Are those wedding bells we hear? more ›

In 1972, Italian artist Adriano Celentano recorded the song "Prisencolinensinainciusol," to moderate popular success, including a television broadcast and inclusion on both an album and a compilation album Celentano has said that the song is about the incommunicability of modern times, and argued that the only word we need is prisencolinensinainciusol, which he claims means "universal love." more ›

We recently unearthed our 1995 copy of alt.culture, a purported encyclopedia of the emergence of the underground into pop culture. In the publisher's words: more ›

One of our very favorite pop culturists, for more than a decade Nathan Rabin has been head writer for The Onion A.V. Club. He's equally at home writing about Epic Movie or western swing, and you don't want to be on the receiving end of his wicked sarcasm when it's time to mete out a takedown. more ›

It's never a good sign when a performer's pre-show prep includes stumbling in the street in search of non-existent paparazzi, dinner at Subway, and a trip to Walgreens for sweets (that you will later use to pad your set as giveaways between songs).

Crazy wild lineup for the Saturday installment of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival at Schubas. Let's take a look, shall we? more ›

Where drivers in Oak Lawn once ignored octagonal red signs demanding they halt, they will now encounter little addendums to make them take notice and, well, stop. At least, that’s what mayor Dave Heilmann is hoping since he went balls-out with ironic nerdery by implementing a new plan to install signs with wacky messages underneath official stop signs. more ›

Two Gallants are some weary motherfuckers. Besides the strained, vagabond nature of their music — and the "holy crap, that guy is messed up!" storytelling in Adam Stephens’ serrated, whiskey-choked voice — there’s the black-and-white fact that these San Franciscans have a total of 14 days off between now and the end of the year. Indeed, Stephens and drummer Tyson Vogel seem to be living up to the title of their latest release, The Scenery... more ›

Well, it is shaping up to be quite the warm weekend. Any of our lovely readers want to invite us to some type of pool party? We'll bring waterwings shaped like Mayor Daley's face. Someone should really make those. In the event we receive no invitations, we've lined up some other activities certain to help you, and us, take advantage of another weekend. As we mentioned yesterday, Calsfest 2007 is taking place at Cal's Liquors,... more ›

On Jenny Owen Youngs' website she states that she wants to be our friend. We think she'd be awesome to have beers with — her quick, deadpan wit combined with pop culture references would make for hours of hysterical conversation at the corner pub. Who doesn't want to have a philosophical discussion about their love of Avril Lavigne's pop until she used the word prance in a rhyme scheme? more ›

Phantom Hidden, by ninjagrl more ›

If you like your summer entertainment light, campy and frequently hilarious, you’ve probably already bought your tickets for It Came From The Neo-Futurarium VI: Curse of The Neo-Futurarium. In case you haven’t or (gasp!) missed the first V years, the Neo-Futurists’ summer tradition dredges pop culture memories from childhood, younger adulthood and your history books every Thursday night, reading scripts from movies and TV shows whose original, sincere impulses have been diminished by midnight screenings and years of ridicule. more ›

Jean Twenge is a San Diego State University professor and lead author of the study that says that the generation born after 1982 is "the most narcissistic generation in recent history." OK, we've got to do some thinking about that. On one hand, we agree. Chicagoist finds it extremely odd that even in the most casual of conversations about the most inane of pop culture references ("Fantasy Island," "Little House on the Prairie"), a lot... more ›

We've heard some rumbling about the new graffiti book Graffitecture for a while now and the official release party is here. From 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. on Friday, February 23 at Heijfina, 1529 N. Milwaukee, you can catch a live graffiti and wall art installation while David Castillo and DJ small MVP spin music. Enough about the release party, you say, what's Graffitecture about anyway? Over 40 Chicago graffiti artists were given photographs... more ›

Since the re-election of George W. Bush, Fox News has seen its ratings fall. While they still have a large base of viewers, it seems they have been introducing new programs in the hopes of wrangling some of the conservatives that may have been lost in cableland for the past 2.5 years. more ›

We find Donald Trump to be a tragic figure, what with the ceaseless self-promotion, the infantile manner in which he responds to criticism, his unsolicited advice to politicians, the way he adopts the facial gestures of his succubi consorts, all those skyscrapers rising to the heavens like modern-day Towers of Babel, and the general bad behavior that stems from his misogyny. What next for a man who lives by the motto that if you paint... more ›

