This summer, downtown Chicago has been handed over to the Transformers 3 movie shoot–to film scenes glorifying Loop devastation and the the deaths of rank-and-file Chicagoans. As citywide media goes ga-ga for gargantuan robots, I’m wondering whether $20 million is the going rate for ceding civic pride?
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
So my big bugbear question of the week is to ask why Chicago media–both straight and gay–who so clearly love to go on and on about heteros taking their clothes off and gay men dressing up as women, have no clue what to do when the ones showing skin up on stage are queer.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Buddhist dharma (and the teachings of every other religion I can think of) would suggest we all have an intrinsic nature of being beyond the mundane world we take for granted as reality. But as the price for coming to hang out on Earth for awhile, we forget our ineffable–or if you will, Divine–natures. We spend our lives never recognizing the true sum of what we are.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Spending last Friday afternoon at the Art Institute of Chicago, I had the unexpected pleasure of witnessing an artist-in-residence performance by a member of Natya Dance Theater. The Natya troupe performs Bharata Natyam, an ancient, highly expressive dance tradition from Southern India. And an awesome one to watch, too.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes