C H I C A G O ’ S F R E E W E E K LY | K I C K I N G A S S S I N C E 1 9 7 1 | J A N U A R Y 1 9, 2 0 1 7
CHICAGO RESPONDS TO
TRUMP
2 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
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THIS WEEK
C H I C A G O R E A D E R | J A N U A R Y 1 9, 2 0 1 7 | V O L U M E 4 6 , N U M B E R 1 5
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THE INAUGURATION ISSUE
IN THIS ISSUE ERIC ALLIX ROGERS, anti-Trump street art photographed in Chicago
EDITOR JAKE MALOOLEY CREATIVE DIRECTOR PAUL JOHN HIGGINS DEPUTY EDITOR, NEWS ROBIN AMER CULTURE EDITOR TAL ROSENBERG DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS FILM EDITOR J.R. JONES MUSIC EDITOR PHILIP MONTORO ASSOCIATE EDITORS KATE SCHMIDT, KEVIN WARWICK, BRIANNA WELLEN SENIOR WRITERS MICHAEL MINER, MIKE SULA SENIOR THEATER CRITIC TONY ADLER STAFF WRITERS LEOR GALIL, DEANNA ISAACS, BEN JORAVSKY, AIMEE LEVITT, PETER MARGASAK, JULIA THIEL SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR RYAN SMITH GRAPHIC DESIGNER SUE KWONG MUSIC LISTINGS COORDINATOR LUCA CIMARUSTI EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CASSIDY RYAN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS NOAH BERLATSKY, DERRICK CLIFTON, MATT DE LA PEÑA, MAYA DUKMASOVA, ANNE FORD, ISA GIALLORENZO, JOHN GREENFIELD, JUSTIN HAYFORD, JACK HELBIG, DAN JAKES, BILL MEYER, J.R. NELSON, MARISSA OBERLANDER, LEAH PICKETT, DMITRY SAMAROV, DAVID WHITEIS, ALBERT WILLIAMS INTERNS AUSTIN BROWN, ISABEL OCHOA GOLD, RACHEL HINTON, JACK LADD, ABBEY SCHUBERT
4 Agenda The play The Tall Girls, stand-up from Daily Show writer Alingon Mitra, the discussion “What Makes Fat Rice Tick?,” Jonathan Rosenbaum on Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, and more recommendations
CITY LIFE
Chicago responds to Trump Artists, writers, musicians, academics, activists, and politicians—even Rahm!—weigh in on the new administration: the threats, the fears, the absurdity. BY READER STAFF 12
CHICAGO READER 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654 312-222-6920, CHICAGOREADER.COM ---------------------------------------------------------------THE READER (ISSN 1096-6919) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SUN-TIMES MEDIA, LLC, 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654. © 2016 SUN-TIMES MEDIA, LLC. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT CHICAGO, IL. POSTMASTER: SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO CHICAGO READER, 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654.
ON THE COVER: FULL OF SHIT BY JACOB THOMAS. FOR MORE OF THOMAS’S WORK, GO TO JACOBTHOMASART.COM.
8 Chicagoans After his proposal to block Trump Tower with pig balloons, this architect received “brutally abusive” calls. 10 Joravsky | Politics Even by Chicago’s political standards, Donald Trump’s lies are the worst. 11 Transportation Former Belmont flyover opponents try to make the best of a bad situation. 22 Inauguration day events Trump protests, watch parties, and much more
ARTS & CULTURE
---------------------------------------------------------------DISTRIBUTION CONCERNS distributionissues@chicagoreader.com
MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE
33 Shows of note Joan of Arc, Rich Jones, Matthew Skoller, Mogwai, and more 35 The Secret History of Chicago Music Johnnie Temple bridged country blues and urban swing in the 1930s.
FOOD & DRINK
---------------------------------------------------------------VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT NICKI STANULA VICE PRESIDENT OF NEW MEDIA GUADALUPE CARRANZA SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER EVANGELINE MILLER ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES FABIO CAVALIERI, ARIANA DIAZ, BRIDGET KANE MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER BRYAN BURDA DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL JOHN DUNLEVY ADVERTISING COORDINATOR HERMINIA BATTAGLIA CLASSIFIEDS REPRESENTATIVE KRIS DODD
25 Comedy The latest Second City E.T.C. show, Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno, focuses more on the people than the politics. 26 Lit Creatures invade 1960s Chicago in My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. 27 Movies Patriots Day revisits the Boston bombing and the citywide lockdown that followed. 28 Visual Art Western Exhibitions inaugurates its new space with “Underlying System Is Not Known.”
MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE FEATURE
BY ERIN OSMON 29
CLASSIFIEDS
42 Jobs 42 Apartments & Spaces 43 Marketplace
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Low power to the people Bridgeport-based community station Lumpen Radio uses its modest signal to amplify dissenting and marginalized voices.
39 Restaurant review: Publican Anker The latest offshoot of the Publican is like the others in that it’s unlike the others. 41 Key Ingredient: Job’s tears Publican Anker chef A.J. Walker makes gluten-free falafel.
23 Opera Lyric’s attempt to get the city to sing is coming to a conclusion. 23 Theater For ten days Chicago is the puppet capital of the world. 24 Theater At American Theater Company, Men on Boats puts us all in the same one. 24 Dance The Keeper of the Floor dance-off is back.
44 Straight Dope How essential are routine dentist visits for teeth cleaning? 45 Savage Love Advice on ear sex and other obscure fetishes 46 Early Warnings New Pornographers, Kiss and other acts at Chicago Open Air, Green Day, Aimee Mann, Jody Watley, and more shows to come 46 Gossip Wolf This weekend’s No Walls benefit helps Chicagoans help the people in Trump’s crosshairs, and more music news.
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 3
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READER RECOMMENDED
Send your events to agenda@chicagoreader.com
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F Milwaukee, 773-609-2336, thedentheatre. com, $1-$20.
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Priscilla, Queen of the Desert o COURTESY PRIDE FILMS AND PLAYS
THEATER
More at chicagoreader.com/ theater Burn: The Nowhere Hotshots vs. the Brain-Plant From Beyond the Moon Writer and director Peter Storey taps into his personal experience fighting forest fires for this experimental sci-fi poetry thriller. An elite squad of first responders dubbed “hotshots” are called to action when a sinister sentient plant wreaks havoc across the world by hooking humans on a smokable drug called Queen. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus among the cast of what the drug does, exactly, and the 15 actors, often blocked to be onstage simultaneously, appear preoccupied with the task of finding space on Gorilla Tango’s cabaret-size stage. The inherent Starship Troopers camp factor of the premise goes unaccounted for; instead, it’s treated as deadly serious, and grunted, sometimes flat-out inaudible readings don’t help matters. —DAN JAKES 1/19-2/4: Thu-Sat 7 PM, Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee, 773-598-4549, gorillatango.com, $15. Eurydice In this version of the Orpheus myth, Eurydice is driven to the underworld in grief out of longing for her beloved father. Ruhl wrote the play thinking about her own dad, who had died ten years prior, and the many ways sadness and longing can be far more compelling—indeed, more beautiful—then the life and love before us in the moment. Ruhl gives her heroine a complex subjectivity, rendering the myth anew, a story for a generation of women who want to understand themselves apart from men. It’s a fascinating exploration, but while there are strengths in this Promethean Theatre Ensembleproduction—most notably, Sandy Elias as Father—Ruhl’s script deserves a tighter, faster-paced staging in keeping with the light, playful elegance of her words. —SUZANNE SCANLON Through 2/11: ThuSat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM; also Mon 1/23, 7 PM, Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. South-
4 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
port, 773-935-6860, prometheantheatre. org, $27, $22 seniors, $17 students. Her America In Brett Neveu’s 2002 drama Eric LaRue, Kate Buddeke played a middle-aged woman psychologically battered by the condescending men (and a few women) in her life. Her only relief came in identifying with her sociopathic school-aged son, convincing herself the students he slaughtered Columbine style deserved what they got. It was gut-wrenching. In Neveu’s new one-woman show, written for Buddeke, she plays another middle-aged woman psychologically battered by the condescending men in her life, but this time she finds no relief. In fact her husband, after discovering her dark secret, sets the dogs on her and traps her in the basement. It’s a harrowing script, but under Linda Gillum’s direction, Buddeke uncharacteristically pulls her punches for 70 minutes, seeming more inconvenienced and irritated than traumatized. Her performance entertains when it might horrify. —JUSTIN HAYFORD Throuogh 2/12: Wed-Fri 8 PM, Sat 2:30 and 8 PM, Sun 2:30 PM, Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, 773-4047336, greenhousetheater.org, $34-$48. The Library With echoes of the distorted stories about victims Cassie Bernall (who was killed) and Valeen Schnurr that were propagated in the wake of the 1994 Columbine massacre, Scott Z. Burns’s 2014 drama imagines a sophomore waking up wounded from one crisis to find herself in the crosshairs of another when questions about her relationship to the shooter as well as testimony from other students suggesting that she was forced to reveal other victims’ hiding place make her a pariah. Clinical but wrenching, Burns’s script unfolds a Job-level tragedy all the more chilling for its increased plausibility in these times. The cast in this inaugural Level 11 Theatre production, directed by Logan Hulick, often swings broad, but there are some astutely captured moments here. —DAN JAKES Through 2/4: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Den Theatre, 1329-1333 N.
Prelude to a Kiss Craig Lucas’s 1990 meditation on love and mortality needs a cast of strong, subtle performers to reveal its deeper tones; otherwise it comes off as a sitcom about two quirky lovers who fall into the kookiest mess at their wedding when the bride switches souls with a strange old man. Sadly, director Derek Bertelsen fills his revival with a bunch of loud, laugh-hungry actors who rip the heart out of the play (but still fail to get laughs). Only Bethany Hart seems at home as the possessed bride—and her finesse makes everyone else in this Comrades production seem that much more cloddish. —JACK HELBIG Through 2/4: Thu-Sun, 8 PM; also Mon 1/30, 8 PM, Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, 773-404-7336, the-comrades.com, $15-$20. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert R If news networks report a worldwide sequin and glitter shortage in the
coming weeks, blame the evil geniuses behind Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at Pride Films and Plays. When Sydney drag queen Tick, alias Mitzi Mitosis (Jordan Phelps), is asked to drive his act in a van to far-away Alice Springs so he can finally meet his long-lost son, he cons his show partners Felicia Jollygoodfellow (Luke Meierdiercks) and Bernadette (the legendary Honey West) into joining him for the ragtag ride of their lives across the outback. This bejeweled and bedazzled jukebox musical, inspired by the Australian cult film of the same name, had a brief run on Broadway in 2012. Pride Films & Plays has put its seal on some brilliant new work of late, so inaugurating its new home on North Broadway with this barn-busting hero’s journey of three queens on the road to glory seems only right. Meierdiercks shines as Felicia. —MAX MALLER 1/172/19: Wed-Sat 7:30 PM (no show Wed 1/25), Sun 3:30 PM, the Broadway, 4139 N. Broadway, 800-737-0984, pridefilmsandplays.com, $10-$40.
The Sundial Paul Edwards’s faithful adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s cunningly misanthropic 1958 novel strikes a shrewd balance between grotesque absurdity (Gloria, a teenage family visitor to the Halloran clan’s fading manse, sees apocalyptic visions in an heirloom mirror only when it’s smeared with olive oil) and droll menace (the Halloran’s kleptocratic matriarch, Orianna, welcomes humanity’s extinction by turning into a midcentury Catherine the Great). While the uneven performances and graceless set give the production a persistent clunkiness, the coy spitefulness and well-tailored paranoia nicely evoke Jackson’s postwar worldview. And once in a while it does the soul good to ponder whether any quarter of humankind deserves to be spared from the fiery furnace. —JUSTIN HAYFORD Through 2/12: Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; also Mon 1/30 and 2/6, 7:30 PM, City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 773-293-3682, citylit.org, $32, $27 seniors, $12 students and military. The Tall Girls A League of Their R Own for Depression-era women’s basketball, this play by Meg Miroshnik
(The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls), directed by Louis Contey for Shattered Globe, melds feel-good teamwork and athleticism with the harsh realities and limited prospects available to women of the day. The show opens with Jean, played by a graceful Angie Shriner, getting off the train in rural midwestern Poor Prairie to take care of her cousin and bury her secrets. She meets Haunt Johnny, a basketball-wielding stranger played by Joseph Wiens, who soon signs on as basketball coach for the local teens hell-bent on getting “downstate.” The challenges of a time when the government wanted to curtail female athletics feel extreme but all too relevant—this is a play about “play” not as a luxury but as a potentially life-changing force. —MARISSA OBERLANDER Through 2/25: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, 773-975-8150, theaterwit.org, $35, $28 seniors, $20 under 30, $15 students.
The Tall Girls o MICHAEL BROSILOW
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Best bets, recommendations, and notable arts and culture events for the week of January 19 For more of the best things to do every day of the week, go to chicagoreader. com/agenda.
What of the Night? The title comes from Isaiah, but it’s Maria Irene Fornés who does the prophecying in this collection of four one-acts. A sordid family saga, Fornés’s tale starts in 1938, with mama Nadine scraping through the Depression by turning tricks while Charlie, her simple-minded eldest, steals for a brutal, Fagin-like fence. Skip next to 1958 and Nadine’s sweet, needy daughter Rainbow, who finds herself in mom’s line of work despite America’s postwar boom. Then it’s on to the years between 1968 and 1983, when wised-up Ray, whom Nadine gave up for adoption, is happy to get (literally) fucked in the ass for entry into the upper classes. Finally, Fornés offers us a peek into the dystopian future following a societal meltdown. Through it all, the enduring values are cruelty, scarcity, exploitation, and weaponized love. Carlos Murillo’s staging for Stage Left and Cor theaters features some solid performances (especially by Miguel Nuñez as the Fagin), striking images, and pacing that makes the three-hour running time move well. But when the action drops below a certain height—characters sitting on the floor, say—only the first row can see. —TONY ADLER Through 2/12: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, 773-975-8150, theaterwit.org, $18-$30.
DANCE
Carrie Secrist Gallery “The Adept Wept,” an exhibition of Ryan Fenchel’s paintings and Japanese-inspired light boxes. 1/21-3/4. Tue-Fri 10:30 AM-6 PM, Sat 11 AM-5 PM. 835 W. Washington, 312491-0917, secristgallery.com. Sideshow Gallery “Tales of the Chicken Hearted,” a collection of new works by Angel Onofre and Adam Augustyn. Opening reception Sat 1/21, 7-11 PM. 1/21-2/21. 2219 N. Western, facebook.com/ sideshowgallerychicago.
LIT Still from Reflecting Memory (2016), part of Kader Attia’s solo show at the Northwestern University Block Museum of Art Joe Fernandez as Vlad the Impaler, Erin Grotheer as Cleopatra, and Collin Bullock as L. Ron Hubbard. Wed 1/25, 8 PM, North Bar, 1637 W. North, 773-123-5678, liveatnorthbar.com. F
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Ja Ja Ja East Room hosts a night of Latinx performers to raise money for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Performers include Keith Paesel, Gwen La Roka, Sammy Arechar, Jasbir Singh Vazquez, and more. Wed 1/25, 8 PM, East Room, 2828 W. Medill, 773-276-9603, eastroomchicago.com.
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Janelle James The New York comedian performs her stand-up. Fri 1/20, 9:30 PM, Up Comedy Club, 230 W. North, 312-337-3992, upcomedyclub. com, $20.
COMEDY R
History Shmistory Christian Lawrence hosts a night of comedians performing as historic figures, including
video by local artist Latham Zearfoss. 1/21-3/4. Tue-Fri 11 AM-6 PM, Sat 11 AM-5 PM. 835 W. Washington, 312-404-9188, andrewrafacz.com. Aspect/Ratio “En Face,” a series of works of portraiture investigating “fissures between embodied and virtual identities” featuring work by Glen Fogel, Lisa Lindvay, Martin Murphy, Lais Pontes, and Michal Samama. Opening reception Sat 1/21, 5-8 PM. 1/21-2/25. 119 N. Peoria, suite 3A, aspectratioprojects. com. International Museum of Surgical Science “Kjell Theøry: Prologue,” an exhibition and augmented reality performance that explores the “boundaries between the binaries of physical and virtual space, past and future, male and female genders, and human and machine.” Performances take place 1/20-2/4: Fri-Sat 7 PM. 1/20-4/9. Tue-Thu 10 AM-5 PM, FriSat 10 AM-9 PM, Sun 10 AM-5 PM. 1524 N. Lake Shore, 312-642-6502, imss.org. The Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, University of Chicago “Fantastic Architecture: Vostell, Fluxus, and the Built Environment,” an examination of Wolf Vostell’s influence on the Fluxus movement. Opening reception Sun 1/22, 3-6 PM. 1/22-3/17. 5701 S. Woodlawn, 773-702-6030, neubauercollegium. uchicago.edu.
Janelle James
Swan Lake The State Ballet R Theater of Russia performs Alingon Mitra The Daily Show Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet. Sat 1/21, 7:30 R writer and stand-up comedian PM, and Sun 1/22, 3 PM, Harris Theater, Alingon Mitra performs. Sat 1/21, 7 205 E. Randolph, 312-334-7777, harristheaterchicago.org, $25-$85.
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and 9:30 PM, Up Comedy Club, 230 W. North, 312-337-3992, upcomedyclub. com, $20.
VISUAL ARTS Andrew Rafacz Gallery “Intents & Purposes,” sculpture, installation, and
Northwestern University Block Museum of Art “Kader Attia: Reflecting Memory,” Northwestern’s Mary and Leigh Block Museum hosts Attia’s latest collection of photographs, sculptures, installations, and videos. 1/21-4/16. WedFri 10 AM-8 PM, Sat-Sun noon-5 PM. 40 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston, 847-491-4000, blockmuseum.northwestern.edu. Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts “Kapwani Kiwani: The Sum and Its Parts,” the first American solo exhibition for Paris-based artist Kapwani Kiwani. Opening reception Fri 1/20, 6-8 PM. 1/20-3/12. Mon-Sat 8 AM-10 PM, Sun 11 AM-9 PM. 915 E. 60th, 773-702-2787, arts.
Chicago Is Not Broke Author R Tom Tresser reads from the book he coauthored, Chicago Is Not Broke.
Following the reading, Tresser leads a discussion with his contributors on how to “broaden the conversation on civic possibilities in Chicago.” Thu 1/19, 7 PM, Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark, 773-769-9299, womenandchildrenfirst. com.
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Two Sharp Knives, Women, Politics, and Murder Dashiell Hammett stories get the gender-bending treatment in this Clock production, which bills itself as “theatre noir.” The politician/ contractor mysteriously murdered in the pulpy original is recast as a woman in CJ Chapman’s adaptation—same for the private dick on the case, and the detective sergeant, etc etc. This would all be well and good did it not lead to lines like “a simple case of she said/she said.” The transition music, costumes, and lighting are a three-pronged assault of bad taste, and the only nod to traditional film noir is the deployment of a rather noisy fog machine. —MAX MALLER Through 1/29: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, the Buena, 4157 N. Broadway, 800-737-0984, pridefilmsandplays.com, $15.
uchicago.edu/explore/reva-and-davidlogan-center-arts.
www.BrewView.com 3145 N. Sheffield at Belmont
John Cleese
Movie Theater & Full Bar
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John Cleese and the Holy Grail R A screening of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, followed by a live conversation with John Cleese. Sun 1/22, 3 PM, Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State, 312-4626300, thechicagotheatre.com, $65-$85. The Death Archives book launch R Volumes Bookcafe hosts the launch of Jørn Stubberud’s new book The Death Archives: Mayhem 1984-94. Stubberud is the only surviving band member of Mayhem. Mon 1/23, 5 PM, Volumes Bookcafe, 1474 N. Milwaukee, 773-697-8066, volumesbooks.com.
$5.00 sion admis e for th s Movie
18 to enter 21 to drink Photo ID required
Sat-Sun, Jan 21-22 @ 3:30pm
Moana
Fri, Mon-Thr, Jan 20, 23-26 @ 9:00pm
Passengers
Fri, Mon-Thr, Jan 20, 23-26 @ 7:00pm Saturday, January 21 @ 10:00pm
Why Him?
Hungry for Stories The first R edition of a new series discussing diverse contemporary Chicago books focuses on The Telling by Zoe Zolbrod. Sun 1/22, 2 PM, Read/Write Library, 914 N. California, readwritelibrary.org, $10, free for Hungry for Stories subscribers.
Sat-Sun, Jan 21-22 @ 5:30pm
The 'Burbs
Sat-Sun, Jan 21-22 @ 7:30pm
The Blues Brothers
Bettye Kronstad Teacher, R freelance writer, and theater professional Bettye Kronstad discusses
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JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 5
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Gino Segrè and Bettina Hoerlin University of Pennsylvania physics and astronomy professor Gino Segrè and his wife and coauthor, Bettina Hoerlin, discuss their book on physicist Enrico Fermi, The Pope of Physics. Tue 1/24, 6 PM, 57th Street Books, 1301 E. 57th, 773-684-1300, semcoop.com.
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January 20 - 26
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Self-Care as Warfare R Alice Berry, Asean Johnson, Lakshmi Ramgopal, and Jes Skolnik discuss how mental health issues relate to art and activism. Tue 1/24, 6-8 PM, Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, 312-280-2660, mcachicago.org.
What Makes Fat Rice R Tick? Fat Rice partners and coauthors Abraham Conlon and
Adrienne Lau lead a lecture on their book The Adventures of Fat Rice and discuss Macau’s culinary history and Portuguese cuisine. Sat 1/21, 10 AM-noon, Kendall College, 900 N. North Branch, 312-642-4600, kendall.edu, $5.
Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lau o JAMES FOSTER
please recycle this paper 6 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
Why Did the Holocaust R Happen? Historian Peter Hayes discusses his new book,
Why?: Explaining the Holocaust. Tue 1/24, noon-1:30 PM, Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State, 312-747-4300, chipublib.org.
