in these situations? Most doctors, scientists, and legal scholars did not even consider these questions in 1951. Surprisingly, some questions are still unresolved more than half a century later.

Do scientific advancements justify unethical practices to attain them? History is full of examples of this. Nazis performing medical experiments on Jews in concentration camps; Army doctors conducting syphilis experiments on black men in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" is part biography, part investigative reporting story, and part human tragedy. I was unfamiliar with this part of history before picking up this book. I am glad I did.

GCast 213:

Creating a Video Using M365 Copilot

M365 Copilot has the ability to generate videos using AI. I show you different ways to generate a video: from a PowerPoint presentation; from a Word document; and from a prompt.

Keynote

Sponsors and Partners

Workshops

Lightning Talk

Microsoft Booth

Final Thoughts

Photos

You can view more photos of the event here.

Episode 895

Sarang Brahme on Industrial Scale Agentic AI in Hospitality and Restaurant Analytics

Sarang Brahme of Long View describes an application his team created to track real-time analytics of restaurant reviews. Their customers can use this application to predict upcoming demand. He talks about the technology involved, challenges to overcome, and how they created a scalable application with secure data isolation.

Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbrahme/
mailto:Sarang.Brahme@lvs1.com

"The Reivers" was a departure for William Faulkner. Published in 1962, it was the last novel he wrote before his death.

Faulkner made a name for himself with a writing style that features stream-of-consciousness outpourings, complex sentence structures, and narratives that jump back and forth in time – a style that often made his works difficult to read. "The Reivers" contains none of these features. It is a straightforward, linear coming-of-age story, told in the first person.

Lucius Priest is eleven years old at the time of the story, which is presumably told years later by an adult Lucius. While the boy's family is out of town for a funeral, he travels from Mississippi to Memphis with his family's employees, Boon Hogganbeck and Ned McCaslin, in a car they "borrowed" from Lucius's grandfather. Boon initiates the journey to visit his girlfriend, a Memphis prostitute. Along the way, the trio trades the car for a horse, enters the horse in a race, and attempts to win enough money to buy back the car. Along the way, they repeatedly get themselves into and out of trouble, including several run-ins with the law, before returning home.

The experience changes Lucius, who learns about responsibility, consequences, and the relations between blacks and whites in the early twentieth-century American South.

Although "The Reivers" is an easier read than most of Faulkner's novels, it is still a thought-provoking story, told with humor and sentiment.

I had forgotten much of Junot Diaz's 2007 novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" from when I read it a few years ago. So, when I heard that Chicago's Goodman Theatre planned a stage adaptation of Diaz's book, I re-read the story. I was surprised at how much I had forgotten from this complex tale of generations of Dominican-Americans surviving a brutal dictatorship and immigration to New Jersey.

The book and play tell the titular Oscar's coming-of-age story. He is obese, awkward, unpopular, and obsessed with nerd culture, including science fiction, fantasy, comic books, anime, and video games.

In the play, as in the book, Oscar believes that his family is afflicted with the fuku curse, for which he blames everything from his mother's cancer to his failures with women.

Marco Antonio Rodriguez's theatrical adaptation simplifies the written story by removing many of the subplots. Gone are the tales of Oscar's childhood, the flashback to the origins of the family curse, the aside told by Oscar's sister, Lola, and most of the brutality of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, the dictator who terrorized the Dominican Republic for decades. The latter is mentioned only briefly in a flashback that explains why Oscar and Lola's mother, Beli, hates her country of origin. The story covers Oscar's college years, beginning at Rutgers and including time off to visit his Dominican homeland and confront the family curse.

Director Wendy Mateo chose a minimalist set, designed by Regina Garcia, to imply each location without recreating it. Set hands dressed in the same costume as Oscar placed and removed tables and beds to indicate a change of location. The video projected behind the stage served more to set the mood than to enhance the scenery. Flames engulfed the wall whenever the characters acknowledged or confronted Fuku directly.

An all-Latinx cast complemented one another well. Lenin D'Anthony Izquierdo was less pathetic and more optimistic than his literary counterpart; Julissa Calderon projected righteous anger as Lola, and Kelvin Grullon displayed impressive subtlety as Oscar's roommate, Yunior. Two actors who played minor characters stood out to me: Jalbelly Guzmán, who played the two women with whom Oscar fell in love, and Arik Vega, who played all the show's villains. Both actors gave their all to present over-the-top characters.

