The Addison Recorder staff, as taken at their Sunday-before-Thanksgiving writing salon.
Happy Thanksgiving! The Addison Recorder staff hope your Turkey Day is full of delicious food and excellent pop culture discussions with the people you like most. We’re thankful for our readers!
Rosamund Pike stars as Amy (seen here), and Ben Affleck as Nick. (image via)
It’s been a few weeks, so hopefully you’ve had the chance to get yourself acquainted with Gone Girl by now — be it by reading Gillian Flynn’s 2012 mind-bending novel, or by seeing the author-written screenplay film adaptation that came out last month. If not, be warned: Spoilers lie here. (Lots of them!)
Essay Fiesta will celebrate five years Nov. 17 at the Book Cellar.
At the very first Essay Fiesta performance on Nov. 16, 2009, founders Keith Ecker and Alyson Lyon didn’t know what to expect. They’d invited a handful of writers they knew to read essays for strangers they hoped would come out for it, at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square. The pair were in then-uncharted territory, seeking an audience for the live performance of written essays and first-person narratives. Live literature was new and Chicago, now the art form’s epicenter, was the wild west.
Yes Please came out October 28. (image via)
I bought this book on Audible on Friday afternoon and finished it Monday night, savoring the last hour at home while cleaning before sitting down to write this review. Listening to Amy Poehler talk about her life, her career, her family and her friends was soothing and inspiring at the same time. She made me want to write but also call my aunt to catch up. (I still owe you a call, Aunt Cary.)
Weezer’s latest album came out Oct. 7. (image via)
Meryl and her friend Dennis live in different states but share a years-long love for Weezer. This week they listened to the new album released Oct. 7, and below is their unofficial Gmail chat review of “Everything Will Be Alright In The End.”
Dennis: have you heard anything from the new Weezer album?
me: i have not! I heard it’s good though. Have you heard it?
Dennis: no. I was a little disappointed in the last one.
me: yeah… Checking to see if it’s on Spotify… (minute later) IT IS.
Dennis: it’s on grooveshark too. I’ll listen with you! ha.
me: yay! okay fun!
New episodes of Losers air every Wednesday. (Image via)
A new Chicago-based webseries began airing episodes Sept 3, but there’s still time to catch up before next week’s midseason premiere. Losers, a self-described show “about fucking up,” is the debut project by new-on-the-scene production company Cloud Gate Productions and centers around a cast of roughly 40 characters in 25 episodes.
A dedicated fan base broke out in cheers on Twitter when Netflix announced recently that, as of October 1, all seven seasons of the WB show “Gilmore Girls” will be available to stream. Though many of us have been able to re-watch the show on DVD, the possibility of spending time with the fast-talking, trivia-filled titular duo anytime, anywhere fills us with glee. If you’re new to the family and their perpetually-autumnal home of Stars Hallow, let me be your guide into this (sadly fictional) little corner of the world.
“Gilmore Girls” begins streaming on Netflix Oct. 1 (image via).
PleasureTown is a story-based podcast on WBEZ (image via).
Imagine a town based on the concept of hedonism: “A place to find your happy,” as PleasureTown’s fictional co-founder Cyrus might say. This is the foundation upon which PleasureTown, Oklahoma originated. This fictional utopia is the focus of the WBEZ podcast of the same name, created by live literature veterans Keith Ecker and Erin Kahoa. Kahoa took the time to sit down with the Addison Recorder to talk about the show and about why you should start listening now.
Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, reads at Women & Children First Bookstore in Andersonvile.
What does it mean to be a “bad feminist”? Author Roxane Gay defines the term in the intro of her book of essays of the same title. She admits she may not be as up on feminist texts as she’d like and sometimes she finds herself singing along to pop music she knows is bad for women. But she also supports equal pay for equal work and a woman’s right to make decisions about her own health with unfettered access to health care. A “bad” feminist accepts that she or he cannot be a perfect ideal and example of feminism at all times.
Story Club was founded in 2009. (Image via)
If you’ve ever wanted to see if joining Chicago’s live lit scene is for you, you can find out in a stage setting anxiety-free this fall. Story Club host and founder Dana Norris is continuing a series of storytelling shows and classes at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 and Oct. 20 at Holiday Club on N. Sheridan Rd.
