Friday 3/28 – Thursday 4/3
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29 SATURDAY Joe Louis’s boxing gloves, Steve Dahl’s helmet from Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, and a photograph of Hull House’s 1909 women’s basketball team–stiffly posed in bloomers and black stockings, their shirts buttoned to their chins–are just a few of the bits of memorabilia on display in the Chicago Historical Society’s new exhibit Chicago Sports! You Shoulda Been There. The opening celebration takes place today from 9:30 to 4:30 and includes a demonstration of 19th-century basketball, pennant making and other crafts, and sports activities for families (including a cricket game). Sports celebs such as blind Roller Derby star Sammy Skobel, who lives in Mount Prospect, will be on hand to tell stories about the good old days. The Chicago Historical Society is at 1602 N. Clark (312-642-4600). There’s a suggested donation of $5, $3 for students and seniors, $1 for kids 6 to 12.
Lucy Van Pelt’s five-cent advice booth in the Peanuts comic strip provided the inspiration for Chicago County Fair’s interactive art event, Ask Me!, in which experts on a variety of subjects will descend on the Chicago Cultural Center to sit in plywood booths and entertain questions on a host of topics. Participants include a five-year-old Power Rangers enthusiast, a World War II conscientious objector, a dominatrix, a doula, and a dialect coach. There’ll also be a “pick your own subject” booth where visitors can sit and dispense their own advice. “Ask Me!” takes place today from noon to 4 at the center, 78 E. Washington. It’s free; call 773-826-5371 for more.
2 WEDNESDAY “Anyone can do it. You just sit in front of the computer in a catatonic state,” says Ken Nordine, the alchemist behind the long-running radio feature Word Jazz, of the meditative computer-generated short films he’s been creating over the past five years. “With Word Jazz, the images are made by the greatest cinematographer there is–which is your own fantasy and imagination. I wanted something nonintrusive you could watch and tie into what you’re hearing, but not compete with it. That way it’s more dreamlike.” Nordine, who’s working on a DVD, will screen and discuss a selection of his Image Jazz experimental films tonight at 8 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State. Tickets are $8; call 312-846-2800.
