Print Issue of August 10, 2017 (Volume 46, Number 44) by Chicago Reader

C H I C A G O â&#x20AC;&#x2122; 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 | A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 1 7

Could legislation curb displacement along the 606? 10 The Floating Museum ferries art along the Chicago River. 20 Do men truly think about sex every six seconds? 36

SCHWA, NOW WITH

FEWER DRUGS AND MORE ADULT RESPONSIBILITY By MICHAEL GEBERT 12

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8.21-22

LEO KOTTKE

9.19 SUZZY ROCHE & LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE 10.23 CRAIG FINN & THE UPTOWN CONTROLLERS W/ JOHN K. SAMSON 10.25 POCO FEATURING RUSTY YOUNG 10.30 DAVID CROSBY & FRIENDS 11.3 TIM REYNOLDS & TR3

8.14

ANA POPOVIC

8.15

MAX WEINBERG’S JUKEBOX

8.18

DAVE BARNES THE JOKE CONCERT

MAYSA

8.29

W/ SPECIAL GUEST COREY DENNISON

8.27

8.30-31

SHELBY LYNNE & ALLISON MOORER

9.5-6

9.3

6PM & 9PM SHOWS

ROOMFUL OF BLUES

JOHN GORKA

7PM & 10PM SHOWS

WE BANJO 3

THE ALARM

8.17

8.26

8.28

LIVING COLOUR

Alejandro Escovedo & JOE ELY

8.24-25

JOAN OSBORNE

9.7

JESSE COLIN YOUNG

SINGS THE SONGS OF BOB DYLAN

(OF THE YOUNGBLOODS) OFFICIAL AIRLINE PARTNER

2 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

THIS WEEK

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FEATURES

EDITOR JAKE MALOOLEY CREATIVE DIRECTOR VINCE CERASANI CULTURE EDITOR TAL ROSENBERG FILM EDITOR J.R. JONES MUSIC EDITOR PHILIP MONTORO ASSOCIATE EDITORS STEVE HEISLER, KATE SCHMIDT SENIOR WRITER MIKE SULA SENIOR THEATER CRITIC TONY ADLER STAFF WRITERS MAYA DUKMASOVA, LEOR GALIL, DEANNA ISAACS, BEN JORAVSKY, AIMEE LEVITT, PETER MARGASAK, JULIA THIEL SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR RYAN SMITH GRAPHIC DESIGNER SUE KWONG MUSIC LISTINGS COORDINATOR LUCA CIMARUSTI FILM LISTINGS COORDINATOR PATRICK FRIEL CONTRIBUTING WRITERS NOAH BERLATSKY, MATT DE LA PEÑA, ANNE FORD, ISA GIALLORENZO, JOHN GREENFIELD, ANDREA GRONVALL, JUSTIN HAYFORD, JACK HELBIG, DAN JAKES, BILL MEYER, MICHAEL MINER, J.R. NELSON, MARISSA OBERLANDER, LEAH PICKETT, BEN SACHS, DMITRY SAMAROV, DAVID WHITEIS, ALBERT WILLIAMS INTERNS LIBBY BERRY, PORTER MCLEOD, EMILY WASIELEWSKI ---------------------------------------------------------------VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT NICKI STANULA VICE PRESIDENT OF NEW MEDIA GUADALUPE CARRANZA SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER EVANGELINE MILLER ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES FABIO CAVALIERI, BRIDGET KANE MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER BRYAN BURDA DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL JOHN DUNLEVY ADVERTISING COORDINATOR HERMINIA BATTAGLIA CLASSIFIEDS REPRESENTATIVE KRIS DODD ---------------------------------------------------------------DISTRIBUTION CONCERNS distributionissues@chicagoreader.com CHICAGO READER 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654 312-222-6920, CHICAGOREADER.COM

FOOD & DRINK

Now that it’s all grown up, has Schwa lost its edge?

Once infamous for its excesses, the inﬂuential restaurant from mercurial chef Michael Carlson has transformed itself into a fertile proving ground for Chicago’s next generation of young culinary talent. BY MICHAEL GEBERT PHOTOS BY LUCY HEWETT 12

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Agenda Bubbly comedy from Ron Funches, Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology release party, the ﬁlm The Girl Without Hands, and more goings-on about town

---------------------------------------------------------------READER (ISSN 1096-6919) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY STM READER, LLC, 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654. COPYRIGHT © 2017 CHICAGO READER. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT CHICAGO, IL. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CHICAGO READER, READER, AND REVERSED R: REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ®.

CITY LIFE

ON THE COVER: PHOTO OF SCHWA’S MICHAEL CARLSON BY LUCY HEWETT. FOR MORE OF HER WORK, GO TO LUCYHEWETT.COM.

7 Chicagoans Meet Nolaj, a fashion “supervillain/superhero” 7 The Contrarian Eating a hot dog with ketchup is delicious. 8 Joravsky | Politics Governor Rauner is once again toying with

the futures of Chicago Public Schools students. 10 Transportation Could legislation curb displacement along the 606?

36 Straight Dope Do men truly think about sex every six seconds? 37 Savage Love How can a poly newbie get over her jealous panic attacks and enjoy threesomes?

ARTS & CULTURE

19 Theater Served in bits, the NeoFuturists’ Food Show supplies just a few good tastes. 20 Visual Art The Floating Museum literally becomes a ﬂoating museum. 21 Visual Art The next wave of craftivism is on display in “Welcome Blanket,” from Pussyhat Project cofounder Jayna Zweiman. 22 Movies A new documentary about Whitney Houston doubles as a study of identity.

MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE

23 Shows of note Cdot Honcho, Gerrit Hatcher, Youssou N’Dour, Tyree Cooper, and more of the week’s best

FOOD & DRINK

31 Restaurant review: HaiSous Former Embeya chef Thai Dang mounts his comeback in Pilsen with homey, unfussy Vietnamese food. 33 Bars At pour-your-own-beer bars Tapster and Navigator Taproom, nothing but technology stands between you and your beer.

CLASSIFIEDS

34 Jobs 34 Apartments & Spaces 35 Marketplace

38 Early Warnings Animal Collective, Pink, Washed Out, Pelican, and more shows you should know about in the weeks to come 38 Gossip Wolf A new Logan Square coworking space opens an exhibit of Mac Blackout’s work, and more music news.

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 3

AGENDA R

READER RECOMMENDED

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b ALL AGES

F this all-female version, as ordinary mischievous clowns). They even make clear sense of tortuous Elizabethan verse. While the gender-muddling conclusion is confused, most everything else is eloquent, boisterous, and delightful. —JUSTIN HAYFORD Through 8/13: SatSun 7 PM, Ridgeville Park, 908 Seward St., Evanston, 847-869-5640, arctheatrechicago.org. F

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Find hundreds of Readerrecommended restaurants, exclusive video features, and sign up for weekly news chicagoreader.com/ food. 4 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

More at chicagoreader.com/theater Hair: The American Tribal R Love-Rock Musical Mercury Theater’s stirring, soulful production of

Gerome Ragni, James Rado, and Galt MacDermot’s landmark “tribal love-rock musical” captures both the celebratory and elegiac aspects of this landmark work, a secular rock ’n’ roll passion play about a group of teenage “flower children” whose leader, Claude, has just been drafted into the Vietnam war. Firmly grounded in the time and place (1967 New York) in which it was written and is set, the show also resonates for our moment, with its portrait of young rebels and outcasts striving to create a utopian alternative to America’s historical legacy of violence and racism. Director Brenda Didier and musical director Eugene Dizon have assembled a terrific young ensemble, with passionately compelling performances coming from Liam Quealy as Claude—the Aquarian hippie messiah “destined for greatness or madness”—and Michelle Lauto as his antiwar activist disciple Sheila. —ALBERT WILLIAMS Through 9/17: Wed-Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport, 773-325-1700, mercurytheaterchicago.com, $30-$65, seniors $30-$60, students $30-$50. Monticello Local labor attorney Thomas R. Geoghegan’s play, receiving its world premiere from Aurora Theater Works, Inc., imagines a meeting between a dying Thomas Jefferson and a college-age Edgar Allen Poe in 1826, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In debt and despondent over the state of the nation, Jefferson is being pressured to buttress the institution of slavery by renouncing the equality of all men he championed in the Declaration. Complicating matters are Sally Hemings and other slaves on the property with whom the master is intimately involved. What does Poe have to do with any of this? Not much, and it doesn’t help that the script is peppered with jokey references to his future classics like “The Raven.” Geoghegan means his play as a call to

action in another age of crisis but does his cause no favors by throwing together two important historical figures for an imaginary chat. The most affecting moment by far comes at the very end, when Sally Hemings reads the Declaration in full. —DMITRY SAMAROV Through 9/3: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Saint Bonaventure Church, basement-level theater, 1625 W. Diversey, 773-404-7922, stbonaventurechurch.org, $20. A Puppet Playdate With Grandma D Is your avatar elderly and blue? Young, a thumb-sucker, and faintly violet? A sparkly fluffy quadruped in a tutu? With a minimal cast, Puppet Playdate With Grandma D presents a world of types in a single room at Grandma D’s house (she’s the blue puppet). In the tradition of Nickelodeon kids’ show Blue’s Clues, our narrator and nonpuppet intermediary is a white male everyman mysteriously given the same name as a certain mohawked pro wrestler of color. But if he identifies as Mr. T, it’s OK; as we learned in the first week’s reading, Jessica Herthel, Jazz Jennings, and Shelagh McNicolas’s whitewashed, conflict-free picture book of transgender self-discovery I Am Jazz, the word of the day is “acceptance.” Clocking in at a slim 20 minutes with a new reading each week, Puppet Playdate seems well-intentioned but also telegraphs disappointing cultural norms. —IRENE HSIAO 8/12-8/28: SatSun 2 PM; also Mon 8/28, 2 PM, Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway, 1-800737-0984, pridefilmsandplays.com, pay what you can; suggested donation $10.

The Remains Dropshift Dance continues its Imposter series with The Remains, a combination of video installation and live dance performance. An exploration of identity over time, Imposter delves into the audienceperformer relationship using contemporary styles. 8/16-8/18: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM, DFBRL8R Gallery, 1463 W. Chicago, dfbrl8r.org, $20-$25. Theory of Relativity Daily routines and actions are given new meaning through this dance performance with a physics twist. Featuring Mike Ford and Megan Beseth. 8/10-8/13: Thu-Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, McKaw Theater, 1439 W. Jarvis, 773-655-7197, seechicagodance.com/event/theory-relativity, $20.

COMEDY Decease, I Insist: A Funerarial Comedy Near the end of Mass St. Productions’ hour-long, death-centric sketch comedy show, a dull bar mitzvah peps up when octogenarian DJ Yaya arrives, cranking the EDM and reminiscing about how hard she partied while Nazis decimated her hometown, her only dream to become a “4.5-star DJ on Yelp.” It’s appalling, and appallingly funny, and one of the rare moments when this five-person ensemble sticks its collective neck out. The rest of the sketches range from clever (a self-absorbed monarch desperately searching for the proper beheading outfit) to puzzling (radio actors making their own banal sound effects). Under Sophie Duntley’s direction, the male performers are often overly tentative, while the two women (Rebecca Escobedo and Katie Ruppert)

regularly tear things up. —JUSTIN HAYFORD Through 8/18: Fri 9 PM, Public House Theatre, 3914 N. Clark, 800-6506449, pubhousetheatre.com, $10. Engage! A Choose-Your-Own SciFight Show One audience volunteer and a big, fluffy four-sided die determine the plot twists in this adventure quasi-comedy from Stellar Productions. In the right hands, onstage parlor games over seemingly nonexistent stakes can be real hoot—but not when they amount to tests of basic motor skills, as they do here. Challenges include removing huge, clearly marked cables from hooks on a board, fitting Tetris-style blocks into a much larger box, and sticking red and blue plugs into their corresponding red and blue outlets. The backs of cereal boxes are more engaging. Making things worse, the “spoof” story based on recent sci-fi fare like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Guardians of the Galaxy is less send-up than flat imitation, one aimed at an unclear demographic. Is this for kids? —DAN JAKES Through 8/25: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, 773-975-8150, theaterwit.org, $20, $5 for repeat performances. Ron Funches Comedy’s teddy R bear, Ron Funches has a giggly laugh (sometimes at his own silliness) and

general gooﬁness that make for a standup show delivering jokes and smiles. Fri 8/11, 7:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, 312-526-3851, thaliahallchicago.com, $26.

Life in 35mm: An Improvised Documentary I’ve gotten a handful of laughs from comedian Jordan Wilson every time I’ve seen him onstage, and he and Mark Walsh provide some inventive, go-with-the-ﬂow long-form storytelling here. Good improvisers like these can roll with almost anything; wild-card collaborators aren’t one of them. As a whole, this particular Annoyance troupe lets wigs and inscrutable character swerves work the jokes for them, and at the performance I attended, the seemingly straightforward suggestion of “space” resulted in an insurmountable number of dropped story cues. I suspect that’s partly why the set felt so short, ending without much resolution. —DAN JAKES Through 8/26: Sat 7 PM, Annoyance Theatre, 851 W. Belmont, 773697-9693, theannoyance.com, $6.

The Taming of the Shrew I’ve R caught Arc Theatre only twice during their eight years in residence at

Ridgeville Park’s Shakespeare on the Ridge festival, but they’re oﬃcially my favorite outdoor-Shakespeare troupe. In a town overrun with actors trying and failing to achieve some semblance of “Shakespearean scale” by bellowing, posturing, and whipping swords back and forth, the Arc puts all its focus on simple, human-size play. Directors Natalie Sallee and Teddy Boone scale everything back (rudimentary costumes and props, an 80-minute running time), giving nine actors leave to relate to one another like ordinary people (or in

Monticello ò MARCUS DAVIS

Best bets, recommendations, and notable arts and culture events for the week of August 10

Perkis. Sat 8/12, 7-11 PM, 2433 S. Oakley, 773-896-4326, hoofprint.com.

Ron Funches ò MAURY PHILLIPS OPIE Vol. 2 Duo Olivia Nielson and Patriac Coakley take on their second stint at the iO Theater, melding earnestness, absurdity, sketch comedy, and an overwhelming desire to connect with the audience. 8/12-9/30: Sat 10:30 PM, iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury, ioimprov. com/chicago, $10. Emo Phillips Trying to keep up with Phillips’s train of thought is like trying to hold a deep religious conversation with a toddler. The veteran comic twists and turns stories from childhood and the everyday into tangential, polite rants. Wed 8/16-Thu 8/17, 8:30 PM, Zanies, 1548 N. Wells, 312-337-4027, zanies.com/ chicago, $25-$35. Strip Joker These stand-ups are going to let it all hang out. Emotionally. The “You Are Beautiful” sticker project teams up with Chicago comedians for an evening of laughter, body positivity, and a whole lot of nudity. Featuring performances by Shannon Noll, Maya May, and Adam Gilbert. Fri 8/11, 8 PM, Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway, 773867-1946, uptownunderground.net, $20. Wet Cash Stand-up with a very R big twist. Each week, performers at this showcase can do anything

they want. One week, they ran a show where everybody on the bill and in the audience was named Derek. Plus, all donations beneﬁt the ﬁshbowl they toss their money in—hence the title. Expect, well, anything. Open run: Fri 8 PM, Dark Tower Comics, 4835 N. Western, 773-654-1490, darktowercomics.net, donations accepted. F

VISUAL ARTS Green Door: “The Dating Game” Dating is a lot like art—sometimes fun, sometimes messy, and sometimes beautiful. In this new exhibit of paintings, more than ten artists explore the dating game in both its past and present forms, from true love to Tinder. Opening reception Fri 8/11, 6-9 PM. Through 9/3. 1932 S. Halsted, 630-310-7159. Hoofprint: “Sucias” Femininity is an always complex, sometimes obscene, and often reduced to something all too simple. The 18 artists in “Sucias” (sucia is Spanish for “dirty”) aim to demolish these stereotypes and norms, celebrating the griminess, hilarity, and intricacy of womanhood. Curated by Chloë

Hume Chicago: “Cecilia Kim: Home, Where My Heart Rests” Building the 34-minute video of the exhibit’s title, Kim visits ten Korean families temporarily residing in the United States. Photographs of the participants and their homes, as well as translations of her conversations with them, are on display. Opening reception Fri 8/11, 7-10 PM. Through 9/3: Sat 1-5 PM and by appointment. 3242 W. Armitage, humechicago.org.

tells the story of her life as queer immigrant from East Asia and the feeling of “otherness” that comes with existing between multiple identities. Mon 8/14, 7 PM, Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark, 773-769-9299, womenandchildrenﬁrst.com. Readings from The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks Hailed as “timeless” by the New York Times, this collection of more than 300 poems celebrating Brooks will be read and discussed by coeditor Peter Kahn and locals Rebecca Hazelton and Adam Levin. Tue 8/15, 6:30 PM, City Lit Books, 2523 N. Kedzie, 773235-2523, citylitbooks.com. Rust Belt Chicago release R party Chicago came into being as an industrial city, a national hub to

Young Radicals author Jeremy

transport hard goods like steel and concrete. The new anthology Rust Belt Chicago, a Belt Publishing venture, explores the dichotomy existing today in the city between its working-class roots and its cosmopolitan, gentriﬁed present. Essays, poems, and articles, edited by Martha Bayne, are shared at this release party. Sun 8/13, 6 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, hideoutchicago.com.

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

MOVIES More at chicagoreader.com/movies NEW REVIEWS Call Center This locally produced comedy generates good cheer through sympathetic characterizations and relatable workaday detail. The hero is a shy young cinephile who works as a manager for a customer-service call center and dreams of hosting his own radio show; his best friend, who also works at the center, is a wisecracking layabout who likes to chase the ladies. Their daily routine, filled with funny repartee, accounts for most of the film; writers Anton Deshawn and Kevin Douglas are less interested in telling a story than in conveying feelings of white-collar camaraderie and frustration. An office-intrigue subplot feels obligatory, but the filmmakers have the good sense not to devote too much time to it. Deshawn directed. —BEN SACHS 78 min. Deshawn attends the screenings, part of the Black Harvest Film Festival;

The Rangeﬁnder Gallery: Artist talk and photo walk with Carlo Heathcote Global photographer Heathcote spills his secrets (technique, style, and process) in this interactive talk and walk. After hearing about Heathcote’s career, including his work documenting Afghan life after the fall of the Taliban, participants shoot alongside him during a stroll through River North. Sat 8/12, 11 AM-3 PM. MonFri: 9 AM-5:30 PM, 300 W. Superior, 312-642-2255, tamarkin.com, $30. Vertical Gallery: “Trivium” European artists M-City, FAKE, and Trust.iCON come together for a joint exhibition at Chicago’s premiere urban-contemporary art gallery. M-City’s mechanical, sci-ﬁ-inspired style contrasts with the clean and colorful work of FAKE, as well as the street artistry of Trust.iCON. Through 8/26: Tue-Sat 11 AM-6 PM. 1016 N. Western, 773-697-3846, verticalgallery.com.

LIT & LECTURES

12O’CLOCK Call Center

Emily Jungmin Yoon with C.M. R Burroughs and Holly Amos The Young Radicals: In Conversatrio will be reading from and discussing R tion With Jeremy McCarter their works. Jungmin Yoon’s poetry has The cultural critic and coauthor of

for a full schedule visit siskelﬁlmcenter. org. Fri 8/11, 6:15 PM, and Tue 8/15, 8:15 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center

Not Quite: Asian American by R Law, Asian Woman by Desire In her powerful solo show, Ada Cheng

The Dark Tower Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey star as the hero and villain, respectively, in this convoluted sci-ﬁ action ﬁlm, a continuation of an eight-book series by Stephen King. McConaughey plays a sorcerer in a parallel universe who’s trying to harvest children’s minds in order to power a laser beam that will destroy a high-rise that protects the universe from malevolent forces; Elba is the gunslinger µ

been featured in the New Yorker and Apogee, Burroughs has been awarded fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the University of Pittsburgh, and Amos is the poetry editor of Pinwheel. Fri 8/11, 7:30 PM, Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark, 773-769-9299, womenandchildrenﬁrst.com.

