Chicago Reader: print issue of February 4, 2016 (Volume 45, Number 17)

MEN D

Visual Art Theo Jansen’s beach- based beasts invade the Cultural Center. 20

IDELES T IA F U C A

TUR EN

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 | F E B R U A R Y 4 , 2 0 1 6

Politics Illinois is still paying Wall Street banks for bad bets. 10

Food & Drink Ravenswood’s Band of Bohemia needs some practice. 35

2 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

THIS WEEK

C H I C AG O R E A D E R | F E B R UA RY 4 , 2 01 6 | VO LU M E 4 5, N U M B E R 1 7

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EDITOR JAKE MALOOLEY CREATIVE DIRECTOR PAUL JOHN HIGGINS DEPUTY EDITOR, NEWS ROBIN AMER CULTURE EDITOR TAL ROSENBERG FILM EDITOR J.R. JONES MUSIC EDITOR PHILIP MONTORO ASSOCIATE EDITORS KATE SCHMIDT, KEVIN WARWICK, BRIANNA WELLEN SENIOR WRITERS STEVE BOGIRA, MICHAEL MINER, MIKE SULA SENIOR THEATER CRITIC TONY ADLER STAFF WRITERS LEOR GALIL, DEANNA ISAACS, BEN JORAVSKY, AIMEE LEVITT, PETER MARGASAK, JULIA THIEL GRAPHIC DESIGNER SUE KWONG MUSIC LISTINGS COORDINATOR LUCA CIMARUSTI SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR RYAN SMITH CONTRIBUTING WRITERS NOAH BERLATSKY, DERRICK CLIFTON, MATT DE LA PEÑA, ANNE FORD, ISA GIALLORENZO, JOHN GREENFIELD, JUSTIN HAYFORD, JACK HELBIG, DAN JAKES, BILL MEYER, J.R. NELSON, MARISSA OBERLANDER, DMITRY SAMAROV, ZAC THOMPSON, DAVID WHITEIS, ALBERT WILLIAMS INTERNS MANUEL RAMOS, CHRIS RIHA

IN THIS ISSUE 5 Agenda The play Mothers and Sons, the MCA partners with Pitchfork for “Prime Time,” the film The Boy and the World, and more recommendations

CITY LIFE

8 Writing on the wall Donald Trump in Wicker Park, courtesy of Don’t Fret 8 Chicagoans Navigating the mysteries of sex development 9 Joravsky | Politics Not long ago Governor Rauner threw money at Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.

10 Art imitating life Illinois is withholding funds for education and social services, but still paying Wall Street banks for some bad bets.

ARTS & CULTURE

18 Theater The Goodman’s Another Word for Beauty is another word for “fail.”

20 Visual Art Theo Jansen’s beachbased beasts invade the Cultural Center.

21 Dance Cosmic Body seems like a drug-free alternative to LSD.

THIS SHIT IS NOT BLACK ENOUGH! HOW CAN WE MAKE IT BLACKER? PASTA TOO PALE? SHOWER IT WITH LEEK ASH. NEED A BED FOR YOUR PIG FACE? PUT SOME BRAISED FENNEL PUREE UNDER IT. NOT BLACK? BAM! INFUSE SOME SQUID INK IN THAT BITCH. GINGER JUS UNDER A DUCK BREAST? I REJECT THE PREMISE— PAINT IT BLACK.

21 Comedy Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders go head-to-head . . . sort of.

21 Small Screen The Juice is on the loose again in the FX miniseries American Crime Story.

22 Movies The President is a timeless, incisive film about despotism.

MUSIC

24 In Rotation The current musical obsessions of Closed Sessions coowner Alexander Fruchter, hip-hop artist Kweku Collins, and Reader associate editor Kevin Warwick 24 Gossip Wolf The Lemons’ new LP attracts a crowd of celebrity cosigners, and more music news.

26 Shows of note Modeselektor, Wet, John Scofield & Joe Lovano, Mat Maneri, Warhead, and more

of Alinea and El Ideas vets is long on technique, short on soul.

37 Cocktail Challenge: Uni GreenRiver’s Julia Momose mixes in sea urchin gonads.

CLASSIFIEDS

37 Jobs 37 Apartments & Spaces 39 Marketplace 40 Straight Dope Just how how infallible is the pope?

41 Savage Love “What do you think of poop play?” and more questions 42 Early Warnings The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Santigold, Coldplay, Frankie Cosmos, Songhoy Blues, the Vijay Iyer Trio, and more Chicago shows you should know about in the weeks to come

FOOD & DRINK

35 Review: Band of Bohemia The “culinary brewhouse” from a team

---------------------------------------------------------------SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER EVANGELINE MILLER ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES AARON DEETS, BRIDGET KANE MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER BRYAN BURDA DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL JOHN DUNLEVY BUSINESS MANAGER STEFANIE WRIGHT ADVERTISING COORDINATOR HERMINIA BATTAGLIA CLASSIFIEDS REPRESENTATIVE KRIS DODD

FEATURE

BLACK LIVES MATTER

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Correction: A film capsule in the January 28 edition incorrectly referred to the movie The Finest Hours as a Disney/Pixar release; it was produced solely

by Walt Disney Pictures.

ONLINE

POLICE

Chicago’s fraternal order of propaganda

When cops kill civilians, their union is on hand to defend them.

In many cases this has come at the expense of the truth.

BY YANA KUNICHOFF AND SAM STECKLOW 12

AFTER MONTHS OF PROTESTS and actions focusing on accountability for Chicago police abuses, one of the many groups rallying for change has unveiled a bold policy platform aimed at improving the lives of black people.

Black Youth Project 100, an activist organization of black 18- to 35-year-olds, released the “Agenda to Build Black Futures” Monday—a platform that emphasizes the need for economic policies to include a focus on racial justice.

Read the rest of Derrick Clifton’s story at chicagoreader.com/ bleader.

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 3

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F of racial prejudice is merely glanced at.

—ZAC THOMPSON Through 3/20: Wed 8 PM, Thu 3 and 8 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport, 773-325-1700, mercurytheaterchicago.com, $25-$65.

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The Last Defender ò JOHNNY KNIGHT

THEATER

to raise your lighter for these lovable underdogs. —MARISSA OBERLANDER 2/5-2/28: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Sun 6 PM, Refuge Records, 666 W. Hubbard, refugetheatreproject.com, $22.09.

The Drawer Boy The three-person cast of this Redtwist production spend two hours swimming upstream. They’ve all delivered convincing performances with the company before, so the problem likely lies in Michael Healey’s belabored script. It starts implausibly: a young actor wandering the Canadian countryside asks a pair of random, reclusive fiftysomething farmers if he can live with them for a while because he’s, um, writing a play about farmers, and they let him right in. Then it grows increasingly contrived. Healey takes too long to invent something that matters (the kid’s inability to write anything good doesn’t, although it eats up lots of stage time), then overreaches with an overcooked dark-secret twist. Director Scott Weinstein’s overly emphatic production often plays to the script’s weaknesses. — JUSTIN HAYFORD Through 2/28: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr, 773-728-7529, redtwist.org, $30-$35, $25-$30 students and seniors.

The Last Defender In hindsight, R room-escape puzzles are such perfect combinations of storytelling,

More at chicagoreader.com/ theater

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UPCOMING EVENTS POWER MEET - MARCH 6 4 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

High Fidelity (The Musical) R Based on the novel by Nick Hornby that launched John Cusack’s

second act as a vinyl-loving antihero, the 2006 Broadway show High Fidelity: The Musical has found its true home in River West’s Refuge Records. The pop-up setting, bedecked with treasure-filled record crates, brings Championship Vinyl to life, and the cast of young, fiery talent lifts Tom Kitt’s score and Amanda Green’s lyrics to new levels of rock (David Lindsay-Abaire wrote the book). As lovesick narcissist Rob, Max DeTogne adorably waxes philosophic about the art of the perfect mixtape and his “Desert Island Top 5 Break-Ups” list. Rob might be miserable because he listens to pop music, but listening to him and the ever-optimistic “musical moron twins” Barry (Nick Druzbanski) and Dick (Stephen Garrett) makes you want

stagecraft, and giddy theater-school camaraderie that it’s astonishing one of Chicago’s immersive-design-focused companies like the House Theatre hasn’t created one sooner. Nathan Allen’s ambitious 90-minute experience puts four groups of four jumpsuit-clad players together to prevent catastrophe in a scenario inspired by retro video games: Cold War Mutually Assured Destruction.

Sander Weisz’s elaborate puzzles are so fun and challenging that it’s easy to overlook how impressive the coordinated arcade consoles, projection screens, periscope viewers, dot matrix printers, fog machines, and live-action Spaceteam walls really are. It’s a logistical and technical achievement that will undoubtedly satisfy even the pickiest problem-solving nerd—here’s hoping these become a trend. —DAN JAKES Through 3/13: Thu 7 and 9 PM; Fri 9 PM; Sat 2, 4, 7, and 9 PM; Sun 4:30 and 7 PM, Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, 773-769-3832, thehousetheatre.com, $45.

The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes More than a century before Making a Murderer, Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle undertook his own criminal-justice crusade on behalf of George Edalji, a half-Indian solicitor convicted on weak evidence of mutilating livestock in his Staffordshire village. In this new musical by John Reeger, Julie Shannon, and Michael Mahler, Doyle investigates the case with the assistance of Holmes, who has managed to escape the bounds of fiction and is pissed off about Doyle’s recent effort to kill him off. The show entertains as a buddy comedy and a whodunnit, thanks largely to the top-flight cast assembled by director Warner Crocker. But since Edalji remains a cipher in Reeger’s book, the important and still resonant issue

commentary on family life. Two levels of tragedy foreground the play. There is the personal tragedy of Andre’s death, which stole him away from his lover, Cal (Jeff Parker), and mother, Katherine (Cindy Gold). But there is also the communal tragedy of the AIDS crisis itself—“our very own plague,” as Cal says. The play is a little too aware of itself as a memorial; its resonance is much more powerful on the concrete family level. It shows that even after 20 years, pain and denial can remain—there can be no forgiveness, no change.

Parker is heartbreaking and Gold, who is just outstanding, universalizes the play beautifully. I can only speak for the sons in the audience, but for us, that is all our mothers up there. —MAX MALLER Through 2/27: Wed 1 and 7:30 PM, Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2:30 and 8 PM, Sun 2:30 PM, Northlight Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie, Skokie, 847-673-6300, northlight.org, $15-$79.

Pinocchio: A Folk Musical This musical adaptation of the Carlo Collodi classic starts poorly. Exposition gets swallowed up in a song that seems too wordy and abstract for the target audience of small children. The magical block of wood from which old Gepetto carves Pinocchio is represented by a violin, creating further confusion. And Pinocchio himself begins life by laughing and crying unrestrainedly. A four-year-old might be excused for thinking s/he’s seeing a play about a bipolar fiddle. But things improve over the course of the show’s 60 minutes. Adapter/composer Tyler Beattie, director Scott Ferguson, and a musically talented cast lavish sweet-humored charm on Collodi’s tale of a puppet (or, more accurately, a piece

Mothers and Sons ò MICHAEL BROSILOW

of pure id) who becomes real by learning the importance of service, study, and work. Before long, the only significant problem is the unwieldy wig Roberto Jonson has to wear as Pinocchio. —TONY ADLER Through 3/6: Sat 3 and 7 PM, Sun noon and 3 PM, Filament Theatre, 4041 N. Milwaukee, filamenttheatre.org, $5-$20.

Snowflake Oscar Wilde’s line R “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”

came to mind watching Gale LaJoye’s touring one-man show, now in its 25th year, about a homeless man named Snowflake. It’s performed wordlessly against the backdrop of a billboard projecting fantasies of family and home as pictured in midcentury advertising; LaJoye is an expert clown a la Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp. Snowflake’s loneliness is lessened when he discovers a discarded puppet, sad and forgotten as he is, whom he sets out to make smile by magically transforming trash into a pair of skis, a tennis racket, a saw, a suitcase. The simple message: maybe we are all in the gutter—looking at life insurance ads—and maybe loneliness is unavoidable, but we still have the ability to dream, to play, to make each other smile. —SUZANNE SCANLON Through 2/14: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, 312-337-6543, chicagochildrenstheatre. org, $39, $28 children.

Upstate A compelling and expressive performance by Juwan Lockett anchors this new drama by Aaron Todd Douglas, adapted from Kalisha Buckhanon’s 2005 novel. Lockett plays Antonio, a 17-year-old from Harlem, who pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the slaying of his abusive father rather than take his chances at trial. Set in the 1990s, the play, like the novel, chronicles the relationship between Antonio and his girlfriend (Asia Martin) through the letters they exchange while he’s in prison upstate, reflecting the couple’s struggle to stay emotionally true to each other while pursuing the separate paths life has set them on. Directed by

Best bets, recommendations, and notable arts and culture events for the week of February 4

DANCE

VHS tapes and adding their own commentary along the way. Fri 2/5, 8 PM, North Bar, 1637 W. North, 773-123-5678, liveatnorthbar.com, $5.

Bold Moves The season’s winter R performance includes the return We Still Like You: The Second of two pieces from Joffrey’s recent repR Anniversary For two years We ertoire: Yuri Possokhov’s Raku and Jiří Still Like You has invited comedians Kylián’s Forgotten Land. 2/10-2/21: WedFri 7:30 PM, Sat 2 and 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, 800-982-2787, joffrey.org, $32-$155.

Holly Hendron at the MCA’s “Prime Time” on Fri 2/5 ò BENNETT PEREZ Carla Stillwell for the Ma’at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre (MPAACT), the play tells its story intensely but unsensationally. —ALBERT WILLIAMS Through 2/28: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, 773-404-7336, mpaact. org, $23-$25.

R

Yasmina’s Necklace Director Ann Filmer does everything right in his world premiere production of Rohina Malik’s gracefully written romantic comedy, about two Muslim families and their awkward attempts to bring together their two misfit adult children.

The casting is perfect: Susaan Jamshidi shines as Yasmina, a troubled, talented artist haunted by her past life in Iraq and Syria. She is well matched with Michael Perez, her reluctant suitor, a man still recovering from a bad divorce. One minute Malik invites us to laugh at her character’s foibles, the next she wants us to be moved by their personal tragedies; Filmer deftly balances the light and the dark. The result is a thoroughly satisfying family drama. —JACK HELBIG Through 2/27: Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 5 and 8 PM, 16th Street Theater, Berwyn Cultural Center, 6420 16th, Berwyn, 708795-6704, 16thstreettheater.org, $20.

Closer Than Ever Giordano Dance Chicago presents new works by choreographers Roni Koresh and Ray Mercer.

Thu 2/4-Sat 2/6: 7:30 PM, Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan, 312-369-6600, gusgiordanodance.com, $30.

onstage to share stories of shame and regret, “because if we’re all idiots, none of us are.” Tonight’s anniversary show features stories from Natalie Jose, Tim Barnes, Derek Smith, and more, plus art

by J. Michael Osborne and free beer.

Sat 2/6, 10 PM, Collaboraction, 1579 N. Milwaukee, 312-226-9633, westilllikeyou. com, pay what you can.

READ A RARE BOOK

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MOVIES

More at chicagoreader.com/ movies Arabian Nights For this 2015 triloR gy of dramatic features—subtitled The Restless One (125 min.), The Desolate One (131 min.), and The Enchanted One (125 min.)—Portuguese director Miguel Gomes uses One Thousand and One Nights, the classic collection of

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11 Warriors Jackie Chan’s Long R Yun Kung Fu dance troupe presents a performance combining ballet, martial arts, and modern dance to celebrate the Chinese New Year. 2/9-2/13: Tue and Sat 7:30 PM, Univ. of Chicago Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th, 773-702-2787, arts.uchicago.edu, $35.

COMEDY

A Love Letter to Myself Women R in Comedy presents a night of stand-up from female comedians along with readings of self-addressed love letters written by other women in the city, such as a homicide detective, a Cook County judge, and more. Tue 2/9, 8:30 PM, Laugh Factory, 3175 N. Broadway, 773-327-3175, womenincomedy.org, $20.

R

Sluttalk The Smear Campaign, a cosmetics company that advocates for sexual autonomy, presents a night of females sharing their jokes and stories about being called a slut.

Alicia Swiz hosts and a Q&A with the performers follows. Wed 2/10, 8-10 PM, East Room, 2828 W. Medill, 773-276-9603, eastroomchicago.com. F VHS Comedy Miss the days of R VCRs and tapes no more; Zach Peterson and Miles Hendrix host this

night of comedians sharing their strange

Arabian Nights

VISUAL ARTS Arc Gallery “A Touch of the Blues,” a group show provide different artists’ interpretation of “blue.” Opening reception Fri 2/5, 6-9 PM. 2/3-2/27. Wed-Sat noon-6 PM, Sun noon-4 PM. 2156 N. Damen, 773-252-2232, arcgallery.org.

Museum of Contemporary Art “Prime Time,” MCA partners with Pitchfork for the series; this month is themed “Refresh.” The night features performances by Bitchin’ Bajas, Jimmy Whispers, Tim Kinsella, and Holly Hendron.

Fri 2/5, 7 PM. Tue 10 AM-8 PM, Wed-Sun 10 AM-5 PM. $20, $15 in advance. 220 E. Chicago, 312-280-2660, mcachicago.org.

LIT Jonah Krvant The author reads from his new novel, The Last Book Ever Written.

Tue 2/9, 6:30 PM, City Lit Books, 2523 N. Kedzie, 773-235-2523, citylitbooks.com.

The Tequila Tales Anniversary The discussion series celebrates its three-year anniversary with host Isaac Paul. Wed 2/10, 8 PM, the Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. West, 312-801-2100, promontorychicago.com.

11 Warriors ò GETTY

For more of the best things to do every day of the week, go to chicagoreader. com/agenda.

JOYCE AND COMPANY

Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian folk tales, to consider his country’s recent fiscal crisis. Coscripted with Mariana Ricardo and Telmo Churro, the films deftly blend political satire, escapist fable, and reporting on the unemployed.

Gomes appears onscreen as a filmmaker who, caught breaking a 2012 state law on cinema, offers stories for a reduced sentence; enter Scheherazade (Crista Alfaiate), the beautiful storyteller of the book, whose vignettes, drawn from present-day news items, are infused with magic realism. An anti-authoritarian thread links segments involving a rooster that’s charged with disturbing the peace, a song contest for illegally trapped chaffinches, a protest march of rowdy off-duty policemen, and a committee of international bankers cursed with extreme erections. The films are enchanting for their irony, their humanity, and their reflexiveness. In Portuguese with subtitles. —BILL STAMETS 125 min.

Fri 2/5, 7:45 PM; Sat 2/6, 4:45 PM; Tue 1/9, 6 PM; Fri 1/12, 2 PM; and Mon 1/15, 7:30 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Avalanche A middle-aged nurse (Fatemah Motamed-Aria) agrees to take the night shift at her hospital to care for a colleague’s dying mother just as a historic ten-day snowfall commences.

Daytime insomnia and disruptions to her routine—her husband letting loose in her absence as if he were a bachelor again, her son parking his dog on their balcony, a new neighbor waking her with piano µ

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 5

E nte r for a chance to Wi n

AGENDA Grahame-Smith wrote the bestselling source novel—or rather, Jane Austen wrote it, and he punched up her public-domain text, turning Mr. Darcy into a fearless zombie hunter and the Bennet sisters into ninja warriors. This big-screen adaptation, incongruously mixing well-upholstered period drama and graphic gore, is amusing for about five minutes, after which you’re in for an awfully long haul. Burr Steers directed; with Lily James, Sam Riley, and Lena Headey. —J.R. JONES PG-13, 108 min. Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Webster Place

The Boy and the World

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CHICAGOREADER.COM/PROMOTIONS 6 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

B playing—drive her into a vortex of discontent. This second feature (2015) by Iranian director Morteza Farshbaf continues the exploration of secrets, dissatisfaction, and grief he began with his debut film, Mourning (2011), but these concerns are too obviously underlined by his self-consciously arty images and the symbolism of an impending avalanche. The character’s underlying malaise is a byproduct of aging and the compromises and deceptions of most long-term relationships, but the superficial resolution betrays the depths of emotion Farshbaf has developed up to that point. In Persian with subtitles. —MARILYN FERDINAND 87 min. Sat 2/6, 7:45 PM, and Sun 2/7, 4:45 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center The Boy and the World An R Oscar nominee for best animated feature, this magical Brazil-

ian fantasy by Alê Abreu reminded me of Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues (2008) and Tomm Moore’s The Secret of Kells (2009) in its crafty combination of simply drawn characters (the boy) and ornate geometrical patterns (the world).

The title character is little more than a stick figure, his circular white head and charcoal-black eyes eerily suggesting a skull; Abreu frequently places him against a pure white field, and his adventures include white clouds being spun into thread like cotton. When he leaves his little village to look for his missing father and winds up in the big, bad city, the multicolored environment becomes progressively more detailed and overwhelming. The father finally appears, but so does an identical figure and another one after that, until the crowd becomes a pattern in itself; this merging of the film’s opposing visual elements is as terrifying as the adult world it signifies. —J.R. JONES 80 min. Fri 2/5, 2 and 6 PM; Sat 2/6, 3 PM; Sun 2/7, 3 PM; Mon 2/8, 6 PM; Wed 2/10 6 PM; and Thu 2/11, 8:30 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Fifty Shades of Black E.L. James’s ridiculous BDSM romance Fifty

Shades of Grey and its blockbuster screen adaptation are ripe for parody, but this spoof by writer-star Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, Dance Flick) is downright rotten.

The filmmakers show an impressive attention to detail, meticulously re-creating the original film’s costumes and sets, and Kali Hawk nails her Dakota Johnson impression as the virginal protagonist, but their efforts fail to compensate for a script crammed with amplified racial stereotypes and misogynistic swipes. The first time Wayans’s perverted cad describes Hawk’s character as “ugly,” the irony is worth a chuckle, but when the male characters’ descriptions of her ugliness become a running gag, augmented by a pile-on of rape jokes, the movie’s mean-spiritedness becomes even more painful than the dippiness of the source material. Michael Tiddes directed; with Jane Seymour and Mike Epps.

