Wild Chicago, no. 406

Episode 406 of Wild Chicago. Smelt Dancing by the lake, a center for UFO studies, Rock 'N Roll Tupperware party, the graveyard shift at Kinko's Copies, and a visit to the CTA "love train."

00:20Copy video clip URL Production credits are displayed.

00:34Copy video clip URL Ad for the Illinois Lottery, a corporate sponsor of the program.

01:10Copy video clip URL Clips of the episode’s subjects are shown over carnivalesque music, with Ben Hollis narrating brief depictions of each.

01:32Copy video clip URL Opening to Wild Chicago, montage of Ben Hollis’s introduction and clips of various eclectic scenes across the Chicagoland area.

02:36Copy video clip URL “Tupperware Party.” In Oak Forest, IL, Sue Halter hosts a Rock ‘N Roll themed Tupperware party at the Jukebox Saturday Night. Tupperware aficionados and dilettantes alike gather in a raucous atmosphere to buy Tupperware and watch Tupperware demonstrations. A melange of Tupperware products are shown on display on the bar counter. People describe their various Tupperware investments.

05:38Copy video clip URL “U.F.O. Center.” A center for U.F.O studies at 2457 W Peterson is an international group of scientists, researchers, and volunteers dedicated to examining the UFO phenomenon. The center produces a number of print publications and contains a file of purportedly 50,000 original reports of sightings.

10:04Copy video clip URL “Bull Jive.” Hollis attempts an interview with Michael Jordan at Butler Aviation near O’Hare. Unable to speak with Jordan, Hollis speaks with Russel Singleton, who says he is one of Jordan’s assistants. They talk about an upcoming game against the Detroit Pistons. A clip from an interview with Bulls guard B.J. Armstrong is shown.

12:18Copy video clip URL The musical trio Liof Munimula (aluminum foil spelled backwards) performs an arrangement. Hollis finds them in rehearsal at the Pro’s Art Studio in Pilsen, calling them “free-form musicians extraordinaire.” A sign advertising the group’s name says they will appear for free at an upcoming performance. The band uses a number of found, repurposed, transmogrified, and traditional instruments. One such instrument is a thumb piano positioned vertically to a typewriter’s striking keys so that when one strokes a letter on the typewriter, it strikes a note on the thumb piano. A dramatization of Alen Ginsberg’s “Howl” is performed, as the trio inculcates ambient noises while the poem is read aloud.

16:29Copy video clip URL Wild neighbor segment of Wild Chicago. Carmen Perez sells her paintings from her front yard gallery. A local neighbor stops by to buy a painting of “El Morro” from Puerto Rico. Hollis then conducts an impromptu talk show in Perez’s front yard, inviting one of her neighbors.

19:18Copy video clip URL “Midnight at Kinko’s.” Hollis interviews a Kinko’s employee about his experience working the graveyard shift. Hollis also interviews a number of late-night customers, intrigued by their nocturnal copying needs.

22:27Copy video clip URL “Love Train.” CTA “L” conductor John Cameron is a charismatic train operator known as the “Dan Ryan Rapper.” Cameron offers witty, lyrical, creative announcements for CTA “L” riders, who affectionately name his charismatic conduct the “Love Train.” Cameron recounts stories how his self-dubbed rapping has impacted the experience of riding his CTA trains. Cameron offers, “Love ain’t no good till you give it away.”

25:52Copy video clip URL “Smelt Dancers.” A group of men ritually greet the arrival of smelting season on the shores of Lake Michigan. Described as a rites of spring ritual, participants separate themselves from the “real world” in order to get in touch with their primordial spirit through what they call “primitive dancing.” Smelting origins are described as descended from the mills in the southeast side of Chicago and as the name of a legendary fish. Dancers consider the qualities of manhood. In the fading evening light, the smelt dancers bring out woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments to call to the “Queen Mother Smelt,” blaring single monotone notes toward the waters of Lake Michigan.

29:14Copy video clip URL Scenes from the next Wild Chicago episode are shown.

29:54Copy video clip URL Ad spot for “Wild Wear.” A short commercial by Hollis for viewers to buy official Wild Chicago merchandise.

30:28Copy video clip URL Main credits shown.

30:48Copy video clip URL Wild Chicago closing graphics.

31:00Copy video clip URL Illinois Lottery advertisement.