Lauri Apple of Gapers Block asked me a while ago if I'd be interested in representing Chicagoist in a DJ battle against her / Gapers Block at The Burlington tonight. Naturally I accepted the challenge without a second thought. I believe we'll be splitting the evening into five musical themes* with each of us allotted 30 minutes to outdo the other, or something like that. I'll have free stuff from Chicagoist and she'll have Gapers......

Need a three layer cake in the shape of a tea kettle (complete with cotton candy steam) for your grandmother’s 80th birthday and your baking skills began and ended with the penis shaped cake you made for your college roommate’s bachelorette party? Never fear; Chicago bakeries have you covered for your non-penis shaped, special event cake needs. Contact any of these great bakeries well ahead of your next event to describe your cake needs and......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Rothbury Music Festival, where you can see acts like the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Snoop Dogg, and many, many more. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Chicagoist or any other site in our network, check out our......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Tonight's Gutter twins show at Metro tonight is easily our most anticipated concert so far this year. The paring of Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli was electrifying when they Lanegan toured with The Twilight Singers last year, but the time the two shared on-stage was far too brief. The group's long-awaited first disc, Saturnalia,......

Where Should I Shop for My Pregnant Belly?...

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Theater Pegasus Players and Live Bait Theater are the co-producers behind Steven Simoncic's "Heat Wave." Based on the book of the same name, this play takes a look at the heat wave of 1995 which took the lives of 739 Chicagoans and asks if the deaths could have been prevented and what went wrong. 1145......

Chicagoist hasn't been out to the UC to see a Bulls games this year, but they apparently show this video on the scoreboard during halftime at some games: Who came up with that brilliant idea? Is this really how low the Bulls have to stoop to distract their fans from the train wreck of a season? We pray this is the only Chicago mascot/Chicago-based talk show tie-in we're forced to endure. Is there anyone who......

A pound and a half filet of cod in the freezer and all out of ideas for what to do with it. Sure, we could grill it or pan fry it, or even bake it, but we've done all those things before. They're all delicious, but not new or exciting. And then along to the rescue comes Elise Bauer at one of our favorite food blogs Simply Recipes. For Lent Elise reposted a recipe......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Gypsy jazz guitarist Alfonso Ponticelli and his band, Swing Gitan, are one of the go-to acts to fill in at the Green Mill whenever Kurt Elling is out of town for his regular Wednesday engagement. Ponticelli's faithful recreations of old Hot Club of Paris numbers, complemented with original compositions, are fresh and accessible without......

Take that shot in, will you? Just look at that stein filled with the proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Sometimes you have to keep your beer simple, but not too much. There are a lot of reasons that should not be featuring Bitburger in the "BotW" series. But two moments in the past two weeks override all the arguments against it. The first was the way the crispness......

Chicagoist alum Scott Smith once described Morgan's on Maxwell as "a great destination for anyone who wants to take a date to dinner without missing SportsCenter." The burgers and other sandwiches here, however, have some merit. Although every time we step into Morgan's we can't help but think about all the dugouts, tube socks and "Grown Folks Music" we used to buy in the same location when Maxwell Street was, well, Maxwell Street. Our......

A quick shoutout to Chicagoist commenter A2, our top commenter for the month of February. Congrats, A2! We'll be contacting you shortly to get your contact info so we can send you a Chicagoist T-shirt in the mail. If you want your own Chicagoist T-shirt, then start leaving comments. Commenter of the Month is our way of saying thanks to our constructive, creative commenters. If you're not already a Chicagoist member, then register here and......

Raleigh, NC's Bowerbirds have had some heavy expectations to live up to since the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle called the folk-pop trio one of his favorite new bands. Since then, they've brought interesting instrumentation, plaintive male-female vocal harmonies, and varying arrangements to cozy music rooms across America and signed to the freak-folk hotbed Dead Oceans label. Chicagoist caught Bowerbirds last August at Schubas, on tour in support of the critically acclaimed, self-released, Hymns For a......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Theater Tonight is the premiere for Lincoln Square Theatre's production of Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles." Adapted from Bradbury's seminal 1950 novel, the play tells of the tensions between native aboriginal Martians and new colonists fleeing a troubled Earth as an allegory for Old World colonialism. Bradbury was inspired to write his novel equally by Steinbeck's......

Chicagoist has a list of places to visit and experiences we'd like to have before we die. We've hopefully got a few decades left to keep checking these items off, but some are certainly a bit more improbable than others -- like our dream of owning and living in a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. The Arthur Heurtley house -- just down the street from Wright's own home and studio in suburban Oak Park --......