—J.R. JONES R, 92 min. Century 12 and CineArts 6 45 Years An elderly retiree R (Tom Courtenay) learns that the body of his onetime lover, who

died more than 50 years earlier in a hiking accident, has been recovered, perfectly preserved in an ice pack. The news sends shock waves through his long marriage to another woman (Charlotte Rampling), and in the week leading up to their 45th wedding anniversary, she begins to wonder who he really is. Directed by Andrew Haigh (Weekend), this sober British drama showcases Rampling in a superb performance. Fearful, confused, and ultimately devastated, her character comes to learn that while a marriage can be strengthened by the years, so can the secret that finally takes it down. —J.R. JONES 95 min. For venues see chicagoreader.com/movies.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is: (a) the greatest movie title since Snakes on a Plane and (b) the worst movie with a great title since Snakes on a Plane. Seth

Son of Saul This debut feaR ture by Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes succeeds at the

daunting task of making the Holocaust new again—partly through story, by plunging deep into the heart of the Nazi genocide, but mainly through style, by restricting one’s field of vision to replicate a concentration camp prisoner’s desperately narrow focus on himself. Saul (Géza Röhrig) has been appointed a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz, which means he gets to herd other Jews into the gas chamber and help dispose of their corpses afterward; Nemes hugs him with the camera, and an extreme shallow focus reduces everything but the immediate foreground to a blur. The film trades heavily in the sort of mundane chores that keep the hellish operation running smoothly, though it ends in abject terror, its cascading chaos reminiscent of another Third Reich drama, Downfall (2004). In Hungarian, Yiddish, German, and Polish with subtitles. —J.R. JONES R, 107 min.

Fri-Mon 2/5-2/8, 12:45, 3, 5:15, 7:30, and 9:45 PM; Tue 2/9, 12:45, 3, 5:15, and 7:30 PM; Wed-Thu 2/10-2/11, 12:45, 3, 5:15, 7:30, and 9:45 PM. Music Box Swoon Part docudrama, part criminology, this fascinating 1992 drama looks at the intimate lives of Leopold and Loeb, gay lovers in Chicago who were sentenced to life imprisonment for their 1924 kidnapping and murder of a teenage boy. Director Tom Kalin highlights the protagonists’ intimacy and violent nature, noting the orgasmic rush they experience when disposing of a body or committing acts of vandalism. Shot in black-and-white 16-millimeter, with archival footage interspersed throughout, the movie makes for a visually evocative history lesson.

Kalin’s vision of lovers outside the law recalls early Godard, while his surrealistic jump-cuts and his treatment of homosexuality as taboo suggest Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising. —DAVID STEWART 82 min. Thu 2/11, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center v

FEBRUARY 5–MAY 3 Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions is organized by the Art Institute of Chicago. Support for the exhibition is provided by the Morton International Exhibition Fund and the Kemper Educational and Charitable Fund. Annual support for Art Institute exhibitions is provided by the Exhibitions Trust: Kenneth Griffin, Robert M. and Diane v.S. Levy, Thomas and Margot Pritzker, Betsy Bergman Rosenfield and Andrew M. Rosenfield, the Earl and Brenda Shapiro Foundation, and the Woman’s Board.

Martin Puryear. Face Down, 2008. Courtesy of the artist. © Martin Puryear, courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Photography by Jamie Stukenberg, Professional Graphics.

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 7

CITY LIFE

writing on the wall

Death of a candidacy

Chicagoans

ò ANDREW HICKEY

Elizabeth Yerkes, pediatric urologist

ARTIST: Don’t Fret LOCATION: Wicker Park PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrew Hickey (Instagram: @drewinchicago)

I’M PART OF A TEAM of specialists that works on disorders of sex development. “DSD” is a relatively new label that covers a lot of different diagnoses. It refers to the condition of having something about one’s genetic material or internal or external genitalia that is not typically male or female. Some affected individuals prefer the term “intersex” because they don’t want to be considered as having a disorder.

One diagnosis is mixed gonadal dysgenesis, in which a chromosomal anomaly affects the development of the gonads. That can present as something that looks like either an enlarged clitoris or a penis with severe hypospadias, in which the urethra doesn’t develop, so the scrotum may be split and look like labia.

Our team consists of me and two other urologists, a pediatric surgeon, a pediatric endocrinologist, a pediatric psychologist, and a genetic counselor.

When we see a baby with ambiguous genitalia, we try to help the parents understand what we think the baby’s gender identity will be in the future so we can assist them in choosing an initial sex of rearing.

The thing is, you can decide which bathroom the baby uses at school and what clothes you dress them in, but

“When we see a baby with ambiguous genitalia,” Yerkes says, “we try to help the parents understand what we think the baby’s gender identity will be.” ò CHRIS RIHA

their gender identity is innate, and until they grow up, you don’t know what it is. Gender identity is the feeling that you are a man or a woman—though not everyone has to identify as one of those—and how you identify yourself may not match what’s present on the inside or the outside. We do believe that the amount of testosterone made in the body prenatally and in the early newborn period may have an impact on a baby’s future gender identity.

Very extensive counseling has to occur for the families to elect anything surgical. We establish with the family an ongoing dialogue about how to help the baby understand, when they’re a teenager, the decisions that were made on their behalf. And we recommend long-term psychological follow-up.

One thing that’s tricky is that with certain conditions, we know that babies heal better and remember less when they have surgery when they’re young. When they’re older and can consent, we believe their surgical experience will be a lot different. No one

really knows the implications of that.

So making a case that everyone should wait and have a procedure at an age where they can choose to do so may be a really good idea, but it may also turn out to result in a different sort of suffering. If a baby is born with his urethra in the middle of his scrotum, when he becomes a teen will he say “Why didn’t you fix this when I was a kid?” or will he say “Thank you for not fixing this”?

There’s a lot we don’t know, and we’re very open in telling families that we don’t know. If you come into this with the mind-set that you know everything and you can tell the family exactly what’s right for their child, that’s just not true. The good news is that, while in this country you have to assign a sex in order to get a birth certificate, you don’t have to take it farther than that.

We would never tell a family that they have to give their baby a certain hormone or have their baby operated on.

As long as there’s no medically dangerous situation, you can just let your child be. —AS TOLD TO ANNE FORD

Ñ Keep up to date on the go at chicagoreader.com/agenda.

CITY AGENDA One sure thing to do every day of the week THURSDAY 4

FRIDAY 5

SATURDAY 6

SUNDAY 7

MONDAY 8

TUESDAY 9

WEDNESDAY 10

♀ I Th ink , Th erefo re I’m Sorr y A sketch show exploring the plight of the modern woman dealing with sexism, at the new storefront Crowd Theater. 8 PM, Crowd Theater, 3935 N. Broadway, thecrowdtheater.com, $5.

D Leath er Museum Lock-in Grab your comfiest leather gear and a sleeping bag for this overnight at the Leather Archives and Museum. The sleepover includes film screenings, a scavenger hunt, and breakfast. 9 PM-Sat 2/6, 8 AM, Leather Archives and Museum, 6418 N. Greenview, leatherarchives.org, $85, $75 in advance.

H Februar y P lant Chicago Farmers Ma rket This indoor market features goods from Bike a Bee, Fruiting Mushrooms, and Pleasant House Bakery, plus cooking demonstrations and tours of the Plant. 11 AM-3:30 PM, the Plant, 1400 W. 46th, plantchicago.com.

^ Chocolate Ex po Twenty local vendors offer samples of their sweet and savory chocolate treats.

It’s the perfect place for a pre-Super Bowl snack. 9 AM-4 PM, Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Rte. 53, Lisle, mortonarb.org, free with museum admission.

~ Chinese New Year Kick-Off The Chinese Fine Arts Society starts the Year of the Monkey with a bang at this celebration featuring Chinese dance, music, and martial arts. Noon-1 PM, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, chinesefinearts. org.

× Fat Tues day Shrimp Boil Chef Brian Jupiterpresents a Cajun-inspired menu featuring red beans and rice, po’boys, a King cake, and, of course, shrimp. 6 PM, Frontier, 1072 N. Milwaukee, thefrontierchicago.com, $35.

Bold Moves The season’s winter performance includes the return of two pieces from Joffrey’s recent repertoire: Yuri Possokhov’s Raku and Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land. 2/10-2/21: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 2 and 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, 800982-2787, joffrey.org, $32-$155.

8 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

CITY LIFE

JASON FREDERICK

Read Ben Joravsky’s columns throughout the week at chicagoreader.com.

POLITICS

Let the games begin

It wasn’t long ago that Rauner threw money at Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.

By BEN JORAVSKY

A

few days before Governor Rauner’s State of the State speech, I woke to find a couple of unusual comments on my Facebook time line.

There’s a connection, so stay with me.

“Good points,” wrote a guy named Mike, under a link to one of my columns.

“Though the Bears did beat Green Bay once this year.”

To which my old pal Bob added: “It wasn’t a good enough win for Ben.” With that I was hit by a jolt of panic not unlike the “midnight terrors” that the great Daily Southtown columnist Phil Kadner recently described in his farewell column.

That’s where he would wake in the middle of the night with the “haunting thought” that he’d misspelled someone’s name.

In my case, I was terrorized by the thought that I had said the Bears lost to the Packers when they’d actually won.

I didn’t recall making that mistake. I

mean, I know I’m not getting any younger, but my brain’s still sharp enough to remember that the Bears beat the Cheeseheads on Thanksgiving night.

So I looked at the column that Mike had posted: “When Chicago spent its pension money on the mayor’s pet project.”

And that’s how I discovered that a column published April 15, 2014—with a now outdated wisecrack about the Bears—had suddenly gone viral.

OK, not viral like a video by Adele, Justin Bieber, or Conan O’Brien—by the way, his latest “ride along” with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube is hilarious.

But about as viral as a geeky column on Mayor Daley’s boondoggles can get.

I had mixed feelings about this blast from the past finding new legs. On one hand, I was delighted to see that people found it relevant.

On the other hand, what took you so long?!

As long as we’re trying to make sense

of the present by delving into the past, allow me to share another nugget from the archives: “Funds and games: Chicago’s 2016 Stewardship Report.”

It’s a column I wrote in September 2009 on who funded then-mayor Daley’s efforts to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago. Speaking of nightmares that can jolt you from your deepest sleep.

More to the point, it’s a reminder of what can happen when so many wealthy and powerful people embrace a preposterous idea.

In this case, Daley asserted that Chicago could afford to pay for something as astronomically expensive as an Olympics.

I suppose I can understand why Daley propagated such fantasies. It wasn’t his money. And besides, he was desperate to leave office with a bang.

But how could so many of our best and brightest civic and corporate leaders tag along for the ride?

Some probably figured they could make some money off the games. Others probably feared Daley’s wrath. Many may have just wanted to show their pals that they too could write a hefty check.

But, c’mon, people—what were you thinking? At first Daley promised that he could stage the Olympics without spending one dime of public money. Meaning it would be the first huge public works project in the history of mankind that came in on budget.

That pledge alone should have taught everyone—especially so many smart and successful people—not to believe one word the mayor had to say about the Olympics.

Yet almost none of our corporate, civic, or political leaders dared to join the handful of citizen activists who broke ranks from the mayor.

This includes everyone from liberals to libertarians in both political parties. I haven’t seen such unanimity of thought since the last days of the Soviet Union.

To convince the International Olympic Committee to award the games to Chicago, Daley mounted an expensive campaign that required him to pass the hat for contributions.

His fund-raisers brought in almost $73 million in “cash contributions and

pledges” and unspecified amounts in “pro bono” support, like legal work and office space.

That money would pay for a lot of librarians today.

It seemed like everyone contributed, including many of the city’s major corporations, foundations, and media.

In fact, just about the only media outlet in town not to donate money to Daley’s cause was the Reader. No wonder he couldn’t stand us.

When the IOC awarded the games to Brazil, the Tribune wrote an editorial headlined “Stand proud, Chicago.”

“The soul of a city is revealed not only in its shining moments of victory,” the Trib editorialized, “but in how it handles adversity.”

Adversity? Are you kidding me?! Most ordinary Chicagoans cheered when the games went to Rio. The funny thing is that many of the same civic and corporate Olympic boosters are now swearing up and down that we’re too broke to pay pensions to retirees. Just so you know, Rauner and his private equity firm contributed at least $100,000 to Daley’s Olympic plan. There was plenty of money just a few years ago to build arenas in the parks—eh, gov?

I’d say that falling for Daley’s Olympic follies is like believing the central assertion of Rauner’s State of the State.

I told you I’d get to it.

In his speech last week, Rauner pledged to cut state taxes and cap local property taxes—basically boasting that he could run the government on nothing.

He may be Bruce the revolutionary now, but back when Daley was shilling for the Olympics Rauner was just one of the boys.

Still, it’s clear there are some differences between Daley and Rauner.

Daley’s policies were driving us to bankruptcy, though I don’t think that was his goal.

In contrast, I’m starting to think that Rauner actually wants government to go bankrupt.

Here’s hoping that this time around our best and brightest citizens find the courage to tell the boss he’s wrong. v

v @joravben

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 9

+ PAUL JOHN HIGGINS (TIM BOYLE/GETTY IMAGES)

CITY LIFE

ART IMITATING LIFE

The big swap

By DEANNA ISAACS

I

f you’ve seen my new favorite movie, The Big Short, you’ve heard that banking used to be a boring, old-boys’ enterprise that mostly consisted of lighting up a cigar, making a fixed-interest loan to the neighborhood hardware dealer, and taking a nap.

Then derivatives came along, and the stodgy old banking business turned into Las Vegas on wheels. The Big Short is a hugely entertaining (and appalling) take on the variable-rate mortgage repackaging that brought on the 2008 subprime crisis and nearly shut down the economy.

But mortgages weren’t the only financial instruments generating derivatives. In the early years of the 21st century, state and local government bonds—those staid and sleepy behemoths—were being issued with their own set of variable rates and a magic little add-on feature that was supposed to make them safe—a derivative known as an interest-rate swap.

And Illinois was in. According to the ReFund America Project, which earlier this month

10 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

issued an admirably readable report, “Turned Around: How the Swaps that Were Supposed to Save Illinois Millions Became Toxic,” Illinois taxpayers have already paid the big banks that sold the state these swaps $618 million.

Over the life of the deals, the last of which will expire in 2033, Illinois will pay about $832 million more.

The bill this year alone will be $68 million.

That’s a total of about $1.45 billion for the banks, for deals that were sold as insurance and were supposed to be a zero-sum game.

How’d it happen? If this were The Big Short onscreen, we’d now get Margot Robbie in a bubble bath to explain the kind of financial details that usually cause our eyes to glaze over. For this story, Rod Blagojevich in a bubble bath, or in full Elvis mode, would do. It was during Blago’s reign in Springfield that Illinois bought most of the 19 swaps ReFund America says the state still holds.

So, while I try to lay this out, maybe you could imagine Rod, with forelock and guitar.

The refrain would go something like this: “You

ain’t nothing but a sucker . . . ” (I tried to reach Blagojevich’s chief financial officer, John Filan, for this cameo. He didn’t respond, but he’s apparently still around.

In the fall of 2014, he was consulting for the Chicago Public Schools, which is struggling with its own swap payments, and last week the Sun-Times reported that his wife, Sally Csontos, was recently hired to be CPS’s executive director of change management at a salary of $160,000 a year.)

Back in 2003 the appeal of adjustable rates was the same for the state as it was for the millions of home owners who were biting on easy-to-acquire floating-rate mortgages: they were cheap at the moment. The obvious catch was that, sometime in the future—that hard to picture, oh-so-distant future—they might, you know, go up.

Not to worry: the banks had a way to protect the state against that—and this is where (drum roll) the magic interest-rate swap comes in.

Buy it, and—presto!—you’ve changed that sexy but unstable variable rate into something just like a good old reliable fixed rate. They called it a “synthetic fixed rate.”

A swap, of course, involves two entities trading items, usually of equal value. In this case, the swap would be a side deal to the bond sale: the state and the bank would agree to pay each other interest on the bonds, with one important difference. The state would pay a fixed rate of interest to the bank, while the bank would pay a variable rate to the state.

Got that? OK. At the same time, the state would be paying a variable rate to its bondholders. So, if interest rates rose significantly, the bank’s payments to the state would go up enough to cover the increased amount the state would be paying the folks who bought the bonds.

The theory was that, in the end, the swap would be a wash. The state would get upside interest-rate protection, and the only real money the bank would make would be the fee it charged for entering into the deal. It apparently didn’t occur to the guardians of Illinois taxpayers’ money that interest rates might go the other way. Which they soon did, with a vengeance. And that’s when it became suddenly and painfully clear that the swap “insurance” the state had purchased had actually been a bet that interest rates would go up, while the banks that sold the swaps had bet on rates going down.

In 2008, when the housing market crashed, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero, where they’ve stayed ever since. As the

ReFund America report demonstrates, the impact on the Illinois swaps was drastic: between December 2007 and December 2008, the state’s monthly net payments on just five of them, for example, jumped from $264,000 to $1.5 million.

ReFund America says the swaps never worked well, but the last seven-plus years have been especially ugly, with the state locked into paying the banks high, precrash fixed rates while the banks pay the state postcrash, “easy-money” rates of next to nothing.

Now, stalled out over a multibillion dollar budget gap, Illinois is cutting or withholding funding for education and social services, but is still making those swap payments to big banks like Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase.

ReFund America’s Saqib Bhatti, who coauthored the report with Carrie Sloan, says the state should take legal action to stop further payments and to potentially claw back the $618 million that’s been paid to the banks so far.

According to the ReFund report, it was “standard practice” for the banks to downplay risks or fail to mention them at all when pitching the swaps, which would have been a violation of federal fair-dealing rules. Illinois could ask the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate and bring a “disgorgement action,” and could also file suit itself under state law, Bhatti says.

The other option, paying onerous termination fees to the banks—they’d amount to as much as $286 million—is what Illinois shouldn’t do, Bhatti says, akin to paying a ransom. (The city of Chicago, which entered into its own swap deals during the Daley years, has already paid or authorized payment of nearly $300 million in early termination penalties under Mayor Emanuel, and would have authorized another $106 million if the City Council’s Progressive Caucus hadn’t put a hold on it earlier this month.)

The swaps didn’t show up in Governor Rauner’s State of the State address Wednesday, but then, neither did the fact that the state doesn’t have a budget. But they’re on his radar: a Rauner spokesperson advised by e-mail that “the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget is doing an in-depth analysis of these swaps in order to reduce the State’s payments and minimize its financial exposure.”

So there’s a chance our pro-business, venture-capitalist governor will take on those big banks and make them do the right thing any day now. But don’t bet on it. v

v @deannaisaacs

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FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 11

D When cops kill civilians, their union is on hand to defend them. In many cases this has come at the expense of the truth.

By YANA KUNICHOFF AND SAM STECKLOW

Pat Camden boasts of commenting on more than 500 police-involved shootings during more than four decades with the Chicago Police Department and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.

12 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

" PAUL JOHN HIGGINS (! JOHN H. WHITE/CHICAGO SUN-TIMES)

CHICAGO’S FRATERNAL ORDER OF PROPAGANDA

ecember 15, 2012, was a bleak, rainy Saturday with a chill in the air. Chicago police officer Ruth Castelli, an eight-year veteran of the force, was patrolling the city’s southwest side with fellow officer Christopher Hackett.

The two didn’t usually ride together, but Castelli’s regular partner was on leave. The day started innocuously enough—earlier that morning Castelli had participated in “Shop With a Cop,” a seasonal initiative that sends officers on a shopping trip to Target with underprivileged children on their beat.

The rest of the day proved to be far more consequential.

Castelli and Hackett were in their Chevy Tahoe when word came in: according to testimony that Castelli later gave, around 11:15 AM a dispatcher called over the radio that four black men in a silver SUV had just robbed someone at gunpoint at a gas station at 38th and Kedzie. Castelli and Hackett sped off to find the vehicle, their sirens silent.

The story of what happened next would gradually take shape based on bits of information, coming first from Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden, and then eventually from a Chicago Police Department statement attributed to then-superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The tale they told would be used to justify the fatal shooting of an unarmed man— and to absolve the officer involved of any wrongdoing.

Camden explained how the scene unfolded. In conversations reported by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, he described a tense and dangerous encounter between Castelli, Hackett, and 23-year-old Englewood resident Jamaal Moore. Moore was a suspect in the gas station robbery, Camden said. A 911 call reporting the incident sent Castelli and Hackett on the chase.

News reports differ on what Moore and his cohort were accused of—some quote Camden alleging one robbery, while another attributed a string of robberies to the inhabitants of the silver-gray SUV. There was also confusion about the exact number of people in the automobile.

Regardless, Camden went on, within 90 seconds of the dispatch, Castelli and Hackett were hot on the trail of the SUV. Their own police vehicle topped out at 70 miles per hour, Castelli later told investigators. The chase ended when the fleeing driver careened the SUV into a large black lamppost at Garfield and Ashland. Most of the passengers jumped out and ran, Camden said.

What happened next is hazy in news reports—one of the police cars on the scene skidded onto the sidewalk, McCarthy said, and “may have hit Moore,” who was struggling to get out of the car.

Hackett then wrestled with Moore, according to news reports. “[Hackett] was thrown around like a rag doll,” McCarthy told reporters at an unrelated press conference later that day. Then, as Hackett tried to handcuff Moore, the 23-year-old flipped him to the ground not once but twice. One of the officers yelled that Moore had a gun.

After that, said McCarthy, Moore charged at Castelli.

She responded by firing her 9mm semiautomatic handgun.

“Based on the male officer saying that [Moore] had a gun, she was in fear and she fired twice, striking him,” McCarthy said.

When the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA)—the body that investigates police shootings—eventually cleared Castelli of any wrongdoing in Moore’s death, the agency cited what had by then become a familiar narrative, crafted and repeated by both the FOP and CPD: the officers were preventing Moore’s escape following an alleged armed robbery attempt, and they “reasonably believe[d] that such force [was] necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm” to Castelli, her partner, or anyone else.

There was just one problem: this story wasn’t true.

Key aspects of the media’s original reporting began to fall apart just hours after Moore was shot. First, Moore’s connection to the robbery was called into question.

On the day of the shooting, Camden told the Tribune that Moore, ostensibly pegged as the driver of the silver SUV, had “pulled out a weapon” during the alleged truck robbery. But when contacted for a follow-up

by DNAinfo, Camden said he had “no idea if there was a robbery” and downgraded the role of the car to “a possibility of a connection” to “a gray SUV.” More discrepancies would emerge, each one discrediting the story initially presented by the police union and CPD, and each calling into question the outcome of IPRA’s investigation.

It wasn’t the first time or the last that the FOP, through Camden, blurred the lines between fact and fiction. In its dual roles of providing both information to the media and legal defense for its members, the FOP has helped shape the narrative around police shootings, arguing consistently that the officers involved feared for their lives.

