
Elgin News Digest: Park district adds pre-concert demos to summer concerts; U-46's production of ‘Man of La Mancha' opens Thursday
Each will start at 6 p.m. and last 45 minutes. They include:
For the full schedule of concerts, go to buff.ly/KV14ypB.
The School District U-46 summer theater production of 'Man of La Mancha' will run Thursday through Saturday, June 26-28, at the Streamwood High School auditorium, 701 W. Schaumburg Road.
More than 75 students and employees from across the district's five high schools make up the cast, musicians and technical crew for the musical, according to a U-46 newsletter.
Showtimes are 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon Saturday. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online through Booktix or at the door.
The Janus Theatre Company opens its 27th season with 'The Ibsen Project: Hedda,' running Friday through Sunday, June 27-29, at the Elgin Arts Showcase, 164 Division St.
Actors will perform Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' with scripts in hand, according to the Janus website. For an added twist, each performance will feature a different translation of the Norwegian playwright's work.
The production is part of this year's 'Season of Outsiders' and features classic stories from the past brought to life for today's audiences, the website said. It is sponsored in part by the city of Elgin and Elgin Cultural Arts Commission.
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10.
For tickets, go to hedda.eventbrite.com. For more about Janus' season, go to janusplays.com.
Duke's Blues Fest will be held from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, June 27, and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, June 28, in Carpenter Park, 275 Maple Ave., Carpentersville.
In addition to live music music, the annual free festival will feature various food vendors, including southern cuisine, according to the event's social media post. Money raised goes to benefit nonprofit Taste the Love.
Acts scheduled to perform Friday are Guitar Tony, Topeka Smith, The Johnsons, Michael Charles, Gloria and Ruth Ward and Tammy's Blues & Soul. Saturday's lineup will feature Blues Hart, The Cat Gaddis Project, Luke RePass, Carlisle Guy, the NuBlu Band and Sharay Reed.
For more information, call 224-699-9030.
Illinois' prairie ecosystems will be the topic of a Geneva Natural Resources Committee lecture at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at the Geneva Public Library, 227 S. Seventh St.
A Geneva Park District naturalist from Peck Farm Park will discuss the common characteristics of Illinois prairies and examine the different plants and animals found in prairies and methods land managers use to preserve them, event organizers said.
The program is free but registration is recommended. For more information, go to the Geneva Public Library District's website, www.gpld.org.
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6 days ago
Fans celebrate the 80th birthday of the Moomins, Finland's most lovable literary cartoon family
TAMPERE, Finland -- The Moomins, Finland's most lovable literary cartoon family, are celebrating their 80th birthday this year. The chubby, white, hippopotamus-like characters have captivated readers worldwide since author and illustrator Tove Jansson published 'The Moomins and the Great Flood' in 1945. The children's book features Moomintroll and Moominmamma in their search for the missing Moominpappa. Jansson, a Swedish-speaking Finn who died in 2001, went on to write eight more books, multiple picture books and a comic strip about the Moomins in Swedish. The series, set in the fictional Moominvalley, has been translated into more than 60 languages, and sparked movie and TV adaptations, children's plays, art gallery exhibitions and an eponymous museum — plus theme parks in Finland and Japan. Finnair, the national carrier, has even put Moomins on its airplanes. On Saturday, fans flocked to Tampere in southern Finland — home of the Moomin Museum — to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the 1945 publication as well as Jansson's Aug. 9, 1914, birthday. For Rosa Senn of the United Kingdom, the festivities reminded her of her childhood. Her Norwegian mother, a fan since her own youth, read all of the tales to Senn and her sister growing up. 'Moomins have been such a special thing in my life, my whole life," Senn said. "I just carried that love for Moomin, for Tove Jansson, with me into my adult life.' When Senn met her now-wife, Lizzie, they were initially in a long-distance relationship for the first year and a half. Senn introduced Lizzie to the books and the couple used a plush doll of Moomintroll to feel closer to each other while they were apart. The doll was the ringbearer at their wedding, and they traveled to Tampere on their honeymoon. The Senns also made an Instagram page documenting the trio's adventures, which now has nearly 11,000 followers. The social media account has connected them with Moomin fans all over the world, including Stefanie and Michael Geutebrück from Germany. Stefanie Geutebrück said she remembers falling in love with the Moomins while watching their animations during her childhood in East Germany. She also brought the Moomins into her husband's life, to the point where they also traveled to Tampere for Saturday's entertainment. "Now he's a total fan and our apartment looks like a Moomin shop,' she said. Beyond the Geutebrücks' home, Moomin merchandise is hugely popular. There's a massive market for Moomintroll, Moominmamma and Moominpappa souvenirs across the globe, and secondary characters like their friends Stinky, Sniff, Snufkin, Snork Maiden and Hattifatteners are also well-loved. 'The Moomin mug is one of the best-known collector items worldwide,' Selma Green, director of the Moomin Museum, said. 'You buy a Moomin mug, you like the characters, you maybe see something on TV — but we all go back to the books, the original illustrations.' Depictions of the character Stinky, described as a lovable rogue who has captured Moominmamma's heart, generated debate and outcry in Finland this summer after reports emerged in Finnish media that Stinky was removed from a mural in an exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York due to concerns that the cartoon might be perceived as racist. 