Sometimes you just want a little peace and quiet, even if you're hardcore heroes At The Drive In and Sparta founder Jim Ward. It was after a Sparta tour last year that Ward returned home and unplugged the amps, seeking a new way to approach the art of songwriting. He went into his home studio and carefully crafted and recorded 5 delicious, folk-tinged but firmly indie-leaning tunes that he's released on the appropriately-titled Quiet EP, with help from friends in Ambulette and The Secret Life of Sparrows. Now Ward is taking the stripped-down show on the road, playing a series of dates in the Midwest and his native Texas before heading down under to Australia and New South Wales. Chicago is lucky enough to be one of those stops, and fans of Ward's more well-known projects won't be disappointed by this intimate look at the man's songwriting process and considerable melodic chops. more ›

The week in CTA has started off in typical fashion: sad and disappointing. more ›

Chicagoist has a new fun game. It’s called “get people all riled up”. All we do is sit down over a beer, coffee or fifteen Jamison shots and say the two most electrified words in the English language, “The Secret”. It's way fun to watch proponents of “The Secret” battle it out with the militant disbelievers and just sit back and let ‘er rip. more ›

We’ll admit it, we haven’t watched "Saturday Night Live" in … well … let’s just say that the last time we watched "SNL" we thought it was about time for Kevin Nealon to finish up. more ›

30 Rock's Scott Adsit more ›

Chicago sure seems conducive to fostering public relationships between critically abrasive duos. We produced one of the most famous teams in movie criticism with Siskel and Ebert, and who can ever forget the headline-shattering team of Marin and Mancow? We think it’s time to add DeRogatis and Kot to that list as well. Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis head up Sound Opinions, what they claim to be the world’s only rock 'n' roll talk show.... more ›

Mutant deers, Nazi gingerbread men, depraved preschoolers and creepy teachers - it's been a busy week for stupid, so let's jump right in. A 4-year-old Texas boy has been accused of sexual harassment by the La Vega Independent School District after hugging a teacher’s aid and rubbing his face into her chest. School officials say his actions warrant the accusations. We say give him a break – the little shit just wanted some motorboat action.... more ›

Counterfeit $100 bills have been stacking up at bars and restaurants in the Rush and Division and River North areas faster than empty Viagra bottles in their men's rooms on a Friday night. Ala Carte Entertainment, which owns 30 area establishments, says almost $10,000 in phony Benjamins have been passed over the past month. The Secret Service (they do more than protect the President) held a seminar on detecting the funny money at Excalibur Thursday. more ›

We were gonna start these Decent Days & Nights off Sunday with some dancing at Scissor Sisters, but instead we got our fix of "Desperate Housewives." We guess that everyone is trying to hit the Midwest before the snow starts flying, which may not be that far away, because there are an insane number of great shows happening this week. This week offers something for our ever-changing moods. On Monday, we may feel like being... more ›

The Secret Service does not screw around when it comes to threats on the President. Remember last year when the Secret Service paid a visit to Columbia College when they featured some artwork with an image of President Bush with a gun to his head? So it’s a safe bet that British TV director Gabriel Range will be getting a call soon about his new pseudo-documentary Death of a President. The film was shot here... more ›

As its name suggests, Theater on the Lake combines two of our favorite Chicago attractions. There’s nothing quite like seeing a fantastic show after an evening lakefront stroll. But there’s also nothing quite like wondering what the hell you just saw while darting through puddles and thunderstorms to get back to the bus. Thankfully, most of our memories attached to the shed at Fullerton and LSD belong to that first category. And this year’s lineup... more ›

Back in fourth grade, Chicagoist tried to get away with a lot at school, but it was things like chewing gum in class or playing tackle football on the playground when the teachers weren't looking. Three fourth graders in Gary set their sights a little higher, printing up almost $300 worth of fake bills on their home computer. Chicagoist had a computer back then too, an big Texas Instruments typewriter-thing that you connected to a TV, but we couldn't get past the novelty of typing four-letter words on the screen. We were so apathetic. Put these kids in an AP class. more ›

Note: This is Part 3 of an occasional series. more ›

Holy son of a gun, there is a lot going on in Chicago this weekend. And it is going to be HOT. And if you're anything like Chicagoist--lacking A/C in the ay pee tee--you may be thinking: "hmmm, McCormick Place may not be such a bad place to spend my weekend." In that case, lucky you, because the American Library Association will be there, hosting its 2005 Annual Conference. more ›

When the Doves announced they were canceling the first of several dates on their U.S. tour, openers Mercury Rev became headliners by circumstance and were thrust into a badly-needed spotlight. more ›