The Sound Opinions at the Movies series is on a roll. They have just announced the details for their August installment, and we definitely agree with producer Jason Saldanha: these tickets will sell out fast. The feature will be Once, the slight but acclaimed 2007 feature about a busker falling in love with a young Czech musician on his way to recording a demo (and, in real life, an Academy Award for best song). The screening will be followed by a performance from the film's stars, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová of The Swell Season. more ›

After Chicago-based radio program Sound Opinions screens director Richard Linklater’s 1993 nostalgic classic Dazed and Confused in July at the Music Box Theatre, they’ll be tackling another beloved sleeper flick with a more modern setting. According to Sound Opinions producer Jason Saldanha’s Twitter feed, a special screening of the movie Once, the austere, naturalistic musical that famously won an Oscar for Best Song in 2007, at Lincoln Hall in August has been scheduled. more ›

Todd Stroger dismissed a 54-page report (PDF) on patronage yesterday. The report, filed last week by retired Cook County Circuit Judge Julia Nowicki, the federally appointed hiring monitor for the county, documents allegations by more than 220 people that illegal patronage practices occurred over two years ending February of last year. more ›

There was an old man named Seuss, more ›

Help Me Wake Up! more ›

When it's this cold and icy, the last thing we can imagine doing is sitting outside at a ball game. But spring will one day arrive, and we're sure some of you will want to spend time enjoying the nicer weather at Wrigley Field. more ›

Chicago Magazine's February issue has a list of 171 Chicago-based websites they think are worth checking out. Naturally we're in there ... twice! Once under "News Reporting" and then again as Sun-Times critic Jim DeRogatis' personal picks. The thing is until today, the only place this list lived was in the magazine, even through Chicago Magazine's website has been telling us "story coming soon" for weeks now. more ›

Nominees for this year's Academy Awards were announced this morning and there weren't any huge surprises. Personally we're pretty excited to see P.T. Anderson up against the Coen brothers in both the directing and best picture categories. And everyone we've spoken too seem to think Ellen Page is deserving of her best actress nomination for Juno. in fact, for the first time in recent memory, we actually think just about all of the nominations are pretty right on. more ›

If you're like us, you're already getting pumped up for the Oscars! Not. Jeez, let's get past New Year's first, O.K.? Oops. Too late. The Chicago Film Critics Association has already jumped the gun and handed out their awards. To the surprise of no one the big winner was No Country for Old Men, the new Coen brothers movie that both impressed and disturbed us when we saw it last month. It won four awards in all (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem). We're very pleased that Bardem won; there wouldn't be much of a movie without his chilling character study, and he damned well better win the Oscar. more ›

Timothy Krajcir, a currently incarcerated repeat violent sex offender, pleaded guilty yesterday to killing Deborah Sheppard, an SIU student who was murdered in 1982. And then he confessed to eight other murders in Missouri and another area police haven't disclosed yet (possibly Kentucky). So far, he's been charged with five counts of murder and three counts of rape, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for Sheppard's murder. Krajcir is 63. Krajcir's rap sheet... more ›

Train update: "Fire Commissioner Ray Orozco said five people were in serious to critical condition and at least 30 people suffered less serious injuries. That number could rise to 50, he said." The NTSB is investigating. Storm watch this weekend. Cold, icy, rainy, blerg. RIP, Evel Knievel. America's Legendary Daredevil was 69. Check it out: local steampunk wedding. Congrats! Here's our favorite part of this Freakonomics interview with Sin in the Second City author Karen... more ›

Two Cubs pitchers, linked by their unfulfilled promise due to injuries, may finally become uncoupled. While Kerry Wood will have an opportunity to resurrect his career with the Cubs, Mark Prior's time in Cubby blue may be finished. Wood inked a one-year deal worth $4.2 million, while becoming the front runner to become the Cubs closer -- Ryan Dempster, after three years in that role, will return to the starting rotation in 2008. Wood pitched... more ›

With the new damp chill in the air, we’ve found ourselves craving a cup of hot tea. With a baby on our hip, however, we’ve been less excited about something dressy at the Drake and more nostalgic for sweats in Grandma’s kitchen. Enter Suzi’s Tea and Cafe. This former Lakeview resident is back after a few years’ hiatus in Long Grove. Occupying the former location of Las Tablas on Lincoln, the owners have remade this... more ›

Once a Second City performer, always a Second City performer...right? Rachel Dratch and Tim Meadows, both mainstage alumns, will be at the Chicago History Museum tonight for a panel about improv. Kevin Dorff, another Second City performer and now an on-strike writer for Conan O'Brien, moderates, and there will be real live sketch and improv to boot. Tickets are $12 ($10 for members) and the show starts at 6:30. We can't believe we missed last... more ›

