While sex without reproduction seems like a better goal, I heard that turkeys can actually reproduce without sex. I know they’re stupid/primitive, but can this be true? –Rory Pfotenhauer, Delores, Colorado You heard right, compadre. Parthenogenesis–reproduction without benefit of sex–occurs spontaneously in a handful of species, most of them fairly simple but some surprisingly complex. […]
Tag: Vol. 29 No. 1
Issue of Oct. 7 – 13, 1999
Posted inNews & Politics
The Message Is Clear
Good-bye incomprehensible CTA announcers; hello, voice of the future.
Posted inNews & Politics
A Fan Writes
What’s with the World Music Festival write-up on Marvin Tate’s D-Settlement [September 17 and 24]? You give one sentence to a great local band and a paragraph to everyone else? (Doesn’t seem very supportive of the local acts.) D-Settlement is an eclectic mix of music, poetry, performance, and much more that is shaking up the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Calendar
Friday 10/8 – Thursday 10/14 OCTOBER By Cara Jepsen 8 FRIDAY He doesn’t smear elephant dung on images of the Virgin Mary, but local artist Dick Detzner has received a rap on the knuckles from the head of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, who’s called his paintings of corporate icons in religious […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Ea Sola
Choreographer Ea Sola is loyal to two cultures–and to none. “I never feel that I’ve got a country to call my own,” she said in a 1995 interview. “When I’m in Paris I’m in love with Paris; when I go to Vietnam I like Vietnam.” Born and raised in that war-torn place, she left it […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Sorry, Barrelhouse
I owe Barrelhouse Chuck an apology for a mistake in my September 24 Critic’s Choice. That was Harmonica Todd Levine who turned in what I considered to be an overly mannered vocal performance on “Cool Disposition” on Chuck’s debut album, Salute to Sunnyland Slim. David Whiteis
Posted inArts & Culture
Freakwater
FREAKWATER With album number six, the ominously titled End Time (Thrill Jockey), Freakwater has undergone the most significant reinvention of its career, and the swapping of multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston for steel guitarist Eric Heywood feels like the least of the changes. End Time is the first Freakwater album to include as many songs by Janet […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Food Alert
As the Chicago International Film Festival gets rolling, once again quantity triumphs over quality.
Posted inNews & Politics
A Scene of His Own
River North is stale, Wicker Park is passe. Will Lew Manilow’s South Loop gallery building be the next big thing?
Posted inArts & Culture
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants John Flansburgh and John Linnell have spent the last 15 years making people laugh at their own inside jokes–now that’s talent. They succeed in part because they’ve managed to bring their audience into their inner circle, with gimmicks like Dial a Song (now at www.dialasong.com) and a good-looking Web site stocked […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Franz and Zelda’s Happy Time Cabaret Hour
FRANZ AND ZELDA’S HAPPY TIME CABARET HOUR, Tingle Tangel Theatre, at Breadline Theatre. In this late-night show John Osterhagen and Juliet Schaefer–the Franz and Zelda of the title–mix two of my favorite genres: Weimar-style cabaret and the reorchestration of trashy pop numbers into classic-sounding torch songs. Osterhagen, who did all the arrangements, accompanies the smoky-voiced […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Under Siege
Albany Park residents forced out by progress find it’s hard to argue with a school.
Posted inNews & Politics
French Connection
Dear Reader: Re the October 1 Straight Dope: Roger Ebert had an interesting slant on the French-Jerry Lewis affair when I wrote to his Sunday page. I asked him if we would ever be able to look down on the French for idolizing Lewis when multimillions are paid to such actors as Jim Carrey and, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Future City Homosexual Tells All
FUTURE CITY HOMOSEXUAL TELLS ALL, at the Theatre Building. Written and belted out by Jeff-winning composer Kamys, this two-act semiautobiographical concert monologue features 16 country-western songs, ranging from the jukebox rouser “I’d Rather Lick My Wounds Than Kiss Your Ass” to “Rider,” a bellowing, Janis Joplin-style love ballad. A familiar story of self-discovery connects the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Fantastic Voyage
The Odyssey Goodman Theatre By Adam Langer “How long is it? “That’s a rather personal question, sir.” –Monty Python’s Flying Circus The man in the lobby of Facets before the noon showing of Jacques Rivette’s Secret Defense took a look at the blackboard and snorted. “Three hours? That’s rich,” the man said to his companion. […]