Friday 9
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Truly unique holiday gifts will be on the block during the Chinese American Service League’s Year of the Dragon Dinner/Auction. Embroidered silk clothing, antique Chinese furnishings, cloisonne jewelry, and original artwork will go to the highest bidders during the league’s annual fund-raiser. In addition, students from the organization’s chef training program will offer an international buffet. The fun starts at 5:30 PM at 310 W. 24th Pl. in Chinatown. A $20 tax-deductible donation gets you in. For more call Sharon Yee at 791-0418.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory calls its genetic research “manipulated evolution”; others say such experiments could easily become genetic fascism in the wrong hands. Dr. W.R. Gomes, a professor and acting dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will talk about the implications of test-tube evolution in tonight’s lecture, Designer Genes, Frozen Assets, and Clones From the Bank: Boon or Bane? A question-and-answer session and a reception will follow the presentation, which begins at 8 in Fermilab’s Ramsey Auditorium in Wilson Hall, on the corner of Kirk and Pine roads in Batavia. Tickets are $2. Call 840-2787.
While Santa pays a special visit to the sea lion pool at the Lincoln Park Zoo, his helpers will pass out songbooks and greenery for the 12th annual Caroling to the Animals. After a few warm-up choruses of “Jingle Bells” and other faves, carolers will serenade the residents of the primate and reptile houses and the Children’s Zoo. The Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, the Young Naperville Singers, the Jubilate! Children’s Choir, and the Palatine Children’s Chorus–accompanied by the Chicago Brass Quintet–will also be featured. Free treats include cookies and hot cider. It all starts at 3 PM at the zoo, 2200 N. Cannon Dr., and it’s free. For more call 294-2493 or 935-6700.
Pasta is the American food of the 80s, but the experts at making the stuff are still the Italians. Giuliano Bugialli–teacher, lecturer, and award-winning cookbook author–celebrates the publication of Bugialli on Pasta (Simon & Schuster) with a cooking demonstration and book signing today at Convito Italiano, 11 E. Chestnut. It starts at 5 PM, and it’s free. For more call 943-2983.
Lloyd Shin, East West, and Signet are all downtown galleries with a focus on Asian art, but it is in Uptown–where a large number of Asians reside–that the Beacon Street Gallery has put together a world-class exhibit of Chinese Peasant Paintings. Many of the works, which come from all over China, have never been seen before in the U.S. The gallery is at 4520 N. Beacon, and it’s open Wednesday through Saturday noon to 6 PM. The show is free and runs through January 28. For details call 561-3500.
