O'Brien as Other

The William J. O'Brien show at the Museum of Contemporary Art is full of contradictions. I vacillate between calling it a brilliant show and thinking the art is dumb, between seeing the work as sloppy, and that it elegantly fulfills its intent.










There is art in diverse media here, making it look more like it has been done by a small cult more than by one inspired individual.








There are other systems at play or work here. There's a strong sense of 'otherness.' It's as if we are seeing evidence of a different aesthetic society for the first time. Clearly there's a different guide, a different meaning of beauty, and a different sense of order.










The exhibit is equal parts profound and different. Lots of individual pieces are quirky or funky, but together they comprise choruses of happy fellows leading us merrily into dank forests that would be scary if they weren't so damned beautiful.










It's a peculiar exhibit because you walk out changed. It's seductive. For a while anyway, you'll see things differently.










Maybe I'll see you when I go back.



Warmly,

Paul Klein



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/OJsdtV

via IFTTT

Judge rules against Lance Armstrong in bonuses fight

$12 million in bonuses that Armstrong received prior to his confession will be reviewed.



from USATODAY.com Feed http://ift.tt/1cYAy5m

via IFTTT

Ahn-nyong-ha-seh-yo! Introducing HuffPost Korea

SEOUL -- Ahn-nyong-ha-seh-yo from Seoul. I'm here for the launch of HuffPost Korea, which marks the 11th country where The Huffington Post's hybrid approach to journalism -- as a hub for original reporting and a blogging platform for a range of voices, both new and established -- is expanding the worldwide conversation. And we're very excited to be partnering with a great media company, the Hankyoreh Media Group. The Hankyoreh daily newspaper emerged from a tumultuous chapter in Korea's history that culminated in widespread protests in June 1987 and ended up bringing democracy to the country. Journalists who had been fired from their jobs for telling the truth came together and raised the funds to launch what became The Hankyoreh in 1988.



Since its founding, The Hankyoreh has earned the trust of the public as a fierce defender of democracy. In its 26 years, The Hankyoreh has stayed true to its founding mission of holding politicians and business leaders accountable. In the process it has built a base of 60,000 citizen shareholders and led investigations that have exposed multiple cases of corruption and wrongdoing, from illegal military surveillance to corporate collusion with political powers. Beyond its daily print and online editions, The Hankyoreh Media Group includes the weekly news magazine Hankyoreh21, the film magazine Cine21, the economic magazine Economic Insight and several research and policy journals.



We're also excited that our new partner is ahead of the curve when it comes to recognizing the importance of integrating into modern Korea the country's ancient wisdom and practices -- including rich Buddhist traditions that go back centuries. The Hankyoreh has founded a research center, the Hue Center, that puts together meditation and Kouksundo retreats. (Kouksundo is a practice that combines breathing, meditation and martial arts and has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety and boost productivity.) I just spent Wednesday and Thursday at such a retreat, which featured a beautiful monastic meal ceremony, a walk around the majestic Magok-sa Temple grounds and an introduction to many medicinal and delicious Korean teas. (I'm bringing the chrysanthemum and violet ones back with me to New York, and I'll never use a tea bag again.)



With me at the retreat was an inspiring group of Korean women, including Sooan Jeon, who was a judge for many years and then a supreme court justice and recently decided to retire to spend more time hiking in the mountains and doing pro bono legal work; Jungsook Yoon, who is a leader in the third wave of feminism, which we here at HuffPost call the Third Metric, working to change the culture and workplace in which women are participating and bring deeper values to our lives; HuffPost Korea's CEO, Taesun Kwon, who is The Hankyoreh's executive editor and one of its founding members; and Mina Sohn, our own HuffPost Korea editor-at-large. And, best of all, our meditation sessions were led by HuffPost Korea co-editor-in-chief Bogkie Kwon, a 20-year meditator and practitioner of Kouksundo.



So I'm delighted that The Huffington Post and The Hankyoreh have now, after months of preparation, consummated our relationship by meditating together (a drama-free way to seal the deal -- I highly recommend it). I'm incredibly grateful to The Hankyoreh's team, including incoming CEO Youngmoo Chung and outgoing CEO Yang Sang-Woo, as well as Taesun and Bogkie, who, from the very start, shared our vision of a platform that will go beyond viewing every issue through the outmoded prism of left vs. right, using all the tools at our disposal to tell the stories that matter most in Korea -- and just as important, to help Koreans tell their stories themselves, in words, in pictures and in video.



