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EDITORIAL Mike Macharello: Publisher Rick Karlin: Editor
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photographerS Eamonn Sexton Ken Brown, KAB Photography
COVER Pride Fest Chicago, 2015
editorial contributors Gregg Shapiro, Parker Carr Sue Deaunym, Anita Taylor, Michael Elder
VIEW boiMAGazine ONLINE AT: www.boiMAG.com BOI Magazine, Inc. © 2000−2015 All rights reserved For our online readers, blue and underline text are active links
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PRIDE FEST CHICAGO NortHalsted Pride Fest 2015
It's not just about LGBT pride at Chicago Pride Fest, the summer event that ushers in Chicago's iconic Pride Parade (held on Sunday, June 28). It’s also about showcasing the vibrant businesses in the Boystown community and helping to raise funds for the Northalsted Business Alliance (NBA), the group that produces not only Pride Fest, but Market Days (Aug. 8-9) and the annual Halsted Halloween Pet Parade. Festive ... Jubilant ... Fun ... are just a few of the words to describe this two day-long gathering that's a non-stop, early-summer party. In 2015 Pride Fest will showcase an eclectic lineup of arts & crafts, food, other vendors, and entertainment. The event is one of the NBA’s major fund raisers, second only to Market Days. Booth spaces for vendors run from $550 for not-for-profits to nearly $1,500 for food vendors (and many vendors book double or triple spaces). Add on top of that the $10 per person average donation and you can see how the money adds up. Of course, putting on events of this magnitude isn't cheap. NBA has to pay city fees, artists’ fees, security, maintenance, sanitation and Special Events Management, the company that produces the event. The remaining money goes toward neighborhood beautification, sidewalk cleaning and, of course, paying the salaries of the NBA staff. The Northalsted Business Alliance works diligently to maintain a safe and beautiful neighborhood for residents, business owners and visitors. Its street beautification program provides regular street and sidewalk cleaning, as well as the maintenance of seasonal planters. NBA works with the Chicago Police Dept. encourages businesses and residents to make their properties safe and secure.
Pride Fest at a Glance Saturday, June 20 from 11am-10pm Sunday, June 21 from 11am- 9pm Halsted St. Between Addison and Grace Admission: Suggested Donation of $10 boiMAG 13
PRIDE FEST LINEUP CHICAGO Pride Fest 2015
Chicago Pride Fest, hosted by the Northalsted Business Alliance, debuts the ‘Keep Pride Proud’ catchphrase. This year’s entertainment line-up is a blend of nationally known performers who work the “Rainbow Circuit” along with local bands and entertainers. On Saturday Deb (don’t call her Debbie anymore) Gibson, Jessica Sutta and The Veronicas take to the Main Stage. Sunday features Big Freedia, Estelle and St. Lucia. In addition there will be a dance stage, sponsored by Red Bull and, of course, Kit Kat’s runway. The ubiquitous Miss Foozie hosts the popular pet parade, which serves as Sunday’s opening event. The full list of performers follows.
Cazwell promises to be fresh for Pridefest
GS: You have a long history of collaboration, from your early days as one half of Morplay, extending to the present day and your collaborations with Peaches, Manila Luzon and others. What makes you so good at playing well with others? C: I enjoy working with other people and I enjoy writing for other people. It’s a lot easier to write for others than it is for myself because I’m less afraid of what the judgment will be.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW By Gregg Shapiro
Perhaps the first gay white rapper and break dancer to gain a national following, Cazwell is a born entertainer. With a surprisingly sophisticated sense of humor and apparently not a single shirt in his wardrobe, Cazwell's music videos have a tendency to go viral. “ I spoke with Cazwell, who recently launched the Ice Cream Truck underwear line about his career and more.
GS: Manila Luzon is featured on your song “Helen Keller.” What was the inspiration for that song? C: Manila Luzon had texted me. I really enjoy her. I think she’s great and a natural star. The inspiration for that song was a break-up I went through a year and a half ago. One thing that happens in a break-up, especially if you are with a person for five and a half years, as I was, you still have to go out and see them. Helen Kellering came from when you see the person, you (utilize) tunnel vision. They’re at the club, but you don’t hear them, you don’t see them. GS: “Guess What,” your collaboration with Luciana, charted well on Billboard’s Dance Chart. How do you feel when you walk into a club and hear one of your songs being spun by a DJ? C: The first thing I think is, “Do they really like it? Or are they just playing it because they know I’m here [laughs]?” Either way, I’m happy that the whole room is hearing it. It feels good. It feels like I get a lot of respect in gay clubs and gay club culture. I’ve been doing this an awfully long time.
