March tends to be a wild card when it comes to weather in Chicago－ you can bet it’s not going to be warm, but will it at least be bearable? This year, there’s a sense of growing optimism as both the temperature and vaccination rate rises. We’re not out of the woods yet, but now that the sun is shining and COVID positivity rates are down, Chicagoans are more than ready to get out of the house; here are five things to do on an outing in Chicago this March.
Garfield Park Conservatory is now accepting visitors to its impressive and varied indoor gardens. The conservatory is creating a safer environment by requiring reservations in advance, mask-wearing, physical distancing, and other precautionary measures. The reopening includes the Spring Flower Show: Saturation exhibit.
The home of Wellington and his tuxedoed friends is welcoming back aquatic animal enthusiasts, and is implementing a timed-ticket reservation system for those keen on paying a visit to their water-dwelling friends. Don’t forget to also say hello to Nickel, the green sea turtle and “star of the Caribbean Reef habitat.”
Reserve a ticket at the Art Institute ahead of time to check out all of the amazing works on display right now. Current exhibitions include Monet and Chicago, Bisa Butler: Portraits, and Jo Ractliffe: DRIVES.
Andersonville usually celebrates its restaurants for only a week, but this year the neighborhood is turning that week into a month-long celebration of food! Each week, diners can order prix-fixe meals-to-go from a different group of restaurants.
The Lakefront Trail has been open to exercising Chicagoans for several months, but recently the city announced that it would be reopening more of the lakefront－ including playgrounds and other “nature play spaces.” It may be a little brisk right now, but has that ever really stopped Chicagoans from getting outside in the springtime?
Chicago March Featured Image Credit: Shedd Aquarium on Facebook
The ChicagoBlackhawks played a two-game set with the Detroit Red Wings over the weekend. The first one was on Saturday night and they didn’t fare too well as they were defeated by a final score of 5-3. It was a disappointing loss but it felt like one that they could rebound from the very […]
The Chicago Cubs are a team loaded with talent. A lot of that talent struggled hard in 2020. It was a weird year but they still managed to win the division. This year, they are hoping most of that talent that struggled bounces back. If they do, they very well could be a playoff team […]
The Washington Football Team is parting ways with Alex Smith, and already the ChicagoBears have been linked to the veteran quarterback. There has been nothing concrete yet, but the Bears have definitely been tossed around by some national media members in regards to a team that makes sense for Smith. Last season, Smith completed […]
We already know about Patrick Kane‘s dominance over the last week as it was highlighted by his 400th career goal. The ChicagoBlackhawks forward deserves a ton of credit for the way he has carried this team so far this season and the NHL decided to give it to him. They named him the Second […]
The ChicagoBulls battled back Monday night, but ultimately fell to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. After the first quarter, Chicago was down by 12 and the momentum seemed to be carrying the Nuggets to a dominating victory. However, Chicago won the next two quarters and actually took a 6-point lead a few minutes […]
While listening to Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers, the most recent release by operatic baritone Will Liverman with pianist and recital partner Paul Sánchez, I realized with a start that time had ground to a halt. But when?…Read More
Vivian (Hadley Robinson, right) finds inspiration in her mom Lisa (Amy Poehler) in “Moxie.” | Netflix
In addition to directing the winning cast, Amy Poehler plays the ‘cool mom’ who really is cool.
When Amy Poehler played the “cool mom” who was actually uncool and irresponsible in “Mean Girls,” she was all of seven years older than Rachel McAdams, who played her daughter. Now here we are 17 years later and Poehler is playing a teenager’s mom who really IS cool in “Moxie,” a smart and sweet and inspirational comedy/drama directed by Poehler and featuring a winning ensemble cast of relative newcomers and reliable veterans.
Premiering Wednesday on Netflix, “Moxie” starts off with a “Booksmart” vibe. It’s the junior year at an Oregon high school for Vivian Carter (Hadley Robinson) and her BFF Claudia (Lauren Tsai), bright and funny but shy girls who have spent their first two years of high school as the equivalent of background extras for the jocks and the skateboarders and the cheerleaders and the drama club and the Instagram obsessives. (Robinson and Tsai click so well together we instantly believe Vivian and Claudia have a lifelong friendship.) Vivian in particular sticks to her comfort zone: sitting in the back of the class, keeping her head down and trying to avoid confrontations with the likes of Mitchell (Patrick Schwarzenegger), the handsome and popular and boorish quarterback of the football team, who is basically the poster boy for toxic teen masculinity.
As Vivian and Claudia arrive for the first day of junior year, they gossip about some of the more popular kids, and who might be mentioned on the annual, anonymous online rankings list, which is rife with sexist and superficial labels. Vivian: “It’s so nice not to be on anyone’s radar.” Claudia: “Totally.”
Things are about to change, and it all starts in the English class taught by the amiable Mr. Davies (Ike Barinholtz). A transfer student named Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Pena in a terrific performance) questions the relevance of the assigned summer reading, “The Great Gatsby” — prompting the aforementioned cocky jock Mitchell to mansplain and condescend to Lucy, who makes it quite clear she’s not going to take any of Mitchell’s s—-, not now and not ever.
