A piece that ran in Sunday's Tribune got us to thinking about the ramifications of last week's election here in Chicago. Much has been made about the significance of the nine new aldermen that will take office in May, especially those that had the support of labor. Dorothy Tillman, Madeline Haithcock, and Shirley Coleman all went down, beaten by union backed candidates. Toni Foulkes in the 15th Ward, an actual union member, beat Felicia Simmons-Stoval... more ›

Dear LAist, When we read your mash note this morning, we were all set to go all Superboy-Prime on you. Such is the way we get when we read things that are critical of the City of Big Shoulders. Except that it wasn't really critical. Maybe it was the full night's rest we got last night, or the really strong latte. Or the cold pizza we had for breakfast. Or maybe it was the... more ›

"pull left" via sutton hoo in Contribute. more ›

Our city has a lot of nicknames, “Second City”, “City of Big Shoulders” and “Windy City”. But perhaps none is as sacred to us, the real Chicagoans, as “City on the Make”, the title of the prose poem by Nelson Algren. We like to think we know our Chicago history pretty well, but often find it lacking when we come to look at Algren’s piece again. We realize how much there still is to learn... more ›

What can we say? We were ranked the 5th fattest city earlier this year, proving that Chicago's not only the City of Big Shoulders, but also the City of Big Asses. And so the CTA responds by ordering larger seats for buses. Currently seats are 17 1/2" but these new seats, which claim to provide the "largest sitting area" of any seat in the industry, are 18". More room for our big butts. One CTA rider said, "It will also help during wintertime when people have heavy coats and take up a lot of room." Eh.. yeh... that's not our fat ass, it's our puffy coat! more ›

The oft-repeated anecdote about the Illinois film industry in the early 21st Century was that we were so unattractive to filmmakers that the musical Chicago was filmed in Toronto. Well apparently things have improved due to the spate of films lensing in the City of Big Shoulders because the Illinois Film Office is throwing a big ass party to celebrate…itself. more ›