Gregg Shapiro: Cazwell, before we talk about anything else, I have to ask you if you know if Beyoncé has ever heard your song “I Seen Beyoncé at Burger King”, and if so, what she thought of it? Cazwell: Yes. I heard that she saw the video (and) she thought it was funny. I heard it from someone who works with her people.
GS: How much time do you spend at the gym to maintain that physique you like to show off in your music videos? C: It depends on if I’m going to be making a music video or not [laughs]. Because if I’m not making a music video, I like to slack off. I’ll tell you right now, I’m not a natural at the gym. I would say I work out five or six days a week, but that is because I’m getting ready to shoot as many videos as I
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can. Summertime is coming, obviously, and I have a lot of Pride shows coming up where I’m going to be outside in 95-degree weather with my shirt off. If I come to your hometown and I take off my shirt and have muffin-tops hanging over my waist, you’re not going to hire me to come back. You’re just going to walk away saying, “Cazwell’s been hanging out by the ice cream truck. Cazwell’s been to Burger King with Beyoncé.” People are going to say that. I know it’s going to happen. GS: You recently launched your Ice Cream Truck underwear line. Is testing the fit of the underwear on the models part of your job description? C: Oh, you’re nasty [laughs]. Ice Cream Truck underwear fits perfectly on everyone. There’s no need to test it. Yes, I make sure that it fits really, really well. But all these guys are my friends. The last thing I want to do is go beyond that line of friendship. However, I am going to start scouting models and utilize other people’s experience more. We have a couple of new flavors of it coming out. We’re pushing it again for summer. I am going to start using people I like or follow on Instagram .
GS: Would you say that creating an underwear line was a natural career progression for you? C: Yes. I’m hyper-aware of fashion. I follow fashion. I wouldn’t call the underwear high fashion or anything too deep like that. But it was definitely a natural progression because Geoffrey Mac wanted to do something with me, dip into my music. I always wanted to do an underwear line but I didn’t really know how. GS: Ice Cream Truck underwear is featured prominently in the new music video for “Downtown.” C: Sure is! Thanks for noticing. GS: What else can you tell me about that video? C: I’ll tell you the story of that video. I really wanted a video for the song. I’m working on a video for “The Biscuit” right now. In the meantime, I wanted to do another video to hold everybody over. I don’t like three months to go by without a video. My goal with any video is to have it represent the song as best as possible. The song is Continued on a following page >>
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Cazwell really ratchet so I needed a ratchet video [laughs]. That’s what it comes down to. GS: A big fuss is made every time a rapper comes out of the closet. As a rapper who was never in the closet, what advice would you give to those newly out? C: Just don’t stop. Life is like a highway and the road will eventually bring you somewhere. GS: You have performed at the Fruit Fest in Madison. Last year you played Milwaukee PrideFest and this year you are playing Pride Fest in Chicago. Do you feel like you have a special connection with Midwestern audiences?
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C: Sometimes you do shows and it’s like, “Who’s playing? Oh, let’s go see him.” Or sometimes they just know that one song. But I feel like the times I’ve played in Chicago that people genuinely like me [laughs]. I always get the feeling that they like me personally. GS: Do you think it’s because they’re less jaded? C: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That’s for damn sure. GS: What do you have in store for your fans attending Chicago Pride Fest? C: I’m going to be doing a lot of newer songs. I’m going to be doing some songs that I’m going to be pushing as singles over the next three or four months and some that are newer. I’ve never before performed “The Biscuit” live. I’ve never done “Dance Like You’ve Got Good Credit” for them. I’ll be able to do “Downtown” and “Hot Homo.” I’m going to do a really sickening job. I’m excited to get back into the swing of performing all these Pride shows and to connect with the audience and sing some new songs.
