Friday 7/9 – Thursday 7/15
10 SATURDAY The five members of Voladores de Papantla reenact a ritual from their Aztec ancestors: at the top of a 70-foot pole four of them–representing earth, air, fire, and water–will tie ropes to their feet and “fly” to the ground as the fifth works a lowering contraption. They’ll do it today at 4:30 and 7 and tomorrow at 1:30 and 7 at the Latino Art Beat Competition and Hispanic Heritage Festival in Douglas Park, Sacramento and Ogden. The free festival runs today from 3 to 9 and tomorrow from 10 to 9. Call 312-457-8080.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
The anarchists from the Autonomous Zone are offering photo ops with Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman tonight at their summer benefit party, along with poets, DJs, Polish punk rock, food, beer, and raffles for karate lessons, free lunches, and more. It starts at 8 and goes “very late” at 2320 N. Milwaukee, second floor (not A-Zone HQ). It’s $7. Call 773-252-6019 for more.
13 TUESDAY Activist and historian Marie Kuda says the Hemingway Foundation wouldn’t include her slide lecture today, Hemingway and Lesbians in His Life and Art, in its celebration of the writer’s 100th birthday because those events don’t officially begin until tomorrow. “You can read into that what you want to,” she says. Kuda’s presentation will touch on Papa’s relationships with over a dozen lesbians and will examine recent scholarship suggesting that he was a closet case, that his mother had a 20-year relationship with a woman, and that The Sun Also Rises is a lesbian novel. It starts at 6:45 in the Oak Park Library Veteran’s Room, 834 Lake in Oak Park (708-383-8200), and it’s free.
After polling his colleagues, UIC history professor Melvin Holli ranked 730 U.S. mayors over the last 170 years and published the results in The American Mayor: The Best and the Worst Big-City Leaders. Fiorello LaGuardia came out on top, scoring big for reading comics on the radio, while Boss Daley placed sixth. Thanks to his pro-kaiser position and cozy relationship with Al Capone, William Thompson topped the worst list, followed by Jane Byrne at number ten. Holli defends his rankings at 6 PM at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton (312-255-3520). It’s free.