'A single image of Stinky was removed from the youth wing — which had the potential to be negatively misconstrued by young children without a fuller understanding of the Moomin universe,' the library said Monday in a statement to The Associated Press. "However, Stinky does appear in other areas of the exhibition and the Moomins books remain available for patrons to check out as they always have.' Jansson's drawings of Stinky shows the character with a dark, fuzzy body, with skinny legs and antennae. He has a reputation as an unsuccessful criminal — whose plans get foiled or he gets caught in the act — with an appetite for furniture and other wooden things. 'To me, this became as quite a big surprise because I have more thought about Stinky being close to a mole or a vole," Sirke Happonen, a Moomins scholar and associate professor at the University of Helsinki, said of the library's decision. "He's an interesting character in many ways, like controversial and fun.' The Moomin stories honor the idea of family as a flexible concept. Diverse gender roles and queer themes also come across in Moominvalley, as well as in Jansson's other works, reflecting her LGBTQ+ identity. Her partner of more than 45 years, engraver and artist Tuulikki Pietilä, was memorialized as the character Too-ticky in 'Moominland Midwinter.' The couple lived in Helsinki and spent their summers on the small rocky island of Klovharu in the Gulf of Finland until the 1990s. Jansson's stories also reflect war and catastrophe. The first book, 'The Moomins and the Great Flood,' features the displaced Moomin family and was published in the final months of World War II. The conflict had ruined Finland, even though it had remained independent, and one of the author's brothers went missing during part of his time at the front. While Jansson sought to portray Moominvalley as an escape, Moomin stories have always had a mixture of peril and comfort. 'Her first Moomin book came out in a dark era. She felt it was very difficult to paint, and she started writing what she called a fairy tale, but she excused herself not to include princesses or princes,' Happonen said. Moominvalley was borne of a need to find beauty at a time when Jansson's existence, along with everyone else in Finland, felt frail. 'I think she wanted to make a contrast — Tove Jansson loved contrasts — by writing about this beautiful world, full of friendship and love,' Happonen said.


Los Angeles Times
01-08-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Teens connect with nature in ‘Folktales,' a dogumentary about a different kind of school
For centuries, mythology looked to gods to explain a disquieting world. But in the new documentary 'Folktales,' from 'Jesus Camp' filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, which follows a trio of jumbled Scandinavian teens to a remote Norwegian school that builds character in the snowy wild, the answer to life may just lie in what 'god' spells backward. In other words, yes, let's go to the dogs: sled dogs, specifically, whose personalities, purpose and compatibility are the secret sauce to a lesson plan that seeks to get kids out of their heads and into a stronger sense of self. The beautiful Alaskan and Siberian huskies that animate the dog-sledding instruction at Norway's Pasvik Folk High School are what help lift this handsomely photographed film above the usual heart warmer. Ewing and Grady are no stranger to this scenario, having observed at-risk Baltimore youth striving for stability ('The Boys of Baraka') and unhappy Hasidic Jews attempting to remove themselves from all they've ever known ('One of Us'). The situation is less sociologically dire in 'Folktales,' but it isn't any less compelling as a subject or less worthy of empathetic attention, especially when the stage for potential transformation is as rapturous as the birthplace of Vikings. Pasvik is 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, which means self-reliance isn't optional and knitting carries more practical weight than learning a math formula. As gap-year institutions dedicated to nurturing the transition to adulthood, folk schools have roots going back to the 19th century. Pasvik sees survival training as unlocking potential in teens too devoted to their phone screens. As convivial dog-sledding teacher Iselin puts it to the students, she wants to 'wake up your Stone Age brains.' For anxious, bubbly 19-year-old Hege, who lost her father and struggles with image issues, unplugging is tough at first. But she responds to its benefits, especially when entrusted with the care of Odin, a gorgeous, lovable canine with an expressive howl. Socially awkward Bjorn wants to stop harboring sad thoughts and second-guessing his nerdiness. Nothing like a majestic creature who rewards your undivided attention, then, to refocus one's energies. When the students are tasked with spending two nights in the forest alone with just their assigned huskies and camping acumen, their struggles give way to a turning point, what another kindhearted instructor describes as the special inner peace that comes with just 'a fire, a dog and a starry sky.' You also gather that Ewing and Grady may have been seeking some inspiration themselves. Hence, some arty montages of the icy wilderness (including some woo-woo yarn-and-tree symbolism) and an ambiance closer to warm spotlight than objective inquiry. That makes 'Folktales' decidedly more powdery than densely packed — it's all ruddy cheeks, slo-mo camaraderie and the healing power of steering a dog sled through breathtaking terrain. It looks exhilarating, and if the filmmakers are ultimately there to play, not probe, that's fine, even if you may not know these kids at the end any better than you did at the beginning. It's hard to say whether negative-minded high school dropout Romain will wind up on the other side of what troubles him. But we see how happy he is making friends and catching a glimpse of moose in the wild. It's a simple message, but 'Folktales' sells it: Nurture via nature.

