MAC Reception: After Hours at After-Words

After-Words Bookstore will welcome MAC 2010 attendees to the annual reception from 6 pm – 8 pm on Thursday, April 22.  Owner Beverly Dvorkin’s independent bookstore offers 60,000 volumes in 8,000 sq. feet of book lover’s heaven.

Dvorkin’s store has been a fixture in Chicago’s River North neighborhood since 1996, and After-Words frequently hosts receptions and other community events.  (It has even served as the debut stage for local playwrights.)  The store’s two levels hold an extensive selection of new and used titles, while Beverly says After-Words’ collection of 20^th century 1^st editions – “your John Irvings and Milan Kunderas” – is particularly strong.  Most importantly for the bibliophiles among us, After-Words will be open for business during the reception!

When asked how she feels about surrendering her store to a troop of archivists for the night, Beverly gamely replied, “It’ll be fun, honestly.”  Your 2010 Local Arrangements Committee couldn’t agree more.  And, as an added bonus, After-Words is located next door to the legendary Jazz Record Mart!

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Strolling Around Chicago: Landmarks Tours

Chicago is home to many important architectural landmarks. As of January 1, 2009, 276 individual landmarks, 51 districts, and 7 district extensions have been designated as Chicago Landmarks by the City Council.

To be recommended for landmark status, a building or district must meet at least two of the following criteria: critical part of Chicago’s heritage, site of a significant event, association with a significant person, important architecture, important architect, distinctive theme as a district, or unique visual feature; and must also retain a high degree of architectural integrity (from the Landmarks website). For more information on this process, visit the Landmarks website.

Self-guided tours of Chicago landmarks are available online. The tours group the landmarks by theme – such as Mansions, Music and Art, African-American history – and provide a great introduction to the history of Chicago. Included online are descriptions and photographs of the landmarks. While most of these tours take you all over Chicago (with stops in the Loop), two tours – The Loop Tour and The Early Skyscrapers Tour – explore landmarks only in Chicago’s Loop – near the conference hotel and easily accessible on foot.

 

What’s Going on Here?

Chicago has so much going on – music, theater, museum exhibits, comedy, restaurants – that it can be hard to answer the question What shall we do? Locals have several resources at their disposal for finding a new place for dinner or where to hear some jazz for the evening.

The Chicago Reader is a great place to start looking for all sorts of events and performances by date, genre and venue.  Pick up a copy of the Reader at sites all over town, or visit the website, www.chireader.com.  Handy features include tabs for browsing “Music,” “Art & Events,” and “Best of Chicago.”

Metromix also sponsors a Chicago site that offers a search engine for restaurants by location, price range, cuisine, and more.  The site offers great listings and searches for music and events as well.

Centerstage Chicago offers similar event listings and services, but has an additional feature called “Virtual L.”  Choose an L (or “el”) stop and see what’s in the neighborhood that surrounds it.  A great supplement for your self-guided tours!

 

Strolling around Chicago: Chicago Blues Self-Guided Tour

This is the first in a series about tours of Chicago. Check back for more!

Chicago Blues narrated by Buddy Guy – The Enhanced Audio Tour of the History of the Blues

Take this toe tapping tour of the history of Chicago Blues! Check out the interactive map, music clips, and images of the Explore Chicago Downloadable Tour presented by the Chicago Office of Tourism. This free downloadable tour will entertain and inform during your lunch break at the office, your commute into work, or strolling our city streets during some down time at the conference.

Chicago Blues legend Buddy Guy is your guide to the sights and sounds of places that tell the story of the musicians, record label producers, and club owners who created the unique sound of the Chicago Blues. Listeners are encouraged to download the tour to their iPod and follow the tour in person. Directions to the eleven locations are given for publication transportation (CTA) or driving. For those of you who can’t wait for April, sit back, turn up your speakers, and enjoy your tour of the Chicago Blues from the comfort of your desk!