SEPTEMBER
Snikt! Snikt! What’s that? It’s the sound of the steel-sharpened claws of Marvel Comics hero the Wolverine. If characters like the Wolverine, the Punisher, and the Silver Surfer get your heart racing, check out the Comic Book Marketplace this weekend at the Holiday Inn O’Hare, 5440 River Road in Rosemont. Special guests? Snikt! Of course: George Perez, the current writer and artist of Wonder Woman; Bill Reinhold, the artist of The Punisher; Aliens artist Mark Nelson; Green Lantern and Swamp Thing artist Pat Broderick, and Batman cover artist Mike Mignola, among others. Plus there’s the usual gamut of lectures, panels, and films. It’s $6 a person, today and tomorrow, 10 to 6. Call 201-788-6845 or 708-671-6350 for more information.
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Bob Hercules and Jeff Huebner’s Milwaukee Avenue: Street of Dreams–“an exploration of the history, ethnicity, and issues surrounding commercial development on this colorful thoroughfare”–premieres tonight at Video Nocturne, a free under-the-skies video showcase in Wicker Park (the park, not the neighborhood). You’ll also see Chicago’s Grandstands, a look at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park through interviews and rare footage, and Flag Stomping in America, a “video essay” by Mark Blottner. It’s all been organized by Hercules, with extravagant projection and sound systems designed and run by projection maven James Bond. Wicker Park is at 1425 N. Damen; things get under way at 7:30 PM. Call 850-1300 for more information.
Lithuanian music, as performed by members of the Motekaitis family, is the order of the day at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, 6500 S. Pulaski. Milda Motekaitis, a soprano, will sing various Lithuanian art songs and Robert Schumann’s cycle, Frauenliebe und -leben. Her uncle, Mangirdas Motekaitis, will accompany her on piano, and also play songs by Alexander Tcherepnin and Juozas Gruodis. And then her brother, Kazys Motekaitis, will join the two of them for a Baroque composition for voice, piano, and violin by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. The $10 tickets include refreshments; the show starts at 3 PM. You can call the museum for information or reservations: 582-6500.
Tuesday 2
You’ve heard of reading the book and then seeing the movie–now you can watch the TV show and then take the class. Race to Save the Planet, a ten-week PBS series on the environment, looks to be one of the more hullabalooed TV events of the season, boasting the participation of Meryl Streep and Roy Scheider. The Evanston Ecology Center is offering an accompanying ten-week course. Each Thursday night at 8, starting tonight, you can watch the program at the center, 2024 McCormick Boulevard in Evanston, and then discuss the issues raised in the shows. The $6 fee is for written materials. Questions? Call the center at 708-864-5181.
