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CHICAGO’S FREE WEEKLY | THIS ISSUE IN FOUR SECTIONS FRIDAY, DEC 9, 2005 | VOLUME 34, NUMBER 11 Get Real Illinois bets almost $3 million a year that TEENS will JUST SAY NO TO SEX.

By Kate Hawley

Monica Kendrick on Bruce Springsteen and the Dead Kennedys, PLUS holiday arts and crafts sales, teeny Greco-Roman weenies, and more Section One Letters 3 Holiday Gift Guide 17 Special pullout section Columns Hot Type 4 Reviews What comes after New City News? Music 38 Anniversary editions of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run and the Dead Kennedys’ Fresh The Straight Dope 5 Fruit for Rotting Vegetables Why the best statues have the smallest penises Theater 40 The Works 8 Old Clown Wanted at Trap Door Theatre The Pilsen TIF Books 42 Robert Bruegmann’s Sprawl: Chicago Antisocial 12 A Compact History Hillary, Biz Markie, and me Plus December 9, 2005 Boutique of the Week 16 Our Town 14 Eliana Lily Printworks’ 25th anniversary show, foie gras follies, and racial tension at Ink Well 43 Jones College Prep This week’s crossword: Mental Blocks

ON THE COVER: BRIAN GUBICZA (ANGEL), ANDREA BAUER (CLINTON) Get Real Illinois doesn’t directly fund sex ed in schools. But it does provide almost the entire budget of the Glenview-based Project Reality, whose abstinence-only curriculum, offered to schools for free, misleads kids about birth control and STDs.

ou don’t want to get pregnant!” shouts the young woman standing before an applauding congrega- “ Y tion in the Shining Star Missionary Baptist Church at 103rd and Vincennes. “You don’t want to get an STD! Be abstinent!” Taylor Moore, a junior at Kenwood Academy, makes clear that she practices what she preaches. She puts her hand to her throat, where a silver ring hangs on a chain. “This is a purity-vow ring,” she says, “which will be given to my husband when I get married.” The crowd murmurs approval. After the service Moore tells me there’s no point in dating—God has ordained a husband for her, and the man will show up when the time is right. In the meantime she has no interest in learning about contraception. If someone gave her a condom she’d be insulted. “It’s saying, well, you can’t control yourself,” she says. “Animals can’t control themselves, so you’re an animal, basically.” Moore is a teen spokesperson for Project Reality, a nonprofit organization based in north-suburban Glenview that’s a national leader in abstinence-only sex education. It teaches kids that sex belongs only in marriage, and it doesn’t discuss contraception unless it’s to describe how various methods fail. This is an increasingly common lesson in Illinois classrooms, and Project Reality is one of its biggest and most influential promoters. According to its own figures, it publishes textbooks and produces educational videos that last year reached more than 100,000 schoolchildren in more than 500 Illinois schools, as well as kids in 23 other states. And it’s growing fast, reaching tens of thousands more Illinois kids each year, thanks in part to generous By Kate Hawley | Illustration by Brian Gubicza government funding for abstinence programs that allows it to offer classroom materials and teacher-training work- shops for free. In March the Chicago branch of Planned Parenthood and the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health continued on page 32 2CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 3

m Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611 312-828-9926 DECEMBER 9, 2005 f VOL 35 | NO 11 Letters @ [email protected]

Publisher Michael Crystal Editor Alison True Dickens and Parks to tie up no other injuries are described Managing Editor Kiki Yablon Wilkerson and stop the elevators in the report. We didn’t discuss Senior Editors Michael Miner |Laura Molzahn | Kitry Krause She Goes between the eleventh and twelfth these discrepancies in our story Associate Editors Martha Bayne | Anaheed Alani floors. Yancey and Brown because we decided that whatev- Philip Montoro | Kate Schmidt So You Don’t dragged Wilkerson toward the er level of brutality was involved Assistant Editors Jim Shapiro | Mark Athitakis | David Wilcox Staff Writers Liz Armstrong | Martha Bayne | Steve Bogira elevator shaft, but he struggled in the murder, it was irrelevant John Conroy | Jeffrey Felshman | Harold Henderson Have To so that, rather than being thrown to the question at hand: whether Deanna Isaacs | J.R. Jones | Ben Joravsky | Monica Kendrick down the shaft, he was returned “Every or not Yancey should be labeled Peter Margasak | Tori Marlan | Bob Mehr | Jonathan Rosenbaum Mike Sula | Albert Williams I find Liz Armstrong’s weekly to the laundry room. Yancey and Jerkstore a sex offender. Copy Chief Brian Nemtusak column amusing and all, but do Brown then unsuccessfully event I’ve Editorial Assistants Pat Graham | Renaldo Migaldi | Joel Score the good people of Chicago need attempted to kill Wilkerson by been to has Mario Kladis | Michael Marsh | Tom Porter | Jerome Ludwig Tamara Faulkner | Patrick Daily | Stephanie Manis | Robert Cass to read three or four times a year placing a broom handle over his had more Kerry Reid | Todd Dills | Katherine Young | Ryan Hubbard about this Johnny Love guy who neck and stepping on it and by half-naked Dinosaurs Miles Raymer | Tasneem Paghdiwala throws great parties at his loft strangling him with a stocking. people than Typesetters Vera Videnovich | Kabir Hamid [Chicago Antisocial, December Wilkerson was eventually killed the last.” of Rock Archivist Eben English 2]? The parties do sound like by one gunshot to the temple —Liz fun—and what reader doesn’t and his body thrown down the Armstrong, What a shame that Dinosaur Jr Advertising Director Don Humbertson like to drift away on a daydream elevator shaft, where it was later Chicago couldn’t get away with stealing Sales Director Ginger Wade vision of half-naked girls and discovered.” The full opinion can Antisocial, another band’s name, the Display Advertising Manager Sandra Goplin Assistant Display Advertising Manager Katie Falbo boys in their 20s? But if the be found at http://caselaw.lp. December 2 Dinosaurs [The Treatment, Online Advertising Coordinator Renate Durnbaugh readers of the Reader wanted to findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl? Section 3, November 25]. Well, Display Representatives Jeff Martin | Christine Thiel keep up to date on Johnny and court=7th&navby=case&no=961 if they can’t have their name, at Brad Winckler his whereabouts we would find a 977. least their supporters, Ms. Sales Development Manager Susan Zuckert way to get onto the guest list. Kendrick, for instance, can call Charles W. Upton Senior Account Executives Denice Barndt | Angie Boehler them names: “washouts” (flops, Evangeline Miller | Ryan A. Norsworthy | Geary Yonker Joel Erickson Stephen Young and Bryan duds, failures). If that’s the cor- Account Executives Nichole Flores | Greg Saint-Victor West Town Tim Sullivan | Laura Swisher | Dan VanKirk Brickner reply: rect term for former members Advertising Project Coordinator Allison Hendrickson We were aware of the gruesome of Country Joe and the Fish, Advertising Assistants T.J. Annerino | Jennifer K. Johnson details described by the judge in Kieran Kelley | Sarah Nishiura Moby Grape, Quicksilver She’s On It Thomas Yancey’s appeal. Yancey Messenger Service, Jefferson took responsibility for the mur- Starship, the Grateful Dead, and Art Director Sheila Sachs I would like to commend Liz der, but he disputed the claim organ genius Merl Saunders Associate Art Director Godfrey Carmona Art Coordinator Elizabeth Tamny Armstrong for her piece on that he and Brown had tried to (Dinosaur members and ex- Production Director David Jones Johnny Love and the Texas strangle Wilkerson or throw members all), then perhaps the Production Manager Bob Cooper Ballroom [Chicago Antisocial, him down an elevator shaft term is also fitting for Jr. Associate Production Manager Nickie Sage December 2]. I felt that the way while he was still alive. The Mark Skyer Production Artists Jeff Marlin | Jennifer McLaughlin | Mark Blade she presented her article was pathology report issued by Cook Benjamin Utley | John Cross | Andrea Bauer | Dustin Kimmel West Loop Gate Josh Honn | Mike Browarski | Nadine Nakanishi | Linda Montalbano awesome and that she gave great County coroner Andrew Toman Editorial Design Jardí + Utensil insight as to the Chicago scene. in 1974 supports Yancey’s con- Keep it up. tention that he and Brown didn’t try to strangle Wilkerson: There’s Operations & Classifieds Director Mary Jo Madden Katherine Controller Karl David Wilt “There is no evidence of injuries Classifieds Manager Brett Murphy to the superficial and deep Diversity and Classified Representatives Sara Bassick | Danette Chavez tissues surrounding the neck Bill Daniel | Kris Dodd | Chip Dudley | Andy Hermann Accounts structures.” The damage done Then There’s Janet Lukasiewicz | Jeff McMurray | Amy O’Connor | Scott Shehan Kristal Snow | Bob Tilendis | Stephen Walker by three bullets is listed precise- Matches Coordinator Jane Hanna Differ ly, but the report also states, Diversity Back Page Representative Chris Auman “Other forms of traumatic Operations Assistants Patrick O’Neil | Alicia Daniel I read with interest your recent abnormality is [sic] This letter is in response to Receptionists Monica Brown-Fielding | Dorie T. Greer article on Thomas Yancey represented by minor abrasions Tom McClurg’s letter in the Robert Jacobs |Dave Thomas | Stephen Walker Bookkeeper Marqueal Jordan [“This Man Is Not a Sexual involving the right cheek, left November 25 issue. It is inter- Circulation Manager Perry A. Kim Predator,” October 21]. The first knee and medial aspect of the esting that Tom McClurg cites Circulation Fred Adams | Sadar Bahar | Neil Bagwell time I met him he had a gun right knee region.” These are not “diversity” and especially “age John Barrille | Kriss Bataille | Steve Bjorkland | Mark Blade pointed at me; the last time was the kinds of injuries that would diversity” as reasons to allow Michael Boltz | Jeff Boyd | Michael Bulington | Bill Daniel Tom Frederick | Kennedy Greenrod | Nathan Greer when he was sentenced to be caused by putting a broom allegedly ill-behaved children to Scott Harris | John Holland | Sasha Kadukov prison for robbing me. handle over Wilkerson’s neck have the run of Andersonville. Dave Leoschke | James McArdle | Shane McDougall John Merton | Dave Miedzianski | Terry Nelson I have no quarrel with his and stepping on it or trying to Ill-behaved or behaved children Gerald Perdue | John Roeser | Phil Schuster parole, and I would agree that strangle him with a stocking, and continued on page 43 Dorian Tajbakhsh | David Thomas | Stephen Walker requiring him to register as a sex Craig White | Dan Worland offender is “piling on.” But your readers deserve a less varnished Information Systems Director Jerry Davis account of the murder he com- Information Systems Project Manager Conrad Hunter Information Systems James Crandall | John Dunlevy mitted. That can be found in a Doug Fawley | Sean Phelan 1977 opinion of the U.S. District Special Projects Coordinator Lisa Martain Hoffer Court of Appeals: “Briefly, the victim, fifteen-year-old William National Advertising Wilkerson, was shot in the chest The Ruxton Group, 1-888-2-RUXTON and shown (superficially wound- New York |Chicago|Phoenix |San Francisco ed but alive) by Yancey and his codefendant, Brown, to two juve- CHICAGO READER niles, Dickens and Parks, in the 11 E. Illinois, Chicago, IL 60611 eleventh-floor laundry room of a 312-828-0350 www.chicagoreader.com Chicago Housing Authority building. Brown instructed For recorded information on placing classified ads, call 312-828-1140 (24 hours).

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CHICAGO READER, INC. President Robert A. Roth Vice President Robert E. McCamant Treasurer Thomas K. Yoder Executive Editor Michael Lenehan 4CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

[email protected] Hot Type www.chicagoreader.com/hottype

News Hole While most journalists mourn City News (again), some are already maneuvering to replace it.

By Michael Miner he obits for old-time Los Angeles Times had just fired in on. Their eulogies identified Chicago journalism were its cartoonist, and the Tribune CNB, which was founded cooper- T rolled out again last week hasn’t had one for five years. atively by the daily newspapers of when the Tribune made the MoveOn.org Civic Action Chicago in 1890, as the boot camp wrenching announcement that launched an online petition where Mike Royko, Kurt it’s shutting down its New City drive in Chicago, Los Angeles, Vonnegut, Seymour Hersh, and News Service at the end of the Baltimore, and Orlando—all cities thousands of nascent reporters year. These obits had been out of where blood is flowing at Tribune were taught “If your mother says service since 1999, when the Company papers. Readers were she loves you, check it out.” For Tribune made the wrenching asked to sign a statement assert- decades recruits heard this from announcement that it was shut- ing that as “corporate owners reap CNB’s curmudgeonly night editor, ting down the hallowed City large profits ...there is no excuse Arnold Dornfeld, who explained News Bureau, leaving only a ves- for them to force our paper to why in a 1983 interview with tige, the New City News Service. abandon its responsibility to deliv- Channel Five’s Leonard Aronson: The death of that vestige is a er strong watchdog journalism to “I am the outstanding authori- small detail of a large catastrophe. the public.” This week the drive ty on libel in the city of Chicago,” The Tribune Company has was expanded to Hartford, Dornfeld said, “because after I’d announced in recent days that it’s Allentown, Newport News, and been in the business two months eliminating jobs by the hundreds Long Island. [at CNB] I brought on the six at its newspapers—doing what it Orlando Sentinel columnist newspapers of Chicago libel suits must because fading circulation David Whitley meditated in print totaling on its face a half a mil- and advertising revenues have cut about the Tribune Company lay- lion dollars—and this is 1928, into the profit margins Wall ing off 21 people at his paper while when you could still buy some- Street expects. The spectacle of offering Rafael Furcal $50 million thing with a half a million dol- proud dailies in retreat isn’t easy to play shortstop for the Cubs. lars. A girl died from the effects to stomach, and some observers That’s life, Whitley concluded. of what was then called an illegal refuse to. The Prickly City comic The Web magazine operation, an abortion, and I was strip that ran October 3 in the truthdig.com, edited by recently given the case to work on, which OS Tribune and six dozen other fired LA Times columnist Robert they shouldn’t have given to a kid papers offered this exchange: Scheer, carried a long discussion with two months’ experience.” L ZIMBRAK

