THE AMERICAN City Lit Theater Company at Live Bait Theater Like T.S. Eliot, Henry James was American only by birth, not by temperament. Yet only after leaving this country to spend the rest of his life in Europe did James discover–by the process of elimination–the qualities that make someone American (much as Joyce found Ireland […]
Tag: Vol. 18 No. 23
Issue of Mar. 23 – 29, 1989
Posted inArts & Culture
I Can’t Keep Running in Place
I CAN’T KEEP RUNNING IN PLACE Chicago Late Night Productions at the Raven Theatre Any critic who claims to enter the theater with no preconceived ideas about the play is lying. Any bit of preshow information–the play’s title, the name, gender, age, and nationality of the playwright, the location of the theater–calls up associations. Already […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Falling Upward
FALLING UPWARD Prop Thtr The lights come up to reveal the regular customers of Finn’s Pub in Killcock, Ireland, gathered about the bar singing “Old Johnny Bugger was a gay old bugger.” It’s a rousing song, and it establishes a convivial mood. Aye, and afterward everyone lifts a glass and drinks with gusto. ‘Tis a […]
Posted inMusic
The Shocked Agenda: bringing the revolution back home
Music is like politics in that it is too important to be left to professionals. –Michelle Shocked Why did she have to ruin a great concert with all that political-forum crap? I came here to be entertained. –a dissatisfied concertgoer Those who would allow no forum for fools to spread inane ideas are themselves the […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Reading: Good and Evil in Cyberspace
The assumption that William Gibson’s fiction is about the future allows him to write with unusual honesty about the present.
Posted inNews & Politics
Skinheads
There’s a credo among skins: they take care of their own. So when Scott Gravatt came up from Atlanta with his swastika earring and his white power tattoos, a few of the local guys took care of him.
Posted inArts & Culture
The Gods Must Be Lazy, or, There’s More to Life Than Death
THE GODS MUST BE LAZY, OR, THERE’S MORE TO LIFE THAN DEATH Second City Two contradictory rumors about Irv Kupcinet circulated at the opening-night party for Second City’s current revue. One rumor was that Kup had been deeply offended by the show’s material and had even gasped out loud at some of the gags. The […]
Posted inArts & Culture
On Exhibit: the woman of Edward Weston’s dreams
It’s the delicate veil of hair on her leg that draws comments now, but when Edward Weston took the pristine nude of his lover, Charis Wilson, in 1936, it was the pubic hair that was troublesome. Wilson, now 75, has written that she remembers Weston poring over the print with a magnifying glass, trying to […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Shot Down With an Empty Gun; Nostalgia-Basher Has a Past; The Patriots’ Priesthood
Shot Down With an Empty Gun We read the news today and, oh boy, did we feel bad for John Tower. Here’s the prime minister of Australia in tears on national TV confessing he had cheated on his wife. Here’s the Ayatollah Khomeini, in a statement to a billion Moslems, admitting that “in his lifetime, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Straight Dope
Is it true that cow, sheep, and termite flatulence does more damage to the ozone layer than fluorocarbons? How much damage do human farts do? –Mojo, Washington, D.C. I’m glad you wrote, mon ami, because it gives me a chance to rail once again on my favorite topic, namely the unbelievable feebleness of the daily […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Music Notes: Guy Klucevsek plays polkas for weird people
Accordionist Guy Klucevsek intones one caveat for those tempted to come to his concerts. “Remember,” he cautions, “this isn’t weird music for polka people, these are polkas for weird people.” Klucevsek–to pronounce his name, say the “c” as an “s,” and leave out the “s”–doesn’t look like a weird person as he explains the wrinkle […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The City File
If that were true, we couldn’t lift it. From a recent promotional letter: “His book covers the complete overview of the field of communication from the beginning of time to the far, far future.” Percentage of listings in the Chicago Area Daycare and Preschool Guide that are outside of Chicago: 63. Bleak House. “Water from […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Utility Man
To the editors: In his February 10, 1989 article entitled “Is Rich Daley Ready for Reform?” Doug Cassel suggests that he has presented a comprehensive, balanced treatment of Mr. Daley’s record. Unfortunately, his treatment of the critical utilities issue indicates otherwise. Rather than review Mr. Daley’s eight year record on utilities, Mr. Cassel merely criticizes […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Perhaps you already know that the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, from New Orleans, uses instrumentation virtually identical to that of the swinging brass bands that have escorted funeral processions down the streets of that city since early in the century. America today sorely needs to be reminded that it possesses a parade march tradition that, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Oberman’s Endorsement
To the editors: Doug Cassel’s biography of Tim Evans [March 17] was insightful and helpful to those readers attempting to make a decision between the candidates in the April 4 election. I noticed only one error, and that is, I did not support Rich Daley in this year’s Democratic primary. In fact, I proudly supported […]