Overheard Illustrated Mon Nov 28 2011
Overheard Illustrated: "Go Up"
Thursday, November 24, Division Road--Indiana
— Mark Addison Smith
Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Wednesday, September 10
Thursday, November 24, Division Road--Indiana
— Mark Addison Smith
A documentary about "the most blacklisted author in the history of Iowa," Zielinski toes the line between black comedy, government conspiracy theory, and poignant portrait of the artist as an old man. The film's directors, Ryan Walker and Chase Thompson, embarked upon the film after meeting John M. Zielinski in Columbia, Missouri. I caught up with Ryan to find out more about public access television, conspiracy's funny side, and the man behind the rhetoric.
— Jordan Larson / Comments (1)
Johnson Publishing Company, publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines, has long been a staple of African-American culture; however, the sale of the South Michigan Avenue corporate offices to Columbia College Chicago in 2010 was to the dismay of many devotees of the magazines.
Curated by James W. Alsdorf and part of the Museum of Contemporary Art's new "MCA Screen" series, Stray Light, the latest work by Chicago-based Canadian artist David Hartt, explores the timeline and sociocultural impact of this legendary cultural institution via film and photographs.
See the opening of Stray Light on Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago; museum hours vary. Tickets are $7-$12 and are available online or at the box office. Exhibit runs through April 29, 2012. For more information, call 312-397-4010.
— LaShawn Williams
Well, there's not much going on on the visual art front this weekend -- at least as far as I can tell. If you know of anything, please do leave info in the comments section.
There is one thing, though, which looks pretty darn cool, going on all day today: a Chicago Data Portrait. Today from 10am to midnight, 50 Chicago dwellers have volunteered to record their movements using an app that tracks their GPS data. They will also record a narrative of their day. The data and narratives will be curated into One Image, Fifty Stories, an exhibit at the RGB Lounge design co-op in Wicker Park, Chicago opening January 5.
It's probably too late to volunteer, but the show should definitely be worth checking out. Details here.
— Kelly Reaves
At this point, another review of The Muppets seems superfluous, but hell, the movie is so damn good, it can't really hurt. I'll admit, I held my breath when I saw the "Smalltown, USA" sign, marking the community where Gary (Jason Segel, who also co-wrote the film with Nicholas Stoller) and his pal Walter (the film's new Muppet character) grew up together as huge fans of the Muppet TV show. That little detail seemed a little too quaint, but it took about five minutes and one catchy tune to win me over. Segel and Stoller are such devoted fans that they know what about the Muppets is sacred ground and what they can play and tinker with a little bit.
— Steve Prokopy
By Amanda Mead*
In September, I attended an exhibit at the LVL3 Gallery titled This is the Same as That, a joint exhibit between New York artist Letha Wilson and Chicago artist Dave Murray. The show dealt with examining the real and the unreal, the physical and the imagined. The exhibit included photography, sculpture, and installation that dealt with the duality of materiality and material limitations.
So in October, over the din of silverware scrapes and the clank of beers at the Exchequer Pub (a supposed SAIC graduate student spot), I was finally was able to interview Dave Murray between his trips from North and South East Asia stopping in Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Beijing, and his next trip to India and the Middle East including stops in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kuwait, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. As the Assistant Director of International Admissions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Dave's job involves grand travels. In a few weeks he will be traveling to Portugal and Turkey.
Our conversation varied from kindergarten to the Tower of Babel, and in between we had some great discussion about art.
— A/C
Previous Entry: The THIRD Date
Next Entry: To Be Normal
I have to admit that I've never really had a terrible, awful, make me reconsider the spinster lifestyle, kind of date...at least on Match.com. I've had awkward dates, I've had ugly dates, I've had dates I just wish would end so I could put on my sweats and watch Parks and Rec. But I've never had one of those truly terrible dates that you always fear when joining an online dating site.
For the most part I've found that my Match dates, if nothing else, have tried. They are on Match to date and therefore put a bit of effort into being entertaining or at least inoffensive. Even when I knew in the first two minutes that this would be our only date, I still usually had some genuinely enjoyable conversations. And even though three first dates a week can get exhausting, I generally still felt like humanity was good by Friday.
