Saturday, June 11, 2011

Play Locally: Blues Fest, Big $ Skatepark Competition, Kidical Mass, Full Moon Fire Jam, Great Theatre And More








Kidical Mass Saturday at 11am
Get your gear in gear for bike to work/school week June 11-17


Don't let the threat of rain keep you in this weekend.   There are so many great events going on.






Wheelin' and Dealin'


Kidical Mass-Join the Kidical Mass for a slow, easy-going, fun, group ride focused on kids (all ages) and families that will tour the Palmer Square and Logan Square neighborhoods.
Gather in the center of Palmer Square Park by 10:30, for an 11am departure.
Ride Guidelines
Please wear helmets and ride safely.
Rides are typically 4 miles at a 5-6 mph pace, roughly 1 hour with stops.
Rides are suitable for children who have progressed beyond training wheels.
Younger children are welcome on trail-a-bikes, child trailers and child seats of their parent's bike.
Festive dress and decorations encouraged.
It is expected that all kids bring a parent or guardian with a bike.








Maloof Skateboarding kicks off National Skater Competition Tour in CHICAGO weekend of June 11-12  (Maloof brothers own NBA Sacramento Kings and sponsor international skate boarding & parks).
Logan Boulevard Skate Park at 2430 W Logan Blvd under Kennedy Expressway overpass is a competition location Saturday June 11, 2011 !  
UPRISE SKATE SHOP is local event organizer (1820 N Milwaukee Ave)
Mark Heller        Logan Square parks advocate
Maloof Skateboarding 
Tour Will Feature Skate Contests, Giveaways and Volunteer Sundays where the Public is Invited to Join the Road Tour in a Day of Community Service

Maloof Skateboarding has announced the 12 participating cities and dates for the 2011 Maloof Road Tour leading up to the first-ever Maloof Money Cup contest in Washington D.C. over Labor Day Weekend. The road tour kicks off June 11 in Chicago, the weekend after the Maloof Money Cup New York (June 4-5) and will travel to 11 additional cities during the 12-week RV tour across the country. Other cities include (in order of stops): Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Birmingham, Miami, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

The Maloof Road Tour will work with local skate shops in each city to host skate contests (High Ollie, Game of Skate, Best Line contests and more) on Saturdays at each stop of the tour. The winners of the Best Line contests in the first 10 cities will be flown to Las Vegas in August for MAGIC, the fashion industry’s largest event, where they’ll compete on a special course on the show floor for a shot at $5,000 cash.
Sundays will be dedicated to community projects, including skate park cleanup, graffiti removal, skate gear drives and other community needs. Volunteers from the local community are encouraged to come out and participate.  Volunteer hours will be tallied as points to redeem on the MMC website for ticket discounts and prizes from sponsors.
Road Tour Manager Eric Isenberg will lead the team that includes Pro Skater Rodney Torres (rodneytorresnyc.com) and Dante Yore, from NY Skate Shop Homage Brooklyn (homagebrooklyn.com), who earned spots on the tour through the casting call held on maloofmoneycup.com in March.   Chris Miller, the official Maloof Road Tour Filmer, will capture the events as they unfold in each city.

“The Maloof Road Tour presents a great opportunity to visit amazing skate cities, have fun with the local skaters, and leave the city better than when we came to it,” said Eric Isenberg, Maloof Road Tour Manager. “Kids are pushing the limits of skateboarding every day, so we encourage skateboarders and fans to come out to our Road Tour stops and show us what they got. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Plus, we have a whole RV of swag we need to unload!”


Eco Friendly-North Park Nature Center (5801 N. Pulaski Rd. at Ardmore), one of our favorite spaces in Chicago, is having a City Wilds Fest for the next 2 days.    This one is pretty low key and laid back compared to their popular Maple Syrup Fest and Winter Solstice.    So if you prefer your hikes in the woods to be less like a line at Great America, come on out.   The fest starts at 10am both days but ends at 9pm Saturday and 3pm Sunday.   Admission is free.