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PRIDE PLANNER CHICAGO, JUNE 2015
June Pride Month events provided to the Pride Committee from representatives of the listed groups and organizations "The Reunion Project"- summit for long-term survivors of HIV AIDS hosted by TPAN and Positively Aware magazine at Center on Halsted, www.tpan. com
13th Annual Flag Day BBQ benefit for the American Veterans for Equal Rights at Replay Bar. www.averchicago About Face Theatre, "Abraham Lincoln Was a F*gg*t" by Bixby Elliot at Chicago Dramatists (also June 14). www.aboutfacetheatre.com "Straight with You" and "True Colors"- Pride movie screenings for youth, Facets Cinematheque, www.facets.org
"Everything Old is New Again: By Women For Women" at the Center on Halsted, www.centeronhalsted.org
14th
"The Day it Snowed in Miami", for the full list of Pride films airing on WTTW in June, go to www.wttw.com
17th About Face Theatre, reading of "Methtacular!" at American Theater Company. www.aboutfacetheatre.com 19th
20-21 Chicago Pride Fest, www.northalsted.com 20th "When You Believe" Windy City Gay Chorus at Ebenezer Lutheran Church www.windycitysings.org "You're Being Ridiculous" at Women and Children First Books. www.womenandchildrenfirst. com 21st
5th Anniversary Pride Sunday Celebration, Northbrook United Methodist Church www.northbrookumc.org
22nd
"Gay Today-A Pride Cabaret" by the stars of Pride Films and Plays at Mary's Attic. www.pridefilmsandplays.com
24th "30 Under 30 Awards" at Center on Halsted. www.windycitymediagroup.com
Gerber/Hart Library and Archives book discussion "The Left Hand 25th "Pride Classic Ice Hockey of Darkness". Tournament" Chicago Gay www.gerberhart.org Hockey Association at McFetridge Sports Center. "Drag Queens" at Uptown www.chicagogayhockey.org Underground www.uptownunderground.net Lakefront 5K run/walk and postparty benefit for Center on "The Women of GayCo� at Stage Halsted Senior Housing Center. 773 www.gayco.com www.iloveruns.com/pride-5k
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"12th Annual Back Lot Bash" women's festival (continues 26, 27 & 28). www.backlotbashchicago.com 26th 26th
"Pride & Joy Reception" by Center on Halsted/Friends of the Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame. www.glhalloffame. “LGBTQ Jewish Pride BBQ & Beach Service", Congregation Or Chadash, www.orchadash.org
27th Chicago Dyke March, www.facebook.com/ dykemarchchicago 34th annual "Proud to Run" 10K run & 5K run/walk www.proudtorun.org "Annual Pride Liturgy" by Dignity/Chicago at Broadway United Methodist Church
28th 46th Annual Pride Parade
"Welcoming You Home" 15th Anniversary of Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches at Lakeview Presbyterian Church www.lakeviewpresbyterian.org
Black Pride celebration www.windycityblackpride.info "Pride North” on Glenwood Avenue between Lunt and Farwell in Rogers Park
30th "Salute to LGBT Veterans" by the American Veterans for Equal Rights at Daley Plaza www.averchicago.org On-going "Late Nite Catechism" at Royal George, use code word, "PRIDE" for half-priced tickets. www.nuns4fun.com boiMAG 29
Andersonville Then and Now
Anniversary June 12-14
By Rick Karlin
Neighborhoods in Chicago have an ebb and flow, usually starting as ethnic enclaves, then becoming less ethnically identified. They are then “rediscovered” and rejuvenated as trendy neighborhoods. It is how cities have survived. Unlike many other such neighborhoods, Andersonville has retained its ethnic identity while evolving, which is what makes it such a unique and desirable neighborhood. Part of enjoying the present is knowing the history of the neighborhood. While enjoying Midsommarfest, see if you can identify each current location by its ancestry.
1. The Thybony family moved its store to Andersonville in 1927. and in expanded it 1977 into a former A&P grocery store. It is now an outpost of one of Chicago’s biggest companies. 2. Built in 1921 and designed by architect: A.V. Frisen, former Capital State Savings Bank now sports a bright neon “Jesus Saves” sign. 3. Once home to the Calo Theater, one of two theaters serving the Swedish-American community in early Andersonville, this place was built in 1915 and originally seated about 800 people. The theater has been used for various forms of entertainment, including a bowling alley and Griffin Theatre Company, which performed live theater. 4. Now you can bank some calories, but when first built this building was known as the Swedish Bank Building. In the late 1980s the first floor was home to a branch of Lakeview’s Bad Boys clothing store, one of the first LGBT stores in the area.
