Print Issue of December 15, 2016 (Volume 46, Number 11) by Chicago Reader

C H I C A G O ’ S F R E E W E E K LY | K I C K I N G A S S S I N C E 1 9 7 1 | D E C E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

City life On the northwest side, eviction and gentriﬁcation go hand in hand. 12 Music & Nightlife How can grassroots musicians ﬁght the Trump beast? 28

Blacklisted?

In a new book, Long Shot: The Struggles and Triumphs of an NBA Freedom Fighter, former Chicago Bulls player Craig Hodges recounts how his on-court success was stopped short by his political beliefs. BY BEN JORAVSKY 15

2 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

THIS WEEK

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EDITOR JAKE MALOOLEY CREATIVE DIRECTOR PAUL JOHN HIGGINS DEPUTY EDITOR, NEWS ROBIN AMER CULTURE EDITOR TAL ROSENBERG DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS FILM EDITOR J.R. JONES MUSIC EDITOR PHILIP MONTORO ASSOCIATE EDITORS KATE SCHMIDT, KEVIN WARWICK, BRIANNA WELLEN SENIOR WRITERS MICHAEL MINER, MIKE SULA SENIOR THEATER CRITIC TONY ADLER STAFF WRITERS LEOR GALIL, DEANNA ISAACS, BEN JORAVSKY, AIMEE LEVITT, PETER MARGASAK, JULIA THIEL SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR RYAN SMITH GRAPHIC DESIGNER SUE KWONG MUSIC LISTINGS COORDINATOR LUCA CIMARUSTI EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CASSIDY RYAN CONTRIBUTING WRITERS NOAH BERLATSKY, DERRICK CLIFTON, MATT DE LA PEÑA, MAYA DUKMASOVA, ANNE FORD, ISA GIALLORENZO, JOHN GREENFIELD, JUSTIN HAYFORD, JACK HELBIG, DAN JAKES, BILL MEYER, J.R. NELSON, MARISSA OBERLANDER, LEAH PICKETT, DMITRY SAMAROV, DAVID WHITEIS, ALBERT WILLIAMS INTERNS ISABEL OCHOA GOLD, JACK LADD ---------------------------------------------------------------VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT NICKI STANULA VICE PRESIDENT OF NEW MEDIA GUADALUPE CARRANZA SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER EVANGELINE MILLER ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES FABIO CAVALIERI, ARIANA DIAZ, BRIDGET KANE MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER BRYAN BURDA DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL JOHN DUNLEVY ADVERTISING COORDINATOR HERMINIA BATTAGLIA CLASSIFIEDS REPRESENTATIVE KRIS DODD

FEATURES

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Agenda The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, George C. Clark’s art at the Cultural Center, “Riot Grrrls” at the MCA, Curbside Splendor’s Yuletide Book Party, the ﬁlm La La Land, and more recommendations

CITY LIFE

8 Street View Bicolor hair reﬂects a songwriter’s forthcoming single about split personality.

SPORTS

Did the NBA blacklist legendary three-point shooter Craig Hodges because of his politics?

In his new book, Long Shot: The Struggles and Triumphs of an NBA Freedom Fighter, the former Bulls player recounts how his on-court success was stopped short by his outspokenness. BY BEN JORAVSKY 15

MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE 32 Shows of Note JD Allen Trio, Helmet, Vic Spencer, and more 8 Chicagoans Eman Hassaballa Aly describes experiencing fear, anxiety, and casual prejudice as a Muslim. 10 Transportation Finally, CDOT plans bike lanes for Stony Island and other major streets leading to Big Marsh. 11 Identity and Culture Moonlight urges the need for deep reﬂection on identity. 12 Eviction On the northwest side, eviction and gentriﬁcation go hand in hand.

ARTS & CULTURE

21 Theater Lucas Hnath’s The Christians addresses religious faith in unconventional form.

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ON THE COVER: PHOTOGRAPH BY READER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS.

FOOD & DRINK

38 Restaurant review: Entente Former Schwa chef Brian Fisher upends expectations in an unlikely spot: Lakeview. 40 Key Ingredient: Olive loaf Bad Hunter chef Dan Snowden makes a restaurant-worthy version of an Oscar Mayer lunch meat 41 Jobs 42 Apartments & Spaces 43 Marketplace

CHICAGO READER 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654 312-222-6920, CHICAGOREADER.COM THE READER (ISSN 1096-6919) IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY SUN-TIMES MEDIA, LLC, 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654. © 2016 SUN-TIMES MEDIA, LLC. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT CHICAGO, IL. POSTMASTER: SEND CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO CHICAGO READER, 350 N. ORLEANS, CHICAGO, IL 60654.

25 Visual Art A former bank in Lincoln Park is housing an incredible exhibit about AIDS. 27 Movies The French-Danish feature Long Way North strikes a blow for 2-D animation in a 3-D marketplace.

MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE

How can grassroots musicians fight the Trump beast?

Adele Nicholas of Axons and Impossible Colors is also a self-employed civil rights lawyer—and she’s releasing a compilation to beneﬁt the Chicago Community Bond Fund. BY LEE V. GAINES 28

22 Dance Christopher Wheeldon’s update of The Nutcracker puts class consciousness at the forefront, to illuminating eﬀect. 23 Theater A poor casting choice damages Second City’s new mainstage revue, The Winner . . . of Our Discontent. 24 Comedy The Crowd Theater gets creative to cut costs.

44 Straight Dope What laws apply to astronauts and other space travelers? 45 Savage Love Marchofdildos.com and other responses to Trump 46 Early Warnings Har Mar Superstar, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and more shows to come 46 Gossip Wolf FeelTrip launches a cold-blooded dance-music label, and more music news.

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 3

AGENDA RSM

R READER RECOMMENDED

Send your events to agenda@chicagoreader.com

b ALL AGES

F a piece of moral grandstanding as you’ll ﬁnd. Ill conceived and drearily acted, it violates all the canons of Wilde’s art in the noble cause of educational theater. —MAX MALLER Through 12/18: Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 773-293-3682, prometheantheatre.org, $25, $20 seniors, $15 students and children.

www.BrewView.com 3145 N. Sheffield at Belmont

Movie Theater & Full Bar $5.00 sion admis e for th s Movie

18 to enter 21 to drink Photo ID required

A Klingon Christmas Carol If you R don’t know what Klingon is, this is not the show for you. But if you’ve

Sat, Mon-Wed, Dec. 17, 19-21 @ 6pm Thursday, December 22 @ 8:00pm

Dr. Strange

Sat, Mon-Wed, Dec. 17, 19-21 @ 8:15pm Thursday, December 22 @ 10:00pm

Edge of Seventeen

Saturday, December 17 @ 4:00pm Thurs, December 22 @ 6:00pm

A Klingon Christmas Carol o ANGELA DAVIS COULING

Sunday, December 18 @ 4:00pm

THEATER

Elf (All ages matinee)

Terror in the Aisles Sunday, December 18 Doors open at 4pm

Nightmare on Elm Street 2

(7pm) with star Mark Patton in Person! John Carpenter's They Live (9pm) & The Thing (5pm) Tix available at http://bpt.me/2722444

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More at chicagoreader.com/ theater A Christmas Carol: An Evening R of Dickensian Delights Rachel Martindale’s 80-minute adaptation of

Dickens’s revered novella is stripped to its essentials, as is Fury Theatre’s barebones staging, which Martindale directs and stars in. Jettisoning high production values (the set is two changing screens and a plain bench; the lighting effects are “on” and “off”), Martindale focuses almost entirely on Dickens’s florid language and hypnotic imagery. She and her two costars tell the story with candor and simplicity, much as your extroverted friends might at their annual holiday party. Some of the stage conventions are decidedly wonky (actors are perpetually ducking behind the tiny screens to “change characters” when all they’re typically doing is donning a new hats or scarves), but hearing the story without the typical overworked theatrical trappings is refreshing. —JUSTIN HAYFORD Through 12/18: Fri 8 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Indian Boundary Park, 2500 W. Lunt, 773-764-0338, furytheatre.org, $20, $15 students and seniors, $10 children under ten. The Curious Incident of the R Dog in the Night-Time It’s been so long since I’ve seen a Broadway

touring show dare to be disagreeable (intentionally so, anyway) that I’d forgotten such a thing was possible. Sure, some, like Once or Fun Home, have their dark quirks and traumas. But Marianne Elliott’s staging of this Simon Stephens play—adapted from the novel by Mark Haddon—goes further, pushing unrelentingly at times to reproduce the disorientation suﬀered by an autistic teen, Christopher, as he attempts to cope with a series of shocks. We get loud, harsh noises; bright, harsh lights; unparseable messages shooting by us; and at one point a near-literal explosion of language. Yet we’re also shown the mechanisms by means of which Christopher harnesses his disability for the work at hand. More, we’re allowed to empathize as his nominally normal parents do some coping of their own.

The Curious Incident is to some extent a detective story, but, like all the best whodunits, its real subject is the mind of the detective. —TONY ADLER Wed 2 and 7:30 PM, Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 2 and 8 PM, Sun 2 PM; see website for extra matinee and evening performances, Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph, 800-775-2000, broadwayinchicago.com, $25-$98. Godspell This sweet, unpretenR tious revival of Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak’s 1971 folk-

ever crossed paths with Captain Kirk or Captain Picard, this is an incredibly unique take on a holiday classic. Written by Christopher Kidder-Mostrom and Sasha Warren and directed John Gleason Teske for E.D.G.E. Theatre, this is the ﬁrst play to be performed entirely in hilariously guttural Klingon, a constructed language that ﬁrst appeared in Star Trek. The story is an appropriately violent and courageous Klingon adaptation of the Dickens tale, with miserly main character SQuja’ receiving a ghostly visit from his deceased partner MarlI’ and harrowing glimpses of his past, present and future. As the Vulcan narrator, Aly Grauer is the perfect deadpan foil to the boisterous Klingon cast. —MARISSA OBERLANDER Through 12/18: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 2 PM, Heartland Studio Theatre, 7016 N. Glendwood, 773-791-2393, theatre.edgeoforion.com, $20.

rock musical adapted from the New Testament (speciﬁcally the parables in the Books of Matthew and Luke) began as a student production last May at Carthage College. Now, in a professional incarnation from new company Red Crescendo and directed by Dan Brennan, it retains the fresh-faced, ensemble feel of a heartfelt college production. Some of the acting is rough, and not all of the singing is virtuosic, but the production, performed to guitar, keyboard, and simple percussion, is moving, sincere, and bursting with life. Christian Aldridge and Alex Johnson are standouts as, respectively, Jesus and John the Baptist/ Judas. Three days later the show was still stuck in my head. —JACK HELBIG Through 12/18: Sat-Sun 2 PM; also Thu 12/15, 7 PM, Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee, 773-598-4549,facebook. com/RedCrescendoTheatre, $12.

on the 225-year-old singspiel (opera with spoken dialogue) while keeping the libretto and enchanting score intact. The conceit is that a bunch of kids are staging the opera in a “typical” (if idyllic) suburban backyard in mid-20th-century America, with their neighbors as both cast members and audience. The set consists of a life-size two-story house that revolves on Lyric’s giant new turntable; Snow White and other Disney shows are major design inﬂuences. This could get too cute in a hurry, but it all works, thanks to director Neil Armﬁeld’s clever use of a large, talented cast that includes kids and dogs along with divas like Christiane Karg as Pamina, the princess in distress, and Kathryn Lewek

Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde The defamation lawsuit Oscar Wilde brought against the Marquess of Queensbury in 1895 resulted later that year in Wilde’s own imprisonment, with hard labor, for “gross indecency,” a euphemism for homosexuality. Moisés Kaufman’s theatrical rendition of these proceedings, here staged by Promethean Theatre Ensemble, is essentially a dossier of excerpts from Wilde’s trial transcripts and subsequent documents. Wilde comes across as a martyred Christ ﬁgure, his Dionysian aphorisms transformed into ringing platitudes of inclusivity. As righteous indignation swells in our throats, though, something embarrassing happens: Wilde insists, in quotation after quotation, that moral grandstanding has no place in art. And yet the play itself is as emphatically

The Magic Flute o TODD ROSENBERG

The Magic Flute Lyric Opera’s R new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute puts a baby-boomer frame

as her malicious mom, the Queen of the Night. Matthew Polenzani will replace Andrew Staples as Prince Tamino for the last seven performances. In German with surtitles, but this production is so American, they should be doing it in English. —DEANNA ISAACS Through 1/27: Sat 12/10, Mon 12/12, Wed 12/13, and Fri 1/6, 7:30 PM; Sun 1/18 and Thu 1/12, 2 PM; Sat 1/14 and Wed 1/25, 2 PM; Fri 1/27, 7:30 PM, Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker, 312-332-2244, lyricopera.org, $17-$329. Miracle on 34th Street: A R Radio Play If you love the classic 1947 movie, you’ll enjoy this radio-play version of Miracle on 34th Street, in which a little girl who doesn’t believe in Santa encounters the real deal, a ﬁll-in for a drunk Claus at Macy’s. Not only does her jaded divorced mother fall in love, but he gives the girl what she most dreams of—a house in Long Island. That all this transpires in under six weeks is better not pondered, and the same goes for the rather dark subplot (considered delusional, Santa is committed to Bellevue and, later, put on trial). But of course, this isn’t meant for cultural analysis; it’s a feel-good holiday story celebrating those essential intangibles: love, hope, and happiness ever after. —SUZANNE SCANLON Through 12/18: Sat 5 and 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, The Artistic Home, 1376 W. Grand, 312-243-3963, theartistichome.org, $20, $10 children 12 and under.

Screw It: Doin’ Time on the R Line In 1998, when Tim Campos started working at a Ford Motor

Company plant in Saline, Michigan, you might go nuts on the assembly line but you’d at least be well compensated for it. By the time he left Ford—in 2007, on the eve of the Great Recession—sales were down and the smarter employees were taking buyouts. Campos’s 60-minute autobiographical monologue oﬀers a shop-ﬂoor view of those years of dysfunction and disintegration, covering colleagues like Lurch and Skeletor, “Ford cocktails” made with vodka and Gatorade, elaborate system-gaming techniques, and the peculiar culture of what Campos variously characterizes as

Best bets, recommendations, and notable arts and culture events for the week of December 15

DANCE

Ensign. Sun 12/18, 3-5 PM, Presidio, 1749 N. Damen, 773-697-3315, presidiochicago. com.

The Nutcracker Christopher R Wheeldon’s update of the classic for the Joﬀrey Ballet. See review page

Twist Your Dickens o TODD ROSENBERG a prison, a bazaar, and a metal-roofed city where workers do the “blue-collar dance” of putting together Lincoln Continental dashboards, for instance, at the rate of one every 44 seconds. A good deal of what he shows us is as ugly as it is funny. But under Antoine McKay’s direction, it’s always vivid and engaging. —TONY ADLER Through 12/22: Thu 8 PM, McKaw Theater, 1439 W. Jarvis, 773-6557197, mckayarts.net, $15. Steampunk Christmas Carol The thinking goes that at least one person, or one thing, is about to go through some sort of conversion whenever you stumble upon a Christmas-related performance. None of them is perhaps more famous than Ebenezer Scrooge, the old miser of Charles Dickens’s classic A Christmas Carol. To be sure, that still holds true in E.D.G.E. Theatre’s steampunk version, which sees Scrooge living amongst robots and new-age machines. If we’re being honest, though, nothing about this little wrinkle adds anything especially novel; Scrooge is a grump, the ghosts are the ghosts, and the outlook for Tiny Tim isn’t good. But I would see this show again for its performers, all of whom charm. —MATT DE LA PEÑA 12/9-12/18: Fri 8 PM, Sat 2 PM, Sun 8 PM, Heartland Studio Theatre, 7016 N. Glenwood, 773791-2393, theatre.edgeoforion.com, $20.

Twist Your Dickens If you’ve been inside a theater this month, you’ve noticed that softheaded sentimentality of the sort few could stomach during the rest of the year is not only expected but cheered. Apply an ounce of skepticism to the calculated onslaught of simulated “Christmas spirit” and you’re a Grinch. So it’s no surprise my blackened heart grew three sizes when Jacob Marley’s ghost ﬁrst appeared in this Goodman/ Second City Christmas Carol parody, and all Scrooge could blurt out was “Fuck you!” Granted, the two-hour show goes on far too long, putting not only Dickens but A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, the Rankin-Bass Rudolph, TV commercials, and Hollywood producers in the crosshairs. But the top-shelf improvisers provide a welcome antidote to all the unavoidable Christmassy bullshit around town. —JUSTIN HAYFORD Through 12/30: Wed-Thu 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 4 and 8 PM (no show 12/24 and 12/31), Sun 3 and 7 PM (no show 12/25); also Tue 12/13 and 12/20, 7:30 PM; Mon 12/26, 3 and 7 PM, Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, 312443-3800, goodmantheatre.org, $25-$53.

22. Through 12/30: Wed-Fri 7 PM, SatSun 2 and 7 PM, Tue 7 PM; also Wed 12/21-Fri 12/23, 2 PM; Mon 12/26, 2 and 7 PM; and Tue 12/27, 2 PM, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, 800-982-2787, joﬀrey.org, $35-$170.

Tidings of Tap Chicago Tap TheR atre’s annual holiday performance. Sun 12/18, 3 PM, North Shore Center for

the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, 847-673-6300, chicagotaptheatre. com, $24-$40.

COMEDY R

Curio Show: The Cult of the Body The return of this variety show hosted by Irene Marquette features Wes Perry, Christina Seo, Darling Shear, Amber Gerencher, Mary Cait Walthall, Sierra DuFault, Rebecca Krasny, and Max Lazerine, all exploring the body. A portion of ticket sales beneﬁts Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. Fri 12/16, 10:30 PM, iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury, ioimprov.com/chicago, $10.

We Wish You a Scary Christmas This comedy showcase hosted by Ghouldini (Nicky Martin) features more than 30 local comics taking down Christmas. Proceeds beneﬁt the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Fri 12/16, 9 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-2274433, hideoutchicago.com, $5.

Britt Julious in Funny Ha Ha o COURTESY THE HIDEOUT

Funny Ha Ha Claire Zulkey’s R humor reading series returns with guests Andrew Huﬀ, Britt Julious,

the Reader’s Anne Ford, and more. Proceeds beneﬁt Sit! Stay! Read! Fri 12/16, 6:30 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433, hideoutchicago.com, $10 suggested donation.

Third Annual Curbside Yuletide R Book Party The night features literary-themed cocktails, snacks, and readings from Curbside authors includ-

For more of the best things to do every day of the week, go to chicagoreader. com/agenda. frustrated father (Benoît Poelvoorde). Imagining him as God and herself as Jesus’s kid sister, she vows revenge and hits the streets to recruit a homeless man as her Peter and various other lost souls as her disciples. The movie’s ready visual wit often recalls that of French filmmaker Michel Gondry (in the local laundromat, the father climbs into a clothes dryer and enters an epic tunnel), but Van Dormael also works his way through a vivid philosophical gag: the girl accesses the father’s computer and sends out an e-mail blast telling each of God’s children the exact moment he or she will die, which leads many people to reconsider and reorder their lives. Catherine Deneuve plays one of the disciples, a cultured woman who learns her years are numbered and tumbles into an impetuous affair with a circus gorilla. In French with subtitles. —J.R. JONES 115 min. Fri 12/16-Sat 12/17, 1:45, 7:15, and 9:30 PM; Sun 12/18, 1:45 and 7:15 PM; and Mon 12/19-Thu 12/22, 1:45, 7:15, and 9:30 PM. Music Box Collateral Beauty I can’t pin the misfire of this bathetic Will Smith vehicle on any one production element, but Allan Loeb’s muddled screenplay

VISUAL ARTS Chicago Cultural Center “Portraits Real and Imaginary,” paintings and drawings by George C. Clark. Opening reception Thu 12/22, 4-6:30 PM. 12/162/10. Mon-Thu 8 AM-7 PM, Fri 8 AM-6 PM, Sat 9 AM-6 PM, Sun 10 AM-6 PM. 78 E. Washington, 312-744-6630, chicagoculturalcenter.org. Museum of Contemporary Art “Riot Grrrls,” a group exhibition featuring female artists—including Mary Heilmann, Judy Ledgerwood, and Charline von Heyl—responding to sexism in the art world. 12/17-6/4. Tue 10 AM-8 PM, Wed-Sun 10 AM-5 PM. 220 E. Chicago, 312-280-2660, mcachicago.org, $12, $7 students and seniors, free kids 12 and under and members of the military, free for Illinois residents on Tuesdays.

LIT

Cocktails for Ding Dongs A R celebration of the release of mixologist Dustin Drankiewicz’s recipe

book featuring illustrations by Alexandra

La La Land o DALE ROBINETTE ing Tony Fitzpatrick, Gina Frangello, and Zoe Zolbrod. Tue 12/20, 6:30-9 PM, Revival Food Hall, 125 S. Clark, revivalfoodhall.com.

MOVIES

More at chicagoreader.com/movies NEW REVIEWS The Brand New Testament Cheerily sacrilegious, this inventive comic fantasy by Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael (The Eighth Day) is narrated by a tenyear-old girl in Brussels (Pili Groyne) who’s neglected by her drunken mother (Yolande Moreau) and beaten by her

demonstrates how some things can never be ﬁxed in the editing room. A hotshot advertising executive (Smith), overcome by grief after the death of his six-year-old daughter, becomes a liability to his ﬁrm; to push him out, his partners (Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Michael Peña) hire stage actors to play metaphysical antagonists—Death (Helen Mirren), Love (Keira Knightley), and Time (Jacob Latimore)—and surreptitiously record their interactions with the father in hope of proving him mentally unbalanced. The premise stretches credulity even before the actors start giving the conspirators personal advice that sounds suspiciously otherworldly. David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) directed. —ANDREA GRONVALL PG-13, W

Never miss a show again.

