The Chicago Pride Parade, which first marched out of Washington Square Park in 1970, now attracts hundreds of thousands of people—revelers and spectators, queer folks, allies, and more than a few politicians—along its Lakeview route. The parade kicks off Sunday morning, but the weekend, the culmination of Pride Month, also offers pre- and postparade parties, concerts and DJ sets, street fairs, block parties, and more. —Sam Worley Northalsted Pride Festival Headlining musical acts at this year’s street fair include Taylor Dayne and Tiffany....

The April 20 article by John Conroy [“Killed on Camera”] raises questions about information that Mr. Conroy puts in his article. He dwells on the subject of the officer not being in full uniform, but taking police action. If an officer comes to the aid of a battery victim (as the officer in question did), does the injured party really care if the officer is in full uniform, or wearing a plain T-shirt and shorts?...

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » This post is mostly to make sure that if you care you also read the funny, touching remembrance Clinton McClung has posted on WFMU’s blog, which recounts a weekend he spent with Moore in 2006. (You might also want to check out the piece David Whiteis wrote about him for the Reader a few years back.) Moore and his right-hand man were both wearing floor-length fur coats and matching fur hats, one ensemble white, the other purple, and they made a badass procession of two, glad-handing their way through the capacity crowd and bestowing a long-stemmed rose–that is, a plastic long-stemmed rose with a blinking red LED in its heart!...

On their fourth proper album, the confusingly titled VI (Drag City), the Fucking Champs continue to write every great hard rock riff lost in the 70s and early 80s. They don’t bother with words and solos, just an endless profusion of killer licks neatly strung together with a mighty rhythmic crunch that morphs enough to produce songs. Trans Am guitarist Phil Manley has joined the lineup, alongside guitarist Tim Green and drummer Tim Soete—as usual, the bass isn’t really missed....

The catcher’s mask, chest protector, and shin guards are baseball’s “tools of ignorance,” but there’s no more mistaken moniker in the game. The catcher is generally expected to be the smartest player on the field. He sets up behind the plate, facing the diamond and his teammates. He calls the pitches, and he makes sure the defense is positioned to catch the ball if it’s hit. He has to know what his own pitchers can do, as well as the hitting strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies of the opponents....

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » On the cover of this week’s print edition of the Reader Ben Joravsky and I lay out a time line showing how the Daley administration rammed through its deal to privatize the city’s parking meter system, sacrificing transparency for a one-time cash payment. Many questions remain about the value of the deal (Did we the taxpayers get anywhere close to a fair price for giving away a revenue-producing asset for 75 years?...

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » “Journeyman” seems like the most fitting tag for guitarist and singer Chris Jones, who even as a kid bounced back and forth between his mother in New York and his father in New Mexico. Since tackling music full-time in 1981 he’s done several stints in Chicago with the veteran bluegrass combo Special Consensus and spent some time in Nashville as a member of Dale Evans & Riverband, along with several other groups....

In my role as the education guy at the Reader, I’ve dutifully read Mitt Romney’s position paper on public education—a feat I doubt even Romney has accomplished. Along with teachers’ unions, of course. Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » “Charter schools are public schools of choice that are run independently and freed from many of the rules and regulations governing traditional school districts,” says the Romney missive....

The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of King Edward II, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer Chicago Shakespeare Theater Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » To create his thrill ride, Graney alters the text’s fundamental dynamics. Marlowe’s script tells the parallel stories of King Edward II, who reigned from 1307 to 1327, and Roger Mortimer, Earl of March—a pair of men with diametrically opposed relationships to power....

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » His proof? O’Brien’s a lifelong Democrat, he’s only raised “$385 in campaign funds” — supposedly proving that he’s not a serious candidate — he lives “three blocks away from Dick Devine,” and he’s “good friends” with Alvarez. “I’m hoping the voters of Cook County will not be bamboozled by this so-called campaign,” says Peraica. “Only in Cook County.”...

