Buzz Magazine

Big Randy is set to have his annual party again this summer. Woodsbash 2010 is set to take place at Schiller Park Woods (Grove # 4) on July 31^st from 11:00 A.M. until just before sundown. The party gets fired up at Noon with live music provided by four terrific bands playing for your entertainment until 6:00P.M. Come out and join the fun!

Starting off the day will be the new group Ballistic. This guitar oriented band will cover some great classic rock songs. They will perform music from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. Some songs will sound like the record and others will have their own twist done to them. Come and see them kick off the day in style and helping the crowd go ballistic!

Rising up Angry will come about next with crunchy guitar and a tight band to back that up. Heavy driven beats and thumping bass move the Earth with every pluck. This band is a guarantee that the show and party will be a great time. The quick riffs will echo through the forest bringing the party together and keeping your pulse alive.  

Rhino 39 is an awesome heavy band to see covering some of the great metal masterpieces provided by the music gods. They are known for, but not limited to covering Pantera and Metallica with complete perfection. Their guitars, bass, drums, and vocals are just flawless. They perform these thrash metal songs without missing a beat.

The AC~DC tribute band Problem Child finishes out the day by playing the songs written by the band from down-under. They will mimic the vocals and guitar riffs so well you will think you are actually seeing AC~DC themselves. The group provides a dynamite show throwing down all the awesome songs of one of the best selling groups of all time.

The music is free to the public, but is a BYOB situation. Bring your own food and beverages of choice, but no glass containers are allowed within the forest preserve grounds. Glass bottle use is strictly enforced by the forest preserve of Cook County with heavy fines given to the consumer.  

TOP 5  

Excellent Things To Do in Chicago!

For the weekend of JULY 9 thru JULY 11th, 2010.          

This week.... The Beach. The Soul. The "Barenaked"!

Doing Chicago BIG! Having a Blast!

Gettin' Buzzed about Sports and Entertainment!

 By Greg Chruscielski

Millenium Park has so much going on lately! 

Rachel Barton Pine

will be presented with the Great Performer of Illinois award!          

                                         JULY 11th.          

The now annual and 3rd GREAT PERFORMERS OF ILLINOIS event will take place on Sunday, July 11th. 2010 in gorgeous Millenium Park, Chicagoland's answer to New York's pedestrian retreat Central Park, but with a little more art and entertainment flaire! This special ceremony begins at 6:30pm. Start your day downtown early and get a close stage spot.

Rachel Barton Pine will be honored, like fellow award recipients Dennis DeYoung ( of STYX ) and Buddy Guy ( Blues Legend ), with the prestigious award of Illinois Performer of the Year.

Rachel is a star who has actually produced more than 10 albums over 10 years, is a world-renowned violinist, has a music foundation, and plays with a metal band on the side! Plus...she's from Illinois! And of all the artists out there, Rachel Barton Pine has been chosen an exceptionally well-rounded artist. Her notoriety world-wide is magic you must and should absorb.

Vilolin and Heavy Metal together create unique perceptions and contrasts.

Playing with orchestras and symphonies around the planet, ruminescing gorgeous baroque spirits, and toning the strong victorious characters of the metal world, Rachel has given soulful ember to the artistic spirit in all of us, despite our preferences. She and her 1700's violin bring magic to the mind, heart, and soul. She is a true Chicago Star. Make it to this ceremony.

THE LARGEST

Blockparty in the WORLD!

                          JULY 9th. & 10th.

Leave it to Chicago, AGAIN!

Last week, we talked about how Chicago hosts some of the biggest events and parties on earth, right?!  Well...the World's Largest Blockparty is taking place this weekend on JULY 9th. & 10th and it is one of those Chicago feel-gooders you have to be at! Located barely a block off of the Kennedy Expressway near Madison and Des Plaines, this is a big one. Fun, food, killer Chicago scene, and...a few surprises. On July 9th, everybody there's getting "NAKED"!

Well...not really....but if you're there to see BARENAKED LADIES, you're going to the right place. Performing the evening of July 9th along with last year's AMERICAN IDOL winner Kris Allen and other great artists, when you buy your ticket for this weekend event you will also receive 5 Free Drinks! SPOON will also be performing there on Saturday, July 10th with White Rabbits.

Celebrity bartenders from the television series will be there. Get served right, not light!

Located at Old St. Pat's church, the "blockparty" started out as a charity fundraiser and has since become a staple Chicago heritage gathering. As you can imagine this area will not have a lot of parking, although you have some options on the perimeter of Greek Town. This event is a northwest-side of the Loop party, so you can EASILY take the train or bus, parking west a little bit. In fact, this ievent is not that far from Milwaukee Ave, so start out in Wicker Park and get your Chicago resident shoes on and take a little walk. This is a great party! Go get friendly, and do it for a great cause!