ANYTIME I TALKED TO THE MEDIA, IT WAS ALWAYS A DISCLAIMER AT THE FRONT END. THESE STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON PRELIMINARY FACTS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE INCIDENT… FACTS ALWAYS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.” —Pat Camden, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 media liaison

There have been 48 fatal police shootings in Chicago since 2012, Camden’s first full year on the job. At least 17 have resulted in lawsuits, and at least one—that of Esau Castellanos-Bernal—has resulted in a federal investigation.

(Since no local or national media outlet comprehensively tracked victims of police violence prior to last year, City Bureau and the Reader compiled a data set of fatal police shootings since 2012 based on press releases from the city and CPD, and from local and national media databases. IPRA counts 47 fatal police shootings during this time, based on CPD data. But the department’s tally of fatalities has previously been called into question by Chicago magazine and other news outlets.)

The FOP, through Camden, provided an initial version of events for 35 of these shootings. A City Bureau and Reader analysis found 15 cases in which crucial aspects of Camden’s statements were later proved to be false or misleading based on evidence filed in lawsuits, unearthed in media investigations, or captured on video.

A sobering mix of factors enables the FOP to put forth misinformation with little pushback, City Bureau and the Reader found through media analysis, as well as interviews with union officials, labor experts, and local reporters. The Chicago Police Department rarely issues an official statement in the hours immediately following a police shooting—supervisors with the authority to issue statements may be asleep, and the information must work its way through the department’s own bureaucracy. In this information vacuum, the news media usually turn to the FOP, frequently citing the police union’s version of events as the definitive one. In the media’s rush to publish a story, and with few resources to investigate cases further, articles often go to press relying entirely on the FOP’s narrative. A legal case tilted in favor of the officer then moves through a weak accountability system heavily circumscribed by the FOP’s contract with the city.

According to experts this is just one alarming example of the power of police unions. Police officers—and their unions— possess an increasing sense of invincibility, says Stephen Downing, a retired Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief and board member of Law Enforcement Against This report was produced in partnership with City Bureau, a Chicago-based journalism lab.

Prohibition, a group of current and former police officers and others working against the effects of the “war on drugs.”

“The growing strength of police unions over the last 20 years has given them a feeling of impunity and arrogance that their only job is to protect the police officer,” Downing says, “regardless of what they’ve actually done.”

CAMDEN ENTERS THE SCENE

On February 1, 2008, Jody Weis was sworn in as the 54th superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Then-mayor Richard M. Daley gave Weis, a former FBI agent, a mandate regularly thrown at new police chiefs: to stem the tide of shootings in the city while beefing up community policing.

Weis, criticized as an outsider from his first moments on the job, began by cleaning house; three deputy superintendents resigned within days of his hiring. Patrick Camden, a former police officer who called himself the “voice and face” of the department and was a fixture on the scene of police shootings, was among those compelled to retire.

Camden joined the force in 1970 and worked at CPD’s Office of News Affairs from 1985 to 1998. He “retired” that year, only to be rehired 24 hours later in the newly created civilian role of deputy news director, a position he held for the next ten years. Camden estimated then that he had offered up information on police shootings 325 times as a department spokesman.

The city had recently undergone a shift in its accountability structure, with the 2007 creation of IPRA, meant to replace the internal Office of Professional Standards. Unlike OPS, the new agency was run by by civilians, and crucially, was billed as being independent from police.

But Camden felt that the launch of IPRA had also stymied the free flow of information he’d been used to directing as press officer for CPD. As he left the department, Camden lamented that, under IPRA, the public knew less about police shootings than it did before.

His public frustration with CPD’s new information system found an outlet three years later when he became the spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.

Camden’s presence marked a sea change in the organization’s relationship with the media. Then-president Michael Shields announced Camden’s hiring in May 2011 with the stated goal of changing the public’s J

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 13

Police disinformation continued from 13 perception of the union. To do this, Shields said, “it is imperative to have a voice in the media.” Shields saw Camden’s experience with CPD—and with local news outlets—as invaluable.

“When Pat Camden shows up on a scene of a police shooting, the media looks to him for guidance,” Shields said.

(That year also marked a huge shift in the union’s political spending strategy, with total political expenditures more than doubling, according to filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections.)

Prior to 2011, the FOP’s official spokesman was its sitting president. City Bureau and the Reader could not find any instance in which Mark Donahue, FOP president from 2002 to 2011, was quoted in a breaking news story about a police shooting.

But under Camden, the union’s media reach greatly expanded.

When Camden got a call about a shooting, nine times out of ten he headed straight to his sedan—no coffee, no food, no special uniform—to get to the scene.

“I’m not rushing,” Camden said in a recent interview, “but I’m trying to get there in a reasonable amount of time.”

He once had a squad car that could clear the streets, but those days were long behind him—without traffic, it took him about 45 minutes to drive into the city from his home in Will County. Once at the scene, his shock of white hair, tan face, and neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper moustache made him easily recognizable.

Camden often arrived after some of the initial confusion had died down. From there, he’d talk to union reps already present.

They’d tell him what they’d gleaned from the officer, and Camden would relay that information to the media.

Crucially, he would give his statement from the officer’s point of view—before a witness had a chance to comment.

“Somebody says, ‘Hey, I want to get on TV’—maybe they haven’t been on the scene or anywhere near the scene but they want to be on television,” Camden says. “At that point, the officers need to at least get the basic facts of the shooting out.”

Camden says he was never skeptical of an officer’s story—especially the part where an officer feared for his life. Camden always believed him.

“Why would an officer shoot somebody if he wasn’t in fear of his life?” he asks.

But many fatal incidents call into question the underlying assumption that cops

14 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

only shoot civilians when in fear for their own lives.

In March 2012, for example, Rekia Boyd was shot in the back of the head by Dante Servin, an off-duty CPD detective. Camden told the Tribune that Servin, while driving down his block near Douglas Park late at night, saw a group of people “causing a disturbance.” When Servin told them to “quiet down,” one of them approached his car and pointed a gun in his direction. Servin fired four shots over his shoulder and out of his window, hitting Cross in the hand and Boyd in the head.

Servin was in fear for his life, Camden said on the scene. Cross, who was taken to the hospital in handcuffs, was charged with assaulting a police officer. Police did not say whether a gun had been recovered, the Tribune noted; we now know that there was no gun—Cross had been wielding a cell phone as he gestured towards Servin.

Then in September 2013, Marlon Horton was shot and killed by Kenneth Walker, an off-duty police officer working as a security guard at a Chicago Housing Authority development near the United Center. Camden told the Tribune that Walker saw Horton and Shaquila Moore, a civilian security guard, struggling in the lobby of the complex. They got Horton to leave the building, but then saw him urinating on a truck in the parking lot. Walker told Horton to leave and identified himself as police, at which point Horton began fighting, pulling Walker to the ground and, according to Camden, ripping out a dozen of Moore’s braids. Camden said that Walker shot Horton after Horton “lunged” towards Walker.

Security camera footage tells a much different story. Though it is partially obscured, the footage shows Walker initiating the physical conflict with Horton; Moore then joins in. Horton never pulls Walker to the ground or rips out Moore’s hair. Though Horton appears agitated, nothing suggests he posed an immediate danger to Walker or Moore. Jarrod Horton, Marlon’s brother, has sued Walker, Moore, the city, and CHA in federal court.

These are just a few of the “well over 500 police-involved shootings” Camden now boasts of commenting on in a combined three decades at CPD and FOP. It’s a role that seems to be unique among big-city American police unions.

“I cannot remember any occasion when the Los Angeles police union made any kind of statement [about a police shooting],” says former LAPD deputy chief Downing,

“NOT ONLY DID I JUST LOSE MY SON UNDER FALSE PRETENSE, YOU HAVE [THE PUBLIC] THINKING HE IS ‘THAT KIND OF KID.’ IT’S LIES ABOUT HIM, BUT THAT IS THE STORY PEOPLE START BELIEVING.” —Gwendolyn Moore, the mother of Jamaal Moore who was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer in 2012

explaining that the Los Angeles Police Protective League prefers not to comment on pending investigations. Veteran Detroit News crime reporter George Hunter said in an e-mail that Detroit Police Officers Association officials “generally don’t get involved in day-to-day crime stories unless the media reaches out to them first.” Christian Boone of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Joshua Scott Albert, who covers Philadelphia for the Daily Beast, both said that the police unions in their respective cities rarely speak out in initial media reports. Crime reporters in Baltimore, Oakland, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and Miami, who asked not to be named, described similar situations in their cities.

A UNION LIKE NO OTHER Chicago’s FOP Lodge 7 operates under the auspices of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, though it often acts independently.

(Unions in other cities can be chapters of larger unions such as the FOP or the International Union of Police Association, or independent bodies.)

Though it would not become the official bargaining agent for CPD’s rank-and-file until 1980, Lodge 7 was incorporated as a charter of the national FOP in 1963. The 60s in Chicago fostered a political climate not unlike that of today, with a nationwide social movement tackling racial inequality.

The civil rights movement criticized and made new demands on police, including that they wear name tags and implement citizen review boards. These attempts at reform prompted swift unionization efforts, according to Samuel Walker, professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an expert on police accountability.

“Many local unions originated or at least became more militant in response to specific police-community relations initiatives in the 1960s,” he wrote in his seminal 2008 study “The Neglect of Police Unions.”

Though their stated goals included improving the wages and working conditions of their members, police unions also began lobbying against reforms and negotiating contracts that were protective of officers accused of misconduct in the line of duty.

Lodge 7’s first president, Joseph Lefevour, was quoted in multiple media stories throughout the 1960s defending officer misconduct. In July 1966, he told an AP reporter that he blamed Martin Luther King

Jr. for riots protesting police violence. “He preached nonviolence,” Lefevour said. “Yet, wherever he goes, violence erupts.”

Lefevour also vigorously defended CPD officers following the infamous “police riots” at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. He characterized Mayor Richard J. Daley’s orders that police should “shoot to kill” protesters as a “positive position,” and excused extreme police brutality by saying, “[Police officers] are Americans. When they saw people tear down the flag and run up the Viet Cong flag, well, they’re red-blooded Americans.” The Reader later reported that the “police riots” were in fact a coordinated offensive against protesters, orchestrated by police leaders and people in Daley’s inner sanctum.

Lodge 7 also argued against a proposal to create a “Fred Hampton Day,” named in honor of the Black Panther leader whose death at the hands of Chicago police became the era’s most notorious example of police disinformation. Police claimed that officers attempting to serve the Panthers with a search warrant for weapons had been dragged into a gun battle with Hampton and others. It later emerged that the attack on Hampton had been coordinated between CPD, the FBI, and Cook County state’s attorney’s office—and that Hampton had been unarmed and in bed.

Lodge 7 would later use membership dues to pay for the legal defense of Jon Burge, the Chicago police commander implicated in torturing potentially hundreds of black and Latino men into false confessions over three decades.

Defending officers is a key part of the FOP’s mission—and that of most police unions. Ron DeLord, the founder and former ten-term president of the largest police association in Texas and an expert on union-police relations, says that the key reason any officer joins a union is first and foremost to obtain legal protection in case of allegations of misconduct.

“You paid us to provide your day in court,” DeLord says. “It isn’t our job to try you [for what you did], that’s the job of the judicial system.”

According to Lodge 7’s tax forms, its top expense from 2010-2014 after staff salaries was legal fees—at a rate of roughly $1.5 million a year. In 2014 alone, the FOP paid $230,000 to Daniel Q. Herbert & Associates, the law firm representing officer Jason Van Dyke as he faces first-degree murder charges for the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. (Herbert was previously Lodge 7’s in-house counsel.) In November 2015 the

FOP started a collection to raise money for Van Dyke, and eventually put up $1.5 million to release him on bond. Chicago’s FOP is also pushing the city to destroy nearly six decades of police misconduct files as part of an ongoing contract dispute.

FILLING THE VOID The FOP’s mission to protect its Chicago members and its desire to shape the narrative of a police shooting are thus closely entwined. In the first few hours after a police shooting, a lack of information creates what Camden calls “the void.” Journalists tipped off to a shooting scramble to find details of what has transpired. This leaves the first person or agency to comment with significant leeway to influence the story.

“It’s a law of nature,” Camden says. “If there’s a void, somebody has to fill it.”

That “somebody” is rarely CPD, which reporters say can take hours to make an official statement about a shooting. Getting an on-the-record response from a CPD department head, chief, or beat cop is highly unusual. This leaves journalists left to rely on press releases that offer little more than boilerplate information. In the September 2012 fatal shooting of Christopher McGowan, the department wrote merely that, “The offenders pointed a weapon at the officers and as a result of this action, officers discharged their weapons fatally wounding one of the offenders.”

A veteran journalist who’s covered breaking news and crime for more than a decade—and who asked that his name not be used because of concerns that his employer might object—identified several limitations to fully reporting on police shootings, among them that a reporter may not be on the scene, could wait hours for a statement from police, may not have access to witnesses, and is often working to publish the news as soon as possible.

CPD has “no written policy” for disseminating information following a police shooting, according to spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, although the department does suggest that the ranking officer on the scene respond to news media inquiries, with the option to “designate a subordinate member to speak to the media.”

That rarely happens, the veteran journalist said.

And so, the void.

The journalist said that in his experience, not only would Camden take his calls—he’d

Gwendolyn Moore’s son Jamaal was fatally shot by police in 2012. She says his reputation was sullied by misinformation about the circumstances of his death. ! JONATHAN GIBBY

go so far as to initiate the conversation, reaching out after a shooting to give his version of events.

“There was pressure to get something out,” the reporter noted. Best practice was to “wait for the official police statement and lead with it, and fill in the gaps with the Camden stuff.” But in the rush to meet a deadline, “a lot of what [Camden] said became the majority of the story.”

Camden’s demeanor, said the journalist, “was very buddy-buddy with reporters.” At the center of that was access: “The thing with Camden is, he is a spokesman for the police officers, so you always had to take what [Camden] said with a grain of salt. . . .

But he was so good at his job and so nice with reporters. You could always call him on his cell . . . and he was often the only one releasing information at the time.”

But that information was always tainted by the FOP’s perspective, and its mission to protect its officers.

“What is interesting [about the FOP] is that they seem to embed a point of view in an information statement,” said Cristina Tilley, a former news reporter and an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University.

“They are simultaneously confirming the information and are kind of spinning it.”

Jane Kirtley, a media ethics and law professor at the University of Minnesota, argues that journalists need to be critical of messages from the Fraternal Order of Police, which often come “with an authoritative

veneer” despite their biased point of view.

“The union has its own agenda,” she added, often motivated by “an even stronger incentive to maintain the reputation of its members.”

Her advice for journalists is to always make clear when a statement can’t be backed up and explain the limitations of the information available. “This is what we heard according to the FOP, which is the police union—not everybody knows that.”

“There’s a huge responsibility on the part of the news media,” Walker says. “Here’s somebody who now has a record, a proven record, of deliberately giving out false information.”

Camden denies ever giving out misinformation deliberately, but echoes calls for responsibility from the media: journalists should know that the information they are getting may not be accurate.

“Anytime I talked to the media, it was always a disclaimer at the front end,” Camden says. “These statements are based on preliminary facts immediately following the incident . . . facts always subject to change.”

WEAK ACCOUNTABILITY

The November 19, 2013, interview of officer Ruth Castelli took place at IPRA’s West Town office, a little more than six miles from where she shot and killed Jamaal Moore.

IPRA’s office sits on the fourth floor of a redbrick building, where tall windows are framed in forest green.

The interview began around 10 AM, and Castelli’s team of lawyers and union reps outnumbered the investigators present to tackle her case—one IPRA investigator’s J

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 15

THE LAQUAN MCDONALD CASE

Police disinformation continued from 15 questions were scrutinized by Castelli, her lawyer, and her FOP field rep, Kriston Kato.

Castelli began the interview by noting that, per Kato’s advice, “I am not making this statement voluntarily but under duress and am only making this statement at this time because I know that I could lose my job if I refuse.”

Castelli’s entourage and her disclaimer point to one way the FOP does more than shape public perception of a shooting; the union also has the power to influence follow-up investigations via its contract with CPD. In these instances, a strong union contract comes up against IPRA’s weak and slow-moving accountability system, in which investigations take an average of 328 days to resolve.

The current agreement between Lodge 7 and the city runs through June 30, 2017, and lays out a wide range of contractual protections, from when and how an officer can be interviewed (during daylight hours, while on duty) to a provision making the results of a polygraph inadmissible in cases brought before the police board.

“The power balance has changed, because now, unlike the 60s, they have these various provisions in their contracts which provide special protections and special privileges,” says Walker, the police-accountability expert.

As stipulated by the union contract, a police officer accused of misconduct has up to 48 hours before he or she is interviewed

by IPRA, though this shrinks to two hours in the case of a shooting, with allowance for an individual officer’s extenuating circumstances. (Strikingly, Castelli’s IPRA interview took place nearly a year after she shot and killed Moore.) From there, IPRA

16 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Camden, pictured in 2003 during his time as a CPD spokesman, has often been the only voice of authority talking to reporters immediately after a police shooting. ! TIM BOYLE/GETTY IMAGES

must provide the names of the primary and secondary investigators, as well as those of anyone else who will be in the room. A maximum of two members of IPRA or the Internal Affairs Department can be present in an interview at a time.

Kato, a former violent-crimes detective on the west side, was himself accused of misconduct during his time on the force. In 1991 the Reader reported on allegations that Kato, who is Asian-American, had beaten false confessions out of people, many of whom were African-American.

Any influence Kato may have had on Castelli’s interrogation is hard to pin down.

Though the FOP contract stipulates that a union rep can advise officers during the interview, there are no statements from Kato recorded in the Moore case transcripts.

The IPRA investigator, Kymberly Reynolds, was herself a police officer with the LAPD from 1989 to 1991. Since 2010 she has not disciplined an officer listed in any of the 159 complaints she’s investigated, according to the Citizens Police Data Project.

Three months after Reynolds interviewed Castelli, IPRA cleared her of any wrongdoing in Moore’s death, finding that she acted in accordance with the department’s useof-force policy. According to department records, Castelli is still employed by CPD. In a statement, IPRA said, “We are aware that the union contract governs how we interact with officers. We’re examining the contract to see if there might be changes that can be made in the future.”

On the evening of October 20, 2014, police officers received a call that a young man was trying to break into cars in Archer Heights, and that he was armed with a knife. Before the night was out, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald would be dead, shot 16 times by officer Jason Van Dyke.

As in so many other cases, the media machine justifying McDonald’s death shifted into full gear, starting with the arrival of Camden on the scene.

Talking to the Tribune, Camden painted the incident in lurid detail: “He’s got a 100yard stare. He’s staring blankly. [He] walked up to a car and stabbed the tire of the car and kept walking.”

From there, Camden claimed that McDonald “lunged” at police and was then shot in the chest. The officers on the scene, he said, were forced to defend themselves. “You obviously aren’t going to sit down and have a cup of coffee with [him],” Camden told CBS 2.

News media reported the case as Camden described it. Chicago police had no choice but to shoot McDonald, NBC Chicago said.

Its reporter on the scene repeated the FOP’s claims, citing the union as a police source and saying that, though IPRA had launched an investigation, “police say this was a clear-cut case of self-defense.” Reports from the Tribune, ABC 7, and CBS 2 echoed that conclusion.

What really happened that night is now evident from the release of autopsy reports and a grainy but painfully clear dashcam video. As McDonald walked away unsteadily from the line of police vehicles, he was shot again and again by Van Dyke. The officer continued to shoot McDonald even after the 17-year-old fell to the ground.

Officials eager to distance themselves from the FOP’s initial statements began backtracking the day after the video’s November 24 release. Camden told the Washington Post that his statement about McDonald being a “very serious” threat to the officers wasn’t firsthand or even secondhand information. In fact, he said, “I have no idea where it came from.”

“I never talked to the officer, period,” Camden told the Post. “It was told to me after it was told to somebody else who was told by another person, and this was two hours after the incident . . . hearsay is basically what I’m putting out at that point.”

Likewise, then-police chief McCarthy walked back his comments on the shooting, telling NBC Chicago that the initial press

release was wrong. He took responsibility for the error— “I guess that’s my fault,” he said—even though the first media comments had come from Camden.

Indeed, the roughly 3,000 pages of e-mails subsequently released from the mayor’s office show a battle to separate the public image of the police department from that of the FOP. An exchange between John Holden, public affairs director for the city’s Law Department, and Shannon Braymaier, deputy director of communications for the mayor’s office, regarding the wording in an NBC 5 story about the e-mail release, notes that the station’s reference to “the Chicago Police Department’s story” about what happened the night McDonald was killed was, in fact, the FOP’s story.

“They amended the online story which clarifies the subject line issue, but leaves in the reference to the Chicago Police Department’s story. I have told Don [Moseley, the well-respected NBC producer] twice that it was not the ‘Chicago Police Department’s story’ but rather the FOP’s. I will continue to monitor,” Holden wrote.

“This mistake is the crux of their entire story,” Breymaier replied. “This is a completely unnecessary self-inflicted wound that should and could have been easily avoided.”

The e-mails also include a letter from McDonald’s lawyer, Jeffrey Neslund, spelling out how the city was culpable in letting Camden spread false information. “There must . . . be accountability for the City and the Department’s role in allowing false information to be disseminated to the media via the FOP in an attempt to win public approval and falsely characterize the fatal shooting as ‘justified,’” Neslund wrote in an e-mail dated March 6, 2015. “Here, within an hour of the shooting, the FOP spokesman gave a statement to the press describing the circumstances surrounding the shooting which contained misrepresentations, misleading information and outright falsehoods.”

Downing, the former LAPD deputy chief, also places blame on the CPD and the city for allowing Camden to disseminate false information from a crime scene. “I’d throw his ass in jail in a minute,” he said. “That’s gotta be the best definition of interfering with an investigation. He’s standing up there representing an official body; the public is listening to him represent the police organization, even though it’s the union. The police department and the city administra-

tion should be objecting to that; if they’re not, then they’re complicit.”

DOMINOES OF REFORM Since the Laquan McDonald shooting, Camden has been noticeably silent; just one of nine police shootings since then—that of Martice Milliner, who was fatally shot in Chatham—featured comments from the FOP rep. An eyewitness interviewed by the Tribune disputed the circumstances of Milliner’s killing as laid out by Camden.