Hamilton: The Revolution reads from his new novel, Young Radicals: In the War for American Ideals, the story of ﬁve young activists whose beliefs are threatened during the ﬁrst World War. Joined by poet Nate Marshall, lecturer in English at Northwestern, McCarter will discuss the power of youth and their relentless desire to advance society. Thu 8/10, 6 PM, Seminary Co-op Bookstore, 5751 S. Woodlawn, 773-7524381, semcoop.com.

TRACK SERIES A SIDE OF JAM WITH YOUR LUNCH EVERY WEEKDAY

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AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 5

JAPANESE CULTURAL FESTIVAL AUGUST 11, 12 & 13

Midwest Buddhist Temple 435 W. Menomonee, Chicago, IL 60614

AGENDA

Taiko Drums • Martial Arts • Japanese Dance Sushi • Chicken Teriyaki • Japanese Beer

Admission $5 ginzaholiday.com

2017 164 North State Street

Between Lake & Randolph

MOVIE HOTLINE: 312.846.2800

BUY TICKETS @ siskelﬁlmcenter.org/blackharvest

The Girl Without Hands

B who’s trying to stop him. The source material is famous for its combination of fantasy, horror, and westerns, but this adaptation tries to condense the anthology into an hour-and-a-half-long movie—the result is incomprehensible schlock. McConaughey, dressed like Siegfried and Roy, gives a campy performance that’s the only saving grace. Danish ﬁlmmaker Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Aﬀair) directed, and I’m not sure why. With Jackie Earle Haley. —TAL ROSENBERG PG-13, 95 min. For venues visit chicagoreader. com/movies. The Girl Without Hands R This striking animated adaption of a Brothers Grimm

DIRECTOR JOHN RIDLEY IN PERSON!

DIRECTOR JONATHAN OLSHEFSKI IN PERSON!

DIRECTOR NICOLE FRANKLIN IN PERSON!

QUEST

TITLE VII

LET IT FALL LOS ANGELES 1982 - 1992

AUGUST 12 & 14

AUGUST 12

AUGUST 16 & 17

ALSO PLAYING — NEW INDEPENDENT FEATURES & DOCUMENTARIES!

THE GIRL WITHOUT HANDS

August 11 - 17

Fri., 8/11 at 2 pm & 6 pm; Sat., 8/12 at 8:15 pm; Sun., 8/13 at 3 pm; Mon., 8/14 at 6 pm; Tue., 8/15 at 7:45 pm; Wed., 8/16 at 6 pm; Thu., 8/17 at 7:45 pm

“Exquisite artistry… reminiscent of certain Japanese prints and the work of French artists like Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard.”

— Hollywood Reporter

BUY TICKETS NOW

6 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

HARE KRISHNA!

THE MANTRA, THE MOVEMENT AND THE SWAMI WHO STARTED IT ALL

Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982R 1992 Not wasting a minute of its two-and-a-half-hour running

August 11 - 17

Fri., 8/11 at 2 pm and 7:45 pm; Sat., 8/12 at 6:30 pm; Sun., 8/13 at 4:45 pm; Mon., 8/14 at 7:45 pm; Tue., 8/15 at 6 pm; Wed., 8/16 at 7:45 pm; Thu., 8/17 at 6 pm

fairy tale makes a lean and dark story feel sweeping and warm. A young woman eludes the Devil, a shape-shifter who’s unable to touch her because she’s too pure. He tempts the girl’s father, a poor miller, into cutting oﬀ his daughter’s hands in exchange for an eternal river of gold; later, when the girl meets and marries a kind prince, the Devil plots to divide them. By employing hazy scenery and impressionistic squiggles to convey disturbing action, writer-director Sébastien Laudenbach crafts a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that suits the allegory. Even when the protagonist’s dreamlike world turns nightmarish, her strength and virtue burn bright. In French with subtitles. —LEAH PICKETT 76 min. Fri 8/11, 2 and 6 PM; Sat 8/12, 8:15 PM; Sun 8/13, 3 PM; Mon 8/14, 6 PM; Tue 8/15, 7:45 PM; Wed 8/16, 6 PM; and Thu 8/17, 7:45 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center

“A ﬁttingly devotional tribute...summons an evocative moment in time.” — LA Times

www.siskelﬁlmcenter.org

time, this remarkable documentary echoes O.J: Made in America by examining the Los Angeles riots through multiple perspectives to establish context for the events that unfolded. Racial tensions in the South Central neighborhood reached a boiling point in April and May 1992, but by focusing on

the decade that preceded the uprising, the film compels one to believe that certain factors made matters worse: the Los Angeles Police Department’s treatment of local African-Americans, growing distrust and resentment between African-Americans and Korean-Americans, and the confluent and widespread presence of crack cocaine and gang violence. The director is John Ridley, who wrote the Oscar-winning adaptation of 12 Years a Slave, and he wisely prioritizes the firsthand accounts of his interview subjects. —LEAH PICKETT 144 min. Ridley attends the screening, part of the Black Harvest Film Festival; for a full schedule visit siskelfilmcenter.org. Sat 8/12, 8 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Menashe This muted drama about New York City’s Hasidic Jewish community is the narrative-feature debut for documentary maker Joshua Z. Weinstein; consequently the film often feels like a direct-cinema documentary, immersing viewers in the environment through fly-on-the-wall camerawork and naturalistic performances. (Adding to the verisimilitude, nearly all of the dialogue is in Yiddish.) The title character is a ne’er-do-well widower whose only source of happiness is his relationship with his young son. Since traditional Jewish law requires children to grow up in two-parent households, Menashe faces a dilemma: either he remarries (which he doesn’t really want to do) or he sends his son to live with spiteful, humorless relatives. Weinstein stages much of the action in cramped interiors, which emphasizes the insular nature of a community where everyone knows everyone else’s business. In English and subtitled Yiddish. —BEN SACHS PG, 82 min. For venues visit chicagoreader.com/movies. Paulina A law student in Buenos Aires abandons her studies to teach a political science class at a rural high school near the Paraguayan border—she hopes to better the lives of impoverished adolescents,

but her students don’t respond to her noble intentions. This Argentine drama (a remake of a 1960 feature called La Patota) questions the value of political idealism in Brechtian fashion, presenting the heroine as alternately admirable and misguided and forcing viewers to decide what they make of her. Dolores Fonzi gives an impressive lead performance, rendering the protagonist three-dimensional but refusing to make her overly sympathetic. The jerky handheld cinematography can be distracting, but on the whole this is engrossing and thought-provoking. Santiago Mitre directed a script he wrote with Mariano Llinás. In Spanish and Guarani with subtitles. —BEN SACHS 107 min. Fri 8/11, Mon 8/14-Thu 8/17, 7 PM and 9 PM; Sat 8/12, 5 PM, 7 PM, and 9 PM; Sun 8/13, 5 PM and 7 PM. Facets Cinematheque Whose Streets? Documentary makers Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis spent two years following the civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man in 2014. Their movie focuses less on the conflicting details of the shooting or on the global movement it inspired than on the waves of protests and the struggles of local community organizers. But even through this more personal lens, Folayan and Davis take an evenhanded approach: civilians loot stores and burn police cars, whereas police officers fire tear gas and aim rifles at peacefully protesting crowds. The five “chapters” of the film seem arbitrary, though the passage of time allows for some searing moments, like the locals’ fight to keep the city from cleaning up a memorial to the victim, Michael Brown, Jr., in the street where he died. —LEAH PICKETT 104 min. Landmark’s Century Centre Wind River Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water, Sicario) wrote and directed this bleak mystery set in contemporary Wyoming. A wild-animal tracker (Jeremy Renner) discovers a young woman’s bloody corpse on a Native American reservation; because the murder took place on federal land, a Las Vegas FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives to investigate, but she’s so overwhelmed by the harsh environment that she soon cedes (unconvincingly) much of the detective work to the tracker. The pace was breakneck in Sheridan’s previous thrillers, but in this whodunit the mood is more ruminative and the dialogue is portentous. Thankfully, Graham Greene is on hand as a wise, sarcastic police chief—his barbs and double takes add sorely needed levity to an otherwise downbeat and brutal tale. With Gil Birmingham, Kelsey Asbille, and Jon Bernthal. —ANDREA GRONVALL R, 111 min. For venues visit chicagoreader.com/movies v

CITY LIFE The Contrarian

ò ISA GIALLORENZO

Street View

Hero at large HIS NAME IS Jalon Middlebrooks. But not long ago he decided to start going by “Nolaj.” “I felt like I was living backwards, living differently from what I initially planned to,” says the former IT student, who dropped his suit-and-tie uniform and corporate ambition in favor of more adventurous career and fashion choices. “Basically we go through different phases, Pokemon style,” says the experimental music artist and budding wardrobe stylist. “Evolution is real, because I feel like I’m changing every day, and my appearance reflects that.” Newly out of a “pirate-cowboy” period, he’s diving head first into a “supervillain-superhero” phase. —ISA GIALLORENZO See more Chicago street style on Giallorenzo’s blog chicagolooks.blogspot.com.

ON THE WALL of the Lakeview hot dog joint Flub a Dub Chubs, there is a Polaroid of me looking sad and confused. At least I think it’s still there—I’m not sure because in the seven years since it was taken I’ve been too traumatized to make a return visit. You see, I made the “mistake” of ordering ketchup on my hot dog and was promptly added to the restaurant’s “wall of shame” for all who dare choose the red vinegary condiment over the citysanctioned yellow one. But now, with Chicago Hot Dog Fest (aka the Mustard Maﬁa’s Christmas) upon us, it’s time for me to metaphorically tear that photo off the wall and speak, well, frankly: I’m not ashamed to put ketchup on a hot dog. You could say I was born this way. I grew up in a ketchup family in northern Illinois. We’d always have to ask for an extra bottle at restaurants, and one year Santa brought my sisters and me a Costco-worthy boxful of ketchup bottles. To choose anything else would dishonor my ancestral legacy. While I’m at it, I might as well share another opinion that may be even more unpopular: Hot dogs generally aren’t that great. Anything piled on top is simply

ò JEFF METZGER

A hot dog with ketchup is delicious there to mask that fact. According to Vienna Beef, the Chicago-style dog’s established combination of m u s ta rd , o n i o n s, relish, tomatoes, celery salt, sport peppers, and a single pickle spear came about during the Great Depression as a way to punch up the ﬂavor of meat and bread that cost a nickel. The dragged-through-the-garden assemblage was drawn from immigrant cultures in the city at the time (something Chicago food writer Kevin Pang delved deeply into during his time at the Tribune). While that particular set of ingredients became customary, it’s the stubbornness of contemporary Chicagoans (what Jeff Ruby of Chicago magazine once called “foodie fascism”) that’s made ketchup taboo. In this town, ketchup is garbage sauce that has no place beside encased meat in the same folkloric way that the Cubs are the greatest team on earth even when they’re terrible and Chicago will never be second to New York. Heinz recently rattled the cages of local

condiment Nazis when, as part of a promotional stunt ahead of National Hot Dog Day in July, the company released ketchup in a container bearing the label chicago dog sauce. What the Mustard Mafia deserved instead is a little slice of humble pie—with a big squirt of the red stuff. Who knows, maybe there could be signiﬁcant change if people refocused their energy and ire on the city’s inequities rather than on which toppings I choose to put on my phallic foods (because really, would anyone care so much if hot dogs resembled female reproductive organs?). Chicago should be a place where one can treasure the city’s foodways without getting huffy about tomato sauce—and ketchup lovers such as myself can be free to live our truth in a world that’s just a little bit more delicious for everyone. —BRIANNA WELLEN CHICAGO HOT DOG FEST Fri 8/11Sun 8/13, 11 AM-9 PM, Stockton and LaSalle, 312-642-4600, chicagohistory.org/2017hotdogfest, $5 suggested donation (food and drink available for purchase).

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

SURE THINGS THURSDAY 10

FRIDAY 11

SATURDAY 12

SUNDAY 13

MONDAY 14

TUESDAY 15

WEDNESDAY 16

Kathleen Barber Are You Sleeping, the new novel by the Galesburg native, is a dark crime story about a woman whose family abandons her after the murder of her father. Barber speaks to its themes of betrayal and shame, and how she’s experienced them. 6:30 PM, City Lit Books, 2523 N. Kedzie. F

× Chicago Hot Dog Fest A celebration of the Chicago dog and Vienna Beef, featuring local vendors and a performance by Robert Cornelius & Friends paying tribute to Prince. 11 AM-9 PM, Stockton and LaSalle, 312-642-4600, chicagohistory. org/2017hotdogfest, $5 suggested donation.

f Bud B illiken Parade Chance the Rapper serves as grand marshal for this kids-oriented parade, themed “Honoring Hometown Heroes.” The day also features bands, drill teams, marching units, and floats galore. 10 AM, King and Oakwood, budbillikenparade. org. F

1 Savior Cuban game programmers Josuhe Pagliery and Johann Armenteros meld modern and Gothic styles in this fourth-wall-breaking new video game. This exhibit marks the opening of VGA Gallery—the ﬁrst in Chicago completely devoted to games. Noon-5 PM, VGA Gallery, 2418 W. Bloomington. F

( Broa dway in Chicago Summer Concert Series Take in snippets from the musicals Aladdin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and The Color Purple—all with the Chicago skyline as a backdrop. 6:15 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Michigan and Randolph, millenniumpark.org. F

· James Brown vs . Ch arlie Brow n Drinking & Writing pits the man who always feels good (you know that he would) against the blockhead who’s so downtrodden he can’t even kick a football. 7:30 PM, Drinking & Writing Theater @ Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph, $10.

M Co medians You Should Kn ow A mix of barflys and comedy fans flocks to this weekly show, one of the best in the city. The room is friendly and if hecklers appear, they’re shut down affably by -Chicago’s top stand-ups. 9 PM, Timothy O’Toole’s, 622 N. Fairbanks, $10, $5 in advance.

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 7

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

As we should all know by now, the problem with school ﬁnancing in Illinois is that schools depend on locally raised property taxes for most of their funding. A city like Winnetka can afford to pay about $8,000 more per child than Chicago because it’s a wealthier community. If we want to erase this inequity we need to create a progressive income tax, i.e., one that raises taxes on people—like our billionaire governor—who can afford to pay more. And that money should be targeted to poorer districts statewide. Instead Illinois has a ﬂat income tax, which Rauner’s in no hurry to change. Moreover, at the moment no schools—rich or poor—are getting any state aid. Even though legislators passed a budget last month, over Rauner’s veto. That’s because on August 1 the governor vetoed Senate Bill 1, the education aid distribution bill. So, yes, the new budget raised the amount you’d pay in taxes. And, yes, part of the taxes you pay should be going to schools. But the state can’t distribute school aid until Senate Bill 1 is passed. As he’d promised, Rauner vetoed it, claiming that it would somehow give

CITY LIFE an unfair advantage to Chicago. It’s like Rauner’s protecting the state’s wealthiest people (his neighbors in Winnetka) from having to spend money on the poorest districts (like one the protesters attend). It’s not clear if the governor and statehouse Democrats can reach a consensus on SB1. But there’s a pressing deadline, August 10, when the ﬁrst school aid payments are supposed to be distributed. Negotiations got a little trickier with the revelation that Rauner recently met with Cardinal Blase Cupich, the head of the Catholic Archdiocese. The cardinal’s pushing for a bill that would offer up to $100 million in tax credits to parents who send their kids to private or parochial schools. Raising the possibility of tax credits at this late hour is a cagy political move on Rauner’s part. He’s found a wedge issue to pit parents of kids in public schools, like Hughes, against her neighbors who send their children to Catholic or other private schools. If the Democrats buckle and agree to those tax credits to get Rauner to approve SB1, there will be less money for the public schools to receive

once the state starts distributing the funds. In short, the public schools lose—once again. One curious offshoot of the SB1 battle is that Rauner may force Mayor Rahm Emanuel to alter the city’s tax increment ﬁnancing program. I’ll try to keep the explanation brief. The amount of state aid any school system receives is partly based on the worth of the property it has to tax. The more property a wealthy town such as Winnetka can tax, the less state aid it receives. This makes sense, right? You want state aid to go to the folks who need it the most. Not included in the formula currently is property that’s in a TIF district, which in Chicago means some of the hottest communities on the near south and west sides. So there’s a perverse incentive for Chicago to create more TIF districts—a point I’ve been wailing about for years. Rauner’s proposing to change the law so the property in TIF districts is included in the school aid formula. That means less state aid for Chicago. I’m torn on this issue. On the one hand, it’s

about time someone took a wrecking ball to the TIF scam. On the other hand, if it means less money for CPS, then once again the people hit the hardest are the low-income children of Chicago. The poorest people get the short end of the TIF stick even when the program’s being “reformed.” When it comes to the current school funding morass, without state aid CPS will have to borrow even more money to pay basic bills. That means less money for the classrooms and more money in interest and other borrowing fees to Wall Street lenders. It’s a path we’ve been following for the last decade or so. During last week’s protest in Winnetka, Hughes says she found among the governor’s neighbors more than one sympathetic listener. “They told me they don’t support what Rauner’s doing,” she says. That’s encouraging to hear. But I don’t think North Shore residents have much incentive to change a system that works to their advantage. Just like last year. v

v @joravben

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AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 9

CITY LIFE

Activists blockade the 606 during a July 19 rally in support of legislation that would preserve aﬀordable housing near the trail. ò IRIS POSTMA/LSNA

TRANSPORTATION

Can we have nice things?

Neighborhood activists are trying to ensure that new recreation trails and the current boom in transit-oriented developments don’t fuel displacement. By JOHN GREENFIELD

n the evening of July 19, anyone hoping to take a quiet stroll, jog, or bike ride on the west end of the 606 was out of luck. At California Avenue, young Latinx activists formed a human wall across the elevated path, demonstrating against the real estate feeding frenzy that they say is displacing lower-income and working-class residents along the popular greenway. They held aloft signs that read viviendas economicas ahora! (“Affordable housing now!”) and now that the neighborhood is nice, why do i have to move? The activists were there to build support for the Pilot Act for the Preservation of Affordable Housing in the 606 Residential Area, legislation that these youth leaders for the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) helped craft, which would levy stiff fees on developers who demolish existing housing along the trail to make room for new

10 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

buildings. The ordinance, introduced in May by three local Latino aldermen, would charge an additional fee of between $300,000 and $650,000 for teardowns, depending on how many units would be lost, as well as a fee for enlarging existing buildings. The law would cover the area bounded by Western, Kostner, Palmer, and Hirsch, along the western half of the trail, which includes parts of Logan Square and Humboldt Park. The revenue from the fees would go into an affordable housing fund overseen by a board composed of aldermen and reps from community groups like the LSNA and Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA), plus staff from the city’s Buildings and Planning and Development Departments. Developers could avoid the fees by setting aside half of their new units for affordable housing. The demonstration, organized by the LSNA and LUCHA, began with a rally in front of

Humboldt Park United Methodist Church, located a few blocks north of the 606. Residents gave impassioned testimony about how rising property values, property taxes, and rents, attributed to the path, are changing the demographics of the area. While this part of town was already gentrifying well before the recreation trail opened in June 2015, a recent report from DePaul’s Institute for Housing Studies indicates that the 606 has accelerated that trend. The study found that property values along the western stretch of trail have gone up by 48.2 percent since construction began on the greenway. Along with the 606, another recent development blamed for the displacement of longtime Logan Square residents is the recent boom in the construction of transit-oriented developments—parking-lite residential towers near train stations—along the Blue Line. The city’s TOD ordinance, passed in 2013

and beefed up in 2015, generally waives the usual parking requirements for new housing near el and Metra stations and allows for additional density. While this encourages car-free living, almost all of the Logan Square developments are upscale apartment buildings, generally with 10 percent of the units designated as affordable. Eighteen-year-old Ashley Galvan Ramos, one of the LSNA youth leaders who spoke at the rally, told me that before the 606 opened she observed many low-income families living in the corridor, but in recent years many of their homes have been replaced by upscale condos and townhouses. “It seems like gentriﬁcation has been happening really fast,” she says. While Ramos doesn’t live near the trail, she’s lived her entire life in Logan Square and said she’s worried about being pushed out of the neighborhood by rising housing costs. “This ordinance is to protect

CITY LIFE our community and help ensure that we can stay in the place that we call home.” Interestingly, one of the groups present at the rally to show support for the activists was the Active Transportation Alliance, the region’s walking, biking, and transit advocacy organization, which was one of the leading boosters for building the 606, and has been a staunch supporter of the TOD movement. Active Trans has argued that new greenways help improve public health, reduce congestion and pollution, and boost local businesses, and that transit-friendly housing reduces dependence on cars. So it might seem like a case of strange bedfellows that staffers from the group showed up for the demonstration and marched with the youth to the trail blockade. Active Trans trail advocacy manager Steve Simmons says that supporting measures to help mitigate the gentrifying effect of neighborhood investments is a logical evolution for his organization, which was launched in 1985 as strictly a pro-cycling organization, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. “We felt

we couldn’t overlook the context in which walking, bicycling, and public transit occur given our mission is to promote healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities,” he says. “We see the need for policy solutions that prevent displacement.” Simmons adds that the 606 ordinance aligns with Active Trans’s goal of promoting dense, affordable development near transit, since it discourages downzoning, which decreases the supply of housing and makes it more expensive. “Unfortunately, Chicago has been stagnant and even losing population near transit, partially due to the conversion of multiunit buildings to single-family homes on the north side,” he says. “We realize the ordinance is not the only solution, but it’s a great way to start the conversation on an issue that to date has been largely overlooked.” In a recent post on Active Trans’s blog, Simmons wrote, “We’d love to see more people using active modes of transportation to get around the city. But the growth of trail networks must be carefully planned so they do not displace longtime residents.”

