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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Friday, May 3
Hacker space Pumping Station One, 3354 N. Elston Ave., celebrates its second anniversary and grand reopening tonight starting at 6pm. Drinks and other refreshments will be served, and DJ DSTROY spins. $5-10 donation at the door requested. RSVP on Facebook.
Sean Flannery's one-man show, Never Been to Paris, follows up a sold-out run last fall with a second run this spring at the Chicago Center for Performing Arts, 777 N. Green St. Catch him every Friday in March and April at 9pm; tickets are $12 and can be purchased here. Read an interview with Flannery in A/C.
The Music Box plays host to the Found Footage Festival, celebrating 25 years of screening the strangest footage ever found by man. Hosts Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher will present a program of amazing videos starting tonight at 10pm. See the Music Box Website for full details and to purchase advance tickets. Music Box: 3733 N. Southport. (773) 871-6604.
The Chicago International Movies & Music Festival continues tonight with multiple events at locations across the city; see the CIMM Fest calendar for full details.
Tim Larson & The Owner/Operators celebrate the release of their album A New Deal with a show at Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont Ave., tonight. Wolf Ram Heart open. Preview in Transmission. Doors are at 10pm. Tickets are $8. . 21+
Step right up to the circus-themed artistic showcase for Logan Square arts mentorshop group Ag47 (previously written about in A/C). Live performances will take place from 7-10 pm, and original art made by girls and their mentors will be for sale. The showcase goes down at the Kimball Arts Center (1757 N. Kimball Ave), with a suggested donation of $10. For more information and sneak peeks at the artwork, check out the Ag47 blog.
The Gene Siskel Film Center presents the 10th annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival, which starts tonight and runs through April 27. Tonight's opening night film is Zahara from 2009, which will be preceded by two short films. For a complete schedule of the festival please see the Film Center's Website. Film Center: 164 N. State. (312) 846-2600.
The School of the Art Institute's Spring Art Sale takes place today from 11am to 7pm, and tomorrow from 10am to 5pm in the MacLean Center Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Ave. More than 120 SAIC students will be selling original paintings, sculptures, photography, prints, jewelry, fashion and more, at prices ranging from $1 to $1,000+. Free.
The Oscar-nominated animated film The Illusionist plays at the Gene Siskel Film Center for a week, starting tonight at 6:15pm. See the Film Center Website for a complete schedule of showtimes. Film Center: 164 N. State. (312) 846-2600.
Tonight the Book Cellar celebrates the posthumous release of David Foster Wallace's The Pale King. Esquire calls The Pale King "the final, beautiful act of an unwilling icon...one of the saddest, most lovely books I've ever read. DFW writes sentences and sometimes whole pages that make you feel like you can't breathe." Readers at the event will include Patrick Somerville, Marcus Sakey,
Adam Levin, Kyle Beachy, and Jon Baskin. The evening will feature readings of favorite DFW pieces, original essays on his work, a brief discussion with the authors, and DFW trivia with a free drink for correct answers (yes, the Book Cellar has a bar). The Book Cellar, 4736-38 N Lincoln Ave., 7pm.