Events : Nature Events
City Wilds Festival of Backyard Biodiversity
Visit North Park Village Nature Center on Sat, June 11, for its 3rd annual BioBlitz. Help find and identify as many living organisms as possible from 10 am-10 pm (Satonly; may end early if bad weather). On both Saturday and Sunday, learn about native plants and composting, hike the trails, and enjoy a visit with the Chicago Turtle Club. On Sun, June 12 only (10 am-3 pm), we'll do children's crafts, and Tales & Scales Traveling Zoo presents an interactive live animal program (11:30 am-2 pm).
Date: 06/11/11
Start Time: 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Schedule Notes: BioBlitz (June 11) may end earlier in case of inclement weather.
Cost: free
Location : North Park Village Nature Center 
Come out to these family friendly and nature friendly events. From campfires and hikes, to story-telling and canoe trips, there is something for everyone to enjoy.


Music-

Our top pick for weekend music is The Chicago Blues Fest running all weekend from 11am till 9:30 Saturday, 9pm Sunday in Grant Park.   The annual fest if free, family friendly fun and we've only missed 1 in over 20 years-when we got married Blues Fest Saturday and left for Jamaica!    Highly recommended.



Our other top pick for a parents' night out (or kids over 17) is the show we gave tickets away to and have been talking about all week--Van Ghost, How Far to Austin, and a whole evening of rockin' funk/blues bands play The House of Blues tonight.   Click HERE for more info.


Act Out (best area theatre for adults and kids)
We'll have a post devoted entirely to theatre, and a bunch of reviews.    For now, here's our brief highly recommended list.   Check out Broadway in Chicago's Peter Pan 360degrees for all ages, Watership Down at Lifeline for 10+, Broadway in Chicago's revival of Chicago, the musical at the Oriental Theatre for adults and older kids, and Dot and Ziggy by Chicago Children's Theatre at Victory Gardens for the very young,.






Dot and Ziggy


Interactive Theatre for Babies and Toddlers

Created by Linda Hartzell,
Mark Perry, and Seattle
Children's Theatre

May 9 - June 26
Victory Gardens
Biograph Theater
2433 N. Lincoln Avenue

FOR AGES ZERO - FOUR 




Don't miss Lifeline Theatre's unforgettable world premiere adaptation of Watership Down!    

Watership Down is brought to life by Lifeline Theatre's award-winning ensemble. Click here for information, and to purchase tickets. 







Watership Down runs Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 4pm & 8pm, and Sundays at 4pm, through June 19th.





Click on Broadway in Chicago for show information, tickets, and videos.    Don't miss Peter Pan and Chicago, the musical, playing now and The Blues Brothers starting July 6th.




The All New Original Tribute to the Blues Brothers, which plays the Auditorium Theatre in a limited engagement July 6 - 24.  It's time to dust off your pork pie hat and put on those dancing shoes, because Jake and Elwood are back!  The Blues Brothers will once again be donning their iconic hats, sunglasses and suits to bring to life a host of the duo’s most memorable hits.  The show has already had a successful 46-week run in London, and is being upgraded for Jake and Elwood’s return to Chicago with a brand new set, updated choreography and new songs.

Events 





46th Annual Midsommer Fest in Andersonville-last year we had the opportunity to actually spend summer solstice in Sweden!    This year we'll be doing traditional Swedish dancing around the may pole closer to home.   Check out Midsommer Fest for the best of old and new traditions.    Make Swedish crafts and check out The Swedish American Museum while you're there.   Then revel in the usual Chicago street fest fare with a plethora of booths, non stop live music and kids' activities.






Midsommarfest is Andersonville's annual summer street festival, now entering its 46th year. Each year, nearly 50,000 people throng Clark Street from Foster to Catalpa for two days of music, dancing, kids' entertainment, and delicious food. Vendors from around the region sell their wares to passers-by, while ethnic dance troupes and cutting-edge bands keep the party going.

Catch excellent kindie rocker, Laura Doherty, at 3PM Saturday.   Lubriphonic, one of our favorite funk bands, will be playing there Saturday at 5pm.   Both are past ChiIL Mama Win A Disc Wednesday feature bands.  There's a great line up both Saturday and Sunday.    Also look for our friends with Lil Buds Theatre.    They have excellent theatre classes and camps for kids and rockin' family friendly shows.   Click HERE for the full lineup.
$5 suggested donation.








JUMP START YOUR DAY:  
Join CPS’
Bike to Work Week Challenge
June 11 to 17, 2011

Have you thought about biking to work and never tried it?  Or are you a regular bike commuter?  Whatever your experience level, Bike to Work Week from June 11 to 17, 2011 is a great time to jump start your day and ride!  Choose any day(s) that week, and ride any portion of your commute.
  •  Learn how car sharing can help you leave the car at home
We encourage you to sign up your own Bike to Work Week team of staff and/or students at www.activetrans.org/commuterchallenge.    Our school will be encouraging staff, students and families to bike to school all week and we'll have photo filled features here at ChiIL Mama as the challenge progresses.    Our week culminates with our own little Kidical Mass ride for our school!