This is starting to emerge as a citywide issue. In March 2016, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans for the Paseo, a street-level promenade that will wind several miles from Pilsen to Little Village along a disused rail corridor, with landscaping, gathering places, and public art. Reps from community groups such as the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization told me that they’re in favor of more open space and recreational opportunities in the area. However, they said they may pull their support for the Paseo if the city isn’t proactive about preserving affordability along the corridor so that current residents can stay in the neighborhood to enjoy it. Likewise, in the wake of the 606 opening, a proposal to build the Englewood Line Nature Trail on a similar railroad embankment has raised questions about whether such a greenway would lead to higher housing costs in that struggling south-side community. While building beautiful bike trails like the 606 and high-end TODs can contribute to higher property values, taxes, and rents,

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Chicago’s car-centric status quo also affects residents’ ability to afford housing. Recent Harvard research found that transportation convenient to jobs is the most important factor for people escaping poverty. But car ownership is expensive, so if driving is your only practical option to get to work, it takes a major bite out of your paycheck. Moreover, the city builds and maintains roads and deals with the aftermath of traffic crashes, and taxpayers foot the massive bill for that. Active Trans is right to support a holistic approach to planning trails and TODs that includes measures for preventing displacement. Moreover, all sustainable transportation advocates trying to get more Chicagoans walking, biking, and riding transit should get behind the affordable housing movement. After all, we’re not really moving the needle if it’s mostly well-to-do white folks who beneﬁt from new city amenities. v

John Greenfield edits the transportation news website Streetsblog Chicago. v @greenfieldjohn

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AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 11

SCHWA, NOW WITH

FEWER DRUGS AND MORE ADULT RESPONSIBILITY

12 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

hicago’s restaurant landscape is packed with spots that serve up painstakingly reﬁned food with a particular punk-rock insouciance. The origins of that now familiar mix can be traced, in part, to a shabbylooking storefront wedged into an unremarkable stretch of Ashland Avenue in Wicker Park. Inside, the walls of the small, stark dining room are spray-painted black from the ground up to about the seven-foot mark—a look that suggests a pose of youthful rebellion somewhere between underground nightclub and shallow grave. At least that’s how the place appears until one morning this past spring when Schwa chef-owner Michael Carlson points out that the bare-bulb lights hanging above the 26 seats of his restaurant have blackened bottoms at precisely the same level as where the black paint on the walls stops. The light bounces off the

Chef de cuisine Wilson Bauer; chef-owner Michael Carlson

ceiling, which is covered with a foil-like reflective material, producing a warm glow that seems to hover in the room over diners’ heads. With that revelation, the space suddenly gives off a sense of being meticulously designed that runs counter to the fuck-fine-dining approach Carlson pioneered a dozen years ago when he turned down an offer from Grant Achatz, his mentor at Trio, to be a sous chef at the soon-to-debut Alinea. On a whim Carlson decided to forge his own way with a determinedly personal tasting-menu venture. It would be hailed by critics and top chefs alike, decorated with the highest industry awards, and give rise to a new wave of decidedly unstuffy restaurants putting out innovative cooking. Looking back, Carlson downplays his initial ambitions in characteristic fashion. “I’d be lying if I said there was a whole lot of thought behind it,” he says. “To be honest the opportunity fell into my lap.” From the beginning, part of Schwa’s appeal has been Carlson’s willingness to dispense with tradition in the dining room while doubling down on formal precision in the kitchen. There’s no waitstaff; dishes are brought to the table by cooks as they finish them. Getting reservations has in the past been notoriously hampered by the staff’s reluctance to answer the phone. (Chef de cuisine Wilson Bauer insists that nowadays they will pick up.)

And the music, typically a chef ’s-choice mishmash of hip-hop bangers and thrash metal, is forever a few notches past reasonable. That style of doing business, in which the culture of the kitchen bled unrestrained into the dining room, was refreshing to some customers— and could be exasperating to those used to a traditional standard of service. As outstanding as Carlson’s food at Schwa has been through the years—the restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2011—the place has also become nearly as famous for peripheral parts of the dining experience. Schwa has always been BYOB, which in practice has meant not only bottles being shared with the staff and other diners, but customers drinking and indulging in other substances with chefs after hours, sometimes into the early morning. Carlson has spoken frankly about his drug use, especially after a high-pressure private meal in October 2008 during which Achatz arranged for a crew of renowned international chefs to toast Charlie Trotter on the occasion of his restaurant’s 20th anniversary. Schwa wowed them with 14 courses over four hours. But the stress of pulling it off had left him exhausted physically and mentally. Overworked and anxious, he went on a three-day binge of alcohol and drugs—then shut down Schwa and dropped out of public view.

Schwa 1466 N. Ashland 773-252-1466 schwarestaurant.com

Some wondered if Carlson, having impressed the most formidable of his peers, would ever cook for ordinary diners again, or just vanish into legend. What followed after a four-month hiatus instead was a period during which Schwa had a tendency to develop last-minute “plumbing problems” that would close the place down on the night of your hard-won reservation, as food journalist Steve Dolinsky experienced in 2012. That embellished Schwa’s bad-boy image; it also made the restaurant easy to give up on in favor of newer, hotter spots with similar levels of reﬁnement and informality—and reservations readily available on Open Table. As a result, not so many people noticed as Schwa tightened up its act over the last few years, ﬁrst under chef de cuisine Brian Fisher, who left for the 90s-sitcom-themed pop-up Saved by the Max at the end of 2015 and to develop Entente, which opened last fall, and then under his successor, Bauer, who’d put in time at Longman & Eagle, Elizabeth, and Grace. Carlson is now 43, and his restaurant is not unlike a veteran rock band: The party days aren’t exactly gone, they’re just more infrequent and less crazed. Schwa now is more of a functional business than the “pirate ship” that Carlson once described it as. “We still have fun. We’re still the same people,” Bauer says. “But we have kids now.” J

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 13

Bottles of liquor, gifted by diners, ﬂow nightly into the kitchen for the cooks to share with each other—and with patrons passing through to get to and from the bathroom.

continued from 13 He’s speaking not just of the maturity brought about by his and other staff member’s caring for biological children, but also the unlikely evolution of Schwa into a fertile proving ground for his and Carlson’s kitchen kids—the city’s next generation of young culinary talent.

orning light streaming into Schwa’s 825-squarefoot hole has a way of making you instantly feel hungover. On a weekday in March, Carlson is seated in the dining room. With long hair slicked back into a ponytail, a black beard spotted with gray, and an

14 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

apron hiding a few extra pounds around the waistline, he looks like an unkempt samurai. He can occasionally shoot a fierce-looking gaze with his icy blue eyes, yet he’s warm and friendly and speaks with a skater dude’s intonation. His lack of pretense about fine dining can leave a journalist feeling like the square interviewer asking Bob Dylan to please explain his lyrics. He recounts how he wound up in this spot 11 years earlier. “I’d just come back from Europe at the time, planned on working with Grant at Alinea, and, uh, I just happened to stumble across the people who owned [the building] prior. A friend I had cooked with the first time I was ever

in a restaurant—I hadn’t seen him for almost a decade, and I stumbled across him walking down the street. And I was just like, ‘Hey, what’s up? What are you doing?’ And he’s like, ‘I got this little place. You should check it out.’ And man, when I walked in the door I was like, ‘Yeah,’” he says, laughing at the impulsiveness of his younger self, “‘I’ll take this over.’” Instead of joining Alinea, he opened a neighborhood spot, the kind of place that reviewers called “romantic” because it was compact and you had to cut through the kitchen to go to the bathroom. And he started doing Achatz-like avant-garde molecular gastronomy on a shoestring in a transitional area, taking Alinea’s involvement of cooks in running plates to tables a step further— by not having waitstaff at all. “I came across this style often in Europe, in all of the smaller little towns and cities—maybe not to the extent of all the chefs bringing [the food] out, but it was deﬁnitely more intimate. It was the chef and his wife and his brother or whatever, out of necessity, because of the ﬁnancial aspect of it,” he says. “You can pay your wife cheaper, I guess.” Alinea may be the one that got the global acclaim, but it’s tiny Schwa that’s changed the restaurant experiences we’ve become accustomed to in Chicago—whether it’s cooks carrying the food to the table, the dissolution of the barriers between dining room and kitchen, or the wider acceptance of the idea that accomplished, highly conceptual food can be gotten in neighborhoods

That the kitchen crew operates with such precision in a space not much bigger than a master bathroom is one of the great wonders of Schwa.

like Avondale (Parachute) or Douglas Park (El Ideas) or Humboldt Park (Kai Zan) or Uptown (42 Grams, which closed in June). Carlson declared a vast, community-wide “who needs that shit” on many of the tenets of fine dining. The danger of being among the avant-garde, of course, is that eventually you aren’t anymore. Dining at Schwa, as I did in February before I finally managed to get media-shy Carlson to sit for an interview, was a very different experience than my first meals there in its early years, mostly because the world has changed more than Schwa. The black dining room and the informal servers seemed raw and a bit transgressive, but the place settings were still set up formally on white tablecloths, which borders on uncommon these days, and the kitchen is actually more removed from the dining room than at places like Elizabeth or Parachute—or, for that matter, at Grant Achatz’s latest restaurant, Roister, where guests at the bar practically sit on top of the kitchen. Carlson not long ago had glass installed in the window between the kitchen and the dining room, restoring some of the distance he was responsible for removing. “We had people who would just park there with a glass of wine while I was cooking, half the time dumping it over the station onto my mise en place,” Carlson explains. “They’d just barge in, with the best intentions, but it’s easy to get pulled aside and sidetracked. You try to remain respectful of what people are saying and you’re listening while at the same time trying to cook.”

Bauer chimes in. “People come around and start talking and you’re trying to make crispy skin on a ﬁsh— ‘Uh, this is gonna burn, sorry.’” “At the same time, that is what makes the experience the experience,” Carlson says. “It was something I wasn’t used to. It took a while to be less introverted. It goes in cycles: you get used to it and then you get a little more shy. It keeps evolving that way. I think there’s a point after 11 years of doing it where you become a little reclusive and like, ‘I’m gonna hide in the basement for a minute,’” he says with a laugh. When it comes to how dishes are conceived, Schwa’s

style is still rooted in its early days. Bauer’s most outstanding creation during my visit to the restaurant was something he called “a play on” pork and beans: fried bits of chicharron on a ball of headcheese. It’s pretty ingenious, like a mace made of meat. But making a dish that winks at some familiar taste is a throwback to dining a decade ago, when Graham Elliot was impressing patrons by serving up a deconstructed Caesar salad featuring a large brioche “Twinkie” crouton. Schwa, in 2017, runs the risk of being a calculated nostalgia act—a restaurant not far removed from Saved by the Max. J

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 15

“I’M SURPRISED I’VE LIVED THIS LONG, TO BE TOTALLY TRUTHFUL. I’M ON MY 122ND STEP, AT THIS POINT, OF ALL THE DIFFERENT STEP PROGRAMS.” —Michael Carlson

Some of the items on a recent Schwa menu, clockwise from top left: an amuse-bouche with a cocktail called A Snarky Remark and candy cap “twig” with lion’s mane mushroom and Meyer lemon; chocolate mousse tart, umeboshi puree, nori brittle, black sesame; cuttleﬁsh with ﬂavors of glogg; “pork and beans” served with rye pretzel and bacon butter

16 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

continued from 15 “I think you wanna get close to that edge, but don’t go all the way over to a Caesar-stuffed Twinkie,” Bauer says. “There’s a bit of a challenge in that it still has to be good food at the end of the day. A dish can’t just be a cigar or whatever,” he says, referencing a famous Moto plate that incorporated elements of a Cuban sandwich into the form of a stogie. “But I can do playful. I think that’s kind of what Schwa was, and when I moved to Chicago,

it influenced my career quite a bit. So I’m staying true to that vision of what the food is.” In Bauer’s hands, the dishes remain refined and improbably delicate. Cuttlefish carved into “noodles” has long been a Schwa trademark, and the current iteration has the fish alongside similar curls of fennel, dabbed around the plate with a hint of citrus. Other offerings draw you into miniature bowls, where a few intense bites of flavor reside. A bone marrow creme brulee with caviar has a Japanese-style presentation, though the invasion of Asian flavors at seemingly every upscale restaurant these days has been largely resisted at Schwa. And the line between savory and sweet is pushed, if not ignored outright; I had trouble identifying what I believed to be a slightly meaty vegetable marinated in rosé and tossed with a veal heart tagliatelle until I momentarily had enough light to see that I’d been eating sliced strawberries. Any restaurant that’s around long enough is going to develop dishes that every guest has to have, and Schwa’s is the black-truffle-butter ravioli. Descended from Achatz’s Black Truffle Explosion at Alinea, it’s been on the menu since shortly after the restaurant opened—and customers have long since come to expect it, even demand it. “Dude,” Carlson says, “people become suicidal when you don’t do it.” “I would be terrified not to serve that,” Bauer concurs. “Like, people get so angry, like, it’s amazing,” Carlson continues. “There was a point where we wouldn’t do it if you asked for it. If you just kept your mouth shut, we would serve it to you at some point. But if you started talking about it, asked for it, [began] wondering why the table next to you got it—then you’re not seeing it, man.” He pauses for a beat. “That was an asshole move for sure,” he says, letting out a room-filling laugh.

In Schwa’s spartan dining room the bare-bulb lights hanging above the 26 seats have blackened bottoms at the same level as where the black paint on the walls stops. The light bounces oﬀ the ceiling, which is covered with a foil-like reﬂective material, giving the room a warm glow.

he trouble with Schwa, as Carlson sees it, is that he keeps getting older but the restaurant’s eagerto-party fans stay the same age. The excesses that were part and parcel of Schwa’s image in its salad days are still expected, as evidenced by the bottles of liquor, gifted by diners, that ﬂow nightly into the kitchen for the cooks to share. “I don’t think my body could take much more, to be honest,” Carlson says. “I’m surprised I’ve lived this long, to be totally truthful. I’m on my 122nd step, at this point, of all the different step programs.” “People go out to party. We party here—we party at work. And when you spend 60-plus hours a week at work, it’s pretty hard to maintain that for a long amount of time,” Carlson says. “But we usually have a good, eclectic mix of random people. There’s always someone who’s younger than us that can handle the guy on table six who wants to do a shot with every course. ‘All right, Tim, go jump on this grenade! We got ya, buddy!’” On the evening I dined at Schwa, in fact, a thirtysomething bro with a date who brought in a bottle of semiexpensive bourbon seemed to want to go through it quickly. Where once Carlson and company might’ve joined in, these days they deal with the scenario differently. “That works itself out real fucking quick, when their head’s on the table and their wife is kicking them under the table like, ‘You asshole!,’ ” Carlson says. “We’re also not dumb, either. We’ve been through this drill before. We have certain tricks where we can manipulate any situation.” “Or just watch the train wreck,” Bauer says. As a lot of chefs do a decade or more after founding a restaurant, Carlson has pulled back from leading the kitchen each night of service. “I do a few services—I just can’t [do any more] with my schedule the way it is,” he says. “My body needs a rest from it, honestly.” What takes his attention now is more interesting to him than drink or drugs. “I’m here every morning. I answer phones a lot in the mornings, or I’ll go get these guys [in the kitchen] whatever they need, do a lot of shopping. We’re also starting to grow our own stuff now. We have a huge space sort of close to here that we’re utilizing to grow our own shit.” In that building, which Carlson will only say is “nearby,” he plans to grow greens and start a fermentation program. “We’ve got a lot of space to play with,” he says.

“Right now, we cruise around on hoverboards and skateboards. But it’s just a great evolution of a restaurant in a little space, because what more can we do?” His evenings are now largely occupied by his ten-yearold daughter, Lily. “She lives with me now, on a full-time basis, which hasn’t always happened; it’s been split time,” he says. “And she’s at an age where, you know, you’ve got to think of psychological development, and how much time are you going to be there, and reliability, and shit like that.” As Carlson has watched his daughter grow up, he’s also helped Schwa spawn some outstanding chefs, most notably Fisher of Entente and Noah Sandoval of Oriole, who was named to Food & Wine’s prestigious Best New Chefs list in April. “He’s a G,” Carlson says of Sandoval. “I love that kid. He’s going to do well on character alone.” He speaks of his proteges who’ve gone on to their own places with an air of contentment, like a proud papa. “They’re all gangsters, man,” Carlson says. “They make me look good.” The rock ’n’ roll restaurant is now, apparently, the School of Rock. What matters to Carlson is that he’s providing a good environment for his “kids” who work there so that they have the opportunity to learn every aspect of the business. “Working at a place like this is an education,” he says. “If this is the end goal of what you want, and you want to open a small restaurant, you better fucking work in a small restaurant, man, and see what it’s like to wake up and not only receive orders, but shit . . . you’re your own PR person, writing the bills, paying stuff. It’s a lot to do, man. If that’s your endgame, it’s stupid not to spend some signiﬁcant time doing it.

“Obviously you’re trying to give every diner an experience that they’re going to remember, that’s your main objective,” he continues. “But you have a responsibility to the kids that are working for low pay to learn, and what they do learn is how to be taken out of their element in the middle of service and be able to speak to people, be knowledgeable about all dishes, knowledgeable about wine. “I mean, the shit that people bring in here [to drink]— the majority of the people always share it. You have the potential of trying eight, ten wines a night. And if you have the capacity to maintain that information or to write that shit down, that’s an education in itself, at the cost of the people who come in—their generosity of sharing with you.” With Carlson having assumed the role of patriarch, Schwa is no longer about proving himself or embellishing his own name. It’s about giving his kids a way to grow and to shine—and, eventually, to leave the nest ready for whatever lies ahead. “There’s a lot going on back there,” Carlson says of overseeing the kitchen and dining room during the chaos of service. “I picture, like, kids storming the beach at Normandy, things going off—kerplow! kerplow!—and it’s beautiful. To see the kids, the younger kids who haven’t been acclimated to dealing with people, it’s fucking amazing. It’s amazing people watching. I could just watch that half the time.” v

Michael Gebert is the editor of Fooditor.com. v @skyfullofbacon

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 17

Why Haven’t Senior Homeowners Been Told These Facts? Keep reading if you own a home in the U.S. and were born before 1955.

