Courtesy of University Theatre

It has suddenly become winter- there are no leaves left on any of the trees because the cold winds blew them off one day last week, when Chicago’s weather just decided to give up and slide into frigidity. But not to worry—there’s still some time to catch the end of the autumn theatre season here on the South Side. I’m going to get out and see University Theater’s “The Homecoming” this Saturday, as many of you should.

Harold Pinter is absolutely one of the greatest of modern playwrights, and “The Homecoming” is perhaps his greatest work—therefore, it is well worth seeing. The story focuses on a family: one of the sons brings home a wife, much to the jealous rage of his brothers and father, who immediately plot his downfall…and perhaps the seduction of his bride. Strange! Yes. But full of dramatic possibility. This production is directed by Will Bishop, who directed the successful “Red Light Winter” last winter quarter with UT. We can only hope that he keeps a similarly poignant and surprising style with “The Homecoming”.

Courtesy of University Theatre

This production will be top-notch. The set looks pretty fantastic, the cast is talented. Tickets are only $6. You read that absolutely right, SIX DOLLARS! You can reserve them online by clicking on the link below in The Log.

There’s not much time left before winter strikes! Due to the holidays beginning, Thanksgiving being next Thursday already, I won’t be posting a blog. Enjoy your holiday and look for the next post coming the week of the 28^th of November.

-Eric Shoemaker

Because many shows are closing and the winter season is beginning, The Log has been updated to include shows for early next year- look forward to those while catching the final performances of shows this year!

The Log…

The Homecoming @ UT: Nov17-19

Henry V @ UT: Nov 30- Dec 3

The Violet Hour @ UT: Dec 1-3

Coriolanus @ CES: Dec 1-4

An Iliad @ Court Theatre: Nov10-Dec11

Broke-ology @ eta Creative Arts: Nov3-Dec18

It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play @ Beverly Arts Center: Dec 2-4, 9-11

A Grand Night for Singing @ JPAC: Jan 13-38

Downward Facing @ Dream Theatre: Jan27-Feb20

Bittersweet Love: Two One-Act Plays- Glory in the Flower & The Strains of Triumph @ Hyde Park Players: Feb 10-12

Courtesy of mlk.uchicago.edu

Some may think the beginning of November is too soon to start thinking about the upcoming holidays in December, let alone Martin Luther King Day, a whole two months away. UChicago begs to differ. In anticipation of the MLK Day Celebration, scheduled to be held at Rockefeller Chapel on January 12 (for those early planners out there), the University has created the Dream Wall

Last Monday, the Dream Wall made its first appearance on the Quad. Resembling a moveable chalkboard, it attracted plenty of visitors of all ages. After a few hours, the board was covered with Post-Its with handwritten sentiments. From now until December 7th, the Dream Wall will appear in various locations and offer the opportunity for anyone who is passing by to share an aspiration (or ten), from the goals and hopes for yourself or the world at large. As the Dream Wall makes its rounds, the accumulated notes will be collected and eventually displayed at the MLK Day Celebration.

Those who miss the Dream Wall on campus can still participate by submitting their dreams online through Twitter (#MLKDream) or on dream.uchicago.edu. If sending dreams via the internet is not quite your style, submissions will also be accepted by mail. All contributions sent in by December 23rd will be included in what will sure to be an exceptional display.

For more information about the Dream Wall and submissions, see http://mlk.uchicago.edu/page/voice-your-dream

Courtesy of UCDancers

With the UCDancers’ annual Winter Show audition tonight from 7:00-9:00pm at the Bartlet Arts Rehearsal Space (BARS), I thought I would shed some light on the UofC’s oldest dance organization.

Unlike many dance groups on campus, UCDancers focuses on contemporary and modern technique while emphasizing student choreography and improvisation. Approximately three times a week, the student organization holds free jazz/modern classes for all levels of experience. In the beginning of the fall quarter, interested students can sign up as prospective choreographers, which gives them the chance to teach one of the group’s weekly classes and possibly choreograph a routine for the Winter Show—the culmination of each and every dancer’s hard work. The event this year, titled Wanderlust, will be held March 2-4, 2012 at BARS and will feature student choreography and one professionally-choreographed piece.  But no worries—all dancers don’t have to be in the show. They can just easily take the weekly classes for some fun exercise if they don’t want too much commitment.

The always-handy YouTube provides some UCDancers back in 2009 practicing for their show:

Video courtesy of jesshester88 on YouTube

To keep up to date with UCDancers read their blog at http://ucdancers.blogspot.com/ and keep your ears open for more info on the Winter Show.

