Within the first 30 seconds of last night's Meat Puppets show, we were asked, "You a weed smoker? Because I got this whole joint no one is smoking!" And, sadly, Chicagoist was not smoking up. But ... maybe we should have been! Whilst we were enamored of Los Bros., Kirkwood, we couldn't help but notice the prodigal bros.were worse for the wear physically. However they won us over totally. It makes sense, though. Seriously, they... more ›

With all the mudslinging in the presidential primary and the wrangling in the congressional races here, we almost forgot that the Green Party won a ballot line in Illinois last election. Unlike past elections, where Green candidates struggled to get on and stay on the ballot, this year marks the first time the Greens have had a state-wide ballot line, thanks to former gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney breaking the 5 percent threshold with 10.39 percent... more ›

Well, he did it. Blagojevich finally pulled the trigger. 23 days after it was passed by the legislature, Rod Blagojevich approved much of Illinois' new budget. In a news release he said that he has removed $463 million in spending on "special pet projects and other spending that we simply can't afford." The cuts now go back to the General Assembly for consideration, where a fight is expected with Speaker of the House Mike Madigan.... more ›

Chicagoist can be lazy sometimes. We feel like we just keep writing, and writing, and writing about injury woes and the Cubs. So we recently decided that it'd be well worth our while to write a fill-in-the-blank post we can simply re-use each time somebody else goes down. How fitting that Mark Prior gives us the first opportunity to utilize our new time saving bit of prefab journalism: Cubs former pitching phenom Mark Prior, who... more ›

Well, what can we say about “American Idol”? Our Naperville girl Gina Glocksen is hanging in there, good for her. There’s way too much going on around her, she’ll be sticking around for a couple more weeks at least. We think she’s pretty. And a quick note about Sligh, we happened to have liked his rendition of "Endless Love". If the judges don't want potential idols messing with the songs, they should stop telling them... more ›

Wellsir, after much hemming and hawing, it is done. The last nail was rammed into the coffin yesterday for the Farwell Building. At a special meeting to determine the edifice’s fate, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved a plan to destroy it and rebuild it entirely, using only the current façade in the new construction. Commissioners passed it sweepingly with an 8-1 vote, believing that this was the best fate for the crumbling Farwell. Technically... more ›

While the Bears had to come from way behind to steal their last victory against the Arizona Cardinals, the Bears win was never in doubt against the San Francisco 49ers this week as they took a 41-0 lead into the locker room at halftime en route to a 41-10 win. The Bears scored a field goal on their opening possession and then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. A Thomas Jones TD run gave... more ›

Oh blue bags, how we will miss mocking your irrelevance in the world of recycling. After a successful test of the 96-gallon blue carts in the Beverly neighborhood, the city will be tilting the carts onto their back wheels and rolling them to 7 wards throughout the city. more ›

While traversing the wild and wooly suburbs this weekend, Chicagoist was once again reminded why we always tend to carry an atlas when traveling: Google Maps are all fine and good until you need to change your plans. The folks at Skokie-based Rand-McNally are hoping others have learned that lesson, too. In the early aughts, the company was going through some rough spots including bankruptcy and ownership changes. Plus, they found themselves detoured by the... more ›

Ratings books are out for Chicago radio stations, but there are few surprises for those who’ve been paying attention. more ›

We love getting our blocks knocked off by bands we’ve never heard of. We love getting CDs in the mail from unknowns that grab us by our lapels (fully staffed by various band buttons, of course) and shake us out of the stupor that usually attends the hours-long sessions when we wade through all of the week’s new music arrivals. We love bands that sound classic while still sounding like no one else. more ›

It was just another Friday happy hour at the Hideout. Well, not including the BBQ going on and the fact that there just seemed to be more people arriving than normal for a show that wasn’t supposed to start until 10:30 pm. Sure, there was to be a 9:30 showing of George Bush being eaten by rats, but what did that really mean? After the sound check, we dutifully made our way to the back... more ›

What do gum-smacking teenagers, mothers on the brink of a nervous breakdown, creepy old men and human excrement have in common? Why, the CTA, of course. more ›