Camden attributes his new low profile to the FOP. “I don’t respond to shootings anymore unless the union specifically calls me,” he says. “It’s just the administration policy at this point in time.” Dean Angelo, the current Lodge 7 president, told the Tribune in November that the decision was made months after the McDonald shooting and was unrelated. But after a recent panel on police transparency, Angelo told City Bureau and the Reader that allegations of Camden making false statements at the scene of police shootings were “concerning,” and suggested that Camden should have never given such statements in the first place.

“That’s why you don’t see Pat Camden out anymore,” he said. “I’m the spokesman for the union now. The department makes the statements on the scene now, as it should have always been.” He confirmed that Camden is still employed by the union as a media liaison.

Media commentary, meanwhile, has largely turned against the entire policing structure in Chicago, taking the mayor’s office, CPD, IPRA, and the FOP to task. A November 27, 2015, editorial by the Tribune, which endorsed Rahm Emanuel in both 2011 and 2015, led with “the more we learn the worse it gets.” The Sun-Times, which also endorsed Emanuel both times, called for McCarthy’s resignation.

The mayor has responded with a flurry of new measures: extending the pilot body-camera program, creating a task force to review police misconduct, outfitting more officers with Tasers, and appointing a new IPRA chief to overhaul the agency.

CPD is responding too, in part by changing how police deal with the media. The department is developing a formal policy on the distribution of information after a police shooting, says CPD rep Guglielmi.

The policy will be based on others around the country, Guglielmi says, but he declined to give any additional information.

“HE’S STANDING UP THERE REPRESENTING AN OFFICIAL BODY; THE PUBLIC IS LISTENING TO HIM REPRESENT THE POLICE ORGANIZATION, EVEN THOUGH IT’S THE UNION. THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE CITY ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE OBJECTING TO THAT; IF THEY’RE NOT, THEN THEY’RE COMPLICIT.” —Retired LAPD deputy chief Stephen Downing

And on December 16, almost three years to the day of Moore’s death, the U.S. Department of Justice began a probe into CPD. The civil “pattern or practice” investigation will look into whether the Laquan McDonald case was a paradigm of misconduct and civil rights violations.

The probe could result in a federal consent decree, which would give the DOJ temporary oversight of the police department. Changes mandated by the consent decree could even come head-to-head with aspects of the city’s union contract, as has happened in Seattle and Cleveland, both of which have police departments under federal oversight.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED Camden and McCarthy’s initial story about the morning Ruth Castelli fatally shot Jamaal Moore—the gun, the robbery, the part where Hackett was thrown around “like a rag doll” by a person who had just been run over by an SUV—fell apart.

The most definitive story of what happened the morning Moore was killed comes from the video footage obtained from Castelli’s car and security-camera footage taken from the gas station at Garfield and Ashland. The images are made blurry around the edges by the rain, and the ground shines as the last minutes of Moore’s life play out.

In the gas station footage, Moore’s silver SUV skids across the wet pavement, begins to spin around, and strikes a lamppost, which falls and crashes on top of the car.

Four people jump out of the back, running across the gas station parking lot. Moore, struggling to join them, is then hit by the police SUV, with Hackett behind the wheel.

Dashcam footage shows Moore crawling out from underneath the police vehicle.

Hackett then climbs on top of him, attempting to put him in handcuffs. He then appears to fall forward over Moore, later testifying that he “got too high on [Moore’s] shoulders.” Moore breaks free, and begins to get up and run away.

McCarthy’s claim that Moore had charged at Castelli was untrue—surveillance footage shows him standing up briefly only to turn and fall to the ground.

Castelli claims that she saw a “black object” in Moore’s hand and shouted, “Gun! Gun!” But the dashcam corroborates neither of those things; the shot is not clear enough, and there is no audio. (Eighty percent of

CPD’s dash cams don’t have functioning audio, Gugliemi told DNAinfo in December, and 22 officers were disciplined last month for interfering with the recording devices.)

But we now know that the only guns the night Moore was shot belonged to Castelli and her partner.

A black flashlight was found at the scene, but whether Moore was actually holding it at the time Castelli shot him is in dispute.

Castelli testified that he was holding it; in official depositions, two witnesses said he was not.

Camden stressed to the Tribune that even though no gun had been recovered from the scene, the earlier truck robbery had involved one—as if to further implicate Moore in a crime with which he was never charged. Police documents show that Moore was not charged for the alleged truck robbery. Instead, he was posthumously charged with aggravated assault of an officer with a handgun—a charge that was later changed to aggravated battery of an officer with his hands after it was determined that Moore was unarmed.

Cook County medical examiner records show that Moore, who died at the scene, was shot twice, in the back and the side of his pelvis.

Moore’s mother, Gwendolyn, sued the city in federal court, alleging, among other things, that police officers at the scene had referred to her son as “just another dead nigger.” City lawyers settled for $1.25 million without legally admitting any guilt.

In a memorandum opinion, federal judge James Holderman wrote that the dashcam video “undercuts [the police and FOP] version of events.”

But Moore’s mother says that apologies and settlement money, whatever the amount, will never undo the damage done

by Castelli, McCarthy, and Camden. At the time of his death, Moore had been engaged.

The money from the settlement will go to Moore’s young son, she said, but it won’t change the fact that he’ll grow up without a father. Moore is gone, his mother said, and his name has been dragged through the mud.

“Not only did I just lose my son under false pretense, you have [the public] thinking he is that kind of kid,” she said. “It’s lies about him, but that is the story people start believing.” v Additional reporting and editing

by Darryl Holliday. ! @Yanazure @samstecky @d_holli

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 17

ARTS & CULTURE

R

THEATER

Another word for ‘fail’

ò LIZ LAUREN

By TONY ADLER

We write plays in order to organize despair and chaos. —JOSÉ RIVERA, IN “36 ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WRITING PLAYS”

T

here’s a prison in Bogotá, Colombia, called Buen Pastor, that houses more than 2,000 women in facilities meant to hold 1,250. Needless to say, conditions aren’t good. In fact, the Britain-based NGO Justice for Colombia, cit-

18 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

ing a 2012 report by the Colombian inspector general’s office, has called them “horrendous” and “appalling.” Parts of the complex lack even running water.

But one thing the inmates at Buen Pastor have that their peers at other correctional institutions don’t is their special morale-building program. Each year the prison runs a beauty pageant. Yes, a beauty pageant. The various cell blocks, or patios, pick and primp

a representative, who then competes against her fellow convicts—FARC guerrillas and rightist paramilitants, drug mules, prostitutes, murderers, and thieves—for the right to wear a tiara and a sash.

The story pretty much cries out for the stage. There’s the ready-made spectacle of women in bright gowns and Vegas-meets-Inca headdresses, dancing for the judges. The vivid paradoxes of an event that simultaneously ennobles and objectifies its participants, frees and confines them, earns them high TV ratings from a society they can’t join. There are the dark resonances of Colombia’s impossible political situation, marked by a 50-year insurgency, a cocaine-ocracy, and a crippled state. Not least of all there’s the pathos of the garbage-dump flower.

Director Steve Cosson, playwright José Rivera, and composer Héctor Buitrago obviously recognized the potential. Receiving its world premiere now at Goodman Theatre, their musical, Another Word for Beauty, takes on all of the above in two and a half hours. And conscientiously too: according to a program essay by dramaturge Neena Arndt, Cosson recruited a cadre of Colombian theater artists to conduct interviews with inmates and officials alike, and the entire team was present for the 2012 pageant.

But the results fail to do justice to the subject matter. Fail by a long shot, actually. Despite

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some appealing performances, an intriguingly idiosyncratic score from Buitrago, and the cool minifloats on which the hopefuls ride as they greet their public, Another Word backfires in essential ways.

Much of the problem is structural. Rivera gives us a handful of prisoner/contestants: Nora, the penitent guerrilla; Isabelle, the former rightist sniper; abused little rich girl Xiomara; Yolanda, whose three-year-old son has been taken from her per prison policy; and the dark-skinned putative ugly duckling, Luzmery, who can’t get the hang of runway-height stilettos. These five are surrounded by the reigning Miss Buen Pastor, an ambitious warden, a crotch-pumping male guest celebrity, and such others as Xiomara’s transvestite brother, who happens to be dead. The glue that least theoretically unites them all is Ciliana (the delightful Socorro Santiago), a kind of elderly Latina Puck who pops up everywhere, addressing wise, blunt speeches directly to the audience.

As the easy labeling suggests, each character has a representative story to tell. Thanks to Rivera’s empathic genius, those stories can be compelling . . . individually. But the pageant narrative into which they’ve been dropped is necessarily predictable—rehearsal, doubts, and biographical speeches during act one, competition, confessions, and bonding during act two—and therefore susceptible to a dulling repetitiveness. Rivera never finds a way out of that trap. On the contrary, he aggravates it by overusing a certain device: though the warden warns the contestants to give innocuous answers to the questions they’re asked during the interview portion of the show, they of course, one by one, break free of decorum to tell some impassioned truth. The cumulative effect is a little like the moment at the end of all those James Brown concerts where he’d be covered by a cape and led away in faux exhaustion, only to run back to the mike stand to sing some more. It’s falsely theatrical and ultimately monotonous.

Worse, it reduces the truth telling to a formula. And that formula reduces the contestants to mouthpieces for sympathetic artists with good intentions. And those good intentions, finally, reduce Another Word for Beauty to an exercise in bourgeois feelgoodism. Rivera and company have organized despair and chaos right out of their play. v ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY Through 2/21: Wed 7:30 PM, Thu and Sun 2 and 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, 312-443-3800, goodmantheatre.org, $10-$75.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 19

ARTS & CULTURE VISUAL ART

Beasts of the Dutch wild

By ANNETTE ELLIOT

O

n an empty stretch of beach outside the city of Delft, the Netherlands, small herds of an ostensibly unidentifiable species ramble slowly across the sand. They parade in a delicately rhythmic procession, bleached white by the sun. Brittle vertebrae form pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, and buttresses reminiscent of Gothic architecture. Poised against an endless expanse of blue sky, the creatures’ gossamer wings undulate in the breeze. As the tide rises, the animals recede toward the dunes where, with a strong gust of wind, they can be swept into the air and down the beach like tumbleweeds.

These are Strandbeests (“beach animals”), the invention of 67-year-old Dutch artist and engineer Theo Jansen. Eight of these specimens will be on display at “Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen,” which opens at the Chicago Cultural Center on Saturday, February 6. The exhibition features sketches, “fossils,” video, and photography, as well as daily demonstrations of Strandbeest movement.

Jansen tinkers with his Strandbeests on Scheveningen Beach near the Hague, his white hair in disarray and his small dog, Murphy, prancing around him. “A normal day for me starts at 6:30,” Jansen explains in Theo Jansen, a short documentary directed by Salazar, a collective in Vancouver. “I wake up with ideas somehow gathered in the night. In the morning I get up, have breakfast, then I go to the studio, usually with a plan to work on.

During the day, my plan doesn’t succeed and I grow more and more disenchanted. At the end of the day I’m depressive. I go home, work into the night, and go to sleep. It is all hard work, in fact, just like evolution is hard work. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Somehow there is a new idea again. But I love it.”

The Strandbeests had idealistic origins. In 1990, troubled by rising sea levels that threaten to flood the Netherlands, Jansen proposed creating an “animal” to help fortify the dunes.

His first creature was made out of yellow

20 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Theo Jansen in front of one of his Strandbeests, Animaris Umerus (2009), on Scheveningen Beach, the Netherlands, in 2009 ò LOEK VAN DER KLIS/COURTESY THEO JANSEN

PVC tubing, Dacron sails, plastic bottles, and string. Powered only by the wind, the animal stored wind energy in plastic bottles for future use; equipped with a shovel, it tossed sand onto the dunes along the coast.

Jansen has spent the past 26 years immersed in creating new life-forms. With names such as Animaris Vulgaris, Animaris Speculator, and Animaris Gryllothalpa—a play on traditional scientific taxonomy—the Strandbeests have evolved over generations from rudimentary creatures that could stretch and bend their legs to increasingly complex animals able to survive the elements. Each spring Jansen introduces a new species of Strandbeest to Scheveningen Beach; in the autumn he declares the animal extinct. A flaw of early Strandbeests was their inability to distinguish between land and sea. To correct this, Jansen devised a series of suspended tubes that react when the animal is in shallow water to prevent it from drowning. He regards his process as akin to natural selection—his future designs only incorporate the most successful components of prior creations.

Jansen wanted to observe the phenomenon

of evolution with his own eyes. He remembers how he fell under the spell of The Blind Watchmaker (1986), written by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins—specifically, the story of the stick insect. Millions of years ago, dim-sighted birds preyed on stick insects that lived in trees. There were fat ones and skinny ones, and the kind gobbled up first were the former, since they were the easiest to see.

Over time stick insects grew more elongated and developed camouflage techniques, including changing color and swaying, that enabled them to blend seamlessly with the surrounding foliage.

Similarly, the Strandbeests have mutated across Jansen-devised “geological periods” such as the Pregluton (the period before the Strandbeests were created), the Gluton (the tape period), and the Chorda (the strap period). “I look back at Animaris Vulgaris with a twinge of sadness,” Jansen writes in his book The Great Pretender. “What a sorry sight it is too. Whatever made me think I could get it to walk? Some kind of irrational optimism, no doubt. Irrational optimism is something only we humans possess.” Walking along the

beach deep in thought, he observed young boys struggling to bike, their wheels sinking into the soft sand. This inspired him to sketch a new design and develop a computer model to calculate an ideal walking curve. What he arrived at were 11 exactly proportioned rods that together create what looks like a crumpled-up piece of paper. This “wheel” permits the Strandbeests to scuttle nimbly across the sand with the aid of a triangle-shaped toe that can either dig into the earth or flatten itself, depending on the surface.

“I’m afraid my animals are still very primitive,” Jansen said. “You couldn’t even compare them to a worm. They’ve only been around for 25 years, and normally evolution takes millions of years.” In a race against the clock, he struggles to fine-tune his designs in the hopes that one day the beasts might roam the beach without human interference. If not for death, Jansen reckons he could make them perfect. v R “STRANDBEEST: THE DREAM MACHINES OF THEO JANSEN” Opening reception with Jansen, Fri 2/5; opens Sat 2/6. Chicago Cultural Center, Sidney R. Yates Gallery, 78 E. Washington, 312-744-6630, chicagoculturalcenter.org. F

ò ANTERO HEIN

ARTS & CULTURE

DANCE

A drug-free alternative to LSD? LIKE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SHAMAN, the Norwegian choreographer Ingri Fiksdal is prepared to inspire some trippy illusions while here in Chicago.

Rife with sleek, reflective costumes and floating black orbs, her work Cosmic Body is nothing if not experimental, skewing toward psychedelic. Fiksdal collaborates with four dancers and the electronica/ EDM artist Ingvild Langgård and employs visuals from artist Signe Becker to create a “disorientation of the sensorium,” inspired by Brion Gysin’s Dreamachine, the stroboscopic device he designed in the late 60s to create artificial hallucinations.

Those hallucinations figure prominently in the writing of novelist William S. Burroughs, who in his books refers to the Dreamachine as a weapon of “unearthly brilliance and color.”

“So a drug-free alternative to LSD,” Fiksdal explains. Likewise, Cosmic Body leads audience members on a journey that in some ways seems more like a collective acid trip than a dance performance. “People feel like they enter a trance state, that it becomes hard to look away from what goes on,” Fiksdal says.

As with most of her work, Cosmic Body is meant to be a participatory experience.

Fiksdal considers the audience critical to her performances; one of her overarching concerns is the notion of shared customs and activities. This one proves no different, she says. Expect a transcendental ride, sans the purple haze.

“I’m concerned with creating work that, ideally, produces the potential for new thoughts with the spectators,” she says.

“I think for this to be possible, there is the need for the spectator to enter some sort of liminal stage—the stage of transformation within the ritual.” —MATT DE LA PENA COSMIC BODY 2/4-2/7: Thu 7:30 PM, Sat 7:30 and 10 PM, Sun 3 and 7 PM, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago, 312280-2660, mcachicago.org, $30, $10 students.

Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson. ò FX NETWORKS

SMALL SCREEN

The Juice is loose again

By BRIANNA WELLEN

I

n 1994, a live broadcast of O.J. Simpson’s white Bronco racing down the LA freeway crashed televisions across the country; it was the start of a very complex story about the criminal justice system, race, abuse, and celebrity. Let’s not forget, the LA riots took place just two years earlier; many saw O.J.’s prosecution as yet another incident in which the LAPD prejudicially sought to convict black men. And then there’s the notion that celebrities can get away with anything (while Simpson tore down the highway fans along the road held signs cheering him on: “Run, O.J., run!”).

Simpson had allegedly physically abused his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson for years before she was found murdered; the lack of legal consequences for those instances was the first

sign of his ability to manipulate the criminal justice system. Two decades later, Simpson’s story sounds all too familiar.

American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, the first installment of a new serial from Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Glee), takes a closer look at the arrest, trial, and aftermath of the Simpson case, exploring how it changed the culture of live television and the prosecution of public figures. I was four years old when it all went down, and it feels like since then Simpson and all the events surrounding the case have become a punch line. This show attempts to recapture the intrigue, confusion, and gravity of the situation—after all, two people were brutally murdered.

It takes a minute for the series to find its footing. The first episode islike a Lifetime movie (a well-done Lifetime movie, but a Lifetime movie all the same), with the kind of campiness that you would expect from the guy who created Glee. There’s melodramatic dialogue between police officers a la Law &

Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian ò COURTESY THE ARTIST

COMEDY

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump go head-to-head . . . sort of WHEN LARRY DAVID APPEARED on Saturday Night Live to impersonate Bernie Sanders, viewers went crazy. But David’s impression of

the Democratic presidential candidate pales in comparison that of LA-based comedian James Adomian. Granted, he’s had more practice—he rolled out his Sanders impression during his multiple sets at Chicago’s Comedy Exposition last summer before #feelthebern fever kicked in, and now Adomian’s reviving it, with fellow comic Anthony Atamanuik playing opposite him as Donald Trump.

The pair are performing their “unsanctioned bipartisan exhibition” Trump vs.

Bernie: The Debate! at SPACE in Evanston right in the middle of a political free-for-all, and they’ll address family values, income inequality, and foreign policy in their act. Luckily there’s no lack of inspiration for the duo’s show—all they need to do is turn on the news for material. When Atamanuik’s Trump waxes

Order and a distractingly high number of celebrities playing celebrities (among them Connie Britton as Faye Resnick, Selma Blair as Kris Jenner, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian, and, of course, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson). Plastic-faced John Travolta’s over-the-top portrayal of celebrity lawyer Robert Shapiro is like a bad Lorne Michaels impression. Here’s a fun game: take a drink every time someone portentously calls Simpson “Juice.”

But once you get past the initial silliness, all the strange-yet-true details surrounding the case make for a compelling drama. Murphy intercuts newsclips from the original coverage of the trial, including the infamous car chase. The show addresses multiple perspectives without losing momentum—we hear from the defense lawyers, the prosecutors, Simpson’s friends and family, prominent members of the black community, television executives, police officers, and other athletes and actors.

Gooding Jr.’s emotional performance almost made me feel bad for Simpson until I was reminded again that he totally did it—or did he? (He did.) Even though we all know how the story ends, the pacing, performances, and dramatic flair of American Crime Story makes everything feel fresh and unpredictable. v R AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON Tuesdays at 9 PM on FX

v @briannawellen

poetic about his love for turkeys—“I love Thanksgiving, I support turkeys 100 percent, I support bilingual schools for turkeys because turkeys are Americans”—it sounds ridiculous, sure, but not much more absurd than what some of the candidates are actually saying.

And it’s not just Trump who takes the heat in the comedians’ portrayal—this is a bipartisan roast. Adomian as Sanders says the most romantic thing that he and his wife do is read figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics out loud to one another.

Adomian and Atamanuik’s spot-on portrayals and skilled improvisation serve as a reminder of just how ridiculous the presidential race and the issues surrounding it can be. We might as well have a laugh while our country descends into madness. —BRIANNA WELLEN R TRUMP VS. BERNIE: THE DEBATE! Thu 2/4, 8 PM, SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston, evanstonspace.com, $20-$32.

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 21

THE PRESIDENT ssss Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. 115 min.

Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton, 773-281-4114, $10

ARTS & CULTURE

The President

MOVIES

Two little Hitlers

By J.R. JONES

I

n Mohsen Makhmalbaf ’s political drama The President, the brutal dictator of an unnamed country (the movie was shot mainly in the Republic of Georgia) is deposed in a popular rebellion and goes on the run with his five-year-old grandson. Disguising themselves as refugees, they melt into the general populace, and as they cross paths with ordinary citizens, the old man begins to reckon with all the misery he’s caused and the boy begins to see through the grandfather he once revered. The fable of a leader going incognito among his people is as ancient as the King Arthur legend and as modern as the last days of Saddam Hussein; Makhmalbaf turns it into a story at once timeless and contemporary, eventually pushing past the immediate matters of guilt and comeuppance to ask whether democracy can ever flourish amid an endless cycle of oppression and revenge.

Though Makhmalbaf is primarily concerned with moving outward from the ssss EXCELLENT

sss GOOD

president’s story to the larger society, the grandson character also pulls one inward to consider the psychology of a dictator. At the beginning, the president (Misha Gomiashvili) and his grandson (Dachi Orvelashvili) wear identical uniforms—they might almost be Dr. Evil and Mini-Me—which sets up an explicit parallel between them. The grandson, Makhmalbaf has explained, “can be seen as the innocence embedded in the tyrannical president, who is nevertheless still a human being.” At the same time, the relationship between man and boy introduces “the idea of regret. As the grandson witnesses one tragedy after another, he constantly questions his grandfather about the horrors he is seeing.

Answering these questions is something that is shameful for the president, given his own responsibility. But facing his grandson’s questions is also what brings the president back to his own humanity.”

