The end of February is here, and that can only mean one thing: the MLB is back! Every ball club officially reported for spring training earlier this past week. But there’s one team we’ve got our eyes on.
The Chicago Cubs spring training program kicked off last Sunday when the team arrived in Mesa, Arizona. In Arizona, the Cubs home field is located at Sloan Park. Fans are welcome to attend workouts during the day where they can interact with players. The team will also compete as a member of the Cactus League while they prepare for the upcoming season. Here’s what you can expect at this year’s Cubs spring training!
Chicago Cubs Spring Training
In an off-season filled with plenty of rumors about the future of this team, the Cubs enter spring training with the remainder of their core still intact. Many speculated the future of third basemen, Kris Bryant, who is up for an extension in 2021. But it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere, as it was recently reported that Bryant would start as the leadoff hitter. This decision came from a somewhat new face to the Chicago Cubs, manager David Ross. While Ross isn’t exactly new to this team, he is new to the manager role, and he’s got some big shoes to fill after the team cut ties with Joe Maddon after last season. Speaking of Maddon, he currently manages the Los Angeles Angels, who are also scheduled to play the Cubs on March 2nd. Other notable games during the Cubs spring training include two match-ups with the White Sox on March 6th and 13th.
As far as new faces to look out for, there’s quite a few of them. The Cubs acquired a few RHPs over the off-season through trades and signings. In separate deals with the A’s and Dodgers, the team added Jharel Cotton and Casey Sadler. Pitchers Jeremy Jeffress and Ryan Tepera also signed one-year deals with the team. Some prospects to look out for on this team are SS Nico Hoerner, LHP Brailyn Marquez, OF Brennan Davis, and C Miguel Amaya. These youngsters will have a chance to earn a starting spot over the next month.
Photo Credit: Chicago Cubs Instagram
The Chicago Cubs’ first game of spring training is scheduled for this Saturday, February 22nd against the A’s. It won’t be long before the team takes the field for opening day on March 26th against the Brewers!
Baseball. Is. Back.
At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.
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Pitchfork Music Festival is one of the most anticipated events in Chicago, and it brings in crowds from all over. This year, Pitchfork 2020 is ahead of the game, with eclectic lineups that feature diehard favorites and newcomers you’ll be glad to discover.
We’ve got all the important deets on this amazing festival, scheduled for July 17 – 19, because we know you want in on the fun.
The fest takes place every year in the Near West Side at Union Park, propped right in the middle of the triangular intersections of Ashland, Lake, and Ogden. If you’re taking the ‘L’, the Green or Pink Line to Ashland/Lake station is right on the northwest corner of the park. Parking availability is highly unlikely, so biking or taking a Lyft are recommended as well.
Entry Rules
Pitchfork 2020 is an all-ages fest. Make sure you’ve got everything you need from home because there’s absolutely no re-entry into the fest if you choose to leave. Feel free to bring non-professional cameras, backpacks, a sealed bottled water, and lawn chairs. Tents, flags, musical instruments, selfie sticks, and your pets are a big ‘NO.’ Lockers are available for your belongings.
What to Wear
Pitchfork 2020 is a rain-or-shine event, but don’t let a little drizzle get you down; some rain dances during your favorite set are sure to help turn it around for you. Shorts, tank tops, short sleeves, and sundresses are appropriate for this peak summer month, but hats, closed-toe shoes, and raincoats are advised for bad weather. If you get wet, stop by the Buffalo Exchange, Futurgarb, or Transit Tees booths to pick up something dry.
When you need a break from jammin’ at the stages, check out some of the many tasty food vendors on site, such as Black Dog Gelato, Bang Bang Pie, Leghorn Chicken, and Wow Bao. Learn about a good cause at a non-profit booth like Girls Rock! Chicago or One Tail at a Time. Want to make a difference? Spend time talking with Pitchfork’s partner this year, RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. Plenty of local artists will be displaying their work, as well as a pop-up craft festival, book fair, and record shop. Talk about sensory overload!