EARLY WARNINGS chicagoreader.com/early

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 5

AGENDA

Things to Come o CG CINÉMA B 97 min. Block 37, ArcLight, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Webster Place La La Land When Damien R Chazelle tried to resurrect the movie musical with his debut

feature, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009), he was constrained by the modest means of a Canadian indie; now, having made a name for himself with the Oscar-nominated jazz drama Whiplash (2014), he returns to the challenge with $30 million behind him, and the result is dazzling. The story, a star-crossed romance between a down-and-out actress (Emma Stone) and a brooding jazzbo (Ryan Gosling), may echo Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York (1977) and, earlier still, George Cukor’s A Star Is Born (1954). But the musical numbers are distinctly Minnellian in their sense of lovers being swept away by the whirlwind of their mutual regard; in one particularly grand scene, shot inside the planetarium of the Griﬃth Observatory, the characters glide into a pas de deux and ascend into the heavens. With John Legend, J.K. Simmons, and Rosemarie DeWitt. —J.R. JONES PG-13, 128 min. ArcLight, Landmark’s Century Centre

National Bird Documentary maker Sonia Kennebeck proﬁles three U.S. military veterans connected to the drone war in Afghanistan who have spoken out publicly against the program. Heather, a former drone imagery analyst, suﬀers from PTSD after watching remote video of people carrying away the body parts of loved ones; Daniel, a former signals intelligence analyst turned political activist, chooses his words carefully on camera to protect himself from prosecution but learns nonetheless that the government is investigating him under the Espionage Act; and Lisa, a former tech sergeant on a

6 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

drone surveillance system, returns to Afghanistan to meet civilians victimized by U.S. strikes. The three subjects’ personal stories don’t really add up to a coherent critique of drone warfare, but their various experiences allow Kennebeck to attack the subject from multiple angles—not only its cruelty to innocent bystanders and its potential for tragic error, but also its role in the growth of pernicious global surveillance. —J.R. JONES 92 min. Fri 12/16, 6 PM; Sat 12/17, 7:45 PM; Sun 12/18, 5:30 PM; Mon 12/19, 7:45 PM; Tue 12/20, 8:30 PM; Wed 12/21, 6 PM; and Thu 12/22, 8:30 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center Rogue One: A Star Wars Story In this prequel to the original Star Wars (1977), a band of heroic rebels steal the Galactic Empire’s plan for a Death Star (which Princess Leia will later deliver to Obi Wan Kenobi). Except for a few jocose, fan-serving moments, the movie is a dour affair, lacking the charm and chills of J.J. Abrams’s spirited Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), not to mention George Lucas’s founding trilogy. Director Gareth Edwards, best known for the 2014 reboot Godzilla, focuses on the tense and visually splendid action sequences, and the performances suffer. As leaders of the rebel group, Felicity Jones and Diego Luna seem lost, while Forest Whitaker chews the scenery as a veteran of the Clone Wars who has turned into Colonel Kurtz; Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, and Ben Mendelsohn all buckle down and fare slightly better. —LEAH PICKETT PG-13, 134 min. Block 37, ArcLight, Century 12 and CineArts 6, Cicero Showplace 14, City North 14, Crown Village 18, Ford City, Lake, Logan, River East 21, Showplace 14 Galewood Crossings, Showplace ICON, 600 N. Michigan, Webster Place A Stray Minneapolis has the R largest population of Somali-Americans in the country, many of them refugees, and this drama by Kashmiri-American filmmaker Musa Syeed (Valley of Saints)

depicts the community with substance and nuance. A Somali immigrant (Barkhad Abdirahman of Captain Phillips) wanders the streets with his scruﬀy white dog after his mother kicks him out, his friends refuse to take him in, and a local mosque rejects him on the grounds that the canine is impure. His misfortunes lead him to question his Muslim faith and the concept of inherent goodness, and an FBI agent takes advantage of his spiritual crisis to recruit him as an informant. Despite the touchy subject matter, Syeed avoids preaching and instead focuses on the protagonist’s dayto-day struggle; the understated drama beneﬁts also from Yoni Brook’s crisp cinematography and Abdirahman’s multifaceted performance. In English and Somali with subtitles. —LEAH PICKETT 82 min. Syeed attends the 7 and 9 PM screenings on Saturday and the 5 and 7 PM screenings on Sunday. Fri 12/16, 7 and 9 PM; Sat 12/17, 5, 7, and 9 PM; Sun 12/18, 5 and 7 PM; and Mon 12/19–Thu 12/22, 7 and 9 PM. Facets Cinematheque Things to Come IsaR belle Huppert stars as a respected philosophy professor

whose field of study comes in handy when her husband of many years, played by André Marcon, announces that he’s moving in with a younger woman; as if this weren’t enough, the professor’s mentally ill mother, played by Édith Scob, begins to go off the rails, requiring her constant attention. Written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden, Goodbye, First Love), this French drama gives Huppert a brilliant, Rousseau- quoting character to play around with, and she saunters through the role, finding fresh moments in every scene. Hansen-Løve, almost three decades younger than her illustrious star, focuses on the professor’s relationships with young people—her two grown children; her lively and devoted students; a young writer who offers the vague prospect of May-December romance—and these contribute to Huppert’s portrait of a woman who, despite her advanced years, finds herself perched on the edge of discovery. In French with subtitles. —J.R. JONES PG-13, 102 min. For listings visit chicagoreader.com/movies.

SPECIAL EVENTS A Very Merry Terror in the Aisles Christmas Local horror cultists Terror in the Aisles present a yuletide triple feature: at 5 PM, John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982); at 7 PM, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), with star Mark Patton in person; and at 9 PM, Carpenter’s They Live (1988). Tickets are $15. Sun 12/18, 5 PM. Brew & View at the Vic v

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 7

CITY LIFE

“When I walk into a room, the assumption is that I’m not from here,” Aly says. o DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS

street View

Splitting hairs

Chicagoans

The digital communications manager and Muslim

o ISA GIALLORENZO

Eman Hassaballa Aly, 37

“I DRESS BASED ON how I’m feeling that day, and I create music based on how I feel as well,” singer-songwriter Tatiana Hazel says. “As for my hair, the theme of my upcoming single is split personality, so I dyed it split colors.” Check out her eclectic style on Instagram (@tatianahazel) and listen to her music at soundcloud.com/tatianahazel. —ISA GIALLORENZO See more Chicago street style on chicagolooks.blogspot.com

MOST OF THE TIME, I just call it a head scarf. “Hijab” means “barrier,” and it feeds into problematic conversations, because people start saying that it is protection, that it protects you from rape, and then things get very victim blaming. But “hijab” is the word everybody uses. My parents are from Egypt, and I was born and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. My mom never pressured us, but she hoped that by the time my sister and I got our periods we would wear a head scarf. I was always like, “Nah, I want to do my hair and wear makeup in high school, so maybe I’ll do it after high school.” Then, in the sixth grade, I had a tough, tough year. There were only a handful of brown kids in my school, and I was a chubby kid, very shy. My mom was trying to convince us that the next year we should go to an Islamic school instead. To visit that school and see what it was like, we had to cover our hair. I felt so comfortable that I decided that day, “I’m just going to wear the head scarf.” I’ve never looked back since. In public, nobody really talks to me. When I used to take Metra to

work, it was hard to get anybody to sit by me, even when I had a good seat on a busy train. And when I walk into a room, the assumption is that I’m not from here. I used to live in Elgin, and one day I was at Jewel and some lady said, “How do you like it here?” I said, “Here . . . in Elgin?” She said, “Here in America.” I said, “I love it, because it’s the only place I know.” I try to project my identity and my American-ness past the head scarf. Like, I’ll talk about how cheeseburgers are my favorite food, or how I love Twitter. It’s exhausting. Sometimes I think, “Everything I do is going to reﬂect on Muslims,” but sometimes I think, “Eff it.” When I drive a little aggressively, my husband says, “You gotta respect the thing that’s on your head.” I say, “I reject that. I’m way more than just my head scarf. I’m not going to be boiled down to that.” The morning after the presidential election, I was on my way to work and some woman looked at me and smiled and looked away, and then she shook her head and frowned, like, “Oh, man.” It was like a sad apology, a sympathetic “This is so horrifying a thing that

happened.” Thankfully, I haven’t had anybody say anything to me. My husband is a finance manager at a car dealership. He’s Egyptian, and he has an accent, and a customer called to speak to him. He called her back and left a message, and she drove to the dealership, found a white employee, and said, “Why does your ﬁnance manager have an accent?” I feel like that’s something people feel that they can say postelection. I heard about the safety-pin thing, and I was like, “OK, that’s great.” I’m not gonna shit on somebody’s gesture of support. If people are putting on a safety pin to make themselves feel better—whatever, I don’t care. I look at it as a net gain. I’ve been trying to get my anxiety under control. The problem is, I’m in this echo chamber. Fear is just bouncing off the walls, and I don’t even know where to go to get out of it. A group of my friends was texting, “Are you guys gonna get your documents and cash together in case we have to leave in a hurry?” I’m not doing that. I’m not going anywhere. This is my country as much as everybody else’s. —AS TOLD TO ANNE FORD

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

SURE THINGS

THURSDAY 15

FRIDAY 16

SATURDAY 17

SUNDAY 18

MONDAY 19

TUESDAY 20

WEDNESDAY 21

♥My Love Is Your Love This special edition of Slo ’Mo, the dance party featuring “slow jams for homos (and their fans),” marks the ﬁnal time cofounder DJ Tess spins as Slo ’Mo’s resident DJ. 8 PM-2 AM, Whistler, 2421 N. Milwaukee, slomoparty. com. F

ô Christmas Queens Michelle Visage hosts this touring holiday show featuring seasonal performances from former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants Detox, Ginger Minj, Jiggly Caliente, Katya, Manila Luzon, Sharon Needles, and Thorgy Thor. 8 PM, the Vic, 3145 N. Sheﬃeld, jamusa.com, $38.50-$99.50.

9 Kandy Kane Ball This year’s toy drive features music from Sorry for Partying and DJ Gusto, an open bar, and snacks in a Frozeninspired setting. Toy donation required for entry. 9 PMmidnight, Joe’s Bar, 940 W. Weed, joesbar.com, $50.

ñ Made in Chicago Holiday Market The Reader hosts this showcase of the best apparel, housewares, food, and drink from more than 70 local vendors including Four Eyes Handmade, One Strange Bird, and Rhymes With Twee. 11 AM6 PM, Plumbers Hall, 1340 W. Washington, chicagoreader. com. F

& Experiential Dinner Holiday Party Chef Patricio Sandoval prepares a ﬁvecourse meal inspired by Casamigos Tequila, featuring cocktail pairings with each course. 6-9 PM, Mercadito Chicago, 108 W. Kinzie, mercaditorestaurants.com, $75.

 Drink N Draw This month Star Wars-themed models pose to inspire artists of all levels and mediums. Costumes are welcome, and as always, there will be plenty to drink. 8-10 PM, Emporium Arcade Bar, 1366 N. Milwaukee, emporiumchicago.com, $10-$15 suggested donation.

¸ Nerdette Live! Tricia Bobeda and Greta Johnsen host this holiday celebration featuring guests Joe and Kris Swanberg, holiday-themed cocktails, scenes from A Klingon Christmas Carol, and numbers from Chicago Tap Theatre’s Tidings of Tap. 8 PM, Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln, 773-8713000, wbez.org, $25.

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www.open-books.org DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 9

CITY LIFE A cyclocross race in Big Marsh in October 2014. Advocates want the city to build safer cycling routes into the park. o JOHN GREENFIELD

TRANSPORTATION

Park avenues

Finally, CDOT plans safer cycling access to Big Marsh. By JOHN GREENFIELD

ast month, under sapphire skies and with temperatures in the upper 60s, more than 1,000 people turned out for the grand opening of Big Marsh, the 278-acre southeast-side nature reserve and bike park located on the east side of Lake Calumet. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Park District superintendent Michael Kelly, and Tenth Ward alderman Susan Sadlowski Garza were there along with activists from Slow Roll Chicago, which promotes cycling in underserved communities, and We Keep You Rollin’, an Altgeld Gardens-based bike group. After cutting the ribbon, Emanuel grabbed a bike and pedaled around the path that circles the “pump track,” a series of dirt hills and jumps for BMX riders. Cycling advocates are generally thrilled with Big Marsh—which will eventually include facilities for mountain biking, cyclocross, and casual trail riding—but have repeatedly expressed concerns about how dangerous it can be to ride to the park, because nearby roads have high-speed traffic and/or large numbers

10 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

of trucks. (Big Marsh isn’t directly accessible by public transit.) Now, however, there’s some good news on this front. At last week’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting at City Hall, the Chicago Department of Transportation announced plans for bike lanes on some key roadways leading to the reserve. Next year, buffered bike lanes will be installed on Cottage Grove Avenue between 93rd and 115th, a route that’s somewhat useful for cyclists approaching Big Marsh from the north. Then, in late 2017 or early 2018, Stony Island, which skirts the east side of Lake Calumet and provides the only direct access to the reserve’s entrance, will get bike lanes between its intersection with Doty Avenue (on the west side of the lake), just south of 103rd, and 122nd, in conjunction with a repaving project. And as early as 2018, Torrence Avenue—part of the most direct routes to Big Marsh from the Altgeld Gardens area to the southwest and Hegewisch to the southeast—will get bike lanes between 100th and 126th.

CDOT is also planning to add bike lanes to the two-lane stretch of 103rd Street from Michigan Avenue west to Vincennes at a yetto-be-determined date. “[The bike-lane construction] is never as fast as anyone would like it to be,” says CDOT staffer Mike Amsden, who manages the agency’s bikeway program. “But it is a priority for us.” During the meeting, Friends of Big Marsh director Jay Readey said that his group’s ultimate goal is to connect the four corners of the reserve to off-street paths such as the Major Taylor Trail, the Burnham Greenway, and the Cal-Sag Trail via safe routes. One problem area, Ready noted, is the connection between the Pullman neighborhood and Doty. This requires cyclists to pedal up and down access ramps for I-94 at 111th or 115th in order to cross the highway. That’s a dangerous—and technically illegal—maneuver. “We’ve got to figure out some kind of protected-lane solution,” Ready said. Big Marsh was built on a former steel mill slag-dumping site. The roughly 44-acre bike park opened this year on the most heavily polluted portion of the property, and environmental remediation is still under way on the remaining 234 acres, a patchwork of open water, marshes, prairie, and woodland. While Big Marsh is sure to attract cyclists and nature lovers from across the Chicago region and beyond, it’s also intended as a recreational and educational resource for residents of nearby neighborhoods. These are mostly low-income African-American and Latino communities with low rates of car ownership. Transportation advocacy groups thus applauded the city’s bike-lane announcement as a step towards making Big Marsh fully accessible to nearby residents. “We’re very heartened to hear the plans by CDOT to improve conditions for biking on surrounding streets,” says Active Trans advocacy director Jim Merrell. “Ensuring local communities don’t have to rely on driving to access Big Marsh and other new parks is a big priority for us.” “I was extremely happy to hear that there are plans to add a bike lane to Stony Island,” says Slow Roll’s Dan Black. “We have done many rides within the surrounding communities of Roseland, West Pullman, [the Altgeld Gardens area], Hegewisch, and South Deer-

ing, and throughout those rides we’ve been aware of the lack of bike resources in these communities.” In the more distant future, the Big Marsh Access Action Plan, which Active Trans created last year with input from Slow Roll and the Pullman Porter Museum, calls for building side paths along 130th and 103rd Streets near Lake Calumet and constructing a bike-andpedestrian bridge across the lake near 115th Street. The latter strategy would provide a signiﬁcant shortcut from the west and would eliminate the need for cyclists to share the road with trucks on Doty and Stony Island. This won’t be an option, however, until the lake, which is bordered by the Port of Chicago and the private Harborside golf course, is ofﬁcially opened up for public recreational use.

“[The bike-lane construction] is never as fast as anyone would like it to be, but it is a priority for us.” —CDOT staffer Mike Amsden

The access plan also recommends creating an eastern entrance to the park, which would shorten travel time for those approaching from Torrence. Black says Slow Roll will continue to work with southeast-side organizations and advocates to make sure that people who live near the reserve—and who stand to potentially benefit the most from it—have safe access. “Any work we do around Big Marsh will first prioritize equity and community ownership of the planning process,” Black says, “as well as a healthy respect for the communities, culture, and history that have made Big Marsh the treasure it is today.” It’s great that the city has finally responded to calls for equitable access to the newest gem in Chicago’s biking crown. But a lot more work remains, and it’ll likely require persistent advocacy to make sure it all gets done. v

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

Read Derrick Clifton’s columns throughout the week at chicagoreader.com.

CITY LIFE Trevante Rhodes stars as Chiron in Moonlight o DAVID BORNFRIEND

IDENTITY & CULTURE

Light from the darkness Moonlight poses a compelling question. By DERRICK CLIFTON

hen I finally saw the film Moonlight—now nominated for six Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture-Drama—I couldn’t watch it with any sense of comfort or detachment. After about 45 minutes in the theater, I realized I’d been sitting with my fist balled up against my lips. I sat frozen like that until the lights came on. It wasn’t to keep myself from emoting with so much fervor that I might annoy or disturb fellow moviegoers. Rather, at almost every turn, I held a deep suspicion that something terrible or traumatizing would happen to Chiron, the film’s main character. Somehow, I had to brace myself—to protect myself. I wouldn’t call this intuition. It’s something more like expectation. I came of age on Chicago’s south side as a

young, black, queer person who often felt vulnerable about my place in the world. It’s similar, but not identical to what Chiron experiences, with the character coming of age in Miami’s impoverished Liberty City neighborhood. Like him, it didn’t take me long in life to realize that I was “different,” thanks in part to childhood bullies, bystanders who didn’t intervene, and callous authority ﬁgures who often looked the other way. Words like “soft” and “timid” or “sissy” and “gay” were deployed early on, not so much as labels as attempts to guide me away from developing even remotely feminine affinities, qualities, or character traits. The weight of those words—and the violence I knew could potentially reinforce them—pushed me to do whatever I could to keep my body—and, most of all, my spirit—safe. I learned to fortify. For Chiron, fortifying means learning to run and hide from his bullies, remaining as quiet

and inconspicuous as possible so that others will just let him be, and eventually building a fortress composed of rippling muscles, a dorag, grills, and a bosslike status on the streets. With age, and in different contexts, his protective mechanisms change. So did my own. I sought refuge with older adults and family members who engaged me without judgment, took self-defense classes, picked up sports, pretended to be attracted to girls for as long as I could, and sought to overachieve so that I’d be self-sufficient and respectable. But it was never enough. There’s a hidden danger, I’ve learned, in living and coping this way. When your identities are labeled dangerous or undesirable, those soul-murdering messages get internalized as a call to jettison your “bad” parts. And often we do—for the sake of survival. At a certain point, constantly policing your marginalized iden-

tities can mean running farther and farther away from yourself. In the purging, a message resounds: “I, in my truest state of being, am not worthy of love.” Moonlight’s most powerful moments—such as when Chiron learns how to swim and float in the water—are both visually striking and symbolically rich. Its performances soar, including that of Mahershala Ali as Juan, whose tenderness and care for Chiron complicates most tropes about drug dealers. Or that of Naomie Harris as Paula, Chiron’s mother and a woman who, as Robert Jones Jr. wrote in Essence, is “dealing with her own demons and torn between her love for him and her fear of what he is.” But what I appreciated most about the film was how—in its simplicity, and in the way it prioritized intense emotion over extended dialogue—Moonlight encouraged me to continue grappling with a question: If I strip away my self-protecting veneer, who am I underneath? In the film, a similar question is posed in a conversation between Chiron and his closest childhood friend, Kevin. During their formative years, each man copes with expectations of black manhood differently. Eventually they share a sexual encounter. But their parallel paths diverge after one of Chiron’s bullies force them into a violent confrontation—a physical pissing match of sorts. When they meet again as adults, they’ve changed. Kevin—who also desired women as a teenager—has an ex and a baby. Meanwhile, Chiron has hardened his exterior, embodying Juan’s model of masculinity. He’s nothing like he was before. Then, Kevin renders the all-important question: “Who is you, Chiron?” The hard work involved in arriving at an answer may take Chiron months or years— perhaps a lifetime. We don’t get to witness him doing this work before the film ends. But it’s labor he’s worthy of doing—and that we’re worthy of doing for ourselves. By working our way through the forces that have caused us to suppress who we are, we can begin a journey toward truly loving ourselves, knowing we’re worthy of love from others, and maybe even being able to share our love with those who need it. And bit by bit, after navigating so much darkness, we allow the light of our true essence to shine even brighter. v

ß @DerrickClifton DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 11

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CITY LIFE A high-end development at Armitage and Campbell sparked protests last month. o MAYA DUKMASOVA

NA I L JOBSC H ICAG O.C OM

EVICTION

The leaseless tenant

On the northwest side, eviction and gentriﬁcation go hand in hand. By MAYA DUKMASOVA

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12 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

n a frigid Saturday morning in November, 62-year-old Rosalinda Hernandez stood in front of a luxury apartment building construction site in Logan Square, portable speaker system in tow. Shivering in the gusts of cold wind, she led upbeat chants, as dozens of protesters marched in a circle in front of the site: “Moreno, amigo, amigo de los ricos!”—“Moreno, friend, friend of the rich!”—they chanted about First Ward alderman Proco Joe Moreno. “Que quiere Moreno? Nuestro dinero!”—“What does Moreno want? Our money!” Nearby, members of the antigentrification group Somos Logan Square chained themselves to cement-ﬁlled barrels to obstruct construction equipment and prevent a crew of workers from making progress on the building’s exterior. The protest was held to boycott this particular development at the corner of Armitage and Campbell—which, when completed, will have 78 units, with studios starting at $1,300 per month—but also to call attention to the continual pressure on the neighborhood’s low-income residents. Some of the protesters were home owners who have seen their property taxes soar in recent years. Others, like Hernandez, were renters squeezed out of the market through evictions.

