So the Sun-Times is laying off reporters, but it still has the money to run a moronic article about presidential candidates' sexiness? John Edwards is "not exactly wet-T-shirt sexy, but it still sets a few hearts aflutter," Rudy Giuliani is "now rather frigid," John McCain is "a far cry from a sexy man in uniform," Hillary Clinton has "stripped herself of the trappings of sexuality and femininity," Mike Huckabee "Preacher. Moving right along...," Mitt......

Have you noticed the photos and merchandise featuring a green metal soldier throughout the city? At your local 7-Eleven there are Slurpee cups featuring the same soldier carrying a flag, there is a strange red-orange new flavor of Mountain Dew called Game Fuel, there is a commercial with a elderly man talking about the great battle where "Master Chief" saved his life, and there's another where "Master Chief" seemingly comes alive in the middle of......

Everyone is to blame for album sales being down except the actual industry itself. Who gets the spotlight for bringing down the sales this time? It’s the media and those promo copies they receive in order to review albums before they hit the street. Everyone remembers the Jack White/Q101 fiasco a few weeks back after Electra played Icky Thump in its entirety and then (surprise!) the album showed up on file sharing sites three weeks......

All of these things are just so out of control lately -- - Christopher Vaughn, the Oswego man whose wife and three children were shot dead two weeks ago in their SUV, was finally arrested and charged with eight counts of murder in connection with their deaths this weekend. He's currently being held in St. Charles, MO on $1million bail while awaiting (and fighting) extradition back to Illinois. Well, thank goodness! They finally worked......

Techies and geeks, rejoice: goddesses walk among you. These aren’t high-maintenance, untouchable fantasy goddesses. Nor are they freaky tentacle-fresh hentai maidens, either, you otaku junkies. They’re gearheads just like you, only made from softer parts. At least, they will be with enough guidance and teaching at a young age. Enter the Geek Squad. That’s right, Best Buy’s computer repair mavens are making young girls’ dreams come true by introducing them to technology. It all started......

Campaigning for alderman is hard work — you have to knock on doors, make speeches, and be sure that you are leaving time for the business interests in your ward to come by and tell you all about their big plans to develop the area. Alderman Howard Brookins knows all about bringing development to the ward, and how important it is to work with businesses that will bring quality of life and good jobs to......

Hanig's shoe store on Michigan Avenue to close. The U.S. vs. Conrad Black cage match begins next week. Heads up, Huskies: hide those hot MP3's. Get to Best Buy soon, Grandma. Your analog TV set will be officially obsolete in two years. A cabbie ran over a police officer trying to get away from a traffic stop. Welcome to the neighborhood, we're here to steal your stuff. Photo of ice on the lake by......

Being as nerdy as we are, we tend to buy a lot of tech stuff, usually online. But sometimes, we want something now. Maybe we figure out we could reconfigure our comp to churn homemade ice cream right at our desk if we only had that one cord, so we just pick it up on the way home. No fuss, no muss, no waiting, no shipping charges. Kind of like how even though we use......

The North-Clybourn shopping district is about to get a lot more congested. Crain's ran a piece this weekend about more retail development in the areas around Clybourn Avenue between North Avenue and Division Street, including a massive 350,000-square-foot shopping center at the New City YMCA site. That complex will be joined by the new home of the British School of Chicago on Halsted, which will include 90,000 square feet of retail, redevelopment of two industrial......

We just came across Find Nearby, a site that helps you find what you're looking for in your local area. The site maps out where you can find a certain item for sale on Amazon, eBay, craigslist, and local retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart and Target who have the item in stock. Seems helpful sometimes when you don't want to wait for across-the-country or around-the-world shipping. And if you're a gaming nerd,......

For some morbid reason, we really dig Black Friday. We don't know if it's reading about all the fighting that happens online when deal Web sites begin to publish stores' Black Friday specials, or if we're simply amazed at the sheer crush of people who hit the sidewalk that Friday off from work. Black Friday seems to be a uniquely American phenomenon, and there's really no better place to witness it than here in Chicago.......

Last night was a completely different experience than the last time Chicagoist headed over to the Aragon for a Morrissey concert. The last time, the balcony wasn’t even open and only about one-fourth of the ballroom was full, but those of us there were singing, dancing and reveling in our love of songs about sad times, played expertly by a backing band of tightly clothed men. Fast forward to last night and a sold out......

Those of us at the Chicagoist offices enjoy video games as much as the next person. It's not that uncommon for us to go head-to-head in a round of Mario Kart while we're waiting for new stories to post. Why, last week, we were on the last lap of the 150cc dinosaur track when KFed became Fed-Ex. The losers in last place driving the Goomba Kart decided that we had to post that story right......

We know it seems we’ve been awful hard on Macy’s, but it seems they give us fodder on a daily basis. They’ve even got the stamina for twice a day sometimes. Macy’s, Wal-Mart, Kohl’s and we assume many others to follow, will be bringing back the term “Christmas” this year. In response to some heat from groups like the American Family Association (AFA) and The Committee to Save Merry Christmas (CSMC), these stores have decided......

Best Buy is looking into opening a flagship store in the heart of the downtown shopping area. Chicagobusiness.com has a write-up, including a handy map of many tech-gadgetry stores currently in the area. We are imagining ourselves cruising Michigan Avenue to check out the new and cool toys at the various flagship stores but probably not spending a bundle. At Chicagoist, when we buy tech, we know what we need and where to get it......

We’re sort of paranoid about identity theft. Seriously, we can’t think of that many movies that are scarier in concept than that one Sandra Bullock movie The Net, and our friends can’t think of enough ways to make fun of us for that. Well, cynics, hear the story of the Gerbus’ (‘s? sss? Jebus lives in outer space?). About a year ago this Cincinnati couple took their computer to their neighborhood Best Buy to have......

From time to time people accuse us of adopting a hipster stance and being difficult just because we can. Sometimes we are accused of yuppie-baiting, over-generalizing and being incapable of writing a post that doesn’t drip with condescension and/or sarcasm. But, you see, sometimes we really do just want to have fun. And that’s why we’re positively giddy over The Sounds and Morningwood playing at Metro tonight. Both groups play super-sugary dance-rock a la Blondie......

Chicagoist must have passed Stanley’s Fruit and Vegetables hundreds of times on that 2-mile trek between the Best Buy on North and the Target on Elston, but never really thought much about it. Not big and flashy, and requiring a dreaded left-hand turn (much easier now with the green arrow), it just never really was on our radar. Then, within a couple of weeks, Stanley’s was mentioned to us numerous times. “Best produce, fresh......

Tomorrow during every newscast between 5AM and 11PM, every radio and television station in Chicago will be encouraging their audiences to call 1-866-278-8354 to pledge money to the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago. Every half hour or hour anchors and DJs will be providing updates and reminders to call. (But don't call now because the number's not active til tomorrow morning.) If this weren't for such a good cause it might seem annoying but......

Get ready for some new stores around Chicago - Marsh Supermarket and Kohl's department store are on their way. Marsh, an Indianapolis-based grocery chain, will begin building a store in Naperville in September and will also be looking for other Chicago area locations in which to build. The store that Marsh is building in Naperville is what they're calling a "lifestyle" concept store. It will be 66,000 square feet and will feature a naturally lit......

A new Starbucks is opening on 71st Street and Stony Island Avenue (across from Moo & Oink), the southernmost Chicago location yet for the world-domination coffee beast. Fifth Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston has been trying for years to bring �high-end� business to her district but says that developers and city officials tried to dissuade her. After rejecting fast-food chains and a drugstore, Hairston got in touch with Magic Johnson and the Johnson Development Corporation. JDC......