Friday 12/10 – Thursday 12/16
All we can find out about Karen Finley’s performance tonight is that it’s about “distorted personality disorders based on real-life experiences” and that honey will be involved. The infamous member of the NEA Four will perform tonight at 10 at Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee. Tickets are $15; Trailer Hitch opens. Call 773-489-3160. Finley may be basing her show on her latest book, Pooh Unplugged: An Unauthorized Memoir, in which Christopher Robin and friends are recast as bored, sexually excessive codependents. She’ll read from it tomorrow night at 6 at Barbara’s Bookstore, 1350 N. Wells (312-642-5044). It’s free.
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11 SATURDAY At tonight’s Dating Game With Cynthia Plaster Caster, the famous dick sculptress will choose from four eligible, anonymous young men, most of whom have something to do with the music business, in a live reenactment of the 60s game show. A screening of episodes of The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game from 1969 will follow. Rumor has it that a film crew will be shooting the whole thing for a documentary about Plaster Caster. The festivities start at 9 at Chris & Heather’s Record Roundup, 2034 W. Montrose (773-271-5330). Admission is $7.
13 MONDAY Long before Joan of Arc became the stuff of legends and feature films, a young Sicilian woman named Lucia known for ministering to the poor and homeless was executed by the Romans around 300 AD. Her story first became popular in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries, and today the Saint Lucia Festival of Lights is synonymous with Christmastime in that country. Andersonville’s version starts today at 4:45 at the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark (773-728-8111), with a parade led by “Lucia girls” wearing white robes and crowns of lingonberry sprigs and candles, followed by a celebration at the museum at 5:30 with a telling of the saint’s story. There will also be a concert and traditional snacks. Admission is $1 or a can of food. At 7 the Chicago Swedish Male Chorus and the Varblomman children’s group perform at nearby Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster (773-561-8496). That’s free. Then at 9 it’s back to the museum for free glogg, courtesy of the Swedish consulate.
16 THURSDAY When field biologist Peter Friederici writes about Chicago’s suburban wilderness, he’s not talking about Tinley Park dance clubs. Try freshwater mussels, passenger pigeons, and migrating ducks–subjects he’s written about in the Reader and elsewhere. Friederici will sign and discuss his new collection of essays, The Suburban Wild, tonight at 7 at the Book Stall, 811 Elm in Winnetka (847-446-8880). It’s free.