Time to lock and load this week's list of hometown shows, SXSW style. Monday 3/3: Catfish Haven, Brighton, MA, Tall Dark Stranger at the Empty Bottle, 9:00 p.m., FREE! Catfish Haven have the distinction of being the subject of one of our great music debates here on Chicagoist, but offline one constant has always been the loyal following of their frenetic, stomp-along swamp folk throwdowns. Catch one of Chicago's most recognized indie acts for free......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Pat McCurdy is one of those people who have been around forever. Seriously. Literally forever. His everyman songs appeal to a wide swathe of the population, which would explain his loooong-running Monday night residency at Beat Kitchen. He's sort of like a cross between Robbie Fulks and Jimmy Buffet, if you can imagine that.......

It's quite possible that the fat lady will sing for Hillary Clinton tomorrow. Or not. Sometimes politics is like baseball: you never know what's going to happen. Voters in four states will make some pretty important decisions tomorrow: Will Clinton go on to Pennsylvania? Or will her campaign end tomorrow night in a series of defeats in big, critical states? Will Barack Obama assume the mantle of the presumptive Democratic nominee, and will the GOP......

Chicagoist hopes that IDOT has placed their orders for reinforced guard rails and extra sign posts because Lance Briggs will be remaining with the Bears after signing a 6-year, $36 million deal over the weekend. Briggs' contract ends a year-long saga for the All Pro linebacker that included a rejected $33 million offer, the Bears applying their "franchise" tag to Briggs, which limited his free agency prospects, and his threats to hold out for the......

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly......

It's no secret that we're big fans of pigs here at Chicagoist (especially the mini variety). So of course we're going to be celebrating National Pig Day today at Brookfield Zoo. Started in 1972 by two sisters in North Carolina (where they also love their pigs), the day was set aside to honor the smart and tasty barnyard beast. There's going to be a parade, a VW "Pigmobile", live entertainment, pig-themed activities, and our favorite,......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Rothbury Music Festival, where you can see acts like the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Snoop Dogg, and many, many more. Missy Higgins, with an album that is available now. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Chicagoist or......

The following events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Raul Midon has slowly developed a strong and dedicated fan base with constant touring behind his own hybrid form of soul songs steeped in pop sensibility, calling upon influences ranging from Stevie Wonder to Paul Simon to Bill Withers. His albums tend to be too slickly produced for our ears but in concert Midon......

Maybe he hasn't made Keith Olbermann's nightly list yet, but Sam Zell is quickly cementing his place among the "Worst People in Chicago" as he continues to antagonize Chicagoans since his takeover of the Tribune Co. Not content simply wanting to replace actual news with "profitable" features and celebrity news, Zell is working overtime to squeeze every last nickel out of the Cubs before he sells off the team. This week, he reiterated on CNBC's......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Spazz-poppers Hidden Mitten play Double Door tonight. The band specializes in turbo-charged melodies and, from what we can tell, super-short mini-skirts. How can that not rock? If you miss them tonight we also hear they're playing The Mutiny tomorrow, mini-pitchers in hand. 1572 N. Milwaukee, 9 p.m., $8, 21+ Wine We used to do......

Healthy, tasty meals with few ingredients are the name of the game here at Chicagoist. Next time you’re looking for a new fish dish, or you find yourself with salmon in the freezer and no idea what to do, try this simple recipe! It’s impressively tasty, and takes under an hour. Garlic and Lemon Marinated Salmon 2 6 oz salmon steaks (or filets) 1/3 cup olive oil 4 cloves of garlic, chopped Juice of ½......

This week we look east to Burlington, Vermont. Vermont is home to Ben & Jerry's (yeah!), Phish (ugh!) and the Magic Hat Brewing Company. We've been fans of Magic Hat for quite a while, owing to their inventive brews and off-beat sense of humor, both reminiscent of Three Floyds. A few weeks back we received an e-mail from Magic Hat's Dave Obenour, who pointed us in the right direction (to Morgan's on Maxwell, specifically) to......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Film Have you heard the new place to play hooky is the Portage Theater's classic Wednesday matinée series? Last week it was the Marx Brothers at their most anarchic. This week Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald star in "I Married an Angel." This classic 1942 fantasy features some classic Rogers and Hart songs sung beautifully......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music The Riverboat Gamblers fucking slay, there's no debate there. Lead singer Mike Wiebe channels Iggy Pop's figuratively red-headed step-child as he thrashes and throws himself across the stage belting out hook-filled punk rawk anthems. No song breaks the 3-minute mark because there's no point in pushing the riffs any further than they need to......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music During the day, she's the Chicago correspondent for the Nikkei stock exchange's newpaper. After hours, Yoko Noge is one of the more adventurous musicians in the city, with an innate grasp of the blues that many folks born and raised in this city would kill to have. Singing both in English and Japanese, Noge......