As one of the regular hosts of The Moth here in Chicago (the incomparable Brian Babylon being the other), I like to open the show with a Ken Nordine-inspired piece of word jazz that sets up the theme for the night. All of the stories are required to utilize the theme in the telling so I like to try and cover a multitude of angles tellers can approach.
Running for my life
May. 24, 2013
Saturday I’m running the Soldier Field 10 Mile race and there is a chance I may cry at the end of it. I mean, there is a good chance my bones and feet and various chafed bits will cry both figuratively and literally but there are other things going on as well.
This is my first big race since I had the baby in August. When I signed up for the run in January, I envisioned the race being the cap on my post-baby physical transformation—all the baby weight would be lost and I would be in shape again. I’d be back to normal.
Having run eight pretty undramatic miles on Saturday, I feel physically ready for the race. I can envision crossing the finish line and (let’s just be honest) posting my triumphant photo on Facebook and then wearing my finisher’s medal as I drink my lone complimentary beer. Barring any dramatic weather or broken legs, worst case scenario, I will run/walk this thing and that will be that.
As for the other stuff, the weight, the shape, the normal? We’ll see. Depending on the day, I’m six to eight pounds away from being back to my pre-baby weight.
Bleacher bums arrested
May. 24, 2013On May 24, 1920 the Chicago police staged their biggest gambling raid in years. Forty-seven people were arrested at a single location—the bleachers at Cubs’ Park.
Club officials had been aware of the problem for some time. The gamblers had staked out their own section of the stands. Anybody in the park who wanted to place a bet knew exactly where to find the action.
So undercover cops infiltrated the open-air casino. They wore various disguises–"teamsters, sailors, soldiers, ice wagon drivers, sewing machine agents, bootblacks, farmers," the Tribune reported. They ate peanuts and drank pop like ordinary fans. They watched the gamblers operate.
The Cubs were playing the Phillies.
Music reads: The Beats and Rock Culture
May. 23, 2013
Most people at this time of year are compiling their stack of books to bring to the beach, so what say we music fans catch up on our reading and take a look at some of the best recent rock-related tomes?
Topping this list is Text and Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll: The Beats and Rock Culture (Bloomsbury) by U.K. journalist and University of Leeds lecturer Simon Warner. The goal is a noble one: to explore the historical intersections between poets and novelists Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and the rest of the Beat gang of the ’40s and ’50s with the rockers of the ’60s and later eras, as well as the influence of the Beats’ prose on the rockers’ lyrics. And with an academic thoroughness that doesn’t hamper the flow of his own pen, Prof.
Why Theaster Gates is Chicago's greatest contemporary artist
May. 23, 2013
Upon entering the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s Kovler Atrium, audiences will find rows of pews from University of Chicago’s Bond Chapel. The pews were removed in order to provide Muslim students a place to pray. Above the pews hangs a large-scale double-cross sculpture filled with household items such as umbrellas, dented cans for non-perishables, and wine glasses.
The installation will be activated with performances throughout the summer by artist Theaster Gates. The installation is titled 13th Ballad and intertwines concepts and theories, a familiar practice for the Gates. Here we see the relationship between religion, migration and accumulation. Gates’ work intervenes and it is this intervention that serves not as another example of gentrification, but of the possibilities of art in the face of despair.
Gates is a multidisciplinary artist, working with performance, sculpture, installation, and large-scale urban interventions. He received a degree in urban planning, but also studied ceramic. This combination of fields informs the multifaceted approach to his artistic practices.
The Stephen Rodrick interview
May. 23, 2013
Stephen Rodrick's "The Magical Stranger: A Son's Journey Into His Magical Life," explores the life of his father, a Navy pilot who died when his plane crashed into the ocean, through the lens of current members of his dad's former squadron as he traveled with them on their aircraft carrier. You may also know him as the New York Times author of "Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan in Your Movie," the fascinating look at...well, you can figure it out. He is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a contributing editor for Men's Journal and his work has been anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing, The Best American Crime Writing and The Best American Political Writing.