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5. The firehouse of Engine Co. No. 79, opened in 1925, is now home to the Edgewater Historical Society. 6. In the heyday of Andersonville’s Swedish business district, this was one of a half dozen similar businesses along Clark St. Originally founded in 1928, it is now under its fifth owner, the Stanton family. 7. In 1974, Harriet and Sol Price purchased the Friedman’s Department Store and turned it a store now managed by Harriet and Sol’s son-in-law, Craig Cohen. 8. Once home to Blitz Brothers Shoes, it is now occupied by one of the first businesses to open during the revitalization of Andersonville’s shopping district in the late 1980s. Continued on a following page >>
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9. Opened in 1909 as National Tea Company grocery store, it later housed an ice cream shop before the current owner moved his namesake restaurant from the other side of the street. 10. Built in 1927, the building once housed Andrew Anderson Cigars. It’s most recent occupant opened in a tiny storefront in 1974; in 1997 it expanded into two adjacent storefronts. 11. This strip of storefronts once hosted the Uptown Clark Garage, Peterson & Reltinger Real Estate, G. Nils Peterson Steamship Agency, Tune In Radio Shop, Father & Son Shoes, The Elk Fur Shop and Lindgren & Stark Clothing. 12. Opened as Schott & Son Fish Company, the building was purchased by Ingvar Wikstrom and his wife Alfhild who ran a Swedish Deli until 2007. 13. Built in 1910, this building was home to Kravitz & Press Army Goods, Temple Sweet Shop and Swedish Massage Baths before becoming the new home of a beloved store once located in Lincoln Park in the late 1980s. 14. Once home to Lind Hardware Company, whose fire protection system was housed on the roof. 15. One of Andersonville’s oldest establishments, founded in 1934 by Simon Lundberg, was originally the home to Werner Bakery. 16. Originally home to O.L. Dahlgren Restaurant and then Villa Sweden. 17. Designed by the Swedish architect John A. Nyden, was built in 1922 as home to the Builders and Merchants State Bank.
18. Once home to Farragut Billiards Parlor, the space has been subdivided into three spaces, one a remnant of the old Swedish community. 19. Originally home to Miller Novelty Co. and the William J. Steener Electric Company and Lighting Fixtures, it has been a neighborhood Landmark since 1987. 20. These storefronts once housed Ernest Gustafson Jeweler, Ann Helen Frock Shop, Calo Candy Shop, Lakewood Radio Service, a dance school and a dental laboratory on street level, with more offices on the second floor.
Answers:
1. 5440 N. Clark-Walgreen’s 2. 5437 N. Clark-Philadelphia Church (surprisingly it is not named for the city in Pennsylvania as you might think, but for the ancient city Philadelphia, in what is now Turkey) 3. 5402-The Brown Elephant 4. 5400 N. Clark-Hamburger Mary’s 5. 5358 N. Ashland-Edgewater Historical Society 6. 5348 N. Clark-Swedish Bakery 7. 5321 N. Clark-Alamo Shoes 8. 5317 N. Clark-Kopi Café 9. 5255 N. Clark-Reza’s 10. 5253 N. Clark-Andies 11. 5250 N. Clark-Cheetah Gym and Erickson’s Delicatessen 12. 5247 N. Clark-Andersonville Galleria 13. 5233 N. Clark- Women and Children First Bookstore 14. 5211 N. Clark-Swedish American Museum 15. 5210 N. Clark-Simon’s Tap 16. 5207 N. Clark-Giordano’s 17. 5159 N. Clark- North Side Federal Savings and Loan Association 18. 5236 N. Clark-Svea, Farragut’s and Brownstone Antiques & Collectibles 19. 5245 N. Clark-The Landmark 20. 5402-18 N. Clark- Andersonville Brewing Co. and Attic, Johnny's Brown Bag, Spex Optical, 2x10 Nails, In Fine Spirits and others. boiMAG 33
QMUSIC
In the Indigo Girls’ Footsteps
By Gregg Shapiro
By the time you read this, the fantastic new Indigo Girls CD, One Lost Day, the duo’s first new studio album in four years, should be available for purchase. More than 25 years into their recording career, Indigo Girls have never sounded better. Over the course of their prolific career, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have also inspired countless other women (and men), gay and straight, to pursue music. The following are just a few examples. Out singer/songwriter Michelle Malone definitely qualifies as one such artist. However, her connection to the Indigos goes deeper than just inspiration. Like Ray and Saliers, Malone was a presence on the Atlanta music scene. In fact, her independently released debut album was released