"You Will Like Des Plaines"
Revitalize Des Plaines! will be of great assistance if you're interested in our northwestern neighbor's politics, history and, in one case, amazing sheet music.
Merge
Category
Weblogs
"What vileness skulks in Tootsie Pop?"
FoGB Jim Coudal penned a delicious cautionary tale about the dangers of Halloween Candy for Jason Santa Maria's Candygram series.
Living Organically in the Concrete Jungle
Organic in Chicago is a site devoted to organic eating and living in the city.
Violence on Their Minds
ChicagoTalks wonders if Lincoln Parkers are feeling safer a couple months removed from the spate of muggings this summer. Meanwhile, it also notes that anti-violence groups are short on funding.
Blog Clips
The Chicago Journal profiles Mike Knezovich, the wit behind Reading with Scissors.
Goodbye, AT&T
Got an iPhone but no bars? Here's how to leave AT&T behind.
Threadless Founder Goes Culinary
Crain's has an interview with skinnyCorp co-founder Jacob DeHart who's launching a new startup business website later this month: CulinaryCulture.com.
The Murder Professor
Division and Rush debuts a new serialized comic featuring "Stu Peterman," a gentleman who teaches how to commit murder and get away with it.
We're Number...What?!
In The Daily Beast's first ever attempt to rank the "civic IQ" of the 55 largest cities in America, Chicago comes in tied with St. Louis at a dismal #24.
A Map of Words and Images
Chicago Art Map is a new site covering the city's art scene.
Polanski Polemic
Local author Kate Harding reminds us all why Roman Polanski has been "in exile" for 32 years.
Contemptuous Smile
When reading Cosmo's guide to the meaning of men's smiles, it's helpful to have a man around to demonstrate.
Behind Chicagoans for Rio
The folks behind Chicagoans for Rio talk about why they created the site and other questions. [via]
Five Faves from Famous Folk
Five Tunes is a local blog that asks musicians to share five songs they're currently digging.
How are the Olympics like Milton Bradley?
Past performance is the best indicator of future behavior, says Steve Rhodes. (Share your own thoughts in Mechanics.)
From Radio Reporter to Radio Dispatched
Former Chicago Public Radio reporter Jay Field hasn't been able to find work in the industry, so he's now driving a cab. Read about his experiences at Recession Taxi.
Chi-Town Daily News Folds Evolves?
Breaking news: Chi-Town Daily News laid off its entire staff yesterday and is closing shop. We're working working on the story; expect more details soon. UPDATE: Editor-in-Chief Geoff Dougherty tells me "All is not as it seems!" and that "closing shop" is not accurate. UPDATE @: Here's a statement from Dougherty about the evolution of the site into a new venture. UPDATE 3: Read our full story in A/C.
Sped Up Chicago
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Breaking News on Twitter
Breaking Tweets reports "world news twitter-style." Founder Craig Kanalley caught the attention of Valleywag with his class at DePaul on the intersection of journalism and social media.
Living Well, Thriftily
Thriftista is, by its own admission, "yet another blog on living well for less." But rather than slumming it, the site finds deals on higher-end stuff, too.
Travel Wishlist
GB's own Brian Lauvray also writes for travel site Trazzler. You can help send him to New York for two weeks (we promise he'll come back) by voting up his story in the site's #NYCGO contest.
More Proof You Wasted Your Youth
The king of Chicago crime blogging? A 16-year-old boy. TimeOut Chicago reveals the force behind the Avondale and Logan Square Crime Blotter.
A Daily Dose of Cute
ZooBorns blogs the newest arrivals at zoos around the world from its home base in Wicker Park [via]
Subliminal Advertising?
Sex sells, right? That might explain the unexpected image Transmission staffer Liz McLean Knight noticed on an iGo brochure bearing her likeness.
Your Ticket to Indian Film
If you're interested in Bollywood movies but don't know where to start, let The Bollywood Ticket be your guide. Written in Chicago with an American perspective, it's a good entree into the sprawling Hindi cinema.
Trending Items
Chicago-based I Am The Trend aims to be your guide to indie clothing, music and art.
Be Careful Out There
Apparently robberies including mugging were only up 1.1 percent through July, but it sure seems like violent crime is up more than that this summer, doesn't it? Anecdotal evidence sure points that way.
I Love You Oprah: a Sonnet
Bad poetry is always bad.
Turning Up the Heat on Top Chef?
Seems like a few bloggers are stirring up controversy over something many Chicago residents have known for years: Rick Bayless cooks delicious Mexican food. [via] Read further thoughts in Drive-Thru.
Short Tales of Loss & Love
It Was Over When, brief stories of the moment you knew -- and its corollary, It Was Love When.
This Fully Operational ChicagoNow
ChicagoNow came out of beta today, with an expanded front page and 72 blogs in the stable, including GB's On Ramp (which you should totally be checking out).
Bubbling Up
Stuck with a lemon of a condo? Underwater with your mortgage? You might want to keep an eye on Chicago Housing Bubble, a blog that feels your pain.
Bikers Beware
As if there weren't enough hazards for urban bikers, Whet Moser at the Reader warns against "thing-throwing jackasses," and legislation in Colorado that could benefit us in the Windy City.
What's Spanish for Innuendo?
You'd think someone would notice the unfortunate juxtaposition of two ads and make a change -- not replace one innuendo with another.
Good Cop, Bad Cop?
Over at ChicagoNow, Chicagosphere creator Mike Doyle reports on two wildly divergent blogs, the decidedly pro-CPD Second City Cop and the highly-CPD-suspicous Chicago Copwatch.
The Dark Side of Photo Collecting
Big Happy Funhouse finds ephemera's seamy underbelly.
A New 'Leaf'
The crazy-popular Hopleaf finally gets the green-light on adding some much-needed space a sister restaurant next door. Now how long before THAT spot gets filled wall to wall? (via Edgewater Community Buzz)
Standing Room Only
Nick Kindelsperger of The Paupered Chef has been highlighting the best stand-up eating in Chicago for Serious Eats.
That Tweet Might Cost You
A Chicago woman is being sued by her apartment's management company after she tweeted negatively about them to her 20 followers. UPDATE: Horizon Realty responds to the Twitter backlash.
Commuter Drama
Local writer and editor Robert Burnham writes Tales from the Commute, slices of life on the Metra rails.
Looking for Cute Chicago Boys
If you're a Cute Chicago Boy, watch out! You might just end up on the interweb.
Local News from the Southwest Side
Pilsen residents, meet your local newsblog.
What Kind of Fiend are You?
An Ecofiend, perhaps?
Homegrown Stink
Surely a town named after onions can have more than one satirical news source? Hence The Daily Blank.
No, BlogHer is NOT This Weekend
But from all the buzz, you'd think it is. Never too early to prep, folks; even though the main BlogHer Conference is sold out (there is a waitlist), BlogHer Business (happening this Thursday) still has space.
Facing Controversy
Over at ChicagoNow, contributor Joe The Cop tackles a touchy and controversial subject: Why police officers occasionally shoot people in the back.
A Razor Blade, Plus...
The Parking Ticket Geek suggests some ways you can remove last year's city sticker from your windshield.
Gabe/Coward, Your Are Evicted
From suburban St. Charles, the ongoing tale of a seriously crazy landlord. Puts most of our old landlord horror stories Fuel thread to shame. [via]
Old Time in the Hot Town Tonight
Old Time Chicago is a new site hoping to become a valuable resource for fans of old time music in the Chicago area. Site owner Paul Lucas has put out the call for submissions: events, music reviews, links, musician contact info, whatever. More info at the Old Town School's Website.
The Unprinted Blog
The Printed Blog has ceased publication. Brandon Copple of Crain's talks to founder Josh Karp about the project and his advice to entrepreneurs.
Still The Second City...For Now
So New York City-based news-gossipy website Gawker recently launched a contest of sorts to find America's best news city. NYC nailed the top spot in their informal poll (what a - yawn - surprise), but Chicago tied for second thanks to a characteristic "vote early and often" push by local weblog the Windy Citizen.
Art Imitates Life Imitates Art
Paper Girl (aka Tennessee Mary Fons) creates a mashup of art and life and lets you in on the process on her blog.
Violence-Free Fireworks?
The city's official fireworks started a bit earlier than planned, and were allegedly free of the violence that accompanied last year's show -- but eye witness reports and details on several blogs indicate otherwise.
Funny Every Day
Joe Janes is writing a comedy sketch every day for a year.
DeLorean Love
A quick photo on the highway led to Kyoshi Martinez getting a full-on DeLorean experience thanks to a member of the DeLorean Midwest Connection car club.
Living the Dream
David Wallach tells the story of his night with Farrah Fawcett.
Kids Have Pride
Students from Nettlehorst Elementary will be marching in this weekend's Pride Parade, which goes right past the East Lakeview school. Some bloggers and commenters on the Tribune's story aren't so happy about it.
Find My iPhone Works
In one instance, at least. [via]
What, No Quijibo?
Author Arika Okrent's 10 favorite words from invented languages, as told to UChiBLOGo. [via]
Idol Fantasy
An anonymous blogger is writing about her quest to get on "American Idol," starting with the auditions here in Chicago this weekend. [via]
Chicago Gluttony
The Chicago Gluttons foodblog is one of the raunchiest you'll ever see -- but it's also good advice about restaurants in the city. New City sneaks a look behind the personnas.
The Future of News
Speaking of journalism and how to pay for it, if you're interested in that sort of thing you should come to the Chicago Media Future Conference this Saturday afternoon, featuring panelists from Chicago Tribune, EbonyJet, EveryBlock, Gapers Block and more.
The New News
The Community Media Workshop released a special report (PDF) today on Chicagoland's top independent and niche news organizations as well as the future of journalism, etc., and ranked the top 20 most influential news websites. Top three were Chi-Town Daily News, Windy City Media Group and yours truly, Gapers Block. Read more on Chicagosphere.
When Muscle Cars Ruled
Big Happy Funhouse turns up photos of spokesmodels from the 1968 Chicago Auto Show.
Crying Over Cooked Milk
Speaking of old news, Chicagoist went digging through LexisNexis and found a 100-year-old story about the controversy over pasteurizing milk.
Bad News from the Past
The Hope Chest, scans of microfilmed tabloid newspapers of the 1930s. Lots of Chicagland murder and mayhem (and witchcraft?) in there. [via]
Let's All Read a New Card Every Day
A Plot develops.
The US by Comparison
Chicago artist Kathryn Rodrigues offers an A-to-Z size comparison of the United States to (almost) every other country over on Radical Cartography.
Beachwood Labs
The Beachwood Reporter has its knives out with some great satire of the Blagojevich/Burris scandal. Witness The ChiPhone and Mystery Burris Theater.
Happy Birthday, Kid
As ChicagoNow celebrates its birth, Chicagoist is getting ready to turn five. Listen to a podcast about our friendly competitor's beginnings. (In case you're wondering, our 6th anniversary party will be held Labor Day Weekend, about six months after our actual birthday. Stay tuned.)
Chicago Now, Now
The new ChicagoNow.com site went live today, in very beta form. Peruse the latest here.
Exploring People with Funsherpas
The funsherpa blog was launched last month with the mission of "Uncovering what interesting people are interested in." The most recent post is an interview with artist Jay Ryan, who also happens to be the designer of the GB 4th Anniversary Poster.
Spaghetti Bowls and Circles
Chicago's Circle Interchange makes an appearance in part 2 of The Infrastructurist's collection of freeway interchanges (part one). Don't know the Circle? Read about it and other local road jargon here.
More than Capone's Old Haunt
The Uptown Chicago History blog highlights the grandeur and class that once pervaded in that neighborhood.
Oh Noes
The latest issue of KeepGoing focuses on calamities, real and existential.
A Local Women's Health Hero
GB's own Jenni Prokopy is one of 20 2009 Women's Health Heroes. Congrats!
Ay Mama!
WGN's Ana Belaval shares some thoughts on motherhood for Mother's Day: "The girl doesn't call me Mami or Mama. She knows who I am, she just doesn't call me anything. Well, sometimes she calls me Daddy."
Awkward Messages
Sometimes it matters which advertisements are next to each other.
Local Deep-fried Dough
Want a donut that's a step above the Dunkin' variety? Donut Database has you covered.
"You Gotta Add the D"
Local comedian Joe Hanson produces a weekly rap under his alter ego "Bino White" -- this week's is about the CTA.
No Longer Expiring the News
You may not know this, but Tribune "expires" the majority of its web content after a couple months. Fortunately, they're fixing this.
Bookslut's Crispin Berlin Bound
Jessa Crispin, the founder of Bookslut, is leaving the Chicago, headed for Berlin. Her longtime assistant, Caroline Eick, is taking over as managing editor; Crispin plans to resume posting on the blog once she's settled and, according to her, stops crying.
Watching the Watched
CrabbyGolightly "takes a dim view of celebrity, media and power." With an emphasis on the celebrity.
Recessionary Tactics
Ironically, one of the casualties of the last round of Tribune layoffs was the writer of the paper's "Recession Diaries" blog (google cache). He wasn't allowed to post one last item to that blog, so he ran it on TrueSlant.
Bike-By Shooting
Chicago News Bench reports on a bike-by shooting that occurred in on Broadway Uptown Sunday. Seems the FBI may be involved in the investigation, which would be pretty unusual if it's true. [via]
Citizen Support
The Windy Citizen is asking for a little support via "micropatronage." (Hmm, maybe we should consider that...)
The Reason Blogs Exist
Rogers Park Cheetos tracks empty snackfood bags in the wild. [via]
Wax Pack Memoirs
Cardboard Gods is a blog about baseball cards, in the same way Bull Durham is about baseball.
Script Bs and Flying Socks
Buried in this post about pro sports trademarks are obscure logos for the Bears and White Sox.
From Pittsburgh, With Love
A good Samaritan drove all the way from the Iron City to give some Windy Citizens some help.
Award-winning Online Investigative Journalism
The Beachwood Reporter and ChicagoTalks.org won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists for their joint investigative reporting on how City Council routinely violates the Open Meetings Act. Congrats!
Oil Slick & Greased Palms
A Marina City resident noticed that a construction barge working on the Riverwalk rehab project was leaking oil, and took the opportunity to do some homework regarding the campaign contributions of the companies involved. Interesting read.
Housewares Illustrated
Couldn't make it to the International Housewares Show last month? No worries, Craig Berman and Tobias Lunchbreath have drawn you some pictures.
Alinea Fools Day
On April 1, Carol Blymire, the author of the foodblog Alinea at Home, posted a video of herself with Chef Grant Achatz, claiming he'd hired her to work at the restaurant. It was an elaborate and successful April Fools joke, and she explained how it came to be over the weekend.
Laughing Off the Economy
Tame the Bear aims to be an entertaining look at our current economic woes, as well as a forum for cost-saving tips.
More Meter Rebellion
The Expired Meter uncovers additional parking meter abuse and destruction following the LAZ takeover -- including an effort to overstuff meters with pennies.
Venting Parking Meter Frustration
Given recent complaints about parking meters, it should come as no surprise that some people are taking matters into their own hands... however unsuccessfully.
Adopt-a-Side Street
Chicago Public Radio's blog wants to help you get your street fixed. Just follow their guidelines to send in a picture of your street's issues. They'll then track how fast it gets fixed (or not).
Chuff Piece
Earlier this week, Time.com published a profile of Arianna Huffington wherein she explains Huffington Post Chicago's borrowing? aggregating? of content from local Chicago blogs thusly: "This was a problem with an intern." OK... Check out these posts at The Reader for some context. [via]
Chicago in High-Res
The Windy Pixel: beautiful photography of our beautiful city.
ChicagoCrafty.com
Every time I swear I have a handle on the local craft scene, I end up realizing that I know so very little about what is going on and who is making it happen. Thankfully, Christine Renee of Re-Conceived.com and maker of the Zombie Escape Plan has created Chicago Crafty, where she'll put up links to all the local makers, shows, boutiques that sell locally-made goods, art exhibits, calls for action, opportunities, networks, and oh my word! so much more. It's only been up a short time and it's chock-full of fantastic info already.
Fire on Hollywood Ave.
There's an extra-alarm fire at 1040 W. Hollywood. Blogger Craig Gernhardt is on the scene, posting live updates on The Broken Heart of Rogers Park.
Not Quite a Sister City
In Isreal's Negev Desert is the Tze'elim Military Base, and on that military base is the city of Chicago, "so named because its bullet-ridden fake walls apparently recall the punctured real walls of Al Capone's Chicago."
In a Store, Somewhere in Chicago
Customer: "No. Will this case protect my computer from damaging all my stuff?"
Me: "It is padded..."
Customer: "Good, because it's cheaper than the anti-virus software."
The Dating Game
Lust & Bust is a new site exploring the heights and lows of the dating scene. Share your own disaster stories (and good times, too).
The Roof! The Roof! The Roof is Irrigated!
Just because you lack land in Chicago, doesn't mean you can't have a garden. Green Roof Growers have some great information on helping you get started.
Finding Your Flowers
Google for Gardeners is a customized search engine created by local blogger Mr. Brownthumb that tracks 500 gardening blogs, with more on the way.
Lincoln bLogs
Chicago Public Radio's blog is celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday with a day of posts about the president.
"Peoples Gas Sucks So Hard"
Beachwood Reporter offers an account of just how dysfunctional a utility can be.
Shaping Hyde Park
Hyde Park Urbanist remembers Realtor and activist Winston Kennedy, who it credits as one of the people who helped shape the current neighborhood.
Cub World Cam
This will probably be more interesting in a few months, but hey, I like seeing what's going on outside Wrigley anyway. [Thanks, Gabe!]
Movers, Shakers and Baby Makers
Chicagonista is a new online journal for hip parents.
Bon Mots on TicketMaster & TicketsNow Deal
"Ticket brokers calling your business arrangement shady is like the mob saying your methods of payment collection are a little severe."
Speaking of Buzzworthy
The Tribune has relaunched its "Chicago's Best Blogs" project as a standalone website, collecting recent posts from dozens of blogs (including GB) on a variety of topics. Definitely worth a perusal.
Recycle, Reuse, Recreate
The folks behind Fine Diving Chicago take found furniture and other objects and refurbish them, sometimes giving them a completely new life.
Uptown Throwdown
Uptown Update, the highly popular blog that has become a thorn in the side of Ald. Helen Shiller, particularly over the fate of the Wilson Yard Project, has been brought into that case by the attorney for the yard's developer, Peter Holsten. The attorney is subpoening records from Google about the ownership of that blog and another (apparently defunct blog) called "What The Helen".
Blagoetry
We've been asking for poetry for Blagojevich to read at his next press conference over in Fuel. "Gov Blago Shakespeare" points us to his own fine collection.
All the News that's Fit to Blog and then Print?
Why read blogs online when you can read them in print? You can give it a shot starting Tuesday. More info on Chicago Public Radio.
Same Office, Different Mashup
Our friends 37signals and Coudal Partners share office space -- and sometimes a brain. What Coudal Partners did with books and bands, 37signals is doing with films and websites.
Obama's Inauguration Speech, Illustrated
Crafter and graphic facilitator Brandy Agerbeck created an amazing graphic representation of the key concepts in President Obama's speech today.
Poetry...Slammed
The Obama inauguration poem gets critiqued by people who should know...the fans and members of The Poetry Foundation based here in Chicago. Judging from the comments section, not everyone was enthralled by the piece.
The Scene of the Crime
The Chicago Crime Scenes Project seeks to document the locations of the city's infamous crimes. [via]
Not Orphan Annie
Poor Little Rich Girls aims to help young women in the city live a chic but budget-friendly lifestyle.
Robbed the Sun-Times? Write for us!
Being imprisoned isn't hampering Conrad Black's ability to blog. See for yourself, and admire the lack of prison references in his bio.
Architecture of Years Past
If you haven't explored Google Book Search, you owe it to yourself to find the time. Lynn Becker has an excellent starting point for you. [via]
A City Notebook
Moleskine released a "city notebook" for Chicago last year, with maps and other useful info printed right onto its hipster-friendly pages. There's also a blog to go with it.
Sustainable Resolutions
If you're having trouble coming up with a resolution to share with us in Fuel, Go To 2040 has some suggestions.
Best Blog in Chicago?
The Tribune's looking for the best blog in Chicago. If you know of "established bloggers who post great content often and are known in their community" (ahem) fill out their online form.
Checking on the CTA's "No Return Trip" Policy
Chicago Carless follows up on his story breaking the CTA's homeless ridership crackdown with a late-night ride with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
Chicago Best 3G Coverage
Gizmodo does a citywide road test of AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Compare to the rest of the country.
Blogging the Mitzvah
Spencer Tweedy -- yes, son of Jeff -- has launched All About Mitzvah, a guide to bar and bat mitzvahs for those about to reach "that time in one's life."
Too Many Fat Tires?
General Carlessness knows: Drinking and bike-shopping don't mix.
Feel Like Somebody's Watching You?
Chances are, someone is. And after looking at this blog, you may never feel at ease riding the CTA again.
So What's The Point?
Hyde Park Progress take a new look at the future of Promontory Point (aka "The Point") in light of one of the area's most famous (former) residents moving to D.C.
"I'm tired of clenching my damn abs, mom!"
Ah, the joys of Overheard in Chicago.
Taylor Made...and Demolished
The ever-vigilant architecture critic Lee Bay looks at the rise and fall of the controversial Robert Taylor Homes on his blog. He even includes a link to video clip of Mayor Daley the Elder speaking at the grand opening.
Everyone Has a Passion
For one man, that passion is White Sox baseball cards.
Humane Fashion
Interested in a completely vegan winter coat that's still the height of fashion? Vaute Couture is the place to start; learn more on their blog.
Breaches in Common Courtesy
"Other commuters, who probably did not even witness the arm-whapping, must have noticed me rejecting the seat, done some quick urban calculus, and come up with the answer of Maybe That Lady Knows Something We Don't."
Reliving the Countdown
GB contributor Mike Doyle has compiled YouTube videos of the spontaneous countdown in Grant Park as the news was announced that Obama had won.
An Election Day Proclamation
Our friends at Coudal Partners are taking Election Day off. Perhaps you should show this to your boss.
Chicago Votes & the Bluing Suburbs
Poll-watching site FiveThirtyEight finally made it to Illinois in its "Road to 270" series profiling voting trends in each state.
This Place Ain't Sexy
"The Squirrel," a blog by an anonymous Chicago restaurant worker, is one of the more entertaining reads I've come across in awhile.
What They've Left Behind
Garage sale season may be just about over, but it's always estate sale season. Don't forget to look in the Back Garage.
Keeping Score in Chicago
Sun-Times writer Mark Konkol and former Q101 DJ Todd "Fook" Fooks have launched a podcast.
Learn How to Blog
If you're not blogging yet and still want to try, there's a class this weekend that's right up your alley.
Bloggy Baby Daddy
The Sun-Times profiled daddyblogger Matthew Miller of Maybe Baby this weekend. Miller has a book coming out based on the blog.
Creatively Unclear
Apparently Roger Ebert's creationism post was written by him, not a hacker -- but his intention in posting it remains unclear in his responses to comments regarding it. Perhaps Ebert is learning that satire doesn't translate online without context. UPDATE: Ebert finally did explain the article, and affirmed that it was satire.