According to recent reporting by WBEZ, eviction filings in Cook County have climbed steadily since the 2008 recession, a spike driven by evictions of renters, not of home owners from foreclosed properties. In 2014—the most recent full year for which the Reader was able to obtain data—more than 18,400 total eviction cases were filed, up 20 percent from the approximately 15,300 evictions in 2008. During that time, about a third to a half of filings in any given year ended with the Cook County sheriff’s office actually conducting an eviction—in 2014 more than 8,000 households were forcibly removed, according to data obtained by the Reader via a Freedom of Information Act request. As the northwest side continues to gentrify, evictions in this part of town have become increasingly common, organizers say. And among those most vulnerable to eviction are immigrant renters who don’t have written leases. Hernandez’s eviction saga began last year when the owner of her four-unit apartment building at 2310 W. Grand, on the border of Humboldt Park and West Town, decided to sell. Originally from Mexico, Hernandez works domestic and janitorial jobs, and doesn’t speak much English. She had moved into a two-bedroom apartment with a rent of $500 per month eight years prior, and like many

of her neighbors, never had a written lease. In fact, since arriving to Chicago 26 years ago, she’s had only verbal agreements with landlords. “I didn’t know we had a right to a written contract,” Hernandez says through a translator. In summer 2015 Hernandez started hearing talk about the landlord selling the building, she says. Then, in August, a no-cause eviction notice was slipped under the door of her secondﬂoor apartment, informing her that she needed to vacate the unit by the end of the month. In Chicago, when tenants rent without a lease, a landlord can ask them to leave without cause with 30 days’ notice. If the renter doesn’t leave when the 30 days are up, the landlord can initiate eviction proceedings in court. But the notice slipped under Hernandez’s door was addressed to her downstairs neighbor. So, thinking the landlord had made a mistake, Hernandez ignored it. Then, in early October, “my landlord gave me [verbal] notice that if I didn’t leave in 24 hours they were going to throw out me and my belongings,” Hernandez says. “I tried to pay my rent, and they told me that I had to leave.” Threats of tenant expulsion made outside the court system are illegal in Chicago, even if the tenant doesn’t have a lease. If tenants don’t pay rent or violate the terms of their lease, a landlord can threaten eviction pro-

“I didn’t know we had a right to a written contract.” —Renter Rosalinda Hernandez

ceedings with a written notice delivered in person or by certified mail. Only the Cook County sheriff’s office can evict tenants and remove their belongings, however. And evictions can be carried out only after a landlord wins the case in court. The property management company for Hernandez’s building at that time, Tradekraft Property Services, maintains that all notices to Hernandez were served properly. “This lady was not paying the rent,” a representative from Tradekraft who identified himself only as Allan told the Reader. “She was

Rosalinda Hernandez was evicted from her West Town apartment in July. o MAYA DUKMASOVA

properly served; there’s no story here.” Hernandez maintains that she never fell behind on her rent and that the demands for her to leave the apartment started around the same time as the building went on the market. The day after Hernandez says she was threatened, organizers from Somos Logan Square helped her stage a mass call-in to Tradekraft asking the property manager to allow her to stay in the unit and reminding the company that it was illegal to try to force her out. The day after that, her building was sold. The buyer was 212 Developments—a small real estate company with a handful of properties scattered across the northwest side—which intended to rehab the building. Hernandez says the new owners never told her where to send future rent payments, so for the next three months she set her rent aside. At the end of December 2015, 212 served her with a ﬁve-day notice to pay her past-due rent or face eviction proceedings. Hernandez promptly delivered her back rent to the company’s office. Then, between January and April, conditions in Hernandez’s apartment deteriorated, she says—her heating wasn’t functioning, and there were cockroaches, broken plumbing, and other maintenance problems. Eventually 212 fixed the furnace, but the other issues persisted, Hernandez says, so she began withholding rent in an effort to force her landlord to address them. Tenants have this right under Chicago’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, which allows them to reduce rent payments equal to the reduced value of their unit due to persistent maintenance problems. But Hernandez’s strategy backﬁred. In April, 212 took her to eviction court on the grounds of nonpayment of rent. She ultimately lost her case, and was evicted by the sheriff’s office in July. “I think part of the reason I lost my case was because I was the only person still living in the

building when everyone else had left,” Hernandez says. All of her neighbors had either moved out on their own before the building sale was ﬁnalized or accepted money from 212 to move out. Renovations to Hernandez’s old building are now under way, but Lior Ben Zur, a co-owner of 212 Developments, declined to say how much the company would eventually charge for rent there, or how much the company charges for units at its other properties in Avondale, Bucktown, Wicker Park, and West Town. Still, he denied that the goal was to evict tenants like Hernandez in favor of tenants who could pay more. “I’m renting for a lot of people, from every kind of society and every income there is,” Ben Zur says. “I’m not looking to get low income out and high income in.” Nevertheless, the cost of renting Hernandez’s old apartment will likely be higher than the $500 per month she once paid. In 2014, median rents in the area were between $1,300 and $2,000 per month, according to Zillow Real Estate data compiled by the Tribune. There’s no official data on how many people in Chicago are living without leases, but organizers say it’s extremely common among the low-income immigrant populations they serve. “Almost every single person that our organization is working with, they don’t have a lease,” says Antonio Gutierrez of the Autonomous Tenants Union, a group that organizes renters in gentrifying Albany Park. Organizers with Somos described a similar situation in Logan Square and nearby neighborhoods increasingly attracting developers. And according to the DePaul Institute for Housing Studies, young people making $74,000 to $123,000 are the fastest-growing category of renters in Chicago. Hernandez makes less than $30,000. She found a new one-bedroom apartment in Humboldt Park, where she now lives with her son and nephew. For the ﬁrst time in her life she has a written lease, but her rent is now $835. Hernandez says she doesn’t know why the judge sided with her landlord in her eviction case. After losing, she decided not to appeal. There was no court reporter at her hearings, so there’s no record of the proceedings, the lack of which would have made it hard for her to argue on appeal that the judge may have acted unfairly or misinterpreted the law. Next week, we’ll look at what happens in eviction courts, and why tenants usually lose their cases. v

Gifts that keep you warm

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ß @mdoukmas DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 13

presents

Shop Local this Holiday! Sun 路 Dec 18 2016 路 11am-6pm 路 Chicago Plumbers Hall 路 1340 W Washington A curated event featuring 80 vendors. FREE T O THE PUBLIC | FREE PARK ING AVA IL ABLE | #M ADEINCHIC AGO For more information, visit ChicagoReader.com/MadeInChicago Vendors: for information, please contact Bburda@chicagoreader.com

14 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

Did the NBA blacklist legendary three-point shooter Craig Hodges because of his politics? In his new book, Long Shot: The Struggles and Triumphs of an NBA Freedom Fighter, the former Bulls player recounts how his on-court success was stopped short by his outspokenness.

By BEN JORAVSKY

t’s come to a point in the Rich East High School basketball practice where the coach, Craig Hodges, has seen enough and can take no more. The problem is pacing—his players are rushing and need to settle down. So he whistles practice to a halt and gathers the team to the sideline to hear what he has to say. “When you think of great players, the way they play, the game slows down,” he tells them. “The game is played at a conversational pace.” It’s quiet in the gym. The only sound you can hear is the players, chests heaving, trying to catch their breath. They’re listening intently to Hodges, but they look puzzled, as if they’re not sure exactly what he’s getting at. That coach, by the way, is the very same Craig Hodges you might remember as one of the greatest three-point shooters in the history of the NBA and a two-time champion with the Chicago Bulls. After spending the better part of the last two decades as a basketball nomad— playing or coaching everywhere from Italy to Nova Scotia—he’s returned home this season to coach his high school alma mater in Park Forest. Hodges left Rich East on excellent terms when he graduated in 1978. But with the Bulls? Almost 25 years ago, Hodges was unceremoniously dropped by the team. In the months that followed no NBA organization would give him a tryout or return his calls, much less sign him to a contract. “I was blacklisted for my beliefs,” he says today. The 56-year-old details the unusual arc of his basketball career in a forthcoming book, Long Shot: The Struggles and Triumphs of an NBA Freedom Fighter (cowritten with Rory Fanning, it will be published by Haymarket Books on January 24). With its sharp observations about Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and the state of race relations in the NBA, Long Shot is likely to cause a stir. The book will also revive a question, one that gets to the heart of a touchy subject in a league where most of the players are black and most of the owners, coaches, and general managers are white: Did the NBA drop Hodges because he was too old and slow to keep up with the competition, or was he banished for being an outspoken black man in an organization that prefers deference and docility? J

In September 1992, Craig Hodges (seated second from left) joined rappers Prince Akeem (pictured holding the microphone, second from right) and May May on Youth Empowerment Day at Operation PUSH headquarters. Hodges is not a Muslim but says that he “studies all religions.” o SUN-TIMES PRINT COLLECTION

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 15

CRAIG HODGES continued from 15

o understand the twists and turns in Hodges’s story you have to keep in mind what he considers the “two lanes” of his life. “Basketball and black people,” he’s told me several times. “Everything else is in the background.” First, the basketball lane. Growing up in the south suburbs, Hodges was an intensely driven athlete. “Craig and I played all sports as kids—basketball, football, baseball,” says Raymond McCoy, a childhood friend. “Day and night, man, we were out there playing. And he played hard.”

speaks reverentially about Winter, who’s been incapacitated for the last few years after suffering a stroke in 2009. “The three greatest coaches of all time are Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, and Tex Winter,” Hodges says. “Tex taught me about life. He never turned his back on me. I love the man.” In 1982, his senior year at Long Beach State, Hodges averaged 17.5 points per game, which was good enough to get him invited to the NBA’s predraft tryout, where the best college players show off their talents to a gym filled with scouts and coaches. In Long Shot, Hodges describes a scrimmage where he hit almost every jump shot while

ing to the top. He fit right in with the Bulls. More often than not Hodges was the guy in the corner, exuberantly bouncing up and down as he waited for someone, most likely Jordan, to pass him the ball out of the double team so he could fire up a shot. “Great shooter,” says Kevin Blackistone, a sports columnist for the Washington Post who’s been covering the NBA since the 1980s. “Every team needs a shooter like Hodges.” Hodges’s outside shot kept his career alive. By his estimation, he’s taken millions of practice shots over the years, developing a quick release that was as fast as any in the game. “In my opinion, he’s one of the greatest three-

ment with the Bulls was game six of the 1990 playoff series against the Detroit Pistons. With the Bulls facing elimination, and many of his younger teammates shaking in their boots, Hodges came off the bench to hit seven of nine shots, including four of four from the three-point line. In the postgame press conference, Detroit coach Chuck Daly made it clear who’d won the game for the Bulls. “We went to traps and left Hodges alone, and he really hurt us,” Daly told reporters. It was a familiar lament by rival coaches whose teams lost when the Bulls, rotating the ball, found Hodges in the corner. “Craig was ahead of his time,” Smith says. “With

Rich East High School basketball practice; Hodges (pictured with his arms crossed), the team’s coach, on the sidelines during practice o DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS

McCoy was one of the great high school basketball players of his generation—a McDonald’s All-American from Bloom Township High School. He and Hodges were two of the best Chicago-area basketball players of the late 70s—right up there with Isiah Thomas, Doc Rivers, and Mark Aguirre. At Rich East, Hodges played for Steve Fisher, who went on to make his reputation coaching the “Fab Five” at the University of Michigan in the early 1990s. After graduating from high school, Hodges was recruited by Tex Winter to play at Long Beach State University. Yes, that’s the same Tex Winter who helped develop the triangle offense and was an assistant coach under Phil Jackson, winning nine NBA championships, six with the Bulls and three with the Lakers. Hodges

16 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

the greats of the game—Auerbach and Jerry West among them—sat in the stands. In the ’82 NBA Draft, the San Diego Clippers selected Hodges in the third round—47 players were picked ahead of him. He entered the league with a chip on his shoulder, determined to prove coaches had made a mistake by not selecting him sooner. And so began six years during which he played for the Clippers, then the Milwaukee Bucks, and then the Phoenix Suns. Generally, he was a reserve—in his best years, he averaged about ten points a game. In December 1988 the Suns traded him to the Bulls, reuniting him with Winter, an assistant coach with the team, and putting Hodges on the same squad as Michael Jordan, then only 25, as the group was ascend-

point shooters,” says Sam Smith, who covered the Bulls for the Tribune and wrote The Jordan Rules, the best-selling book about the team’s 1991 championship season. Hodges had unshakable confidence in his shot, no matter how many he may have missed. “A lot of guys, they miss a few in a row, they don’t want the ball,” McCoy says. “Not Craig. He’s unafraid to take the shot.” Hodges won three consecutive threepoint contests—in 1990, ’91, and ’92—a feat duplicated only by Larry Bird. At the ’91 contest he put on a show for the ages: he hit 19 consecutive threes. With all the great three-point shooters since Hodges (Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, Stephen Curry), his record still stands. Perhaps Hodges’s most memorable mo-

the way the game’s developed, he’d be very valuable in today’s game, with the emphasis on the three-point shot.” Hodges agrees. “I could have played till I was 45 years old, especially now that the three is so important in many offenses,” he says. “I stayed in shape. I practiced all the time. I never lost my shot. There’s no great secret to this game. You need a guy who can put the ball in the basket.”

n retrospect, Hodges was a smart, hard-working overachiever, just like Danny Ainge, Scott Brooks, and Jeff Hornacek, to name a few of his peers, who all presently work as coaches or in the front office of NBA teams. Of course, these are white guys who’ve never

CRAIG HODGES expressed controversial Afrocentric views. Thus, what Hodges calls the “black lane” in his life. Raised in a middle-class family in Chicago Heights, Hodges was always encouraged to read, write, and speak his mind. His father, Saul Beck, was the mayor of Ford Heights. His mother, Ada Hodges, worked as a secretary for Union Pacific. His maternal grandfather, Bruce Hodges, was a prominent youth coach in Chicago Heights—the town named a park after him. And Craig’s aunt, Dorothy Hodges, is the retired principal of Jefferson Elementary, also in Chicago Heights. “My family was involved in civic groups and civil

lana “Ron” Karenga, a key figure in the Black Power movement of the late 1960s who invented Kwanzaa in 1966 and would go on to help organize the 1995 Million Man March. As the years wore on Hodges began to see his life “in the context of a greater struggle for my people,” he says. As a relatively well-paid, high-profile pro basketball player, he felt an obligation to deliver a message of “racial unity” and “black empowerment.” Among his teammates, Hodges earned a reputation for having informed opinions on virtually any subject. He frequently disarmed coaches and teammates by initiating

was talk of asking Hodges not to mention Allah in any postgame speech if he won.” In a funnier vein, Smith writes about the “time on a team bus after the war had started,” when “a player farted and Jordan, militantly chauvinistic throughout the [gulf war] campaign, yelled, ‘Hey, Hodg, that’s a bad one. Is that one of them Muslim farts?’” Ironically, Hodges says he never was a Muslim. “People must have assumed that because I read the Koran,” he says. “But I read the Bible too. I studied all religions. I can’t worry about what people assume.” In Long Shot Hodges writes that he doesn’t “identify with any religion.” He

vocated that players be allowed to tap into their pensions immediately after retiring rather than having to wait until they’re 45 years old. That would’ve meant less money for agents, who are paid a portion of what players earn in salaries. So Hodges’s position put him at odds with some of the most powerful agents in the game. Hodges was also unafraid to stand up to teammates if he thought they were wrong. According to Smith, he was one of the few Bulls who dared to defy Jordan. Apparently, Jordan respected Hodges for it. In one passage from The Jordan Rules, Smith recalls a locker-room conversation in

Hodges speaks to his players; Hodges with Raymond McCoy, his childhood friend and a former high school basketball great o DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS

rights organizations,” Hodges says. “There were always books in the house. We were always talking about the civil rights issues of the day.” His childhood sports heroes, he says, were “athletes of integrity, who never back down: Muhammad Ali, John Carlos, Curt Flood, Arthur Ashe, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.” One of Hodges’s earliest memories—detailed in Long Shot—is going door-to-door collecting signatures for a petition that successfully pressured the leaders of Chicago Heights to name a local school for Charles Gavin, a prominent black physician. “It was the Franklin School,” he says. “But Benjamin Franklin didn’t have the relevance to us kids as Dr. Gavin.” At Long Beach State Hodges majored in black studies, taking classes from Mau-

conversations about religion and politics— topics rarely tackled in the locker room. In 1991, he was one of the few Bulls players to publicly oppose the gulf war (on that issue, he saw eye to eye with Phil Jackson). And he urged his teammates to invest their millions in businesses that would create jobs in poor black communities. In the mid-80s, when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks, Hodges tried to convince teammates to come with him to see Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan preach. According to Smith, NBA officials were wary of Hodges’s participation in the 1991 three-point contest. “With the nation at war with a Muslim nation, Hodges might say something embarrassing if he won,” Smith writes in The Jordan Rules. “There

also recalls studying the Torah while in college “so I could better understand what it was like to be Jewish.” He even “walked around campus in a yarmulke,” he writes. “This experience has made me question Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism. There had to be a better way.” From afar Hodges’s old friends worried that his outspokenness would eventually catch up to him. “I don’t know if I’d have done what he did,” McCoy says. “But that’s Craig. He’s true to what he is—always has been. And I respect him for that.” Despite the trepidation of league officials, Hodges was admired by his peers, according to Smith. He took on the thankless job of being the players’ union rep on every team he played for. In the early 1990s, Hodges ad-

which Jordan criticized the reserves: “I hate being out there with those garbage men. They don’t get you the ball.” “I ain’t no garbage player,” Hodges told Jordan. “I was playing in this league when you were still trying to figure out how to put your pants on.” “I wasn’t talking about you, Hodg,” Jordan said. More often than not, Hodges pressed Jordan to speak out, as he did in 1991 after the Bulls had made it to their first finals against Magic Johnson and the Lakers, according to an anecdote addressed in Long Shot and The Jordan Rules. As the two teams warmed up for game one, Hodges approached Jordan and Johnson to suggest they lead a spontaneous J

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 17

CRAIG HODGES continued from 17 boycott of the game right there and then, live on national TV. “I wanted to stand in solidarity with the black community and call out racism and inequity,” Hodges told me. “It would be a united front with the whole world watching.” There was a precedent: At the 1964 NBA All-Star Game, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and other stars refused to leave the locker room to play unless the owners conceded to concessions on salaries and other benefits. That boycott worked. The players didn’t leave the locker room to play the game until the owners agreed to many of their demands. But Jordan and Johnson brushed off Hodges. The boycott never took place. “Michael said I was crazy,” Hodges says. “And Magic said it’s too extreme.” The Bulls went on to win the series and capture their first championship. In October, they were invited to the White House to be congratulated by President George H.W. Bush. Hodges showed up to the ceremony wearing a full-length dashiki and bearing an eight-page letter that he intended to hand to Bush. “The purpose of this note is to speak S P E C I A L

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Members of the 1990-’91 Chicago Bulls celebrate the 20th anniversary of their championship season during halftime of a March 2011 game. o AP PHOTO/CHARLES REX ARBOGAST

on behalf of the poor people, Native Americans, homeless and, most specifically, the African Americans, who are not able to come to this great edifice and meet the leader of the nation where they live,” his letter began. “This letter is not begging for anything, but 300 years of free slave labor has left the

African American community destroyed. It is time for a comprehensive plan for change. Hopefully, this letter will help become a boost in the unification of inner-city youth and these issues will be brought to the forefront of the domestic agenda.” He gave the letter to Tim Hallam, the

Bulls’ press spokesman, and asked that he deliver it to the appropriate White House staffer who would give it to Bush. Whether Hallam actually passed on the letter is unclear. Hallam, who still works for the Bulls, didn’t return calls for comment. But President Bush apparently knew

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CRAIG HODGES about the letter—Hodges says he and the president talked about it at the ceremony. “I told him about the letter and he said he looked forward to reading it.” In 1992, Hodges returned to the Bulls as they successfully defended their title. After game one of the 1992 NBA Finals, he opened up to New York Times columnist William Rhoden, chiding Jordan by name for not speaking out more about injustice and inequality. “The poverty in the city is so hellish, just look across the street [from Chicago Stadium],” Hodges told Rhoden. “Then you have us playing in here—how much money did we make here last night? How many lives will it change?” At that point in his career, Hodges was 32 years old. He’d lost much of his playing time to B.J. Armstrong, another reserve guard. In July 1992, a few weeks after the Bulls had won their second title, Hodges got a call from Jerry Krause, the Bulls’ general manager. “He said thanks for looking after the younger guys on the team, like I was a damn babysitter,” Hodges says. “Then he said, ‘We’re gonna have to let you go.’” And just like that, after ten seasons in the NBA, Hodges was out of a job.

oincidentally, Hodges was also without representation after the Bulls cut him. His longtime agent Bob Woolf was retiring and cutting back on his clients. (Woolf died in 1993.) Unable to convince an agent to take him on, Hodges asked a friend— Crawford Richmond, a business consultant in Evanston—to call around the league on his behalf. “No one returned the calls,” Hodges says. “Think about that, man. I was the defending three-point champ and a member of the championship Bulls, and I couldn’t get a team to return my calls.” OK, so maybe he wasn’t a great defender. And, yes, Hodges’s best days were behind him. And, no, he wasn’t able to play 30 minutes a game, like he did back in the 80s. But he was still one of the league’s best three-point shooters, and any team could use a shooter coming off the bench. Hell, the New York Knicks, who were trying to upend the Bulls, might have signed Hodges for no other reason than to give them a psychological edge over their rivals. “I asked Tex [Winter] to ask around,” Hodges says. “Eventually, he got back to

me and said, ‘Craig, if you want to play, you better look overseas.’ No one responded to him either.” When the 1992-’93 season began, Hodges was still without a team. In December ’92, league officials told him they wouldn’t allow him to defend his three-point championship at the All-Star Game in February. “They said they have a policy where you can’t participate in an all-star event unless you’re on a roster,” Hodges says. But that’s not true. In 1989, the NBA allowed Rimas Kurtinaitis, a player for the Soviet national team, to participate in the three-point contest—and he never played in the NBA. Sam Smith wrote a column in the Tribune about the matter, blasting league officials for their hypocrisy. “The NBA sends out a lot of messages: Stay in School. Don’t Use Drugs,” Smith wrote. “Perhaps it’s time for one that goes something like this: ‘Keep your mouth shut and behave like people feel you should unless you can make them a lot of money or are too famous for them to silence.’” After Smith’s column was published, the NBA reversed its position and invited Hodges to participate. He finished third.

