From a Parkland post:

On January 17 and 18, Parkland College Theatre will present its 23rd Annual Student Production, Welcome to the Big Top: A Peek Behind the Curtain. Parkland College theatre students have developed an evening of entertainment exploring the colorful subject of circus life through monologues and vignettes, in an exciting atmosphere that includes games and free carnival food for the audience.

This event is free to the public. Donations are accepted, and proceeds to benefit the Randall Millas Scholarship Fund and Bernard Wolff Technical Theatre Award. Seating is limited and reservations are strongly encouraged.

Patrons are encouraged to arrive a little early to enjoy pre-show entertainment by local vaudeville artists!

In collaboration with Parkland College’s Hospitality department, the theatre is offering a pre-show dinner on Friday, January 17 at 6 p.m. Hospitality students will prepare a delicious four-course dinner in their intimate restaurant on campus.

The price is $15 per person and the dinner is only available to those who reserve ahead. If you would like to add the pre-show dinner, please select the appropriate option when making your reservation on the parkland website. A Parkland Theatre representative will then contact you to make further arrangements.
 

The year is rounding down, and it's time to start thinking about those local year-end lists (ah, yes, how we know everyone loves/hates lists). We're going to be putting together our list of Top 10 Albums, Best Live Shows, and Best Songs for 2013 soon. If you'd like, you can be a part of it, too. We'll take these votes into consideration, and ultimately factor in our own opinions as well.

Cast your vote by sending an email to music@smilepolitely.com with an organized list of your favorite albums, songs and live shows from 2013. Please make sure to send us your picks by December 14th.

Here is a list of local albums compiled with links included, listed in alphabetical order. Certainly, we've probably missed something, so let us know if we have. The rest, well, you can figure out on your own:

• Acker — EP 1
• A Cool Hand — Long Live the Night
• An Evening With Your Mother/Jack Anthony and the Desperadoes — Uncertain Harvest
• Black Coffee Fridays — See You At The Hootenanny
• Blade Runner — Journey Beyond Tomorrow
• Colonel — Snow Fall to Sun Bower
• Curb Service — Romeo Jive
• Dino Bravo — Planet Madness EP
• Earth Witch — Earthbound EP
• Elsinore — PUSH/PULL
• Fauve — Light
• The Fights — The Fights EP
• Goblin Colors — Chambers
• Grandkids — Timeshare
• Hank. — Pinched.
• Jay Moses — #TheGenius
• JEFFdaMC — [adult swim]
• The Keylocks — Anxiety & Innuendo
• Klevah — The W8
• Kowabunga! Kid — It Ends EP
• Mille Nomi — The Humans EP
• Øde Vinter — End Ov the Solar Era
• Orator — I
• Single Player — Could Care Less
• St. Paul's Voltage Parade — Hello Again Imagination
• Swords — Depth
• Terminus Victor — Prevention vs. Intervention
• Thin Gin — Thin Gin EP
• We Must Dismantle All This! — Decathect
• Year of the Bobcat — When We Were Young
• Young Blu / Jay Moses — Green Tea X Green Trees
• Young Blu — Small Town Smaller World

A pretty awesome development over at the Champaign Public Library, which now offers a bunch of instant digital access to music, movies and other programs. Check out the full press release below.

From the press release:

Hoopla Digital Brings Instant-Access Digital Music, Movies and Audiobooks to Champaign Public Library

For the first time, the Champaign Public Library is able to offer instant access to streaming or downloadable music, movies, television programs and audiobooks, thanks to a Hoopla Digital subscription launched on December 1. 

Hoopla offers Champaign library cardholders thousands of titles from major Hollywood studios, record companies, and publishers through a simple interface. Patrons can borrow five items per month with no waiting and no overdue fees. Audiobooks are loaned for 3 weeks, music for 1 week, and movies and television programs for 3 days. Music is loaned as complete albums, including a “New Music Tuesday” category offering albums the day they are released.

To stream or download on a smartphone or tablet, patrons need the free Hoopla Digital app, which works on Apple devices (iOS6 or higher) and Androids (Android 4 or higher). The app leads patrons through a simple signup process. On a computer, Hoopla is available for streaming only and requires an Internet connection. Computer users should create a Hoopla account using the “Sign Up” link on the Hoopla website at https://www.hoopladigital.com/home. A Champaign Public Library card number is required.

“New and better ways for libraries to provide digital content are developing quickly,” said Adult Services Manager Kristina Hoerner. “Our library is constantly evaluating these, and Hoopla is one of the best available right now.” 

Purchase of Hoopla was made possible by funds from the Champaign Public Library Friends. Hoopla joins a digital collection that includes Zinio magazines and My Media Mall eBooks and audiobooks. In the spring, the library plans to add digital content that will be integrated into the library catalog—an advancement that the library hopes will build awareness of its digital options, especially as use of mobile devices and digital content continues to grow. 

“Many people still aren’t aware that the title they’re looking for in our catalog may be available digitally,” Hoerner said. “The library already has a lot to offer smartphone and tablet users, and it’s improving all the time.”

For more information about Hoopla, contact the library at librarian@champaign.org or at 217/403-2070.

Earlier in September, we chatted on SP radio with the Developmental Services Center located in Champaign, and talked about how they provide services and plans to help indiviuals and fimlies that have special needs and dissabilities.

