Thai Jones Reading @ 57th St Books

Hear journalist Thai Jones read from his recent book entitled "A Radical Line: From the Labor Movement to the Weather Underground, One Family's Century of Conscience" today at 7 pm at 57th St Books (301 E. 57th St) in Hyde Park.

"In this elegant family history, journalist Thai Jones traces the past century of American radical politics through the extraordinary exploits of his own family. Born in the late 1970s to fugitive leaders of the Weather Underground, grandson of Communists, spiritual pacifists, and civil rights agitators, Jones grew up an heir to an American tradition of resistance. A Radical Line outlines this tradition, but also tells the story of a family like any other, whose lives were filled with love honored and betrayed, tragic deaths, painful blunders, narrow escapes, and hope-filled births."

The Audible Picture Show

"The Audible Picture Show - Original Audio Works for Darkened Cinemas" is a presentation of the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 North State.

"Jaded with a world bombarded with image? Edinburgh artist Matt Hulse's Audible Picture Show will remind you of what cinema can really offer ... without any visuals.

"A diverse range of inventive and creative people-including some of the most interesting film makers and audio artists working today-responded to the challenge of creating short audio works for "a darkened cinema." The result of this experiment is a unique and entertaining experience giving the mind's eye a welcome stretch-from an aural exploration of Nature vs. Nokia to the ramblings of an Austrian social anthropologist who has somewhat puzzling ideas about the world."

8:30pm tonight. Tickets are $9 general, $5 for Chicago Public Radio and Siskel Center members and students. More info here and here.

Karr and Dybek Read @ Newberry

Mary Karr and Stuart Dybek are poets best known for their work in other literary genres. They will read and discuss their poetry in relation to their own writing at the Newberry Library tonight beginning at 6 p.m. at a program titled "Jumping Genres." The library is located at 60 W. Walton St., Chicago. This event is Free and is sponsored by Poetry magazine's Off the Shelf series at the Newberry. Mary Karr is the bestselling author of two memoirs: "The Liars Club" (1996) and "Cherry" (2000). She first appeared in Poetry in 1981, and has been a regular contributor ever since. Her poems are collected in three volumes: "Abacus" (1987), "The Devil’s Tour" (1993), and Viper Rum (1998). Stuart Dybek has published three works of fiction: "Childhood and Other Neighborhoods" (1980), "The Coast of Chicago" (1990), and "I Sailed with Magellan" (2003). His first book of poetry, "Brass Knuckles," appeared in 1979 and his latest, Streets in Their Own Ink, is forthcoming next month from Farrar Straus & Giroux.

CTA Hearing: 2005 Budget

Your daily commute is threatened because public transit in the Chicagoland region is insufficiently funded. Twenty years of insufficient funding for public transit has consequences. Visit the Palmer House (downtown Chicago) @ 17 East Monroe at 4:00 p.m. to take part in this essential public hearing. See the entire schedule at Campaign for Better Transit.