Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

Articles Sections >> Arts + Words Bars + Clubs Dating Festivals Fitness Food Lifestyle Music Theater Travel + Tourism Who's Who > View All Ask Centerstage Cheap Thrills Green Thumb Weekend Warrior

Five things to do in Chicago, from the obvious to the absurd.

Thursday Apr 30, 2009.     By Centerstage Chicago Staff

Lifestyle Feed

9th Annual Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention
Friday-Sunday at Westin Lombard Yorktown Center; $15-$25 per day, $35 for a three-day pass
Attendees at this three-day event dedicated to the pulp-fiction genre of the 1920s-1950s will be able to check out films (including many Pulp-era shorts) and art (a collection of some of the rarest vintage covers) in addition to tons of rare and re-issued titles for sale from over 100 dealers. This year's convention shines a spotlight on the popular "Spicy" pulp novels.

Chicago's Biggest Kentucky Derby Party
11 a.m. Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course; $50 ($4 without food/drink)
In celebration of 100 years of family-owned racing, Hawthorne is hosting this outdoor celebration featuring live music, an outdoor barbecue and craft-beer fest, a charity chili cook-off, and tent lounges with dozens of high-definition flat-screen TVs so fans can watch and wager in style (real fans can start watching indoors as early as 9:15 a.m.). Don't feel like heading to the 'burbs? We've got a big list of Derby parties for you to choose from at Chicago bars.

Free Comic Book Day
Saturday at various locations
Love comics? Hate spending money? This day was made for you. Independent comic-book stores around the world will be giving away titles (click here for this year's list) to all those who step through their doors on Saturday. Local participating shops include Chicago Comics, The Comic Vault, Graham Crackers Comics, Brainstorm Movies, Comics and Gaming, Challengers Comics + Conversation, G-Mart Comics, Vigilante Press Comics and Daktower Comics.

"Holy Mountain"
Midnight Saturday at Facets; $5
Watch out, Music Box; you've got a competitor in the midnight-movie market. Facets Cinematheque, the home for serious Chicago film lovers, launches "Night School" tonight; the series will feature cinema's "wild side," with each event including a staff-led lecture, screening and discussion. Things get started with Alejandro Jodorowsky's "Holy Mountain, a "carnivalesque succession of psychedelic vignettes, shocking iconography, alchemical set pieces, fascistic mass movements, and Brechtian distanciation devices." Check out more info (and a YouTube trailer) on the Facets website.

13th Annual Girl Food Dinner
5:30 p.m. Sunday at West Town Tavern; $150
Sick of all those testosterone-heavy meals (not literally, we hope)? Now's your chance for some gender balance. Four female chefs (Nadia Tilkian, Maijean; Jill Barron, Mana Food Bar; Karen Armijo, Gary Comer Youth Center; and Jessica Olorose, Black Dog Gelato) join West Town Tavern chef/co-owner Susan Goss (and her husband, Drew) to prepare a five-course dinner which will raise money for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Wine pairings included.