"More than 90% of wines purchased in the U.S. are under $15." This statistic is the foundation for wine writer and critic Carolyn Evans Hammond's Good, Better, Best Wines: A No-Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines. Hammond uses her expertise to offer guidance and recommendations in navigating an array of widely distributed inexpensive wines. From the start, the book offers great tools for gauging how to find, store and open inexpensive bottles, including paying attention to the region, the producer and the type of grape. However, the recommendations offered under her scale of good, better and best wines can be very hit or miss. We just can’t fathom recommending a jug of Carlo Rossi to anyone who is legal drinking age; we turned to the Rossi in college too many times to know better. more ›

Who to Know more ›

We're going to be doing a special Valentine's Day version of the Buffet next week. Until then, here are some events to tie you over. more ›

It's been a hard week for Oprah. Seems some peeps are mad that Oprah signed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (mouthful of a name) to her Oprah and Friends XM radio station. They're questioning how Oprah could sign someone who backs Giuliani when her support is so strong for Obama. Wah? This is why we don't wish for fame. Oh, and this reason: one of the other news stories this week is how Oprah is a traitor for backing a male candidate instead of the female candidate. Damned if, damned if. Oh, and if you're planning a trip to New York so you can see "The Color Purple" on Broadway (we just know you are) you better head out quick, the show ends February 24th after over 900 performances. more ›

The biggest cultural stories of 2008 are likely less predictable than this week’s Rose Bowl. Every year we see our share of breakout artists and surprising storefront gems, and 2008 promises to be no different. But 2007 left some unfinished business and we’re eager to see how these stories play out: more ›

Only the biggest of dreamers gave Illinois a chance of beating the semi-professional USC Trojans in yesterday's 94th annual Rose Bowl. Unfortunately, USC beat the Illini like the proverbial red-headed stepchild 49-17. The academic conclusion to the game also led to some wonderful entendre-laden headlines in the dailies: "Case of California Creamin'", "Too Much Booty Puts Illini on the Defensive", and "Trojans Pull Out All the Stops" are some of our favorites. The loss also provided Jay "the Joke" Mariotti with another opportunity to pen his now-patented "sports in this state really suck" columns, complete with desperate stabs at modern cultural relevance and creating lame-ass nicknames, this time referencing "Knocked Up" and calling Illini head coach Ron Zook "Zooker." more ›

Maybe it's just that we're ready for the weekend (and ready for this site to say "yes"), but it seems like this whole day is just a jerk. Time: Move faster! Weather: Be a little nicer! World: Be more fair! Especially Illinois. more ›

Chicagoist knew there'd be plenty of surprises during Sunday's college football Bowl Championship Series selections, given the losses by the two top-ranked team on Saturday and then general tumult among the top ranked teams all season long. Among the biggest surprises was the Rose Bowl's selection of the Fighting Illini to play against the USC Trojans on New Year's Day. The Illini did knock off Wisconsin when they were ranked fifth, and they handed Ohio... more ›

Intonation is back! And they’ve partnered with the MCA to put on a big ‘ole party as part of the museum’s 40-year celebration. Even better? The whole show is as free as air. Intonation’s Rock/Art kicks off on tomorrow at 1 p.m. with a whole slew of local bands, representing some of the most notable sounds to come out of Chicago in the recent past. When you get there, check out the new Sympathy... more ›

The Empty Bottle, in conjunction with Britain's The Wire magazine, will host this weekend's fifth annual Adventures in Modern Music festival, a self-described "celebration of 'outsider sounds.'" The festival promises to pack 'em into the Bottle for sets by groundbreaking artists both new and historic. Daily lineups, with highlights: TONIGHT (Wednesday): White Magic, Badawi, Holy Fuck, and Graveyards & Zac Davis Drag City's White Magic is fronted by the smoky-voiced Mira Bilotte, who channels a... more ›

Chemicals — what would we do without them? Twinkies wouldn't have a shelf life of a decade. Diet Coke wouldn't be diet. And microwave popcorn wouldn't cause some weird lung disease. We just read today that diacetyl, one of the main substances used to flavor microwave popcorn*, isn't so good for the lungs. Truthfully, when we read the first article about the first consumer that is likely to have "popcorn lung" (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, or... more ›

had some impressive credentials when it set out on its national tour. Oddly enough, its last engagement is here in Chicago at The Auditorium Theatre in the south loop. more ›

Maybe we got a bit ahead of ourselves when we dreamed of Greg Oden trading in the red jersey of Ohio St. for a red Bulls uni, on account of the Bulls holding the right to swap picks with the New York Knicks in this year's draft as part of the Eddy Curry trade. But you saw how bad the Knicks were in '06, right? And then they added Isiah Thomas to their bench as... more ›

The theory goes that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Good thing Kathy Rose had a different plan. When faced with a family crisis — Rose lost her parents to heart disease and cancer — this former nurse took her passion for Europe and good-for-you food stuff and created City Olive, a cozy shop in Andersonville with a soft spot for olive oils. more ›

