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September 30, 2008
Elisha Cooper’s most recent book -- ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool -- is the result of time spent shadowing eight upperclassmen at Chicago’s Walter Payton College Prep during the 2005/2006 school year. Thankfully this compact little book never gets gimmicky, since Cooper has constructed a well-flowing, factual account of what transpired over the year, allowing the students’ stories to organically drive the plot. His dedication to the project shines throughout; it is clear that he didn't limit his observations...
Continue Reading "Hittin' The Books: ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool"
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add to del.icio.usCubs officials, dignitaries, celebs, Blago and Daley, and, of course, Cubs Nation came out for a post-season rally in Daley Plaza over lunch today....
Continue Reading "Go Cubs Go - Post-Season Rally"
It's time once again for the nonprofit Chicago Artists' Coalition's Chicago Art Open, taking place October 3-19 at the Merchandise Mart and in the West Loop's FLATFILEgalleries. This year's exhibition features 285 works representing all media, from drawing to installations. The festivities kick off Friday, October 3 with a special preview event (i.e., more expensive) from 4-6 p.m. and a general opening reception (i.e., less expensive) from 6-10 p.m. at the Merchandise Mart. Other Open...
Continue Reading "CACky Days Are Here Again"
He might have come of age in Hollywood and lived most of his life in Connecticut, but now that he's passed away people are also remembering the time Paul Newman spent in Chicago. The Color of Money, Martin Scorsese's followup to The Hustler, used various locations around town, including Chris’s Billiards at 4637 N. Milwaukee, O’Brien’s Steakhouse at 1528 N. Wells and even The Gingerman in Wrigleyville (click here for more). It gave Newman...
Continue Reading "Paul Newman & Chicago"Cut Copy’s September 17 appearance at The Metro was one of those shows attendees entered with almost impossibly high expectations. After the Australians’ giddy but truncated performance at this summer’s Pitchfork Music Festival, it was going to be a real challenge for the band to surpass that appearance, at least as far as outperforming the mythic proportions that set had grown into. The band took the stage and performed that rarest of miracles by turning...
Continue Reading "Photos: Cut Copy at The Metro"Advertisement: Chicagoist Continues Below!
September 29, 2008
This Thursday, Harold Washington Library will participate in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, an event aiming to break a world record for the largest shared reading experience by encouraging children across the country to read the same book with an adult on the same day. The official campaign book is children’s classic Corduroy, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The campaign centers on making early education a national priority; with a focus on...
Continue Reading "Give Back: Jumpstart and Read for the Record"We've just learned there are still tickets to tonight's Hot Chip show at Metro, even though some other sites have mistakenly billed the show as being sold out. The best part about this miscommunication? You can score tickets for $5 off if you purchase them through the Metro store and enter "madeinthedark" into the section asking for a discount code OR if you print out this blog entry and bring it to the door. Sweet...
Continue Reading "Hot Cheap"We've thrown back many a pint at Old Town Ale House, but the recent addition of a nude painting of Sarah Palin almost made us nose our beer. Check it out for yourself [NSFW]. [via Windy Citizen]...
Continue Reading "VPILF Painting Up At Old Town Ale House"Despite Chicago Magazine's awarding of "Best Pub Trivia" to the Globe Pub a few months ago, we courteously beg to differ. Does the Globe have a drag queen falsetto-voiced nun holding "class" on a weekly basis? We doubt it. But Crew Bar and Grill sure does. We're also pretty sure that the Globe isn't so hardcore that they would create their own nuns-on-the-run video for it. Sister Mary Monistat and her own little convent traipse...
Continue Reading "And You Thought You Took Your Pub Trivia Seriously"How weird, after reading a particularly sharp and on-point criticism [via Gapers Block] of The Reader's consistent decline in quality in the recent past we came across earlier today, we now learn that the company that bought the paper in 2007 -- Creative Loafing -- has just filed for bankruptcy. They claim this move will alow them to reduce the cuts to editorial staff the company had planned, but given how the weekly's changed since...
Continue Reading "Reader Parent Files For Bankruptcy"
Oh damn, we're back with Local Options, the weekly Chicagoist roundup of of our proud city's best live music output. Remember, this is just a sampling - if you've got an ear to the ground and can make a suggestion of a great Chicago-based band playing somewhere this week, leave it in the comments. Here we go... Tuesday, Sept. 30 Parks and Gardens @ Sonoteque w/ Shea Ako, John McEntire, DJs Damon Locks and Wayne...
Continue Reading "Local Options"Undoubtedly a large percentage of Chicagoans were freakin' thrilled that The Dark Knight was substantially filmed in our fair city. But how badly do we want a repeat? The three state legislative sponsors of the Illinois filmmakers’ tax incentives bill want to make it even easier for Warner Bros. (and other production companies) to shoot movies here by offering a 30% tax credit. Currently it's at 20%; when the bill was enacted in 2003 it...
Continue Reading "Bribes for Batman?"
What better way to celebrate Banned Books Week, now in its 27th year, than by beginning the Twilight series? It may not be on last year’s list of frequent offenders, but it’s a teenage vampire romance -- written by a Mormon soccer mom -- sure to find itself on future lists. Chicago Banned Books Week-related festivities began on Saturday, complete with a banned books reading session at Pioneer Plaza, but don’t fret: There are plenty...
