Jonathan Swift was a mass of contradictions. An Irishman desperate for a place in English government, he ended up championing Irish rights against English mismanagement. A misanthrope, he served as dean of a Dublin cathedral for 30 years. A rationalist, he descended into madness. In Russian playwright Gregory Gorin’s fantasy, Swift’s death is staged each […]
Tag: Vol. 35 No. 16
Issue of Jan. 12 – 18, 2006
Posted inNews & Politics
The Treatment
Friday 13 ANTHRAX This venerable metal act has put out five best-of albums since 1998, so I’m beginning to suspect these guys realize their main value now is historic; Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991) (Island), released in September as both a DVD and a two-CD set, is the current shameless repackaging of their most influential […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Marty Stuart
Few country artists have tastes as catholic as Marty Stuart’s–he’s been a custodian of southern musical traditions since he was a child. He started playing country gospel music with the Sullivan Family in 1971, when he was 12; a year later he was playing mandolin with bluegrass legend Lester Flatt, and in 1980 he joined […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Rehash of a Whitewash
Thanks for critiquing the Chicago Tribune’s lame “Road to War” series, which was purported to be an analytical reexamination of how we got into such a messy situation in Iraq [Hot Type, January 6]. A better title for the series would have been “Rehash of a Whitewash.” How can any journalist still give Bush & […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Barefoot in the Park
This is a sweet, solid retelling of Neil Simon’s story about an attorney and his free-spirited bride adjusting to marriage in a tiny Greenwich Village walk-up. Committing 100 percent to every wacky moment, each actor brings a distinctive energy to the mix. Rod Thomas as husband Paul plays dependable straight man to Elizabeth Ledo’s Corie, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
War’s Uncounted Costs
As someone who supported the war for mostly different reasons than the Tribune [Hot Type, January 6], and who now believes he was mistaken, I’d offer a different analysis. If the United Nations was to be believed, the prewar policy of “containing” Saddam Hussein was killing approximately 50,000 Iraqi kids per year. Even before 9/11, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Van Gogh Exhibit; The Zebra Baby
In these two one-acts, promising young playwright Matt Fotis delivers smart, funny dialogue and honest observation of diverse characters. The weak Shantz Theatre cast, however, undermines the zaniness of The Zebra Baby, in which newlyweds take an odd route to decide to have a baby, and the intricacy of The Van Gogh Exhibit, a nonlinear […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Council Follies
Thank you for printing Ben Joravsky’s article regarding the complete and total blundering of the smoking ban by Mayor Daley and the Chicago City Council [The Works, December 30]. It was one of the few clear and no-nonsense views of the debate. As a bartender, I fought hard for the support of the full ban. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Wooden Wand & Friends, Bird Names
Over the past few years WOODEN WAND (aka James Toth) and a revolving cast of associates called the Vanishing Voice have put out about a dozen releases, each filled with loose amalgams of folk, blues, and electronic noise that sound like the band’s lost somewhere between a catatonic trance and a psychedelic haze. It’s maddeningly […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Thank God for Hip-Hop Film Festival & Action Conference
Presented by Kennedy-King College and the Chicago Local Organizing Committee for the 2006 National Hip-Hop Political Convention, this series of screenings, lectures, and panel discussions continues Friday through Sunday, January 13 through 15, at Kennedy-King College, 6800 S. Wentworth. For more information visit www.chiloc.com/events.html. FRIDAY 13 R One Week Columbia College graduates Carl Seaton and […]
Posted inMusic
Jason Molina and Magnolia Electric Co. are on a roll
Last year was Molina’s most productive yet.
Posted inNews & Politics
They Need It. We Waste It.
The powers that control the Great Lakes are fortifying the ramparts for the day the west runs out of water. The Chicago River is the chink in our armor.
Posted inNews & Politics
Where the Hell Is Everybody?
Lonesome at the new South Union Arts space and the Hilton and Towers Bush protest