It’s a well-known fact that for many senior citizens in the U.S. their home is their single biggest asset, often accounting for more than 50% of their total net worth. Yet, according to new statistics from the mortgage industry, senior homeowners in the U.S. are now sitting on more than 6.1 trillion dollars of unused home equity.1 With people now living longer than ever before and home prices back up again, ignoring this “hidden wealth” may prove to be short sighted. All things considered, it’s not surprising that more than a million homeowners have already used a governmentinsured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage or “HECM” loan to turn their home equity into extra cash for retirement. However, today, there are still millions of eligible homeowners who could benefit from this FHA-insured loan but may simply not be aware of this “retirement secret.” Some homeowners think HECM loans sound “too good to be true.” After all, you get the cash you need out of your home but you have no more monthly mortgage payments.

NO MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENTS?2 EXTRA CASH? It’s a fact: no monthly mortgage payments are required with a government-insured HECM loan;2 however the homeowners are still responsible for paying for the maintenance of their home, property taxes, homeowner’s insurance and, if required, their HOA fees. Another fact many are not aware of is that HECM reverse mortgages first took hold when President Reagan signed the FHA Reverse Mortgage Bill into law 29 years ago in order to help senior citizens remain in their homes. Today, HECM loans are simply an effective way for

homeowners 62 and older to get the extra cash they need to enjoy retirement. Although today’s HECM loans have been improved to provide even greater financial protection for homeowners, there are still many misconceptions. For example, a lot of people mistakenly believe the home must be paid off in full in order to qualify for a HECM loan, which is not the case. In fact, one key advantage of a HECM is that the proceeds will first be used to pay off any existing liens on the property, which frees up cash flow, a huge blessing for seniors living on a fixed income. Unfortunately, many senior homeowners who might be better off with HECM loan don’t even bother to get more information because of rumors they’ve heard. That’s a shame because HECM loans are helping many senior homeowners live a better life. In fact, a recent survey by American Advisors Group (AAG), the nation’s number one HECM lender, found that over 90% of their clients are satisfied with their loans. While these special loans are not for everyone, they can be a real lifesaver for senior homeowners like Betty Carter, who recently took out a HECM loan with AAG so that she could finally get the extra cash she needed to fix up her house. “With the help of AAG, I have been able to repair my home’s foundation that I had been putting off for several years, ref inish the hardwood floors, paint the interior and will have the exterior painted within a few days. My house is starting to look like my home again and it feels good, says Carter. The cash from a HECM loan can be used for any purpose. Many people use the money to save on interest charges by paying off credit cards or other high-interest loans. Other

FACT: In 1988, President Reagan signed an FHA bill that put HECM loans into law. common uses include making home improvements, paying off medical bills or helping other family members. Some people simply need the extra cash for everyday expenses while others are now using it as a “safety net” for financial emergencies. If you’re a homeowner age 62 or older, you owe it to yourself to learn more so that you can make an informed decision. Homeowners who are interested in learning more can request a free 2017 HECM loan Information Kit and free Educational DVD by calling American Advisors Group toll-free at 1-(866) 568-7659. At no cost or obligation, the professionals at AAG can help you find out if you qualify and also answer common questions such as: 1. What’s the government’s role? 2. How much money might I get? 3. Who owns the home after I take out a HECM loan? You may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover when you call AAG for more information today.

1 Source: http://reversemortgagedaily.com/2016/06/21/seniors-home-equity-grows-to-6-trillion-reverse-mortgage-opportunity. 2If you qualify and your loan is approved, a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) must pay off any existing mortgage(s). With a HECM loan, no monthly mortgage payment is required. A HECM increases the principal mortgage loan amount and decreases home equity (it is a negative amortization loan). AAG works with other lenders and `nancial institutions that offer HECMs. To process your request for a loan, AAG may forward your contact information to such lenders for your consideration of HECM programs that they offer. Borrowers are responsible for paying property taxes and homeowner s insurance (which may be substantial). We do not establish an escrow account for disbursements of these payments. A set-aside account can be set up to pay taxes and insurance and may be required in some cases. Borrowers must occupy home as their primary residence and pay for ongoing maintenance; otherwise the loan becomes due and payable. The loan also becomes due and payable when the last borrower, or eligible non-borrowing surviving spouse, dies, sells the home, permanently moves out, defaults on taxes or insurance payments, or does not otherwise comply with the loan terms. American Advisors Group (AAG) is headquartered at 3800 W. Chapman Ave., 3rd & 7th Floors, Orange CA, 92868. (Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee; Illinois Commissioner of Banks can be reached at 100 West Randolph, 9th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 814-4500), V11082016

These materials are not from HUD or FHA and were not approved by HUD or a government agency. V11082016

18 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

ARTS & CULTURE

READER RECOMMENDED

b ALL AGES

Tif Harrison, Bilal Dardai, Kyra Sims, and Oliver Camacho ò JOE MAZZA

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By TONY ADLER

love food. I’m just not in love with it. I understand the ideology of local sourcing, the ethics of organics, the romance of global inﬂuences, the beauty of a good gut, the sacrament of artful presentation. But none of that fascinates me the way the chocolate fudge layer cake at the Cheesecake Factory does. I can’t bring myself to approach eating with the learned earnestness of the true believer. And neither, thankfully, can The Food Show. Although it makes forays into the pure, the exquisite, the medicinal, and the doctrinal, this 90-minute production mostly resists foodie pieties successfully enough to stay accessible to boors like me. The question is, what are we getting access to? The Food Show was cooked up by the Neo-Futurists, best known for the long-running theatrical phenomenon formerly known as Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind and now called The Infinite Wrench. The concept under either name is to present 30 short performance pieces in the course of 60 minutes, each piece to be delivered—without resort to conventional role-playing—by the artist who wrote it. That is, the actors don’t

“act” in the traditional sense of trying to get us to accept the illusion that they’ve become someone else. They’re nobody but themselves, using their own words. Infinite Wrench rules remain in force for The Food Show. The ensemble of five go by their offstage names and tell autobiographical stories. (Or at least stories that convey the impression of autobiography: It’s always puzzled me that the Neo-Futurist method puts so much more faith in supposedly real personas than in the fictitious kind when both are inventions at some level, crafted for public consumption.) Bilal Dardai highlights his Muslim upbringing. Music director Spencer Meeks gives us a taste of the trauma behind his extreme pickiness (“I’ve already eaten all the food I’ll ever like”), Tif Harrison a hint of the one that caused her to stop eating for two weeks, and so on. The millennial influence being strong here, grievance and hurt figure prominently throughout. We hear a good deal alluding to the cruelty of kids, the stigma of difference, the cluelessness and/or failures of parents, and especially the casual violence of everyday life. What’s more, most of it seems to be offered for its own sake, as if, say, a memory of having to avoid Host-

ess Twinkies due to their lard content were self-evidently interesting. Maybe it would be, too—if, as in The Infinite Wrench, each recollection came individually wrapped in its own two-minute outburst. But arriving as they do in the context of an evening-length entertainment on a single subject, the bits and pieces begin to feel random, gratuitous, incomplete. A screed on the despoliation of the environment shows up late and out of nowhere, simply, I guess, because everyone involved knew it was expected. In place of authentic coherence, the ensemble and director Dan Kerr-Hobert posit charm. Which works well enough now and then. An interlude where cast member Kyra Sims invites an audience volunteer to share “lunches” with her, swapping desserts like kids in a school cafeteria, works largely because Sims is so consummately gracious. (She proves later on in the show that she also possesses a gorgeous singing voice.) Likewise, Oliver Camacho creates his own weather in various passages that are not only self-revelatory but emotionally generous; he comes closer than anyone to transforming his list of hurts into the coordinates of a full-out human being, worthy of our attention and empathy. For the most part, however, The Food Show’s charm offensive slides past honeyed wit into something more cloying. Too much of the time I felt that the point of the exercise was to watch people who know they’re cute and funny exhibit their cute funniness. The ﬁnal degradation is kazoos. The Food Show is at its best when the cast have a reason to come out of themselves. Either that, or genuinely to absorb us into them. Camacho’s demonstration of searing a salmon is an example of the latter, providing an occasion for sexual innuendo as affecting as it is poorly concealed, and ruthlessly designed to make yet another audience volunteer squirm. The former is exemplified by sections that teach us something we may not already know, such as the tale of the scientists who martyred themselves to give us the Pure Food and Drug Act and a discussion of the ﬁve mother sauces in French cuisine. They’re not chocolate fudge layer cake, but they’ll do. v THE FOOD SHOW Through 9/2: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, the Neo-Futurists, Metropolitan Brewery, 3031 N. Rockwell, 773-8784557, neofuturists.org, $25, pay what you can on Thursdays.

v @taadler

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AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 19

ARTS & CULTURE Floating Museum members move a crate during the installation of “River Assembly.” ò JON SATROM / STUDIOTHREAD

VISUAL ART

The ﬂoating Floating Museum By KATE SIERZPUTOWSKI

t’s understandable that when someone hears the name “The Floating Museum” they might think it’s a museum that ﬂoats on water, or in midair. Instead it floats from place to place, moving across communities and manifesting itself in programs that take place in various Chicago neighborhoods. But for its summer exhibition, “River Assembly,” the Floating Museum will be literally seabound, occupying a 100-square-foot shipping barge for a three-week voyage up the Chicago River. The traveling vessel will showcase artwork, media, and performances from ten Chicago-based organizations and more than 30 local and national artists, including Hebru Brantley, Maria Gaspar, Cauleen Smith, and Edra Soto. Yet the Floating Museum isn’t just a temporary installation that drifts upriver. The focus of the nonprofit is to invest in other spaces, particularly ones outside of traditional contemporary-art institutions such as the Art Institute’s Modern Wing or the Museum of Contemporary Art. The project “is kind of a critique, but a loving critique of how art institutions function,” says artist and Floating Museum codirector

20 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

Faheem Majeed. “It is not about a countermodel, it is about an additional model that can help what’s already existing.” This model could have been classified as any number of things, but labeling it a “museum” was important to codirectors Majeed and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford. They wanted to instill a sense of authority and legitimacy in any artwork, object, performance, and collaboration that results from the Floating Museum. They’ve already formed relationships citywide, such as with the youth art program SkyArt, West Pullman Park’s Special Recreation program, and the DuSable Heritage Association, organizations that now serve as coauthors and collaborators on the museum. “The city is the Floating Museum,” Majeed says. “The neighborhoods are the galleries, and all of the organizations are the players. It is just about ﬁguring out thoughtful moments of beauty, moments where those things can come together.” However, the original idea for the venture was based more on a physical structure than an aggregate of various projects. After attending an MFA program in sculpture together at UIC, Majeed and Hulsebos-Spofford wanted

to build a mobile replica of Washington Park’s DuSable Museum. They hypothesized that moving the DuSable from the south side of Chicago to downtown might change the institution’s community, perspective, and support. While brainstorming potential models for the DuSable concept, the duo were introduced to Andrew Schachman, an independent architect and IIT professor who led the redesign of the Hyde Park Art Center. Majeed and Hulsebos-Spofford consider themselves builders: Majeed is known for erecting installations in abandoned lots on the south side, and Hulsebos-Spofford’s practice often involves the construction of large-scale architectural models. Schachman was invited on as a codirector and brought an expertise of working with the city. “There are a lot of players involved in this iteration of what we are doing,” Schachman says. “It’s not just us, it is whole city bureaucracies.” During the last year and a half the Floating Museum directors have worked in four neighborhoods on Chicago’s south and southeast sides, conversing with the local community and then facilitating temporary installations and exhibits in Austin, Calumet Park, and

on-site at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival and DuSable Museum. Earlier this year Majeed, Hulsebos-Spofford, and Schachman invited a fourth person to become a codirector of the Floating Museum: poet and artist Avery R. Young, who will focus on programming music and performance events. “The project is less like a mobile museum and more like a cloud or a network of people and places,” Hulsebos-Spofford says. “When the structure is needed, it happens. But when it’s not, it can go away. On the river it will be aggregating and congealing into a form, but because it is modular it can also disperse.” “River Assembly” channels Majeed and Hulsebos-Spofford’s initial plan to physically relocate the DuSable downtown by exposing artworks to a wider audience. The barge houses a ten-foot-wide bust of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a giant LED screen, and 74 custom shipping crates stacked in the shape of a large pyramid, some of which are filled with artworks by the participants. The exhibit is currently parked at Eleanor Park in Bridgeport through August 14, when it will travel to the Riverwalk and stay put until August 27, then end its journey on August 28, at Navy Pier. The crates, many of which will remain empty as a gesture toward the potential for future programs, will be unpacked at each of these locations and remain on display (without the barge) at Navy Pier through the end of October. “River Assembly” isn’t supposed to be boarded by visitors at each site. The barge is intended to serve as a delivery system for the art onboard, though the vessel will also provide a backdrop for a series of community events that will happen on the river’s shore during its run. Each Wednesday there will be a song circle, and food-fueled panel discussions will be hosted on Thursdays; daily guided tours of the show will take place while it’s docked at the Riverwalk. The directors hope these occasions will more deeply connect audience members with the exhibit. “If you want to figure out ways to get people into your institutions, to identify with the institutions, let them build the institution,” Majeed says. “Whether they are in the building or not in the building, they are always implicated, they are always a part of it. And the goal is to see who comes with us as we float down the river.” v R “RIVER ASSEMBLY” Through 8/28: Various dates and times, floatingmuseum. org. F

v @KateSierz

A selection of “welcome blankets” sent to the Smart Museum ò MICHAEL TROPEA

VISUAL ART

From pussy hat to ‘Welcome Blanket’ By AIMEE LEVITT

or a while last winter, Jayna Zweiman was the most famous artist in America, although almost no one could identify her by name. But everyone saw her work. It appeared in newspapers and magazines and all across the Internet. It was duplicated hundreds of thousands of times and displayed en masse at the various Women’s Marches around the world. Yes, Zweiman was, along with fellow artist Krista Suh, one of the creators of the Pussyhat Project. After the Women’s March, most people put their square pink hats away as mementos of what it was like to be alive and marching in January 2017. But Zweiman was inspired by how the project had gotten people to gather together to create something and, in the pro-

cess, discuss issues that affected their lives and those of the people they knew. This isn’t a new concept—the term “craftivism” was coined in the early 2000s by the writer Betsy Greer to describe the practice of using domestic arts for activist purposes, the politicization of centuries of sewing circles and quilting bees. The inauguration of Donald Trump, though, seemed to have inspired a new wave of craftivism, from knitting to protest signs, and Zweiman decided to use that momentum to create something new. “Welcome Blanket,” which concentrates on immigration, is what materialized. The idea is that Americans can welcome new immigrants and refugees by offering comfort and warmth, both metaphorically in the form of personal notes, and literally in the form of handmade

blankets; Zweiman calculated that 3,000 blankets would use up 3,500,640 yards of yarn, equivalent to the length of the proposed wall along the Mexican border. (No one involved with the project mentions Donald Trump’s name.) In the process, she became interested in feminist art and visited the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center at the Brooklyn Museum, where she was particularly impressed by Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, a banquet table with elaborate place settings for 39 female historical figures. She learned that Alison Gass, one of the curators who had worked on the installation, had just been appointed the director of the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. As it happened, Gass and Zweiman had gone to high school together (though they were in different grades). So Zweiman called up Gass to talk more about feminist art. Immediately Gass decided that “Welcome Blanket” was something she wanted to work on. It combined her own interest in feminist art with the Smart Museum’s practice of community engagement with current social issues, and before she even arrived in Chicago, she was on the phone with her staff making arrangements to turn Zweiman’s community art project into a crowdsourced gallery show. In order to make sure it would still be timely, they had to condense a year’s worth of work into a single month. “Jayna Zweiman: Welcome Blanket” opened July 18, which only means that it was the first day that the public could come see the blankets. The exhibit is a constantly evolving entity: the museum will be accepting and adding blankets to the display until December, whereupon it will distribute them to immigrants. Throughout the fall, there will be a series of speakers and symposiums to discuss immigration, but the whole thing is, in the spirit of Zweiman’s original vision, very grassroots and improvisational. (So far, there’s only one event on the docket, a conversation, currently scheduled to take place on November 4, between Zweiman, Gass, and Judy Chicago.) The museum will reach out to the surrounding community, both at the university and in the city, and accept whatever comes in. “It’s been a challenge and a pleasure,” says Michael Christiano, the interim senior director of museum programs. “Because it’s crowdsourced, we’ve been constantly surprised—and have to respond to the surprise. People take such creative liberties, and we have to think creatively how to show them.” Although the official “Welcome Blanket” website has patterns and tutorials, many con-

ARTS & CULTURE

tributors have created their own designs. Gass and Christiano have resolved to display them all, whether this means hanging them from the walls, suspending them on clotheslines from the ceiling, or piling them up on tables. The submissions range from infant-size receiving blankets to enormous coverings that can envelop an entire family, plus the couch. Between 15 and 30 come in every day, mostly by mail from all across the country; the packages are stacked up several feet high in the museum’s basement until staffers can sort and catalog them at what Christiano calls “unpacking parties.” Some blankets arrive by other means. Cassandra Dunn, the manager of strategic planning for UChicago Arts, brings hers to a meeting with Gass at the museum. The brown-and-green color scheme, she says, represents her ancestral Ireland. Gass is delighted. “There are so many secret knitters on campus!” she exclaims. (And some not-so-secret: Aliyah BixbyDriesen, a museum employee, spends her shift on guard duty crocheting a bright pink square that will become part of the museum’s staff blanket.) Gass wants the curation process to be part of the exhibit as well. “When you go to a museum, you never get to see behind the scenes,” she explains. “We want to demystify the process.” Therefore, the “Welcome Blanket” installation includes two large freezer chests, where all incoming blankets must spend two days in order to kill art-devouring pests. The exhibit will also contain a map to show where all the blankets come from, a chart that compares the amount of yarn used to the length of the proposed border wall, a corkboard for nonknitters to post their own immigration stories, and a library of resources for new immigrants and people who wish to help them. Christiano hopes that the exhibit, and also the “Welcome Blanket” knitting circles that are organizing around the country, will provide a space for a serious discussion of immigration. “The news cycle is so fast,” he says, “there’s not a lot of time for complex, nuanced issues that require a deep dive, time, and focus. But a university art museum has the time and space to bring people together to work toward solutions. We invite people to use the space.” v R “JAYNA ZWEIMAN: WELCOME BLANKET” Through 12/18: Tue-Sun 10 AM-5 PM (Thu till 8 PM), Smart Museum of Art, 5550 S. Greenwood, 773-702-0200, smartmuseum.uchicago.edu. F

v @aimeelevitt AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 21

3855 n lincoln ave.

chicago

ARTS & CULTURE

LARKIN POE SUN 8/27

MOVIES

Who was the real Whitney Houston? By TAL ROSENBERG Whitney: Can I Be Me

for complete listings, tickets, and social updates... martyrslive.com facebook.com/martyrslive @martyrslive

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n its surface Whitney: Can I Be Me, which screens this weekend at the Siskel Center as part of the Black Harvest Film Festival, is a documentary about pop star Whitney Houston, the phenomenally talented singer whose career was cut short at age 48 when, under the influence of a variety of drugs, she accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2012. But for its first hour Whitney employs Houston’s life story as the basis of a fascinating and complex examination of identity. The details of Houston’s biography establish why she’s such an absorbing subject. Because of the success of her mother (the singer Cissy Houston) and first cousin (Dionne Warwick) Houston was never impoverished, but having grown up in Newark and East Orange, New Jersey, she was surrounded by people in poor black communities. Arista head Clive Davis, who prized her as one of his greatest discoveries, purposely tried to downplay her blackness in an attempt to appeal to white audiences. And though Houston had a nearly 20-year relationship and marriage with fellow pop star Bobby Brown, she secretly maintained a long romantic association with Robyn Crawford, her high school friend and manager. What Whitney insinuates is that Houston’s downfall and death aren’t so much attributable to drug addiction as they are to her inability to reconcile so many conflicting aspects of her personality. And these incompatibilities were exacerbated by both Davis and Houston’s parents, who didn’t give her enough independence to determine the kind of career she wanted. In 1992 Houston costarred in The ssss EXCELLENT

