The Gaming Issue Gaming The
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IN THIS ISSUE T R - CITY LIFE ARTS & CULTURE watch End of Sentence adds 34 Early Warnings Rescheduled @ 03 Letter A note from an editor 14 Cybersex The virtual world of a surprising overlay to a mostly concerts and other updated listings who likes games Second Life is still a sanctuary for familiar map and Papicha is 34 Gossip Wolf Chicago jazz P T B folks leaning into their fantasies banned in Algeria and full of joy guitarist Tim Stine drops an E C S K K H FOOD & DRINK 16 Nintendo What is the appeal of and despair engagingly off kilter new trio C L R H M E P M 04 Feature Hermosa’s chef makes Animal Crossing the game that’s album a track compilation TD K R space on his sandwich menu for the taking the world by storm? MUSIC & benefi ts the staff of the shuttered C E B W city’s only Khmer food Crown Liquors and ESS presents A E J L NIGHTLIFE S W M D L G 24 Galil | Feature Chicago yet another can’tmiss program in D I B J M S videogame composers talk about its Quarantine Concerts series E A S N L how they found their way into this G D A H L C S C -J strange and diffi cult business C E B N B L C M D L C M C J F S F J H I H C M J M K S K N D L J L M M A M -K J R N J N M O M S C S 17 Interview In which an eleven ------06 Dungeons and Drinks The yearold named George takes a D D J D Chicago Board Game Cafe off ers break from staring at his computer S M C J G food and drink pairings to go with and answers questions about SS P your new favorite games gaming OPINION A T A 27 Chicagoans of note Thomas 36 Savage Love Dan Savage off ers S I D M N NEWS & POLITICS THEATER Comerford fi lmmaker and singer advice to a woman looking to D D C W M P C Y 08 Joravsky | Politics Imagine 18 LARP Theater nerds and gamers songwriter dump her boyfriend now that he’s D if Jordan not Obama was the unite at Otherworld 28 Shows of note A pandemic recovered from coronavirus E A S L K leader of the Democratic Party 20 Exodus Victory Gardens can’t stop the fl ow of great music S EC K K 10 Isaacs | Culture Making a playwrights ensemble gives notice Our critics review releases that you CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING federal issue out of the Obama can enjoy at home 38 Jobs -- @ Center lawsuit FILM 32 ChiMusic Ohmme 38 Apartments & Spaces C - @ 12 Infl uencer From a studio inside 22 Short Fatimah Asghar’s new cofounder Sima Cunningham spent 38 Marketplace his closet one refugee is using short fi lm Got Game explores years in a children’s choir that S D P F YouTube to broadcast information queer sex with a videogame twist sang for the Dalai Lamaand she V P S A M T P about coronavirus 23 Movies of note The Lovebirds hopes to help such groups continue O I D C R M A F A ’ S A R is a pleasantly breezy athome nurturing young musicians - L M -H L S A R G M F N S C S M W R
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C C E B ------R ISSN - R LC S M S C IL Emergency moves 14 East tackles isolation Growing up queer with Sims -- C © C R Is the mayor responsive and The DePaul-based online magazine “Za Woka Genava” means “I think P C IL collaborative, or dismissive and adapts its annual live storytelling you are hot” in Simlish, and I think A C R R combative? event for quarantine. that’s beautiful. R R T ®
2 CHICA O READER - MAY . ll When A Great Deal Matters, Shop Rob Paddor’s... CITY LIFE Evanston Subaru in Skokie GRAND REOPENING STARTING FRIDAY, MAY 29TH OUR SHOWROOM WILL RE-OPEN AND APPOINTMENTS WILL NOT BE REQUIRED FOR SHOPPING OR TEST DRIVES! WELCOME BACK DEALS! % % % % 0% 63 MONTHS DAVID ALVARADO 00 00 letter from an editor Our first-ever Gaming Issue FORESTER OUTBACK ASCENT IMPREZA Everything I need to know about coping with quarantine I learned from
playing solitaire. 9:00AM-8:00PM 9:00AM-6:00PM Monday-Friday APPOINTMENTNO REQUIRED Saturday y earliest memory of playing games Before getting down to business, we check involves cards. In a cabin in the woods, in on each other. What has everyone been up Social Distancing & Face Masks will be Mmy grandma Dorothy taught me war to in these times? Taryn, for one, can’t stop Required for all Customers and Employees (the easiest and most endless game), then gin, playing Animal Crossing. Nicole has fallen cribbage, and most importantly, solitaire. How deep into the world of Second Life (and she’s Voted “Best Auto DeAlership” wild, I thought as a four-year-old, to have a killed her Sims family, well, we’ll just say more By CHICAGO Voters’ Poll 2019 game you can play all by yourself! I was, at the than once). Salem is trying to understand the S time, an only child, and my only friend was my video-game culture a young friend is into, TOP-QUALITY INSPECTED USED CARS & SUV’ small black cat, Doodle. Having games to play but honestly is more interested in board IMPORTS & DOMESTICS SUBARU FORESTERS ‘15 Toyota RAV4 Ltd. AWD/Navi...... Auto., Leather, 12K, Grey, 24225A ....$18,995 ‘17 Forester Prem...... Automatic Sunroof, Heated Seats, Green, 23852A ....$18,995 alone suddenly opened up a whole world of games from the 80s. Kerry is finally getting ‘19 Toyota Corolla Hatchback XSE/Navi. ....Loaded, 11K, Silver, 22343R ....$17,995 ‘16 Forester Touring ...... Automatic Sunroof, Leather, Silver, 23651A ....$18,995 entertainment that fi lled the void when my cat a chance to nerd out with the minds behind ‘17 Honda CR-V LX AWD...... Automatic, Full Power, White, 24205A ....$17,995 ‘17 Forester Ltd...... Automatic Sunroof, Leather, Silver, 24102A ....$17,995 ‘17 VW Passat 1.8T SE AWD ...... Auto., Leather Sunroof, Grey, 6485A ....$14,995 ‘16 Forester Prem...... Automatic, Sunroof, Heated Seats, Red, 24456A ....$16,995 was sick and tired of our tea parties. Otherworld Theatre. Leor is digging into the ‘12 Acura TL w/Tech/Navi/ ...... Leather, Moonroof, Black, 24284A ....$11,995 ‘14 Forester Prem...... Automatic, Sunroof, Heated Seats, White, 24116A ....$13,995 During the first week of quarantine I found local musicians who soundtrack the games we ‘13 Hyundai Sante Fe 2.0T AWD .... Automatic, Full Power, Black 23373B ....$11,995 SUBARU OUTBACKS / ASCENT / CROSSTREK myself playing solitaire again, a fitting meta- play. When we keep defining the “new normal” ‘11 Honda CRV EX AWD...... Automatic, Sunroof, Silver, 24311A ...... $9,995 ‘19 Ascent ...... 8 Passenger, Sunroof, Eyesight, 4K, Grey, P6528 ....$25,995 ‘15 Kia Soul ...... Manual, Full Power, Alien2, 21917A ...... $8,995 phor for the weeks and months of alone time all day every day, it seems games are the one ‘17 Crosstrek Prem...... Automatic, All-Weather, Black, P6469 ....