Chicago Best Weekend Bets

Atlanta, the television program, returns tonight. Atlanta, the city, has not gone away.

Also, tell all your friends to subscribe to the Chicago mailing list. We gave away tickets to Chicago mailing list subscribers.

We write stuff. Here’s some of that stuff from the last week that may be applicable to your preferences

• • Dolly Parton was honored by The Library of Congress earlier this week. She dedicated the 100,000,000 book her Imagination Library gave away to the LoC. We were there. We took photos. Dolly is great.
  • Monroe Martin is our Funny Human of the Week.

ACTIVE: If you’re anything like every person online, these last few weeks’ worth of Olympics got you heavy into curling. Does that sound about right? I’ve got some good news for you if that is indeed the case: The Gwen, a fancy hotel in the Loop has a curling thing set up on their terrace for you to mess around and yell on.

CULTURE: The Smart Museum of Art hosts the first of a two-part program called How to Draw in Museums, which gives you the chance receive guidance to help you draw in various styles, modeled after iconic works from their collection!

FILM: The Chicago Irish Film Festival’s opening night gala is at the newly renovated Theatre on the Lake in east (as far east as you can go until you hit the water) Lincoln Park. Catch a screening of the acclaimed documentary In The Name of Peace: John Hume in America. Show up early for cocktails and a buffet!

FOOD + DRINK: Kicking yourself for missing out on Restaurant week last month? Head up to Andersonville to take in their own microcosmic version of the thing! All sorts of dining options doing up special deals and such all up and down Clark Street and beyond.

FREE: Noise music legends Wolf Eyes play a free show at the Owl tonight, joined by a slew of special guests sitting in with them for their soon-to-be legendary set. This is not one to be missed, folks.

MUSIC: Check out a set from long running alt country folks Old 97’s at Thalia Hall. Cody Canada & The Departed and Matthew Ryan open.

OUTSIDE: Join the Reservoir Dawgs Running Club for a three mile fun run along the waterfront bike path tonight. There’s not too many people out here organizing outdoor activities in March, so ya gotta hand it to these folks.

STAGE: The folks responsible for the best site online, ClickHole, return to the stage at the Hideout, for another variety/comedy show that I bet will be great. It always is and they’re all always funny. Love to go to this show!

STAY IN: Atlanta finally premieres tonight. Either stay home and watch it or find someone with cable and go to their house and watch it!

ACTIVE: Head over to Emporium Logan Square for a Table-Top Triathlon presented by Founders Brewing Co. Grab a can of their newest brew, Solid Gold, and compete in a three-part tournament of foosball, air hockey, and billiards!

CULTURE: VGA Gallery hosts the opening reception for their provocative new group exhibition, Gun Ballet: the Aestheticization of Violence in Video Games. See works from 10+ artists from Chicago and beyond, all of whom take a critical look at the aesthetics of violence in modern gaming.

FILM: Surrealist ’70s French film Lips of Blood screens at midnight at the Music Box, part of a series of screenings of films by freaky auteur Jean Rollin, presented in conjunction with author Matthew Clark in celebration of the release of his new book and LP Cathode Love.

FOOD + DRINK: Head to Five Keys Yoga in Roscoe Village for an informal Chinese medicinal herb tea tasting brought to you by the offices of Khadijah Kysia, who will be on site for mini acupuncture treatments, as well! Get yourself recharged, dude.

FREE: Catch a free show from local soul band The Congregation and Detroit-based Motown band Virginia Violet and the Rays at Emporium Wicker Park. Friday night soul jams, baby!!!!!!

MUSIC: Urban Fetes’ well-loved Silent Party headphones dance party is a wild experience that a lot of people seem to enjoy. They’re coming to Lite tonight, swing by if you’ve been meaning to check this sort of thing out.

OUTSIDE: Grab your whip and meet up with your fellow cyclists at Nichols Park for the Southside Critical Mass community bike ride. Go explore your damn city.

STAGE: High quality standup comedy showcase/found footage riff-off VHS is at the Wicker Park comedy haven @North. Watch solid local standups do their thing and then watch weird thrift store tapes along with them, hooting along at the wildness all night long!

STAY IN: Netflix’s new documentary series Flint Town takes a look at the brutal conditions and massive governmental oversights that led to the water crisis in Flint, MI that has made for hostile living conditions in this already impoverished community. This thing’s not gonna be an easy watch, for sure, but it’s definitely worth taking in.

