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What We're Reading: Does GoFund Me Accept Bootstraps?

CHICAGO — Here's what we're reading on this blah Thursday.

For Art's Sake: Senior editor Andrew Herrmann is reading the obituary of an artist who, in 1975, spent 45 hours motionless on the floor of Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art under a leaning piece of glass and a clock. Chris Burden's exhibition prompted a column from Roger Ebert in the Sun-Times, headlined, "My God, Are They Going to Leave Me Here to Die?"

As the end of the second day neared, museum officials were concerned he had not drank nor urinated. Not wanting to interfere with his art, they decided to put a pitcher of water near his head. "The moment we put the water down, Chris got up, walked into the next room, returned with a hammer and an envelope, and smashed the clock stopping it," an offical told Ebert. Inside the envelope was an explanation: if anyone interfered with either the clock, the pane of glass or Burden, the exhibition would be over. Burden, who thought his performance would last only a few hours, told Ebert that after a day passed he thought, "My God. Don't they care at all about me?" and was worried that he'd die. Burden did die, for real, earlier this week in California at age 69.


Facebook/Joakim Noah

Bravo Joakim: Reporter David Matthews is reading how Chicago Bulls Center Joakim Noah on Thursday won the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Award for community service. Noah, who grew up affluent as the son of a pro tennis player and an artist, for years has devoted his time and boundless energy to Chicago's youth through his Noah's Arc Foundation. This year, he started the Rock Your Drop initiative, in which metal teardrop pendants designed by Noah's mother are sold to raise awareness of the personal loss brought by urban violence. The campaign, which has sold pendants to celebrities including Noah's teammates and Hulk Hogan, produced a short video featuring Englewood native Derrick Rose.

"Simpsons" Loses 30-Plus Characters: Harry Shearer has announced he will leave "The Simpsons" after 26 years with the show. You may know Shearer's face from playing the bass player in "This is Spinal Tap," but it's difficult to even count how many places you would recognize his voice. Sam Cholke is reading the abbreviated list of Shearer's characters on "The Simpsons," which includes Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Scratchy, Lenny, Rev. Lovejoy, Otto, Kang the Extratrerrestrial, Dr. Marvin Monroe, Dewey Largo, Police Officer Eddie, Radioactive Man, Principal Skinner, Waylon Smithers, Judge Roy Snyder, Jebediah Springfield, Rainer Wolfcastle, Lion Tamer Ernst, Birchibald T Barlow, Jasper Beardly, State Controller Atkins, Student Benjamin, Marty from KBBL Radio, Herman Mermann, Sanjay Nashaspeemepetlion, Reporter Dave Shutton and Dr. J. Loren Pryor.

You Get What You Don't Pay For: A self-employed South Carolina handyman prided himself on never buying health insurance, but is now dismayed to find financial help unavailable for eye surgery. Without the surgery, The Charlotte Observer reports, Luis Lang will go blind. He and his wife blame the Affordable Care Act.

Now unemployed due to his worsening vision, Lang has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for the surgery. A top commenter says, "I want to donate enough to really help you out, but I can't figure out how to get GoFundMe to accept bootstraps."

Blood Runs Green: The Chicago Reader's Mick Dumke reviewed author Gillian O'Brien's book "Blood Runs Green" and pointed out that it is more relevant to modern life than one would think. The book, about the 1889 murder of an Irish doctor, "offered a window into the injustice and political corruption of the age." But are things really that different? Dumke writes:

"Amid our latest national debates on race and justice, I wondered if anything has fundamentally changed about our appetite for heroes, villains, and instant judgments. When we're repeatedly shown images of what a criminal is supposed to look like, it becomes harder and harder to accept any other story line."

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