Vivian is inspired. She asks her mom Lisa (Poehler) about mom’s teen rebel days back in the 1990s, which leads to Vivian finding her mother’s old photo albums and notes and clothes — and hearing Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” and feeling an immediate connection. Stirred to action, Vivian creates a girl power zine called “Moxie” (a reference to the principal applauding the cheerleaders for having “moxie”) and leaves copies in the girl’s bathroom — and boom, a movement is ignited.
Augmented by an online component, “Moxie” shines a spotlight on deep-rooted sexism permeating the school. The football team is terrible but they receive the vast majority of funding, while the powerhouse girls’ soccer team can’t even get new uniforms. Nobody says a word about the hulking and leering jock who wears T-shirts with cutoff sleeves to class and often takes his shirt off, but when a female student wears a tank top, she’s sent home for the day. And then there’s that poisonous rankings list, with labels such as “Best Rack,” “Most Bangable,” “Designated Drunk” and “Future MILF.” Lucy and Vivian become an increasingly disruptive and effective voice for change, much to the consternation of the old-school principal (Marcia Gay Harden) and the juvenile, nauseatingly sexist jerks such as Mitchell.
Adapting the Young Adult novel by Jennifer Mathieu, director Poehler and writers Tamara Chestna and Dylan Meyer deftly deliver the socially relevant platform in “Moxie” against the backdrop of familiar High School Movie scenes, including the obligatory crazy blow-out party; a trying-on-outfits montage; a sweet and awkward romance, and sudden friction between best friends who vowed they’d never let anything get between them. The dialogue is crisp and funny and smart, and feels authentic throughout.
NetflixLongtime friends Claudia (Lauren Tsai, left) and Vivian (Hadley Robinson) prefer to be off the high-school radar.
“Moxie” also finds time for a tender romance between Vivian and Nico Hiraga’s Seth, a skateboard geek long known as “Seth the Shrimp” who has sprouted over the summer and has become something of a hunk, and a sincere and respectful hunk at that. When Seth blows a possible goodnight kiss with Vivian by overthinking it and she walks away, he runs after and blurts, “I like you a lot, I do. I got all in my head about it, I started worrying in my head like maybe I shouldn’t come on too strong, you’re like this super powerful feminist, you’re not just a cute girl …” and the poor kid is just beside himself with good intentions and hesitation, and Vivian’s response is … perfect.
“Moxie” hits a couple of minor plot road bumps along the way, and there’s a late, admittedly impactful development that would have carried an even more powerful punch had it not been telegraphed throughout the story. Still, this is a film that pulls off the difficult balancing act of carrying an important and uplifting message while delivering consistent laughs and introducing us to some wonderfully badass teens.
Four people were hurt and one person who was burned, in an apartment complex fire in Uptown on the North Side.
About 4:30 a.m., Chicago fire crews responded to a high-rise apartment complex in the 4500 block of North Sheridan Road, for calls of carbon monoxide readings of 200 ppm, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Four people were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Crews found a faulty furnace and were able to return carbon monoxide levels back to normal a short time later, fire officials said. Residents were able to return to the building.
About 30 minutes later, a small fire was found in one of the units, fire officials said. The blaze was put out shortly after it was discovered.
One person was taken to the hospital with a minor burn, fire officials said.
The Chicago Bears are in need of a star quarterback like Russell Wilson, and a hometown celebrity might be the ticket to land him.
For a few weeks now, a major story in the NFL has flown around whether or not the Seattle Seahawks would actually consider trading Wilson. At first, it was cute. It was just another offseason rumor, seemingly in the middle of peak NFL rumor season.
But, as time has gone on, reports from outlets such as The Athletic have documented an actual rift between Wilson and the Seahawks. The specific reasoning behind Wilson being unhappy is due to the Seahawks not taking his opinion and insight into consideration when it comes to running the organization — similar to Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans.
Before that information came out courtesy of The Athletic, the biggest bit came when Wilson said he was sick of getting hit so much. After all, he has taken the second-most hits by a quarterback in the last decade. It’s a fair assessment.
So, let’s catch up to speed a little bit here. Wilson’s agent came out and said a few days ago that, if he were to be traded, he’d like to be traded to one of four teams: the Raiders, Saints, Cowboys or … the Bears.
Say what? A future Hall of Fame quarterback wants to play for the Bears? It’s time to call out the big guns for some help.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) March 2, 2021
Chicago native, rapper and activist Chance the Rapper has officially joined the cause. It looks as though he is going to make a phone call or two in order to try and lure Wilson to the Bears.
But, as many calls as he makes, he’ll have to pray the Seahawks are convinced to actually pull the trigger on a trade in the first place.
Wilson is 32 years old, but has never missed a single game in his NFL career. It’s been nearly a decade, but the former Wisconsin Badger is still going strong — 16 games at a time. He’s as tough as they come, so the age factor shouldn’t have much to do with anyone being scared to give up a king’s ransom for the Pro Bowl quarterback.
Chicago shouldn’t be hesitant to make the offer of the century for Wilson. If he continues down this pattern of health, there is no reason he can’t play another six seasons or so. If you’re telling me the Bears can’t win a Super Bowl with Khalil Mack and Wilson, at least once in six years, I’d call you out of your mind.
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