Results tagged “columbiacollege”

When she was 24 years old, Laurie Lindeen was walking down a snowy Wrigleyville sidewalk en route to the Metro, getting ready to check out a show with some friends, when suddenly she couldn't move her legs anymore. Within days, doctors diagnosed her as having multiple sclerosis — an incurable autoimmune disease that robs many people of their ability to walk. Lindeen treated her illness as a permission slip to live life to the fullest, and on her own terms: She moved from Madison, Wisc. to Minneapolis, taught herself guitar, and with her best friends formed a rock band, Zuzu's Petals, that released two records and toured two continents before disbanding in 1995. Post-Zuzu's, Lindeen got married, had a child, and set about pursuing her other passion: writing. She earned her MFA and, in 2007, released Petal Pusher — a critically acclaimed memoir about being an artist, growing up, dealing with discomfort (from physical pain to sketchy hotel rooms), and learning how to stay true to one's self. Currently, she's working on two collections of essays, teaching writing in Twin Cities schools, being a rock and roll mom, and living MS symptom-free. Last year, she was a finalist for the Bush Artistic Fellowship.

If you were a reader of Punk Planet, you might be familiar with the Chicago-based subculture zine’s co-editor Anne Elizabeth Moore. No? Maybe you’ve seen her get “forcibly ejected from retail establishments.” She also wrote a book, Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity, which you can hear her discuss with the folks of Bad at Sports right here.

A hundred years after he was born, could Nelson Algren finally be getting some of the respect he so richly deserves?

Sometimes you’ve just got to have a parade. But if you’re Columbia College’s Manifest Urban Arts Festival, you have the Spectacle Fortuna Parade of Creativity. Wishing good fortune upon seniors and graduate students before they hit the brick wall that is a 9.4 percent unemployment rate, the Spectacle Fortuna will fill the streets with hundreds of Ray Bradbury-inspired giant puppets, the punk marching band, Mucca Pazza, and ephemera created by the talented students, faculty and staff.

Columbia College Chicago's Hokin Gallery and Annex Neighborhood, 623 S. Wabash, Thursday, Feb. 19, 6 p.m., $3 suggested donation. [Ed. note: THREE BUCKS! That is a steal! Go go go go!]

With a couple of endless wars abroad to discuss, a defenestration-inspiring economy freaking us out and so many dreamboaty candidates and First Spouses to drool over, the War on Drugs -- arguably the nation's longest endless war ever -- didn't receive much spotlight time this election season. But while we were hearing about Sarah Palin’s fancywear and debating the long-ago bombing habits of Bill Ayers, tens of thousands of people ended up spending part of the campaign behind bars for committing nonviolent drug offenses. According to NORML, in 2007 arrests for marijuana violations alone reached 872,721 – about 100 people per hour, an all-time high (no pun intended). Expect 2008 stats to surpass that figure. Oh, and almost 90% of those 2007 arrests were for possession only. "Cha-ching!" says Mr. Cash Register to Mr. Prison-Industrial Complex.

Exhibits

course, sure to become the blow off class du jour.

To celebrate the release of their 4th Annual Story Week Reader, the Columbia College Publishing Lab of the Fiction Writing Department (phew!) is hosting "Little Stories in a Big Journal: An Afternoon of Student Storytelling." The reading will consist of students reading works form the Story Week Reader journal, which can also be read (in PDF format) at the website. We're suckers for student writers, being products of a few creative writing and journalism programs ourselves. Go get 'em, kids! The reading is free and open to the public.

Columbia College will be putting on Round 10 of its fantastic Cinema Slapdown series this Friday, April 18th. This edition features Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums followed by a spirited debate between Sheldon Patinkin and Tim Kazurinsky (Sweetchuck!) over the movie's merits (or lack thereof). Previous entries in the series have included Crash, It's A Wonderful Life, and SuperFly.

Banks collapsing. Economic uncertainty. A widening gap between the rich and the poor. Which era are we describing?

It's that time of year once again. Spring is on the upswing, and the city is ready to brush the sleep from its eyes and starting to shake off the winter hibernation. This means lots of readings and festivals. And next week our alma mater Columbia College Chicago hosts its annual Story Week, a series of panels, discussions and of course, readings by authors from all over the country. All events are free, so call in sick to work and attend some events to awaken your inner great American novelist.