“Another round of layoffs in of the Times ’s troubles by former AU Dornfeld’s big mistake, he Y P

the newspaper biz, Winslow.” Times books section editor Steve TES recalled, was confusing the doctor “If the newspapers are in such Wasserman, who quoted former UR who performed the abortion with CO bad shape, shouldn’t they be fir- Tribune editor James Squires call- Old City News headquarters at 35 E. Wacker the doctor “who was called in after ing the editors and publishers ing Tribune Company brass the girl was in a desperate way instead of newsroom folk? After philistines, only dumber: “You the Times to sneer that the The fate of the New City News and tried to save her life but all, they’re the ones who rammed cannot imagine how intellectually Tribune Company is run by “mid- Service, and by extension of the couldn’t.” The papers all picked up the ship into the iceberg.” inferior three of the last four western white men obsessed with City News Bureau, isn’t the fate of Dornfeld’s story identifying the Cartoonist Scott Stantis told me chairmen of Tribune Company only two things: the Chicago Cubs the newspaper industry in micro- heroic doctor as the abortionist. he was protesting the Tribune were.” Wasserman undercut his and accounting.” Any Cubs fan cosm. But it’s a good, sentimental “He rushed in with a lawyer in Company’s “declaration of war own credibility by allowing an will recognize the ignorance of story that CNB alumni around each hand, and he filed against against editorial cartooning.” The unnamed “former high official” of that remark. the country have happily weighed the six newspapers of Chicago. CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 5

® The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams

Why is it that ancient Greek and Roman paintings, sculptures, and other works of art depict males with such small genitalia? My first thought was that the artists wished to draw the viewer’s attention to other, more important, aspects of the work. However, my roommate And I was promptly laid off, and I Sun-Times or Hollinger’s Daily has pointed out that this treatment has the opposite effect. I really was bawled out. However, they Southtown, but they’ve had six don’t think evolution has treated us as kindly as this artwork might couldn’t quite fire me because ...I years to learn how to live without was a desk guy and I was a two- it. (Though according to lead us to believe. So why the small penises? —Phil, Los Angeles month kid, for God’s sake. Wikipedia, the Sun-Times “to However, this got burned and this day at times misses notice of branded into my hide. Get things news events because it has been hil, it’s time we had a little talk world. A common right. Never mind the nuances. unable to replace the sought- about the Greeks. You remember the Greeks. boundary Never mind the psychological after City News daybook.”) Now P marker They were the guys (and it was subtleties. Get the facts!” this knowledge might be mar- mostly guys—women at the time were and household totem in Here’s a fact worth getting. The ketable. “It’s certainly something mainly relegated to childbearing and ancient Greece was the New City News Service will be sur- that we’ll explore,” says John housekeeping or sex objecthood, and herm, originally a vived—inside the Tribune and out- Cruickshank, the Sun-Times were seldom heard from) who pretty representation of the god side. In her December 1 message publisher who oversees all 100 of much invented what we now think of as Western civilization. Their ideas about cul- Hermes. It con- to the staff announcing that 28 Hollinger’s Chicago-area papers. ture and society, which the Romans sisted of a head editorial positions were being Then there’s the Medill School copied, influence us to this day. The on top of a simple eliminated—19 of them at New of Journalism’s ten-year-old news Greeks also ...well, we’ll get into a dis- squarish pillar—your City News—Tribune executive edi- service. It sends students down- cussion of Greek sexual preferences some basic supersized Pez dis- tor Ann Marie Lipinski explained town to cover stories that are other time. For now let’s just say they penser—unadorned except were fascinated by male beauty, and in for, in front, an amply propor- that the decision to kill the service sold to half a dozen print clients, tioned, usually erect, and some- was driven as much by competi- though on a Tuesday-Thursday particular by (ahem) the penis. The Greeks weren’t shy about display- times arrestingly protrusive tion as by economics. She said schedule that accommodates the ing their manly attributes. Nudity was cel- penis and scrotum. Scholars tell us that such decorations were New City News “as currently con- students a lot better than the ebrated in Greece as in no culture before apotropaic (you learn a lot of figured is of value to a variety of news. “We certainly don’t operate or since. We’re so used to nude classical vocabulary in this field)—that is, sculpture and painting that we figure local news providers and competi- 52 weeks a year or seven days a intended to ward off evil, and tors, many of which use the infor- week,” says director Mindy that’s how everybody walked around back UG SIGNORINO

that folks back then paid no SL in those days. In fact, however, male nudi- mation as the backbone of their Trossman. “It would be a huge more attention to them than ty in art and among athletes and warriors we would to a lucky horseshoe. local news reports.” So the Tribune change in curriculum. Could it be was largely confined to the ancient Maybe. All I’m saying is, stuff will create 13 jobs and build up its done? Could we at least pick up Greeks, for whom it became a point of that even now we’d consider hard-core 1978): (1) Long, thick penises were consid- own 24-hour Internet news desk, the daybook?” pride—they considered embarrassment at porn you saw then just walking down to ered—at least in the highbrow view— while those other local news Medill asked itself these ques- having to disrobe for sports a sign of bar- the Piraeus. grotesque, comic, or both and were usual- providers fend for themselves. The tions six years ago when the City barism. Admiration of the manly form at The ancients were also unembarrassed ly found on fertility gods, half-animal crit- Tribune has created a need. News Bureau was going under. times verged on the cultlike; the more by graphic displays of sex. Greek men—to ters such as satyrs, ugly old men, and bar- heroic bits of male sculpture, small penis Besides the local news that New Now they’re back on the table. be precise, male Greek aristocrats—fig- barians. A circumcised penis was particu- or no, have an erotic charge that can City News feeds to its radio and Like it or not, Medill could soon ured if it moved, they could have sex with larly gross. (2) The ideal penis was small, make even a straight guy sweat. Naked it, or at least look at pictures about having thin, and covered with a long, tapering TV clients it gives them a “day- find itself running the only opera- women were depicted too, but less often, sex with it. We have countless examples of foreskin. Dover thinks the immature book”—an exhaustive list of daily tion that even pretends to call and you sometimes get the feeling the crockery showing various combinations of male’s equipment was especially admired, events that helps city editors plan itself a training ground for local artist’s heart wasn’t in it. humans, deities, and the occasional ani- which may account not only for the small their coverage. “It provided us reporters. The J-school at the The penis shows up in Greek art a lot— mal engaged in the amatory act, most of size but the scarcity of body hair in classi- with great information,” says Ron University of Missouri—my alma big ones as well as small ones. For exam- it presumably used as party favors to put cal art. A passage from Aristophanes ple, there’s the temple of Dionysus on the Gleason, program director of mater—publishes a city newspa- the lads in the mood. Even in painterly sums up the most desirable masculine island of Delos, which features giant stone scenes having nothing to do with sex the features: “a gleaming chest, bright skin, WBBM, the all-news AM station per 52 weeks a year six days a penises carved in the third century BC. genitalia were often conspicuously dis- broad shoulders, tiny tongue, strong but- that now has to figure out some week. But Mizzou’s always been Decapitated now, they’re still impressively played. tocks, and a little prick.” other way of getting it. more willing than Medill to act scaled and in a state of salute. (The aca- From this vast array of XXX-rated art- You’re thinking: How times have A possible source—the like a trade school. For a few years demic term describing this condition, inci- work we can make a few deductions about changed. Ain’t arguing. Of course, we do Hollinger papers. The Sun-Times back in the 60s the City News dentally, is ithyphallic.) Greek aesthetic preferences, genitaliawise have to take into account a contributing Sculptural depictions of the erect penis (here I mainly follow Kenneth Dover’s factor: artists’ models were nude, and triggered the collapse of the old Bureau ran an internship pro- were an everyday sight in the classical landmark study Greek Homosexuality, their studios lacked central heat. City News Bureau in 1999 by gram with Medill. Students withdrawing its annual subsidy earned college credit covering (Conrad Black and David Radler fires and murders. The program Comments, questions? Take it up with Cecil on the Straight Dope Message Board, www.straightdope.com, had better things to do with the worked, recalls Paul Zimbrakos, or write him at the Chicago Reader, 11 E. Illinois, Chicago 60611. Cecil’s most recent compendium of knowledge, money). When the Tribune took who runs New City News and had Triumph of the Straight Dope, is available at bookstores everywhere. over New City News it refused to been the City News Bureau editor sell the daybook to either the continued on page 6 6CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

Hot Type

continued from page 5 Riverside County. “We have a lot rate budgets for Los Angeles, run a boot camp. Like all MSM tryside. Abass told his compan- since the 60s, but got dumped of happy subscribers,” he told me. Orange County, San Diego, and reporters his staff might wonder ion to hide from approaching anyway. Trossman’s assistant “Well over 100. We usually say Riverside. We have week-ahead from time to time if the world farmers, then talked the group director, former Sun-Times 130.” New City News has 14. budgets and entertainment loves them anymore, but they into dispersing by warning reporter Adrienne Drell, told me Faigin was ready to expand to budgets. We know how to work don’t have to double-check if them that American forces were she wants the Medill news service Chicago in 1999. He’d run a help- budgets. But in addition to that, their mothers do. surely on the way. to hire Zimbrakos. Despite wanted ad in Editor & Publisher subscribers in southern The unsettling piece of the story degrees from Northwestern and and was signing up Chicago California depend on us for sto- was Abass’s fear that these Yale, Drell says, “City News is my clients when the Tribune’s deci- ries, and they use them on air unknown farmers would kill the real alma mater.” sion to sponsor New City News and in print all the time.” News Bite American or turn him over to This is a bad time for Medill to chased him off. Now he’s moving Faigin said he hires trained insurgents. I asked Madhani by e- plan anything as big as a quickly again. He told me this journalists, pays them living a The Tribune’s Aamer mail if the point of his article was revamped news service. Dean week that “the interest and enthu- wages, and charges clients Madhani told a discouraging its implicit message that the war Loren Ghiglione is leaving, and siasm is as great as it was [six accordingly. His newspaper story on December 2. In the was going badly. No, he replied, nobody’s in line to take over. But, years ago]. The technology has clients routinely run bylined eyes of his American colleagues, he just wanted to describe a “pret- says Trossman, “I think it’s some- improved. We have delivery sys- City News Service stories—an Iraqi air force captain Ali ty gripping encounter.” thing we’ll talk about.” tems now we didn’t have then honor almost unheard-of Hussam Abass was a hero: three Is it fair to say, I wrote back, Medill alumnus Doug Faigin which are capable of getting start- among City News Bureau weeks before his death in a that the story tells us Americans runs the City News Service of Los ed and operating very quickly.” reporters—and TV and radio plane crash last May he’d saved in Iraq must assume that anyone Angeles, which operates in LA, I asked about the daybook. stations don’t hesitate to read the life of an American officer they don’t know is an enemy? San Diego, and Orange County, “We have our version—the the raw copy over the air. when their light plane made an “I think that is a reasonable and is about to move into ‘budget,’ ” he said. “We run sepa- He’s no Dornfeld. He doesn’t emergency landing in the coun- read,” he answered. v CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 7 8CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

The Works [email protected]

Those Slippery TIFs The Pilsen tax increment financing fund was created to promote industry. How does a 391-condo development qualify? By Ben Joravsky even years ago city officials A TIF is created by the City There’s no government body that buildings in poor condition” and watchdog that tracks TIF expen- stood before the people of Council in order to divert a por- reviews their management or “reuse vacant industrial build- ditures. In 2002 the TIF got its S Pilsen and vowed to save tion of taxes paid by property effectiveness. ings in serviceable condition for first big challenge when the Tool their relatively high-paying local owners within a defined district Roughly bounded by 16th new business or industrial use.” and Engineering Company industrial jobs. Their weapon into a fund, controlled by the Street on the north, Stewart on In 1998 the City Council closed its five-acre factory at 18th was a TIF, or tax increment city, for a specific purpose. the east, Western on the west, passed the TIF over opposition and Peoria. “They’re a Detroit- financing district, which would According to their boosters, and the Stevenson on the south, from local residents who feared based manufacturer,” says provide funding to help build Mayor Daley among them, TIFs the Pilsen TIF zigzags around that the infusion of funds would David Betlejewski, executive new industries and keep existing enable costly projects to pay for the southwest side’s major lead to gentrification. At the time director of the Eighteenth Street ones from closing. themselves: the improvements industrial corridor. According to city officials scoffed at these con- Development Corporation, a But last month the city sig- they fund seed development, the city’s preapproval reportit’s cerns. “They basically said, ‘It’s local business association. “They naled a retreat from this fight. which in turn increases the supposed to protect industries. industry—what are you worried decided to consolidate their Instead it’s entertaining a property tax revenue that feeds “The employment data show about?’” says Victoria Romero, a operations in Detroit.” According proposal to replace a factory them. But there are consider- that while industrial employ- board member of the Pilsen to Betlejewski, a construction located in the TIF district able flaws in the TIF program, ment within the project area Alliance, a local community company is temporarily leasing with a 391-unit condominium not the least of which is a dis- continues to remain overwhelm- group. “We didn’t believe them.” the factory to store its equip- and town house development. turbing lack of oversight. ingly industrial in nature, many Up until now the city has spent ment. But “obviously we’d like a “Yes, it’s ironic,” says Euan State law requires the city to jobs are leaving,” the report says. the Pilsen TIF money on indus- permanent tenant,” he says. Hague, a DePaul University write a preapproval report “The maintenance of this industry. In 2001 it allocated about In 2003 Concord Homes, a geography professor who’s explaining why a TIF is needed trial job base is critical to the $3.5 million to help build a new real estate development firm, studied the Pilsen TIF. “The and what specifically it’s sup- economic well being of the area linen-supply company and proposed tearing down the fac- housing development offers a posed to finance. But the city’s and to the City.” The report rec- another $9.5 million to build a tory and replacing it with town very different version of the not required to follow up on ommends that “where feasible, produce warehouse, according to houses. Twenty-fifth Ward alder- long-term future for Pilsen these reports. There are no TIF [the city should] repair and the Neighborhood Capital man Danny Solis rejected that promised seven years ago.” budgets or annual hearings. rehabilitate existing industrial Budget Group, a nonprofit proposal after widespread com- CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 9

munity protest. Then last month police” can afford them. Cisneros Henry Cisneros, former head of has also assured him that he will the federal Department of set aside at least half of the con- Housing and Urban struction jobs for local Latinos. Development, emerged with a “And it will have a strong ethnic second plan for the factory site. component to its architecture,” Cisneros, who a decade or so ago says Solis. “It will be a Mexican resigned from HUD in the midst theme—it will complement the of a scandal about statements community. It’s not a done deal, he’d made regarding payments to but I’m encouraged.” his former mistress (he later There is, however, the problem pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of being located in an industrial count of lying to the FBI), is now TIF. Town houses and condos a developer based in Texas. He’s aren’t what the TIF was created proposing to team up with Mota to support. But Solis and Construction Company, a Betlejewski say they were unable Latino-owned contractor, and to find a permanent industrial Kimball Hill Suburban Centers, tenant for the factory. a white-owned firm. “The problem is location,” says “A little over a year ago Betlejewski. “It’s the far end of Cisneros came to me and said, the TIF. It’s entirely surrounded ‘We’re interested in this develop- with residences. We’ve taken ment,’” says Solis. “I put together people there to look at it and a planning committee of repre- they say, ‘This would be great if sentatives from various local it were south of Cermak or Blue groups to discuss the plans with Island.’ But because it’s like an Cisneros.” isthmus of industry in a resi- JON RANDOLPH