Oddly, my own reading of the movie was almost the opposite of what Makhmalbaf

ss AVERAGE

22 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

s POOR

•

WORTHLESS

intended. Anyone who’s watched a kid burn (probably out of fear more than love). “Why ants with a magnifying glass can tell you that haven’t they hung my photo?” the grandson children are far from innocent, and many of asks as he and the old man speed down the the ugly psychological traits common to dic- highway in the presidential limousine, passtators—sadism, narcissism, paranoia—have ing a series of banners with the president’s their roots in childhood emotions that most image. Makhmalbaf can’t resist turning the of us outgrow as we escape our narrow sense knife here: to the president’s dismay, some of of self and find common cause with the rest of the banners have been torched, flames eating humanity. The title character of The President farther into his image with each successive isn’t really an adult reconnecting portrait. Once he and the boy are with his childhood innocence; he’s on their own and the military has an overgrown child suddenly jolted offered a million-dollar bounty for Get showtimes at into maturity by seeing things he’s chicagoreader.com/ the president’s capture, the familbeen shielded from all his life. And iarity of his face to every citizen movies. though the grandson may react in becomes a double-edged sword. wide-eyed terror to the violence By that time the president has he and his grandfather encounter plenty of legitimate fears, but on the run, before they flee the presidential there’s also a sense that, before it all came palace he shows every sign of turning into a apart, he was capable of inventing threats. despot himself. As we all learned from Uday When pressed to commute the death sentence and Qusay Hussein, the children of dictators of a 16-year-old rebel, he sputters, “If we don’t can be so monstrous they make their fathers punish this kid now, later on, all the kids will look like Mister Rogers. start a fucking revolution.” The grandson has The magical opening scene shows how been taught never to eat or drink anything eagerly children can embrace and abuse without a servant tasting it first, lest it be power over others, and how that same abuse poisoned. Later, when the pair are wandering can follow them into adulthood. As the pres- the countryside, the president coaches the ident and his grandson sit on the palace roof boy to identify him to strangers as a political one night, the lights of the city spreading prisoner. This sets off a game of “why”—every out before them in the darkness, the boy child’s favorite—that betrays the president’s demands ice cream but the old man offers paranoid logic. “What does ‘political prisoner’ him something better—omnipotence. “When mean?” asks the boy. “It means that I was the you take my place, with one call, you will be president’s enemy,” his grandfather replies. able to turn off all the lights!” the president “Why were you the president’s enemy?” asks declares. To demonstrate, he telephones the the boy. “If you say I was the president, they city power station and orders them to plunge will kill us,” his grandfather replies. “Why the city into darkness. As the panorama of would they kill us?” asks the boy. His grandfalights goes black, the boy’s face opens in won- ther replies, “Because they are the president’s der. “I want to command too!” he cries, and enemies.” the president hands him the receiver. The boy When the boy asks why the people are the orders the lights restored, then cut again. But president’s enemies, his grandfather termiwhen he orders the lights restored a second nates the conversation, but the stories that time and nothing happens, the sirens grow- emerge during their journey answer that ing in the distance begin to make sense. The question. Over the years the president has revolution has begun, and the power station tortured and killed countless opponents; one is under siege. was burned alive, another hanged in front of All young children are narcissistic, though his own mother. The grandson never displays once they enter school and have to interact any such wanton cruelty, yet his willingness with classmates and teachers, most begin to to plunge an entire city into darkness for his develop a more humble view of themselves own amusement betrays the same selfishness in relation to others. The president seems to and lust for power that his grandfather never have missed out on that little lesson, howev- outgrew. As the old saying goes, the child is er: his official portrait is ubiquitous across father to the maniac. v the land, plastered on every available surface and prominently displayed in every home v @JR_Jones

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please recycle this paper FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 23

WOLF BY KEITH HERZIK

MUSIC Sade onstage in Nice, France, in 2011 ò VALERY

IN ROTATION

HACHE/GETTY

A Reader staffer shares three musical obsessions, then asks someone (who asks someone else) to take a turn.

GOSSIP WOLF A furry ear to the ground of the local music scene

The cover of Nas’s untitled 2008 LP Ramleh’s 2015 album Circular Time

KEVIN WARWICK

ALEXANDER FRUCHTER Co-owner of indie hip-hop label Closed Sessions

Negative Scanner, “Ambitious People” Despite the uncanny power of Rebecca Valeriano-Flores’s voice, Chicago postpunk four-piece Negative Scanner still seem weirdly underappreciated in town—even after dropping their explosive self-titled debut full-length on Trouble in Mind last summer. I recently picked up a seven-inch the band released in 2014, and its title track, the 103-second “Ambitious People,” is Negative Scanner at their most efficient: it pushes forward raggedly at a frenzied pace, and Valeriano-Flores wills the song along with fiery, commanding vocals you’d consider yourself lucky to follow off the edge of a cliff.

The Beastie Boys I recently went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and tracked down every piece of Beastie Boys memorabilia. The world can be a fucked-up place, but these guys always put a smile on my face. The Beasties aren’t technically the best rap group ever, but they kind of are—I don’t know, they just kind of exist in their own space. I was in a little creative funk as the year started and got out of it listening to their jams in the CS office at high volume. RIP MCA.

Reader associate editor

Iggy Pop, Lust for Life I defy you to frown at Iggy’s grin. Unsurprisingly, his most commercially successful album, 1977’s Lust for Life, is also his second collaboration with our dear departed pal David Bowie, who not only wrote most of the music but contributed plenty of instrumentation and vocals. It’s somehow easy to forget how perfect Lust for Life is: the rhythms often have that Bowie-esque swing and shuffle, Iggy’s vocals make him sound like a seedy hotel-lounge singer, and the album’s late-70s glam is applied carefully, like blush— never too garish, always just right.

Ramleh They’re back. Or rather, they’ve been back since 2009, but just this past December pioneering British power-electronics group Ramleh released the behemoth Circular Time, a blend of electronics, noise, and psych—and as they put it, their first album in nearly 20 years “operating in ‘rock’ mode.” It’s a gnarly deep dive, so clear out some head space.

24 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Music-discovery platforms and the return of G.O.O.D. Fridays Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal, and even lesser-known platforms such as Nusiki are changing the industry and how people find and share music. It’s fascinating, scary, exhilarating, and absolutely insane. It kind of keeps me up at night. Even big stars are releasing music for free without warning. When Kanye dropped his G.O.O.D. Friday song “Real Friends” last month, the artists who appeared in Soundcloud’s algorithm after him wound up in The Fader. It’s wild.

Nas, untitled LP I really wanted to add some new music to this list, but I’ve just been going back to old music lately. One project that I wanted to listen to with 2016 ears is Nas’s 2008 untitled LP, originally called “Ni**er” until the music industry and Wal-Mart were like, ahhhh naw. With racism and systemic oppression getting much-needed attention now, Nas’s album has taken on new meaning for me. Some tracks aren’t the best, but “Sly Fox” and “Queens Get the Money” really resonate. Nas has always been one of my favorite MCs. His voice and that LP are still necessary.

KWEKU COLLINS

Hip-hop artist and songwriter Tame Impala, Currents In my opinion, Tame Impala’s Currents was the best album of 2015.

It’s as cohesive as Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City or the Beatles’ Love. Not only does it hang together musically, but it also follows a story line, adding a somewhat cinematic element to the project. Currents is a psychedelic adventure, with random warps that sound like damaged vinyl and wonderfully spacious drops reminiscent of hip-hop. The vocals are equally trippy, their dense harmonies straight from the 60s, and the songwriting is excellent. Favorite songs: “Let It Happen,” “The Moment,” “Eventually.”

Sade Quite possibly my favorite artist of all time, Sade has yet to release anything mediocre. Every album explores a different sound while maintaining her high standards of musicality and overall beauty. Her voice is strong and soothing, and her harmonies are equally satisfying, fitting together like puzzle pieces.

Favorite songs: “Lovers Rock,” “Babyfather,” “All About Our Love.” If you don’t know, find out.

Future Islands live Last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival booked a lot of phenomenal acts, but my favorite by far was Future Islands. Front man Samuel T. Herring gave an electrifying performance. His movements reminded me of Bob Marley’s—powerful, heartfelt, and expressive. I’d heard only one song by Future Islands beforehand, so for me this was an incredible introduction to them. If you want a peek, check out their Pitchfork rendition of “Tin Man” on YouTube.

GOSSIP WOLF HAS BEEN FOND of Chicago bubblegum-pop sweethearts the Lemons for almost as long as they’ve been a band, so it’s a pleasure to see their audience grow. Late last week a handful of celebrities “picked up” copies of the band’s brand-new debut LP, Hello, We’re the Lemons, at Logan Square shop Brica-Brac: among the folks posing with copies of the album on Instagram were Malin Akerman (Watchmen, Childrens Hospital), Kate Micucci (Garfunkel and Oates), Orlando Bloom (you know, Legolas), and mumblecore auteur Joe Swanberg (brother of the Lemons’ James Swanberg, who’s also the main man of Today’s Hits). Improbably prolific California indie label Burger Records releases the album Fri 2/5, but you can buy it now from Brica-Brac or download the whole thing from Bandcamp at bit.ly/lemons_lp.

New band alert! Pieholden Suite Sound co-owner Joshua Dumas—one of the talents behind the Chicago Avenue Moon iPhone app that’s been soundtracking rides on the 66 bus for the past few years—has a drony new duo called Mending with crystal-voiced singer Kate Adams. Fans of Juliana Barwick and Chicago’s Mind Over Mirrors should find plenty of glacial bliss in the two tracks the duo posted to Bandcamp last week; Dumas tells Gossip Wolf they’re already working on a full-length and hope to start playing shows this spring.

Late last week the fine folks at Permanent Records dropped their label’s 50th release, and it’s a doozy—a 40thanniversary reissue of the sole album

by Zipper, a short-lived fuzz-rock outfit fronted by Fred Cole before he started Dead Moon. The self-titled LP originally came out in 1975, when it was the debut release by Fred and Toody Cole’s Whizeagle Records. The new Permanent LP is the first official stateside Zipper reissue, so you’d better believe it’ll fly off the shelf!

—J.R. NELSON AND LEOR GALIL Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail gossipwolf@chicagoreader.com.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 25

MUSIC

Recommended and notable shows, and critics’ insights for the week of February 4 b

ALL AGES

F

PICK OF THE WEEK

Innovative Berlin duo Modeselektor keep doing dance music their way

Marlon Williams ò JUSTYN STROTHER

THURSDAY4 Arms & Sleepers Anti/Beyond and Into Dust open. 8 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $10.

ò BEN DE BIEL

MODESELEKTOR, SHED

Sat, 2/6, 10 PM, Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark, $25, $20 before midnight.

FOR 20 YEARS BERLIN DUO Modeselektor have been busting dance’s genre barriers in the pursuit of engrossing, hard-to-pindown cuts. Theirs is the kind of slippery music some might inelegantly refer to as EDM, but Modeselektor offer far more nuanced, innovative, and gratifying sounds than the Michael Bay-size exploits associated with that vague tag. On their last album of original material, 2011’s Monkeytown (Monkeytown), tracks burble and froth even as they grow at glacial paces and hover at a low volumes—they thrum with the energy of muted dancehall rhythms, frazzled glitch synths, or rubber-band hip-hop beats stretched to cartoonish proportions. Modeselektor make music fit for both the dexterity

26 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

of Flubber-mouthed LA rapper Busdriver and the whispery witching-hour coo of Thom Yorke, who appear separately on Monkeytown on consecutive tracks. And though the transition from the big-footed “Pretentious Friends” to the crackling “Shipwreck” appears jarring on paper, Modeselektor handle the stylistic changes with an intuitive flair. The dark mix of house and early-2000s dubstep boils with an ecstatic tension on their 2015 single “Trees” b/w “50 Trees” (50Weapons), and that’s just a fraction of the duo’s multicolored melange. Tonight’s a precursor to Modeselektor’s upcoming trek with electronic artist Apparat—their side project Moderat hits Concord Music Hall in May. —LEOR GALIL

Swim Team (Fake Chapter), the 2014 full-length from Boston duo Arms & Sleepers, emerges like a consuming fog. Multi-instrumentalists Mirza Ramic and Max Lewis are fluent in trip-hop, ambient music, IDM, and postrock, and they fluidly combine those genres into a harmonious mass that plays like a long suite with fragmented pauses. Serene and shuffling percussion, stammering and winsome vocal samples, and tidal synths create a porous mood that enhances—and perhaps beautifies—whatever emotions are hanging over your head. Unlike Arms & Sleepers’ previous albums, Swim Team is largely instrumental, save for the shards of vocals that bubble to the surface and hang in the distance—which makes it even easier to imprint your ideas on the shifting songs. Next week the group drop a fulllength remix of Swim Team, and the remix of the title track by dream-pop group Sun Glitters shows that reinterpretation only enriches the experience of hearing it. —LEOR GALIL

FRIDAY5 Orrin Evans 9 PM, Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, $15.

Philadelphia pianist Orrin Evans, a coleader of the experimental trio Tarbaby as well as a confederate of mainstream trumpeter Sean Jones, continues to display nonchalant range and easy curiosity on last year’s The Evolution of Oneself (Smoke Sessions). A fiery trio session featuring the high-octane rhythm section of bassist Christian McBride and drummer Karriem Riggins, the album mixes J

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FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 27

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MUSIC

JUST ADDED • ON SALE THIS FRIDAY!

Lucy Kaplansky Friday, May 6 7PM • In Szold Hall

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5 8PM

Au Pair featuring Gary Louris (The Jayhawks) & Django Haskins (The Old Ceremony)

continued from 26

standards pushed and pulled with elastic, imaginative arrangements and soulful, hard-swinging originals rooted in the protean postbop language that’s made Evans one of the most versatile pianists in jazz today. The album dips a toe into contemporary R&B via a few brief electric interludes, but Evans sounds best when swinging like mad, which is what we can expect tonight when he leads a trio with drummer Anwar Marshall and bassist Madison Rast.

—PETER MARGASAK

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6 7 & 9:30PM

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Le Youth Just Kiddin, Redux DJs, and Karol Fox open. 10 PM, Primary Nightclub, 5 W. Division, $20.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12 8PM

LA producer and DJ Wes James, aka Le Youth, has a thing for 90s house and R&B, but his affection for a bygone era never gets in the way of his ability to craft songs that feel alive. He’s put out only a handful of singles over the past few years—three of which have been packaged as EPs that feature remixes of the title track—but each glistening number is a capsule of dance-floor pop euphoria. Last year’s Real (Sign of the Times) should sound familiar to anyone whose radio was stuck on a Top 40 station in the 90s, though the album is broadcast through a different prism. The pristine, monochromatic piano melody on “Real” melds with taut, nimble, and almost inaudible percussion and vocal samples that melt and morph as the track progresses.

It’s anchored by 90s house touches but propelled by contemporary pop, and it circles a theme that draws together divergent time lines and so many other voices in modern music: love. —LEOR GALIL

Caravan of Thieves In Szold Hall SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13 8PM

Peter Case In Szold Hall SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14 10:30AM & 1:30PM

Okee Dokee Brothers Kids' Concert FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19 8PM

Bill Frisell

"When You Wish Upon a Star"

with Petra Haden, Eyvind Kang, Thomas Morgan, and Kenny Wollesen

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Lúnasa / Tim O'Brien FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26 8PM

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OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG 28 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

John Scofield & Joe Lovano 7 and 9:30 PM, SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston, $28-$56, late show is sold out. b Ambivalent about the music guitarist John Scofield made after playing alongside Charles Mingus in the 70s, I became a fan once he paired up with saxophonist Joe Lovano in the early 90s. With drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Dennis Irwin (who died in 2008), they formed one of the era’s best mainstream groups, releasing four great Blue Note albums between 1990 and 1992. Eventually they went their separate ways, but I’ve maintained an enduring appreciation for the guitarist—though I’ve been less than enthusiastic about his immersion in jam-band projects. Last year the group reunited with Larry Grenadier replacing Irwin, and they picked right up where they left off with the terrific Past Present (Impulse). The two-decadeplus gap doesn’t matter, because the band have a classic postbop sound that doesn’t pay heed to shifting trends. Scofield and Lovano have always had an easy rapport too: the latter injects strains of funk and soul, while his partner adds stridency and exploratory grit. All of the tunes on the album were penned by the guitarist, and they cover plenty of ground. Highlights include “Chap Dance”— which weds an Ornette-like melody to a quasi-cowboy lope, a la Sonny Rollins’s “Way Out West”—the shimmering, 70s-bluesy “Get Proud,” and the jaunty, luminescent “Enjoy the Future!” on which Stew-

art’s thrust is particularly outstanding. Upon their return to the stage last year in New York they added a tune from the group’s first stint, along with some newer Lovano tunes, thus giving a sense of forward motion to the album’s paradoxical title.

For live shows Ben Street has been playing bass.

—PETER MARGASAK

Third Coast Percussion 7:30 PM, Assembly Hall, International House, 1414 E. 59th, $21-$26, $6 students, $1 children. b

In his thoughtful liner notes for Third Coast Percussion’s excellent new album Steve Reich (due from Cedille on February 12), member Robert Dillon reminds us that it wasn’t long ago that percussion ensembles were outcasts, as few composers took much interest in that section of the orchestra. Things changed a lot because of John Cage, but no one unleashed the possibilities as much and as consistently as Steve Reich, who Dillon says was a key influence for all of Third Coast’s members.

The new album surveys the composer’s singular work for percussion over a four-decade span, J

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bottom lounge

MUSIC

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KILLS AGAIN / FIST TO THE SKY / FIRE IT UP / FACE THE FIRE

02.19 V IS FOR VILLAINS

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02.20 BORN OF OSIRIS

VEIL OF MAYA / AFTER THE BURIAL / ERRA / BAD OMENS

02.26 MICKEY AVALON

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continued from 28

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30 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Third Coast Percussion ò SAVERIO TRUGLIA

WWW.CONCORDMUSICHALL.COM 2047 N. MILWAUKEE | 773.570.4000

beginning with 1973’s “Music for Pieces of Wood.”

The focal point is the 1985 masterpiece Sextet, performed with the help of pianists David Friend and Oliver Hagen. It’s a work TCP have played for years, and their adoration and familiarity with it are palpable in the crisp precision and pulsing energy of their latest performance. The work expresses many of Reich’s recurring ideas. Short figures for tuned percussion (marimba, vibraphone, crotales) mesh with cyclical piano and synth phrases in shifting and hypnotic patterns, while bows create complementary long tones as they’re played on bars of mallet percussion instruments. The music is constantly evolving, with a new idea appearing and pushing the previous one out—though the macro view shows more of an arcing form, as with many of his works. Tonight’s program features Sextet (with both Friend and Hagen), the Chicago premiere of a newly commissioned work from Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy called Surface Tension, and Belgian composer Thierry De Mey’s entertaining “Table Music.” —PETER MARGASAK

Wet Kelsey Lu opens. 10 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, sold out. 18+ Spun as minimal electro-pop, of which they have plenty, Brooklyn-based trio Wet tend to stretch out in the gentle space cleared between muffled staccato beats and swells of celestial synths. So much of that happens via front woman Kelly Zutrau, who spreads her breathy, R&B-tinted vocals over each cut on the new Don’t You (Columbia), a major-label debut predictably foreshadowed by a holy-hyped 2013 EP that effectively scooted its way across tastemaking indie-music blogs. An easygoing slow jam like “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl”—found on both the EP and full-length—is undeniably dependent on the charisma and shimmy of Zutrau to guide it along, so

much so that she almost distracts you from noticing the rhythmic variations in the song, or the subtle fade-ins and fade-outs of synth magic. Her soulful, almost throwback vocals become hypnotic as they softly cut through tracks like seeds from a maple tree helicoptering across a slight breeze on a humid day. —KEVIN WARWICK

SATURDAY6 Modeselektor See Pick of the Week on page 26. Shed opens. 10 PM, Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark, $25, $20 before midnight.

MONDAY8 Mat Maneri 7:30 PM, Experimental Sound Studio, 5925 N. Ravenswood, $10, $5 students and members. b On The Transcendent Function (Clean Feed), his recent duo album with cellist Daniel Levin, violist Mat Maneri unleashes astringent microtonal sighs and groans as part of a gritty but eloquent dialogue of long tones, viscous double stops, and sensual arcs. The pair met at the New England Conservatory of Music around the turn of the century, when Levin was studying with Maneri’s father, Joe—a staunch advocate and deft practitioner of microtonalism—and they’ve worked together on and off ever since. The pair revel in the tones between the standard notes in the octave, blending sounds with palpable relish. But there’s no context where Maneri’s sound bristles with greater beauty and power than his rare solo performances. On his only recording in that format, 2001’s superb Trinity (ECM), he utterly reinvents free-jazz classics,

Where are the rest of the music listings?

Find them at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

Le Youth ò COURTESY COMPLETE CONTROL MANAGEMENT

transforming John Coltrane’s “Sun Ship” into a performance akin to dhrupad, the meditative Hindustani vocal tradition, and remaking Eric Dolphy’s “Iron Man” by glissing out the original’s wild intervallic leaps, turning them into a feast of turbulent smears and smudges that disguise the indelible melody. Still, the best material is his own, where lines unfurl like molasses dripping down the side of a jar, or move in fat, swerving double stops spiked with bracing harmonies, each utterance carrying the weight of an orchestra. The concert will be followed by a discussion between Maneri and Ken Vandermark. —PETER MARGASAK

WEDNESDAY10 Nick Dellacroce & Omar Gonzalez 9 PM, Whistler, 2421 N. Milwaukee. F

For its monthly “Stars Align” series, the Whistler matches up artists for a onetime collaborative set.

And for its second installment of 2016, two of Chicago’s most proficient purveyors of bad vibes will share the stage: Bongripper guitarist Nick Dellacroce and Rectal Hygienics drummer Omar Gonzalez. In Bongripper, Dellacroce crafts massive,

J

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BIG SAM’S FUNKY NATION, SWAMP HEAT FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 31

MUSIC

Where are the rest of the music listings?

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PRESENTS

JIM NORTON

MOUTHFUL OF SHAME TOUR NEXT THURSDAY! FEBRUARY 11 8:00pm • 18 & Over

VIC THEATRE

BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY Special Guest:

MAIDEN RADIO FEBRUARY 18 • VIC THEATRE 8:00pm • 18 & Over

Wet ò MILAN ZRNIC

continued from 31

glacial doom metal, a relative far cry from the frenzied, nihilistic noise punk of Rectal Hygienics. The two operate in the experimental electronics realm as well: Dellacroce hammers out dark, fractured beats and drones in Bottomed, and Gonzalez crafts harsh soundscapes in No Dreams and destructive power electronics with Machismo. Tonight’s collaboration will feature synths and beat machines rather than guitars and drums, and it will be mostly improvised. Dellacroce jokes that the team-up will sound like “wind and farts,” but in reality, when considering the output of these two, it’ll without a doubt be pure, harsh, sonic punishment. —LUCA CIMARUSTI

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20 7:30pm • All Ages 2/19 SHOW SOLD OUT!

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KEB’ MO’ BAND SATURDAY, APRIL 23 8:00pm • 18 & Over

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32 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

1-800-514--ETIX or online at etix.com

Warhead Brain Dead and Fool’s Brew open.