NEXT!

Let's hope you don't hear that a lot as we cover this next option for awesome things to do this July 9-11 weekend!

A U D I T I O N!

That's right! So you love to sit around and make fun of other people who act and perform!  Shame on you!  Well smartie pants, here's your big shot! Or your little shot. Only you know! 

"Just please leave Somewhere Over The Rainbow to the professionals."

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/auditions/

Look out BROADWAY! There is a renaissance of theatre that has been growing in the hearts and minds of the Illinois art patron for decades, and now we have some of the quaintest, most stimulating theatre environments around. Known for a variety of super-cool and unique theatre spaces ranging from audiences of 40 to 4,000 or more, if you want to act, or think you can act, or if its time to just let your spirit run free as others witness your testimony, there's no better time than now to get up there and make it happen. Do something in your life!

Specifically, this weekend....ahem....mimimimimi.....cough..! gulp..! ...

Saturday July 10 during the day.
City Lit Literate theatre

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/auditions/industrydetail.php?AuditionID=686

City Lit Theater

1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue
Chicago, IL
Volpone
Category: Non-Equity Audition     
Pay: Check about pay
Description:
Seeking 8 men, ages ranging from 20s to 40+, and two women, one in 20s, and one 40+.

Jul 10     3pm

Oracle Theatre

Puppy Tears Puppetry Festival

Category: Non-Equity Audition     
Pay: No Pay

Description:
The Rough House is hosting a puppetry festival at Oracle Theatre August 27th-September 12th
(from the page)
"We are accepting submissions for original pieces that depend on puppets to tell a story. Pieces may run 5 minutes to an hour, and may be as elaborate or stripped down as you like. All submissions will be considered-- from those entrenched in reality to those floating in the ether of the absurd; incendiary or escapist, topical or totally not, we are interested."

DEADLINE will be Mid-July

Are you a little bit

country?

You probably are and didn't know it if this next performer makes your brown eyes blue!

Just you and I......                    just you and I....             sharing our dreams together.

Crystal Gayle, famous singer and sister of country star Loretta Lynn, is giving a special performance at the charming art-deco period Watseka Theatre in Watseka, Illinois on July 10th from 7-10 p.m. This quaint 425 person showcase originally hosted over 600. As the only one of its kind constructed by 1933's The Century of Progress chief Chicagoland architect Louis Skidmore, who is most famous for his firm's design of the United Nations building, The Sears Tower, and The Hancock building, the Watseka Theatre is a special trip to a different time.

"A beautiful voice can change a spirit forever."

Known for some of the most memorable songs in American History, Crystal Gayle started out performing a few songs "on the road" with her then growing and successful sister Loretta ( Lynn ), and eventually signed up with famed DECCA Records where her velvet voice and angelic country/folk style were recorded for what has become a piece of music history crooning a world-wide base of fans across all genres. Crystal has a voice that soothes and engages. You don't have to love country to love Crystal!

This special show is definietly something to see, especially at the Watseka.

http://www.watsekatheatre.com/ticketboothbuytickets.html

There will never truely be another Crystal Gayle. Make a special trip to a special theatre.

OK SPORTSFANS!

Work Hard. Play Harder!       Have some fun in the sun!

Can you say VOLLEYWOOD?    No..Not HOLLYWOOD.           V  O  L   L  E  Y  W  O  O  D!

Stars of Chicago's Sand! Jump. Fly.     Hip Hop Horray.....Ho.....Hey......Ho......

Headliners at the 2010 Volleywood Beach Bash & Tournament- Naughty By Nature!

" You down with v.o.l.l.e.y.b.a.l.l.?     Yeah you know me!

"Bodies all over the beach. Competition. Fun. Music. Socializing. Why don't we live in Florida?"

North Avenue Beach has been working hard on and off for over 30 years to get that lakefront  clean and the party cookin'. If there is any day to go celebrate how far the lakefront beach and sports community has come in it's efforts to make North Ave. Beach and all of the other "sands" down our "coast" a great place to swim and sunbathe, then this would be it. It is also the only day of the year you can legally drink alcohol on the beach. Chicago. Beach. Drink?  How....Where....??

From Noon to 7p.m. July 10th. There are V.I.P. cabanas available for the true volleyball officionado.

Click here to register for a tournament spot or to check availability.

This is the midwest' LARGEST volleyball tournament, with over 250 teams competing.  In it's 10th year running, it has become the biggest Chicago beach party of all time! Right at North Avenue and Lakeshore Drive.  The city and Social Club have worked very hard to make this a seriously fun event. Get into the competition! Register to play and work your way up the ranks!