Where to Stay
If you don’t live in Chicago, first of all—we’re sorry. You’re missing out. Second, don’t worry because we’ve got great places for you to crash. Partnered hotels include the Chicago Marriott at Medical District, which is closest to the fest. Others are the Chicago Athletic Association, Hyatt Regency, and the Hard Rock Hotel. Maybe you’ll run into one of the headliners after it ends! If those are a little out of budget, you can always rent an Airbnb in the area.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Angel Olsen, The Fiery Furnaces, Jehnny Beth, Deafheaven, Waxahatchee, Tim Hecker & The Konoya Ensemble, SOPHIE, Fennesz, Hop Along, Dehd, SPELLING, KAINA, Femdot
Saturday, July 18
Run the Jewels, Sharon Van Etton, Twin Peaks, Danny Brown, Thundercat, Cat Power, Tierra Whack, BADBADNOTGOOD, Dave, Oso Oso, Diving Niño, Boy Scouts, Ezra Collective, Margaux
Sunday, July 19
The National, Big Thief, Kim Gordon, Phoebe Bridgers, Yaeji, Caroline Polachek, DJ Nate, Maxo Kream, Rapsody, Faye Webster, Mariah the Scientist, Dogleg, The Hecks, Dustin Laurenzi’s Snaketime
For tickets and more info, head to the Pitchfork Music Festival website. We can’t wait to see you at Pitchfork 2020!
At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.
Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!
The fish has rotted from the head all the way to the last scale on the tail. The rule of law feels like a joke. Cruelty is the point, as more than one observer has noted of the dominant ethos of the current administration. In light of that dark reality, how do we empathize and still keep ourselves safe? What does “safe” actually mean now?
Two plays that opened this past month–How to Defend Yourself by Liliana Padilla at Victory Gardens (running through this Sunday) and Do You Feel Anger? by Mara Nelson-Greenberg at A Red Orchid Theatre (running through March 15) ask those questions of the audience–without necessarily pointing a way to any solid fail-safe answers. There are significant differences in tone between the two plays. How to Defend Yourself employs a realist approach, while Do You Feel Anger? is in more of a Kafkaesque dark absurdist mode. But each uses the framework of a familiar training situation–a self-defense class in the case of Padilla’s play and a corporate seminar in Nelson-Greenberg’s–to upend our notions of how we confront deeply ingrained systems of oppression and violence and the trauma we all carry from being entangled in those systems.
Both also use settings–a college gymnasium, a conference room–that seem generic and sterile, but become increasingly fraught over the course of their respective stories. The collision between the controlled environments and the unfiltered emotional maelstroms the characters unleash adds to the sense that the concept of neutrality itself no longer exists. No space is a safe space, to put it bluntly.
But Padilla and Nelson-Greenberg handle their stories with such warmth and wit that I’ve found myself going back to both plays in my mind in recent weeks, trying to figure out why they feel so keenly vital to the current moment.
In How to Defend Yourself, a group of five young college women and two young men come together for self-defense classes after a sorority sister, Susannah, is sexually assaulted. The attack was so brutal that she’s been hospitalized, unable to speak. But as the classes unfold, the play reveals the tensions and desires driving all the participants, as well as their guilt about whether they did enough to protect Susannah. Padilla raises smart poignant questions about the limits of self-defense. “Your body is a weapon,” says class leader Brandi. But training your body can’t always help you overcome what’s in your mind when you’re soaking in rape culture.
Marti Lyons, director of How to Defend Yourself, says “Part of the brilliance of this particular play–and I adore Do You Feel Anger? as well–is that in this dialogue, there is something that is being illuminated about things that feel sort of inherent to the system that we live in. One of the beauties of Liliana’s work is that they are really compassionate. They really have love for each of their characters. And even while having empathy for each of the characters, we can still see the different ways that they participate in or stand by or perpetuate various violences, whether they’re individual violences or symbolic violences or subjective violences.”
Padilla, who took karate classes as a child, notes that the play they wrote immediately before How to Defend Yourself took place in the rec room of a community center. “I think this space of the gym, this space of the rec room as a quote-unquote neutral or liminal space for people to come together made a lot of sense to me.”
click to enlarge
In Do You Feel Anger?, Sofia, an empathy coach who has been hired to help workers at a credit collection agency be less monstrous to the people they’re calling, finds herself sucked into a corporate culture where horrible behavior is normalized. It’s so terrible, in fact, that Eva, the nicest employee of the bunch, is routinely mugged in the break room every day. Her male boss makes noises about looking into it, expressing the same level of committed concern Susan Collins displays for the wanton violations of the Trump administration. (He promises to send some sternly worded e-mails, and suggests that maybe they’ll investigate the situation one of these days.)