MOVIES
More at chicagoreader.com/ movies NEW REVIEWS The Founder Michael Keaton stars as Ray Kroc, the Arlington Heights businessman who discovered an innovative “fast food” business model developed by two California brothers named McDonald, turned their concept into a franchising empire, and then outmaneuvered them legally to take control of the corporation. Kroc comes off as a greedy scoundrel, a bit like the comic hustlers Keaton played in the 80s, and the character’s unpleasantness makes this biopic a tough burger to swallow. But there are good performances from Laura Dern as Kroc’s first wife, whose heart he breaks; Linda Cardellini as his second, who wound up giving away his fortune; and Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch as the McDonalds, small-town entrepreneurs who are sadly unprepared for the cyclone of their own success. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) directed; with B.J. Novak and Patrick Wilson. —J.R. JONES PG-13, 115 min. Showplace ICON Little Wound’s Warriors Documentary maker Seth McClellan interviews socially committed teenagers at Little Wound School in Kyle, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation. These kids have reason enough to be disaffected—crime, poverty, racism, the legacy of U.S. depredations against Native American tribes—but they’re hopeful for their community and the wider world precisely because they’re determined to shape the future. McClellan sticks largely to close-ups, letting the students weigh in on subjects from tribal culture to dysfunctional parents, from school spirit to suicide. Stunning aerial shots of the Badlands help illustrate how the Lakota find renewal and purpose: they’ve always viewed themselves as custodians of the earth, not its owners. In English and subtitled Lakota. —ANDREA GRONVALL 57 min. McClellan attends the screening. Sat 1/21, 7:45 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Lost and Beautiful Part documentary, part fable, this picturesque but somber 2015 feature takes place in Italy’s bucolic Campania region. The real-life subject, shepherd Tommasso Cestrone, was renowned as volunteer custodian of the derelict Reggia di Carditello, an imposing 18th-century neoclassical palace once used as a royal hunting lodge but more recently as a stash house for the Camorra crime syndicate. When Cestrone died midway through filming, director Pietro Marcello created a new protago-
nist: the commedia dell’arte masked figure Pulcinella (Sergio Vitolo), whom the director says originated as an Etruscan demigod bringing messages from the dead to the living. This character wanders the countryside, seeking a new home for an unwanted buffalo calf that Cestrone rescued, and struggles with his own desire to become mortal. The expired 16-millimeter stock Marcello used enhances the plaintive tone of this eulogy for a man, a bull, and a culture. In Italian with subtitles. —ANDREA GRONVALL 87 min. Fri 1/20, 7 and 9 PM; Sat 1/21, 5, 7, and 9 PM; Sun 1/22, 5 and 7 PM; and Mon 1/23–Thu 1/26, 7 and 9 PM. Facets Cinematheque My Bakery in Brooklyn In this generically sweet romantic comedy, two young cousins inherit their late aunt’s boulangerie and differ over how to operate it: cautious Vivien (Aimee Teegarden) wants to stick with tradition, but free spirit Chloe (Krysta Rodriguez), who also works on a popular daytime cooking show, aims to modernize. Of course, their adorable bakery is in danger of foreclosure, and Vivien’s suitor works for a company that’s angling to take it over (a conflict lifted from You’ve Got Mail). The plot may be predictable, but the leads have nice chemistry, and writer-director Gustavo Ron sprinkles in some funny and touching family moments. —LEAH PICKETT 100 min. Fri 1/20, 6 and 8 PM; Sat 1/21 and Sun 1/22, 5:45 and 7:45 PM; and Mon 1/22–Thu 1/26, 6 and 8 PM. Facets Cinematheque Paterson The eponymous R New Jersey town proves to be a hotbed of poetry and art in
this comedy from writer-director Jim Jarmusch, thanks to his beautifully loony conceit that all ordinary Americans are closet poets and artists of one kind or another (even if they don’t always know it). The bus-driver hero (Adam Driver), also named Paterson, writes poetry, and his Iranian wife (actress and rock musician Golshifteh Farahani) goes in for black-and-white domestic design; they know they’re artists and are completely smitten with one another, but their neighbors in a local bar seem less fortunate. Like many of Jarmusch’s best films, this keeps surprising us with its minimal, witty inflections, at once epic and small-scale, inspired in this case by the book-length poem “Paterson” by William Carlos Williams. —JONATHAN ROSENBAUM R, 113 min. Arclight Peter and the Farm “I care more about the farm than me!” shouts Peter Dunning in this 2016 documentary, explaining why he hasn’t yet killed himself. Director Tony Stone and his crew follow the snowy-haired, 68-year-old farmer around his little spread in Vermont, where he raises organic lamb, beef,
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Paterson and pork, and the filmmakers aren’t squeamish about the practical details of farm life; one sequence shows Dunning killing a sheep with a rifle shot to the head and then skinning and gutting it, and later Stone points his camera at a cow’s anus so one can watch the beast evacuating. (Thanks, I wasn’t sure how that worked.) Through it all, Dunning opens up about the bandsaw accident that severed part of his left hand, his long estrangement from his wife and children, the alcohol addiction that has shaped his adult life, and his desire to end said life, onscreen if Stone is interested. The farm is hardly thriving, but it yields a bumper crop of despair. —J.R. JONES 93 min. Fri 1/20, 2 and 7:45 PM; Sat 1/21, 5 PM; Sun 1/22, 3 PM; Mon 1/23, 6 PM; Tue 1/24, 8 PM; Wed 1/25, 6 PM; and Thu 1/26, 8 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center A Street Cat Named Bob As any panhandler with a dog can tell you, people care more about animals than about their fellow human beings. James Bowen was a starving street musician in London, living in public housing and undergoing methadone treatment, when he adopted a stray ginger cat; slung over his neck, it turned his busking act into a social media sensation, and before long a UK literary agent recruited him to write a pet-centric memoir along the lines of the best-selling Marley and Me. This dramatization of his book plays like a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie, touching lightly on serious social issues before turning into a Cinderella story. Roger Spottiswoode (Turner & Hooch) directed; with Luke Treadaway, Ruta Gedmintas, and Joanne Froggatt. —J.R. JONES 103 min. Fri 1/20, 2 and 6 PM; Sat 1/21, 3 PM; Sun 1/22, 3 PM; Mon 1/23, 6 PM; Tue 1/24, 6 PM; Wed 1/25, 7:45 PM; and Thu 1/26, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center They Call Us Monsters Teaching a screenwriting class at Sylmar Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, Ben Lear met three teenagers facing de facto life sentences for first-degree murder and attempted murder, and before long they became subjects
for this documentary, appearing on camera to hammer out ideas for a short that Lear ultimately filmed with actors and integrated into the narrative. The project’s genesis may seem opportunistic, yet it allows Lear to investigate the circumstances surrounding the teenagers’ crimes, and their personal stories, full of violence and abuse, raise vexing questions about how the justice system should treat teenage killers. Lear also follows the progressive effort to reform juvenile sentencing in California, which included passage of a 2013 law granting de facto lifers a parole hearing after 15 years served; the three screenwriters may walk free again, but not as kids. —J.R. JONES 82 min. Fri 1/20, 6 PM, and Wed 1/25, 7:45 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Things to Come Isabelle R Huppert stars as a respected philosophy professor whose field
of study comes in handy when her husband of many years, played by André Marcon, announces that he’s moving in with a younger woman. As if this weren’t enough, the professor’s mentally ill mother, played by Édith Scob, begins to go off the rails, requiring her constant attention. Written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden, Goodbye, First Love), this French drama gives
Huppert a brilliant, Rousseauquoting character to play around with, and she saunters through the role, finding fresh moments in every scene. Hansen-Løve, almost three decades younger than her illustrious star, focuses on the professor’s relationships with young people—her two grown children; her lively and devoted students; a young writer who offers the vague prospect of May-December romance—and these contribute to Huppert’s portrait of a woman who, despite her advanced years, finds herself perched on the edge of discovery. In French with subtitles. —J.R. JONES PG-13, 102 min. Fri 1/20-Sun 1/22, 4:30, 7, and 9:30 PM; Mon 1/23, 1:45, 4:30, and 9:30 PM; Tue 1/24, 1:45, 4:30, 7, and 9:30 PM; Wed 1/25, 1:45 and 4:30 PM; and Thu 1/26, 1:45, 4:30, 7, and 9:30 PM. Music Box
REVIVALS The Front Page Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s perennial stage comedy about yellow journalism in Chicago hasn’t much to offer in the way of action, but in this 1931 adaptation director Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) manages to inject a fair amount of visual energy to complement the firecracker dialogue. Pat O’Brien plays Hildy Johnson, an ace reporter for the City News Bureau who wants to get married, leave the newspaper game, and settle into a New York advertising career; Adolphe Menjou is Walter Burns, his cynical and conniving editor at the Chicago Morning Post, who’ll do anything to keep Johnson on his beat. Like many early talkies, the film can seem stiff and claustrophobic, but the sparkling source material and Menjou’s hard-bitten performance make it well worth seeing. With Mary Brian, Walter Catlett, Edward Everett Horton, Mae Clarke, and George E. Stone. —J.R. JONES 35mm. 103 min. Sat 1/21, 11:30 AM. Music Box v
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JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 7
CITY LIFE Chicagoans
The Trump-trolling architect Jeffrey Roberts, 53, New World Design Ltd.
I LIKE THE TRUMP building. I think it’s actually one of the nicer Trump projects. It offers a different presence from different vantage points in the city because of its curved and flat faces. I’m not going to say it’s one of the world’s finest buildings, but it’s certainly a competent high-rise. We [at New World Design] watched the building go up, and having some familiarity with Mr. Trump, we couldn’t believe it didn’t have some kind of distasteful sign plastered onto it. Then, in 2014, it happened. He stuck a billboard on the side of the building that exceeded anything anyone has done in the city. It wouldn’t have mattered what name it was, Trump or Smith; it’s just an inappropriate gesture. I think it has a degenerative quality. It’s a blaring element that doesn’t belong, a moniker of bad taste. Immediately after the election, my office was just disillusioned. Everybody was spiritually shot. I was walking around the city, thinking about the sign. I thought, “You know what, maybe we could create something that would block the view of that sign so it wouldn’t annoy us.” So I go back to the office, and everybody thought it was a great idea. We kept working and working and working on it until we came up with something that was fully rational, in direct contrast to the chaos and unpredictability of the last few months. The project consists of four helium-filled balloon pigs that float just in front of and to the south of the Trump sign, so that you don’t see it as clearly. The pigs relate to Pink Floyd’s Animals album, which is based on the novel
Animal Farm, and there are four of them, one for each year that we believe we’re going to have to endure the Trump presidency. The pigs are gold because about six months ago, we in the office read an article in an architecture magazine in which Trump described a gold-crusted interior as “comfortable Modernism.” We were howling. If it’s possible, we’re going to actually create this thing. We think we can do it in a format that would be a one- or two-day arts display. The pragmatics of the situation are that the Chicago River is a wind tunnel, and these helium balloons would be about 40 feet long by 20 feet high. It’s one thing if you’re doing this for the Macy’s parade and you’re only hoisting them 30 feet off the ground, but these would be 120 feet in the air, and we don’t want anything banging against the building. Most of my clients don’t have a problem with this. I work very closely with them, and they know that I’m not a radical; I’m essentially just calling somebody out for being foolish. We’ve received a great deal of positive response. We’re also getting some really harsh feedback from detractors. We had to pull our phone number and address off our website a couple weeks ago, because the people calling were just brutally abusive. We were told to shove the pigs any number of ways. But that’s just part of putting an idea like this out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard from Trump. And if he sues us, we’ll figure it out. —AS TOLD TO ANNE FORD
“We were told to shove the pigs any number of ways,” Jeffrey Roberts says of the “brutally abusive” phone calls his Chicago-based firm received after it released a proposal to block the Trump Tower with pig balloons. o DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS (ROBERTS); RENDERING COURTESY NEW WORLD DESIGN LTD.
¥ Keep up to date on the go at chicagoreader.com/agenda.
SURE THINGS THURSDAY 19
FRIDAY 20
SATURDAY 21
SUNDAY 22
MONDAY 23
TUESDAY 24
WEDNESDAY 25
& Chili Wa r 2017 A battle for Chicago chili bragging rights featuring bean and meat concoctions from Green River, Goose Island, Sportsman Club, Cafe MarieJeanne, Untitled Supper Club, and Slow Motion for Meat as well as chili pong. 6-9 PM, Maria’s Packaged Goods & Community Bar, 960 W. 31st, community-bar.com. F
· B - Fest 2017 Northwestern's 24-hour B-movie marathon includes a midnight screening of Plan 9 From Outer Space and a sing-along version of The Wizard of Speed and Time. Fri 1/20 6 PM-Sat 1/21 6 PM, McCormick Auditorium, 1999 Campus Dr., Evanston, b-fest.com, $40.
; Chinese New Year Celebrati on Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance hosts a Chinese New Year celebration featuring crafting activities, traditional Chinese dance performances, a tea ceremony, and more. Noon-4 PM, Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park, garfield-conservatory.org. F
p S i lencio Blanco Puppeteer collective Silencio Blanco perform their innovative marionette show based on El Chiflón del Diablo by Baldomero Lillo. 1/19-1/22: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, mcachicago.org, $30.
& Lo gan Square Chef ’s D inner Lula Cafe hosts the fifth annual Logan Square Chef’s Dinner to benefit Comfort Station. Participating restaurants include Lula, Longman & Eagle, Fat Rice, Cellar Door Provisions, Yusho, and Arbor. 6 PM, Lula Cafe, 2537 N. Kedzie, lulacafe.com, $175.
Ac ademy Awards No minati ons Panel A discussion of the recently announced Oscar nominations featuring Newcity’s Ray Pride, WGN’s Dean Richards, and the Reader’s own J.R. Jones. 4:30 PM, Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, siskelfilmcenter.org. F
/ W T T W Trivia Night Quizmaster Dave returns to host WTTW fans for a night of food and drink specials, pop culture trivia, and lots of competition. 8 PM, Globe Pub, 1934 W. Irving Park, wttw. com/trivia, $10, $5 in advance.
8 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
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JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 9
CITY LIFE
Read Ben Joravsky’s columns throughout the week at chicagoreader.com.
o DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
POLITICS
Liar, liar
Donald Trump ushers in a new age of deceit. By BEN JORAVSKY
O
n Friday, Donald Trump will place his left hand on a Bible, raise his right hand in the air, and, repeating after U.S. Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts, take the oath of the highest office in the land. Gulp. It’s funny, in a dark sort of way, because the dude taking this solemn oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution is one of the most notorious liars our country has ever elected. Should he have a falling out with Justice Roberts he’d probably deny the swearing-in even took place, tweeting: “Never happened. Lying press. Sad.” Seriously, folks, we’re supposed to be the virtuous country that honors the truth. But Trump’s ushered in a golden age of lying— we’ve come a long way from George Washington and his cherry tree. I say this as a reporter who knows a thing or two about lying politicians, having covered Chicago politics for the last 30 years.
10 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
I mean, Mayor Emanuel claimed politics had nothing to do with his attempt to bury the video of Laquan McDonald getting shot. And then Governor Rauner claimed he cried when he saw it. So, yes, our politicians have been known to tell a whopper or two. But generally, they try to stay away from bold-faced lies, preferring to dodge the truth with spin and disinformation and concealment. After all, Mayor Rahm once responded to a FOIA request with a blank piece of paper. Mayor Rahm’s mastered the art of prevarication. He dodges the truth with rambling filibusters that bear no resemblance to what he was asked. That’s why reporters are so eager to read his private e-mails—we’re trying to figure out what he’s really up to. But Trump routinely lies about things he can’t possibly get away with lying about since we’ve already seen him do or say the things he swears he never did. For instance, he tweeted that he never
made fun of a disabled reporter, even though we all saw him do just that. He said he didn’t launch the birther war against President Obama, even though everyone knows he stoked the flames of that phony issue for years. And he says he never told supporters to kick the crap out of protesters at one of his rallies, even though the footage of him saying that is on the Internet for everyone to see. Sometimes his deceit comes in the form of a promise he can’t possibly keep. Like the tweet in which he said he’ll have a new health care plan in place 90 days after he abolishes Obamacare. C’mon. Even Trump voters have to know that’s not going to happen. His lies are particularly frustrating for reporters, who are already straining to make sense of a complicated world. So every time he lies, we have to spend a day or two sifting through the evidence to show that it’s a lie. By then he’s moved on to something else. Perhaps there’s a method to his madness. In a popular recent essay, CNN columnist Frida Ghitis likened it to gaslighting. That’s a reference to Gaslight, the classic 1944 movie in which a husband tries to drive his wife crazy by dimming the lights in their house, and then claiming she’s the only one who thinks it’s dark. Similarly, Trump seems to be trying to make Americans think we’re the crazy ones rather than admit his untruths and dirty tricks. I also like to compare Trump to Charlie, the character played by Joey Bishop in A Guide for the Married Man. In an unforgettable scene from an otherwise totally forgettable 60s flick, Charlie tells his wife he’s not in bed with another woman even as she catches him in bed with another woman. In the end, Charlie’s wife’s so broken down she offers to make him breakfast. Apparently, Trump feels that the country—like Charlie’s wife—will just give up and let him do whatever he wants to do. Trump recently ignited another firestorm by launching a dubious Twitter attack against Democratic congressman John Lewis of the Fifth District in Georgia. Lewis irritated Trump when he said he was going to boycott the inauguration. “I don’t see this president-elect as a legiti-
mate president,” Lewis told NBC News. “I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. . . . You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right.” To which Trump responded with the following tweets:
OK, let’s pause to break down the truthfulness of these tweets. One, they don’t keep crime stats by congressional districts, so Trump doesn’t know if Lewis’s district is “crime infested.” Two, the Fifth Congressional District includes most of Atlanta, so Trump’s really saying that Atlanta is “in horrible shape” and “crime infested” and “falling apart.” But, three, Atlanta has a rate of “one crime per 401 residents,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “which is actually better than the national rate of 373.” As Trump tweets go, it’s probably less of a lie than his one about the disabled reporter. Technically, I’m not sure it’s a lie so much as willful ignorance, plus hatred and bigotry aimed at a civil rights hero who was getting his head fractured by Alabama state troopers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge while Trump was sitting in his prep school dormitory getting ready to make millions for his dad’s racially discriminatory real estate company. Whoa! Trump hasn’t even taken that oath of office yet, and I’m already fired up. I’ve got to pace myself—this is gonna be a long haul. v
ß @joravben
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CITY LIFE Artist’s rendering of a portion of the controversial Red-Purple Bypass, aka the Belmont flyover o CTA
TRANSPORTATION
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em
Neighbors who couldn’t stop the Belmont flyover hope to make the best of the situation. By JOHN GREENFIELD
T
he day before President Obama gave his farewell speech at McCormick Place, his administration announced a parting gift for Chicago: about $1.1 billion in grants that, along with roughly $1 billion in local money, will pay for the first phase of the CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization Project, a much-needed overhaul of those el lines north of Belmont. Phase one includes rebuilding the tracks from Lawrence to Howard, upgrading signals, and reconstructing the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr stations to make them wheelchair accessible. In addition, the federal dollars virtually ensure that the CTA will build the hotly contested $570 million Red-Purple Bypass, better known as the Belmont flyover, an overpass designed to eliminate conflicts between Red, Purple, and Brown Line trains just north of the Belmont station. The agency says the bypass will allow them to run 15 more trains an hour between Belmont and Fullerton during rush periods, which will be crucial for addressing overcrowding on the Red Line as the north side’s population grows. Leading Chicago transportation experts and advocates have endorsed the flyover plan.
Central Lakeview residents have fought a fierce battle against the bypass, which will require the demolition of some 16 buildings and the acquisition of 21 properties on or near Clark Street north of the station. They’ve passionately argued that the 40- to 45-foothigh, roller-coaster-like structure is a waste of money that will be a blight on the community, and that the project will scar the neighborhood with vacant lots if the CTA doesn’t follow through with its promise to help redevelop the empty land. But now that the flyover is more or less a done deal, neighbors I’ve talked to seem to be taking a cue from the Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer. They’re accepting the fact that they can’t stop the CTA’s plan, but they’re vowing to work for the best possible outcome for the neighborhood by pushing for the gaps to be filled in with quality transit-oriented development (TOD) and other creative uses of the new open space. One of the most prominent voices against the bypass was the Coalition to Stop the Belmont Flyover. The group’s campaign included an unsuccessful November 2014 ballot referendum that involved the three affected precincts of the 44th Ward, in which 72 percent of
the 800-some people who voted did so against the measure. “The flyover will swing high—60 feet to the top of the train . . . turning a large portion of this thriving restaurant, shopping, business district into a permanent under-el wasteland,” the group’s website states. But in an interview last week, coalition leader Ellen Hughes said she has dropped her beef against the flyover and is now focusing on making the best of the situation. She’s a grant writer who owns a two-flat on Wilton just north of the Belmont stop. Although her home isn’t slated for demolition, “I thought the flyover was bad for the neighborhood,” she says, “not just for me.” Hughes says neighbors who heard that the flyover is funded have asked what her next strategy is to fight the overpass. “They were like, ‘Let’s troll this, let’s get them,’” she says. “But it’s done. . . . Had we more time or money or people we might have won, but we didn’t, and I’m not a person to sit around and be angry. I want to do something positive. Let’s make the best we can out of this so the flyover isn’t just a blight.” First off, Hughes wants to make sure the CTA keeps its promise to help redevelop the vacant land. She argues that renderings released by the agency that depict future housing shoehorned into narrow lots next to the flyover seem unrealistic, and even if the designs were feasible, the matchbox-like floor plans would make for substandard housing. “Don’t just propose housing that might vaguely fit the space that wouldn’t be very nice, so no one would want to live in it,” she says. CTA spokesman Jeff Tolman promised that the redevelopment plan for the empty spaces left by demolition would be “significantly” guided by feedback from the community. The process will be funded by a $1.25 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s new TOD planning program, and public outreach is slated to begin in the first half of this year. Meanwhile, the CTA has already purchased five parcels for the flyover through eminent domain. These include 3348 N. Clark (formerly home to Bolat African Cuisine), 3240 and 3252 N. Wilton (an older two-flat and a recently constructed 14-unit condo building, respectively), 3401-07 N. Clark (the former home of the Big Cheese poutinerie), and 947-949 W. Newport
(a multiunit graystone across the street from the Links Hall arts incubator building). A few residents who recently sold their homes to the transit agency, or are currently in negotiations, declined to comment for this article. One other neighbor who was willing to talk was Adam Rosa, an urban planner and designer who lives on Seminary, a few houses south of the future flyover site, but isn’t going to lose his home. He’s president of Hawthorne Neighbors, the neighborhood association that includes all of the blocks surrounding the flyover. Like Hughes, Rosa has been a vocal opponent of the overpass. “My primary concern is the destruction of neighborhood fabric before, during, and after construction,” he said. “The flyover is a heavy-handed, engineering-driven solution that is generally disrespectful of the neighborhood context. It proposes the demolition of historically significant buildings as well as newer investments and leaves behind vacant spaces that have the potential to remain vacant for a decade or more.” He also objects to the aesthetics of the flyover, which will feature supports made of brutalist-looking poured concrete. “I appreciate the steel structure of the el as it crosses these streets and weaves between buildings,” he said. “It creates a character and elegant industrial form that is unique to Chicago and the neighborhood. Replacing this with heavy concrete will result in something more like a suburban highway on-ramp.” However, Rosa said his group’s members are optimistic that the planning process can lead to community benefits such as high-quality TODs and unique public spaces. They’d like to see the flyover project tweaked to include include colorful, attractively designed support columns and public art, possibly with amenities like a pedestrian path or a skate park built alongside or below the tracks. Some of the open space could also be used for grassy parks, community gardens, or plazas for farmers’ markets and other events, he said. These former enemies of the Belmont flyover deserve kudos for gracefully accepting that the initiative is moving forward and resolving to make lemonade out of a project they consider to be a lemon. But it’s going to be vital for the CTA to do its part to bring smart urban planning to the neighborhood and not just pay lip service to the redevelopment efforts. v
John Greenfield edits the transportation news website Streetsblog Chicago. ß @greenfieldjohn
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 11
CHICAGO RESPONDS TO TRUMP
Interviews by Robin Amer, Derrick Clifton, Maya Dukmasova, Leor Galil, Deanna Isaacs, Ben Joravsky, Aimee Levitt, Jake Malooley, Michael Miner, Ryan Smith, Mike Sula, Julia Thiel, and Brianna Wellen
Artists, writers, musicians, academics, activists, and politicians—even Rahm!— weigh in on the new administration: the threats, the fears, the absurdity.
12 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
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LAURA COLLINS Donald Trump Mocking A Disabled Reporter, 2017 Description: “My intent with the triptych—which is based on fractured stills from video footage of the president-elect imitating Serge Kovaleski, a New York Times reporter who has arthrogryposis—is to force the viewing public to look again at a moment in our recent history that is incredibly shameful. When faced with discomfort, we naturally squirm and cope with these feelings by avoiding, ignoring, or
denying them. I use painting as a lens that frames what I would like others to see. Unfortunately it is not always pleasant. I would like the public to be forced to spend more time with the agonizing moments in which our president-elect publicly mocked and imitated the physical disabilities of a New York Times reporter. While it’s customary to consider this offense for a moment and then move on with life, not everyone has that luxury. Those that this directly affects, the individuals and families that live with physical
disabilities, have now seen that millions of people accepted Trump’s imitation. They will have to move on in a culture that is being taught by an influential leader to laugh at others’ challenges. The series was painted with a crude haste that mirrors Trump’s insensitivity and tactless impersonation.” Available for purchase at lauracollinsart.com. Collins will donate 20 percent of the proceeds from the sale of each painting to the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Aleksandar Hemon on Donald Trump, the garden-variety psychopath “In their celebrity obsession, Americans are prone to seeing history as a kind of a star system consisting of Washingtons and Lincolns and Hitlers and other “leaders” who manage to change the direction of humankind by their sheer will and accompanying vision. The fact that Trump has thoroughly transformed—indeed blew up—the routine operations of American politics might tempt some to ascribe his success to a set of exceptional leadership qualities. But if there are any, they’re hard to spot, unless, of course, you consider being a psychopath one of them. For Donald Trump has no substance, no original ideas, no ability to speak coherently or see other people as sovereign individuals who might be a source of valuable knowledge. And if he’s a psychopath, he’s garden variety, and not a genius one. His evil plots are at the level of groping women or cheating people out of their already low wages or sucking up to the Russians for money. The most fascinating and terrifying thing about Trump is precisely his total vacuousness. Trump is only Trump, and absolutely nothing else—you look into him and there is nothing there other than Trumpness, a heavy load of erection and fluffed-up fake hair. His emptiness is a space where the worst in America can enthusiastically project their longing for retributive violence, their desire for the uppity others to get their comeuppance. Trump was elected as a punishment, and his psychopathy will be his whip. He is a means of destruction with which the Republicans will destroy American government. It will be far worse than anyone can imagine.”
DEB SOKOLOW, The Dark Triad Traits, sketchbook diagram inspired by Trump and Maria Konnikova’s book on con artists, The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time
Hemon is the author of many books, including the novel The Making of Zombie Wars and the memoir The Book of My Lives. Behind the Glass Wall: Inside the United Nations will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on August 22.
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Stand-up comedian Adam Burke assesses the president as a punch line
“People keep telling comedians that Trump is going to be a gold mine for them. First of all, people die in gold mines all the time. Secondly, I’m not sure he is. Comedy is about heightening, and it’s hard to do that with him because everything about him is heightened—his skin, his hair, his tenuous grasp of the dangers of nuclear warfare. Judging by his recent press conference, a Trump presidency is basically going to be like that show Bridezilla: just a lot of petulant yelling because Trump wants every day to be his special day.”
Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis schools Trump’s proposed secretary of education
“I have a real issue with millionaires and billionaires thinking they know how to reform education. Their answer to everything is ‘choice’ and ‘competition.’ That doesn’t work. It basically steals money from districts and gives it to people who want to profit off of our children. I think there’s a moral imperative to not let that happen. “[Education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos] is a woman who not only wants charters, she wants vouchers. And Americans have said over and over again, they do not want taxpayer dollars to go to religious schools, or even private schools, for that matter. The fact is, those schools get to cherry-pick kids that they
want, so what happens to all the rest of the children? Publicly funded education should be for all children.”
Dan Sinker’s resistance-training tips for the Trump era “The next four years are going to bring a never-ending onslaught of bullshit, so there’s no more important moment to start getting yourself right: to eat better or get in shape; to get that physical done, or make that therapy appointment (get both of those on the cal now before your health care goes away). Because to respond to the rolling crisis of the Trump administration, you need to have your body and your mind ready. This is going to be four years of straight stress, and you need to be ready for it, because you do us no good on the sidelines. Get right and get out there. We’re gonna beat this back, and we’re going to outlast the assholes.” Sinker is the author of the book The F***ing Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel and cohost of the politics podcast Says Who?.
Mayor Rahm’s challenge to President Trump “While the administration is changing, our values will remain the same. Chicago has been and will continue to be a city that welcomes all people, no matter their faith, race, background, or sexual orientation. I look forward to challenging the new president in holding him to his goal of making America work for everyone, and a strong path forward toward achieving that goal
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HEATHER GABEL, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman, 2017, mixed media collage
will be investing in our cities through infrastructure, education, and public safety.”
HENRY HENDERSON, midwest director of the Natural Resources Defense Council “I think Congress and the president are going to quickly come to understand they don’t have the mandate
they think—America didn’t vote to expose itself to toxins and pollution. America didn’t vote to roll back rights and protections they have relied upon for decades. America didn’t vote for climate change. We didn’t vote to dirty up the nation, and we won’t stand for it if they try to bring that dirty vision to pass.”
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth on how she plans to work with Trump “I’m going to start with the assumption that Donald Trump loves this nation as much as I love this nation, which I hope will make it easier to find a way to work
together. If his interests align with what’s best for the people of Illinois, like on infrastructure, I’m going to work together and make sure those investments come into Illinois. But if he is going to propose policies that will harm Illinois families or roll back important civil rights protections, then I’ll be there to stand up and oppose him.”
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A brief history of grassroots social change, according to Bill Ayers “I don’t think that we’re living in the 60s again or that we should be looking nostalgically to the past. As bad as Nixon was, he did not run as a fascist, and Donald Trump did. But I do think the tradition of radical politics in this country, of progressive and revolutionary politics, is certainly something to draw on. Black Lives Matter is the latest iteration in a centuries-old struggle toward black freedom. I see these very sophisticated young people in the streets confronting power even though they’re being attacked from every angle by power. They continue to have a very clear vision of what it means to solve the racial divide in a place like Chicago and create a just and decent and peaceful society. I want to follow them as well as what I’ve seen on the ground in Standing Rock, in the immigration rights struggle coming out of Chicago, in Occupy, in Code Pink. All of them are encouraging examples of resistance to this right-wing push from Trump. “It’s been a bipartisan effort over the last 30 or 40 years that got us to this state of permanent war, mass incarceration, the environment on the edge of catastrophe, the elimination of public education. The fundamental social changes we’ve seen in this country have always come from below. They’ve never come from the opposition party. Think about how Lyndon Johnson authored the most far-reaching civil rights legislation since reconstruction, but he was responding to the black freedom movement. It was fire from below that pushed him to do the right thing when it mattered. The same goes for Franklin Roosevelt and the labor movement— it didn’t come from his mind alone. Or Lincoln and abolition. I’ve seen this again on the streets for the past several years: Black Lives Matter, Undocumented and Unafraid, Occupy, Standing Rock—there are so many things that we can point to that are little glimmers of what a social movement could look like. What’s required of us today is to think much more urgently in terms of how do we unite with the forces that are already in motion, how we gather people together and have conversations that try to name this unique political moment and figure out what we’re gonna do. I’m very hopeful. Everything from the cast of Hamilton addressing Vice President-elect Pence to Meryl Streep in a beautiful speech at the Golden Globes. These are artists, these are people who are acting out of their own conscience. But these are exciting things, and they’re just the tip of the iceberg.”
Ayers is the author most recently of Demand the Impossible!: A Radical Manifesto.
TOM TIAN, National Portrait, 2017, polyester American flag and craft glue on mounting board
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JAVIER SUÁREZ, Trump’s America, 2017
Dan Savage’s advice for making it through the next four years
“We’re going to get through this—not in one piece, and not without some epic losses. But we’re going to have wins along the way, and sooner (impeach the motherfucker already!) or later (vote the motherfucker out in 2020) Donald Trump won’t be the president of whatever’s left of these United States.” Dan gives somewhat sexier guidance on his Savage Lovecast podcast and in his column on page 45.
Overcoming Trumpism starts in your own backyard, says Black Youth Project 100
national director Charlene Carruthers “[BYP 100] will focus its energy on deep community engagement around political education and building strong local relationships, as well as on investing in our membership and our leadership. Second, we will also focus on building local power on the state level and lobbying work, and we have two separate entities that allow us to do that. Third, we will build sanctuaries and safe zones for our people—that are not reliant on the state— in an era where the social safety net could be ripped out from our communities. And we will also build strong relationships across movements, especially those led by black and brown folks.
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“Our people have been here before, and in moments like this we have to lean in to lessons from movements before us and also tap into our own imaginations, because black people are brilliant. If there are organizations and spaces that don’t exist, you can start in your community—you don’t have to wait on anyone else. [African-American writer and activist] June Jordan said, ‘We are the ones we have been waiting for.’ So we gon’ be here. And we have been here.”
DAVID AXELROD, director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, former Obama chief strategist, and host of the podcast The Axe Files
“Welcome to the Karma Cafe. There are no menus. You will get what you deserve.” —INA PINKNEY, former chef of Ina’s and former mayoral candidate “Administrations come and go. Policies change. This is how democracy works. But it only works if there is regard for our institutions, laws, rules and norms. As the trustee of our democracy, my hope is that President Trump will resist
the temptation to flout our institutions and exploit the cynicism that threatens to undermine them. My great concern is that he will not.”
EVE EWING, sociologist at the University of
Chicago School of Social Service Administration, poet, and essayist “I’m worried that people will be immobilized by fear of things and people that seem too far away to touch. I worry that people won’t know which way to look, where to turn, where to begin, and will forget that all fights begin where you are. All fights begin at home. My mentor Bill Ayers says often that sometimes we obsess over centers of power that are distant from us—like the office of the president—at the expense of the centers of power that are close to us. We have to be careful not to underestimate the power we have in our neighborhoods, in our places of worship, in our schools. I believe that the people that we can see
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Certificate of Safe Space, 2016 MARGOT HARRINGTON/Pitch Design Union This piece is for display in any environment as a general announcement that the people in the space are actively working to prevent unwanted experiences—racially, sexually, or otherwise. It’s also a commitment that organizations that hang this will create a simple, supportive, and unbiased claimreporting process, and make it known to all who enter. The content for the certificates is partially derived from Barack Obama’s 2007 presidential candidacy announcement speech and tailored to fit this purpose. Risograph prints with gold foil seal available at shop.pitchdesignunion.com.
and love and touch, the communities closest to us, remain our best hope for changing the world from the ground up. My hope (and I still have it; I’m protecting it and shielding it from the wind and sheltering it at all costs) is that we will keep our eyes open to see and our hands open to beckon, to call to one another and keep saying, Come. Come do this with me. Come fight with me.”
ALEX KOTLOWITZ, journalist, Northwestern lecturer, and author of three books, including There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America “To my fellow journalists: With decency and grace, challenge, question, B
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Trump vs. the truth, according to First Amendment scholar Geoffrey R. Stone “The greatest concern I have about the media and a Trump presidency concerns the issue of truth. There was once a time when most Americans got their news from a handful of mainstream journalists like Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. Today, with the end of the Fairness Doctrine and the advent of cable news, the Internet, and the explosion of social media, Americans have divided themselves into ever more polarized groups who get their information and opinions from ever more ideological sources. “This poses a serious challenge to the very existence of democracy, which relies upon the idea of a “marketplace of ideas” in which citizens hear all sides of all issues and then make up their minds about the most fundamental issues of the day. “As we have seen in the 2016 election, this distortion of public discourse is now being fed aggressively by “false news”—lies designed to deceive individuals and to reinforce their already polarized views. At a time when this phenomenon threatens the core premises of civil society, we will now have a president who has benefited from, encouraged, and is guilty himself of such behavior. At this time, more than any other in our history, this imposes a profound responsibility on the media to be courageous in its defense of truth. “What does this mean in practice? It means that mainstream media must be more aggressive than ever about getting their voices out on social media. They should pay attention to the false news and they should address and correct it whenever possible. And, perhaps most important of all, they must not be intimidated by an administration that will berate, attack, and threaten to punish them for criticizing its actions and its falsehoods. In a vibrant democracy, we depend on the media to bring truth to light and to do this fearlessly. That is why our Constitution guarantees “the freedom of the press.”
DAVID LEGGETT, untitled, 2017
B report—and report some
more. Don’t let go of the values we hold dear: accuracy and fairness and being honest to what we see and hear. We’re not going away. Work even harder to hold accountable those in power. Call it as it is. Truth matters.”
DEREK EDER, partner at the civic technology company DataMade, cofounder of the tech-focused government
transparency advocacy group Open City Apps, leader of Chi Hack Night “The incoming administration serves as a wake-up call for anyone concerned with security and privacy. The world’s most powerful surveillance system, built by U.S. intelligence agencies over the past decade, will soon be under the control of a president who has shown aggressively vindictive behavior and little respect
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Stone is the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Chicago and author most recently of the books Speaking Out! Reflections on Law, Liberty and Justice and Top Secret: When Our Government Keeps Us in the Dark.
or understanding of the law. It is for these reasons that I have started running weekly digital security workshops at Chi Hack Night to train people to encrypt their communications using Signal and start using password managers like LastPass to protect their online accounts. At the same time, it is imperative that my peers in the tech industry start taking seriously the need to protect their users’
data by the safest means possible: not storing it at all.”
How Trumpism could imperil academic freedom “There’s a larger problem that’s been going on for a long time: the corporatization of higher education. What we’re concerned about [at the University of Illinois at Chicago] as a public
university is the direction this administration could take us. It’s a very difficult time right now as people are starting to figure out what exactly we’re able to say without penalty. What happens at the federal level doesn’t have to be legislation, but it’s a mood, an ethos that it’s acceptable for a state legislature to go into a university and [interfere with] academic freedom. The academic freedom that’s protected us for well over
100 years is being eroded. Unions are the solution. People are talking more about action, they’re not just sitting there and saying ‘This sucks.’ They’re thinking about democracy. That’s fundamental. Everything is vulnerable now, it’s not just identity politics, it’s not just a black issue or a Muslim issue—we’re all being targeted now, we’re all vulnerable. That’s broadening the coalition. And, frankly, B
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WILL MILLER, design director at Firebelly Design, Truths Are SelfEvident?, 2017 “Our presidentelect pushes, pulls, distorts, confuses, and warps perspective of his version of truth, hiding double meanings and words of intolerance. Our future leader and his rhetoric have made our country’s truths anything but honest, understandable, and self-evident.”
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U z zý ý ý
America, I Need You A poem by RUBEN QUESADA This is where I tell you that I find myself sick inside your skin. I heard these are your last days of liberty and when the New Year comes its death will ring far into space like the sound of the space shuttle shattering into the stratosphere. America, I find it hard to get up. Oh, say, America! Say, you’ll see by the dawn’s early light that we’ll never be the same again. Stop your engineering of dictators and constellations of drug dealers. This is when you switch the power off to everything, stop the algorithm of your own body from splitting into two like an ensemble of ants broken across a fissure at your feet. This is for the body of an American dragged through streets because you can’t stop from breaking into a stranger’s home, you can’t stop from breaking into a stranger’s land. This is for the days when all you want to do is cry. This is for the moment when you stop to watch the architecture of a dandelion dismantling itself only to find another rising to take its place.
Ú ¥Ú £ß ×¥4
KAY ROSEN, UH OH., 2017
B the best thing is young
people are mobilized. People I’m seeing on my campus are excited because they want to work on things.” —JANET SMITH, professor of urban planning and policy at UIC and president of the faculty union, UIC United Faculty Local 6456
CHE “RHYMEFEST” SMITH, MC and former aldermanic candidate “When we look at violence
in Chicago, we want to talk about gangs and police brutality. But the thing that leads to that is much of the economic and political violence that happens before you even get to Englewood, Auburn-Gresham, or the west side of the Austin community. We’re dealing with divestment from communities for decades. I would tell Donald Trump, ‘If you look at Chicago, by and large, the city works, and it works very well. When we look at
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violence, we’re looking at small pockets on the south and west sides. Why can’t we do for those small pockets what’s done for the majority of the city to make it work?’”
ALAN MILLS, director of the Uptown People’s Law Center “Trump’s nominations of Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Ben Carson for secretary of HUD mean more people will be evicted, more people will become homeless, and
more people will go to jail. A lot of what happens in public housing is determined by the Department of Justice’s role as law enforcement in furthering the war on drugs. A lot of evictions that we deal with are so-called ‘one-strike evictions’ where the entire family is made homeless because one kid is allegedly found with a small quantity of drugs. I think it’s gonna get worse under Sessions, and [Carson] doesn’t believe in subsidized housing, he
views it as a poverty trap. It’s really bad being evicted from anywhere. But with subsidized housing, people lose their subsidy, and now they have to pay market rent—which they can’t afford. So they’re probably going to be homeless. It’s totally unfair to screw entire families for one person’s mistake.”
ALISON CHESLEY, aka cellist Helen Money “I went without insurance
forever, probably 20 years. I would get a job briefly that offered coverage, but then a tour would come up, or the call to spend time on my music was just too strong. I always opted for my art. I had spent my whole life training for it. When I was finally able to get coverage in 2010 through the ACA it was a huge relief. I no longer had to choose between my music and my health. Now, I don’t feel like I’m owed a living as a musician. I’m B
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JACOB THOMAS, Mao-Trump, 2016
cool with having to earn my keep by bringing people out to my shows and selling my records in order to pay my rent. I accept that responsibility. It’s just nice not to have to throw my health away in order to do it.” TONI PRECKWINKLE, Cook County Board president “I have long believed that health care is a basic human right and am a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act. The incoming administration’s assault on the ACA is extremely troubling, and I hope that they recognize reality and cool their unhealthy rhetoric. We should not, and cannot, go backwards.”
‘A scary time’ for the LGBT community, says Howard Brown Health Center president and CEO David Ernesto Munar
“History will judge Trump as a grotesque and hideous boil on the arc of the American story. Those of us who believe in equality and justice for all march on, knowing there are more of us than them, and the future belongs to us.” —PAUL FEHRIBACH, chef and owner of Big Jones
“Howard Brown is concerned about the health care safety net for tens of thousands of our patients who are low income or are in jobs that don’t allow them group-based insurance or have chronic medical conditions that require skilled and complex medical care. So this active debate is beginning in Congress around the Affordable Care Act, changes to Medicaid and Medicare, food security like food stamps, and even social security. It is frightening for people whose lives literally depend on these programs. It’s a moment of real vulnerability. “And it’s a scary time. The LGBT community has made gains, but with some of the [conservative] rhetoric, there’s a fear of rolling back
rights for LGBT people. I’m also concerned about what happens in nonpublic spaces. While I’m very focused on policy making, there are also spillover effects on society. We see more permissiveness for people to assault others verbally with racial or homophobic epithets, and we’re seeing more hatebased violence and crime. We’re going to see more of this—the physical displays of anger and hate. And that’s worrisome. . . . We have folks who are very depressed and very scared, and we need to support them. Howard Brown will do everything we can do to continue the work we’ve done. To love and take care of our patients, and stand with them in solidarity and speak the truth, but we may be directly affected if there are major changes to the way our services are financed or delivered. But we will try to persevere and maintain our core values of respect, of valuing our patients, of being affirming of LGBT people and rights, and all human rights. . . . We’ve been in tough places before and we’ve experienced opposition head-on, and we did not give up. So we have to do that again.”
AMEYA PAWAR, 47th Ward alderman and Illinois gubernatorial candidate “The promise of government is unity and the responsibility we have to one another. Sadly, a decades-long crusade demonizing public institutions and public service after the New Deal, JFK, the Civil Rights Act, and the Great Society has net us billionaire politicians in our state and at the national level who seek to pit us against one another so that we fight over scraps. I still believe B
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“I’ve been too busy weeping to offer a quote.”
holding a joint fund-raiser to raise workplace standards for immigrant workers in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Mon 1/23, 5:30-8:30 PM, Lagunitas Brewing Company Chicago, 2607 W. 17th, 312-491-9044, $10. Inauguration watch parties Trump Goes to Washington This bipartisan inauguration viewing party offers a lunch special and plenty of televisions carrying the inauguration ceremony. Fri 1/20, 11 AM-3 PM, Wise Owl Drinkery & Cookhouse, 324 S. Racine, 312-374-8915, $8.
—IVAN BRUNETTI, cartoonist, illustrator, and Columbia College associate professor
Trump Tower Rebar at Trump Tower Chicago will host an inauguration watch party. Fri 1/20, noon, 312-588-8034, free.
B in the promise of our democracy and
government, but as a father of a multiethnic daughter, a son of immigrants, and as someone married to a woman whose family escaped the Holocaust, we will resist—but we worry about where things may go if the president-elect’s politics are normalized.”
HATEM ABUDAYYEH, executive director of the Arab American Action Network “[Chicago] has the biggest percentage of Palestinians of any of the large Arab populations in the country. It’s the main Palestinian city in the [U.S.]. We know that the Trump presidency and the ultraright government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel are going to have a lot in common. There are threats that Trump is going to support moving the U.S. embassy [from Tel Aviv] to Jerusalem. We’re very concerned about Trump’s unequivocal support of Netanyahu’s policies going forward. There have been threats by the Trump administration that cities that call themselves sanctuaries will not get federal funding. I feel strongly that we’ve got some of the best immigrant rights organizers in the country, and I don’t think we’re gonna allow that to happen, to allow the reversal of the sanctuary city status in our city. I think sometimes in the discussions about the different issues and campaigns we focus a lot on immigrants, Latinos especially, but also Arab and Muslim immigrants when it comes to Trump. But I think it needs to be said that nonimmigrants, working people and black people especially, are in for a very difficult new period. We, the Arab American Action Network, believe that the Black Lives Matter movement and police accountability movement is the most important social question of the day in the United States, and especially in Chicago.” v
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o ASHLEE REZIN/SUN-TIMES
Inauguration events in Chicago: Trump protests, watch parties, and more ON AND AROUND Friday’s inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States, Chicago will play host to scores of happenings for almost every interest and political belief, from rallies to fund-raisers to comedy and art shows. —RACHEL HINTON protests and rallies Inauguration Day People’s Assembly United Working Families will meet downtown for workshops, community building, and strategy sharing before marching to join one of the protests planned at Trump Tower. The event is part of the organization’s week of action. Fri 1/20, 1 PM-5 PM, Grace Episcopal Church, 637 S. Dearborn, 312-922-1426, free. UIC Walkout & Rally The student-led rally hopes to bring together a large group of people, regardless of race, gender, or political affiliation, to unite against president-elect Donald Trump. Participants are encouraged to walk out of classrooms or workplaces and stand together. Fri 1/20, 2:30-4:30 PM, University of Illinois at Chicago Quad, 1200 W. Harrison. Resist Trump As part of the mass protests planned for inauguration day, the Chicago chapter of the Movement for the 99% and the Chicago Socialist Alternative will lead demonstrators in a show of resistance against the new president. Fri 1/20, 3-5 PM, Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington.
Trump Tower Chicago Inauguration Day Protest A peaceful, nonviolent demonstration is planned for the evening of inauguration day. Organizers hope to show “discontent toward the rhetoric that won the president-elect the election and continues to empower similar rhetoric.” Fri 1/20, 5 PM-midnight, Trump International Hotel and Towers, 401 N. Wabash. Strike Against Hate While the president-elect is inaugurated in D.C., people around the country are called on to strike—no work, no school, no shopping—in protest. Fri 1/20, all day, everywhere, free. Women’s March on Chicago A day after the inauguration, the Women’s March will start with a rally at Jackson and Lake Shore Drive, followed by a march around the Loop. Sat 1/21, 10 AM rally, 11:30 AM march, womens121marchonchicago.org, donations accepted. Fund-Raisers Beyond Trump The benefit for the LGBTQ-focused Howard Brown Health Clinic includes music and food. Fri 1/20, 5 PM-midnight, Hairpin Arts
Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee, 773-437-6966, $7-$15. Artists Against Hate Artists Against Hate hosts a fund-raiser for the American Civil Liberties Union that’s intended for those who seek an alternative to protesting. The event boasts an eclectic collection of Chicago creatives, from circus performers to visual artists. Fri 1/20, 8 PM, Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway, 773-867-1946, $19-$39. Donate $20 on 1/20 Those who stand in solidarity with Planned Parenthood are being asked to donate $20 to the organization on inauguration day. Fri 1/20, ppaction.org. Love-a-Thon This three-hour Facebook Live event aims to raise $500,000 in defense of civil liberties. Artists, musicians, and actors—including Jane Fonda, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tim Robbins, and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco—are coming together live in support of various causes. Fri 1/20, 12:30-3:30 PM, facebook.com, free. Shake It Up for Justice Latino Union of Chicago and Centro de Trabajadores Unidos are
Other events Tolerance in the Age of Trump On the eve of President-elect Trump’s inauguration, After-Words hosts a discussion on racism and diversity in America. Author Christian Picciolini leads the conversation, moderated by journalist Brandon Smith. Thu 1/19, 6-9 PM, After-Words, 23 E. Illinois, 312-464-1110, after-wordschicago.com. Prep rally In preparation for the Women’s March on Chicago, everyone—regardless of gender identity—is invited to make signs, drink wine, and eat appetizers. All proceeds from tickets will go to the ACLU Nationwide and the Women’s March on Chicago. Thu 1/19, 6:30-9:30 PM, Greenhouse Loft, 2545 W. Diversey, greenexchange.com, $35. Art on the Fly As part of a new exhibition and discussion series, artists, community members, and special guests examine the ramifications of the election. Through 1/19, Hairpin Arts Center, 2810 N. Milwaukee, 773-437-6966. Take It to the Bridge Steve Dawson of the band Dolly Varden and Mark Caro, a longtime local entertainment journalist and author of The Foie Gras Wars, will discuss the power behind the protest song and their new book Take It to the Bridge: Unlocking the Great Songs Inside You. Fri 1/20, 7 PM, Book Cellar, 4736-38 N. Lincoln, 773-293-2665, free. Chicagoland Inauguration Deplorrr-a-Ball Trump supporters, conservatives, and libertarians are invited to the Chicagoland/DuPage Deplorables’ inauguration ball.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to WCKG, a conservative news talk-radio station, and to the DuPage Republican Party township organizations. Fri 1/20, 6:30 PM- 10:30 PM, Diplomat West Banquets, 681 W. North Ave., Elmhurst, 630-359-8200, $50. The Election Monologues Chicago Created by Tanya Taylor Rubinstein and Kerri Lowe, this national series of spoken-word performances and speeches aims to unify and humanize as well as offer a safe space for people to process their feelings surrounding the election. In 13 cities across the country, including Chicago, groups of six to ten people share stories of how the election affected them. Fri 1/20, 7:30-9 PM, Catalyst Ranch, 656 W. Randolph, 312-207-1710, $10 suggested donation. Hail to the Queef An inauguration-themed burlesque and drag performance. Fri 1/20, 9:30 PM, the Call Bar, 1547 W. Bryn Mawr, 773-334-2525, callbarchicago.com. What a Joke In response to the president-elect’s threats and statements during the campaign, comedians and producers in more than 30 cities are coordinating shows to raise money for the American Civil Liberties Union during inauguration weekend. There will also be a silent auction. Fri 1/20, 9 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, $20. Simmer Brown: Prelude to an Impeachment South Asian stand-up collective Simmer Brown hosts a BYOB “post-inauguration pick-meup” featuring Gwen La Roka, Jillian Ebanks, Adam Gilbert, and more. Sat 1/21, 7:30 PM, Bughouse Theater, 1910 W. Irving Park, bughousetheater. com, $15. Fictlicious Protest Show Two days after the major protests and marches surrounding inauguration day is a night of stories, songs, and objections. Sun 1/22, 7-9 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, free. Drinks, Discourse, and Politics Chicago Progress’s second monthly meet-up event and first postinauguration gathering is an informal, open space for participants to drink and discuss politics. Thu 1/26, 7:30-9:30 PM, Jerry’s, 4739 N. Lincoln, chicagoprogress.com, free. v
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Lyric Opera’s Chicago Voices creative consultant Renée Fleming o EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP
OPERA
A last gasp for Lyric’s Chicago Voices
By DEANNA ISAACS
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ike so much else at Lyric Opera during the last few years, the Chicago Voices project started with the company’s creative consultant, Renée Fleming.¶ When Fleming, a New Yorker who’s become the popular face of Lyric, introduced this ambitious experiment a year ago, she explained that the idea for it came from a smaller American Voices festival she’d spearheaded at the Kennedy Center a few years earlier. She hoped that the Lyric version, which seeks to spotlight Chicago’s vocal talent in all its forms, would have staying power: “My dream is to create a platform that will continue,” she said. But it won’t be continuing here. Except for one facet of the multipart project—its Community Created Performances, which will get one more go-round—Chicago Voices is concluding with a flurry of activity during the next few weeks, culminating in a benefit concert at the opera house on February 4. Between now and then, there are panel discussions on opera and hip-hop at the Chicago History Museum (January 24 and 31), three neighborhood photography exhibits (through February 4 at Homan Square Com-
munity Center, Old Town School of Music, and Ancien Cycles & Cafe), and a weekend of master classes and expert advice for nascent professionals at Columbia College (February 2 through 4). The February 4 concert will be a genre-jumping hometown-virtuoso showcase that’ll feature folk singer John Prine, blues queen Shemekia Copeland, gospel and R&B singer Michelle Williams, Broadway star Jessie Mueller, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and indie duo the Handsome Family, along with Fleming. Chicago Voices is a project of Lyric’s fiveyear-old outreach and educational arm, Lyric Unlimited. Like all of Lyric Unlimited’s work—which includes Millennium Park concerts, school-based programs, and, this spring, a production of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird at the Harris Theater—it’s in part a search for opera’s future audience. The days when Lyric could report more than 100 percent of tickets sold (a feat accomplished by reselling subscribers unused seats) are gone, the existing audience is aging, and younger people, with a dizzying array of entertainment options, are mostly unfamiliar with the classical repertoire.
