Britt Julious

May. 10, 2013

It's OK to love Shonda Rhimes' television shows

May. 10, 2013

Shonda Rhimes is important. She is critical. That it has taken the mainstream media this many years to discover and talk about this speaks to the ways in which we discuss the creation of entertainment and the systems within the entertainment industry itself. The entertainment industry is male-dominanted, exclusive, and isolationary.

Shonda Rhimes – a writer, producer, and showrunner who at one time maintained three successful television shows (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal) at the same time on one network – bucks this industry standard, instead creating work that is inclusive, unique, feminine and fun. These traits are not typically used to describe Important Television, but Rhimes’ rate of success over failure, fandom over derision, deserves further examination and praise.

Shonda Rhimes is a feminist. She might not say it explicitly, but it can be seen in her shows. They stem from a female perspective. This is a reflection of Rhimes herself.

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Nico Lang

May. 10, 2013

What makes Chicago the 'best food city'

May. 10, 2013

This week, the Munchies Awards named Chicago the country’s best food city, citing local hot spots like Black Dog Gelato in Wicker Park, Intelligentsia Coffee in Lakeview and Streeterville’s Bar Toma as some of Chicago’s best food attractions. However, no restaurant better emblematizes Chicago foodie culture like the visionary Big Star, the hub of Wicker Park’s cuisine scene. Big Star is a love letter to Chicago, a testament to our city’s endless capacity for invention. When it comes to food, we are second to none.

There are an endless number of reasons you should be a Big Star regular—or a self-described "fan girl" like myself. Here’s five.

1. Big Star makes great food accessible.

Big Star is located in the heart of Wicker Park, a latte’s throw from the neighborhood’s popular Wormhole Cafe and the shops that line Milwaukee Avenue.

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Claire Zulkey

May. 10, 2013

The Jon Ronson interview

May. 10, 2013
Jon Ronson is one of those writers who embodies what creative nonfiction is all about by demonstrating just how strange and wonderful the world can be. A Welsh journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author, his books include Them: Adventures With Extremists, The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry and most recently Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries. His book The Men Who Stare At Goats was turned into a movie starring George Clooney.

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Leah Pickett

May. 10, 2013

Abercrombie & Fitch is not the only brand that hates fat people

May. 10, 2013

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John R. Schmidt

May. 10, 2013

Finding your way around Chicago's present

May. 10, 2013
How well did you find your way around the Chicago of the past?
 
The Washington Hotel was long a landmark at the northeast corner of 92nd Street and Commercial Avenue. The commercial development is another clue, since there weren't many major shopping districts on the far South Side in 1934. The older photo also shows a junction of two streetcar lines, and a grade-separated railroad crossing in the distance. Those features were also rare south of 79th Street.

 

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Louisa Chu

May. 10, 2013

Chicago craft beer week, food truck rally and more

May. 10, 2013

Friday, May 10

Peterson Garden Project second annual Spring Plant and Bake Sale at the Peterson Garden Project Learning Center. This three day event will offer baked goods by local pastry chefs, plus heirloom, organic, and locally grown seedlings specifically selected to grow well in Chicago. The fundraiser will benefit the project's learning programs. Please remembert to BYOBT (Bring Your Own Bags and Trays). Admission FREE, baked goods and seedlings additional, and act as your donation.

Saturday, May 11

Oak Park's inaugural Great Food Truck Rally at the Pilgrim Congregational Church. The church will also have a limited supply of their famous homemade donuts (plain, powdered sugar, and cinnamon sugar) as featured in Saveur magazine. The church building itself, Queen Anne Revival Style and on the National Register of Historic Places, will be open for tours.

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Cheryl Raye-Stout

May. 10, 2013

Bulls, Blackhawks playoff action continues

May. 10, 2013
Stay classy, Chicago fans. Game three of the NBA playoff series tips off at the United Center Friday night.

With the Bulls and Heat knotted at a game apiece, most of the attention should be on the series. But antics and injuries off the court are garnering plenty of interest.

The Bulls had two players, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, ejected in the enormous 115-78 loss to Miami. As Noah was walking through the exit in the American Airlines Arena, one of the fans bluntly showed her displeasure with the Bulls center. Filomena Tobias flipped off Noah and the image went viral. This is not new. Several years ago the Chicago Sun-Times had a back page photo of a Bears fan doing that to players walking through the tunnel. I remember because it was my son's grade school gym teacher doing the gesture.

The Miami fan story shielded the Bulls from their crushing defeat by LeBron James and the Heat on Wednesday night.

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Alison Cuddy

May. 9, 2013

Sickinger brought grassroots theater to Chicago

May. 9, 2013

 

When Robert Sickinger came to Chicago in the early 1960s, Chicago had great theater. But most of it - think The Goodman Theater - was largely confined to the Loop.

Sickinger, who died Thursday at the age of 86, was hired to be the director of the Hull House Theater, on Chicago’s North side. When he arrived in 1963, the theater was still at the corner of Broadway Street and Belmont Avenue - the building’s an athletic club now.

Donna Marie Schwan was Sickinger’s assistant, and, eventually, his friend.

She said Sickinger, along with Paul Jans, the new executive director of Hull House, were looking to the past to do something new in theater.

“They were basically trying to do something like what Jane Addams originally had in the community. So he went out in the community and had open auditions. I mean, sort of the original ‘Chicago’s Got Talent’.”

Those open auditions not only drew people who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity or venue in which to perform or sing, they were a pipeline to Chicago’s talented actors.

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