Nelson-Greenberg was inspired in part by finding out that being an “empathy coach” is an actual job. “I think the play was a little bit of a reaction against some platitudes that I was hearing, especially right after the election, that stuff of ‘we just have to love one another through this moment and love is all that matters.’ I’m not meaning to come out against love, I believe in love, but I just started thinking about why that platitude is so much harder to live than it is to say.”
As the play unfolds, Sofia (played by Emjoy Gavino) starts using the bastardized semantics of the men who surround her, and laughing at their sexist jokes. (A visual gag called a “piss chart” is talked about, and though we never see exactly what it entails, we can imagine from context that it’s a sadistic misogynistic trope.) Sadieh Rifai’s Eva ends up feeling even more abandoned and betrayed by Sofia’s (well-intentioned) attempts to break through with the men, who don’t seem to think they need any fixing in the first place.
Director Jess McLeod says, “Mara and I would talk often about how secretly the MO is to maintain the status quo. What does that look like, and what does it mean to actually believe the status quo can change, and what needs to happen for that to happen? Can empathy be taught? I personally think it can. Do people want to learn it? I think that’s a really good question. Tension is mounting everywhere. It’s getting harder and harder to say that the status quo is normal.”
That resistance to maintaining the status quo is also something that the creators of these works have addressed in the very DNA of the plays, and in the rehearsal process.
Padilla, who began writing their play while attending graduate school at the University of California-San Diego (where Nelson-Greenberg also studied), identifies the structure of the work as being its own resistance in a way to the dominance hierarchies we’re fed from an early age.
“I spent my first year of grad school convinced that I didn’t know how to write a play,” Padilla says. “Which is almost entirely about internalized oppression. Because with the plays that I was writing, I was trying to sort of map them onto plays I had read or studied, largely studying quote-unquote classics, which are often structured in a protagonist-oriented storyline. And I think that the way I conceive of the world is way more driven around community and collective change and transformation.” Encountering Annie Baker’s 2009 play, Circle Mirror Transformation, which takes place at drama classes in a community center, helped create what Padilla calls “an aha moment. It was the story of a group, and it’s all about the accumulation of physicality and the accumulation of energy inside a room.”
Steph Paul, the movement director for Padilla’s play, has, like Lyons, been with the show since its premiere last March at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Finding the physical keys for the characters was crucial for helping the actors embody them, while also making sure that they were protected, especially while enacting the simulated fights in the play. “I think a lot of the physical expressions and movements in the play are so related to the characters peeling back and revealing additional layers about themselves,” says Paul. “I feel in life, we present ourselves in certain ways. We present ourselves based on the spaces we’re in. We present ourselves in ways that make us feel safe, or in ways that are about ‘I want people to see me as blank.'” She adds, “For me, the movement was an exploration and an opportunity to learn more about the electricity and the energy and the truth that is running through all of these bodies.”
Ensemble-driven pieces are nothing new, of course; but Padilla’s play scrupulously avoids pushing forward any one character as more sympathetic (or flawed) than another. In viewing the play, we’re also reminded that rape culture doesn’t play favorites, so to speak. We’re all affected by it.
“Defend I wrote because I needed to,” Padilla says. “I needed to tell the truth to myself, in so many different ways. It was so scary to use the word ‘rape,’ much less talk about my own experiences, much less use the word ‘survivor.’ I think as a human, unless I did that, it was going to hold me back as someone using my voice.”
The creators for both productions note that, while misogyny and systemic violence form the matrix for the worlds of these plays, the men we see onstage are also victimized by it. “It’s not that these men specifically are the enemies of the women in the room,” McLeod says. “It’s that the patriarchy is the enemy of everyone. Now the patriarchy also constructs power dynamics in the room and that also means that there are many ways in which the women lose and the men come out a little bit ahead, but Mara would say often during the process, in a way which I felt was really important for the actors–‘there are no winners here.”’
Nelson-Greenberg says, “If you were to turn the volume down on the play, it might look like the world that we move through every day. The goal is to sort of normalize the absurdity inside the world, so then those structures set up in the play hopefully start to become increasingly recognizable as structures that exist in our own world.”
Both plays also end with flashes to different worlds that in their own ways, leave us wondering how we can transform the darkness. Lyons notes that she recently listened to an interview with Peggy Orenstein about her new book, Boys and Sex, in which Orenstein expressed her surprise at how easily the teenage boys she interviewed opened up to her about the subject. “One of the things that I really love about what’s happening in [How to Defend Yourself], in this work that doesn’t propose a solution, is that there is something really powerful in just taking stock in where we’re at.” She adds, “There is something about the ways that the characters also hold space for each other, to the extent that they can with different resolve, and with different success and failure. There are some dangerous things that are expressed, but one of the things that made me so excited about the play is having characters say the things that I feel and that I know other people feel that aren’t being spoken about. How do you address a problem that you can’t even talk about?”
