To the editors: Florence Levinsohn (“A Special Connection with God,” September 2), misses the essence of Judaism. Judaism is a religion of redemption in this world. The Western idea of heaven as a “construct of poets and philosophers” goes back to the Platonic idea of this world being an inferior imitation of the ideal world […]
Tag: Vol. 17 No. 52
Issue of Oct. 13 – 19, 1988
Posted inNews & Politics
The Straight Dope
Where is Podunk? –Thomas Gruffydd-Hunter, Dallas You’re not the first guy to wonder about this, Tomaso. As a matter of fact, the search for Podunk, the archetypal jerkwater town, is one of the great adventures of philology, which, believe me, is not a field that has great adventures in abundance. Allow me to quote from […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Maxwell Street Blues
The Sunday-morning market may be in danger, but thanks to a new generation of bluesmen the music is as strong as ever.
Posted inNews & Politics
The City File
“If you believe you have a good idea, try it out on friends,” advises Paul Hawken in Success (October 1988). “If they say you have a wonderful idea, you may be in trouble: An idea everyone recognizes as great has probably arrived on the scene too late. But if your friends look confused and shrug […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Me and My Girl
About a year after King Edward VIII abdicated to many an American commoner, London audiences were treated to this piece of fluff about a Cockney tramp who inherits a noble title and tries to give it up to keep his fishmonger girlfriend. Me and My Girl ran for five years after its 1937 debut; its […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Midnight Oil
In the process of single-handedly atoning for Australia’s past contributions to popular music–the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John, Men at Work–Midnight Oil may come to rank with U2 as the Commonwealth’s hard-rock leaders. Like U2, the Oil has a clean muscular sound; with four musicians, however, Oil’s sound is more ornate and the arrangements more diverse. […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Field & Street
The onset of winter has ended the fire season in Yellowstone. The fire fighting crews borrowed from as far away as California have gone home. The controversies engendered by the National Park Service’s so-called “let it burn” policy have cooled for the time being. They will heat up again when the new Congress convenes after […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
The eighth annual edition of the Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival concludes this weekend at Chicago Filmmakers, 1229 W. Belmont. Tickets cost $4-$5.50 per show or $25 for six screenings. For program information and updates, call Chicago Filmmakers at 281-8788. THE DAYS OF GREEK GODS An archival collection of Richard Fontaine’s physique films of […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Guns on the lakefront, lead in the water: should the Lincoln Park shooters be banned?
As is often the case with this sort of dispute, the first shot was fired away from the public view. “The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency sent us a letter saying it appears the Lincoln Park gun club was violating the law,” says Nancy Kaszak, general counsel for the Chicago Park District, which owns the property […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Independence
INDEPENDENCE Footsteps Theatre Company at Raven Theatre There should be a statute of limitations for the effects of an unhappy childhood. A point at which you no longer hear the internalized voice of a heavy parent quietly whisper, “You’re gonna mess this up too.” Consider the alternative: no matter how far you travel in time […]
Posted inMusic
Fear of rocking: Camper Van Beethoven and the limits of absurdism
On the basis of fairly extensive experience with Santa Cruz, California, I report that the students of the University of California there can be divided cleanly into four distinct groups. In steeply descending order of group size, they are: those who like it there and take drugs; those who don’t like it and take drugs; […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Jimmy Page
People like Jimmy Page were influential with rock’s proletariat in a way that intellectuals like Dylan or Joe Strummer could never hope to be. Part of this was an ability to cloak himself in an effete ethereality (in contrast to Robert Plant’s cartoon sexuality) that typified him as the great bodacious rock star of the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Chicago International Festival of Children’s Films
Now into its 13th year, this festival of more than 100 films and videotapes from more than 25 countries runs at Facets Multimedia Center, 1517 W. Fullerton, Friday, October 14, through Sunday, October 23. Single tickets are $2.50 for adults and children; a pass good for five films is $10. For more information call 929-5437. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Collage Project
THE COLLAGE PROJECT Trilogy Productions at Victory Gardens Studio Theatre The Collage Project is made up of three one-act plays by Jeff Helgeson. It wants very much to be more than that. It’s a thoughtful effort, but the final product is less than the sum of its parts. Despite the solid performances here, some fine […]