CNN
01-08-2025
- CNN
Magnus Carlsen says chess is ‘made for the digital age' amid esports integration
The world of chess has been going through somewhat of an evolution in recent years, and it's showing no signs of slowing down. The ancient game's popularity boom has been well documented, owing in part to the rise of online formats during the Covid-19 pandemic and the reputational boost provided by mainstream media, such as the Netflix series 'The Queen's Gambit.' Since then, chess' move to online platforms has accelerated and its now currently debuting at the Esports World Cup (EWC) this week. The tournament, hosted and part-funded by Saudi Arabia, was held for the first time in 2024 and brought together professional gamers, publishers and fans from across the world for an eight-week competitive gaming bonanza. Earlier this year, it was announced that chess would be included in the 2025 edition, with the best players in the world competing for a $1.5 million prize pool – playing a new format which is deemed more accessible to an esports audience. In a bid to compete in the new event, top esports teams set about signing some of the best chess players on the planet. Team Liquid, one of the biggest esports teams, didn't hold back and signed Norwegian world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, arguably the greatest chess player of all time. Carlsen, who has also been an ambassador for the EWC, spoke to CNN Sports ahead of this year's tournament about how the game can benefit in the digital era. 'I think this is a massive moment for chess,' he said. 'Chess has become more and more online over the last few years, especially since Covid when we couldn't host live tournaments. 'Online was what we had and those online tournaments became bigger and bigger, and it feels like this is the next step to have these hybrid events.' While many players, including Carlsen, want to keep the traditional over-the-board chess alive, the transition to online platforms has coincided with changes in the game's format. With online games getting quicker, the goal for the EWC's competition was to create a version which would stay true to tradition while incorporating elements associated with fast-paced esports games. The result was the creation of a 10+0 format, which will give both players 10 minutes to make their moves without any chance to add additional time, increasing the chances of blunders as players battle against the clock. The change, although radical when you compare to what the game was like less than 20 years ago, feels very natural to Carlsen. 'The funny thing about chess is that it is a bit of an ancient game and an analog game,' he said. 'But it's also kind of made for the digital age because it's so simple to translate. 'Most of the time when I'm practicing chess, it's always on a screen, whether it's a phone, a computer or a tablet. 'Then when I get to tournaments, the pieces feel a bit strange and I don't feel like I quite see the board the same way.' The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is still very much considered the home of classic chess, but its CEO Emil Sutovsky told CNN Sports earlier this year that the game's governing body is supportive of the emerging esports partnership. He said FIDE was involved in early conversations with organizers, before became the natural partner on which to stage the EWC. has been one of the main driving forces behind the transition to online formats, allowing anyone with an internet connection to practice and play chess wherever they are in the world. Carlsen, who became a grandmaster at 13, says the online world has opened the world of chess to a new audience. 'It's a fantastic thing that we have this new digital age, where information is so easily available,' he told CNN Sports. 'It means that the game is much more accessible to fans. You have engines that can show you how the games are going and it sort of demystifies the game. 'All these tools make it so much easier for both kids and adults to improve on their chess a lot and I think that's part of why you're seeing a lot of kids these days, they become very, very strong at a very early age. 'Kids routinely become grandmasters at earlier ages. The audience is getting younger as well, and more and more digital. So it's really an exciting time.' The chess competition got underway on Tuesday, with Carlsen making the final following an incredible semifinal against fellow grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, which was only settled following armageddon. The world No. 1 will take on GM Alireza Firouzja on Friday in the championship match with the winner taking home $250,000.