Maybe creating that space in the theater to talk about it is one way to keep the light of empathy lit. v
There are plenty of reasons to leave your house this weekend. Let us help fill your cultural calendar with our list of recommended things to do.
Through 2/23: Liliana Padilla’s play How to Defend Yourself follows what happens to seven college students who gather for a DIY self-defense course after a sorority member is raped, and unleash unexpected reservoirs of rage, confusion, trauma, and desire. Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln, victorygardens.org, $31-$65.
2/21-4/2: BOLT resident Tamara Becerra Valdez presents her deep interest in material culture and human interaction in “BUILD YOUR SELF,” an exhibit featuring found objects and assemblage. Opening reception Fri 2/21, 5-8 PM. Mon-Fri 9 AM-5 PM, Sat noon-6 PM, Chicago Artists Coalition, 2130 W. Fulton, chicagoartistscoalition.org, free.
2/22-3/29: The exhibition “Something Blue” marks ten years of the artist-run-space LVL3. The show features ten artists paying homage to the traditional American ten-year wedding anniversary gift, tin. Opening reception Sat 2/22, 6-10 PM. Sun 1-4 PM, private showings by appointment, LVL3, 1542 N. Milwaukee, 3rd floor, lvl3official.com/something-blue, free.
Fri 2/21: Sensoriumis live text and music-based collaborative performance inspired by Lindsey Dorr-Niro’s “object / coda” art exhibition featuring Marty McConnell and DJ Rob Sevier. 6:30 PM, Regards, 2216 W. Chicago, regardsgallery.com, free.
Fri 2/21: The touring dance project IN THE WURKZ focuses on the lives of dancers from the west and south sides of Chicago. Capacity is limited; RSVP online. 7 PM, Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island, rebuild-foundation.org, free.
2/21-2/22: Winifred Haun & Dancers create Light in Winter: Dance and Music at Unity Temple a site-specific dance performance for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in Oak Park, featuring music by Chicago composer Renee Baker of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project. Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 5:30 PM, Unity Temple, 875 Lake, Oak Park, utrf.org/event/winifredhaun, $29, $24 Unity Temple Restoration Foundation members, $19 students and children.
Sat 2/22: Illinois Women in Cannabis hosts its inaugural conference, featuring sessions on employment opportunities in the cannabis industry, pertinent legal topics, and networking. Keynote speaker is Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva. Breakout session speakers include chef Mindy Segal, Akele Parnell, and Jolene Rivera. 8 AM-2 PM, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 565 W. Adams, ilwomenincannabis.org, $60-$100.
Sat 2/22: The laid-back, unassuming, eminently cool aesthetic of Pilsen’s Thalia Hall is such a harmonious fit for veteran stand-up Todd Barry that it’s wild he hadn’t performed there yet in his many stops through Chicago. The ASMR-voiced comic and author will play the historic venue for the first time as part of his facetiously-named Stadium Tour. 7:30 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, 312-526-3851, thaliahallchicago.com, $25-$35.
Sun 2/23: Uppers and Downers is a celebration of craft beer and coffee culture (sometimes combining both!) featuring samples from national roasters and brewers. 11 AM-3 PM and 4-8 PM, Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport, thaliahallchicago.com, $65.
Sun 2/23: Peach celebrates and unifies LGBTQ women, trans folks, and non binary folks with drinks, food, art, and music Peach Presents: The Spot. This weekly hangout happens every Sunday at Elixir with local DJS, cocktails, and various performers and hosts. 3-10 PM, Elixir, 1509 W. Balmoral, instagram.com/peachpresents, free. v
Frankie is a three-week-old, sweet and wiggly but very handle-able Syrian hamster baby looking for a loving guardian, as are his seven siblings.
His mom was turned into Chicago Animal Care and Control after someone had an accidental litter, but the siblings weren’t separated early enough and all the females in the litter were pregnant.
This time, they were separated at three weeks; no more accidental births.
Frankie loves attention from his people.
He loves exploring his surroundings, munching and filling his cheeks with food, and spinning on his wheel or flying saucer. Syrian hamsters live alone in their habitats so it’s important to give daily attention and love.