After Wired ran a story documenting the GoogleCenter of the United States a bunch of ists jumped on the opportunity to figure out their own middle. Gothamist, Chicagoist, Bostonist and Seattlest all zoomed in on their creamy GoogleCenters. A crack cartography team is hard at work determining the GoogleCenter of the Ist-a-verse as you read this... Austinist read a book about Olympian Bode Miller and liked it. They also took a few pictures of the... more ›

Last Friday night, we braved the deep freeze of February and headed over to the Park West to see the Chicago stop of the Undertow Orchestra. We were drawn by way of Will Johnson (also of Centro-matic), but we were familiar with Mark Eitzel (also of American Music Club), and curious about the music and musings of Vic Chesnutt and David Bazan (also of Pedro the Lion). more ›

The primary election is just six weeks away, kind of. A newly released Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows that, not surprisingly, Governor Blagojevich is leading Edwin Eisendrath in the Democratic primary, and State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka leads in the Republican race. more ›

State Republicans met here on Friday to discuss who will be their party’s best chance of reclaiming Illinois governor’s mansion next year. Not surprisingly, a Republican poll shows Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka leading her fellow GOP candidates, as well as maintaining a 39 to 35 percent lead over Governor Blagojevich. more ›

Is there other news to discuss outside of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? If there is, we’re having a hard time paying attention to it. Despite occurring some 920 miles away, the tragedy in the Gulf Coast region has already become a local and state issue as the massive loss of life and property, the looming health and energy crises and the breakdown of the rule of law have a ripple effect across the nation.... more ›

Saturday night was the 25th anniversary celebration of the Improv Olympic, we mean, the IO theater. Held at the Chicago Theater and hyped for months, the bill was rife with comedic talent. IO has schooled some of television and film's biggest stars, and they were all coming home to wish IO and its living founder, Charna Halpern, a happy birthday. (Del Close -- who helped Charna found IO when she split from Second City --... more ›

Liam Davis, Frisbie more ›

Chicagoist lives dangerously, it’s true. We curse at bus drivers in person, we admonish people who don’t pick up after their dogs, and we eat seared tuna. Seared tuna is not for everyone, but if you like sushi, you are going to love this recipe…if you fear sushi, and prefer your tuna cooked all the way through, you’ll still love this recipe, but more like a person who skydives in tandem. more ›

While we’re not sure the Generation X label exists anymore (aren’t we just called “adults” now?), Gen X godfather Douglas Coupland will probably never escape it. Call it his albatross, if you will: despite a prodigious and decidedly non-slacker output of fiction, nonfiction, sculpture, design, and theater, he will forever be associated with the disaffected burn-out demographic he helped identify with his debut novel way back in 1991. more ›

Mayor Daley's son Patrick is enlisting in the Army's regular airborne infantry, according to Michael Sneed, the…gossip columnist. Scoopsville! more ›

Last week the U.S. military's death toll in Iraq supassed 1,000 and the Tribune took a closer look at the 39 from Illinois were among those killed. Of all the states, Illinois comes in 5th highest for the number of Iraqi war casualties with about 2 Illinois residents per month for the last 19 months being killed. more ›

Ladies, listen up: Illinois women are less healthy than most other women. We�re more likely to die of breast or colorectal cancers than women in most other states (46 other states for breast cancer, 44 for colorectal). On the upside, we�re less likely to commit suicide�we�re only 6th for that. (States are ranked from 1-50, 1 meaning �fewest women died from this condition.�) more ›

After yesterday�s �curiosities� we were beginning to doubt the Tribune�s commitment to Sparkle Motion. Um, the Loop. Anyway, they get back in the groove today with an �Unusual Tour.� While it�s pretty tough to get off the beaten path while on the city�s most beaten path, the Trib gives it a good try. As promised, the recap; drum roll, please. more ›

. Finally�a little stateside recognition for the best Canadian import in a long, long time. The latest installment of the Degrassi empire is spun-off via Emma, the offspring of Spike�s teenage pregnancy, but she�s hardly the star; it�s an honest-to-god ensemble cast, acting out the drama, the mayhem, the growth-spurts, and the whole lotta smooching of middle and high school. Um, we�re gushing. more ›