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For the next several years, Hodges kept trying to get back into the NBA. In 1993, he played for a team in Italy’s pro league, then for the Continental Basketball Association team in Rockford. In 1995 and ’96, he played on the Chicago Legends, a barnstorming collective of retired pro athletes. It was a long way from NBA-caliber competition, but he accepted anything to stay sharp. “I know how hard he worked to stay in shape,” says Allison Jordan, who was Hodges’s wife and agent back in the 1990s. “I remember one game for the Legends, he hit 27 three-pointers in a row. Twentyseven. He was like a machine. You tell me how a team could pass on a shooter like that?” In 1996, Jordan says, she contacted every team in the league on Hodges’s behalf. But she got no responses until Billy McKinney, the assistant general manager from the Seattle Supersonics, who is African-American, called back. “He told us that there was nothing he could do, because ‘brothers have families,’ if you know what I mean,’” Hodges says. The implication is that no black official in the NBA could help Hodges without getting punished himself. McKinney didn’t J

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CRAIG HODGES

continued from 19 respond for comment. But Jordan confirms that story, saying she was listening to the conversation on a speaker phone. In December 1996, Hodges filed a federal lawsuit, citing McKinney’s quote and charging the NBA with racial discrimination. Within a year, the case had been dismissed by a federal judge on a technical issue. The judge ruled that the statute of limitations for a racial discrimination case is only two years. And because Hodges filed his case four years after the Bulls dropped him, he was out of luck.

n the years since the Bulls cut him, Hodges has had a couple of jobs in the NBA, in each case thanks to Phil Jackson. From 2005 to 2011, he was the shooting coach for the Lakers, when Jackson was the head coach and the team won two championships. When Jackson left the Lakers, Hodges, like all the other assistant coaches, was let go. In 2013 he coached the Halifax Rainmen in the Canadian Basketball League. In 2014 Jackson hired him to coach the New York Knicks’ development team. (Jackson is now the general manager of the Knicks.) Last summer Mike Laneve, the Rich East athletic director, asked him to coach the varsity team at his alma mater. “I’ve always wanted him to coach here,” Laneve says. “I have tremendous respect for Craig.” In Long Shot, Hodges describes some tough times in the 2000s—before Jackson hired him with the Lakers—when he was so broke he had to pawn his championship rings and three-point contest trophies. In the intervening years, his story has become part of the unspoken folklore of the NBA. “Believe me when I tell you, everybody in the league knows the story of Craig Hodges,” says Etan Thomas, a former center for the Washington Wizards. “When I was playing for the Wizards and I spoke out against the second war with Iraq, a lot of people would caution me to be careful ’cause ‘you don’t want to be like Craig Hodges.’ Or they’d say, ‘You saw what happened to Craig Hodges.’” Was Hodges blacklisted by the NBA because of his political beliefs? The answer to that question depends on whom you’re talking to. In a 1996 column on Hodges’s suit, New York Times writer Ira Berkow interviewed David Stern, the former commissioner of the NBA. “Stern said that the idea of a conspiracy against Hodges is ‘ridiculous,’” Berkow writes. “ ‘I was even at the White House when Craig wore the dashiki,’ Stern said. ‘I

20 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

Hodges playing with the Bulls during the 1989’90 NBA season. o STEPHEN DUNN/ALLSPORT

thought it looked great, and I told him so.’” Berkow also quoted Wayne Embry, the former chief operating officer of the Cleveland Cavaliers: “I never heard of any conspiracy whatsoever. I’m sure I would have if there was one. And in a league that has about 80 percent black players, it’s hard to charge racism.” Sam Smith (who now blogs for the Chicago Bulls’ website) has a more nuanced point of view. “If you ask me was there a conspiracy against Craig, I’d say, ‘There are no conspiracies in the NBA,’” Smith says. “Nobody is smart enough to pull off a conspiracy. “It reminds me of the situation with [Jason Collins], the backup center who came out as gay,” Smith continues. “No one in the league conspired to keep him out of the league because he was gay. It was more like they knew there were going to be a lot of questions asked if they hired him, and he wasn’t good enough to have to put up with all those questions.” In other words, had Hodges been at the top of his game back in 1992, he’d have had plenty of suitors after the Bulls dropped him, no matter what he said about Farrakhan, reparations, or whatever. Hell, the Bulls never would’ve dropped him in the first place. NBA officials figured the risks from signing Hodges outweighed the rewards. “I don’t think Craig was blackballed for

what he said,” Smith says. “It’s more like he just wasn’t good enough at that stage in his career to make it worth dealing with all those questions you were gonna get regarding a guy who was maybe a tenth man on your roster.” Hodges thinks there’s no doubt he was blackballed. “Of course I was blacklisted,” he says. “But if I say that—oh, it’s sour grapes.” What makes him so certain? Well, the list of his infractions is long. It wasn’t just the dashiki at the White House or the letter to Bush or his admiration for Farrakhan or his criticism of Jordan or his position on the players’ pension—it was all of those things together that made Hodges untouchable. “The biggest way to blacklist someone is to make him invisible,” Hodges says. “Why do you think they didn’t want to invite me to that three-point contest? Think about it. How would it look if I won? Someone might ask, ‘Why’s this guy, who’s good enough to win the three-point championship, not good enough to play in the league?’ So they pretend like I don’t exist.”

ne Sunday in mid-November, I drive to the south suburbs to meet Hodges in person. We convene at his Aunt Dorothy’s ranch house in Park Forest, in a quiet residential neighborhood across the street from a grammar school. We sit at the table in the dining room. In the background the sound of a football game plays on a TV in the den. My first question has to do with politics. “Who did you vote for?” “No comment,” he says. “Uh-oh,” I say. “That means you either voted for Trump or you didn’t vote at all— neither answer is good.” He frowns and tells me the Democrats were the party of Jim Crow in the south. True, I say, but those Democrats became Republicans after LBJ passed the civil rights bill. And he tells me Hillary Clinton once called young black men “superpredators.” Also true, I say, but largely irrelevant to the point I was making about Jim Crow Republicans. And Hodges goes on an extended riff, a favorite tactic when he doesn’t want to concede a point. “I’d love to sit here with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump,” he says. “I’d ask her, ‘What have you done for black people?’ And don’t come to me with no frivolous shit. Do you consider us humans? At one point we were superpredators. That’s somebody’s baby you’re calling a superpredator. Where’s your compassion? Ain’t the Demo-

cratic Party the party of compassion?” “And Trump?” I ask. “What about Trump?” “What would you say to him?” “Man, Trump—are you serious? They’re begging for his tax returns. And he’s like this . . . ” He raises his middle finger. “It’s a joke,” he continues. “He gets away with what he wants ’cause he caters to the white men and white women. Do you understand me? We’ll take a clown as president who’s talking nonsense as long as he caters to the white man and white woman. Don’t forget, a lot of Democratic white women didn’t vote for Hillary. He made it us against them.” I get him talking about basketball. He says the five greatest players he played against are “Kareem, Michael, Dr. J, Larry Bird, and Nate Archibald.” “What about the black guys who used to tell me there’s a dozen guys in the hood as good as Larry Bird?” I ask. He shakes his head. “To that I say, ‘Whatever, brother.’ They don’t know Larry Bird. Larry Bird is cold, cold, cold—you hear me?” Eventually, the discussion returns to his larger mission. “The real question is, why are the conditions I talked about 20 years ago even worse today? And they are—just look at all the killings in Chicago. It was never a thing where I tried to upstage people. I was trying to raise the consciousness of my people, to use my platform for my people who can’t be heard. “As a coach, I challenge the kids—not just about basketball, but about life. I say to the kids wearing dreadlocks, ‘Are you wearing those dreads because you know what it means or because it’s a fad?’ They’re looking at me like, Huh? I tell them, ‘Go back and study it. And you better come back talking about Bob Marley.’ I know I can help those young men achieve their dreams. I have the knowledge. I played on the highest level. I could be a coach in the NBA. But I can’t wait for the NBA. I don’t care about the NBA.” This comment strikes me as odd coming from a man who valiantly fought the NBA to let him play. “If you don’t care about the NBA, why did you try so hard to stay in the league?” I ask. He smiles. “I wanted to play in the NBA as long as I could because I’m a competitor,” he says. “But there’s a difference between me as a competitor on the court and me as an educated black man speaking my mind. I won’t take one if it means giving up the other.” v

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ARTS & CULTURE Steppenwolf ensemble member Tom Irwin as Pastor Paul in The Christians o JOEL MOORMAN

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Crisis comes to the megachurch By ALBERT WILLIAMS

ucas Hnath’s intriguing 2014 drama The Christians, now receiving its Chicago premiere in a finely acted production at Steppenwolf Theatre, is unlike any play I’ve ever seen about religion. There’s no nun boldly overstepping her authority to expose a suspected pedophile priest; no charismatic hypocritical preacher bilking the gullible faithful; no philandering phonies or self-hating homos, preaching traditional family values while pursuing their own illicit lusts. Instead, The Christians concerns a basic question that might seem better suited to a scholarly lecture: Is God’s love for humanity so great that it encompasses everyone, not just Christians? This is the question that the play’s protagonist, Pastor Paul, proposes to his ﬂock on the particular Sunday morning on which Hnath’s 80-minute one-act takes place. Paul is the leader of a modern American megachurch, which he has built over two decades from a small storefront into a sprawling complex thanks to the prayers—and donations—of his

thousands of followers. Now, having paid off the debt incurred erecting this magnificent edifice, Paul preaches a sermon of “radical change.” Speaking softly and humbly into his handheld microphone, Paul explains that after having a heart-to-heart talk with the heavenly father, he now sees that Christians must break down barriers separating them from the rest of a world torn by violence. He recounts the story of a non-Christian boy in an unnamed foreign country who gave his own life to save his sister from a terrorist attack. Should that boy not receive salvation just because he hasn’t been baptized as a Christian? Should belief in the divinity of Jesus determine whether one goes to heaven or to hell? And then Paul drops the other shoe: there is no hell. Paul—played with wisdom, humility, and gravitas by ensemble member Tom Irwin—is both the protagonist and narrator of the action that his startling sermon triggers as, gradually, the church he created slips away from him. For it seems that his ecstatic J

Direction by Francis Menotti, son of Gian Carlo, and Kyle Dougan. Sung in English with Orchestra, featuring dancers from Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater.

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CREDIT

o CHERYL MANN

The Christians continued from 21 message—God’s love is for everyone, even those who don’t believe in him, even for Hitler—is not such “good news” for folks who have invested a lot of emotion, effort, and money in the belief that their path to salvation is the only sure one. This process is played out as a series of dialogues between Paul and his passionate young associate pastor Joshua (Glenn Davis), his supportive but perplexed church elder Jay (Robert Breuler), a confused congregant (Jacqueline Williams), and his wife, Elizabeth (Shannon Cochran), who finds herself torn between her love and admiration for her husband and her inability to accept his message. Directed by K. Todd Freeman, The Christians is a gently compelling work of theatrical storytelling. It’s performed as a church service, with Paul and the other characters’ dialogues framed by musical interludes, as members of the church’s five-person gospel choir deliver hymns of rapturous joy and ballads of mournful doubt before gradually moving on to a church that offers them the benevolent but authoritarian absolutism that so many religionists seek. Hnath, who spent his own childhood as a member of an Assemblies of God megachurch in Orlando, Florida, treats this story of schism with earnest and informed objectivity. There are no caricatures here; all sides of the issue are expressed intelligently and honestly, and are heard respectfully and compassionately. And by focusing on a core doctrinal question —the divinity of Jesus—The Christians avoids getting bogged down in political debates, allowing the audience to zero in on the general theme of how Paul’s conscience-driven decision impacts his family, friends, and followers. But this approach also allows Hnath to evade the story’s urgent implications for a crisis facing all people of all faiths. The power of religion has historically been based on believers’ insistence that their version of God is the “true” one. Can humanity put aside these differences when faced with global warming, a pending catastrophe of, as they say, biblical proportions? v R THE CHRISTIANS Through 1/29: Wed-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 7:30 PM (no shows 12/24), Sun 3 PM (no show 12/25), Tue 7:30 PM (no show 1/3); also Sun 12/18, 1/1, and 1 /8, 7:30 PM; Wed 1/11, 1/18, and 1/25, 2 PM, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, steppenwolf.org, $20-$89.

22 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

DANCE

The Joffrey’s new Nutcracker spellbinds amid the snow By MATT DE LA PEÑA

he Nutcracker—the 1892 ballet based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffman, set to a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and originally credited to choreographer Marius Petipa— has always had a fantastically thin plot. A young girl, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, rides the magic coattails of a mysterious godfather to the Land of Sweets, where the child who already has everything is given still more. The stakes have rarely been so low for a character or an audience. That said, newer versions have strayed from such cushy conventionalism, often for the better. Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut, set

b ALL AGES

in the madcap 70s, is one example; another is Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker!, its colorful cast evoking the mind-bending milieu of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In both cases, it seems clear, the challenge lay in tweaking the setting and the story without compromising the show’s famous holiday magic. The Joffrey Ballet’s new Nutcracker, a $4 million undertaking choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and now receiving its world premiere at the Auditorium Theatre, faced a similar set of challenges—not least of which was the status of Robert Joffrey’s beloved version after 28 years on the bill.

So how does one trump tradition? In part by making it at least a bit more real. Set during the winter prior to the 1893 World’s Fair, this Nutcracker is emboldened by industry and class consciousness. Its heroine, Marie (given a spirited performance by Amanda Assucena), is the daughter of a poor, working-class single mother, a sculptor and Polish immigrant. In place of the Land of Sweets is the sprawling attraction coming into form as the World’s Columbian Exposition (rendered well by set designer Julian Crouch with help from projections by Ben Pearcy), contextualized for the audience by graphics of old newspaper clippings with headlining draws like “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show” and “Venetian Waterways.” The stakes somehow feel real for Marie and whoever else happens to stumble into her world. Yet the magic remains. At the party scene in the first act—now a Christmas Eve potluck held at Marie’s home, a shack on the fairgrounds—neighbors and fellow laborers dance, cheer, and feast. It’s a magical celebration of unity in itself. And with a new setting come exquisite, expressive new takes on classic ballet variations: The “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” is now the domain of Columbia, queen of the fair; “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show,” set to the Russian trepak that’s among the most familiar pieces of Tchaikovsky’s ubiquitous score, is different and daring. The sensual, reenvisioned “Arabian Dance” is a knockout, while “Mother Nutcracker,” a hilarious bit pitting dancing chestnuts against bigtoothed nutcrackers, is comedic fun. Expertly constructed against the silhouette of a giant Ferris wheel, the “Waltz of the Flowers,” now the “Fair Visitors,” is still exacted with the graceful, waltzlike splendor of old. The grand pas de deux between Miguel Angel Blanco’s charming Impresario (seemingly modeled on Daniel Burnham) and Victoria Jaiani’s regal Fair Queen is the proverbial cherry on top. This ambitious new production strikes such a magniﬁcent balance between signiﬁcance and seasonal story that it almost—with no disrespect to Joffrey’s version intended— seems a shame it didn’t happen sooner. v R THE NUTCRACKER Through 12/30: Wed-Fri 7 PM, Sat-Sun 2 and 7 PM, Tue 7 PM; also Wed 12/21-Fri 12/23, 2 PM; Mon 12/26, 2 and 7 PM; and Tue 12/27, 2 PM, Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, 800-982-2787, joffrey.org, $35-$170.

ARTS & CULTURE The Winner . . . of Our Discontent o TODD ROSENBERG

THEATER

The conversation breaks down at Second City By TONY ADLER

he Second City is nothing if not responsive. I mean, really: Nothing. Responsiveness is the whole point of an improv-based, satirical theater. So it’s way better than nothing to see it apparently going full-out responsive after a long season of controversy in Chicago and beyond. Take the recent uproar over audience hecklers throwing around verbal abuse so intense that three Second City E.T.C. cast members felt compelled to quit over it. The theater has responded by declaring a “zero tolerance policy” toward “homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic, racist or prejudiced comments”— reinforced by a preshow announcement that advises anybody wanting to make such comments to go home, scream them into a pillow, and then use it to smother himself. The latest main-stage revue, The Winner . . . of Our Discontent, is responsive too. But the results aren’t always as eloquent as that announcement. Offering a neatly progressive symmetry— three African-Americans and three whites, three women and three men—the Winner cast barrels through dozens of short and long sketches, some topical and some not so much. On the topical side: a brilliant early sight gag presents a black woman ﬁnally achieving true safety by morphing into a white man; a doctor and her pregnant patient tread lightly as they cope with new rules imposed by Trump’s putative surgeon general, Dr. Oz; and a broken Hillary Clinton hosts an American Idol-style competition to pick the next POTUS.

One standout apolitical sketch consists of nothing more than a quiet conversation between a successful son and his fuckup of a mother as they sit outside his Lake Forest manse. Another goes full-bore absurd when a musician shows up to entertain a kid who’s just been through an appendectomy. Floating somewhere between genres is Martin Morrow’s engaging monologue delivered from an Alabama porch—supplying, among other things, a weirdly apt picture of Indiana as an overturned Greyhound bus that somehow became a state. Morrow, Paul Jurewicz, Kelsey Kinney, Jamison Webb, and Rashawn Nadine Scott all give witty and assured performances. Things break down in a big way, though, when it comes to Shantira Jackson. Already set apart by her comparative lack of acting chops, awkward audience rapport, and idiosyncratic costuming—a bow-tie-and-suspenders combo that establishes an unchanging identity better suited to a stand-up than a sketch artist— Jackson specializes in earnest, poetic solos that make her come across as the One and Only Conscience of the Show. Director Anthony LeBlanc may’ve hoped that Jackson’s quirks would put things proﬁtably off balance, adding yet another level of responsiveness. But the actual effect is to stop the show cold. v THE WINNER . . . OF OUR DISCONTENT Open run: Wed-Thu 8 PM, Fri-Sat 8 and 11 PM, Sun 7 PM, Tue 8 PM, 1616 N. Wells, 312-664-4032, secondcity. com, $19-$46.

ß @taadler DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 23

ARTS & CULTURE COMEDY

The Crowd Theater gets creative to cut costs By BRIANNA WELLEN A Crowd Theater performance in April. o COURTESY OF CROWD THEATER

he Crowd Theater opened in a Lakeview storefront in November 2015, jokingly branding itself as “Chicago’s only improv comedy theater.” Of course, that’s not true, but the owners have tried to be creative in order to get recognized in an oversaturated community. In October 2016, just before the theater’s one-year anniversary, Crowd adopted a new financial model: monthly subscriptions. Through the crowd-funding platform Patreon guests can pay one monthly fee for access to every performance on that month’s schedule, giving those who frequent the theater a good deal while providing the Crowd with a guaranteed monthly income to fulfill its mission of “diversity, inclusivity, and affordability.” “I think a lot of smaller comedy theaters have been struggling to find some sort of alternate route to income that you can support your theater with but doesn’t necessarily put a lot of pressure on the people coming to see your shows,” says Crowd Theater cofounder Blair Britt. “This is a more affordable way for people who we know want to be at our theater several nights a week to do that, but also allows us a regular monthly income that gives us a little more financial stability.” This is a format that has yet to be used at a comedy theater in Chicago—but it’s off to a good start for Crowd. So far the subscriptions are providing the company $911 a month, according to the Patreon site, putting Crowd on the road to cutting rental rates for performers in half. Patrons can donate anywhere from $5 to $50 per month, with different perks available at each stage, ranging from one monthly pass to all Crowd’s performances ($5), to a plus-one pass ($10), free merchandise ($25), and a spot on the “Angel Board,” a plaque honoring the highest-level donors ($50). And they’re lightening the financial load on performers as well. Crowd’s in-house membership program for comedians, the Co-op, charges improvisers only $30 per three-month season (the fee is waived for people of color to encourage diversity) and in return puts them

24 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

on an improv team, provides a coach from the theater, offers rehearsal space, and guarantees each new group at least five performances either at the Crowd or the neighboring CIC Theater. While it’s not technically a school, the Co-op does offer a unique and affordable learning opportunity. More formal classes at larger theaters like the Second City or iO typically cost ten times that much per term. “What we wanted to do was emphasize people performing,” Britt says, “and offer people a comparatively cheaper version of classes that allows people to test out stuff in front of actual audience members.” Britt stresses that the entire model is still in its experimental phase and that there are problems they’ll be dealing with along the way. For example, since the election Crowd’s seen an increase in people looking for a venue for shows that assist specific organizations or groups—the first in a series of monthly fund-raising showcases was an all-female performance beneﬁting Planned Parenthood that took place early last week. Britt hopes those with passes will still donate to worthy causes, and thinks it’s important that he and his team implement a system that ensures Crowd’s subscriptions aren’t taking away from the fund-raising total. Britt is also regularly checking in with performers and producers to compare how much money their shows used to make against how much they’re taking in with the new ﬁnancial format. But at the end of the day, this model is in place to both enhance the quality of performances and increase the number of people who actually see them. “As important as it is to make money off these shows and sell tickets,” Britt says, “if there’s a way to get more people in the door to see that show, the show’s just going to be more enjoyable for the performers and the rest of the audience.” v THE CROWD THEATER 3935 N. Broadway, thecrowdtheater.com.

ß @BriannaWellen

R READER RECOMMENDED

b ALL AGES

ARTS & CULTURE Roger Brown, Peach Light, 1983; Andres Serrano, Blood and Semen III, 1990 o COURTESY KAVI GUPTA; COURTESY ANDRES SERRANO

VISUAL ART

A former bank in Lincoln Park is housing an incredible exhibit about AIDS By TAL ROSENBERG

shuttered branch of MB Financial Bank sits on the northeast corner of Fullerton and Halsted. It’s a bland, corporate, auburn brick building with rectangular aquamarine glass windows that’s unmistakably a dispiriting white-collar business. But maybe I’ve been looking at this ediﬁce the wrong way—whereas I see bureaucracy and the uneasy motion of small-stakes capitalism, someone else saw a space to assemble a monumental art show. “Art AIDS America Chicago”—a free exhibit taking up both floors of the former bank, now rechristened the Alphawood Gallery—is astonishing in its breadth and unlikeliness. There’s painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video, and sound art. There are multiple pieces by artists whose work is typically seen only in large museums. For example, there’s Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s “Untitled” (Water), a curtain of azure beads that visitors can walk through, and to the left is a bank vault

with Keith Haring’s metal triptych Altar Piece inside of it. And that’s just two pieces—there are nearly 175 works in all. Many galleries in Chicago have mounted shows about AIDS—Rogers Park’s Iceberg Projects perhaps chief among them with the semirecent exhibitions “Survival AIDS” and “Militant Eroticism”—but rarely with the broad scope, in terms both of physical size and variety of work, of “Art AIDS America Chicago.” Furthermore, Alphawood is squarely in the middle of Lincoln Park, and free to the public. What’s signiﬁcant and commendable about this choice of location, in an upscale, predominantly white neighborhood, is that the exhibit frankly and explicitly addresses sexuality, race, gender, disease, class—and how each has been a source for discrimination by mainstream society. “Art AIDS America Chicago” isn’t just about AIDS; it’s also about how the virus exacerbated the ugliest variations of bigotry in American society.