The Goodman Theatre is the first to present this play in English. It ran in Spanish in other cities as "La Breve y Maravillosa Vida de Oscar Wao." The script retains many of the lapses into Spanish that Diaz included in his novel. My remedial Spanish was insufficient to catch every joke that made others laugh. But I was never at a loss to know what was happening. Some may think the nearly three-hour running time is excessive. It is not. The story and characters held me throughout.

Episode 894

Brian McKeiver on Improving Developer Workflow with AI

Brian McKeiver discusses how he uses agents, MCP Servers and other AI tools to accelerate this team's development process. He describes the setup that goes into making this work effectively and the limitations of AI.

GCast 212:

Scheduling a Microsoft Copilot Prompt [GCast 212]

Create a prompt in Microsoft Copilot and tell Copilot to respond to that prompt on a regular schedule. You can even ask Copilot to send an email when the response is ready.

Episode 893

Fidel Guzman on Emotional Intelligence, Tactical Empathy, and Storytelling

Fidel Guzman believes that emotional intelligence and communication are keys to a successful career and a successful life. He discusses the importance of empathy and communication, and the cost of failing to achieve these attributes. "Facts tell; stories sell," he says when reminding us of the importance of effective storytelling. He concludes with solutions - ways to address weaknesses in these areas.

Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fidel-guzman-mba-519973115/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/h-e-r-o-consulting-group-llc/
https://www.youtube.com/@The_Hero_In_The_Mirror1101

Alison Lurie's 1984 novel, "Foreign Affairs," follows Americans traveling to London in an attempt to reset their lives. The book focuses primarily on two academics, Vinnie Miner and Fred Turner, who are conducting research for their books.

Vinnie Miner is 54 years old and plain-looking. She has assimilated into England and now considers herself at least partly English. A negative review of her work published in The Atlantic magazine haunts her.

Fred Turner is young, handsome, and recovering from a painful divorce.

Vinnie begins an affair with loud, unsophisticated Oklahoman Chuck Mumpson. Fred falls in love with the melodramatic English actress Lady Rosemary Radley, who introduces him to the elite London bohemian crowd, but becomes irate when she learns that he must return to the US to teach the following semester. Presumably, these are affairs of the book's title.

Lurie focuses her story on human nature. Assumptions and expectations hinder communication, and the cultural differences make this even more difficult. But her characters evolve throughout the story. Vinnie arrives in England as an uptight Anglophile, prepared to embrace her adopted home. Fred is running away from his past until he becomes obsessed with Rosemary. By the end, each has come to appreciate their home and discover themselves and what is important to them.

On my four visits to London, I have found the city to be culturally similar enough to be manageable, but different enough to feel exotic. I imagine every American experiences the city differently. Lurie captures these differences and experiences through her characters' conversations. 

George Bernard Shaw famously observed, "England and America are two countries separated by the same language!" Alison provides evidence of this truth.

In 1955, 14-year-old black youth Emmitt Till traveled from his Chicago home to visit relatives in Money, Mississippi. One day, a rumor spread throughout the town that Emmitt had flirted with a white woman. A few days later, the boy was beaten and murdered. The killers dumped his body into a river, where it was discovered days later. Police arrested Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, who abducted Till the night he died. They were tried and acquitted of the murder, but later admitted to the crime.

G. Riley Mills and Willie Round adapted this trial into the play "Trial in the Delta," which is now running at the Collaboraction Theater at Chicago's Kimball Arts Center. Much of the dialogue in the play came directly from transcripts of the 1955 trial - transcripts that remained hidden for decades. But this show goes beyond the dialogue. The actors' actions often brought the characters to life, from the smirking defendants to the clerk who glared at black witnesses when swearing them in on a battered Bible.

For the Saturday matinee performance, I purchased seats in the jury box, which gave me a close-up perspective on the action. Witnesses and lawyers addressed the twelve of us directly multiple times during the show.

I was moved by NK Gutierrez's interpretation of Emmett's mother, Mamie - especially the speech she gave following the verdict, in which she credited her son with starting the Civil Rights Movement.

After the play, the audience remained in their seats, while co-author Round led them in a discussion of what they had seen. We heard perspectives on the performance and on racial violence in the past and the present.

Those who know history know that the all-white jury acquitted the defendants. But this play shows the racism inherent in the justice system, in the witnesses, and in the culture of the time and region in which it took place. " Trial in the Delta" is a moving experience that immerses its audience in a time of turmoil.

