Chicago Transit Authority We woke up this morning to another fresh coat of snow on the ground. While we're certainly among the ranks of those who just wished this winter would end already we have to concede that we have lived through worse. When the words "blizzard" and "Chicago" are uttered in the same breath two years immediately come to mind. We weren't born in 1967, but we sure as hell remember 1979 and......

Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

Longtime "BotW" readers might remember that we reviewed a barley wine last spring from Louisville's Browning's Brewery. We bought it retail in town but, after making a phone call to the brewmaster in Louisville, didn't disclose where we made the purchase for fear of outing the store in question for selling booze outside the three-tier distribution system. During a New Year's Day discussion with the store owner, Mitch Einhorn of Lush Wine & Spirits,......

Ludwika Szynalik was run over by a CTA bus on New Year's Eve, and now her family is suing the transit authority, saying the bus driver behind the wheel of the 152 was negligent. Szynalik was getting her bike off the bus's front-mounted rack when the driver ran her over. She was dragged for 80 feet before the driver noticed, and she died later that day. The whole thing was caught on CTA surveillance video,......

A Chinese dragon ushers in the Wu Zi, the Year of the Rat, in Chinatown earlier today. Photos by Timothy State. While Thursday was the Chinese New Year, today was the annual Chinese New Year parade. With the temperature near zero and wind chill making it feel like 20-below, the crowd was very light. Nevertheless, the Year of the Rat, known by its formal name Wu Zi, year 4705, has begun. In ancient times,......

There were some firecrackers a-poppin' last night: today is the first day of the first Lunar Month. So that means it's beginning of the Chinese New Year Festival, which started at midnight and traditionally lasts until February 15. Also known as the Lunar New Year, festivities are meant to celebrate and welcome the Year of the Rat. As with all major holidays, the New Year revolves around friends, family, and consuming ungodly amounts of food.......

Pack an umbrella, bring your galoshes, and dress in layers. It's been that kind of week. Here are some events to brave any extreme in weather. Movies/Music: DeRo and the Other Guy , as part of Sound Opinions' "At the Movies" series, will be hosting a rare screening of the Who's 1979 concert biopic The Kids Are Alright. The screening will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Derogatis and Kot. Music Box Theater, 7......

Some events in the next seven days to consider saving your freshly shoveled parking space with a few chairs. The annual Grand Chefs Gala for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation kicks off this evening at the Fairmont Hotel. The black tie-preferred event runs from 6 p.m. - midnight and will feature a safari theme this year. Among the participating chefs will be sola's Carol Wollack, "Top Chef" alum Dale Levitski, Aigre Doux's Mohammad Islam, and Adam......

It's the 4th week in January. Do you know where your diet is? If your New Year's resolution was to get fit but you've got a mean sweet tooth holding you back, this applesauce cake may be your savior. Satisfyingly sweet, but made with no butter or eggs to add unnecessary fat. Just don't eat it all in one sitting! Ingredients 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1 tsp......

It's the end of the line in our pre-coverage of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival, which can only mean one thing: you're well-prepared for the weekend rockness. The Walkmen keep throwing it back to the original foundations of rock music: gravel-coated riffs, fuzzy ballads, and lots and lots of sweat on stage. While they have yet to come up with anything as strutting, ballsy, and soul shaking as 2004's Bows and Arrows (and especially first......

The Museum of Science and Industry is raising its prices. Adult Chicago residents will now pay $12 (up from $10), adult non-Chicagoans $13 (from $11), Chicago children $8.50 ($6.25), non-Chicago children $9 ($7), Chicago seniors $11 ($8.75), and non-Chicago seniors $12 ($9.50). But fear not, oh ye of little funds. The MSI is free the rest of January, as well as February 29 (Hotcha! Leap year! Ahem, celebratory performance of the Pirates of Penzance...); June......

Different cultures around the globe have certain foods that are purported to bring about good luck if served and eaten at the start of a new year. While researching a story idea last month we spoke with Professor Bruce Kraig, President of the Culinary Historians of Chicago. Professor Kraig told us that, in Italy, lentils represent coins and that eating lentil soup is regarded as wishing for prosperity for the eater. We also spoke with......

Oh Steve. Steve, Steve, Steve. We had really hoped that with the new year you might finally catch up to current trends and we could put this column to rest. But, alas, your foot once again finds your mouth. Now we understand that you are writing for the general populace, so some of your more obvious observations could be forgiven as trying to bring "mom and pop" into the digital age. But we just read......

Ah, it's a new year and a whole new slew of opportunities to catch our favorite hometown gossip mill grinder in action on his native turf. First up: a "private" Malibu-hosted party at the Congress Theater tomorrow night, featuring the sweet, sweet sounds of young Wentz on the turntables (or iPod, as it may be), as well as complimentary Malibu cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Ashlee sightings? Maybe. Sound like a nice way to stay warm......

Va Pensiero in Evanston officially celebrates the return of wine director Jason Prah (most recently of Eno) with a tasting of eight "wines to survive winter." Prah will be on hand to present the wines and appetizers will be served. Cost is $35 per person, and the event starts at 7 p.m. The Alliance Francaise de Chicago has been offering a fair amount of cooking classes lately. Their class on Saturday will focus on......