We love to read and write, and not just our own posts here on the World Wide Webs. We’ve been working on our first novel for years. It’s a love story involving time-traveling unicorns and so far we have about 850 pages of it written, but we don’t know when we’ll get it published (fingers crossed!). As such, we have a soft spot in our heart for local writers who have been a tad more successful. Luckily we live in a city that gives us a chance to here these talented scribes read!

KISS-FM's "Radio Boy" Michael Wawrzyniak has been charged with indecent solicitation of a child for allegedly trying to arrange a meeting for with a 13-year-old in Carol Stream. It wasn't a 13-year-old, though. It was a cop.

Countdown to Smoke-Out 2008! In case you forgot, or were outside smoking when someone shared the news, come January 1 there will be no more smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, casinos, dorms, stadiums and anywhere else that is inside, aside from personal homes and cars.

Looks like some of the Columbia College dancers had a leeeetle trouble in the parade.

Old-school local newscasters Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson will be teaching a class in broadcast journalism at Columbia College. The duo co-anchored the WBBM 10pm news in the 70s and 80s, but now Jacobson is retired and Kurtis is busy hosting crime shows on A&E. They'll recreate the magic just for the month of January, (when Columbia has its intensive -study J-session) but we're convinced the legendary team will realize--after all these years!--that they...

Here at the Chicagoist offices, several reality shows are popular among the staff, but our devotion for the majority of programs pales in comparison to our love for the crème de la crème, Project Runway. Bravo's hit show returned last night for its fourth season of designing, measuring, catwalking strutting and drama, with two Chicagoans vying for the chance to take it home at New York City Fashion Week. The first episode was the usual...

The Reeling Film Festival is in its last days, but there's still time to catch what's sure to be one of the most fascinating movies in the program. Quearborn & Perversion, a new documentary by Columbia College alum Ron Pajak, tells stories of lesbian/gay Chicago life spanning the years 1924-1974. It's surely a beautiful irony of history: what is today the epicenter of the Viagra Triangle was, in the 50's, the epicenter of gay life;...

Why is WBEZ warning us about "sensitive language" in a story about a sexually-charged art exhibit? On 848 Gabriel Spitzer said the language might be "offensive." We've listened to the coverage of "Girl on Guy: the object of my desire" twice now, and we have no idea what the hell they're talking about. Does saying "genitalia" really warrant a warning? Is uttering the word "porn" really so scandalous? Lisa Labuz said "sodomize" a few minutes...

Aurora's Planned Parenthood can open immediately. How bad do things have to get before Daley will denounce what's going on with the Chicago Police Department's Special Operations Section? Even the Associated Press is saying, "Not since club-swinging cops in baby-blue helmets chased demonstrators through clouds of pepper gas at the 1968 Democratic National Convention have Chicago police been so awash in trouble." Dayum. And yet Da Mare has given no indication that he'll disband...

Drama at Columbia College is par for the course, with lots of creatives going there to get their degrees. However, we don't think they want this kind of drama. Professor Reid Hyams contends that his recent firing from Columbia College was due to pressure from other faculty members and was out of line with school policy, because it was his first offense. He's filed a lawsuit which contends that his credentials (e.g., has been involved...

Here’s what you missed while you were gawking at fallen trees and the troubled lives of Michael Vick and Owen Wilson: The first signs that fall’s on the way: cooler temps, fading leaves and university gallery art openings. Two shows open today at Columbia College’s Glass Curtain Gallery and C33, and a new exhibit of Carol Jackson’s ‘signatureless’ work opens at UIC’s Gallery 400 tomorrow. When Thursday’s storms cut power to Belmont Avenue businesses, Bailiwick...

- Say hello to Cuppy's. Another coffee chain opens its first Chicago location. - Taking parenting advice from Britney Spears, a 26-year-old woman left her kids in the car with the windows up and hot air blowing while she went to Cook County Criminal Court on the south side. - Oak Park/River Forest High School alumni Charles Simic was named poet laureate by the Library of Congress. - Keep drinking your beer, Cubs fans....

Movies in the summertime. Comic book heroes? Check. Cuddly computer animation? Check. Bloated running times? Check. MOTS? SOS? Double-check. With scads of movie franchises so stale yet so expensive they give McDonald's a bad name, it's no wonder that we'd rather catch up on our reading than check out what Hollywood has deigned to fob off on us this season. (We do confess to being excited about Ocean's Thirteen however; director Steven Soderbergh always keeps...

Author Ben Tanzer

Author Audrey Niffenegger

Author John McNally