Solis says he hasn’t yet decided S, dential neighborhood, that’s whether he’ll endorse the proj- MET another issue.” ect. “The developers told me they TA Solis says in retrospect the city BILL S want to submit it for zoning Activist Victoria Romero, 25th Ward alderman Danny Solis probably should have left the fac- approval,” he says. “I told them, tory out of the TIF district. But ‘You can submit anything you And it’s not a done deal until I But Solis says he likes what of the development’s units will be since it’s in the TIF, he says, want, but nothing happens take it to the wider community he’s seen. He says Cisneros has priced so middle-income people demolishing it may be better than unless I end up supporting it.’ and get their reaction.” promised that at least 21 percent “like teachers, firefighters, and continued on page 10 10 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

The Works

continued from page 9 proposed have anything to do with its Romero and her allies say they keeping it. The city estimates the development original purpose. don’t trust the city with all that new houses will generate close to “Think of it this way. Some of money, at least not when it $15 million in property taxes the [Pilsen TIF] money’s gone to comes to Pilsen. On November over the next 16 years. Almost all industry, right?” says one local 30 she and other members of the of that yield will feed the TIF. TIF developer who asked not to be alliance held a protest on 18th boundary Solis says the extra TIF money identified. “I realize the details Street outside the factory. They will be used to rebuild schools, can get sort of ugly. But I look at walked along the sidewalk in the create new parks, and repave it as a hook-or-crook sort of bitter cold, holding signs and sidewalks—things that would be thing. So long as the TIF’s going chanting “Pilsen’s not for sale.” funded by property taxes if those for a good thing, what do you Afterward they conceded weren’t being siphoned into the care how it looks?” they’re waging a long-shot cam- The portion of the TIF district where That might be a reasonable paign. “I knew as soon as I saw TIF. “The best thing I’ve done Henry Cisneros is proposing residential development since becoming alderman is cre- attitude to takeif there were Cisneros’s name it would be a ating that TIF,” he says. “You can any TIF financing and it will it’s still not what the Pilsen TIF only a handful of TIFs. But the harder fight. They’re using a imagine all of the things we can add money to the TIF,” he says. was created to do. Instead, the city has created 131 of them, prominent Latino to sell it to do with that money.” He points “I just had a meeting with Pilsen TIF seems to be operat- each with a renewable term of the community,” says Romero. out that the city would probably [schools CEO] Arne Duncan, ing the way critics say most do: 23 years. According to a recent “Our fears are becoming true. have to have spent TIF money to and we’re going to use some it’s a giant piggy bank con- article in Crain’s Chicago They said, ‘Oh no, don’t worry induce a manufacturer to move TIF money [to rehab] Benito trolled by the mayor and the Business, about $329.5 million about the TIF—it’s all about to the old factory. “Here we have Juarez High School.” local alderman, whose unmoni- in property taxes is diverted into industry, not housing.’ Yeah a development that won’t take Well, that’s a fine thing. But tored spending may or may not them annually. right, sure.” v CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 11 12 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

Chicago Antisocial [email protected]

talking to reporters, no questions from the crowd. Clinton has never been much of a risk taker. Right now she’s cosponsoring legislation with Utah Republican Bob Bennett (a snoozefest of a politician who most notably tweaked out about Y2K) to outlaw burning the flag. And looking back on her voting record it seems the only causes she’s ever stuck her neck out for are health care and the war. But Clinton did write a letter to constituents last week saying that false information—those WMD in Iraq, for example—misled her into voting for the 2002 resolution. “Based on the information that we have today, Congress never would have been asked to give the President authority to use force against Iraq,” she wrote. “And if Congress had been asked, based on what we know now, we never would have agreed.” Hard to argue with that. But it’s easy to criticize Bush now that, according to a CNN poll last week, 55 percent of Americans don’t think the president has a decent plan for Iraq and 54 percent say they think he’s handled the whole thing badly. ER And though Clinton and the AU other Senate Democrats now have Representative Jack ANDREA B Hillary speaks and young Dems party at Crobar, protesters march outside in the snow. Murtha, a decorated veteran, as a shield—he held a shockingly confessional news conference last month denouncing the occu- pation and calling for withdrawal within six months—she’s still not admitting outright that she made a mistake. In fact her letter opposes prompt withdrawal. So Hillary ClintonGoes Both Ways she’s trying to have it both ways—she’s against Bush but for his war. You can’t entirely blame On the war, silly. her—as a Democrat and, more important, a woman thinking of By Liz Armstrong running for president in 2008, elcome!” cooed a ally spoken in favor of a war that dressed for the cold, so I called floor was another balcony, where she can’t appear to be soft on woman with big has so far cost the country over club director Claudia Gassel and Clinton was waiting with the defense issues. But we know “ W white teeth and $357 billion, according to last she let us in. But when security Secret Service. from watching John Kerry that shiny red lips. “Would you like a Sunday’s Boston Globe, as well as heard that press was loose in the About half an hour later Biz being wishy-washy won’t win you sticker?” She peeled a stylized 2,124 American lives and, accord- building, they ordered us to stand put on Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” the presidency. American flag in a blue circle off ing to a study in the British in one corner with a bouncer and and the petite Mrs. Clinton The thought of there not being a roll and handed it to me. “Coat medical journal the Lancet, two volunteers. The rest of the appeared. Wearing a black anyone to vote for in yet another check is on your left,” she chirped. 50 times as many Iraqi lives. media were waiting outside and pantsuit and looking like she’d election drained me, so I went to I was at Hillary Clinton’s fund- “Democrats are making noises would be taken in as a group. gotten dressed at Ann Taylor the bar for a drink. raising event at Crobar last that they’re the kinder, gentler Bored, we started dancing to Loft, she blazed down the “Time to go,” a tall, handsome Saturday, and behind me, across party,” Thayer told me, “but the music, a DJ set by Biz catwalk and onto a little neon- bouncer announced to the group. the street, a group of about 50 they’re spending tons of money Markie, which kicked off with a tape X on the balcony. “But I just got a drink—” I people were carrying signs and on the war. We’re going to loudly mix of Bob Seger and Cameo. Biz “Thank you for taking the time tried to explain. chanting. call them out and let them know did what he could to spice up the out on a Saturday to care about “Doesn’t matter,” he said, push- “She’s some kind of alternative that they’re not going to have our wedding reception standards— politics,” she said. “Our country ing me gently. He grabbed the in 2008?” Andy Thayer, an organ- voting support in their back “Billie Jean,” “Another One Bites needs you—needs young people glass out of my hand. “All the izer with the Gay Liberation pockets this time.” the Dust,” “Could You Be who care. ...Decisions made press has to leave now.” Network, shouted through a bull- Inside the club, Phil Circle, a Loved”—scratching and drop- now will have a bigger impact on Andrea and I asked if we could horn. “What a sick joke!” blond guy with shaggy hair, ping in new tracks when you you than your parents. We’re please go get our coats first, and Then he led the group in a played acoustic covers of Stevie least expected them. Watching spending ourselves into a deep, he said no. Could he get them for hearty round of emphatic shout- Ray Vaughan and Marvin Gaye. everyone sort of shuffle around deep hole.” She deplored the us then? “Look,” he said. “There’s ing: “A vote for Hillary is a vote Young professionals in sport like self-conscious seventh country’s lack of viable alterna- a Secret Service agent waiting for war!” coats and blouses who’d paid graders, Andrea busted out the tive energy sources and our with a gun. He said to get the These people—including between $50 and $500 to be funky chicken and I did a kind of addiction to foreign oil, and press out now. You have to go.” members of Chicago ANSWER, there mingled lightheartedly. “I hillbilly version of the butterfly. shamed George Bush for not We paused and looked at him the International Solidarity have several pairs of shoes I want “Stop!” ordered one of the club’s dealing with the reality of global incredulously—we were both Movement, and Peace Pledge to get rid of,” I heard one woman bouncers. “You’re making me warming. Below, everyone wearing thin, sleeveless tops. He Chicago—have a problem with tell a group of friends. laugh! I’m supposed to keep a cheered as the the club’s lights herded us downstairs to a hidden Senator Clinton’s track record The media weren’t supposed to straight face for this.” bounced off their RE- ELECT exit door. Snow was swirling in since the 2002 “Joint Resolution be let in until 9 PM, but Clinton’s At 9:30 the other journalists HILLARY stickers. the open doorway. to Authorize the Use of United publicist, Sam Arora, never told clomped in through a side door, “This isn’t about one election “I can’t believe you’re kicking States Armed Forces Against Iraq,” me this. I’d shown up early for red-cheeked and wet, their or another,” she said. “America us out in the cold,” I sputtered, which about half of the Senate’s once in my life but was turned gloves and beards crusted with has to work together to solve our shivering, as I headed out. Democrats voted for, including away at the door. Photographer snow. The volunteers ushered us problems.” And that was about it, “I’m not kicking you out,” he Clinton. Since then she’s continu- Andrea Bauer and I weren’t all to a balcony. Across the dance probably two minutes total. No said. “Your government is.” v CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 13 14 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

[snip] Trust but don’t verify? In 1989 the Army Corps of Engineers promised to ensure that this country would have “no net loss”of wetlands. The Government Accountability Office recently visited seven of the corps’ district offices and examined 152 cases in which the corps had required “compensatory mitigation”—someone who wanted to fill in one wetland was required to create or Our Town restore a wetland somewhere else. Yet in only 15 percent of those cases did the corps do an inspec- tion to see if the party had complied. —Harold Henderson | [email protected]

Art The Odd Couple Bob Hiebert and Sid Block celebrate 25 years of working in eerie harmony at the city’s only gallery devoted to works on paper. By Jeff Huebner ob Hiebert and Sidney Block have been in business together B longer than many people have been married, and as with many couples their friends tend to think of them as inseparable—Sid and Bob, Bob and Sid. It’s been 25 years since they opened Printworks, still the city’s only gallery dedicated exclu- sively to works on paper—contemporary prints, drawings, artists’ books, and the occasional painting or pho- tograph. For the past 15—five days a week, nearly every week of the year— they’ve sat on opposite sides of a single desk in their cramped, 600- Y square-foot space in River North. Printworks is associated with some

of the most prominent names in post- JIM NEWBERR Sid Block and Bob Hiebert war Chicago art history, including the first generation of imagists—Leon modest attention until 2003, when the Bookplate,” a 25th-anniversary spare darkroom in CMO’s photo The Art of the Golub, Seymour Rosofsky, Roland her debut novel, The Time Traveler’s celebration. Seventy-two artists asso- department and used it often. “We Bookplate Ginzel, Theodore Halkin, June Leaf, Wife, became a best seller. That led to ciated with the gallery were asked to had similar interests as far as music, WHEN Through Evelyn Statsinger. But it’s also kept two nearly sold-out shows of her design a bookplate honoring a person art, theater,” says Hiebert. “We liked Sat 2/4: Tue-Sat pace with the artists who’ve followed. paintings, drawings, and prints—and who’s influenced their lives. opera and classical music, and we’d 11 AM-5 PM Audrey Niffenegger, who teaches at a newfound cachet for the gallery. Niffenegger, for example, chose run into each other at Orchestra WHERE Printworks, Columbia College’s Chicago Center Aubrey Beardsley. Phyllis Bramson Hall. We became fast friends.” 311 W. Superior for Book & Paper Arts, has been chose Soren Kierkegaard, while Tim In the 70s the two visited England #105 exhibiting her fable-like, surrealist- Lowly liked Andrei Tarkovsky; Jim regularly, joined by Block’s wife, INFO 312-664- Nutt chose his wife, artist Gladys Hanna, and occasionally mutual 9407, printworks Nilsson, and Bert Menco was drawn friends. During one trip, they made chicago.com to the Elephant Man. what Hiebert calls a “crazy decision.” “After 25 years, we’ve ended up They both admired the kind of fine-art knowing and befriending so many posters and prints they used to peruse artists,” says Hiebert. “We wanted at the Van Straaten Gallery, then locat- to include as many of those people ed on Michigan Avenue, so they as possible.” hatched a plan to start a business selling similar items overseas. “There iebert is 58. Block turns 82 next were some wonderful posters all over H week. They met by accident. Europe,” Block says. “Wonderful works Hiebert, a Minnesota native, moved of art by all the big names, some hand- to Chicago in 1969 to work as a signed, and very affordable.” physical therapist at the In 1979 they incorporated as NY PHILLIPS TO ONGER Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Printworks Ltd., but setting up shop Niffenegger doesn’t take full credit then on East Ohio Street; Block, who in London proved to be too expensive.