The Belgian philosopher Pascal Chabot has called burnout "civilization's disease." And South Korea is one of the burnout capitals of the world. Koreans work an average of 2,200 hours a year -- more than anyone else in the world -- according to the OECD. "Sadly, Korean people don't really know how to relax and enjoy their lives after working," says HuffPost Korea co-editor-in-chief Dohoon Kim. "The government, media and huge companies push people to work overtime. It's not very exceptional to see people working on weekends without being paid properly. When I was working for a fashion magazine company, the CEO proudly and frequently told a story about how she came back to work again just seven days after she gave birth to her child."



South Korea is also one of the most plugged-in countries in the world. About 98 percent of homes are wired for Internet access, the country has the fastest Internet in the world and more than 2 million people are addicted to their smartphones, according to the government. Here the widespread craving for connectivity isn't just about the latest smartphone's bells and whistles; it's a matter of identity. As Associated Press reporter Youkyung Lee put it, "Being wired is an icon of South Korea's pride in its state-directed transformation from economic backwater to one of Asia's most advanced and wealthy nations."



Suicide is also a major issue here. The suicide rate more than tripled between 1992 and 2011, and according to the OECD, the country now has 39 suicides a day. This national tragedy is anything but a vague statistic for Koreans. The culture has a word, "gwarosa ," that specifically means suicide related to overwork, and in conversations with our HuffPost Korea team, I learned that nearly everyone has friends who have taken their own lives due to stress or a crushing sense of failure. While this is a complicated and deeply rooted issue -- made more difficult still by the fact that "talking openly about emotional problems is still taboo," as psychologist and professor Dr. Kim Hyong-soo put it -- we hope that HuffPost Korea will help open up the conversation around stress, pressure and the fear of failure and create a civil space where people can not only exchange ideas but seek and find answers.



HuffPost Korea will put a spotlight not only on all the challenges Korea is facing but on the solutions, including the ways Koreans are working to reduce stress and live more fulfilling lives. In the meantime there's a lot happening in Korea that other countries can learn from, and many Korean leaders are actually using ancient practices to reduce stress and enrich their lives. For example, sitting next to the foreign minister earlier in the week, I learned that he does two 20-minute sessions of deep breathing a day. Maybe he can institute this at international meetings. And meeting with Dr. Seok-Hyun Hong, the chairman and CEO of the JoongAng Media Network, I discovered that he is a practicing Buddhist, and we ended up talking about all the traditions he has incorporated into his life. One of the things we want to do with HuffPost Korea is bring these conversations into the open, to inspire and support others. In fact, at the MBN Forum, where I spoke earlier this week, the theme was "Creativity for Growth and the Greater Good." At the very moment that Korea is facing slowed-down economic growth and the unintended consequences of the rapid growth of the past, there is a growing recognition that there has to be a new path forward that will allow Koreans to tap into their creativity and ability to innovate while reducing the cost of stress on their workforce -- stress that has taken a tremendous human toll. Already the country is beginning to address some of its problems. For example, in order to combat digital addiction, the government provides counseling for people addicted to online gaming, and more and more schools are trying to get out in front of the problem, teaching children to cultivate healthy digital habits.



Korea's investment in the education of its citizens may be unparalleled. The country's journey -- from a post-World War II society where only 5 percent of the population had high school diplomas to one where about 75 percent enroll in university -- has been called the "Korean education miracle." On the day of the SAT, police cars and emergency vehicles give rides to students who need help getting to their testing centers.



HuffPost Korea will also be a place to discuss and celebrate Korea's unique cultural contributions, from one of its chief exports, K-pop ("Gangnam Style"!), to its thriving movie industry to Korean food and cuisine, including the delicious kimchi (fermented vegetables). On Tuesday I met with Miky Lee, the granddaughter of the founder of Samsung, who now heads CJ Group and can in many ways be described as the mother of the Korean entertainment industry. "It's remarkable that [the Lees] have gone from absolutely nothing in entertainment to incredibly successful," David Geffen has said.



And now a little more about our HuffPost Korea team. When it comes to the Third Metric in Korea, few have done more to lead by example than Mina Sohn. When she was in her last year of high school, her father told her to take a break and go slowly, so she went away to the countryside for a month, exercised in the mountains and studied. She came back totally refreshed. Today she's one of Korea's renowned authors and broadcast journalists, having hosted a primetime news program on KBS -- the BBC of Korea -- for 10 years. During her time at KBS, Mina was the first one to take a year off from work, a time she used to explore Barcelona. Now many more people are taking sabbaticals. Mina is leading a collaboration with HuffPost Japan to plan an event that will bring together young people from both countries for a conversation about the future. She will also lead HuffPost Korea's initiatives focused on youth unemployment and the humane treatment of animals.



