05/15/08

IM'ing Flight of the Conchords

The New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords landed at the Chicago Theatre Wednesday night for a sold-out show. Associate editor Nora O'Donnell and I tripped over ourselves to get tickets, then tripped over ourselves to rehash the show over IM today. Here's an excerpt from my chat with Nora, in which the main point of contention is a debate over Bret or Jermaine. Where do you side?

Cassie: What did you think of the show?
Nora: Awesome, with a small pang of disappointment when it came to the crowd.
Cassie: Yeah, I wanted to silence that one dude who kept shouting "Take Off Your Pants!" Although, admittedly, I wouldn't have minded if someone did...

Posted at 03:19 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (6)

05/09/08

Home Smart Home

Composting with worms is sooooooo outdated. That's but one of the conversational threads I picked up last night on a preview tour of the new Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry. I went in expecting to see the typical "eco" flourishes—bamboo flooring, energy efficient windows, dual-flush toilets—and I came out geeking over the interior design with my pal Heather Blaha, who edits Apartment Therapy Chicago...

Posted at 04:18 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (1)

04/29/08

How to Duck a Suckah

Sometimes, something so perfect crosses my desk, that I feel compelled to stop, inhale ... and immediately put it on my blog. This press release from Simon & Schuster is one of these.

"Recently, I sent you a copy of HOW TO DUCK A SUCKAH: A Guide to Living a Drama-Free Life (February 2008) by Big Boom, author of the Essence bestselling book, If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs (2007). . . In HOW TO DUCK A SUCKAH, Boom explains his controversial past and why he has decided to take a stand against suckahs by guiding women out of the 'sitting duck syndrome.' Big Boom was once a player/pimp/hustler and...

Posted at 08:47 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (1)

04/28/08

Guest Blog: The Year of Burnham Begins

A few playful catcalls greeted the architect Louis Sullivan last week at the Union League Club. Actually it was a photo of Sullivan flashed on a movie screen, a preview of an upcoming documentary by the Chicago filmmaker Judith McBrien about the architect and city planner Daniel Hudson Burnham. The movie, called Make No Little Plans, is slated to premiere next year in Millennium Park, part of a summer-long centennial salute to Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago. You can see the film's trailer here...

Posted at 04:43 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/25/08

Art—or Not Art?

Art Chicago descends upon us this weekend, and, along with it, that age-old question of "What is Art?" For every awesome Jaume Plensa sculpture or Tony Oursler video, there is something raggedy, like a twisted old rope mounted in a canvas or an ugly naked lady holding a dead flower. You try to act polite and not stare and whisper to your friend, What the hell??? But then you drink too much Grolsch at the opening party and end up wearing a trucker hat and getting all vocal about things and the “shushing” starts and …

OK, enough about last night. Between beers, I managed to take some photos for a little game called Art—or Not Art?...

Posted at 01:20 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (4)

04/17/08

Guest Blog: Laurie Anderson Channeling Jon Stewart?

After seeing Laurie Anderson in concert last night, I have to say that I'm a convert. Anderson's blend of performance art isn't for everyone. Even Anderson herself will admit as much. But in her latest work, Homeland, it's clear that she's let go of some of the visual gimmickry of years past. The topics are serious (national security, global warming), but the delivery is, actually, kind of funny. It's almost a bit Jon Stewart, if Jon Stewart were a pixie-haired, 60ish art rocker...

Posted at 02:31 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (0)

04/15/08

Cute or Annoying?

Just saw Sarah Ruhl's latest, Dead Man Cell Phone, at Steppenwolf. I loved the Edward Hopper-inspired staging (one of many suggestions that Ruhl makes in her script). The premise isn't that earth-shattering—a woman answers a stranger's cell phone and pieces together his life post-mortem—but Ruhl injects enough of her brand of whimsy and magical realism that you're quickly steered beyond the predictable. OK, so some weird and pretty unlikely things happen (a delish-looking make-out session in a stationery store; a monologue from the grave...

Posted at 06:23 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (9)

04/10/08

Zac Posen Gives Me Career Advice

As fashionable as Chicago thinks it is, it's still a major event when one of the top New York-based designers cruises into town. This week, it was Zac Posen, who brought along a full-on runway show, courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue.

I blanked completely on the event, didn't dress appropriately, and wandered in the stately Murphy Hall on Erie Street in a full-on turtleneck and a dress I'd accidentally shrunk in the dryer. Everyone else was head-to-toe designer; what do you do? If you're me, hold your head up high and squeeze through the crowd to find Zac Posen for a photo...

Posted at 12:15 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (3)

03/11/08

Guest Blog: Mayor Daley as Tim Gunn?

Project Runway is over for the season, and I'm looking to fill the Heidi Klum-shaped void in my life. Lucky for me—and you, too—the Chicago Fashion Incubator launched at Macy's on State last night, affording us the opportunity to follow the careers of six local designers from the classroom to the selling floor. The group (Glenn Mallory, Kate Coxworth, Agga B. Raya, Lidia Wachowska, Kristin Rosynek Hassan, and Yana German) shares three 11th floor offices in the State Street store, plus a stark workspace full of...

Posted at 01:16 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (5)

03/05/08

Guest Blog: Super Slides

Who knew that nearly three hours worth of PowerPoint presentations could gather and keep a crowd? Well, it turns out it's a global phenom. Last night's Pecha Kucha at Martyrs' (3855 N. Lincoln) showcased 14 creative minds—photographers, architects, artists, and writers—each armed with 20 slides and just under seven minutes per person to present them. Topics included projects, concepts, absurd histories, and one life's work. And with the stage open to anyone, the lecture-hall stuffiness quickly dissolved into a sea of chatter...and beer...

Posted at 04:45 PM in Coda | Permalink | Comments (1)