Inhuman Swill

Happy New Year! I mostly try to keep all the news about Tuesday Funk, the Chicago reading series I help run, over on its own blog, but today I can't help trumpeting our mention in this morning's Chicago Sun-Times:

Article: Drink it in: Beers paired with the wisdom of Chicago authors

The feature by David Hoekstra in today's Entertainment section introduces four of tonight's five participants, who each discuss the pieces they'll read and suggest the perfect beer from Hopleaf's vast menu to drink as accompaniment.

Check out the accompanying slideshow as well, and if you're in town I hope to see you tonight upstairs at Hopleaf. The free reading starts at 7:30 pm, but you should arrive at 7:00, when the doors open, if you want a seat. You can find all the relevant information here.


Crossposted from Inhuman Swill

We at Tuesday Funk are always bummed when our readers must drop out for one reason or another. And since every good story needs a villain, for our December 4th reading we can blame the absence of CP Chang and Derek Silver on The Man. We were very much looking forward to hearing from them both, but unfortunately CP is being sent out of town, whereas Derek is no longer being sent to town. The Man is vicious.

But never fear! We have some world-class pinch-hitters on deck, including Andrew Reilly of 2nd Story, and Jodi Eichelberger from the original cast of Avenue Q, so you won't want to miss us on December 4th, at 7:30 pm in Hopleaf's upstairs lounge.

CP Chang, by the way, will be joining us instead on March 5th, and we'll have Derek Silver at the mike just as soon as his travel schedule allows.




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

No matter what else you do on Election Night, remember to vote with your feet and come on down to Hopleaf for the 51st edition of Tuesday Funk! We'll be bringing you a ballot box stuffed with literary excellence from the likes of Jac Jemc, Mary Lorenz, B. E. Pinkham, Kelly Swails, and Mary Zemaitis, not to mention one of our patented Poems by Bill, continual election return updates, and your pick of cold beers from all across the brew-itical spectrum. (Vote early and often!)

The evening gets underway with your co-hosts Sara Ross Witt and William Shunn on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at the newly expanded and renovated Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a seat, and grab a beer from Mark at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs. That's change you can believe in.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. Remember, a win for Tuesday Funk is a win for America.




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Tuesday Funk is delighted to be producing this Friday's Chicago Writers Conference special reading event together with Open Books, an organization that truly needs and deserves your support.

Open Books, if you don't know, is a nonprofit social venture that operates an extraordinary bookstore, provides community programs, and mobilizes passionate volunteers to promote literacy in Chicago and beyond. Their mission is to enrich lives through reading, writing, and the unlimited power of used books.

Their programs include reading buddies for elementary school students; creative writing field trips for 4th through 12th graders; college and career mentoring for high school juniors; literacy workshops for all ages; and much, much more.

Their bookstore, open 7 days a week in River North, offers more than 50,000 donated books for sale to support their programs. Tax-deductible book donations are always welcome, and you can learn many other ways to support and help out Open Books by visiting their website, open-books.org.

Open Books is located at 213 W. Institute Pl., conveniently near the Brown Line stop at Chicago Avenue. Watch this space to learn how you can attend our Chicago Writers Conference Special Edition of Tuesday Funk at Open Books, Friday, September 14th, 7:30 p.m., featuring Patricia Skalka, M. Salahuddin Khan, Rachel Wilson, William Shunn, and Mary Robinette Kowal. We hope to see you there!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Hey, Chicago! Tuesday Funk is bringing you an extra helping of the Funk this month. But before I tell you about that, let me tell you a little something about the Chicago Writers Conference, to be held September 14-16 at Tribune Tower, and why you should get your ass to it.

What do you get as an attendee of the inaugural edition of the Chicago Writers Conference? You get three days of talks and sessions about the business side of publishing from professionals of every stripe—editors, agents, and writers alike—including a keynote address from Guggenheim Fellow and MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipient Aleksandar Hemon.

What's more, Tuesday Funk and Essay Fiesta are teaming up with the CWC to bring conference attendees two nights of the great "live lit" that makes Chicago's such a vibrant writing scene. Tuesday Funk kicks things off the night of Friday, September 14th, with an evening of fiction readings at Open Books featuring Mary Robinette Kowal, M. Salahuddin Khan, Rachel Wilson, Patricia Skalka, and William Shunn. Essay Fiesta follows on Saturday night with a great program of personal essays.