The physiological horror of AIDS is displayed unﬂinchingly and honestly in multiple pieces. Robert Blanchon, a Chicago artist who died of it in 1999, took photographs of underwear stained by the uncontrollable incontinence that people with AIDS experience. Izhar Patkin’s Unveiling of a Modern Chastity, a mustard-colored canvas with slices of latex, printing ink, and rubber paste, resembles the sickly lesions and discolored skin that appear on those afflicted by the disease. Though “Art AIDS America” was initially organized by the Tacoma Art Museum and ﬁrst shown there, the Chicago edition boasts a number of works that weren’t part of the original exhibit. Among these are Gerard Gaskin’s photographs of the ball scene and its house system in New York City during the 1980s, which depict LGBTQ people of color happily embracing each other. A particularly striking series of black-andwhite photos by Patric McCoy feature habitues

of the Rialto, a Loop bar that was a neutral zone for black MSM (men who have sex with men) in rival gangs. An adjacent wall text cites the Black AIDS Institute think tank: “A young Black gay man has a roughly 1 in 4 chance of being infected [with HIV] by age 25.” McCoy’s photographs look like romantic visions of a bygone era, but they’re imbued with deep longing. The tension between beauty and mourning is an overriding component of “Art AIDS America Chicago.” What look like floating white planets with black polka dots hang above the staircase to the second floor, but they’re actually Eric Avery’s HIV Condom Filled Piñatas. Shimon Attie’s lovely, spectral photograph Untitled Memory (Projection of Axel H.) looks like a still from a Wong Kar-Wai ﬁlm, with a spotlight trained on a man lying in bed watching a TV whose screen is colored purple—the person is the artist’s friend, who died of AIDS, and an old picture of him is superimposed on the artwork. It’s wonderful that a defunct bank was remade into an art gallery. But for the building to host an exhibit as important as this one is a triumph. v R “ART AIDS AMERICA CHICAGO” Through Sun 4/2: Wed and Thu 11 AM-8 PM, Fri-Sun 11 AM-6 PM, Alphawood Gallery, 2401 N. Halsted, 773-687-7676, artaidsamericachicago.org. F

ß @talrosenberg DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 25

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26 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

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ARTS & CULTURE

Long Way North o SACREBLEU PRODUCTIONS

MOVIES

Flat acceptance By J.R. JONES

arly in my tenure at this paper, a coworker told me, “Reader readers are seldom breeders.” Like the opening words of a nursery rhyme, this dictum has stuck with me over the years, and it partly explains why we devote so little of our resources to reviewing children’s films. With adult-minded movies ever harder to find in theaters, surely movies for kids can take care of themselves, driven as they are by epic marketing campaigns and the awesome peer pressure of schoolyard buzz. But then along comes an obscure gem such as the French-Danish animation Long Way North, opening Friday for a two-week holiday run, in both dubbed and subtitled versions, at Gene Siskel Film Center. The tale of a Russian girl setting sail for the arctic circle in the 1880s, it’s beautifully rendered in simple 2-D animation that focuses attention on the characters, and these are so credibly conceived that the film, like all good family fare, has the power to unite children and adults through the sheer force of its storytelling. A 3-D release is almost obligatory for ssss EXCELLENT

sss GOOD

Hollywood children’s movies nowadays, yet Rémi Chayé, directing his first feature after assisting on The Secret of Kells (2009) and The Painting (2011), creates a beautiful, posterlike 2-D aesthetic with bold blocks of color and no outlining of forms. The only black lines of any significance are those used to sketch the characters’ facial features—an angled line for a nose, a slightly crooked line for a mouth. Outlining and shading serve to delineate objects in space, but the look here is stubbornly, almost provocatively flat. In the openingcredit sequence, 15-year-old Sacha slides a little toy boat northward along a map of northern Russia that shows where her seafaring grandfather, a great hero in their native Saint Petersburg, disappeared two years earlier while attempting to reach the North Pole; her hand, rendered in gray and flesh tone, almost seems to flatten out into the map itself. Paradoxically, Chayé creates a greater sense of emotional depth with two dimensions than most animators can with three. His characterization is exceptionally precise, especially in the quick eye movements that instantly com-

ss AVERAGE

s POOR

•

municate a person’s thoughts. When Sacha discovers among her grandfather’s papers a navigation sheet suggesting he may have taken an alternate route through the Barents Sea, her pupils dart back and forth almost imperceptibly, taking in the information. At her coming-out ball she tries to persuade Prince Tomsky, the czar’s dashing new science adviser, to revive the search for her grandfather’s lost ship, the Davai; instead the nobleman uses the incident to embarrass her father, who is shown in proﬁle shooting a reproachful glance at his daughter. She returns his gaze, the line of her brow tweaked slightly with concern, before lowering her eyes in shame. Character is best expressed through movement, and what movement could be more eloquent than one revealing a desire to look, or look away? Rebuked by her parents, Sacha decides to mount her own rescue expedition and runs away from home, making her way to a Siberian port town where she does some growing up as an overworked barmaid and eventually persuades a local sea captain and his crew to mount a search operation for the Davai. On

paper her journey may sound like the sort of girl-power adventure Disney has been peddling of late (Moana, Frozen), and Chayé shows Sacha’s body movements growing more sassy and assured as she learns how to handle herself, ﬁrst in the tavern and later onboard the men’s sailing ship, the Norge. But the psychology at work is too complex to be boiled down to a simple coming-of-age narrative: Sacha is not only running away from home but running toward it, in the form of her beloved grandfather, and the exuberance she feels about her newfound freedom and experience is tempered by the possibility that she might wind up bringing home his body. The poster-style artwork wields even greater power when Sacha arrives in the blinding whiteness of the arctic north and her indomitable will collides with the savagery of nature. The Norge heads north into an ice field, the ocean waters peacock blue, cerulean marking the jagged edges of the ice sheets, and the pale blue sky offset at the water’s horizon by a wisp of cloud. Later, after the Norge has been lost and the explorers have no option but to push forward in search of the Davai, blues and grays conjure up the giant ice formations in all their serrated beauty. At the climax, Sacha and the cabin boy, Katch, are menaced by a polar bear towering above them on its hind legs; rendered in white with gray shadow, against a pale yellow background, the image feels as ﬂat as wallpaper, but the minimal black dots marking the bear’s eyes are terrifying. Sacha not only leads the captain and crew of the Norge into a life-or-death situation, she may lead young viewers of Long Way North into some unfamiliar and decidedly unpleasant emotional terrain. “We’re all going to die here,” exclaims one of the sailors, blaming Sacha for their predicament. When the crew members are carefully rationing their soup, the same sailor grabs for Sacha’s bowl, and in the ensuing scuffle three bowls are upended in the snow; desperate for food, the men grovel like pigs, trying to suck up the soup. Fear, selfishness, and despair may not be considered suitable realities for a children’s movie, but that’s the risk you take when you follow genuine characters out into the world. No one needs three dimensions to create an illusion of depth. v LONG WAY NORTH sss Directed by Rémi Chayé. PG, 81 min. Fri 12/16-Thu 12/29, Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, 312-846-2800, siskelfilmcenter.org, $11.

ß @JR_Jones

WORTHLESS

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 27

MUSIC

HOW CAN GRASSROOTS MUSICIANS FIGHT THE TRUMP BEAST? Adele Nicholas of Axons and Impossible Colors is also a selfemployed civil rights lawyer—and she’s releasing a compilation to beneﬁt the Chicago Community Bond Fund.

o JIM WATSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By LEE V. GAINES

dele Nicholas didn’t sleep the night of the presidential election. She stayed up watching the results with her husband, and she couldn’t bring herself to stop even after it became clear what had happened: Donald Trump had won. Nicholas, like many other people in the Chicago legal and music communities to which she belongs, felt immediate dread and horror. A civil rights attorney as well as founder and front woman of synth-pop trio Axons, Nicholas remembers being struck with a sudden conviction as soon as the electoral votes were tallied: “Basically everything we do now is political,” she says. “There’s nothing you can do that’s not.” She’s frank about her pessimism when it comes to what four years of a Trump presidency will mean for the world—and in particular the people she represents in her legal practice. She focuses on dismantling unconstitutional criminal justice practices and policies that disproportionately affect poor, minority, and otherwise vulnerable populations.

28 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

“I have a lot of fear about what this is going to do to our democratic institutions, and the danger it puts people in,” she says, “not only because Donald Trump advocated for terrible policies, but also because of the anger and the hate he’s normalized and unleashed.” Seized by what she describes as a “sense of desperation,” Nicholas cast about for something constructive to do. On November 9 she posted in DIY Chicago, a Facebook group with nearly 13,000 members, about the plans she’d made: she would assemble and release a cassette compilation and donate all proceeds to the Chicago Community Bond Fund, a nonproﬁt that pays bond for people charged with crimes in Cook County and works to eliminate the county’s cash bond system altogether. Response was swift and enthusiastic. Within a week, 13 artists—some of whom Nicholas contacted directly because of their politically charged work—agreed to donate a track apiece to the project. “I had ten people lined up to contribute within a day,” she says. Nicholas will release the tape through her

label, Impossible Colors, which she launched three years ago to put out her own music and that of her friends. Its catalog includes Axons, a series of split cassingles that’s featured the likes of Strawberry Jacuzzi, Swimsuit Addition, Bloom, and She Speaks in Tongues, and two mixtapes celebrating the annual feminist music showcase Frontwoman Fest, which Nicholas cofounded in 2015. Titled Down in the Trumps: Chicago Artists Respond, the comp includes a variety of subject matter: some songs express despair over the imminent Trump presidency or frustration with the mainstream media’s susceptibility to reality TV-style antics, while others are relatively overt protest ballads. The range of styles and genres is even broader: among the contributors are rapper, poet, and actor Mykele Deville, dark rock duo Pussy Foot, poppy Latin-tinged prog band the Avantist, and Axons. Down in the Trumps will come out digitally on Friday, December 16, and Impossible Colors will sell preorders of the cassette (as well as download cards) at a Planned Parenthood benefit show that night at multipurpose Lincoln Square venue Resistor. Four acts from the comp—Deville, Axons, soul-influenced hip-hop artist Fury, and poppy punk three-piece Jackass Magnets—will play live sets, and Shannon Candy of Strawberry Jacuzzi will spin records. Despite her bleak expectations for the next four years, Nicholas continues to believe in the power of grassroots activism. “Roiling with all those feelings and fears, I had the sense that I wanted to do something immediate and create something that felt like we still had some power in our local community,” she says. “That we could still work to make things better in Chicago for our community and the people we care about and encounter in our day-to-day lives.” The project melds Nicholas’s work as an lawyer with her activities in the city’s underground and aboveground music scenes. A 2008 graduate of Chicago’s John Marshall Law School, she’s in her ninth year as a practicing civil rights attorney. Early in her career, while employed by the firm Jackowiak Law Offices, she worked mostly on cases involving excessive use of force, beatings, illegal searches, and abuse of authority, usually litigating against Chicago police officers. Six years ago she struck out on her own. These days she partners frequently with another self-employed attorney, Mark Weinberg, and focuses her professional energy on fighting cases against the city, county, and state over

policies she believes to be unconstitutional. In September she filed a class-action lawsuit against Circuit Court of Cook County chief judge Timothy Evans alleging that the county’s juvenile-detention practices violated minors’ Fourth Amendment rights. Unlike adult arrestees, juveniles did not receive probable-cause hearings on weekends or holidays, which meant they could be jailed for days without charges being filed. A precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991 requires that people arrested without a warrant receive such a hearing within 48 hours. “We brought a case saying this policy was unconstitutional, and now they’ve changed the policy,” she explains—within weeks the county began holding weekend and holiday hearings for juveniles. But before she was a lawyer working to dismantle systemic injustices, Nicholas was a musician. “Early in college, I got my start playing guitar in the dorm with other students at Northwestern,” she recalls. “Pretty much as soon as I started playing guitar, I started writing songs.” Over the past 15 years, she’s played in several bands, including the still active Puritan Pine and the defunct Love and Radiation (with Lakshmi Ramgopal, aka Lykanthea). Now her primary musical endeavor is Axons, which she began as a solo project three years ago. It’s since evolved to include Amanda Kraus on auxiliary percussion or drum kit and Kriss Stress (who also helps out with Impossible Colors) on synth. At first the dichotomy between these two parts of her life was a challenge for Nicholas. “I used to think it was important that people in law not know about my music, but it’s become a little impossible,” she says. “I realized that anytime someone from the law world found out about my music, they always had a secret passion of their own to share.” Her views on music and what making it means to her have also evolved. Nicholas explains that she used to think of her bands as “a release valve” from her serious legal career. “Now I see them as completely linked,” she says. “I think everything I do with music for the foreseeable future will have to reflect this environment we’re living in.” Though she’s not personally involved with the Chicago Community Bond Fund, Nicholas believes in its cause and wanted to use her connection to the music scene to benefit the organization and draw attention to it. “The cash bond system imprisons people accused of crimes for no other reason than their inability to pay that. To me, it’s a very op-

PLANNED PARENTHOOD BENEFIT WITH MYKELE DEVILLE, FURY, JACKASS MAGNETS, AXONS, AND DJ SHANNON CANDY

Fri 12/16, 8 PM, Resistor Chicago, 5053 N. Lincoln, $7 suggested donation, all ages

pressive, unjust, and wrong system,” she says. Raising money for CCBF is a way “to show we could stand against oppression in our community and fight against it.” Trump’s election poses a serious threat on so many levels that it can be overwhelming just to try to choose which battle to fight. With this benefit compilation, Nicholas decided to keep the struggle close to home. “I keep coming back to the idea that even under a Trump administration, we can still each do good work in our own communities and our own small spheres of influence,” she says. “Doing a fund-raiser for Chicago Community Bond Fund—which takes direct action against an oppressive part of our criminal-justice system on a local level—felt like a good way to get together with other people and say that we reject Trump’s ideas.”

MUSIC CCBF cofounder Max Suchan, an activist and attorney, says the inspiration for CCBF arose from a confrontation between Chicago police and attendees at a candlelight vigil for 17-year-old Desean Pittman, who was fatally shot by CPD officers in Chatham in August 2014. Seven people at the vigil, including Pittman’s mother, were arrested, and five faced felony charges—including aggravated battery to a police officer and mob action. Two juveniles charged with misdemeanors were released without bond. All five people charged with felonies, unwilling to accept even the small risk of a lengthy sentence by going to trial, eventually took plea deals resulting in probation and supervision. But several served significant jail time in the interim because their bond was set too high for them to afford. Suchan says activists and attorneys helped raise more than $30,000 to bail out four of the five, prioritizing Pittman’s mother—she was released after about two weeks so she could attend her son’s funeral. But the money didn’t come in all at once, and it took four months to get the last person out of jail. “These are people who would’ve made their court dates and never should have been locked up,” Suchan says. Among the four arrestees who couldn’t quickly make bond, he explains,

some lost their jobs, and one friend of the slain teen had to repeat a year of high school because of the time he spent locked up. A judge typically sets a bond amount, and defendants usually need to pay 10 percent of it to be released before trial. Suchan explains that money is the primary determinant of whether or not someone can walk free before their next court date. A judge always has the option to deny bond for someone deemed too dangerous, but under the cash bond system, he says, someone with more money is allowed out while someone with less has to remain behind bars. Last month Cook County sheriff Tom Dart became the first elected official in the state to oppose the cash bond system, calling it unfair to low-level defendants with few financial resources. No matter the outcome of a case, though, bond money is refunded three to six weeks after it’s resolved, Suchan says (minus a small fee). The CCBF’s founders used the refunded bond from their initial effort to create a revolving fund for others in need of help. The group formally became a nonprofit in August 2015 and posted its first bond that December. According to Suchan, it’s since posted bond totaling more than $270,000 for 47 people. “Ultimately, our aim is to end the use of cash bond in Illinois. That is our overall mis- J

Business on the left, party on the right: Adele Nicholas in attorney mode outside the federal courthouse near Dearborn and Jackson (left) and at the space where her band Axons practices o ZAKKIYYAH NAJEEBAH

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 29

MUSIC

Nicholas’s Axons bandmate Kriss Stress drew the artwork for the new Impossible Colors beneﬁt compilation.

continued from 29 sion. We will never be able to bond out all the people we want to bond out of Cook County Jail,” Suchan says. Nicholas knows Suchan through their work with the National Police Accountability Project (as well as through mutual friends), and when she approached him in mid-November with her tape-comp fund-raiser idea, he says he was “really excited.” The more money the organization raises, the more people it can free—and the more time CCBF members can devote to working behind the scenes to end cash bond statewide. The CCBF has consistently received strong support from the community, but Suchan believes that since the election “people are feeling like this is the time to really support infrastructure that will try to advance a more progressive vision for the future.” He sees music as a good ﬁt for that type of work, given that artists are often on the forefront of progressive change—and that Chicago has spawned its share of politically vocal and active musicians. The Avantist’s front man, Fernando Arias,

30 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

says donating a track to the project was a nobrainer. The band, which consists of four Arias brothers, contributed the song “Conquer” from a self-titled album that came out in September. He describes the track as a response to police brutality—and to how unfair it is that people killed by police can never tell their side of the story.

“[Nicholas] sticks her neck out, and she’s doing good work. I want to be involved with anything she’s doing. I want to be involved with anyone who is willing to ﬁght the way she does,” Arias says. Azieb Abraha and Sidney Fenix, who released an album of synth-poppy hip-hop called Fox and Wolf this month, donated the track

“Entertainment.” Fenix says he hopes it encourages people to “question what’s going on.” Abraha appreciates Nicholas’s work as an attorney ﬁghting for the rights of her community. “I think a lot more people are starting to become more conscious, to use their talents for causes to help the community and not just to get paid,” she says. “It’s very rewarding for me to give a track to this. It makes me feel like I’m helping.” Arias thinks music can help reach people who might not otherwise want to have a political discussion. “You get a bunch of that together on a compilation, and if the intent is right, the only thing that can come from it is good,” he says. In addition to raising a few dollars for a good cause, Nicholas says the compilation is a small way for musicians and music lovers to come together in opposition to the racist rhetoric, unconstitutional policies, and toxic sentiments that Donald Trump stands for. “We have to do something good to counteract all the bad that’s happened,” she says. v

ß @LeeVGaines

JACOB COLLIER

LAMBCHOP

02/14

03/24

POWERS + BRIDGIT MENDLER 03/31

ODDISEE & GOOD COMPNY 05/20

GUEST

TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS J A N U A R Y 11 T H -15 T H

G E T M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N A N D T I C K E T S AT T N K F E S T. C O M

PUBLIC ACCESS T.V.

ESMÃ&#x2030; PATTERSON

01/26

01/27

SUSTO

LANDLADY

02/04

02/08

SPLASHH + THE BRITANYS

CEREUS BRIGHT

GUEST

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 31

Recommended and notable shows, and critics’ insights for the week of December 15

MUSIC

b ALL AGES F

PICK OF THE WEEK

Though he speaks hard-bop, saxophonist JD Allen conveys the spirit of folk THURSDAY15 Anti/Beyond Bestman, Bardo, and Fever Queen open. 7:30 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, $10, $8 in advance. Chicago indie-rock outfit Anti/Beyond celebrate their debut full-length tonight, but their new self-titled record is also a bit of a rebirth. It follows the 2012 EP Closet Space, on which main man Andrew Masters picked away at an acoustic guitar and occasionally teased out ideas into richer, more complex, passages—with its layered vocal harmonies and muffled percussion resembling a racing heartbeat, the song “Pina” hinted at what was to come for the band. Masters builds on that aesthetic with the self-released Anti/Beyond, which moves patiently but feels effervescent thanks to dense layers of interlocking instrumentation. On the immersive single “Piece of Glass” the group’s anthemic might sustains itself through hushed reveries toward a headstrong climax. —LEOR GALIL

Rudy Royston Orion Trio 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $15, $10 in advance. 18+

JD ALLEN TRIO

o ERIKA NJ ALLEN

Fri 12/16, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $15, $10 in advance. 18+

FEW SETS I HEARD AT THIS YEAR’S Chicago Jazz Festival got my pulse racing like the one tenor saxophonist JD Allen delivered with his crack trio—it was a sprint that swung like mad and illustrated his ability to both embrace a hallowed hard-bop tradition and deftly extend it. During that performance and on his fantastic recent album Americana: Musings on Jazz and Blues (Savant), Allen digs into the source of so much American music, deploying the elemental I-IV-V chord pattern—though he routinely lays it down in different bar configurations. He lassos a wide array of sounds, whether country or Delta blues, and while the album is rooted in the most basic hard-bop language, it conveys the spirit and feel of folk music. Working with the agile and spry rhythm section of bassist Gregg August

32 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

and drummer Rudy Royston (see Thursday), Allen applies his full-bodied tone to find new wrinkles in the approach of Sonny Rollins despite not sounding much like him, tearing apart Rollins’s attractive, deceptively simple melodies, working them over, reconfiguring certain phrases, and recombining parts. Allen’s rapport with his band—which keeps up with the hardcharging improvisations, bobbing and weaving along with every feint—deserves much of the credit for the music’s potency, but for me there’s something almost alchemical in how he makes the most basic forms and traditions sound like the most exciting things in the world, delivering performances that remind why I fell in love with jazz in the first place. Tonight James Gaiters subs for Royston. —PETER MARGASAK

Over the last decade or so Rudy Royston has established himself as one of jazz’s most tasteful and versatile drummers, a figure who doesn’t draw attention to himself but still brings a magnetic buoyancy to performances. Some of his best work has been in the telepathic trio led by tenor saxophonist JD Allen—though Royston won’t won’t be performing at Allen’s Constellation show tomorrow night (see Friday). Instead the drummer will lead his own superb trio, which just dropped the strong new album Rise of Orion (Greenleaf), revealing a much different side of himself despite employing the same instrumental format. Flanked by bassist Yasushi Nakamura and saxophonist Jon Irabagon, Royston, who wrote all but two of the 13 tracks, covers a wide range of styles: composed for his mother, “Sister Mother Clara” is an airy ballad whose delicate soprano sax sets a tender atmosphere, while “Man O To” lays down a looping groove and “Kolbe War” more explicitly shows off the drummer’s power and polyrhythmic fluency. Also included are a series of brisk, blues-based vignettes named for the stars of Orion. As only makes sense, Royston shows a bit more as a leader than when he’s working behind others, but the ensemble sound still comes first. —PETER MARGASAK

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

MUSIC

PRESENTS

William Basinski o DANILO PELLEGRINELLI

FRIDAY16 JD Allen Trio See Pick of the Week on page 32. 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $15, $10 in advance. 18+ Helmet Local H open. 9 PM, Metro, 3730 N. Clark, $25, $21 in advance. 18+ The post-hiatus formation of the great alternative-metal band Helmet—“great alternativemetal band” being a phrase I use extremely sparingly—basically consists of Page Hamilton and a slow-shifting but accomplished backup cast. Helmet have never been terribly prolific, and the six years that’ve passed between Seeing Eye Dog and the new Dead to the World (Earmusic) is the same length of time the band spent officially broken up (1998-2004). Hamilton has always flaunted a big bag of tricks—one you might expect from a some-time jazz musician who’s also played with both David Bowie and Caspar Brötzmann—but

if he’s got one weakness it’s that his embarrassment of riches can make it hard for him to focus. Dead to the World is actually the most accessible Helmet album in a long time, with downright hooky tracks like “Bad News” and “Green Shirt” (yes, an Elvis Costello cover). And as always it’s Hamilton’s sizzling guitar that will have fans feeling like they came to the right place— the right place most notably being found on “I (Heart) My Guru,” “Die Alone,” and “Look Alive.” —MONICA KENDRICK

SATURDAY17 William Basinski Mind Over Mirrors and Robert Beatty open. 8 PM, Bohemian National Cemetery Cathedral, 5255 N. Pulaski, $25. Since emerging in 2002, New York composer and sound artist William Basinski has been delivering a steady stream of hypnotic, richly meditative work. In the wake of 9/11 he began releasing music

OUT D L SO

For your chance to win tickets to the Sold Out Dec. 29 Riviera Theatre show and VIP passes to meet the band courtesy of Coors Light go to one of these locations on Friday, Dec. 16

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Tickets for the Aragon Ballroom shows on sale now through JAMUSA.COM DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 33

MUSIC

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

H2O o COURTESY THE ARTIST

continued from 33 built from decaying tape loops, which at the time were literally disintegrating as they cycled around a jerry-rigged tape player—and he hasn’t substantially altered that method since. The shifting textures are determined by source material he puts on loop, whether it’s the easy-listening recordings that surfaced on his early four-album series The Disintegration Loops (2002-2003) or the simple piano arpeggio he recorded for his piece Cascade and further murked up through repetition and degradation for Deluge (both released last year by Temporary Residence). There’s a ghostly beauty to everything he does, which makes it proper that one of the two pieces on his forthcoming new album, A Shadow in Time (out January 17), is a sonic eulogy for David Bowie. The 20-minute piece “For David Robert Jones” opens with a vaguely triumphant brightness that dims with each pass of its muffled, overtone-haloed fragment, until a second needling and noisy loop materializes a third of the way through, ratcheting tension and adding conﬂict as both streams of sound mutate toward their conclusions. The title track veers into slightly new territory: it’s an unfettered exploration of drone that either disguises or altogether lacks the trademark repetition of loops. —PETER MARGASAK

The Few 8:30 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, $10. 18+ For this listener, free improvisation is rarely enough on its own unless some sort of strategy or organizational focus is guiding a performance. But while I don’t know what, if anything, the members of the Few—the trio of guitarist Steve Marquette, violinist Macie Stewart, and bassist Charlie Kirchen—talked about before they started, or if there’s much planning behind their fully improvised performances, the music on their superb debut album, Fragments of a Luxury Vessel (Two

34 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

Cities), bobs and weaves with purpose. The Few started playing together only in April 2015—the members participated in Constellation’s 3-on-3 series, in which improvisers are grouped together for the first time—but on the record’s four tracks the players effortlessly find rhythmic and/ or melodic figures to hook into and extend. Each performance wends through passages as spiky and splintery as they are tender and lyric, and for such a young group of players the interplay is impressive. Stewart, who’s best known for playing in rock bands Homme and Marrow, had never improvised prior to this project, but she’s taken to the practice beautifully, complementing her graceful, marbled lines with crystalline wordless vocals marked by warmth and a sense of exploration. On the album’s closing track, “Variations on the ‘Truth Is Marching In,’” Marquette quotes from the referenced Albert Ayler tune, even though his partners had never heard it. Their instincts, however, tease out the track’s connections to country music that I’d never noticed. Experiencing that kind of fresh perspective is special. —PETER MARGASAK

H2O Burn, Absent Mind, and Crime Spree open. 6 PM, Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland, $18. A For more than two decades NYC melodic hardcore band H2O have kept it simple and straight posi. From their 1996 self-titled debut through the next year’s Epitaph breakout Thicker Than Water up to 2015’s Use Your Voice (Bridge 9), front man Toby Morse has been obliged to communicate via uplifting meat-and-potatoes lyrics—don’t try to read between the lines, just know that we’re all in this together. If as a hardcore fan you trumpet your hardcore pride while digging deep for the PMA—Morse loves rooting for PMA—then chances are pretty right on that you’re also an avid H2O supporter who sings along with the all-in vocals on Use Your

MUSIC

1800 W. DIVISION

Est.1954 Celebrating over 61 years of service to Chicago!