22 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

sss GOOD

Bodyguard and heavily contributed to its soundtrack; both were enormously successful, elevating Houston to unimaginable fame. Yet Houston’s various identities—artistic, social, racial, and sexual—were unresolved and in chaos. During the opening credits the filmmakers put Can I Be Me in quotes, as if the question is rhetorical: Could Houston ever truly be herself? (Then again, can anyone?) Rudi Dolezal and Nick Broomfield codirected Whitney, and some people will likely recognize Broomfield from his documentaries Kurt & Courtney (1998) and Biggie and Tupac (2002), two movies that also explored the circumstances surrounding notorious celebrity deaths. But in those films Broomfield inserted himself into the narrative as a kind of investigator, whereas in Whitney he exhibits unusual restraint, never appearing on camera and forgoing conspiracy theories and excessive dramatization in favor of found footage, talking-head interviews, and narrative fluidity and nuance. After the first hour Broomfield and Dolezal elect to focus on Houston’s substance abuse and the collapse of her relationships with Brown and Crawford, less interesting subjects that slow the documentary’s momentum. One wonders why the filmmakers didn’t keep trying to solve the nature of Houston’s identity—with such a complicated life, perhaps they could only get so far. v WHITNEY: CAN I BE ME sss Directed by Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal. 105 min. Fri 8/11, 8:30 PM; Sat 8/12, 6:30 PM, Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312-846-2800, siskelfilmcenter.org, $11, $6 for members.

v@talrosenberg

ss AVERAGE

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•

WORTHLESS

MUSIC

Recommended and notable shows and critics’ insights for the week of August 10 b

PICK OF THE WEEK

Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour lights up Millennium Park with the most beloved voice in Africa

ò BERTRAND GUAY

YOUSSOU N’DOUR, BASSEL & THE SUPERNATURALS

Thu 8/10, 6:30 PM, Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Michigan and Randolph. F b

THURSDAY10 Cdot Honcho Smokepurpp headlines; Cdot Honcho and Valee open. 9 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, $15, $5 with RSVP. 18+ South-side MC Cdot Honcho raps like a cartoon armadillo speedily rolling through patchy desert terrain. He blows through many of his tracks—at least the ones built with ballast percussion, nightmare synths, and bass that feels like it could crush your rib cage—with single-minded determination. On much of his February mixtape, H3, Cdot raps as if he pressed record in the middle of an argument, and his performances feel as though they’re driven by such overpowering emotion that any physical concerns are rendered unimportant—at more than one point, it sounds like he’s making himself hoarse. Currently Cdot is riding high oﬀ his nonmixtape single “02 Shit,” where he bursts through the crystalline percussive instrumental like the Juggernaut sprinting through glass towers. —LEOR GALIL

ALL AGES

OF THE DOZENS of shows I’ll see this summer, I’ve looked forward most to this outdoor concert by Senegalese national hero Youssou N’Dour. Born in 1959 to a griot mother and a car mechanic father, he began singing publicly at age 12 and has since become the most beloved voice in Africa. As a teenager in the mid-70s, he joined Dakar’s biggest group, the Star Band, formed in 1960 to celebrate Senegal’s independence. In 1979 N’Dour drew on that lineup to form Étoile de Dakar, and since relocating to Paris in 1983—already an international star—he’s been calling his regular band Super Étoile de Dakar. These groups helped shape and popularize mbalax, Senegal’s distinctive urban pop style. It incorporates Congolese soukous, Cuban dance music, and American soul, rock, and R&B, among other inﬂuences, but its signature sound comes from traditional Senegalese percussion—a battery of sabar drums (usually played with one stick and one open hand) and talking drums that gallops and tumbles in an effervescent froth. N’Dour’s clear, supple tenor elevates this already wonderful music into the realm of the supernatural. He switches among Wolof, French, and English, and no matter his subject—avuncular advice to young lovers, a humane and rounded portrait of his Islamic faith, the need to help the displaced, hungry, and poor—he sounds like he’s been embraced by an archangel and commanded to sing. N’Dour’s most recent stateside release, 2010’s Dakar-Kingston, attempts an ill-advised reggae fusion, but he’s put out several albums since: 2016’s Africa Rekk uses pan-African pop collaborations with younger artists to shore up his bona ﬁdes with the kids, and 2017’s Seeni Valeurs returns to the sort of sunny, buoyant mbalax that I can’t wait to see light up Millennium Park. N’Dour is so radiantly charismatic onstage you feel like you ought to be watching him through eclipse glasses. —PHILIP MONTORO

Gerrit Hatcher ZRL and Immanence Front open. 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $10. 18+ Improvised solo saxophone performance isn’t the kind of thing you’d expect a 26-year-old newcomer to the scene to jump into with both feet. But Gerrit Hatcher makes a convincing case that he’s ready on his new cassette, Good Weight (Amalgam), a succinct offering that keeps the focus on basic ideas. The album begins with a pair of dedications to two often overlooked heavies of the free-jazz era—fellow tenor saxophonists Frank Lowe and Frank Wright— on which Hatcher reveals a flair for motific improvisation, uncorking a richly marbled tone spiked with leaps into his instrument’s extreme upper register. The pieces reflect the way their dedicatees bridged the gap between postbop propulsion and outward-bound exploration. The elliptical array of themes on the final piece, “Libido Farce (9 Brief Movements),” may raise questions about Hatcher’s ability to sustain more weighty explorations over the long haul, but it sure doesn’t come off as jumpy or erratic. Each little melodic, rhythmic, or coloristic scheme flows naturally into the next, with the J

Cdot Honcho ò COURTESY THE ARTIST

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 23

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saxophonist moving into more tender passages as easily as he blows down walls. —PETER MARGASAK

Daniel Levin The Daniel Levin Quartet headlines; a duo of Levin and Tim Daisy opens. 9 PM, Elastic, 3429 W. Diversey, $10 suggested donation. b

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New York-based cellist Daniel Levin is in the midst of another busy year, toggling between rigorous free improvisation and outward-bound ensembleoriented projects. He’s at his most visceral on the new Spinning Jenny, an abrasive improvised session with double bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and percussionist Chris Corsano, where terse arco jabs and knotted-up pizzicato patterns turn up as often as snaking, exploratory lines, and the bareknuckled attack by all three creates an exhilarating physicality. The music on 2015’s New Artifacts is also entirely improvised, but in the company of saxophonist Tony Malaby and violist Mat Maneri, Levin casts a very different spell. Though its four long pieces eschew ﬁxed structure, their layers of lilting gestures, pregnant sobs, and lyrical soliloquies rearrange songlike cadences in real time. More germane to this evening’s concert is Live at Firehouse 12, a luminescent quartet album with Maneri, vibist Matt Moran, and bassist Torbjörn Zetterberg focusing on darkly atmospheric Levin compositions that slither, glide, and coil like snakes, with all sorts of harrowing harmonic movement and ﬂeeting interaction among the players. Some of that material will probably turn up when a semiregular Chicago iteration of that band—with cornetist Josh Berman, bassist Joshua Abrams, and vibist Jason Adasiewicz—performs tonight (Levin has made a summer visit to Chicago into a kind of annual tradition). The other half of the evening will feature improvised duets between Levin and percussionist Tim Daisy. —PETER MARGASAK

Aurelio Voltaire Bella Morte opens. 8 PM, Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland, $15, $12 in advance. 17+ To hell with the monstrous charlatan currently mucking up the White House—if you want a oneman lifestyle brand to meet all your needs, consider Aurelio Voltaire. The musician, artist, writer, actor, director, animator, fashionista, and all-around Renaissance man has been going strong since launching his career as an animator and designer for MTV in the late 80s. (Initially going by simply Voltaire, his legal middle name, the performer later added his ﬁrst name to the mix, feeling there were too many other Voltaires out there trying and failing to compete with him.) His achievements are far too many to list here, but recent highlights include his alien-sex comic Fifty Shades of Greys for a recent Dragon*Con, his ongoing Gothic Homemaking tutorial videos, and, of course, his music. For this tour, celebrating 16 years of friendship with Virginia gothic-rock band Bella Morte, Voltaire will pull out all the gothic-cabaret stops, drawing on his latest albums, Raised by Bats (goth rock), BiTrektual (SF fan-fictional silliness), and the arguable culmination of his cabaret style, Riding a Black Uni-

Tyree Cooper ò MARIE STAGGAT

corn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking From a Chalice Filled With the Laughter of Small Children. —MONICA KENDRICK

FRIDAY11 Black Diamond Rachele Eve opens. 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $10. 18+ The two young tenor saxophonists leading the newish quartet Black Diamond don’t indulge in the bravado and flash that so many green jazz musicians exhibit when they set out to make a recording. Artie Black and Hunter Diamond sound much wiser than their years—they’re 28 and 27, respectively—on their impressive debut album, Mandala (Shifting Paradigm). They embrace a buoyancy and airiness that most contemporary saxophonists avoid in favor of something heavier and more fiery; together they evoke Lennie Tristano acolytes Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz—in their timbre, in their elegant unison lines, and in the way they solo together, braiding improvised patterns that eﬀortlessly shimmer and float. At the same time, their harmonic language isn’t rooted in the past; they sound thoroughly contemporary. And they reach beyond bebop inspiration, whether summoning a kwela inﬂuence on the infectious opening track, “Jim Jam on the Veranda,” or casting a trance on “Mandala,” written by Black, which reflects its inspiration with placid internal eddies, swirls, and slaloms. They’re abetted by the rhythm section of bassist Matt Ulery and drummer Neil Hemphill, whose hard-swinging grooves add serious propulsion without ever getting in the way of the front line. —PETER MARGASAK

Tyree Cooper 6 PM, Spirit of Music Garden, Grant Park, 601 S. Michigan. F b Even in retrospect, hip-house still seems like the cousin nobody wants to claim as their own. Born in the late 80s out of Fast Eddie’s desire to make hip-hop at DJ International, the historically J

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Town Mountain John Paul White with guest Molly Tuttle Cassandra Wilson & Liam O Maonlai

THURSDAY, AUGUST 10 7PM

Inside/Out with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre In Szold Hall SATURDAY, AUGUST 12 8PM

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Country Skyline Robbie Fulks & Friends Navy Pier, Lake Stage

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MUSIC

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

continued from 24

important house label that knew no other sound, hip-house didn’t find a home among locals in the hip-hop scene—and it still gets written oﬀ as a gimmick within house history. But hip-house did allow producer-rapper Tyree Cooper to kick oﬀ his career with a bang. Next to Fast Eddie, Cooper is most emblematic of hip-house, riding the sound’s upbeat house melodies and blocky hip-hop breaks to the majors—his 1989 Nation of Hip House came out on DJ International and CBS. As hip-house died off, Cooper doubled down on house, releasing a slew of EPs through Dance Mania in the 90s that nodded to the legendary ghetto-house label’s gritty, raunchy aesthetic—though his tracks have a friendlier edge. Diversifying his sound has helped keep Cooper, who now calls Berlin home, engaged with house’s present; he’s continued to produce tracks through the decades, and I imagine his Summerdance set will sample from his whole vast career rather than focus on his past glories. —LEOR GALIL

SATURDAY12 Mark Fosson Part of the Million Tongues Festival. Heron Oblivion headlines; Charalambides, Mark Fosson, and Fursaxa open. 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $12. 21+ More than four decades ago, a prodigiously talented Kentucky guitarist named Mark Fosson earned the praise of the great John Fahey, who signed Fosson to his Takoma label on the strength of a demo tape. Fosson headed to LA and played some gigs with Fahey, but Takoma was in bad ﬁnancial straits and the record never came out. Still, that near miss is largely responsible for the late-career bump Fosson has experienced over the past dozen years. In 2006 Drag City finally released that lost Takoma album, and six years later Tompkins Square issued Digging in the Dust: Home Recordings 1976, material made around the same time as those fateful demos. Fosson has since cut a couple self-released solo records, with 2015’s Ky decidedly reﬂecting his

native state in its bluegrass flourishes and banjo dabbling. His newest album, Solo Guitar (Drag City), is the strongest of his late efforts, and not surprisingly it comes closest to the American Primitive sound created at Takoma, braiding folk, blues, and ragtime. Fosson isn’t attempting anything too tricky here, but he articulates his timeless-sounding melodies with rhythmic crispness, clear phrasing, and a gorgeous tone, accenting his rolling patterns with spry interjections of a single harmonics-soaked chord. On “Blue March Improvisation,” he taps into an elemental bluesiness—each phrase dissolves into the space Fosson leaves around it— while the ragtime piece “Wankomatic” showcases his ease in knitting together several contrapuntal lines, all of them pushing the song inexorably forward. —PETER MARGASAK

Gaudete Brass Part of the Thirsty Ears Classical Music Street Festival. 1 PM (Gaudete Brass perform at 6 PM), 1758 W. Wilson, $5 suggested donation. b In 2013, Chicago chamber quintet Gaudete Brass were invited to play in a celebration for the 75th birthday of the American classical composer John Corigliano. His writing for their particular instrumentation, though, numbered exactly two brief works. So the ensemble commissioned a number of Corigliano’s disciples to create original music reflecting his influence, which they’ve compiled on their new album, Sevenfive: The John Corigliano Eﬀect (Cedille). The record includes the ﬁrst recordings of Corigliano’s “Antiphon” and “Fanfares to Music,” both for double quintets, but the real coup is the lineage it traces between Corigliano and his musical progeny—whether it’s the way Jonathan Newman’s four-movement “Prayers of Steel,” inspired by the poetry of Carl Sandburg, collides early jazz rhythms with muscular patterns that evoke Chicago skyscrapers, or the way Jeremy Howard Beck’s twitchy “Roar” generates tension with a relentless series of staccato stabs. Some of the pieces veer toward brass-ensemble cliches, like jaunty rhythms that recall a J Gaudete Brass ò COURTESY THE ARTIST

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Heron Oblivion performs at the Million Tongues Festival. ò DANIEL HARTWIG

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FESTIVALS

Latin jams, psychedelia, and a street full of classical music Festival Cubano This huge Latin-music showcase features the likes of Uriel & Vera, Stevie B, Victor Manuelle, Los Tres de la Habana, and Sweet Sensation. 8/11-8/13, Riis Park, 6100 W. Fullerton, thecubanfestival.com, $15 per day, $30 three-day pass, all-ages Million Tongues Festival Local psychedelic mastermind Plastic Crimewave debuted this far-out festival in 2004. This year’s performers include Charalambides, Heron Oblivion, Ono, Mark Fosson (see page 26), and Munehiro Narita of notorious Japanese noise-rock band High Rise. 8/11-8/12, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $12 per day, $20 two-day pass, 21+ Retro on Roscoe This celebration of all things retro features an antique car show and cover bands of every imaginable ﬂavor. 8/11-8/13, Roscoe and Damen, roscoevillage.org, $5 suggested donation, all-ages Thirsty Ears Classical Music Street Festival The second edition of this annual event, which presents 15 classical soloists and ensembles in the unlikely setting of a street fest, includes Katinka Kleijn & Sebastian Huydts, Gaudete Brass (see page 26), Palomar, and Chartreuse Ensemble. 8/12-8/13, 1758 W. Wilson, acmusic.org, $5 suggested donation, all-ages

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 27

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28 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

The Kickback ò JACOB BOLL

toy with rumbling keys, start-stop drums, a lightfooted acoustic guitar melody, and what sounds like a demonic harmonica; the song moves at such an easy pace that it feels as though the individual parts assembled themselves until each note ended up exactly where it was meant to be. —LEOR GALIL

SUNDAY13 continued from 27

Copland-esque vision of America, but the ensemble deliver all the material with precision, energy, and snap. At the second annual Thirsty Ears Classical Music Street Festival, Gaudete Brass will perform Joan Tower’s 2006 “Copperwave” and the ﬁve-movement “Legends of Olympus,” a work written for the group by Chicago composer Stacy Garrop. —PETER MARGASAK

The Kickback Modern Vices open. 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 1802 S. Allport, $21, $16 in advance. b In May, Kickback front man Billy Yost told Billboard that he wrote part of “Will T,” the ﬁrst single from

the band’s recent Weddings & Funerals (Jullian), at age 18; Yost wound up completing the tune, which explores romantic friction and relationship anxiety, on the verge of 30, when he was working his way through a divorce. “It seemed funny to me to revisit that song from such a diﬀerent place in my life and the sheer brute ugly it could relay,” Yost said. He laughs maniacally as the band cranks up the volume at the beginning of “Will T,” but the song, like much of Weddings & Funerals, goes down smooth. As dedicated students of aughties indie rock, the Kickback understand how to make songwriting sparkle, how discord can gnaw at listeners more eﬀectively than the sweetest hook, and, most important, how to bring those seemingly disparate ideas together to make great music. On “Reptile Fund” they

Suzanne THorpe & Bonnie Jones TALsounds and Lyle-Marino-Young open. 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $15, $10 in advance. 18+ Suzanne Thorpe and Bonnie Jones collaborate on two fronts. First, as musical partners: Thorpe, a founding member of Mercury Rev who’s performed with Pauline Oliveros, Nate Wooley, and J. Mascis, plays flute through a chain of electronic effects that splits her instrument’s sound and allows her to magnify select timbres, while Jones uses circuit-bent delay pedals and shortwave radio to obtain low pops, yielding but abrasive puffs, and snatches of airwave content. They haven’t released any records, but video evidence suggests that their improvisations establish a sonic environment in which dissimilar modes of activity successfully coexist. Since 2010 the two have also led Techne, an organization

MUSIC

that programs workshops where young, femaleidentified students learn the rudiments of soldering contact microphones, devising instruments, and playing together. Jenna Lyle, Jessie Marino, and Katherine Young, who are all training to lead Techne workshops in Chicago, open tonight’s performance, a benefit for the group; TALsounds plays second, and Thorpe and Jones headline. —BILL MEYER

TUESDAY15 Andrea Pensado Domestique, Venomenema, and TravisDJPTSD open. 9 PM, Elastic, 3429 W. Diversey, $8 suggested donation, $5 students. b

Having studied composition in Poland in the 1990s and written extensively for chamber groups, soloists, and orchestras, Argentine sound artist Andrea Pensado has moved over time toward a more intuitive, improvisational approach that dispenses with theoretical niceties. Based in the Boston area since 2002, Pensado has played in a number of looselimbed projects, and her give-and-take impulses— harsh electronic bloops and high-frequency squalls mix with live instruments in a free-jazz manner—are evident in the trio Los Condenados, whose 2013 album Yeppers! delivers a wonderfully rude heap of spontaneous interplay. A couple years later J

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 29

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she dropped the solo album Without Knowing Why, a slightly more hermetic experience that nonetheless claws violently at electronic-music orthodoxy, with Pensado’s growling, shrieking, and groaning vocals ﬁlling in the spaces where her sizzling, ﬂailing live-wire analog synth noise momentarily ebbs. The music feels unhinged and dangerous, but that’s because Pensado has an impressive control of her tools—she can suggest recklessness while knowing exactly what she’s doing. —PETER MARGASAK

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R&B wunderkind Khalid trades on a sound and persona that can’t help but feel responsive to the Weeknd-influenced goth soul of his peers Bryson Tiller, Dvsn, and 6lack. On American Teen (RCA), he’s humanistic where they’re supervillainish, interpersonal where they’re self-important, and more interested in surfing the groove than achieving introspective catharsis. He doesn’t quite get the job done on his biggest hit so far, “Location,” where he’s limited by his reliance on his own vocals to carry the sparse arrangement—basically, he doesn’t have the range. But on transcendent cuts such as “Shot Down,” “8TEEN,” and the title track, Khalid conveys lovelorn bliss by embracing something far simpler: the power of a perky hook and indelible synthesizer riffing, and the oh-so-teenage counterpoint those provide to precocious mope fodder like “We don’t always say what we mean / That’s the lie of an American teen.” —AUSTIN BROWN v

