The Art Institute got a major grant from the Indian government today, 12 people were injured in overnight shootings, the Jean Banchet Awards were handed out last night, and other news. more ›

The messed up thing about this video is that it could have been filmed on the South side of Chicago! more ›

CIFF isn't the only film festival coming round the bend. In just a few weeks Columbia College will host the first festival of its kind in the US. The Chicago South Asian Film Festival runs October 1-3 and features 16 films from India, the US, and Pakistan. more ›

A sparse but enthusiastic crowd gathered in Rogers Park yesterday to mark India's 63rd anniversary of becoming a sovereign nation independent from British rule by throwing her a parade. To be honest, we were hoping for some extravagant Bollywood numbers, but the relatively sedate floats still donned plenty of orange and green to celebrate India's independence from Great Britain. The parade was also a hotspot for politicians (and politician-wannabes), including Alexi Giannoulias, Toni Preckwinkle, and Joel Pollak, who donned both a yarmulke and Kurta pajamas for the occasion. We hope they stayed around after the parade like we did to enjoy a mango lassi and masala dosa. more ›

We look forward to seeing everyone tonight at Sheffield's! more ›

more ›

We here at Oprah Watch would like to say happy birthday to Gayle's bff. more ›

Were you on flight 293 from Delhi to O'Hare to San Francisco on December 13th? Have you developed a bit of a cough? It could be because officials learned on Friday that a woman who had the drug-resistant form of tuberculosis was a passenger on your flight. more ›

This was a good year to be a large cultural institution. If cuts in state arts funding and unstable financial markets made a dent in Chicago’s largest museums, they sure weren’t letting on. The Art Institute remained one of the city’s prime attractions, attracting hordes of frugal visitors on free Thursday nights to piece together Richard Misrach’s disorienting beach photography and William Pope.L’s naïvely charming travelogue, or to enjoy Jeff Wall’s mind-bending photography — his mid-career retrospective was the year’s most breathtaking exhibit. more ›

This week's selection was a suggestion from an old friend we ran into at a party a couple weeks back. The time was closing in on midnight and most everyone else had left for the evening. We would interrupt the conversation to say our goodbyes, then return to the important discussion of beer. Our friend looked at us and said, "If you like IPAs like you say, you've got to try 'Racer 5' and let... more ›

Recently we’ve told you a little bit about the Chicago Cinema Forum, a new group that’s trying to bring rare and underseen movies to Chicago. To honor Ingmar Bergman after his passing, they quickly put together a mini-retrospective that touched all the bases; and last weekend they presented Roberto Rossellini’s all-but-unseen masterpiece India, Motherland. What was to have been the final screening of the latter, in fact, was sold out (!) so a third show... more ›

A: Damn well worth seeing! more ›

So it's been a little more than a week since Half Acre Beer Company started placing their lager at various bars and package stores around the city. By "around the city" we mean "Wicker Park and Bucktown, save for a couple locations." There's going to be a lot written in upcoming weeks about Half Acre owner Gabriel Magliaro's decision to have his beer brewed on contract in Wisconsin, and whether the knowledge that the beer... more ›

"I have one criteria, this is my one litmus test for guys and I could not marry someone if they didn’t pass this test. They can’t like Dave Matthews Band." more ›

OK, you got us here: Ricci & Company really isn’t a market per se. Unless you’re a squirrel and this small River North spot specializing in hand-roasted nuts has everything you need for your daily intake and then some. But just because Ricci doesn’t stock edibles from all the food groups — who can keep up with that ever-changing list anyways? — that doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of a mention here. First off, there’s... more ›

The Trib’s Blair Kamen looks behind the facades. Specifically, those salvaged historic facades slapped onto newer buildings in and around the city core. Sadly, it might be the best compromise available to preservationists in a development-hungry city. The accompanying slide show reveals some smart, respectful conversions at the Reliance Building, Hotel Burnham, and the Oriental Theater. WBEZ’s Secret Radio Project will be renamed :Vocalo. Yes, the colon is included, likely as unpronouncable as India.Arie’s dot.... more ›

No witty introduction this week. Our fault for trying to impress the new staffers with barleywine ale and Dalmore. Thank God for French-pressed coffee. The buffet is now open. A Good German to the End: The closing of Delicatessen Meyer should have been a story we weighed in on earlier in the week and not relegated to the Buffet. To that end, Chicagoist extends a sincere mea culpa. Anyhoo, for those who haven't heard, the... more ›

