The Bristol Renaissance Faire, an event we can't get enough of, opened over the weekend and we headed over on opening day to cram in as much medieval food, music, theater and swordplay as possible. Now in its 23rd year, the Faire features 20 stages inside a 30 acre mock 16th century village filled with hundreds of period performers, actors and artisans. The faire will be open all summer long on Saturdays and Sundays until Labor Day. Even if you're not willing to don a suit of armor or a corset and carry on all day in a mock British accent, Renfair is a great way to spend an afternoon. The entrance fee is a reasonably priced $18.95, most performances are free and the food and games are on the cheaper side (or at least as cheap as any street fest or Cubs game). more ›

We've been wanting to go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire since we first heard about it two summers ago, but our magickal Marin bicycle doesn't travel all the way to Wisconsin. So last weekend we were excited to finally get a ride with a Faire-going friend and spend a few hours walking the grounds, taking photos, and not eating any turkey legs. From the impressively authentic fashions to the funny old + new sights (men in animal pelts sporting leather belt cases for their cell phones, women wearing period costumes ordering teriyaki beef), the Ren Faire is -- to say the least -- an experience. But you'll have to wait until next year to have your own, because this past weekend was the final one of the season. Don't be a sad panda: take advantage of the winter months to assemble a really amazing Renaissance outfit of your own. more ›

Folding chairs were flying and fans were screaming last Saturday at the Windy City Rollers' fifth bout of the home season at UIC Pavilion. In match one, jammer Peg Legs of the Double Crossers (in black) was out for blood, darting around the pack with ease. But she was still no match for Hell’s Belles (in red) powerhouse blocker Megan Formor and stealth jammers Athena DeCrime and Varla Vendetta. HB led at the halfway 42-26. In the end, Hell’s Belles coasted to the win 140-60, showing why they’re first place in the league. more ›

Who said the only March Madness had to be played on the hardwood? The ladies of the Windy City Rollers proved the action was just as chaotic on the derby track with a pair of great match-ups in their third bout of the season. In the first match, the Double Crossers (in black), led by jammers like Peg Legs and Riley Coyote, jumped to a 45-28 lead at the halfway point over The Fury (white). The Fury, 0-for-'09, found themselves way back but made a dramatic late run with 23 points on the last jam. It wasn't quite enough, however, as the Double Crossers moved to 2-1 on the season with the 98-81 win. more ›

My favorite part is at 1:29. From our pals Mark Bazer and Steve Delahoyde, with the vocal stylings of Kate James. more ›

Let's get this party started. Oh, boy, let's. more ›

Kool-Aid Man is on the loose on the North Side. more ›

Wordle is a sweet little applet that takes text and turns it into a word cloud. You can customize the layout, font and color scheme, too. We made this one with some of today's posts.
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If the headline "Giant Tornadoes Seen Erupting From the Sun" doesn't make you excited, I don't want to you know. Sort of like if you don't like my paintings... [National Geographic] more ›

"Psychologists say surfing the internet actually makes workers more productive because it boosts morale and helps reduce stress." Awesome! Web surfing = fully excusable. [Telegraph] more ›

The Scripps National Spelling Bee Quarterfinals are complete and the starting field of 288 has been whittled down to less than 50. Of the sixteen Illinois participants (including the seven Chicago-area spellers we listed earlier), only six made it to the elimination rounds. Of those, only three advanced as far as Round 4: Peoria's Kyle Mou and Chicago's Rose Sloan and Emily Temple-Wood. In that round, Mou ("virago") and Sloan ("ectrodactylism") advanced to the Semifinals but Temple-Wood was tripped up by "alastrim." The state with the most contestants still standing? California, with five (though America's Hat has seven left). The Bee continues tomorrow with the Semifinal round at 10 a.m. (ESPN) and the Championship round at 7 p.m. (ABC). Congrats to all our local kids that made it to the nationals. Good luck tomorrow, Rose. The fate of Chicago's spelling reputation rests with you. more ›

We've all got a bad case of the Fridays--perhaps because we're so pysched for the Media Slam this weekend. We need some awesome stuff to get us through the rest of the afternoon.... more ›

It's gorgeous out, that bullshit ordinance is on hold—we need to keep the awesome train moving. Choo choo. more ›

Seems like everyone's got a case of the afternoon blahs. Let's hope these awesome items help: more ›

Our obsession with vintage Chicago posters continues... more ›

What a great vintage poster. [via] more ›

Creepy and awesome? We'll take it. This weird hand art is both fascinating and totally disquieting. Hey, that soccer match one is cool, but this giraffe gets filed under "see you in my nightmares." [via] more ›

If you think the Trib publishes some crazy shit now, you should see the kinds of things they used to run. These illustrations are part of a series called , by Arthur Radebaugh (whose work you might recognize), which ran in the Tribune and other newspapers from 1958-62. more ›

The Neighbors Project is backing a pilot program in Uptown that provides "social marketing and technical support for local corner stores that carry fresh produce and to encourage more corner stores to follow suit." more ›

You know what we need today? Yeah you do. Some things that are awesome. more ›

Thomas Jefferson was good for lots of stuff, but Midwest state naming? Let's just say "Assenispia" isn't quite as catchy as "Illinois." This 1784 map shows Jefferson's proposed divisions of the land that eventual came our beloved region. From the amazing Strange Maps: more ›

Local outfit Coudal has unveiled a betting pool for the 2008 Tournament of Books. Place your bets with Coudal, and all the money goes to First Book, an organization that gives new books to kids. Other companies are offering matching contributions, so bust out your wallet and lay some dough on the literary line. more ›

Today's things that are awesome are also things that have next to nothing to do with each other, except that they're, well, more ›

We're celebrating by making you a list of things that are awesome. more ›

How can we combine to things we love, bacon and cats in clothes? Oh, with a bacon cat headband? Oh, ok. more ›

But not everyone is as pooch-centric as we are, so here's your as-promised cuteness chaser: a farm animal. more ›

An off-duty Chicago Police officer, working as a security guard at a bank in Ravenswood arrested a would-be bank robber. The suspect approach a teller, indicated he was armed, and demanded money. Before the teller handed anything over, though, the cop/guard arrested him. Eat it, Oceans 11/2/3. [Trib] more ›

WBEZ condensed a day in the life of the Illinois Supreme Court into one awesome minute. (And...was that a shout-out to one of the State's most intriguing cases?) more ›

So the giant mouse thing from Boing Boing was pretty awesome, especially when the last paragraph of that story casually says "'Our work suggests that 4 million years ago in South America, 'mice' that were larger than bulls lived with terror birds'"--bascuse me? ROUS, we can deal with. But terror birds are new for us. . more ›