a mere year after the Indigo Girls’. Malone even recorded for Ray’s indie Daemon Records label, as well as majors such as Arista and Velvel. Malone’s latest Stronger Than You Think, is another example of her musical versatility. There’s the semi-autobiographical rockabilly number “Vivian Vegas” (which deserves to be a hit), the bluesy empowerment stomp of “My Favorite Tshirt,” the country-pop of “When I Grow Up” and the Stonesy rock of “Ashes.” Malone even conjures Mary Gauthier on the dazzling “Ramona,” Lucinda Williams on the opener “Stomping Ground” and Susan Werner on “Birthday Song (I’m So Glad).” Michelle Malone performs on June 21 at the Vic. Brandy Carlile, a lesbian singer/ songwriter from Seattle, collaborated with the Indigo Girls on the song “Cannonball” from Carlile’s second album The Story. Carlile also toured with the Indigos as their opening act in the later-half of the first decade of
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the 21st century. Carlile is a wonder on a few different levels. She’s a gifted guitarist, a riveting live performer, an original songwriter and a singer with a voice that can bring about goose-bumps. For the past 10 years Carlile has been releasing consistently strong albums, including her latest The Firewatcher’s Daughter. Performing with the same band, identical twins Tima and Phil Hanseroth (who also share some songwriting duties), she has worked with since her first album, Carlile rocks the hardest she ever has on the blistering “Mainstream Kid.” But fear not, Carlile has not abandoned her trademark style, as can be heard on “Beginning To Feel The Years,” “Wherever Is Your Heart” and “Heroes and Songs.” There are stunning variations to be found on the amazing love songs “Wilder (We’re Chained)” and “I Belong To You,” as well as “Blood Muscle Skin & Bone” and “Murder In The City.” Brandi Carlile performs on July 31 at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park. You can hear the Indigo Girls’ influence on Rachel Garlin, as well as that of Ani DiFranco. Garlin, who quotes Gwendolyn Brooks on “Gwendolyn Said,” the opening track on Wink At July. There’s a literary quality to Garlin’s work as she makes reference to the late, gay graffiti artist in the marvelous “Hey Keith Haring,” gives a shout out to Caravaggio in “Up On A Ladder in Boots,” name-drops the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column in “The Winding Road,” and soars above us on the title track. With Hoagy Carmichael, Billy Holliday, and George Gershwin as “musical guideposts,” queer Aussie singer/ songwriter Anne McCue swings in an entirely new direction on Blue Sky Thinkin’. Does it work? Yes! The easiest way to explain how is that these songs not only have a timeless quality, but they are the kinds of songs that you can imagine hearing other people singing. Tunes such as “Dig Two Graves,” “Things You Left Out In The Rain,” “Spring Cleaning In The Wintertime,” “It Wasn’t Even Fun While It Lasted” and the title track, have potential standard stamped all over them.
Motor Mouth Entourage
By Parker Carr
"Ciels" the Deal
In a case of which came first (almost as classic as “the chicken or the egg”), the big screen adaptation of “Entourage” is like one long commercial for the Cadillac Ciel. According to ADWEEK, the movie’s director, Doug Ellin, toured a General Motors' design facility in Los Angeles, and fell in love with the convertible. Supposedly that inspired Ellin to write the concept car into the script for the movie. At that time GM had only produced a single prototype of the Ciel and informed Ellin that it would only be displayed at auto shows. Never underestimate the power of a management agency. Creative Artists Agency, which just coincidentally (wink, wink) represents both Ellin and Cadillac stepped in. Suddenly the Ciel is in production and appears in the film. IN addition, the characters (and numerous cameo performers) appear in many other GM cars. Motor Authority reports, “In the popular television series Entourage, main character Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his crew cruise around Hollywood in a classic Lincoln Continental convertible. However, for the upcoming movie version, it looks like the Lincoln has been dropped in favor of a new set of wheels—the Cadillac Ciel... other cars that appear in the movie include the original Continental convertible as well as GM’s Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Corvette.”