(773) 486-9862 Come enjoy one of Chicago’s ﬁnest beer gardens! THURSDAY, DEC 15 ...........SHE ALWAYS LIES EARTH PROGRAM STAR DUSK FRIDAY, DEC 16 .................DANNY DRAHER BAND SATURDAY, DEC 17 ............SEX THERAPY SUNDAY, DEC 18 T..............ONY DOSORIO TRIO WEDNESDAY, DEC 21 ........JAMIE WAGNER BAND THURSDAY, DEC 22 ...........MIKE FELTON FRIDAY, DEC 23 .................THE FUNS RELEVANT HAIRSTYLES MIKE DONOVAN WEDNESDAY, DEC 28 ........JAMIE WAGNER BAND THURSDAY, DEC 29 ...........HIGH PLAINES FRIDAY, DEC 30 .................HORSE MASSAGE

Voice. Also, isn’t there some kind of uncomplicated beauty about a track called “Skate!” that is exactly about skateboarding and not much else? I think so. Tonight H2O pay homage to their legacy by playing their aforementioned 20-year-old debut in full. Don’t forget your roots, obviously. —KEVIN WARWICK

Vic Spencer DJ 4 and DJ Royal spin. 10 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North. F Vic Spencer will be the first one to tell you that he’s irked folks within the local hip-hop scene plenty. He gets to it early on the new St. Gregory (Perpetual Rebel), kicking off “Vincente Fernandez” with some solemn bars: “Vic Spencer, the old fart is nutty / About ﬁve years ago I was everybody’s buddy / Now I’m Chicago’s hated, I should be dead / But I’m still here, so that is a remarkable statement.” On Twitter Spencer boasts about and criticizes diﬀerent factions of the local scene—be it Logan Square hot spot East Room or south-side MC Mick Jenkins, a feud that wound up inspiring a brief back-and-forth in song—which makes him come off as inordinately brash. But Spencer is a hip-hop lifer, and I like to believe that at the core of his screeds is the belief that everyone behind the mike should aspire to work harder. Spencer certainly holds himself to that notion on St. Gregory, throughout the album pushing himself to make every word count. On “Suede Legend” his lyrics spew forward like a cartoon character sprinting atop water, oblivious to the fact that physics demands he should have sunk seconds ago. Spencer isn’t a total castaway in the scene, however—St. Gregory features a rare appearance by Uptown hip-hop legend E.C. Illa. —LEOR GALIL

EVERY MONDAY AT 9PM ANDREW JANAK QUARTET EVERY TUESDAY AT 8PM OPEN MIC HOSTED BY JIMI JON AMERICA

SUNDAY18 Fat Babies See also Tuesday. 8 PM, HonkyTonk BBQ, 1800 S. Racine. F With few exceptions, those practicing the sort of traditional jazz popularized in New Orleans and Chicago during the 20s and early 30s essentially believe and traﬃc in museum-grade preservation. They play for audiences living in time-travel fantasies, preferring to ignore the music made over the last 80 years as they seek Charleston partners. The members of Chicago’s Fat Babies might perform in shirtsleeves and neckties and meticulously record interpretations of the trad-jazz repertoire in glorious mono, but they also play music of other eras—whether it’s drummer Alex Hall working in the Flat Five or bassist Beau Sample storming through Jazz Manouche with Alfonso Ponticelli. The Fat Babies perform with such a vitality—never jacking up the pitch-perfect rhythm or playing postmodern games—that I don’t even see what they do as an act of reclamation. The ebullient polyphony and drive on their third album, Solid Gassuh (Delmark), is pure pleasure, a riot of motion and multilinear melody as banjoist Jake Sanders flails propulsive chords alongside the Baby Dodds-inspired rhythmic spill of Hall

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DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 35

Find more music listings at chicagoreader.com/soundboard.

MUSIC

Grandkids o COURTESY THE ARTIST

continued from 35

and Sample’s unerring pulse-and-harmony anchor. That leaves plenty of space for the raucous yet lyric playing of pianist Paul Asaro, reedists Jonathan Doyle and John Otto, trombonist Dave Bock, and cornetist Andy Schumm. While the occasional white-bread vocal might suggest a hokey costume party, there’s little to disrupt the spell these guys cast their long-running weekly residencies. —PETER MARGASAK

MONDAY19 Job Chord, More Gorgeous, and Wave open. 9 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport. F Chicago’s rock scene is littered with collections of vets in new and interesting conﬁgurations, and right now one of the hardest hitting and freshest is instrumental trio JOB. Headed by former Alla and Deep Earth member Otto Junker, JOB steps away from the garage, psych, and noise rock dominating the local landscape and dives headfirst into droney prog. The tracks on October’s selfreleased, self-titled LP are anchored by the crispy, dexterous beats of drummer Jim Myers (a former member of math rockers Dakota/Dakota, which eventually morphed into postmetal giant Russian Circles), while Junker and Bill Myers—Jim’s younger brother—unleash an arsenal of high-powered synths, springy bass, and lofty guitars. The energy and sound pay tribute to the eerie 80s output of prog giants Yes and King Crimson. Donning headlamps and stalking a dimly lit stage, the members

36 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

ﬂawlessly execute complex tracks with a hypnotic precision. This week JOB (an acronym of the members’ ﬁrst names) will head into Bricktop Recording with engineer and Weekend Nachos guitarist Andy Nelson to begin working on a new collection of songs. —LUCA CIMARUSTI

TUESDAY20 Fat Babies See Sunday. 9 PM, Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, $7.

WEDNESDAY21 Grandkids Hecks, Homme, and Seth Engel open. 8 PM, Schubas, 3159 N. Southport, $8. Chicago-via-Urbana band Grandkids make complex, curvaceous rock songs with a masterful grip. On the new This Guitars (Heirship Records) they lay down gnarly melodic curveballs and instrumental switcheroos with the finesse of a convertible humming around the side-winding roads that hug California mountain ranges. You can feel the friction when blastbeats burst forth like gusts of wind during the largely downtempo and gentle single “Seamripper.” The four members of Grandkids are talented, no doubt, but also unpretentious about their work. This Guitars is the result of a lot of hard labor, but the band wisely refrains from making a big deal about how tricky it was to put the whole machine together. —LEOR GALIL v

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Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the '60s and Beyond Featuring the music of Peter and Gordon

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15 5PM Ukrainian Winter Evenings with

Kobzarska Sich Bandura Ensemble In Szold Hall

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21 8PM

Dale Watson and Ray Benson SATURDAY, JANUARY 21 8PM

Alash

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 8PM Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's

John McEuen & Friends present Will the Circle Be Unbroken SUNDAY, JANUARY 29 10:30AM

Justin Roberts & the Not Ready for Naptime Players Kids' concert SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 8PM

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DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 37

FOOD & DRINK

ENTENTE | $$$ R 3056 N. Lincoln 872-206-8553

ententechicago.com

o DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS

NEW REVIEW

A former Schwa chef delivers audacious ﬁne dining at Entente Brian Fisher upends expectations in an unlikely spot: Lakeview. By MIKE SULA

approached Entente, a new “casual ﬁne dining” restaurant from Arami owner Ty Fujimura, with a bit of trepidation. With a website featuring little more than an inscrutable, cursory menu, a reservation system that requires a credit card number, and $20-per-person penalty for no-shows, I worried it had a touch of the userunfriendliness you might encounter trying to

38 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

get a table at, say, Schwa. And that’s not just because Fujimura’s chef is Brian Fisher, a fouryear veteran of that closet-size crucible of fuck-you ﬁne dining. As my pals and I claimed our credit-secured four-top we looked around a restaurant empty but for a table occupied by Fujimura and his pals, laughing it up. This is a quiet, unforgiving block for restaurants of ambition. Fujimura’s Ani, kind of his

Arami lite, held on here for two years. The proto-izakaya Chizakaya staggered along for a similar period of time. Neither one made ripples large enough to attract much outside attention. Foot traffic to and from the army-navy surplus and Scientology storefront doesn’t pay the bills. The gamble on Fisher, though, is promising. His a la carte menu, written in the three- and four-word ingredientese that’s become the norm for restaurants wishing to project an air of clinical mystery, is tight enough that a group of a few stout eaters could tackle the whole thing as a kind of shared tasting menu. We sure did. Pastry chef Mari Katsumura—daughter of the late namesake of Lakeview’s Yoshi’s Cafe and a veteran of Blackbird, Grace, and Acadia—starts things off with a pair of bread courses, including a marvelously layered buttermilk biscuit, at once dense and impossibly flaky, a quenelle of piquillo-chile compound butter at the ready. Somewhat less remarkable Parker House rolls are meant to be the vehicle for pickles, mustard, and salted butter far funkier than the ribbons of country ham that come along for the ride. These would be just as well suited to dredging through the remains of courses to follow. But first two salads upend the usual expectations for greenery of their kind. The “wedge” is a circular segment of iceberg more properly described as a bowl, its center filled with a deposit of cool, creamy green goddess dressing and its perimeter adorned with bacon, pungent Cambozola cheese, and dollops of concentrated tomato jam. The raw greens in the kale salad are tenderized with a sweet, sour, and spicy Thai-style vinaigrette to mitigate the joyless mastication usually required by them, tossed with crunchy tempurafried ramen noodles, and mounted on a sheaf of grilled napa cabbage. Meanwhile a generous dish of silky-smooth chicken liver is topped with a layer of Concord grape jelly dotted with squirts of pumpkinseed butter; the overall effect when spread on slices of grilled sourdough is like an offal enthusiast’s ideal PB&J. Larger plates feature two dishes of extraordinary opulence. A nearly liquid risotto with Carolina Gold rice is punctuated with duck yolks like miniature suns set off against a creamy sky flecked with fungal blacktruffle shavings. J

S P O N S O R E D

N E I G H B O R H O O D

C O N T E N T

Chicago has always been a city of distinct neighborhoods with their own sense of identity and tradition — and each with stand-out bars and restaurants that are worthy of a haul on the El or bucking up for parking. Explore some local faves here, then head out for a taste of the real thing!

LINCOLN HALL // LINCOLN PARK $8 Modelo Especial Tallboy + shot of tequila

EATALY, LA PIAZZA // RIVER NORTH Tues: 5-9 pm, $15 housemade beer + Margherita pizza alla pala

L H - S T. C O M

E ATA LY . C O M / C H I C A G O

MONTI’S // LINCOLN SQUARE Monday: $1 oﬀ Beers, Friday: $5 Martinis

REGGIES // SOUTH LOOP $5 Absolut & Bacardi Cocktails Every Day special

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PHYLLIS’ MUSICAL INN // WICKER PARK Everyday: $3.75 Moosehead pints and $2.50 Hamms cans

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CANADIAN RIVERS SALMON FILET

Oliver’s features contemporary American with seasonal international dishes—that includes prime cuts, fresh seafood and farm to table specialties in a relaxed casual environment. Appetizers include oysters, shrimp, sliders and delicious small plates. Chef Oliver’s famous scallops merited a special TV appearance on ABC’s 190 North and several mentions in Chicago publications. The exceptional fare is complimented by a wide variety of signature martinis, extensive selection of craft beers and a unique wine list.

“Outstanding! Wonderful appetizers & martinis!”

— PAMELA B. / YELP

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 39

○ Watch a video of Dan Snowden working with olive loaf in the kitchen at chicagoreader.com/food.

FOOD & DRINK Duck breast with crosnes and turnips; angel-food-like cheesecake with lavender marshmallows o DANIELLE A. SCRUGGS

KEY INGREDIENT

Lunch meat worthy of a restaurant

Dan Snowden calls olive loaf “scary looking.” But his ﬁnished dish is gorgeous. o JULIA THIEL

By JULIA THIEL

continued from 38 Fisher performs a comparable feat with white truffle, enriching a similarly sumptuous pile of fettuccine tossed with maitake mushrooms and crushed hazelnuts. These two plates haunt me more than any other I tried at Entente, if only because their clear potential for greatness is subverted by a palate-exhausting overuse of salt that even puts subsequent dishes at a disadvantage. These days it takes some guts for a chef to put something as boring as a single chicken breast at the center of the plate, but Fisher somehow redeems this has-been, rendering the flesh silky and moist and its skin a crackly armor that begs to be ripped off and scarfed. The side of sausage, escarole, and flageolet beans is almost an afterthought. He performs similar wizardry on other familiar proteins. An agreeably gamy duck breast with juicy turnips and the nutty rhizomes known as crosnes gets a counterpunch from dabs of funky miso yogurt and blackberry hoisin sauce, while a roulade of crispy pork belly sits among deposits of granola and dabs of apple butter and celery root puree. Katsumura’s desserts are lovely to behold and restrained in terms of sweetness, allow-

ing the complexity of supporting flavors to emerge. Soft cylinders of angel-food-like cheesecake play with floral lavender marshmallows; a disk of milky tres leches cake is scented with roasted green tea and given texture by crunchy poppy-seed sorghum; a sassafras profiterole is right at home with minty shiso and sour cherry. Angie Silverberg’s list of 40-some wines is devoted to minimally messed-with natural bottles, more than a dozen local beers, and cocktails such as Patty’s Revenge, a sweet rummy concoction in a highball glass with a blast of bracing Branca Menta, or the What Are We Doing, with a bourbon base sent in a surprisingly effective tiki direction from tropical-flavored Red Bull. And don’t sleep on the nonalcoholic house-made sodas with intriguing profiles like fig, shiitake-tarragon, and pistachio-rose-lime. Fisher and Matsumura are performing audacious, compelling cooking of a sort that this awkward, ill-placed space hasn’t seen in some time—if ever. Even if the neighborhood doesn’t catch on, Entente deserves the embrace of a much wider audience. v

ß @MikeSula

40 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

LIVE LOAF sounds like an olive-studded loaf of bread—and it can be. The other definition, however, refers to lunch meat with pimiento-stuffed olives inside, a bologna-like product most often associated with the Oscar Mayer brand that has a tendency to end up on clickbaity lists like “25 Inedibly Nasty Lunch Meat Products.” DAN SNOWDEN, executive chef at BAD HUNTER in the West Loop, says that olive loaf is “always kind of scary looking, but you kind of want to order it anyway, just to see what it tastes like.” He responded to a challenge by RYAN PFEIFFER of BLACKBIRD to make a dish by using not only the meat product but also the bread associated with the name. The bread was easy to acquire: Snowden says that Greg Wade of Publican Quality Breads makes one of the best olive breads he’s ever tasted. The meat loaf, on the other hand, took a little more work. “If you make a good one,” he says, “it can be pretty delicious— somewhere between mortadella and a paté.” So he did, starting with a whole pig from Slagel Farms. He brined the shoulder meat, liver, and some of the back fat in an olive brine for a couple of days, then incorporated the meat into a country-style paté with Castelvetrano olives, which he baked in a water bath. For his dish, Snowden envisioned the fla-

vors of puttanesca pasta sauce—especially olives—in panzanella, a traditional Italian salad of tomatoes and bread. There isn’t much traditional about Snowden’s version, though: he peeled and dehydrated tomatoes, then rehydrated them in dashi (Japanese broth made with bonito ﬁsh ﬂakes and dried kelp) to add an umami flavor that mimics the anchovies you’d find in puttanesca. He pureed those tomatoes with chunks of olive bread, more dashi, olive oil, and red wine vinegar to make a vinaigrette; thick slices of the olive paté and thin slices of the olive bread went on the wood grill to add a smoky flavor. To those three elements he added a few spoonfuls of the rehydrated tomatoes, variously colored mustard greens tossed in olive oil, white onions braised in red wine vinegar syrup, and a sprinkling of dehydrated and pulverized tomato skins. “Traditionally the bread is soaked in the vinaigrette,” Snowden says, “but I like the crunch that it brings.” The overall dish, he says, “tastes like the best hot dog you’ve ever had.”

WHO’S NEXT:

Snowden has challenged A.J. WALKER, chef at the new PUBLICAN ANKER, to create a dish with a type of grain called Job’s tears. v

ß @juliathiel

JOBS

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INSTITUTIONAL CONSULTANT –F/T – CHICAGO - Support

Sr Consultants / Principals to provide advice, recommendations, analysis to institutional investors including defined contribution, defined benefit, endowment & foundation clients. Specific task as directed by Sr Consul tant/Principals include: * Work w/ clients on investment policy, asset allocation, manager selection, vendor searches & performance monitoring; * Meet w/ clients to determine clients’ assets, liabilities, cash flow, or financial objectives; * Develop longterm asset allocation, based on institutions’ financial needs: * Assist in training of new subordinate employees w/in Associate Position in Institutional Consulting Team; *Maintain compliance w/ Investment Advisors Act of 1940; * Year-rd Domestic Travel to service clients & attend quarterly meetings from 25% to 50% of time per annum in GA, IL, TX,OH. WI. Reqs: BA/BS in Finance or related field or foreign equiv.; 3 yrs exp in financial sector. Exp must include: oversight areas of Defined Contributions Plans including Investment Menu Design, Recording keeping fee structure evaluation and others; - Defined Benefit/Pension Plans including

asset allocation modeling & asset liability studies; - Endowments/ Foundations to include asset allocation modeling & rebalancing methodology. CFA (Charted Financial Analyst) designation or progress towards; use of asset classes & investment managers encompassing mutual funds, com mingled/collective investment trusts & separately managed accounts plus brokerage and/or bank account admin procedures; writing skills with sample req. Must be proficient w/ Word, Excel & PowerPoint. Send resumes to: DIMEO SCHNEIDER & ASSOCIATES, LLC, Attn: Careers 11-16, 500 WEST MADISON STREET, UNIT 1700, CHICAGO, IL 60661. NO CALLS.

TRANSMARKET OPERATIONS LLC, seeks Financial Analysts for Chicago, IL location to analyze & develop quantitative strategies. Master’s in Finance/ Financial Mathematics/Financial Eng +2yrs exp OR Bachelor’s in Finance/Financial Mathematics/ Financial Engineering +5yrs exp req’d. Must have exp. evaluating/ analyzing corporate M&A & investment deals (flow, project planning, financial statements, accounting & tax statements, balance sheets, working capital, cash flow), JIRA, developing, building advanced quantitative models & macros using VBA & performing data queries w/ SQL, performing financial due diligence analysis (quality of earnings, working capital, net debt, bus. performance), Excel proficiency incl adv formulas (Arrays, sum products, If statements, vlookups, rate formulas, concatenating, match), adv knowledge of pivot tables, all charts, cond formatting, understand formula flow & locate errors, query data from outside sources, exp & understanding of MS Dynamics ERP & Concur AP sw reports. CPA or CFA req’d. Apply online: http://www. transmarketgroup.com/ jobs/?gh_jid=526864

Senior SAP Functional Analyst for Rust-Oleum Corporation to work at our Vernon Hills, IL loc. Responsible for systems process analysis + design at complex business level. Create/modify system config in SAP specializing in complex pricing scenarios for consumer packaged goods industry + forecasting using SAP Flexible Planning. Investigate + resolve system software/config nonconformances. Test new system apps. Little domestic travel may be involved. Must have bach deg in comp sci, eng’g, or rel and 5 yrs rel SAP configuration experience. Rel exp. to incl: project management; configuration in SD Pricing and LIS Flexible Planning and info structures; functional interfaces to non-SAP systems; and key integration points with other SAP modules. May undergo background checks incl drug screen. Resume to careers@rustoleum.com.

FINANCE The Northern Trust Co. is seeking an Associate Quantitative Portfolio Manager in Chicago IL, with the following requirements: BS in a quantitative financial field and 3 years of related experience. Required skills: create and interpret client portfolio performance reports and respond to client inquiries regarding portfolio and investment strategy performance; develop VBA application for daily trading position reporting and portfolio analysis; reconcile trading data and resolve issues of exceptions or discrepancies with middle office and operations team; develop risk exposure and Profit & Loss analysis reporting solutions using Python and Oracle SQL; research and back-test investment strategies using one of the following statistical software programs – MATLAB, SAS, or R. Please apply on-line at www. northerntrustcareers.com and search for Req. # 16124

DESIGN TECHNICIAN: CREATE working drawings & blueprints for home frames on AutoCad or by hand. HS dipl. &2y exp. req. Mail res: Caterpillar Carpentry Inc, 35W459 Ridge Rd, West Dundee, IL 60118

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DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 41

TECHNOLOGY EXPEDIA, INC. HAS openings

for the following positions in Chicago, Illinois (various/ levels/types): Software Engineers (Job ID#: 728.SWE-EC-DEC): Design, implement, and debug software for computers including algorithms and data structures. Managers, Engineering (Job ID#: 728.2183): Responsible for architecture, design, construction, testing, and implementation of software. Technical Product Manager (Job ID#: 728.2390): Gather detailed business requirements from stakeholders and work closely with technology staff to translate requirements into functional designs and specifications. To apply, send resume to: Expedia Recruiting, 333 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Must reference Job ID#.

