Friday/ May 4
For those looking for a rite of passage into the Chicago intelligentsia, head to the Museum of Contemporary Art for its monthly First Fridays event. It’s not every happy hour that features Wolfgang Puck catering, live DJs, and the latest art from an up-and-coming Chicago artist. In fact, it’s the only place in the world where you’ll find an iMac G5 digital dating bar (not even the MacLab offers that). If that’s not enough, there are multiple after-parties for your perusal. (Museum of Contemporary Art, 6 p.m., 21+, $10)
Michael Chabon would be proud of the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, beginning tonight in Arlington Heights. Tonight begins with a slur of some of the weirder sci-fi films you are likely to see, as well as barrage of art prints, paperbacks, and just about all the sci-fi merchandise your inner dork needs. (3400 West Euclid Avenue, films begin at 12 p.m., showroom opens at 7 p.m., $35 for all three days)
Saturday/ May 5
Where better to spend your Cinco de Mayo then a pool? Delta Gamma hosts their annual Anchor Splash. Featuring synchronized swimming contests ranging from the skilled to the embarrassing, the event will also feature the best (and worst) of various frats and teams in terms of swimsuits and relays. All proceeds go to charity, but if you see a frat boy in a bikini, you may need a charity of your own. (Ratner, 6:30 p.m., $5)
If you’d rather spend your Mexican holidays celebrating Poland, Navy Pier is the place to be for the annual Poland on the Pier event. The event features live Polish music, including both traditional folk and modern pop (including finalists from the Polish equivalent of American Idol). There will also be more kielbasa and pierogies than your stomach can bear. It’s a glorious celebration in the world’s largest Polish community outside of, well, Poland. (Navy Pier, 1 p.m., free)
One of the country’s premiere string ensembles hits the U of C this weekend, but it’s not in a place you may expect. The Renaissance Society hosts The JACK String Quartet, which will present works by a slew of contemporary composers in the acoustic wonder of…the fourth floor of Cobb. While maybe not as wild as the Scav Party (last May’s unexpected Cobb event), it may be just as entertaining. (The Renaissance Society, 8 p.m., free)
Sunday/ May 6
The U of C Wind Ensemble hits Mandel Hall for its final performance of the year, A Little Romance. The event features some of the majestic sounds of Hanson (the composer, not the band), Saint-Saëns, Mozart, and Bach. And because the concert takes on famous lovers such as Samson and Delilah and Figaro and Suzanne, it’s a perfect event for your spring fever. (Mandel Hall, 4 p.m., free)
If you feel like dancing instead, you won’t find a better band to dance to right now than LCD Soundsystem. The band rushed onto the scene at the height of the dance-punk revival with their 2005 eponymous album but have received nearly universal acclaim two years later with their sophomore effort Sound of Silver. It may be your best chance this month to dance with likeminded hipsters. (Metro, 9 p.m., 18+, $21)
If you prefer to dance to silkier sounds a bit closer to home, the Checkerboard Lounge is the place to be once again this Sunday for Two for Brazil. The night features singer and guitarist Paulinho Garcia alongside Greg Fishman on sax and flute. The duet plans to adapt samba and bossa styles to the classics like Gillespie, Coltrane, and Monk. Campus jazz enthusiasts should be thrilled to see such a unique act so close to home. (Checkerboard Lounge, 7:30 p.m., $5 for students)
Monday/ May 7
A new RSO going by the name 2MuchMusic is set to add another side to the campus music scene. They kick off their first event, a Bjrk Listening Party, Monday night. To prepare for her new CD, Volta, Seven-Ten Lanes will offer half-price bowling and special “Volta-themed” drinks. If experimental pop, cheap bowling, and weird drinks sound like your idea of fun, there’s no better place to spend your Monday night. (Seven-Ten Lanes, 8 p.m., free)
Tuesday/ May 8
While Doc’s series on Japanese Wartime Memory and the Postwar Japanese Psyche has been going on all quarter, Tuesday marks the series’ featured event, The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On. If a legendary 1987 documentary featuring an indignant Japanese war veteran is not enough for your cinephilic sensibilities, the film’s director, Kazuo Hara, will be introducting the film in yet another Doc75 event. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 7 p.m., $5)
Wednesday/ May 9
Once upon a time, a little man from the state of South Dakota controlled a party that represented half the nation. Three years after his last term as Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle comes to speak at the U of C on a hot topic for former Democratic election losers: alternative energy. Daschle will be giving a noontime lecture entitled, “Alternative Energy and America’s National and Economic Security” in an event sponsored by the Harris School for Public Policy. (Max Palevsky Cinema, 12 p.m., free)
The North Side is the place to be if you have an appetite for Indian video this Wednesday. Bombay-based Vishal Rawlley, who can be best described as a Bollywood version of Liam Lynch, presents his most recent project, Voice Wave, a unique mix of technology and mythology. Despite the somewhat inconvenient location, the event is sponsored by the South Asian Studies department of the U of C, so you won’t be alone in trekking up to the Morse Red Line stop. (6932 North Glenwood Avenue, 7 p.m., Free)
Thursday/ May 10
Two campus organizations form an unlikely partnership for the campus fashion event of the spring. The Renaissance Society and MODA team up for Renaissance Society + MODA: Atomic Fashion, which promises “explosive designs and entertainment” in its Facebook promotion. The campus group odd couple hopes to use an edgy fashion show to promote the Renaissance Society’s latest exhibit: Katharina Grosse’s Atoms Inside Balloons. (Renaissance Society, 7 p.m., free)
Rockefeller Chapel hosts yet another one of their What Matters to Me and Why events this Thursday. This lecture features Judy Stanton, a prominent member of Hillel and presence at Interfaith events. The event organizers have made a point of bringing in undergrads as well as figures of (relative) authority, and it should be interesting to see a fourth-year play the part of professor in an arena as large as Rockefeller. (Rockefeller Chapel, 12 p.m., free)
