Critical Mass

Chicago Critical Mass bike rides start from Daley Plaza, Dearborn & Washington at 5:30pm the last Friday of each month, regardless of season or weather. They are free and fun. All you have to do is show up with your bike.

(Don't) Talk to Strangers @ UIC

A national symposium entitled "(Don't) Talk to Strangers" will be convened in Chicago by The Public Square, inviting activists, scholars, and artists from all over the country for a two-day event on the need to foster broad and deep public conversations.

The symposium will take place at the University of Illinois Chicago on September 24th from 4 to 8 pm & September 25th from 9 am to 5 pm. These programs will seek to further the notion that discussion, debate, and dissent are cornerstones of democracy.

Dr. Danielle Allen, Dean of the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago and 2002 MacArthur Fellow, will deliver the keynote address at 4 pm in the Cardinal Room at UIC Circle Center, 750 South Halsted Street. Dr. Allen will be available to autograph copies of her latest book, "Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education.

Hideout Block Party

This year's Hideout Block Party features some really stellar local music. Bands include Califone, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Archer Prewitt, Andrew Bird, Kelly Hogan & the Wooden Leg, Manishevitz, and Swing Set, and that's not all. The proceeds from this 3-day party will benefit C.A.U.S.E.S./P.L.A.Y, Tuesday's Child, and Literacy Works. Check the website for a full schedule and more information. Tickets are just $10!

Spike & Mike's Twisted Animation @ Music Box

Whoah, Nelly! Is it time for another installment of Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation? Apparently so. The animation equivalent of the Jim Rose Circus hits town tonight, playing the Music Box Theatre for all it's worth. No word yet on what the films will be, but they're offering free 3-D glasses for use in one of the films. So that should be interesting. 18+ show only. Music Box Theatre: 3733 N. Southport. (773) 871-6604.

Rhino Theater Fest: Standards and Fake Standards

Jenny Magnus and Joe Tech in a musical performance for the Rhinoceros Theater Fest. "The song stylings of these old friends smack of lives lived, cigarettes smoked, drinks knocked back, and hearts broken. A wonderful, easy musical friendship that moves between the songs we all know and love, and the songs they know and you should love. Bring a date, preferably an ex, and Joe and Jenny will either rekindle something or remind you of why you’re apart." 9pm, Curious Theatre Branch, 7001 N Glenwood. $12 or pay what you can. Call 773-274-6660 for reservations.

Rhino Theater Fest: Cant

The Curious Theatre Branch's 16th annual Rhinoceros Theater Fest features Jenny Magnus's solo piece. "CANT is not not being able to. CANT is an edge, a brink that one can teeter on. Jenny Magnus returns to her familiar niche of solo performance with CANT, a new meditation on inclines and their slants when it comes to comfort, responsibility, and the terror of love. In her first new work in 2 years, Magnus uses her whining manner of speaking and vulgar slang to explore the relationship she creates with her doppelganger, a bag of rice the exact weight of her only child. When one’s concerns turn to having children, aging parents, and the inexorable passage of time, one must be careful of sudden movements which result in turning over or tilting up. Or so Magnus finds in her unique language, implying the pretended assumption of goodness. CANT is not not being able to. CANT is doing, in spite of whether one is able." 7pm. $12 or pay what you can. At the Curious Theatre Branch, 7001 N Glenwood. Call 773.274.6660 for reservations.

GB Get-Together

Gapers Block holds its monthly Get-Together at Danny's this month. Meet us there (1951 W. Dickens, at Damen) from 9pm on -- we'll be in the back, partying it up and enjoying the music.

Cineme International Animation Festival

This weekend is the kickoff for the Cineme International Animation Festival held at the Illinois Institute of Art September 24–26. Cineme kicks off each fall in Chicago, and is dedicated to showcasing the best and brightest in animation and digital media through Film, Television, Music, 3D Design, Web, Gaming, Architecture and Technology. This year Cineme is bigger and better than ever with $25,000 in cash and prizes, plus Halo Tournament, Video Game Developer Summit, exclusive nightly parties, musical guests, celebrities, distributors, award-winning speakers and premieres. Check the website for more information.

Registration closes for Black Protest Music Class

The University of Chicago's Graham School of General Studies has begun a collaboration with the DuSable Museum of African-American History, part of which involves co-sponsoring adult education courses open to all who want to register. The class below "Black Protest Music since 1965: Soul, Funk, and Hip-Hop" meets Oct. 2 thru Oct. 23 (10:30 a.m.—12:45 p.m) and is a bargin at $40. Registration closes on Sept. 24th, so if you’re interested, act quickly. The course is taught by Leniece Davis. According to the course listing: "This course explores African-American music of dissent and struggle, examining how the social, economic, and political events of recent decades produced the protest music styles of soul, funk, and hip-hop. We will seek to understand the role of the musical artist, the poet, and the performer in society, as well as the connection between art and politics. The course aims to cultivate ways of thinking about music as an integral dimension of human behavior and of liberal arts scholarship while focusing on the genres of soul, funk, and hip-hop and while explaining what makes this music so powerful." For more information, contact Bart Schultz at 773-702-8821.

Thomas Brinkmann @ Empty Bottle

Thomas Brinkmann, German minimal techno glitch-maker extraordinaire, is playing at the Empty Bottle tonight as part of the Wire series. 1035 N. Western, 21+, 9pm, $15.

Nature Yoga Studio: Yoga Trance Dance

Nature Yoga Studio, at 2021 W Division, is holding a Yoga Trance Dance event tonight and after the trance dance there will be late-night fire-spinning (FIRE SPINNING!) and drumming. The event takes place from 8 until 10:30 p.m., and there is a suggested donation but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.