Now that saving the environment is rad, new campaigns, films, and celebrity endorsed informational websites are popping up all over the place. The latest is Unscrew America, a new campaign to get people to unscrew their regular light bulbs and replace them with LEDs and CFLs. Yes, we know it sounds tedious and blah blah light bulbs, but the interactive website does a nice job of taking a boring but important topic and making it......

Ah, the Coen Brothers. They've given us many memorable tales of kidnapping, murder, and betrayal. But none has grown in cult status quite like The Big Lebowski. Since it's theatrical release (10 years ago yesterday!), and despite its subsequently tepid box office gross, the film has become a huge hit on DVD and has even inspired it's own yearly get-together, known as Lebowski Fest. The Fest gives all the Dude enthusiasts a chance to come......

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. Tickets start at $20 and include all three final matches between USA, Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, Scotland A and Argentina. If you buy your tickets early, you can be entered......

SFist worried over drugstore chain Walgreens celebration of Black History Month.Gothamist was surprised that apparently New York City is the fourth most miserable city in the country, after Detroit, Stockton, CA, and Flint, MI.Shanghaiist finds out what the Chinese think of Hilary and Obama.It was with a healthy amount of schadenfreude that Phillyist reported that former Eagle, and now Cowboy (ew), Terrell Owens owes the Eagles a significant wad of cash.Torontoist is two weeks......

Frankly, whenever we read about record sales, digital rights management, and record companies, we usually switch off because the whole issue is stupid and always ends up more complicated than it should (iTunes or iTunes Plus?). The major record labels have always reminded us of our Drunk Uncle Pete; they're late to the party and only after our money, while indie labels have been distributing DRM-free music through retailers like eMusic for a while now.......

So if Thursday is the (not-so) new Friday, that got us to thinking; most of you are in our spot, sitting at your desk, with the mildest of hangovers, kind of wishing you were nursing a mimosa instead of yet another stale cup of office coffee. In the Chicagoist offices we used to yodel Kelly Clarkson songs to blow off steam in the early a.m., but we stopped doing that after Margaret shoved a balled-up......

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......

Following Sunday's 19-16 win in Philadephia, Bears QB Brian Griese seemed to think that because there is an "I" in win, he would take the credit and claimed to have called the plays that resulted in the game winning 97-yard touchdown drive at the end of Sunday's game. He had no choice, he said, because the radio communication in his helmet stopped working just before the drive began. When the season's going as poorly it......

This time, their late comeback attempt worked. For the second week, the Bears drove down the field in the final two minutes to score a critical touchdown. But unlike last week's loss to the Vikings, the Bears put the final points on the board and held on to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 19-16. For the first three quarters, neither team had any success getting the ball into the end zone. Repeated trips into the "red......

Rep. Dan Lipinski, who is hoping for a third term in the 3rd Congressional District, is facing a tough challenge from Assistant State's Attorney Mark Pera. Lipinski's critics are unhappy with his opposition to abortion rights and stem cell research, and his siding with moderate Republicans on the war in Iraq and domestic spying. Besides his voting record, they also don't like how he came to congress: If you don't remember the 2004 general election,......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. Bostonist got a crash course in what not......

This weekend 8,000 rugby fans enjoyed seeing 2006 Heineken Cup Champion Munster defeat the Rugby World Cup bound-USA Eagles 10-6 at Toyota Park. This match was the final match for the USA Eagles before they travel to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. This was the first time Chicagoist had seen rugby played at this level and was immediately intimidated and impressed at the size of the players and the ferocity with which they......

Toyota Park will be home to a professional soccer game and an international friendly rugby match this weekend. On Saturday night the Chicago Fire will look to exact revenge when they host Kansas City, to whom they lost 3-2 in a mid-week clash. The Fire and Kansas City have split their previous two matches with the home side winning each game. Both games have been close, determined by just one goal. The Fire are badly......

Chicagoist is a big fan of alternative sports. No we are not talking about underwater hockey but sports that are popular around the world that have just-under-the-mainstream-radar following here in Chicago. We're talking Gaelic Football, Rugby, and Australian Football. Chicagoist was excited to see there are some great alternative sporting events heading to town in the coming month. This weekend, Chicago United Australian Football Club is hosting the Nashville Kangaroos in a Mid-America Australian Football......

Toyota Park will host two international sporting events this summer. The first on Sunday, July 22 when the Chicago Fire host Scottish Premier League side Celtic FC. Celtic FC had a remarkable season last year where they went unbeaten in 31 of 34 games, leading them to a repeat as champions in the Scottish Premier League. The club has won five of the last seven championships and has racked up 41 domestic titles in their......

The NCAA started a practice a few year back that, each year, screws over one unfortunate college basketball team. This year's victims are the Florida A&M Rattlers. While the Niagara Purple Eagles will be in Chicago this week to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center, FAMU goes home without actually getting to take in the same experiences the remaining 64 schools do — in spite of winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament.......

