Gapers Block has ceased publication.

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.
 Thank you for your readership and contributions. 

TODAY

Friday, December 13

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Kriti Festival

Kriti is a four-day event using panel discussions, readings, music, storytelling and more to celebrate South Asian and diaspora literature. This year's guest of honor is Anita Desai, author of Fasting, Feasting, Clear Light of Day and more, and thrice short-listed for the Booker Prize. Workshops and discussions are spread throughout the weekend, so be sure to check out the schedule to find exactly what you want to see. Visit the website for current admission prices and email info[at]desilit[dot]org for more information.

Loft Party with Telefone Tel Aviv

Been wanting to check out a bona fide loft party?  Well tonight is the night.  Grit and Glitz, hosted by RAWK! Magazine and Chicago Suicide Club, will be going down in the Kinzie Corridor.  Bringing music, (Telefon Tel Aviv, Nerd Parade with others) art, (hostess Hillary Rawk and friends) fashion, (Novem Studios, Nicole Valeri and more) and live screenprinting all in one wild night. Tickets are $10.  Starts at 10 p.m. and goes late, so get your rest.

Allan MacDonell & Josh Alan Friedman @ Quimby's

Quimby's presents a reading by authors Allan MacDonnell (Prisoner of X: 20 Years in the Hole at Hustler Magazine) and Josh Alan Friedman (When Sex Was Dirty). The host of the event is Mike McPadden of MRSkin.com and former entertainment editor at Hustler. Needless to say, leave the kids at home for this one. The event starts tonight at 7:00 PM, and is free & open to the public. Quimby's: 1854 W. North. (773) 342-0910.

Photobloggies @ Apple Store

Brandon Stone, head of Photoblogs.org, announces the winners of the 2007 Photobloggies at the Apple Store (679 N. Michigan Avenue) at 7PM. For more information call (312) 981-4104.

The Brian Costello Show with Brian Costello @ The Empty Bottle

This Saturday afternoon at 3 PM The Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave) will host another edition of the live talk show, The Brian Costello Show with Brian Costello. As always, admission is free and the bloody marys are excellent.

Guests to include Max Glaessner (writer and recovering Satanist), Chris Deguire (Wisconsin aficionado), and The Screaming Yellow Zonkers (Chicago rock and roll outfit). Sidekick, Matt Flaiz and houseband, The Tony Sagger One Man Band join Costello for an afternoon of candid interviews, hearty laughs and foot-tapping music. And bloody marys.

Says Costello, "If you attend just one Brian Costello Show with Brian Costello this year, this is the one to attend!"

Bavarian Früh Schoppen @ Brauhaus

The Chicago Brauhaus hosts a traditional Bavarian Früh Schoppen -- a "special brunch" -- today from 11:30am to 3pm. The brunch will feature Die Blaskapelle Seefeld, a 10-piece brass band, as well as Bavarian food and Spaten Mai Bock beer. Reservations recommended.

Blackstone Branch Spring Book Sale

The Blackstone Branch of the Chicago Public Library is holding its Spring Book Sale today from 9:30am-1pm. Come to the lower level to choose from hundreds of books, priced to meet the budget-conscious booklover's needs. Free at 4904 S. Lake Park Ave. Call 312-747-0511 for more information.

Sarah Paretsky @ Woodson Regional Library

Bestselling local novelist Sarah Paretsky stops by the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library to discuss and sign copies of her latest book, Writing in an Age of Silence. The book is a memoir exploring Paretsky's experiences with the traditions of political and literary dissent and she describes her time as a child in rural Kansas as well as her life in Chicago as an artist and activist. Free at 1:30pm in the library's Auditorium, 9525 S. Halsted. Call 312-747-4050 for more information.

Creative Move TOO @ HPAC

The Hyde Park Art Center celebrates its first year in its new building with a 24-hour extravaganza, featuring hands-on art-making workshops and demonstrations, exhibition receptions, artists’ presentations and a wide variety of entertainment by Chicago-area performers. Admission is free. A full schedule of events is available on HPAC’s Web site. The Hyde Park Art Center is located at 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago.

Red Rover Series

An experiment in reading, the Red Rover Series enacts its 12th experiment, "Poemscape," featuring Alex Branch, whose work involves the blending of the mechanic and organic as well as human interaction with and relation to machines, and Laura Goldstein, who teaches poetry and essay writing at Loyola University. Suggested donation is $3. 7pm at Nature Yoga Sanctuary, 2021 W. Divison St. Email redroverseries[at]yahoogroups[dot]com for more information.

Joseph Hammer @ Odum

Joseph Hammer, known by some as a virtuoso of tape loops, brings his multi-dimensional hubbub to Odum (2116 W. Chicago Avenue) tonight at 9 p.m. Admission is $10. Hammer is a lifelong member of the Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS - check out their 10CD boxset on RRR/Cordical!), and in bands Solid Eye, Points of Friction, Dinosaurs with Horns, and Joe + Joe. Sponsored by Lampo.

Save the Whale Bake Sale

Just a reminder, Half & Half is hosting the Save the Whale Bake Sale on Saturday from 1pm on. Proceeds will help fund Greenpeace's next venture to the Southern Ocean near Antarctica and to raise awareness on the plight of the whale, and engage the public to pressure the U.S. government in said plight. Come on down and buy a cookie for a good cause.

DarkLord Day @ Three Floyds Brewery

What's with beer geeks and satanic imagery?

Today, just over the border in Hammond Indiana, Three Floyds Brewery will sell their DarkLord Russian Imperial Stout and host a festival in honor of the brew. It's a once a year event, so command your excuses to get behind thee and high tail it over there! The event starts at noon and will include food, beer rating and trading, and bands.

Too bad it's not on a Sunday, because the irony of snagging a ride on the blue fundamentalist church bus that goes to Hammond First Baptist to 1), drink beer, and 2), drink a beer named after the Dark Lord, is priceless. Literally, too. Those rides are free.

 

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