Don't miss this!
Head of Femur, Chicago's premier art-rock band (think the Flaming Lips meet Neil Young), plays an 18-and-over free show Thursday in the Logan Square neighborhood. Newly signed to Yep Roc Records (home to everyone from Robyn Hitchcock to Bob Mould), the band just released "Leader and the Falcon," a limited edition EP. Look for a new full-length due next year.Head of Femur with Dirty on Purpose and Bound Stems, 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago. Free. (773) 252-6179.
-- Mark Guarino, music critic
"Measure for Measure," opens 8 p.m. Friday and continues 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 9 at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., Elgin. $15, $12. (847) 931-0637.
For its first foray into Shakespeare, Janus Theatre doesn't take the easy way out. Instead, the Elgin ensemble tackles "Measure for Measure," the Bard's problem play addressing morality, mercy, justice and flexibility. The story centers around the autocratic and corrupt Angelo, proxy for the Duke in absentia, who restores the city's declining morality by imposing extreme penalties on immoral behavior, behavior in which he indulges.
-- Barbara Vitello, critic at large
FitHouse Tours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 2 at 1235 W. Belden Ave., Chicago. Tickets are $10. www.cookinglight.com.
Cooking Light magazine hosts tours through its FitHouse, designed to showcase green living and offer tips on reducing energy -- good for the planet and for the power bill. The rooms are beautiful besides. Don't miss the Zen outdoor patio.
-- Lisa Friedman Miner, assistant features editor
"Missing Man," continues 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 p.m. Aug. 24 at Live Bait Theater, 3914 N. Clark St., Chicago. $15. $10 students/seniors. (773) 871-1212.
What happens when a Chicago mother joins more than 300 motorcyclists on a cross-country trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.? Mary Scruggs, head of writing and education programs at The Second City, tells all the hilarious and touching details about her 2001 trip in "Missing Man" as part of Live Bait Theater's "12th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival."
-- Scott C. Morgan, staff writer
14th annual Chicago Underground Film Festival, continues through Sunday with screenings at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., and at Elegant Mr. Gallery, 1355 N. Milwaukee Ave., both in Chicago. $7 per screening, $50 for punch card good for 10 admissions. (800) 838-3006 or www.cuff.org.
Check out independent, experimental and documentary films from around the world. Among the offerings are the final film by grindhouse legend Doris Wishman, "Each Time I Kill," an experimental narrative about a male prostitute shot entirely on a cell phone entitled "Hooks to the Left," and "Thax," a doc about gray-bearded Chicago poet Thax Douglas, who you may have caught introducing any number of local rock gigs.
-- Jeff Pizek, staff writer