Some of you may be thinking we should just let Festivus go. Seinfeld hasn't been on for many years and afterall, it's just a television show. First of all, we're a little offended by the "just a show" sentiment. Seinfeld brought our friends and families together in comedy and both reflected on pop culture and produced many popular catchphrases. But enough about Seinfeld. This is a time to celebrate Festivus and regardless of the... more ›

If the pop culture landscape that is peopled by D-List celebrities can be seen as a mangy dog, then K-Fed’s scheduled appearance at House of Blues last night in the service of hawking his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it album was a Lyme disease-carrying tick on the back of said dog. Easily ignored, but requiring a visit to a board-certified physician if you get too close. But that was last week. This week, his erstwhile retirement plan filed for... more ›

Our friends at Glorious Noise are celebrating their fifth birthday this weekend with music, costumes and a new album by the band Riviera. more ›

Cheetara(h) more ›

One of our biggest complaints in pop culture is that movies and books that advertise themselves as disturbing and distressing, really aren’t. Films like “Welcome to the Dollhouse” or “In the Company of Men” always made us yearn for just a little more. Ever since we read “American Psycho” or watched “Happiness”, we knew films and books could sink even lower; and if you’re going to tout yourself as dark, go even darker. more ›

Ah, geez. Here we were thinking that every time we saw “Sister Act” playing on a rainy Saturday all we had to do was change the channel. After all, we made it out of the 90s alive—we shouldn’t be punished with any more Whoopi Goldberg. But like she did with Hollywood Squares (or, really, like Hollywood Squares keeps doing) she weaseled her way back into the public eye. Whether or not you care, she isn’t... more ›

City officials have been known to capture the excitement of a cultural festival by declaring “Today we are all Irish!” to a crowd in Beverly or “Today we are all Polish!” to Jefferson Parkers. It’s amusing to think we’ll hear a Commissioner proclaim “Today we are all gay!” when the Gay Games open Saturday night, but Mayor Daley expressed his more than symbolic support earlier this week, thanking the out and proud (and commerce seeking)... more ›

Many say that the Chicago Improv scene is a "boys club"; that it's tough being a woman improviser in this city. Some say you need improv balls of steel to make it and play with the big boys. Well, last night Cheetara showed us their steel balls and beat another Chicago team, Team Smartypants, in the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1. Cheetara, made up of three Chicago improvisers, giggled their way to a win and were the picture of team spirit, cheering each other up from the audience. more ›

Is it just us, or are all the people who are looking forward to Snakes On A Plane, the once-and-perhaps-future sleeper hit of the summer, setting themselves up for disappointment? If you’re a regular reader of this site, you’re probably all over SOAP as you pride yourself on being up on the latest pop culture happenings. But for your boss, who’s currently going through the history on your browser so she can find a reason... more ›

An exhibit that makes you laugh sounds good enough. But we grew skeptical about the Chicago Cultural Center’s Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art, after reading this description from Cultural Affairs’ monthly e-newsletter: These works employ various strategies involving text and image using parody, satire, slapstick and practical jokes to inject humor into the normally staid art environment. We dreaded the prospect of seeing mildly funny work paired with belabored explanations draining what little humor... more ›

It's crunch time- three days before Christmas. You probably finished the shopping list and are getting ready for the weekend. Or, if you're like Chicagoist, you're now planning the New Year's Eve party/New Year's Day recovery soiree, want to spend as little money as possible on libations, or maybe even recoup some of the cash you spent during the holiday season. more ›

When the holiday spirit has become too much, when you’ve had it with the retail hordes on Michigan Avenue, you’re through with cutesy cartoon characters, and you swear you’ll flip if you hear another celebrity Christmas album, it’s time to step back and indulge your darker and more prurient interests. The holidays are oh so temporary, but art endures, even if these nice and naughty exhibitions are closing soon. more ›

A couple of things caught our attention yesterday and we thought we’d share them. First off Ike Reilly will be on NPR’s World Café today. Now this would be easier if Chicago’s WBEZ carried the show, but it doesn’t so we all have to continuously check the Archives in order to see when they have that up to hear the stylings of Libertyville's finest. And far be it from us to not break news... more ›

Labor Day is traditionally the symbolic end of summer in Chicago, but for the local art scene it marks a major transition. Chicagoist missed a rash of summer exhibition closings last weekend but, as much as we procrastinate, don’t plan to make the same mistake this weekend. Schneider Gallery’s Portrait closes Saturday. The exhibit brings together seven photographers who capture their subjects unconventionally but in deeply affecting and sometimes freaky ways. Down the block, Saslow... more ›