Episode 892

Rod Christensen and Roan Weigert on AI Pipelines and Rocket Ride

Rod Christensen and Roan Weigert describe Rocket Ride - a service that helps accelerate the process of creating an AI pipeline. Graphically design APIs, Deployment assistance

3/1
Today I am grateful to survive another rotaion around the sun.

2/28
Today I am grateful to see "Trial on the Delta" today on my first visit to Collaboraction Theatre at the Kimball Arts Center.

2/27
Today I am grateful to see The Blind Boys of Alabama in concert last night.

2/26
Today I am grateful to deliver the world premiere of my presentation, "Automating User Interface Tests with Playwright," last night at the Pittsburgh .NET User Group.

2/25
Today I am grateful for a successful Cloud Computing User Group meeting last night

2/24
Today I am grateful to pass the "Secure AI Solutions in the Cloud" assessment today!

2/23
Today I am grateful for a party yesterday to meet and celebrate newborn baby Levi!

2/22
Today I am grateful to Eric for buying me a coffee yesterday!

2/21
Today I am grateful to watch a lot of exciting ice hockey games this week!

2/20
Today I am grateful to host and attend the AI Collective meetup last night.

2/19
Today I am grateful to attend Lantern's happy hour event yesterday.

2/18
Today I am grateful to schedule so many interviews for my show recently.

2/17
Today I am grateful to complete writing some half-finished articles last night.

2/16
Today I am grateful to catch up on sleep in my own bed last night.

2/15
Today I am grateful for:
- 2 weeks in Hawaii
- the hospitality and generosity of Debbie Giard McNerlin

2/14
Today I am grateful for a helicopter ride around Kawai and into Waimea Canyon yesterday.

2/13
Today I am grateful to see the Green Sea Turtles and Monk Seals at Poipu Beach in Kauai yesterday.

2/12
Today I am grateful for a drive around the north shore of Kauai yesterday with stops at:
- Tunnels Beach, named for a tunnel-like cave across the road
- Waimea Bay
- Hanalei Bay

2/11
Today I am grateful for a visit to the Spouting Horn on Kauai yesterday.

2/10
Today I am grateful for:
- 2 days on Maui
- my first visit to Kauai

2/9
Today I am grateful for a view of the blowhole at Nakalele Point

2/8
Today I am grateful for:
- 3 days on the Big Island of Hawai'i
- My first visit to Maui

2/7
Today I am grateful to go snorkeling with manta rays last night off the coast of the Big Island of Hawai'i.

2/6
Today I am grateful to visit yesterday:
- Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
- The Rainbow Falls
- Kaumana Caves
- Hilo
- Carlsmith Beach

2/5
Today I am grateful:
- for 3 days on Oahu
- for my first visit to the Big Island of Hawai'i

2/4
Today I am grateful:
- to climb to the top of Diamond Head volcano yesterday
- for a drive around the north side of Oahu
- to see Five for Fighting in concert last night at the Blue Note in Honolulu

2/3
Today I am grateful for
- a visit to Pearl Harbo and the USS Arizona Memorial yesterday morning
- a visit to the Dole Plantation in the afternoon

The Blind Boys of Alabama began singing together in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama. All the original members of the band have passed away, but the group survives with three singers and a backing band featuring guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. I have been listening to their music for years, but I finally attended a BBA concert Thursday evening at the SPACE nightclub in Evanston.

The group's music consists of gospel, R&B, and blues, but mostly gospel. And all of it centers on praise for God. But you do not have to be a believer to appreciate the joy this group brings to their music. The show's energy increased as the evening wore on, improving with each song. They included several songs from their most recent studio album, "Echoes of the South", including "Send it on Down", "Friendship", and "Work Until My Days Are Done". But they drew on many older songs from their catalog, such as "Wade in the Water" (a beautiful a capella version), "Nobody's Fault", and "Uncloudy Day." They borrowed from popular music, providing their gospel-tinged interpretaion of Tom Waits's "Way Down in the Hole" and Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky". Highlights included "Amazing Grace", sung to the tune of "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Praying Time" to the tune of Ray Charles's "Crying Time".

Each singer showed great range individually, but they were at their best when combining their voices into tight harmonies. They joked with the audience, claiming they were "watching TV" and that they could see a cousin in the audience, despite each of the trio lacking the sense of sight.

I was surprised to see the group return to the stage for an encore, given that their manager had to lead them back. But they finished with a rousing version of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground", which brought the sold-out crowd to its feet.

The Blind Boys brought joy to their music tonight and projected that joy onto the audience.

More Photos!