WILLIAM C for the gallery’s new audience, though. grew up on the south side, was work- Back in Chicago, however, they were “Once people got curious about me, it ing across the street at the graphic able to lease a third-floor space at 620 inspired pieces there since 1986, turned a few people on to all the design firm Coventry, Miller & Olzak N. Michigan, then home to galleries when Hiebert and Block discovered groovy things that Printworks has (now CMO Graphics). Hiebert, such as Richard Gray, Carl Hammer, her at a School of the Art Institute besides me,” she says. She helped who’d been dabbling in photography Frumkin & Struve, and Sonia Zaks. student exhibit. Her work drew only curate its new exhibition, “The Art of since moving to the city, rented a continued on page 16 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 15 16 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

Boutique of the Week Our Town

continued from page 14 into the gallery. An internationally Printworks opened on September 5, known painter of huge, provocative 1980, with an exhibit called “The Art political canvases, Golub left of the Poster,” featuring works by the Chicago in 1959 for Paris and then likes of Matisse, Miro, Chagall, and New York but was still closely iden- De Chirico, some of which were tified with his hometown. “Nobody signed limited editions. Soon artists knows about my prints,” Block who taught at the School of the Art remembers Golub saying. “Do you Institute started bringing in their guys ever take on new people?” In work. “At that time nobody was really 1985 the gallery held a show of his into selling prints by Chicago print- prints and drawings concurrently makers,” says Block. The gallery kept with a Golub retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art and exhibits of his paintings at two other galleries. The show put Printworks on the map. Hiebert and Block sold many of the pieces, some to museums like TO CIER the Tate Gallery, the National A YA Gallery of Australia, and the Art MIRE Institute. “Museum purchases are Elizabeth Floersheimer the most satisfying, because it vali- dates what we’re doing,” says Hiebert. He and Block visited Golub Eliana Lily and his wife, artist Nancy Spero, at their SoHo studio often until his death in August 2004. They tried to lizabeth Floersheimer has been fashionable purse she originally made for a trip to Italy that can be interest a curator at the Museum of

YN PROPP as long as she can remember (“I dressed in slung over the shoulder with a strap or carried by two Modern Art in some of Golub’s litho- pin-striped suits in seventh grade,” she wide metal rings. Customers can choose from ready- MARIL graphs, but its purchase committee E says), but what she really wanted was to made bags or customize with different handles, fab- afloat in its early years thanks to cor- took a pass. “Leon admired us for be in the movies. Her dream was sidelined by rics, and leather. The boutique also offers a careful- porate clients who were interested in our chutzpah,” Hiebert says. “He her own fears and the arrival of two children ly chosen array of accessories and clothing with a works on paper because they “didn’t always made us feel special.” until two years ago, when she began taking decidedly dressy bent, like tunics in washable classes at Second City. But then destiny chocolate cashmere and wide-sleeved V-neck silk have to spend a fortune.” stepped in. About a year and a half ago, chiffon dresses in red and black with gold and Hiebert’s father, an inventor and s word got around, other Floersheimer started making her silver embroidery. Floersheimer will even self-made businessman, was leery of A established artists from New own handbags, and when strangers “restyle” items languishing in customers’ clos- the enterprise. “He said you should York and the midwest—including started stopping her on the street to ask ets—turning a mink stole into a shrug or a never have a business partner,” Hiebert Philip Pearlstein, Ellen Lanyon, about them, she knew she had a viable business bag, or both, for example. With its white vel- idea. She started selling vet curtains, fur rugs, and mirrored walls, says. “He’d never heard of a partner- Richard Hunt, and Hollis Sigler Eliana Lily them at parties, and last the interior is a crisp, modern take on an ship that could last. But my parents —brought their pieces to Print- 1628 N. Wells month opened Eliana Lily, art deco boudoir that cries out for a dry absolutely fell in love with Sidney.” works. The gallery’s roster now 312-337-0999 named after her daugh- martini. As it happens, Floersheimer also A rent increase prompted includes 50 artists, from imagists ter, right down the rents the space for private events: birth- Printworks to move to its current such as Robert Lostutter and Karl block from Second City on North Wells. days, wedding showers, “divorce par- location in 1983. The two figure Wirsum to mid-career artists Floersheimer’s bags are the focus of the ties.” “Drinking and shopping,” she store; she offers seven different styles, says. “How often do you get to do they were the tenth gallery to settle such as Michiko Itatani and including the Florence, a long bucket both?” —Heather Kenny into the burgeoning River North Nicholas Sistler. district. (“I know it was early Many exhibit bigger-ticket items because in the morning you could like canvases elsewhere, but that park anywhere,” says Hiebert.) By suits Hiebert and Block fine. 1984 Hiebert was able to quit his “Painting galleries mostly don’t want job at a medical-supply company; to have anything to do with prints or that big, expensive painting off the bring in “minuscule amounts of the following year Block went part- drawings,” Block says. “They don’t wall and walk out the door with it.” money” compared to other pieces. time at the graphic design firm. He want to open their drawers and go Mark Pascale, associate curator of Many of Printworks’ sell for three retired from it in 1990. through 30 or 50 prints and explain prints and drawings at the Art figures, with high-end pieces by Also in 1984, Leon Golub walked prices. No. They want you to take Institute, says that works on paper continued on page 29 The Re ader ’ s

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FIGHT IGNORANCE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

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FRIEND IN NEED ...OF AN OUTLET Blogging takes too much time, and besides there are no good gadgets involved. M-Audio’s Podcast Factory includes a microphone, external audio interface, and recording and editing software. | $179.95, for a list of stores see m-audio.com Mattel’s Vidster is the digital-age successor to Fisher-Price’s sought-after Pixelvision camera, great for making lo-fi home movies. It comes with 32MB of built-in memory and incredibly simple software. | $79.99, various big-box electronics stores CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 23

FOODIE Dim Sum: A Pocket Guide by Kit Shan Lee. Stick a note inside that says “I’ll take you out for some buns,” then spring for a meal at Happy Chef Dim Sum (2164 S. Archer, 312-808-3689). | $8.95, various bookstores Oriel Wines sells handmade varietals from fancy-pants vintners like Dr. Alain Raynaud (Chateau Quinault, St. Emilion) and Paolo Caciorgna (Rocche dei Manzoni, Piemonte). | $15-$100 per bottle, $199 per quarter, orielwines.com Unique classes at the Andersonville kitchenware boutique Wooden Spoon have covered braising, cake decorating, and re-creating recipes from fancy joints like Naha and Topolobampo; students can pay with gift certificates, hint hint. | $45-$65, Wooden Spoon Y JIM NEWBERR

KIDS OF ALL AGES It’s Finnish for “elephant”: the adorable Norsu molded-plastic piggy bank, in various rainbow colors. | $14, Penelope’s Vladimir, a twentysomething projectionist from Oregon, has been crowned World Champion of Experimental Film at the Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festival two years running for her homemade View-Master reels, constructed from stills she designed and shot of toys and found objects. Some are based on classic lit, including Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and Franz Kafka’s parables; some come with mini-CD sound tracks. | $16-$18 including shipping, vladmaster.com. Of course you need a View-Master to watch; you can get a simple, classy black model from the same site ($7) or a refurbished old-stock deluxe model from studio3d.com ($60 or $75).

NARCISSIST Send his photo to PhotoStamps and they’ll make you custom stamps you can send through the USPS. (If you’re the narcissist, send your own photo.) | $16.99 for 20 37- cent stamps, photostamps.com Make an action figure out of her with a minimum of a couple photos. | $450 for the first (or $525 for a talking model), A copies are $39.95 (or $59.95) each, herobuilders.com MICHELLE ALB

ANTICONSUMERIST Homemade Limoncello Materials: Lemon zester or vegetable peel Strainer Gigantic pot Ten quarter-liter glass flasks ($2.99 each, Container Store) Funnel Metallic permanent marker Ingredients: One 750 ml jug plus one half pint vodka 2 pounds lemons 6 cups water 2 1 / 2 cups sugar Zest lemons in long strips; leave out pith. Put zest into the vodka and let stand in the dark for between 3 and 40 days, shaking at least twice a day. In the meantime, dec- orate flasks with metallic marker. Even a simple Limoncello looks nice. On day three the peels should be pale, indicating that the oil has been extracted. Heat water and sugar over low heat until sugar dissolves into clear simple syrup. Let cool to room temperature. Pour in infused vodka through strainer—you don’t want the zest. Stir. Funnel Infused Oil and Vinegar vodka into bottles and This is so easy you might think you’re doing it wrong, store in freezer—limon- but it’s fairly time-consuming so plan accordingly. cello is best served chilled. Tell your loved Materials: ones that; they’ll think Gigantic pot you’re sophisticated. Tongs Stainless steel or enamel pots, preferably with pourer

Small funnel Y (3) Coffee filters Fine mesh strainer Large bowl JIM NEWBERR Cruets or decanters ($4.99-$6.99 each, Container Store) or, if you’re on a budget, used soy- or hot-sauce bottles with the labels removed. Six ounces is big enough; you don’t Some suggestions (all use white wine vinegar unless otherwise noted): want to give much more of this stuff because it will start Banana pepper oil with pomegranate or balsamic pear vinegar to go bad after a few weeks. Oregano and sun-dried chile oil and basil vinegar Ingredients for six ounces of infused oil: Garlic, rosemary, peppercorn, and lemon zest oil with 1 cup plain olive oil balsamic red onion vinegar Fresh herbs (one four-inch sprig, torn or crushed in hand), Garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and red pepper flake oil with pepper flakes (one teaspoon), garlic (four peeled and halved red wine tarragon vinegar cloves), nuts (1 / 4 cup), lemon zest (one long peel), roots (one inch-long chunk), or any other goodies you want in there Wash bottles and boil in big pot to sterilize. Let dry completely. (just eyeball ’em) Simmer oil and ingredients in stainless or enamel pot on medium low or medium for 15-20 minutes. They’ll get a little crispy and brown but Ingredients for six ounces of infused vinegar: shouldn’t burn. Put vinegar and ingredients in another pot on low. 1 1 / 2 cups white wine, red wine, or balsamic vinegar with at Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Don’t boil for more than a few minutes tops. least 5 percent acidity (it will say on the bottle) Let everything cool. Fresh fruit (a cup of berries or a handful of slices), tea (one bag), herbs, or anything else (see specifics for oil). Seriously, Strain mixtures into bowls. Discard solids. Insert fresh garnish in bot- go wild—it’s hard to screw this up. tles if desired. Line funnel with coffee filter and pour oil and vinegar Combine unusual but complementary sets of ingredients that into separate bottles. Attach a note that encourages quick use or can stand alone or be mixed together to make a dressing. mentions an expiration date. Store in fridge. CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 25 26 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 27 28 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 29

[snip] Fear of flying. “Imagine that it is 1900,” writes J. Storrs Hall of Nanorex Inc. in the Futurist. “Some people (like the Wright brothers) believe heavier-than-air flight is possible, and others don’t. Some people have become alarmed by the idea, and they spin out ascenario in which a group of bandits builds a plane, at the level of a World War II B29 bomber. In 1900, such a group could have leveled Washington without resistance and dictated terms to the country. An alarmist might well have drawn such a picture and urged that heavier-than-air research be banned. People building kites and wood-and-silk gliders would have scoffed at the proposed capabilities of a B29.... Such alarmism and scoffing can clearly be seen in public discussions of nanotechnology today. Neither side has a handle on the truth.” —HH

continued from page 16 serpentine work on paper composed would be fun to do it in a contem- artists like Golub selling for upward of foot-long segments by 215 artists. porary vein,” Hiebert says. of $6,000. But the gallery has been Jules Feiffer made the head, Ed But for Hiebert and Block, “con- able to stay in business, Pascale says, Paschke the tail. Hiebert admits temporary” is often only a relative thanks to a low overhead, an “inter- that some of the plotters feared term. “I love them because they’re esting stable of important artists,” Block would be too surprised. “I extremely old-fashioned,” says and its owners’ ability to cultivate might have a heart attack,” Block Niffenegger. “They’ve got their long-term relationships with clients. told an Art on Paper writer covering roles. They don’t tread on each “[Printworks] has a print-cabinet the show. “But it would be worth it.” other. They’re very kind and courtly atmosphere where you’ll find a vari- “The Art of the Bookplate” isn’t as and low-key in a certain way that ety of things—some on the walls, S-FERRIS elaborate, though Niffenegger says makes them easy to be with, so I can some in bins, some in drawers,”he the initial list of artists was “three see how they’ve managed to be says. “It’s like a one-on-one personal times as long as the number of peo- together for so long.” relationship—you don’t get this ELEANOR SPIES ple who could be in the show.” “Somebody once said that, not mass-marketing thing at all. That’s Hiebert got the idea for the exhibit counting spouses, you only have one the way dealing was.” months secretly coordinating a col- earlier this year, when he came or two good friends in your lifetime,” Two years ago Hiebert and laborative project as a surprise gift. across a book, The Art of the says Hiebert. “And obviously, Niffenegger pulled off the most Lured into the nearby Jean Albano Bookplate by James Keenan, which Sidney’s mine.” ambitious of the gallery’s occasional Gallery on December 16, Block was featured works by the likes of “I feel the same way,” says Block. “I themed group exhibits: to celebrate greeted by hundreds of well-wish- Albrecht Durer, William Hogarth, feel very privileged to do this with Block’s 80th birthday, they spent 14 ers—and The Exquisite Snake, a and Paul Revere. “We thought it Bob every day.” v 30 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

[snip] You know what they’d say if they dared. Writing in Slate, Meghan O’Rourke points out that in recent diatribes against premarital sex, paleoconservatives Leon Kass (University of Chicago) and Harvey Mansfield (Harvard) agreed to fight on their opponents’ turf, saying things like “Without mod- esty, there is no romance”—in effect acknowledging that the language of sin won’t play anymore. Instead “they cast the sexual revolution as something that makes women unhappy, couching their critique in the Our Town fuzzy language of gratification and personal gain that we Oprah-raised kids can relate to.” —HH

Council Follies ill foie gras be banned from the restau- the abuse of prisoners in Iraq. But Mayor Daley W rants of Chicago? Next week the City has noted that a ban could open the door to a Some Animals Are Just Council is scheduled to vote on Alderman Joe slew of other animal rights causes. “What is the More Delicious Than Others Moore’s bill to outlaw the sale of the livers of fat- next issue?” he said. “Chicken? Beef? Fish?” tened ducks. Certain animal rights activists link Good question. We put it to the animal By Mick Dumke the violent force-feeding of the doomed ducks to rights champions.