Following Achatz's Footsteps
In 2007, Carol Blymire decided she would try cooking every recipe in the French Laundry Cookbook and blog the experience. The project proved wildly popular, and now she's set her sites* on Grant Achatz's forthcoming cookbook. (You can preorder Alinea from Amazon for just $31.50.) Chicago MenuPages Blog interviews Blymire about Alinea at Home. *Pun intended.
Syncing Along
Local blogger Michael has a hobby: lip-syncing to pop tunes and posting them to YouTube. Check out "I Kissed a Girl" for a taste.
Who Guards the Guardians
Re: The Auditors keeps tabs on the big four auditing firms. Limited interest to non-accountants, but very interesting to those in the industry.
Rate Your Political Blog
Looking for a blog on Illinois (and national) politics? This list from MidwestBusiness.com is a good place to start.
RoPa Awards, the Blogger Equivalent of the Razzies
Rogers Park has a vibrant blogger community -- which clearly has some infighting going on. At the risk of fanning the flames, here are the anonymously delivered the RoPa Awards, for the "Five Dumbest Rogers Park Moronic Idiot Blog Posts of 2008." (In everyone's defense, the year's not over yet.)
The Hug Explained
Jesse Jackson, Jr. talks about all the Illinois politicians hugging at the DNC.
Stitch-a-President
Whether you're a fan of Obama, McCain, or a Hillary booster, you can embroider your vote with free redwork patterns from Black Threads, a blog about African American quilting. [via]
Livin' in Beverly Hills (& Morgan Park)
I love finding blogs about Chicago's less in-the-news neighborhoods: check out beverlymorganpark.net.
Vintage Prints
Need some new wall candy? The website Vintagraph hosts images and sells affordable prints of old WPA, health and safety campaigns and vacation promotions from the early 20th Century, including some simply cute ads for the Brookfield Zoo and celebrations in Downers Grove.
Baltimore To Chicago
The Naming Of Things is a relatively new blog about a newcomer to the city, this stunningly gorgeous site helps you relive the first time you came to the big city. A treat. [via Chicagobloggers.com]
100 Years of Bad
Just One Bad Century is celebrating the centennial of the Cubs' last World Series win by comparing players from the 1908 team with today's boys in blue, position by position.
Nifty Chicagobloggers: Wheezy Waiter
I don't usually dig videoblogs, but this site from the Wheezy Waiter is a good time. The videos are humorous and original, and made me laugh out loud. Worth spending some time on. [via chicagobloggers.com]
Fight the Boot
The Expired Meter is passing around a petition to get the City to reverse its decision to start booting cars after two unpaid tickets instead of three.
Another UFO Sighted at O'Hare
Does the little smudge in the sky in this photo look like a UFO to you? Read a report by the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena on the infamous 2006 sighting here [PDF].
Candy Gone Bad?
312 Dining Diva wonders what's happened to Daily Candy Chicago lately. (Staffing changes maybe?)
ChiHuffPo Now Live
OK, you can officially look at it now. And read or listen to some coverage of the launch, as well as Ms. Huffington's own thoughts.
ChiHuffPo
The Huffington Post's Chicago channel has launched. UPDATE: I've been informed that the site isn't officially launching till Thursday; what's out there for everyone to see is an unprotected, unfinished build. Avert your eyes! Or something.
Bensenville, the Vanishing Village
The Windy Citizen launched a new blog on Thursday to cover Bensenvile's plight in the O'Hare expansion. Particularly interesting is a google map highlighting the places discussed on the blog.
Always Beta
Life in Perpetual Beta is a new video interview series talking with people working on the web, including a bunch of names you already know: Fried, Coudal, Skinnycorp...
A Green Home Grows in Oak Park
Jason and Jennifer La Fleur bought a turn-of-the-century bungalow in Oak Park and began renovating with all green building materials, including soy foam insulation and toxin-free paint. Their DIY spirit and commitment to green have already earned them spots on the Today Show and This Old House -- follow along (and steal their ideas) at their blog, Humphrey House.
Crank Up the Radio
No, literally: the Chicago Red Cross is giving away a hand-cranked radio via its blog. Just post your storm story in the comments to be registered.
Cryogenic Daley Re-elected
The Beachwood Reporter looks ahead to Chicago in the year 2040.
Ten Minutes Make a Difference
Timing is everything, Bilal Dardai discovers.
Pitchfork Pretties
Want even more Pitchfork crowd gazing? Chicago style blog The MidWasteLand has a spread of Pitchfork fashion.
Blog Wars
An online brouhaha is brewing in Hyde Park, where Hyde Park Progress takes aim at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club's focus, while the Hyde Park Urbanist questions the Hyde Park Progress' sources. Did we mention the words "Hyde Park" enough in this blurb?
Walk Like A Man...
Chicago Carless goes REALLY carless this time, detailing his extensive walking jaunts around the city. Made us tired just reading about it.
Construction Season Tips
Plenty of good advice in this Ask MetaFilter thread about early morning construction.
Legally Speaking
Speaking of the U of C, its Law School faculty has a blog covering a wide range of legal topics, including human rights whistle-blowing in China.
10 Reasons Chicago Is Not On a Roll
Brad Flora of WindyCitizen posts a counterpoint to his own recent boosterism on "Chicago Tonight."
Blogshopping
Boutiqueville blogs the latest news on the city's boutique scene.
Anti-Ad Form Letter
The Anti-Advertising Agency offers some relief (or at least time savings) from marketers trying to get a free plug on your blog.
The Ripper Crew
Learn about a gang of four serial killers from the daughter of one of the detectives who caught them.
That's the Ticket
The Expired Meter is a blog devoted solely to Chicago parking tickets. And yes, there's plenty to say on the topic.
Vikings & Gnomes
Blogger Suttonhoo makes a visit to an historic replica Viking ship in Geneva and discovers a whole lot more lurking in the woods.
Another Paean to Filter
Former Wicker Park resident Britt of Britticisms recently visited her old 'hood after a long time away from her old friends Silver Room and Una Mae's. [Via Neighbors Project]
Trib Tries A Big Blogroll
The Tribune has started promoting a new site they're building to link to lots of Chicago area bloggers. Of course, I prefer the Chicagobloggers website, but there's room for all of us.
Kill a Few Minutes
The Trib's new Head Candy blog should help Friday quittin' time roll around a little faster.
Memories on a Memorex
Casette from my Ex is a site that collects stories related to mix tapes from old relationships -- and also the option of listening to said tapes. Chicagoans Damon Locks, Jamie Hayes and Julie Shapiro have contributed so far.
Exactly What It Sounds Like.
Finally, a blog for Chicago Pub Quiz Addicts.
What Can Evanston Teach Hyde Park?
Plenty, apparently, particularly when it comes to redeveloping HP's Harper Court, as Hyde Park Progress points out.
Missed My Train Connection
Post your subway crush here.
Down the 'Yogawhole' - Almost
PaperGirl (aka Mary Fons) documents her encounter with a suspect yoga instructor. Let's just say a calming environment is not the first impression.
Observing the Big Onion
Mike from Chicago Carless got an unexpected treat on a recent Great Chicago Places and Spaces tour: a visit to the secret observation deck atop the Intercontinental Hotel.
New Blog on Chicago Tech
The newly launched Windy Wire picks up where WindyBits left off, posting up-to-the-minute news on Chicago's tech scene.
Follow Along if You Like
Chicago Public Radio reporter Natalie Moore is blogging the R.Kelly trial. So is the Sun-Times.
Jump Back...
Only two days remain in the Dance Movie Blogathon! Learn yourself all about David Bowie's footwork in Labyrinth, Kevin Bacon's prototypical Angry Young Dancer ("I'm so angry I'm dancing up against backlit silo walls") -- and so very much more. [via]
Method Reporter Becomes Windy Citizen
The Methods Reporter has transformed into the Windy Citizen, an "open source newspaper and internet newsroom."
Taking the Wind Out of the May Report
WindyBits has morphed into a tech event calendar, but it does offer one bonus: a cleaned up and reader-friendly version of the May Report.
Alright, Stick 'Em Up(town)
Uptown Update has the lowdown on some of John Dillinger's hangouts in Uptown, including his last stop: the neighborhood funeral home.
Watching Uptown
Two sites have their sights set on Uptown: Uptown Update and the Chicago Uptown Crime Blotter. The former looks at events both positive and negative in the neighborhood (although sadly, it's mostly negative), while the latter acts as a near-realtime tracker of criminal activities, pulled from eye-witness reports and police scanner activity. (Thanks, Amy!)
Report Back, Chicago
AREA Chicago is launching a new blog, Report Back, which is "dedicated to documenting events and people's impressions of them throughout Chicago." It's a bare bones site at the moment, but they'd like to change that with reader submissions.
What's Your Wicker Park Look Like?
Volunteers with the WPB's Community Open Houses asked the people of Wicker Park/Bucktown what they wanted to see in their neighborhood. Their responses were collected in a series of photographs on Flickr: here, here and here. A quick survey indicates a big push for a more bike-friendly area. Oh, and a toy store. Don't feel left out of the process, though, you can submit your thoughts too. [Via]
Counting Down
Jessi is solving 99 problems this year. She's five down. [via]
'O' Man
Did you know the Sun-Times has a blog dedicated entirely to Oprah? It's true. It's called The 'O' Blog. And today, they liveblogged an episode in which Oprah spoke to a pregnant man (he was born a female).
Chicago 1968 Reexamined
AREA Chicago's new 1968/2008 takes a new look at the cultural legacy of 1968 in Chicago: the Democratic National Convention, riots, Chicago 10, Daley's shoot to kill order, etc.
Bird Songs in the NYT
The New York Times has launched a new blog, Measure for Measure, featuring Darrell Brown, Rosanne Cash, Suzanne Vega and our own Andrew Bird, who gets pride of first post. (Thanks, Sarah!)
An Arresting Development
Over at Second City Cop, one of Chicago's Finest and some of his fellow officers vent about the proposed changes by new top cop Jody Weis (whom they sort of humorously refer to as "J-Fed"). Let's just say that they're not too happy.
Anatomy of a Blog
Actually more like a blog of anatomy: Street Anatomy is the website of Vanessa Ruiz, a medical illustration student at UIC. Check out her collections for anatomical street art and tattoos, too.
"Gran' ol' river! Onhealthy, says ye?"
ClusterFlock casts a sideways look at the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal on this fine St. Paddy's Day.
Building Social Animals
Announcing CitizenPowered, a City-sponsored site designed to bring Chicagoans together for collaboration with each other and community organizations. Find a job, help a nonprofit or connect with your neighbors.
Shiny New Metblog
Our friends at Chicago Metblogs have a pretty new look.
Harmful Snark
The NYT is looking into whether nasty blog comments contributed to the suicide late last month of Paul Tilley, 40, the creative director of DDB Chicago.
Boardgames on the Brain
Apparently it's in the air: Chicagoist is holding its first-ever Commenter Trivial Pursuit Throwdown tonight at Sheffield's -- and we'd already announced that the GB Get-Together on Friday would be a boardgame night. Beer and trivia, always a good combo.
Welcome to the Fortune Cookie of the Future!
Boing Boing notes a tribute website created by Chicagoan Bob Bjarke after he got the Best Fortune Cookie Ever at Papajin in Wicker Park. (Thanks, Dan!)
Keep it Simple, Stupid
37signals was profiled in the latest issue of Wired, and were described variously as "brash" "arrogant" "demigods." Jason Fried posted a response to some of the "myths" described in the story.
Bet on Books
The Morning News will soon hold its fourth annual Tournament of Books, and Coudal Partners has opened the betting window. Think you know which book will come out tops? Lay $10 on the line and you could win big -- plus, you'll be helping to buy books for children. Everybody wins!
Tracking Steve Kazmierczak
Waxy.org is investigating the online activities of Steve Kazmierczak, the NIU gunman. UPDATE: Jessica Baty, Kazmierczak's girlfriend, was interviewed by WGN.
Elite Eight For A Date
Chicago magazine's Arts and Culture blog has prepared a tournament-style bracket that puts good singles locations head-to-head. The first round was yesterday; today, places like the Pitchfork potty line and Intelligentsia battle it out.
Invisible Votes
GB's own AmyC and other Rogers Parkers ran into an unusual "voting irregularity" on Tuesday -- her polling place was stocked with allegedly "invisible ink" pens. Unfortunately, the inevitable snarky blog commentary makes the situation sound like it was the voters' fault for believing the state-appointed judges and ward committeeman.
Your Auto Show Prep
The 100th annual Chicago Auto Show opens Friday, so we here's a couple things to get you ready: Jalopnik's newness cheat sheet, Showlopnik, the derivatively named intern blog, and the 8th annual Auto Show Shutdown. After the jump, links to car blogs' CAS category archives.
Click, Two Ways
Chicago Magazine has a new photoblog, Snap!, and the Chicago Methods Reporter has a new dating blog, Love Me/Date Me.
Catalyzing District 299
District299, Alexander Russo's excellent blog on Chicago Public Schools, recently made the move to Catalyst Chicago's website.
Local Sites in the News
Chicago Magazine's February issue features "171 Best Chicago Websites," a nice round-up for your reading pleasure. It's still not wasn't online, though, so Time Out took the initiative and created a linklist for you. Then Chicago Metroblogging created an OPML file of the list -- along with all the ones mentioned in Time Out's recent blog feature package -- that you can dump into your favorite feed reader. UPDATE: The Chicago Mag feature went online late today.
DeRo on Zulkey
Claire Zulkey (who got the profile treatment in Time Out this week) interviews Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis about "Sound Opinions," music crit and the Chicago hip hop scene, among other things.
Very Cold Art
You can watch the progress of the Museum of Modern Ice's Paintings Below Zero at its official blog. Can someone please shorten that URL?
Each and Every One
Everyblock, a hyper-local news aggregator from the creators of ChicagoCrime.org, has now launched.
23 and Me
Back in 2000, Sun-Times reporter Howard Wolinsky was among the first to have his DNA sequenced for genealogical reasons. The results sent him on a journey through family history, which he's writing about (and other genealogy topics) at Gen-erocity.
Found Television
GB staffer Lauri will be on "Chicago Tonight" er, tonight to discuss her website, Found Clothing. UPDATE: Oops, looks like it's been rescheduled for Monday, Jan. 21.
Cornbleet Case Update
Over at The Outfit, Kevin Guilfoile provides a good deal of new info on the Hans Peterson/Dr. David Cornbleet murder case.
Home Fugly Home
YoChicago wants to hear about the city's ugliest townhomes. There's a t-shirt in it for you.
"Year of the Blog"
Chicago News-Star picks the top 10 local news stories of 2007. Number 10: the rise of the neighborhood blogs.
Classical Comps
Chicago Classical Music recently revamped their site and is promoting it with a contest for free tickets and other swag. Log in as a registered user before the 19th to be eligible to win.
QSLOL
Our very own Ron Slattery collects ham radio QSL cards, and recently turned his blog into a gallery for the funnier and odder ones. It caught BoingBoing's attention.
Who Would You Believe?
Will Okun, the Chicago school teacher who won a trip to Africa with the NYT's Nick Kristof, has a complex and honest piece about who he believes in the Aaron Harrison shooting. Short answer: the cops.
Therapeutic House Tour
Apartment Therapy: Chicago is hosting a House Tour and after-party this Friday; join them for a tour of five live/work spaces in Fulton Market. Don't forget to RSVP!
Kindling Chicago
Perhaps you've heard about Kindle, Amazon's new "wireless reading device?" One of the things you can do with it is read blogs, including a bunch of Chicago-related ones (although not us yet, dammit). Click "more" to see a list.
Think Before You Link
You receive an email which contains a link. You forward the link to someone else. You get sued. A lawsuit filed this week in Kane County is seeking $850,000 in damages from Schaumburg resident Joan Burke. Her crime? Sending a email which contained a link to the blog Let's Stop Eastwood-Stein.
TypePad Tour of Chicago
Weblog software maker TypePad rounds up some quality Chicago blogs that use their service.
Undead Undead Undead
Berwyn, rubber chickens and B-movies. Chicago's very own Svengoolie (aka Rich Koz) has a blog. I know somewhere down there Jerry G Bishop is smiling.
Behind the Design: The Chicago Spire
Not quite the expose on Santiago Calatrava (also known for his work on the Milwaukee Art Museum), but Creative Review, a design magazine based in the UK, showcases the design work of Third Eye Design who did the collateral for The Chicago Spire. Even if you don't like the Spire itself, the accompanying literature praises our fair city.
Blogging Shakman in Cook County
It's a New Day in Cook County was established as a "forum for public comment and debate about unlawful patronage" in county government by Julia Nowicki, a former judge now monitoring Cook County hiring practices and compliance with the Shakman Decree. The Shakman Monitor over the City of Chicago's hiring, however, has yet to start a blog.
GB on TV
Tune in to WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" er, tonight at 7pm to catch representatives from Gapers Block, Chicagoist and the CTA Tattler discuss blogs and current events.
Hell Yeah Dude!
"A new design journal for style enthusiasts."
Everyone Has a Secret
Frank Warren, the man behind the PostSecret weblog and books, will be doing two book-signings in Chicago today in support of his new book, A Lifetime of Secrets. At 12:30pm he'll be at the DePaul University Bookstore, 1 E. Jackson, with a multimedia presentation. Then at 7:30pm, he'll be at the UIC location of Barbara's Bookstore, 1218 S. Halsted.
Listen Closely
This week's Transmission feature covers some local music blogs you may not have heard of.
Hail This Down
Dmitry Samarov blogs about his experiences as a Chi-town cabbie over at HACK. He even draws his passengers. The Sun-Times recently profiled this Soviet immigrant turned driver, including some fun quotes about getting propositioned.
Sleazy Developers Take Note!
Are you stuck in a condo conundrum? An apartment abyss? Home hell? You've got a friend in the blogger behind I Hate My Developer. From assessment fees to her slowly gentrifying Woodlawn neighborhood, Lyletta Robinson blogs it all with an optimistic outlook.
Get in a Spooky Mood
Facets, the best video store in the city for indie and obscure films, has a blog, and they're posting a horror clip a day for the month of October. [via]
No Butts About It
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was a little disturbed by the smiling butt ads for the Washlet that showed up all over the Reader website for months.
Arrgh! Fire Bad!
Someone at the Fire Department should have words with whoever failed to proof this bus shelter poster. Perhaps their dictionary caught fire.
Your Hyper-local News
The Marshfield Tattler follows the goings on in a little corner of Back of the Yards. Nice to see someone telling that neighborhood's stories.
And Justice for Cyclists...
GB alumni and fellow teammate Luke Seemann recounts a hit-and-run during the team's weekly Saturday morning ride up to Highland Park and back on his excellent Chicago Bike Racing. Clearly an attack on the riders who were paying attention to the rules of the road, the culprit turned himself in and is now facing felony charges in court. Luke has further details on Thomas Lynch.
Blogging North of Devon
Rogers Park is the fifth bloggiest neighborhood in the nation, according to Outside.in. [via]
Designers, Set Your Palettes!
If you're into creative competition and don't have much to do on Friday afternoons, you'll want to check out the new Photoshop Layer Tennis!
Aw Crap, I'm Making a Movie
Evan Jacover has created a great video compilation of all the times he thought he was taking a photo (but actually had his camera in video mode).
The Face of Cornbleet's Killer
Author Kevin Guilfoile has been writing about the case of Dr. David Cornbleet, the dermatologist who was killed in his Loop office. Until now, nobody seemed to have a recent photo of Hans Peterson, the man who confessed to the murder and who took refuge in the French Territory of St. Martin, where he has avoided extradition. Guilfoile believes he's found one.
Taxi Cab Confessions
HACK is a blog by taxi driver and artist Dmitri Samarov, created as a companion to his pretty amazing website. Check out his other "Hack," a minicomic about his day job.
Word Jazz Online
Movie trailer watchers and late night WBEZ listeners familiar with Ken Nordine may want to check out his website Word Jazz, which includes a blog with unusual poems starting with "Maybe the moment" and a podcast of his late night stylings.
Pessimism Reigns Eternal
Got an overconfident Cubs fan in your midst? Here's a song to help bring them back to earth, courtesy of the Beachwood Reporter.
The 38th Signal
The 38th Signal, "established 2007 in Angola", is parody of local web iconoclasts 37Signals. Includes "Wireframing with the blood of your enemies", "Phone tells you that someone has called", and "Screens around the house".
Things for Sale
FoGB Ron Slattery is selling some of his stuff. And what interesting stuff it is.
J Crew Sweater: Corner of N Clark and W Belden
Lauri Apple's FoundClothing -- which is about, well, the clothes she finds on the street -- got a nice boost in yesterday's Trib.
All Full
Local food blog Eatchicago closes up shop after 3+ years of service. Farewell, Eatchicago! I'll always remember you for your great post about Chicago's authentic Mexican food.
A Body of Words
Dictionary editor and local blogger Erin McKean was the guest columnist for William Safire's "On Language" column in the NYTimes last weekend.
Your Attention Please...
The CTA Tattler runs down a list of some of the CTA's rules of behavior.
A Garden Sprouts
In East Garfield Park, at Maypole and California, a community garden is taking shape in a formerly vacant lot.
Spare the Rod, Spoil the Blog
Zorn points to a blog panning our governor: BloggingOnBlagoBlog, from the Illinois Republican Party.
You Should Have a New City Sticker By Now
...which means you've either added another one to the column, or you've removed the old one and have a sticky smear on your windshield. Here's a sure-fire method for removing the old sticker and the glue.
Interested In Some Literature?
Mimi Smartypants comes up with the best response to a religious tract pusher I've heard in awhile (last item).
Norwood Park + Park Ridge = Norridge
Here's an examination of suburban naming trends in Chicagoland.
Ze Frank Replacement
People who miss The Show with Ze Frank should check out the Wheezy Waiter, a video blog by Craig, the lead singer of Driftless Pony Club. It's not exactly the same, but hopefully it'll help with your jones. [via]
Our Younger Cousin
Our good friends at Chicagoist are celebrating their third anniversary tonight at the Subterranean. If you're looking for a way to escape the heat after work, you could do worse.
That's Customer Service
The CTA may suck in a lot of ways, but at least there's one employee willing to retrieve the walkman you dropped on the tracks.
Yet Another Googlemap, Posting Edition
Outside.in is already an interesting place to check for posts about Chicago, but here's another neat tool they recently added: blogger maps. Now you can check out which places we and other local blogs have been writing about.
The Journalistic Code
The Knight News Challenge has been kind to Chicago. Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism received a grant to create scholarships for programmer-journalists -- such as Adrian Holovaty, creator of ChicagoCrime.org, who also received a grant and has left the Washington Post to start EveryBlock. Geoff Dougherty of (recently redesigned) ChiTown Daily News also received a grant to continue his citizen journalism project. UPDATE: Also, Daniel Sinker, co-editor and publisher of Punk Planet, received a Knight Fellowship at Stanford (thanks, Mark).
Outsider Art Blog
Now you can stay on top of Chicago's finest gyros, lakefront, and Western Avenue signage and art at William Swislow's Interesting Ideas blog. You can spend hours here.
Google Buying Feedburner?
Interesting rumors are popping up about Google purchasing local RSS feed company Feedburner for about $100 million in order to move into the RSS ad market. GigaOm isn't so sure the deal makes sense.
Blogging with Child
Thinking about parenthood? The recently Chicago Moms Blog should help give you a realistic look at life after kids.
Local Lit
City bookworms have another web destination in Literago, which intends to serve as "a portal to news and information about literary goings-on in and around Chicago."
Eat, Love, Blog
How do you combine office romance, food and blogging? Why, Olive and Mason of course. They're back reviewing restaurants after a year's hiatus. Check out what they've been up to and listen to their theme song. (Via Action-Squad)
Very Bloggy Up North
Outside.in recently surveyed itself to determine the bloggiest neighborhoods in the country -- and Rogers Park came in at #5. Nice shout-out for the 24/7 North of Howard Watchers.
Treat Your Reader
Spice up your RSS reader with a few tasty area blogs. Try Jack Vinson's knowledge management blog, the NSFW, homoerotic Things They Say About Him, A Deaf Mom Shares Her World, and more to be found at Chicago Bloggers.
Five Six-pointed Stars?
Over at Chicagoist, Benjy ponders whether the city would add another star to the flag if we win the 2016 Olympics. An interesting and relevant question considering the meanings of the other stars.
Click!
Photobooth-o-philes, get excited! You'll soon be able to take a zany picture of yourself and your close friends at Quimby's.
Still Time To Join Studs and Others at State of Southside Conference
In recent years the blog The View From The Ground has published news and analysis about the crisis of Chicago, public housing, police abuse, and economic abandonment through the intimate lens of the Stateway Gardens CHA development while it was being torn down during the CHA's Plan for Transformation. The blog is co-sponsoring a conference at the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Chicago Law School to explore the issues brought up in their work around Stateway Gardens. More information posted on Slowdown. The free conference takes place on April 21-20 and space is limited so get in touch and register through the website.
See Ira for Cheap
The fine frugal folks at Make Love, Not Debt tell of how they used their savvy powers of negotiation to watch the new "This American Life" television show for cheap. Find out how they added Showtime to their cable plan for just $2 a month.
Camp Jinx: Not Your Average Family Videos
Today I stumbled across Camp Jinx, a video blog that's the recreational side of local family-run video production company Picture Show. Of course, since the blog is run by video professionals, you're not just going to find home movies on Camp Jinx. You'll also find, for example, video of the dad interviewing stars at the Golden Globes, and The Wrens performing live in a family member's apartment between Chicago gigs. It's too bad that all families can't be as cool as the Leonard family, but at least they're willing to share the experience.
Parenting 2.0
Chicago Parent magazine has redesigned its website, which now includes a whole bunch of blogs covering a variety of aspects of parenting, from feminist childrearing to being a working mom to just being a dad.
Buy Art, Save Lung
Artist and friend of GB Phineas Jones caught pneumonia over the holidays, and ended up with fluid in one of his lungs. As you'd expect, he has some big medical bills, but he's uninsured, so he's selling art on his site, No Commercial Potential, to cover the costs of "lung reclamation." Help him out and get some beautiful art in the bargain.
Chicago Web History
Through the magic of archive.org, WindyBits takes a look at early version of Chicago media Websites, including the Tribune and Sun-Times, the Reader, Crain's Chicago Business, and even Gapers Block.
Official Blog Site of the Chicago Police Department
Yeah, you read that right-- Official Blog Site of the Chicago Police Department. Hosted on TypePad, loaded up with kudos, cautionary tales, and a welcome from the Superintendent. Accepting (moderated) comments on some posts. Tagline: "What You Want to Know... From Those in the Know." It really is 2007, isn't it?
Get Your Tech News Here
Awhile back, I was talking to Tom Sherman about how there ought to be a site that covers the Chicago tech scene. Like Tech Social, but with news, too. A month later, he launches Windy Bits. Way to go, Tom.
Serving and Protecting Via the Web
Nice profile of Adrian Holovaty, creator of ChicagoCrime.org and master of the Google mash-up, in the American Journalism Review. What they don't mention is his fine guitar playing.
Office Desk Treasure
(NOTE: not safe for work, but funny as heck) How does one define true happiness? For some guys, it's the feeling of mammaries resting on their head. One of those guys might just work in the Tribune Tower. Behold; photographic evidence that true bliss is possible.
The Deadliest Blog Alive
Floyd Webb was interviewed in the Reader last summer about his current project: a documentary on Chicago martial artist John Keehan (aka Count Dante: The Deadliest Man Alive). With half a year's research, a bizarre tale of kung-fu, pet lions, comic book ads, death matches, and Mafia hitmen got weirder. Mr. Webb dutifully reports on his descent into 70s martial arts madness at his blog.
Nifty Chicago Blogs: Minivan Mafia
With so many blogs out there, it usually takes good writing or a great design to catch my eye. The Minivan Mafia should win an award for its great name, and the graphic.... priceless. Nice job, Jenn.
Your Bloggy News Fix
Chicago Magazine did a profile of several of the city's newsblog type things, including GB, Chicagoist, Metroblogging, The Beachwood Reporter and CTA Tattler. Fun to see your favorite editors in pixel form!
New and Notable Chicagobloggers
A few new weblogs on Chicagobloggers.com worth noting: Chicagolais, a weblog about newly arrived Frenchman in Chicago; Aldertrack, a weblog tracking the upcoming local election; $50 Suit, a shopping blog about looking great for little money downtown; and a blog about deaf parents raising children in Chicago.
Hungry for the Win
Hungry Mag, the local foodblog edited by Michael Nagrant, has been nominated for the Best Group Foodblog award at Well Fed Network. Vote by Jan. 9 to help this hometown blog do good!
From Hannukah To Boxing Day
Sara Paretsky has a great blog post about her journey from Hannukah in Kansas to Boxing Day in Chicago.
Vote Early, Vote Once a Day
The 2006 Weblog Awards nominees have been announced, and there are two local sites among them: Glorious Noise for Best Music Blog and The Becker-Posner Blog for Best Law Blog. You can vote for them and/or any others once a day from now until the 15th. (Thanks, Jake.)
Women, prisons, and abuse
Chicago author Sara Paretsky has a challenging piece on the great Chicago Crime Writers blog about the abuses women suffer in incarceration. One telling quote: "It costs anywhere from $30,000 to $75,000 a year to keep a person behind bars. Conservatively, that's about $6 billion a year we're spending to lock up—and, apparently, abuse—these women, most of whom are non-violent offenders."
Holla Back, Chitown
The Trib has an article about online sites where victims of street harassment can vent and call out their attackers. A small sidebar to the piece fails to mentions the Chicago version of the original NYC site, called HollaBack Chicago. There, you can read and submit experiences with unwelcome advances, leerings, gropings, and the like, and even send in pictures if you happen to snap one.
Say "Thank You"
The Metblogs network is getting into the holiday spirit by having its local bureaus list "seven gifts their cities share with the world." The first Chicago entry is improvisational comedy; initial entries for other cities run the gamut, from Flickr to the Montreal Protocol.
A Big Guide to the Web
Big Fat Blog, a fat acceptance blog written by GB alum Paul McAleer, recently launched the Big Fat Index, a guide to FA websites and other resources.
Reader Blogs Up
The Reader has added two more blogs to its growing stable: The Food Chain covers restaurants, while On Film covers -- well, you can probably guess.
Version 2.0
Chicagoist gets a makeover, and a fine one, at that.
New And Notable Chicagobloggers
A few new blogs on chicagobloggers.com worth mentioning: an entertaining real estate blog by "Real Estate Ninja" explains how underpriced the new $300 realtor parking pass is (i.e., two weeks of tickets), a fruitcake blog, mousebacon shows us the craziest house in Chicago, and very well-written blog Bella Rossa caught my attention with this post title: "Gabriel Garcia Marquez Shoots Reese Witherspoon, and I Can't Walk in These Heels." All worth your time.