8 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint, 2105 S. State, $8.

To no one’s surprise, there are six or seven metal bands out there who’ve used the perfect, dead-center name “Warhead.” This Warhead here is the one from Phoenix, Arizona, and they sound very much like you’d expect a band named Warhead to sound— they’re energetic, pedal-to-the-skull thrash, with lyrics about killing, death, and evil. A track like “Rapid Fire,” off their 2013 full-length Death Row, takes you on an amphetamine-fueled rush to the 80s, complemented by tight-tight-tight start-stop songwriting, ragged anthemic background chants, and Nolan Castles’s nasal shouts, which sound as much hardcore as they do metal. On the YouTube post of their 2015 single “Widowmaker,” a lone comment-

er declares “Righteous!”—and that lone commenter is correct. There’s nothing innovative or weird here, and there’s nothing to painfully remind you of the sodden radio crap that seminal bands like Metallica are now peddling. This is just straight-up, blisteringly executed retro-thrash for folks who love blisteringly executed retro-thrash. Metalheads keeping the faith won’t be disappointed. —NOAH BERLATSKY

Marlon Williams Woodrow Hart & the Haymaker open. 8 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $12. 18+ The down-under media seems to consider New Zealander Marlon Williams a country singer, and with its fast-rolling two-beat shuffle, “Hello Miss Lonesome,” the opening track from his forthcoming eponymous debut album on Dead Oceans, does sound like a jacked-up Marty Robbins jam. But the music feels mostly like “country” rather than anything authentic, though as the album unfolds, Williams shows that one of his greatest skills is role-playing. Over lean, efficient, and richly atmospheric settings, Williams croons hooky melodies that combine the ethereal richness of Roy Orbison and the lounge-lizard sleaze of Timber Timbre’s Taylor Kirk. An overwhelming gloom characterizes many of his songs: “Dark Child” is about parents burying their fallen son, while “I’m Lost Without You” focuses on the threat of heartbreak turning violent. So while I may not be certain who Marlon Williams is, I sure have enjoyed his characters here. —PETER MARGASAK v

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Heineken Bottles $4, Bloodies feat.

Absolut Peppar Vodka $5, Original Moonshine $5, Corzo $5, Sailor Jerry’s Rum $4, Deschutes Drafts $4

$4.75 Bloody Mary and Marias

$6 Firestone Walker Opal pints $6 Finch Vanilla Stout 16 oz. cans $7 house wines $8 Few Spirits

Moosehead pints $3.75, Hamms cans $2.50, Special Export Bush Longneck bottles $3, Foster Big cans $5

Buckets of Miller & Bud Bottles (Mix & Match) $14, Guinness & Smithwicks Drafts $4, Bloodies feat, Absolut Peppar Vodka $5, Ketal One Cocktails $5

$6 Jameson shots, $3 PBR bottles, $4 Half Acre brews, FREE POOL, “Hoppy Hour” 5pm8pm = 1/2 price IPAs + pale ales

$1 off all beers including craft

CLOSED

Moosehead pints $3.75, Hamms cans $2.50, Special Export Bush Longneck bottles $3, Foster Big cans $5

All Draft Beers Half Price, Makers Mark Cocktails $5, Crystal Head Vodka Cocktails $4

TUE

$6 Jameson shots, $3 PBR bottles, $2 and $3 select beers

$2 off all Whiskeys and Bourbons

$6 Firestone Walker Opal pints $6 Finch Vanilla Stout 16 oz. cans $7 house wines $8 Few Spirits

Moosehead pints $3.75, Hamms cans $2.50, Special Export Bush Longneck bottles $3, Foster Big cans $5

Jim Beam Cocktails $4, Jameson Cocktails $5, Cabo Wabo $5, Malibu Cocktails $4, Corona Bottles $3.50, PBR Tall Boy Cans $2.75

WED

$6 Jameson shots, $3 PBR bottles, 1/2 price aliveOne signature cocktails, $4 Goose Island brews, “Hoppy Hour” 5pm-8pm = 1/2 price IPAs + pale ales

$6 Firestone Walker Opal pints $6 Finch Vanilla Stout 16 oz. cans $7 house wines $8 Few Spirits $10 classic cocktails

Moosehead pints $3.75, Hamms cans $2.50, Special Export Bush Longneck bottles $3, Foster Big cans $5

Stoli/Absolut & Soco Cocktails $4, Long Island Iced Teas $5, Herradura Margaritas $5, Stella/Hoegaarden/ Deschutes Drafts $4, Goose Island 312 Bottles $3.50

$5 Martinis, Lemon Drop, Cinnamon Apple, Mai Tai, French, Cosmo, On the Rocks, Bourbon Swizzle, Pomegranate Margarita

OUR READERS LOVE GREAT DEALS! CONTACT YOUR READER REPRESENTATIVE AT 312.222.6920 OR displayads@chicagoreader.com FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO LIST DRINK SPECIALS HERE.

34 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

PHOTO: ALEXEY LYSENKO/ GETTY IMAGES

FOOD & DRINK

NEW REVIEW

Ravenswood’s Band of Bohemia needs some practice

BAND OF BOHEMIA | $$$

4710 N Ravenswood 773-271-4710 bandofbohemia.com

Tête de cochon and duck breast with black currants and ginger jus. ò JAMIE RAMSAY

The “culinary brewhouse” from a team of Alinea and El Ideas vets is long on technique, short on soul.

By MIKE SULA

T

here are so many intriguing elements to Ravenswood’s Band of Bohemia that it’s easy to see why this endlessly gestating project was one of the most anticipated openings of 2015. A pair of Alinea vets launch a “culinary brewhouse” in a former cookie factory hard by the Metra tracks. Tapping into the national craft beer fixation, they’ve decided their food should be paired to complement their house-brewed suds—not the other way around. Befitting the partners’ shared background, the food itself is complicated, busy, technical, and intellectual, but it clearly plays second fiddle to the beer.

The wide-open converted industrial space is ornate, almost steampunk lite, raw brick walls towering over plush, overstuffed red brocade chairs. In the daytime the place doubles as a grab-and-go coffee shop featuring Dark Matter beans. Reservations are by Alinea co-owner Nick Kokonas’s Tock ticketing system, which offers a choice of a la carte dining, a four-course tasting menu, or a deluxe 13-course “Chef’s Counter” experience overlooking the kitchen.

The principals, chef-turned-brewer Michael Carroll and Craig Sindelar, who spent 11 years as Alinea’s head sommelier, tapped former El Ideas vets Matt Dubois and Kevin McMullen

(executive chef and chef de cuisine, respectively) to implement a menu full of schmears, dots, purees, microgreens, shavings, sauces, and extrusions, described in the requisite clipped argot that has come to be known as Achatzese.

The thing that stays with me most: Band of Bohemia is ground zero for the new #BlackFoodMatters movement. It’s like the chefs took a look at the complexion of the American fine-dining plate and said, “This shit is not black enough! How can we make it blacker?

Pasta too pale? Shower it with leek ash. Need a bed for your pig face? Put some braised fennel puree under it. Not black? Bam! Infuse some

squid ink in that bitch. Ginger jus under a duck breast? I reject the premise—paint it black.”

It’s true that black is the new black in dining these days, and there is something weirdly compelling about the occasional squib of stygian negative space on a plate, but at Band of Bohemia it illustrates a broader style at play: a heavy reliance on abstraction the result of which is that each element of a dish is delicious in its own right, but the sheer number occasionally stunts overall cohesion.

Here’s an example: a “milk chocolate, coffee, hazelnut, cocoa nib” dessert prominently features a long, clingy worm of flexible ganache (coincidentally, the name of my Human League cover band) roping its way around various tasty garnishes that riff on a hazelnut theme (some candied nuts, some ice cream) but fail to come together into a unified dish, or even a unified spoonful.

It’s a pattern found across the menu, much of which is confusingly organized under BoB’s beer varieties: four small plates, each to go with the grilled apple-tarragon ale, the orange-chicory rye ale, and the roasted beet-thyme ale.

Five large plates are assigned to one of those beers, or to a maitake mushroom variety, or an amber farmhouse style “Culinary Noble.” Putting aside their unusual but relatively subtle food backnotes, these are all relatively similar, light-bodied, hoppy, easy-drinking session beers that don’t necessarily enhance the enjoyment of the food so much as stay out of its way.

I suspect that’s not the intention.

At least they don’t distract from the memorably delicious, albeit often flawed, bites on the menu, such as a roughly minced bison tartare bound by aioli and sprinkled with malt powder.

A layer of raw trumpet mushroom balanced on top doesn’t do much, nor does the gratuitous smear of sweet red-currant puree. A perfectly cooked little bite of sturgeon makes strange bedfellows with pickled beet coins and rubbery duck hearts. A similarly delicate morsel of monkfish tries to make friends with long, shriveled blackened carrots, but they’re two great tastes that don’t taste great together.

It’s difficult to make any sense at all out of a few dishes; a jumble of pear, aerated blue cheese, hazelnuts, and fennel is far too sweet to keep company with savory fare, while a duo of pommes Anna and a cylinder of roasted potato, both undercooked, is served with an avalanche of garnishes and sauces, including tart pickled peppers, dabs of romesco sauce and smoked olive oil, and a large gob of charred shredded onion.

A few other dishes would work remarkably well were it not for executional errors. J

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 35

Search the Reader’s online database of thousands of Chicago-area restaurants—and add your own review—at chicagoreader.com/food.

FOOD & DRINK

ò JAMIE RAMSAY

Band of Bohemia continued from 35

36 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Tortelloni stuffed with duck confit and ricotta comes together better than most, with a dusting of smoky leek ash and bits of crunchy dehydrated maitake mushroom lending interesting contrast to the rich, if undercooked, pasta. A tough tête de cochon showered with curried pickled onion, braised fennel, and crunchy bread crumbs only needs more time over low-andslow heat to tenderize properly. A relatively simple seared duck breast was allowed to shine among black currants and the aforementioned dark, rich ginger sauce. The most unorthodox dish on the menu, unusual in its economy and downright conventionality, was the whole bisected Cornish hen, garnished with sheaves of fried fennel and shaved brussels sprouts and resting on a substantial pile of collards. It’s an easy bird to overcook, and mine was.

Perhaps the most successful dish I tasted at Band of Bohemia was a dessert, a moist, strong-flavored, appealingly complex square of fennel, with a thin spike of dried fennel towering over apricot conserve and lemon rind and served with ornamental microgreens, a

pile of cookie crumbs, and best of all a quenelle of olive-oil ice cream.

If you’re inclined to visit Band of Bohemia I suggest disregarding the Tock reservation system, which doesn’t seem to be doing the restaurant or its guests any favors. Prior to each of my visits it was fully booked online except for senior hour and late night, yet on both I walked in at prime time to find the dining room more than half empty. The website encourages walk-ins, but I wonder how many people just decide to go somewhere else where they’re guaranteed a table. (I’ve experienced the same situation with the reservation site Open Table many times.)

I still think there’s a lot that’s compelling about Band of Bohemia. You’re not often going to find such an arsenal of modern fine-dining talent at this relatively low price point. And I sense that as time goes on some of the more overthought, overcomplicated, and, frankly, joyless platings will give way to something a little more organic and soulful. v

v @MikeSula

FOOD & DRINK

○ Watch a video of Julia Momose making the By the Sea cocktail at chicagoreader.com/food.

COCKTAIL CHALLENGE

Julia Momose has the gonads to make an uni cocktail

By JULIA THIEL

ò CORY POPP

BY THE SEA 3 DASHES UNI TINCTURE .5 TSP NORI TINCTURE 1 TSP CANE SYRUP 3/4 OZ HIDALGO FINO SHERRY 2 OZ GREAT KING STREET ARTIST’S BLEND SCOTCH SANSHO TINCTURE (IN A SPRAY BOTTLE) UNI LOBE WITH RADISH, MINT, AND LEMON-PEEL SMOKED SALT

U

NI, OR SEA URCHIN GONADS, are orange lobes considered a delicacy in Japan and many other countries. Challenged by UNION SUSHI + BARBEQUE BAR bartender KEN GRIGGS to create a cocktail with the ingredient, JULIA MOMOSE of GREENRIVER says, “It’s an odd organ to be using, but it’s got a pillowy, beautiful, custardlike texture. The flavor is like the sea. It’s really cool. . . . Hard to use in a cocktail, though.”

After briefly considering making a cocktail inspired by a classic uni cream sauce, Momose decided to go in a different direction, making something “very clean and delicate, as [uni] truly is the essence of the sea.” She chose to use scotch because of its almost briny quality, and employed Japanese ingredients that mimic the flavors of the ocean. Nori goes well with uni, Momose says; she made a tincture with the dried seaweed as a component of the cocktail. Another tincture featured sansho, a spice related to Szechuan peppercorns that has a numbing quality.

Momose made a third tincture with the uni

Add all ingredients to a glass filled with large ice cubes and stir until well chilled. Strain into a chilled glass. Finish with a spray of sansho tincture and serve with uni.

itself—but that wasn’t the only form in which she used it. “Because uni is so well-known for its texture, I wanted to incorporate that in some form with the drink,” she says. “Instead of having an olive like you would with a martini, I have a little composed bite of uni with radish, a little bit of mint, and lemon-peel smoked salt, to give you the full uni experience.”

The cocktail’s last ingredient was fino sherry, which Momose describes as smooth, creamy, and a bit salty. The proportions of the ingredients, particularly the uni tincture, took a little finessing, she says. “A couple iterations got too fishy, a little unpleasant. It was a challenge finding the perfect balance of the other ingredients next to the uni in the cocktail.”

WHO’S NEXT:

Momose has challenged BEST INTENTIONS bartender CALVIN MARTY to create a cocktail with CELERY ROOT. v

v @juliathiel FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 37

CROSSROADS HOTEL SRO SINGLE RMS Private bath, PHONE,

CABLE & MAIDS. 1 Block to Orange Line 5300 S. Pulaski 773-581-1188

1 BR UNDER $700 $450. FURNISHED GARDEN Bedroom in private home. Irving Park/Western. Laundry, bathroom, refrigerator. Wifi. Private entrance.

NO KITCHEN. Yards. April 1. Nonsmoking! References, lease. 773485-3363, bjsilverbeam@msn.com.

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

8927 S. DAUPHIN.

1BR 2nd flr apt. $600/mo. Heat Incl. Mr. Smith. 773-531-3531 80TH and Hermitage. 1BR & 2BR, 3rd flr, $625 -$675/mo. Dennis 773-4459470

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)

10508 S. MARYLAND, 1st flr, 1BR, carpet, A/C, stove/ fridge, c-fans, enclosed porch, indiv. heat. $575 + sec. Call 773-704-4153, 10a6p.

90TH/LANGLEY. 4rms, 1BR, hdwd flrs, mod kit and BA, laundry facility + A/C, NR TRANS & SHOPS. $600 +SEC BROWN REALTY INC. 773-239-9566 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

1BR APT, 80TH & Hermitage, rehabbed kitch & bath, newly decorated, $650 heat incl., Section 8 welcome. Call 773-490-4677 CHICAGO - HYDE Park 5401 S. Ellis.

1BR. $535-$600/mo Call 773-955-5106

EXCHANGE EAST APTS 1 Brdm $575 w/Free Parking,Appl, AC,Free heat. Near trans. laundry rm. Elec.not incl. Kalabich Mgmt (708) 424-4216 6930 S. SOUTH SHORE DRIVE Studios & 1BR, INCL. Heat, Elec, Cking gas & PARKING, $560-$850, Country Club Apts 773-752-2200

RIVERDALE - NEWLY decor, 1 & 2BR, appls, heated, A/C, lndry, prkng, no pets, near Metra. Sec 8 ok. $675$800. 708-798-4465

N RIVERSIDE: 1BR new tile/ windows, lndry facilitities, a/c, incls heat & natural gas, $849/mo Luis 708-366-5602 lv msg Chicago. 82nd & Justine. 1bdrm. near transportation. $675/mo. 1 month rent + 1 month Security.

Heat included. 773-873-1591

1 BR $700-$799 PLAZA ON THE PARK 608 East 51st Street. Very spacious renovated apartments. 1BR $722 - $801, 2BR $837 - $1,009, 3BR $1,082- $1,199, 4-5BR $1,273 - $1,405. Visit or call (773)548-9300, M-F 9am-5pm or apply online at www.plazaonthepark apts.com Managed by Metroplex, Inc

2BR APTS 78TH &

Calumet, $825; 82nd & King Dr. $900. Tenant pays own heat. Credit check fee $40.

Call/text 773-203-9399 or 773-4849250

MAYWOOD - QUIET, 1BR, dining & living rm, carpet, heat & appliances included. Close to trans. $800/mo + security. 708-450-9137 BEAUTIFUL REHAB 1 & 2BR, 1st

CHICAGO, BEVERLY / Cal Park / Blue Island Studio $530 & up, 1BR $650 & up, 2BR $875 & up. Heat, Appls, Balcony, Carpet, Laundry, Prkg. 708-388-0170 CHATHAM, 708 E. 81ST (Langley), 1BR, 3rd flr. 744 E. 81st (Evans), 1BR, 1st flr. $65 0/mo + security.

Call Mr. Joe at 708-870-4801 97 & CALUMET 4 & 2 FB, gar $1500. 143/Eggelston. 3/1 FB, gar $1150. 142/Lasalle 3/1, SS, gar. $1075.

New Reno. Appt Only.

773.619.4395 Charlie 818.679.1175

flr, spac, appl, lndry facility, hdwd flrs, Quiet bldg. Sect 8 ok. $750. 773344-4050

1 BR $800-$899 ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT

near Warren Park and Metra. 1904 W Pratt. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Heat included. Laundry in building. $ 830/ month. Available 3/1. 773-7614318, www.lakefrontmgt.com

CHICAGO, 56th & Paulina, Newly Remodeled, 3 & 4BR Apts, $800$1200/mo. Section 8 welcome.Call 773-895-9495

ROGERS PARK/ EVANSTON!

7665-7715 N. Sheridan Rd. 1 bedrooms starting at $875, 1/2 block to park and beach, east of Sheridan Rd , pristine vintage courtyard building, hardwood floors, remodeled kitchen and bath, storage lockers, free WiFi, heat and cooking gas included! close to Northwestern University, longterm private ownership, cats ok, dogs upon approval. For a showing please contact Samir 773-627-4894.

Hunter Properties 773-477-7070 ww w.hunterprop.com

LINCOLN PARK LANDMARK,

455 West Belmont. Available now.

The charm of the old and and the ambience of the new. 2 buildings from the lakefront. Super sized rooms. Large kitchens, full dining rooms, burnished oak floors. Resident engineer. Heat and appliances included. 4 room/ 1 bedroom $1330$1495. To see call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30PM, Saturdays to 3pm.

EVANSTON. 818-1/2 FOREST LAKESIDE TOWER, 910 W Lawrence. 1 bedrooms starting at $825-$895 include heat and gas, laundry in building. Great view! Close to CTA Red Line, bus, stores, restaurants, lake, etc. To schedule a showing please contact Celio 773-3961575, Hunter Properties 773-4777070, www.hunterprop.com

1 BR $900-$1099 EDGEWATER. 1055 W Catalpa 1

bedrooms starting at $925 heat and cooking gas included! Application fee $40. No security deposit. Parking available for an additional fee. Laundry room in the building, wood floors, close to grocery stores, restaurant, CTA Red Line train, etc. For a showing please contact Millie 773561-7070 Hunter Properties,Inc. 773477-7070 www.hunterprop.com

Hyde Park West Apts., 5325 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Renovated spacious apartments in landscaped gated community. Off street parking available. 2BR $995 - Free heat. Visit or call 773-324-0280, M-F: 9am-5pm or apply online- www.hydepark we st.com. Managed by Metroplex, Inc

HEATED APTS FOR RENT!

3BRs 81st and Ellis. $900.

2BRs 81st and Ellis. $750.

2BRs 91st and Ada. $750.

1BR 81st and Exchange. $575.

RANCH REALTY - 773-238-3977

1 BR $1100 AND OVER LINCOLN PARK. 512-1/2 West

Addison. Available now and 3/1.

Magnificent apartments, super light and airy, set off by a beautiful courtyard. Laundry room, storage lockers.

Steps from the lake, steps from transportation and steps from shopping and recreation. Resident engineer. 4/1 bedroom garden $1245$1350. Heat and appliances included.

To see call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm.

Ave Apt C-3. Stately building on quiet street, near Sheridan Road. Sedate residential area. Near Main Street, shops, restaurants and transportation. Heat and appliances included.

We will fax floorplans upon request. 1 bedroom. Available now-6/30 option to renew. $1250. For appointment call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm.

WE’LL PUT YOU in our place.

DePaul District. 2901 North Seminary #103. Available 2/1-4/30 option to renew. Cabinet kitchens and updated baths. Heat and appliances included.

2/1 bedroom $1170. For appointment call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm.

BUCKTOWN, 1907 W CORTLAND 1st floo r,, 1 bedroom, clean, spacious, central air, laundry in building, $1300/mo. Available now. 708-448-2337.

1 BR OTHER PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT LOS VECINOS Apartments, located at 4250 W. North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, is opening its subsidized Section 8 Waiting List for individuals in need of (SRO) Apartments.

Rent calculations are based upon your annual income and income limitations apply in order to qualify for residency. All requests for preapplications must be completed in person only and will be accepted at: Los Vecinos Apartments 4250 W. North Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60639 11:00 A.M. to 3:00P.M. Wednesday, February 17, 2016 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 ∫

ROYALTON HOTEL, Kitchenette $135 & up wk. 1810 W. Jackson 312-226-4678

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT Karibuni Apartments, located at 8200 S. Ellis, Chicago, Illinois, is opening its subsidized Section 8 Waiting List for individuals in need of (SRO) Apartments. Rent calculations are based upon your annual income and income limitations apply in order to qualify for residency.

All requests for preapplications must be completed in person only and will be accepted at: Karibuni Apartments 8200 S. Ellis Chicago, Illinois 60619 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, February 16, 2016

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT HOLLYWOOD HOUSE Apartments, a senior living community, located at 5700 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, Illinois, is opening its Waiting List for individuals in need of affordable Studio and 1Bedroom apartments.

Income limitations apply. All requests for pre-applications must be completed in at: Hollywood House Apartments 5700 N. Sheridan Rd Chicago, Illinois 60660 9:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. Wednesday, February 17, 2016

APTS. FOR RENT PARK MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENT LTD. THE HAWK HAS...

ARRIVED!!!

