The ninth round of the Tyson-Douglas heavyweight title fight was boxing reduced–or elevated–to its essence. It was one of the most exciting rounds I’ve ever seen, and, mind you, I saw it some few days after the fight had taken place. The champion, Mike Tyson, had floored the challenger, James “Buster” Douglas, at the end of the previous round, after being dominated by the challenger through the early stages of the match....
The period just before opening day was a time of gloom and doom for Chicago’s baseball teams–especially for the White Sox. Not only did no one pick them higher than fifth in the American League West, but most large-circulation magazines–where the supposed experts weigh in–picked them last. Meanwhile, the papers were rife with rumors that the Sox were headed toward a new stadium in Saint Petersburg, Florida, next season. It is testimony to the resiliency of baseball and its fans that, once again, opening day shone on the city; not only did the Sox’s fortunes suddenly seem better than they had appeared, but all the other problems seemed trivial–so much winter nattering, which failed to survive the warmth and clarity brought on by one of the first (and few) Chicago spring days....
Why does the air smell and feel so good after a spring rain shower? It was that way this morning, so I thought to ask the person who has the answers to the really tough questions of life. –Thomas Vastine, Villa Park, Illinois Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Tough is right, buddyroo–what you’re innocently asking me to do is jump feet first into the dread negative ion controversy, which has been raging off and on for more than 30 years....
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that sugar does not have an appreciable effect on human behavior, yet every teacher and parent I know believes fervently in the sugar “high” and the apparent wild effect on children. How did this nonfact get to be accepted as gospel by so many? –Michelle Murphy, Manhattan Beach, California Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » I dunno....
Will Chicago Community Trust Solve the Midsize Theater Problem? Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Groups planning to use the site will have a major say in determining the location finally chosen, sources say. The Hubbard Street Dance Company, Ballet Chicago, the Dance Center of Columbia College, Chamber Music Chicago, and Music of the Baroque have all been working on the project. Sources present at the meetings say that some arts organizations involved in the discussions have expressed concerns about the Dearborn Station site....
ARE THERE ALLIGATORS IN THE SEWERS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK? Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » And that’s the problem with Are There Alligators in the Sewers of the City of New York? a 50-minute children’s offering by Avenue Theatre. It simply sits there, with all its stitching and wires showing. There’s no sense of magic or wonder at all. The kids I took–nine-year-old Dan and six-year-old Will–saw right through the show’s machinations....
A freight train carrying a load of toxic chemicals through the south side derails. Thousands of residents are exposed to poisonous gases. Even though authorities make an attempt to evacuate, many people are overcome by toxins and end up in the hospital. The members of Live Free International see the answer to that question in survivalism: emergency preparedness by the individual, not the state. They don’t think there’s anything silly about having a few gallons of water, a couple of days’ worth of canned food, and a firearm in the closet–or in the case of the railroad-riddled south side, a gas mask for each family member....
Friday 19 Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » The Smart Bar opened, perched atop the building at 3730 N. Clark, in July 1982, but after an up-and-coming band called R.E.M. played there that August, the club moved (literally) underground, and owners “the Joes”–Shanahan and Prino–turned the main upstairs room, renamed Cabaret Metro, into one of the more noted concert venues in the U.S. (as a recent series of testimonials in Entertainment Weekly, Details, and Spin attest)....
Friday 4 Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » According to founder Joe Crosetto, the Art-O-Rama gallery will be showing “some awful, some profoundly stupid, and some profoundly relevant” work at its inaugural show, Cigs & Beer. About 80 “unsavory” artists from Chicago, California, and Michigan contributed various artworks on the title’s theme: “Some are nice, others not,” says Crosetto. If you want to risk it, the opening’s from 6 to 9 tonight at 3039 W....
Mildred is rising. An expression of satisfaction crosses Johnson’s face. He has served a function today; he has prevented Mildred from consuming a piece of plastic or sliver of wood. Johnson loves to gab and tease. Recently a 97-year-old woman friend was filling Johnson in on her boyfriend. “Mama,” Johnson inquired, “what you gonna do with a boyfriend?” The woman eyeballed him squarely. “What you think I’m going to do,” she snapped back....
