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.
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TODAY
Slowdown
BY DAY
Thursday, August 08 2013
Windy City Rubber Ducky Derby
The annual Windy City Rubber Ducky Derby is today on the Chicago River. From 7:30am till 12:30pm, you can adopt a duck for $5 outside the Wrigley Building, 400 N. Michigan Ave., and enjoy the family fest from 10am on. Duck drops begin at 1pm on the river, viewable from the Riverwalk and the Michigan Avenue Bridge. If your duck wins, you could win one of a handful of prizes, including vacations and a new Chevy Malibu. Proceeds benefit Special Olympics Illinois.
ALEC Exposed in Chicago Rally
A coalition of activists will gather outside the Palmer House Hilton (17 East Monroe St.) in downtown Chicago to protest the American Legislative Executive Council's 40th anniversary conference being held inside the hotel. Rally begins at noon. See Facebook for more details.
Chicago Comic Con
Chicago Comic Con runs Aug. 8-11 at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, 5555 N. River Rd. Hit the panel talks and workshops, walk the trade floor, attend film screenings and meet celebrities such as Stan Lee, Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Morena Baccarin, John Barrowman, Tara Strong, DMC, Ralph Maccio and more. The cost of single day passes vary by day; today's are $40. A four-day weekend pass costs $90, or spring for the $250 VIP package, which gets you in an hour early each day as well as other goodies. Many celebrity meet-and-greets are ticketed separately. The convention runs from 3pm to 8pm today.
North Lake Shore Drive Public Meeting @ Notebaert Nature Museum
Public meetings are being held as part of a study to improve Lake Shore Drive between Hollywood Avenue and Grand Avenue. Anyone who uses the stretch of Lake Shore Drive focused on in the study is encouraged to attend this meeting in the south gallery of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Dr., from 6 to 8pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring feedback on how they use Lake Shore Drive, the Lakefront Trail or the parks and what they'd like to see.
Wood Sugars "Freak Show featuring Regular Adults"
Step right up to this spectacle of boring and vulnerable people! Award-winning sketch comedy group Wood Sugars' final show run, "Freak Show featuring Regular Adults," tips its cap to the days of the traveling circus, and boasts new-aged oddities such as "Dub-Step Father," "Prohibition-Era Wrigleyville (revisited)" and "Gravedigger: the man on a first date who shares his uninformed opinion on a woman's issue." The show runs Thursdays at 8pm in August, starting tonight, at the Public House Theater, 3914 N. Clark St., just south of Irving Park. Tickets are $10 and include a beer. 21+
The Appleseed Cast @ Fireside Bowl
The Appleseed Cast play two nights at the legendary Fireside Bowl, 2648 W. Fullerton Ave., tonight and Friday. Des Ark, Heartscape Landbreak open. Tickets are $20. Doors open at 8pm, show's at 9pm. 18+
Live Lit on the Lake @ Theater on the Lake
Live Lit on the Lake is curated and hosted by Ian Belknap, founder and host of WRITE CLUB, which features a rotating lineup of Chicago's most audacious writers/performers at Theater on the Lake (2401 N. Lake Shore Drive.) Each week performers from storefront theater literary series read from their favorite pieces, and discuss the craft and practice of live lit with the host. August 8 & 9 featured readers include Shannon Cason, Moth Story Slam grand champion, featured on NPR's Snap Judgment; Dana Norris, founder of Story Club; and Samantha Irby, founder of Guts & Glory, blogger at Bitches Gotta Eat and author of forthcoming collection of essays, Meaty. Begins at 9:25pm and is free.