Hope the new year is treating you well so far. Here's the first Made in Chicago of the year to help you spend the rest of your Christmas monies from estranged family members. Off Beet Boutique is run by 24-year-old Bekki Hrabacka, a native of Chicagoland. She makes cute, quirky jewelry and handbags, like this inappropriately-timed but still adorable Halloween clutch, pictured right. Bekki was kind enough to fill us in on her artistic plans......

In a day packed with college football bowl games, the coolest televised sporting event on New Year's Day had to be watching the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins play an NHL game outside in Buffalo, in front of over 71,000 fans. It brought the game back to its roots, played outside on frozen ponds and lakes throughout the Midwest and Canada. Now imagine that same game outside, only featuring two of the NHL's "Original......

Menupages has a list up of the 100 most looked-at menus of 2007. The top ten most popular? Thai Bowl, Brasserie Ruhlman, Nookies, Ping Pong, Crust, Silver Seafood Restaurant, Medici, Butterfly, The Art of Pizza and Tango Sur. We're at a loss in figuring out why these would be the most popular menus to browse. Chicago food bloggers Whipped and Pro Bono Baker are rocking banana bread and banana muffins, respectively, on their blogs. The......

The tuna melt is to a menu like a sweater vest is to a wardrobe. One of the most versatile fashion staples, a vest can be dressed up, or dressed down. The tuna melt comes in as many varieties as there are restaurants that serve it up. We’ve found some restaurants add spices for zing, while some keep it simple. Others serve it open-faced for more formal fork-and-knife consumption, while others piece it together for......

We're still suffering from the post-New Year hangover, so we're going to start off this year's run of "BotW" with a crisp, refreshing palate cleanser. Before Augie Busch and his progeny set a low standard for how lagers should taste, the Czechs were making the brewing of them an art. We've been known to hoist a bottle of Czechvar in lieu of the King of Beers. The folks at our new local watering hole, Bernice's......

The Sun-Times giveth, and the Sun-Times taketh away. How great: a list of 10 inspiring women of 2007! Wait a second...Jennifer Love Hewitt and the beauty queen who thinks we don't have maps? Come on. And what exactly do Paige Wiser and Lisa Donovan mean when they say that Laila Ali "redefined our idea of a female athlete"? [S-T] Fire investigators said today that an accelerant was used in the deadly Oak Forest fire......

Who's ready to bid 2007 adieu? Well, ready or not, here it comes. But people get so worked up over New Year's Eve, and it never winds up being as big a deal as you think. Smooched, not smooched, party, no party, fancy dress or sweat pants--this shit does not matter. Just have a good time. Here are few things we've learned along the way: Eat dinner. Opt for the comfier shoes. Remember that the......

The clock is winding down for drinkers who enjoy a cigarette with their booze. The Smoke-Free Illinois Act is set to go into effect at midnight on Jan. 1, 2008. Illinois will officially join the list of states that have banned smoking in almost all indoor spaces. Besides bars, Illinoisans will not be allowed to smoke in such cigarette bastions as factory floors, stadiums, casinos, and prisons. However, Chicago residents shouldn't expect John Q. Law......

It's been a banner year around these parts, with stories big and small, comments bold and beautiful, politicians grand and grandly inept. The last 12 months were filled with sports, food, music and mayhem. What were we all talking about in 2007? Earlier this year, Macy's wasn't doing so hot, and then its food court was cited for health code violations. A Macy's protest in September really got everyone riled up. If only we could......

The clock to '08 is ticking. What are you doing to ring in the new year? If the answer to that question is a desperate, collar-loosening, sweat-inducing "I don't know!" then here are a few last-minute suggestions. Everything listed here will cost you less than $40 and was not sold out at the time of posting. Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile at the Old Town School of Folk Music: If you thoroughly enjoy the pop/folk......

SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others. Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish list. Gothamist looked at the wooden bikes being offered for NYC's first bike share program on Governors Island. LAist received a Christmas present in the form of a drunk Santa Claus in a g-string. Bostonist launched......

If you’re lucky, your toddler will be asleep, blissfully unaware when the last minutes of 2007 tick by. An earlier bed time doesn’t mean that he or she has to miss out on the festivities, though; a handful of places in and around Chicago are hosting New Year’s Eve parties for the little ones, with dancing, snacks and party favors at an earlier countdown. Rosedale Park on the northwest side is hosting their third annual......

For those of you who are checking in today, we thought we'd also take some time to pay our respects to two giants who passed away on Christmas Day. It was one year ago that James Brown passed away. If you don't have a copy of "James Brown's Funky Christmas", buy it or download it now. It is a necessity of Christmas listening. We managed to find a clip of "Soulful Christmas" dubbed into some......

You shouldn't need tooooo many awesome things today--most people are off work, gift giving is on the horizon and such--but that doesn't mean your day couldn't use at least a little perking up. Seek and ye shall receive, readers. If you're going to post a self-indulgent shot of yourself every day, at least have the courtesy to fashion bizarre masks and headdresses for yourself to keep it interesting. (Our favorite: July 18. Not sure......

Restaurants aren’t the only ones offering festive, price-enhanced New Year’s Eve fun. Local theaters are throwing open their doors (or their box office) for soused shows and sober, happy celebrations. The Neo Futurists’ New Years Benefit returns, featuring Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, 30 plays performed in the last 60 minutes of 2007. The non-alcoholic, Whole Foods-catered reception starts at 9:30. Tickets are $40 and proceeds help the company present hundreds of......