Like many famous actors and artists, Canadian rockers BRAIDS (not to be confused with Bob Nanna's influential emo group) packed up from their hometown, moved to a new city and changed their name to make it big. Once hailing from Calgary, BRAIDS performed as The Neighborhood Council before heading to Montreal and assuming a new moniker. more ›

Much like those meals that are saved by a knockout appetizer despite the less-than-exciting entrée, the opening act for a show can pick up the slack for the headlining group, propping up the overall experience that might have otherwise fallen a little flat. more ›

It was a thrilling gold medal game as Team Canada defeated Team USA in the men's ice hockey final 3-2 in overtime. The game also had a distinct Blackhawks flavor: Jonathan Toews scored the opening goal for Canada and Duncan Keith was credited with an assist on Canada's second goal, giving them a 2-0 lead. But Team USA came back as Ryan Kesler deflected in a Patrick Kane shot for USA's first goal. Kane was credited with an assist. He'd get another assist on Zach Parise's game-tying goal with less than 25 seconds left in the third period. But it would ultimately be Canada's triumph as Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner 7:40 in to the OT period. Still, Seabrook, Duncan, and Toews will return with gold medals, Kane with a silver, and all four re-teamed and focused on one ultimate goal: the Stanley Cup. The 'Hawks, who will also be rejoined by Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky who played for Team Slovokia, get back in action tomorrow night at the New York Islanders (6 p.m., CSN). more ›

Team Canada steamrolled Germany 8-2 in yesterday's men's hockey qualifier to advance to the quarterfinals. While none of the three Blackhawks on the team scored any of Canada's eight goals, two did lend a helping hand. Duncan Keith had a pair of assists and Jonathan Toews also was credited with an assist in the blow-out victory. But there's little rest for Canada as they have to bounce right back and play Russia tonight in the quarterfinals (6:30 p.m., CNBC). Meanwhile, Patrick Kane and Team USA get an afternoon affair with Switzerland in their quarterfinal match-up (2 p.m., NBC 5). more ›

Earlier today, we mentioned Indiana and New York were joining the other Great Lake states - Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin - in Michigan's fight before the SCOTUS to close down the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent the spread of Asian Carp. What we initially missed was the fact that while we were nursing our New Years hangovers, the fight went international as the Canadian province of Ontario - the only province that borders the Great Lakes - joined the suit as well. Mary Gazze reports for CTV: more ›

With a name like "poutine" it's easy to assume that the diner staple of French fries, cheese curds and gravy is French in origin. You'd only be off by about 3,390 miles. The origins of poutine (pronounced "POO-teen") began, as most great creations, as a happy accident. The most often cited story: a Quebecois named Fernand LaChance was asked to pair the three ingredients together at the behest of a customer. LaChance replied, "ça va faire une maudite poutine" ("it will make a damn mess"). The fries tend to be medium cut so that they're soft inside while crisp outside. gravy is typically chicken, turkey or veal with a solid pepper note to it. We prefer our poutine with a sharp cheese curd, like cheddar. more ›

Chicago's resident "unrepentant terrorist"/education reform scholar William Ayers was on his way to give a speech at the Centre for Urban Schooling at University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, when Canadian border guards refused his entrance. more ›

Today the U.S. Department of Labor released a report showing that the national unemployment rate reached 7.2 percent in December, the highest since 1993. Illinois' unemployment was 7.3 percent in November, and the state has consistently held a higher unemployment rate than the nation's average. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) will release a report on December's statistics on January 23. In December, IDES reported that unemployment rates were surging in all Illinois cities. They recorded unemployment in November 2008 at 6.3 percent for Chicagoland, compared with 4.6 percent in November 2007. more ›

Joseph Pannell pleaded guilty today to shooting a Terrence Knox, a Chicago police officer, in 1969. He'll serve 30 days in jail, be on probation for two years, and contribute $250,000 to the Hundred Club of Cook County, a group that assists the families of police officers, paramedics and fire fighters killed in the line of duty. more ›

Tickets for the Chicago matches of the Barclays Churchill Cup are on sale now. The tournament is North America's biggest international rugby tournament, and if you recall, the tournament will culminate in Chicago with the final day of competition being played at Toyota Park. more ›

We can't stop complaining about how cold it is--and luckily, it's not just us being pussies. It really is freakishly cold. Tomorrow's going to be the record-breakingly chilly: "The predicted high of 9 degrees at O'Hare would be the coldest this late in a cold season since a 3 degree high on Feb. 21, 1963." Our entire area is under a wind chill advisory starting this evening because polar gusts are coming our way via Canada. According to the advisory, "the colder air will be ushered in on northwest winds near 25 mph... which will lower wind chills into the 20 to 30 below zero range late tonight and Wednesday morning." (Emphasis ours.) more ›

maxed out on "don't tase me, bro" jokes, why? Oh, there's a Taser story in today's Sun-Times? Hm...no, we just can't bring ourselves to do it. more ›

The United States isn't the only country that is having federal elections this year. In March a by-election will be held in Toronto's Toronto Centre Riding. And our sister site, Torontoist has been posting a semi-regular column by their Environment Editor, Chris Tindal, who is running for parliament as the Green Party candidate. more ›

