This June, the cultural world converges to celebrate the 100th birthday of Chester Arthur Burnett, a.k.a. Howlin’ Wolf, widely considered to be among the greatest blues singers. Born in Mississippi on June 10, 1910, Wolf migrated to Chicago in 1953. The city became his home for the rest of his life, and Wolf, along with … Read more
When Michael Jackson died last year at age 50, the published, broadcast, blogged, and Tweeted tributes rehashed the sordid details of the King of Pop’s saga: Bubbles the chimp, the nasal surgery, his bleached skin, and so on. But all Robbie Fulks could think about was the music. “With Michael Jackson, the celebrity factor is … Read more
The barrage of Obamacentric books continues. The latest is The Promise (Simon & Schuster; $28), a 480-page account of the president’s first year in office by Jonathan Alter, a senior editor at Newsweek. Alter grew up six blocks from Wrigley Field and began his career as a freelancer for the now-defunct Chicago Journalism Review. He … Read more
POCKET GUIDE: A cultural short-list for June, in order of buzz
Our top five picks for things to do this week: Not those hawks. Ballhawks … Jeanne Gang, Aquawoman … It’s alive! Sue stalks the Field … and more finds for Memorial Day weekend
This month marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln winning the Republican nomination for president here in Chicago. That momentous event occurred on May 18, 1860, inside a large, two-story, pine-plank convention hall at what is today the southeast corner of Lake Street and Wacker Drive. Like other political gathering places in its day, the hastily built hall was known as the Wigwam. Everybody knows what became of Lincoln (who wasn’t in Chicago for the convention), but what happened to the Wigwam?…
While the blogosphere buzzed about the value of our nation’s top dog ($1,600, according to the Obamas’ financial disclosure form, released this past Monday), Chicago magazine staffer Gina Bazer recalled another time when Bo’s worth was under consideration. Not long after the president’s election-day declaration that he would be delivering on his promise of a dog for his daughters, Bazer co-wrote a children’s book loosely based on the first family’s search for the perfect pup…
Our top five picks for things to do this week: Hitchcock as comedy … Rachel Barton Pine as headbanger … free harmonica lessons … and more
There are two kinds of Conan O’Brien fans in the world: the kind that scream “Woo!” when they hear the words “masturbating bear,” and the kind that love the swirly-haired comedian for the deep intellect underlying his asinine antics.
Then there’s me: I’m not your average Coco-lover…
Having grown up six blocks from Wrigley Field, Jonathan Alter, a senior editor and columnist at Newsweek in New York, still considers himself a Chicagoan. “So when a Chicagoan was elected president, I felt the same surge of local pride as somebody who lives there permanently,” Alter told Chicago in a recent phone interview. His new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One (Simon & Schuster; $18), is out today…
