Paranormal
Friday, May 18, 2012
Paranormal Film Exploring the subconscious with film distributor Brian Block
Posted by Ben Sachs on 05.18.12 at 04:29 PM
This week, the Gene Siskel Film Center will present the complete version of Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession (which I wrote about at length in our current issue)—a local premiere that arrives almost 31 years exactly after the film’s Cannes debut. It’s unfortunate it took so long to bring a movie this important to Chicago screens, but I guess this means 1981’s loss has become 2012’s gain.
For this belated presentation, we can all thank local film collector Brian Block. Block commissioned the new print of Possession currently touring the U.S., and he’s overseeing the distribution singlehandedly under the moniker of the Bleeding Light Film Group (for the sake of full disclosure, I should add that we’ve been acquaintances for several years). I met up with him the other night to discuss his efforts, what drew him to Possession, and why Zulawski remains a major filmmaker. Our conversation follows the jump.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Paranormal Whoa Music What's this again about a Riot Fest carnival in Humboldt Park?
Posted by Kevin Warwick on 05.16.12 at 01:19 PM
Rapidly growing punk-rock superfestival Riot Fest was spread over five days and five venues last year, and yesterday it announced that for 2012 it's gonna move the whole damn thing to Humboldt Park (the actual park) for two of its three days—and throw in a Ferris wheel and Scrambler for good measure.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Paranormal We're Old Film My mother and Dark Shadows
Posted by J.R. Jones on 05.11.12 at 11:30 AM
For years my mother and I battled over whether I'd be allowed to watch Dark Shadows, the supernatural soap opera that ran on ABC from 1966 to '72. She probably thought it would scare me, but we were also devout Catholics and she disapproved of anything with occult themes. (I won't even go into what happened when she caught me and my cousin playing vampire with the crucifix I got for my first communion.) She finally caved when I was eight or nine, but to my disappointment, the show was actually pretty dull. Like any soap opera, it would play out the string endlessly before anything remotely exciting would happen. I wanted to see someone get ripped apart by a werewolf or Barnabas Collins get a stake pounded through his heart. Instead it was just talk, talk, talk. It was worse than going to Mass!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Paranormal Music My obsession with Hologram Tupac
Posted by Miles Raymer on 04.16.12 at 04:02 PM
I've been trying all day to think about anything besides Hologram Tupac, and I'm finding it extremely difficult. There's something so perfect about it on so many levels. Music festivals' desire to combine nostalgia and spectacle in their headlining acts seems to have reached a macabre but inevitable conclusion in the virtual resurrection of a dead pop star, and odds are we'll be seeing more of this sort of thing in the future. (I'm willing to bet that a major festival announcing an entire set by a reanimated musician is more of a "when" situation than an "if." Aaliyah at Coachella? Biggie at Lollapalooza?) And given the amount of work Tupac has been put up to since he died—some of it considerably more humiliating than reincarnation as a dimly lit Sim—it only makes sense that someone would finally find a way to get a live performance out of him. (Speaking of inevitability: Hologram Tupac has a Twitter account.)
Friday, March 23, 2012
Paranormal Shameless SEO News We're number two! (in bedbug infestations)
Posted by Julia Thiel on 03.23.12 at 06:16 AM
Pest control company Orkin just published its annual list of the country's most bedbug-infested cities, and Chicago comes in at number two for the second year in a row. It's one of the few cities that didn't change spots, along with Cincinnati (number one) and Denver (number four). I'm a little skeptical that this is an accurate representation of how many bedbug infestations there actually are in each city, for the same reasons I gave in a story I wrote about bedbugs in January: the data behind the rankings hasn't been published, and it could fluctuate depending on how much business the company does in any given city (they could be more popular in Cincinnati, say, than New York—which is number nine). LA climbed to fifth from 19th last year, and Dallas is up from 29th place to seventh. But Orkin's competitor Terminix rated Chicago fourth in the U.S. for infestations last year, so it's entirely possible that our city is one of the most bedbug-ridden in the country.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Paranormal Boom! News Lost in eastern Wisconsin?
Posted by Sam Worley on 03.21.12 at 01:00 PM
- Thomas Haugen
- It's coming from underground
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Paranormal Seriously? Population: 1
Posted by Kevin Warwick on 03.15.12 at 02:30 PM
- Wikimedia Commons
- More prosperous times
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Paranormal Food Chain Food & Drink Pip pip, Pi Day!
Posted by Asher Klein on 03.13.12 at 05:00 PM
- Elena Blokhina / Shutterstock
- The delicious circumference of this pie = π x its delicious diameter
*In most countries, where the day precedes the month in the calendar date, Pi Day falls on July 22, since 22/7 is the simplest fractional approximation of pi. Knowing that is really just an excuse to celebrate twice.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Paranormal Whoa What benefits the world more?
Posted by Kevin Warwick on 03.08.12 at 05:08 PM
Please take your time and really think it through before answering.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Paranormal The art of personifying a tooth
Posted by Kevin Warwick on 03.01.12 at 11:00 AM
- Julie Shapiro
Artistic director of the Third Coast International Audio Festival, Julie Shapiro, seeks out her cartoon teeth. And instead of tracking down bizarre, dentistry-focused art installations, she looks for dental signs with silly artwork of personified teeth. In the photos, some of the teeth are flexing or jumping rope, some have teeth of their own, some are giving off a little sass, but all are smiling—the dentist is, after all, a joyous place. Several of the shots are from Shapiro herself, but she also has received contributions (both local and overseas) from friends, friends of friends, high school acquaintances, and even a few people she's never met. You can check out the ever-growing collection on her Tumblr page.