THE PROBLEM WHOSE CAUSE IS IT?POSSIBLE LEGISLATION JOE MOORE SAYS

Elephant abuse. Three elephants Alderman Mary Ann Smith, Smith has submitted an ordinance that would “I met with a couple of activists who’ve been floating in the Lincoln Park Zoo died between Paul McCartney, P!nk, People guarantee each zoo elephant in Chicago at that. I told them I support Alderman Smith’s ordinance.” October 2004 and May 2005. Chains, for the Ethical Treatment of least five acres of roaming space. Circuses hooks, and electric prods are often Animals (PETA) would be forbidden training techniques used to train circus elephants. that could cause pain or injury.

Veal. It’s the meat of calves that are “I think most people are sympathetic to calves Forbid the sale of veal within the city. “It’s one thing to ban the sale of something kept confined to limit muscle fiber. because they can relate them to dogs,” says Danielle very few people consume. It’s quite another Marino, Chicago director of Mercy for Animals. to ban veal Parmesan.”

Overuse of antibiotics in “It’s not good for the animals and it’s not good for Require Chicago to buy only from vendors whose It’s a school lunch issue, so “that’s a Board raising farm animals. people,” says Richard Wood, executive director of meat has been produced without the “routine” use of Education call.” Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT). of antibiotics.

Chickens suffer in overcrowded Organic food and animal rights advocates. “Chickens Restrict groceries and restaurants to using cage-free “I don’t want to go down too many of these cages that foster salmonella do feel pain,” says Marino. eggs, which cost more. other roads—I can lose focus.” and other pathogens.

The physical and emotional anguish suffered by “I’m not opposed to rodeos—I’m opposed to cruelty at Follow Pittsburgh’s lead and prohibit rodeos from “Quite frankly, I’m hesitant to really weigh in on a lot performing animals. For instance, rodeo cowboys rodeos,” says Steve Hindi, president of Showing using buck straps, electric prods, and similar devices. of this, because if we’re not careful, it plays into [my use cattle prods, and they tighten a strap to cause Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK). “Look at calf Some argue for a complete ban on the use of animals critics’] slippery slope argument.” horses to buck. lassoing—can you imagine doing these things to a in circuses and rodeos. three- or four-month-old puppy?”

Cosmetics and other products are tested on animals The National Anti-Vivisection Society says: “The man- Make it illegal to test cosmetic “Again, I’m not as familiar with the issue, before they’re deemed safe for human use. ufacturers of cosmetics and household products claim products on animals in Chicago. but it makes sense to me.” that they perform tests on animals to ensure the safety of their products under customary use or possible abuse when in reality it is to limit the company’s liability to its customers in case of a lawsuit.”

Declawing. Feline advocates say it’s inhumane and “It’s a big issue,” says Peggy Asseo, vice president of A council ban. “I have owned cats in the past, and I like traumatic—like amputating a human’s fingers at the Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) Chicago. to protect my furniture.” first set of knuckles.

Every year, thousands of migrating birds die when Chicago Bird Collision Monitors and Audubon Chicago Aldermen could make “lights “It’s like everything else—every group has important the lights atop Chicago high-rises disorient them at are among groups that have persuaded high-rise out” a law rather than a choice issues they work on, and I have a lot on my plate.” night and they smash into buildings or the ground. managers to shut off their lights at night. Says during the spring and fall Audubon’s Judy Pollock, “We estimate that maybe migration seasons. 10,000 [birds] are saved each fall.”

Fur and leather: Animals are raised in confinement “With every pair of leather shoes that you buy, you sen- Leather and fur could be heavily taxed, restricted, Fur and leather will remain legal. “I think and then killed. Plenty of plant-based or synthetic tence an animal to a lifetime of suffering,” says PETA. or banned. those are safe bets.” materials are now available as alternatives.

Exploiting animals as PETA quashed a high school “kiss-a-pig contest,” pres- Pass a no-exploitation ordinance. “Every law we pass is a matter of drawing a line mascots or as objects of sured a car dealership to stop using a chimpanzee in between conduct that shocks the conscience and goes derision. its ads, and persuaded a church to cease holding a against the values of our society and other behavior “chicken poop bingo game,” in which participants that’s deemed boorish and you wouldn’t want your gambled on where the birds would relieve themselves. children engaged in, but doesn’t rise to the level of needing legislative oversight.”

Internet hunting.From the Virginia congressman Tom Davis and state represen- The Illinois bill is going nowhere, but the City Council “I’m kind of amazed by that. Can you shoot at people?” comfort of home, “hunters” tative Susana Mendoza of Chicago have each intro- could see to it that no one can “operate, provide, sell, [or] point and click to remotely control duced legislation prohibiting online hunting. use” software or Web sites that allow Internet hunting. weapons on a hunting range. CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 31

[snip] This movie rated XXX for nicotine content. A study published in Pediatrics found that the more teenagers see people smoking in movies, the more likely they are to try it. That’s even after controlling for sociodemographic factors; friend, sibling, or parent smoking; school performance; personality characteristics; and their parents’ parenting style. Two percent of those who were least exposed to smoking in movies and 22 percent of those most exposed had tried it. —HH

member, “we didn’t come up with the But the Other Grammys didn’t go ond time. After the club has success- idea of honoring the Black Panthers. down easy. This year “there was just fully started its act, a fan dance, I pull The Schools She did. So we thought, Who better more hostility on the part of some of him aside to ask whether he thinks to make the presentation than her? the students,” says a senior AAC the controversy is good. “Yes and no,” Plus we thought it would kind of member. One student, “who’s in a he says. “I think some of the teachers Others in Arms shock people to see a Jewish girl who position of leadership here at the here are very comfortable, and probably knows more about the school, said that she was going to stab because I, along with my students, On the scene at a Black Panther Party than they do. I all of the members of AAC in the tend to challenge and/or question controversial ceremony guess we were right.” neck for having to deal with our crap.” what I think is a very Eurocentric cur- The Other Grammys, a talent show The controversy persisted until riculum, it causes tension. But it’s that By Vernal Coleman with race-themed student presenta- September, when after a town hall same tension that gets reporters down he lights go dark in the cafete- tions, is the brainchild of the African meeting and a number of discussions here to cover this event. And that is ria at Jones College Prep in the American Club and their faculty with school officials, the Chicago definitely a good thing.” T South Loop. As Public Enemy’s adviser, literature teacher William Public Schools’ legal department As the evening wraps up, Jones “Fight the Power” blares over the McHenry. It started last year as a determined that the AAC could not principal Donald Fraynd joins sound system a line of black-clad way to recognize students of distinc- hold an awards ceremony that was McHenry onstage to thank the hon- students, right arms raised and fists tion who, according to McHenry, not open to every student. orees and laud the efforts of McHenry clenched, begins marching from each were not normally recognized “When we were told that we had to and the AAC. At 33, Fraynd is signifi- corner toward the stripe of red car- because “they were a part of a partic- honor straight white males,” says cantly younger than the teachers AAC pet that divides the room. ular minority.” McHenry, “we changed the focus and members consider hostile toward the Left, left, left, right, left... Despite the name, the Other decided to honor people and organi- Grammys. Were it not for his suit and Panthers, halt! Grammys aren’t confined to music. zations from outside of the school.” five o’clock shadow, he could almost The spotlight shifts toward an Students are nominated in categories According to some AAC members be mistaken for a student. empty mike stand. A student appears like excellence in science, activist of the change did little to alleviate the As the seats empty I walk over and and picks up the microphone. “A the year, and athlete of the year, with tension. “I think the teachers and the ask him whether he thinks the con- school administrator once admon- the winners to be determined by stu- students that have problems with us flict is generational. “It’s not related ished me for wearing a Black dent vote. This year a rule was added and the Other Grammys don’t want to age,” he says. “It’s related to expo- Panthers T-shirt,” she says. “She said to the contest: nominees could not to understand,” says one senior mem- sure to these types of conversations. they were a violent gang indicted by be straight white males. ber, milling about before a presenta- Though it might make some of them the U.S. government under the RICO The words “This event is racist” tion in honor of Sam Greenlee, uncomfortable, it’s necessary that we Act. Such are the ignorant gatekeep- began showing up on some of the whose 1969 cult satire The Spook allow for a rich and diverse debate on ers of society that through their igno- submitted ballots. “Some of the stu- Who Sat by the Door was later made these issues.” He looks at the students rance hinder understanding.” dents called me a racist,” says into a movie. “They don’t want peo- now scattering around the cafeteria. A murmur rises from the seats. McHenry. “I was called, by some of ple questioning ideas because that “It’s part of this school’s mission to “That’s what I love about this,” says the teachers, an angry black man. shakes up the status quo. But honest- graduate students who are both a member of the school’s African Some asked, How can he discrimi- ly, we like the controversy because it socially just and able to reflect on American Club, the sponsor of the nate against the straight white male? forces people into a discussion about how race shapes their experience not night’s event. “People who think it’s Some said they were going to create issues of race and individuality. And only at Jones but in greater society.” just about black people miss the point their own club, the White Male Club. regardless of whether they realize it As Fraynd walks off, an AAC mem- entirely. This is about challenging And I said, Hey that’s wonderful—do or not, by participating in the discus- ber who has been standing beside us people’s preconceptions about race.” that. Our goal is not to exclude any- sion, we’re all learning.” taps me on the shoulder. “How many Unlike the 16 participants standing body but to include people who are McHenry, draped in a purple dashi- white students do you see here?” he at attention in front of the stage, the not celebrated. The straight white ki, hurries about in an effort to make asks. “Only a couple,” I say. “Well girl at the mike is white. males of this school can still come out sure that the audio for the Asian then,” he says, “obviously the school “Actually,” continues the AAC and support their fellow students.” Club’s presentation doesn’t fail a sec- has got a lot of work to do.” v

Need an expert?

See Services, in Classifieds 32 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