Why bike to work?
·        Climate Change. Every gallon of gasoline burned creates 20 pounds of climate-changing CO2, making commuting by bike eco-friendly.
·        Health and physique. Casual biking burns about 173 calories per hour. Driving? No.
·        Saving for other things. A typical U.S. family spends $7,800 per year operating a car, while a bike might cost $100 for a tune-up.
·        Transit Benefits.  Combine biking with tax savings on your transit passes and save even more!  Go tohttps://cpsatworkprod.cps.k12.il.us and find CTA or Metra enrollment forms under Forms (Payroll).

See you on the road.
www.cps.edu/gogreen 





Save the Date




The Full Moon is coming!


It's time to dust off your fire spinning gear and drums!!
Come out to enjoy one of the FINEST ways to spend your Chicago evening!


June 15th, 2011 - Wednesday night
Arrive around 8:30pm to watch the sunset.  The Jam will start around this time also. 
Jam ends by 10:15pm and everyone must be out of the park by 11:00pm


: leave no trace : no alcohol etc. : rain or shine : photography = no flash :
Fire spinners please read to the end of the email

Full Moon Jams are a community event:  Fire Spinners from Chicago and
beyond gather together, with the passion filled music from local
drummers to share with you their combined passions.  The result:  an
evening of beautiful flames, dances, music and laughter.

Jam happen rain or shine... but please know that these events, despite
their size, are informal in many ways.  No one fire spinner or drummer
is required to come and share gifts at the jam.  Thus.. sometimes
there are less drummers and sometimes there are less fire spinners.
This is just how it is.

If you are a fire spinner and are not on the Chicago Fire Tribe email
group ... please email chicagofiretribe@gmail.com and introduce
yourself, so we can add you to the list of fellow fire friends here in
Chicago.

The Jam is open to everyone and anyone.  It is a free event and will
continue to be.  This event is NOT organized by the City of Chicago..
it is put together by a community of fire loving friends.

Important things to know about the Jam
... and please help everyone know these important things. -The Jams
are a family event... please no alcohol
-The Jams have worked hard to develop a great working and
understanding relationship with Local Area Police... please be kind to
them, they are our friends.
-We encourage everyone to take pictures at the Jams, but we have found
that flash photography is disruptive to the event and to our flow.
Please turn off the flash feature of any camera you bring! Tag us with
(chifire) and (full moon jam) on any photos you post online, or email
us at chicagofiretribe@gmail.com so we can share talents.
-The Jams are a LEAVE NO TRACE event... this means... pack it in, pack
it out.  Please clean up after yourselves and if you see and litter,
please help and clean it up.

The Location of the Jam
This is the actual address of the field where the jam is held:

5050 N. Simonds Dr Chicago, IL 60640
west side of Simonds Dr

please note::: The jam is NOT! at Foster Ave Beach.. it is South of
the beach, on the west side of the path.

<http://www.googlemaps.com/> and plug in the address.

DRIVING:
Foster Ave and the Lake front.. . *not the beach!*
Lake Shore Drive to Foster Ave, turn right and go east (towards the
Lake) on Foster Ave.
When the street curves around to the right, follow it. The jam is 1/4
a mile down the path on the west side of the street.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:
Red Line to Argyle or Berwyn
Walk to Foster Ave - if at Argyle stop, go North; if at Berwyn stop,
go South to Foster.
Then walk east on Foster till you hit the Lake front and follow the
path as it curves around to the right (south)
We are 1/2 a mile down the path.

DATES FOR 2011

Mark your calenders for upcoming Full Moon Jams! Here is the list of
upcoming dates.  Note that the jams cannot happen on Fridays or
Saturdays, and some of the dates below have been moved to reflect this
request.

MONTH        DAY     DAY OF WEEK      JAM TIME
June             15th        Wednesday            8:30 pm
July              14th        Thursday               8:30 pm
August         14th         Sunday                7:45 pm
September   12th         Monday                7:00 pm
October       11th         Tuesday                6:15 pm

More info:

 

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