He is fun to hold, wiggly, but very gentle. He loves running in and out of his castle and even sleeps in his toys, or in a mound of bedding. His adoption fee of $15 benefits the Friends of Petraits Rescue. If you need an entire hamster habitat, aquarium, bedding, food, treats, toys, exercise wheel or flying saucer, hidey hut and water bottle – everything you need including the hamster – the whole package is available for $70.
To meet and possibly adopt Frankie please contact [email protected].
Frankie is being fostered in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.
603 Jefferson St. in Hinsdale: $1,599,000 | Listed on Jan. 7, 2020
This 4,451-square-foot home has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. The exterior of the home is made up of stucco with limestone surrounding the front entrance and a bluestone front porch. The kitchen includes a quartz island and Miele, Subzero and Bosch appliances. Other features inside the home include a bespoke fireplace that opens to the patio and a second-floor laundry room. The master suite has two walk-in closets and a bathroom with a steam shower. All bathrooms in the home have quartz countertops. The home’s recreation room has 10-foot ceilings, a fireplace and bar.
Agent: Ginny Stewart of Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, 630-738-0077
Illinois is getting a new museum to celebrate the music and the artists from the state. Located in Joliet, the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum is expected to open sometime this summer. If you have a music museum, you need musicians to honor. Let’s take a look at who was elected to the first Hall of Fame class:
Chicago, Cheap Trick, Ides of March, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Buckinghams and REO Speedwagon.
It’s a nice mix of different genres of music. My major complaint is no one from the world of soul music is represented. Curtis Mayfield is a big miss! How about Chaka Khan or Minnie Ripperton?
Is there anyone else that should have been in this class? Where’s Wilco and Smashing Pumpkins? Willie Dixon wrote most of the songs that made Chess Records and the Chicago blues scene famous. Others worthy of being honored include Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Howlin’ Wolf, Dan Fogelberg, Barry Goldberg, The Cryan’ Shames and The New Colony Six. Maybe in class number two!
There will be other inductions for non-performers. They include WLS Radio, Chess Records, Thirsty Whale, Larry Lujack and Dick Biondi.
The induction takes place on March 29. For more information on the museum, here’s their website roadtorock.org
My so called friends think it’s time to edit this section. After four years, they may be right, but don’t tell them that. I’ll deny it until they die!
I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for four years.
It started as a health/wellness thing and over the years has morphed to include so many things that I don’t know how to describe it anymore.
I really thought this was going to be the final year of the blog but then Donald Trump came along. It looks like we’re good for four more years..God help us all!
Oh yeah…the biographical stuff. I’m not 60 anymore. The rest you can read about in the blog.
Our 3rd grader started piano lessons four years ago. His lovely teacher Julia Hardin’s weekly lessons inspire mindfulness and more. She leads with the example of her own perfect posture, engaged attention and body awareness.
Our amazing piano teacher
Remarkable piano teachers help their youth improve executive functioning skills, including working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control, which support mindfulness. To help support disciplined study and build muscle memory, our piano teacher requires a signed contract that each student, and family, will plan to practice and be prepared for each weekly class. She assigns keys, measures, and songs for practice each week in addition to pages in a theory book. Our boy responds well to his teacher’s firm boundaries and gentle, fun spirit. Our piano teacher unlocks the key to scales, chords, arpeggios, and more.
Special piano teachers help students be more resilient. Mistakes, disruptions and distractions happen. One should notice the mistake while playing without judgement, but must continue with self-compassion. Our son’s piano teacher reminds him to be aware of next steps as he plays, which practice and muscle memory prime. Jerry Lee Lewis remarked, “These fingers of mine, they got brains in ’em. You don’t tell them what to do – they do it.”
Junior piano students must do their best and be open to redirection. Young students learn to respect the instrument with clean hands. Food and liquid are not allowed, which may not be intuitive for all little ones.
Although kids, and people, may think they know a lot, piano study reminds students to be humble and deferential. To put in context, Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller Outliers quantifies a minimum of 10,000 hours or about ten years of deliberate practice to be an expert, which requires discipline. Although my husband plays the piano to accompany his vocal practice for our church choir, the rest of our family continue our now intermediary piano study journey.
On a bittersweet note, our family prepares to say goodbye to our teacher who will relocate with her husband to Lawrence, Kansas. We tear up with joy over the progress our boy has made these last four years. Our wise teacher reminds our boy to breathe before he begins his piece, especially for today’s recital. She guides him to place his hands in his lap when he finishes the song on the bench. Our family will continue to build on the foundation our extraordinary teacher, Julia Hardin, helped build for our family.