Project Reality

continued from page 1 al funds, a program had to have of Project Reality claim that in its released a survey of 335 Illinois “as its exclusive purpose teaching zeal to discourage premarital sex sex-ed teachers; it found that 39 the social, physiological, and it sometimes distorts the facts, percent of them rely on free health gains to be realized by especially when it comes to what classroom materials. abstaining from sexual activity.” kids who are choosing to have sex The rise of abstinence-only It also had to teach that “a mutu- can do to protect themselves programs, a cause supported by ally faithful monogamous rela- against pregnancy and disease. the right, has turned the state’s tionship in the context of mar- Both Navigator and Game classrooms into a battleground riage is the expected standard of Plan include thorough descrip- in the culture wars, with liberals human sexual activity” and that tions of STDs and frank discus- charging that the approach is “sexual activity outside of the sions of the consequences of teen judgmental and unrealistic. They context of marriage is likely to pregnancy, but as the Navigator want government funding for have harmful psychological and teacher’s manual says, “Navigator their own brand of sex ed. In physical effects.” In 2001 the does not promote the use of con- March Senator Carol Ronen, a Bush administration used the traceptives for teens.” In its dis- Democrat from Chicago, spon- same guidelines to create a new cussion of teen pregnancy Game sored a bill that would counter stream of funding for abstinence Plan says, “Is ‘birth control’ the the $2.8 million the federal gov- education, setting aside $80 mil- answer? Consider this fact: Most ernment gave the state for absti- lion, a figure that jumped to unintended pregnancies (53%) nence-only programs last year $167 million in 2005. occurred among women who with $2.5 million in state money Over the years Sullivan, who’s were using birth control.” for comprehensive sex education, seen as politically astute by both Navigator cites the same statistic. which combines lessons about liberals and conservatives, gar- The source of this information abstinence with detailed infor- nered more and more federal is the Alan Guttmacher Institute, mation about contraception. abstinence money, and Project a nonprofit that researches sex- Libby Gray Macke, director of Reality’s current director, Macke, ual and reproductive health. Project Reality, says comprehen- is also proving adept at acquiring “The statistic as cited is taken sive sex ed offers a dangerous those funds. Of the $2.8 million out of context,” writes Rebecca “mixed message,” especially for in federal monies the state got Wind, spokesperson at the insti- young people. She argues that last year, $1.2 million went to tute, in an e-mail. “As originally when it comes to sex, kids will be Project Reality. The organization, written, this statistic illustrates safest and healthiest if they learn which has a yearly budget of the effectiveness of contracep- one unwavering rule: wait for around $1.3 million, also got a tion. Nearly half of unintended your wedding day. small federal grant to evaluate its pregnancies (47%) occur among high school programs, and in the 7% of women who do not roject Reality was founded in October it was awarded another use any contraception, while the P 1985 by Kathleen Sullivan, a federal grant to take its services organization also has a small remainder (53%) occur among longtime conservative activist. It to the District of Columbia and corps of its own teachers who visit the 93% of women who were received generous federal funding parts of New Mexico and Florida. schools, often spending a couple using birth control.” from the beginning, starting with hours a week for a few weeks Neither textbook offers any a $391,000 grant. The money going through one of the books. information about birth-control went to promote abstinence using According to the March survey In August I sat in as one of those methods or their effectiveness. Sex Respect, which would become of Illinois sex-ed teachers, about teachers, Jose Feliciano, went “No contraceptive device is guar- one of the most widely used absti- through a chapter in Game Plan anteed to prevent pregnancy,” nence-only curricula in the nation. two-thirds didn’t teach students with a group of middle and high states the Navigator teacher’s Sex Respect became the target school students at the Mooseheart manual. That’s true, but the of lawsuits filed by people who how to use a condom or any School, a residential facility near degree of protection can be very believed the use of its materials Batavia for kids who’ve lost their high. The Guttmacher Institute in public schools violated the other form of birth control. parents or come from troubled has found that in the first year of constitutional principle regarding homes. He asked them to put on taking the pill the failure rate with the separation of church and Federal abstinence money also and no judgmental statements their “imagination helmets” and “perfect use” is 0.3 percent. With state. In 1992 a group of parents goes to around 30 other Illinois about the AIDS and herpes epi- twiddle the knobs. As they tenta- “typical use”—which includes and activists in Shreveport, organizations, mostly social serv- demics. But groups such as the tively placed their hands on their occasionally forgetting to take it— Louisiana, sued the local school ice agencies. ACLU complain that abstinence- heads he said, “Imagine yourself the failure rate is 8 percent. board for using Sex Respect texts, Liberals often say that the fed- only programs sometimes con- that you’re going to the future, ten Used right, condoms can also claiming they contained religious eral government has never direct- tain a religious message, even if years down the line.” The kids list- provide good protection. In references and medically inaccu- ly funded comprehensive sex it’s not overt. Navigator includes ed the things they hoped to have 2000 the National Institutes of rate information. Among the pas- education; that’s technically true, a testimonial from a woman by then: an education, three kids, a Health, along with a group of sages they objected to: “No one though it does fund HIV-preven- named Pam Stengel about a house, an impact on someone’s life, other federal agencies, convened can deny that nature is making tion and safe-sex programs that teenage girl who was raped and a car, a dog. Abstinence, Feliciano a panel to evaluate existing some kind of comment on sexual are open to teens through agen- decided not to have an abortion promised them, would make all research on the effectiveness of behavior through the AIDS and cies such as the Centers for but to have the baby and put it up these goals easier to achieve. condoms. According to one clini- herpes epidemics” and “Attend Disease Control and Prevention. for adoption; Stengel turns out to Among the Project Reality cal trial, when couples had used worship services regularly.” The Nationwide, comprehensive sex- have been that baby, and she says videos teachers can use is First them consistently and correctly parents won, and the school ed programs outnumber absti- she wishes she could tell her bio- Comes Love, in which a fit, for six months pregnancy board was required to black out nence-only ones, but since the logical mother, “Thank you for square-jawed man identified as occurred 1.1 percent of the time. the offending material. mid-90s abstinence-only pro- giving me life.” Project Reality Dan calls six students to the The rate was higher for people Project Reality stopped using grams have gained ground and also sells a video for young chil- front of the room, gives each of who were less experienced in Sex Respect in 1993 after a are now in around 35 percent of dren, You Are a Masterpiece, in them a plastic cup and a package using condoms. The National falling out with the curriculum’s schools. According to the March which a honey-voiced female nar- of Cheetos, and pours water into Survey of Family Growth looked writer. It had begun to develop survey of Illinois sex-ed teachers, rator explains that life begins at each cup. He tells them to at couples in their first year of its own materials—with the help over a third of them taught that conception. Still, most sex-educa- munch on some Cheetos, take a using condoms and found that of dramatic increases in federal abstinence is the only way to tion experts would agree with a sip of water, swish everything with “typical use”—which funding for abstinence-only pro- avoid STDs and pregnancy, and lot of the books’ and videos’ con- around in their mouths, and spit includes condoms breaking, slip- grams. In 1996 Congress about two-thirds didn’t teach stu- tent, including the information into the cup. Then trade cups. ping off, or being used inconsis- attached a provision to the wel- dents how to use a condom or on establishing boundaries in Then take a drink. The class tently—the woman got pregnant fare-reform bill earmarking any other form of birth control. relationships, understanding the explodes in nervous laughter. 14 percent of the time. In their $250 million annually for absti- onslaught of sexual images in the “You’re not going to do it, right?” second year of using condoms nence education; states had to roject Reality publishes and media, setting goals for the he says. “Why not, Jasmine?” that rate dropped by half. come up with matching funds for P distributes two textbooks that future, and seeing abstinence as “That’s nasty,” she says, her Both Navigator and Game roughly three-fourths of what are widely used in Illinois and the only way to guarantee that eyes widening. Plan show labels typically found they got. Conservatives argued other states: A.C. Green’s Game you won’t get pregnant or get Dan turns to the class and on condom packages, which that funding abstinence-only sex Plan for middle school kids, infected with an STD. says, “So when it comes to sexual include the instruction to “read ed would discourage teen preg- named for the famously virginal Most of the time Project activity, anything in one person’s directions and warnings on car- nancy and out-of-wedlock births, NBA “Iron Man,”and Navigator Reality’s books are used by body gets transferred to another.” ton.” Navigator’s teacher’s manu- reducing the public burden of for high schoolers. They contain schoolteachers as part of their It’s a harsh yet basically true al asks, “What kinds of things “welfare moms.” To get the feder- no explicit religious references regular classroom lessons, but the message about STDs. But critics have warnings?” The recom- CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 33

Navigator also has charts STDs are transmitted skin to He tells them to munch on some Cheetos, showing, correctly, that the high- skin, but the book offers no evi- est rates of gonorrhea and dence that the people who got take a sip of water, swish everything around chlamydia occur in people ages infected were using condoms. 15 to 19. It asks, “How do you One of Navigator’s case studies in their mouths, and spit into the cup. explain the fact that the age is “Sherri,” who was relying on group reporting the highest rates condoms for protection but Then trade cups. Then take a drink. of condom usage also have the developed cervical cancer after highest rates of chlamydia and becoming infected with human mended answer: “Things that are One chart shows an increase in decrease in STDs overall—which gonorrhea?” The answer stated papillomavirus, or HPV. This is a dangerous.” Project Reality head condom use over a 13-year span. is not the case. Rather, as con- in the teacher’s manual: “There common sexually transmitted Macke says condoms give kids a Another shows an increase in the dom usage has increased, so have are many possible reasons for disease: the CDC reports that at false sense of confidence: “They rate of chlamydia infection over rates of STDs.” According to the this phenomenon, including con- least half of sexually active men have the impression that if they roughly the same period. The Centers for Disease Control and doms being used inconsistently and women will get a genital use them nothing will happen. teacher’s manual says, “If con- Prevention, chlamydia rates have or incorrectly and condoms HPV infection at some point in There is still a risk. We feel it’s doms were effective against indeed gone up, but the number breaking or slipping. Some STDs their lives. There are more than important to point out the truth.” STDs, it would be reasonable to of cases of gonorrhea has are transmitted by skin-to-skin 100 strains of HPV, 30 of which Navigator includes a page of expect that an increase in con- declined to the lowest level on contact on areas not covered by a are sexually transmitted. charts labeled “Just the Facts.” dom usage would correlate to a record in the United States. condom.” It’s true that some continued on page 34 34 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

Project Reality

continued from page 33 sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS organizations such as the Chica- but the next time Jared came over or their suicide attempts. According to the CDC, “Most with consistent condom usage.” go Planned Parenthood are pro- he brought a condom. I looked at Supporters of abstinence-only people who become infected It doesn’t explain that the panel moting for Illinois schools. “Be him with disgust because he was curricula don’t seem to be asking with HPV will not have any culled this finding from studies Proud! Be Responsible!” is only thinking about himself. I what the psychological effects symptoms and will clear the of couples in which one partner indeed on a Planned Parenthood grabbed the condom and threw it are of telling sexually active teens infection on their own.”But it already had HIV. list of 30 recommended sex-edu- across the room telling him to get that having sex before marriage emphasizes that some strains “We didn’t really get into the cation curricula, though that list out of my house.” In the end she will give you a bad reputation or cause genital warts and cancer. logistics of the studies,” says also includes “Smart Moves,” decides to save sex for marriage, that sex is like drinking someone Regular Pap tests allow doc- Macke. “We felt like the teachers which Planned Parenthood says restoring her “confidence else’s spit-out bits of Cheetos. Or tors to catch cervical cancer early could read the study themselves.” “has a single message of avoiding and ...hope for the future.” what the effects are of telling gay enough to treat it, but Sherri’s She points out that Game Plan sex, drugs, alcohol and tobacco”; Both Navigator and Game Plan and lesbian teenagers that sex is story doesn’t mention this, lists an Internet address for the “The Dynamics of Relation- emphasize that premarital sex can permissible only inside mar- though Project Reality’s manuals full report. “We’re not trying to ships,”which is designed to help lead to depression, anger, bitter- riage. Project Reality’s textbooks do state the importance of get- downplay the fact that there is kids develop social skills; and ness, and a “bad reputation.”In don’t discuss homosexuality. ting tested for STDs in general. some effectiveness involved.” “Postponing Sexual Involve- First Comes Love a motivational Macke says that if students have The teacher’s manual for Game In her view, Project Reality ment,”designed for teens and speaker warns an auditorium full questions about their sexual ori- Plan quotes the panel sponsored doesn’t need to emphasize the their parents. Planned Parent- of high school students not to play entation, teachers should refer by the National Institutes of protection condoms do afford, hood also encourages teachers to “condom roulette,”and someone them to counselors or their own Health: “There was no epidemio- because kids can get plenty of review materials to make sure else says that even if condoms “family values.” logic evidence that condom use information about them in our they’re appropriate. protect you from disease or preg- Masturbation isn’t discussed reduced the risk of HPV infec- either. Macke says it too should tion.” It doesn’t include the sec- be addressed within families. ond half of that sentence: “But Project Reality’s textbooks show labels The books do say that all sexu- study results did suggest that typically found on condom packages. A al activity is off-limits before condom use might afford some marriage, a ban that includes protection in reducing the risk of teacher’s manual asks, “What kinds of things “any type of genital contact or HPV-associated diseases, includ- sexual stimulation.” Macke con- ing warts in men and cervical have warnings?” The recommended answer: cedes that this is a tall order for neoplasia in women.” teenagers with raging hormones. The Game Plan teacher’s man- “Things that are dangerous.” She recommends that they redi- ual also has a chart showing that rect their urges into schoolwork the NIH panel found that studies sex-saturated culture. She also nancy some of the time, they or athletics and says they can on whether condoms protect argues that programs that do ex outside marriage, Project “don’t protect the heart.”Another acknowledge their sexual feel- against trichomoniasis, chlamy- teach kids how to use condoms S Reality stresses, has emotion- Project Reality video, Teen ings by talking to trusted adults, dia, herpes, syphilis, and gonor- are inappropriate and much too al consequences and can be Sexually Transmitted Disease: seeking the support of their rhea in women were inconclu- sexually explicit. As evidence, she destructive. Navigator features a The Rules Have Changed, states friends, and finding nonsexual sive. It doesn’t say that the panel cites examples from a text for a an story about a young woman that teen sex increases the likeli- ways to “communicate their love noted that some of the studies HIV-prevention curriculum, “Be named Kimberly who was sexu- hood of suicide. and respect.”And she empha- weren’t thorough or well Proud! Be Responsible!” The ally abused by an older friend at In 2003 the Heritage Founda- sizes that if they manage to hold designed, or that the panel’s teacher’s manual suggests that the age of 12 and whose later sex- tion, a conservative think tank, out they’ll be richly rewarded. An report states, “The Panel stressed students “brainstorm ways to ual relationships made her feel did a study using data from the entire chapter of both Navigator that the absence of definitive increase spontaneity and the like- “empty and hurt and broken.” federally funded National Longi- and Game Plan is devoted to the conclusions reflected inadequa- lihood they’ll use condoms. ... Sex with a college boyfriend, tudinal Study of Adolescent benefits of marriage. The manual cies of the evidence available and Examples: store condoms under Jared, is no better: “I didn’t feel Health, which tracked 20,000 12- of Game Plan recommends should not be interpreted as mattress, eroticize condom use loved by having sex with him—I to 18-year-olds, beginning in 1995 teachers draw a diagram on the proof of the adequacy or inade- with a partner, use condoms as a felt like he took something from and following up with them in chalkboard showing that mar- quacy of the condom.” method of foreplay. ... Think up a me,”she says. “I asked him what 1997 and 2002. Heritage looked ried sex offers “emotional bond- The manual also cites the sexual fantasy using condoms. ... he would do if I got pregnant at 2,800 14- to 17-year-olds and ing,”“pleasure,”and “fun.” panel’s conclusion that “consis- Act sexy/sensual when putting the and he said he would come visit found that the ones who were tent condom use decreased the condom on. ... Hide them on once in a while but otherwise he sexually active, especially girls, he big question is, do absti- risk of HIV/AIDS transmission your body and ask your partner to had goals and dreams he wanted were more likely to be depressed T nence-only programs work? by approximately 85%,” then find it. ... Tease each other manu- to pursue in life. I realized his and to attempt suicide. But it Project Reality’s programs have adds, “meaning that there is a 15 ally while putting on the condom.” plans really didn’t include me. ... offers no hard evidence that hav- been evaluated by John Lyons of percent relative risk for hetero- This, says Macke, is what Fortunately, I wasn’t pregnant, ing sex caused their depression Northwestern University’s med- CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 35

ical school, who found that stu- Hispanics and African-Americans dents who went through the cur- In Macke’s view, Project Reality doesn’t need to are at particular risk. Illinois has ricula had a more positive view of the tenth-highest Hispanic teen abstinence. But the most telling emphasize the protection condoms do afford, birth rate and the third-highest studies go beyond teens’ attitudes African-American rate. and look at their behavior. because kids can get plenty of information STDs are also a growing prob- One thorough assessment of lem: one in four sexually active sex-ed programs comes from the about them in our sex-saturated culture. kids ages 15 to 19 gets an STD nonpartisan National Campaign each year. And the rates of STDs to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. In a most telling, 61 percent of of pledgers and nonpledgers was journal, standard procedure for among African-American teens in 2002 report called “Emerging pledgers had premarital sex before statistically significant and that scientific papers if their findings Illinois are staggering: they Answers” researcher Douglas the end of the study (compared to there was “a broad array of posi- are to be seen as credible. account for 58 percent of AIDS Kirby looked at a wide range of 90 percent of nonpledgers). tive outcomes associated with The outcome of this debate cases among adolescents, 74 per- sex-ed programs. He says around When this study came out the virginity pledging,”including matters, because kids are desper- cent of gonorrhea cases, 56 per- 75 studies have been done in sev- Heritage Foundation quickly fewer teen pregnancies and out- ately in need of sex education that cent of chlamydia cases, and 84 eral countries on comprehensive analyzed the same data, and in of-wedlock births. No outside works. Teen pregnancy has percent of syphilis cases. Critics of sex-education programs. “The June it announced that the scientist has yet resolved the dis- declined steeply—33 percent abstinence-only programs argue evidence is very strong that they Bruckner-Bearman study was pute, but it’s worth noting that to from 1991 to 2004—but the U.S. that it’s simply wrong to steer do not increase sexual behavior,” misleading and inaccurate. The date the Heritage report hasn’t still has the highest teen-pregnan- these kids away from using con- he says. “About two-thirds of all Heritage analysis found that the been peer-reviewed or submitted cy rate of any Western industrial- doms if they’re going to have sex. of them are effective, in that they difference between the STD rates for publication in a scientific ized nation. Across the country continued on page 36 have a positive effect on one or more behaviors.”He says that no abstinence-only programs have been found effective but then they haven’t been studied thor- oughly enough yet. Other researchers say there is some good evidence on abstinence-only programs. In March 2005 Hannah Bruckner, a sociologist from Yale, and Peter Bearman, chair of the sociology department at Columbia University, published a study on the effectiveness of virginity pledges using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. They found that virginity pledges helped teenagers delay sex for about 18 months—a long time in the life of a teen—and that pledgers had fewer sex partners and got married earlier than those who didn’t pledge. But the researchers also found that pledgers and nonpledgers had similar STD infection rates and that the differences were statistically insignificant: among whites the rate was 2.8 percent for pledgers and 3.5 percent for nonpledgers, among Hispanics it was 6.7 percent and 8.6 percent, and among African-Americans 18.1 and 20.3 percent. In part this was because pledgers were less likely to use contraceptives the first time they had sex. For example, 40 percent of boys who pledged used condoms, compared with 59 percent of boys who didn’t pledge. There was also evidence that pledgers were “less aware of their STD status” before the researchers tested them. Nonpledging girls were twice as likely as their pledging peers to go to a clinic to get tested for an STD. And perhaps 36 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE

Project Reality

continued from page 35 riculum to teens through local n a humid morning in organizations and in the Chicago Macke recommends that teenagers redirect O August at Sullivan House Public Schools. Harding is all for Alternative High School, a low- safe sex. “We need condoms in their urges into schoolwork or athletics and slung building on the city’s far here,”she says. But then she south side, Rose Harding is adds, “I was just grateful to get says they can acknowledge their sexual feelings teaching a parenting class for programs this year.” Besides, she four 17-year-olds. Spider (the thought, her students might take by talking to trusted adults, seeking the students’ names in this section away some “positive messages” have been changed) is lying on a from a class on abstinence. support of their friends, and finding nonsexual cot resting his head on his arm. Battered copy of Game Plan in He has a baby daughter. Derek hand, Jacobs steps into the dark- ways to “communicate their love and respect.” has two children, and Anita is ened classroom. Reluctantly, pregnant and has a child at Anita turns off the movie, and the says Spider. get STDs. “We’re talking about “You talking about having it?” home. Only Phillip isn’t a parent. kids drag their chairs into a circle. Jacobs asks the kids what hap- cancer. Cancer of the penis. A lot says Spider. They’re watching a Will Smith Jacobs, who’s already gone pens when you try to play foot- of times we have sexually trans- “Yes.” movie while they wait for Crystal through several chapters of the ball without any rules. mitted diseases which can go “Your child could have it too?” Jacobs of ABJ Community book with the class, settles into “Crushed,” says Phillip. untreated. We’re talking about he says. “That would mess up Services and Christian her seat. “Today we’re going to be “In the hospital,” says Spider. AIDS. We put that in a category by his life.” Community Health Services, talking about consequences,” she “It’s the same thing with sex,” itself. Now I ask you, how would “I speak as a single parent,” who’s spent the past several years says. “Physical, emotional, social.” says Jacobs, explaining that when this affect your life?” No one says says Jacobs. “It’s a heavy burden. teaching an abstinence-only cur- “I’m feeling you all the way,” you have sex without rules you can anything. “Cancer,” she says. Ninety-seven percent of the time CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 37

I don’t matter. That’s how I feel.” “You have to do what you’re “Sex is only honorable in mar- “How you know that?” says says Spider. “I don’t want that.” “I still feel that way,” says Anita. supposed to do when you’re sup- riage,” Jacobs says primly. Spider. “She’s probably thinking “How do you feel about absti- “Can babies have an effect on posed to do it,” says Jacobs. “Who told you that?” says Spider. about someone else right now.” The nence?” says Jacobs. our finances?” says Jacobs. “That’s how to be successful in “It’s relig—I’m not allowed to boys break into raucous laughter. “I don’t tell no one how I feel,” Anita looks hard at her. “Yeah,” life.” She moves on to the next bring that in,” she says. “It’s a “That stuff in the Bible,” says says Spider. she says. topic. “Emotional. How did some- mutually monogamous relation- Spider, looking thoughtful, At the end of the class Harding “It’s not cost-efficient to be a body make you feel when you was ship. If I want a man to look I “maybe that’s true, but we don’t leans back in her chair looking single parent,” Jacobs says. engaged in this sexual activity?” want to leave something for the really know. Why not go with relieved. She says that in the past “Been wearing these flip-flops “Hurt,” says Derek. imagination. It would be biblically what you know?” when she’s brought someone in to all summer,” says Anita, looking “Lonely?” says Harding. sound, but I don’t go into that. But “Sex is not a public event,” says teach sex education, students have down at her feet. “No, no, no,” says Spider. “I most religions teach that it’s inside Jacobs. “That same young lady walked out. For many of them it “It has an effect on our educa- ain’t never been through noth- marriage. Let’s go to the hood.” you looking for, pure and sweet? was already too late. “They tion,” says Jacobs. “You want to ing like that.” The boys snicker. “You want to She’s looking for you.” already know they have HIV,” she be with your age group. Why As the class goes on he shakes holler at a female who’s tight, who During this discussion Anita says. “Their friends, their neigh- should you miss your prom?” his head more and more. At one you know she ain’t been out there. has kept her head down. Later bors died from gangs and drugs. “I don’t even care about that point Harding says disgustedly, “At That’s what you want, right?” Harding says the girl’s father is in They don’t care about death.” anymore,” says Anita. “I just the beach they let everything out. “Aw, yeah,” says Spider. jail, and her mother’s an addict, Spider has been standing near- miss sleep.” They’re having sex in the water.” “Just maybe she wants that so she’s living with her boyfriend. by listening. “I’m going to die “I miss sleep,” says Spider. “Aw, yeah,” says Spider, laughing. too,” says Jacobs, smiling. “You talking about innocent,” anyway,” he says, and smiles. v 38 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE Reviews Music Theater Books

Anniversary reissues from Bruce Springsteen Old Clown and the Wanted Sprawl: Dead Kennedys at Trap Door ACompact REVIEW BY MONICAKENDRICK Theatre History REVIEW BY JUSTIN HAYFORD by Robert

a Bruegmann 38 REVIEW BY HAROLD HENDERSON 40 42 T CHAPPELL a a Y KIT SALL

Music

DEAD KENNEDYS FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGETABLES: SPECIAL 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION CD + DVD (MANIFESTO) BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BORN TO RUN: 30TH ANNIVERSARY 3 DISC SET (COLUMBIA)

It’s the Economics, Stupid What could Bruce Springsteen and the Dead Kennedys possibly have in common?

By Monica Kendrick t’s a little jarring to be reminded now that these two I era-defining albums—which seem to lie on either side of a generation gap the size of Snake River Canyon—came out only five years apart. But if you were at an impressionable age in 1975, when Bruce Springsteen released Born to Run, or in 1980, when the Dead Kennedys put out Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, chances are those five years made all the difference in the world. Relative age matters TEEN) more the younger you are. I mean, do you feel the same way now about dating someone five years older as you did when you were 15?

I turned 6 and 11 the years PETER CUNNINGHAM (SPRINGS they were originally released— Dead Kennedys circa 1980, Bruce Springsteen circa 1975 my dad even bought the Dead Kennedys record, bless him— trends, they still are. Somebody frustration and despair of the inside and a reproduction of ognize the Boss for his contri- and caught up with them both somewhere in the world is hear- working class in ways that have the original insert—a punk-ass butions to American culture. around the same time, so they ing “Holiday in Cambodia” for yet to grow old. black-and-white photocopied Even though Republicans killed occupy similarly exalted places in the first time right now. The differences, of course, are collage salted with pictures of it, no doubt to remind everyone my consciousness. To my ears Somebody is listening to many, but perhaps the most John Wayne Gacy, Ronald that not even rock stars are Jello Biafra’s declamatory bray- “Thunder Road” in her car, important is that only one of Reagan, Travis Bickle, and allowed to back John Kerry and ing is an endearing minor irri- rolling down the window and let- these albums has made a shit- Howdy Doody. The DKs release escape retribution, can you tant, and no more compromises ting the wind blow back her hair load of money. This class dis- does come with a DVD of its imagine anybody so much as Fresh Fruit’s brilliance than the just like Bruce is telling her to. tinction is instantly apparent in own, which contains six songs’ mentioning the Dead Kennedys Boss sinks Born to Run with his In the past few weeks both the packaging of the reissues. worth of live footage and a on Capitol Hill? (I’m not even rambling beat-poetry riffs on records have been reissued in On one hand you’ve got a tony- decent documentary on the sure they came up during the “Jungleland” and “Backstreets.” special anniversary editions, and looking box set with a lovingly band called Fresh Fruit for infamous PMRC hearings in Jon Landau, the former so the natural thing to do is com- remastered version of the record Rotting Eyeballs. But my opin- 1985, since the Frankenchrist Rolling Stone writer who went pare them—which isn’t just an uncluttered by outtakes or alter- ion—that these records are obscenity prosecution didn’t on to serve as Bruce’s producer, apples-and-oranges proposition. nate versions, a slick photo book classics of roughly equal kick off till ’86.) manager, and Svengali, famously It’s like trying to choose between full of shots of Bruce at his sexi- stature—is obviously not a uni- Needless to say the DKs never called Springsteen rock ’n’ roll’s Guernica and Michelangelo’s est and hairiest, a 16-song DVD versal consensus. achieved Bruce’s iconic status or future back in 1974—but neither David. But they do have some- of a November 1975 live set in Springsteen, with or without pulled in the rock-star bucks, of these records was ever the thing in common: though they London, and a second DVD the E Street Band, continues to and that’s no doubt added ran- future of rock. They were its have yet to inspire an upwelling with a documentary on the make a shitload of money. Last cor to the squabbling over present—and in listener land, of fellowship between Bay Area making of the record. On the month senators Jon Corzine money that kept the band in the where there aren’t any critics punks in bondage pants and other you’ve got a pretty per- and Frank Lautenberg, both news in the late 90s. East Bay digging for the next big thing or New Jersey jamokes in denim functory double Digipak with a Democrats from New Jersey, Ray, Klaus Flouride, and D.H. record labels marketing fresh jackets, they both speak to the bare-bones discography on the sponsored a resolution to rec- Peligro have accused Biafra of CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 39

sitting on years of royalties time, and Springsteen and the If the passing decades have slightly harder going for me now. they’d want to live through. rather than disbursing them, DKs both knew it. Born to Run been kinder to one of these The DKs for sure never said in Faith in love—or the scornful hiring a lawyer and manager to romanticizes the mortal fuck out albums, it’s Fresh Fruit, probably eight minutes what could be said spurning of that faith—becomes steer cash to himself, and of the obsession with escape, ulti- because youthful bitterness ages in one—and if these albums were a social signifier, so that you attempting to take sole song- mately passing through that sen- better than youthful romanti- all I’d heard by either artist, I might as well be wearing your writing credit on tunes the band timental haze and lying exhaust- cism. The DKs’ music doesn’t know which one I’d pick as the preference like a costume in a wrote together, among other ed and almost lucid on the other sound groundbreaking or outre more likely singles act. remake of The Warriors set in a things. If you actually look at side. (A critic whose name today—for Christ’s sake, the gui- Granted, “I wanna die with record store. If you were paying the amounts they’re fighting escapes me once said that tar solo in “Let’s Lynch the you Wendy on the streets attention when Fresh Fruit and over—the disputed royalties Springsteen’s early music is to Landlord” is pure surf—but the tonight in an everlasting kiss” is Born to Run came out, where were about 80 grand—well, rock ’n’ roll what West Side Story tunes have the timelessness of more acceptable as a “deep” sen- you stood probably mattered a would that cover even one tour is to real gang warfare.) Fresh great direct rock ’n’ roll, in the timent than “I’m looking for- lot, but now it’s hard to enter- bus for the E Street Band? Fruit takes the Jonathan Swift tradition yet not bound by it. The ward to death,” but both feed on tain the notion that such a con- I don’t mean to imply that approach, gleefully and repeated- political themes in the lyrics are the same heady, adolescent emo- flict means anything. No matter Bruce and his buddies would’ve ly assaulting some of the last real as relevant and urgent as ever, tional fatalism—in this appeal- which side you choose, yin or been at one another’s throats if social taboos in America (don’t and their snarky outrage still ingly nonspecific ethos, death is yang, you’re part of the same they’d had to struggle to make talk about money in polite com- falls on fertile ground. (You almost always the big ooga- structure of belief. Those dis- rent, but poverty rarely helps a pany, don’t acknowledge that the could make a good case that booga climax to something or tinctions ultimately fall away band’s long-term prospects. class structure even exists) with “California Über Alles” just keeps other, an irresistible vortex tug- and leave the music to stand on Money is a great oppressor when all the crass, bad-boy bonhomie getting more dead-on as the ging on all those young people its own, ready to be heard again you have to think about it all the of Jim Morrison dropping trou. years go by.) Born to Run is who can’t imagine a future as if for the first time. v 40 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE Theater

OLD CLOWN WANTED TRAP DOOR THEATRE Unplanned Obsolescence Matei Visniec’s absurdist take on aging into irrelevance

