The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Theater: There is A LOT of theater in Chicago, and it's often nigh impossible to select what shows you want to take in. Well, how about if you could catch a glimpse of what each show had to offer? that's the concept behind the Speed Theater Open House at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater. Check......

Jerry Lai STR/AP More details are emerging about the Tinley Park murders from this weekend. In addition to the five women who died, one woman was shot but survived and gave police a description of the gunman, who is still at large. Lane Bryant is offering $50,000 reward for information that leads to the shooter's arrest. The mayor of Tinley Park has ordered the town's flags to fly at half-mast for the next five......

So many movies, so little time. How true. Unless you're a professional cinephile, there's no hope of seeing even a fraction of what looks interesting in any given year. We actually tallied up the numbers and between theatrical releases, film festival screenings, and DVDs we've seen 175 movies this year — barely any at all. And with the industry's practice of backloading releases, a veritable midyear drought suddenly giving way to an avalanche of......

After rumors that Jon Bon Jovi would be the guest judge on last week's Project Runway proved to be false, with Sarah Jessica Parker filling the celebujudge role, Chicagoist was hoping that he might venture to show up on this week's episode. As Tim Gunn led the contestants onto a soundstage, we held out hope, but instead were treated to...Tiki Barber? Yes, the former NFL running back/Today Show correspondent was the challenge subject and guest......

Don't forget to baste that turducken. Buy-backs at Goldstar Rory Lake's Karaoke Dreams The after-show mainstage improv sets at Second City -- Margaret Christmas morning shots at Inner Town Atomix Coffee Free Monday shows at the Empty Bottle -- Sarah Swanksalot helps us celebrate swanksgiving by turning the world on its ear.......

It's all Peterson, all the time these days. Drew Peterson was on the Today show again this morning, this time with his lawyer, who effectively prevented Peterson from saying anything of substance (couldn't prevent him from looking creepy, though). Last night, Peterson invited ABC 7 reporter Sarah Schulte into his house, and Wife #1 was on Good Morning America today, too. Really taking the cake, though, is the Sun-Times. They've rolled out a whole Stacy......

Here at the Chicagoist offices, several reality shows are popular among the staff, but our devotion for the majority of programs pales in comparison to our love for the crème de la crème, Project Runway. Bravo's hit show returned last night for its fourth season of designing, measuring, catwalking strutting and drama, with two Chicagoans vying for the chance to take it home at New York City Fashion Week. The first episode was the usual......

And the hits just keep on coming for Rod Blagojevich. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected a new president today, and it's Chicago's own Cardinal Francis George. But it's not all good news today for George: the Sun-Times got a copy of a letter he sent, in which he says new legislation that allows sex-abuse victims to sue perpetrators even after the criminal statute of limitations has expired, is "about money." Police are......

Now that the Chicago International Film Festival is over, we can finally turn our attention to some homegrown cinematic delights. Currently showing at the Siskel for a week-long run is Joe Swanberg's dramedy Hannah Takes the Stairs. A microbudgeted movie shot in Logan Square, it's been taking the festival circuit by storm and garnering write-ups in the New York Times. Despite his movie's acclaim, Swanberg himself, according to a new article in the Reader, is......

Looking for a woolly mammoth costume? Ha! Does the pope shit in the woods? Of course you are. Then you're in luck: Tomorrow's the Goodman Theatre's costume sale, and believe it or not, there is indeed a woolly mammoth up for grabs. The Snuffleupagus-esque get-up is from the Goodman's 1992 production of The Skin of Our Teeth, as is a dinosaur costume (also available!). No word on how crusty/not crusty the 15-year-old outfit is,......

Once again, we would like to take a brief moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. Sarah Silverman Program, with new episodes starting soon! OFFICE, with their new album. Did you know they're playing at Schubas next week? Fierce People, a movie with more dysfunctional people than we know what to do with. Who Hates Whom, the new book from Bob Harris. Thunderstruck, the bestseller now in paperback. Busted Tees, which has a $12......

Drum roll please ... here's a list of advertisers this week on Chicagoist. Sarah Silverman Program, who has new episodes starting in October. Look Me In the Eye, in bookstores on September 25. Busted Tees, which is still having a sale with free shipping if you buy three shirts. If you, or anyone you might know, wants to be on this list, the first place to start is our online mediakit, featuring Chicagoist and the......

After a week of following the Green City Market Localvore Challenge, Chicagoist is feeling pretty good. OK, we admit that yesterday’s brunch at Prairie Grass Café made up of local products (chicken from Country Cottage Farm, braised greens from Kinnikinnick Farms, corn, roasted peppers, mashed potatoes, Wisconsin cheese, grilled pears, grapes, raspberry ice cream) definitely ended things on a high note. But even before we got to try co-chefs/owners Sarah Stegner and George Bumbaris’ flavorful......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

Like many school-age children, Chicagoist was definitely one to doodle in our notes. We filled many a sketchbook, inviting our friends to even add their own stuff, which we have to remember to check up on, in case any of those drawrings are eBay-able these days. We even kept random notebooks just because we liked particular sketches, especially at the expense of first-period Econ. As years passed, our illustrative skillz fell by the wayside, which......