Sergei Bondarchuk’s epic 1967 adaptation of the Tolstoy novel, screening in four parts, is the most expensive movie ever made, and though it can be bombastic and mind-numbing, it’s often lively and eye filling. The balls and battle scenes are monumental, and Bondarchuk (who plays the bumbling Pierre, as Orson Welles would have in the 40s if he’d realized his own version with Alexander Korda) moves his camera a lot, incorporating some expressive 60s-style flourishes....

Anna Held 5557 N. Sheridan | 773-561-1940 3 PM-10 PM Monday-Thursday, 11 AM-11 PM Saturday, 11 AM-10 PM Sunday When I paid a visit to this Harlem Avenue cafe it was so hot outside that everything was melting. Even half melted, though, my scoop of banana-caramel-praline gelato was one of the best I’ve had outside Italy. My second scoop—butter pecan—was just as good, whole pecans sprinkled liberally throughout. With its wide selection of gelati—for chocolate lovers there are now three different choices, double-Dutch chocolate, dark chocolate-orange, and dark chocolate-raspberry tartufo—Bellezza’s is a go-to spot, and the superaffordable coffee drinks and pastries don’t hurt either....

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » I even caught a little of their pregame show. DJ informed listeners that Sale was 2-1 against the Tigers this season, with an ERA of only 2.66. Farmer immediately added that Sale was 2-1 against the Tigers this season, with an ERA of 2.66. Stereo! Sale is as good as Scherzer, but his record going into the game was only 10-12....

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Full of gruesome acts of revenge and dirty family secrets, the film is a sick extravaganza comparable to recent efforts by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) and Danny Boyle (Trance), but it’s a more controlled work than either. The directorial curlicues don’t feel random—indeed, the film has a sustained, streamlined momentum that feels unlike much else in Lee’s body of work....

In Phèdre, French poet Jean Racine combined Greek tragedy with good old-fashioned Christian guilt and came up with the most powerful depiction of sexual obsession ever to appear on the stage. Euripides and Seneca had dramatized the myth earlier and, as a matter of fact, in the same week Racine’s play opened in Paris in 1677, a rival Phèdre financed by his enemies also debuted, to a fuller house. No matter—in terms of tragedy, psychological insight, theological complexity, and shear heat, Racine bests them all....

The Chicago Reporter is 40 years old and still covering racial issues as well as anyone anywhere—which makes it more necessary than it’s ever been, since most other news shops in Chicago—one of the country’s most segregated cities—hardly touch race at all. As when it was launched in 1972, the journal avoids flash and fire in favor of facts: recent investigations into police misconduct, immigrant wage theft, and politically connected slumlords are hard to dismiss since they’re based on primary-source documents and data....

Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Having spent most of the past week taking in the Umbrella Music Festival, I’m looking forward to some quiet nights at home this week. Of course, that means I’ll be missing out on much of the action around town, which never stops. I mean, today is a Monday and there’s no mail delivery because it’s Veteran’s Day, but shows never stop....

So you’ve always wanted to kayak, swim, jet-ski, surf, or sail. Chicago water sports are for the aquatically adept as well as those who wouldn’t know a paddle from a poodle—plenty of options let you sit back, sip a cocktail, and let someone else do all the work. Wateriders In addition to kayak rentals, Wateriders offers tours, including a Fireworks Paddle at Navy Pier and a Shady Chicago Tour, in search of the city’s “ghosts and gangsters....

Joe Matt belongs, with R. Crumb and local genius Ivan Brunetti, to the school of cartoonists trafficking in brutally honest self-depiction. His new graphic memoir, Spent (Drawn and Quarterly), reveals his life in cringe-inducing detail. Nothing is too embarrassing to disclose, from being dressed down by fellow cartoonists like Seth for being cheap and lazy (“you’re living like a loser”) to his obsession with re-editing hundreds of hours of video porn....

An Opera-Sized Hole in the Fall Arts Guide Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites » Mayor Daley has “apologized” for the “implementation” of our parking meter debacle [“Fail,” parts one, two, and three, by Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke), but he still won’t own up to the financial failure it is for the city and how it has adversely affected the lives of the vast majority of Chicagoans....