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And grand opera is hugely expensive to produce. In 2016, according to its annual report, Lyric withdrew more than $8 million from a support fund to report a break-even year on operating expenses of about $78 million. In addition, it saw a drop in the value of its investments—at the end of the fiscal year, net assets were down $22 million. (Lyric’s finance department says, via e-mail, that its investment loss is “reflective of broader market performance” and that “Lyric’s portfolio fluctuates, as all do, from year to year.”) In an interview last week Lyric Unlimited director Cayenne Harris and Lyric president and CEO Anthony Freud (two titles newly added to his previous title of general director in spite of the financials) said they’re aiming to connect with people who aren’t part of the traditional ticket-buying opera audience. “We’re working hard to grow our demographic,” Freud said, “working in unexpected venues and unexpected musical disciplines, understanding that opera, when you distill it down to its basics, is telling stories through words and music.” Community Created Performances had an inspired show that packed the Harris Theater for a single performance in September. Three groups, chosen by public vote from online video profiles, presented original one-act musical theater pieces created by them and based on their own lives and cultures. They were Croatian and Serbian musicians (the Kirin-Gornick Band), actor-singers from shelters and community centers in some of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods (Harmony, Hope & Healing), and an unforgettably talented troupe of performers with disabilities (Tellin’ Tales Theatre). Applications for the second and final round of Community Created Performances are being accepted through January 27. Again, three winning groups will each get a production stipend of $10,000 and 16 weeks of development work with a creative team. The completed shows will be presented in the fall. After that, Harris says, Lyric will apply what it learned from this experiment in “putting creative control in the hands of community groups” to a new project with the Chicago Urban League. “We’ll be working with a group of African-American teens in the city to do something very similar,” she says, “which is to share their true life experiences and use those as a basis for an original piece.” v
ß @DeannaIsaacs
Rough House Theater’s Ubu the King o JOE MAZZA
THEATER
For ten days Chicago is puppet capital of the world
SPRING 1988. The Spanish puppet company Comediants is onstage at Park West and a 26-year-old Blair Thomas is in the audience having a revelation. “I saw that show and I was like—I had never seen anything like that in my life,” he remembers. “It just cracked open a window for me as a young artist.” Thomas climbed through that window to start the late, great Redmoon Theater and, more recently, Blair Thomas & Co. Puppet Theater. He’s also working to open more windows as artistic director of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, having its second biennial run 1/19-1/29 at various sites around Chicago. Among the festival’s foreign guests are Chile’s Silencio Blanco, telling a miner’s tale in Chiflón, el Silencio del Carbón; Norway’s Plexus Polare, probing an arsonist’s psyche in Cendres; and South Korea’s Geumhyung Jeong, using dance and puppetry to find the “boundary between the body and the machine” in 7 Ways. The array of featured locals includes Michael Montenegro, applying his extraordinary sensibility to the genius of Prague in Kick the Klown Presents a Konkatenation of Kafka. The estimable Stephanie Diaz and Jessica Mondres are at the Cultural Center with an “object- and film-based” installation called Portmanteau. Rough House is bringing back one of my favorite shows of 2016, Ubu the King. And Chicago-based stars Manual Cinema are applying their unique style of visual storytelling to an adaptation of Edith Nesbit’s 1910 children’s fantasy The Magic City. —TONY ADLER CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL PUPPET THEATER FESTIVAL Thu 1/19-Sun 1 /29, times, locations, and prices vary; see chicagopuppetfest.org.
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 23
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By TONY ADLER
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n 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran named John Wesley Powell led a party of explorers down the Green and Colorado Rivers, traversing what Powell would later tag the Grand Canyon. Never mind that the local Paiutes already had their own, way better name for the place—“Mountain Lying Down”—the trip was a big deal from a manifest-destiny point of view: the first time white men of European heritage had laid eyes on and mapped out that particular stretch of geological magnificence. Relying to a great extent on Powell’s own record (first published in 1875 and still in print), Jaclyn Backhaus’s 2015 play Men on Boats does a fairly scrupulous job of reconstructing the journey. Ten of the 11 original participants are represented (the exception being F.M. Bishop, cartographer). They retain their original names, jobs, histories, and, where it’s relevant, fates. They suffer the same privations and triumphs. Really, the only significant difference between Powell’s narrative and the way Backhaus depicts it
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Front to back: Lawren Carter, Stephanie Shum, and Avi Roque
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is contained in a note from the script: “The characters in MEN ON BOATS were historically cisgender white males,” she writes. “The cast should be make [sic] up entirely of people who are not. I’m talking about racially diverse actors who are female-identifying, trans-identifying, genderfluid, and/or non-gender-conforming.” Sure enough, there’s not a single WASP penis in any of the pants onstage at the American Theater Company, where Men on Boats is receiving a sharp Chicago premiere under the hand of ATC’s brand-new artistic director, Will Davis—nary an actor who fits the anatomical/racial/cultural profile of Powell and his compadres. Davis even had Stephanie Diaz and Emjoy Gavino of the Chicago Inclusion Project step in and do the casting, a move suggesting the theatrical equivalent of kashrut certification. It’s a clever, comic, pointed idea, taking an archetypal moment in the construction of American identity (Who doesn’t think of the Grand Canyon when they think of America? Who doesn’t think of intrepid pathfinders?) and handing it over to people who were excluded from the construction crew. Hamilton is built on the same conceit, and Backhaus has every bit as much fun with it as Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda did. But, also like Miranda, she doesn’t settle for a simple inversion: that way lies the sailorswith-grass-skirts-and-coconut-shell-bras scene from South Pacific. No, while Backhaus takes solid pokes at the absurd temerity of white men who “discover” places that are
already inhabited and name peaks as if they owned them and freak out at weird fauna and posture when they’re actually begging and grab the spoils of a group effort as if they’d accomplished it alone, neither she nor Davis nor Davis’s take-no-prisoners cast uses the opportunity to reduce Powell and company to cartoon colonialists. In fact, they seem, satirically but not subversively, to respect the men’s sense of themselves as adventurers challenging a harsh and (to them, anyway) unknown environment. That respect is nowhere more apparent than in the rapids-shooting scenes, wonderfully choreographed to convey precision and collaboration in circumstances of authentic-feeling danger, where small choices can wreck a craft or get somebody drowned. At least for the time they’re on the river, these guys aren’t criminals, conquistadores, or fops but folks on boats. Which is crucial, partly because the alternative would’ve been a one-joke, evening-length bore and partly because entertaining the idea of the Powell group’s humanity allows for a more nuanced, possibly even truer vision of America as a place of shared destinies—however much we all despise our asshole neighbors. Again, as in Hamilton, the point here isn’t simply to square accounts but to widen our sense of who we are. Or, as Martin Luther King Jr. put it (and I just heard the great Nina Turner reiterate), “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” The Backhaus/Davis approach is epitomized by William Boles’s exceedingly cool set, whose back wall consists of three squares within squares, the innermost square cut out to create a window. On the one hand the arrangement suggests a movie-camera lens, which in turn suggests the processes in American storytelling that have privileged white male heroes. Indeed, the cast often act with a studied self-consciousness, as if they were either in the movie of their lives or auditioning for it. On the other hand, it reminds me of a room at the Mystery Spot tourist attraction in Santa Cruz, where the floor angles up to play disorienting tricks on your sense of perspective. And yes, that’s happening too. v R MEN ON BOATS Through 2/12: ThuFri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron, 773-409-4125, atcweb.org, $38.
ß @taadler
DANCE
The Keeper of the Floor dance-off is back “JUST GOOGLE KTF DANCE” says a promotional plug for Chicago Dance Crash’s Keeper of the Floor championship, returning this weekend in a new venue after a one-year hiatus. What you end up with is a handful of search results highlighting past shows, with themes like “I ♥ the 80s” and “Here Comes Hollywood.” This year’s title is “KTF: The Return,” for obvious reasons. You’ll also find videos such as ”The KTF Experience,” which features, among other things, hip-hop crews, jazz dancers, acrobats, tappers, and a scantily clothed emcee named Mattrick Swayze tearing up the dance floor. In other words, this audience-decided dance-off is vintage Chicago Dance Crash: a competition, a showcase, a little drag. And best of all, it doesn’t discriminate—no style is too strange, no skill level too shoddy. If you’ve got the stones to put yourself out there, the presenters are happy to welcome you with open arms. The experience tends to fall somewhere between high school talent show and indie rock concert. But mostly, it’s just a lot of dancers and a lot of dancing for the sake of a good time. Newbies will be glad that Swayze, whose real name is Matthew Hollis, has decided to once again tackle hosting duties. His queer, zany alter ego has graced the stage of many CDC performances, providing comedy bits and improv. It’s all capped off by a DJ-hosted dance party. —MATT DE LA PEÑA KTF: THE RETURN Sat 1/2, 9:30 PM, Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont, 773-327-5252, chicagodancecrash.com, $25.
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Sayjal Joshi, Katie Klein, Julie Marchiano, and Tien Tran sing about the word “moist.” o TODD ROSENBERG
COMEDY
Second City reminds us of the ‘humor in humanity’ By BRIANNA WELLEN
I
n the weeks and now days leading up to the inauguration, it seems like the jokes about Trump and the current state of our political climate are basically writing themselves. Between rumors of golden showers and the president-elect’s meeting with Steve Harvey, it sometimes feels as if we’re all living in one long political sketch. So where are comedians supposed to go from here? The newest revue on the Second City’s E.T.C. stage, Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno, gets the requisite Trump humor out of the way early in a few entertaining sketches: a man who has been blacked out since the Cubs won the World Series comes to terms with the election results; seeing a reality star being elected president inspires former president Jimmy Carter to become just such a star; and a ship’s crew summons a kraken to captain
their ship, going against the popular vote onboard. But it’s when the cast decides to steer away from the obvious and find the “humor in humanity” that the performers’ individual talents are used to their highest potential. In light of recent incidents of homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic, racist, and prejudiced comments being hurled at Second City cast members and audience members alike, it was encouraging to see the cast fully embracing their ethnicity, sex, race, and queerness. Two of the standouts, Tien Tran and Jasbir Singh Vazquez, are charming in an early sketch that features them as a couple in a rowboat each speaking their native language (Vietnamese and Spanish, respectively). Through their inflection and some great physical bits they’re able to connect with each other and with the audience even though very few people (if any)
understood both sides of the conversation. It speaks to a larger message throughout the show: in times of political peril, it’s better to look for similarities in others rather than stress the obvious differences. Later on, Vazquez once again speaks only in Spanish, pulling an unsuspecting Spanishspeaking audience member onstage for a sketch that ended up being about immigration policing. The audience member translated for Vazquez as he answered questions posed by two police officers (Andrew Knox and Alan Linc) to prove he was American. Seeing the two strangers connect over a shared language was a delight. And in a musical number performed by the women of the cast, it was proven that perhaps nothing unites us more as a
country than our mutual disgust for the word “moist.” Fantastic Super Great Nation Numero Uno is by no means Second City’s most inspired or politically hard-hitting revue. But what it does offer is plenty of silly fun—a semi-improvised scene featuring all the women of the cast on a The View-style panel talk show was particularly hilarious—and a chance to have a shared human experience outside of the current political circus. v R FANTASTIC SUPER GREAT NATION NUMERO UNO Open run: Thu 8 PM, Fri-Sat 8 and 11 PM, Sun 7 PM, Second City E.T.C. Theater, 230 W. North, second floor, secondcity. com, $19-$46.
ß @BriannaWellen
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 25
ARTS & CULTURE
LIT
Monsters mash “ONE OF THE By DOMINIC UMILE YEAR’S BEST PICTURES.” “WONDERFUL.” “MAGICAL.”
STARTS FRIDAY,
JANUARY 20
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ocal artist and author Emil Ferris’s My Favorite Thing Is Monsters: Book One is a knotty, richly drawn graphic novel that blends memoir, pulp horror, detective fiction, and historical drama. It’s set on mock notebook pages—like Syllabus, a recent comic from former longtime Reader contributor Lynda Barry. Ferris uses panels and word balloons in My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, but an equal amount of space is given to illustrations of a type more often seen in children’s storybooks. The aesthetic approach pays off for a narrative that balances heaviness and playfulness. Ferris’s story, set in late-1960s Chicago, primarily spills out of quirky, ten-year-old, monster-obsessed kid Karen Reyes. She lives in an Uptown basement apartment with her mother and extensively tattooed older brother Diego (“Deeze”), who has at least a decade on her. The family—whose cultural background is as multitextured as the visuals—has a close relationship with a striking middle-aged neighbor named Anka Silverberg. When she’s found to have been shot dead, the murder’s
impact on Karen runs deep. “She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw,” the young Reyes writes. Karen assumes a detective role thereafter, probing Silverberg’s death and a secret in Deeze’s past. But Ferris doesn’t allow the mystery to play out in linear fashion: the reader gets to know each of the book’s characters deeply (even those in the margins); an adjacent narrator’s tale shifts the time and locale; and weird, metaphysical trips to the museum during the day lead to Karen climbing into paintings. Bullied at school for her atypical interests in art and horror, Karen journals and sketches her frustrating days. She’s comforted by the similarly eccentric Deeze, a troubled artist subject to neighborhood bigotry for his resemblance to their Mexican father. But Deeze’s pronounced widow’s peak and lean face more often summon Dracula—in My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, monstrousness and the era’s intolerance of otherness regularly mingle. Horror-comics covers, drawn by Karen, introduce new chapters—they mimic 1950s titles like Chamber of Chills or the slicker, eroticized horror anthologies that followed years later. Karen binges on late-night TV creature features, while depictions of her friends resemble Universal Studios horror icons. Ferris’s portraits emphasize distorted features and sunken cheeks, and renderings of the city’s architecture are similarly illustrated. Ornate rooflines and sophisticated terra-cotta surfaces are exhaustively detailed in Ferris’s penned depictions of Uptown Station, the Uptown Broadway Building facade, and the Riviera Theatre. Karen’s written remembrance of Silverberg curls around these spellbinding settings. The protagonist examines an account of her neighbor’s escape from Nazi Germany for clues about her death—but given that this is the first book in a series, nothing’s black and white. Nostalgia for the Twilight Zone-like catch-22s that capped off old horror comics is understandable—especially following all of Ferris’s splintering chronology and dense characterization—yet for the curious Karen questions linger. “The truth is,” Ferris writes, as Karen, “there are a lot of things we don’t see every day that are right under our noses.” v R MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS: BOOK ONE By Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
ß @dominicumile
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Mark Wahlberg in Patriots Day o NICOLA DOVE
MOVIES
Boots on the asphalt By J.R. JONES
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atriots Day, Peter Berg’s new drama about the Boston Marathon bombing, arrives in theaters less than four years after the attack, which left three people dead and hundreds more wounded. Sensitive to this, star-coproducer Mark Wahlberg and director-cowriter Peter Berg take great pains to celebrate the humanity of those who were on Boylston Street near the finish line of the race in April 2013, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded in quick succession, spraying shrapnel across the sidewalk. But Patriots Day functions mainly as a police procedural, chronicling the five-day manhunt for the two lone-wolf jihadists who manufactured the bombs, and in that regard it’s more valuable than any sort of exercise in healing. Within the confines of a hard-charging action flick, Berg and his coscreenwriters present a clear account of how media frenzy and fear of more attacks drove federal and local law enforcement to execute the first military-style lockdown of an American city. The movie is creakiest during its first half
hour, as Berg introduces an array of real people going about their daily lives before the bombs detonate. Jessica Kensky (Rachel Brosnahan) and Patrick Downes (Christopher O’Shea), married only seven months, josh about the Red Sox and look forward to watching the marathon together on Patriots’ Day. Sean Collier (Jake Picking), a cop at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, works up the nerve to ask out the graduate student who’s been flirting with him. Jeff Pugliese (J.K. Simmons), a sergeant with the neighboring Watertown police department, snuggles with his wife in bed and banters with the cashier at the Dunkin’ Donuts where he goes for “cah-fee.” And, most significantly, Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Alex Wolff, Themo Melikidze) lounge around a Cambridge apartment, commiserating over the terror plot they’re about to unleash. We know where all this is headed, so the suspense mounts steadily no matter how clunky the dialogue might be. Everything revolves around Wahlberg’s character, a fictional Boston cop named
Tommy Saunders, who’s introduced with the real people above but also manages to be everywhere important from Monday, April 15, when he witnesses the bombings, through Friday, April 19, when he helps apprehend the last suspect. Saunders is a veteran plainclothesman serving out a suspension for shooting his mouth off to the brass, which explains how he can be pals with real-life Boston police commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman) and still be walking a parade beat in uniform on the afternoon of the marathon. After the FBI takes command of the bombing investigation, Saunders reports to the command center, where the feds identify the two suspects from surveillance footage, and helps real-life agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon) identify which store and restaurant cameras the suspects would have passed. This gives him a perfect vantage point to watch as Davis, DesLauriers, and Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick (Michael Beach) clash over the politics of the crisis, weighing public safety against civil liberty. As Patriots Day reminds us, the public was especially ill served by the media during the Boston attack. On that Monday the New York Post misreported that 12 people had been killed at the scene and that police had taken a Saudi man into custody; on Thursday the Post published a photo of two men it claimed were wanted by the police, but they were only innocent bystanders. In the movie, Governor Patrick is so alarmed by the threat this photo poses to the men pictured that he implores the FBI to release its images of the real bombers. DesLauriers refuses, knowing this will only tip off the suspects, and when word arrives that the images have already been leaked to Fox News, he’s livid. “I’m not gonna let Fox News run this investigation,” he spits, but who is he kidding? Fox News runs everything. That same day the FBI reluctantly holds a news conference to release photos and video footage of the suspects and to seek the public’s help in identifying them. The Tsarnaevs might have been apprehended more quietly than they were, but once the media forced the FBI’s hand, events began to spin out of control. Berg shows the brothers watching themselves on TV that Thursday and packing up their stuff so they can carry out more bombings in New York City. They roll up on the MIT campus, approach Officer Collier in his patrol car, try to wrestle his gun away from him, and pump six shots into him (he died on
the scene). Immediately after this, they carjack a Mercedes SUV from a Chinese student and, heading through Watertown, get into a shoot-out with police. I’ve read accounts of this chaotic siege, but none of them re-create it as clearly as Berg does onscreen. Pulled over by a Watertown patrolman, Tamerlan opens fire, and as more squad cars roll up, the brothers begin hurling pipe bombs and detonating more pressure-cooker bombs. Pugliese arrives on the scene, but with no central command, the cops fire on the suspects from multiple directions; in the confusion, Dzhokhar runs over his brother with the Mercedes, and a Watertown officer almost dies from a bullet wound that was probably friendly fire. On Friday morning, with Dzhokhar still at large, Governor Patrick took the extraordinary measure of asking residents of Watertown and its surrounding cities (including Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline) to “shelter in place.” The public transit system was shut down, and more than a million people stayed home from work. Amtrak trains in and out of the city were canceled, and Logan International Airport was placed on heightened security alert. In Watertown, police established a 20-block perimeter around the site of the shoot-out; helicopters circled overhead and armored vehicles crept through the streets as SWAT teams went door-to-door searching for the suspect. The citywide lockdown involved Boston and Watertown police, the Massachusetts state police, the National Guard, the FBI and ATF, and the Department of Homeland Security; it was the first large-scale test of interagency preparedness after 9/11. As some commentators have argued, it was also wildly out of proportion to the actual threat, given that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had abandoned the stolen SUV and was likely traveling on foot, either lightly armed or unarmed. “Not since the Watts Riots of 1965 has so much urban territory been closed off,” wrote Henry Grabar in the Atlantic. “In that case, the cause was a six-day riot that resulted in 34 deaths, over 1,000 injuries, and over 3,000 arrests. Martial law was declared.” On the one hand, the Boston lockdown may have functioned as a show of overwhelming force, convincing potential lone-wolf terrorists that their chance of escape would be nil. On the other hand, it cost the city anywhere from $250 to $333 million, by one estimate, and established a dangerous political precedent. Now, whenever a killer at large is labeled a terrorist, mayors and J
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governors will be pressured to shut down large areas and send in the troops; this rending of the social fabric is exactly what the forces of jihad desire. Berg and Wahlberg understand this, but they also know which side their bread is buttered on. The actor and director have a track record of fact-based action movies pitched at political hard hats—Deepwater Horizon (2016), about the oil-drilling explosion that devastated the Gulf of Mexico, and Lone Survivor (2013), which dramatized a navy SEALs operation in Afghanistan. Patriots Day opens in early January, traditionally a commercial dead zone after the holidays but more recently a niche market for such arch-conservative fare as American Sniper (2014) and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016). The movie shows its true colors when Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s widow, an American citizen named Katherine Russell (Melissa Benoist), is grilled by a mysterious federal agent without being given her Miranda warning. “I want a lawyer,” Russell tells the agent. “I have rights.” The agent (Khandi Alexander), a black Muslim woman wearing a headscarf, drawls, “You ain’t got shit, sweetheart.” The line drew cheers when I heard it as part of a prerelease trailer. No one should be surprised, then, that Patriots Day puts the best possible face on Governor Patrick’s “shelter in place” order. Going door-to-door in Watertown, Saunders comes across like Officer Friendly, gently advising an old guy on his porch to get a little air but then go back inside. By contrast, video captured by a Watertown resident out his window on Friday, April 19, and published by the Daily Mail shows a team of agents in battle gear storming a house and sending its residents out into the street with their hands on their heads. The lockdown had already been lifted when Dzhokhar was found hiding inside a boat in someone’s backyard, and Berg faithfully stages the botched raid that followed, in which police from various local forces fired 30 to 50 rounds into the hull. “As soon as one cop shot everybody shot,” remembers police chief Ed Deveau in the book Boston Strong. After seeing that scene, I’ll definitely think twice before hatching a terror plot—or even walking down to the corner to mail the gas bill. v
ß @JR_Jones 28 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
Installation view of “Underlying System Is Not Known” at Western Exhibitions’ new gallery space in West Town. o JAMES PRINZ
VISUAL ART
Pattern recognition By TAL ROSENBERG
F
our West Loop galleries that all shared the same building on Washington Avenue—Document, PLHK, Volume, and Western Exhibitions—recently moved into a new venue in West Town, a large second-floor space on Chicago Avenue just west of Ashland. But the migration wasn’t acrimonious. “Our lease was up at the old space, and our landlords bought a building over on Chicago Avenue,” Western Exhibitions gallery owner Scott Speh says. “They said, ‘Why don’t we move you guys over here?’” And the new digs aren’t a downgrade; in fact, Speh feels that the new venue is a much-needed improvement. “We were able to design it the way we wanted it, so it’s completely custom created,” he says. “Every space I’ve been in—and this is my fifth space—it’s all moving into a preexisting space. From past experiences, I realized what I kind of wanted: a main room, a larger office space, a project room that was a little more manageable, and larger storage.” All four galleries are inaugurating their new location with exhibits: Document is hosting textiles by Laura Letinsky and Paul Morabito;
