Results tagged “thechicago”

Way back before she became Avrilized, Chicago musician Liz Phair wowed the indie music scene with her stunning full-length debut, Exile in Guyville, an alleged song-for-song response to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. Fifteen years after Exile on Guyville's release, Phair finds herself listed as one of the greatest female guitarists by Venus Zine. The Chicago-based "leading source for coverage of women in music, art, film, fashion, and DIY culture" recently released a list of their top female guitarists of all time, itself a response to Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the top 100 guitarists of all time, a list that only included two females (Joni Mitchell and Joan Jett).

You know winter has fully set its icy claws into your heart when you hear "35 degrees" and think "hey, I'll take it!" So run outside now to soak up some rays while they last. It's supposed to get cloudy this afternoon and snow a little tonight, with temperatures dropping the rest of the week and into the weekend.

The Chicago Rush will kick off their eighth season in the Arena Football League with a primetime Monday Night Football match-up with the San Jose Sabercats. The League picked a great match-up for the first Monday Night Football game of the year. The game features the last two Arena Bowl Champions as the Sabercats took the title in 2007 and the Rush earned the title in 2006. The AFL "pre-season power poll" ranks San Jose first and the Rush second out of 17 teams. That same poll predicts that the Rush will take back the Arena Bowl title in 2008.

Gearing up for the Chiditarod on Saturday? The Chicago Methods Reporter wants to hear from you. They're hosting a "24-hour journalism party"--and trust us, there ain't no party like a journalism party--after the race to encourage participants to document their experiences and assemble a "definitive collection" of Chiditarod accounts.

Former Bears linebacker Jim Schwantz is running for mayor of Palatine. [Trib]

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has just announced its 2008 / 2009 season. Tickets are already on sale, so here are a few Chicagoist recommendations to keep in mind:

The Chicago Blackhawks honored the NIU victims last night with above decal, which they'll wear on their helmets again tomorrow night in St. Louis and Wednesday night here against Minnesota. And Ozzie Guillen and co. were wearing NIU hats at spring training. [Blackhawks, Uniwatch]

According to a new study released by Chicago Urban League Wednesday, Chicago must expand education, business and economic opportunities for African-Americans in order to become and remain globally competitive. Cook County is the most densely black populated county in the nation with 1.4 million blacks, 1.1 million of whom live in the city.

At the risk of feeding the hype machine, we still have to offer a congratulations to Mr. Kanye West for pulling in some Grammy gold last night. While we still don't buy the Grammys as an accurate barometer of the music industry and what's actually, you know, good in music these days, it's still the industry's main award show so there's something to be said for coming away with multiple trophies. While the night's big winner was Amy Winehouse, Kanye still managed to pull in four awards, as well as one of the night's most memorable acceptance speeches (surprise!) when he gave producers the verbal smack-down for trying to run him off in the middle of a tribute to his mother.

The Chicago Auto Show opens to the public tomorrow ($10 admission), and while the extent of our car knowledge--well, here and there, there is one vehicle that's currently blowing our minds:

After the Trib ran a story about Wheeling's Amante Enad roasting pigs in his back yard in traditional Filipino fashion, the village issued him a citation barring the practice and asking him to fork over (hay-oh!) his roasting equipment. [Trib]

Were the mother and son who were shot in Gary the victims of a car-jacking--or a domestic dispute?

It seems like it was just a few weeks ago we informed you Radiohead was coming to town. Now another alt-rock behemoth has announced they'll be making their way to our little hamlet this summer. Just today, R.E.M. announced dates for their upcoming tour in support of their new record, Accelerate, due out on Warner Bros. Records on April 1.

There are no shortage of opportunities to see a theater performance in Chicago, and that certainly applies to children’s theater or theater based on children’s literature. A number of of these productions have enjoyed some popular success as well. This goes to show that these performances are not attended only by dutiful schoolchildren, but are considered to be viable options in the Chicago theater scene, due to the effort and imagination that goes into adapting children’s literature for the stage.

The race for Cook County state's attorney has been hot and heavy in the past few weeks, with candidates taking plenty of shots at each other in a debate last week. (You can watch the debate here.)

Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King would have been 79 this year. In 1984 an act of Congress made the third Monday of this month Martin Luther King Day. With most government offices closed today, there are a plethora of events honoring his memory. The Chicago Park District is holding a series of events dedicated to his legacy. The University of Chicago is hosting panels and speakers all week, with a series of films and documentaries this evening starting at 5 p.m. The DuSable Museum of African American History is holding workshops, performances and panel discussions on the legacy of the civil rights movement and the challenges it still faces in 21st century America. The Chicago History Museum kicks the day off with crafts and storytelling for children, followed by songs and spirituals performed by the Chicago Chamber Choir. At 1 p.m., LeRoyce Hawkins and Cameron Drake will perform Jeff Stetson's critically acclaimed "The Meeting", an imagined meeting between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, followed by a reading of King's "I have a Dream" speech.

The Chicago 2016 Olympic "applicant file" is now available to the public and it's gosh-darn gorgeous. It's like getting your eyeballs massaged by angel feathers--visually, it's fabulous. Content-wise...well... what are you, new here? A few highlights:

$15 million buys a nice apartment, especially in the future. Shelbourne Development has officially open a sales office for the 1,194 residences in the Spire, the upcoming architectural marvel and source of an absolutely endless number of wiener jokes. Units—zing!—are priced at around $1,400 per square foot; according to the Trib, most luxury condos in Chicago cost between $750 and $1,100 per square foot. And...our eyeballs just turned to dollar signs.

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:

Now that we have a day job and commute to work every morning, we have ample opportunity to sit on the train and get our fifty cents worth reading the Sun-Times. We're huge fans of Tom McNamee's "The Chicago Way" column, as it's one of the few regular features in any of the city's newspapers that successfully reflects on the city's rich past in a way that engages present-day readers.

Bin 36 hosted their annual Bubbles Bash last night where 450 revelers ate and drank, then drank ome more, to their heart’s delight. Champagne, cava, prosecco, sekt, and sparklers from a full range of countries flowed for hours making a dark and drizzly Wednesday night into a scintillating celebration of friends, flavors, and holiday festivities.

The Chicago City Council held off on voting on a controversial ban on urban chickens yesterday. Since urban chickens are all the rage, it seems like a perfect time to ban them, right? Southwest Side Alderman Lona Lane (18th), who proposed the ban, said she didn't know why the vote on the ban was held up. Maybe it is, as the Sun-TImes suggests, because Mayor Daley has a thing for urban poultry: "Let's be realistic,"...

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Jim Oberweis campaign will be announcing “a major endorsement” today, and that that endorsement will be from Dennis Hastert. Oberweis is running for the 14th Congressional District seat that was vacated when former Speaker of the House resigned earlier this year. Although Hastert endorsed Oberweis for US Senator in the 2002 Republican primary, Jack Ryan won that race, later withdrawing after his (sexy) divorce files were unsealed. An...

Movie attendance is down 10% this year. Bad word of mouth when it comes to this year's mainstream releases perhaps? Moviemaking competitions are a great way to put our money where our mouths are, and here are some worth shooting for:

The Chicago Fire have confirmed that Head Coach Juan Carlos Osorio has resigned and is headed to the New York Red Bulls for the 2008 season. Osorio, who joined the Fire mid-season last year, was just the third head coach in the franchise history. Osorio cited "personal, family reasons" that led to his decision to depart the Fire before his contract ended. It had been rumored that his wife was unhappy in Chicago and prefers...

The Chicago Blackhawks suffered only their second back-to back loss of the season on Wednesday and the first one in over a month. Something Blackhawks fans are not used to. The Blackhawks' 3-2 loss to the Canucks came in the first of a four-game home stand that continues tonight versus the Anaheim Ducks. Eight of the next ten Blackhawks games are at home, which is good news. They could use some home-ice advantage to help...

Mayor Daley has finally announced his pick for new police superintendent: J.P. “Jody” Weis, an FBI agent who was most recently the head of the Philadelphia field office. The City Council still has to approve the appointment, but given that Ald. Isaac Carothers, chairman of the City Council's police committee, says "maybe going to the outside might bring a fresh look — a guy who knows no one and owes no one,” is anyone worried?...