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Teenagers are confronting a particularly complicated dating environment – even beyond the usual angst and hormonal changes – as they face today’s #MeToo sensitivities and a renewed debate about traditional masculinity and its ramifications.
The American Psychological Association released its first-ever guidelines in August 2019 for psychologists working with boys and men. The guidelines noted that guys, too, can be hurt by conforming to an ideology that labels them weak when they seek help.
The boys and men are at risk of being labeled with outward-facing issues, such as substance abuse problems, rather than with internalized issues such as depression.
Yet it’s still a problem that boys and men who conform to a hyper-masculine ethic defined by “anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence,” the report said.
Fredric Rabinowitz, one of the guidelines’ lead writers and a psychology professor at the University of Redlands in California, told The New York Times that the guidelines aim to help men and boys lead happier, healthier lives.
“We see that men have higher suicide rates, men have more cardiovascular disease and men are lonelier as they get older,” he said in the article. “We’re trying to help men by expanding their emotional repertoire, not trying to take away the strengths that men have.”
The guidelines also cite research showing men die at a younger age than women, partly because of poorer diets and more risky behaviors like smoking, and they commit a majority of the country’s violent crimes, despite their socioeconomic advantages.
That’s why
LoveIsRespect.org, a non-profit that has designated February as “Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month,” is running the #1Thing (One Thing or Hashtag One Thing) campaign to meet teens where they are.
“By learning one thing about teen-dating violence and sharing that with a friend, every teen can make a difference,” the organization.
One key to preventing dating violence is to educate young people about relationships, said Alexandra H. Solomon, Ph.D., @AHSolomon, dralexandrasolomon.com/ who
who has just published her second book, “Taking
Sexy Back: How to Own Your Sexuality and Create the
Relationship You Want (New Harbinger Publications, 2020),” urging women to find their unique sexual selves.
“We know that girls who grow up watching violence in their homes – for example, if the father abuses the mother – [those girls] are at greater risk,” Solomon said. “Boys who witness violence are more likely to perpetrate violence.”
“This speaks to the importance of doing our own healing work,” she said. “We are not responsible for the traumas we encounter, but we are responsible for our healing. Witnessing abuse can leave us feeling that there are only two roles one can play in a relationship – perpetrator or victim, hurting or being hurt.”
“Breaking the generational patterns is really important,” Solomon said. “The media and our culture perpetuate the idea that ‘might is right.’ It’s part of systemic sexism and racism and leaves people feeling they can’t ask for help.”
Watch for red flags, including:
• A person who can’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
“No is a complete sentence,” Solomon said.
“You should be concerned if someone says, ‘We have to fool around. You’ve been teasing me all night. If you don’t put out, I’m going to tell our friends,’” Solomon said.
• A person who is unkind, who see situations as win-lose and/or who have a sense of entitlement.
“Part of the problem is that we socialize girls to put everyone else’s comfort ahead of their own sense of safety and dignity,” Solomon said. “Instead, we must reinforce our girls’ ability to say ‘no’ early and often.”
“I want girls to recognize when their boundaries are being disrespected,” Solomon said. “I want her to be able to say, ‘I’m uncomfortable. I’m going to head out.’”
It’s also important to teach boys that “no” means no.
“They must learn how to read feedback: To ask instead of insist. To read the look on the other person’s face, to be led by empathy,” Solomon said.
“Boys are at risk of feeling they have to be successful with girls to feel worthwhile as guys. They are at risk of basing their self-worth on getting a girl to have sex with them, and to have a girlfriend. It can be an effort to stabilize a shaky sense of self worth.”
HENRY: Portrait of a Serial Killer screens February 24th at Doc Films. (35mm print)
Image source: IMDb.com
Time for more horror listings! There are some 35mm genre screenings this week, including HENRY: Portrait of a Serial Killer and Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER. Other options include: THE LODGE, EVOLUTION, and a Q&A with actor William Forsythe for I AM FEAR. Relax and hang out at a Stranger Things official pinball launch party. Films listed are scheduled for dates through next Thursday.
“Don’t walk to the theater–RUN!”
MOVIES:
MOTHER [35mm] – (Feb. 21st at 2pm; Feb. 25th at 6pm) South Korean director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Parasite) made another masterpiece with Mother, a story about a woman whose slow-witted son is accused of murdering a local schoolgirl, resulting in her taking to the streets to investigate the mystery herself since the cops and her lawyer are of no help. Part of the From Asia, with Love film series. Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., Chicago 60601.
