While Chicagoist was vacationing out west this long holiday weekend, our thoughts turned back briefly to our favorite obsession, politics. When we were hanging out around one of our favorite coffee shops west of the Mississippi, we picked up a copy of the local rag, and read up on all the important news facing readers of that other -Ist. But one story caught our eye, one that has both local and national significance. The Los... more ›

This weekend, we were in one of Chicago’s many fine drinking establishments, arguing with one of our friends about music. In the midst of a second glass of Maker’s, we lamented that the number of “crap” years in Rod Stewart’s career had now outpaced any cred he’d achieved thanks to Every Picture Tells A Story and his work with The Faces. Our friend – citing “the Stevie Wonder question from High Fidelity” – argued that Rod (and other rockers of his advanced age) had earned the right to “take it easy”, and it was perhaps asking too much for him to get his Celtic United-loving ass off his yacht to make some relevant music. more ›

We can’t help it. We love Barack Obama. There, we said it. We’re falling for it hook, line, and sinker. This guy (we hope) is the real deal. Obama is in Washington D.C. at the Book Expo this weekend. He’ll be one of the speakers tomorrow morning, along with Amy Sedaris; which is just too weird and fascinating; why are we not there? Obama will be discussing his new book, “The Audacity of Hope”, due... more ›

We usually think of May Day as pretty girls dancing around maypoles, but much of the world celebrates May 1st as International Workers’ Day, commemorating the Haymarket Riot of 1886. more ›

In the world of independent film, one encounters plenty of obstacles not faced by the big studios. While money—or lack of it—is a common complaint, the challenge of degenerative illness rarely enters the picture. But for director and Chicago theater actor Ben Byer, dealing with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) was not just an obstacle but also the impetus to get behind the camera in the first place to film Indestructible: A Story of Survival. more ›

When Chicagoist tried out for the freshman girls' basketball team in high school and somebody asked if we always shot with two hands, we pretty much made the decision right then and there to just stick with track and cross country. As such, we find it difficult to imagine walking our little blonde-in-the-summertime white-girl self around Chicago looking for pickup ball games. And as such, we find the premise of Melissa King's She's Got Next:... more ›

As a sometime student of the fine art of writing, Chicagoist has often been given the age-old advice: write what you know. Last Thursday, Chicago author David Cowan allegedly took that old platitude (or perhaps its less pithy and more useful corrolary: research that which you want to write about but don't know) a little too seriously. Cowan, author of Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes That Shaped a City, is charged with setting fire to a church storage building on the North Side. A former firefighter and also co-author of To Sleep With Angels: A Story of a Fire, Cowan has given a statement to police admitting to setting the fire, from which there were no injuries. more ›