Tomorrow night, Chicago new-music group Fulcrum Point will give the first two Chicago performances of The News, the new opera by the Dutch avant-pop composer Jacob Ter Veldhuis that premiered in Pittsburgh last Friday. Ter Veldhuis, better known as Jacob TV, typically writes for one or more live musicians playing along with spliced TV excerpts. His music, which, in tonality, instrumentation, and rhythm, is essentially pop, takes its melodic material from recorded speech fragments, a technique made famous by Steve Reich's early tape pieces and developed further by Scott Johnson. The News is what Ter Veldhuis refers to as a "reality opera," with edited video clips of U.S. and international news playing a duet with eight instrumentalists and two live singers. more ›

If they haven't already done so, Chicagoist would suggest that the Bears' coaching staff might want to do some more scouting of defensive tackles prior to the April 28-29 NFL Draft. And why is that? They might be a bit shorthanded at the position once the NFL deals with Tank Johnson. On Tuesday, the NFL handed down two suspensions for players who have "brought embarrassment and ridicule upon [themselves, their clubs] and the NFL, and... more ›

Chicagoist is starting to understand how Tank Johnson got his nickname. Could it be his fascination with weapons? While some people would learn from past experiences involving guns that could jeopardize one's freedom and multi-million dollar contract, others just don't seem to put two and two together. Tank Johnson apparently falls into the later category. The Chicago Bears' defensive tackle was charged yet again yesterday, this time with "six misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of... more ›

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)... more ›