$19,995 ‘14 Honda Accord LX ...... Automatic, Full Power, Silver, 23628B ...... $8,995 ‘17 Outback Prem...... Auto., Eyesight, Alloys, Black, 23697A ....$19,995 we were all about to endure. But then I taught thing that will always connect us. ‘11 Honda Accord LX ...... Automatic, Full Power, 67K, 24134A ...... $7,995 ‘18 Outback 2.5i ...... Automatic, Full Power, Eyesight, White, P6493 ....$19,995 ‘17 Hyundai Elantra SE ...... Automatic, Full Power, Black, 24159 ...... $7,995 a friend to play gin. Other friends added me on As for me, while my grandma Dorothy is ‘16 Outback Prem...... Automatic, All Weather, Alloys, Black, 24117A ....$17,995 ‘08 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4 ...... Automatic, Beige, 24250A ...... $6,995 ‘14 Outback Prem...... Auto., Full Power, Alloys, Silver, P4891 ....$12,995 ...... Automatic, Full Power, 58K, Dark Silver, 24393A ...... an app where we could play cribbage against no longer with us, I did just days ago attempt ‘09 Mini Cooper S $6,995 ‘12 Outback 2.5i ...... Automatic, Full Power, Black, 23880A ...... $7,995 each other. Then there was the explosion of a virtual game night with my family. No, A+ remote Jackbox games, virtual Dungeon and Ma, you have to do Google Meet first! Dad, RATED Dragons campaigns, Zoom trivia—games, it look at your phone, type the answer on your EvanstonSubaru.com seemed, were allowing me to connect with phone! Maddy, you’re frozen! Lil, you have to 3340 OAKTON - SKOKIE • 847-869-5700 people more than I ever had before. refresh! Maybe I’ll stick to solitaire after all. *Add tax, title license and $300 doc fee. 0%financing for 63 months. Monthly payment of $15.87 per $1,000 borrowed. Cut to a recent Reader Zoom meeting. —C E B W Finance on approved credit score Subject to vehicle insurance and availability. Ends 6/2/2020 ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 3 FOOD & DRINK
LOGAN THEATRE’S POPCORN + CANDY! BEER + WINE!
RESTAURANT FEATURE
Follow for info on upcoming pickup dates: @thelogantheatre fil Ethan Lim leans in to Cambodian food Hermosa’s chef makes space on his menu for the city’s only Khmer food. By M S
nless your mom is Cambodian, it seems in Hermosa, and with the uncompromising like every time there’s an opportunity to December sandwich prahok ktiss, based on the Ueat Khmer food in Chicago, it’s the only quintessential Khmer dish of pork belly gilded opportunity. The fi rst time I wrote about it, way with the fermented mudfish paste kroeung, it back in 2008, there were no restaurants serving seemed he’d planted a fl ag. it, but twice a year, with a sincere o ering to the Then came COVID-19, and pop-ups in his tiny monks of Uptown’s Watt Khmer Metta on Cam- dining and ordering area no longer make much MONEY + bodian New Year, or Ancestors’ Day, you could sense. And yet Lim is pushing forward with a join in a post-ceremonial feast of outstanding new menu, “Cambodian to Go,” offering both food made by a lot of moms. a la carte dishes and meal sets—“the way my POWER Four years ago, Lombard’s Angkor Restaurant family would eat”—initially for pickup and soon was a bright star that burned out too fast. But for delivery through Tock. The outstanding not long before that, almost fi ve years to the day, Cambodian fried chicken sandwich remains, but Ethan Lim planted the seeds of what’s promising he 86’d two others to make it happen. Gone are to be an institution for Khmer food in Chicago. the bu alo chicken and chicken parm—to make About six months ago, I wrote about Lim and his room for mee kula, a dish that comes from the tiny, terrifi c Hermosa snack shop, where he was Kula minority group in western Cambodia. Rice practicing sandwich sorcery, putting iconic, and noodles tossed with pickled cucumbers, crunchy increasingly Southeast Asian, dishes between bean sprouts, preserved radish bits, crushed buns, which started getting a lot more attention peanuts, and the light marine funk of dried than the dogs and burgers he started with. shrimp powder and fish sauce, it hits a dozen In November, Lim’s sister had a few Khmer pleasure points at once. Nom bachok is a soupier noodle soups and curries on her menu at the rice noodle dish with whitefi sh, built on a broth Visit ChiUL.org/moneyandpower adjoining pan-Asian Googoo’s Table. Meanwhile seasoned with kroeung, coconut, and swimming he was promising Cambodian food pop-ups with banana blossoms and herbs, while a seem- 4 CHICA O READER - MAY ll H | R W. Armitage -- hermosarestaurant.com FOOD & DRINK
L e : Mee kula, a dish from the Kula people of western Cambodia. Above: Ethan Lim and the burgeoning herb garden at Hermosa. COURTESYETHANLIM
ingly simple and comforting congee is a riot of moss-mounted ornamental plants, while anoth- fl avors and textures when you dose the hot rice er, Anthony Scardino, aka Professor Pizza, has porridge with chicken fl oss, fried garlic, salted been holding down a residency on Fridays and soybeans, and sambal, along with cilantro, cu- Saturdays. lantro, scallions, and ginger. He’s perfecting his Lim plans to rotate in new dishes, all part fried banana recipe for dessert. of his long-running scheme to introduce One afternoon last week a masked Lim customers to the food he grew up eating, and showed up at my door like the ninja Kakashi comfort those who grew up eating it too. One Hatake, bearing a prototype meal kit contain- such crowdpleaser is his mom’s kaw daan, the ing the congee, mee kula, and a salad of sweet, peppery soy-braised pork belly and egg dish she delicate head-on grilled shrimp, crushed pea- made regularly for family meals in the family nuts, herbs, cucumbers, and fried shallots. The restaurant. centerpiece tek prahok sach ko was a nod to Lim gave the Reader the recipe for this French Indochina that Lim calls “Cambodian special dish, and it’s one of 80 featured in our steak frites,” a perfectly rare sliced ribeye, with new cookbook, Reader Recipes: Chicago Cooks a bag of Lim’s crackly battered fries, the ideally and Drinks at Home, released this week and FROM OUR FARM durable spud variant to survive the length of benefi tting the Reader and the Comp Tab Relief a delivery order. These are to be dunked in a Fund for hospitality workers. Lim is joined by a deadly rich garlic aioli balanced by a little tub Murderers’ Row of Chicago chefs and bartend- TO YOUR DOOR of powerful tek prahok for the steak; a dipping ers who contributed—Bayless, Kahan, Izard, sauce of kroeung, roasted fi sh paste, and lime Cikowski, Zaragoza, Steuer, Williams, and many juice, incorporated with green Thai eggplants, more. VIRTUE, IT’S AT OUR CORE and “all the herbs you can imagine.” You can buy the cookbook on the Reader’s Lim has converted his western-facing dining website, but if you don’t feel like braising VIRTUECIDER.COM TO ORDER area into sort of a greenhouse for those herbs— Momma Lim’s pork belly for a few hours, her Vietnamese coriander, Thai basil, lemongrass, son is donating proceeds from any orders he ginger, cilantro, culantro, and amazingly, a gets for the kaw daan to Comp Tab himself. v jackfruit plant he started from a pit. Meanwhile ENJOY RESPONSIBLY © 2020 Virtue Cider, Fennville, MI 49408 a friend is showcasing kokodama—Japanese @MikeSula ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 5 #TVKUV9TKVGT 2GTHQTOGT! FOOD & DRINK %4'#6+8' 51.76+105 (14 %4'#6+8' 2'12.' 5WRRQTVKXG #HHKTOKPI CPF )QCN &KTGEVGF 2U[EJQVJGTCR[ CPF *[RPQVJGTCR[ HQT #FWNVU /#: - 5*#2'; .%59 .QECVGF KP &QYPVQYP 'XCPUVQP YYYOCZUJCRG[EQO OCZUJCRG["CQNEQO NWG TQUU NWG 5JKGNF 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT KIPC 2TGHGTTGF 2TQXKFGT SUPPORT ANDERSONVILLE BUSINESSES TODAY & IN THE DAYS TO COME andersonville.org/updates
Find hundreds of Try King Tokyo: Dark Edition with the house beef jerky. COURTESY CHICAGO BOARD GAME CAFE Reader-recommended restaurants at chicagoreader.com/food. GAMING Wine, cheese, and Decrypto The Chicago Board Game Cafe off ers food and drink pairings to go with your new favorite games. By B W
ric Garneau keeps playing Pandemic “They let you step outside of this day-to-day Legacy. And as the director of games and existence and do something interesting and Eretail at the Chicago Board Game Cafe, he imaginative together.” has access to more games than most. “I know And diners shouldn’t feel anxious if they’re it sounds kind of morbid, but it feels like a way unsure about how to play the game they to have some sort of modicum of control over ordered—included in the package is a text-in everything.” number to ask questions. One of the Board Like many other small businesses and Game Cafe teachers will then either text back restaurants, the Chicago Board Game Cafe was or set up a Google Meet session to make sure thrown for a loop when coronavirus caused folks are fully ready to play, just another way the city to shut down—the last day they of- they’re keeping their staff employed. Not fered dine-in service was March 14, exactly to mention, each game can be ordered with one month after the cafe’s grand opening. something o the cafe’s food and drink menu. Since then, they, like most, have had to pivot The physical space was designed with the to pickup and delivery options to make ends menu in mind to attract all kinds of crowds meet. But to keep the experience of the brick and introduce them to the sometimes insular, and mortar alive for diners at home, they o er not-as-scary-or-nerdy-as-it-sounds world of games along with their meals. games. Instead of regular bar food like chicken “I feel like especially if you’re quarantined wings or pizza, the menu is made up of high- with other people right now, there’s a way er-end, international dishes. Garneau’s go-tos in which board games are an escape, but are the Greyhound cocktail and the pork hua- they also forge these connections and make raches. (“I’d eat it every day if I could—which them better, maybe even with people you’re I guess I can actually,” he says, realizing in the kind of tired of being around,” Garneau says. moment the enticing possibility.) 6 CHICA O READER - MAY ll FOOD & DRINK
Exploding Kittens pairs nicely with a grapefruit soda mocktail kit. COURTESY CHICAGO BOARD GAME CAFE
While we can’t yet gather inside the cafe, mocktail kit for a nice all-ages afternoon of Garneau passed along suggestions for game gaming. and food and drink pairings to recreate the magic in your own living room, dining room, Tak kitchen, or wherever you choose to settle This two-player abstract strategy game will these days. “We think really hard about pre- tickle the same parts of your brain as chess senting a full, good experience; even though but plays totally di erently. Fantasy fans will people are at home we don’t want them to feel recognize this game from Patrick Rothfuss’s slighted,” Garneau says. “We still want it to be Kingkiller Chronicle novels. It’s absolutely a good time for people.” perfect for a date night in. We recommend pairing with other items on our menu that Garneau’s recipes for gaming success: combine food and activities . . . our take- and-bake chocolate chip cookies have been Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set super popular lately, as have our cocktail kits Some folks are taking advantage of this (I can’t say enough good things about our extended time at home to dive into hobbies Greyhound). they’ve always been curious about. For us, one of our favorites is Dungeons & Dragons, the King of Tokyo: Dark Edition world’s longest-running and best roleplaying This is a brand-new, limited-release update game. This starter set gives you everything of one of our favorite games, which combines you need for three to six people to start play- Godzilla-themed action with Yahtzee-style ing, including premade characters, a great play, making it another great choice for fam- adventure (that fans of The Adventure Zone ilies. Given the “dark” theme of this special podcast will recognize), and even dice—and edition, we recommend pairing with food and it’s an absolute steal at $19.99. We recommend drink that share a similar palette—Samuel pairing this with our bun ga, which has kind of Smith’s Oatmeal Stout is one of our favorite become our signature item. It’s a Vietnamese dark beers, and the house beef jerky comes in rice noodle dish with crispy chicken hindquar- a sharable bag for four! ter. D&D is all about adventures and traveling, and this dish was inspired by our culinary Decrypto team’s world travels, so it’s a great fi t! This is a team vs. team word-guessing game that we’re all enamored with. You’ll never feel Exploding Kittens more like a classy spy (unless you are actually One of our best sellers during this time has a spy). This game was designed in France, and been this fast-paced card game that combines we think it’s fun to pair with other French deli- Old Maid-style play with the artwork and at- cacies, like our special cheese and charcuterie titude of The Oatmeal webcomic. This game kit made in tandem with wholesaler Regalis is great for families or folks looking for some- Chicago (this stuff is usually not available thing simple; it’s one of our breeziest o erings direct to consumers) and our Robert Sinskey but is also super replayable. Pair with a bag of Pinot Gris, a fantastic dessert wine. v pho ga popcorn (tossed with chicken skin, pho spice, lime, and chile) and our grapefruit soda @BriannaWellen ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 7 NEWS & POLITICS