Joseph Pannell was 19 years old when he shot a Chicago police officer in 1969. And then he skipped bail. And skipped bail again in 1974, this time fleeing to Canada, where he changed his name to Douglas Gary Freeman and lived under that identity for almost 40 years. But in 2004, Chicago's cold case squad tracked him down and started extradition proceedings, which Parnell fought....until this week. more ›

A Lake Zurich man has started using pyrotechnics to rid his neighborhood of pesky Canada geese. Robert Warren recently got village approval for his new de-geeser; in previous years, he used his dog to shoo the birds. more ›

Typically we like to blame Canada for cold weather fronts, but this week's frigid temps are "flowing all the way from northern Russia," according to Tom Skilling. Wowza! Cold air is currently moving through Alaska and Canada and working its way towards us (purple = really cold on that map), spreading frigid conditions through the region until we bottom out with single-digit highs on Saturday. The National Weather Center says lows might drop as far as 20 degrees below. Gah! There's a slight chance of snow later today, but otherwise we're just looking at brutal, bitter cold for the next week. more ›

Thousands of migratory birds died in the last few months due to Type E Botulism poisoning from Lake Michigan. Scientists don't know exactly how the birds are contracting botulism, but our theory that they ate tainted canned goods—that's the most common way to human adults contract botulinum poisoning--isn't an option, apparently. The current theory blames invasive populations of zebra mussels and round gobies. more ›

The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival kicked off last night and continues through January 13, a smörgåsbord of comedy stylings from 99 troupes from across the U.S. and Canada. Intrepid performers leave the comfort of California and Texas, brave delays at O’Hare, and risk negative comments on their MySpace pages—all to entertain you. Organizers estimate 10,000 of you attended last year’s event and, with fest favorites like Elephant Larry, Canadian Content, Cool Table, and Big News returning, this year’s crowds will likely be just as huge. more ›

In a day packed with college football bowl games, the coolest televised sporting event on New Year's Day had to be watching the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins play an NHL game outside in Buffalo, in front of over 71,000 fans. It brought the game back to its roots, played outside on frozen ponds and lakes throughout the Midwest and Canada. Now imagine that same game outside, only featuring two of the NHL's "Original Six." With the Black Hawks roaring back from the brink of irrelevance in the months after Bill Wirtz's passing, playing hockey in a sold-out Soldier Field, for example, would be the capper on an impressive resurrection. more ›

Chicago has been selected as the host city for the 2008 Barclays Churchill Cup finals, the biggest international rugby tournament in North America. The Tournament will kick off in Ottawa, Canada on June 7th with several dates across Canada before converging on Chicago for the final day of matches. Teams from the United States, Canada, England, Scotland and Ireland will compete in the event on June 21 at Toyota Park. Last year, Toyota Park played... more ›

Listen up all you single residents of Chicago: Andy Eliason, of The Canadian, "Canada's new socially progressive and cross-cultural national newspaper," has some dating advice for you in his piece, "Things to do when you are single in Chicago." He says if you are single in Chicago, the first thing you need to do is "find someone else who happens to be single in Chicago, and you have to be willing to take the steps... more ›

Wonder where "celebrities" shop in Chicago? Expensive places. Ask Ellie gives some tough-love advice on how to get over a work crush. "This is getting beyond a crush to an unhealthy obsession." Burn, lady! How about something a little nicer? Sheesh. If you've been working on writing an episode of CSI or Bones (which...is secretly great), have we got a mystery-solving method for you: A Canadian scientist uses isotope analysis on teeth and bones... more ›

Ah, it's like shootin' fish in a barrel over at Chicagoist EOYW headquarters. We know how passionate you guys can get about these things, so we'll cut right to the chase: more ›

Oh, look, it's time for another sensationalist story about the internet. Let's see... sexual predators on the web? Nah, that's too played out. We know: Hate speech! Let's get to it. Trib says: "It might come as a surprise to the soldiers who defeated fascism in World War II, but the United States has become a refuge for Nazism and other brands of extremism over the last decade. On the Internet, that is." We say:... more ›

Northwestern is among forty North American colleges and universities in the running for PETA's most vegetarian-friendly campus, to be awarded next month (if you're so inclined, you may vote for Northwestern or any of the other nominees here). The nominees were compiled by students throughout the US and Canada and tallied by PETA2, the animal-rights organizations youth activism arm. more ›

The Empty Bottle, in conjunction with Britain's The Wire magazine, will host this weekend's fifth annual Adventures in Modern Music festival, a self-described "celebration of 'outsider sounds.'" The festival promises to pack 'em into the Bottle for sets by groundbreaking artists both new and historic. Daily lineups, with highlights: TONIGHT (Wednesday): White Magic, Badawi, Holy Fuck, and Graveyards & Zac Davis Drag City's White Magic is fronted by the smoky-voiced Mira Bilotte, who channels a... more ›

Working Mother magazine's annual Top 100 companies for, yes, working mothers includes eight Illinois businesses. Speaking of working mothers, congratulations to Lisa Madigan and her husband Pat, who are expecting their second child. more ›

- In case you've missed the previous screenings of local film Crime Fiction, produced by former U of C students, you've got another chance to see it this evening at this month's edition of the Midwest Independent Film Festival. That's at the Landmark Century. There'll be an afterparty just around the corner at Cousin's. - Starting this Wednesday night at 6, Jonathan Rosenbaum presents a weekly series of film screenings and lectures at the Siskel... more ›

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a... more ›