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay... more ›

Early last week we had the opportunity to sit in on a class at Early to Bed. The Edgewater shop offers a variety of workshops and events, ranging from basic (Flirting for Nerds) to quite advanced (How to be a Dominant Woman). We had the good fortune to sit in on An Introduction to BDSM, a workshop taught by professional dominatrix Mistress Crimson. more ›

Chicagoist thinks that there are two kinds of people in the world. The first kind of person is the person who orders the $11 cheese flight at newly opened Eno in the InterContinental Hotel and is impressed by the clever presentation and delicious morsels to be had. The second type of person looks at the three minuscule pieces of cheese sitting in front of them and thinks "I paid $11 for this?" These two people can be distinguished by one thing; the first has an expense account, and the second ... alas, the second is Chicagoist or anyone else lacking said expense account. more ›

Tonight the Axl Rose freak show currently known as Guns N' Roses hits Chicago. We know the following from their tour thus far: Axl has booted Eagles Of Death Metal from the bill, but decided to keep on the half-naked antics of the Suicide Girls and the half-baked antics of Sebastian Bach*. Axl will not hit the stage until at least two hours after the conclusion of the last opening act. And that’s if he’s... more ›

Iva Toguri, a Chicago native once convicted of treason for allegedly being one of the voices of the infamous Japanese radio siren "Tokyo Rose" during World War II, died at the age of 90 on Tuesday. She had run her family's store, J. Toguri Mercantile near Belmont and Clark for 50 years since the war. Toguri had been visiting a relative in Japan when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Stuck in the country, she took a... more ›

Many years ago, Chicagoist's little brother had a bit of a situation with a bully. Said bully was angry with the little brother because the little brother was cute and charismatic and seemed to have garnered the attentions of the object of the bully's eye. The bully kept insisting that there would be a bit of a rumble on the tetherball courts, and the little brother said "Bring it on." But as the weeks passed, fewer and fewer taunts were made and the fight never happened. more ›

Although the weather has not been particularly cooperative, 'tis the season for the Good Humor man, Mister Softee (celebrating his golden anniversary this year), root beer floats, waffle cones, frozen bananas, and sticky kids hopped up on sugar. Chicagoist is old, and we tire easily, so we leave chasing ice cream trucks to those who don't know any better. We head for the ice cream shop instead. In this installment of "South Side Cheap Eats", we've found four ice cream shops that are well worth the trip out south. If you come down by bike, all those calories won't go to your hips, either. more ›

With the family, friends and Northwestern campus still in mourning over the loss of football coach Randy Walker, The Wildcats stayed within their "family" in naming their new head coach. On Friday, they named Pat Fitzgerald as their new head coach. Formerly Northwestern's linebackers coach, Fitzgerald had been groomed by Walker to eventually take over the program. However, they both thought that wouldn't come for another half-decade or more. more ›

Chicagoist is a big believer in human rights. In fact, we think us humans should have more rights. For one, every living soul should have the right to visit Wisconsin Dells at least once and bask in its wonderful tackiness. Two, everyone should have the right to walk on a sidewalk without falling through giant holes. We're frivolous like that. Lastly, one should be able to go through life without looking like a celebrity because, really, what kind of life could that possibly be? more ›

Some of our favorite stories are the ones where something truly extra-ordinary happens to an ordinary person. Movies like "The Exorcist" or "The Possession of Emily Rose" scare the bejeezus out of us; to watch a young girl turn into something more than human feels like an inborn, genetic nightmare, that both compels and repels us. But what if that extraordinary event is one that turns a girl into a full fledged miracle worker? What... more ›

Tim, we hardly knew ya. Sent home just days into the season by Bulls management, they finally waived Thomas on Wednesday after they were unable to work out a trade prior to the trading deadline. Thomas played in just 3 games for the Bulls following his acquisition by the Bulls as part of the Eddy Curry deal. The Bulls were primarily interested in his expiring contract, and when he sensed he wasn't part of the... more ›

The CTA has been pretty busy lately expanding the Brown Line and running out of money. So, they’re looking for a little help on their latest project – renaming the Cermak branch of the Blue Line. more ›

Chicagoist refrains from trying to pick people up on the “L.” If you crash and burn, it’s too difficult to make a quick getaway. But maybe we need to rethink this strategy. After all, it's only a $2 cover and it's cheaper than a bar. more ›

Last week was yet another stressful week for poor Antonio Davis. On Thursday, his wife Kendra was charged with battery stemming from an October "road rage" incident in Naperville in which she allegedly flug hot coffee at another motorist. Just as the hype surrounding her United Center bruhaha started to die down this comes to light! Did Antonio know about that run-in? Maybe he was trying to protect David Axelrod from his wife and not the other way around... more ›

They’re giving Navy Pier a makeover. Cripes. It’s like the makeover for Paula Jones: we guess it couldn’t hurt, but it doesn’t really help, does it? more ›

The college football season kicks off this weekend, and Chicagoist can't wait! This is Big Ten country, so we thought we'd take a look at the conference and make our predictions. While the Big Ten is shaping up to be a major football powerhouse this season, the two Illinois schools don't figure to draw much attention. Illinois went 3-8 (1-7 conf.) last year, costing Ron Turner his job. Ron Zook, who lost his job... more ›