A bit of tasty localvore fare for you this week. Monday, Oct. 13 Big Science w/ OFFICE, Think Hymns, Gold @ Schubas, 9:00 p.m., FREE - It's Week 2 in OFFICE's October Monday night residency, and we're happy to see our own Big Science sneaking onto one of the bills. Minimalist late 80s post-rock (think Replacements, Pixes, etc.) meets power pop and the occasional college quirk rock. Saturday, Oct. 18 Horse In The Sea w/......

Over the past few months we've seen OFFICE undergo some surprising changes that included personnel overhauls and a more adventurous sonic direction. They've played a handful of local shows over the past few months -- including another appearance at Lollapalooza -- but this month they are reemerging in force with a monthly residency at Schubas on Monday nights through the entire month of October. (O.K., we'll say it, Rocktober!) In following with the bands......

Sunday Sweaty Sunday. The weather was somewhere between Friday's scorcher and Saturday's gorgeousness. We had our sunscreen applied, water packed, our beach towels ready, and were prepared for whatever Day 3 had to bring us. Lots of questions floated around the grounds, including the still-rumored Obama appearance. What some folks failed to realize was that said rumor was actually listed in the program making it feel manufactured for dubious promotional purposes more than anything else.......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Art Today is the last day for Artopolis at The Merchandise Mart. We, regrettably, haven't made it over there yet, but a number of our friends have and think it's definitely worth the trip, so maybe we can sneak out of the Chicagoist offices around lunch time, pop open our umbrellas, and scurry over there......

DeRo has the lowdown on a bunch of other confirmed Lollapalooza acts. We already knew Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against The machine would be headlining, but now you can add Racontuers, Kanye West, and Wilco to that list. We'd bitch about the fact that three of the six headliners have already played Lolla, which in its current incarnation is still a neophyte, but fuck it, we love all the headliners so we'll keep......

We've mentioned OFFICE a bunch, and how much we like their smarty-pants pop, so we're pleased to be giving away two pairs of tickets to see them headline Reggie's Rock Club later tonight. Another Chicagoist fave, Ultra Sonic Edukkators is also playing, and the thought of they're hyper Brit-pop running headfirst into OFFICE's super tight arrangement makes us get all giddy, jumping up and down and clapping our hands. It's also worth noting that our......

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......

We just learned that tickets to ALL Metro and Smart Bar shows are only available through their websites, or the Metro Box Office. There will still be service fees for tickets bought online, though we believe they will be much reduced due to Metro handling all sales internally, and there is still never a service fee for tickets bought at the Box Office. What does this mean? Ticketmaster has just lost one of the venues......

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......

Oh man, we almost forgot about the Children's Museum debate! Luckily, Alderman Brendan Reilly wants to keep it front and center, which is why he sent the Museum a list of 24 possible places it could relocate that aren't Grant Park: + Museum Campus + Northerly Island + Logan Square + Garfield Park Conservatory + Pritzker Park + Washington Park + Bronzeville + Calumet Park + Englewood + State and Van Buren + McCormick Place......

It wasn't all about roasting pigs out in the 'burbs this week: An Aurora couple (pictured above) was busted for running a prostitution ring on Craigslist, which included offering up the services of a 17-year-old runaway from Wisconsin. It looks like the GOP chairman in Will County liked our drunken election night idea. But we said nothing about drinking and driving, sir! Let's drink and vote responsibly, people. Steger school administrators dyed their hair......

SXSW just released their full band list and the number of Chicago bands is really encouraging as far as supporting the national impact of our little scene. It's also a good indicator of just how genre-less Chicago is, since the bands range from punk, hip-hop, pop, math-rock, metal, and good ol' fashioned "college rock." It could haave easily been predicted that bands like OFFICE, The Redwalls, Sybris, and The 1900s were in, but big ups......

In a political season that has been marked by the theme of change, Illinois's 3rd Congressional District has become one of the battle grounds over what the Democratic Party might look like going forward in 2008. Critics of the incumbent, Dan Lipinski, 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......

Among all of the jockeying for Cook County State's Attorney and the sparks and drama of the presidential primaries, one of the more significant local races this primary season hasn't gotten nearly the attention that it deserves. 28th Ward Alderman Ed Smith is running against Eugene Moore for Cook County Recorder of Deeds. "The Recorder of Deeds Office is the worst ran county office in Cook County," Smith said in a debate with Moore on......

North Center looks like a miniature village through nickd's lens. There are "Adult Fans Of Lego" out there? Really? Actually, we find that kind of awesome. Happy Birthday Lego! Obama's nightmare is still in jail. Helen's Two Way is the first bar to be busted for violating the smoking ban in Chicago. We knew there was a reason we liked that place. It has pluck! Hillary is TOTALLY doing Dave. If you're done protesting......

The race for Cook County state's attorney has been hot and heavy in the past few weeks, with candidates taking plenty of shots at each other in a debate last week. (You can watch the debate here.) The race has also split up local democrats, as endorsements abound. Lt Governor Pat Quinn is supporting Anita Alvarez, saying "she happens to be a woman. She happens to be Hispanic. And she also happens to be the......