IN THE GARDEN OF THE PRISON Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Michael Brayndick’s In the Garden of the Prison, being presented by the Playwrights’ Center, answers these questions with a worthy and relevant view of the Holocaust; if it’s not a completely new view, it’s at least one that deserves to be seen. The first act, “The Garden,” is loosely based on the story of the Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess, who was interned in Spandau Prison for more than 40 years (and allegedly committed suicide in 1987)....
In the good old days they came by bus, train, or trolley to shop in the stores in the Lincoln-Belmont-Ashland business district. “You’d get dressed up to go shopping; it was a big thing,” says Anne LaFleur, a longtime resident of Lakeview. “You could buy fancy dresses and nice shoes; we’d go on weekends. It was special.” “The average price of a home in Lakeview has gone up 268 percent in the last ten years,” says Hansen, who also sells real estate in the area....
Lead Story Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » In February police in Oakland, California, sought a con man who preyed on female immigrants by telling them over the phone that he was “from a clinic,” that they carried a rare germ requiring special treatment, and that they would be deported if they weren’t treated. The special treatment was that the “doctor” would have himself injected with a serum (for which the immigrant had to pay $650), which could then only be passed to the victim through sexual intercourse....
Some things we’ve noticed about Steve Neal’s crusade against Park District reformers. But in his way, Ed Kelly really cared. Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Its eye for detail. Describing a reception at Soldier Field, Neal reported, “Flanked by a couple of bodyguards, the 5-foot, 3-inch Shah, otherwise known as Jesse Madison, worked his way through the crowd. . . . At the same reception, Mayor Daley walked around without a police escort....
THE COMMITMENTS With Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle, Johnny Murphy, Andrew Strong, and Colm Meaney. Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Even his severest critics probably wouldn’t challenge the notion that Parker has talent. He’s got a painter’s eye, and he knows how to use the considerable skills of his frequent collaborators–cinematographers Michael Seresin and Peter Biziou, production designer Brian Morris, and editor Gerry Hambling....
Nothing used to go together like dinner and a show. All that has changed since the big theater chains sliced and diced the cinema palaces into multiplexes, jacked up the prices, and wedged audiences into movies like lettuce in a crisper. That good old Saturday-night cheap treat has turned into an expensive stress test involving finding a movie and restaurant close enough to each other that you can swing by, pick up tickets before dinner, and get back soon enough to find two seats not up front in the whiplash section....
Dan Frick’s chest, arms, legs, and face are smeared with green makeup, applied for his role as a speaking slave in Lyric Opera’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. He also has on a truly hideous black wig, baggy orange Bermuda shorts with makeup-covered straps, and sandals over yellow socks. He’s been wearing this getup for four hours, and the emerald makeup, which is still wet from the glycerin in it, is rubbing off on everything he comes near....
Both sides agree that folks had nothing but the best of intentions when they started the Evanston Shelter for Battered Women and Their Children back in 1981. “There was no home for abused women in the area,” says Rosaline Herstein, a volunteer, who used to edit WEAVE, the shelter’s newsletter. “It was time to bring the North Shore into the 20th century.” “The shelter used to be a therapeutic and healing place–a place where battered women could start the long process toward getting back on their feet,” says Julie Berg-Einhorn, a volunteer....
And if all else fails, you can get a good used one from Florida, without any rust. “I often use a car analogy when talking with couples about their marriage,” says Loyola University nursing professor Donna J. Rankin in a university press release. “When it’s new, an automobile runs like a dream. But without proper care and regular maintenance, you’ll be left with a rusting hulk that just doesn’t go anymore....
It was like that moment in The Natural when Roy Hobbs hits one up in the lights and sparks come raining down on the fans, except that it wasn’t overblown movie bathos but real life. Michael Jordan walked out from the end of the floor, cast in a spotlight against a background of darkness, camera flashes going off throughout the Stadium, and it really did look as if he were taking his place in the firmament, among the stars....