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

Tonight the Axl Rose freak show currently known as Guns N' Roses hits Chicago. We know the following from their tour thus far: Axl has booted Eagles Of Death Metal from the bill, but decided to keep on the half-naked antics of the Suicide Girls and the half-baked antics of Sebastian Bach*. Axl will not hit the stage until at least two hours after the conclusion of the last opening act. And that’s if he’s......

Chicagoist can't remember from our middle school science classes whether bears are nocturnal animals or not, but the NFL certainly thinks they are. With the Chicago Bears now 7-0, the NFL and its broadcast networks are about to get into a bit of a battle over what time and which network will televise the Bears on a couple of upcoming weekends. With the league limiting teams to five primetime appearances, NBC is desperate to grab......

This weekend, we were in one of Chicago’s many fine drinking establishments, arguing with one of our friends about music. In the midst of a second glass of Maker’s, we lamented that the number of “crap” years in Rod Stewart’s career had now outpaced any cred he’d achieved thanks to Every Picture Tells A Story and his work with The Faces. Our friend – citing “the Stevie Wonder question from High Fidelity” – argued that......

Let's look back at a week in which no site in the -ist network adopted anyone from Africa... -Austinist reveled in the dumb antics of some U.T. law students and posted some great audio from former New Orleans natives who've decided to stay in Austin. But the best news for Austinist? They were voted Best Local Entertainment Web Site by the local Austin alt-weekly. Congrats, Austinist. -DCist gloried in being told their musical tastes made......

Torontoist visits the site of a new Frank Gehry structure, stalks "the elusive Bahamas streetcar", and watches Tom Green get surgery. Phillyist rejoices in the Phillies' wild card chances, mourns the injuries sustained by Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse, and goes pirate on our asses. SFist notes that Guns and Roses were in town, that San Franciscans are taking over reality TV, and that the San Francisco Chronicle's skills of original nomenclature could use some......

Frankly, Chicagoist has grown sick of the whole yuppie versus hipster versus Gamera versus Donkey Kong debate so we decided to investigate whether or not it was even possible for all of these groups to coexist peacefully. We found our answer in the most unlikely location. Liar’s Club. Chicagoist has hung out at Liar’s Club pretty much since it opened and we can even be found in the DJ booth from time to time. Amongst......

Chicagoist always thought that right up there with death and taxes, Monday Night Football on ABC was one of life's certainties. But the NFL's recently negotiated new television deals that move the league's flagship game to a new home with an entirely new broadcast team. Yup, after 35 years on ABC, Monday Night Football is moving to cable. ESPN will now broadcast MNF, with Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser calling the games. Chicagoist......

We always enjoy an in-store performance by a band. We’re always impressed by an in-store performance by a band in a store other than a record store. We’re actively salivating at the announcement of an in-store performance by Queens Of The Stone Age at the soon-to-be-vacated Belmont Army Surplus store tonight. You can’t literally buy a ticket to the event though. In order to attend you need to get thyself to a Tower Records location......

When it was announced that the city would begin putting on concerts at Mei...er, Northerly Island, Chicagoist wondered what kind of acts Clear Channel would book. Would they be acts to consume wine and cheese by like Ravinia? Noveau hipsters for the kids? Or would they take the easy way out and book some low-hanging fruit? To our surprise, the answer to all those questions is “yes.” Earth, Wind and Fire and Chicago will......

Last night, the New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX. A pretty ugly game throughout, at least it was a close game from start to finish. Last night's game was only the second Super Bowl ever to go into halftime with a tie. And the first time a Super Bowl ever entered the 4th quarter tied. After 10 straight points by the Pats, the Eagles could only counter with 7......

Sure, it's been a while since the Bears played in the Super Bowl, but that doesn't mean that there are no Chicago ties to this year's big game. When the Philadelphia Eagles take on the New England Patriots (the ones the Bears beat 46-10 in Super Bowl XX), there will be plenty of locally grown players as well as a number of former Bears. Perhaps the biggest local boy is Eagles QB Donovan McNabb. Before......

If your interest in this weekend’s Superbowl has less to do with Patriots and Eagles (wow – do you think John Ashcroft is behind this match-up?), and more to do with eating and drinking, then we have some ideas for you: For a guaranteed good show at halftime, head to Reserve for their "Fantasy and Football" Super Bowl party. You pay $20 to get in, the game is played on some flat screens, you get......

Why waste your weekend with the Patriots and the Eagles when the clowns are in town? Chicago Winter Delights presents its mostly free “Clown Around Town” fest, inviting you to “Celebrate the circus arts by taking the family to acrobatic workshops, clown performances, and even a circus museum exhibition!” The fun runs from Navy Pier to the Lookingglass Theatre to the Indian Boundary Park and Cultural Center and back again, with numerous other stops......