Slow Food: An Italian movement for relaxed eating finds a mixed reception on college campuses
May 8th, 2008 by Robin Peterson
On the evening of Monday, April 14, forty students crowded into the Resident Masters’ apartment at the University of Chicago’s Shoreland Hall dormitory. They were there for dinner and a discussion, both centered around the concept of Slow Food. Resident Masters Larry and Penelope Rothfield made sure to buy organic, whole-grain ingredients from Whole Foods, and Larry cooked, serving a menu that included asparagus and parmesan quiche and farro and wheatberry salad. After the dinner, three representatives from Slow Food Chicago had the chance to speak and field questions from students about the nature of their movement, which supports food it regards as “good, clean, and fair.” Read the rest »
Third World Press: Bennett Johnson publishes the books they don’t want you to read
May 8th, 2008 by Yennie Lee
Among the hundreds of organized manila folders stacked on every possible surface of his office, Bennett Johnson, II searches for something—an octopoid literary piece he found a few years ago, titled “Tentacles of Rage: The Republican Propaganda Mill, A Brief History” by Lewis H. Lapham. Published in Harper’s Magazine just before the 2004 elections, Lapham’s article revealed to the American public something Johnson himself is all too familiar with as the vice president of Third World Press: the silent existence of the “Message Machine.” This functioning apparatus of an oligarchic institution of Republican conservatives is characterized primarily as an insidious effort to, as Lapham explains in his article, influence contemporary political discourse through an intricate and far-reaching network of media. Moreover, this “octopus-like” system ultimately exists to substitute ideology for intelligence, making arguments about restoring “values” to distract attention from the critical issues at hand. The “Message Machine” exists to dissuade and ultimately extinguish the emergence or prominence of any liberal political discourse. It exists to keep people quiet. Read the rest »
The New Wave of Hyde Park Rock: Two scenes struggle to define the future of local music
May 8th, 2008 by Dave McQuown
Standing in the audience on the University of Chicago’s Bartlett Quadrangle at last Saturday’s DKE Battle of the Bands, it seemed as though inoffensive is now the rule in Hyde Park music. Stumbling upon the scene, someone raised on the grittier hard rock of decades past might have been understandably confused: If this is a rock show, then where are the black T-shirts and blue jeans? Where are the massive amplifiers? If these bands are American, why is everyone singing with a faux-English accent? Why is nobody headbanging or throwing up the devil’s horns? Don’t these people want to rock? Read the rest »
Shock and Ambiguity: When attention-seeking art goes too far
May 8th, 2008 by Rose Schapiro
Take a moment and breathe in the pungent aromas of the season: blossoming flowers, strong fertilizer, wet grass. Springtime brings April showers, May flowers, and, all across the land, a whole lot of art. While spring is supposed to be a fecund season for just about everything, the truth is that too much of any of the above—including art—can result in a nauseating washout. Read the rest »
Black and Blue: Race and humor at the Hyde Park Arts Center
May 8th, 2008 by Julia Pagnamenta
“Disinhibition: Black Art and Blue Humor,” a new exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center, is, as the title promises, without “inhibition” in its attempts to force the viewers to interact with difficult issues—specifically race and racial taboos—through various artistic media. Video, drawing, and photography enable participating artists to express their points of view in what can only be considered a rather blunt fashion. Read the rest »
Lone Wolf No More: Jason Anderson embraces the intimacy of music at South Union Arts
May 8th, 2008 by Tiffany Kwak
“No matter how many people come to a show, the ultimate goal is to make that night sublime. Something unique, special, alive and wonderful,” gushes Jason Anderson. ”I am always just striving to create a magical experience, one whose parameters only expand with every single person in the room on board to give it their all.” Anderson’s unabashed sincerity and genuine love of music is no doubt a factor in his rising underground popularity. Anderson, who began performing with only his guitar under the moniker “Wolf Colonel” in 1996, dropped his band name in 2004 and decided to “bare it all” and perform under his given name. This Friday he plays a show at South Union Arts. Read the rest »
Craigslist Quandaries: How modern convenience can turn subletting into a plain old chore
May 8th, 2008 by John Thompson
I’d never used Craigslist before. Not for anything, not even for missed connections. But then I had to find shelter afar, and no resource was better suited to my task than the online juggernaut. Buying and selling on Craiglist: I have now been on both sides, and experienced the vagaries and vicissitudes inhering in each experience. Read the rest »
Bach’s coffee
May 8th, 2008 by Ellis Calvin
In eighteenth-century Leipzig, a new temptation beckoned from the street corners—coffee. This new luxury inspired Johann Sebastian Bach to write a miniature comic opera known as the “Coffee Cantata.” Last year, a group of University of Chicago students founded the Cantata Collegium, and Thursday evening’s performance of the satirical “Coffee Cantata” at the Smart Museum of Art was their debut. The group was able to secure an Arts Council grant to adapt the piece for a modern audience. This involved a complete translation of the libretto from German to English, modified instrumentation, and original costume and set designs. Read the rest »