We wish we could go back in time to comb Patrick Swayze's feathered hair. more ›

Venerable beer brand Pabst Blue Ribbon, which for some reason always gets connected with bike messengers in MSM reports, has reportedly been sold for $250 million to the man who helped make Vlasic Pickles what they are today. Crains tells us that C. Dean Metropoulos has purchased the Woodridge-based company from Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation. Non-profits like the Kalmanovitz organization can only own for-profit businesses for five years, but received a special dispensation for another five year stretch from the IRS. It expires this year, and according to the Wall Street Journal up to 15 firms were jockeying to own the brewery, which also owns Schlitz, Old Style and Colt 45. more ›

Chicago's love of PBR stretches way back through time, as this 1930's ad can attest. more ›

No, that's not a joke. Contrary to popular belief, we've been known to put a mass-produced beer to our lips from time to time. One thing we'll be able to tell our grandkids about last night is that we had a Pabst Blue Ribbon in our hand when ABC's Charlie Gibson called the election for President-elect Obama. (Wow! That sounds good.) more ›

If we were to describe this movie update post using song titles … In an email last week, long-time Chicago Filmmakers program director Patrick Friel announced he will be stepping down on August 10 to pursue other interests. He had been with Chicago Filmmakers for over eleven years. A replacement has not been announced yet. Also in his email was news that there will be opportunities to become involved with the programming of their weekly... more ›

LAist is flashing a sad peace out to their editor Carolyn Kellogg with one hand and bumping knuckles with their new head typist L.A. blogger king Tony Pierce with the other. Where do ist editors go when they hang up the 'editorial we'? They take on MySpace, apparently. At least Ben Brown does. Austinist reminds of the just rewards of less savory careers this week and then they witness the Arctic Monkeys and We Are... more ›

Thanks to an incentive-laden deal with the state, Pabst Brewing Company is moving their corporate headquarters from San Antonio (WTF? Milwaukee was so bad they had to move to San Antonio?) to suburban Woodridge, according to an article in today's Sun-Times. The deal, which gives Pabst a nearly $1 million tax incentive and training funding package for 31 executives, to be hired from the area. Pabst itself ifs spending $2.4 million to lease a facility... more ›

You know those days when your life adds up to nothing? When you scan your years, and you see nothing but incoherent days and inebriated nights? When your creative mind is as empty as a Pabst Blue Ribbon at 6:00 in the morning? Well, if you happen to be having one of those days today, you might want to stop reading. When we checked out the website for freelance writer Elaine Soloway, we became overwhelmed... more ›

Herman's Gem-Bar Lounge and Grill has been a staple of Bridgeport since 1920 and yet in the six-plus years we've lived in the neighborhood we never patronized the place. Maybe it was their tag line: "the 'gem' of Old Bridgeport", which to Chicagoist harks back to the days of male-dominated ethnic "sports clubs", political deals made at the end of a bar and a beer, and racial epithets casually tossed about like the first words of a child. Maybe it was its location in the largely industrial Loomis Street corridor linking Bridgeport with Pilsen, or the slight musty and polluted aroma rising from the Chicago River's south branch located yards from the front door. Upon passing the place we often joked that the gem in question was cut from zircon. Regardless of the reason we left there yesterday cursing that we hadn't visited before. more ›