No sooner had Chicagoist read this article in NewCity on the art of the celebrity musical side project than we found ourselves at a party on Saturday night arguing the merits of both William Shatner’s cover of Pulp’s “Common People” and Leonard Nimoy’s treatment of “Both Sides Now.” Shatner's ditty was one of our favorite tracks from last year (and revived the spoken-words-as-singing technique popularized by Jack Nicholson in the movie version of Tommy) and it’s hard not to get a little choked up imagining Spock warbling Joni Mitchell’s lament of lost love at the end of that one Trek episode where he gets a girlfriend. (Well, it’s not hard if you’re a raving geek like Chicagoist). more ›

This is usually the place where we’re supposed to tell you what excellent bands or movies are playing on New Year’s Eve. But you probably already have your plans sketched out, right? You don’t? Dear God! Don’t you know you HAVE to have major plans on New Year’s? It’s the end of the year! Therefore, you have to be at some huge party with lots of people, find someone to kiss at midnight, and have... more ›