FOOD & DRINK

HAISOUS | $$ R 1800 S. Carpenter 312-702-1303 haisous.com

Shredded papaya salad with bits of beef jerky ò GILLIAN FRY

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Thai Dang leads a peasant revolt at HaiSous

The former Embeya chef mounts his comeback in Pilsen with homey, unfussy Vietnamese food. By MIKE SULA

nly the most miserable cad would not wish good things to come to Thai and Danielle Dang. The chef and beverage director were, as Crain’s reported, the victims of an audacious scam perpetrated by their former partners at the now defunct West Loop restaurant Embeya. The Dangs lost not only their jobs, but a fortune, by industry standards, in money and equipment. Embeya was a popular restaurant, and while its spectacular collapse reverberated throughout the city’s restaurant scene, I was already looking forward to the chef ’s next move. I had reservations about Embeya’s fussy, reﬁned, and sometimes over-restrained approach toward Vietnamese-ish food. I was less impressed by Thai’s pursuit of what he called “progressive Asian” than the dishes that made him seem like he was yearning to cook unabashedly homey Vietnamese food that wasn’t about coddling a fragile downtown dining set or impressing Instagram poobahs. So when the couple began talking up a new restaurant and it appeared that the chef would be focusing on a more orthodox, less glammy approach—even invoking the words “peasant food”—my hope was that this would be the Chicago’s restaurant comeback of the year. The comeback has occurred in Pilsen, far from the high-rent frippery of the West Loop. HaiSous is a project largely built around the kitchen’s use of charcoal-burning clay-pot grills known as lo lot, and further presentation of some other relatively uncommon dishes. What you won’t see are the common standards of Vietnamese food in the West. No banh mi, no pho (not yet anyway), not even the caramel clay-pot dishes called kho to that very often serve as a gateway drug for an unbreakable Vietnamese habit. One purely cosmetic hint that Dang isn’t fucking around is that his menu’s first language is Vietnamese, all categories and dishes written in their original names, diacriticals included. So you might be surprised that thit ba chi nuong is nothing more complicated than bits of tamarind-glazed grilled pork belly, or that muc nuon are scored and charred bits of tensile squid, each served with a small dish of salt, lemongrass threads, and limes to create a dipping sauce. Each morsel comes J

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 31

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32 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

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with a kiss of smoke that will trigger the most primal pleasure centers of your brain. Even more desirable are the charred bites of rib eye marinated in soy, chile, and a house-made Maggi-like sauce. But some of Dang’s cooks might consider an easier hand with more delicate proteins. A half lobster I ordered spent way too much time on the grill, arriving at my table dry, rubbery, and ready for retirement. Similar advice could be taken about a few of the braised dishes. Both a very simple duck preparation (vit kho gung) and sweet braised spare ribs with quail (so nau nuoc dua) tasted as if all the f lavor had been leached from them without enhancing their attendant braising mediums. There are ways to make up for that. Finely shredded papaya salad carries none of the blistering heat or funk of a Thai-style som tam, but its bits of shredded beef jerky play nicely with its appropriately gentle sweetness. A duck salad is light on the meat but doesn’t slack on chewy cracklings, crunchy brassicas, and snappy banana blossom. Large fried chicken wings are sticky with the burnt-caramel depth you might otherwise be missing from this menu, while an octopus salad with perilla leaf, confit eggplant, and shaved radishes, underscored by reduced coconut cream infused with lemongrass and ginger, is a study in loveliness that shows Dang hasn’t put Embeya completely behind him. The most aggressively seasoned bite on the menu is a tangle of cool rice noodles wrapped in lettuce, dipped in a magenta shrimp-paste sauce, and

served with a side of fried tofu to help absorb its magnetic pungency. A handful of simple small plates can help round out ample specials like a tomahawk pork chop, almost porchetta-like with layers of juicy muscle, rich belly fat, and crackly skin; its richness can be cut with snappy bamboo shoots, meaty trumpet mushrooms, or sweet, lightly pickled cucumbers, or kohlrabi shavings. So far the kitchen hasn’t made much use of the talents of pastry chef Loni Diep, on one of my visits offering only a selection of tropical fruits. But on another occasion a ﬂaky cream puff filled with coconut cream—a take on creamy iced coffee drinks known as cà phê sua đá—was a pleasure that needed no company. Before working at Embeya, Danielle Dang was a bartender at the erstwhile Elysian Hotel (where her future husband worked at Ria). She’s still in the game here, with lighter foodfriendly cocktails like a negroni made with Japanese whiskey or a mezcal-and-pineapple refresher cut with a nippy dose of bitter Cappelletti Aperitivo. The wine list is overwhelmingly dominated by 16 sparklers, all under $100, ranging from an eye-tinglingly acidic Moncontour brut rosé to a creamy, tightly fizzy Vigneau-Chevreau Pétillant. Dang has gone full peasant mode at HaiSous, but I can’t think of anything better suited to this homey yet brightly seasoned food than bubbly. You could call this his comeback, but I think it’s been in him for years. v

v @MikeSula

NAVIGATOR TAPROOM

Hundreds of bar suggestions are available at chicagoreader.com/ barguide. Bottoms up!

2211 N. Milwaukee 773-270-1690 navigatortaproom.com

The tap system at Navigator Taproom in Logan Square ò DEV PHOTOGRAPHY

BARS

A buffet for beer lovers Pour-your-own-beer concepts Tapster and Navigator Taproom oﬀer an alternative to the traditional night out at the neighborhood bar. By JULIA THIEL

oes self-serve beer mean the end of bartenders? In the past few years, a version of that rhetorical question has popped up in the headlines of articles about this technology-aided barroom trend. The short answer: No, at least not in the near future. Back in 2009, the now-defunct River North sports bar Bull & Bear installed the first self-serve beer taps in the midwest at five of its tables; its sister bar Public House followed two years later with 12 tables featuring built-in taps. In the years since then, a few more local establishments, including Fatpour Tap Works and El Hefe taqueria, have added tabletop taps, and a fourtap self-serve beer wall opened at O’Hare. Bars dedicated to the pour-your-own concept have opened in several other cities—but it wasn’t until this year that Chicago got its first entirely self-serve bar. Now there are two (three if you count the eight-month-old Red Arrow Tap Room in Elmhurst). The first, Tapster, opened in Wicker Park in March, and just last month Navigator

Taproom opened its doors in Logan Square. The technology that they use has been available for much longer, though. Except for Red Arrow, which uses a proprietary system, the tap systems at the bars come from Pour My Beer, a company based in the north suburbs of Chicago. (It’s the same one used by Bull & Bear, Public House, Fatpour, and El Hefe.) But while going from zero self-serve bars to two in less than six months is a significant jump, bartenders needn’t worry about their jobs quite yet. For one thing, two bars in a city as big as Chicago is fairly insignificant: there are more bars than that in the Chicago Athletic Association alone. And while the bars don’t have to employ people to pour drinks, they do need hosts to explain the concept to customers and handle the financial transactions. The concept is pretty straightforward: you hand over your credit card (much like opening a tab), get a card with a chip that keeps track of how much beer you’ve poured, and then make your way over to the wall of taps to see what looks appealing. Screens above the taps

list what’s being poured at each one, and you can touch the screen to reveal a description of the beer, ABV, and price per ounce. You can pour as much or as little as you like, but to avoid excess foam you have to pull the handle all the way forward and hold your glass at an angle, hosts at both bars informed us. Tapster added that for sanitary reasons you should get a fresh glass for every beer. As you pour, you can see how many ounces you’ve got and the cost for that beer, along with your total. After 32 ounces you’re cut off until you check in with a host, a measure to prevent overserving inebriated patrons. It turns out that pouring your own beer is fun (at least at first); my friend was so mesmerized by watching her first beer flow into the glass that I had to shut off the tap for her. There are options other than beer as well: both bars offer eight wines and a couple ciders, and Tapster has cold-brew coffee, soda, kombucha, and about a dozen cocktails on tap. Navigator offers cocktails of the more traditional variety, mixed to order by a human. For most of my visit the bartender was hanging out behind the bar unloading the dishwasher or looking bored; he seemed a little surprised to see me approach. The brief cocktail list keeps things simple, but I was intrigued by a couple of whiskey-based ones served in smoked glasses. The smoked rosemary aroma of the Rail Tie came through so strongly that the lack of the purported hickory smoke in the Nav was surprising; the bartender said that it was probably because he’d mixed the Nav first (the bar has only one shaker so he had to make one drink at a time). Unfortunately both drinks were syrupy-sweet, but the bartender, who came over to ask for feedback, said he’d pass along the criticism to the higher-ups. I fared better at Tapster, where most of the cocktails are two-ingredient classics like gin and tonic or whiskey and cola, with a few more complex options. I enjoyed a Greyhound that tasted just like fresh grapefruit juice, a fruity blackberry “piscojito” (a mojito made with pisco instead of rum), and a smoky, spicy mezcal-tequila concoction with strawberryhabanero soda. In addition to lacking servers, both bars lack physical menus. There are large screens on the walls that list what’s on tap in a font (the same at both places, which suggests it’s

TAPSTER

2027 W. North 773-661-2182 tapsterchicago.com

controlled by Pour My Beer) that’s too small to read while sitting at any of the tables. At Tapster, the screens switched to a baseball game shortly after we arrived, which meant that the only way to see what was available was to touch the small screen above each tap to see the name and description of the beer. It’s a time-consuming way to decide what to drink, and at both bars I found myself wishing for a paper menu. At Tapster it was all the more frustrating because I’d checked out the tap list ahead of time and seen quite a few unusual beers I wanted to try, including Paramour, an oyster gose brewed by Illuminated Brew Works and Parachute restaurant; Whiner Beer’s Scoby-Deux, a cabernet-barrel-aged kombucha beer; and Freedom of ’78, a guava IPA from Half Acre and Short’s Brewing Company. (I found them all, but it was harder than it needed to be.) Navigator has a similar focus on local craft beer but seems to lean toward more mainstream selections. There are some slightly more interesting choices—but out of nearly 40 beers, I had trouble finding more than a few I wanted to try. At most bars, a few beers to try would be plenty. But a major draw of the pour-your-own concept is the ability to taste as many beers, ciders, and wines as you like without annoying your bartender by asking for endless samples. At both places the beer is a bit more expensive than it would be at your average corner bar; price per ounce varies, but macro brews are about 25 cents per ounce, while craft beer ranges widely, averaging about 50 cents an ounce for all but the highest ABV offerings. That works out to around $4 a pint for Old Style or Miller High Life, or $8 for your average craft beer. The markup is easy to swallow if you’re tasting a few ounces each of ﬁve or six beers for the price of a couple full pours. But if you just want a pint of a familiar favorite, you’re better off at a traditional bar. In some ways the pour-your-own concept is like a buffet for beer (minus the associations with low-quality food). You can try lots of different things on your own time line. There’s no waiting around for a server to notice your empty glass or standing in line at a crowded bar as the overtaxed bartenders slam out drinks. On the ﬂip side, you don’t have someone to tell you about the drinks on offer and bring you your selection while you remain comfortably seated. It’s a different way to drink, and it’s kind of fun. But it’s not likely to replace the traditional bar anytime soon. v

v @juliathiel AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 33

JOBS

SALES & MARKETING BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST: Research insurance

market. Create a marketing campaign. Increase Sales. Manage operations. HS. Must speak Polish. 2 yrs of exp: business or marketing manager. Res: Albert Dyduch Insurance Agency, Inc., 6900 W Belmont Ave., Chicago IL 60634

HOME REMODELING COMPANY seeks enthusiastic telemarketers. $10/hour plus 1% commission. Must have good phone skills. Bonuses for top producers. Call Jim after 2:30pm, 773-227-2255.

FUNDRAISING - FOR VETERANS Flags & Bags Deal. Looking for a few old pros. Start today! Call 312-256-5035 ask for Cash.

General RESEARCH COORDINATOR (CHICAGO, IL) Evaluation of grantfunded research and intervention towards improvement of instruction among elementary, middle and high school teachers in Chicago Public Schools and urban schools. Collaborate with clients and partner institutions to facilitate professional development programs for teachers; creating data-collection tools including survey design, observation protocols, and interview scripts for the purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of these professional development programs and other interventions. Bachelor’s in Psychology or closely related field. Must have exp or edu in program evaluation methods, politics, ethics, and applications; including topics such as quasi-experimental design, statistical analysis issues, ethical guidelines, implementation strategies, and presentation styles, examination of reliability, validity, and methodological design, multivariate statistical techniques, de-

scriptive statistical techniques in inferential statistics, multiple theories to conceptualize attitudinal phenomena, human cognition within its social context, group structure, group performance, group decision-making, negotiation, and intergroup behavior, intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and inter-group levels of analysis, design and analysis of survey research, analysis of multilevel data on individuals in organizational settings such as schools, and use of SPSS to analyze data from factorial designs. Loyola University Chicago. Apply by mail to: Stacy Wenzel, 422 Cudahy Science Hall, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60660.

DV Trading

Quantitative Developers Chicago, IL

Job Responsibilities Quantitative Developers for Chicago, IL location. Perform data mining, analyze data, and develop market making and high frequency trading strategies. Create quantitative models based upon market data in order to analyze and improve trading strategies and forecasting. Build trading tools for application in global futures markets. Develop and maintain version controlled code repositories of trading algorithms. Technical Environment: C#, C++, Java, SQL, Python, R, electronic trading. Job Requirements Master’s degree in Statistics, Financial Engineering or any Engineering field plus one year of experience in the job offered or in financial analysis required. Skills Required: C#, C++, Java, SQL, Python, R, forecasting, data mining, high frequency trading, electronic trading, market making. Please apply at https://www. dvtrading.co/careers/

Find hundreds of Readerrecommended restaurants, exclusive video features, and sign up for weekly news chicagoreader.com/ food. 34 CHICAGO READER | AUGUST 10, 2017

Ford Heights School District 169 is seeking to hire a Full Time Social Worker This individual will work under the supervision of the Building Principals, provide social skills and problem-solving training, crisis intervention and ongoing support for elementary school students, assist families in accessing community resources, consult with, advise and assist school administrators in identifying students in need of support, serve as a member of the school Pupil Personnel Support, PBIS, and RTI Problem Solving Teams, attend and participate in IEP meetings. Must hold a MSW and appropriate Illinois Professional Educator License with an endorsement in School Social Work. Please send letter of interest, resume letters of recommendation and certification information to Dr. Gregory T. Jackson, Superintendent of Ford Heights School District 169 gjackson@fordheights169.org or mail to 910 Woodlawn, Ford Heights, Illinois 60411

Ford Heights School District 169 is seeking to hire Full Time Elementary Art Teacher Work under the supervision of the Building Principal, instruct assigned classes; Develop and maintain a classroom environment conducive to effective learning. Must be licensed by ISBE with a VART endorsement K-9. Please send letter of interest, resume, letters of recommendation and certification information to Please send letter of interest, toDr. Gregory T. Jackson Superintendent of Ford Heights School District 169 gjackson@fordheights169.org or mail to 910 Woodlawn Ford Heights, Illinois 60411

Transmarket Operations LLC seeks Algorithmic Traders for Chicago, IL to dev quantitative trading strategies by developing high-frequency electronic financial trading products/apps. Master’s in Math/Stats/Financial Math /Math of Finance/Financial Eng +1yr exp req’d. Req’d Skills: 1 yr exp dev advanced quantitative financial & math models using linear & non-linear techniques (stochastic optimization, principal component analysis, dynamic conditional correlations) for financial trading mkts; mkt data analysis using machine learning techniques in MATLAB, R, Python; dev & implementing relative value & high-frequency mkt trading execution strategies using C++, C++ in Linux, SQL, TT Xtrader & Bloomberg, Black-Scholes, factor models, PuTTY. Apply online: htt p : / / ww w . t r a n s m a r k e t g r o u p . com/careers/ Ref #021

TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY SENIOR ASSOCIATE, BUSINESS APPLICATIONS (MULT. POS.), PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC, Chicago, IL. Provide tech. & risk consulting services to help fin. institutions respond to complex business challenges. Req. Bach’s deg or foreign equiv. in Bus Admin, IT, Comp. Sci. or rel. + 3 yrs rel. work exp.; OR a Master’s deg or foreign equiv. in Bus Admin, IT, Comp. Sci. or rel. + 1 yr rel. work exp. Travel req. to 80%. Apply by mail, referencing Job Code IL1366, Attn: HR SSC/Talent Management, 4040 W. Boy Scout Blvd, Tampa, FL 33607.

ACCOUNTING RISK ASSURANCE SENIOR ASSOCIATE (MULT POS),

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Chicago, IL. Conduct quality & strategic assessments to improve client orgs’ internal audit function. Req BS or foreign equiv in Acct, Bus Admin, MIS, Comp Sci, Engg or rel + 3 yrs rel wok exp; OR MS or foreign equiv in Acct, Bus Amin, MIS, Comp Sci, Engg or rel + 1 yr rel work exp. Must have passed CPA, CIA or CISA exam. Travel up to 20% req. Apply by mail, referencing Job Code IL1390, Attn: HR SSC/Talent Management, 4040 W. Boy Scout Blvd, Tampa, FL 33607.

SR.

SOFTWARE

ENGINEER

(Full Stack). Des. & dev. software syst’ms w/ MongoDB databases & Redis databases. Full stack dev. w/ AngularJS user interface framework. U.S. Bach. deg. or foreign equiv. (Computer Engineering or Comp. Science) req’d. Min. 2 yrs’ exp. in software engineer position(s) using MongoDB databases & AngularJS user interface framework req’d. Min. 1 yr exp. in software engineer position(s) using Redis databases req’d. PhenixP2P Inc., Chicago, IL. Resumes to: Recruiting, PhenixP2P Inc., 20 W. Kinzie St., Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60654

Live Text, Inc. seeks Director of Assessment & Accreditation Compliance for La Grange, IL to monitor & lead consulting projects. Master’s in Edu +2yrs exp OR Bachelor’s in Edu +5yrs exp OR 7 yrs exp req’d. Skills req’d-2 yrs w/: higher ed e-portfolios; data analytics sw; higher ed accreditation; higher ed evaluation. 50% travel req’d. Send resume to: res ume@livetext.com ref. SB DOCK ATTENDANTS WANTED Chicago Harbors seeking Dock

Attendants. 40 hours per week, $11/ hour through November 1st, possibly longer. Apply online at: www.chicagoharbors.info/forms/ employment-application/

RELIABILITY ENGINEER

Advanced Technology Services, Inc. seeks Reliability Engineer w 2/yrs of exp for position in Chicago, IL. Send C.V. to: Adam Smith, Advanced Technology Services, Inc., 8201 N. University, Peoria, IL 61615

NUTS ON CLARK POPCORN

stores now hiring for all locations. Earn $ while working with a team. Get paid while training. Apply in person @ corp. office. 3830 N Clark St., Chicago. 9am to 11am Mon thru Sat. Must bring ID’s to apply.

REAL ESTATE NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SEEKS Regulatory Coordinators, Sr for Chicago, IL location to coordinate & guide the review & approval process of all research activities associated w/complex clinical research studies involving human subjects ensuring the protection of their safety, rights & welfare. Bachelor’s in Health Administration + 3yrs exp. req’d. Req’d skills: 3yrs exp. w/each: protocol compliance; preparation & maintenance of regulatory documentation; informed consent process; clinical data mining. Criminal background check req’d. Send resume to: Anna P. Wright, REF: KKA, 676 N. St. Clair, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60611.