The next two posts written by writer Sarah Dahnke will be written in first-person singular, in order to recount her personal experiences at Lollapalooza. For those of you who have never quite grown accustomed to our signature "we" style, we hope this is a breath of fresh air, but don't get too used to it. As I will report in further detail in the near future, this Chicagoist writer was fortunate to be a guest......

The Hideout is one of Chicago's more curious rock venues, presenting live music in a space that’s one part Elks Lodge, one part Uncle Dan’s rec room. But the strangely homey, lived-in space lends depth to Walkabout Theater’s “site-specific” production of Mark Guarino’s “Overnight Lows,” an insomniac tale set in a seemingly familiar but subtly off-kilter world. Extracting drama from everyday locales is Walkabout’s bread-and-butter; the company previously examined mundane daily rituals in a laundromat......

There’s been a subtle shift in Chicago’s independent music scene over the past year. As bands like The Ponys, The Changes, and Bound Stems are out of town more often in accordance with their newfound national attention, other hardworking bands are stepping up to establish themselves as the foundation of the city’s new music community. One of the leaders of this pack is Cracklin Moth, who has built a following on the strength of a......

Chicagoist checked out the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Dario Franchitti, actress Ashley Judd’s husband, became the second Scot in history to win the 500 mile race as he was in the lead when a strong rain shower ended the race after 166 of 200 laps. Rain threatened the race all day but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track crew were able to dry the track after morning showers to get the race......

There are still smiles on our faces from last night’s show at Schubas. The Duhks, who hail from Winnipeg, defy categorization. Sure, they’re playing bluegrass, but there are elements of soul, gospel, Brazilian samba, straight-up country, African beats and Celtic harmonies mixed in, too. On paper it sounds like a mess, but live it sounds like home. The Grammy-nominated quintet took songs from other artists and truly made them their own. From Led Zeppelin’s “Whole......

The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is holding its annual Cookbook Expo this weekend in Chicago. And, for the first time, they're opening it up to the public. This is your chance to hobnob with some of your favorite cookbook authors and chefs, who will be on hand to sell and sign their latest books. The event runs from 5-6 p.m. tomorrow at the Hilton Chicago. Even though it's free, reservations are required; e-mail......

It's the first Friday of the month which means The Dollar Store Show, a series of readings and performances based on purchases for a buck, returns to the Hideout. This month's readers include writers James Kennedy and Jonathan Messinger as well as theater performers Sarah Haskins and Diana Slickman. Hideout, Friday, 7 p.m. $1 We can't decide which under-appreciated literary group to support on Saturday so we'll list two and hopefully hop between them. First,......

Well, what can we say about “American Idol”? Our Naperville girl Gina Glocksen is hanging in there, good for her. There’s way too much going on around her, she’ll be sticking around for a couple more weeks at least. We think she’s pretty. And a quick note about Sligh, we happened to have liked his rendition of "Endless Love". If the judges don't want potential idols messing with the songs, they should stop telling them......

We've been pouring over the data from our previous five weather experiments and have come to a painful conclusion: our data is inconclusive. We believe this is due to the fairly consistent nature of the Chicago winter. Because of this, we plan to revisit our weather experiment with all new sources in April. Until then, we'd suffice it to say it will be cold. It may rain or snow. And it will probably be windy.......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor is spending......

Walking in Sylvie’s Lounge from the brisk and breezy night was like arriving home after a long day at work. Greeted with smiles by the few faces in the front room, we wondered for whom the three bands we came to see would be playing. Most notably, the Passerines, a band hailing from Hyde Park who will take the stage at Chicagoist’s own Ctrl-Alt-Rock v. 2.0 on Thursday, February 8. Passing the half dozen or......

Some days it seems like the next time we have to interview for a job that the only way that will happen is on television. Of course, we’re not sure who would watch America’s Next Top Admin Assistant. It also seems like television is the top way for a band to get that next boost forward these days. Nashville Star is no American Idol in terms of ratings, but Evanston native, Meg Allison, has survived......

One of our favorite things about the end of the year, besides pretty lights on houses, presents and actually having a date for New Years, is all the end of the year “best of” lists. Yesterday, the Tribune named the best books of 2006. You can check these out after the jump. There were a couple of books we agreed with and a couple we didn’t. We loved Sarah Gruen's Water for Elephants, even with......

The Fake Fictions...

Everybody's coming to our Happy Hour tomorrow, right? Papa John’s Pizza kicked off its Superman Returns promotion in Metropolis, IL, yesterday, announcing that anyone who lives on a street called Lois Lane will get a free pizza, which is good news for a small block of folks in Phoenix, AZ, among others. Sylvester Stallone was in town last night for the premiere of his new “Rocky” film. He said the message of the film......