But despite my relative luck, I have heard some online horror stories from friends, dates and readers. With their permission and often blessing, I'm going to regale some of you with some terrifyingly real stories. Coincidentally, all of these happen to be first dates, which, for obvious reasons, were not followed by a second date. I hope the sharing of these experiences is cathartic and healing for anyone who has ever had a terrible date.
— Niki Fritz / Comments (1)
Here's an excerpt and link to a new cover story recently published over at Chicago's alt-weekly, Newcity on the human costs of unemployment. Above illustration: Zeke Danielson. Courtesy Newcity. -MW
In America, there is no more terrifying a ghoul than the threat of sustained, cripplingly high unemployment. We hear about it all the time. Have maybe even decided just to tune it out or maybe the ubiquity of the bloodless discussion of it has just inured us to the subject. It's just numbers, right? It'll get better eventually. Figure it out. After all, it's hard to get a sense of what's happening from those chatterboxes in the news, those talking heads feeding us an endless tickertape of statistics, empty percentages; high here, low there. We treat it like the weather. Numbers. Never any stories. Why does it always have to be numbers? Maybe it's too much, what's happening. Too garish, what's happening to them, how the poor behave. How low.
Ask yourself. What actually are the effects on a family slipping below the poverty line, of losing their home in a foreclosure, of a family unable to afford gas, utility bills, clothes? Its effects aren't just felt for a month or two, or something you get past in a year. There's a price. And it's one paid almost entirely by the less fortunate. And that's what defines our society: how we treat our less fortunate and what price they pay for other's prosperity. And if we're a privileged society, maybe all that means is that the privileged get to ignore the silent anguish of the poor. But the cost of it doesn't go away, ever. It stays with us as a people, changes and defines us psychologically and emotionally, and sometimes we lose one. But surviving it doesn't fucking make you stronger, it scars and mutilates. CONTINUE READING
— Michael Workman
This past weekend, fans of the Black Ensemble Theater enjoyed the opening of the new Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark St., with the kickoff of the 2011-2012 season entitled "Legendary Season of Rhythm and Blues."
The Jackie Wilson Story, an audience favorite that was revamped for the new season, premiered at the new, sleek and modern 299-seat venue, to a host of both old and new fans. Written, directed and produced by theater founder and director Jackie Taylor, the story serves as the ultimate tribute to the late soul singer.
— LaShawn Williams
Last month's Queer Comedy (Contest) at Zanies narrowed ten contestants down to three winners. Joel Kim Booster, who won first place, will return to stage tonight in his Zanies debut. I talked with him recently about the contest, being a queer comic and Louis CK.
Winners from last months Queer Comedy (Contest) at Zanies, L to R, Joel Kim Booster, Caitlin Bergh, Homer Mars, with host Adam Guerino. Photo by Alexandra Moskovich.
— Nellie Huggins
Wednesday, November 16, DePaul University--Lincoln Park
— Mark Addison Smith
Originally published at ARTINFO.COM, where I write a regular column, "True Stories" on Chicago and international art subjects. -MW
Cynthia Plastercaster, nee Cynthia Albritton, has earned a place for herself among the world's most famous groupies, if not THE most famous groupie. A product of the sexual revolution, she began making plaster casts of famous rock stars' penises in the mid-1960's, counting Jimi Hendrix and Jello Biafra among her collection of "babies." An iconic and legendary figure in Chicago, she has never told the story of her intimate encounters with the rock gods who populate her collection...until now. She recently began a Kickstarter campaign to buy herself some time to finish the writing, and "True Stories" sat down with her to get the skinny.
You're working on writing your autobiography, finally, after all these years.
After a certain point in my life I couldn't help but notice I'd led a really interesting life, unlike any that I'd heard of and I thought it would make a good story. I've kept journals since I learned about Samuel Pepy's diary about the plague. I've also been into documents and that actually made me a really great file clerk. CONTINUE READING
— Michael Workman / Comments (2)
— Kelly Reaves
How does one even begin to discuss any of the Twilight films without sounding like an outsider looking in? Up until the latest installment, the first of the two-part conclusion of Breaking Dawn, I'd seen these films getting slightly better with each new film. Part of the reason for this was that the choice of directors was improving with each new movie, and I thought that would be the case when I heard Bill Condon (Gods & Monsters; Dreamgirls) was on board for the climax of this story of young love, supernatural creatures, and shirtless men. But Breaking Dawn, perhaps in an effort to drag this story out to roughly four hours across two films, feels like its moving in slow motion.