POLITICS Be like Mike Imagine if Jordan, not Obama, was the leader of the Democratic Party. By B J
resident Obama finally got around to I’ve got Jordan on my brain these days after criticizing Donald Trump for his incom- having just watched all ten episodes of The Ppetence and idiocy in the face of the Last Dance, which I liked so much, I may watch pandemic. it again. I know: help is needed. Don’t worry—you’re excused if you missed Back to the Jordan / Obama analogy. Obama’s criticism, which came in a national I realize politics is not Jordan’s thing. And commencement address to college graduates. that he’s a little, oh, cautious about getting Classic Obama. It was well written—“this political. Republicans buying sneakers and all pandemic has fully finally torn back the that. curtain on the idea that so many of the folks But follow me nonetheless. in charge know what they’re doing—a lot of When it comes to competition, Jordan them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.” never lets a grudge—any grudge—go to waste. But it wasn’t blistering, forceful, or mem- He views every slight, no matter how trivial orable. Obama didn’t even mention Trump’s or unintended, as a monumental insult that name. As though it was beneath him to name demands revenge. the blundering nitwit who’s driving the coun- In contrast, Obama seems to hold no grudg- try to ruin. es. I’m not sure he even knows what the word It’s got me thinking: What if the leader of means. the Democratic Party—the man most beloved I remember him giving former downstate by Democrats—were less like Obama and Congressman Aaron Schock a ride back to D.C. more like Mike? As in, Michael Jordan. on Air Force One—trying to win his vote for 8 CHICA O READER - MAY ll NEWS & POLITICS
Move over, Obama, and let’s have Mike take the weren’t more outraged when Reade accused lead in the Democratic Party for a spell. Biden of sexual assault. But not one Repub- PETE SOUZA lican seems outraged at Trump for allegedly raping E. Jean Carroll. the stimulus bill back in 2009. Apparently, Republicans are OK with rape Schock didn’t vote for it. so long as it’s President Trump who’s doing Jordan would have billed Schock for fl ying the raping—allegedly. Just as they apparently on the plane. have no problem with Nazis, so long as they But, Obama? Hey, man, it’s good. Can’t we vote for Trump. all get along? Obama kept pretending there Look, Charlamagne tha God was correct to was a bipartisan bone in the Republican hold Biden accountable for his commitments body up until the day that Mitch McConnell to Black communities. (And again, Biden: pick wouldn’t even give Merrick Garland a hearing a Black woman as your running mate! We don’t on the vacant Supreme Court seat. need a female version of Tim Kaine.) Now, imagine if McConnell had blocked Jor- But when it comes to winning over Black dan’s nominees. Man, Jordan would have cut voters, the Republican strategy goes like this: o all federal aid to Kentucky right there and shower adulation on the handful of Black com- then. Fuck ’em—those dumbasses aren’t going mentators or celebrities who support Trump. to vote Democratic anyway. And then do everything possible to keep as Now, I’m not saying Jordan would be doing many Black people as they can from voting, the right thing in this scenario. Just suggest- knowing that Black voters have the power to ing that Democrats be a little less eager to win Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, and other please as they head into this year’s election. swing states for Biden. If nothing else this presidential race will That suppression includes knocking thou- be a referendum on two schools of politics. sands of Black voters from the rolls, closing The scorch-the-earth strategy of Republicans, polling places in Black neighborhoods, and which has worked well for them. It won them throwing Black people into jail for trying to the White House, a majority of Supreme Court vote—as Republican prosecutors did in North justices, and the Senate—even though Trump Carolina. got fewer votes than Hillary Clinton in 2016. Just last weekend a federal judge ruled And the kumbaya—when they go low, we go against Republican officials in Florida who high—strategy of Obama. Hence, subtlety and were trying to keep felons—many of whom are nuance as opposed to hitting the public over Black or Latino—from voting without paying the head with a two-by-four. That strategy has what amounts to a poll tax. worked out well for Obama—not so well for Nikki Haley and the Republicans are awfully everyone else. quiet about suppressing the Black vote. That’s Consider these recent events: as the na- because they know it’s really the only way they tion’s COVID-19 death toll mounted toward can reelect Trump. 100,000, Trump tweeted or retweeted an I wish President Obama, Biden, and other endless stream of hate and bilge at various Dems would shout from the rooftops about the Democrats, calling them skanks, making fun voting-rights injustices in Florida, North Car- of their weight, their age. You know, typical olina, and other Republican states. But that’s Trump stu . not their style. Meanwhile, Trump and his backers act hurt I can think of one Democrat who knows how and o ended by Joe Biden’s “you ain’t Black” to beat Republicans—Illinois house speaker comment to Charlamagne tha God on The Michael Madigan. He’s a little Jordanesque, in Breakfast Club radio show. his own way—never forgets a grudge, always Nikki Haley—Trump’s former UN ambas- goes for the jugular. He’ll kick your ass and sador—tweeted that Biden’s comments were then carve up an apple as his reward—like “gut-wrenchingly condescending.” Jordan lighting up a victory cigar. Nikki, Nikki, Nikki. I’ll believe you’re of- Now there’s a political Mike for Dems to be fended by bigotry and hate when I hear you like. denounce the MAGA-hat crowd protesting Remember, Dems, the second-place fi nish- stay-at-home orders with their confederate ers don’t win championship rings. And the fl ags, rifl es, and signs with swastikas and Nazi runner-ups don’t nominate Supreme Court slogans. justices. v It’s like the Tara Reade thing all over again. Republicans were outraged that Democrats @bennyjshow ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 9 NEWS & POLITICS Important Reader News Due to business closings and for safety purposes, the Chicago Reader is going biweekly with a print run to 600+ locations, including our box route. On the o� weeks (June 4, June 18) the Reader is just being distributed as a free PDF, with a small press run to fulfi ll subscriber and library mailings.