If you would like to register to compete in the tournament, there are prizes, guaranteed matches, the BASH, and an after party at Bull and Bear. Hosted by The Chicago Sport & Social Club, the VOLLEYWOOD party is a one of a kind. You will also receive a drink with the after party ticket.

Think about it. VOLLEYWOOD. 

The following is my report of Saturday past.  What I have written thus far is just a basic recollection.  But anyways, I still don’t have complete details on everything that may have happened, and memories are still coming back.

THE NIGHT BEGINS

 I picked up a friend who I'll call Britney, who couldn’t tell her parents or fiance that I was involved with her evening because they all dislike/distrust me even though only the fiance(who I'll call Victor) knows why they should(I’m keeping these beginning details because it plays into and augments later events/situations).  We hung out at my place for about 4 hours just laying in the sun and talking.  The talking was mostly light-hearted but of course recurring subjects were her relationship with Victor and me giving my opinions of that whole thing.  I repeatedly advised her that he is a burden on her and she should get out of that shit and maybe sorta implied that my friendship is more important and healthful for her if it came down to choosing.  No, it’s not time to laugh yet.

So we left around 10:30 and eventually met up with the lesbian, who I’ll call Shane(she likes being called this because it is the name of her favorite character on the L-Word(that gay showtime series).  This was at some hotel by the House of Blues.  We departed for Queerville.  After parking I took a hefty swig from a vodka drink I had brought.  I usually fill a water bottle with such a prepared beverage but tonight I filled a 64 oz apple juice container.  I intended it to be a shared travelin’ canteener, but noone else was takin’.

SOME GAY PLACES

The first place was a bar called The Closet.  ‘hem.  It was small but somehow not boring.  I asked if we could leave after me and Shane had one drink.  We then went to Sidetrack, a huge multi-roomed, multi-floored gaytime paradise.  Shane had a tequila sunrise and I had a beer.  Britney said something about being bored and I suggested she try drinking(At this point I had already tried getting her to drink an obnoxious number of times, and she had explained to me equally as many times that she can’t drink on her medicine and doesn’t like alcohol anyway, both I already knew.)  We were upstairs and I was staring off into space thinking of people dying when the girls said ‘Mikey the guy that just passed has been making all kinds of looks and smiles at you and you haven’t been responding.’  I said, ‘Oh! Well let’s follow him downstairs(where I can witness said looks and continue to not respond)!’  We didn’t find him but I found another beer and drank it.  We left.

Somewhere around here me and Shane piss in an alley and take happy pictures of all three of us dancing around.  I still need to see these and other pictures taken from this evening.

We walked around trying to find some kind of store and I pretended to know which and where it was but I had no idea about anything.  We ended up going to Berlin(some 'anything goes' clubbish type place).  But first I stopped at a corner store to purchase and chug a 16 ounce Steel Reserve.  Before entering Berlin I see what I swear is an old co-oworker.  I say nothing and stare.  Shane recognizes him(all three of us have worked with him) and excitedly attacks him.  He seems bothered and embarrassed.  After Britney and Shane have their way I feel obligated to confront this gentleman.  He says something like “I heard you got married and had a kid.”  I say “Yeah! Well, all that’s ending soon.”  He is silent.  “I mean the marriage, the child thing isn’t ending.”  “Oh… how old is your daughter?” “3 and a half…” it turns into one of those and falls apart as an amusing conversation.  He says that he now works at Berlin, and recommends I order a Tropical Sex.  He goes inside.  Britney and Shane ask me what we talked about and if I think the guy is gay.  I say “100% gay man, or at least bisexual.  Very funny, that guy.”

BERLIN/BLOOD

Shane and I go into Berlin and I order a Tropical Sex.  Shane orders nothing and I realize she has only had two drinks and Britney of course has had none.  Fucking dykes.  I grab my drink and somebody’s beer and we move to the dancier part of the club.  We sit for a short time when Shane leaves to get Britney.  I watch her leave.

It is sunny out and Britney is yelling at me. I look at my hands and there is blood all over my fingers.  We are on the side of the hotel in some kind of perhaps storage/loading dock/area and I am sitting on a huge concrete rectangle.  “…You were such an asshole…Shane said she’s never going to boystown with you again…you were like a baby we had to take care of…” Shane comes by and also gives me a piece of her mind and apparently it’s been about six hours of horrible behavior that I don’t remember performing.  Shane says she’s taking a train and either leaves or comes with me and Britney to Subway which I totally just remembered going to right now.  I forgot I ate subway.  But I do, then Britney asks me where the train station is and I lead her in the opposite direction of it.  She finds this out from a street person and tells me she hates me ‘right now’ and hails a cab and leaves me dazed in the middle of downtown Chicago.  So I stand there for a while.  Then start to walk in the direction of my car. 