HuffPost Korea CEO Taesun Kwon has held a range of positions in more than two decades at The Hankyoreh, including Paris correspondent, foreign news editor, education editor, managing editor and executive editor. She has written biographies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Helen Keller.



Co-editor-in-chief Bogkie Kwon joined The Hankyoreh in 1993 as a reporter covering politics, economics and culture and has also served as managing editor for digital media. He has written about meditation and is also the author of a book about child rearing for feminist fathers. Our other editor-in-chief, Dohoon Kim, has been a reporter and editor for Cine21 and a freelance writer for publications including Vogue, GQ, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar and founded the men's style and culture magazine GEEK.



Our launch day blog posts include Moon Soo Kim, governor of Korea's largest state, on how to develop your own personal definition of what it means to be successful; progressive politician Sang Jung Shim on Korea's labor union problem; actor Euiseung Kim on why the Korean film industry should show a greater appreciation for the workers who have made it such a success; Kwang Pil Jung, principal of a leading alternative school, on the need to have more patience with students in the country's hypercompetitive educational system; Kang Full, the country's most famous cartoonist, providing a launch day illustration along with a plea for better treatment of stray cats and dogs; and Kim Kyung, former editorial director at Harper's Bazaar Korea, on how she left her career in the media fast lane for a more relaxed life on a farm.



And here in the U.S. and in our other international editions, we're kicking off our launch with Carolyn Gregoire on what Korea can teach the rest of the world about living well, and Joe Satran on the rising global popularity of kimchi.



So please join me in welcoming Korea to the HuffPost family! And, as always, use the comments section to let us know what you think.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1kdLAbv

via IFTTT

Amazing Craigslist Ad Seeks Roommate Who Looks Like Uncle Jesse Himself, John Stamos

He's great with kids, plays in a band and has probably the best head of hair we've ever laid eyes on, so who wouldn't want Uncle Jesse as a roommate?



We imagine these were the thoughts of two Chicago men who have taken to Craigslist in their quest for a roommate who looks like the "Full House" character played, of course, by John Stamos.







The ad gets into specifics about what is required of anyone hopeful for the title of "our Jesse" in the household, including being of Greek descent, knowing how to play the guitar and drums, being obsessed with Elvis and having excellent hair. Use of the catchphrases "Talk to me" and "Have mercy!" is also very much appreciated.



Rent will apparently set you back just $500 a month for a room in the "5,200-square-foot" Roscoe Village apartment.



The ad doesn't immediately appear to be the most legitimate thing in the world -- KHITS 104.3 points out photos of the building and the provided address don't appear to match up -- and the mention of the new roommate needing "to take an active part in raising my child" makes the ad's tone veer from comical to a bit creepy.



The roommate seekers don't appear to have located the Chicago doppelganger of Mr. Katsopolis just yet. (They would have had some butter luck last September.) DNAinfo Chicago spoke over the phone with the ad's poster, who noted he's already received "a few hopeful responses," however.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1dFTNxx

via IFTTT

Faced With Cancer, This 8-Year-Old Chef Started His Own Gourmet Cooking Show

Filet mignon accompanied by sides of asparagus and a yucca purée. Golden fish fillets in a lemon butter reduction. And for dessert? A mouth-watering fruit salad a la créme de passion fruit.



That's what's cooking in 8-year-old Arthur Gonzaga's kitchen -- a young chef from Minas Gerais, Brazil who has recently taken to the Internet to share his latest culinary adventures with the masses.







Arthur, who was diagnosed with leukemia in August of 2013, spent the latter half of that year in and out of the hospital due to his treatment and recovery process. During this time, in which Arthur was forced to spend Christmas Eve in the emergency room of São Paulo's A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, the young boy's father, Renato Gonzaga, and stepmother, Priscila Inserra, entertained the idea of creating something beautiful and positive for their son to focus on.



The result was Arthur's very own cooking show. He posted short segments to YouTube where Arthur both cooked and shared his delicious recipes. The family fittingly titled the series "Arthur Gourmand."







After celebrating the new year at home, Arthur began cooking in the kitchen of a close family friend who opened up her house to the young chef and currently acts as the project's art producer, Inserra told The Huffington Post. Gonzaga has made many cameos in the videos, acting as his son's sous chef and passing Arthur whatever ingredients he needs, while actively showing support for his incredible passion and talent.







All videos are in Portuguese and feature Arthur walking his viewers through every step of his recipes, from marinade and preparation, to the actual cooking process. After just a few seconds of watching, you'll be instantly captured by the young chef's dynamic personality and jovial character.







So far, three segments of the first episode have been released, and Arthur recently announced via his Facebook fan page that he will be premiering another very shortly.