— Steve Prokopy
For those of us who prefer to stay in on amateur night, Chicago's (fantastic) CAN-TV has a new program called "Cine Latino," featuring short Latino films every Saturday at 8pm. Although "Cine Latino" features films made from all over the world (From Peru to Spain), this Saturday's program features a film shot in Pilsen! More info here.
— Kelly Reaves
Previous Entry: The First Kiss
Next Entry: The Best of the Worst
I vividly remember being in high school and hearing the third date "rule" on one particularly scandalous episode of Sex in the City. (For those not schooled in the Sex Bible according to Carrie, the Third Date Rule, is basically you must have sex on the third date, no exceptions.) My 15-year-old puritanical self couldn't help but think what kind of slut sleeps with a guy on the third date.
However years later, after freeing myself from the sexless prison known as Green Bay via to the liberating hippies of UW-Madison, I now find myself trying to quantify dates or round up, if you will. Can I count that first date as two dates since it was really dinner AND a movie, which is like two separate activities and therefore two separate dates? What about that 3-hour phone call where we talked about his fear of turning into his father and my fear of Asian cartoons as date number two? And there was that one particularly witty Facebook exchange of wall posts...the sharing of honey badger and keyboard cat is really one of the more intimate Facebook acts.
All this justification just to get me to the magic number three so I can justify my slutty sexy fun time.
— Niki Fritz
You know Kyra Kyles from her column in the Red Eye. What you may not have known is that she's also an aspiring filmmaker. Kyles and her sister, Kozi, recently released the trailer for their first project, "Human Resources," a web series starring puppets that she describes as "'Sesame Street' meets the 'X Files'" that debuts today.
You can read a full interview with the Kyles sisters in Tuesday's Truth B Told newsletter.
— Andrew Huff
For 30 years, Walt Whitman has led the Soul Children of Chicago, a gospel choir that is renowned for not only its soul-stirring performances but also its mission to use music to motivate and inspire youth. Here, he discusses the impact of the Soul Children in the community, as well as performing in an upcoming holiday concert with Grammy and Tony award-winning singer and actress, Jennifer Holliday.
The Soul Children of Chicago has been around for decades, motivating children through music and the art of performing--talk about how you've sustained longevity, especially in a society where kids are easily distracted with so many other things.
We're driven by purpose. We tap into the spiritual side of kids and we create such a family atmosphere for kids to tap into their creativity and who they really are. Soul Children kind of brings the best out of a child and helps kids to become leaders--it's really a leadership development program--that's the best way to describe it--with music used as the medium for which we develop the leadership and potential out of every child that comes through the program.
— LaShawn Williams
I had a great time today at kasia kay art projects, hanging out at the Diane Christiansen show. Let me start by saying that this is a very understated show, at first it doesn't seem like much. The show consists mostly of a number of relatively small oil paintings on plaster. These are not frescoes; the oil paint is applied on top of cured plaster where the paint is layered and sanded, and layered and sanded. Many of the pieces in the show reference landscape, they create a significant amount of space and it should be said that Diane uses a number of techniques and styles to create her work.
— MartinJon
Saturday, November 12, my dining room--Uptown
— Mark Addison Smith / Comments (1)
Sean Cusick (L) and Dave Urlakis (R) met while both were cast members of the critically acclaimed religious satire, The Best Church of God. Already seasoned veterans of comedy, the two got together and created a two-man show in which they discuss everything from parenthood to death. The show opens this Saturday, November 12th, at Stage 773. Here's what the two had to say about finding time to write, parenthood and comedy.
— Nellie Huggins
— Kelly Reaves
I don't tend to let things like bad old-man makeup change my opinion of a film, or even distract me, so I'm not going to harp on the absolutely terrible job done on aging Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar. A great performance — and both men give truly great ones here — tops waxy-looking skin and a healthy smattering of fake liver spots every time. And that's the last we'll speak of that. If you find J. Edgar difficult to engage with it will be because the script by Dustin Lance Black (Milk and several episodes of HBO's "Big Love") is spotty. You can spot the shortcuts and the moments where single sentences are meant to sum up a character's motivations or the movie's themes a little too just so.
