To the editors: In Harold Henderson’s article “What a Waste” (September 28, 1990) he focused on the source reduction and recycling components of House Bill 4013, downplaying the implications of the siting provisions of the bill. While HB 4013 does contain some positive source reduction and recycling provisions, the thrust of the bill is to […]
Tag: Vol. 20 No. 2
Issue of Oct. 25 – 31, 1990
Puccini Western
THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST at Lyric Opera Lyric Opera’s third offering of this season, Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West, was its second attempt to knock our socks off with an operatic star. And Placido Domingo was rather more successful at wowing the audience than was Jessye Norman in Alceste. For those […]
The Straight Dope
FACTS ABOUT CATS You seem to be stumped as to the origin of the old wives’ tale about cats sucking the breath out of humans [August 17]. Perhaps I can help. Cats are often accused of being indifferent to their owners, but they simply have different ways of showing their affection. One of these is […]
Our Glowing Future
To the editors: Harold Henderson and James Krohe, Jr., [City File, October 5] have ignored the significant role nuclear energy has played in reducing the dependence of Japan and Europe on imported oil. After the OPEC embargo, Japan and several European countries, France in particular, began crash programs to construct nuclear generating stations. Before the […]
Green-Mosley Complex
You haven’t heard of them, but this is one band with big shoulders and plenty of horsepower; then again, what would you expect from an alliance of Chicago and Detroit musicians? Kenneth Green is the pianist, from the Motor City; Dushun Mosley, the Chi-town drummer (best known as one of Ed Wilkerson’s Eight Bold Souls), […]
The City File
Don’t read this at lunchtime. From the U.S. General Accounting Office Reports and Testimony (July 1990): “FDA and USDA inspectors do not test trucks for bacterial or chemical residues that may remain in a vehicle after it has hauled garbage because the test would be too costly, complex, and time-consuming and because they have found […]
Manson: The Musical/Der Ragamuffin
MANSON: THE MUSICAL and DER RAGAMUFFIN Metraform at Annoyance Theatre I tried desperately to get someone to go with me to see this double bill. Through the years I’ve taken friends to see some of my choice theater assignments–acrobatic rats, Kabuki G-string dancers, and even a guy who wrapped himself in duct tape while talking […]
What’s the Deal With Neal Hartigan?
When I began this story, I saw Neil Hartigan as a wimp, a dull boy, a party hack. The story that I proposed was one describing how this hack worked his way through the ranks of the Democratic Party, machine and postmachine, until he reached the top. I knew only the bare bones of Hartigan’s […]
Jimmy & Marian McPartland
To younger listeners, Marian McPartland may actually be the better known of these two–her long-running public radio program, Piano Jazz, has ensured that–but jazz history has fully lionized the man who lent Marian his good name. Jimmy McPartland, who played cornet, was a charter member of the Austin High Gang, the clique of young white […]
Millers’ High Life
HENRY & JUNE ** (Worth seeing) Directed by Philip Kaufman Written by Philip and Rose Kaufman With Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Richard E. Grant, Kevin Spacey, and Jean-Philippe Ecoffey. “There are larval thoughts not yet divorced from their dream content, thoughts which seem to slowly crystallize before your eyes, always precise but […]
A Family Affair
A FAMILY AFFAIR Strawdog Theatre Politicians’ lust to dictate to artists is a lot older than Jesse Helms. The current crisis besetting the NEA may feel characteristically American–what other developed country spends more on military bands than on the future of its performing arts?–but censorship is a vice as widespread as fear. The 1849 Russian […]
Rock ‘n’ Roll: MOTO’s powerfully puerile pop
“I think you have it,” Beck is saying. “I don’t think so,” says Paul. “I’m sure you have it,” she says. “No, I didn’t take it home.” “I really remember that we talked about it and you said that you wanted to take it so it would be safe.” “I don’t think I have it,” […]
Oak Parkers Furious: Chicago Magazine Spurious?/Hard Times
Oak Parkers Furious: Chicago Magazine Spurious? In Chicago magazine: a trifle, a passing glance west at moody high school students. In Oak Park: fury, anguish, grinding teeth. The author of the trifle defends his work: “It’s a fourteen-hundred-word article,” says Dan Santow. “And a lot of the criticism, I think, implies that we shortchanged the […]
Field & Street
Scaup were my introduction to the true terrors of birding. For those who do not follow the sport, I should explain that scaup are ducks. Diving ducks, to be more precise. Diving ducks hunt for food well underwater, propelling themselves through the depths with their feet. They are to be distinguished from dabbling ducks, such […]