Now might be the time to adopt that dog you keep saying you're going to get. Animal shelters throughout Illinois are taking in hundreds of dogs and cats in need of new homes due to the recent flooding in nearby communities. Sally Matay, president of Illinois Animal Rescue, is receiving up to 1,000 e-mails a day from people looking for a good home for their pets as many families lost their houses or just can't......

Moving forward in our quest to give you readers some options for going out on New Year's Eve so you aren't procrastinating. Fat Cat: The theme of the evening is a "Roaring 20's anti-Prohibition" party. Guests are encouraged to dress in zoot suits, feather boas, and flapper dresses. The $75 cover ($100 on NYE) includes top-shelf liquor, a champagne fountain, hors d'ouevres, fondue stations, and 1000 balloons (emphasis Fat Cat's). RSVP at 773-506-3100. Bin 36:......

You know we love animal stories. But we're a tiny bit freaked out by glow-in-the-dark cats? Mah genetic manipulation! Let me show it to you! [video] Scientists in South Korea say they've cloned Turkish Angora cats and added a gene that makes their skin glow red when under a UV light. According to the AP report, this means "other genes can also be inserted in the course of cloning." Freaky deaky or hoax? Well, there......

The new Connoisseur Wine Co. at 1041 W. Grand is ready for its close-up. They're celebrating by offering customers who RSVP this weekend complimentary champagne, appetizers, and classic martinis. Efrain Cuevas' last dinner of 2007 features the waterfowl organ delicacy whose name we dare not speak within the city limits. Get on the list if you want to find out more. The Chicago Cultural Center is the setting for "A Winter's Song Madrigal Dinner,"......

We love us some Xmas movies; but frankly there are plenty of swell, non-Holiday movie events coming up as well: -- The new Will Smith flick I Am Legend opens. Big deal, right? Well, if you're a fan of the Richard Matheson novel or of the previous cinematic incarnations like we are, then yes it is. To sweeten the deal we've just learned that a six-minute prologue for The Dark Knight will be shown beforehand,......

In a situation only slightly less disgusting and tragically hilarious than the time Dave Matthews Band's waste landed on that tour boat, mysterious "splotches" over a three block radius in Lisle may be human poop and pee. Police in the western suburb are investigating a substance that landed on and often stained roofs, lawns, streets, cars, etc. The yellow and brown stains were described as "the size of the palm of [a] hand." While there's......

The sidewalks are covered in ice and the temps are sneaking down to the single digits. That's perfect weather for toting a toddler around, right? Here are three (free!) reasons to spend that extra hour bundling your kid up this weekend. Christkindlmarket is a candy-cane striped Bavarian winter village deposited into Daley Plaza. Come to gawk at the expensive, often hand-made gifts, and snack on traditional German fare. The children's lantern parade is today at......

We usually wait until later in the day to post things that are awesome, but the Sun-Times says today's weather is "lifeless." Maybe everybody just needs an injection of stuff that doesn't suck. We're gaga for dinosaurs, so news of this mumified dinosaur made our nerd senses tingle. Even better? Phil Manning, a paleontologist at England's University of Manchester who is leading the examination, told Wired, "When I first saw it in the field, (I......

It's all gray and misty out, and today's essentially just a waiting day until vacation time, plus people are on edge about traveling and family and blahblahblah, we know what we need to do. Brace yourself. Get ready. Gird your loins. Did you? Time for some things that are awesome! This weird old TV from the 50s! It costs $500, which puts it out of our price range, but still, the TV itself is......

Here at the Chicagoist offices, several reality shows are popular among the staff, but our devotion for the majority of programs pales in comparison to our love for the crème de la crème, Project Runway. Bravo's hit show returned last night for its fourth season of designing, measuring, catwalking strutting and drama, with two Chicagoans vying for the chance to take it home at New York City Fashion Week. The first episode was the usual......

Listen, we've kept mostly quiet about the daily newspapers' coverage of the online world. We love and thrive off our paper brethren. And for the most part, aside from every story about an online trend being about 13 months behind the actual trend, we think they get it right. Hell, we actually miss James Coates, since we found his computer advice to be direct, engaging, and idiot-proof. But Steve Johnson must be stopped. When we......

For the past couple weeks, the local sports media had been increasingly vocal on Brian Urlacher's lack of accessibility with reporters, and his lack of words when he did talk. He finally opened up over the weekend to Fox Sport's Jay Glazer, and he dropped a bombshell. In an interview with Glazer — who will also be handling a weekly Q&A session with Urlacher for the Bears' linebacker's new FoxSports blog — Urlacher said he's......

If your weekend was anything like ours, you donned some crazy garb and drank until you blacked out, all in the name of Halloween. Some of us out there had near misses with costumed cuties, and others just wished for love in a Freddy Krueger costume. This week we scanned Craigslist for the creepiest Halloween-related Missed Connections and found that dressing up makes those posting ads a little more crazypants than usual. Behold: You’re tall,......