We are also making a limited number of copies available for special short-term subscriptions, 12 weeks for $50, and every week’s issue will be mailed to your home.
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Find the full curated PDF download of the Reader at chicagoreader.com/issues by Wednesday each week. CULTURE Obama Center still in limbo A federal appeals court requests another round of briefs. By D I
here were some surprises at the latest Thanks to the pandemic, this hearing, Obama Presidential Center (OPC) court before a three-judge federal appeals court Thearing last week, none odder than the panel, took place in part via telephone. It was fact that four years after President Barack and recorded, which means you can still listen in, Michelle Obama announced Chicago as the on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit site for what was then known as the Obama website. If you do, you’ll catch University of Presidential Library, we’re still futzing around Chicago (and NYU) law professor Richard with court hearings about where it should Epstein asking for a reversal of last year’s sit—dithering over technicalities like whether decision by District Court judge John Robert Thank you, Jackson Park was ever submerged land while, Blakey to dismiss a lawsuit fi led by the activist at the same time, waging a life-and-death group Protect Our Parks that sought to keep battle with a Darwinian pandemic under the the Obama Presidential Center out of Jackson The Reader team surreal national leadership of an unhinged Park. And you’ll hear city attorney Benna egomaniac. Ruth Solomon, on the other side, arguing that 10 CHICA O READER - MAY ll NEWS & POLITICS
Rendering of the proposed Obama Presidential ing that “it feels like we’re sitting as a zoning Center museum building COURTESY OPC board.” A listener who doesn’t know better might be tempted to think that they’re looking Judge Blakey did everything right and no fur- for a way to hand it o . ther court action is necessary. The final minutes of the oral arguments According to Epstein, the dismissal rested o er another surprise. During Epstein’s brief on two incorrect assumptions: that the city rebuttal, he’s asked this: “Would the plainti s’ and park district have no fi duciary responsi- analysis di er if the OPC was placed in Wash- bilities in turning Jackson Park land over to ington Park and not Jackson Park?” To which the Obama Foundation; and that any respon- he responds, “We would not have bothered to sibility they could have had was satisfi ed by bring suit.” showing that the Obama Center will o er the Really? A 20-acre complex with a 235-foot public any benefi t at all. tower in Washington Park would be OK? It’s complicated, but Epstein’s arguments Protect Our Parks clarifi ed after the hearing include these: the city improperly turned over that Epstein was referring to the Washington its decision-making authority to the Obama Park neighborhood, not Washington Park Foundation; the city’s “use agreement” with itself. the foundation is actually an exclusive lease; Judge Barrett concluded the 43-minute and the Obama Center is no longer a library, hearing by announcing that the case would since the presidential papers will be digitized be taken “under advisement.” Within hours, and maintained elsewhere by the federal gov- however, the court issued a demand for a new ernment. Epstein also disputes the city’s claim set of briefs on the question of whether this that the OPC will take up only 3.5 percent of lawsuit should be in federal court at all. The Jackson Park, arguing that the center’s nearly deadline for those briefs is June 4. v 20 acres represent a much larger portion of the park’s usable land (since so much of it is @DeannaIsaacs occupied by lagoons and roads). He claims that land worth about $200 million is being handed over to the OPC for $10 for 99 years, and that if you add the expense of roadwork and other infrastructure that the project will require, you’ve got about a half-billion-dollar cost to the public. Solomon, in turn, argues that the Illinois Museum Act allows for presidential libraries in parks; that the OPC will o er many public benefi ts; and that Jackson Park will remain a park after the OPC is built. She says nonsub- SAT MAY 30 @ Online merged land, like Jackson Park, requires only legislative authorization for transfer. Sophia Lucia’s Freak Show Cabaret (EVENT REPEATS WEEKLY) When presiding Judge Amy Coney Barrett asks Solomon (as she had also asked Epstein) JUNE 6 SAT to address the question of whether this case @ Naperville Settlement belongs in federal court, the city attorney re- Naperville Soulfest 2020 plies unequivocally that both the city and the district court judge have agreed that “there JUNE 6 is standing.” In addition, she says, “We would SAT @ Online, Eboni Montsho Ignites stress the vital public interest in enabling the city to move forward on this important public Purpose & Passion Tour 2020 project, free of the cloud of litigation. There just is no reason to send [the case] to the state to add your event to court at this late date.” TIXREADER COM But, in spite of the fact that neither the city and see it listed here weekly, nor Protect Our Parks are questioning whether please send an email to the federal court has jurisdiction, the judges [email protected] seem to be focused on it, raising the issue repeatedly, commenting that claims like this can be pursued in state court, and complain- ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 11 NEWS & POLITICS
“We are encouraging all refugees and immigrants to make sure to please stay at home,” Yaaka says. Yaaka and his friend Tracey Morrison YOUTUBE (who edits WordOut’s videos) had been thinking about launching a YouTube chan- ing in Uganda, Yaaka arrived at the Kenyan nel long before the pandemic. Morrison border in 2015 at the age of 23. He befriended volunteered with refugee families through a truck driver whom he convinced to smug- the resettlement agency HIAS-Chicago. (The gle him across the border. Yaaka arrived agency’s tagline is some variation of “We in the capital city of Nairobi confused and used to welcome refugees because they were alone. He wandered until he came upon a Jewish. Today HIAS welcomes refugees be- group of people sleeping on the streets. He cause we are Jewish”; the State Department soon realized they were refugees waiting revoked the agency’s contract in December to register with the United Nations High 2017 as it moved to close all programs re- Commission for Refugees, or UNHCR. He had settling fewer than 100 refugees per year.) learned about refugees in school, but never Morrison would help refugees answer their imagined that one day he would become one. questions: Where can I go to learn English? He got in line too. What is Medicaid? How can I fi