As we near the end of November and look to the winter, the on-sale listings begin to look a bit spare; only the hardiest of souls venture into a Chicago winter. The California band Curtains records for the Sufjantastic label Asthmatic Kitty. And while its sound resembles the delicate folk of his records, that’s like saying Rivers Cuomo and Ira Glass resemble each other because they both favor heavy glasses and sweaters. Curtains favors spare... more ›

Last night, as Chicagoist began celebrating the weekend a day early, we spoke with someone from Rhode Island (motto: “If You Stretch Your Arms Wide Enough, You Can Hug The Entire State!”) who is thinking of moving to our fair city. While acknowledging all the great things the city has to offer, she expressed some hesitation: "I just don't know if I could handle the winters." more ›

As Chicagoist walked through the cutting winds and cursed winter for overstaying its welcome, we tried to think happy thoughts about warmer climates. Since we've been listening to the torrent from South by Southwest, our minds drifted down to Texas and we imagines we were there sitting in the warm sun as we dined on BBQ and ice cold beer and listened to that sweet, sweet music. Then the dudes from ZZ Top showed up... more ›

Chicagoist is a big fan of procrastination. If procrastination were bricks, we’d be a housing project. We even won a procrastination contest once (we’ve been waiting for our trophy but for some reason it has yet to arrive). But what is procrastination if not the consternation over the lack of inspiration? Everyone knows if you play enough games of Freecell then brilliant ideas will eventually spur you into in a frenzy of creative activity.... more ›