MOST INCLUDE HEAT & HOT WTR STUDIOS FROM $510.00 1BDR FROM $575.00 2BDR FROM $745.00 3 BDR/2 FULL BATH FROM $1175 **1-(773)-476-6000** CALL FOR DETAILS

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT LELAND APARTMENTS, located at 1207 W. Leland Ave., Chicago, Illinois, is opening its Waiting List for individuals in need of affordable Single Room Occupancy (SRO) and Studio apartments. Income limitations apply.

All requests for pre-applications must be completed in person at: Leland Apartments 1207 W. Leland Chicago, Illinois 60640 9:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. Tuesday, February 16, 2016

CALUMET CITY 158TH & PAXTON SANDRIDGE APTS 1 & 2 BEDROOM UNITS MODELS OPEN M-F, 9AM-5:30PM *** 708-841-5450 ***

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT SAN MIGUEL Apartments, located at 907 W. Argyle, Chicago, Illinois, is opening its Waiting List for individuals in need of affordable Studio, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments. Income limitations apply. All requests for preapplications must be completed in person at: San Miguel Apartments 907 W. Argyle St. Chicago, Illinois 60640 9:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. Monday, February 15, 2016 APTS. FOR RENT PARK MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENT LTD. THE HAWK IS HERE! HEAT, HW & CG INCLUDED 1BDR FROM $725.00 2BDR FROM $895.00 3 BDR/2 FULL BATH FROM $1175 **1-(773)-476-6000** CALL FOR DETAILS WAITING LIST OPEN Drexel Square Senior Apts. 810 E. 51st.

Chicago, IL. 60615 for Qualified Seniors 62+ Beautiful park like setting, Hyde park area, rent based on 30% of monthly income (sec.

8), A/C, heat, lndry., rec. rooms, storage space in apt, cable ready, intercom entrance system, 24 hours front desk customer service.

Applications will be accepted immediately between the hours of 11:00am-3:00pm at the above address. 773-268-2120 CHICAGO, 7727 S. Colfax, ground flr Apt., ideal for senior citizens. Secure bldng. Modern 1BR $595. Lrg 2BR, $800. Free cooking & heating gas. Free parking. 312613-4427 Chicago, 9121 S. Cottage Grove, 2BR apt. $900/mo Newly remod,

appls, mini blinds, ceiling fans, Section 8 welcome. Call 312-9150100 77TH/LOWE 1 & 2BR. 101st/May 2BR, 69th/Dante, 3BR. 71st/ Bennett 2 & 3BR. 71st/Hermitage 3BR. New renov. Sec 8 ok. 708-5031366 SUBURBS, RENT TO O W N !

Buy with No closing costs and get help with your credit.

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EAST GARFIELD PARK Conservatory Area. 1, 2, 3 & 4BR Units.

Newly renovated buidling with all appls, hdwd flrs. Call Mike, 708-372-6774 CHICAGO - BEVERLY, LARGE 2 room Studio & 1BR, Carpet, A/C, laundry, near transportation, $640-$750/mo.

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Section 8 ok, $650-$1400/mo.

Call Sean, 773-410-7084 WINTER SPECIAL $500 To-

ward Rent Beautiful Studios 1, 2, 3 & 4 BR Sect. 8 Welc. Westside Loc, Must qualify. 773-287-4500 www. wjmngmt.com

Large Sunny Room w/fridge & microwave. Nr. Oak Park, Green Line, bus. 24 hour desk, parking lot. $101/week & Up. 773-3788888 8514 S. Burley. New rehab 3BR apts, Hdwd flrs, Stove, fridge and heat incl.

Free 50in TV. 312-678-9065

SOUTH

SIDE

ANDERSONS

rooms & apartments, furnished rooms. $85/wk + sec. far S. side. 773785-1530

2 BR UNDER $900 PULLMAN - NR 108TH & KING DR. Very Spacious 2BR. DR, Carpet. Heated. Laundry Fac. Quiet Bldng. $825 + Sec. 773568-7750 CHICAGO: 406 E. 109th St. 2BR, parking & W/D available.

Tenant pays all utilities, $800/mo + 1/2 mo sec dep. Call 630-2483051 LAWNDALE: 2BR+ FOR RENT. $870-$900/mo. Heat & hot water included in both. 4311 W. Flournoy. Secure building. 630709-8675.

WASHINGTON NEAR Kedzie spacious 2BR, 1BA, newly decorated, updated kitchen & bath, exc trans. $900/mo. Heat incl. 708205-5526 6712 S. Wabash Ave. 1st & 2nd floor, 2BR, newly decor, kitch appls, $695/mo + sec, heat incl.

3BR also avail. Call 773-6402896, 9am-6pm DOLTON - 2BR APT, tenant pays all utilities, new carpet and ceiling fans. $875/mo + $1300 sec & $25 credit check. Call 708-8491152.

FREE HEAT 94-3739 S. BISH-

CHATHAM- 718 E. 81st St. Newly remodeled 1BR, 1 BA, Dining room, Living room, hdwd flrs, appliances. & heat included. Call 847-533-5463

OP. 2BR, 5rm, 1st & 2nd floor, new appls, storage & closet space, near shops/ trans. $850 +sec 708-335-0786

MOVE IN SPECIAL!!!

B4 the N of this MO. & MOVE IN 4 $99.00 (773) 874-1122

7701 S. South Shore Dr. 2 BDs with 1.5 Baths, Large Combo Living-Dining Rm, FREE Heat & cking gas. Prkng extra. $785-$800, Kalabich Mgmt (708)424-4216

CHICAGO SOUTH SIDE Beauti-

CHICAGO SOUTHSIDE, Newly remodeled 3BR w/ appliances,

ful Studios, 1,2,3 & 4 BR’s, Sec 8 ok. $500 gift certificate for Sec 8 tenants. 773-287-9999/312-446-3333

NO MOVE-IN FEE! No Dep! Sec 8

ok. 1, 2 & 3 Bdrms. Elev bldg, laundry, pkg. 6531 S. Lowe. Ms. Payne.

773-874-0100

4237 W Grenshaw: 3BR, 2nd Flr apt, heat incl, lrg rooms, $900/ mo + 1 month security.

Call 773-978-1130 Ashland Hotel nice clean rms.

24 hr desk/maid/TV/laundry/air.

Low rates daily/weekly/monthly.

South Side. Call 773-376-5200 ACACIA SRO HOTEL Men Preferred! Rooms for Rent. Weekly & Monthly Rates. 312-421-4597

& 3BR w/ appliances. Call 773-908-8791

NW 2BR, QUIET Garden Apt on quiet block. Furn, Free heat & utils, extra clean and neat. $850/ mo+sec. 773-342-4364 72ND & JEFFERY - 2BR, $750+ 1 .5 Sec Dep. 2nd Floor, New decor, heat incl. Good public trans.

312-221-3724 NO SEC DEP 1431 W. 78th. St. 1B R/2BR. $495-$595/mo . 6829 S.

Perry. Studio $460. 1BR. $515.HEAT INCL 773-955-5106

CHICAGO 7600 S Essex 2BR $599, 3BR $699, 4BR $799 w/apprvd credit, no sec dep. Sect 8 Ok! 773287-9999 /312-446-3333

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7440 S. VERNON. 2BR, remod hdwd flrs, Sec 8 OK, heat and appls incl, laundry on site. $780 & up. Call Z. 773-406-4841 1652 W 80th St, 2 bedroom, $795, hrd wd flrs, updated kitchen and bath, NO SD, Appliances INC, large bdrms, 312.208.1771

Move in Special! Cicero-2BR $850/month .Free cooking gas & heat, laundry, security camera 708-990-1911 or 703-346-2020

2 BR $900-$1099 CHICAGO AND ROCKWELL. 2

EVANSTON 818 FOREST Ave Apt A-1. Stately building on quiet street, near Sheridan Road Sedate residential area. Near Main Street, shops, restaurants and transportation. Heat and appliances included.

We will fax floor plans upon request.

Large 5.5 rooms/ 2 bedrooms/ 2 baths. Available 3/1. $1650. For appointment call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm.

HUGE CHATHAM 900SF, 1BR,

1BA, newly remod, spac, dining and LR, quiet blk & bldg, nr trans & shops.

Won’t Last. Sec 8 Welc. Call Nigel 312 .770.0795

bedrooms, third floor. Bright, sunny.

Newly decorated, hardwood floors.

Large back yard. $1000 negotiable plus heat Parking extra. Available 2/ 1. 773-775-6789.

ROSCOE VILLAGE AVAIL now.

2BR/1BA RENOVATED; hdwd floors; large closets, laundry available; free heat & water. $1000/mo + $1000 dep. 8350 S Drexel; 773952-8137.

2 BR OTHER

2 BDRM APT for rent. Heat & wa-

ter in-cluded. No pets, no smoking. $960 per month. Call John 708-7748010.

GLENWOOD - LARGE 2BR

Condo, H/F High Schl. balc, C/A, appls, heat, water/gas incl. 2 Pkg, lndry. $950 /mo. 708-612-3762

2959 W. FLETCHER \par hardwood floors, living and dinning room \par $950 heat not included 773908-2597

2 BR $1100-$1299 1436 S Trumbull, 2BR $1100/ month, no security deposit. New remodeled. Hardwood flrs, laundry .Security system in bldg .

Section 8 Welcome! 708-308-1788

2 BR $1300-$1499 LINCOLN PARK. 526-1/2 West Addison #118. Available now-4/30 option to renew. Magnificent apartments, super light and airy, set off by a beautiful courtyard. Laundry room, storage lockers. Steps from the lake, steps from transportation and steps from shopping and recreation. Resident engineer. 5/2 bedroom $1465.

Heat and appliances included. to see call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm.

2nd Floor: 1BR, office, DR, LR, big kitchen, mud room, deck, enclosed yard, garage parking. $1695/month.

773 797 0684

ROUND LAKE BEACH, IL Cedar

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

CHICAGO, PRINCETON PARK

HOMES. Spac 2 - 3 BR Townhomes, Inclu: Prvt entry, full bsmt, lndry hook-ups. Ample prkg. Close to trans & schls. Starts at $816/mo. www. ppkhomes.com;773-264-3005

MATTESON 2 & 3 BR AVAIL. 2BR, $990-$1050; 3BR, $1250-$1400.

Move In Special is 1 Month’s Rent & $99 Security Deposit. Section 8 Welcome. Call 708-748-4169 BEAUTIFUL NEW APT! 6150 S. Vernon Ave. 3Bdrm

2442 E. 77th St. 2Bdrm Stainless Steel!! Appliances!! Hdwd flr!! marble bath!! laundry on site!!

Sec 8 OK. 773- 404- 8926

CHICAGO: 67TH & apts hdwd floors, fpl, cilities; 2200 E 96th St hdwd floors, a/c. Call 0988

Clyde, 2BR laundry faTownhome, (773) 429-

GOLD COAST.

1548 North LaSalle #105. Available 2/1-4/30. Option to renew. Authentic 1890s unbelievable charm. A modernized antique updated for today’s living. Magnificent courtyard building in Most Wanted area of Chicago. Many apartments have gas fireplaces. Heat and appliances included. 4/2 bedroom $1765. For showing call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturday to 3pm.

Side -Newly Rehab 3BR Apts. $850 - $1195 / month 773-230-6132 or 773-931-6108

SOUTHSIDE 8035 S. Marshfield, 3BR, 2nd floor, no Pets, $875/mo. + 1 mo. sec. dep. & all utilities.

773-873-4549 SECTION 8 WELCOME. No Security Deposit. 7721 S Peoria, 3BR apt, appls incl. $1050/mo.

708-288-4510 CHICAGO HEIGHTS 3 bdrm house for rent, exc cond, available now. $1050/Mo, 1st mo + sec dep.

Tenants pay all utils. 708-343-8629

3 BR OR MORE $1200-$1499 4 BR, 1.5 BA, 2 car garage, section 8 OK. $1100-$1300 + security, modern kitchen & bath, wood fireplace & 2 car garage.847-9091538 COUNTRY CLUB HILLS vic of 183RD/Cicero.

4BR, 1.5BA $1400 & 3BR/2BA. $1450.

Ranch Style, 2 car gar. 708369-5187 CHICAGO: E. ROGERS Park 6726 N. Bosworth Ave. Beaut. 3BR, 2BA, DR, LR, Hrdwd flrs. Nr trans/ shops. Heat, appls, laundry incl. $1375. Available now. 847-475-3472

4700 West Westend, 3BR, 1.5 BA, beautiful 2 flat bldg & hardwood floors, appliances, Section 8 welcome. $1380/month 224-4566364 NEWLY REHABBED, 6 rms, 3BR, Dining rm, hdwd flrs, laundry

rm, parking space, tenants pay utils. $1250/mo. 773-744-0763

SEC 8 WELCOME, no security dep., 6717 S Rhodes, 3-level, 5BR, 2BA house, appls incl, $1300/mo.

708-288-4510

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

3 BR OR MORE $1800-$2499 EVANSTON. 1703-1713 RIDGE

3 BR OR MORE $2500 AND OVER

FOR SALE

EVANSTON 1125 DAVIS, 1603

Ridge. Near Northwestern, downtown Evanston, shops, restaurants, movies, el, Metra. Large kitchens, spacious closets, laundry on premises, hardwood floors. Heat and appliances included. 4 and 5 bedrooms, 2 baths. Available 2/15 and 9/1. $275 0.For appointment call 312-822-1037, weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm.

3 BR OR MORE OTHER

OAK LAWN, 5BR, 3BA, 2 kitchens, sun room, 2 jacuzzis, HUGE family room, fireplace, wet bar, all appls incl., $2500/mo + sec dep.

Credit check req’d. 708-203-4800 4 BEDROOM HOUSE for rent with garage, 11829 S Prairie, $1200/ mo. + 1 month security + 1 month rent. 708-503-1915 CHICAGO HEIGHTS 4 OR 5 BR, 2 BATH, NEWLY REMODELED, APPLS INCL , SECTION 8 OK. NO SEC. DEPOSIT. 708-822-4450

3 BR OR MORE $1500-$1799

3 & 4 BDRM, 2 Bath Houses & Apts in Woodlawn. Completely Rehabbed. Section 8 welcome.

Contact 773.784.7900.

1021 E. 62ND ST. Spacious 3BR, 1BA. $990/mo + utilities. New Appliances and Carpet.

Call Michael, (773) 858-7551 CHICAGO, BEVERLY, 1316 W. 100th Pl. Total rehabbed, heat & A/C incl. 6 rms, 3BR, Sec 8 Welcome, $1000/mo. 773-3390182 6343 S. ROCKWELL - 3BR, incl heat. hdwd flrs, lndry facility, fenced in bldg, fireplace, appiances

$995/mo. Sec 8 ok. 773-791-1920

SOUTH CHICAGO 7824 S. Champlain. 3BR, bsmt apt, close to transportation, no pets, $675/mo. Call 708-692-9177 CHICAGO 5246 S. Hermitage:

4BR Coach House. $765. 2BR 1st flr, $525. 3BR, 2nd flr, $625.

1.5 mo sec req’d. 708-574-4085.

CHICAGO VIC. OF 1 2 0 t h / Michigan 3BR house, Comp. remod, Fenced yard, security system. $1100/ mo + sec & utils. 815-806-0881

FLOORS. CALL 773-260-2631

PILL HILL: 9107 S Paxton, beaut rehab 4BR, 3BA house, granite ctrs, SS appls, ca, whirlpool tub, fin bsmt, 2-car gar, $1600/mo 708288-4510

GENERAL WICKER PARK LOFT APARTMENTS for rent, Beautiful 1 & 2+

Bedrooms, brick, new SS appliances, hottest location across from El, $1850-$2850/mo. 773-895-4778

CHICAGO, Rent/Buy, near 95th & Emerald, 3+BR, full basement, garage, $900/mo. Other Properties Available. Call 708-441-2475

UNION/101ST/5BEDR,2BA, HUGE HOUSE! SEC 8 WELCOME! GAT-ED; APPLIANCE; HDWOOD

MATTESON, SAUK VILLAGE &

near Northwestern, downtown Evanston, shops, restaurant, movies, el, Metra. Large kitchens, spacious closets, laundry on premises, hardwood floors. Heat and appliances included.

4 bedrooms, 2 baths. Available now. $2395. For appointment call 312-8221037 weeekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm

PARK FOREST 3 Kentucky Ct, 3BR, 2BA, newly dec $1300/mo. avail now. 1 m sec &1 mo rent. Tenant pays heat. 773-851-4576

61ST/LANGLEY. 3BR/1BA. 2ND flr of 2 unit bldg. Avail Now. Sect 8 ok. Beaut apt, New fridge & stove. W/D in bsmt. Hdwd flrs.

Nr Transp, 1blk from schl. $950/ mo. 312-464-2222

trict. Available now. Trendy/ traditional ambience. 1014 W Irving Park.

Exceptionally large apartments. High ceilings, burnished oak floors, Tiffany fixtures, food bar, butler pantries, bult-in buffets, ornate mirrors, etc.

Laundry on premises, great transportation and shopping steps away.

Heat and modern appliances included. 5 rooms, 2 full bedrooms. $1500.

For appointment call 312-822-1037 weekdays until 5:30pm, Saturdays to 3pm.

EAST GARFIELD PARK, West

UNIVERSITY PARK. 4, 3 & 2BR, House/Condo, Section 8 ok.

For information: 708-625-7355

3 BR OR MORE UNDER $1200

APARTMENT FOR RENT 5 1/2 large room apartment in 2 floor building, newly decorated, $1300. Heat included. Deposit needed. No pets. 5845 N Maplewood, Chicago. Call 773293-3399

OVER

WOODLAWN COMMUNITY

(CLOSE to U of C campus) 3 BR, 1 BA, includes heat, Sec. 8 OK. $1,050/ mo. 773-802-0422

NEAR 83RD & Yates. 5BR, 2BA, hdwd flrs, fin basement, stove & fridge furn. Heat incl. $1600 + 1 mo sec. Sect 8 ok. 773-978-6134

DELUXE 4BRS ($1300) & 1BRs ($800). Hardwood flrs and appls incl, close to trans, schools.

Sec 8 Welcome. 773-443-3200

CORNERSTONE APTS., 4907 S. St Lawrence, Newly Remodeled.

3BR w/1.5BA $1,038 + all utils 3BR w/1BA $1090 incls heatVisit or call (773) 548-9211. M-F: 9am5pm or apply on line. www.

4907cornerstoneapts.com Managed by Metroplex, Inc.

BUENA PARK LANDMARK dis-

1st flr, newly decorated. $800 + sec dep. Tenant pays utils.

773-858-3163

Free Flat Screen!! ! 109th/ Princeton and 75th/Honore, 35BR, Remodeled w/ hdwd flrs. $700-$1500. Sect 8 OK. 773-4942247

EAST L A K E V I E W / WRIGLEYVILLE Newly renovated, sunny, 2 bedroom apartment in elegant vintage greystone building w/hardwood floors, dishwasher, air-conditioning, backyard patio, washer/dryer on premises. $1400/ month. Call Nat 773-880-2414.

2 BR $1500 AND

3BR APT - 5639 S Princeton.

CHICAGO, 6101 S. Normal 4BR Townhouse apt, Newly Decorated. Section 8 Welc. Call 773-422-1878

BRICK, 4 BED, 2 bath, w/ bsmt, 2 car gar., 87th Fairfield, Evergreen Park. 1 Mos Sec Dep, $1575/mo. Call Al, 847-644-5195 Dolton,

14511 Avalon, fully renov 3BR, 1BA, all appls incl, W/D, fully fin bsmt, fncd in yrd. A/C. CHA insp. Sec 8 ok. 773-317-4357

VISIT POWDERMILL INN in the U.P. Close to Powderhorn, Blackjack, Indian-head, and Whitecap Mountain.

Con-dominium sleeps 6, $150.00/ week. Kash Sullivan, 906-229-3075

BANK OWNED ON-SITE REAL ESTATE AUCTION BURBANK 7954 Merrimac Ave. 6BR, 3BA, 3376 Sq. Ft. Single Family Home.

Sale Date, Sat 3/5, 11am Free Color Brochure 1-800-260-5846 auctionservicesintl.com 5% Buyers Premium Josh Orland, Auctioneer IL. 471.006701 ASI-FM. 444000425 WE BUY HOUSES Any Condition. Chicago/Suburbs. ALL CASH QUICK CLOSING Call/Text 773556-7741

WE BUY HOUSES CASH Apts & Commercial foreclosures, any area, price or condition. We close fast! 708-506-2997

non-residential SELF-STORAGE

CENTERS.

T W O locations to serve you. All units fully heated and humidity controlled with ac available. North: Knox Avenue.

773-685-6868.

South: Pershing Avenue. 773-523-6868.

2BR+

NR

83RD/JEFFREY,

heated, decor FP, hdwd flrs, lots of storage, formal DR, intercom, newly remod kitchen & bath. $1000. Missy 773-241-9139

Fully Equippped BBQ Resturant for rent at 1535 W. 79th St. Rent, $895/mo. Contact 773-899-9529 or 708-421-7630

roommates NICE BR in pvt home, near 80th and Ash, lady pref, share kitch & BA. $400/mo. Also 2BR in bsmt. $475/mo. Credit & background Check req. 773-994-6077 ROOM FOR RENT- (Unfurnished) Chicago Southside Location.

All utilities included. Cable. $400/mo. Call 773-842-7307

CHICAGO - 4928 West Gladys.

Room for rent. Basement, $400, furnished, free internet/cable, util incl.

No dep. 773-287-1270

MARKETPLACE

GOODS

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

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County.

Registration Number: D16145272 on January 27, 2016 Under the Assumed Business Name of LLG CONSULTING with the business located at: 918 N. WOOD ST. UNIT 1, CHICAGO, IL 60622. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner (s)/ partner(s) is: LAURIE GUTZWILLER 918 N. WOOD ST. UNIT 1, CHICAGO, IL 60622, USA

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16145186 ON JANUARY 21, 2016 Under the Assumed Business Name of MORGAN LEE PHOTOGRAPHY with the business located at: 1406 W. CORNELIA AVE., #2, CHICAGO, IL 60657. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner (s)/partner(s) is: MORGAN WILLIAMS 1406 W. CORNELIA AVE., #2, CHICAGO, IL 60657, USA

MASSAGE TABLES, NEW and

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.

COUCH, 72" LONG, Loveseat 50" Long, medium brown. Made

by La-Z-Boy, both are in excellent condition. Orland Park Area. Call 708-478-0152

SERVICES LEGAL SERVICES- Need a

lawyer? For as low as $17.95/mo.

