Before we teleported up into the great nightclub in outer space, Chicagoist took a few hours to walk around Grant Park this weekend and have a friendly chit-chat with some of the many fine folks who came to Lolla this weekend. Some of them came from nearby - North Side, South Side and the suburbs. Others came from farther away, places like New Jersey. Still others came to visit us from other countries, like Ireland.... more ›

Imagine you’re an immigrant who has arrived in Chicago from Jerusalem. more ›

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No matter what you think of him, Barack Obama is an interesting study. So we’re excited to read his new book “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream”. We’ll do a longer book review once we’ve read it, but we wanted to let you all know that Mr. Obama will be signing copies of his book tomorrow morning at 57th Street Books. We’re including the quip 57th Street posted about his visit, so if you’re all going, read carefully -- there are a few rules to follow. more ›

Look, Barack Obama knows that people are clamoring for him to run for president in 2008. We're sure that was evident the second he stepped off the podium after his goosebump-inducing 2004 Democratic Convention speech. But just in case the Big O (is it too early to make a nickname for him?) doesn't get it, one of his former Illinois senatorial opponents, Dan Hynes, held a press conference yesterday to beat the drum again. "We are a nation divided like at almost no other time in our history," Hynes said. "I believe Barack Obama can change this, that he, and he alone can restore the hope and optimism that has made this country great." more ›

In Southwest Suburban Orland Park, Village Board Members voted 7-0 to allow construction of a new mosque that will accomodate up to 500 worshipers, "because it is the right thing to do." The mosque is the first non-Christian house of worship to be built in the suburb, and it wasn't without strong protest. more ›