SUNDAY STROLL

My body is telling me in its own way that it hates me.  Using my shirt as a pillow I sleep next to the sidewalk.  A guy keeps asking me if I’m alright and I tell him I’m just resting. I buy cigarettes(because my full pack disappeared) using my debit card(50 dollars have disappeared from my wallet).   I’m walking through a fucking zoo(Lincoln Park?) and none of the animals are out.  I am smoking a cigarette as I walk, with my shirt off, a slight limp, and blood on my hands.  Nobody bothers me.  I somehow find Halsted(4-5 hours later) and get a burrito(at this point I have no idea I already ate a sub) and a huge horchata.  There are two queers in the restaurant talking about buying a shirt.  They have what seems like a never ending discussion with the proprietor and finally each purchase a shirt and keep talking about the shirts they just bought and where else they buy shirts.  I hate all the people I see and take long breaks from walking - sitting on benches and despising those who pass.  Eventually I get to my car(around 1:45) and drive home.  My car tells me the trunk is open and sure enough it is.  “Hey Britney, did you close the trunk all the way shut?” I remember asking her after she stored her purse there for the night. “Yes, I did.”  There is no purse in the trunk.  Her phone and some other belongings of hers are still in the front seat so obviously we never returned to my car during the night.  I have no wounds, but actually there is a dot of a scab over the vein of my left arm, surrounded by a bruisy discoloration – did I do heroin last night?  I check the receipts in my pockets and somehow I spent over 30 more dollars on my walk to the car(I remember buying an iced mocha, water, cigs, subway, burrito and horchata, chips, and I suppose there were other things(heroin?)?).

CONTRIBUTED DETAILS Sunday evening

I did call Shane and she told me things I couldn’t recall myself.  When she and Britney came into Berlin I was noodley and hostile.  They tried to get me to leave but I would scream “get away from me mother fuckers!” and flick them off.  The security guard eventually had to forcefully eject me.  There was a cab ride to the hotel and I was rude to him in some similar way.  We tried going up to Shane’s room in the hotel but I was making all kinds of scenes and security would not allow my entry.  Supposedly there was a very nice guard helping out but that did not change my conduct toward him.  Britney stayed outside with me and I kept trying to throw up.  Shane witnessed some of this and said I was so viciously jabbing my fingers down my throat that they must have been cutting my insides up and hence all the blood.  I asked how upset she was with me and she said she’s still cool with talking to me, carefully not yet saying whether or not she’ll ever see me outside of work again.

I don’t know what’s happening with Britney.  I assume she went home, tardy by several hours, missing her phone, purse, and other items, and can’t explain why because she can’t let people know she was with me(Victor will leave her, her parents wont trust her or let her hang out with people anymore except for her fiancé, who she wont have anymore).  I can’t get in contact with her or attempt to return what I have of her things.

This is what I know so far.

UPDATED CONTRIBUTIONS Tuesday evening

I speak with Britney, briefly.  What I am told is worse than what I so far had believed.  So when she came into Berlin I either threw or spilled my tropical sex on her, then refused her help in getting me on my feet.  A bouncer came by and helped me out of the club.  He interviewed me outside and shone a flashlight in my eyes.  Shane and Britney had to answer all the questions, such as have I been taking other drugs during the night and where do I live and how do I get home.  I was fed pretzels but spit them on other people that were outside.  Britney had to apologize to the spitting victims and to the bouncer.  We got in a cab.  I kept flicking off the cabby and trying to leave the vehicle while it was in motion.  I had to urinate but couldn’t stand up and the cabby(god bless him) held me up while I pissed on some building.  When we got dropped off at the hotel he deserved a huge tip which he received from Britney and Shane while I contributed a spat of curses.  The hotel people wouldn’t let me up so Britney stayed outside and supervised me as well as another drunk who sat next to me and kept drooling.

 Subway was visited somehow, and Britney had to buy something in order to use the facilities.  She bought a sub and for reasons unknown I swatted it out of her hand and it flew into useless pieces.  This was before the later visit where I actually behaved enough for us to eat a meal.  I kept complaining about things and kept throwing up, and Britney was fed up and took my cigarettes and smoked them during the babysitting time.  The rest of the morning I’ve already described, but Britney did inform me that her family was very upset with her.  She told them the whole story, replacing my name with another name they knew of a person they never met.  On the plus side, I saw that she had her purse with her so hell yeah it didn’t get stolen.  We must’ve stopped at the car between bars and I just didn’t remember it.  It’s likely I wouldn’t remember it.  I dared not ask where we stood as friends, so that’s still up in the air.  I figure these things happen.  I probably wont drink for another two weeks.

