I interviewed the Abbot of the Wu-Tang Clan RZA who was doing press for his new movie. An edited version of this was originally published in Extra. — Hip-hop producer, actor, and author RZA (aka Robert Fitzgerald Diggs) talked to Extra about his new film The Man with the Iron Fists, which he co-wrote, directed [...]
Lake Street Dive, a four-piece band makes pretty songs with sexy stand up bass hooks that stay in your mind for days. I saw them play with my girlfriend’s band (Midnight Moxie) a few weeks ago and I had to get their album. Watching the show live, I assumed that the songs had been written [...]
My band, H for Hombre, has a gig this Friday (June 15th) at the Goose Island on Clark, and it’s got me thinking about writing and making music. — The thing about writing songs that you’re gonna sing is that you always cast yourself in the lead role. It’s a lot of fun to do that [...]
Last Friday, the Free Write Jail Arts and Literacy program held a book release and art show for the young men and women in its program. What makes this gallery show different from others is that all the featured poets, painters and artists created their work while in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, where [...]
This book is as addictively readable and exciting as any fantasy I’ve read. It’s different from a lot of that stuff for a number of reasons, one that stands out is there’s no fellowship in The Name of the Wind. There are love interests and side characters, but it’s not the story of a troupe. [...]
Saturday, May 19th was the rare night that was hotter than the day that preceded it. This phenomenon, while uncommon, is not unheard of. Because almost all heat on land comes from the sun, you might think it would take a volcanic eruption or some other extreme event to make it warmer at night, but [...]
This is a short story I wrote for Ragbag Magazine. Last month’s issue was all audio/visual so I recorded myself reading the story out loud. Here’s that audio and a slightly edited transcription of the story. Sprint St. Pat’s Invitational There’s no gun anymore. Now the race starts with a loud electric beep. So, hearing [...]
In honor of the upcoming C2E2 comic convention this weekend I thought I would put up a quick post about comics. I love comics and comic culture, but it can be intimidating. There are so many stories, and fans who have dedicated so much time to them, that it can seem like a lot of [...]
Beloved blog readers, I’m working on about a million projects right now, so this is a quick roundup and link dump. I have been writing graphic novel/comic book reviews for Josh Hanagarne over at World’s Strongest Librarian. It’s the spiritual stepchild of the Book a Week project on a site that a lot more people [...]
The Latino Caucus of alderman is considering opening up to non-Latino alderman who have majority Latino constituencies. This move could expand the eight member group to as many as 15. When asked by Extra if this move would benefit the Latino Caucus Alderman Daniel Solis said, “It would be beneficial to the caucus, but more [...]
