Neighborhood
Banter on a Mission
Deanna Kimberly Burrell considers flirting to be an art. At a workshop last Friday in the Listenbee Collection Art Gallery, she bestowed upon eager attendees a variety of flirting tips, like the importance of setting up a hypnotizing rhythm when sending out romantic signals. She encouraged ladies to twirl their hair. Men can swirl... »
79th Street BBQ
Appearances can be a particularly difficult way to gauge the quality of a barbeque establishment. The best joints are often hole-in-the-walls, unseemly on the outside, adorned with tacky checkered patterns within, and often unheard of outside a small devoted community; their second-rate cousins, meanwhile, don’t look all that different. In a no-nonsense industry, everything... »
Artistic Symbiosis
Every second Friday of the month, Pilsen art galleries keep their doors open till 10, but the balmy, tinged-with-summer air of the most recent Second Friday created an especially jaunty and convivial atmosphere. Art enthusiasts roamed Halsted with bottles of craft beer and cups of sangria, some lounging near doorways, either barefoot or in... »
Controlled Chimes
Instructions: Fill space with female performers. On each performer, tie one chime to the left wrist, and one chime to the right wrist. During the performance, each performer can ring either the right chime or the left… So begin the simple directives, shared with the audience members, that guide the stone-faced, barefooted women standing... »
Love at Twentieth Sight
Can getting hitched survive today’s fast-paced hookup culture? Where can South-Siders go for traditional long-term relationships? Is love at first sight really possible in our time? Tameka Jones of Pretty in Pink Productions has answers. Her speed dating service, Twenty First Dates, presents the opportunity for love at first (or twentieth) sight to the... »
An American Success
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas came out twice. The first time was at Mountain View High School when he announced to his class that he was gay after watching a documentary on Harvey Milk. The second time he came out was to a more sizeable audience last summer, when he revealed he... »
49th Street Shipwreck
On July 15, 1914, two hundred University of Chicago students stood on the shore of Lake Michigan to watch a ship pull in. Or perhaps they were on board the ship itself—nautical history lends itself to fantastic lore. Either way, the unfortunate Silver Spray was never to reach her port. Run aground in the... »
Doppleganger
Jack Clark is early. He hovers around the well-stocked bar, looking to quell his anxieties about the lighting at Jimmy’s. Dmitry Samarov arrives soon after. Bearded, tattooed, dressed in 501’s and a pair of beat up wingtips, he looks part hard man and part St. Nick. Samarov situates himself at a table perpendicular to... »