But then there are other moments in the screenplay that are undeniably poignant. When Black is focusing on material having to do with Hoover changing the face and prominence of the Federal Bureau of Investigation during his nearly 50-year reign as its chief, the film is informative but not especially elevated. However, when the script puts a microscope on Hoover's relationship with other people — his domineering mother Annie (Judi Dench), faithful secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) or longtime companion and number-two man at the bureau Clyde Tolson (Hammer) — J. Edgar is close to extraordinary.
— Steve Prokopy
By Zachary Johnson*
Spoke, a mixed project and studio space in the West Loop closed its doors in August after hosting over forty artist projects, events, experiments, and residencies in its nearly three years of programming. What always struck me about Spoke was how public its programming was. Once while wandering around their building at 119 N. Peoria, I knocked on their door and was soon let into the middle of an artist's project under construction. I assumed I was interrupting, but the artists chatted with me, explaining their project, and inviting me to stay if I had time. Visiting a later opening, I was taken back by the SAIC cheerleaders, mini-marching band, fake sports mascots, and kooky drum major who had crammed into Spoke's small project space to accompany "Game On", their interactive opening full of nonsensical artist-made games. Through art parades, beer making projects, international collaborations, and more, Spoke's programming proved to be unique, surprising, and full of variety.
— A/C
Cameron Esposito combines stand-up with special guests and hand-drawn animation to create a world-class quality yet personable storytelling experience. Side-Mullet Nation was commissioned for inclusion in TBS' Just for Laughs Chicago and has played to sold out crowds in Chicago and New York. Garnishing such acclaim as Time Out Chicago "Critic's Pick," Time OutNew York "Critic's Pick," The Onion's AV Club Chicago "Best of the Fest" and Chicago Reader "featured show." The show runs Thursdays through Dec. 15 The Comedy Bar, 157 W. Ontario St. Tickets and more information can be found here.
— Nellie Huggins
After a successful run last year, A Klingon Christmas Carol is back for the holidays. The first play ever to be produced entirely in the Klingon language, A Klingon Christmas Carol, Commedia Beauregard's production mixes the classic Dickens tale with the language and culture of the Star Trek warrior race to tell the story of SQuja' and three spirits who attempt to save him from a life of cowardice and dishonor. The play is performed entirely in tlhIngan Hol (aka Klingon), with English subtitles projected above the stage for those of us not fluent in the language.
A Klingon Christmas Carol runs from Nov. 25 to Dec. 31, with previews Nov. 16, 18 and 19, at the Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets are $32 ($10 for the previews) and are available online or at the theater box office.
— Andrew Huff
Previous Entry: The Second Date
Next Entry: The THIRD Date
The weight we give to the first kiss seems to be disproportionately heavy considering the silly physicality of it, the putting together of two relatively unimportant body parts. And yet for as important of an act as this seems to be, I don't think I have been fully sober for a first kiss since I was 12.
Yes 12, when I kissed my first boyfriend at Jackie Delie's beginning of summer party. Oh, the magic of Truth or Dare in the basement with 20 other sixth graders watching! At least I didn't have to eat a pickle dipped in peanut butter and hot sauce.
— Niki Fritz
The women of Teatro Luna* have brought Latina theatre to Chicago's stages for 10 seasons, and as they kick off their eleventh they're even venturing into new territory with the launch of Marimachas! A New Latin Comedy Series. For years Teatro Luna has offered an outlet for local Latina theatre artists, and with this new venture the company hopes to expand their support to the comedy arena.
Teatro Luna Artistic Associate Christina Igaraividez, who is also one of the performers this Friday, describes Marimachas as, "a safe place for the performers. Everyone performing just wants to have a good time with the audience. It isn't a transaction type of environment where the performer tells joke then audience provides laugh. We are sharing, commiserating, hoping, loving, laughing all the way through with you." Marimachas is this Friday at 7:30pm at Calles y Sueños (1900 S. Carpenter). Tickets can be purchased online or at the venue for $20, and the price of admission includes an "Ay, Virgen!" Teatro Luna's signature cocktail.
*Whom the author has worked with before and thinks are the cat's pajamas
— Dyan Flores
Dance Exchange: Liz Lerman's "The Matter of Origins" from MCA Chicago on Vimeo.
The MCA Chicago continues its year of in-depth, audience-focused changes with its latest MCA Stage production, The Matter of Origins. Choreographed by original Dance Exchange artistic director Liz Lerman, this multimedia-heavy and theatrical performance continues to push the boundaries of contemporary dance. The work is co-presented with the Chicago Humanities Festival, whose 2011 theme of Technology runs through the core of the dance work.