Consultations, Contract, Evictions, Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, Traffic Tickets, Expungement, Divorce, Criminal & more. Call Theresa 312-806-0646

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16145181 on January 21, 2016 Under the Assumed Business Name of MCMILLER COMMUNICATIONS with the business located at: PO BOX 12414, CHICAGO, IL 60612.

The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s) /partner(s) is: KRYSTAL MCMILLER 2333 W. MONROE CHICAGO, IL 60612, USA

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to "An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State," as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16145276 on July 27, 2016, under the Assumed Business Name of Ted Pryor Painting with the business located at 5715 S Menard, Chicago, IL 60638. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner( s)/ partner(s) is: Theodore John Pryor, 5715 S Menard, Chicago, IL 60638, USA.

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16145049 on January 8, 2016 Under the Assumed Business Name of FOURLETTERHOME with the business located at: 780 S. FEDERAL #604, CHICAGO, IL 60605. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owners (s) /partner(s) is: AMY KRISTINE KALISKI, 780 S. FEDERAL #604, CHICAGO, IL 60605.

USA.

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to "An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State," as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16145282 on July 27, 2016, under the Assumed Business Name of BRM Ministries with the business located at PO Box 288063, Chicago, IL 60628. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner( s)/ partner(s) is: Barbara R Mayden, 10737 S Prairie Ave, Chicago, IL 60628 USA.

MONA FAKHOURY - 773-431-

4725 Destination & Wedding Specialist www.DreamWeddingTravel.com m ona@DreamWeddingTravel.com

HEALTH & WELLNESS UKRAINIAN MASSAGE. CALLS in/ out. Chicago and sub-

urbs. Hotels. 1234 S Michigan Avenue. Appointments. 773-609-6969.

MESSAGES SLEEP RESEARCH, UP to $2300. Overweight age 21-40, sleeping 6.5 hours or less. Dr. Esra Tasali at University of Chicago. Further information, please email: sleepstudy@ uchicago.edu

legal notices IN THE MATTER of the Petition of CHERYL M. MALDEN Case#

2016CONC000109 For Change of Name. Notice of Publication Public Notice is hereby given that on March 28, 2016 at 10:30AM being one of the return days in the Circuit Court of the County of Cook, I will file my petition in said court praying for the change of my name from CHERYL M. MALDEN to that of Cheryl M. Malden, pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided. Dated at Chicago, Illinois, February 2, 2016.

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to “An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State,” as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16145280 on January 27, 2016 Under the Assumed Business Name of DEFPOINTS DESIGN with the business located at: 200 MARTIN LANE SUITE A, ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL 60007. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner (s)/partner(s) is: ALEXANDER SKOLNIK 3283 W. WRIGHTWOOD AVE., CHICAGO, IL 60647, USA

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pursuant to "An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State," as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16145140 on January 14, 2016 Under the Assumed Business Name of SB Carpentry Co with the business located at 4149 Eberly Ave, Brookfield, IL 60513. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: Safet Besirevic, 4149 Eberly Ave, Brookfield, IL 60513, USA

COLLEGE GIRL BODY RUBS $40 w/AD 24/7

224-223-7787

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 | CHICAGO READER 39

STRAIGHT DOPE

By Cecil Adams Q : What’s the deal with papal infallibility?

Can the pope modify any church teaching he so desires, and Catholics would have to obey? Can he make abortion OK? What about worshipping Satan?

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40 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

A : Living in Venezuela, Gabriel, you may have seen the quirks of papal fiat up close. In the 16th century, according to legend, Spanish missionaries thereabouts petitioned the Vatican to allow newly converted locals to eat capybara (aka the world’s largest rodent) during Lent, when Catholics are otherwise enjoined from eating meat. The pope agreed, essentially declaring the capybara—a fine swimmer, yes, but conspicuously four-legged and hairy—a fish. I’m told salted capybara remains a Lenten specialty down there. If that ain’t infallibility, what is?

Alas. It turns out that, doctrinally speaking, papal infallibility is far weightier than this casual transubstantiation of mammals into fish. Or at least within the domain of the Catholic Church: the notion of infallibility was cemented in the 1860s when Pope Pius IX faced external political threats and, by convoking the First Vatican Council, aka Vatican I, sought to shore up the power of his office.

Recall what was going on in the wake of the Enlightenment: upheaval and revolution across the continent, a general emphasis on democracy over monarchy. In this context, many looked seriously askance at a hierarchical outfit like the Roman church. Priests were booted from France; in Italy, nationalists seized and redistributed property owned by the church, eventually whittling the pontiff’s dominion down to Vatican City. The feeling was mutual, of course. Among the considerations at Vatican I was a repudiation of “progress, liberalism, and modern civilization”—a contemporaneous account in the New York Times called the gathering the “last protest of the . . . Middle Ages against the spirit of the Nineteenth Century.”)

Thus, in hopes of giving the pope a little boost, was the notion of papal infallibility formalized and put into in writing. There are two criteria, essentially, for an infallible pronouncement: that it be made ex cathedra— literally, “from the chair,” i.e., in the pope’s capacity as the church’s supreme leader— and that it concern “faith and morals.” So: could the pope declare a surprising aboutface with respect to abortion or the Prince

SLUG SIGNORINO

—GABRIEL ANDRADE, VENEZUELA

of Darkness? Insofar as either would seem to involve faith and morals, well, why not? But so extreme is the infallibility option that popes have typically been leery of going there: as John XXIII (1958-1963) put it, “I am only infallible if I speak infallibly but I shall never do that, so I am not infallible.”

Still, debate continues over whether certain pronouncements were in fact infallible.

What everyone can agree on is that the Virgin Mary’s Assumption into heaven is dogma, made so by Pius XII in his 1950 Munificentissimus Deus. The other instance often cited is Pius IX’s affirmation of the Immaculate Conception. But that was in 1854—several years before papal infallibility was itself declared dogma at Vatican I—so some might exclude it on a technicality. Others consider infallibility to apply retroactively not only to this but to other foundational pronouncements popes have made throughout history—for instance, Leo I on the two natures (divine and human) of Christ, circa 449 AD. Some, including the former Pope Benedict, have argued that a 1994 statement by John Paul II rejecting the possibility of female priests was infallible. This is far from settled, the counterargument being that the word “infallible” appears nowhere in the document; JP II called his pronouncement simply “definitive.” The stakes are higher than they sound: Benedict was subsequently criticized for promoting “creeping infallibility,” or endeavoring to quietly move certain hot-button issues— women’s ordination, contraception—outside the realm of debate by suggesting they’re more settled than they actually are.

Faced with much Protestant sniffing about the whole idea, Catholics are keen to stress that infallibility doesn’t equate to impeccability—being without sin—nor does it mean that the pope considers himself immune from error. Pontiffs probably don’t suffer in the self-regard department, in other words, but it’s not like they’re Donald Trump. v Send questions to Cecil via straightdope.com or write him c/o Chicago Reader, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago 60654.

YOUR CHICAGO BIKE AND CAR ACCIDENT LAWYERS

SAVAGE LOVE

By Dan Savage

‘What do you think of poop play?’ and more

Dan Savage takes further questions from a live audience in Boston.

A LARGE CROWD BRAVED a snowstorm to come out to Savage Love Live at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre last week.

Questions were submitted on index cards, which allowed questioners to remain anonymous and forced them to be succinct. I got to as many of them as I could over two long, raucous, boozy hours.

Here are some I didn’t have time for.

Q : What do you think of poop play?

A : I don’t except when

forced to.

Q : What exactly causes relationships to end?

much sense as rejecting monogamy because your last monogamous relationship failed. If people applied the same standard to closed relationships that they apply to open ones, most of us would’ve had two relationships in our lives—one open, one closed—and then either taken a vow of celibacy or pledged to stick to NSA sex for the rest of our lives.

Our choices are informed by our experience, of course, and you had a bad experience with an open relationship. Open relationships might not be for you. But it’s also possible that the problem with your last relationship wasn’t the openness but the partner.

want more chaos, drama, and hurt in their lives. Unless you know a couple well, or unless you’ve noticed the trail of destruction they’ve left in their wake, there’s just no way to tell what they’re really after until after you’ve slept with them. Anyway, how do you move on? You send a note, you apologize for your part in the chaos, drama, and hurt, and you express a desire to mend the friendship. Hopefully you’ll hear from them.

Q : Why is the term

“monogamy” and not “monoamory”?

A : “Monogamy” comes from

elected president.

dad about your podcast when teaching him how to use iTunes. I called home a couple of weeks later, and Dad told me he’s been listening and Mom yells, “I’m not gonna pee on you!” 3

the Greek monos for “single” and gamos for “marriage.”

So the term literally means “one marriage” not “one love.” Since you can be monogamous without being married, and married without being monogamous, perhaps the term really should be “monoamory,” meaning “one love at a time, married or not.” But meaning follows usage, and an effort to get people to use “monoamory” would be just as futile as efforts to stop people from using “polyamory” because it mixes Greek (“poly”) and Latin (“amory”).

Q : I was in an open

A : It could’ve been worse.

Q : We’re both over 40,

A : Relationships end for all

sorts of different reasons— boredom, neglect, contempt, betrayal, abuse—but all relationships that don’t end survive for the same reason: the people in them just keep not breaking up. Sometimes people in relationships that need to end never get around to breaking up.

Q : How long should I keep my partner locked in male chastity?

A : Until Rick Santorum is

relationship once and was heartbroken in the end because my partner broke the rules we made. My current partner wants to make our monogamous relationship open, but I am hesitant because of my previous burn. How do I get over this and become comfortable with an open relationship again?

A : Rejecting nonmonogamy

because your last nonmonogamous relationship failed makes about as

Q : Magnum condoms are just marketing, right?

A : Wrong—but you don’t

have to take my word for it. Just spend ten minutes on Tumblr and you’ll see for yourself.

Q : I accidentally told my

Mom could’ve yelled: “We can’t talk right now! I’m peeing on your father!”

Q : My husband and I (30s,

M/F, two kids) found out our best friends of 20 years were secretly poly. And we didn’t know! Well, we all fucked.

Now our relationship/ friendship is fucked too. How do we move on?

A : People who are poly say they want more love, sex, and joy in their lives—but some poly people seem to

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married ten years. He wants a threesome, and I’m ambivalent. He says +1 girl, I say +1 boy. What do we do?

A : Upgrade to a foursome

with +1 opposite-sex couple.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Wilbur! I had a blast! v Send letters to mail@ savagelove.net. Download the Savage Lovecast every Tuesday at thestranger.com. v @fakedansavage

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 41

EARLY WARNINGS

New Order ò NICK WILSON

NEW

Acid Dad 4/21, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM Dan Baird & Homemade Sin 3/5, 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn Battalion of Saints 3/19, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Ran Blake 3/26, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Boombox 4/1-2, 8:30 PM, Concord Music Hall, 18+ Brand New, Modest Mouse 7/2, 7:15 PM, FirstMerit Bank Pavilion b Coldplay 7/23, 8 PM, Soldier Field, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM Denzel Curry, Allan Kingdom 4/9, 6 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club b Delta Rae 4/2, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge, on sale Fri 2/5, noon, 17+ Dungen, Boogarins 5/15, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Frankie Cosmos 4/27, 7 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, noon b Coleman Hell 3/10, 8 PM, Subterranean, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM, 17+ Emily Heller 3/2, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen Hiromi 4/10, 6 and 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM b Ray Wylie Hubbard 4/6, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 2/4, noon b Vijay Iyer Trio 7/1, 7 and 9:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Shooter Jennings & Waymore’s Outlaws 3/21, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 2/4, noon b Kawehi 4/7, 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM, 17+

Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra 4/17, 6 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn L.A. Witch, Sugar Candy Mountain 5/8, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Jesse Malin 3/31, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 2/4, noon b Mamiffer 4/2, 8 PM, Co-Prosperity Sphere, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM, 17+ Matches 6/4, 6:30 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 2/5, noon b Matmos 3/15, 9 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM Shawn Mendes 8/5, 7:30 PM, Rosemont Theater, Rosemont, on sale Sat 2/6, 10 AM b Chris Mills & the Distant Stars 4/1, 7 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 2/5, noon Keb’ Mo’ Band 4/23, 8 PM, Park West, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM, 18+ Moonface 4/17, 7:30 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, noon, 18+ Graham Nash 5/11-12, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 2/4, noon b New Order 3/16, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre, on sale Fri 2/5, noon b Old 97s, Heartless Bastards, BJ Barham 5/21, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM, 17+ Iggy Pop 4/6, 8 PM, Chicago Theatre b Punch Brothers 5/13-14, 7:30 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM b Santigold 4/17, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, 18+ Sheer Terror 5/21, 8 PM, Cobra Lounge Slingshot Dakota 5/2, 7:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Small Brown Bike 3/12, 7 PM, Cobra Lounge

42 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair 4/14, 7:30 PM, Civic Opera House, on sale Fri 2/5, 11 AM b Caroline Smith 4/15, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, noon, 18+ Songhoy Blues 4/9, 8 PM, Martyrs’, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM Summer Set 4/24, 5 PM, Bottom Lounge b The Sword, Royal Thunder 4/5, 9 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ That 1 Guy 3/19, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Thermals 4/20, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, noon Transviolet 2/16, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ True Widow 4/30, 9 PM, Subterranean, on sale Fri 2/5, 10 AM Twilight Sad 6/9, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, noon, 18+ Twin Peaks 5/13, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 2/5, noon b Walk the Moon 8/19, 7:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom, on sale Fri 2/5, noon

UPCOMING Abbath, High on Fire, Skeletonwitch 4/8, 6:45 PM, Metro, 18+ Ambrose Akinmusire 2/20, 8:30 and 10 PM, Constellation, 18+ All Dogs 4/9, 6:30 PM, Subterranean b American Nightmare 3/6, 5 PM, Double Door b Autolux 4/9, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Behemoth, Myrkur 4/29, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Bleached 4/22, 9 PM, Empty Bottle

CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME

b Busta Rhymes 3/26, 10 PM, the Shrine Cactus Blossoms 2/27, 9 PM, Hideout Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams 4/13, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Cryptopsy 2/27, 7:30 PM, Metro, 18+ Chelsea Grin 3/13, 7 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Chicago; Earth, Wind & Fire 4/1, 7:30 PM, United Center b Chon, Polyphia 3/25, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge b Claire Lynch Band & the Quebe Sisters 2/18, 8 PM, City Winery b Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen 2/20, 9 PM, Wire, Berwyn, 18+ Johnny Clegg Band 4/14-15, 8 PM, City Winery b Cloud Cult 4/3, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Coheed & Cambria, Glassjaw 2/26, 7 PM, Aragon Ballroom Marc Cohn 4/2-3, 8 PM, City Winery b Cradle of Filth 3/1, 6 PM, House of Blues b Dawn of Midi 4/7, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Dr. Dog 3/12, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Dream Theater 4/30, 8 PM, Chicago Theatre b Fetty Wap, Post Malone 2/17, 6 PM, House of Blues b Finish Ticket 3/4, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge b Flatbush Zombies 3/31, 7 PM, Concord Music Hall b Fleshgod Apocalypse 2/15, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Kirk Franklin 4/1, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre Freakwater 3/18, 9 PM, Hideout Bill Frisell 2/19, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Future, Ty Dolla $ign 2/18, 8 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 17+ Gogol Bordello 3/3-23, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Selena Gomez 6/25, 7:30 PM, United Center b Jose Gonzalez 3/21, 7 PM, Rockefeller Chapel, 17+ Ellie Goulding 5/6, 7 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont b Go!Zilla 3/1, 9 PM, Empty Bottle A Great Big World 4/3, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Vivian Green 3/11, 7:30 and 10 PM, City Winery b Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper 3/30, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Gutter Demons 2/12, 8 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint Hatebreed, Devildriver 5/14, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Lyfe Jennings 2/20, 7 and 10 PM, City Winery b

George Kahumoku Jr., Led Kaapana, and Jeff Peterson 2/26, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b La Sera 5/6, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Jonny Lang 5/20, 9 PM, House of Blues Lapsley 5/1, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ MC Lars 3/6, 7 PM, Schubas Bill Laurance Group 3/23, 7:30 PM, City Winery b Lazyeyes 3/24, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Leftover Salmon 2/26-27, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Nils Lofgren 5/20, 7:30 PM, City Winery b Logic 3/4, 6 PM, Aragon Ballroom b Louis the Child 3/4, 10 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas 8/2, 7 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont b The Loved Ones, Cheap Girls 2/12-13, 8 PM, Cobra Lounge, 2/12 is sold out Lucius 3/24, 8:30 PM, Metro Lunasa 2/20, 5 and 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Lush 9/18, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Made of Oak 4/7, 9 PM, Schubas Magic Man, Griswolds 4/23, 7:30 PM, Metro b Magma, Helen Money 3/2526, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ MC Chris 3/19, 8 PM, Cubby Bear Edwin McCain 3/5, 8 PM, City Winery b Delbert McClinton 3/4, 8 PM, City Winery b Michael McDermott 3/12, 7:30 PM, City Winery b Heather McDonald 2/14, 8 PM, Park West b Mount Moriah 3/18, 8 PM, Schubas Mountain Goats 4/11-13, 8 PM, City Winery b Joey Muha 3/30, 6:30 PM, Wire, Berwyn b Mumiy Troll 3/2, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Murder by Death, Tim Barry 4/2, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Bonnie Raitt 3/22, 7:30 PM, Chicago Theatre b David Ramirez 3/2, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Rebirth Brass Band 2/27, 7 and 10 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Red Elvises 6/10, 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn Residents 4/18, 6:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Restorations 4/1, 8 PM, Cobra Lounge Rhapsody, Primal Fear 5/3, 7 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Boyd Rice 6/12, 9 PM, Empty Bottle

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Rihanna, Travis Scott 4/15, 7:30 PM, United Center b Ringo Deathstarr 3/4, 9 PM, Empty Bottle RJD2 4/29, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ RNDM 3/15, 8:30 PM, Double Door, 18+ Rocket Summer 4/2, 8:30 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Carrie Rodriguez 3/5, 8 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Jeff Rosenstock 2/17, 6:30 PM, Beat Kitchen b Uli Jon Roth 3/27, 6 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Rufus Du Sol 4/9, 9 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Ruth B 2/24, 8 PM, Schubas b St Germain 4/10, 8 PM, the Vic b St. Lucia, Tigertown 2/22-23, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Joe Satriani 4/15, 8 PM, Chicago Theatre b Savages 4/7, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Savoy Brown 4/23, 7 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint Say Anything, Mewithoutyou 5/6, 6:30 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Secrets 3/2, 6 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Sheer Mag 3/31, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Shivas 3/31, 9 PM, Hideout Silento, ILoveMemphis, Dlow 3/19, 7:30 PM, Aragon Ballroom William Singe 2/16, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Skizzy Mars 2/19, 7 PM, Concord Music Hall b Slaves 4/4, 5:30 PM, Bottom Lounge b Slayer, Testament, Carcass 2/19-20, 7:30 PM, Riviera Theatre, 2/19 sold out b Mike Stud 2/18, 7 PM, House of Blues b Subdudes 3/24-25, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Subways 4/22, 9 PM, Schubas Sultans of String 3/4, 8 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Taake 2/26, 9 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Tacocat 4/8, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Tame Impala 6/9, 7:30 PM, UIC Pavilion Tauk 4/2, 10 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Tech N9ne 4/28, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Thao & the Get Down Stay Down 4/1, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall b

ALL AGES

F

Amy Vachal 3/22, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Hunter Valentine 3/18, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 18+ Chad Valley 3/24, 8:30 PM, Subterranean Matthew Logan Vasquez, Reverend Baron 4/23, 10 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Carl Verheyen 6/5, 6 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint Voivod, Vektor 2/24, 7:30 PM, the Abbey, 17+ Waifs, Ruby Boots 4/26, 8 PM, City Winery b M. Ward 6/16, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Weezer 7/10, 7 PM, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Park Woods, Ultimate Painting 4/23, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall Yung Lean 3/26, 7 PM, Concord Music Hall b

SOLD OUT AC/DC 2/17, 7:30 PM, United Center At the Drive-In 5/19-20, 7:30 PM, Riviera Theatre b Courtney Barnett 4/28, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Rayland Baxter 2/12, 8:30 PM, Schubas Beach House 3/1, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Chevy Metal 2/20-21, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Chvrches 3/13-14, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Gary Clark Jr. 4/1, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ The Cure, Twilight Sad 6/10 -11, 7:30 PM, UIC Pavilion b Daughter 3/11, 8 PM, Metro Greg Dulli 3/18, 8 and 11 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Father John Misty, Tess & Dave 4/14-15, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Julia Holter 3/2, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Glenn Hughes 3/24, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Carly Rae Jepsen 3/12, 8:30 PM, Metro b Less Than Jake 3/3-4, 7 PM, Double Door, 17+ Los Crudos, MK Ultra 3/26, 6:30 PM, Beat Kitchen b Melanie Martinez 3/17, 7:30 PM, the Vic b Rachel Platten 3/19, 7:30 PM, Park West b Charlie Puth 3/22, 7 PM, Park West b Shellac, Mono 3/30, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ They Might Be Giants 3/20, 3 PM, the Vic b Thrice 6/23, 6:30 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Underoath 4/7, 7 PM, Riviera Theatre b X Ambassadors 4/6, 6 PM, House of Blues b v

Christian McBride Trio WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

gary burton tia fuller sean jones Detroit jaz z label Mack Avenue Records boast s a luminar y roster of star-studded talent , including the Christian McBride Trio. Join them, special guest s and piano legend Willie Pickens in an all-star evening of jaz z at Symphony Center. “Those luck y enough to get in heard a jaz z pianist at the pinnacle of his abilities , Pickens summoning power without bombast and sophistication without pretension—and all of it dispatched with a robust sense of swing ” (Chicago Tribune).

feb

19 FRI 8:00

A MACK AVENUE SUPER BAND

Opening set by

WILLIE PICKENS TRIO Willie Pickens PIANO Larry Gray BASS Greg Artry DRUMS GARY BURTON

TIA FULLER

SYMPHONY CENTER PRESENTS JAZZ SERIES cso.org/jazz 312-294-3000

SEAN JONES

The SCP Jazz series is sponsored by:

Media Support:

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 43

44 CHICAGO READER • FEBRUARY 4, 2016 © 2016 Goose Island Beer Co., Goose IPA®, India Pale Ale, Chicago, IL, Baldwinsville, NY, & Fort Collins, CO | Enjoy responsibly.