Accountant (Chicago, IL): Prepare financial data analyses based on requests from investors and auditors. Prepare quarterly and annual financial statements and disclosures. Prepare management reports regarding funds and investor data. Identify, measure and analyze volatility related data regarding equity valuations. Run Net Asset Value (NAV) reports for funds and Private equities. Prepare Management Fee and Acquisition Fee Calculations and analyze key statistical data in both client management and investor reporting. Requires Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or related. Mail resumes to HR Director, Transcontinental Fund Administration. 33 N. LaSalle Street, Ste 2210, Chicago, IL 60602. TRANSMARKET OPERATIONS LLC seeks Support Engineers for Chicago, IL location to monitor, maintain & evaluate automated trading high-speed data networks, frameworks & processes. Master’s in Comp Sci or Com p/Electrical Eng +2yrs exp OR Bachelor’s in Comp Sci or Comp/ Electrical Eng +5yrs exp req’d. Must have exp w/ OSI layers, Linux (CentOS), RHCE/RHCSA, CCNP/CCNA technologies, packet capture & analysis tools (Wireshark, Solarwinds), Python scripting, VM admin, AD, multicast & unicast routing protocols (PIM, BGP, OSPF). Apply online: http://www. transmarketgroup.com/ jobs/?gh_jid=526883

Systems Analyst Specialist, Teradata Lead. Bloomingdale, IL. Develops ETL processes, designs and builds data marts on Teradata along with the ETL processes to manage it, and utilizes Teradata ETL. Must possess bachelor’s or foreign equivalent degree in Computer Science, Electric Engineering, or Electronic Engineering plus 5 years progressively responsible work experience as a Teradata Developer including ETL process development, Fastload, MultiLoad, FastExport, TPT and BTEQ Teradata utilities, and Teradata SQL using SQL Assistant. Send resume to Adreena Perry, Bridgestone Americas, Inc., 535 Marriott Drive, Nashville, TN 37214. Consultant (Software Developer, Applications) needed for IBS, Inc., Oak Brook, IL. Engage in analysis, design and development of JAVA/J2EE based applications. Will utilize Spring, REST Web Services, SOAP, EJB, STS, and MVC. Will provide services to clients located throughout the U.S. Must have a BS degree in computer science, math, business or engineering and 5 yrs. of overall progressive IT exp. developing JAVA/J2EE based applications which includes 1 yr. of exp. in the skill sets listed above. Must be willing to travel/relocate. Send resumes to: hr@ibs.com. Senior Systems Analyst (Chicago, IL) Seeking Senior Systems Analyst to plan, design, analyze develop, test, enhance, and install Content Management (CM) systems. Masters in Computer Science or closely related field. Will accept BS/BA plus 5 years of progressively responsible exp. in lieu of masters. Min. 6 months exp. in all phases of SDLC and using SQL server, VB.Net, Eclipse, Luminis CMS and Joomla CMS. Travel required. Resumes to: HR Manager, Dakota Systems, Inc., 35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 1970, Chicago, IL 60601

RESEARCH DRW HOLDINGS, LLC in

Chicago, IL seeks candidates for the following position: Research Developer (Position ID 2016-1357) BS in CS, CE or related; 3 yrs exp w/ Python for scientific computing, C++ and Cython; 3 yrs exp w/ data viz, UI, and distributed computing; and 1 yr of univ or prof level research involving machine learning algorithms req’d. Exp may be gained concurrently. To apply, email resume to apply@drw.com and ref Position ID. EOE. Principals only.

STUDIO $900 AND OVER

CHICAGO - HYDE PARK 5401 S. Ellis. 1BR. $535-$600/mo. Call 773-955-5106

1 BR UNDER $700 FALL SPECIAL: STUDIOS starting at $499 incls utilities. 1BR $550, 2BR $599, 3BR $699. With approved credit. No Security Deposit for Sec 8 Tenants. South Shore & Southside. Call 312-4463333 QUALITY

SOFTWARE EGENCIA LLC HAS openings for

the following positions in Chicago, Illinois (various/levels/types): Software Engineers (Job ID#: 728.SWE-EGC-DEC): Design, implement, and debug software for computers including algorithms and data structures. To apply, send resume to: Egencia/Expedia Recruiting, 333 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Must reference Job ID#.

BIGGEST 2 1/2 rm studio in Ra-

venswood! Newly remodeled Kitchen with granite style countertops! Tons of closets! Hdwd flrs, 2 blks to Metra and brown line! Free cooking gas, heat incl. 1/2 month free rent! $1000.00. 4916 North Wolcott. (773) 381-0150. www.theschirmfirm. com

NEWLY REMOD 1BR & Studios starting at $500. No sec dep, move in fee or app fee. Free heat/ hot water. 1155 W. 83rd St., 773619-0204

Chicago 65th & Wood 1+ BR with large kitchen, newly decorated, on quiet block. Available now. $600/mo. Call 847-9933010

HUGE RAVENSWOOD 2 1/2 rm

studio! 1/2 month free rent! Only 1 block to Metra, LA Fitness, Mariano’s! 2 blocks to brown line! Hdwd flrs, built-in china cabinets! Loads of closet space. Free cooking Gas! Heat incl. $950.00. 4832 North Wolcott. (773) 381-0150. www.theschirmfirm.com

PROGRAM SPECIALISTCommunity Health: KACS in

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

7500 SOUTH SHORE Dr. Brand New Rehabbed Studio & 1BR Apts from $650. Call 773-374-7777 for details.

MARQUETTE PARK: 6315-19 S California, Studios, 1beds, 2beds from $600-$800, Free heat, no deposit. 773.916.0039

42 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 15, 2016

1 BR $700-$799

SEC 8 WELC, newly rehab, huge SFH 3BR/2BA, full bsmt w/ extra BRs & bthrm. Appls incl, fully fncd yrd, no pets, 773-744-7411

HUMBOLDT PARK. ONE

bedroom apartment for rent. Newly remodeled. Next door to food store. $800 per month plus security deposit. Near shopping area. Monica, 773-592-2989.

READY TO MOVE? REMODELED 1, 2 , 3 & 4 BR Apts. Heat & Appls incl. South Side locations only. Call 773-593-4357

1 BR Apt, new paint & carpeting nr North & Cicero $795 inc heat / water, coin op w/d on site, No Sec dep/credit ck 877-350-5055

WRIGLEYVILLE’S FINEST! NEWLY remodeled Kitchen with

AUBURN GRESHAM: 79TH & Paulina, 1-2 Bedroom, $745-$795, Free heat. Call 773.916.0039

1 BR $800-$899 6824 N WAYNE. One bedroom

apartment near Red Line. Hardwood floors, Pets OK. $850/ month. Heat included. Laundry in building. Available 1/1. 773-761-4318, www. lakefrontmgt.com

1/2 MONTH FREE! Gorgeous Eng-

lish Tudor courtyard building! Brand new Kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances! 2 blocks to Irving Park “EL”! Hdwd flrs, built-in bookshelves and china cabinets! Onsite lndry/storage. 4237 North Hermitage: $1,335.00 ht incl. (773) 381-0150.www.theschirmfirm. com

ACACIA SRO HOTEL Men Preferred! Rooms for Rent. Weekly & Monthly Rates. 312-421-4597

2 BR UNDER $900 FABULOUS RAVENSWOOD 1 bdrm with backyard! Extra large

ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT

near Warren Park and Metra, 6802 N Wolcott. Hardwood floors. Heat included. Laundry in building. Cats OK. $900/ month. Available 1/1. 773-7614318, www.lakefrontmgt.com

1BR;

new kit, sunny FDR, oak flrs, Onsite lndy; PKG Avail., $1050/incl heat. 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

1/2 MONTH FREE rent! Rarely available Ravenswood 1 bdrm located only 2 blocks from Metra, LA Fitness, Mariano’s! Lovely hdwd flrs, large sunfilled Living Room! Great closet space! Free cooking Gas. 4918 North Wolcott: avail Feb. 1. $1165, ht incl.(773) 381-0150.www.theschirmfirm.com

WOODLAWN 2BR

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

BIG ROOM with stove, fridge, bath & nice wood floors. Near Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry, Shopping. $121/wk + up. 773-561-4970

AUSTIN- 1BR garden apt, Utilities not included $650/ mo plus 1 month security deposit, Section 8 Welcome 773-317-1837 SECTION 8 WELCOME. No Security Dep., 7335 S Morgan, 5BR house, appliances incl., $1300/mo. Call 708-288-4510 û NO SEC DEP û

6829 S. Perry. 1BR. $520/mo. 1431 W. 78th St. 2BR. $605/mo. HEAT INCL 773-955-5106

82ND & LOOMIS, 1BR, 4 ROOMS, newly decorated, carpeted, heat incl., $675/mo + 1 mo sec. Quiet/Smoke Free Bldng. 773-846-1140

Kitchen, hdwd flrs, on-site lndry/ storage. Loads of windows/sunshine! Close to public transp! 5220 North Wolcott, avail February 1. 1/2 month free rent! $1,045.00, tenant htd. (773) 381-0150. www.theschirmfirm. com

1 BR OTHER APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. LTD. OLD MAN WINTER IS HERE!!! MOST UNITS INCLUDE.. HEAT & HOT WTR STUDIOS FROM $475.00 1BDR FROM $495.00 2BDR FROM $745.00 3 BDR/2 FULL BATH FROM $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000** APTS. FOR RENT PARK MGMT & INV. LTD. THE HAWK HAS ARRIVED!!! OUR UNITS INCLUDE HEAT, HW & CG PLENTY OF PARKING 1BDR FROM $750.00 2BDR FROM $895.00 3 BDR/2 FULL BATH FROM $1200 **1-(773)-476-6000***

Newly updated, clean furnished rooms, located near buses & Metra, elevator, utilities included, $91/wk. $ 395/mo. 815-722-1212 NICE ROOM w/stove, fridge & bath Near Aldi, Walgreens, Beach, Red Line & Buses. Elevator & Laundry. $130/wk & up. 773-275-4442

CHICAGO - BEVERLY, large 2 room Studio, 1 & 2BR Apts. Carpet, A/C, laundry, near transportation, $650-$975/mo. Call 773-233-4939

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

1 BR $900-$1099

1000SF

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

ROYALTON HOTEL, Kitchen-

Riverdale, Ivanhoe Sect, 1 & 2BR, newly remod, $800$900/mo. Lndry, priv pkig, sec cam. Wtr/heat incl. No crdt chk, Sect 8 ok. 708-308-8137

EDGEWATER

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

MOVE IN SPECIAL B4 the N of this MO. & MOVE IN 4 $99.00 (773) 874-3400

BR, large kit, new appl FDR, oak floors, new windows & blinds $825/ mo + util 773-743-4141 www. urbanequities.com

4950 S Prairie. 1BR. Heat, cooking gas, appl incl. Sec 8 ok. Lndry on site, prkg. $650 & up. Z 773-406-4841

2 1/2 rm Ravenswood studio located 1 block from fabulous Winnemac Park! Close to Metra and brown line too! Great closet space! On-site lndry/storage. 1948 West Winnemac- $970 ht incl. (773) 381-0150. www.theschirmfirm. com

granite countertops and stainless steel appliances! Lovely Hdwd flrs, dec. fireplace, 3 seasonal sunroom! Close to “EL”, Wrigley Field, Jewel! 1251 West Waveland, 1/2 month free rent! $1485, tnt htd. (733) 381-0150. www. theschirmfirm.com

W. HUMBOLDT PK 900 sq ft 1/

BRONZEVILLE

1/2 MONTH FREE rent! Fantastic

Chicago, 134th & Brandon , 1, 2 & 3BR, 1BA apts $650$950/mo,NO security dep incl all utilities & appls. Avail Now! 708-986-8123

1 BR $1100 AND OVER

$775-$800 76th & Phillips 2BR $775-$800 Remodeled, Appliances avail. Free Heat. 312-286-5678

RENTALS

CHICAGO, HYDE PARK Arms

MARQUETTE PARK: 7142 S Richmond, beaut rehab 3BR/2BA house, granite ctrs, SS appls, fin bsmt, 2 car gar. $1600/mo. 708288-4510

79TH

REAL ESTATE

STUDIO $600-$699

CLEAN ROOM W/FRIDGE & micro, Near Oak Park, Food -4Less, Walmart, Walgreens, Buses & Metra, Laundry. $115/wk & up. 773-637-5957

Colfax New remodel, 1 & 2 Bedrooms, heat/appl incl. 312-493-5544

CALUMET CITY: Newly decorated 2BR house, 1BA hardwood flrs, stove, garage, $1050/Mo. Rent + Sec dep req’d. Call 773507-8475

Chicago, IL seeks one w/min Bachelor’s and 3 yrs Exp. Duties: Coordinate community health program and provide case management service Send resume to Inchul Choi, 4300 N. California Ave. Chicago, IL 60618

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

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

modern oak floors, appliances, Security system, on site maint. clean & quiet, Nr. transp. From $445. 773582-1985 (espanol)

has openings for the following positions in Chicago, Illinois (various/ levels/types): Software Engineers (Job ID#: 728.SWE-ORC-DEC): Design, implement, and debug software for computers including algorithms and data structures. To apply, send resume to: Orbitz/ Expedia Recruiting, 333 108th Avenue NE, Bellevue, WA 98004. Must reference Job ID#.

STUDIO $500-$599

7022 S. SHORE DRIVE Impecca-

MIDWAY AREA/63RD KEDZIE Deluxe Studio 1 & 2 BRs. All

SOFTWARE ORBITZ WORLDWIDE, LLC

HVAC TECHNICIAN, WANTED. For Sodexo at Stevenson High school, Lincolnshire Illinois. 1st/ 2nd Shifts.At least 3 Year Experience in the field. Must Pass Background Check Apply at “Sodexo. balancetrak.com” Search bar on top enter Lincolnshire’s zip code, 60069. Click HVAC Technician application.

APARTMENTS,

Great Prices! Studios-4BR, from $450. Newly rehabbed. Appliances included. Low Move-in Fees. Hardwood floors. Pangea - Chicago’s South, Southwest & West Neighborhoods. 312-985-0556

SECTION 8 WELCOME 7620 S.

Find hundreds of Readerrecommended restaurants, exclusive video features, and sign up for weekly news chicagoreader.com/ food.

7100 SOUTH JEFFERY Large 1 BEDROOM, $725 Large Studio, $625 Nr Metra & shops, Sec 8 OK. Newly decor, dining room, carpeted, appls, FREE heat & cooking gas. Elevator & laundry room, free credit check, no application fee, 1-773-9197102 or 1-312-802-7301 CHICAGO, CHATHAM NO SECURITY DEPOSIT Spacious updated 1BR from $600 with great closet space. Incl: stove/fridge, hdwd flrs, blinds, heat & more!!! LIMITED INVENTORY ** Call (773) 271-7100 ** 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 ∫

ONE OF THE BEST M & N MGMT, 1BR, 7727 Colfax ** 2 Lrg BR, 6754 Crandon ** 2 & 3BR, 2BA, 6216 Eberhart ** Completely rehabbed. You deserve the best ** 773-9478572 or 312-613-4427

NR 71ST/MARSHFIELD. 4 rooms, 2BR, decor, hdwd flrs, heat incl, nr trans & shops. $725/mo. No Security. Brown Realty Inc. 773-239-9566 LOGAN SQUARE 2 bedroom apartment, 2-flat building, modern kitchen & bath, balcony, washer & dryer. $750/mo. Near Blue Line. 773-235-1066 CALUMET CITY/MICHIGAN CITY Rd. avail. now, 2br, incl appl.,

AC, lndry rm. $875/mo. & 1 mo. dep. & sec. check, sec. 8OK. 773-875-1315

ALSIP: LARGE 2BR, 1.5BA, $875/mo. Balcony, appliances, laundry & storage. Call 708-268-3762

2 BR $900-$1099 CHICAGO RIDGE, SPACIOUS 2 bedroom, appliances, wood floors, balcony, $ 950/mo., heat included 708-422-8801

CHICAGO

SOUTHSIDE

Remod 2 & 3BR Rentals. $950$1150/mo, heat incl. No Sec Dep. Nr trans. Sect 8 welcome. 773-733-8944

2 BR $1100-$1299 EVANSTON 2BR, 1100SF, great kit, new appls, DR, oak flrs, lndry, $1250/mo incls heat. 773743-4141 www.urbanequities.co Elmhurst: Sunny 1/BR, new

appl, carpet, AC, Patio, $875/incl heat, parking. Call 773-743-4141 www.urbanequities.com

73RD & DORCHESTER, 2BR, refrig, $1150/mo, gas incl; 119th &

Calumet, 3BR, 2BA, $1250/mo. No Sec Dep. Sec 8 ok. 773-684-1166

3525 N WHIPPLE,

2BR, beautiful apt, heat incl, across from Addison Mall, off st parking, near transp. $1175 + sec. Ruth 773-909-6951

2 BR $1500 AND OVER

LARGE TWO BEDROOM, two

bathroom apartment, 3820 N Fremont. Near Wrigley Field. Hardwood floors. Cats OK. Laundry in building. Available 1/1. $1595/ month. New Year special: Move in January 1st, get February rent Free. Parking available. $150/ month for single parking space. $250/ month for tandem parking space. 773-761-4318, www. lakefrontmgt.com

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

46TH & CALUMET. Quiet, 23BR, 1st flr, heat incl, newly remodeled kit & bath, hdwd floors, near trans. $1000$1100. 773-667-9611

BRAND NEW KITCHEN in Wrig-

leyville 2 bdrm! Granite counters and stainless steel appliances! Close to “EL”, Wrigley Field, Jewel! Dec. fireplace, 3 season sunroom, formal Dining Room, large Kitchen pantry! 1251 West Waveland:1/2 month free rent! $1595, tnt htd. (773) 381-0150. www.theschirmfirm.com

2 BR OTHER

CHICAGO WEST SIDE ATTN: Sec 8 holders!

rNo Sec Dep + $100 Back 2-5 Bdrms. Everything New + Lndry & A/C. Call 312-493-6983

84TH/PAULINA 2BR, updated kitchen & bath. 77th/Emerald, newly remod 3BR, all appls incl. Sec 8 Welc. 312-282-6555

BEAUTIFUL NEW APT!

7203 S. Evans. 3 BDRM 6155 S. King. 2BDRM 8129 S. Ingleside 2BDRM 6150 S. Vernon. 4BDRM 7651 S. Phillips Ave 1, 2 & 4BDRM Stainless Steel!! Appliances!! Hdwd flrs!! Marble bath!! Laundry on site!! FREE 42IN TV Sec 8 OK. 773- 404- 8926

CHICAGO, PRINCETON PARK HOMES. Spacious 2-3 BR Townhomes, Inclu: Prvt entry, full bsmt, lndry hook-ups. Ample prkg. Close to trans & schls. Starts at $844/ mo. w w w . p p k h o m e s . com;773-264-3005

3 BR OR MORE UNDER $1200 80TH/PHILLIPS, BEAUTIFUL, LRG newly renovated 3BR, 1. 5BA, hdwd flrs & appls incl. Quiet apt. $950/mo & up. Avail Now! 312-818-0236

SEC 8 WELCOME 5545 S. LaSalle. & 6227 S.

Justine. Both 3br, 1ba, crpt & appls. $1125. $100 Cash Move-In Bonus. No Dep. 312-683-5174

SOUTHSIDE, 11042 S. NORMAL, Newly remod, 3BR, 1BA, hdwd flrs, finished bsmt, $115 0/mo. Section 8 welcome. 773-255-8530

7914 S. EVANS. Beautiful 3 Brm/1Bath in Chatham! Full din rm! Open House Sun. 3-4p. 1100$/mo.Call 708-209-0661 for info.

ROBBINS, IL. 3BR, 1BA, LR DR, kit, full unfin bsmt. $1100/mo + utils. 1 mo sec and 1 mo rent. Sec 8 OK. 708612-5024 APTS: 70TH/ABERDEEN. 2BR.

$695. 3BR. $795.1 mo rent + 1 mo sec. House: Dolton 1505 Kasten Dr. 3BR $1000/mo. 773-651-8673

RIVERDALE 3/4BR, 1.5BA Townhome, hdwd flrs, 1 car garage, near Metra & PACE, starts at $900/mo + sec. 708-539-0522 71ST/ABERDEEN. Newly Rehabbed 4BR, 2BA.

CHICAGO, 1138 N. WALLER, 3BR, 2nd floor, newly decorated, hdwd floors throughout. $950/mo. Section 8 welcome. 630-915-2755

3 BR OR MORE $1500-$1799

SECTION 8 WELCOME. No Security Deposit. 7721 S Peoria, 3BR apt, appls incl. $1050/mo. 708-288-4510

HOUSE FOR RENT! 4BR, 2BA,

CALUMET CITY, 1469 Forest Ave 3BR, 1.5BA, hdwd flrs, finished partial bsmt, 1.5 car garage, $950/mo. Sec 8 ok 630-621-7142

10742 S LaSalle, Section 8 Welcome 3BR, 1BA, hdwd flrs, tenant pays utilities, $1400/mo no security dep 773-221-0061

70TH AND DORCHESTER. 3BR, 1st flr, tenant pays utils, Sec 8 welc. $ 750/mo + 1 mo sec & 1 mo rent. Ready Dec 1 773-744-4603

3 BR OR MORE

3 BR OR MORE $1200-$1499 Park Forest: 3BR, 2BA, frig, stove, micro, D/W, W/D, Extra storage, $1350/mo. Call. English 773-213-0563 or Espanol 773-259-0140 ROBBINS, 14044 Wayman Lane, newly rehabbed, 3BR, 2BA, hdwd flrs, appliances, beautiful neighborhood, $135 0/mo. 773-590-0101

$1150/mo. Sec 8 Welcome. Call Keith 708-921-7810

Hamilton. 4BR, hrdwd floors, updated kit & BA, Lndry hook ups, $1250/mo + Sec Dep. 773-450-1893

SOUTHSIDE 68th & Emerald 3BR, 1BA. $800/mo 847-977-3552

1237 W. 72ND Pl. 4BR, 1BA, full

105th & Maryland, 1BR, 1st fl, hdwd flrs, stove/fridge, a/c, fans, $590 plus sec dep, Sec 8 OK, Call 10am -5pm 773-704-4153

CHICAGO. 5603 S

basement, ADT security system. Tenant pays Utils. Pets OK. $1200/mo. 847-514-8015

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS vic of 183RD/Cicero. 4BR, 1.5BA $1400. Ranch Style, 2 car gar. 708-369-5187 E. 92D ST. Brick, split level 5BR, 1.5BA in a quiet area, 2 car gar, all appls incl, sec 8 welc. $1475. 773720-9787 or 773-483-2594

WEEKLY E-BLAST GET UP TO DATE. SIGN UP NOW.

roommates SOUTHSIDE Furnished

no smoking and Drinking $125/wk, 773-571-0661

MARKETPLACE GOODS

OTHER

DOLTON - Rent to Own, 15719 S. Minerva. Exceptional multi-level single family home. Rehabbed 4BR, 2 full BA, laundry, sun room, full basement, 2 car garage, big yard, fireplace & walk in closets. 2296 Sq Ft. New Pisgah Properties, 708-733-0365 7543 S. PHILLIPS, Luxury Apts, 3BR, 2 full BA, ground unit. Amenities incl: walk in closet, storage, appl & granite counter tops. Handicap access. Sect 8 ok. New Pisgah Properties, 708-7330365

LARGE 2 BEDROOM unit with

gorgeous northeast view of lakefront. Kitchen offers stainless steel appliances with breakfast bar open to bright and sunny living room. Convenient location with access to the CTA bus, lakefront and harbor. Well-maintained building and grounds with 24-hour doorman, storage, exercise room, bike room and valet garage parking. $155,000...Amazing Price!