THE LODGE – (Feb. 21st-26th) A woman is left with her fiancé’s two children in a cabin during a blizzard, but that’s not the only thing they have to worry about. Fantasy Island, Parasite, and Knives Out also continue their runs. ArcLight Cinema, 1500 N. Clybourn, Chicago, IL 60610.
BRAHMS: The Boy II – (Feb. 20th – Feb. 26th) He’s back! A family moves into the Heelshire mansion, where the doll, Brahms, is waiting. Times vary. Hollywood Palms Cinema, 352 South Route 59, Naperville, IL 60540.
THE NEW YORK RIPPER / AMITYVILLE ISLAND – (Feb. 21st at 7pm) Windy City Horrorama presents a double feature of New York-themed horror movies. BYOB. Bucket O’ Blood Books & Records, 3182 N. Elston, Chicago, IL 60618.
COLOR OUT OF SPACE – (Feb. 21st & 22nd) Midnight Friday and Saturday. The long-awaited directorial return of Richard Stanley (Dust Devil, Hardware) offers a dazzling, ultra vivid, sci-fi horror film starring Nic Cage and Joely Richardson. Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, a family moves to a remote farm for a quiet life, which quickly turns into a terrifying nightmare after a meteorite lands nearby and an extraterrestrial organism begins to infect both their bodies and minds. Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago, IL 60613.
HENRY: Portrait of a Serial Killer [35mm]– (Feb. 24th at 7pm) Raw, cold, chilling depiction of a fictionalized account of a short, violent period during the life of a serial killer (loosely based on Henry Lee Lucas). Michael Rooker’s chilling lead performance is still haunting to this day. Filmed (without permits) in Chicago, this offers a bleak realism that quickly cemented this as one of the most truly disturbing films ever made. (Parasite also screens at 7pm & 9:30pm Sat.; Sun. at 4pm) Doc Films, Max Palevsky Cinema, Ida Noyes Hall, University of Chicago, 1212 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
PARASITE – (through Feb. 27th) Director Bong Joon-ho (The Host, Memories of Murder, Snowpiercer) is a master at his craft and it’s worth seeking out his entire body of work. Don’t miss this film that just won multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture! Times vary. Landmark Century Cinema, 2828 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60657.
I AM FEAR – (Feb. 23rd & 24th at 7pm) A celebrity reporter is captured by terrorists. Saturday’s screening will be followed by a Q&A with producer Jeremy Rosen and actor William Forsythe! Also stars Kristina Klebe and Bill Moseley. Official release is March 3rd, 2020. Also, PARASITE continues through Feb. 25th. Logan Theatre, 2646 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL 60647.
EVOLUTION – (Feb. 27th at 9:30pm) Creepy French sci-fi/horror mystery featuring an island solely populated by young boys and women. Doc Films, Max Palevsky Cinema, Ida Noyes Hall, University of Chicago, 1212 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
MAD MAX: Fury Road – (Feb. 27th at 5pm) Screening as part of the 2019-2020 One Book, One Chicago season. Chicago Public Library, West Chicago Ave. Branch, 4856 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60651.
THE FOG – (Feb. 27th at 7pm) Ghoulish Mortals hosts free movie nights each Thursday at 7pm. 228 W. Main Street, St. Charles, IL 60174.
THE INVISIBLE MAN – (Feb. 27th at 7pm, 8:15pm, 10:15pm) Leigh Whannell’s 2020 reimagining starring Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale). Hollywood Palms Cinema, 352 South Route 59, Naperville, IL 60540.
KNIVES OUT – (through Feb. 27th) Smartly written whodunit. Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW – (Saturdays at 11:55pm) Full cast performance each Saturday at midnight. Hollywood Boulevard Cinema, 1001 W. 75th St., Woodridge, IL 60517.
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW [35mm] – (Feb. 22nd at midnight) Includes Midnight Madness shadowcast. Sponsored by ALTER with a 7-minute intro film, Road Trash. Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago, IL 60613.
Movie Trivia Night – (Tuesdays at 8pm) Every Tuesday in their swanky lounge! Team limit 5 people. Winning team members receive a Logan Theatre gift card! Logan Theatre, 2646 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL 60647.