The DCS has started their campaign the Tree of Hope to help the families and individuals with disabilites this holiday season, but they need your help! At the corner of Prospect Ave. and Marketplace Dr., their tree stands to be a source of light and hope for the community. Every dollar goes towards the campaign and every donation adds another light bulb to the tree. Help our neighbors ours today and be a source light for the community. Make a donation here and also learn about the Tribout family who are the spokesfamily this year. 

Stone Brewing Co. crowned The Blind Pig as the Most Bitter Bar in Illinois.

The award was given to The Blind Pig earlier this year in June, but they will be celebrating its Stone crown tonight (December 5th). Read more about the celebration here.

The Blind Pig will have specially released Stone beers on tap and a Stone representative will be on hand featuring Stone Crime bottles.

Here is a list of the Stone beers that The Blind Pig will have on tap tonight: 

1. Stone IPA
2. Stone Cali-Belgique
3. Stone Oaked Bastard
4. Stone Arrogant Bastard
5. Stone Enjoy By 12.13.13
6. Stone Old Guardian Oak Smoked (5 p.m.)
7. Stone Arrogant Bastard aged in Templeton Rye barrels (6 p.m.)
8. Stone Double Bastard aged in Red Wine Barrels (7 p.m.)
9. Stone Reason To Be Damned (8 p.m.)

This is The Blind Pig's 2nd Most Bitter Bar award, so go check out Stone beers and celebrate with The Blind Pig for being the best Stone beer-selling bar in all of Illinois.

A Downtown Holiday walk will be happening on Friday Dec. 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Check out the map above to see the various sales going on.

There will also be various shows and events that you can attend, including the DJ Belly & Swords event which will be at Exile from 5–9 p.m.

The next installment of the annual Great Cover Up is happening in late January, and the list of bands performing has just been announced. Check out the full list below, via this Facebook post:

OK folks, getting close to announcing set times, but for now feast your eyes on these GCUP23 line-ups and mark your calendars

THURSDAY 1/16/14
EARTH WITCH
HANK
SCURVINE
COCO BUTTER KIDS
ROBERTA SPARROW

FRIDAY 1/17/14
SEVENTEEN SISTERS
LONELY TRAILER
THE CHEMICALS
CODY & THE GATEWAY DRUGS
CARNIVALE DEBAUCHE
MIKE INGRAM w/ABNORMOUS

SUNDAY 1/19/14
THE KEYLOCKS
ANDY MO
BEAT KITCHEN BRASS BAND
90’S DAUGHTER
BROTHER EMBASSY
THAT'S NO MOON
CURB SERVICE

THURSDAY 1/23/14
MORGAN ORION
BONES JUGS N HARMONY
TO BE ANNOUNCED
WE THE ANIMALS
THE DIRTY FEATHERS

FRIDAY 1/24/14
THE ARS NOVA
A COOL HAND
SWORDS & THE SHADY PERRYS
GRANDKIDS
ELSINORE
SUN STEREO

all shows will be held at Highdive (ages 19+) and i will be announcing multi-pass ticket information soon. thanks! W

From a Parkland College press release:

Parkland Theatre will hold open auditions for Frederick Knott’s thriller Wait Until Dark on Sunday, Dec. 8th from 1 to 4 p.m. at the theatre. Callbacks, if needed, will be held at 5 p.m. the same day.

Director J.W. Morrissette will be casting 1 lead female, 6 males, and 1 girl age 9–12. Auditions will consist of selected readings from the script. Character descriptions and audition readings can be found online at www.parkland.edu/theatre. No appointment is necessary to audition.

Wait Until Dark involves three conmen who are about to meet their match. They have traced the location of a mysterious doll they’re searching for to the Greenwich Village apartment of Sam and his blind wife, Susy. Sam had been persuaded by a strange woman to transport the doll across border, not knowing what was sewn inside. When the woman is murdered, the situation becomes more urgent. Through a cleverly constructed deception, the conmen convince Susy that the police have implicated Sam in the woman's murder, and the doll, which she believes is the key to his innocence, is evidence. She refuses to reveal its location, and with the help of a young neighbor, figures out she is the victim of a bizarre charade. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues and Susy knows the only way to play fair is by her rules. Just how will this dark game end?

Performances take place Feb. 13–23. All members of the community as well as Parkland and U of I students are invited to audition; Parkland Theatre encourages diversity. Those with questions should email theatre@parkland.edu.

Holiday Wine Tasting @ Buvons, Thursday, December 5th

Buvons Wine Bar will be hosting a holiday wine tasting to feature wines to go with cocktail parties, holiday meals, and/or family gatherings for the holidays. 

Buvons will be featuring wines from: Connoisseur, Fine Vines, Original Wine Company, Pure, Sorting Table and Vintage. Each vendor will give advice on pairings with each wine that you taste, and a portion of all money made will go towards Crisis Nursery.

The wine tasting will start at 6 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30, and V.I.P. tickets are $40. You can learn more about the Crisis Nursery and order your tickets in advance here.

Davy Rothbart, owner of FOUND Magazine, will be at the Art Theater tomorrow night with his newest film, MEDORA. The film was co-directed by Rothbart and Andrew Cohn, and is about the power behind small communities and the people that live in them. MEDORA starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday night, and runs for 82 minutes. Tickets are sold online. For more information, head over to the Art Theater's page here. 

Want more info about Davey? Check out FOUND Magazine here.