PLHK is putting on a video installation called “The Hardest Part Is Just Gettin’ Here,” a solo show by Annie Bielski; and in “Wunderkammer,” Volume is displaying a wide range of pieces—including furniture, design, and ceramics—by various artists. But Western Exhibitions is putting on the most ambitious and expansive show: its biennial, titled “Underlying System Is Not Known.” “The subtitle of the show is ‘Current Trends and Pattern and Repetition,’ ” Speh says, “so it’s all artists who are using those tropes in one way or another. That’s often used in abstract painting, but I wanted to take some of those ideas and expand them . . . artists who are using figures or using architecture or using representational imagery, or even sculpture— how does pattern and repetition factor into those issues?” As sophisticated as that description may sound, “Underlying System Is Not Known” isn’t too cerebral or unapproachable—it’s playful and irreverent. On the floor, a few feet from the entrance, is Risa Hricovsky’s Shift, a blobby quasi-chair made of neon pipe cleaners. Behind it is Joell Baxter’s Waver,
three strips, each one nine feet by four and a half feet, of multicolored, rectangular, screen-printed paper positioned at 90-degree angles against the wall and floor. Some of the works are deceptive, such as a series of colorful patterns by Emily Barletta. At first they seem like they were printed onto pieces of paper, but on closer inspection they turn out to be intricately woven pieces of thread. My favorite pieces are by an artist I’d never heard of: Ron Thomas’s The Representational Triumph and Alpha Redux, two diagonal paintings with hypnotic patterns of lines and zigzags that recall 70s wallpaper, postmodern painting, and Native American designs. It turns out Thomas died in 2009, relatively unknown, but his appearance in “Underlying System Is Not Known” is further indication that Western Exhibitions will continue to be a place to discover new and dynamic art. v R “UNDERLYING SYSTEM IS NOT KNOWN” Through 2/18: Tue-Sat 11 AM-6 PM, Western Exhibitions, 1709 W. Chicago, 312-480-8390, westernexhibitions.com. F
ß @talrosenberg
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WLPN founder Ed Marszewski and director Logan Bay outside the station’s studio at the Co-Prosperity Sphere o JEFFREY MARINI
Low power to the people
Bridgeport-based community station Lumpen Radio uses its modest signal to amplify dissenting and marginalized voices. By ERIN OSMON
O
n Friday, January 20, the United States will inaugurate as president a man who has demonstrated himself to be racist, sexist, xenophobic, ignorant, reckless, intolerant, petty, authoritarian, and kleptocratic. He’s packing his cabinet with people either willfully blind or openly hostile to the diversity that gives America much of its strength and beauty, apparently on the principle that government should benefit only white people, straight men, and the rich. Meanwhile, a community radio station in Bridgeport that began broadcasting on the FM band
just days before the presidential election is amplifying dissenting voices from Chicago’s vibrant margins. WLPN Lumpen Radio debuted at 105.5 FM on November 4, 2016, after existing as a Web-only streaming station since April 2015. It’s the latest outlet of the nonprofit Public Media Institute, founded by Bridgeport native Ed “Edmar” Marszewski in 2000. The institute’s current endeavors also include gallery and performance space the Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Version multimedia arts festival, craft-beer journal Mash Tun (Marszewski owns Marz Community Brewing), and Lumpen magazine, which has covered
Chicago counterculture since 1991. The term “lumpen” usually refers to populations that are economically, socially, or culturally dispossessed or uprooted. Marszewski has long used the print pages and gallery walls of his various PMI projects to promote the voices and ideas of local, national, and international fringe artists and performers, emphasizing the value of free thought and a do-it-yourself ethos. Marszewski has a background in audio and video, most notably with defunct website Supersphere, which launched in 1999 to host streamable video of live concerts, radio programming, and other content. A few year ago, when regulatory and legislative changes made it feasible for a small nonprofit to acquire a low-power FM radio license, Marszewski says it was a “no-brainer” to set the wheels in motion. “We wanted to present marginalized voices and voices that aren’t amplified on the FM mediascape,” he explains. The changes in question arose from progressive media activists’ long campaign to address some of the pernicious features of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which enabled a wave of corporate consolidation and homogenization in radio. The Local Community Radio Act, one fruit of their labors, was introduced in its earliest form in 2005—and when it finally became law in 2011, it opened the door for a crowd of new low-power FM stations. Previously concentrated in rural areas not served by larger broadcasters, LPFM stations could now operate in major cities, tucked into the small gaps on the frequency map not filled by their bigger siblings. The Federal Communications Commission accepted applications for new LPFM stations for one month in fall 2013. About 2,800 applications poured in from around the country, and nearly 2,000 were approved—including those from Lumpen Radio and local station CHIRP, which had been online since January 2010 and will soon begin broadcasting at 107.1 FM. While big commercial operations often hum along at 50,000 or even 100,000 watts of effective radiated power, LPFM signals are typically rated at 50 to 100 watts. Lumpen Radio director Logan Bay says listeners can pick up the station as far northwest as Avondale on a good day, but that it doesn’t have much reach to the north or northeast (due to downtown skyscrapers) or to the south (due to signal blanketing by a country station from Indiana). LPFM stations are also designated “noncommercial educational” by the FCC, J
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MUSIC continued from 29 meaning they can’t sell on-air advertisements—but in return, they’re exempt from broadcast license fees. NPR affiliates, while not low-power stations, share this designation—hence the on-air pledge drives. Lumpen Radio received its FM permit in December 2014, but the station still had to cover the considerable expense of building a studio (using space in the Co-Prosperity Sphere) and renting space on a broadcasting tower near the Lagunitas brewery in Lawndale—costs it estimated at $100,000. Lumpen raised funds via private donations and a spring 2015 Kickstarter campaign, and soon it was operating online. As an FM station, Lumpen Radio broadcasts around the clock, presenting on average 13 to 15 hours of live programming per day. Marszewski brought on Bay (who’s also a DJ and artist) as station director in February 2015. He’s the only paid staffer, working with WLPN’s volunteer DJs and hosts, most of whom have little to no radio experience. Some DJs prerecord their sets and send them in, and when no one’s lined up, Bay fills the hours with automated music or syndicated shows—Democracy Now!, for instance, airs every weekday at 8 AM. He’s also responsible for making sure the station abides by FCC regulations, which among other things prohibit profanity and what the agency deems to be the spreading of false information. Part of Lumpen Radio’s mission is to help redefine who’s qualified to participate in broadcast media, providing opportunities for people with niche interests or special knowledge but no relevant background or training. “People who play music here are passionate nerds who have spent their lives collecting records,” Bay says. “This is beyond Spotify. These are people who live their lives around their particular musical interest, and they have the opportunity here to share these sounds and freak us out.” He points out that an FM signal is a great equalizer for listeners: There are no significant financial or technological barriers to entry. You don’t need an expensive device or even an Internet connection—just a decent old-fashioned analog radio. Each week local DJs and record collectors come to the WLPN studio to spin the music they love—psychedelia, punk rock, country marginalia, various microgenres of soul. Sandra Treviño and Stephanie Manriquez, who’ve DJed together as the Ponderers since 2013 (they’d each gotten their start at Radio Arte, the youth-run station of the National
Marszewski on the air in the Lumpen Radio studio o JEFFREY MARINI
Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen), play songs by woman-led groups from around the globe, with a particular focus on Latin America. Treviño points to Xenia Rubinos as an example of a musician who has an important message but doesn’t get the attention she deserves. “She wrote a song called ‘Mexican Chef’ about people the U.S. perhaps disregards, even though they’re the ones in the kitchen cooking our food,” she says. “Mainstream radio may not allow that to be played, but a community station like Lumpen is all about diversity and being inclusive.” WLPN also hosts talk programming from local activists and academics, who discuss politics, architecture, labor, tech, and more. Craig Harshaw, Leah Gipson, and Keith Brown, who met through the Art Institute of Chicago, host the two-hour monthly show Divisive, which in their words posits “difficult and divisive conversations as central to all struggles for human liberation and environmental sanity.” Recently they’ve talked about the flaws of neoliberalism, Nate Parker’s film The Birth of a Nation, and of course the president-elect. Harshaw says that independent radio stations are more important than ever under the new administration. “What’s scary is that our media structures are really limited to the voices that they consider appropriate,” he says. “They are bringing on members of the altright, neo-Nazis, and people who have been accused of hate crimes as legitimate com-
mentators, and then we have kind of nobody really speaking to the other side. You have these extreme right-wing people, and then a centrist liberal trying to oppose that—there’s no balance.” Freelance technology writer Melanie Adcock uses her WLPN show, Tech Scene Chicago, to highlight local tech-centric events (civic hacking meetups, for instance) and elevate deserving subjects ignored by bigger media, such as African-American women working in STEM fields. She explains that a lot of Chicago tech coverage chases big-money stories—especially about start-ups that receive millions of dollars in funding or get sold for massive sums. People trying to showcase other ideas in tech get little exposure, and Adcock wants to connect these grassroots organizers and overlooked voices with a wider audience—she hopes this will encourage the public to see the scene as something they can get involved in, not just an intimidating abstraction. Lumpen Radio has also partnered with Yollocalli Arts Reach, a free youth arts program founded in 1997 and headquartered at the Boys & Girls Club of America in Little Village. A group of about 15 students ranging in age from 13 to 20 record a quarterly show they’ve titled Wattz Up!, which they use to discuss music and other pop culture (Harry Potter, Pokémon Go) as well as immigration and politics. Before the students are permitted on the air, they have to take classes in creative
writing, speech, and sound editing. WLPN will broadcast the next installment on Saturday, January 28. In the episode “Downfall of the Human Race,” the Yollocalli group present their fears about living under a Trump administration— some of the students are undocumented, and others have undocumented parents. Many of the kids are protected by Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which allows certain undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors a limited immunity from deportation. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has already said he’d have no problem allowing the Department of Justice to abandon DACA. “The uncertainty that came with the moment [of Trump’s election] was really scary for the students,” says Manriquez, who’s also a radio-journalism instructor for Yollocalli. “I told them that day that they are the new voice of youth in social justice.” The students don’t record at the Lumpen Radio studio—they transmit their show to the station when it’s done, but they make it in a space that once served as an important neighborhood hub for community radio. In the 1970s and 80s, the building was home to youth-run station WCYC 90.5 FM, whose alumni included former WGCI DJs Kenny “Jammin” Jason (also a founding member of the famous Hot Mix 5) and Irene Mojica. The leaders of Yollocalli hope to similarly inspire their students to defy the limitations forced on to them by the city’s many racial and economic injustices. Lumpen Radio’s future plans include adding the technology required to accept live callers and rounding up the personnel it needs to edit and post its own podcasts. For now the station will continue to train new DJs and hosts, in hopes that someone in the community its signal reaches will be surprised by something enlightening—the kind of serendipitous encounter that’s becoming less and less likely in our online spaces, as they’re engineered to reflect back at people only what they already know or believe. “Hearing a show about civic tech or Bollywood music, or Lawrence Peters playing seven-inch country records—those are the things that could really change someone, more than an algorithmic experience,” Bay says. In the impending authoritarian era, stepping outside yourself and trying to understand other perspectives could be more urgently important than ever before. v
ß @ohnoerino JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 31
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please recycle this paper 32 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
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Recommended and notable shows, and critics’ insights for the week of January 19
MUSIC
b ALL AGES F
PICK OF THE WEEK
Now two decades in, Joan of Arc still refuse to take it easy
Calidore String Quartet o COURTESY THE ARTIST
THURSDAY19 Quicksails Khaki Blazer, TALsounds & Matchess, and Gin Hell open. 9 PM, Cafe Mustache, 2313 N. Milwaukee, $5-$10 suggested donation.
o SHERVIN LAINEZ
JOAN OF ARC, FACS, MAGAS
Sat 1/21, 8 PM, Chicago Athletic Association, 12 S. Michigan, $15.
MAY WE ALL learn to be as dedicated to challenging ourselves as the members of Joan of Arc are with their ever-evolving art-rock group. The band launched 21 years ago, and with the exception of front man and lone original member Tim Kinsella, little has stayed the same—except for, notably, their singular zeal to prod themselves in different artistic directions. In his essay for “JOA20,” a visual art show held last year at Elastic that celebrated the band’s 20th anniversary, Kinsella laid out the bumpy, exhaustive process of working on the group’s new album, He’s Got the Whole This Land Is Your Land in His Hands (Joyful Noise). During a year off for Joan of Arc, Kinsella demoed more than
100 songs, ditched all but 38 of them, brought those to the band, and ended up ditching them anyway (“They all still sounded like us,” he says). Eventually Joan of Arc worked out an album that retains their distinct essence: Kinsella’s warm but unnerved vocals, complex instrumentation that sounds shaped through a figurative Tough Mudder course, and unexpected twists that strike balance between affecting and aggressive. All the while, He’s Got The Whole This Land Is Your Land In His Hands nudges Joan of Arc in new directions, as with “Grange Hex Stream,” which vacillates between melodically tranquil guitars and gurgling synths. —LEOR GALIL
Ben Baker Billington has become a pillar of Chicago’s bustling underground music community, organizing concerts and playing in countless groups. He moves easily between noise, free jazz, and psychedelia in the combos he works in, so it should be no surprise that his long-running, primarily electronic solo project Quicksails makes a virtue of variety, not only from album to album, but within a single release. Late last year Quicksails dropped its eighth and best album, Mortal on Hausu Mountain—the vinyl version was just released last week—featuring pieces written during what Billington describes as “a year of intense personal upheavals.” He has a knack for channeling experiences into something meditative, and the percolating grooves and soothing melodic shapes provide warmth and beauty to what results. While most of Mortal is electronic— with dancing rhythms, wriggling tones that sparkle and glow, and pointillistic flickers of sound—a couple of pieces include saxophone from Carlos Chavarria, and another contains tartly abstract trumpet improvisation from Jake Acosta. On “The Compound Blues” Billington draws upon his jazz chops, using brushes on his snare to create a swinging pattern for Chavarria’s probing tenor, while on “Ambassador” buzzing and blooping tones bubble over skipping tabla beats and handclaps. Elsewhere he toggles between a kind of instrumental electronic groove music—subdued, subtle, and smoky—and crawling atmospheric vignettes, all more cogent and appealing than anything he’s pulled off previously. —PETER MARGASAK
FRIDAY20 Calidore String Quartet 7:30 PM, PickStaiger Hall, Northwestern University, 70 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston, $30, $10 students. b
Since forming in 2010, when the members were still students at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the young Calidore String Quartet has rapidly established itself as elite. It was award- J
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 33
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MUSIC
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The hodgepodge lineups each month—filled by raw rappers with overlooked Soundcloud pages, quasi-pop experimentalists, and dogged freestyle veterans—reflect Jones’s sensibilities as a hip-hop listener, participant, and creator. He’s inquisitive, adventurous, versatile, and eager to challenge himself, which shows in his new self-released project Vegas. Recorded in the titular town with dance producer Ryan Lofty, the digital release features Jones casting aside rapping-with-a-big-R to focus on singing, a change he’s teased out in collaborations the past year—he sets the mood with an easygoing hook on OddCouple’s luxurious “Crazy Games,” for example. Jones’s relaxed, potent sense of melody embellishes the pop punch in Lofty’s tropical-inflected production, particularly when Jones softly intones over murmuring synths on “Lie to Me.” —LEOR GALIL
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Catie Curtis
Rich Jones o KATIE LEVINE
continued from 33 ed the prestigious M-Prize last year during the University of Michigan’s premiere chamber-music competition, and served as ensemble in residence at Stony Brook University during the last school year, giving them the mentorship of the veteran Emerson String Quartet, which helped the young group adjust to its role as an advocate for young students. Calidore appears this weekend as part of Northwestern University’s 21st annual Winter Chamber Music Festival, performing a pair of venerable classics: Mozart’s String Quartet no. 15 in D Minor and Schumann’s String Quartet no. 3 in A Major. But I’m most excited by the presence of “First Essay,” a new piece inspired by novelist Marilynne Robinson and composed
for the ensemble by recent Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw. This is the work’s local premiere. —PETER MARGASAK
Rich Jones Qari, L.A. Vangogh, Burns Twins & Kaina, and Sports Boyfriend open; DJ Skoli spins. 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, $12, $10 in advance. 18+ Chicago hip-hop would be worse off without rapper Rich Jones. His influence manifests itself most noticeably in All Smiles, a monthly series he’s helmed at Lincoln Park’s Tonic Room for nearly five years, giving Jones an avenue to unite people from an array of the city’s underground subscenes.
The Final Outing Tour with special guest Connor Garvey
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11 5 & 8PM
Matthew Skoller Deitra Farr opens. 9:30 PM, Rosa’s Lounge, 3420 W. Armitage, $15$20.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Since the 80s there has been a movement to keep the blues alive by addressing modern-day obstacles rather than copying, say, Big Bill Broonzy note for note. At its worst the newest wave of socially conscious blues winds up sounding like hokey entries in a time capsule, with vague, gratuitous references to cell phones, the Internet, and the war in Iraq. On his new album Blues Immigrant (Tongue ’N Groove), Matthew Skoller shows no trace of this problem— not only is he a fascinating harmonica player and vocalist, he’s also a great storyteller. Skoller can create a great “My baby left me” song but also explore other topics with poignant and pointed words that never feel heavy-handed. His tales about corporate greed and immigrants coming to America ring with an undeniable truth, but his sharpest observations come on “Only in the Blues,” a cynical examination of an industry peppered with grade-school blues prodigies and barely paid bar bands. Yes, you can boogie to it, but the lyrics were printed on the CD booklet for a reason. —JAMES PORTER J
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16 8PM
Dobet Gnahoré
ACROSS THE STREET IN SZOLD HALL 4545 N LINCOLN AVENUE, CHICAGO IL
1/20 Global Dance Party: Angel D'Cuba 1/27 Global Dance Party: AfriCaribe 2/3 Global Dance Party: Chicago International Salsa Congress 2/10 Global Dance Party: Planeta Azul and the Passistas Samba Dancers
WORLD MUSIC WEDNESDAY SERIES FREE WEEKLY CONCERTS, LINCOLN SQUARE
1/25 Ilusha 2/1 El Tuyero Ilustrado
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 35
bottom lounge ONSALE NOW
p.o.s JANUARY 20TH & 21ST JANUARY 26TH
dj fundo / transit22
jo mersa marley / jemere morgan UPCOMING SHOWS CAPITAL VICES / DAVLIN / LUCA / RYNO
BORGEOUS
01.27 JACKASS LIVE COMEDY 01.28 P.O.S DJ FUNDO / TRANSIT22
01.29 DAYLIGHT SINNERS
LEX MILLER / JIMMY PHAM / ODYSSEY
W/ BREATHE CAROLINA
JANUARY 28TH
REACT PRESENTS
02.03 G JONES & FRIENDS 02.07 J BOOG
JO MERSA MARLEY / JEMERE MORGAN
02.08 US THE DUO – JUST LOVE TOUR HAILEY KNOX
FEBRUARY 3RD
JOYCE MANOR & AJJ
FEBRUARY 4TH
BI 2 LIVE
FEBRUARY 8TH FEBRUARY 10TH
MATOMA
SILVER WRAPPER PRESENTS
02.10 SPACE JESUS
PROKO / OF THE TREES
02.11 FREELANCE WRESTLING 02.17 ROBB BANKS
DASH / WIFISFUNERAL / WARHOL.SS
02.18 MYKKI BLANCO CAKES DA KILLA
02.24 AFTER THE BURIAL
EMMURE / FIT FOR A KING / FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY / INVENT, ANIMATE
02.25 03.03 03.04 03.07 03.08
THE JAPANESE HOUSE MICKEY AVALON AJR MAE ARCHITECTS
STRAY FROM THE PATH / MAKE THEM SUFFER RIOT FEST PRESENTS
03.09 WE THE KINGS RIOT FEST PRESENTS
FEBRUARY 11TH
VALENTINE’S DAY BANDA BASH
FEBRUARY 16TH
BLACK TIGER SEX MACHINE
03.10 SAVE FERRIS BABY BABY
SILVER WRAPPER PRESENTS
03.11 TAUK 03.17 ENTER SHIKARI –
A ‘TAKE TO THE SKIES’ TEN YEAR CELEBRATION SILVER WRAPPER PRESENTS
03.25 SUNSQUABI ARTIFAKTS
03.28 NAILS
TOXIC HOLOCAUST / GATECREEPER
03.31 BOWLING FOR SOUP RUNAWAY KIDS / DIRECT HIT SILVER WRAPPER PRESENTS
WWW.CONCORDMUSICHALL.COM 2047 N. MILWAUKEE | 773.570.4000 36 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
continued from 35 Matt Ulery’s Pollinator Matt Ulery’s Loom open. 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $10.
01.21 EL FAMOUS
JANUARY 27TH
MUSIC
04.08 SPAFFORD
www.bottomlounge.com 1375 w lake st 312.666.6775
In the past I’ve written of the restless creativity possessed by bassist, bandleader, and composer Matt Ulery, a musician who’s convincingly moved between modern jazz, moody through-composed tunes, and eastern-European folk modes. Over the last couple of years he’s developed an interest in the tuba, achieving enough fluency on the instrument to serve as a reliable armature in his own elegant compositions. On last year’s impressive Festival (Woolgathering) he played tuba with his long-running band Loom, adding to his arrangements a warm rusticity, particularly in combination with the pump organ lines of Rob Clearfield. Tonight Ulery will lead Loom as well as a newish combo called Pollinator, in which his tuba is front and center. The music I’ve heard by the brass-heavy band with trumpeter James Davis, trombonist Steve Duncan, and saxophonist Hunter Diamond veers decidedly toward a driving strain of modern jazz imbued with the timbre of early west-coast jazz, as heard on a classic like Miles Davis’s Birth of the Cool. The lineup also includes pianist Paul Bedal and drummer Quin Kirchner. —PETER MARGASAK
Gustavo Cortiñas o COURTESY THE ARTIST
SATURDAY21 City of Caterpillar Planes Mistaken for Stars and All Eyes West open. 9 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 2105 S. State, $20, $15 in advance. 17+ Among the wave of screamo bands that emerged in the late 90s and early 2000s few are as influential as City of Caterpillar, which hails from Richmond, Virginia. Granted, that’s a little like saying “most influential feather bowler” to someone with no grasp of recreational sports. Even while rock might occasionally be pitched as a niche concern, screamo is uber-niche—describing the prevalent hail of percussion, serrated swarms of guitars, and garbled and guttural yelps feels like an exercise in the kind of histrionics that screamo is mocked for upholding. But before they burned out in 2003, City of Caterpillar exuded a distinct grasp of atmosphere that’s since propelled more advanced postrock bands and has helped wrap the band in a cocoon of mystery. Take “A Little Change Could Go a Long Ways,” off their 2002 self-titled full-length, its elongated, trembling guitar melody punctuated by terse drumming and an unyielding dread broken by croaked, washboard-rigid screams. Repeater Records reissued City of Caterpillar in the fall, and with it the group reconvened for a smattering of reunion shows, dragging some unreleased material in tow. In November NPR premiered the sprawling “As the Curtains Dim; (Little White Lie),” which had been scrapped from the record because it couldn’t fit on the vinyl. Guitarist-vocalist Brandon Evans remarked about the counterintuitive motions every band that’s been “underappreciated” goes through when reuniting, saying, “We have actualized becoming the ghost.” Let this ghost haunt more than just those of us who know a good obscure “skramz” joke. —LEOR GALIL
Joan of Arc See Pick of the Week (page 33). Facs and Magas open. 8 PM, Chicago Athletic Association, 12 S. Michigan, $15. Dale Watson & Ray Benson 5 and 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, $35, $33 members. b Both Texas-based musicians devoted to classic country, Dale Watson and Ray Benson feel generations removed from what Nashville generally markets these days. Benson has been playing music for more than four decades, racking up Grammys as the leader of Asleep at the Wheel—arguably the most long-standing western-swing combo in music history—while Watson has thrived as an outsider who churns out hard-core honky-tonk he’s long considered “too country for country.” They’ve just released a collaboration called Dale & Ray (Ameripolitan/Home) that makes a virtue of their disconnection from Music City, as song after song celebrates the sound of a bygone era. They waste little time elucidating their aesthetic: opener “The Ballad of Dale and Ray” features them pledging allegiance to Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, insisting “Today’s country music don’t move us that way / We like Hank Williams Sr, we’re Dale and Ray.” Obviously, “Feelin’ Haggard” laments the loss of the Bakersfield giant, while a cover of Willie Nelson’s “Write Your Own Songs” reinforces a shared disdain for the music-business hit factory. Ultimately the pair focuses on the sort of classic verities that make honky-tonk so timeless, whether serving up fast-moving wordplay on “Bus’ Breakdown,” a rambling trucker-style song about less-than-ideal transportation, or recounting alcohol-fueled debauch-
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CATE LE BON +TIM PRESLEY OF WHITE FENCE
FEB 04
WHITE LIES
FEB 06
THE SKLAR BROTHERS 2 SHOWS!
FEB 11
JACOB COLLIER
FEB 14
UNIVERSAL HARVESTER BOOK RELEASE
JOHN DARNIELLE
MAR 01
LITE + MOUSE ON THE KEYS
MAR 14
NEW
MUSIC
ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND
MAR 17
NEW
Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.