The catch is, only a handful of seats will be available at these readings to folks not attending the conference. The only way to be guaranteed a seat is if you register now. But hurry! Only a handful of slots are left, and you have less than 24 hours remaining to register! Late registration will close at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 7th.

So please consider joining the CWC, and we'll see you September 14th at Open Books!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Hey, Funkers! There's a bounteous harvest of literary goodness coming in August, with the 47th big episode of Tuesday Funk. We'll bring you great readings from Holly McDowell, Scott Smith, Sara Ross Witt, Jesse Jordan, and Vacation on the Island of Ex-Boyfriends author Stacy Bierlein! You'll also get a new Poem By Bill, not to mention your pick of dozens of varieties of cold beer at the bar.

The evening gets underway with your co-hosts Sara Ross Witt and William Shunn on Tuesday, August 7th, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at the newly expanded and renovated Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a seat, and grab a beer from Mark at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. Same Funk time, same Funk channel!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Hey, Funkers! You'll definitely want to tune in for our very special 46th episode of Tuesday Funk, which will feature readings from Samantha Irby, Kristin Lueke, Dion Walton, Jennifer Schaefer, and recent L.A. Times Book Prize winner Alex Shakar! You'll also get a new Poem By Bill, not to mention your pick of dozens of varieties of cold beer at the bar.

The evening gets underway with your co-hosts Sara Ross Witt and William Shunn on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a seat, and grab a beer from Mark at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. Same Funk time, same Funk channel!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Calling all book lovers! Calling all beer lovers! Have we got the evening for you! Our 44th episode of Tuesday Funk will feature readings from Mary Anne Mohanraj, J.H. Palmer, Charlotte Hart, Mare Swallow, and Richard Chwedyk! You'll also get a new Poem By Bill, not to mention your pick of dozens of varieties of cold beer at the bar.

The evening gets underway with your co-hosts Sara Ross Witt and William Shunn on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early for a seat, and grab a beer from Johnny at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. See you there!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

We had a wonderful, marvelous edition of Tuesday Funk last night. There were five strong readers who engaged and captivated the audience with their words, and there was the regular Poem by Bill feature. I read "Four Road Trips" to kick off the second half of the show, and it went over well enough that I was really excited to put the video online. Unfortunately, Houston, we had a problem.

The way I record these shows is pretty basic, and usually works really well. I mount my iPhone on a little tripod, set the tripod on top of the amp, and point the lens at the microphone. I let the phone record straight through each half of the show, only touching it to adjust for the height of each new reader. Later that night or the next morning, I take the two long video files and chop them up into individual readings.

Well, last night when I downloaded the video files from my phone and opened them up for editing. The first file was fine, but the second...

The second file starts with me stepping to the microphone to introduce the second half of the show and read my poem, all while speaking in a woman's voice. Wait, a woman's voice? Yes, to be specific, in the voice of Lauryn Allison Lewis, the reader who followed me at the mike. Somehow the video file became corrupted and shifted the soundtrack forward by nine minutes and forty-four seconds. The audio of my reading was completely lost. The final 9:44 of the video, during Margie Skelly's reading, is silent.

I was able to fix the recording of those last two readers by extracting the audio from the file and reinserting it at the correct point (though trying to perform that task in Quicktime Pro was kind of like trying to tie a square knot in fishing line while wearing iron gauntlets). But that great reading of my poem is gone forever.

Trust me, though. It killed.

Which is exactly what I want to do to my stupid iPhone.




Crossposted from Inhuman Swill

Strap on your snowshoes this January because Tuesday Funk is taking you on a wild winter trek. For our 41st episode you'll join us in tracking down the talents of Stephen Markley, Lawrence Santoro, Christopher Sweet, Holly McDowell, and William Shunn. And your reward? Dozens of varieties of cold beer in our warm, cozy environs, and an evening of prime entertainment.

The hunt gets underway Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early, carve yourself out some space in the upper room, and grab a beer from John at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay afterward for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to our readings. Mush!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk