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......

If you're cramming for a test, need a post-dinner pick me up or want a Paul McCartney CD between the hours of 5:30 and 8:30 tonight, you'll have to go somewhere other than Starbucks. Nearly all of the coffee chain's locations will be closed for a company-wide education and training session for employees. Dunkin' Donuts just happens to have a promotion running today and will be giving away free lattes. Our favorite quote in......

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......

Given that the team has gone a whole century without a World Series title, has repeatedly been bounced from the playoffs in quick fashion, and suffered some truly epic collapses (1969, 2003), surely there are countless Cubs fans with broken hearts. So too, among players, apparently. Second baseman Mark DeRosa was hospitalized in Tuscon over the weekend after experiencing an irregular heartbeat. While not considered life threatening, DeRosa has returned to Chicago to meet with......

More fascinated by Kelis' milkshake than Daniel Plainview's? Is the only Oscar you'll watch living in a garbage can? Then this Sunday probably means nothing to you. You're burnt out on the "glitz" and "glamor" of the night, not to mention the drama surrounding that writers strike. Of course, it's never too early to make alternative plans! While all your friends and compulsive gamblers are setting up their Oscar pools and getting ready to check......

Random things that we like: those who do what they love, and groups that help to foster that experience. That’s why we are kinda interested when we hear about organizations like the Chicago Cello Society which, since its inception in 1980, has strived to unite Chicago amateur and professional cellists to promote the art of playing the instrument as well as its standing in the musical world. David Sanders –- currently a cellist in......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Art Gabriel Mejia was born in the Chicago area and received his undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University. Gabriel teaches art at Jones College Prep and says of his art, "I am interested in documenting, through painting and drawing, specific moments in time captured through candid photographs of people that I know very well." He'll......

Valentine's Day is nothing but a pre-fab holiday designed to get consumers to spend money on crap for each other ... especially if you're single. Instead of battling the hordes for a good table at a restaurant this evening, why not just order out from Art of Pizza, rent a movie and enjoy a few hours of twisted romance with one of these: 1. Rear Window [directed by Alfred Hitchcock] "Every man's ready for marriage......

At this point, most of us have graduated from decorating the walls of our humble abodes with the typical college posters of yesteryear. The dilemma then becomes a matter of how to display our personal sense of artistic style without succumbing to the availability of “artwork” sold at places like Bed Bath & Beyond, and without dropping vast amounts of money at the River North galleries or the summertime street art festivals. Enter David van......

Photo by Alforque Shake-ups and oustings continue at the Trib. The latest casualty: Tribune Interactive President Tim Landon. [Trib] A missing Chicago 4-year-old was found dead in a relative's home in Milwaukee. [CBS2] A Little Village man faces two counts of murder; one for stabbing a man he says attacked him months ago, and one for accidentally stabbing his brother during the fight. Jesus. [Trib] Former Sun-Times publisher David Radler is suing Donald Trump.......

Is it possible to be the inevitable presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in America and not have the funds to carry on? That's a question that Hillary Clinton's campaign is facing after she loaned her campaign $5 million. Clinton's staffers are also working without pay, and she loaned her campaign $5 million last month. Shortly after the announcement yesterday, an email went out to her supporters asking for additional funds: Photo via ankylosaur We......

In a memo released to the press yesterday, Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe tried to manage expectations for tonight's returns: Two weeks ago, a Clinton campaign adviser told CBS News that they believed they could “wrap up” the nomination on February 5th. As the “inevitable” national frontrunner, tomorrow should be the day when she sews up the nomination or builds a formidable delegate lead. But because of Obama’s growing momentum across the country, the Clinton......

Made in Chicago has been buried under snow and soot for a minute, but on a cold, wintry day such as this, we're digging it out with another homemade gem to share with all of you to help you finish out the week. By day, David Head is a graphic designer for a local marketing firm, but by night, evidence of his indie posters and silkscreens (like this Pony's poster, right) can be seen in......

On Tuesday, Chris Jones reported in the Trib that David Schwimmer was coming to Chicago to do Our Town at Lookingglass. Turns out...not so much. As apparently Schwimmer himself posted in the comments for the story. Snip: I did not, in any way, definitively say I was participating in Our Town, chiefly because I myself don’t know how events will unfold over the next 6 months. I wanted to clarify this for those readers who......

And you thought the Spice Girls had all the fun? Portland, Oregon's Uncle Earl, an all-woman string band, knows how have a good time banging out the bluegrass and old-time music. Closer to The Be Good Tanyas or The Yonder Mountain String Band than anything to do with Mrs. David Beckham, the ladies (or "g'Earls") of Uncle Earl have been touring in support of their latest release, Waterloo, Tennessee, produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul......

Do you crave comedy with a side of pancakes? If so, The Lincoln Lodge, located behind the Lincoln Restaurant in Northcenter, will get your carb-filled belly jiggling. In the mullet-like tradition of “business in the front, party in the back”, the forefront Lincoln Restaurant serves up some of the best diner food in town. But in the back room, the party rolls all weekend as The Lincoln Lodge showcases some of the most uproarious young......

French legal authorities are in town this week investigating the murder of Loop dermatologist Dr. David Cornbleet. Hans Peterson, who confessed to the murder, is being held on the French-controlled Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, but French law prohibits his extradition because he's a dual citizen. French prosecutors say they can handle the case, and they're in Chicago interviewing Cornbleet's family and gathering evidence to start criminal proceedings. Peterson has yet to be charged with......

So we were watching that "mentalist" series with that goofy emo magician a few weeks ago, and we realized we actually sort of missed the smugness of much simpler conjurists ... like David Blaine. Luckily for us all, he's back, and doing what he can to help push that little hand on the clock ever closer to quitting time. Thanks to Melissa for the tip......

Steve Dolinsky, Chicago's own "Hungry Hound," has a blog. And a podcast! And teaches a course called "Culinary Communications 101," for those who want to learn how to speak "food" to the media. Of the three, we recommend the podcast. We've listened to a couple and they are smart, informative and well-produced. The Spertus Institute's much anticipated Kosher Wolfgang Puck outpost leaves something to be desired. "It’s clear the famous chef doesn’t have a......

This week's warm temperatures aren't without a downside. A downside of tornado variety. More than 30 tornadoes hit the Midwest yesterday (map), killing at leas two people and destroying homes across Missouri, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Illinois. Winds were powerful enough to derail a freight train, which was conveniently carrying toxic materials through McHenry County, so about 500 people had to be evacuated. Yesterday's heavy rain flooded parts of the region, and we remain......

We had a nice spit take while drinking our morning coffee and reading the front-page headline of the Sun-Times. The headline accompanying Fran Spielman's story about His Elective Majesty's advice to Senator Barack Obama in the wake of his win in the Iowa Caucuses was to "always be the underdog." "He's the underdog. He has to be always the underdog. ... Even though he won this, he still is the underdog. That's a great position......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. 99 Shadows, the historical vampire tale by David Wellington. Cloverfield, the new JJ Abrams movie where a skyscraper-sized monster descends upon New York City. In theaters on 1/18. WBEZ, and their new online store-- give a gift and support public radio at the same time! Working Families, for all those that have been squeezed out of their housing market. If you're......

After seeing their viewer numbers plummet over the last few weeks, the major networks forced their late night talent back on the air last night. David Letterman took the high road, working out a deal with his writers so they could return with him, but keep in mind that he owns the production company that puts out his program. We suspect neither Conan O'Brien or Jay Leno are too jazzed to return without their......

Courtesy of the TOC blog, we've learned that on February 27 (his 65th birthday) Jonathan Rosenbaum will retire as senior film reviewer at the Reader. Blogger Hank Sartin swears that it's not "one more sign of new Reader owners Creative Loafing trimming the budget. In fact, Rosenbaum tells us that his new bosses at Creative Loafing will be setting him up with a website of his own so that even in 'retirement' his writings on......

Prepare yourselves for the first big indie nerdgasm of '08, coming up Tuesday: Michel Gondry (that's one) will be at the Apple Store (that's two) discussing his upcoming film Be Kind, Rewind (three), about video-store clerks (four) played by Jack Black and Mos Def (five), who accidentally erase but then remake the videos they rent out (aaaand new pants). Sadly, the event doesn't include a screening, but Gondry will be showing clips, and Time Out......

Don't fret: The tigers at Chicagoland zoos are not going to be able to maul you any time soon. Aww, what a cute cartoon. [via] Hey, is that a rat on your baby or are you just happy to...oh, that iiiiis just a rat on your baby. David Cross defends himself from haters, Patton Oswalt among them. Claws out, boys! Behold the ambigram pool on Flickr. Hotcha! The Illinois one isn't perfect, but we......

While Rod Blagojevich was dodging questions about a potential tax bill for flights from Springfield to Chicago, Mayor Daley was busy traveling the world on Chicago's behalf. In 2007, Daley made five overseas trips, including Brazil, Italy and France. But the IRS won't be looking at the Mayor's travel bills anytime soon because the trips weren't paid for with taxpayer money. Instead, they were financed privately, often by corporate interests. Both the Chicagoland Chamber of......

A classic's a classic (above). But just in case you were thinking about sitting through the latest CGI remake, here's a bad review review from local critics: Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Goes in one eye and out the other." Roger Ebert, Sun-Times: "Indeed the metaphysics of dubbing dubbed chipmunks who exist in the real world as animated representations of real chipmunks is ... how did this sentence begin?" Keith Phills, AV Club: "There's just......

Lance Briggs's baby mama Brittini Tribbett says he only provides $250 per week in child support. Former Sun-Times publisher David Radler was sentenced to 29 months in prison today after pleading guilty. The fire that killed a 17-year-old and her baby on the South Side this morning may have been arson. File Elk Grove under "One more town where you can't buy a hand job at a massage parlor." Snowy smile by Thelou137......

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,......