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Best shows to see: Todd Snider, Sharon Van Etten, Mick Jenkins, Helado Negro
I'm a sucker for Halloween-themed music events (or at least the idea of them), which means I need to start making plans to get to the Portage Theater soon. Starting sunday the Silent Film Society of...
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When copy desks don't do their job
Thomas Friedman writing in the Wednesday New York Times:I can't put my finger on it exactly, but you feel today in Washington a certain laxness, that anything goes and that too few people working for...
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We ate at Chicago's first Olive Garden so now you don't have to
Would it surprise you to learn that there was a 45-minute wait for a table for two at the goddamned Olive Garden last Tuesday night? True, this particular Olive Garden is the first ever to exist within...
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High Hat Club promises lots of laughs
Last Saturday marked the grand opening of a new bar in the former Katerina's space, High Hat Club. The north-side spot has a few signature cocktails, a small menu of "Creole-Italian" food, and hopes to...
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Did you read about Weezer, Karen Lewis, and Twin Peaks sweaters?
Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us.Hey, did you read:• That the Chicago Teachers Union will hold a press conference this afternoon about the health of its president,...
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Forget about Sun Kil Moon, here's some new TV on the Radio
I'd originally envisioned writing today's 12 O'Clock Track about "War on Drugs," the new Sun Kil Moon song that's been at the center of more than enough indie-rock blog conversations to discourage me...
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The Great Chicago Fire Festival sets into motion the Great Chicago Spin Machine
After its pathetic fizzle last Saturday, I thought I'd never again have to write about the Great Chicago Fire Festival. A failure like that speaks for itself. Especially when there's a crowd of 30,000...
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First look at Momotaro—sushi, robata, and izakaya
A friend is in Japan this week and tweeted a picture of a bowl of beautifully marbled raw beef with raw onion and soy mirin dipping sauce, marveling at how simple and yet remarkable such a dish could...
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Oozing Wound cut loose in new video for 'Going Through the Motions Til I Die'
Local thrashers Oozing Wound—whose second Thrill Jockey LP, Earth Suck, is due at the end of the month—have just unleashed a new music video for the album's first track, "Going Through the Motions Til...
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Another year, another crop of good-looking disappointments at the Chicago...
The other day, I wrote about the thrill of watching filmmakers fail spectacularly—a post inspired by the recent revival of Nagisa Oshima's Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, as well as the half-dozen...
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Cocktail Challenge: Za'atar
Challenged to create a cocktail with za'atar, Marta Jean Evans of Longman & Eagle makes a historically inspired drink. by Julia Thiel OO.ready(function() { window.player =...
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Reader's Agenda Fri 10/10: Supernatural Chicago, Tony Magee, and Matt Ulery
Looking for something to do today? Agenda's got you covered.…[ Read more ][ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
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Nobody Knows, Rope, and other Reader-recommended movies to watch online this...
Each Friday, we recommend seven Old Movies to Watch Now, all of which come recommended by one of our critics and can currently be screened online. Read the review, watch the movie, feel accomplished.…[...
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Photos from the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, courtesy of Chicago's Gary...
I just released an international split seven-inch on my label, Gary Records, from the bands Hot & Cold (of Beijing and Toronto) and Skip Skip Ben Ben (of Taiwan). My heritage is Chinese and I spent...
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The Chicago International Film Festival, and the rest of this week's screenings
There's only one place for cinephiles to be this weekend—the Music Box of Horrors. Wait, did I say that?…[ Read more ][ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
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Governor Quinn on parade . . . with Martin Sheen
People grew excited at the sight of Governor Pat Quinn and his entourage marching at the front of the parade. "I love you, baby!" cried out a middle-age woman as she jumped to her feet and waved her...
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Did you read about Jerry Angelo, Patrick Modiano, and Jan Hooks?
Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us.Hey, did you read:• That former Bears general manager Jerry Angelo told USA Today that the NFL covered up"hundreds and hundreds" of...
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'Predators' is the heavy-as-hell return of experimental hardcore supergroup...
Formed in 1999, Old Man Gloom is a sort of on-again-off-again experimental hardcore supergroup, cofronted by three heavy metal giants: Aaron Turner of Isis, Nate Newton of Converge and Doomriders, and...
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If you're looking for something weird, Gyorgy Palfi's film Free Fall...
As usual several of the more interesting-sounding titles at this year's Chicago International Film Festival weren't made available for preview, and so, I can't say for certain that Gyorgy Palfi's Free...
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Women & Children First and Sem Co-op are under new management
Bookselling has never been a sure way to unfathomable riches, but if you were going to take over an independent bookstore, there have been worse times than the present. Particularly if you're going to...
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