Friday 6/25 – Thursday 7/1
Synchronized swimming, first popularized in 40s movies by Esther Williams, received an infusion of attitude when Aerosmith incorporated it into its set at the 1997 Billboard Music Awards. Tonight 25 swimmers from Wright College’s Center for Lifelong Learning will show off their moves in a water ballet called Gone Fishin’. It’s at 7 at the Wright College north campus pool, 4300 N. Narragansett. Tickets are $3; call 773-481-8812.
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During the renovation of its new space in Uptown, the Inspiration Cafe continued to serve breakfast daily and dinner four times a week in the basement of a church. The restaurant for the homeless will hold a fund-raiser in support of its new digs tonight from 9 to 11 at Circus, 901 W. Weed. Entertainment includes food, drinks, and music by Gayle Ritt. Tickets are $20; call 773-878-0981.
27 SUNDAY At the center of this weekend’s Street Machine Nationals custom car show are drag races featuring beefed-up rides from groups like the Chicago Wise Guys and the Nostalgia Super Stock Association as well as from regular folks who spend a lot of time in their garages. There will also be games, including volleyball and a spark-plug-change challenge. It’s from 9 to 5 today (and Friday and Saturday) at Route 66 Raceway, 3200 S. Chicago in Joliet. Tickets are $16, $8 for children (two- and three-day passes are also available); call 317-236-6515.
30 WEDNESDAY The Guild Complex’s ongoing tenth anniversary celebration includes a multimedia event at the end of each month for ten months. The roster for tonight’s installment, the fourth, features writer Sandra Jackson, Fred Lonberg-Holm’s Light Box Orchestra, and Jesus “Chuy” Negrete, “one of the foremost authorities on Mexican-American folk songs.” It’s at 7:30 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division (773-296-1268, ext. 26); admission is $5.