nd a dentist Four months into his stay in Nairobi, as who speaks Arabic? What sort of winter coat he waited for his application to process, do I need? humanitarian aid agencies in the city an- She met Yaaka in 2018, who by then had INFLUENCER nounced they were looking for two refugees, lived in Chicago for a year and wanted to one Ugandan and one Congolese, to help speak at an event called the Chicago Jews for connect other urban refugees with medical Refugees Assembly. Morrison o ered to help ‘Please stay at home’ services. Refugees in Kenya are legally only him write and edit his speech. The event allowed to live in refugee camps. But the took place the day after a shooter stormed From a studio inside his closet, one refugee is using YouTube to broadcast UNHCR estimates that about 16 percent of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, information about coronavirus. Kenya’s refugee population live in urban killing 11 Jewish worshipers. The shooter areas. Agencies in these urban centers have said he targeted the synagogue specifi cally By C D -DR limited resources, so they often enlist qual- for its work with HIAS. In the shadow of the ifi ed refugees to serve as case managers in massacre, the audience sat captivated as exchange for a small living stipend. Yaaka stood on the stage and spoke about As a Ugandan fl uent in four languages and his journey from Uganda and the challenges mma Yaaka snaps his fingers to make Yaaka started uploading videos to his certified as an EMT and in first aid, Yaaka faced by refugees in the U.S. “We are helped sure his audience is listening. He wears channel on April 14, when Illinois had re- got the job. In his new position, he’d visit by [the] government and the agencies which Ea chartreuse polo shirt and AirPods as corded 23,247 coronavirus infections and around 100 refugees at home every month brings us here,” he said. “They help us for he speaks into the camera. “Please, when- 868 deaths. In some videos, Yaaka quotes and distribute medication, condoms, and three months, and then they’re done with us. ever you cough,” he says as he fake coughs information about the disease from the Cen- clean water tablets to those who couldn’t We are still new. We don’t know anything.” into his fi st, “cover your mouth.” He pauses ters for Disease Control and Prevention and a ord them; connect those who had trouble Many came up to him after to ask how they for emphasis between each word and ru es the World Health Organization. In others, he with the Kenyan police (who have a docu- could help, and if he wanted to speak at other through some papers on his desk. He holds interviews experts who give practical advice mented history of abuse) with legal services; events. Yaaka soon found himself looped up a picture of himself, partially disguised to refugees on how they can protect them- and translate for refugees at medical ap- into a network of well-meaning Americans in a baseball hat, with a tissue over his nose. selves. Nothing Yaaka says in his videos is pointments. If a refugee arrived in Nairobi (and some Canadians) who had the time, re- “COVID-19” is typed across his forearm. A new. While the facts and fi gures are widely without a place to stay, Yaaka would invite sources, and desire to help refugees, but who banner at the top of the page reads “COVER available across the Internet, his perspective them to stay in his home until they found didn’t quite know where to begin. YOUR COUGHS AND SNEEZES.” “Please do is not. What matters is that the information their bearings. Once he started at Heartland, Yaaka saw this,” he says. is coming out of his mouth. Yaaka is a fellow In July 2017, the U.S. approved Yaaka’s an entire class of workers whose job was Yaaka is a medical case manager for refu- refugee, and he speaks to his viewers with resettlement application. He made his way to provide services to refugees. During his gees at Heartland Alliance. He brings refu- compassion, from a place of deep knowing. across the Atlantic to a small studio in own resettlement process, he of course knew gees to doctor’s appointments, translates for “Being that we [as refugees] have limited Rogers Park where light poured in through these agencies existed, but he didn’t know them, and makes sure clients with chronic families around us, visiting our friends, the windows. His resettlement agency, the extent of available resources. He cer- illnesses know how to manage their con- visiting other people around the community Heartland Alliance, fi rst got him a job on the tainly didn’t know how to access them. This ditions. But after 5 PM on weekdays and on where we are living, it is so essential,” he janitorial sta at a hospital in Evanston. As seemed like a surmountable problem: People weekends, he sits inside of his closet fi lming says in one video. “But at this point we are he emptied the trash in one of the labs, he need help. Help exists. Why couldn’t anyone videos for his YouTube channel WordOut. encouraging all refugees and immigrants to began speaking with the researchers. He fi gure out a way to bridge this gap? He addresses the camera with the same in- make sure to please stay at home.” relayed stories of his work in Nairobi and all Yaaka thought back to the time when tensity I imagine he uses when speaking to Yaaka was born in the Manafwa district of the certifi cations he’d racked up in lieu of a he was new in the country, and he had a clients. His purpose is the same: he wants to eastern Uganda in 1992. He fl ed violence in formal degree. He joined the lab until he be- realization: refugees love YouTube. “The give refugees the information they need. his household as a teenager. After years hid- came a medical case manager for Heartland. free time that [refugees] have, they spend 12 CHICA O READER - MAY ll NEWS & POLITICS