In a press release, Lerman said that The Matter of Origins examines, "how the human mind flips and stretches to comprehend things that are incredibly small, large, fast, or far beyond the categories of known experience." For the traditional dance fan, the performance offers a one-of-a-kind experience that draws on both history and the reactions of audience members.
— Britt Julious
Amanda Rountree has been performing, teaching, directing and producing comedy in Chicago since 2007. Her one-woman show, The Good, The Bad and The Monkey, is running this week and next, in a very short but very anticipated re-launch. I recently chatted with her about all things comedy, and monkey. Here is what she had to say.
— Nellie Huggins
This month, explore the relationship between fashion design and art at Columbia College Chicago's Black Gossamer exhibit; this showcase, curated by Camille Morgan and featuring work by contemporary black artists including Aisha Bell, Marlon Griffith and Columbia Assistant Professor of Photography Myra Greene, examines how clothing, fabric, material, etc., are used as artists' inspiration and how they are used to reveal various expressions and meanings of black identity and culture.
Marlon Griffith, Louis (Schoolgirl Series)
See the opening of Black Gossamer at Columbia College Chicago's Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash, on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 5pm to 8pm; regular gallery hours vary. The exhibit is free and open to the public; closes February 11, 2012. For questions, contact Justin Witte at jwitte@colum.edu or 312-369-8177.
— LaShawn Williams
Friday, November 4, Dominick's--Lincoln Park
— Mark Addison Smith
— Kelly Reaves
I'll admit, there was a part of me that thought the latest from director Brett Ratner might actually have something to it, even if that something was Eddie Murphy's somewhat return to comedic form. But saddled with a PG-13 rating (in a role that is screaming to be set free by an R), a producer credit, and surprisingly little screen time, Murphy is at best slightly funnier than we've seen him in many years. All we actually get is Murphy yelling a whole lot and acting tough in a story that treats his character as something served on the side, rather than the main course.
Tower Heist seems like a fairly timely endeavor. The staff of a luxury Manhattan apartment building is swindled by one of the building's residents, a Wall Street tycoon played by Alan Alda, who is arrested by the FBI and held under house arrest while he awaits a court date. Initially, it appears Alda is friendly with the staff, led by building manager Josh (Ben Stiller), but when their entire pension fund vanishes, the staff turns against Alda.
— Steve Prokopy
Previous Entry: Match in the Midwest: The Art of Polite Judgement
Next Entry: The First Kiss
Ahh, the glorious second date or, as I like to call it, the Match first date.
The literal Match first date, the one that occurs on a humble and hasty Tuesday night, the one which involves consuming one to two and a half drinks that are possibly paid for on separate checks, that date that resembles a multiple choice exam of match this date with that occupation, family structure and weird phobia (really, you can't use wire hangers?), the one that usually ends in a slightly awkward hug, handshake or high five, you know that one, that date is not really the first date.
That date is the recreating of a "normal" meeting, it is the date on which you pretend, at least subconsciously, to have met organically. As you walk into that bar, for your first meet and greet, you opportunistically forget that you know this man or woman's pet preference, religious background and top five songs. You pretend you are seeing this person for the first time, that you catch their smoldering eyes through the masses at a classy but understated bar, engage in some witty but unassuming banter and perhaps tickle each other's fancies a bit as the first step in the totally normal, socially acceptable ritual called DUI, dating under the influence.
— Niki Fritz / Comments (1)
Michael Gross and Jessica Wolfrum are busy. The life of a River North Chicago Dance Company member demands a lot, but the rewards are plentiful. And for a company as distinguished and praised as River North Dance, the rewards can be as abstract as personal connections to each choreographed dance piece to performance trips around the world.
Gross and Wolfrum are freshly back from a trip to Germany where the company performed their "On the Edge," and "Flavors of American Jazz" program. Each program showcases the diversity of the company's repertoire, with works that vary between the accessible and the abstract.
"I have found that the pieces we have in our repertoire provide a very diverse range of techniques and styles to consistently provide challenges for the dances," Gross began. "We like challenges. They are the things that help us to constantly push ourselves to improve and become the most versatile artists that we can possible be."
— Britt Julious
Architecture critic Paul Goldberger talks about Frank Gehry's life and work in a new book.
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