RENTALS

STUDIO $500-$599 Chicago, Beverly/Cal Park/Blue Island Studio $575 & up, 1BR $665 & up, 2BR $885 & up. Heat, Appls, Balcony, Carpet, Laundry, Prkg. 708-388-0170

STUDIO $600-$699 CHICAGO, HYDE PARK Arms

Hotel, 5316 S. Harper, maid, phone, cable ready, fridge, private facilities, laundry avail. Switchboard. Start at $ 160/wk Call 773-493-3500

STUDIO $700-$899 LARGE STUDIO APARTMENT

near the lake. 1329 W. Estes. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Heat included. Laundry in building. $750/month. Available 9/1. 773-761-4318,

LARGE STUDIO APARTMENT

near Warren Park. 1904 W. Pratt. Hardwood floors. Heat included. Cats OK. Laundry in building. $725/ month. Available 10/1. 773-761-4318,

STUDIO $900 AND OVER

UPDATED STUDIO IN the heart

of Old Town. 24-hr doorman. Includes heat & a/c (tenant pays elec), cable/ internet, outdoor pool & fitness. Broker Listed. Available NOW!

STUDIO OTHER LARGE SUNNY ROOM w/fridge & microwave. Near Oak Park, Green Line & Buses. 24 hr Desk, Parking Lot $101/week & Up. (773)378-8888 CROSSROADS HOTEL SRO SINGLE RMS Private bath, PHONE,

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

Ashland Hotel nice clean rms. 24 hr desk/maid/TV/laundry/air. Low rates daily/weekly/monthly. South Side. Call 773-376-5200

1 BR UNDER $700 RE-OPENING THE WAITING

LIST. Palmer Square Apartments is re-opening their Section 8 Subsidized Housing Waiting List for One (1) bedroom apartments one day only; Friday, August 18, 2017, from 9:00am - 3:00pm. A maximum of seventy-two (72), One (1) bedroom pre-applications will be accepted. Persons interested in receiving a preapplication card must call the OFFICE AT (773) 342-0055 FROM 9:00AM UNTIL 3:00PM NO WALKINS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Palmer Square Apartments is a federally subsidized Section 8 Development which is PROJECT BASED and therefore cannot accept vouchers or certificates. PALMER SQUARE APARTMENTS MANAGED BY: HISPANIC HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORP., an IL Licensed RE Broker Corporation Los Apartamentos Palmer Square abrirá su lista de espera de Sección 8 para apartamentos de Un (1) dormitorio un dia solamente; el Viernes, 18 de Agosto, 2017, de 9:00am - 3:00pm. Se aceptarán solamente setenta-y-dos (72) presolicitudes para apartamentos de Un (1) dormitorio. Personas interesadas en recibir una tarjeta de pre-solicitud tiene que llamar a la OFICINA AL (773) 342-0055, DE 9:00AM HASTA 3:00PM, NO SE ACEPTARA INFORMACION EN PERSONA , Los Apartamentos Palmer Square es un complejo de Sección 8 con subsidio federal la cual es PROYECTO BASADO y por lo tanto no puede aceptar bonos o certificados. LOS APARTMENTOS PALMER SQUARE MANEJADO POR: HISPANIC HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORP., an IL Licensed RE Broker Corporation

SUMMER SPECIAL: STUDIOS starting at $499 incls utilities , 1BR

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)

232 E 121ST Pl. RENT SPECIAL:

Pay 1st month rent only - No Security dep req’d. Nice lrg 1BR $575; 2BR $699 & 1 3BR $850, balcony. Sec 8 Welc 773-995-6950

FREE HEAT! NO SEC Dep. No Move-in Fee! 1, 2, 3 & 4 BRs, laundry rm. Sec 8 OK. Niki 773.647.0573 www.livenovo.com

SECTION 8 WELCOME Newly Decorated 74th/East End. 1BR. $625.

77th/Drexel. 2BR. $700. 773-874-9637 or 773-493-5359

SUMMER SPECIAL $500 Toward Rent Beautiful Studios 1, 2, 3 & 4 BR Sect. 8 Welc. Westside Loc, Must qualify. 773-287-4500 www.wjmngmt.com

CHICAGO - South Shore Large 1BR, $660/mo. Free heat. Near Transportation. Section 8 Welcome. Call 708932-4582 CLEAN ROOM W/FRIDGE & micro, Near Oak Park, Food -4Less, Walmart, Walgreens, Buses & Metra, Laundry. $115/wk & up. 773-637-5957

SOUTH SHORE, 75th & Saginaw Ave., 1 & 2 br apartment for rent, carpet, heat, & appl incl, $700- $900, 312-403-8025

1 BR $900-$1099 UPTOWN,

815 WEST MONTROSE (at Clarendon) 1 bedroom vintage apartment with hardwood floors and carpet, 2 blocks from lake. $925.00 Heat Included. Call EJM at 773-935-4425 LARGE ONE BEDROOM near the Red Line. 6828 N. Wayne. Hardwood floors. Pets ok. Heat included. Laundry in building. $900/month. Available 10/1. 773-761-4318.

ONE BEDROOM NEAR Warren

Park and Metra. 6800 N. Wolcott. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Heat included. Laundry in building. $925/ month. Available 10/1. 773-761-4318.

E ROGERS PK 1BR, close to beach: new appl, FDR, oak flrs, French windows, lndry $995/mo heated. 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

RAVENSWOOD DLX 3/RM studio: new kit, SS appl, granite, French windows, oak flrs, close to Brown L; $975/heated 773-7434141 www.urbanequities.com HOMEWOOD- 2BR NEW kitchen, new appls, oak flrs, ac, lndry/ stor., $1195/mo incls ht/prkg, near Metra. 773.743.4141 Urban Equities. com

69TH & EGGLESTON Newly ren-

No. Southport DLX 2BR: new kit w/deck, SS appl, oak flrs, cent he at/AC, lndry $1595+ util pkg avail. 773 -743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

ovated 1BR, Large LR, DR, eat-in kit. w/pantry, heat & utils not incl. $650 / mo + sec. dep. 708-257-3132 6930 S. SOUTH SHORE DRIVE Studios & 1BR, INCL. Heat, Elec, Cking gas & PARKING, $585-$925, Country Club Apts 773-752-2200

LANSING - 18348 Torrence Ave. 1 Bedroom Apartment, $650/mo. Heat & Water included. No pets. Call 708-895-4794 SPACIOUS 1BR APT Blue Island, $675/month plus security heat included Call 708-759-7214 Newly updated, clean furnished rooms in Joliet, near buses & Metra, elevator. Utilities included, $91/wk. $395/mo. 815-722-1212 NICE ROOM w/stove, fridge & bath Near Aldi, Walgreens, Beach, Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry. $130/wk & up. 773-275-4442 BIG ROOM with stove, fridge, bath & nice wood floors. Near Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry, Shopping. $121/wk + up. 773-561-4970

1140 E 81st Pl. 1BR newly remodeled, Heat & appls incl, quiet neighborhood. $675/mo. No Sec Dep. Sec 8 OK. 312-915-0100. ONE MONTH FREE. Move In NOW!!! Studios - 1 Beds Hyde Park. Call Megan 773-285-3310

SUMMERTIME SAVINGS! NEWLY Remod. 1 BR Apts $650 w/

1 BR $700-$799

7022 S. SHORE DRIVE Impeccably Clean Highrise STUDIOS, 1 & 2 BEDROOMS Facing Lake & Park. Laundry & Security on Premises. Parking & Apts. Are Subject to Availability. TOWNHOUSE APARTMENTS 773-288-1030

CHICAGO, 107TH & KING DR. Totally Rehabbed 1BR, carpeting, appliances & heat incl. $725/mo. Call Frank, 708-670-8727

NEWLY REMOD 1BR & Studios starting at $580. No sec dep, move in fee or app fee. Free heat/ hot water. 1155 W. 83rd St., 773619-0204

$550, 2BR $599, 2BR $699, With approved credit. No Security Deposit for Sec 8 Tenants. South Shore & Southside. 312-446-3333 or 773-2879999

gas incl. 2-5BR start at $650 & up. Sec 8 Welc. Rental Assistance Prog. for Qualified Applicants offer up to $ 400/month for 1 yr. (773)412-1153 Wesley Realty

SEC 8 WELC!

CHATHAM - 7605 S. Prairie Ave. Large 1BR Apt, $750 and up. Hdwd flrs, heat and appls incl. Call Zoran. 773.406.4841

8318 S INGLESIDE, 1BR, $660, new remod, hdwd flrs, cable, lndry, Sec. 8 welc. 7000 S. Merrill, 2BR, hdwd flrs, FR, new remod, cable, lndry, O’keefe Elem, $800. Sec 8 welc. 708-308-1509 or 773-4933500. BURNHAM NICE SIZE 1BR, heat & water incl. 1st & 2nd flr apt w/ balcony in very quiet bldg. $755/mo. Credit check req’d. 708-372-4141

E ROGERS PARK: Deluxe 2BR + den, new kitc., FDR, oak flrs close to beach. $1450/heated, 774-7434141 ww.urbanequities.com

1 BR $1100 AND OVER EDGEWATER 1000SF 1BR: new kit, SS appls, quartz ctrs, built-ins, oak flrs, lndry, $1250/ heated 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com EDGEWATER 2 1/2 RM studio: Full Kit, new appl, dinette, oak flrs, walk-n closets, $875/mo incls ht/ gas. Call 773-743-4141 or visit ww w.urbanequities.com

1 BR OTHER APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. Ltd. Hot Summer Is Here Cool Off In The Pool OUR UNITS INCLUDE HEAT, HW & CG Plenty of parking 1Bdr From $765.00 2Bdr From $925.00 3 Bdr/2 Full Bath From $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000*** APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. Ltd. SUMMER IS HERE!! Most units Include.. HEAT & HOT WTR Studios From $475.00 1Bdr From $495.00 2Bdr From $745.00 3 Bdr/2 Full Bath From $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000** 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 ∫

MOST BEAUT. APTS! 6748 Crandon, 2BR, $875. 7727 Colfax, 2BR, $875. 6220 Eberhart, 2 & 3BR, $850-$1150. 7527 Essex, 2BR, $950 773-9478572 / 312-613-4424

NR 71ST/MARSHFIELD.

NEAR PULASKI & LAKE ST.

SEC 8 WELCOME Riverdale 2BR Condo, Exc cond, Free heat & water,

FREE HEAT 94-3739 S. BISHOP.

1 & 2BR, decor, hdwd flrs, heat incl, nr trans & shops. No Sec. $600 & $725. Brown Realty Inc. 773-239-9467

Updated 2BR Apt with appliances incl washer/dryer, heat not incl. $550/mo. Call 773-664-9238

3rd flr, appls, new crpt, Window A/C, No Pets. $825 + 1 mo sec. 708-539-0320

2BR, 5rm, 2nd floor, appls, parking, storage & closet space, near shops/ trans. $900 + sec. 708-335-0786

SPACIOUS-SAFE 773-4235727. BRONZEVILLE, 3BR, heat included. Englewood, 1,2 & 3BR, heat incl. Dolton, 2BR, Gated Parking.

71ST & FAIRFIELD, B e a u t if u l 2BR, 2nd floor, unheated, stove & fridge incl., $650/mo + 1.5 mo sec. Please Call Mr. Robinson, 773-238-5188

Calumet City. 660 Clyde Ave. Beautiful 1BR, 1BA, 3rd floor. All appls, A/C, new carpet. $690/mo. Includes heat. 708-439-6410

8800 SOUTH RACINE -2BR, car-

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

pet/appls/heat incl. no pets $800+Sec. Call Ms Ware 773-4300864. SOUTH SHORE: 76TH & Kenwood, 2 Bed $795 & 1 Bed $725, Heat Included Call 312.208. 1771

RIVERDALE NEW DECOR, 1BR,

THIS IS IT! Garden 2BR.

CHICAGO SOUTH SIDE Beauti-

appls, new crpt, heated, A/C, lndry, prkng, no pets, nr Metra. Sec 8 ok $675. 630-480-0638

7830 S. Colfax. Start $825. 3BR. 7820 S. Constance. Start $995. Sec 8 ok. Pete, 312.770.0589

SUBURBS, RENT TO OW N! Buy with No closing costs and get help with your credit. Call 708868-2422 or visit www.nhba.com

BURNHAM, REMODELED, 2BR. $775 /month + $1000 security.

CHICAGO, RENT TO OWN! Buy with no closing costs and get help with your credit. Call 708868-2422 or visit www.nhba.com

NO SECURITY DEPOSIT NO MOVE IN FEE 1, 2, 3 BEDROOM APTS (773) 874-1122 ACACIA SRO HOTEL Men Preferred! Rooms for Rent. Weekly & Monthly Rates. 312-421-4597

ROYALTON HOTEL, Kitchen-

ette $135 & up wk. Free WiFi. 1810 W. Jackson 312-226-4678

2 BR UNDER $900 NEAR 67TH AND KEDZIE 2BR $875+ SEC DEP. SECT 8 OK, NEWLY DECOR,

carpeted, refrigerator, stove FREE Heat, laundry room, cable ready, free credit check, no application fee. 1-773-550-9426 or 1-312-802-7301

LINCOLN PARK 2 BEDROOMS Webster House Section 8 Two Bedrooms Waitlist to open 8/11/17 9am and close 10am Call 773-348-6800 on 8/11/17 9am 10am if interested Equal Housing Opportunity 92ND & LAFLIN, 2BR, clean, fenced brick 2 flat, hdwd flrs, custom mirrors/blinds, appls incl, ceiling fans, A/C unit, enclosed back porch. $800 + sec. no pets. 773-881-8699

ADULT SERVICES

Carpeted. A/C, balcony, laundry, parking. Call 773-298-1129

SECTION 8 WELCOME West

103rd Street, small 2 bedroom. No security deposit. Heat and appls included. 773-719-2695

NW - CALIFORNIA/FOSTER 2BR & Den, 1st flr, newly remod. heat incl. 1 mo. Dep. 1 yr lease, no Pets, ADT Protected. 773-275-9758

ROSELAND AREA: 2 Bedroom Apartment, utilities not included. Section 8 preferred. 1 month sec dep req. Call 708-577-8828 2 & 3BR House

& Townhome. Matteson, Sauk Village, University Park. Section 8 OK. Call 708-625-7355 for info.

3 BR OR MORE UNDER $1200

SPACIOUSLITTLEVILLAGE3 BEDRM W/DINING, dishwash

er,hardwoodflrs,fans,hutch.$1095 +Utilities.Avail.now.Also4rm/2bdrm$950or 4bdrm$1195.(312)586-5325/ (312)966-1491.

DIXMOOR 3BR, HEAT, A/C, appls, & hot water furnished, close to schools & trans, $1150/ mo + sec. 630-570-9572 or 708205-1454

7600 S Essex 2BR

80TH & DREXEL, 3BR, 2BA, $1100. 79th & Aberdeen, 3BR $950 & Bsmt Apt $700. +utils. Sec 8 ok. Hdwd & ceramic tile. 773-502-4304

CHICAGO Southside Brand new 3BR-4BR apts. Exc. neighborhood, near transp/schools, Sec 8 Welc., For details call 708-774-2473

61ST/LANGLEY 3BR/1BA in 2unit bldg Avail Now beautiful apt new bathroom, w/d in bsmt, Nr Trans & sch. Sec 8 ok. $1000/mo. 312-613-0974

CHICAGO

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

2 BR $1100-$1299 ELMHURST: DLX 1BR, new appls & carpet, a/c, balcony, $895$950/mo. incl heat, prkg. OS lndry, 773-743-4141 www.urbanequities. com

8200 S. Drexel XL 2BR $1100/ mo . Heat & appls incl. Living & dining rm, newly remodeled. No Sec Dep. Section 8 OK. 312-915-0100.

2 BR $1500 AND OVER

LINCOLN PARK - Howe Street -

2br, 1ba, hwd flrs, d/w, w/d, C/A, 847-382-3543 or jminam@ameritech. net $2000.00/month plus utilities.

2 BR OTHER 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

ADULT SERVICES

SOUTH SHORE 4BR, cent heat/ air, hdwd flrs. 69th/Merrill. Stove & fridge incl. Laundry rm, Security cameras. $1100/mo. 630-205-2929 WOODLAWN COMMUNITY (CLOSE to U of C campus) 3 BR, 1 BA, includes heat, Sec. 8 OK. $1,050/mo. 773-802-0422

SOUTHSIDE 68th/Hermitage, 3BR. $850. 2BR. $725. 70th/Normal, 3BR. $825. 847-977-3552

NICE 3BR, 1.5BA Apt. Heat and

appls incl. 8622 S. Burnham Ave. 2nd flr. $975/mo + 1 mo sec. Please call 708-210-0803, 9a-5p.

4BR APT, 2nd flr, nr 115th/ Michigan, 1BA, stove, crpt, background check req. Tenant pays utils. No Dep. $975. 773-405-3472 MORGAN PARK AREA, 3BR, 2BA, intercom system, laundry, carpet & tile floors, $1100/mo + $1100 sec. Mark, 773-842-0476 SECTION 8 WELCOME. No Security Deposit. 7721 S Peoria, 3BR apt, appls incl. $1050/mo. 708-288-4510

4010 S. King Dr. 3BR, heat incl, $1025. 7906 S. Justine. 2BR $800 & Restaurant for rent. 708-421-7630 or 773-899-9529

3 BR OR MORE $1200-$1499

60 MINUTES FREE TRIAL

THE HOTTEST GAY CHATLINE

1-312-924-2082 More Local Numbers: 800-777-8000

www.guyspyvoice.com

Ahora en Español/18+

4 BEDROOM, 1 bathroom house

with appliances and air conditioning for rent. 348 W. 108th Pl. $1350 a month rent and $1350 security deposit. Call 708-932-4151 for additional details.

SECTION 8 WELCOME 7134 S. Stewart. Nice 5BR/1BA

House, Carpet & appls incl, washer/dryer hookup. $1350/mo. 312-683-5174

3 BR OR MORE $1500-$1799 HUMBOLDT PK, 3BR/2BA Duplex: new kit & appl, oak flrs, lrg master suite deck, prkg, lndry, $15 95/+ util 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com EVANSTON DLX 1BR + Den, vintage beauty, new appl, oak flrs, French doors Laundry $1095/ heated, 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

Bronzeville DLX 1/BR: new kit, private deck & yard, SS appls, FDR, oak flrs, new windows, $925950/heated 773-743-4141 urbaneq uities.com EVANSTON 2BR, 1100SQFT, New Kit/ oak flrs, new windows, OS Lndry, $1295/incl heat, 773743-4141 urbanequities.com Wrigleyville DLX 3BR, new kit, private deck & yard, FDR, oak floors, sunroom $2100/heated 773-743-4141 urbanequities.com

SOUTHSIDE, Newly Remod 3BR /2BA with appls & washer/dryer. Also, newly remod 2BR with appls & WD hk up 773-908-8791

101ST/MAY, 1br. 77th/Lowe. 1 & 2br. 69th/Dante 3br. 71st/Bennett. 2 & 3br. 77th/Essex. 3br. New renov. Sec 8 ok. 708-503-1366

FOR SALE WE BUY HOUSES! Any situation. Will take over payments. Cash for Keys Now! Call Now! 312-288-0298 ext 804

CHURCH PROPERTY, PEWS and piano and pews for sale as is. $25,000. 773-264-6151

non-residential

JACKSON

PARK

HIGH-

LANDS ANNUAL GARAGE SALE: Over 20 participating homes from 67th to 70th Streets of Euclid, Bennett, Constance, and Cregier Avenues in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. SATURDAY & SUNDAY, August 12th + 13th, 10 AM-7 PM. Furniture, Vintage Clothes, Collectibles, Electronics, Jewelry, Books, Baby items and more!

units fully heated and humidity controlled with ac available. North: Knox Avenue. 773-685-6868. South: Pershing Avenue. 773-523-6868.

JACKSON

PARK

HIGH-

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

ADULT SERVICES

NICKEL AND DIMED: A Staged

Reading ~ By Joan Holden, Directed by Barbara Zahora ~ Open Call Auditions. Seeking 5 female-identified actors and 1 male-identified actor. People of all ethnic and racial backgrounds as well as actors who are LGBTQ, gender non-conforming or disabled are strongly encouraged to audition for this staged reading. Please Prepare one 60 second monologue. 8/29; 6 – 9 p.m. & 8/30; 7 – 9 p.m. No appointment necessary. www.oakton.edu Park in Lot A. For more info, call 847.635.1897.