on their phones,” Yaaka said. On breaks, line, a messaging app hugely popular with during lunch, after work, “We are watching refugees. Yaaka’s own account is stuffed videos from back home on YouTube. We can’t with conversations with refugee clients understand the news or other things on the and friends who live in far-fl ung places from TV—other American things—so we watch Iceland to Nairobi. So far, WordOut’s reach things from back home. It’s the same thing I is modest. Videos receive about 70 views on used to do.” average. And even though some commenters Chicago Reader If he could make videos in the four address him by name—“[Good] job Dr. Emma languages he speaks—English, Luganda, thanks for teaching the world”—Yaaka Lumasaba, and Swahili—he could explain doesn’t know who they are, which he says is to refugees how to access the available ser- a good thing. It means he’s reaching those vices. Maybe the videos themselves would beyond his friends. One distribution restric- be information enough, or maybe refugees tion Yaaka didn’t quite foresee, though, is would then reach out to service providers that because WordOut is a personal project on their own. Either way, he could build the (and not sanctioned by Heartland) he’s not resource-knowledge infrastructure that he allowed to share the videos with his own felt was seriously lacking in Chicago’s refu- clients, about 100 people by his estimate. gee community. Kaufman, though, thinks the channel’s As Yaaka and Morrison started to plan independence is what makes it powerful. for the channel, the coronavirus pandemic “When a community leads a project with erupted. The work now felt urgent. For many specific goals it goes much better than if refugees, that gap in knowledge could be somebody comes in and decides what you deadly. Though Yaaka had a full-time job need.” and Morrison was fi nishing her thesis in her The biggest challenge for the two-person fi nal semester of grad school, they mobilized operation has been language. So far, Word- quickly. Only a month into WordOut’s life, Out only has English-language videos. Yaaka the channel has published ten videos. and Morrison ideally want community mem- Dr. Gary Kaufman, a pediatrician and in- bers to help produce videos in languages like ternal medicine physician who has worked Arabic, Amharic, and Rohingya. It’s hard for with refugees for nearly 20 years, features Morrison to edit in a language she doesn’t prominently in four videos on the channel. understand. They’ve considered dubbing the Kaufman said Yaaka came to him a few existing English videos, or even Zooming weeks into the pandemic. “His words to me, while Morrison edits so Yaaka can translate which kind of surprised me, were ‘[Refugees in real time. in Chicago] know you and they trust you,’” On a warm Saturday evening in May I chicagoreader.com/puzzle Kaufman says. “‘If you do something, they’ll join a Zoom call with Yaaka, who’s sitting listen to you.’” in his closet, and Morrison, who’s in a plush Over the years, Kaufman has found that chair, a more traditional work-from-home patients generally receive information best spot. Yaaka, the more loquacious of the two, when it is communicated in their own lan- rattles off possible solutions to WordOut’s guage and from a member of their own com- hiccups, reads a list of prospective guests, munity. Many of his patients were Bosnian and tells me plans for the future. He explains and Russian in the early 2000s. “Back home, that he doesn’t want refugees just to learn Do Not Touch Puzzle they didn’t treat TB. And they were told that from the videos, but he wants them to be Piece together the first of our iconic the medication was toxic,” he says. “I had involved in the creative process. He says he Stay Home cover series. to convince people to take nine months of enlisted his friend Patrick, a young Rwandan Isoniazid, and moms specifically would be refugee interested in videography, to film afraid I was gonna put their children into the interviews with Kaufman. Some techni- This is a 432-piece, 18” x 24” puzzle. The liver failure.” Eventually he realized that cal problems ensued, which Morrison and cost of this puzzle is $60 + $10 for shipping. patients were more receptive to treatment Yaaka describe in great detail, each sentence (U.S. orders only) if a Bosnian or Russian member of his sta of the story punctuated with a laugh. explained the information instead. If Yaaka “We’re learning every time, though,” Mor- thought refugees would heed Kaufman’s ad- rison says. vice, who was he to say no? “So, I said, where “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Yaaka says, do I sign up?” “learning.” v If YouTube is WordOut’s means of pro- duction, WhatsApp is its distribution pipe- @plz_CLARify ll MAY - CHICAOREADER 13 ARTS & CULTURE
GAMING that appears appropriate for the club (the less, a few years before opening her club in the the better). Some clubs, like MistressLove’s virtual world. “I wanted to see more dungeons club, require voice verification. Users only in the game. Fetish wear and BDSM are pop- Cybersex and sex work need to be 13 years old when signing up for SL, ular communities in SL but I wanted to see a but there are age restrictions on entering areas very specifi c type of dungeon, which I wasn’t with adult content, as well as on purchasing getting.” After working in the scene for a few in Second Life certain items from the marketplace. years as a dancer in an LGBTQ-friendly strip In the Adults Only section of SL, there is an club, she decided to take the business plunge. The virtual world is still a sanctuary for folks leaning into their sexual fantasies. abundance of fantasies, kinks, and desires to “It’s important to know that investing in a club choose from (over 100 to be exact). The Fem- in SL [has] cost me hundreds of U.S. dollars.” By S N L dom Mansion o ers discussions, parties, and Like real life, SL’s groundwork lies within contests on a weekly basis. It’s newbie-friendly commerce, as money is still imperative to the and invites open conversation to the femdom survival of businesses and the future of the side of BDSM. Places like the Forest Mansion virtual world. In SL, however, ways of making are set in a German adventure world where you or spending money are much more surreal hen I fi rst walked into Black Planet, a 900,000 users in Second Life (SL), which has can participate in moderate BDSM in the space and alternative (like purchasing virtual pubic sci-fi -themed erotic adult night club, I declined from its 2013 peak of 1.1 million. The amongst live singers, tribute bands, and DJs. hair from a seller). Users have Lindens, which Wstood around for a few minutes. I start- virtual world came to life in 2003 and is one Traveling even further, Planet Enzyion o ers a are the currency within SL, to purchase items, ed to jump and fl y a little, but quickly realized of the oldest 3D cyberspace simulators. After magical, otherworldly experience and is a pop- skins, and pay for services at clubs like Mis- this wasn’t proper sex club etiquette—some picking an avatar, the free virtual simulator ular honeymoon destination. Adult-only pho- tressLove’s. A premium membership for SL clubs even ban it. This particular club offers takes you through a short tutorial, and after tographers travel here for photoshoots. Bootys costs $11.99 a month and includes a weekly sti- live music every day from 2 PM to 4 PM, and I that, the world is yours. While the fanbase may ‘n Beauties is a genderfl uid hangout spot for pend of L$300 and a signup bonus of L$1,000. arrived just in time. Neon phallic shapes lit up be dwindling, SL is still incredibly strong with all sizes and identities. Nookies Gay Club is Premium members can buy land, invest, and the room and a fi gure with large black wings dedicated users, especially those