In addition (as if our hearts weren't already melting), the 8-year-old has also announced via his Facebook page that he will be taking suggestions as to what you'd want to see him whip up next... so get your requests ready. The next installment can be expected in the upcoming weeks during the country's famed Carnival celebration.








Arthur is doing very well in his recovery, Inserra recently informed The Huffington Post. He has responded positively to his treatments and continues to take each day as it comes with his shining disposition. To quote her in the family's latest Facebook post: "The secret of life is to let it take you, to have fun and to know how to turn lemons into lemonade."



Arthur's positivity, demonstrated throughout his videos, tells a heart-warming story of embracing your passion and immersing yourself in the things that you love, especially when the going gets rough. In doing so, he leaves us inspired, appreciative and a little more in tune with our own passions -- contemplating if and how we're actively pushing to realize them within our own realities.







from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1eBHJgj

via IFTTT

Don't Sit for the ISAT

When I learned Tuesday that teachers at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood had voted unanimously to refuse to administer the Illinois State Achievement Test (ISAT) to their students over an eight-day period during the first two weeks of March, I was surprised.



I was surprised that the members of the Saucedo faculty were courageous enough to put their jobs on the line to tell Mayor Emanuel and his hand-picked Chicago Board of Education that Saucedo students should not be subjected to a time-wasting exercise that serves no legitimate educational purpose in this particular school district in this particular year.



The ISAT is being phased out across the state, and in connection with that phase-out, 2014 ISAT scores will not figure into CPS school ratings, CPS teacher evaluations, CPS student promotions or the admissions process for CPS selective enrollment schools.



In short, it's a giant waste of time and money, and the Saucedo teachers don't want their kids to have to forfeit all that instructional time over two weeks for a worthless standardized test that the Mayor's kids certainly won't be taking at their private school.



So the Saucedo teachers stood up for their kids.



Imagine that. In a city where, it seems, Rahm fires teachers for pure sport, Saucedo's teachers are willing to face down Rahm's Machine and possibly risk their livelihoods on behalf of their students.



But the teachers are not alone. When the faculty announced its boycott on Tuesday, 320 Saucedo parents had already filed opt-out letters to ensure their kids wouldn't have to sit for the ISAT, no matter who administered it. One day later, the number of Saucedo opt-outs had climbed to 423.



My youngest child is also a CPS student. She, too, is scheduled to take the ISAT during the first half of March, but my wife and I wouldn't dream of making her sit through it this year. As I told my daughter's principal (whom I also consider a friend) in the required opt-out letter:

You know, of course, that we have supported and will continue to support our school's faculty, staff and administration in its educational mission, but we've come to the conclusion that the 2014 ISAT is an unnecessary waste of the district's limited resources and instructional minutes, and we've yet to hear a strong argument to the contrary.





We certainly can't stop CPS from giving this examination to students across the city from March 3 to March 14, but we can take the small step of opting [our daughter] out, if only to salvage for her benefit the hundreds of instructional minutes she would otherwise lose to a soon-to-be-phased-out standardized test. We will work closely with [our daughter] to ensure she has plenty of books and other projects to keep her quietly engaged throughout the many hours the ISAT is being administered in the building during the first half of March.

Parents across the city are waking up to the fact that the 2014 ISAT will be a waste of time for their kids.

My wife and I risked nothing by sending our principal an opt-out letter. Members of the Saucedo faculty are risking their jobs to avoid being accomplices in this educational charade.



But as Mario Savio said nearly 50 years ago:

There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels ... upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

The Saucedo faculty is trying to make it stop.

Let's stand with them.



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1eBHIJe

via IFTTT

Are Meggings, Male Leggings, Really A Hot New Trend?

About a year ago, entrepreneurs Andrew Volk and Adam Freck were convinced meggings -- yes, leggings for men -- were just on the verge of a breakthrough. And with good reason, it turns out.



On Dec. 15 of last year, the two men launched Meggings Man, their online-only business devoted entirely to leggings crafted specifically for guys.



They've been working long hours to keep up with orders ever since. Within a week of the Meggings website going live, they say they sold out of their first run of inventory. Their second run sold out just as quickly and back orders were piling up in a response Freck described as "beyond expectations."





Volk (left) and Freck with their signature product: Meggings.



Still, given all the derision and ridicule meggings have been subject to in recent years, one has to wonder if the trend has staying power. Both Volk and Freck, who have worked in apparel and e-commerce for the past five years, insist that it does.



"I think this is the right time for meggings," Volk said. "I think men are getting more comfortable with wearing something like this, more so than they ever have. I truly don't think it will be something that comes and goes within a year."