Remember Kid Million? That sort-of loud, sort-of anthemic, sort-of sloppy band from a few years back? Remember their singer, David, um Singer? We sure do. In Kid Million, we always liked Singer's penchant for crafting a slightly quirky hook, and his sweet and slightly strained tenor. After Kid million dissolved (did they ever actually break up?) Singer went on to release a number of solo albumsunder the guise of David Singer and the Sweet Science.......

Before we go to the listings, we want to bid farewell to the Tribune's Kevin Pang, who's heading over to the Tempo section. But he leaves the food beat with a profile of Peter Engler, the city's foremost expert on mother-in-law sandwiches, street food and other south side cheap eats. Shaw's Crab House concludes this year's edition of their "Royster with the Oyster" festival with their annual tent party at their Hubbard Street location tonight.......

With all the Cubs hoopla going down in Chicagoland lately, it’s only natural for thoughts to turn to … cremation. At least, that’s how Eric Zorn feels today in his Trib column. Know that song “Go Cubs Go” that the Wrigley faithful sing after every victory? You should by now; a welcome change from the past two years, they actually had a winning record at home this season. Zorn spins the tale of Steve Goodman,......

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......

A new ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals may finally put an end to the Cavel horsemeat slaughter saga that has been on our radar for some time. On Friday, the court upheld the Illinois Horse Meat Act, effectively shutting down the DeKalb County-based slaughterhouse. The ever-prolific Richard Posner penned the 15-page opinion. In his trademark witty style, he writes, But even if no horses live longer as a result of the......

Kitty Adopted!...

Home for Kitty?...

It's no big secret here that Chicagoist loves the pets. That's our little lady on a piece of sod on the kitchen table (long story) from last year. Cutetastic, hey? Well, for most people who have lived in any city, it's also no secret that there are a lot of dogs and cats who need some love hanging out in shelters across the city. We can't stand the thought of putting a perfectly good......

A tentative contract deal was announced yesterday between the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union. Although the details were not discussed publicly, our sources tell us that nothing too radical was agreed upon. The teachers are expected to get around 4 percent each year of the deal. CTU President Marilyn Stewart suggested to Crain's Chicago Business that the CTU managed to restore some of what was lost in the previous contract, which was......

Before we turn the controls to this lean, mean rocket over to the Tims this weekend, here are some other items in the news. A new law aimed at helping teenagers become better drivers allows their parents to review their driving records online. Two 911 operators who royally screwed up a call for police help during a July brawl at Durkin Park on the Southwest Side have been suspended without pay. A new program......

This weekend’s music festival inspired us to check out some local indie talent with our kiddo this week. We’ve heard rumors that Mr. Singer (with or without his band the Sharp Cookies) was the best around: a talented guitarist whose folksy music set featured music you could bob your head to, a kids’ musician who was more Springsteen and less Old MacDonald. We were not disappointed. We arrived at the concert venue, the yellow barn......

A couple years back we had a Chicagoist alum who chronicled his attempts to grow his own tomatoes from seeds. If you click those links, you'll notice that he wasn't very successful. Now, we have something of a green thumb. Our apartment is full of various ficuses, cacti, African violets, rhododendron, split leaf philodendron and other plants we've been tending for a friend for so long, they now qualify as ours. Still, we were hesitant......

Did anybody hear Catrin Einhorn's story on Chicago Public Radio about the push for people to neuter feral cats in the city? A Maryland-based nonprofit group called Alley Cat Allies dedicated to lowering outdoor and stray cat populations without killing them is targeting some Chicago neighborhoods. The group partnered with the Tree House Animal Foundation in Pilsen to raise awareness about their methods, which include Trap-Neuter-Return. Basically, people can bring cats to certain organizations and......

We have a confession to make: we've never been to Pitchfork before. Considering the festival's only been going on officially for two years, it's not all that surprising. Still, being music lovers, we wanted to shed the "Pitchfork virgin" connotation and take the plunge. The only other big music fest we've been party to was the Touch & Go 25th anniversary at Hideout last year, along with the occasional street fest. We picked Saturday for......

You may have read or heard that the Midwest kicks the rest of the country's ace in the volunteerism sector. That doesn't necessarily mean Chicago does, though. Chicago residents are a bit stingier with their time when compared with people in other Midwest cities — according to the federal study, we ranked 32nd. The highest rates of volunteerism in both the Midwest and the nation among those 16 and older were in Minneapolis-St. Paul. And......

Phantom Hidden, by ninjagrl...

Pitchfork has announced that the super-affordable three-day passes for their festival, along with tickets to Friday night's bill (featuring one band we're really excited to see), are already sold-out. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday are still available. But believe us when we say that with a line-up including (and this is just a teensy sampling) Cat Power, Girl Talk, Oxford Collapse, The New Pornographers, Stephen Malkmus, De La Soul, Klaxons, and The Ponys, we're sure......