South Oak Dodge in Matteson, Ill., normally wouldn't get our attention, but the ad they're running on Fox Chicago, which features "Import Man," a guy in a sumo wrestler outfit who speaks with a crude accent, is pretty offensive. more ›

Tatsu Aoki might be best known for his steady bass playing alongside Fred Anderson and Yoko Noge's Jazz Me Blues. He's also an educator (he teaches film at the Art Institute), founder and artistic director of the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, record label head and producer, and a tireless musician exploring the limits of his instrument and himself. Aoki's endeavors earned him designation as a "Chicagoan of the Year" by the Tribune in 2001. more ›

Anheuser-Busch is taking heat for an ad they ran during Super Bowl XLI. For laughs, the 30-second spot glorifies interracial and intergenerational violence, not to mention violence against cute women, Asian American food service workers, and pretty much everyone. But the real issue is that ad agency DDB Chicago may have stolen the idea from NYC sketch comedy troupe Whitest Kids U’Know, who smack each other around in their video The New Thing. The Bud... more ›

Last night Chicagoist was on the phone with a producer of an upcoming short film festival and she was lamenting how difficult it is to mount a new festival since there’s already so many. Gee, we hadn’t noticed. more ›

The College Board released its report today on national and statewide trends in SAT scores. The national average is the same as last year: 1026. Verbal scores are up one point to 508 and math scores are down one point to 518. Illinois’s average, though reported here as being the same, actually appears to be 1182, with 585 on verbal and 597 on math. You can read the whole Illinois report in this .pdf, or trust us that that’s what’s on page 12. Actually, the report is pretty interesting and worth flipping through—the information is broken down in lots of different ways, and it’s kind of cool. Nerd alert. more ›