If you missed Governor Rauner’s State of the State speech, you’re a lot luckier than I am. You wouldn’t know that Rauner had been at war with the state’s Democratic leadership for more than a year. Or that he’d gone a year without passing a budget. Or that as a result, social service agencies from Zion to Cairo have cut programs and laid off workers—the Rauner administration had stopped paying its bills....
In the late 1800s hordes of randy young European males landed in Buenos Aires to seek their fortunes. As these desperate bachelors slouched through the seedier parts of the port city, a slinky mating dance developed between them and the working girls they sought to couple with. Meanwhile the swells in the upper classes looked down on the dance as it was practiced in milongas, the spots where the dancing went down....
WALL-E Each Friday, we recommend seven Old Movies to Watch Now, all of which come recommended by one of our critics and can currently be screened online. Read the review, watch the movie, feel accomplished. • The Grey, Joe Carnahan’s old-fashioned suspense tale starring Liam Neeson.
Ever since ÉSSO dropped a self-titled album of dance-floor fillers in 2015, the groove-tastic local band’s fusion of Latin music, Afrobeat, and psychedelic rock has set Gossip Wolf’s toes to tapping. As if in response to the despair of the pandemic, ÉSSO decided to release their next album one song per month, to spread out the fun—last spring and summer, they put out five singles and videos, including “Animal,” “Izquierda,” and “Chico Chango” (which features Latin soul crooner Lester Rey)....
At 5 PM Saturday, March 21, Governor J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 Executive Order No. 8, aka the Stay at Home order, took effect. Here’s a daily-ish journal of how Reader staff, our friends, family—and our pets—are spending our time. Savory pies, dumplings, creamy masala paneer, chai, and altogether too much food for one household, delivered from Chiya Chai Bon Appetit’s spiced lamb and dill yogurt pasta What we’re reading:
When the British drama Victim was released in 1961, homosexual acts between consenting adults were still illegal in England, and though police had grown tired of prosecuting these victimless crimes, the British tabloids pounced on any sort of sex scandal, creating a rich market for blackmailers. Four years earlier, an influential government report had rejected the notion of homosexuality as a mental illness and recommended that it be legalized. Into this climate the Rank Organisation, a giant in British entertainment, cast Dirk Bogarde, the UK’s most popular matinee idol, as Melville Farr, a married, middle-aged barrister who’s being blackmailed for his romantic attachment to a young construction worker....
Misery Rites, the newest album from Canadian grindsters Wake, opens with a slow dirge that’s anchored by melancholic howls and oceanic riffs. It’s a fitting introduction to an album on which the band expand their palette beyond the straight-ahead blistering grindcore (complete with buzzsaw guitars) of its predecessor, 2016’s Sowing the Seeds of a Worthless Tomorrow, to incorporate elements of sludge and technical death metal. And where Sowing the Seeds was full of nihilistically political songs, on this go-round vocalist Kyle Ball plumbs his internal landscape for lyrical inspiration, focusing most of his ire on his personal experiences with the cyclical nature of depression, addiction, and isolation....
Monday kicks off in-person early voting in Chicago ahead of the March 15 Illinois primary. Early voting takes place from Monday, February 29, through Monday, March 14, and is offered at 51 sites throughout the city. Voters must cast their ballots in person. If you’re already a registered voter, you don’t need an ID as long as your address is current and your signature matches the voter signature on file....
When Save Money rapper Brian Fresco premiered his single “Higher” in the Fader last week, he told the site, “I wanted to try something musically I’ve never done before with my homie Trevor, and despite one of my friends telling me my heart wasn’t in it, I still knew this song was a hit.” With its neon dancehall beat and vocal contributions from Montreal electronic duo Blue Hawaii and Chance the Rapper, “Higher” has gained traction quickly—it’s already accumulated almost 200,000 plays on Soundcloud....
Upon my first listen to St. Vincent’s newest album, October’s Masseducation, I experienced disappointment. Produced largely by hit machine Jack Antonoff, it’s a massive step away from the knotty, topsy-turvy prog-funk of Annie Clark’s brilliant 2014 self-titled LP, instead jumping into straightforward electro-pop. But a few spins later, it became clear that Masseducation is another step in evolution for Clark’s genius. Sure, the beats snap rather than throb, and there’s significantly less of her insane guitar shredding, but the comparative simplicity of the music sets a perfect backdrop for her beautiful voice and off-kilter melodies....
Before Adidas opened its flagship Wicker Park store in 2017, Saint Alfred was the only shop along Milwaukee Avenue you’d be guaranteed to find sneakerheads lined up at the crack of dawn waiting to cop the hottest new shoe. The streetwear shop doesn’t just cater to people who pack their closets with more footwear than clothes, and I’ve enjoyed the process of finding the right fit for my flat feet more there than anywhere else I’ve gone....
In a strange way it was a blessing when Sunday afternoon’s severe thunderstorms put the Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash on hold. The Douglas Park festival had barely started its second day—it was around 2 PM, and Maryland rapper IDK had just removed the Reagan mask he’d worn for his grand entrance—when a voice cut through on the PA telling the crowd that the music would stop till the weather cleared up....
Netflix Ellie Kemper as the unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt When 30 Rock aired its final episode in 2013, television lost something special. Tina Fey created a universe in which there was no ceiling for silliness, women could be powerful cynics, and an NBC page could be immortal. More importantly it was a world that was filled a high laughs-per-minute quota while shedding light (sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly) on issues from gender equality to FDA regulations....
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week’s Chicagoan is Kelly Baron, 27, “agnostic atheist.” Anyway, I grew up in a godless household. Once, when I was probably four, my cousin, who’s nine years older, took me in her arms and showed me a picture. She said, “This is a man named Jesus, and he lives way up in the sky. He sees everything we do, and he’s here to protect us, and he loves us no matter what....
Chicagoans is a first-person account from off the beaten track, as told to Anne Ford. This week’s Chicagoan is Jana Kinsman, 31, the bicycling beekeeper. After that, that’s when I started Bike a Bee. We place beehives in community gardens on the south side. We place the hives in spring, and then we take care of them throughout the year. We own all the equipment, we harvest all the honey, and we sell it....
At one time or another over the years, the City Council’s been inhabited by drunks, philanderers, cokeheads, bribe takers, wire wearers, and various other miscreants of every race, creed, and color. But in all those years no alderman’s been exiled from his own brood—until now. Refused how? Ramirez-Rosa says his attendance at caucus meetings is as good as that of most of the members who voted to remove him. He suspects the real reason the caucus ousted him is that they were sucking up to the mayor....
Of all the crystalline moments I cherish in Princess Cyd, which is playing this week at the Gene Siskel Film Center, one particular shot stands out: Miranda Ruth (Rebecca Spence), a novelist in her 50s, is walking out to sunbathe in her backyard, wearing a purple swimsuit she hadn’t remembered owning for years; by her side is her 17-year-old niece, Cydney (Jessie Pinnick), who’s staying with her for a couple weeks....
Not only is Illinois facing a shortage of surgical masks and respirators, so is the entire world. Bulk purchases of face masks have left many hospitals without the tools to effectively protect themselves and their patients. Those at the front lines—nurses, doctors, and health care workers—need this protective gear in order to reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19. A few days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a piece that suggested health-care personnel can create homemade masks as a crisis response to the shortage....