with an inter- for gay men to hit the gym, shop together, or purchase items more freely in the market- led the dance fl oor. The dark electro pumped est in BDSM and fetishes. Users can voice chat, enter private rooms. People who participate place. “So you basically always have some kind throughout the club as I stood there, beneath send messages, or simply fl oat around (like a in specifi c lifestyles, like furries, can head over of money and are technically making money the purple and blue lights, unsure of what to voyeur) in SL. Without leaving the comfort of to Furry Hangout for private rooms, monthly just by being on the game every week,” says do. Don’t worry, I didn’t break my quarantine, their home, a user can teleport to any fantasy ra£ es, events, and live DJs. And if you’re look- MistressLove. “In addition to hosting partic- but being in my virtual club atmosphere, I had they’ve ever had—sexual or otherwise. ing for your vanilla gentlemen’s club, look no ular events (which include ra£ es), I also sell fl ashbacks of the real-life club. The stench of User MistressLove is a full-time club owner further than Labyrinth, and go to Unleashed items that I think are benefi cial in running my sweat and beer came rushing back. However, and former sex worker on SL. “I’ve been play- for an adult venue geared toward women. business. I sell skins and accessories for those I felt content in Black Planet, sitting in my ing since 2005,” she says. “I’m an oldie!” While There are burlesque clubs, nude beaches, interested in bondage. This gives me extra pajamas in real life, completely nude in Second every club may ask for di erent requirements, sacred forests, roleplay clubs, and swingers revenue in running my venue. Not everyone Life. the basics are that the avatar must be 18 years resorts. It’s a catalog of sexual preferences. is going to pay for a Dominatrix. Some people Currently, there are about 800,000 to old in real life (user entered) and have an outfi t MistressLove was a virtual sex worker for just [come] in to stand around.” 14 CHICA O READER - MAY ll ARTS & CULTURE
Scenes from Second Life S NICOLE LANE please people and give them what they want.” is played by someone who is “in a basement someone helping you. Everybody has a di er- MistressLove may not be making millions o that never sees daylight.” ent Second Life experience and this is just mine Approximately L$252 equal one U.S. dollar. of her sex work and sex club, but she says, “I’m HaileyNicole says, of course, SL does have and my opinion from what I have seen and Linden Lab’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tilia a disabled woman who suffers from chronic those types of people but “there are also some experienced.” handles the transaction between SLD and USD illness. I couldn’t get up and dance on a stage amazing communities, churches, events, You can be a banker, real estate agent, wed- for users who want to convert their Lindens even if you paid me in real life! Second Life has games, parties. There are people that had a ding planner, tattoo artist, a person who sits in to real-life dollars. VirWox, a virtual currency given me the freedom to be who I fantasize really bad childhood and they can recreate a camping chair (long durations of sitting can exchange that closed in January 2020, was the about. I don’t think I would be a sex worker if it in Second Life to have a good one. Disabled earn you the small amount of L$1 per 10 min- easiest way for SL players to convert their Lin- I was able-bodied per se, but I do enjoy being people that can do anything their heart desires utes), or a sex worker in the groundbreaking dens. Other popular ways of converting money able to dance, slide down a pole, perform sex- that they can’t do in real life, women that can’t reality of Second Life. include Open Metaverse Currency, Robinhood, ual acts, do backbends, and whatever else all have kids can go through a virtual pregnancy I signed o of Second Life after visiting Skin- Upload, and Buttercoin. Folks on SL can also while sitting in a wheelchair in real life. That’s and have a child and grow a family. There are ny Dip Nude Beach. “Thunderstruck” by ACDC exchange their money with Bitcoin and on worth so much more than the money.” businesses that support people’s families in played as the DJ announced that for the next LindeX, SL’s o cial virtual exchange. “Overall, real life, there are fundraisers that raise money two hours they would be playing 80s hard rock the exchange isn’t much,” says MistressLove. found myself in oRgAsMs, a free adult sex for real-life people and places and events. Peo- hits. I passed signs that advertised “free cock” “My club is a labor of love. I don’t pull as much lounge with poles and vivid videos display- ple meet lifelong friends, partners, lovers.” and found my way to the nude beach to join the as I put in. But that’s okay with me.” SL is fi lled Iing sexual acts. HaileyNicole created a large family, which dance party. I was reprimanded for wearing with so many clubs, worlds, beaches, resorts, “You’re basically up my ass,” someone typed is something that she doesn’t have in real life. stockings and was instructed to remove them. and anything else you can dream of that some- to me when I realized my avatar was literally She met her SL family in real life this past year. All nude or swimwear only allowed. Yes, sir! times the clubs are more empty than filled. on top of them. This room prohibits voice chat Her SL parents are the same age as her real-life As “More Than Words” by Extreme slowly “With so many clubs, there aren’t enough play- so the chat feature is appreciated for a novice parents and her SL sister is just two years started playing on the dance fl oor, a user began ers to fi ll the space. That’s why specifi c clubs like me. Still, I gasped, not knowing where to younger than her. She says there was no awk- to sing the lyrics to me on voice chat. The rest are so successful. Hosting events and contests go or where to run. I ran straight into another wardness. They ate at a restaurant, went to a is Second Life cybersex history. v at particular times are key to a great business avatar who was completely naked and whose garden, took a tour of a museum, and stayed model in SL. It brings people to the club and penis almost reached his toes. With a large at an Airbnb. “Our parents consider us their @snicolelance fi lls the space.” whip between his legs, Jorg578 typed, “Hi real kids that they didn’t get to have together Of course, not every club makes it in SL. sweety, how’s your day going?” Panicked, I because they met later in life,” she says. MistressLove says she knows many people teleported to another world. Yes, I was chick- SL has given HaileyNicole the freedom to es- who have opened and closed clubs within a enshit. Even in this virtual