TIMBER TIMBRE
APR 28
VOWWS
DAN VAN KIRK
GUEST
GUEST
TICKETS AT WWW.LH-ST.COM
LANDLADY
FEB 08
THE FLASHBULB
FEB 13
WHITNEY ROSE
FEB 20
JOHN ANDREWS & THE YAWNS
HAND HABITS
FEB 21
POTTY MOUTH + PARTYBABY
FEB 24
HALEY BONAR
MAR 04
NEW
NICK HAKIM
MAR 09
NEW
Mogwai o STEVE GULLICK
BOMBADIL
APR 08
SUNJACKET
MONDAY23 Gustavo Cortinas 8 and 10 PM, Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth, $10, $5 students. I know Chicago has a very deep jazz scene, but I’m often reminded how strong it is by a record like Esse (OA2), the second from drummer and composer Gustavo Cortiñas. Though the Mexico native moved to the area a decade ago to further his education, attending Loyola and Northwestern, I’d never heard of him until a couple of months ago (same goes for some of the players who contribute to the new album). Now I’ve certainly been put on notice, especially via the profundity of the band’s strong horn section, featuring trombonist Adam Thornburg, saxophonists Artie Black and Roy McGrath, and trumpeter Justin Copeland. Cortiñas says his compositions here were inspired by the writings of Western philosophers—Hegel, Aristotle, and Descartes among them—with certain precepts illustrated by
structural conceits, which are explained in occasionally convoluted liner notes. The clarity of the melodies and lush arrangements, however, render those underpinnings superfluous. Tunes are marked by patient attacks and painterly details, all articulated by his warm and generous band—bassist Kit Liles, guitarist Hans Luchs, and pianist Joaquín Garciá help sculpt sturdy, inviting grooves that afford the front line loads of space and atmosphere. The results are thoroughly mainstream, but the vitality of the playing and the writing ought to grab anyone’s attention. Tonight is the record-release celebration. —PETER MARGASAK
FIVE STEP PATH + ABSTRACT SCIENCE DJS
GUEST
NEW
ery with “A Hangover Ago.” The duo offers no surprises, but the pleasure of hearing two craftsmen celebrate a hallowed tradition is its own reward. —PETER MARGASAK
Mayhem Inquisition and Black Anvil open. 8 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, $25. 18+ A few things synonymous with pioneering Norwegian black-metal band Mayhem: church burnings, suicide, murder. And that was all before their first official LP, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, saw the light of day. Though recorded between 1992 and ’93 with the lineup of founding guitarist Euronymous, Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar, maniac drummer Hellhammer, and Burzum’s Varg Vikernes on bass, the record was stalled until ’94 because of the murder trial of Vikernes, who fatally J
GUEST
GUESTS
GUEST
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 37
Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.
MUSIC
®
SPECIAL GUEST:
LOST DOG STREET BAND
THIS SATURDAY! JANUARY 21 RIVIERA THEATRE 9:00pm • 18 & Over
THE VOICE OF KEANE
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS SPECIAL GUEST:
KYLE CRAFT
Alcest o COURTESY PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS
continued from 37
NEXT THURSDAY! JANUARY 26 PARK WEST 8:00pm • 18 & Over
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2 VIC THEATRE 8:00pm • 18 & Over
SPECIAL GUEST:
JONATHAN COULTON
SATURDAY APRIL 29 PARK WEST
8:00pm • 18 & Over
^mofi OR
sf` qeb^qob ON SALE THIS FRIDAY AT NOON! BUY TICKETS AT
38 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
ON SALE THIS FRIDAY AT 10AM!
stabbed Euronymous. (And this was after former vocalist Dead committed suicide via a shotgun blast to the head, depicted in a crime-scene photo that was notoriously used as the cover of a live Mayhem bootleg.) The record’s dark mythology set the tone for black metal to follow while also musically sidestepping the usual lo-fi frenzy that defined the genre, instead favoring sweeping, dramatic, almost orchestral prog metal. Csihar is the star of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, his vocals ranging from inhuman gremlin growls to shrill shrieks to operatic beauty, and onstage he wears plenty of theatrical costumes and makeup, perhaps in tribute to Peter Gabriel’s Genesis era. The band will perform the record in its entirety on this tour with Csihar and Hellhammer firmly in place, bringing the darkness. —LUCA CIMARUSTI
TUESDAY24 Mogwai 9:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, $30, $25 in advance. 17+ It’s gotta be a drag epitomizing the definition of postrock—so crippled by the pressure to outdo yourself with each album by layering subtle, delicate crescendo upon subtle, delicate crescendo, all the while blending moody electronic elements just so with obligatory orchestral flourishes. It’s a wonder a band like Mogwai doesn’t explode on stage like a supernova, swallowing the venue in a burst of light before being sucked down into the earth’s molten core. But the Scots have never much faltered—they’ve been a steady hand in the subgenre since the late 90s, usually teasing out some grand new venture. Case in point: in 2015 they soundtracked Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise, a documentary about, holy shit, nuclear history (fea-
turing archival footage from the bombing of Hiroshima, the Chernobyl disaster, etc). The volatility and grandness of nuclear energy feels synonymous with Mogwai’s vast brand of postrock, and on 2016’s Atomic (Rock Action)—the album later culled from the soundtrack—the band is as artful at scoring an eerie aftermath-like stillness as it is a sweeping gust of devastation. Tonight Mogwai will play the Atomic score in its entirety as the docementary is projected behind them. —KEVIN WARWICK
WEDNESDAY25 Alcest The Body and Creepers open. 7:30 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 2105 S. State, $23, $18 in advance. 17+ Genre-straddling and occasionally divisive, France’s Alcest have always been one of the most compelling bands working the not-quite-plain-metal frontiers. Whether you consider them prime instrumental black metal, a sort of kinder and gentler Burzum for those who prefer 100 percent less Varg Vikernes, or essentially a shoegaze band that happens to be gazing at black spiky boots—closer to My Bloody Valentine than, say, Darkthrone— you get evidence of it all on their recent Kodama (Prophecy). Composer and front man Neige has always been a dreamer influenced by his childhood visions of fairyland—not unlike the Brontë kids with their mythical world Gondal—and here we also get a Japanese folklore theme. (Remember those little white forest spirits in Princess Mononoke? Those are kodama.) Romantic and tender at times, rich and complex, Kodama brings slight returns to earlier forms. Note the heavy crunch of “Oiseaux de Proie,” which starts out playful and builds to a surging roar. Neige’s forest fairyland is still red in tooth and claw.—MONICA KENDRICK v
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FOOD & DRINK
R PUBLICAN ANKER | $$$ 1576 N. Milwaukee 773-905-1121 publicananker.com
T
NEW REVIEW
Anker’s aweigh
The latest offshoot of the Publican is like the others in that it’s unlike the others. By MIKE SULA
The green chile fish stew has perfectly cooked mussels, clams, and hake chunks, and is mounted atop a leather trivet. o JAMIE RAMSAY
here’s an arresting dish served at Publican Anker, the latest offshoot of One Off Hospitality’s surging Publican brand, located in the Wicker Park crotch. It’s a Viking cauldron of swampy-looking green broth bobbing with perfectly cooked mussels, clams, and hake chunks, mounted atop a leather trivet. On the occasion I ordered it, it arrived with no bowls, no spoons, and no ladle, and until we wrangled our server, we were forced to contend with it caveman style, since the forks and small plates dealt out to handle almost everything else on the menu were useless. It was an uncommon service oversight for a One Off concern, but at least it made for a commanding presence at the table. It’s one of a few showstoppers at this new satellite, which evolved from Paul Kahan’s original Publican model of beer, oysters, and pork to one more focused on fish, vegetables, and wine. The oysters and beer are still there, as is a bit of pork, but they’re subsumed under a tide of surf and turf—in the more literal sense of sustainable organisms like shellfish and mackerel—and an abundant array of plant life. The space is the old Francesca’s Forno, a lucrative corner that One Off partner Terry Alexander has held on to since the mid-90s, when it was Soul Kitchen. In lieu of the mothership’s warm lighting and convivial layout, Anker’s tone is muted, with a battleship-gray paint job and angular floor plan, while the crowd’s volume, which falls and rises to the tin ceiling in tandem with the sound system, is more in keeping with the original location. There are other familiarities. A quorum of manbunned and topknotted servers repeatedly shuttles the famous pork rinds and the slender, pale-golden frites from the kitchen’s pickup window, which offers a glimpse of the wood-burning grill and coal oven. The Slagel Farms roasted half chicken is there (minus the summer sausage), and the oysters too—but only two varieties, now with the option to slurp them raw or grilled and topped with yuzu butter. The aforementioned green chile fish stew has an antecedent on the Publican’s menu too, but any chile heat is subsumed in the savory, murky broth, camouflaged by a shower of fresh cilantro. That herb shows up again and again on these plates, enough that—along with the abundant garnishes of chopped mint, spikes of acidic lime, and occasional bass notes of fish-sauce funk—makes me suspect menu brainstorming occurred during marathon sessions at Aroy Thai or Rainbow Cuisine. The menu, however, actually name-checks a number of Middle Eastern ingredients, which is more in line with the moment, culinarily speaking. Nowhere are both of these features more evident than with the chicken wings, showered with basil, with a sticky, vaguely fishy, sweet-chile lacquer, or the meaty chunks of grilled pork collar with raisiny Urfa biber chile pepper and the Middle Eastern spice blend dukkah. You can discern hints of it too in the whole grilled dorade, a meaty, white-fleshed fish, whose crispy skin is pasted with a kind of Aleppo chile jam that has its own piscine essence. This beast is meant to be pulled apart at the table, seasoned with more cilantro and lime juice, and ingested on leaves of Bibb lettuce or wholewheat naan, the latter which requires immediate attention before it stiffens to a crackerlike rigidity. In many respects the seafood is as substantial and hearty as any land-based protein. Muscular swordfish meat is piped into a J
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 39
S P O N S O R E D
N E I G H B O R H O O D
C O N T E N T
Chicago has always been a city of distinct neighborhoods with their own sense of identity and tradition — and each with stand-out bars and restaurants that are worthy of a haul on the El or bucking up for parking. Explore some local faves here, then head out for a taste of the real thing!
RED LINE TAP // ROGERS PARK $3 PBR drafts & well drinks, $5 wine, M-Su Happy Hour 5-7pm
EATALY, LA PIAZZA // RIVER NORTH Tues: 5-9 pm, $15 housemade beer + Margherita pizza alla pala
LINCOLN HALL // LINCOLN PARK All Lagunitas beers are $6
E ATA LY . C O M / C H I C A G O
L H - S T. C O M
PHYLLIS’ MUSICAL INN // WICKER PARK Everyday: $3.75 Moosehead pints and $2.50 Hamms cans
REGGIES // SOUTH LOOP $5 Absolut & Bacardi Cocktails Every Day special
ALIVEONE // LINCOLN PARK Wednesday: 1/2 price aliveOne signature cocktails
7 7 3 . 4 8 6 .9 8 62
REGGIESLIVE.COM
ALIVEONE .COM
MOTOR ROW BREWING // NEAR SOUTHSIDE Thu, Fri, Tue, Wed: Happy Hour noon-6pm, $2 off all beers
SCHUBAS // LAKEVIEW All Lagunitas beers are $5.50
FITZGERALDS // BERWYN Two Brothers Cane & Abel Red Rye Ale $5 pints
MOTORROWB REWI NG .COM
L H - S T. C O M
FITZGERALDSNIGHTCLUB .COM
R E D L I N E TA P. C O M
R I SV O EU R TNHO LRO TO HP
REGGIES // 2 1 0 9 S S TAT E // R E G G I E S L I V E .C O M
BAKED MAC ’N’ CHEESE
Reggies brings music fans’ ultimate dream to reality with a terrific bar and grill, kickin’ rock club, and a music lover’s record store! Their menu—from amazing jumbo wings to creative burgers and sandwiches—offers comfort food with bit of home in every bite. While you’re at it, don’t miss their just-like-grandma-made Baked Mac ’n’ Cheese with Reggies favorite creamy blend of gourmet cheeses. Complement your meal with a full bar selection of beers, wine, spirits, and liquors.
“Mac ’n’ cheese was awesome. Really cool rooftop deck . . .” 40 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
— DAN / GOOGLE
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Hundreds of bar suggestions are available at chicagoreader.com/ barguide. Bottoms up!
casing and served as an aquatic cassoulet, with fresh shelled beans, grilled romaine, and clams, and the profile of a salty seafood salad’s delicate shrimp, scallops, and squid is deepened with smoked trout. But while an escarole heart salad with a bacon vinaigrette and chicken gizzards (and a stray liver here and there) won’t offer much contrast in that regard, many of the other vegetable dishes do, among them an orange salad with charred onions, nutty farro, and delicate shavings of Ubriaco Rosso Piave, lent a fruitiness from the wine the cheese is soaked in prior to aging. Eggplant is battered and fried as lightly as air, tangling with similarly fried halloumi, while strips of charred cucumber are tossed with pumpkin seeds and a restrained interpretation of the usually spicy Yemeni pesto zhoug. Any potential complaints about a lack of assertiveness are quickly forgotten when it’s eaten with cool whipped ricotta and thick slabs of Publican Quality Meats’ grilled sourdough. The one outlier on Anker’s menu—one touted to the extreme in the preopening hyperventilation—is a burger, smashed thin with hints of lacy edges, topped with caramelized onions, American cheese, and a lightly spicy riff on McDonald’s special
sauce. It’s a decent burger, but it’s there to appease the gustatorily timid, those with no appetite for the many more interesting and worthy items. Speaking of which, the dessert menu includes a magnetic interpretation of the classic British banoffee pie, a spongy toffee pudding doused in butterscotch and showered with banana slices and crushed pecan. But don’t let it strong-arm you past the tangy blood-orange Creamsicle ice cream. Publican Anker seems less laser-focused on beer than its progenitor. There are dozens of red and white wines to choose from (including a few magnums), a relatively truncated cocktail menu (wouldn’t want to show up the nearby Violet Hour, a fellow One Off spot), and 15 beers on draft ranging from the exotic (a Brazilian sour wild ale brewed from graviola fruit) to the self-consciously mundane (Schlitz). After the Violet Hour, Big Star, and Dove’s Luncheonette, Publican Anker is only the latest One Off incarnation to further the colonization of Wicker Park’s most recognized and well-traveled block. The affinities with the Publican are obvious, but it’s enough of its own entity to warrant a name and identity all its own. v
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@Mike Sula
The magnetic interpretation of the classic British banoffee pie is a spongy toffee pudding doused in butterscotch and showered with banana slices and crushed pecan. o JAMIE RAMSAY
FOOD & DRINK
KEY INGREDIENT
The secret to gluten-free falafel: Job’s tears By JULIA THIEL
o JULIA THIEL
continued from 39
○ Watch a video of A.J. Walker working with Job’s tears in the kitchen at chicagoreader.com/food.
I
n our gluten-averse society, a gluten-free grain that’s virtually unknown sounds all but impossible. JOB’S TEARS, which have been consumed for centuries across Asia, are technically not a grain (the plant is part of the grass family), but that didn’t stop Bon Appetit from declaring them “the next cult gluten-free grain” last year. In the case of the wild strain, Job’s tears are often dried and used as beads, while the softer domesticated version can be steamed like rice, ground into flour, boiled to make tea, and brewed into beer. But when DAN SNOWDEN of BAD HUNTER challenged A.J. WALKER of PUBLICAN ANKER, to create a recipe with Job’s tears, it was nothing new for the chef. Back when he worked at the original Publican restaurant, he says, they used the pseudocereal—but it doesn’t seem to have made a lasting impression on him. “We did something with grilled squid and Job’s tears tabbouleh, or something like that . . . I can’t really remember,” he says. He describes Job’s tears as having “a sweetness like corn, a nutty thing. There’s not a lot of flavor, really.” Still, Walker took advantage of the ingredient’s lack of gluten, making falafel with it. “I think if I made it with a grain that contains gluten, it would have been a bready, chewy mess,” he says. “This just gives it an interesting texture.” After soaking the Job’s tears overnight,
Walker whizzed them in a food processor with sesame seeds, sugar, baking soda, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, black pepper, dashi powder, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, parsley, and onion. He formed the mixture into balls, dropping them into the deep fryer to cook before turning his attention to the accompaniments. Pita bread was a given: Publican Quality Bread provides dough for the restaurant, which Walker rolled thin and grilled on the open wood-burning range. His twist on tzatziki sauce includes sour cream, butter, labneh (strained yogurt), cucumber, and the Middle Eastern spice mixture za’atar. The finishing touches were a simple salad of cucumber, pickled Fresno chiles, and scallion, and a drizzle of wildflower honey spiced with espelette pepper and fennel seed. “It’s a little sweeter than a regular chickpea falafel,” Walker says. But the difference is subtle. “I don’t know if people would even know it was Job’s tears unless someone told you. It’s the texture that changes more than anything.”
WHO’S NEXT:
Walker has challenged BEN LUSTBADER of GIANT to create a recipe with a type of seaweed called DULSE. v
ß @juliathiel JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 41
JOBS
ADMINISTRATIVE
ZUBELS AN UP incoming baby gift, doll and clothing collection is looking for some one to spear head their marketing department. The amount of hours depends on your performance. Advanced knowledge of social media and Word Press is a must. I am looking for an experienced person who knows how to grab control of a project and run with it. We are a fun company to work with and I look forward to seeing your resumes and a small exert on what you can do for the brand. We would like Zubels to be a house hold brand for young mothers of today. (Chicago or surrounding people) rstone@zubels.us
SALES & MARKETING Telephone Sales Experienced/aggressive telephone closers needed now to sell ad space for Chicago’s oldest and largest newspaper rep firm. Immediate openings in Loop office. Salary + commission. 312-368-4884. RADIO TELESALES. EXCELLENT opportunity for a good, expe-
rienced radio sales pro to sell public service announcements. High commissions and bonuses in relaxed environment in Skokie near transportation. 847-679-7660.
OFFICE SCHEDULING, MARKETING PERSONS wanted.
Part-time, flexible hours. Pleasant, cheerful phone manner. Some computer skills a plus. Evanston office. Next to Train. nikitsitsis@yahoo.com, or 847-875-6463.
TELE-FUNDRAISING: COLD CASH FOR WINTER American Veterans helping Veterans.
Felons need not apply per Illinois Attorney General regulations. Start ASAP, Call 312-256-5035
General BILINGUAL/SCIENCE TEACHER (MIDDLE School)
North Shore School District 112, Highland Park, IL, Apply at: www. g e n e r a l a s p . c o m / nssd112/onlineapp/default.aspx?all=1
MULTIPLE SOFTWARE DE- PATCH LANDSCAPING & Snow VELOPERS & JR. SOFTWARE Removal, Inc., Chicago, IL. Daily transp. will be provided to and from DEVELOPERS NEEDED: worksite to the following counties: Cook. 6 Landscape Laborer pos. avail. Software Developers & Junior Temp, FT pos. from 4/1/17-12/15/17, Software Developers needed to develop, create, and modi- 7A-4P, 40 hrs/wk, OT varies, M-F, Schedule Varies, Some Saturdays may fy general software applications; Analyze user needs to be req’d. Workers will be paid weekly at $14.34/hr, $21.51/hr OT, Raises & develop software solutions; bonuses at employer’s discretion. Gather requirements, plan, analyze, design, test and cus- Mow, edge, weed-eat, lawn maintenance & aeration, trim/prune trees, tomize software for client shrubs and hedges; leaf removal/rakuse with the aim of optimizing; yard & flowerbed clean-ups, waing operational efficiency. Software Developers may an- tering & installation of mulch, sod, and plant material such as trees, shrubs, alyze and design databases plants & seasonal color; mix and within an application area. spray/spread fertilizers, herbicides May provide maintenance and insecticides; haul/spread topsoil support for critical applications and related issues. Jun- or spread straw for soil retention. Able ior Software Developers may to lift 50lbs, no exp. req’d will train. Employer facilitates voluntary housassist Software Developers ing arrangements. The employer will to analyze and design dataprovide workers at no charge all tools, bases within an application supplies and equipment required to area and provide maintenance support for critical ap- perform the job. Initial transp. (including meals &, to the extent necessary, plications and related issues. lodging) to the place of employment Multiple positions available will be provided, or its cost to workers using 1 or more of the followreimbursed, if the worker completes ing skill sets; webMethods, UNIX, Webservices, or ½ the employment period. Return Informatica, Linux, Oracle, or transp. will be provided if the worker completes the employment period or webMethods, Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle Data In- is dismissed early by the employer. Please inquire about the job opportutegrator, or webMethods, Oracle SOA, Mulesoft Sup- nity or send applications, indications of availability, and/or resumes directly port, or webMethods, JAVA/ to 6107 N Ravenswood Ave., Chicago, J2EE, Oracle, or, webMeIL 60660, Phone: (773) 262-7282 thods, EDI, XML, B2B Integraor to the nearest IL SWA, Northside tion: Not all positions require all skills. Work locations for Workforce Center (DESI), 5060 N. all positions will include Chi- Broadway Street, Suite 690, Chicago, IL 60640, (773) 334-4747. cago, IL and also at various client locations in the U.S. as Refer to JO#4672435 p assigned which may require at the end of the workday. Transporrelocation. Applicants for all tation and subsistence expenses to positions must specifically the worksite will be provided or paid identify all post- secondary by the employer, with payment to be education and all mentioned made no later than completion of software, languages or tools 50% of the work contract. Send Rein which applicant has educasume or contact Illinois Department tion, training or experience. of Employment Security, Migrant/ Applicants should identify Farm Workers Programs, 33 State clearly which position they Street, 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603, are applying for in their cov- (312) 793-1284, (312) 793-1778 FAX, er letter. Mail resumes to or your nearest State Workforce Quinnox, Inc., Attn: HR, 400 Agency and reference job order North Michigan Avenue, Ste 2002591. S1300, Chicago, IL 60611. Lead Developer (Project ManagSACIA ORCHARDS, INC, in er). Plan, initiate & manage Galesville, WI is hiring 11 temporary Business-to-Business (B2B) Farmworkers, Laborers and Crop Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems software from 02/20/2017-5/1/2017: 40 hrs/ week. Workers will plant trees, do projects from blueprint to delivery fence and trellis repair and mainte- & implementation with accountanance, cut away dead and excess bility for all project aspects. Assign responsibilities & monitor branches from fruit trees using hand- project progress. Coordinate IT saws, chainsaws, pruning hoods and project teams to ensure that clishears, may apply healing compound ent reqs are incorporated into to pruning wounds. May cut down design specifications, multiand fertilize trees. Worker will oper- platform integrations & data ate pruning equipment and tractors transfers. Reqs: MA/MS in comp to remove limbs and brush from sci, pruning sites. Must be able to work is comp eng, elec eng, info sys or extreme weather conditions, stand related fld & 3 yrs related proand walk long periods of time, use gressive exp in job offered or sharp instruments, be able to work software with open fire, able to do ladder developer; or BA/BS in said fields work and lift 50lbs. 3 months experi- & 5 yrs related progressive exp in job offered or software ence required. $12.75/hr. (prevailing developer. Proficiency required wage). Guarantee of 3/4 of the work- in Java, Flex & MySQL. Job in days. All work tools, supplies, and Chicago, IL. Resumes to Blue equipment furnished without cost to Wolf Group, Careers@ the worker. Free housing is provided BlueWolfGroup.com. Job# 2137. to workers who cannot reasonably EOE. return to their permanent residence
(Hoffman Estates, IL) Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas LLC seeks Senior Research Engineer w/ Mast or for equiv deg in Chem Eng or rel eng fld & 5 yrs progressive exp in job offered or indus exp in new prod devp from concept to commer or tech sup of manuf oper, incl exp w/ corn wet milling tech incl plant oper exposure; food ingred oper incl downstream purification & refining unit oper; integrating mass & energy balance models w/ cash cost of manuf estim; modeling capital cost estim of new proc & proc expansions; new prod & proc devp incl scale-up at Pilot Plant level; transf new tech to plant scale exec incl direct particip in commission & startup; solvent (nonaqueous) proc & solvent recovery; & SAP bus mngmnt syst. Occas dom & intl trvl reqd. Apply online at: http://www.tateandlyle. com/careers/Pages/Careers.aspx Beyond (Lead) Developer. Plan, initiate & manage Businessto-Business (B2B) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems software projects from blueprint to delivery & implementation with accountability for all project aspects. Assign responsibilities & monitor project progress. Coordinate IT project teams to ensure that client reqs are incorporated into design specifications & multiplatform integrations & data transfers. Reqs: BA/BS in comp sci, comp eng, info sys or related fld & 2 related yrs exp in job offered or as software developer. Job in Chicago, IL. Resumes to Blue Wolf Group, Careers@ BlueWolfGroup.com. Job# 2134. EOE. Computer Programmer needed for IBS, Inc., Oak Brook, IL. Engage in analysis, programming and testing of mainframe based applications. Will also be involved in designing documents for mainframe applications. Will utilize COBOL, JCL, CICS, VSAM, and DB2. Will handle migration of mainframe applications to the cloud using WebServices for access. Will provide services to clients located throughout the U.S. Must have a BS degree in computer science, math, business or engineering and 5 yrs. of overall progressive IT exp. which includes 2 yrs. of exp. in the skill sets listed above. Must be willing to travel/relocate. Send resumes to: hr@ibs.com Hoffman Estates, IL) Tate & Lyle Americas LLC seeks IT Audit Manager w/ Bach or for equiv deg in IT, Comp Eng, Bus Admin or rel fld & 3 yrs exp in job offered or operat exp w/in an IS/IT area & IT Audit exp in large complex co operat under FTSE 100 reqs, incl exp wrkng as part of programme assur team in fast chngng environ; w/ IT auditing in SAP environ; data analytics & support large scale anal; ERP (SAP), access controls, configurable controls & data Mngmt; & the devp & exec of IT risk assess, IT audit st ds/framewrk (COBIT, ISO 17799, ISO/IEC 27002, ITIL, etc.). Up to 50% intl & domes trvl. Apply online at: http://www.tateandlyle. com/careers/Pages/Careers.aspx
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(Mt. Prospect, IL) Littelfuse, Inc. seeks Senior Design Engineer with Bach or for equiv deg in ME, Mechatronics Eng, Materials Eng, Ind Eng or rel fld & 5 yrs progressive exp in job offered or prod or tech devp, incl exp w/ devp new tech, incl trk record of innovation &/or patents; CAD, incl 3D modeling & generation of 2D eng drawings; manuf proc: plastic inject moldng, sheet metal fabric (stamp, coining, machining, bending, forming), soldering, ultrasonic welding; stat techn & design of exper; & design respons for new prods & techno for ABU PCP. Freq dom & occas intl trvl reqd. Apply to HR, 8755 W. Higgins Rd., Ste 500, Chicago, IL 60631 TRANSUNION, LLC SEEKS
Analysts, Data Quality for Chicago, IL location to participate in the development & formalization of the next generation of search & match algorithms. Master’s in Com. Sci. or Comp. Eng. + 2yrs exp. or Bachelor’s in Comp. Sci. or Comp. Eng. + 5yrs exp. req’d. Must have sw development exp. using C, C++, algorithmic skills, Java development, SQL, MySQL, JSON, GIT, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Unix/Linux, Windows platforms, network protocols, scripting languages and shell scripting, full Software Development Life Cycle, Agile Methodologies. Send resume to: C. Studniarz, REF: SM, 555 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL 60661
TRANSUNION, LLC SEEKS Sr.