Hannah Fullmer

My stomach grumbled as I sat on the #6 bus, headed towards the Loop. It was only a short bus ride to Roosevelt Road where my friends and I would transfer to the red line train but I was already excited and, more importantly, hungry. After transferring, we rode south for several minutes and stepped off the train at Cermak/Chinatown. The journey may seem long (although it only took about an hour) but it was definitely worth it because that day I was on a mission of epic portions. A mission to find the best custard bun in Chinatown.

I first discovered custard buns last year when I happened to purchase one from a small Chinese bakery on Michigan Ave. and ever since I’ve been hooked. Custard buns are a sweet roll usually about the size of a tennis ball and are filled with a tasty egg custard roughly the consistency of the cream used to fill doughnuts.

When we finally arrived at Chinatown it was about 6:30 in the evening and the sun had already gone down, which was fine by me because I love this neighborhood at night. The marquees of restaurants and shops had been flipped on and were shining brightly as I walked up and down the streets of Chinatown, searching for bakeries and cafés. We were tempted by other treats, especially ones like green tea cake, cream cones, and almond cakes from the shops, but we controlled ourselves. In the end we purchased several buns, one from every bakery offering them.

Hannah Fullmer

My friends and I were famished from our custard bun search and decide to eat dinner before the judging. We stopped at a small restaurant within Chinatown and were seated on the second floor. The table was equipped with a large lazy susan, perfect for a group of friends to share a meal. We ordered several dishes and shared them amongst the table. Rice, pot stickers, pan fried noodles, crab rangoon, and shrimp spun around the table and were quickly devoured.

Our bellies were full and we began the judging. We gave each bun a number, ate them, and then compared. One bun’s custard filling was more yellow than the others, in another the dough was softer and sweeter, in some the custard was smoother or creamier.

We tallied the results and determined our winner: Feida Bakery. Their custard bun is of medium size but the dough is especially soft. An added sprinkling of salt atop the bun enhances the flavor of the sweet custard.

Dinner and judging completed, we make our way back to the red line station. We rode the train back to Roosevelt Road where we could the South Loop Shuttle home. Our stomachs were full, our heads buzzing. We enjoyed custard buns, friendship and the vibrant Chinatown neighborhood. Mission accomplished.

Courtesy of MAB

Do you enjoy crowds full of sweaty and overly-excited hipsters dancing to outrageously catchy beats? Do you love charismatic performers with a wholehearted appreciation for sweaty and overly-excited hipsters dancing to their outrageously catchy beats? Do you like being one of these perspiring kids at concerts? Do you like live music? Well, if you answered “yes” to any/all of these questions and attending a Matt & Kim concert tickles your fancy, then you, my friend, are in luck. The UofC’s own Major Activities Board (MAB) is proud to welcome the pop-punk duo to campus on Saturday, November 5 for its annual Fall Quarter Show. Opening for Matt & Kim will be Squat the Condos, a band comprised entirely of UofC undergrads.

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Matt & Kim are known not only for their organic music videos that accompany their equally organic sound, but also for their insanely energetic and “physical” live shows. The video (below) for one of my favorite songs, “Yea Yeah,” demonstrates how much fun and enthusiasm they have when they play. In regards to live shows, let’s just say that at last year’s Bamboozle in New Jersey, Matt climbed one of the metal towers on the side of the stage to the song “Lean Back (Westwood Mix).” Although Mandel Hall might not be the Meadowlands, Matt & Kim will certainly bring their “huge venue” craziness and turn Mandel into what the MAB would call a “pop-punk party.”

Video from mattandkim on YouTube

To help them in this festive mission is Squat the Condos. I can’t write about them as I have written about Matt & Kim since, frankly….I just discovered them. But thanks to the songs on their MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/squatthecondos) and YouTube videos of their performances, I have already become a fan. The song “Pretending” (below) is currently stuck in my head. This past March, Squat the Condos released their first EP, We Should Be Together. For an unsigned band to open for none other than Matt & Kim is pretty impressive.

Squat_the_Condos_-_Pretending

Ok so now that you’re excited. Here’s what you have to do:

• STEP 1: Buy a ticket. Advanced tickets go on sale on weekdays starting tomorrow, October 24, from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Reynolds Club. They are $5 for students with UCID, $10 for faculty members. Tickets bought the day of the event will be $5 more for students and faculty. Customers are only allowed two tickets per student ID.
• STEP 2: Check out both artists. You don’t want to be that person at the show who clearly doesn’t know anything about either band. Check out Matt & Kim (http://mattandkimmusic.com/) and Squat the Condos (http://squatthecondos.bandcamp.com/) at their respective websites.
• STEP 3: Show up. The concert is on Saturday, November 5 at Mandel Hall. Starts at 8:00 p.m., ends around 11:00 p.m., and doors open at 7:00 p.m. The earlier you are, the better.

