Earlier in the week, we brought you our favorite signs of the National Restaurant Association show. Taken out of context, they provide endless comedy gold, but they don't represent the true artistic potential of the NRA. That honor falls to the fake food. Now, we should be clear: we're not talking about "fake food" in the enviro-local-nutritional sense. While there was plenty of fried/preserved/artificial junk food being hocked at NRA, when we say "fake," we mean plastic. It makes sense that a restaurant show would need to display food, and most of it was real and ready to be sampled. But a fair amount of food at the NRA was sculpted, and some was better than others. In fact, we almost broke our teeth on a couple pieces that weren't glued down. Would you have known better? Check out the gallery. more ›

When Chi-Town Daily News announced last week they were shifting models from non-profit to profit, that left a lot of questions out in the open. What did it mean? Who was laid off? What's in store for the CTDN in the future? The CTDN's Ed-in-Chief, Geoff Dougherty took to his site for a little Q&A in which he answered some, but not all, of the questions floating around out there. more ›

When we were kids, we built vast cities out of Legos. But our micro-sized towns could never have competed with the mini city that the Chicago Architecture Foundation will unveil to the public this week. The exhibition will be free to the public, and located in the atrium of the CAF at 224 S. Michigan Ave. The official public opening and reception will take place on June 11, from 5:30 to 7pm. The exhibit will remain open for viewing until November 20. more ›

Mannequin Men want you to take off all your clothes ... for their next album cover. more ›

While a Chicagoland Legoland is years away, The Graham Foundation’s latest exhibit is architectural fun with Lego models. “Models” doesn't quite describe them. No, they’re “7 New Architectural Species from the Danish Welfare State,” the brainchildren of Copenhagen’s Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). BIG’s big idea is to find new practical utopias by “investing in the overlap between radical and reality,” to create a “new breed in urban life forms.” more ›

After a week of having holiday music stuck in our head, we need to laugh. Luckily, there are plenty of comedy shows this weekend... more ›

Well, a pile of something: Sweet & Sassy, the tarting-up spa and salon party zone for little girls, is opening two Chicagoland locations in the very near future. One at 1730 W. Fullerton is set to open December 5, and another is in the works for the newly opened Oak Brook Promenade. A Sweet & Sassy spokesperson told Crain's that the company is looking to open 12 stores in our area in the next 18 months. more ›

The United States Olympic Committee awarded an Olympic Opportunity Grant earlier this month to World Sport Chicago. The Gloves not Guns program, run in cooperation with USA Boxing, the Police Athletic League, and the Chicago Park District, promotes the sport of boxing to Chicago's urban youth as a way to stay in shape--and out of trouble. more ›

We've been thinking about reality television a lot these past few weeks. It occurred to us that we should keep tabs on our Chicago folks slaving away in front of reality cameras non-stop to bring us endless hours of mind-numbingly tasty television. With that, Reality Check was born. America's Next Top Model This week on ANTM the girls learned to walk. Ms. Jay showed up in a very Ellie Driver–meets–Alice In Wonderland outfit that was... more ›

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival. A sobering statistic from Chicago filmmaker Darryl Robert's new documentary America the Beautiful: Although the U.S. makes up only 5% of the world's population, its residents are exposed to 40% of its advertising. Roberts argues that one major effect of that hypersaturation is an obsession with a certain kind of "perfect beauty," an unrealistic ideal that leaves many women feeling unhappy with... more ›

1. Porn stars playing Twister. And for a charitable donation, you can join in as well. 2. Gay cheerleaders of the Chicago Spirit Brigade soaring through the air. When you have a significant male presence on the squad, things people really get flying. 3. Shirtless muscle men. And an occasional shirtless woman. 4. Models wearing cutting-edge fashions, strutting their stuff. In an over-exagerated dance move, the rear seam in one model’s pants bursts open. 5.... more ›

After being shuttered for three years amidst a series of complains of poor management and DCFS investigation, Maryville Academy's City of Youth has re-opened. When Maryville was shut down in 2003, nearly 270 wards of the state called the Des Plaines campus home. Increasingly frequent acts of violence and sexual assault, a suicide on campus and bad management led to DCFS' decision to remove their wards from Maryville, with a mandate that Maryville review and... more ›

Last year when Chicagoist spoke with the ladies from Girls Rock! Chicago, the camp was in its first year and had been mildly successful, even though they were finding the camp difficult to publicize. This year they are in full force months ahead of the week-long workshop in August, and they'll be holding their second fundraiser of the year at The Empty Bottle on Saturday. The bill is full of bands that include strong female... more ›