By Justin Hayford merica may be the 1992, it put Visniec on the inter- Western country least national map: since then it’s A receptive to absurdism, been performed in at least a the post-World War II European dozen countries. It still wasn’t literary movement that holds the produced in the States until July universe is indifferent to human 2004, when the New Jersey actions no matter how noble, Repertory Company gave it its well-intentioned, or pathetic. U.S. premiere under Gregory A. For Americans all actions serve a Fortner’s direction. Now Trap purpose, but especially those Door Theatre offers its produc- that increase our net worth; tion, also staged by Fortner. with the aid of pop psychology It opened November 18 but and sufficient profits, the uni- reopens this week after a brief verse will smile on us in perpe- hiatus for performances at New tuity. And given Americans’ York’s “Act French” festival. mania for novelty, how impor- It’s easy to understand the tant can a 50-year-old art move- appeal of Old Clown Wanted—a ment be anyway? sweet but disturbing portrait of Yet absurdism is alive and well three aging out-of-work per- in Europe, being carried on in formers—in Trap Door’s intelli- part by its most popular, prolific gent, well-paced production. current proponent, Matei Waiting in a barren, windowless Visniec. Born in Romania and anteroom to audition for one given political asylum in France spot with an unnamed circus in 1987, Visniec didn’t receive troupe are the Stan Laurel- his American premiere until esque Niccolo, his bullying for- 2004, nearly mer friend Filippo, and their WHEN Reopens 12/8, 30 years Machiavellian mentor Peppino. 8 PM. Through 1/14: after he In an obvious homage to Thu-Sat 8 PM. wrote his Beckett’s seminal work of absur- WHERE Trap Door first play. Of dist theater, Waiting for Godot, Theatre, 1655 course, his the clowns spend most of their W. Cortland work wasn’t time puffing themselves up and CH

PRICE $20, shown in belittling one another. But PIL two for one Thu Romania unlike Beckett, Visniec makes it TA BEA INFO 773-384-0494 until its lib- clear that his characters have Old Clown Wanted eration in been deeply injured by their 1989, when he quickly became obsolescence, both professional they enact for one another sug- though, these clowns once felt the audition—if he exists at all. the most frequently produced and existential. Each drags gest they never worked much loved in their profession. Now Fortner’s three actors take an playwright in his home country: around a suitcase stuffed with beyond the birthday-and-bar- they’re left to snipe at one aptly understated approach, though he’d written 20 scripts broken-down props through mitzvah circuit. (“No one laughs another while clutching at an emphasizing the weariness and by then, they’d all been banned. which he can relive his glory at somersaults anymore,” impersonal crumb tossed them looming paralysis of these lost When Old Clown Wanted pre- days—although the unsophisti- Niccolo laments.) However by a prospective employer who souls. Circus-Szalewski as miered at the Biennale Bonn in cated, unimaginative routines questionable their talent, can’t be bothered to show up for Niccolo, John Gray as Filippo, CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005, 2005 | SECTION ONE 41

and Bob Wilson as Peppino are all appealing performers—and psychologically nimble enough to bounce convincingly through Visniec’s erratic, sometimes sur- real dialogue: the clowns express undying love for one another one moment, for example, and limitless contempt the next. Fortner exploits the lyri- cism in Alison Sinclair’s slightly arch translation, turning this 90-minute show into a subtle, extended clown routine in which the three seem to be trapped unawares. The production’s gentle stylization, com- bined with Ewelina Dobiesz’s bare-bones set design, suspends the action in a void, which gives the play a metaphorical reso- nance. And though the performances are not without emotional nuance, the actors don’t fully embody their characters: it’s as if they were asking the audience to pretend along with them rather than believe wholeheart- edly in the stage reality. Richard Norwood’s lighting design emphasizes the critical distance the actors maintain from their roles. Banks of fluo- rescent tubes have been installed for this show, and most of the time they mercilessly illuminate every unattractive nook on the rudimentary stage (as well as most of the audience). But on the few occasions when a clown delivers a monologue, the fluorescents snap off to leave the actor in a pool of warm, self- consciously “nostalgic” light. When the monologue is over, the fluorescents flicker back on, as though the lights were being run by a stern third-grade teacher who wanted everyone to get back to work. Trap Door’s distancing devices may alienate viewers who attend theater primarily to be moved: in general this production speaks more to the mind than the heart. It’s as though Fortner would rather the audience reflect on this odd little play than get caught up in it. But that distance can make the evening more poignant, as audience members have the time and space to ruminate. I thought about how the clownish, playful parts of ourselves do fall into obsolescence. If, as Noel Coward says, the most we have is a talent to amuse, it seems our best selves will wither. v 42 CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE Books

SPRAWL:A COMPACT HISTORY ROBERT BRUEGMANN (UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS) Some Like It Messy A UIC professor argues that sprawl isn’t so bad—just misunderstood.

By Harold Henderson obert Bruegmann went to sweater: Why do antisprawl borhoods are gentrifying. It plenty, considering how few Paris as a graduate student activists want to protect and pre- would appear that European and observe them, but one might R in the 1970s to study 18th- serve places like Sonoma Valley American cities are in different expect more imperatives from and 19th-century architecture. and Nantucket Island but not stages of the same process. someone willing to compare But when he flew in and out Oak Brook? (Bruegmann notes Sprawl, Bruegmann contends, unzoned Houston favorably of Orly Airport, on the city’s that Oak Brook is denser and has existed as long as cities have. with tightly girdled Portland. southern edge, he saw something was built to a plan.) If the sub- Rich people liked elbow room in But just when he seems ready to thatblew his mind: a cityscape urbs are impoverishing the inner imperial Rome just as much as join the libertarian parade, his that looked like suburban Chicago city, why are many of them even they do in 21st-century Illinois, fascination with the quirky par- or LA. European cities, he poorer? (Drive U.S. 30 through but only in the last century or so ticulars of how cities function thought, were supposed to be Ford Heights sometime, a sub- have ordinary people been rich gets in the way. pedestrian friendly, not like our urb so poor that it’s fighting the enough to get in on the action. For instance, he explains that monstrous agglomerations of Illinois EPA to allow it to keep a Bruegmann sees sprawl critics as the Soviets rebuilt Moscow along auto-dependent sprawl. massive, allegedly hazardous aesthetic snobs who use dubious the lines favored by progressive He couldn’t assimilate what he dump open.) arguments and statistics in order Western city planners and sprawl saw at the time, but it stuck with There’s more. If LA is more to impose upper-middle-class opponents: mass transit with him. He came to UIC in 1977 to densely populated than Chicago good taste on Mokena and adjoining skyscrapers, plus a teach architectural history, and why is it considered a more Morton Grove. They deplore greenbelt to contain the city. after acquiring a car in the early sprawling city? If the Europeans automobiles, he says, for much human costs of sprawl. While Having said this much, any free- 1980s, he spent a lot of time do these things better, why do the same reason as the Duke of affluent exurbanites can choose market ideologue worthy of his exploring the urban perimeter. less than 10 percent of Wellington deplored railroads in to trade extra commuting time or her corporate subsidy would On airplane trips he’d book win- Amsterdam commuters use pub- the 1800s: they “only encourage for distant residences, less afflu- use this association to take a dow seats on daytime flights and lic transportation? If living in the the common people to move ent residents may be forced to cheap shot at all regional plan- take pictures as the plane landed city is an alternative to suburban about needlessly.” make less pleasant tradeoffs. ning. Instead, Bruegmann calls and took off. The more he blandness, then why do Chicago Bruegmann’s “compact histo- Bruegmann describes a dish- the Soviet record on urbanism looked, the more suburban Paris dwellers choose to travel by car, ry” comes in three parts: a his- washer at Newark Airport who “actually quite impressive in began to make sense. Sprawl, he kick factories out of their neigh- tory of sprawl across the cen- spends an hour and a half each many ways. Much of Moscow in realized, is global. borhoods, and patronize big-box turies, the campaigns against way getting from a mobile home 1935 [before rebuilding] consist- “The view out the airplane stores? Bruegmann describes the it—including in Britain between park in central New Jersey to ed of old wooden buildings lack- window,” he writes in his new gentrified Chicago neighbor- the world wars and the U.S. the airport on three different ing central heat, running water, book, Sprawl: A Compact hoods he’s lived in as idealized after World War II and again in buses, then adds, “However, or adequate municipal servic- History, “can be similar whether versions of urban life, without the 70s—and the many pro- even if her options are fewer and es. ... It is not a system most citi- the plane is landing in the packed tenements and posed remedies. (I’m mentioned less attractive, the dishwasher zens of the Western democracies Minneapolis or Madrid, smoke-belching industries. in the acknowledgements for still makes choices to create for would have chosen to live under Bangkok or Buenos Aires, Similarly, exurban ten-acre lots having read an earlier, much herself the best living conditions and clearly the leaders grossly Sydney or Stockholm. There is are idealized versions of rurality, different version of the manu- she can obtain.”That’s true but abused it, but it did do many usually the same vast territory of minus the machine sheds and script.) He scrupulously docu- unhelpful: it’s abstract econo- things well.” suburban development, low fac- manure. These opposite ends of ments and evaluates his sources, mist talk. Everyone makes That’s no way to cultivate pow- tories, warehouses, and shop- the regional continuum have a but his book isn’t an evenhand- choices in this sense, even an erful friends, but Bruegmann ping centers.” Contrary to the good deal in common, up to and ed summation of the evidence. inmate in a supermax prison. would rather understand cities views of Lewis Mumford, James including (in places like New He’s a contrarian who chooses The fact that people can and do than make them fit a viewpoint. Howard Kunstler, and many Buffalo) people who split time to emphasize the benefits of choose among bad alternatives His harshest criticism of anti- more, he argues, the suburban between the two. sprawl and the costs of reform does nothing to mitigate the fact sprawlers is that they pontificate landscape is not a distinctly From Bruegmann’s point of because most writers do the that it’s harder to be poor in a instead of looking around. From American phenomenon with view Paris makes sense. Its cen- opposite. He goes so far as to spread-out city than in a dense, the Monadnock Building to the distinctly American causes like tral city was built when (almost) suggest that Chicago might be compact city. Even if sprawl’s Japanese shopping center in interstate highways and racism. everybody had to walk; many of better off if the long-planned benefits do exceed its costs, the Arlington Heights to an exurban Nor is it necessarily formless, its suburbs look like those of crosstown expressway—aban- costs still matter. trailer park in Indiana, he sees expensive, environmentally Chicago and LA because they doned amid persistent protests Whether as a matter of pro- the subtly interconnected destructive, economically unfair, were built when cars were avail- after Richard J. Daley’s death in fession, temperament, or philos- metropolis as “the grandest and or fattening. able. Paris’s population has been 1976—had been built to take ophy, Bruegmann doesn’t offer most marvelous work of Anywhere Bruegmann pulls on dropping since 1921; the central some pressure off the an urban agenda beyond “Go mankind.” And he’d be the first the threads of conventional city is still denser than any in the Ryan/Kennedy corridor. see for yourself” and “Watch out to say that it’s bigger and more urban planning wisdom, it U.S. but it too is thinning out, He’s least convincing when he for unintended consequences.” complex than anybody’s ideas comes apart like a badly knitted and at the same time its neigh- tries to downplay some of the Those two maxims might be about it. v CHICAGO READER | DECEMBER 9, 2005 | SECTION ONE 43

Ink Well by Ben Tausig Letters

42.Maligned contraction Mental Blocks 43.Gay Christian 45.Words before retiring, perhaps ACROSS 48.Proper name in masses 1. Star-filled late-winter night 49.Atmosphere: prefix 6. Curtis Sittenfeld novel 50.Peat source 10.Bands on the radio? 51. Place with bars in New York City 13.Hammer out 58.Letters before “Freddie Knuckles” continued from page 3 14.Volcano flower aside, I would like to point out and the like 15.Bravo or Grande 59.See 16-across that if Mr. McClurg has had 16.With 59-across, the brilliantly 60.Clothes line simple basis of 28-down such an interest in age diversity 61. Eat-eaten link 19.Definitive def. source in our north and northeast city 62.Sheets, etc 20.Butterflies neighborhoods, he might like to 63. You-here link 21. Dalloway, e.g. know that, as far as 64.It may need bringing up 22.In case 65.Diciembre follower Andersonville, Uptown, and 23. Slips up Ravenswood are concerned, only 25.“Who’s your daddy?” resolution DOWN 11 percent of families in the area 29.Biblical twin 1. “ . . . ______short pier!” 30.Bronte governess can afford an average-priced 2. Imminently 31. Lessen condo, more than 40 percent of 3. Central idea 34.High-speed inits. the area’s seniors make less than 4. Introduction to culture, on the farm? 36.Branch $25,000 a year, and the commu- 5. Repair a pump, say 37.Castle Grayskull hero nity has lost 3,500 senior fami- 6. Hidden agent 38.“Got it!” 7. Like public bathrooms in Chicago lies between 1990 and 2000. 40.Sea salt? 8. Nights before Thus, Mr. McClurg, the next 41. Carrier to kibbutzim time you pull the “age diversity” 9. Hits Muhsin Muhammad, say 10.See 27-down card in defense of well-to-do LAST WEEK: SPARE TIME 11. Short-lived Bush nominee children, please also express 12.Covers some ground your commitment to maintain- 17. Jeopardy! ans. 32.Docs’ bloc 49.More competent ing adequate and affordable 18.Pittsburgh co. cofounded 33. Mozart rival 50.______Men (“Who Let the Dogs by J.P. Morgan housing for children of neigh- 35.Penitent period Out” group) 24.Tire type borhood families who have been 37.That woman 52.Fabled runner-up 25.Moines or Plaines preceder here for several generations and 39.Summer abroad 53. Exile isle 26.Gorky Park refusal for our neighborhood’s seniors. 27.With 10-down, a description 44.Seeking 54.Marked, as a ballot It’s great that you want your of 28-down 46.Neon Disney flick 55.Man-to-man defense alternative children to get their lattes and 28.Theme of this puzzle 47.Friendster status option 56.One in the red scones along with everyone else, 29.Poetic nightfall 48.It’s often pitched from a deck 57.______account but there seem to be bigger fish to fry than this. Molly Sturdevant Ravenswood/Andersonville