Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Mark Harmon is hovering by the juniors department at Carson Pirie Scott downtown, but he’s not shopping. The star of “Chicago Hope” is preparing for his next scene, which is being filmed in an unused section of the department store’s second floor. The cast and crew of the fictional Chicago Hope Hospital fly to the Windy City two to three times each year to shoot on location.
Brian Liesegang didn’t have a difficult time finding a job out of college. After graduating with a degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago five years ago, Liesegang joined the rock group Nine Inch Nails.
Dismiss the ruminations about this being the Rolling Stones’ “401K” tour and faggadabout the Geritol jokes. The Stones may be the grandfathers of rock ‘n’ roll, but they also are consumate professionals who can still teach the youngsters a thing or two about how to put on a good stadium show.
With her first book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman poignantly documents the head-on culture clash between a family of Hmong refugees from Laos and the American physicians who treat their infant child. Each party wants whats best for the child. But neither is ready to acknowledge that whats foreign to them may be the best treatment for little Lia Lee.
Chicagoans are used to spotting bits of the Windy City on NBC’s hit drama “ER,” which kicks off its fourth season with a one-hour live broadcast at 9 p.m. Thursday on Channel 5. But when they spot the actors walking around their streets, they get a little rabid. For instance, one woman asked George Clooney – who plays womanizing pediatrician Doug Ross – to sign her baby’s Pampers.
You know their faces and you even know some of their names. They’re the family members, lovers and hangers-on who have littered the Rolling Stones’ lives during the band’s 35-year career. Some, such as Mick Jagger’s ex-wife, Bianca, have survived nicely, and built lives for themselves away from the excesses of rock ‘n’ roll. Others (Anita Pallenberg, Mandy Smith) still are getting used to not being on the world’s most famous guest list.
You’d think that having just released the fastest-selling album in British history might have mellowed Oasis’ infamously prickly leader, guitarist Noel Gallagher, just a little. But even though Be Here Now is setting records and debuted in the U.S. last week at No. 2, the elder Gallagher (brother Liam is the band’s lead singer) is as irascible as ever.
Shot over a nine-month period in Leichhardt, Australia, the documentary “Rats in the Rank” follows the absurd antics of 12 council members maneuvering to get their mayoral candidates elected to office.