Melody Lee, who bears the title of Cadillac's “Director of Brand and Reputation Strategy” explains her method of pimping, "We didn't want anything that felt gratuitous and that's always the tricky part, making an integration look natural to the storyline. This evolved into a really collaborative process." In other words, GM’s marketing department helped write the script. There’s even a “short film” (read commercial) featuring the car and Jeremy Piven’s character, Ari Gold, that will screen before “Entourage” in theaters. The company has long tried to shake off its affiliation as an “old man’s car.” Making the Escalade the vehicle of choice for rappers was the first step in that process. Moving the company’s headquarters from Detroit to Manhattan's SoHo, was the next. Placing the Ciel in “Entourage” is the logical progression of that trajectory. They say the secret to being a good whore is to make your john feel like you’d be there even he wasn’t paying. If that’s the case, GM is a really good whore… and you don’t need to buy it dinner. boiMAG 37
Happy Hustler By Gregg Shapiro
Bruce LaBruce and Rick Castro’s queer cinema classic “Hustler White” has been restored in HD and is now available on Blu-ray. Opening with a familiar Sunset Boulevard homage, that of a body floating face-down in a pool (or in this case, a Jacuzzi), the low-budget black comedy stars Madonna’s former boytoy Tony Ward as rentboy Montgomery (Monti to friends) Ward. Monti becomes the object of desire of Jürgen Anger (LaBruce), who is in L.A. to research a project about hustlers. Monti, a “two-bit hustler with a couple of porn credits,” only has sex with men for money so that he can support his young son (the mother abandoned them). Wherever Monti goes, trouble seems to follow. After stealing a car from a trick, Monti runs over (and severs the foot of ) a fellow working stiff. Choosing to hit and run rather than stick around to help, Monti spends much of the first half of the movie peering over his shoulder. Jürgen, who fell in love with Monti at first sight, spends most of his time in pursuit of the hustler. That is when he’s not making disparaging remarks about L.A. and Hollywood. In addition to the budding Jürgen and Monti romance at the center of the movie, "Hustler White" also combines travelogue and history with kink and finally, murder. If you can overlook the terrible sound and the camera’s occasional lack of focus, Hustler White does a good job of capturing a time and place. Blu-ray bonus features include video commentary and footage of LaBruce at a film fest in Toronto.
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It’s been almost four years since the Penn State sex abuse scandal, involving assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, made headlines. However, it’s still fresh in people’s minds, especially in State College, Pennsylvania. Amir Bar-Lev’s doc “Happy Valley”, filmed during the year after Sandusky’s arrest, is a portrait of the domino effect that occurred and the lives that were irreparably damage. Beginning in June 2012, at the time that the jury in the Sandusky case reached its verdict, Happy Valley features interviews with attorney Andrew Shubin, among others. But easily the most damning interview is the one with Sandusky’s adopted son Matt, who initially covered for the adopted father he considered to be his savior, until he stepped forward as one of the abuse victims. “Happy Valley” also goes deeper, not only investigating the kind of university culture that would allow such horrific crimes to occur, but also the way reputations are destroyed, what survives, where responsibility lies, the polarization of a community and the resilience of people who are ready to begin again. DVD bonus features include a PRX interview with Bar-Lev.
FIT TIPS
Double Function
The Kneeling High Cable Row
By Michael Elder
Functional or “core” training is characterized by performing strength training through different movement patterns that mimic the movements that we perform in our everyday lives. By doing this, the core is constantly being engaged and strengthened even while focusing on other larger muscle groups. The kneeling high cable row, targets the lats and the rhomboids
of your back while also activating the abdominals and obliques. While this exercise could be performed twohanded, we’re going to focus on the single arm version for the sake of this article. As always, your belly button should be pulled inward and your abs contracted throughout the movement. During the pulling portion of this exercise, you should experience some slight torso rotation which will activate your obliques. This will provide you with a challenging core workout, while also effectively training your back.
To perform the exercise: 1. Kneel in front of a cable pulley, with the opposite leg forward of the arm that you will be working. 2. Grab the pulley with your palm facing down. This will increase the pre- stretch on your lats.
3. Begin to pull the cable downward toward your chest while simultaneously turning your palm inward. Your elbow should stay close to your body while you do this. 4. When you reach the bottom of the movement, squeeze and retract your shoulder blade. 5. Slowly return to your starting position
Michael Elder has been working as a fitness professional in Chicago for the last fifteen years. He comes from a background in gymnastics and is certified as a personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise (ACE). He can be contacted directly through his website, www.MichaelElder.com. boiMAG 41
Chicago's
in the know ... ON THE GO!
By Sue Deaunym
Pride Flings and Things
Of course, you've heard that country star Ty Herndon is the Grand Marshall for this year's parade... Thursday, June 25 is the Pride kick-off lake front party and 5K run and walk. The run starts along the lake front path at Fullerton and the party is at Diversey Harbor and the original Pride run/walk, “Proud to Run”, is celebrating its 34th year on June 27. … Cram hosts a Pride party on June 18 which means boyz, booze and prizes... Smart Bar has Pride extravaganzas running Thursday though Sunday... Little Jim's will be serving free champagne and hors d'oeurves on Pride Sunday... "Unified" returns to Rehab on Friday, June 26... Pride is not relegated to Boystown, check out the celebration at Up North Pride on Glenwood in Rogers Park... Of course, that’s not everything Pride related, see our Pride Calendar on page 24 for a complete rundown of events leading up to the parade and a couple of follow up things as well.
Divas Las Vegas
“You Bette Work!” Sidetrack offers up a special edition of its “Divas” night with a lip sync contest on Wednesday, June 17. It’s a tribute to the grand divas of pop music. Enjoy videos from Tina Turner, Cher, Diana Ross, Whitney and, of course Bette Midler (it is the eve of her Chicago concert). Who knows, the Divine Miss M may even make an appearance herself (it’s been known to happen). BTW the lip sync concert is “no drag required”… RuPaul’s Drag Race” finalist Chad Michaels entertains at “Pride and Joy” on Friday, June 26, at CoH. The annual benefit for the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame will be a bittersweet event, as it’s the first one since the passing of Chicago’s legendary activist and Hall of Fame member, Bill Kelley…. Speaking of RuPaul’s queens, Ginger Minj, who many feel 42 boiMAG
should have won this year’s edition, comes to Park West on July 10 in “Crossdresser for Christ”…. On Thursday, June 11 GerberHart Library hosts an opening reception for its Amigas Latinas exhibit looking of the group’s 20 year history… On June 14 Edna Vazquez, an openly gay singersongwriter will give an intimate solo performance at Joe’s on Weed.
Celebrating History
Can it be another year has gone by since we celebrated the anniversary of the “Best Gay Bar in the World”? That’s not just our opinion, that’s what Out Magazine declared about Sidetrack. On Thursday, June 11, they celebrate their anniversary the same way they do every year, by giving back to the community that supports them. Bring a donation for Groceryland (paper products, cleaning supplies, grooming items, coffee, or make a cash donation) and you’ll get into the party, be entered into raffle drawings and enjoy prices from their opening year ($1.75 domestics, $2 well cocktails and $2.50 frozen drinks). They’ll have food trucks parked in front serving Milt's BBQ, DonerMan, Chubby Wieners and Slide Ride… “Move Your Body: The Evolution of House Music” an exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center opens Thursday, June 25 and runs through August 16… If Tuesday nights seem hotter than usual, it’s because of all the hot men and women at Montrose Beach for the LGBT volleyball league sponsored by Simply Social Sports… Big Chicks “Loves to Love You Baby” at its Giorgio Moroder CD release party on Friday, June 19.
Elsewhere in The Universe
With all the pride events going on, it's easy to miss some other festivals taking place at the same time. Don't miss; Strawberryfest June 26-28 in Long Grove, and the Wells Street and Old Town art fair, June 13-14.
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