NW ARIZONA, RENT w/ Option to Buy. 1BR, 1BA, on 1/4 acre. Fully furn. w/ pool/whirlpool, $29,900 obo. 50+ community, 520-848-9090

MARKHAM HOMES FOR RENT 3 & 5BR. SECTION 8 PREFERRED.

Crete-982 Patricia Ln,2BR, 1.5BA impeccable 1500 sq ft, 2fl TH remodeled, large bkyd, ss appls. hdwd flrs, new kit 630-6741940

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

7700 S. VERNON. New 2 car garage & new roof, 3BR Bungalow, finished basement. $134,500. 773-407-3143

Call 708-296-6222

AS IS PULLMAN PROPERTY 106TH & Langley, 2 Bedroom, $30,000 as is. 219-791-0897

GENERAL rated 3BR apartment for rent. Section 8 welcome. McKey & Poague Realty 773-363-6200

EARLY WARNINGS

Warehouse, storage. $3100/mo. obo. 773-467-8200, Ed

family room, fireplace, full basment & full driveway, $1600/mo Neg. Sec 8 OK. 773-678-8654

5647 S MICHIGAN, Newly deco-

THE LATEST ON WHO’S PLAYING AND WHERE THEY’RE PLAYING

1300 5TH, Maywood, 4100 sq ft

FOR SALE

non-residential SELF-STORAGE

CENTERS.

Rogers Park – 1700 W Juneway 773.308.5167. 3-4 bedrooms from $1175 Free heat. No deposit

T W O locations to serve you. All units fully heated and humidity controlled with ac available. North: Knox Avenue. 773-685-6868. South: Pershing Avenue. 773-523-6868.

ADULT SERVICES

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

224-223-7787

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 MASSAGE TABLES, NEW and

used. Large selection of professional high quality massage equipment at a very low price. Visit us at www. bestmassage.com or call us, 773764-6542.

HEALTH & WELLNESS FOR A HEALTHY mind and body.

European trained and certified therapists specializing in deep tissue, Swedish, and relaxation massage. Incalls. 773-552-7525. Lic. #227008861.

UKRAINIAN MASSAGE. CALLS in/ out. Chicago and sub-

JEFFERSON PARK SUNDAY

Market-Winter Farmers market Copernicus Center Annex 5216 W. Lawrence Ave.,60630 Produce, crafts, children’s books(story time at noon), knife sharpening, music, brunch & cash bar Details at: http://www.jeffersonparksundaymarket.com/

legal notices STATE OF ILLINOIS County of

Cook In The Circuit Court For Cook County, Illinois In The Matter of the Petition of Jeann Lee Gillespie Case# 16M2004399 For Change of Name. Notice of Publication Public Notice is hereby given that on February 2, 2017, at 9:30 AM being one of the return days in the Circuit Court of the County of Cook, I will file my petition in said court praying for the change of my name from Jeann Lee Gillespie to that of Jeanne Lee, pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided. Dated at Skokie, Illinois, November 28, 2016. Signature of Petitioner: Jeann Lee Gillespie, December 1, 8, 15, 2016.

urbs. Hotels. 1250 S Michigan Avenue. Appointments. 773-616-6969.

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pur-

MUSIC & ARTS SEEKING FUN PEOPLE TO PARTY IN BOISE TREEFORT MUSIC FEST MARCH 22-26, 2017 TMF-888-2017

suant to "An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State," as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16148871 on November 29, 2016, under the Assumed Business Name of R.E. Construction with the business located at 1025 W Van Buren, Chicago, IL 60607. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: Anthony Colston II, 4621 N Hermitage, Chicago, IL 60640, USA.

www.treefortmusicfest.com

NOTICE IS HEREBY given, pur-

FOUND: Womens glove on Evanston CTA Bus 205 approx. 10:35AM Fri 12/9 on the westbound bus to Cook County Courthouse. 847-271-9949

suant to "An Act in relation to the use of an Assumed Business Name in the conduct or transaction of Business in the State," as amended, that a certification was registered by the undersigned with the County Clerk of Cook County. Registration Number: D16148804 on November 22, 2016, under the Assumed Business Name of Travel Gyrl Shoppe with the business located at 956 N Trumbull Ave, Chicago, IL 60651. The true and real full name(s) and residence address of the owner(s)/ partner(s) is: Danette Carter, 956 N Trumbull Ave, Chicago, IL 60651, USA

ADULT SERVICES

TRACY GUNS Britney S, Joanne is

Gaga great, Bieber, Aerosmith, great rock, M.Crue, B.Sabbath, Remember to shop for records/books. Happy Xmas. Guns N Roses 773-481-7429.

NOTICES

CHICAGOREADER.COM DECEMBER 15, 2016 | CHICAGO READER 43

SLUG SIGNORINO

STRAIGHT DOPE By Cecil Adams THE BEST SELECTION AT THE BEST PRICES

Q : What laws do astronauts follow

in space? What happens if an astronaut smokes pot, commits murder, or breaks other criminal laws while in space? —FRED VAN HECKE

A : Back in the 70s, advance reports that Sky-

lab’s crew was to be supplied with small rations of wine inspired so much public outrage that NASA instituted a strict ban on in-flight alcohol consumption. Any astronaut caught smoking pot, then, might well be summarily forced out the nearest hatch as a matter of policy. As for other forms of space murder: not a likely occurrence just yet, but if commercial offearth travel does become routine, eventually human nature will take its course and some serious crime will occur outside of terrestrial jurisdiction. Ideally by then there’ll be working guidelines to cover such eventualities; thus far, though, the field of criminal law hasn’t left our planet’s atmosphere. It’s not like authorities have been reluctant to export earth-style legal thinking into the cosmos. Barely a year after the 1957 launch of Sputnik, the U.N. established the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and a 1967 treaty set forth a kind of extraterrestrial constitution, establishing that space and the celestial bodies therein are intended for the use and mutual benefit of all humankind and may not become the property of any nation. The 1996 Declaration on International Cooperation reaffirmed that space is the “province of all mankind.” On the other hand, the 1979 Moon Agreement mandating that lunar resources be shared equally, hasn’t attracted any major signatories—nobody’s eager to sign away the quadrillions of dollars in moon minerals that may await. But if private citizens increasingly become spacefarers, complex legal matters will have to get hashed out, presumably in accordance with existing principles of international law. Let’s look at a few space-crime hypotheticals:

• *

44 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

*While

supplies last. See store for details.

Bob and Alice are aboard a NASA spacecraft. Bob eats the last freeze-dried mac-and-cheese meal; Alice cracks his skull with a wrench. Under the principle of territorial jurisdiction, Alice could be tried under U.S. law, because the craft is U.S. government property. For a murder aboard the International Space Station, jointly owned by several nations, jurisdiction would fall to whichever one controlled the segment of the station where the murder occurred.

•

If Bob and Alice are private citizens on a private spacecraft registered in the United States, then presumably U.S. law would apply, as it does aboard U.S. ships at sea. But if the spacecraft isn’t registered anywhere, a sovereign state might invoke the principle of nationality, which permits an exercise of jurisdiction over its citizens even when they’re abroad.

• Let’s say a space-based terrorist cell whose

members have renounced all earthly citizenship plot to steer an asteroid into Chicago; to defend itself, the United States could go after them under the protective principle of international law.

• If those same terrorists hijack a private spacecraft in orbit, any state might try to justify intervention under the universality approach, based in the longstanding notion that certain serious crimes—piracy being the oldest example—are such a general scourge that nations have a collective interest in combating them.

• Finally, and most expansively, a country could

attempt to defend its own space-traveling citizens by simply claiming jurisdiction over criminal acts committed against them by any other persons anywhere, under what’s called (somewhat opaquely) the principle of passive personality.

These scenarios deal with serious crimes—terrorism, piracy, murder. The same principles could also apply to lesser infractions, though it’s hard to say if anyone would bother enforcing them. And there’s the rub. In space as on earth, law is one thing, enforcement a whole ’nother. Stephen Hawking, for one, continues to insist that humanity’s survival will depend on our abandoning the earth. I’m not sold, but if he’s right, no matter how tempting it may be to leave them behind, we’ll have to take at least a few lawyers with us. v Send questions to Cecil via straightdope.com or write him c/o Chicago Reader, 350 N. Orleans, Chicago 60654.

SAVAGE LOVE

By Dan Savage

Marchofdildos.com and other responses to Trump

The “Orange Julius Caesar” has a thing or two coming. Q : Perhaps you’re not the

best person to ask, being a cis white man, but as a queer woman of color, the election had an extremely detrimental eﬀect on my relationships with my white partners. I love and care for them, but looking at those results has me wondering why the fuck they didn’t do better in reaching out to their shitty relatives. I’m sick of living at the whim of white America. I’m aware this is the blame stage of processing, but it’s left me unable to orgasm with my white partners. I’m really struggling with what Trump means for me and others who look like me. I know my queer white partners aren’t exempt from the ramiﬁcations of this, but I wish they had done better. Respond however you like. — DEVASTATED OVER NATIONAL ELECTION

A : First and most

importantly, DONE, you don’t have to fuck anyone you don’t wanna fuck—period, the end, ﬁn, full stop, terminus— but we owe it to ourselves to be thoughtful about who we’re fucking, who we aren’t, and why. Data isn’t a turn-on for most people, DONE, and I’m not suggesting the data I’m about to cite obligates you to fuck anyone. But queer voters (a group that includes millions of people of color) didn’t just reject Trump, they did so by wider margins than some communities of color (groups that include millions of queers). While 14 percent of LGBT voters backed Trump, 28 percent of Latino voters and 19 percent of Asian-American voters backed Trump. (Only 8 percent of African-Americans voted for Trump.) The shitty and unfathomable votes of some POC— and some queers (WTF, 14

percenters?)—doesn’t get your white partners off the orgasm-killing hook. It’s possible your white queer partners didn’t do enough to persuade their families back in Clinton County, Iowa, to vote against hatred, fascism, racism, and Trump. (Trump won Clinton County, Iowa, by five depressing points.) Like you, DONE, I’m struggling with what this election means. I’m not going to tell you what to do, or who to do, or how to process the election. I am going to tell you to talk with all your partners about your fears and your anger, and I encourage you to do whatever and whoever feels right going forward.

Q : If the GOP can send a huge prick like Donald J. Trump to the White House, why can’t we send our own pricks? My modest proposal: a coordinated eﬀort to send thousands of dildos to Trump on January 21—enough dildos to make news and get under his thin skin. This coordinated eﬀort would be supplied and vetted by responsible, woman-friendly sex shops with a portion of the proceeds going to Planned Parenthood, LGBT charities, and the ACLU. —DONALD IS LOATHSOMELY, DISASTROUSLY OUTRAGEOUS

A: I like the way your mind

works, DILDO, but your plan would result in good dildos going to waste. So perhaps we should do a dildo version of the ice-bucket challenge instead? You gift a dildo to someone through a cooperating, woman-friendly, progressive sex-toy shop, and that person gifts a dildo to someone else, and so on. A portion of the proceeds for each gifted dildo goes to groups ﬁghting Trump’s agenda and a card gets

sent to Trump letting him know a dildo was gifted to a deserving oriﬁce in his name. Nearly 100,000 people have made donations to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence’s name since the election, and that’s made news. This could too, DILDO. If someone wants to run with this idea, I’ve purchased the URL marchofdildos.com. Get in touch, show me your plan, and I’ll gift the URL to you.

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Q : My wife enjoys being submissive and getting spanked. A few weeks ago, she asked to put that part of our sex play on hold. The ugliness of Trump’s sexual aggressions made her feel strange. We joked about the fun we’d have after the election. Well, here we are, and that asshole and his misogyny are going to be front and center for the next four years. How do we get back to being us?

—UPSETTING NEWS SINCERELY UNNERVES BEST SPOUSE

A : Voting rights, health care,

public education, legal pot, police reform, a habitable planet, LGBT equality, our undocumented friends, coworkers, and lovers—the Trump misadministration is going to take so much from us, UNSUBS. We can’t let them take our kinks too. Encourage your wife to feel the shit out of her feelings and don’t pressure her or rush her—and if she needs to put spanking on hold for the next four years, I wouldn’t blame her. In the meantime, UNSUBS, maybe spanking your ass would make her feel better? v Send letters to mail@ savagelove.net. Download the Savage Lovecast every Tuesday at thestranger.com. ß @fakedansavage

* limit one per person

* Compensation for toy donations is left to the discretion of management.

please recycle this paper DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 45

Bruno Mars o KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY IMAGES

NEW After the Burial, Emmure 2/24, 5:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones 5/6, 9 PM, FitzGerald’s, Berwyn, on sale Fri 12/16, 11 AM Richard Ashcroft 3/30, 9 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 12/16, noon, 17+ ATB, Orjan Nilsen 2/24, 9 PM, Concord Music Hall, 18+ Audien 2/18, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM, 17+ Mickey Avalon 3/3, 9 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Robb Banks 2/17, 6 PM, Bottom Lounge A Big Freedia, Har Mar Superstar 12/31, 10 PM, 1st Ward Boombox 1/13, midnight and 1/14, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall, 18+ Borgore 3/11, 11:30 PM, Concord Music Hall, 18+ Doyle Bramhall II 2/15, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 12/15, noon A Chicano Batman 4/7, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall Chronixx 3/11, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 3/10, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 12/16, noon Cold War Kids, Middle Kids 3/18, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM, 18+ Rose Cousins 3/5, 7 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Dakhabrakha 3/31, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 12/16, 8 AM A Anthony David 2/6, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 12/15, noon A Devildriver, Deathangel 2/14, 6 PM, Portage Theater A

Dave East 12/23, 10 PM, the Promontory Eisley 3/11, 8 PM, Subterranean, on sale Thu 12/15, 10 AM A Robert Ellis, Jenny O. 2/12, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 12/16, 11 AM A English Beat 3/19, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 12/6, 10 AM A Dobet Gnahore 2/16, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 12/16, 8 AM A Got7 1/25, 7 PM, House of Blues, on sale Sat 12/17, 10 AM A Head for the Hills 2/17, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 12/15, noon A High Kings 3/19, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 12/15, noon A Hippie Sabotage 3/12, 9 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM, 18+ Japanese House 2/25, 7:30 PM, Bottom Lounge A Norah Jones 5/21, 8 PM, Chicago Theatre, on sale Thu 12/15, 10 AM George Kahumoku Jr., Nathan Aweau, and Kawika Kahiapo 2/17, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 12/16, 8 AM A Kehlani 5/7, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall A Kid Capri 1/1, 10 PM, the Promontory Knocked Loose 2/28, 6:30 PM, Subterranean, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Ulrich Krieger 1/26, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Landlady 2/8, 8 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 12/16, noon Jacob Latimore 1/20, 6:30 PM, Subterranean, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Lilacs 3/4, 6 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 12/16, noon A

46 CHICAGO READER - DECEMBER 15, 2016

Los Lonely Boys 3/12-13, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 12/15, noon A Lunasa 3/25, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 12/16, 8 AM A Lvl Up 2/25, 8:30 PM, Beat Kitchen, 17+ Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Atlas Genius 3/24, 7:30 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM, 17+ Michel’le 2/14, 7 PM, the Promontory Myzica 2/10, 7 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 12/16, noon, 18+ The Necks 3/1-2, 8:30 PM, Constellation, 18+ Nude Party 1/12, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Oddisee & Good Company 5/20, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM Tom Paxton 3/4, 8 PM, City Winery, on sale Thu 12/15, noon A Periphery, Contortionist, Norma Jean 4/9, 5:15 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Chris Stapleton 6/29, 7 PM, Wrigley Field, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM Powers, Brigit Mendler 3/31, 7:30 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Margo Price 4/7, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM, 17+ Pure Disgust, the Bug 1/3, 7 PM, ChiTown Futbol A Quaker City Night Hawks 1/25, 8 PM, Schubas, on sale Fri 12/16, noon Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey 3/25, 7 PM, United Center, on sale Sat 12/17, 10 AM Rival Sons, London Souls 5/14, 8 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM, 17+

WOLF BY KEITH HERZIK

EARLY WARNINGS

CHICAGO SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WEEKS TO COME

b ALL AGES F Maggie Rogers 4/2, 7:30 PM, Lincoln Hall, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Kevin Saunderson & Dantiez Saunderson 12/31, 9 PM, Metro Secondhand Serenade, Hawthorne Heights 3/6, 6:30 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 12/16, 11 AM A Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal 3/8, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, on sale Fri 12/16, 8 AM A Sleigh Bells, Tunde Olaniran 3/21, 8 PM, Metro, on sale Fri 12/16, noon A Spaﬀord 4/8, 9 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Springtime Carnivore 3/12, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM Starset 1/21, 6:30 PM, Metro A Too Close to Touch, Waterparks 2/24, 5:30 PM, Beat Kitchen A Vulfpeck 5/4-5, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Ryley Walker 2/1, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Whethan 2/10, 7 PM, Lincoln Hall A Whitechapel, Cattle Decapitation, Goatwhore 3/4, 6 PM, House of Blues, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A Chely Wright 1/25, 7:30 PM, SPACE, Evanston, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM A

UPDATED Bruno Mars 8/16 and 8/18-19, 8 PM, United Center, 8/19 added, on sale Fri 12/16, 10 AM Richard Thompson 4/9, 4 and 8 PM; 4/10, 8 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, 4/9 early show added, on sale Fri 12/16, 8 AM A

UPCOMING AFI, Chain Gang of 1974 1/31, 7 PM, Riviera Theatre A Architects 3/8, 7:30 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ BadBadNotGood 1/15, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, Part of Tomorrow Never Knows, 18+ Devendra Banhart 3/6, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Bring Me the Horizon, Underoath, Beartooth 3/13, 7 PM, Aragon Ballroom A Cam’ron 12/22, 7 PM, Portage Theater, 17+ Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 6/16, 8 PM, Auditorium Theatre Ceremony, Negative Scanner 1/14, 9 PM, Schubas, part of Tomorrow Never Knows, 18+ Eric Church 4/13, 8 PM, Allstate Arena, Rosemont

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Dead & Co. 6/30-7/1, 7 PM, Wrigley Field Neil Diamond 5/28, 8 PM, United Center Electric Guest 3/1, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Lee Fields & the Expressions 2/28, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ Flaming Lips 4/17, 8 PM, Riviera Theatre, 18+ King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard 4/8, 9 PM, Metro, 18+ Laura Jane Grace 2/5, 8 PM, City Winery A Into It. Over It. 1/13, 7 PM, Metro A Joy Formidable 2/27, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall, 18+ Juicy J, Belly, Project Pat 3/17, 8 PM, House of Blues, 18+ Kings of Leon, Deerhunter 1/23, 7:30 PM, United Center Lady Lamb 1/25, 9 PM, Hideout Hamilton Leithauser 2/15, 8 PM, Lincoln Hall Lemon Twigs 1/26, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Lordi 2/14, 7 PM, Double Door Matoma 2/10, 8 PM, Concord Music Hall Meat Wave 2/25, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Nails, Toxic Holocaust 3/28, 8 PM, Bottom Lounge, 17+ Old Wounds 1/5, 6 PM, Cobra Lounge A Passenger 3/17, 7:30 PM, Riviera Theatre A Riﬀ Raﬀ 2/4, 7 PM, Portage Theater, 17+ Sabaton 5/1, 7 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Ty Segall 5/14, 8:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 18+ Son Volt 4/1, 8 PM, Thalia Hall A Testament, Sepultura, Prong 5/2, 6 PM, Concord Music Hall, 17+ Tortoise, Monobody 1/11, 9 PM, Lincoln Hall, Part of Tomorrow Never Knows, 18+ Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls, Masked Intruder 1/23, 6:30 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Wailers 1/19, 8 PM, House of Blues, 17+ Martha Wainwright 4/15, 8 PM, SPACE, Evanston A Wand, Acid Dad 1/12, 9 PM, Schubas, Part of Tomorrow Never Knows, 18+ Roger Waters 7/22, 8 PM, United Center Keller Williams & Leo Kottke 3/10, 8 PM, Metro, 18+ Xeno & Oaklander 1/28, 9 PM, Empty Bottle Zombies 4/13, 8 PM, Thalia Hall, 17+ v

GOSSIP WOLF A furry ear to the ground of the local music scene GOSSIP WOLF HAS BEEN following local label and multimedia collective FeelTrip for ages, and the crew keeps growing. Cofounder David Beltran (aka producer Starfoxxx) says that FeelTrip recently launched the imprint Reptilian Traxx, which he’ll run with Matt Engers (aka producer Sophagus) and FeelTrip’s in-house video director, Joshua Patterson (aka new-age act the Druid Beat). Beltran says Reptilian Traxx will release obscure electronic music, classicsounding club tracks, and “anything not jangle pop.” Last week the label debuted with the cassette Reptilian Traxx Vol. 1, a genre-blurring dance mix by Chicago producer Tony Rainwater. FeelTrip and local dance collective Cold Tech celebrate the birth of Reptilian Traxx at Slippery Slope on Thursday, December 15. Starfoxxx and Cold Tech producers Please & Steve Noah and Barragoon spin; Sophagus plays live. This summer Shiloh singer-guitarist Ryan Ensley dropped this wolf a note about his new group, Sonny Falls, whose six-song debut, There’s No Magic Left in This World, retains the rambunctious twang of the defunct Shiloh. On the EP, Ensley played everything but drums, which were covered by his Shiloh bandmate Calvin Schaller; Oshwa guitarist Michael Mac engineered. There’s No Magic Left in This World came out digitally in October, and Sonny Falls celebrate the release of a cassette version at the Empty Bottle on Wednesday, December 21. Evanston rapper Kweku Collins graduated high school in May 2015, and he’s already a linchpin of Chicago’s hip-hop scene. In April local label Closed Sessions released Collins’s debut album, Nat Love, where his “inviting, fluid rapping and singing” (to quote the Reader’s coverage) “pack a wallop as his words sink in.” Collins will sign copies of the LP at a meet and greet on Friday, December 16, at Wicker Park vinyl shop Shuga Records— this wolf wouldn’t be surprised if fans pack the place. —J.R. NELSON AND LEOR GALIL Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail gossipwolf@chicagoreader.com.

DECEMBER 15, 2016 - CHICAGO READER 47

Share music. Gift certificates are perfect for the music lover on your list. Certificates can be used on classes, concerts, and in our Music Store. We’ve been singing and strumming with Chicago since 1957. Come join the band in 2017, our 60th anniversary! New classes start January 9. Browse the class catalog and find your perfect class at oldtownschool.org

Take $10 oﬀ an adult group class with code READER17 when you register. Call 773.728.6000 for more info! Coupon code expires 1/16/17.