Death comes to town

The Cultural Center explores the intersections of art and death

02/01/2012

Richard Harris deals in death. The art collector and dealer has amassed a mammoth collection of art and artifacts exploring the iconography of death and mortality. The selections are astonishing — 1,500 works stretching the length of recorded history, from a carved jade skull dating to 2000 BCE China to works by contemporary artists and photographers.
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The ghost isn't here

Vitalist Theater's latest struggles at the DCA

01/25/2012

The man sitting across the aisle is dead. I mean, he sure looks dead. He sits slack in his chair, his silver-haired head fallen and drooped slightly to the right, resting his chin on his shoulder. His eyes lay shut while gravity pulls salt-water taffy lips south from a slack mouth.
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Chicago ward remap passes: 43rd Ward emerges whole, but new ward crammed in

Ald. Michele Smith credits Lincoln Park activists’ support with saving ward

01/19/2012

After months of backroom wheeling and dealing, Chicago’s ward boundaries have been officially redrawn, and Lincoln Park is nearly intact within the 43rd Ward.The 43rd Ward’s boundaries have shifted only slightly, moving slightly further west to Racine rather than Sheffield, and losing a bit of ground to on the ward’s south end. But Ald. Michele Smith trumpeted the final boundaries as a victory.
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Butcher & the Burger's Chef Al goes half hog

Hog heaven

01/18/2012

In the basement of Butcher & the Burger, half a hog lays atop a stainless steel cooler. Chef Al Sternweiler shouts "Make a hole!" and a group of 15 follows him through the crowded narrow kitchen and downstairs. This is the first hog butchery class offered by the burger counter, a new addition to Armitage Avenue that boasts ten different patties to put between their buns.
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The faces of torture

New documentary gives victims a voice

01/11/2012

One hundred and fifty countries from around the world practice torture, including the United States. The statement that opens Beneath the Blindfold, a powerful new documentary that screens Friday, Jan. 13 and Thursday, Jan. 19 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, is jarring, but not surprising.
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Chicago consumer advocate Jon Yates' new book helps readers solve problems

Cutting through the tape

01/04/2012

Everyday slights eat away at people,” said Chicago Tribune columnist Jon Yates, “Sometimes it’s easier to forget about it than fight the battle. But, when you stand up for yourself, you’re standing up for others. We’re all in this together.”

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Rescues of the week

12/28/2011

Princess and Paco are a pair of charming 1-year-old Chihuahua mixes who would love to start 2012 in their forever home! These sweet dogs were given up by their previous owner to Chicago Animal Care & Control. They are very bonded, and are hoping to find an adopter with a heart big enough for two dogs! Paco and Princess like taking walks and turn heads when they stroll down the street wearing their cute little winter coats. When they aren’t on the go, this precious pair can often be found curled up together in their dog bed. Princess and Paco love people, and wag their tiny tails like crazy at the sight of a new friend. They can’t wait to find a family of their very own to love and adore.
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Hot chocolate, hot spots

Touring the city’s best spots for the sweet stuff

12/28/2011

Hot chocolate may not have reached the popularity of coffee or tea, as Thomas Jefferson once predicted, but is there any better way to warm up after a frosty outing in Chicago winter? Kids and adults everywhere will agree: There’s something about hot chocolate that seems to just hit the spot when the weather turns cold. So I took two girls to hunt down the city’s best hot cocoa, perfect for little tummies and grown-up taste buds alike.
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Chicago band Czar breaks out

A very metal Christmas

12/21/2011

Conversations with Brian Elza, guitarist for Chicago-based metal band Czar, start with music but tangent into a myriad of other topics. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, Russian history, meats and barbequing said meats, Scottish drum and fife groups, kilts, existentialism, physics, the similarities between quiet nerdiness and obvious aggression.
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Andrew Bird takes over the Museum of Contemporary Art this month

Horns aplenty

12/14/2011

Few musicians in the world can match Chicago-based troubadour Andrew Bird's skill set. Violinist. Guitarist. Whistler. Glockenspieler. It's a toolbox of odds and ends that, when combined, turn his records into lush soundscapes. As charming as his albums are, seeing Bird perform live is an entirely different experience.
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