LOTS OF NEW & used clothes, shoes, handbags, and household items. New 100% wool coats. Oil paintings, furniture, jewelry, etc. Saturday 8/5 & 8/6 10am - 4pm 2730 N. Parkside Ave.

roommates

MARKETPLACE

OLYMPIA FIELDS

MUSIC & ARTS

SELF-STORAGE CENTERS. T W O locations to serve you. All

3 BR OR MORE $1800-$2499

newly remodeled 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath house, full basement. Beautiful area. $2500/mo. 708-935-7557.

special. Russian, Polish, Ukrainain girls. Northbrook and Schaumburg locations. 10% discount for new customers. Please call 773-407-7025

GENERAL

ALB Pk DLX 3BR + den, new kit, SS appl, granite, oak flrs, on-site lndy, $1495/+ util. 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

3 BR OR MORE $2500 AND OVER

FULL BODY MASSAGE. hotel, house calls welcome $90

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

FURNISHED ROOM for rent, cable and laundry room included. Private bath. Call for more information. 708-253-9593

LARGE 3 BEDROOM apartment near Wrigley Field. 3820 N. Fremont. Two bathrooms. Hardwood Floors. Cats OK. $2190/month. Parking available at additional cost. Available 9/1. 773-761-4318.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

AKC

GERMAN

SHEPHERD

Puppies - 1st shots, wormed, sire & maternal grand sire OFA cert. tips/ elbows. $400. 260-593-0160 x 3

CABARET ~ BOOK by Joe Mas-

teroff; lyrics by Fred Ebb; music by John Kander Directed by Jason A. Fleece ~ Open Call Auditions. Seeking actor/singers of all ages, ethnicities, and genders. Please bring two contrasting songs from the musical theatre canon (16 bars each). 8/23 & 24; 6 – 9 p.m. No appointment necessary. Cold readings heard. www.oakton.edu Park in Lot A. For more info, call 847.635.1897.

VERY PLAYFUL AKC registered

German Shepherd puppies.. Champion and imported bloodlines!! Lots of potential!! $600 .. Please call after 5 a.m. and before 5 p.m. 5742381922 thank you

ADULT SERVICES

3 BR OR MORE OTHER

SECTION 8 WELCOME Chicago, 11526 S Harvard 5BR/2BA, $1600. 255 W. 111th Pl., 6BR/3BA $1700. Call 773-793-8339, ask for Joe. SE SIDE: 4BR, 2 full baths, newly remod, stainless steel appliances, C/A, W/D incl. Tenant pays utils. Sect 8 ok. $1300/mo. 773-544-1520 SECTION 8 WELCOME $300 Move-In Bonus, No Dep. 6227 S. Justine. 3BR/1BA & 225 W 108th Pl, 2BR/1BA. 7134 S. Normal, 4BR/ 2BA. Ht & appls incl 312-683-5174

4153 S BERKELEY 3S $1350, 3Bd 1Ba, Heat and water inc, no sec dep., Call Pam 312-208-1771

#1. 3BR/2BA Humongous 1st fl, fireplace #2.3BR/1BA #3. 3BR/ 1BA all new 1st fl. All have hdwd flrs, c/a & nr transp. 773-410-3892

ADULT SERVICES

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

224-223-7787

Never miss a show again.

EARLY WARNINGS Find a concert, buy a ticket, and sign up to get advance notice of Chicago’s essential music shows at chicagoreader.com/early. AUGUST 10, 2017 | CHICAGO READER 35

By Cecil Adams

Q : I was wondering if you could settle a

dispute I’m having with a charming young lady. She insists that men, on average, think about sex every six seconds. Thinking about sex ten times every minute just seems a bit much to me. Dubious, no? —LUKE ROBERTSON, MASSACHUSETTS

A : Six seconds, seven, 11—some version of

the “Men think about sex every x seconds” claim has been kicking around forever. The intended takeaway, clearly, is that human males are just naturally hornier than the females, but nobody knows where the alleged stat came from, and anyway all evidence suggests it’s bunk. The most recent wisdom we have on this subject comes via a 2012 paper from Ohio State University, where researchers equipped 163 students, men and women, with golf counters—you know, the kind where you click a button to advance the number display—and asked them to tally how often they thought about fooling around. The most prolific sex thinker in the group, a male

subject, recorded an average of 388 amorous musings a day over the course of a week. Assuming this guy ever managed to get any sleep, that’s something like one sex thought every two and a half minutes, and he’s at the very top of the reported range. I think we can call this dispute settled. How often did everyone else think about sex, though? Let’s slow down a little first and consider some conceptual and methodological considerations here. For starters, what do we mean by men and women anyway? The OSU researchers reported that all in all (i.e., including control groups; see below) their subjects included 163 female and 120 male students, 96.1 percent of whom self-identified as heterosexual. Were any of them transgender? The authors don’t say, but one could argue that the very existence of people who identify as something other than the gender they were assigned at birth would seem to complicate any firm binary pronouncements about what “men” and “women” think about. And then there’s the issue of how you get people to monitor their own thoughts without inherently skewing the numbers. The OSU

SLUG SIGNORINO

STRAIGHT DOPE

authors acknowledge that simply toting a golf counter around may have eﬀectively reminded the subjects to think about sex more often than they otherwise might. In short, I suspect the actual answer, to the extent there is one, may be the least interesting part of the how-often question. In the interest of keeping the customer satisfied, though, here’s what the study found: The women reported rates of one to 140 sexual thoughts per day, with an average of 18.6. The men, meanwhile, showed both higher numbers and greater variability—their rates ranged between one and (as mentioned) 388 thoughts a day, with an average of 34.2. For men that’s a sex thought every waking half

hour, roughly, compared to once every 55 minutes for women. We might note that 163 kids with clickers isn’t many—a far smaller sample than (e.g.) a survey conducted in 1973 where 4,420 people were asked whether they’d thought about sex in the previous five minutes. (Results? For respondents 25 and under, 52 percent of men and 29 percent of women answered in the affirmative.) Rather than rely on subjects’ notoriously unreliable memory, though, OSU researchers thought real-time recording might improve accuracy. They also had control groups count their thoughts about food and sleep, to make sure men weren’t just generally more in touch with their various physical needs. Anyways, their findings tracked with earlier work insofar as it did identify a difference in the regularity with which men and women think about getting horizontal. In the control groups counting food and sleep thoughts, the men scored higher too. v Send questions to Cecil via straightdope.com or write him c/o Chicago Reader, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago 60654.

INCREASE YOUR PLEASURE IQ WITH ONE OF PLEASURE CHEST'S FREE WEEKLY WORKSHOPS For full listings visit pleasurechest.com Classes held at 3436 N Lincoln Ave.

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36 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

SAVAGE LOVE

By Dan Savage

Can this ‘trio rodeo’ be saved?

A poly newbie is prone to jealous panic attacks. Plus: Tea and Sympathy v.2 Q: My boyfriend of eight

months, K, and I are polyamorous. We started the relationship on that foot, and for a while I was the partner he spent the most time with. However, recently we both started dating the same woman, L, and they’ve been spending more time together than with me. They both reassure me that they love me and care for me deeply, but I’m an anxiously attached person, and sometimes I have panic attacks when they spend more time with others/ themselves and fear that they’re going to leave me. I’m working on becoming more secure via books on cognitive behavioral therapy, and I’m looking into in-person therapy. This is my first serious relationship, but not his (I’m 22, he’s 35). And while K has been superpatient with me, he’s told me he doesn’t want to be solely responsible for my sexual satisfaction and my need for constant reassurances that he cares. The anxiety has been flaring up most strongly concerning sex—we’re all switches, and K and L are both professional dominants. I feel neglected if K doesn’t penetrate me but he penetrates L, or if L gets to penetrate K via a strapon and I don’t. I love both my partners, but I’ve been feeling sexually neglected— and with a HIGH sex drive, it’s been quite painful. This is my first “trio rodeo,” and I really want to make it work. How can I find a way to create more opportunities for sexy time and not ruin it with anxiety attacks? —BDSM ENTHUSIASTIC LOVER ON VOYAGE4 EMOTIONAL DURABILITY

A : You’ll feel a lot less

anxious if you make a conscious effort to lower the stakes, BELOVED.

You’ve been dating K for a little more than half a year, and you’ve been dating L for whatever “recently” amounts to. It’ll reduce your anxiety levels and soothe your insecurities if you tell yourself you aren’t committed to K and L as life partners. Not yet. All you’re committed to right now is exploring where this might go and enjoying your time with them, however long it lasts. But you aren’t committed to them. Either of them. Not yet. Committing yourself to therapy, on the other hand, is a good idea, BELOVED. In theory, you understand poly, and you may want a poly relationship. (Particularly if it’s the only way you can have K.) But as someone with anxiety issues and hang-ups about all sex acts being divided up equally, poly may not be right for you, or it may not be right for you right now. After a little therapy (or maybe a lot), who knows? You’ve been at this rodeo for only eight months, BELOVED, and if these problems are already coming up, it’s possible this rodeo isn’t for you.

Q : This is about your

Campsite Rule. I think you should amend it. In 1984, when I was 20 years old, I met an LGBT rights activist who was 53. He was working with the group I contacted after I’d called the local youth crisis hotline here in Baton Rouge and got called a faggot. We had a summer fling (initiated by me), and then I went off to study in Europe. Because of him, I knew the difference between making love and getting your rocks off, and I moved through the world with the self-confidence he told me I deserved to have. After moving back to the States a few years ago,

I tried to find him, with no luck, but about a month ago, I finally did. He’s in his mid-80s now and under hospice care, but he does remember me. I got to tell him everything I’d done with what he taught me. I only got about a third of the way down the list before his eyes filled with tears— and pride. To call that a special moment would be an understatement. So here’s my suggested amendment: If you benefited from the Campsite Rule—if someone left you in better shape than they found you—look that person up and tell them what they meant to you. And if he’s alone and in hospice care, spend some time being there for him and holding his hand. —CAN’T THINK OF

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A : Your old summer ﬂing

left you in better shape than he found you—the heart of my Campsite Rule—and the lessons he imparted had a hugely positive impact on your life. But instead of amending my Campsite Rule, CTOFA, which covers the conduct of older and/or more experienced people dating and/or fucking younger and/ or less experienced people, I’m going to amend my Tea and Sympathy Rule, “When the younger person in an older/younger aﬀair speaks of it in future years, they have a duty to be kind.” Today, by decree, I’m adding CTOFA’s amendment: “And if you beneﬁted from the Campsite Rule—if years ago a lover left you in better shape than they found you—look that person up and tell them what they meant to you.” v Send letters to mail@ savagelove.net. Download the Savage Lovecast every Tuesday at savagelovecast. com. v @fakedansavage

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EARLY WARNINGS

chicagoreader.com/early

AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 37

The Drums ò COURTESY OF ANTI-

NEW

Sam Amidon 10/4, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 18+ Animal Collective, Black Dice 9/24, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Backroad Boys 10/14, 8 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn, on sale Fri 8/11, 11 AM Baio 11/29, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Barb Wire Dolls 10/25, 5 PM, Cobra Lounge, on sale Thu 8/10, 10 AM b Bronx 10/11, 8 PM, Subterranean, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 17+ Dave Burrell & Harrison Bankhead 9/29, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Kirin J. Callinan 8/27, 7 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Cherubs 11/11, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Consider the Source 11/17, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen Cousin Stizz 10/19, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 18+ David Crosby 10/30, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 8/10, noon b Denzel Curry, Show Me the Body 10/8, 9 PM, Bottom Lounge, 18+ Dance With the Dead, Gost 11/4, 8 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Gavin DeGraw 10/22, 7:30 PM, the Vic, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 18+ The Drums, Methyl Ethel 11/9, 7 PM, Metro b Explosions in the Sky 10/3, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Fab Faux 10/7, 8 PM, the Vic, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Fantastic Planets, As Giants 9/17, 7:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+

Craig Finn & the Uptown Controllers 10/23, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 8/10, noon b Frights 11/25, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall b Future Islands 10/4, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Get IN It MusicFest with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Fifth Harmony, Prince Royce, Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco, Jeremih, Felix da Housecat, Carl Thomas, and more 9/16, 1 PM, Guaranteed Rate Field, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Giraﬀage, Sweater Beats 11/8, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Mark Guiliana Quartet 10/15, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Have Mercy 11/4, 5:30 PM, Subterranean b I Prevail, We Came as Romans 10/9, 5 PM, Concord Music Hall, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM b Insane Clown Posse 10/29, 6:30 PM, Portage Theater b Kidd Jordan & Alvin Fielder 9/1-2, 9:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Judge 11/5, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 17+ Fritz Kalkbrenner 9/8, 10 PM, Smart Bar Killers 1/16, 7:30 PM, United Center, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM L.A. Witch 11/12, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Lecrae 12/6, 7 PM, House of Blues, on sale Mon 8/14, 10 AM, 17+ Lust for Youth 10/17, 9 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Magic City Hippies 10/1, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall JD McPherson 11/16, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 17+ Melvv 10/20, 9 PM, Subterranean, 18+

38 CHICAGO READER - AUGUST 10, 2017

Metalachi 12/30, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 17+ Middle Kids 9/6, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 8/11, noon, 18+ Motet, Dopapod 11/10, 9 PM, Park West, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 18+ Mystery Skulls 11/2, 7:30 PM, Subterranean b Neck Deep 2/12, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall b Angel Olsen 12/9, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 18+ Pharcyde 10/18, 9 PM, Subterranean Pink 9/9, 8 PM, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Poco 10/25, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 8/10, noon b Tim Reynolds & TR3 11/3, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 8/10, noon b Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche 9/19, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 8/10, noon b Scummer Slam with the Okmoniks, Aquarian Blood, Erik Nervous, Spodee Boy, Monica LaPlante, the MakeOvers, and more 8/26, 1 PM, East Room Shy Girls 11/8, 8:30 PM, Subterranean, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 17+ Silverio 10/28, 11 PM, Subterranean, 17+ Snakehips 11/3, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, on sale Thu 8/10, 10 AM, 17+ Sons of the Silent Age 9/22, 9 PM, Wire, Berwyn Steve ’n’ Seagulls 9/7, 8 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint String Cheese Incident 11/24, 8 PM, Chicago Theatre, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM Token 11/4, 7 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM b

b Town Mountain 10/21, 8 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 8/11, 8 AM b Trashcan Sinatras 10/9, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Trivium, Arch Enemy, While She Sleeps 11/12, 5:30 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Turnpike Troubadours 11/11, 8 PM, the Vic, on sale Fri 8/11, 10 AM, 18+ Underachievers 10/7, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 18+ John Paul White 11/2, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 8/11, 8 AM b Cassandra Wilson & Liam Ó Maonlaí 11/10, 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 8/11, 8 AM b Woggles 8/25, 8 PM, Reggie’s Music Joint Wonder Years, Laura Stevenson 9/25, 5:30 PM, Bottom Lounge b Your Memorial, Earth Groans 11/8, 6:30 PM, Cobra Lounge b Zero Boys 9/3, 9 PM, East Room

UPCOMING Against Me!, Bleached 9/30, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall b Animals as Leaders, Periphery 11/1, 7:30 PM, the Vic, 18+ Bad Suns 10/20, 7:30 PM, Metro b Band of Heathens 10/20, 8:30 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn Beach Fossils, Snail Mail 10/17, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Todd Carey 9/18, 8 PM, Schubas Cold Specks 11/28, 9 PM, Empty Bottle A.J. Croce 10/22, 7 PM, Szold Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music b Cult of Luna 8/21, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Depeche Mode 8/30, 7:30 PM, Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Park Descendents, Get Up Kids 10/7, 7:30 PM, Riviera Theatre b Doom 8/19, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 18+ El Ten Eleven 9/21, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Elder, King Buﬀalo 10/17, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ EMA 11/18, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Eyehategod, Cro-Mags 9/2-3, 8 PM, Cobra Lounge, 17+ Feedtime 9/26, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Flamin’ Groovies 10/19, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Goblin 10/25, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas 9/22, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+

ALL AGES

WOLF BY KEITH HERZIK

EARLY WARNINGS

CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME

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Hiss Golden Messenger 10/24, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Inquisition 9/10, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club Japandroids, Cloud Nothings 11/2, 8 PM, the Vic, 18+ Japanese Breakfast, Mannequin Pussy 10/4, 8:30 PM, Subterranean, 17+ King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 9/24-25, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Kendrick Lamar, YG 8/20, 7:30 PM, United Center Living Colour 9/3, 6 and 9 PM, City Winery b Male Gaze 8/27, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Mastodon, Brain Tentacles 9/9, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Metz 9/25, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ No Warning, Down to Nothing, Backtrack 9/21, 7 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Nots 9/5, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Conor Oberst 9/9, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Overcoats 11/17, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Partner 9/28, 7 PM, Township, 17+ Pelican 10/13, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Protomartyr 10/8, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Quicksand 9/27, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ RL Grime 11/15, 9 PM, Aragon Ballroom, 17+ Sacred Reich 9/20, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Secret Chiefs 3 9/26, 9 PM, Beat Kitchen Sheer Mag, Flesh World 9/15, 9:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Silversun Pickups 11/8, 7 PM, Riviera Theatre b Simply Three 11/3, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston b Touche Amore 10/7, 8 PM, Subterranean, 17+ TV Girl 10/7, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ UFO, Saxon 10/8, 6:30 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Venom Inc., Goatwhore, Toxic Holocaust 9/8, 7 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Waker 11/4, 10 PM, Schubas, 18+ Wand, Darto 9/30, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ War on Drugs 10/19, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ Warning, Thou 10/26, 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, 17+ Washed Out 8/25, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Weather Station 12/2, 9 PM, Hideout v

GOSSIP WOLF A furry ear to the ground of the local music scene GOSSIP WOLF IS a fan of local garage rocker Mac Blackout—not just his rippinghot jams with Mickey, the Functional Blackouts, and the Mac Blackout Band but also his far-out murals, drawings, and other artwork. A few years ago this wolf spent a whole summer searching for the rad tree stumps he’d painted around town! On Friday, August 11, new Logan Square coworking and event space Ampersand (co-owned by DJ Mary Nisi of Toast & Jam) hosts its first exhibition: a show of Blackout’s art called “Rise of the Geometric Giants.” According to cocurator Laura Ellsworth, in these works “human characteristics are merged with the geometric forms of our dwellings and technological design.” The show runs till September 22. This wolf has often longed to join the immaculately dressed couples grooving to smooth cuts on CAN TV’s weekly dance show Can I Step With You—but these paws don’t know any steppin’ moves! On Saturday, August 12, National Steppers Society instructor Kenneth Watkins leads dance lessons at Grant Park’s Spirit of Music Garden from 6 to 9:30 PM as part of the Park District’s free Summerdance series. Gotta start somewhere! Gossip Wolf is still bummed about missing Chicago rapper Cupcakke at Subterranean in April. Given that Charli XCX brought the raunchy rhyme slayer onstage at Lollapalooza, chances are she won’t be playing a room that small again soon. Fortunately, on Saturday, August 12, she’ll be part of a joint-venue event at Metro and Smart Bar called Oculus, organized by underground Chicago LGBTQ party collective Men’s Room. The bill also includes Men’s Room cofounders Harry Cross, Jacob Meehan, and Aceboombap, selfdescribed “dancefloor ministry” Lesbifriends Cartel, San Francisco synth wizard Bézier, Discwoman affiliate Bearcat, and Brooklyn MC Mister Wallace squaring off against Chicago rapper Kaycee Ortiz. Tickets are $25, $20 in advance. —J.R. NELSON AND LEOR GALIL Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail gossipwolf@chicagoreader.com.

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August 16

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THIS SATURDAY! AUGUST 12 • PARK WEST

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7• VIC THEATRE ON SALE THIS FRIDAY AT 10AM!

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BUY TICKETS AT AUGUST 10, 2017 - CHICAGO READER 39