Results tagged “publicity”

In a grand and futile gesture to halt the expansion of agricultural business into the world's remaining rainforests, several protesters scaled the Chicago Board of Trade building and unfurled a banner this morning. The result? A bit of publicity and a trip to the police station. Five protesters are being held for criminal trespassing, reckless conduct and criminal damage to property. By the time police and medics arrived on the scene to remove them...

Mention fish tacos to people and chances are that they either give you the gas face and say “Eewww!”, or repeat the term and giggle. Simply typing those words conjures in our mind innuendo-laced memories of our Uncle Stu holding his index and middle fingers to his mouth, flicking his tongue between them and talking about how he loved "eating fish on Friday at the 'Y'." Today’s Tribune, however, is all about fish tacos. Kevin...

BP announced yesterday that it was backing down on plans to increase discharges of ammonia and suspended solids into Lake Michigan from the planned expansion of its Whiting, Indiana refinery. BP announced on its website Thursday "ongoing regional opposition to any increase in discharge permit limits for Lake Michigan creates an unacceptable level of business risk for this $3.8 billion investment."

You know, all these food posts today made us hungry around the offices. If they've done the same for you, here's some reading material for you while you we ourselves a plate of something. Just the kind of publicity BP needs right now. The source of an oil leak that made its way to Munster, Indiana's storm sewers Monday night was one of BP's seeping, inactive pipes. In addition to jurors getting to view...

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a...

Joshua Kuhl of Madison, Wis., and Simon Brown of Rockford, Ill., were charged with felony burglary on Tuesday for allegedly breaking into the Smashing Pumpkins’ rehearsal space and taking various items including publicity photos for the group’s next album.

Jojo Baby, the doll-maker, drag queen and owner of Jo-Jo's Closet made a gruesome discovery Tuesday night as he was picking up mannequins he had bought off eBay from Bucktown resident Brian Sloan. According to Jojo, there were human skulls being boiled in Brian's apartment. Brian says he bought them legally to sell on eBay, and though the police have confiscated the skulls, no charges have yet been filed.

There's a misconception as old as time that says women aren't as interested in sports as men. While we of the fairer species of Chicagoist may not get into the heated discussions that the brawnier side does - nor can we rely on it as a conversation tactic when meeting a new fellow female - we do have room in our vast, vast brains (and hearts) for sports. Our personal favorite is America's pastime, baseball....

As Jennifer Hudson's 15 minutes of fame approach the 14:30 mark, at least she doesn't have to worry about going hungry. Yesterday, Burger King gave the Chicago native free burgers (and anything else she would like) for life. What is the connection? American Idol judge Simon Cowell was miffed that Hudson didn't thank the show in her Oscar acceptance speech. Hudson allegedly responded by saying, "If I'd been any better at my job when I...

The Police Committee of the City Council decided yesterday that it would be a crime to engage in the sort of guerrilla advertising used by the promoters of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force (ATHF)" earlier this year.

We know that you don't have anything better to do than run around town looking for a teal bird, so get out there (you have until March 3). Just remember who gave you the idea when you're handing out those free flights.

It doesn't seem fair when talented up-and-coming theater companies struggle to attract time-starved critics focused on more established institutions and touring shows. Recently, we’ve been part of the problem, reviewing the same productions covered by virtually every other media outlet in town. So now we ask you: what have we been missing?

Sean Chercover definitely writes what he knows. In his debut novel, Big City, Bad Blood, Chercover takes us on a ride with private investigator Ray Dudgeon. Dudgeon is hired to protect a Hollywood patsy, Bob Loniski, who saw something he shouldn’t have and is now being hunted by the Chicago Outfit. Chercover himself was a private eye, and obviously a lover of Chicago, and his knowledge of both make for an enjoyable read.

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend...

Chicagoist was a little confused at first when we read that Arlington Park would be replacing their natural dirt track surface with a synthetic one. As we all know, in most pro sports the fake turf is notorious for causing injuries and ending the careers of many an NFL player.

Steve Milton, creator of the world's largest rubber band ball, stood grinning like a Cheshire cat during Tuesday morning’s ceremony at State and Jackson, where the good folks at the Guinness Book certified his new record. Basking in the moment with him was his six-year-old son Bryce who, over the past year, helped him wind 175,001 bands.

The fallout from Rep. Mark Foley's resignation from Congress over revelations that he loves the young pageboys has widened to include a number of Illinois politicians. Dick Durbin has been around to wring his hands, although we're sure he'll apologize for it later, and Springfield Rep. John Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, is coming off looking rather clueless. But the big local name making the headlines is House Speaker Dennis Hastert, because one...