The men's venture started when they began noticing men wearing women's leggings and.. not exactly pulling the look off.



"I just feel that they weren't fitting as well as I felt they could," Volk explained. "Certain areas were showing too much, certain areas weren't very flattering on male legs, so we made some samples."





The black on black meggings with metallic inserts.



Six months of tweaking the meggings' design later and they were ready to launch. The meggings are a polyester-spandex blend and start at $29.95 going up to $10 more for metallic fabrics and prints like galaxy, camouflage and nebula. They have an extra panel of fabric added to the hips to make them roomier for mens' typically larger upper legs, as well as a wider waist band and a sort of faux zipper fly that gives them an appearance that references jeans.



What the meggings don't have are pockets, a factor the two recognize could dissuade some from trying the look out. The meggings are also supposed to be hand washed in cold water, likely a tall order for many guys. Freck said they are currently testing new pocket options that would strike "a happy medium between the look not being sacrificed and the functionality." The hand washing issue is inevitable, at least with the current fabrics used.



Other ideas Meggings Man are currently exploring, as the company looks toward next fall and beyond, include heartier fabric choices that would allow men to wear them as pants during the colder winter months, placing zippers on certain designs and creating other clothing items that make the most sense to help complete a full outfit around meggings. They are also looking to get their products into more stores and showrooms -- for now, their lone brick-and-mortar retailer is Cram Fashion in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.



Finally, the two also have their eye on continuing to offer new designs that respond to the styles that have appealed the most to their customers. Volk said, thus far, their more "serious, single-colored, darker" pants have been their best sellers to date.





The navy blue basic megging.



Though Meggings Man appears to be the only meggings-centric business currently around, the trend has already hit the shelves of popular retailers including Zara, Uniqlo, Barneys and Nordstrom. The look also hit center stage for the Super Bowl half time show earlier this month when the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis donned a pair.



As for meggings' critics -- Anderson Cooper called meggings "ridiculous," GQ said, simply, "no" and someone at Buzzfeed said they "should not exist" -- Freck told HuffPost he suspects they would have a different opinion if they actually gave the pants a go themselves.



"These are probably the same types of people that would make fun of skinny jeans 15 years ago, and now every major jean company has it as a big part of what they provide," Freck said. "It was mocked and now it's the norm. It's not that we're trying to replace [skinny jeans], but the slimming down of pants is a trend we see going on and we're just part of that."



"All it takes is for them to try them on and some of the fears they had will wash away," he added.





Galaxy-print meggings.



Trepidations aside, I wanted to see if Freck had a point. Would I emerge as an advocate once if I tried them for myself? First, it should be noted that my style already veers toward slimmer fits -- the vast majority of my regular rotation of pants are skinny jeans -- and what my mom calls an "edgy look." Also, I live in Chicago, a major metropolitan center, and my employer isn't exactly the sort of place where a suit and tie are required or even expected. So what worked for me would very likely be more of a stretch for the average American dude.



For my meggings debut, I wore the company's new black-on-black meggings, which adds two metallic black panels -- one just above and one just below the knee -- to the line's basic black meggings, under cuffed black denim shorts to my office in the Loop on a Thursday. Freck described such layering as "a nice little baby step" to the full-fledged meggings experience, not to mention in line with The Sartorialist founder Scott Schuman's advice to USA Today that the trend worked best for non-ballet dancers when layered.



They were slightly tighter, of course, than even the skinniest of skinny jeans but more comfortable and, I would venture to guess, put me at less risk of circulation problems or nerve damage.



Though I'll admit to feeling initially a bit strange riding the train amongst a sea of business slacks and jeans, soon, I just felt cozy and sort of badass all at once.



The next day, a Saturday, I tried out a second pair while spending some quality time with my DVR and trying to fend off the start of a cold. Each time I looked down at my galaxy print-clothed legs, I couldn't help but smile. But I wasn't feeling quite brave enough to rock them for a trip to the grocery store or post office.



The last day of the experiment, I wore the line's metallic black meggings out to brunch and a bit of shopping in Logan Square. Though the metallic material felt more constrictive than the other pairs, they were still more comfortable than a lot of skinny jeans. To avoid the issue of not having pockets, I layered it under a long black hoodie with pockets -- though my jacket would have sufficed too.





The author wears (and quite possibly pulls off?) black metallic leggings.



So, will I wear meggings again? Sure. Why not? Like any other trend, this isn't for everyone and any meggings-wearer will stand out from the crowd, but is that such a bad thing? For the most part, I felt comfortable, sleek and confident in wearing them, and isn't that exactly what fashion should aim to accomplish?



from Chicago - The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1eBHHFf

via IFTTT