AltWeeklies Wire
How Sonny Rollins Defeated Heroinnew
In his six-decade career, the legendary saxophonist has claimed many a triumph. But his greatest may have come in the 1950s, during a quiet period in Chicago.
Chicago Reader |
Neil Tesser |
09-02-2008 |
Music
The Revolutionaries Inside the 1968 DNC Didn't Get Much Inknew
You've heard plenty lately about the action outside the '68 Democratic National Convention. How much do you know about what was going on inside?
Chicago Reader |
Michael Miner |
09-02-2008 |
Commentary
Can You Copyright Stage Direction?new
Lawsuits over Urinetown haven't helped decide the matter.
Chicago Reader |
Deanna Isaacs |
08-26-2008 |
Theater
Police Vets of the 1968 DNC Get Their Say in 'Battleground Chicago'new
First published in 2004 but reissued in paperback last May, in time for this summer’s round-number anniversary, Frank Kusch's Battleground Chicago tells the story of the infamous "police riot" at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. But here's a first: it's told from the cops' point of view.
Chicago Reader |
Barry Wightman |
08-26-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Browning of the Green Partynew
Despite conflict between environmentalists and the immigrants' rights movement, congressional candidate Omar Lopez thinks the Greens could supplant the Democrats as Latinos' party of choice.
Chicago Reader |
Kari Lydersen |
08-18-2008 |
Politics
Ethnic Ice Cream in Chicago: Around the World in 80 Licksnew
Ice creams and ices from Korea, India, the Philippines, Mexico, and more.
Chicago Reader |
Anne Spiselman |
08-18-2008 |
Food+Drink
'Frozen River' Manages to Play Economic Hardship for Suspensenew
If Frozen River is accurate in portraying how the other half lives, its most unpleasant truth may be that the other half often divides again, the top quarter exploiting the bottom quarter.
Chicago Reader |
J.R. Jones |
08-18-2008 |
Reviews
Jazz Trumpeter Amir ElSaffar Builds a Bridge to Iraqnew
ElSaffar's suite Two Rivers forges a singular fusion of jazz and Iraqi classical music -- and reconciles his roots in the process.
Chicago Reader |
Peter Margasak |
08-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Why is Sam Zell the New Whipping Boy for Anti-Corporate Media Crusaders?new
I admire a gallant crusade as much as the next guy, but StopBigMedia.com has the ring of an army raised to fight the last war. Why should anyone in Chicago take up arms against big media when big media's already falling apart on its own?
Chicago Reader |
Michael Miner |
08-11-2008 |
Media
Master of Markets: Expert Scavenger Ron Slattery Shares (Some of) His Secretsnew
Slattery makes his living by scouring Chicago-area flea markets and reselling his purchases, directly or online, to prop companies, auction houses, and collectors.
Chicago Reader |
Anne Ford |
08-04-2008 |
Shopping
Tags: shopping, vintage, Chicago, auctions, junk, eBay, antiques, estate sales, flea markets, garage sales, Ron Slattery
Velva's Multimedia Geekfest Bends More than Circuitsnew
Velva's work displays both a geek's love for technology and for tearing technology up and making something else out of it. That something in this case is songs that pile up glitchy beats, circuit-bent-toy sounds, eight-bit-video-game noises, and customized analog synth guitars (including the "space axe" and "guitari").
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
08-04-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Gay Activists Fight James Dobson's Induction into National Radio Hall of Famenew
Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen states that while his group could have lived with a win by, say, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Dobson's agenda -- which includes curing homosexuality and lobbying against same-sex marriage -- makes Focus on the Family's election intolerable.
Chicago Reader |
Deanna Isaacs |
08-04-2008 |
Media
Ken Ortiz Hopes No One in Chicago Will Ever Simply Demolish a Building Againnew
Ortiz is a contractor who takes down buildings and saves almost all the pieces. After doing construction for 25 years and throwing away "tons of good building materials," he delights in being able to save 23-foot-long two-by-sixes for reuse as two-by-sixes. And pretty much everybody else is delighted too -- environmentalists, preservationists, antiques dealers, even the folks who live around the houses he's taking down.
Chicago Reader |
Harold Henderson |
07-28-2008 |
Housing & Development
Chicago Makes it Easier to Panhandle than to Sell Art on Downtown Streetsnew
Unless you're at one of those cookie-cutter annual art fairs, you're not likely to encounter artists selling their work on the street here at all. If you do, you'll probably also see a cop rapidly approaching. Street sales are illegal downtown and -- at the discretion of the local alderman -- in other areas as well.
Chicago Reader |
Deanna Isaacs |
07-28-2008 |
Art
'Brideshead Revisited' Gets Refocused for the Big Screennew
It's taken more than 60 years to bring Evelyn Waugh's best-known novel to the big screen. The 133-minute feature isn’t entirely faithful to the book's details and expresses more ambivalence about religion than Waugh might have wished, but it captures the theme of moral responsibility in an evenhanded way that should speak to believers and nonbelievers alike.
Chicago Reader |
Albert Williams |
07-28-2008 |
Reviews