After years of rumors and false starts, the 1980s classic The A-Team is finally coming to the movie theaters. Fans of the old TV series need not be worried, this new film is everything you could have hoped for.

The back story of the movie remains pretty true to the TV series. The A-team is a group of United States special forces members who were framed for war crimes that they did not commit. Constantly on the run from the U.S. Government who is trying to hunt them down as war criminals, these 4 guys end up doing good deeds by helping innocent people who are in trouble.

In the TV series these guys were former Vietnam veterans. Since the last episode was over 20 years ago, the producers have updated the story slightly and made them Iraqi war veterans.

When I saw the advance screening I damn near did a double-take as each of the 4 principle characters look almost identical to their 1980s counterparts.

Firstly, multiple Oscar nominee Liam Neeson plays the leader of the A-Team Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith. Hannibal was played originally by George Peppard, and I don’t know what they did to Neeson to make him look so much like Peppard. It’s astonishing. Liam spends much of the movie chomping on that old familiar cigar and coming up with some very unorthodox schemes, which always get the other guys eyes rolling.

Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck is played by Bradley Cooper (Dirk Benedict played Peck in the TV show). Always referred to as just “Face”, he is the good looking, smooth-talking one of the bunch who uses his charm and charisma to talk people out of items that the A-Team is in immediate need of. Need a fighter plane? …. let Face get it.

Sharlto Copley plays the team's pilot, Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock. Not many pilots can claim they have been declared insane, but Murdock can. He is such a good flyer that the rest of the team can overlook his “special circumstances”. Murdock was played by Dwight Schultz originally.

Finally there is Sergeant Bosco Albert B.A. "Bad Attitude" Baracus. He is the “muscle” of the quartet and has all the best quotes. This is the role that made Mr. T famous worldwide back in the 1980s. The producers knew they could not screw up the casting of this character, so they put Ultimate Fighting champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in the part. This was probably the best choice they made as Jackson looks and sounds just like Mr T. Each time he grunts “fool!” the memories come flooding back.

Critics of the TV series always lamented how violent the show was. While it was true there were always gunfire, explosions and buildings being destroyed, no one ever got seriously hurt. Heck, almost no one got even as much as a bruise!.

This time it is much different. You can’t have a high-voltage action-adventure movie without people getting hurt. The body count is high in The A-Team 2010. The bad guys (and some good ones) get what is coming to them.

The special effects are unbelievable. The explosions rock the room you’re in and are almost non-stop. Apparently being ex-special forces means you can still get your hands on the biggest explosives made.

If this movie does well you can expect sequels. The ending is set up that way, though I won’t divulge any secrets. Safe to say that the final firefight is among the most complex and riveting battle scenes ever filmed.

As I approach the old polo grounds of Oak Brook for the Highland Games, an older Scottsman walks to me and asks, “What is the only thing a Scottsman wears under his kilt?” I look at the sky and am not sure how to actually answer this question. I turn and look at the gentleman and say, “I have no idea.”  He looks at me with a smile and chuckles, “His wife’s lipstick.”

I continue walking through the entrance and soon realize that I am one of the smallest people here; like my Irish heritage, I feel like a true leprechaun. The Highland Games are a true celebration of what it’s like to be Scottish.  They pride themselves on gratification, and today is a day where, like the Irish with St. Patrick’s Day, everybody is Scottish.

From events ranging from the knobby knee contest to rugby, and the infamous throwing games themselves, there is no wonder why this festival attracts a large crowd every year.  As soon as I walk through the entrance I am able to see just about every item of Scottish heritage imaginable.

The festival has booths of kilts makers, traditional Scottish fiddle music, dancers that quickly move their feet over swords and big burly lads and lasses that are able to throw weights the mass of a supermodel twenty feet across a field.

There is no need for security at an event like this; because let’s be honest, you would be an idiot to try to commit a crime where the average athlete is 6’5” and 295 lbs. Once you get over the initial intimidation from the size of the athletes, the festival is an absolute delight. Everyone in attendance is here to have a great time and ensure that you have a wonderful taste of Scottish hospitality. From the announcers explaining the events and the various flavors of Haggis, to a great glass of $5 lemonade. Having been a beautiful day in June, one could not ask for a better stage to be presented with a
different culture. The St. Andrew’s Foundation did a great job and pulling together a great festival and providing everyone a truly wonderful experience that everyone in Chicagoland can enjoy.