Friday 11/5 – Thursday 11/11
Rose Troche’s 1994 movie Go Fish told the story of a lesbian looking for love in Wicker Park. For her follow-up, Bedrooms and Hallways, she turned to the lives of gay men in London. Tonight’s screening of the film, which opened in New York last summer, will kick off this year’s Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival. A reception with Troche starts at 6 and the film will be shown at 7; both events are at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport. Tickets for opening night are $15 (the festival runs through November 18 and most shows are $7). For more info, call the festival hot line at 312-409-4919 or check out the critical guide in Section Two.
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6 SATURDAY What’s more annoying than a couple who are a little too excited about planning their nuptials? How about five gung ho couples competing in a contest to win a wedding on a float in the Rose Parade? Sounds like a day in hell, but today the couples in question will gleefully engage in games such as making wedding outfits out of toilet paper and something called “picture-perfect,” in which grooms have five minutes to do their brides’ makeup and hair. That last one has potential. It’s free to eat wedding cake and watch people embarrass themselves today from noon to 3 at Michael Jordan’s Restaurant, 500 N. LaSalle. Call 312-297-7555 for more.
Some of the new products they’re pushing at nervous parents at this weekend’s Chicago Baby Faire include Tiny Tickers, which monitor and record infants’ heartbeats, and something called the Safety 1st Angelcare Sound Monitor and Movement Reassurance System. The fair is from 9 to 5 Saturday and 10 to 5 today at the Rosemont Convention Center, 5555 N. River Road in Rosemont. Admission is $7 for adults, free for children and grandparents. Call 847-289-4239 for details.
For the last 13 years Art T. Burton has researched the neglected history of African-Americans in the Old West. In his new book, Black, Buckskin, and Blue: African-American Scouts and Soldiers of the Western Frontier, Burton, the minority-affairs director at Columbia College, describes the exploits of men who were often the only representatives of the federal government in the expanding western territories following the Civil War. Burton will give a special Veteran’s Day reading tonight at 7:30 at Borders Books & Music, 15260 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park (708-460-7566). It’s free.