Two years ago, we had the pleasure of meeting Bob Lempinen, an executive Vice President at Distinguished Brands International. Distinguished Brands imports O'Hara's Irish Stout in the U.S. Lempinen insisted that O'Hara's was better than Guinness. We thought it was nothing more than him pushing his portfolio hard - he said that about all the beers he carried - and went along our way. Months passed, at a friend's birthday party we had the opportunity... more ›

We have to admit it: sometimes we feel like we're the old man/lady these days, always thinking, "Back when we were young, there was no swearing on TV! Back when we were young, girls didn't dress like that! Back when we were young, people had more common courtesy!" Hell, for most of our lives you couldn't show hard liquor on TV, and there weren't such things as ads for prescription drugs. So, we did happen... more ›

Yowza! Forest Park's Athena Uslander is looking hot as one of the models featured in Dove's new "Pro-Age" advertising campaign. Ulsander is joined by four other "real" women in the advertisements, who are all proudly featured wearing their birthday suits and not much else. more ›

Like many people in Chicago, Comcast is the only cable option for Chicagoist, and for the most part we can live with it. From what we can tell, it's no better or worse than the RCN service some parts of the city receive, and while DirecTV might be a little better, we're not about to bolt a satellite dish to our roof. Comcast delivers the standard network shows, sports, and Law & Order reruns we... more ›

That new TV show, "Armed & Famous," where they train Z-list celebs to be cops ... it's in Indiana. Figures! Some racist assholes with a pro-Chief Illiniwek page on Facebook made threats against a Native American University of Illinois student. Suggested one person, "I say we throw a tomahawk into her face." A lady from Florida is suing Kraft because Capri Sun says "All Natural" on the label. When did she figure out that... more ›

That sound you heard yesterday was the collective orgasm of gadget freaks, Mac nerds, and tech investors all over the world when Apple announced the new iPhone, the long-awaited convergence of the iPod with a cell phone and PDA. We'll spare you the technical details--chances are you heard one of the IT guys whooping it up at work yesterday, but let's just say that Steve Jobs has managed to package sex into a 3x5 piece of plastic and metal. more ›

Tank Johnson was already having a pretty bad week. His house was raided by Gurnee police, his stash of guns was confiscated and he was charged for illegal possession of firearms. His bodyguard Willie Posey was arrested for felony pot possession during the raid. And as a result of Thursday's run-in with the police, Bears coach Lovie Smith announced that Johnson would be inactive for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay. Yet somehow, Tank Johnson's personal... more ›

People of Chicago, Justin Timberlake has heard your cries for more. more ›

We always tend to think other people celebrate holidays like the Griswolds in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – a week-long shopping, eating and bickering extravaganza with extended family. But for many of us, Thanksgiving and Christmas end up being an afternoon or evening of time with the relatives, and that night we’re back in the city twiddling our thumbs. more ›

First there was the Crackberry. Then there was Motorola's Q. Q ads cropped up all over Chicago with their pretty/ugly models pushing the hell out of it, trying to pass it off as big as the second coming of Christ. In reality, Q sales have been described by analysts as merely "OK," which in the business world translates to "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out." more ›

If you’re one of those plan-ahead types of people who get started on holiday shopping long before Black Friday, you may want to consider all of the merchandise our beloved Chicago Transit Authority has to offer. If our gift recommendation has you wondering what in the world we’re talking about, you’re probably not alone. Despite providing more than one million rides a day, the CTA only managed to scrape up $20,000 in merchandise sales, of... more ›

Ever walk by the slowly-but-surely growing Trump Tower construction site or read about the proposed Fordham Spire and wonder what it's all going to look like when it's finished? We still can't offer any photographic evidence, but a user named STR at the Skyscraper City forums has posted a bunch of Sim City-esque models of what Chicago should look like in 2010 including the new high-profile skyscraper projects. If the models hold true, the... more ›

When you think of Chicago arts students, several schools might come to mind. The School of the Art Institute and Columbia College would surely be on the list, and maybe even you’d throw in Northwestern for some theatre. But the University of Chicago? Not unless your idea of art is some abstract illustration of economic models or something equally dorky. more ›

The only thing wrong with Tyra Banks, besides her huge forehead (or her "five-head, funny Tyra), her terrible acting and her awful sense of humor, is that her karma is now seriously fucked up. more ›

The latest in a string of new gadget peddlers will be making themselves a new home on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. more ›

Looking for a Cheap Do? more ›

It appears that while most major U.S. cities are getting wise to the advantages of the Vespa as gas prices rise, Chicago is still sitting on its big, SUV-loving ass. more ›