Gulpon is a website that aims to bring budget conscious drinkers daily "discounts of up to 90% at local bars, restaurants, clubs, coffee shops, lounges, pubs and liquor stores in Chicago." more ›

Studs Terkel is one step closer to being preserved online. Earlier this week, the Chicago History Museum reached a deal with the Library of Congress to digitize 50+ years (or around 6,000 hours) of interviews Studs did with various people including Martin Luther King, Jr., Bob Dylan, and Louis Armstrong. Studs, who passed away in 2008, had donated the tapes to the museum back in 1997. Said Gene DeAnna, who's heading up the project, “This project will require significant staff time and expertise, specialized audio equipment and a computer infrastructure capable of safely storing, delivering and sustaining the digital content: resources that are typically beyond the reach of small archives and museums. Some of these tapes are over 40 years old and are fragile.” The Chicago History Museum will retain ownership and copyright of the interviews; the project should take two years to complete. more ›

We were excited to learn that EveryBlock co-founder Daniel X. O'Neil was working with Harper Reed of Threadless fame to develop a new online gadget - but it's not the hyper-local t-shirt you might immediately presume (pretty please?). Instead, the pair produced a new city government transparency toy: CityPayments. And it's likely to be all the rage among us reporters as it gathers momentum. But what does it do? And why do we care? more ›

In an effort to become more transparent, the Independent Police Review Authority is slowly beginning to add to its website shooting incidents involving Chicago Police officers. Yesterday the IPRA added two 2007 incidents to their page in which officers fired on civilians. While specific names are not mentioned, other details are listed as well as a thorough investigative report. more ›

“I think we had email,” Natarus said. “The Haymarket Group handled all that stuff. Really, at the time, I was surprised we used television in an alderman’s race.” more ›

Head to Daley Plaza this morning at 10:30 a.m. for a quick early voting rally for Mark Pera. Pera, the assistant Cook County State's Attorney who is running against Dan Lipinski for the 3rd Congressional District seat, is the first serious candidate to challenge Lipinski since he went to congress in 2004. Pera's campaign has attracted a lot of attention, both online and in the district. Online support has helped helped fund his campaign, but anger in the district at how the elder Lipinski handed his seat to his son has fueled the viability of his candidacy. Still, he's running against the full force and weight of Chicago's entrenched Democratic Machine. more ›

You know that thing you never do? Now it will cost another 25 cents if you start to do it. Yes, the Tribune is increasing its newsstand price to 75 cents for Monday-Saturday editions, but the Sunday edition remains $1.79. The memo sent out from Tony Hunter, the Trib's senior vice president of circulation and operations, said: more ›

Because of the architectural significance of our building, the condominium association holds a common law copyright on the use of the association name and building image. This means under federal and Illinois law, advertisers, movie-makers, and others cannot use the association name or image without first obtaining express written permission from the association.

From the Sun-Times today, a study of 4,000 Americans age 13 and up (including 200 in Chicago) found that 12 percent of them check their wireless devices for e-mail while in church or using the bathroom. You're probably thinking that 12 percent of 4,000 people is a small amount. But the study, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation and sponsored by America Online (AOL?!?) shines a light on how pervasive Internet access and email have become,... more ›

Last week we clued you in to BP's plans to increase the levels of ammonia and sludge thhey are discharging into Lake Michigan from their Whiting, IN refinery. Responding to the wave of local bad press the company got, BP ran full page ads in newspapers, letters to the editor, and even blog advertising, including here on Chicagoist. Yesterday the Chicago Tribune ran with a front page headline detailing the flogging that BP took on... more ›

The Ravinia Festival summer schedule has been released, a consolation prize for those of us who couldn’t score cheap Lollapalooza passes. Online ticket sales begin April 19 and won’t require multiple browser windows and copious amounts of prayer. True to form, the 2007 schedule offers much to satisfy the 45-55 year old demographic: the Beach Boys, Doobie Brothers, Steve Miller, and that ABBA tribute band return. Programmers share Perry Farrell’s fondness for the 90s, booking... more ›

The League of Chicago Theaters wants you to get out of the house and see more shows, but you don’t have to get off your duff to get tickets. This afternoon, the League of Chicago Theaters launches Hot Tix Online, a service that makes purchasing half-priced tickets only slightly more complicated than reading this post. For the past few months, they’ve made a few shows available for online purchase and are now expanding options for those of us who can’t easily get downtown or to Skokie. more ›

The older we get, the happier we are that high school is behind us, especially the stress and uncertainty of senior-year college decisions. When Chicagoist was applying to college, the tell-all sign of acceptance was the large, thick envelope in the mail. The small envelope, of course, contained a rejection letter. more ›

Douglas Pensack, Illinois Tenants Union more ›

It may seem like Chicagoist is cool, but really we're big time nerds. We get off on geeky new gadgets and websites and blogs. And we're not ashamed of it either. Let's look back at the nerdiest Chicago-area things that caught our attention in 2005. more ›

Was anyone driving down the Kennedy early today when all of a sudden, "Oh, hey.. look. I knew I should have taken the boat this morning and not the car!" more ›

Back in August, Chicagoist ran a contest to give away tickets to an upcoming Brendan Benson show at Metro. Unfortunately, the show was postponed as was the contest. But time has been good to Benson and to Chicagoist readers as we've got even more prizes to give away. more ›

Chicagoist has often been accused of rampant snobbery but we’ve got a soft spot for cover bands. As the granddaddy of cover band inspiration gets yet another posthumous tribute, we’re checking out other bands that are walking a mile in another’s shoes. more ›

Was it Vince Vaughn’s return to the Chicago area that prompted the Illinois State Assembly to renew the Film Production Services Credit Act last week? The timing seems awfully suspicious. Was there quid pro quo? Sine quo non? Semper ubi sub ubi? The people demand answers--preferably in Latin because it sounds important! Credited with bringing a resurgence of Hollywood dollars to Chicago, the FPSCA provides a 25% tax credit to production companies that film in... more ›

Online ticket sales begin at 10:00am CST, and people will be randomly selected from a virtual "waiting room" to select and purchase seats. The "waiting room" opens at 9:30am. Chicagoist spent nearly all day waiting last year wanting bleacher seats. By the time we got in, all that was left was Montreal on a Tueday night... more ›

Until yesterday, this year’s Oscar buzz resembled nothing more than a low, indistinguishable hum; the conventional wisdom was that no film--and few actors--had emerged as front-runners. But as Chicago starts to feel its first few bites of winter, one of its own is getting some long-overdue recognition. more ›

Chicagoist had a nice chuckle last week over this wire piece that was picked up by The Star Online, a Malaysian news site. It seems—-make sure you’re sitting down for this one—-that some American movies are not filmed in the cities in which they are set. The hell you say, Chris Hewitt! He notes two particularly egregious instances of this uh…commonplace occurrence that just so happen to be films bearing Chicagoist names: more ›

No ticket sales will take place at the Wrigley Field box office. Instead, all sales will take place by phone or on the web. Illinois callers can call 1-800-THE-CUBS and out-of-state callers can call 1-866-652-2827. Online, you'll need to go to cubs.com. Tickets will go on sale at 9:00 am Monday, October 4th and they won't be cheap. Prices are: $70 for infield club box, $60 for outfield club box or infield field box, $50 for outfield field box, $45 for bleachers, terrace boxes and upper-deck boxes $45, $35 for terrace reserved and $25 for upper-deck reserved $25. more ›

Chicagoist is sick of having all of these post it notes all over our desk with URLS of Chicago food related sites written on them, so we decided to compile them into a list.. and are asking you to add on any that you know of. So far we have: more ›