Continue Reading "Banned Books Week: It's On!"September 27, 2008
Sad news today out of Connecticut where legendary actor Paul Newman passed away at 83 due to lung cancer. We've always loved Newman (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and Cool Hand Luke being favorites) and thought he only got better with age (Road to Perdition). Sun-Times film critic (and local cultural hero) Roger Ebert remembered Newman's work and life in his column today. I met him several times, most memorably in 1968, on the...
Continue Reading "Ebert Remembers Paul Newman"September 26, 2008
Losing a pet is a traumatic experience, and finally having to get rid of your pet supplies is a painful reminder of all the good times and happiness the little booger brought. Luckily, you can always take solace in the fact that someone else can surely create their own joyous memories with your carton of irregular cat hats. Makes you want to be just a little more, well, into cats....
Continue Reading "Friday Afternoon Diversion: Paging Dr. Suess..."Advertisement: Chicagoist Continues Below!
September 26, 2008
We're big fans of pretty much whatever Damon Albarn touches, even that wacky opera he just composed. While we're waiting for him to finally get to work on the next Gorillaz disc -- or God forbid actually getting Blur back together (hope hope!) -- we'll have to content ourselves with any one-off collaborations he seems fit to send our way. Lately his tune with The Black Ghosts, "Repetition Kills You," has been in high rotation...
Continue Reading "Friday Afternoon Diversion: Sing-along Edition"
The buzz over Urban Assault Ride has been high and the event is finally upon us. This Sunday marks the Chicago debut when two-person teams will ride to checkpoints around town to complete crazy obstacle courses and win prizes in a cross-city bicycle scavenger hunt. The obstacle courses have been finalized and are as follows: Bottle Cap Obstacle at Crunch Gym Bike Fairy Obstacle at The Cycle Center Paper Boy Obstacle at Village Cycle Center...
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Harris Theater for Music and Dance celebrated the opening night of their fifth anniversary season to great fanfare last week, hosting a gala on Thursday night in Millennium Park to kick off their week-long engagement with the San Francisco Ballet while raising nearly $1.4 million to benefit the theater. We absolutely love the Harris Theater. It’s a beautiful venue in a great location, and the 2008/2009 season includes some great international artists. We also admire...
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It was all squeals right off the bat this Monday when Oprah brought out Nate “Dreamy Dreamhouse Maker” Berkus and announced someone in the audience would be taking him home for a free home makeover. Oprah followed this act of benevolence by doing the meanest thing ever: dragging an unsuspecting mother of 5 out of bed and throwing her on national television via Skype. Oprah had good reason, though, as Mom won a free home...
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DEBATE Crew, Chicago’s “premier gay sports bar + grill” is hosting a presidential debate watch party tonight! Come for the points and counterpoints, stay for a nice beverage or two on the bar’s lovely patio … or for the crazy Frat Boy party, whichever’s more your bag. 4804 N Broadway, 8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. MOVIES Get a sneak peek at Justine Nagan’s new film, TYPEFACE, at AV-aerie tonight. The documentary offers a pretty compelling...
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Say what you will about Kanye West, but dude knows how to keep himself on top of the news cycle in order to draw attention to a new album. In an effort to out-Radiohead Radiohead, he wants fans to remix his lead single "Love Lockdown" and -- unlike a certain British band who charges for their stems on iTunes -- is offering all of the essential elements of the song for free to do with...
Continue Reading "Remix Kanye"September 25, 2008
Newberry Library’s free fall exhibition, “Artifacts of Childhood: 700 Years of Children's Books,” meant to showcase and explore the relevance of children’s literature, will be the library’s first exhibition in two decades to focus solely on this theme. 65 of Newberry’s most “important and beautiful” children’s books will be displayed, including 500-year-old Italian and French first illustrated editions of Aesop's Fables and a rare 1865 first edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Oh...
Continue Reading "Newberry's Kiddie Land"Food Fact: The fastest way to a man’s – or woman’s, for that matter – heart is through the stomach. Fiction: Said culinary courting is one-sided. Meet your possible future mate while putting together a sassy dish tonight at Chicago: Gourmet Dating at the Calphalon Center, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Make reservations if you’ve got $75 and just enough longing for a boy/girlfriend burning a hole in your pocket. Ice Cream! Get FREE ice...
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Giant tanks made from supermarket flyers, inflatable missiles, skulls covered with military symbols: The duo of Tom Burtonwood & Holly Holmes creates these and other works that combine pop culture and anti-war messages in surprising, memorable ways. Last weekend they unveiled this camouflage Santa Claus at artXposium 2.0 in West Chicago, and currently have a piece in Tel Aviv, Israel. Recently we spoke with Burtonwood about B&H's oeuvre, politics, and the industrial complexes that...
Continue Reading "An Interview with Artists Burtonwood and Holmes"
Tom Schraeder's new EP, Lying Through Dinner, displays a remarkable step forward for the young singer-songwriter. Previously we've compared Schraeder's gritty country tinged rock to a one man version of The Band, but here he takes our previous perception of his music and turns it on his head. On the new EP Schraeder often mixes Americana with the feel of a humid New Orleans bordello. Boozy, swinging strains spill out of darkened nightclubs into puddle-splashed...
Continue Reading "Tom Schraeder Takes A Grand Step Forward"