We know you head to Beat Kitchen to enjoy the likes of artists like Plane, New Duncan Imperials and Deadstring Brothers. Be prepared for your toddler to start dragging you back out when they hear about the “Concerts for Kids” shows on Sunday afternoons … at the same Beat Kitchen where you were rockin’ the night before. Once a month, Beat Kitchen opens up its concert space for local talent that caters to the younger... more ›

Artisanal booze geniuses at the North Shore Distillery have taken flavored gin to new and delicious heights: Rhuginger No. 6, a limited edition gin, is simply fantastic. more ›

We have an idea for how to end unemployment in this town forever. Just introduce everyone to Todd Stroger. He's still a big fan of hooking his pals up with jobs, like Patty Young, girlfriend of Stroger buddy Commissioner William Beavers. Once the Sun Times started sniffing around, Young left her spot in the county purchasing department. Are Illinois's state tests too easy? Depends who you ask. Lance Briggs pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor... more ›

Yesterday, Northfield-based Kraft Foods announced it reached a deal to sell its Fruit2o bottled water and Veryfine juice brands to Sunny Delight Beverages Co. In announcing the sale, Kraft said the brands no longer fit with the company's long-term growth strategies, even though the brands generated $135 million in revenue. more ›

Once again, we would like to take a brief moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. more ›

ORD Terminal Mystery? more ›

In case you hadn’t noticed, Chicagoist was a little cranky yesterday morning. After our second full day of the Green City Market Localvore Challenge, with our ‘allowed’ food pretty much gone, we were feeling a bit deprived. Once again, the feeling of only wanting what we can’t have was rearing its ugly head. Plus, we couldn’t shake the fact that if we knew how to really cook (sorry mom!) our localvore lives would be a... more ›

We've been trying to work out a better fart joke for the headline but that seems to be the best one we could come up with. In truth, Chipotle, the makers of huge gut-busting diet-trashing insanely-delicious burritos really are going to harness the power of wind. Not the I-just-ate-beans kind. The breeze-across-the-Midwest kind. They've just received approval to add a wind turbine to a new location they're planning to open in Gurnee Mills. The 60-foot... more ›

When we saw Mike Brown leave the game with an injury, Chicagoist feared the worst. Once again, one of the Bears' best defensive players and leaders on the field has a great game going and then has to leave the game prematurely. And the tears in the locker room after the game certainly didn't make us any less worried. Monday evening, our fears were confirmed when the Bears announced that Mike Brown had blown out... more ›

It seems parking meters are on your minds lately because they are getting more high tech as each day passes. We were anxiously awaiting more details about how your phone and a parking meter were going to interact, and well, we just found out today. If you've got $15, a City of Chicago pilot program will sell you a battery operated device that will take the place of your quarters or that little slip... more ›

The plants we've been watching with worry in our garden have been our pepper plants. We got a late start to this whole project (most everything was planted around Memorial Day) and our natural inclination leans toward impatience, which isn't the temperament to have when were waiting for a garden to grow. That impatience morphed to outright frustration as we watched the tomatoes explode with rich, vibrant fruit. A month ago, when we noticed the... more ›

Boy, you know it must be bad when Mayor Daley is calling you out on your legislative tactics. In remarks to the press yesterday, Daley called Blagojevich's plans to cut $500 million from the recently passed budget and impose a universal health care plan of his choosing legally questionable and "dangerous." "In short, I'm cutting pork and special-interest spending and, in its place, I'm using the legal authority that I have to expand health care... more ›

When we wrote about the Gardenist project last week, we intimated that our basil "threatened to overrun all the other plants." It wasn't until we were in the midst of pruning the tomato plants yesterday that we realized just how much of an understatement that actually was. Aside from our normal weeding and the occasional picking of cilantro, we've left most of the herbs alone. But we've got chicken breasts thawing out in the fridge,... more ›

With the Bears opening training camp on Friday, it's time to dust off the blue and orange, refresh our memories of last year's Super Bowl XLI appearance, and then start figuring out what to fret about come Week One. The Tribune points out their five areas of concern, while the Sun-Times gives us their ten things to watch for. 1. At the top of both lists is the quarterback situation. Can Rex Grossman be the... more ›

A few of us have some pretty refined tastes here at Chicagoist. Among things we've probably overpaid for are dinners, movie screenings, concerts, sporting events, and computer equipment. But $600 for a makeup job? We don't even think the girliest girl on the staff would spend that much. Yet that's what Governor Blagojevich did as recently as March, when he went to Crystal Lake-based makeup artist Deborah Lee for a touch-up prior to giving his... more ›

Once in a great while, Chicagoist has one of those moments of social and moral awareness that we like to call “maturity,” when we take a quick glance outside of ourselves and think about how our lives could be different under less auspicious circumstances. Not to get too existential on your asses this fine Friday morning, but there’s a big world out there, and sometimes it’s not a bad idea to take a peek. Luckily you can do it from the comfort of a neighborhood bar, thanks to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ GOAt (Globally Occupied Attention) series. more ›