We always imagined it'd be pretty hard to get into too much trouble in a place like Boise. The Bulls' second-round draft pick JamesOn Curry, currently playing for the Iowa Energy in the NBA's developmental league, however, managed to find enough to be arrested in the Idaho town early Thursday morning and to be charged with urinating in public and resisting arrest. While the team's draft picks have tended to be high-character players from top......

Common is playing a benefit at House Of Blues tomorrow night (along with OFFICE), and another Chicagoist turned us onto this sweet remix to help us get in the mood.* *Actually, it's more like that clip is making us really lament not getting tickets. Boo to us!......

A new ordinance kicking around City Council says disabled people with city-designated parking spots in front of their homes would no longer have to display a permit sign on their windshield. Apparently people often forget put the sign on their dashboard when they park, and they get tickets--and then they complain to their aldermen. 31st Ward Alderman Ray Suarez is pushing for the ordinance, saying it's unfair how often legit parkers get ticketed, joking "You......

While we were chompin' at the bit for the return of Project Runway following a holiday hiatus, the casting for Bravo's next attempt at reality success had us wishing some more episodes of The Office were ready to go. Thus far, this season's PR had left us wishing for a little something more. The contestants (with the exception of the reincarnated Christ Marsh) seemed a bit ho-hum, all of the challenges felt a bit stale,......

Clayton Hauck, Chicago's everywhere-at-once nightlife photographer, has released the results of a reader's poll he ran to discern which clubs, DJs, promoters, and bands are at the top of The People's list. It's hardly a scientific poll, and Hauck even admits that when it came to the promoter results there was probably more than a little ballot box stuffing, but we find it interesting as it functions as a good peek into the indie-rock......

Tomorrow night kicks off Metro's "Home For The Holidays" weekend with a veritable who's who of Chicago-based bands that have had big 2007s. We've waxed ecstatic about OFFICE and the 1900s plenty in the past, so now we'd like to direct your attention to our favorite part of the undercard and encourage you to get out there early. The Narrator kind of kick ass, and by that we mean they leave it all on the......

Lucky enough to get a few days off for the Chrismukkah holidays? Several Chicago area music entities have been kind enough to give you time-filling options. Lupe Fiasco’s sophomore CD The Cool drops today, and he has announced live dates from New York to Honolulu in support of it. Chicago's only chance to catch the hometown hero will be this Thursday during an in-store appearance at Wicker Park’s hip-hop destination The Bassment. While there, be......

...than Ed Smith's video blog? As alderman of the West Side's 28th Ward, Smith has a reputation as (sort of) an independent. Coming into office with Harold Washington in 1983, Smith was behind the smoking ban, has pushed for federal prosecution of former police commander Jon Burge, and generally annoys Mayor Daley. Now he wants to be Cook County Recorder of Deeds. As The Reader's Mick Dumke pointed out, this election may be the Year......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. Dewars Repeal Day, because you shouldn't take the right to have a drink for granted. Sony Card, because you'll get a free MP3 player if you apply. Love is a Mix Tape, Rob Sheffield's book about women, music, and love. American Express' Urban Adventures-- for information about shopping, dining, and entertainment. Homes for Working Families-- working to make housing affordable in......

Mayor Daley has finally announced his pick for new police superintendent: J.P. “Jody” Weis, an FBI agent who was most recently the head of the Philadelphia field office. The City Council still has to approve the appointment, but given that Ald. Isaac Carothers, chairman of the City Council's police committee, says "maybe going to the outside might bring a fresh look — a guy who knows no one and owes no one,” is anyone worried?......

The NFL already has fans pretty pissed off because tonight, when the best game in the NFC all season is played, most of us will be stuck watching The Office and Scrubs instead. Why? Because the game will only be carried by the NFL Network, which is available only to those who have satellite or pay an extra fee for the channel. Those of us trying to keep our cable bill in double digits will......

The video below should infuriate you. And it should bug the hell out of any female DJ trying to be taken seriously today. DJ Colette -- whom we remember stinking up the joint back when she got her start at Liquid Kitty (at least we THINK that was the first bar stupid enough to let her behind the decks) -- is one of those vain, semi-talented knob-twiddlers that wouldn't garner any attention if she wasn't......

It's all gray and misty out, and today's essentially just a waiting day until vacation time, plus people are on edge about traveling and family and blahblahblah, we know what we need to do. Brace yourself. Get ready. Gird your loins. Did you? Time for some things that are awesome! This weird old TV from the 50s! It costs $500, which puts it out of our price range, but still, the TV itself is......

We've been playing with Hulu, FOX and News Corporation's (FOX, MySpace, etc.) online video-on-demand service, for a few days now and admit we're pretty impressed. We've been missing eps of The Office, Heroes, and The Simpsons, and since that feud with Apple blew up, our only chance of seeing them was crappy streaming video on network sites. That stuff always stalls and crashes our computer. So imagine our pleasure when we started watching Hulu's high......