April 27, 2008 - May 3, 2008 Archives

High school students who ride horses in the streets of Philadelphia. An Iraqi who takes to the streets of Savannah to talk to Americans about the war. The life story of people named John Smith. These are some of the stories that will unfold in second season of the TV version of This American Life when it premieres on Showtime Sunday night. Thursday night, in a live performance simulcast to movie theaters across the country, executive producer and host

R.I.P., Berwyn “Spindle.” Photo by Paul Goyette. Grassroots activism lost to corporate America last night when the 50-foot Berwyn “Spindle,” an eight-car kobob, was dismantled under the cover of darkness. Cermak Plaza’s pop icon was taken down with a crane to make room for a proposed Walgreens. The “Spindle” was listed on eBay two weeks ago for $50,000, but no bids were placed, and activists were unable to raise the $300,000 estimated to restore and save the tower. The Trib reported thoughts from......

Pig and ice cream? Two of our favorites, together at last. Photo by Katherine of Chicago A CTA bus crashed into a building near 76th and Ashland. [Trib] Forensic artist Lois Gibson says a photo on a MySpace profile is definitely Tionda Bradley, who disappeared from Chicago in 2001. [CBS 2] More "refaced" money! Hurray! [joefxd] "A 44-year-old Burbank man is accused of stuffing his shirt full of meat and trying to walk out of the grocery store without paying." Meatshirt......

Photo by Kookybites Wow, file under "took us long enough": By 2011, all of Chicago will have curbside blue-cart recycling. [CBS 2]...

Ayee. It's always something. Looks like Looptopia.com isn't working at the moment, which is great because probably no one wants to check it before they leave work or anything. (We're getting "please check back." Katie Scully got "this account has been suspended.") If you're trying to figure out which events to head to, these are our picks....

The Chicago Children's Museum released a revised architectural plan today, and the new take doesn't include the 16-foot skylights from the original proposals. According to the really fancy press release, "In effect, the project involves the replacement of approximately 400 enclosed under-plaza parking spaces with 100,000 square feet of museum space and a Chicago Park District field house." The new design also includes substantially shrinking the entryway and putting it on park property, and changing the initially proposed in-museum courtyard to a......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. This American Life, the Showtime Original Series, back with an all new season premiering May 4th at 10pm et/pt. A Wolf at the Table, the new memoir from Augusten Burroughs, in stores now. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. Popped Music Festival, in Philadelphia on June 20, 21, and 22. If you're interested in advertising on Chicagoist or any other site in our network,......

The mayor's plan to require owners of vacant buildings to make them more secure was delayed yesterday after lenders objected to the requirements. The new rules would require a building that is vacant for six months or longer to be secured with steel panels, or have all the doors and windows completely installed, dusk to dawn lighting, and an "active account" with a private security firm. Lenders that are holding the property would also have to pay an increased fee of $250 to place the building on the city's vacancy registry. That fee, currently......

NOOOOOOOOO! YEEEEEEEEES! NO! ...

The following post is from our advertiser, This American Life on Showtime. This American Life, the Showtime Original Series based on the celebrated Ira Glass radio show, is back with an all-new season. Funny, dramatic and surprising real-life stories from the most extraordinary ordinary people in America come together in what Newsweek proclaims “a jewel of a TV series.” From a stand-up comedy camp for kids, to riding stables in a North Philly ghetto; from an Iraqi student who takes on America…with questions, to the tale......

Unicorns. Fire breathing. Free PBR. Sounds like a can't miss art opening huh? Jeremy Scheuch mixes images both fanciful (unicorns, duh) and literal (Britney Spears, um, bits) to create works that tickle our pop cultural funny bone. And by that mixed metaphor, we mean the stuff he does is so funny it hurts. Scheuch's show "Some Of Us Prefer Illusion To Despair" opens tonight at Mi Elements Gallery, 851 W Randolph, 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. ...

Photo by Thee Erin Hopefully a block of Netflix is arriving in your mailbox today because it's going to be stormy weekend, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms likely this afternoon and evening. Saturday will be cool and rainy and Sunday will be cloudy and cold. Bleh. And although a weekend full of critically acclaimed, award winning new DVD releases sounds tempting, we're still hoping the rain holds out on Saturday for one of the first street festivals of the summer. [Ed......

Since retiring from the Reader earlier this year, Jonathan Rosenbaum has been as busy as ever. He's finishing up his film lecture series at the Siskel, which includes the upcoming screenings of Play Time, his all-time favorite movie. (For a great list, check out his Alternate Top 100 Films/Movies). And his website is now up and running. It's bulging with content dating back to 1987 and also features a Publications and Events section. You can bet that particular section will be filling......

Last March, Wheel of Fortune came into town to tape three weeks of shows, and Navy Pier’s Festival Hall was gussied up to serve a dual purpose – half of the hall was transformed into a shiny Wheel of Fortune set, while the other half was roped off into a holding corral for the thousands that came to catch a free taping. The episodes filmed in Chicago have been airing since Monday, and since the episode we attended is scheduled to run this evening, let’s go......

Get your groovin' shoes on - the distinctive dance stylings of Ellen DeGeneres are coming to town tomorrow. They're taping tomorrow at the Michigan Plaza by the NBC5 studios, in the rain if necessary, starting at 11am. The show is sold out but standby tickets are going to be available, as well as a "Riff Raff Room" (worst name ever, Tom Hanks) for overflow guests at the nearby Embassy Suites, which a lucky few fans are going to have access to tomorrow as well. Robin......

Dear Chicagoist, I recently got into an argument with my boss about who has the "right of way" on the road - bicyclists or motorists. While I am not advocating bicyclists to have blatant disregard for motorists, I subscribe to the idea that the slowest mode of transportation should always have the right of way - i.e. cars yield to bikes, bikes yield to pedestrians. My boss says cars have the right of way. What do you say? JE Unfortunately, this is a sadly appropriate question considering the number......

The Illinois House voted 105-0 yesterday to order the chief auditor to investigate how the Blagojevich administration apparently gave $1 million to the wrong organization. Instead of going to the Pilgrim Baptist Church to help rebuild their school after a fire, the money went to Loop Lab School, which had been using Pilgrim Baptist facilities before the fire but isn't affiliated with the church. Blagojevich and his staff have been extremely tight-lipped on the debacle, refusing to answer questions about how the funds were distributed and how no one......

We love dogs, and we especially love getting them all together for a play date. That’s why we’re looking forward to the 14th annual Bark in the Park event going on this Saturday at Montrose Harbor. The event starts with every dog’s favorite activity - a 5K walk along the lakefront, and after that it turns into a canine carnival. There’s lots to do with our four-legged friends including an obstacle course, a pet trick showdown, a doggy fashion show and souvenir......

EPA Midwest administrator Mary Gade has been forced to resign her post. Last summer, Gade invoked emergency powers against Dow Chemical to force the company to clean up three toxic hotspots near their Midlands, Michigan headquarters. She had been fighting the company for years over dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond the Midlands plant and into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. And when tests revealed that dioxin levels in along a park in Saginaw were the highest in the nation, she ordered more dredging. Dow and......