Analysts for Chicago, IL location to develop credit risk management & business intelligence data analytic solutions using descriptive, predictive & prescriptive analysis. Master’s in Statistics, Applied Math or Operations Research + 2yrs exp. or Bachelor’s in Statistics, Applied Math or Operations Research + 5yrs exp. req’d. Must have predictive modeling, statistical programming & clientfacing exp. w/R, Python, SQL, Hive, Pig, Hadoop, Unix/Linux, Vim, Git, & hold SAS certification. Send resume to: C. Studniarz, REF: JC, 555 W Adams, Chicago, IL 60661
STAFF
ENGINEER:
Perform
field inspection of new infrastructure projects for water, storm and sanitary sewers, roadways, and bridge structural inspection for deep foundation and beams and deck installations. Must have successfully completed the Erosion Control and Stormwater management Training Program and have IDOT Documentation of Contract Quantities Certification. Position requires occasional travels within Midwest region. Send resume to: GSG Consultants, Inc., 855 W. Adams St., Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, Attn: Ala E. Sassila.
SENIOR ASSOCIATE – Actuarial Insurance Management Solutions (Mult Pos), PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Chicago, IL. Help clnts w/ actuarial modernization, procs improv, risk & capital mgmt, deals, & fin. reprtng. Req BS in Actuarial Sci, Stats, Econ, Math or rel + 3 yrs rel work exp; OR MS in Actuarial Sci, Stats, Econ, Math or rel + 1 yr rel work exp. Travel up to 20% req. Apply by mail, referencing Job Code IL1082, Attn: HR SSC/Talent Management, 4040 W. Boy Scout Blvd, Tampa, FL 33607
SENIOR PROG. ANALYSTS:
Degree in Computer Related. MS w/ 2 or BS w/ 5 yrs of exp. Expertise: OOD, RDBMS, Java, JSP, J2EE, Groovy, Grails, SOAP/WSDL, AJAXDWR, MVC. Domain knowledge in Telecom, Real Estate, Enterprise Acct. & Social Networking. Local travel. Resumes to: H.R., SOFTWEB Solutions Inc. 2531 Technology Drive, Suite 312, Elgin, IL 60124
Chiropractic clinic is seeking a chiropractor w/ D.C. degree & IL chiropractic license. Job duties include performing a series of manual adjustments to the spine. Worksite in Schaumburg. Resume to EZ Pain, Attn: Won Lee,32 E. Golf Rd, Schaumburg, IL 60173 NUTS ON CLARK POPCORN
CHICAGOREADER.COM 42 CHICAGO READER | JANUARY 19, 2017
stores HIRING FOR NEW LOCATION: Sales, cooks, stock, paid training. Starts immediately when working with a team. Apply in person @ corp. office, 3830 N. Clark St. Chicago 9 am to 10 am Mon Thru Fri. Must bring ID’s to apply
MEDICAL OFFICE SPECIALIST: answer tel., set appts, interview patients, prep. forms. HS dipl. & 2y exp. req. Speak Spanish & Polish. Mail res: Hispanic Medical Services, SC, 5544 W Belmont, Chicago, IL 60641
OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR: CHICAGO IL. Direct/ coord to
obtain optimum business efficiency. Coord marketing, sales, advertising. Bachelor’s in any field. 2 yrs exp. Res: Heatmasters Mechanical, Inc, lfisher@hm-mech.com.
FOR RENT OR LEASE w/Option. Newly Remodeled 3 & 4BR Single Family Homes and Apartments. Section 8 & All Credit Welcome to apply. 312-602-9566 or 708-546-8537
BRIDGEVIEW AREA- LG furn
MECHANIC’S HELPERS NEEDED. Must have valid driver’s
Room in a single home. No drugs/ alcohol. Dep Req. Mature working person pref. 708-458-8610 or 708-436-4043
WANTED. TRUCK MECHANICS. Overtime hours available.
CLEAN ROOM W/FRIDGE & micro, Near Oak Park, Food -4Less, Walmart, Walgreens, Buses & Metra, Laundry. $115/wk & up. 773-637-5957
license, uniforms provided, opportunity for advancement. Southside Chicago. Call 773-247-6962.
Southside Chicago. Call 773-2476962.
REAL ESTATE RENTALS
STUDIO $500-$599 Chicago, Beverly/Cal Park/Blue Island Studio $575 & up, 1BR $665 & up, 2BR $885 & up. Heat, Appls, Balcony, Carpet, Laundry, Prkg. 708-388-0170
STUDIO $600-$699 LARGE STUDIO APARTMENT
near Metra. 1904 W Pratt. Cats OK. Laundry in building. $695/ month. Heat included. Available 2/1. 773-7614318. www.lakefrontmgt.com
CHICAGO, HYDE PARK Arms
Hotel, 5316 S. Harper, maid, phone, cable ready, fridge, private facilities, laundry avail. Start at $160/wk Call 773-493-3500
STUDIO $700-$899 LARGE STUDIO APARTMENT
near the lake, 1329 W Estes. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Laundry in building. $725/ month. Heat included. Available 2/1. 773-761-4318. www. lakefrontmgt.com
STUDIO OTHER LARGE SUNNY ROOM w/fridge & microwave. Near Oak Park, Green Line & Buses. 24 hr Desk, Parking Lot $101/week & Up. (773)378-8888 CHICAGO - HYDE PARK 5401 S. Ellis. 1BR. $535-$600/mo. Call 773-955-5106
CROSSROADS HOTEL SRO SINGLE RMS Private bath, PHONE,
CABLE & MAIDS. 1 Block to Orange Line 5300 S. Pulaski 773-581-1188
CHICAGO - HYDE PARK 5401 S. Ellis. 1BR. $535-$600/mo. Call 773-955-5106
Ashland Hotel nice clean rms. 24 hr desk/maid/TV/laundry/air. Low rates daily/weekly/monthly. South Side. Call 773-376-5200
1 BR UNDER $700 7022 S. SHORE DRIVE Impecca-
bly Clean Highrise STUDIOS, 1 & 2 BEDROOMS Facing Lake & Park. Laundry & Security on Premises. Parking & Apts. Are Subject to Availability. TOWNHOUSE APARTMENTS 773-288-1030
MIDWAY AREA/63RD KEDZIE Deluxe Studio 1 & 2 BRs. All
modern oak floors, appliances, Security system, on site maint. clean & quiet, Nr. transp. From $445. 773582-1985 (espanol)
6248 S. WESTERN: 1BR or 2BR
apt starting at $650/mo, hrdwd flrs, oven/refrig incld. Sec 8 welc. 312208-1771, 708-674-7699 or 773-4269631.
CHICAGO SOUTH - YOU’VE tried the rest, we are the best. Apartments & Homes for rent, city & suburb. No credit checks. 773-221-7490, 773-221-7493 û NO SEC DEP û
6829 S. Perry. Studio/1BR. $465-$520/mo. 1431 W. 78th St. 2BR. $605/mo. HEAT INCL 773-955-5106
WINTER SPECIAL $500 Toward Rent Beautiful Studios 1, 2, 3 & 4 BR Sect. 8 Welc. Westside Loc, Must qualify. 773-287-4500 www.wjmngmt.com
PARK MANOR 3BR, 1st floor,
rehabbed with laundry, $1100; SOUTH SHORE 3BR, 2nd floor with laundry, $900; Call 312-683-5284.
79TH
& WOODLAWN 2BR $775-$800 76th & Phillips 2BR $775-$800 Remodeled, Appliances avail. Free Heat. 312-286-5678 SECTION 8 WELCOME
Bronzeville 4950 S Prairie. 1BR. Heat, cooking gas, appl incl. $660 & up. Call Zoro, 773-406-4841
SECTION 8 WELCOME. No Security Dep., 7335 S Morgan, 5BR house, appliances incl., $1300/mo. Call 708-288-4510 CHICAGO W. SIDE 3859 W Maypole Rehabbed studios, $425/ mo, Utilities not included. 773-6170329, 773-533-2900 Newly updated, clean furnished rooms, located near buses & Metra, elevator, utilities included, $91/wk. $ 395/mo. 815-722-1212 NICE ROOM w/stove, fridge & bath Near Aldi, Walgreens, Beach, Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry. $130/wk & up. 773-275-4442 BIG ROOM with stove, fridge, bath & nice wood floors. Near Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry, Shopping. $121/wk + up. 773-561-4970
75TH & WENTWORTH, 4BR,
2BA, refrig, carpet, laundry hook-ups. close to transp. $1350/mo. No Sec Deposit. Sec 8 ok. 773-684-1166
û NO SEC DEP û
6829 S. Perry. 1BR. $520/mo. 1431 W. 78th St. 2BR. $605/mo. HEAT INCL 773-955-5106
1 BR $700-$799 HUMBOLDT PARK. ONE
bedroom apartment for rent. Newly remodeled. Next door to food store. $800 per month plus security deposit. Near shopping area. Monica, 773-592-2989.
2BR APTS 78TH &
Calumet, $875; 82nd & King Dr. $950. Tenant pays own heat. Credit check fee $50. Call/text 773-203-9399 or 773-4849250
AUSTIN AREA 1-2 BR apts, $750-1000, heat & appliances incld Section 8 OK, close to transportation 708-267-2875 AUBURN GRESHAM: 79TH & Paulina, 1-2 Bedroom, $745-$795, Free heat. Call 773.916.0039
1 BR $800-$899 6824 N WAYNE. One bedroom
apartment near Red Line. Hardwood floors, Pets OK. $850/ month. Heat included. Laundry in building. Available 2/1. 773-761-4318, www. lakefrontmgt.com
OAK LAWN, SPACIOUS 1BR,
appliances, heat incl, close to Christ Hospital, $800/mo. 708-422-8801
1 BR $900-$1099 ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT
near Warren Park and Metra, 6802 N Wolcott. Hardwood floors. Heat included. Laundry in building. Cats OK. $900/ month. Available 2/1. 773761-4318, www.lakefrontmgt.com
1 BR OTHER ROUND LAKE BEACH, IL Cedar Villas is accepting applications for subsidized 1BR apts. for seniors 62 years or older and the disabled. Rent is based on 30% of annual income. For details, call us at 847-546-1899 ∫
l
l
APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. LTD. THE HAWK HAS ARRIVED!!! OUR UNITS INCLUDE HEAT, HW & CG PLENTY OF PARKING 1BDR FROM $750.00 2BDR FROM $895.00 3 BDR/2 FULL BATH FROM $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000***
APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. LTD. OLD MAN WINTER IS HERE!!! MOST UNITS INCLUDE.. HEAT & HOT WTR STUDIOS FROM $475.00 1BDR FROM $495.00 2BDR FROM $745.00 3 BDR/2 FULL BATH FROM $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000**
CHICAGO, CHATHAM NO SECURITY DEPOSIT Spacious updated 1BR from $600 with great closet space. Incl: stove/fridge, hdwd flrs, blinds, heat & more!!! LIMITED INVENTORY ** Call (773) 271-7100 **
ONE OF THE BEST M & N MGMT, 1BR, 7727 Colfax ** 2 Lrg BR, 6754 Crandon ** 2 & 3BR, 2BA, 6216 Eberhart ** Completely rehabbed. You deserve the best ** 773-9478572 or 312-613-4427
CHICAGO - BEVERLY, large 2 room Studio & 1BR Apts. Carpet, A/ C, laundry, near transportation, $650-$765/mo. Call 773-2334939
ADULT SERVICES
ONE OF THE BEST M & N MGMT, 1BR, 7727 Colfax ** 2 Lrg BR, 6754 Crandon ** 2 & 3BR, 2BA, 6216 Eberhart ** Completely rehabbed. You deserve the best ** 773-9478572 or 312-613-4427
LARGE 3BR $895 LARGE 1BR $725 Section 8 OK, free cooking gas, nely decorated, carpeted, stove/ fridge, laundry, elevator, NO APPLICATION FEE 1-773-919-7102 or 312-802-7301 1BR, 7726 S. Jeffery Ave., $750 1BR, 6822 S. Michigan Ave., $725 Studio 104 E. 70th. $575. Heat and appliances Included.Shown by Appt. 773-874-2556 www.archerinvestmentco.com
CALUMET CITY 158TH & PAXTON SANDRIDGE APTS 1 & 2 BEDROOM UNITS MODELS OPEN M-F, 9AM-5:30PM *** 708-841-5450 ***
CHICAGO-HYDE PARK NO APPLICATION FEE LARGE 1BR $975 Free Heat, newly decorated, hdwd flrs, stove/fridge, laundry Section 8 OK 1-773-667-6477 RIVERDALE - NEWLY decor, 1 & 2BR, appls, heated, A/C, lndry, prkng, no pets, near Metra. Sec 8 ok. $675-$800. Call 630-4800638 SOUTHSIDE, FURN. Room $4 00/mo, utils incl. Room w/ private bath, $500/mo. Near good trans. $200 clean up fee req’d. 312-758-6931
CHATHAM BEAUTIFUL REMOD 2 & 3BR, hdwd flrs,
SPACIOUS-SAFE 773-4235727. BRONZEVILLE, 3BR, heat included. Englewood, 1,2 & 3BR, heat incl. Dolton, 2BR, Gated Parking.
SOUTHSIDE 52ND/CARPENTER, 2BR, 1st floor, newly renovated,
7241-55 S. CONSTANCE Ave., Studio & 1BR, Brand New! Heat, water & appliances included. Section 8 ok. Call Miro, 312-8891102
2207 E 87TH ST: 2BR, new bldg, across from Chicago Voc H. S., lndry, hdwd flrs, $875 incls gas, heat & prkg, 708-308-1509 or 773493-3500
BRONZEVILLE, 35TH/KING Dr, 2BR Condo, 1st flr, W/D in unit, maple cabinets, hdwd flrs, granite, $1195. handicap accessible. 773447-2122
CHICAGO, 2748 E. 83rd St.
CHICAGO -VICINITY 111TH/ King Dr xtra lrg 2BR, 1st flr, newly remod, Clean/quiet/well maint bldg. $800-$950/mo. Sect 8 ok 773-510-9290
73RD & DORCHESTER, 2BR, refrig, $1150/mo, gas incl; 119th &
CHICAGO
2 BR $1500 AND
1BR, $525- $550. Ask about our Move In Special! 630-835-1365 Discount RE
CHICAGO SOUTH SIDE Beauti-
ful Studios, 1,2,3 & 4 BR’s, Sec 8 ok. $500 gift certificate for Sec 8 tenants. 773-287-9999/312-446-3333
CHICAGO - CLEAN, NEWLY remod, 1BR, 2nd floor Apt, oak flooring. Ready Now! 722 E. 89th St. FREE HEAT. 708-951-2889 SUBURBS, RENT TO OW N! Buy with No closing costs and get help with your credit. Call 708868-2422 or visit www.nhba.com CHICAGO, RENT TO OWN! Buy with no closing costs and get help with your credit. Call 708868-2422 or visit www.nhba.com
MOVE IN SPECIAL B4 the N of this MO. & MOVE IN 4 $99.00 (773) 874-3400 ACACIA SRO HOTEL Men Preferred! Rooms for Rent. Weekly & Monthly Rates. 312-421-4597
Range/Fridge incl. sec. 8 OK. $650/mo. plus util. 708-268-3937
7600 S Essex 2BR
$599, 3BR $699, 4BR $799 w/apprvd credit, no sec dep. Sect 8 Ok! 773287-9999 /312-446-3333
CHICAGO SOUTH, 66 Winchester, Newly decorated 2.5 BR. Section 8 ok, No Pets. $775/mo + security deposit. Please call 708-439-3652 SECTION 8 WELCOME! 7414 S. Vernon 2BR, 1st flr, remod, hdwd flrs, appl incl, laundry on site. $800 & up. Call Zoro 773-406-4841
2 BR $900-$1099 CHICAGO - BEAUTIFUL 2BD/ 1BA in a 2 unit bldg, large enclosed backyard, new carpet, utils incld. $950/mo. Contact 773-680-4174
2 BR $1100-$1299 ASHLAND
AUGUSTA
2 BR UNDER $900
GREYSTONE. 2 bedroom garden apartment. Laundry, walk to downtown train/ buses. $1100 includes all utilities. 773-384-2772
77TH/LOWE. 2BR. $750 & up. 6 9th/Dante, 3BR. $850 & up. 71st/ Bennett. 2 & 3BR. $795 & up. New renov. Sec 8 ok. 708-5031366
CHICAGO, KING & 73RD ST., Beautiful 2BR Apt. Newer rehab, new cabinets, $800/ mo + heat. MUST SEE! Call Irma, 847-987-485
MORGAN PARK - 1348 W. 107th Pl. 2BR, 1BA, all appliances incl. Sec 8 Welcome. $1150/mo. 773-510-6786
ADULT SERVICES
ADULT SERVICES
ADULT SERVICES
custom cabinets, avail now. $1100$1200/mo + sec. 773-905-8487 Sec 8 Ok
Calumet, 3BR, 2BA, $1250/mo. No Sec Dep. Sec 8 ok. 773-684-1166
OVER
LARGE TWO BEDROOM, two
bathroom apartment, 3820 N Fremont. Near Wrigley Field. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Laundry in building. Available 2/1. $1595/ month. New Year special: Move in by February 1st, get March rent Free. Parking available. $150/ month for single parking space. $250/ month for tandem parking space. 773-761-4318, w ww.lakefrontmgt.com
2 BR OTHER BEAUTIFUL NEW APT! 6150 S. Vernon, 4BDRM 743 E. 72nd St, 2BDRM 8129 S. Ingleside, 2BDRM 7649 S. Phillips Ave 1, 2 & 4BDRM Stainless Steel!! Appliances!! Hdwd flrs!! Marble bath!! Laundry on site!! FREE 42IN TV Sec 8 OK. 773- 404- 8926 CHICAGO, PRINCETON PARK HOMES. Spacious 2-3 BR Townhomes, Inclu: Prvt entry, full bsmt, lndry hook-ups. Ample prkg. Close to trans & schls. Starts at $844/ mo. w w w . p p k h o m e s . com;773-264-3005
3 BR OR MORE UNDER $1200 BRONZEVILLE - 4724 S Michigan Ave, 3BR, 2ba, 6 1/2 rooms approx 2000 sq ft, orig dining rm, kit, heat incl, $900 plus security, quiet bldg. 4312 S. King Dr. 1BR unfurnished apt. Heat included $550/mo plus security Call 773-548-7286 for application
CHICAGO 5842 S. Shields, Unit 1, 3BR, 1BA, newly refurbished,new carpet, 1st flr, no pets, fridge, stove. $800 + utils. 773-752-8328 CALUMET CITY, 3BR, 2BA, 2 car gar., fully rehab w/ gorgeous finishes & hdwd flrs. Beautiful backyard. Sect 8 ok. $1175/mo. 510-735-7171 CHATHAM-3BR 1.5BA, STOVE /HEAT incl, laundry in bsmt, 7900 block of Langley, Sec 8 Ok. $1140/Mo. Mr. Johnson, 630-424-1403 SECTION 8 WELCOME
3BR, hdwd flrs, appliances included, 5434 S Marshfield, $900/month plus 1 month security 773-457-8440
CHICAGO 6405 S Wolcott. 3BR, 1BA, newly remodeled, tenant pays utilities, $800/month + $450 Move-In Fee. Call 773-494-9727 SOUTHSIDE NEWLY REMOD.
70th & Aberdeen. Studio. $475 2BR & 3BR $695-$825 + 1 mo rent & 1 mo sec. Heat incl. Call 773-651-8673
8845 S. Wallace 3BR, 2BA 357 W 56th Pl, 3BR,1BA, both sfh & fully renovated, Sec 8 ok, no sec dep, long term tenant 312-860-481 CHICAGO, 1138 N. Waller, 3BR, 1st floor, newly decorated, hdwd floors throughout. $950/mo. Section 8 welcome. 630-915-2755
CHICAGO, PRINCETON PARK HOMES. Spacious 2-3 BR Townhomes, Inclu: Prvt entry, full bsmt, lndry hook-ups. Ample prkg. Close to trans & schls. Starts at $844/ mo. w w w . p p k h o m e s . com;773-264-3005
CALUMET CITY, 3BR, 2 full BA, fully rehab w/gorgeous finishes w/ hdwd floors, appls incl., porch, Sec 8 OK. $1100/mo Call 510-735-7171
ROUND LAKE BEACH, IL Cedar
CHICAGO, 1753 E 72nd Pl. newly rehabbed apartment, 3 br, 1ba, $1250 mo, all new appl., 312-256-7133 leave a message will call back
Villas is accepting applications for Subsidized 2 and 3 bedroom apt waiting list. Rent is based on 30% of annual income for qualified applicants. Contact us at 847-546-1899 for details
3 BR OR MORE $1200-$1499
1436 S TRUMBULL, 3BR $1300/ month, no security deposit. New rem. Hrdwd flrs, lndy.Sec system in bldg .Section 8 Wel 708-308-1788
3 BR OR MORE $1500-$1799 CHICAGO SOUTH, freshly
remodeled, 5BR, 2 BA, hrdwd flr, big fenced backyard. S Laflin & 114th. Pl. Sect 8 OK $1600. 773-766-2640
MARKETPLACE
GOODS
10742 S LASALLE, Will accept 2BR Sec 8 Vouchure. 3BR, 1BA hdwd flrs, tenant pays utils, $1300/mo. no sec dep. 773-221-0061
CLASSICS WANTED ANY CLASSIC CARS IN ANY CONDITION. ’20S, ’30S, ’40S, ’50S, ’60S & ’70S. HOTRODS & EXOTICS! TOP DOLLAR PAID! COLLECTOR. CALL JAMES, 630-201-8122
3 BR OR MORE
MASSAGE TABLES, NEW and
OTHER
CHICAGO HEIGHTS, 2BR, 1BA, NEWLY REMODELED, APPLS INCL , SECTION 8 OK. NO SEC. DEPOSIT. 708-8224450 8639 S KINGSTON, 3BR, formal DR, LR, eat in kitc. bsmt, new reha b/dec. Reg pay tenants or Sec 8 w /certified 3BR vouchers only. 773437-5816 for appt. ATTENTION SECT 8 Tenants. Newly rehabbed. 8316 S. Peoria, 3BR, $1350. 10319 S. Wallace, 6BR, 2 full bath, $1500. 708-2751751 6142 S. ROCKWELL, 2 flat 3BR /4BR, heat and appls incl, carpet, section 8 OK, $1250-$1300/mo. Near trans and school. 773-3175947 CHICAGO SOUTHSIDE, Newly remodeled 3BR/2BA with appls & w/d Also, newly remod 2BR with appls. Call 773-908-8791
CHICAGO WEST near 19th/ Pulaski 3 bedrooms. appl. included. 1 month security required. Section 8 OK. 773-480-9784 CHICAGO HOUSES FOR rent. Section 8 Ok, w/app credit $500 gift certificate 3, 4 & 5 BR houses avail. 312-446-3333 or 708-752-3812
GENERAL Rogers Park – 1700 W Juneway 312-593-1677. 3-4 bedrooms from $1175 Free heat. No deposit
FOR SALE
used. Large selection of professional high quality massage equipment at a very low price. Visit us at www. bestmassage.com or call us, 773764-6542.