Sinema Obscura TV Party – (Feb. 19th-July 15th) Sinema Obscura and Trust This Ghost present monthly independent entertainment in the lounge each Wednesday. Logan Theatre, 2646 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL 60647.
STAGE:
BUG -(Jan. 23rd-March 15th) The intense tale of a mismatched pair in Oklahoma whose relationship goes terribly, terribly wrong. When paranoia, bugs, and government conspiracies destroy any semblance of sanity! Written by Tracy Letts (The Sinner, Homeland, Lady Bird) and directed by David Cromer (The Newsroom). Starring Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, The Sinner, Fargo TV series), Namir Smallwood (Chicago Fire), Gary Cole (Office Space), and Randall Arney (Chain Reaction). Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, Chicago, IL.
EVIL DEAD: The Musical – (Jan. 23rd-Feb. 29th) This gory comedic mashup takes from all three (The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness) and creates a wildly funny, bloody musical (complete with Splatter Zone seats)! Directed by Matty Gregg. (Under 17 must be accompanied by an adult.) Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln, Chicago, IL. TICKETS.
POISON – (Feb. 20th – March 14th) The plight of poison-makers among rich society in 17th century Paris. Presented by The Plagiarists (Previews Feb. 14th, 15th, 19th) Berger Park Coach House, 6205 N. Sheridan, Chicago, IL.
STRANGER THINGSOfficial Pinball Launch Party – (Feb. 21st from 7pm-midnight) Episodes streaming all night. IFPA tournament begins at 8pm. A DJ spins the Stranger Things soundtrack along with 80s dance music. (21+) Logan Arcade, 2410 W. Fullerton, Chicago, IL 60647.
Suffering Organic Impairments – (Feb. 7th-29th) Horror Floral presents a look at the beauty of death and the return to nature. Various artists. Supported by the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Side Street Studio Arts, 15 Ziegler Ct., Elgin, IL 60120.
Troll Hunt! – (through June 2020) Search across 1700 acres of The Morton Arboretum for troll sculptures ranging from 15ft. to 30ft. tall! Tips: Check the site for info, maps, and locations so you do not get lost and please do not go without wearing some form of strong bug spray. Extra tips HERE. Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle, IL 60532. Troll Cheat Sheet!
Space Golf – (Daily) Alien-themed outer space fun with blacklight mini golf, 3D golfing, holograms, a Sci-Fi Cafe, and more. 15611 S. 94th Ave., Orland Park, IL 60462.
Bad Axe Throwing – (Days/times vary) Group rates apply or do a walk-in for $20 for one hour. Bad Axe Chicago, 2828 N. Clark (Atrium Level), Chicago, IL. (888) 435-0001.
Fox in a Box Escape Room– Visit their newest room, Zodiac, which is themed on the successor to the Zodiac Killer. The room was scenically designed by a designer from the Field Museum. 47 W. Polk, Suite L5, Chicago, IL 60605. (Recently ranked #1 escape room in the USA and #2 in the world for the month of March 2019.)
Chicago Rage Room – Got rage? Get rid of it pronto with the sweetest release (without hurting anyone!). Pay for items to break or bring your own! Room prices begin at $15. (Reservations required.) 153 W. Ohio, Chicago, IL 60654.
Chicago Ghost Tours App – A free app for enjoying audio and photo tours of Chicago’s Haunted Archer Avenue is available, courtesy of Edward Shanahan, a fellow ChicagoNOW blogger (check out his blog, Chicago Paranormal & Spiritual). He is also a psychic and paranormal host who has worked on making his app a great addition to fans of Haunted Archer. The app includes 16 locations and 6 cemeteries. Free download! Shanahan also has a free online magazine.
Mind Trap Escape Rooms – Solve the clues to get out within 60 minutes! 299 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery, IL 60538. (630) 216-9609.
Chicago Hauntings Bus Tours – One of the longest-running ghost tours in Chicago, each 2.5 hour tour is led by founder, paranormal investigator, and author Ursula Bielski and her partner, author David Cowan. Routine stops include locations of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Death Alley, gangland sites, murder sites, and more. Departs at the Congress Hotel. For schedules, all tours, and background information, please see ChicagoHauntings.com.
Please check websites for updates, cancellations, and ticket pricing information before attending.
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Horror movie fanatic. Sculptor of oddities. Owner of Chicago Creepster Yahoo!, festival volunteer, writer, artist, social media freelance. Officially a biomechanical Frankenlady. Doing what I can to support our spooky community.
