Where Can I See the Best Christmas Lights in the City?...

With the rise of new music media, and the ability to discover a new favorite band from Iceland in the comfort of your own bedroom, those instances of love for an unfamiliar artist at first sight leave more indelible impressions than ever. That was the case last winter when we bounced into Schubas for a Cameron McGill set and were completely steamrolled by the opener, Brooklyn's Phosphorescent. The guy — part campfire genius, part......

As the winter has stretched on, and on, and ... on, we've been searching for dining options that make us think of warmer days. Setting up a lawn chair in the apartment and drinking pina coladas doesn't quite count. So when a friend of Chicagoist suggested getting dinner at Costa Rican restaurant Irazu, we jumped at the chance. And we are very glad we did. This 17-year-old family-owned restaurant is located a few blocks......

This year’s Double Door Halloween show seemed a little bit weirder than previous incarnations. It could’ve been because Chicagoist decided to stay stone cold sober to really see what the show was really like, or it could’ve been the girl in the stall of the men’s room exhorting her date to “Stick your finger all the way to the back of your throat and just get it all out.” Irregardless we had a great time.......

An Alderwoman from Illinois' second largest city has been sending letters to lazy citizens asking them to take their Christmas decorations down. Second Ward Alderwoman Juany Garza's beef is simple, "They didn't do that in Mexico," she said. "I don't remember my mom leaving the Christmas ornaments up the whole year." Aurora is almost one-third Mexican, so south-of-the border traditions matter there, we guess. And now the Christmas lights issue has become a big deal.......

Last night's tree-lighting ceremony (guh?) at the Thompson Center didn't quite go as planned. Governor Blagojevich, who looks more like a game-show host every damn day, was present to make everything festive and official. In what can only be approached as an impotence metaphor, Blago led a 10-second countdown to "flipping the switch," but when he did…nada. No lights. Three, two, one, nothing. It's OK, Rod, it happens. You're just stressed out. It's OK. No,......