JULY
An explicit short called The Operation–featuring up-close-and-personal doctor-patient sex filmed with an infrared lens–will be screened at 8:30 tonight as the second annual Chicago Underground Film Fest gets under way. The fest continues with dozens of films and videos through Sunday at the Congress Hotel, 520 S. Michigan. You can pick up a full schedule there or at various bookstores and clubs on the north side. General admission is $5, though a couple of special programs cost more. A festival pass is $40; you can buy a five-film pass for $20. Call 866-8660.
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The Art Institute’s gargantuan Monet retrospective–the biggest ever of works by the Impressionist master–finally opens to the general public today. Claude Monet: 1840-1926 comprises 159 works, including the stunning Museum of Modern Art water-lily triptych and the usual assortment of train stations, cathedrals, and haystacks. It’s also unique to Chicago; the exhibit will be up at the museum until November 26, but it won’t travel. Admission is $10 Monday through Thursday, $12.50 Friday through Sunday and includes museum admission. Regular museum hours are 10:30 to 4:30 weekdays, 10:30 to 8 Tuesdays, 10 to 5 Saturdays, and 12 to 5 Sundays. If you’re not turned off by a $2.50 per ticket surcharge you can charge Monet tix at 800-929-5800. For general info call 443-3600.
A shot at a John Major pinata is one of the prizes being raffled off today at the Irish American Student Organization’s benefit cookout. The group promises barbecue, beer, music, and more starting at 4 in the backyard of 2526 N. Francisco. They’re asking $10, $5 for students and the unemployed. Call 296-6277.
David Sedaris returns to town this week for a couple of shows. A much admired monologuist in his time in Chicago, Sedaris has forged a national reputation with his readings on NPR and the well-received publication of his first collection of stories, Barrel Fever. Along with actor Harry Althaus, he performs some new work tonight at the Organic Theater, 3319 N. Clark. Part of the ongoing Stories on Stage series, David Sedaris–Live! is $25; $50 gets you preferred seating for the show and a preperformance reception with the writer. Call 327-5588 for more.
Most junkies shoot up in flophouse bathrooms. Cigar smokers, by contrast, can partake of their unhealthy addiction in public. Tonight about 200 stogie chewers will congregate at La Strada Ristorante, 155 N. Michigan, for a cigar smoker beginning at 5:30 in the restaurant’s 38th-floor dining room. For $40, $35 in advance, you get four premium cigars, a cognac, a buffet dinner, and a one-hour open bar. Call 565-1312 for details.
Two people were shot one night in Philadelphia in 1981: one was the journalist and onetime Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal; the other was Daniel Faulkner, a Philly cop. Faulkner died but Abu-Jamal lived and was convicted of Faulkner’s murder. Though he and his supporters say he’s innocent and was denied a fair trial, Abu-Jamal is sentenced to die in August, which explains why he won’t be present tonight when local authors and activists, including Haki Madhubuti, Charles Payne, Cheryl Corley, and Sterling Plumpp, read from his book Live From Death Row. A tape of Abu-Jamal’s voice will be played at this free event. It’s at 7 PM at the Seminary Co-op Bookstore, 5757 S. University. Call 752-4381.