Do you love stand-up comedy? Do you tell jokes in the mirror while your roommate is gone? Do you just like laughing over a cup of coffee? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then don’t miss The Coffee Shop Comedy Show. ORCSA is hosting the event for all of the burgeoning comedians on the UChicago campus, as well as anyone who wants to stop by for a laugh.

In the past, ORCSA has hosted comedy nights headlining professional talent, but this time the spotlight’s open for the taking. There’s no experience necessary, so if you’ve been secretly dreaming about landing a spot on Comedy Central one day, now’s the time to start practicing your routine in front of someone other than a showerhead.

The event will be held in open mic format at Hallowed Grounds Coffee Shop on the second floor of Reynolds Club, so it will be super casual. And if you’re still nervous, you can always relax afterwards with a nice cup of coffee. The show will be on Tuesday, November 1st at 7pm, and it is definitely not one to be missed!

Hallowed Grounds, Reynolds Club, 5706 S. University Ave. For more information, e-mail suzannawsso@uchicago.edu

(Dan Forbush)

According to an article in yesterday’s Tribune, the Shoreland’s developer has hired an architect for the former hotel and dormitory’s renovation. Antheus Capital has hired Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects, designer of the award-winning Aqua residential tower downtown, to redesign the Shoreland’s interior for 350 rental units. Proposals include turning one of the ballrooms into a restaurant or event space and adding ammenities like a small bank and gym, but Antheus and Gang still have to convince the community to get on board. U of C students don’t come off too well in the article:

The Shoreland was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, an honor that meant little to undergrads. One student’s fond Shoreland memory, posted on a blog, was of hurling cans of Schlitz over the fire escape to the street below while taking in the downtown skyline.

At least they were having fun. (via Gapersblock)

Tensions ran high last night in the packed McCormick Tribune Lounge, where members of the University of Chicago community gathered to discuss the UCPD’s arrest of a black male student in the Regenstein Library last Wednesday. Dean of Students Kim Goff-Crews, UCPD chief Marlon Lynch, and Assistant Director of the Library Jim Vaughan were there to mediate the discussion and answer questions. But as more than one student pointed out, they said very little, other than that the situation would be dealt with appropriately. The ongoing investigation—involving interviews of witnesses of the arrest—prevented them from disclosing the details of the case.

Some audience members asked about library and UCPD policy, and when it’s necessary to show ID (answer: on University property, almost always). Witnesses of the arrest described it as disturbingly violent, and at least two related their frustration with the lack of a quick response from library and university administrators. The main theme and sentiment of the discussion was summed up by one especially skilled orator, who said, to loud applause, “As someone who’s been affiliated with the University as a grad student for more than eight years, I’m sick and tired of black students being racially profiled by our own police department!” Several African-American students told their own stories of being harassed by the UCPD, and dozens of hands shot up in response to a query of who in the audience had been racially profiled.

The discussion ended without much closure, but Goff-Crews encouraged students to organize an executive committee to continue the conversation, with the possibility of more open meetings in the coming weeks.

You can read more about the meeting in a Maroon article.

Last Friday’s Maroon reported that on the evening of February 26, a fourth-year University of Chicago student, Mauriece Dawson, was arrested in the Regenstein Library for criminal trespass and resisting arrest. University of Chicago Police Department officers were responding to a complaint by a library clerk that Dawson and a friend were being disruptive, and claim that he refused to show ID or leave the library when asked. However, witnesses say the officers never requested ID and used undue force to arrest Dawson, who is African-American. There will be an open meeting about the incident this Tuesday from 6 to 8pm in the McCormick Tribune Lounge at the Reynolds Club, 5706 S. University Ave., with representatives from Campus and Student Life, the College, the UCPD, and the Regenstein Library.

A former Chicago Weekly writer and Features Editor like Katie Buitrago! All of us at the Weekly want to congratulate Katie on her excellent feature in the most recent Chicago Reader, “What sort of woman reads Playboy?” It’s about Peggy Wilkins, a forty-something Hyde Park resident and University of Chicago Library server technician, who has worked her way to the top of Playboy Magazine fandom. She’s even had to rent an second apartment above the one she shares with her boyfriend to store her exhaustive collection of magazines and posters. So what drives Wilkins’s passion? Read the article to find out!

The University of Chicago student activist group SOUL (Students Organizing United with Labor) got some big-time press coverage for their latest demonstration against hour cuts for residence hall staff. In addition to the usual chants, the activists sang their own protest-specific renditions of Christmas carols last Thursday outside the campus housing office and administration building. The story appeared in the online and Chicago print editions of the New York Times and was reported by the recently founded Chicago News Cooperative.

This week’s issue of the Chicago Weekly includes a Perspectives piece by University of Chicago alum Ryan McCarl about an attack on the UofC Men’s Cross Country team that left one student permanently injured. At press time we still didn’t have all the details on the attack, but since then we’ve found out the whole story.

Two weeks ago, on Friday, October 15, 15 members of the Men’s Cross Country team were running west along Garfield Boulevard, a route they’ve often run before. At about 3:50, when they reached Garfield and State, an eastbound green Buick sedan drove by and opened fire with paintballs. Second-year Andrew Wong turned to look at the car and was struck on the bridge of his nose by a paintball, which ricocheted into his right eye. His cornea was scratched and his iris was partially (and permanently) detached, allowing bright light into his inner eye. Wong went to the ER that night and has seen an ophthalmologist several times since then. Read the rest of this entry »

At left, a civil discussion between both parties; at right, smokers and associates. (Sam Feldman)

While yesterday’s “rumble” at the C-Bench didn’t involve the much-hoped-for synchronized snapping face-offs or moody Leonard Bernstein music, it drew a sizable turnout and transformed the relaxed atmosphere of the C-Bench into one of palpably curious excitement. Students who usually don’t sit at the unofficial hipster hangout found themselves milling about within its acoustically perfect shape, and smokers who use the C-Bench for disaffected lounging took new pride in brandishing their cigarettes, drawing and puffing with distinct vigor. Read the rest of this entry »

The University of Chicago’s sizable Indian population has finally caught the eye of the supreme deity that is the Bollywood film industry.

Hitting theaters last month, “What’s Your Raashee?” stars Harman Baweja as Yogesh Patel, a Booth School student who studies by day and disc jockeys by night. Summoned home by his parents, where, like in almost all Bollywood movies, a marriage is forced upon him, Patel decides to meet exactly twelve girls—one from each sign of the zodiac. All are played by Priyanka Chopra in a deeply complicated undertaking of lengthy proportions.

While the film has received chilly reviews back in India, I, for one, am glad that some attention is finally being brought to the Booth School’s seedy underworld of wild DJs.

Check out this excerpt from the film of Patel break dancing in all his branded glory.

(Thanks to the University of Chicago Magazine, which tweeted this to our attention.)

Yesterday’s post titled “University of Chicago jocks move to take back ancestral bench” has generated a lot of hubbub. Patrick Offner, president of the Executive Board of the Order of the C, today informed me that he and the Order of the C “are NOT taking back the C-Bench, but rather using it as a setting for activities aimed at bettering the campus community.” He also called the email to the Women’s Athletic Association mailing list that I quoted in my last post “misinformed,” and said what’s happening at the C-Bench tomorrow is in fact the first larger meeting for something called the “C-Bench Initiative.” The Initiative, according to Offner, “will involve several projects over the course of the year, but many of these are still in the planning phase. Potential ideas are to pass out information about healthy lifestyles and provide nutritional information to students.” Offner also suggested that I was focusing too much on the C-Bench itself, which he says was chosen because of its “historical significance related to the athletic community” and because it’s in an area many students pass through.

So is that what’s happening tomorrow? Is the Order of the C just starting an initiative to improve health on campus?

According to emails obtained by the Weekly, Offner and other members of the Order of the C contacted a number of athletic teams in the past few days to alert them about the event tomorrow. One email from a member of the Order of the C Executive Board to a team mailing list was titled “TAKING BACK THE C BENCH” and began as follows:

“Team,

I’ve got something very important to discuss with you.

1. The year is 1903. The “C” bench is erected outside of Cobb Hall. Soon after, Varsity athletes and their girlfriends make it the coolest place to be.

Flash forward, the year is 2009. The C bench has become a haven for pretentious cigarette smoking hipsters and their star-crossed love affairs. Varsity athletes are rarely seen enjoying the C bench’s well designed seating and atmosphere, meant to encourage healthy discussion and social engagement.

This, gentlemen, is a problem.”

The email goes on to inform team members that “all of the Men’s Athletic Teams on campus, led by the Order of the C, will be staging a protest of our new organization, the SAAS (Student Athletes Against Smoking)” on Thursday. The last part of the email before the signature reads:

“I encourage all of you to attend, to wear either your lettermen jackets or some other athletic related attire, and to help pass out fliers and generally discourage hipsters and others who continue to besmirch the good name of the C bench. See you all there.”

This email, like the one sent out to the WAA mailing list on Monday, makes it sound like what’s happening tomorrow isn’t just a meeting about a public health campaign. It makes it sound like what’s happening tomorrow is a jocks vs. hipsters rumble.

And then there’s the picture at the bottom of a poster Offner sent to the orderofthecboard mailing list:

The Tribune isn’t predicting rain tomorrow afternoon, so I’d encourage everyone to drop by the C-Bench around 1pm and see for themselves what’s going on.

The C-Bench. (Sam Feldman)

The C-Bench, a large semicircular stone bench placed on the University of Chicago campus through the generosity of the Class of 1903, has always had a reputation. Until the 1960s, it was reserved for varsity lettermen and their dates. More recently it’s become known as the haunt of chain-smoking hipsters. But this Thursday, a group of athletes is looking to win back the bench. The Order of the C, the University’s varsity letterman group, is asking all interested campus athletes to gather at the C-Bench at 1pm the day after tomorrow in order to “take it back from the smokers,” according to an email sent out to the Women’s Athletic Association mailing list on Monday afternoon.

Patrick Offner, president of the Order of the C’s Executive Board, commented, “Our hope is that the university will openly embrace our intentions. The C-bench was once associated with all the positive ideals of the university: open discussion, tradition, and healthy lifestyles. This point of congregation for athletes, and later the entire student body, has been claimed by a smaller, exclusionary group and the consensus is for change.”

Update: For the latest C-Bench news, see our next post.

A bonfire on Saturday, October 24 shows support for the 61st Street Community Garden. (Sam Feldman)

The 61st Street Community Garden was founded about a decade ago as a shared garden for families. Each family or individual pays about $40/year for a 10′ x 10′ plot of land with few restrictions to grow. The Garden, however, is owned by the University of Chicago and was built on top of a vacant lot. Earlier this year, the University announced its intentions to demolish the garden so it could use the land as a staging ground for the construction of the new Chicago Theological Seminary campus. The individuals and community involved with the garden have had various conversations with the University about relocating or preserving the garden, but the University still plans to demolish it next month. There are a few events coming up to celebrate the garden and raise awareness about its closing. Both of them will be held at the garden.

• Saturday, October 24, 2-5 PM – Come Say Hello, Come Say Goodbye?: Food, bonfire, and a drum circle to show support for the garden. I had the distinct pleasure of overhearing a planning meeting for this event hosted by University of Chicago students, and their basic mission is to show appreciation and hope from students that the University will change their plans.
• Sunday, November 1, 10AM-4PM – Last BBQ and Potluck: This event is hosted by community members and meant to be a last goodbye to the garden. There is more information on volunteering to help gardeners relocate their equipment, but the gardeners still do not have another site for the planned relocation.

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicagoist

After several years of stop and start, the Woodlawn Collaborative, a joint project between University of Chicago students and nearby community groups, officially opened last week in the First Presbyterian Church at 64th Street and Kimbark. The first occupant of the site is MAGIC, a Woodlawn-based neighborhood youth services organization, which will provide a safe study space for local middle and high school students.

Last spring the Weekly ran a story on the Collaborative’s long struggle to secure the space for use by student and community groups involved in the arts, education, and activism. Greg Gabrellas, one of the founders of the Collaborative and a student at the University, updated us on the project and emphasized that the opening is only the first step. “We still must create an organization, basically from scratch, that is comprised of student and community-based organizations working towards a common end.” The Collaborative has roughly 20 partner groups and hopes to expand programming through the fall and winter and begin running at full capacity by next spring.

The project’s mission to act as a catalyst to social change in Woodlawn is seeing its first results. “We can’t pretend that we can solve these urgent social problems ourselves; we will educate the next generation of artists, activists and intellectuals who can take a stab at it, perhaps in better conditions than our own,” Gabrellas says. He emphasizes that what the collaborative needs now more than ever is people. “There is a place for everyone: group leaders to shift their activities here, teaching artists to teach classes, economics majors to help us with our finances, and dedicated people to ensure that everyone who enters our facilities is safe and sound.” On October 30th the members will convene for their fall general meeting to discuss the transition into a full-time center.