Listen to Alison Cuddy talk sports movies on Eight Forty-Eight
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It's no surprise that sports and movies go together like high tops and hardwood - each relies heavily on story lines involving underdogs, unlikely heroes, falls from grace and second chances (frequently in sudden death overtime situations - so tense!).
But sorting out the bad from the good sports movies is kind of hard - even the ones I like rarely rise above formula.
There are exceptions.
Of Dolls & Murder is a new documentary exploring a macabre world rendered in miniature: the “Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death,” doll-house sized dioramas that depict — in stunning detail — 18 violent domestic crime scenes.
They’re like three-dimensional, grisly versions of the game Clue: A woman, found upended and drowned in her bathroom. Some splatters of blood and a knocked over chair in the nursery. A couple clad in his and hers pajamas, united by death in their boudoir.
The studies (which use a 1-foot to 1-inch ratio) were created in the 1930s and 1940s by a woman with ties to Chicago.
I've never literally hugged a tree, but I've sure spent a lot of time in, under and especially falling out of them.
And I gotta say I love 'em - whether they're inspiring one of the greatest bands of all time or just getting badass in The Lord of the Rings movie series (oh yeah, I'm a nerd!).
I'd thought Chicago was a bit of a leader when it comes to developing and sustaining its trees.
A couple of days ago, I was inspired by a string of sultry summery days to do one of my favorite things: take a water taxi along the Chicago River.
My trip was a short jaunt to the DuSable Bridge – at this stage they’re only running full routes on weekends. And it's no surprise why – at 2 p.m. on a weekday, I was the only passenger, along with the captain and one deck hand, who extolled the many virtues of his summer job. Otherwise, all was quiet along the water, which still carried a slight hint of its annual turn to green.
Back on dry land we’ve seen a big flurry of activity around our waterways.
One of our picks this weekend got me thinking that we're living in a real Beat Generation kind of a moment.
See, Saki record store is having its first Musical Wine Tasting this Saturday night. They're billing it as an event that both embraces the essentials of St. Patrick's Day (booze and beats) and offers a more refined, sedate alternative to the annual weekend of debauchery (or wait, was that a whole week I just lost?!).
The Saki event sounds fun - and just a little bit retro. There's something about a group of no doubt smart and hip folks, lounging around listening to sophisticated tunes, that has a definite vibe of Greenwich Village or Old Town circa the late '50s/early '60s.
The Illinois Humanities Council (ICH) has commissioned a number of people - from the arts, media and academia - to share their thoughts on the cultural swirl around New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin. This is the final in a series of four essays that I've featured on my blog. You are also invited to join the conversation! Leave your comments below and join us at Jane Addams Hull House Museum tonight, for the IHC program Linsanity: What's Beyond the Hype? We'll talk about Lin and watch the Knicks-Bulls game!
The Forest for the Trees: Riffing on Jeremy Lin, by Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai
The Illinois Humanities Council has commissioned a number of people - from the arts, media and academia - to share their thoughts on the cultural swirl around New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin. Here's the third in the series of their posts that I'm featuring on my blog over the next few days. You are also invited into the conversation! Leave your comments below and join us at the IHC's event Monday: Linsanity: What's Beyond the Hype? We'll discuss Lin and watch the Knicks-Bulls game!
Thank God for Jeremy Lin, by Alden Loury
Not just for reinvigorating the fan base of America’s largest market, not just for igniting interest in basketball for perhaps millions of Asians across the globe and not just for providing the feel-good basketball story of the year.
I’m excited about Lin’s outstanding play and the buzz it has created because Lin’s emergence has provided yet another moment for us to have critical conversations about race, perhaps some that we wouldn’t otherwise have.
Local improv troupe "Baby Wants Candy" performs a musical inspired by President Barack Obama and GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney - from WBEZ on Vimeo.
Tensions over Iran’s nuclear capacity have led to threats of (if not a full-on move to) a military attack, which in turn have many pondering the wages of war.
The costs of conflict are felt across a society that undertakes it, in ways that can’t always be anticipated. But the heaviest load may well by borne by the veterans of war, including returning soldiers in the U.S.
We set aside certain days to commemorate them.