Two men that are running for mayor but refuse to declare it are taking swipes at each other in the local papers. Neither one will definitively say it, but it sure looks to Chicagoist like the competition is on. Yesterday, Jesse Jackson Jr. admonished Richard Daley to "leave race out of it". Apparently claiming that the unions turned a blind eye when big-box retailers opened shop outside of black neighborhoods, Da Mare accused living-wage supporters...

The Secret Service does not screw around when it comes to threats on the President. Remember last year when the Secret Service paid a visit to Columbia College when they featured some artwork with an image of President Bush with a gun to his head? So it’s a safe bet that British TV director Gabriel Range will be getting a call soon about his new pseudo-documentary Death of a President. The film was shot here...

College is a social powder keg. Students meet classmates from places they’ve only seen on a map. Members of the entitled class share rooms with the scholarship students. Freshmen meet people who look different, worship different, and think different and, if they’re humanities majors, engage theories about what it all means. Professors and administrators don’t make things any easier. Forests are sacrificed for underinformed theses about “the other” in literature and society. We shouldn’t be judged by the color of our skin, unless financial aid or heritage awards are at stake. Racial discrimination is petty and wrong, but so are some of the remedies dreamt up to combat it.

Okay, so remember the book burning from last week? The buttheads who burned some 70 Gay and Lesbian books (and 23 from the African American section) in the Merlo Library? About thirty people showed up at the library last night, to protest the lackadaisical attitude of the police and the press regarding the crime. And honestly? We’re torn. There are a couple of issues here. The fire was set with no accelerants, they left no...

We swore we weren't going to post on this as it's only going to give more publicity to a douchebag that doesn't deserve it. But damnit, Defamer, you forced our hand. We're speaking, of course, of TheTrixie.com and self-proclaimed local asshole Tucker Max. Chicagoist noticed TheTrixie.com yesterday and debated posting on it before we dismissed it as too trite, even for us. While LPTrixie.com (RIP) gave us some laughs (when it wasn’t chilling us to...

Oh, Chicagoist readers: we’re mighty conflicted this morning. On the one hand, we want to tell you about these two amusing video clips posted on the Tribune’s site. Critic Robert Elder gives a brief tour of some famous Chicago movie locations while other Trib staffers re-create—with mixed results—scenes from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. We’re wondering where they managed to find a white fringed jacket for “Sloane.” (Confidential to Trib web geeks: It’d be nice if...

The Westboro Baptist Church, with the charmingly named website of www.godhatesfags.com, is coming to Chicago Wednesday. Chicagoist is going to dub this the Evil Jackass Monsters of Hate Tour. The “Church” is based in Topeka, Kansas (that’s good publicity for the city), and it’s been protesting the funerals of Iraq war vets. The “Church” feels that our casualties in Iraq are part of God’s punishment for the United States tolerating the gays. It's monitored as...

Chicagoist loves opening presents. We love the element of surprise. But when presented with a naked woman wearing a big red bow, well, you pretty much know what you’re going to get when you unwrap it. And, frankly, we think Gold Coast resident Gina Huerta should have known what she was getting into when she signed up to compete on ABC’s “American Inventor” with her Naughty Knot product. Huerta claims that when she first presented...

March Madness resumes tonight with half the Sweet 16 teams in action. The game that's likely to garner the most local attention pits the Bradley Braves against the Memphis Tigers. Can Bradley, a 13th seed, take on #1 seed Memphis and continue the unexpected run through the NCAA Tournament? Or will tonight end a magical run by a team few expected to win even one game in the tourney. At this point, there shouldn't be...

It's not like we haven't talked about Marshall McGearty here. It's in our city. But McGearty has gotten plenty of press... and now press *about* the press. First, the New York Times did an article in January (in archive, you must pay for whole article). Then yesterday, the Washington Post ran an article about Marshall McGearty. And to top off the weird circle of circles, Wonkette ran a post comparing the Times piece to the...

The Baseball Hall of Fame added 17 new members following votes by a 12-member committee of baseball historians and Negro Leagues experts. Among the list of 39 finalists who did not get enough votes for entry into the Hall was former White Sox star Minnie Minoso. Born in Cuba, Minoso came the the U.S. in 1946 and played first for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues. He made his major league debut with...

It’s the first week in January so most news organizations are combating the winter doldrums by gangbanging any news story that looks at them sideways. (This notion might be the only explanation why the story of the West Virginia miners—a legitimately newsworthy and tragic event—showed up on CNN’s Showbiz Today last night just before a story on Lindsey Lohan’s publicity st…er, bulimia and drug use).

For Chicago's entertainment beats, 2005 is best summed up by the phrase: change is good. At this time last year, if you had told us that 2005 would bring not one, but two world class rock festivals to Chicago’s parks, we’d have patted you on the head and cooed “Aw, you’re so cute.” But wonders never cease and so it was that the city of Chicago finally realized that in order for Chicago to become...