ACTIVE: The CHIditarod XIII is upon us. Watch (or participate) in this wild, ridiculous homemade shopping cart race which showcases creative, handcrafted team-oriented artwork and also a handful of racist teams with dumbass provocative costumes each year. It’s a mixed bag! ¯_(ツ)_/¯

CULTURE: Comfort Station Logan Square’s new gallery exhibition, Can cacti fall in love, or batatas trace their slips? from Chicago-based artist Phoebe Chin, opens tonight. Comfort Station rules and they consistently showcase really great works.

FILM: I love the Animation Show of Shows, a feature-length compilation of some of the best of modern short animated filmmaking. This year, they’re featuring a handful of archival pieces interspersed between the more recent works. This micro film festival is reliably great, showcasing a diverse array of animation styles and narrative techniques.

FOOD + DRINK: The Field Museum hosts the 2018 Chicago Beer Fest, for anyone that wishes (or loves) to get drunk in a big old museum. This thing is great and usually sells out in advance so act fast!

FREE: The Whistler’s got a free dance party anchored by DJ #Feelgood, spinning a mixture of R&B/soul/hip hop classics and more modern-day fare. The Whistler is and continues to be great.

MUSIC: Really, really solid show at the Hideout tonight featuring Ithaca-based rapper Sammus coheadlining with Chicago’s own producer/rapper Phoelix. Yaya Bey opens, making this a top-to-bottom great night of music at one of the best venues in town.

OUTSIDE: Take in the nice parts of outside INSIDE at the Garfield Park Observatory with the nice folks at Atlas Obscura, for their hour-long tour of the premises, followed by a nature sketching session led by one of AO’s field agents. They’re bringing you art supplies and everything, so you’ve got no excuse!

STAGE: Comedy collective The Hoodoisie take over Reunion Chicago on North Ave for a variety/comedy/news show featuring excellent Chicagoans like Congressional Candidate Sameena Mustafa, comedians Felonious Munk and Odinaka Ezeokoli, and more!

STAY IN: Michelle McNamara’s masterful true crime book, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer has finally been released and honestly I can’t think of a better way to spend your Saturday. While her heartbreaking passing is, of course, the backdrop to the story, word is that the book itself stands alone as a titanic achievement.

ACTIVE: Whiner Beer Company and Kate Woltzen yoga have teamed up for a Taproom Takeover. Get yourself real stretched out for a yoga sesh followed by a frosty brew or two to reward yourself.

CULTURE: There’s a pretty great/informative/thought-provoking workshop at the The Arts Incubator in Washington Park this afternoon. It’s called Towards a Politics of Healing: Ethics of Storytelling with Patricia Nguyen, and will pose provocative questions about the ethics of telling stories from marginalized communities.

FILM: You seen Cool Hand Luke? It’s good! They’re showing it at the Logan Theatre tonight if you’re looking for an old timey Oscar type movie to watch after the Oscars are over.

FOOD + DRINK: Grab some heirloom seeds for your Spring planting (it’s March now so that means we can start thinking about Spring, right?) at the Peterson Garden Project’s 9th Annual Seed Swap. Trade seed with other local gardeners and take in demos from experts throughout the day.

FREE: Schubas’ ongoing free local music series 100% Off Bands is back, with another evening of strong drink specials and solid Chicago-based acts. Tonight’s bands include Pyzow, Half Gringa, and Liz and the Lovelies.

MUSIC: Head to Shuga Records for an in-store autograph signing event featuring the one-and-only Andrew W.K.. Just buy a copy of his new record and he’ll sign it and exchange a few polite but warm words with you, I bet! Maybe he’ll do a lil set afterwards too? We’ll see.

OUTSIDE: The Chicago Polar Plunge is back, giving you the chance to run into dirty-ass, cold-ass Lake Michigan in order to raise money for the Special Olympics Chicago! Grab some friends for moral support and run into the damn lake.

STAGE: Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo come to the Auditorium Theatre for a limited run engagement of La Belle, a ballet adaptation of the story of Sleeping Beauty. Catch some of the best ballet dancers from Monaco put up this critically-lauded performance!

STAY IN: Look, the Oscars are on tonight. If you give a rip about movies the rest of the year, you don’t especially care about this thing probably but it’s fine. Go see more movies and probably also still watch the Oscars because that’s what all of online will be talking about all day anyways. Or like, go out for dinner and then come home and do a puzzle or something and don’t look at your phone or turn the TV on all night. That’s also good.