HEALTH & WELLNESS UNFORGETTABLE, RELAXING, THERAPEUTIC Deep Tissue Massage for your physical, mental, spiritual health. Returning to business, previous clients welcome. Jolanta 847650-8989. Addison /Laramie. By appointment. Lic.#227000668.
FULL BODY MASSAGE. hotel, house calls welcome $90
special. Russian, Polish, Ukrainain girls. Northbrook and Schaumburg locations. 10% discount for new customers. Please call 773-407-7025
FOR A HEALTHY mind and body.
European trained and certified therapists specializing in deep tissue, Swedish, and relaxation massage. Incalls. 773-552-7525. Lic. #227008861.
UKRAINIAN MASSAGE. CALLS in/ out. Chicago and sub-
urbs. Hotels. 1250 S Michigan Avenue. Appointments. 773-616-6969.
ADULT SERVICES DANIELLE’S
LIP
SERVICE.
Adult Phone Sex and Web Cam Provider. Ebony Beauty. Must Be 21+.. All Credit Cards Accepted. 773-935-4995
77TH AND PRAIRIE
1BR, 2nd flr, Available Now! $675/mo includes heat. G.R.B Company. 773-955-0900
WE BUY HOUSES CASH 757-236-0998
MUSIC & ARTS AUDITIONS: MUSICIANS WITH A MIS SION
5BR, 2BA. Tenant pays utils. Sec 8 OK. $1400/mo. Non-refundable Move-In Fee Req’d. 708-417-6999
non-residential
CHICAGO, 6844 S PEORIA , 3 bdrm apartment, tenant pays heat, Section 8 approved, totally rehabbed, 708-720-0084
SECTION 8 WELCOME. NO SECURITY DEPOSIT. 1701 W 59th, 4BR, 2BA house, appliances included, $1300/mo. 708-288-4510
units fully heated and humidity controlled with ac available. North: Knox Avenue. 773-685-6868. South: Pershing Avenue. 773-523-6868.
Looking for five treasured musician singers for a musical theatrical play. *Blessed Bassist, who is an Italian Jew *Confident Keyboard Artist who is Chinese *Righteous Reed-Brass Player, who is a Natio/Native American *Gracious Guitarist who is Spanish *Precious Percussionist who is African. January 28, 1:00pm-2:30pm, Pullman Branch Library. 773-6637335, gerardessiel60@gmail.com
ADULT SERVICES
ADULT SERVICES
ADULT SERVICES
ADULT SERVICES
ENGLEWOOD 2-4BR unit apts in 2 unit gated bldgs, hdwd flrs, pets OK, no sec dep, W/D & appls incl, tenant pays own utils 872-3153900
118 W. 118TH St. Newly rehabbed
SELF-STORAGE CENTERS. T W O locations to serve you. All
JANUARY 19, 2017 | CHICAGO READER 43
STRAIGHT DOPE By Cecil Adams Q : What can you tell me about the
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EARLY WARNINGS
chicagoreader.com/early 44 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
A : A botched Soviet plot to kidnap a West
German radio interviewer supposedly hinged on candy laced with scopolamine. Present-day tabloids insist that Chinese gangs in Paris are using it to dope prosperous victims, who then helplessly empty their jewelry drawers on command. Such exotic tales have lent scopolamine a menacing aura and the grabby sobriquet of “the most dangerous drug in the world.” But the milligram and a half in that transdermal patch your GP gave you for motion sickness poses no threat of transforming you into a mindless zombie anytime soon. Scopolamine is the active ingredient in burundanga, a powder made from the seeds of a tree known locally in Colombia as the borrachero. Because of its hallucinogenic properties burundanga figured in the spiritual practices of some indigenous peoples, and they used it medicinally as well. Synthetic scopolamine wasn’t manufactured till the early 20th century, when it became popular as a childbirth sedative that not only relaxed moms but dimmed their memories of pain after the fact. And yes, by the 1920s scopolamine had become the first drug billed as a truth serum. The twilight haze it induced left patients able to converse but seemingly less inhibited; the Texas doctor who pioneered its use in interviewing criminal suspects claimed it impaired reasoning enough to make lying impossible. Interrogators soon decided, however, that the side effects made scopolamine more trouble than it was worth. The biggest problem? “The fantastically, almost painfully, dry ‘desert’ mouth brought on by the drug is hardly conducive to free talking, even in a tractable subject,” a CIA analyst reported in 1961. Even moderate doses of scopolamine sound like a bad time, unless you get off on protracted pupil dilation. But you can get a scrip for it, though it’s not like pharmacies are handing out bottles of pure scopolamine tablets. The clinical name is hyoscine, and its most common usage is in a patch worn behind the ear to ease nausea, whether postoperative or just your basic carsickness type. Scopolamine
reduces certain organic secretions (hence the dry mouth) and also dampens nerve signals that trigger vomiting. Under the name Buscopan (widely prescribed everywhere but the U.S.), it’s used to treat abdominal pain. Scopolamine can also provide relief from symptoms of Parkinson’s disease; some researchers believe it can be used as an antidepressant or to combat Alzheimer’s. That’s not to deny the nefarious uses it’s put to. A dose slipped into a beer or plate of food can disable an unsuspecting mark enough for someone to lift their wallet, and in Colombia this apparently does happen. The claim from a 1995 Wall Street Journal dispatch that burundanga was involved in half of all poisoning cases in Bogotá’s ERs seems a tad on the high side, but the State Department has for years been warning American visitors to Colombia to keep an eye on their drinks, citing “unofficial estimates” of 50,000 scopolamine “incidents” a year. But though scopolamine in your drink might leave you dopey or knock you out, it won’t rob you of free will, rendering you an ambulatory servant of your assailant. Sure, it’s powerful, but not supernaturally so. That amnesiac quality obstetricians once prized is probably the source for the “zombie drug” myth. And frankly the horror stories about the use of scopolamine in Europe and the U.S. sound fishy: supposedly someone just hands you a business card that’s been soaked in the drug, or blows a handful of the powder into your face, but that sort of limited contact almost certainly wouldn’t be enough to incapacitate you. It’s also unclear where crooks in Europe or the U.S. would be getting the drug. With no recreational demand for burundanga, are serious quantities really being smuggled out of Colombia? And amassing enough of the synthetic kind would take more than a few prescriptions—you’d need an inside source at the lab. There are plenty of other nasty drugs out there, after all, and plenty of nasty people passing them around. v Send questions to Cecil via straightdope.com or write him c/o Chicago Reader, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago 60654.
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SAVAGE LOVE
By Dan Savage
Caged up and ready for a lap dance
Is that OK? Plus: the deal with shaved pubes, the use of “faggot,” and more Q : My partner and I have
been playing with male chastity devices. We’ve been considering going to a strip club while his cock is caged up and getting him lap dances. Is there some etiquette for this with the dancers? Do we let the dancer know before she is on his lap? Or do we not mention it? Is it rude to get a dancer involved at all? I’ve not yet found an etiquette guide for this situation. —LETTING OUR CAGE KINK SHOW
A : “I think I speak for
most dancers when I say I don’t care what’s going on underneath a customer’s pants,” said Bobbi Hill, a lap dancer based in Portland, Oregon. “Grazing over a stiff object in the crotch region is not an uncommon experience when giving a lap dance, and depending on the texture of the device, I might not even give it a second thought.” While your concern for lap dancers is commendable, LOCKS, the person most at risk of injury is your partner. The devices are unyielding (ideally) and the cock flesh is weak (even when hard). A dancer who grinds down on your partner’s crotch is likelier to hurt him. That said, if a dancer grinds down on your partner’s crotch and feels something hard and clunky, “she might go into air-dance mode,” said Hill, “which is essentially a lap dance where you make as little contact with the customer’s crotch as possible. Try handing her a Benjamin as you explain your situation.”
Q : I recently left my
husband. It’s very liberating, and I have been starting to venture out for some great sex, something missing in my 25-year marriage. Two weeks ago, I went to a
clubby bar and brought a man back to my place. The guy was in his 40s, lean, and muscular. When we got this stud’s clothes off, I saw that his pubic area was completely shaved. While he was humping away he told me to feel his anus, and that area, too, was shaved. I am wondering if this is common these days. Is there some “meaning” to it? And is anal touching now customary? —CONFUSED OVER UNDERGARMENT-AREA REGION
A : While I love your signoff,
COUGAR, sleeping with a lean, muscular guy in his 40s who likes to have his anus touched doesn’t earn a woman her cougar whiskers or whatever. You’re going to have to fuck a few boys in their 20s if you want to be a cougar. In regards to your recent hookup, COUGAR, the removal of pubic hair has definitely become more common over the last 25 years. Studies have found that upwards of 60 percent of women regularly remove most or all of their pubic hair; many men do too. Shaving or waxing doesn’t necessarily mean anything in particular. And while I wouldn’t describe anal touching as customary, there are definitely more straight men around today who aren’t afraid of their own assholes.
Q : I met my boyfriend at a
gay night in a club. But he loves going down on me, the PIV sex is the best I’ve ever had, and I believe him when he says he’s straight. He’s got an above-average cock, but he likes me to tell him it’s small and compare him unfavorably to other men I’ve been with. I’ve had bigger and I don’t mind degrading him like this. But he also likes to be called a
“faggot” when he’s fucking me. It makes him incredibly horny, but I feel guilty for using an antigay hate term while we’re having straight sex. Is this OK? Is it fuckedup? Should we stop?
—FEMALE ANXIOUSLY GRANTS SLURS
A : It’s not OK, it’s completely
fucked-up, and you don’t have to stop.
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Q : I recently stopped
reading your advice column due to its current focus on homosexuality. Just letting you know the heterosexuals are still alive and doing well.
—BORED READING ENDLESSLY EXPERIMENTAL DEVIANTS EXPLORING RECTUMS
A : Over the last year,
BREEDER, I published 140 questions from readers. Twenty-six were from gay men (18 percent), 16 were from bisexuals (12 percent), six were from trans people (4 percent), two were from lesbians (1 percent), and 90 were from straight people (65 percent). Almost all of the bisexuals whose letters I responded to were in opposite-sex relationships, and the same goes for half the letters from trans people. So nearly 80 percent of the questions I answered last year focused on straight people and/or straight sex. If a sex-advice column that’s about straight people and/or straight sex 65 to 80 percent of the time is too gay for you, BREEDER, then my “current focus” isn’t the problem—your homophobia is. I would say that I’m sorry to lose you as a reader, BREEDER, but I’m not. v Send letters to mail@ savagelove.net. Download the Savage Lovecast every Tuesday at thestranger.com. ß @fakedansavage
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JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 45
WOLF BY KEITH HERZIK
EARLY WARNINGS
CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME
George Winston 4/27, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 1/20, 8 AM b
GOSSIP WOLF
UPDATED Simple Plan, Set It Off 3/31-4/1, 5 PM, House of Blues, 3/31 sold out, 4/1 added U2, Lumineers 6/3-4, 7 PM, Soldier Field, 6/3 sold out, 6/2 added, on sale Mon 1/23, 10 AM b Vulfpeck 5/4-6, 9 PM, Metro, 5/4-5 sold out, 5/6 added, 18+
A furry ear to the ground of the local music scene
GOSSIP WOLF CAN’T THINK of a better cure for the inauguration blues than learning how to help local communities likely to be hurt by the goons in the Trump administration. Luckily, former Geronimo! front man Kelly Johnson, Kickstand Productions owner John Ugolini, and iO Chicago performer Jennifer Cumberworth have organized an all-day event at Beat Kitchen on Saturday, January 21, to give you a head start. No Walls: A Benefit for Marginalized Chicago Communities will feature a panel on getting involved in local politics, plus comedy, poetry, visual art, storytelling, and a concert that includes Troubled Hubble, the Avantist, postpunk three-piece No Men, and rap duo Mother Nature. The $10 suggested donation benefits HIV/AIDS support service Chicago House, Chicago Women’s Health Center, Howard Brown Health, and mental health advocates Thresholds. Also on Saturday night, Chicago glampop wizard Bobby Conn rages against the Trump machine at the Hideout—he and his band will play an “Inauguration Special” consisting of two sets, one new and one old, and they promise that both will be “relevant to our changing times.” Conn and his wife, Monica BouBou, will be backed by Billie Howard, Devin Davis, Josh Johannpeter, and Jim “Dallas” Cooper. The show will also feature an appearance by freewheeling multimedia artist and performance poet Marvin Tate! It starts at 9 PM and costs $10. Last week the label run by Logan Square watering hole and venue the Whistler launched a music service called the Weekly Free. Every Monday it will make a brand-new track (or several tracks) available free to download. After a week it becomes possible for you to donate money for the songs, and all proceeds go to the artists. The music is recorded live at the Whistler, and upcoming artists in the series include Fred Lonberg-Holm, Matchess, and Wild Belle’s Elliot Bergman. —J.R. NELSON AND LEOR GALIL
Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail gossipwolf@chicagoreader.com.
46 CHICAGO READER - JANUARY 19, 2017
b
UPCOMING New Pornographers o JENNIFER JIMENEZ/BILLIONS CORPORATION
NEW Alina Baraz 3/23, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM, 18+ Martin Barre Band 4/28-29, 8 PM, Martyrs’ Vera Blue 2/24, 9:30 PM, Schubas, on sale Sat 1/21, noon, 18+ Suzy Bogguss 4/28, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 1/19, noon b Jeff Bradshaw 3/17, 7 and 10 PM, the Promontory, on sale Thu 1/19, 10 AM, 18+ Brave Combo 4/14, 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn, on sale Fri 1/20, 11 AM Zac Brown Band 8/26, 7 PM, Wrigley Field, on sale Sat 1/21, 10 AM b Chaz Budnick Meets the Mattson 4/22, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM Chicago Open Air with Kiss, Korn, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Godsmack, Slayer, Megadeth, Stone Sour, Anthrax, Lamb of God, and more 7/14-16, Toyota Park, Bridgeview, on sale Fri 1/20, noon Paula Cole 4/22, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 1/19, noon b Dan Deacon, Marijuana Deathsquads 2/19, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Devin the Dude 4/20, 8 PM, the Promontory, on sale Thu 1/19, 10 AM Dude York, Paws 4/1, 6 PM, Cobra Lounge, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM Elephant Revival 4/8, 7 and 10 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 1/20, 8 AM b Peter Evans Septet 4/14, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+
A Great Big World 3/27, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM b Green Day, Catfish & the Bottlemen 8/24, 7 PM, Wrigley Field, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM b Jackie Greene Band 4/13, 7 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM Noah & Abby Gundersen 3/8, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM b Nick Hakim 3/9, 9 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 1/20, noon Taylor Hicks 4/13, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 1/19, noon b Iguanas 4/15, 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn, on sale Fri 1/20, 11 AM Jambinai 5/18, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Jose James 3/26, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Jayhawks 4/29, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM b Syleena Johnson 2/14, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 1/19, noon b Judah & the Lion 3/23, 8 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM, 17+ Hayley Kiyoko 4/1, 7:30 PM, Double Door, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM b Jimmy LaFave & Gretchen Peters 3/15, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 1/19, noon b Dua Lipa 2/24, 7 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Sat 1/21, 10 AM b Aimee Mann, Jonathan Coulton 4/29, 8 PM, Park West, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM, 18+ Thomas Mapfumo 4/8, 8 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 1/20, 8 AM b Laura Marling 5/7, 8 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 1/20, noon, 18+
Michael McDermott 3/11, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 1/19, noon b Minus the Bear, Beach Slang 4/6, 8 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Revocation 6/3, 8 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 1/20, noon, 18+ New Pornographers, Waxahatchee 4/19, 8 PM and 4/21, 9 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 1/20, noon, 18+ Nils Okland 3/22, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Partybaby 2/24, 8 PM, Schubas, on sale Thu 1/19, 10 AM b Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band 3/24, 7 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint Rebirth Brass Band 4/21-22, 7 and 10 PM, Martyrs’ Red Elvises 3/31, 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn, on sale Fri 1/20, 11 AM Sargeist 5/30, 8:30 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ The Skull 3/24, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ The-Dream 2/25, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Those Pretty Wrongs 2/24, 8 PM, GMan Tavern Timber Timbre 4/28, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Thu 1/19, 10 AM Tropical Trash, Thee Open Sex 2/19, 9 PM, Hideout 2Cellos 10/28, 3 and 8 PM, Chicago Theatre, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM b Vader, Internal Bleeding, Sacrificial Slaughter 6/14, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ M. Ward 3/27-28, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 1/19, noon b Jody Watley 5/25, 7 PM, the Promontory, on sale Thu 1/19, 10 AM Lewis Watson 3/13, 7 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 1/20, 10 AM b
AFI, Chain Gang of 1974 1/31, 7 PM, Riviera Theatre b After the Burial, Emmure 2/24, 5:30 PM, Bottom Lounge b Against Me! 2/24, 7 PM, Durty Nellie’s, Palatine b All Them Witches 3/16, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Richard Ashcroft 3/30, 9 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Devendra Banhart 3/6, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Bastille 4/3, 7:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom Adrian Belew Power Trio 4/1, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Big Boi (DJ set) 2/25, 10 PM, the Mid Cactus Blossoms 2/16, 8 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn Candlebox 3/31, 8 PM, City Winery b Chairlift 4/14, 8 PM, Double Door Kasey Chambers 3/19, 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Circuit Des Yeux 2/3, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 3/10, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Cloud Nothings 2/10, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 18+ Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen 3/2, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b The Damned 4/23, 8 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Darkest Hour, Ringworm 2/23, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Dawes 3/1, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Dead & Co. 6/30-7/1, 7 PM, Wrigley Field Devildriver, Deathangel 2/14, 6 PM, Portage Theater b Neil Diamond 5/28, 8 PM, United Center Eisley 3/11, 8 PM, Subterranean b Electric Guest 3/1, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Lee Fields & the Expressions 2/28, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ John 5 & the Creatures 4/16, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+
ALL AGES
F
Flaming Lips 4/17, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Foxygen 3/31, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Justin Furstenfeld 2/4, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Game of Thrones: Live Concert Experience with Ramin Djawadi 2/19, 8 PM, United Center Brantley Gilbert 3/2, 7 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 4/8, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Dobet Gnahore 2/16, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Laura Jane Grace 2/5, 8 PM, City Winery b Head for the Hills 2/17, 8 PM, City Winery b Lauryn Hill 2/6, 8 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Hippie Sabotage 3/12, 9 PM, House of Blues, 18+ Charlie Hunter Trio 4/8, 10 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Hurray for the Riff Raff 4/28, 8 PM, Thalia Hall b J Boog 2/7, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Wanda Jackson 4/1, 8 PM, City Winery b Billy Joel 8/11, 7 PM, Wrigley Field b Jojo 3/12, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall b Stephen Kellogg, Humming House 2/17, 8 PM, Park West, 18+ Gladys Knight, Jeffrey Osborne 3/17, 8 PM, the Venue at Horseshoe Casino, Hammond Ulrich Krieger 1/26, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Nikki Lane, Brent Cobb 3/11, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Hamilton Leithauser 2/15, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Less Than Jake, Pepper 2/8, 7 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ The Life and Times 2/10, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Lordi 2/14, 7 PM, Double Door Lvl Up 2/25, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Mac Sabbath 3/11, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Magnetic Fields 4/19-20, 8 PM, Thalia Hall b Marduk, Incantation 2/10, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Mastodon, Eagles of Death Metal, Russian Circles 5/13, 7:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom b Mbongwana Star 3/4, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Martina McBride, Lauren Alaina 2/3, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre Menzingers, Jeff Rosenstock 3/3, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Tift Merritt 4/6, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Jim Messina 3/26, 8 PM, City Winery b Methyl Ethel 4/13, 9 PM, Empty Bottle
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EARLY WARNINGS Never miss a show again. Sign up for the newsletter at chicagoreader. com/early
Michel’le 2/14, 7 PM, the Promontory Jake Miller 2/27, 6:30 PM, House of Blues b Mo 3/13, 7 PM, Metro b Modern Baseball 4/18, 5:30 PM, Concord Music Hall b Moon Duo 4/21, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Ne-Hi 2/24, 9 PM, Empty Bottle The Necks 3/1-2, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Willie Nile 3/17, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Nothing 3/2, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Nouvelle Vague 3/27, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Johnny O 2/18, 8 PM, Portage Theater, 18+ Agnes Obel 3/30, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b
Oddisee & Good Company 5/20, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall Opeth, Gojira 5/9, 7:30 PM, the Vic, 18+ Parachute 4/14, 7:30 PM, Lincoln Hall b Polyphia 3/10, 6:30 PM, Subterranean b Pop Evil 2/10, 8 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Ana Popovic 2/22, 8 PM, City Winery b Sam Roberts Band 1/27, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall Uli Jon Roth 3/3, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Sabaton 5/1, 7 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Salaam Shalom 4/23, 1 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Sampha 2/6, 8 PM, Metro b San Fermin, Low Furs 4/12, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ David Sanborn 3/26, 6 PM, the Promontory Leroy Sanchez 2/23, 6:30 PM, Schubas b Save Ferris, Baby Baby 3/10, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ John Sebastian 4/9, 7 PM, SPACE, Evanston b
Secondhand Serenade, Hawthorne Heights 3/6, 6:30 PM, Metro b Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal 3/8, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Six Organs of Admittance 4/9, 9 PM, Empty Bottle State Champs, Against the Current 4/9, 5 PM, Concord Music Hall b Steve’N’Seagulls 2/6, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen Al Stewart 3/23, 7 PM, City Winery b Sting 3/3, 8 PM, Aragon Ballroom Subdudes 3/8-9, 8 PM, City Winery b Sunsquabi 3/25, 9 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Susto 2/4, 7 PM, Schubas Deb Talan 4/2, 7 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Aaron Lee Tasjan 4/11, 8 PM, Schubas Tauk 3/11, 10 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Adam Torres 3/5, 9 PM, Hideout Trentemoller 3/19, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, 18+ Tribal Seeds 2/16, 8 PM, Double Door, 18+
Trollphace 3/3, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, 18+ Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo 3/9, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Voodoo Glow Skulls, Pilfers 3/30, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Martha Wainwright 4/15, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Rufus Wainwright 4/6, 8 PM and 4/7, 7:30 and 10 PM, City Winery b Loudon Wainwright III 4/1, 8 PM; 4/2, 7 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Ryley Walker 2/1, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Roger Waters 7/22, 8 PM, United Center Wax Tailor 1/26, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ WBEZ Winter Block Party with Jamila Woods, Kaina, and more 1/28, 7 PM, Metro b We the Kings 3/9, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge b Daniel Weatherspoon 2/6, 8:30 PM, Wire, Berwyn Wedding Present, Colleen Green 4/21, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall The Weeknd 5/23, 7:30 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont
Wet Ink Ensemble 1/29, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Whethan 2/10, 7 PM, Lincoln Hall b Whispers, Temptations Review with Dennis Edwards 2/11, 8 PM, the Venue at Horseshoe Casino, Hammond White Lies 2/6, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Whitechapel, Cattle Decapitation, Goatwhore 3/4, 6 PM, House of Blues b Why? 3/17, 9 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Zach Williams 1/26, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Keller Williams & Leo Kottke 3/10, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Withered, Immortal Bird 2/28, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Wray 2/4, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Chely Wright 1/25, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Xeno & Oaklander 1/28, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Xiu Xiu 3/31, 9 PM, Empty Bottle The XX 5/1, 6:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom Yonas 2/11, 9 PM, Subterranean, 17+ You, Me & Everyone We Know 2/12, 5 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club b
Zombies 4/13, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+
SOLD OUT Adam Ant 1/31, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Flat Five 3/24-25, 8 PM, Hideout Margaret Glaspy 1/29, 7 PM, Schubas, 18+ Japandroids, Craig Finn & the Uptown Controllers 2/15, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Joy Formidable 2/27, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Tove Lo 2/16, 8 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Mayday Parade 4/22, 7 PM, House of Blues b Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Atlas Genius 3/24, 7:30 PM, House of Blues, 17+ New Found Glory 4/11-13, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Noname, Ravyn Lenae 2/8-9, 7 PM, Metro b Maggie Rogers 4/2, 7:30 PM, Lincoln Hall b Run the Jewels 2/17, 8 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 18+ Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue 2/3, 8 PM, Park West, 18+ v
JANUARY 19, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 47
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