It's been nearly six months since Bell's Beer founder Larry Bell pulled his product from the Illinois market in a dispute with distributors over the Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act of 1982. Readers will remember that that specific law, enacted at the time to protect distributors from the loss of a giant beer account on the level of Anheuser-Busch or Miller should they decide to move to greener pastures, doesn't give mid-level craft breweries like... more ›

When cabin fever sets in, we take good news any place we can get it. Still, we had to read this bit of news twice when we received it. A press release sent to Chicagoist and other outlets yesterday from the Brooklyn Brewery announced that they've reached an agreement with distributor River North, allowing the Williamsburg-based craft brewer to sell its flagship lager, Brooklyn Brown Ale, and Brooklyn East India Pale Ale in the Chicago... more ›

Apple announced today that Chicago-based United Airlines and five other carriers will soon allow passengers to charge their iPods in-flight and watch video content on seat-back monitors. In addition to United, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and Air France will also integrate the iPod into its in-flight systems, beginning in mid-2007. But this article in the Houston Chronicle says that Continental will likely offer the service only on “long-haul international flights” and not until late 2007.... more ›

In just ten years, Holland, Michigan-based New Holland Brewing Company has established itself as a craft brewer to be reckoned with, fashioning high quality beers and even delving into flavored brandies and liqueurs available at their brewpub. Along with Sundog, Mad Hatter IPA is their most notable brew. If you aren't a "hop head", you might take a while getting acquainted with this overly heady ale worthy of being named after a deranged genius... more ›

People who want to ban cell phone use in all manner of public places may have just gotten all the scientific justification they need, for guys anyway: a recent study linked cell phone use with sterility. Research carried out in Mumbai, India, showed a 40 percent drop in sperm production for men who talk on a cell phone for more than four hours a day. more ›

Today the “One Book, One Chicago” book was announced, and honestly; this is the most excitement we’ve seen come out of the Harold Washington Library in a long time. more ›

When Chicagoist was in college, our friends who had to stay for a fifth year called it "Taking the Victory Lap." They'd spend a year taking six hours a semester, hitting on underclassmen at the bars, sleeping most of the day, and drinking and smoking most of the night. Come to think of it, that's kind of how they got to that fifth year in the first place. It's a time-honored tradition for career students afraid or unwilling to leave the comfy, hedonistic nest of college and enter the real world. Faced with the scary costs of a college education these days, Mayor Daley is suggesting that high school students be given a chance to take their own fifth-year victory lap. more ›

The culture-hungry masses snapped up a few thousand advanced passes to the Department of Cultural Affairs’ free production of The Magic Flute, Mozart’s playful and popular opera, within weeks. The DCA has presented free summer opera for eight years but this one feels special. Part of the Silk Road Chicago celebration, this production incorporates Balinese theater and Kutiyattam, the Sanskrit Theater of India and that country’s oldest theater tradition, with colorful costumes reflecting both cultures.... more ›

Weeks back, Chicagoist professed our love for wheat beers, and you responded by drinking the Pontiac out of Bell's Oberon at our second anniversary party. Today we bring to you a wheat beer that's tough as nails, a beer not for the faint of heart. A beer so strong and bitter it could only be named after a crusty, bitter, comic strip cat. Three Floyd's Gumballhead Beer is, hands down, the hoppiest wheat beer we've... more ›

It's official - Ray Davies (Kinks) will be back to entertain the masses on the 4th of July during the Taste of Chicago. The others on the bill at the Petrillo Music Shell for Tuesday are Mike Doughty and My Morning Jacket. Still to be announced are the acts for July 6th and 8th, but we do know that if we brave the crowds we will get to see the following: June 30th - Chaka... more ›

As far as excuses go you can't do much better than having to shovel the walkway in front of your house to have a hot toddy. Chicagoist long ago stopped coming up with excuses and nowadays makes toddies whenever the urge comes, usually in conjunction with the deep seated chills. more ›

Yesterday Mayor Daley dedicated a new Little Village High School on the Southwest side and took the opportunity to say that he thinks it's only a matter of time before Chicago's public schools switch to a year-round schedule. The only thing right now is that they don't have the money to extend the school year. more ›

If you're like us here at the Chicagoist offices, you just finished paying People's for the energy you used last winter to warm your pad—and just in time to start paying out your ass for this winter! more ›