The Virtual Quad
Since college kids don't have enough online personae to manage, what with MySpace pages, Facebook profiles and Xanga blogs, UIC is exploring the possibility of a school-wide implementation of LiveJournal. The goal? Building community via an informal mode of student, faculty and staff interaction.
Local Economy Flagging?
Jill Jaracz attended the City of Chicago's Sharing It Banner Auction, and notes that this year's bids were far lower than last year's.
Where was August in November?
I read recently that, in the future, search engines will be able to reveal people's whereabouts at a given time, simply by the electronic footprints they've left. For now, though, that information is mostly captured voluntarily, making it largely the provenance of blogs. So it is that, if ever asked where screenwriter John August was when he started a play in late 2006, you can boldly answer "Chicago" -- qualified, as he notes for posterity, "technically, Evanston." [via]
All Hallow's Eve
Jim Coudal tells a touching tale, reminding us of the roots of this holiday.
Catching some ZZZ's (on camera)
The "Going Public" column in the Red Eye today talks to Yvonne Doll, a part-time cell phone photo snapper whose passion for photography has translated into a new web site Sleepyurbanite.com. For three months she has been taking pictures of slumping CTA riders who use their commute to catch up on sleep — whichever way they can. Droolers, beware!
The Inside Scoop
Inside Chicago is a relatively new, really well done videoblog following host Ellen Fox's adventures around the city -- think "Wild Chicago" but less goofy. This site also runs the STOP Police! podcast, in which Darren Stephens covers highlights from the week's police blotter.
Outside Looking In
Outside.in is a really cool new blog & news aggregator organized locationally: you can search for posts based on your zip code or neighborhood name. Here's an explanation of its guiding principles.
Who Here Likes Pancakes?
The aptly named Illinois Pancakes blog has a simple goal: eat and review the pancakes of Illinois.
His Excellency Von Excellent
There are thousands of blogs started every day, sure. Few of them, however, are written by Germany gentry in exile in Chicago. No telling what The Barony will be about, but who can turn down a promised "transformation from unclean prolatarian ingnoramity to cultural aristocracy"? Certainly not I.
Color Your Space for Fall
Apartment Therapy is running a fall colors interior design contest; the winners receive a CB2 shop card for up to $2500. Go check out the Midwest entries, which are also running as they come in on Chicago.ApartmentTherapy.
Alright, Son?
Regardless of whether your reaction to Lily Allen's show last night was hurrah or ho-hum, chances are good you had a better time than Tyler Too Much Awesome, who passed out, and not thanks to over-imbibing. Not only was he mortified by causing a commotion, his mother didn't offer much comfort after the fact. Quoth Mrs. Much Awesome, "Well, it was your fault so it's understandable why you feel embarrassed." Gee, thanks, mom.
Suburb Name Game
Coudal points to a post about suburban "mash game" names and localizes it: "Fox, lake, river, heights, grove, villa(ge), park, oak, lawn, lake, brook, hills, fields, forest, elk. Choose two or three at random, and chances are you've named a real Chicago suburb.
Local Language
A newcomer to the Chicago blog/webzine scene, Jargon Chicago looks like it might have some staying power. Check it out.
The Herbivore's Diary
Speaking of "green thumb" options, newly launched blog Vegan Dinner is going the Julie Meets Julia route. Kinda: local couple Ian ("straight edge") and Kit ("strong, silent") are on a quest to try 365 new meals (vegan) in 365 days (one year). The recipes are accompanied by photos and organized by preparation time (20, 40, 60 minutes). I smell a book deal.
What's in a Delay?
On Friday, Thrown for a Loop was hoping for an easy flight home. Because of bad weather at O'Hare, that didn't happen. Alas, nor did the alternatives...
Just What is the Coudal Partners Site About, Anyway?
The short answer is "a little of this, a little of that." The long answer, though, offers an eclectic greatest hits. Which is to say, a nice way to waste some time at work this morning.
Coffee Pop
Local foodblog Tastebud offers tips on DIY coffee roasting. They suggest starting with the Home Coffee Roasting guide and a popcorn popper.
Media Central on the North Shore
Don't be surprised if one of the Gawker editors picks up and leaves New York: Jim Romenesko's Evanston condo is for sale.
Newly Noted Chicago Blogs
Notable blogs from recent submissions on Chicagobloggers.com: totally awesome George Michael fansite, which is absolutely a delightful guilty pleasure; filled with random delights, seriouslywtf.net had me laughing out loud with Hulk Hogan humor and stories of misleading showers; and "things we hate" which is short and witty and worth a brief visit.
Kumbaya, My Zorn, Kumbaya
Wow, Eric Zorn sure is passionate about "Kumbaya," my lord.
A Newer, Larger Punk Planet
Taking another step away from scissors, glue, and late night photocopying sessions, our city's very own Punk Planet has redesigned and expanded its website. Of particular note is the addition of user blogs.
Working Girls
Kudos to local gal Hipster Pit for speaking truth to power / sticking it to The Man / subverting the dominant paradigm: in response to a Forbes.com feature on marrying a woman with a career (gone, but not forgotten), Ms. Pit composed a satire of the slideshow that accompanied the article we'll remember fondly as "Justifications for Being a Single Misogynist" (Gawker gives you a CliffsNotes version of the original). [Update: The text is back online, now with an officially published rebuttal.]
Chicago Vox Populi
Vox, a new blogging service from SixApart, just released a Chicago skyline skin, which you can see on my silly little test blog. Obviously done from memory, since the east-facing view of the Loop prominently features the CNE building (which can't be seen from the other side of the Loop) and only a few recognizable buildings (Sears Tower, Hancock, Prudential and Aon). At least they tried. (If you'd like a Vox invite, let me know -- we've got four to give away.)
Chicago: Green Fashion Capital of the U.S.?
The city's recent appointment of Melissa Turner as Chicago's fashion czarina brought a challenge from treehugger: become the green fashion capital of the U.S. Designers, will you embrace the challenge?
A Bastion of Comedy
The Bastion came to town earlier this summer (it's related to New York's Apiary) to cover the comedy and improv scene, and they're doing a heck of a job (and not in the GW Bush sense).
Blog Out
I haven't bothered with Time Out Chicago's website much after it launched, since it hid almost everything behind a subscription wall. But sometime a few months ago, they made most of the content public and launched a blog. Worth taking a look.
BlogHer Here Next Year
Mark your calendars: BlogHer, an annual conference for women bloggers, is coming to Chicago next year.
R.A.M.B.L.E.
Friend of GB, scooterist, designer and vegan guide making extraordinaire, PJ Chmiel hits the open road on his scooter on a tour he calls the 2006 R.A.M.B.L.E. Ambitious in scope, it should be quite a ride. Follow along when he kicks off tomorrow.
Why we'll read about race
Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell gets her new blog started off with a bang. No, "Hi, I'm Mary and this is my new blog" post. Nope. She delves right in with an entry titled Why I Write About Race. I have a feelings she's going to get a lot of people talking about, reading about, and maybe even writing about race.
The Schadenfreude of Mis-crediting
So that Colonel Sanders/Ed Burke separated-at-birth thing we linked to on Consumerist yesterday? Done by friend of GB and Schadenfreude member Justin Kaufmann. We should have recognized his handiwork.
Good Thing There's No Late Fee
Claire Zulkey wants to know about your Notflixing habits, the movies you got from Netflix that sit, unwatched, for months.
Today's inspiration: Chicago
The art of Chicago art studios in the 1950s, courtesy of the illustration blog Today's Inspiration.
Sheepish Alter-Ego
So I've got a love for all things crafty and that's no secret. But most of your eyes glaze over if I go on too long about wool or knitting. And I don't blame you. However, even if you have no interest in the land of craft, you'll love Franklin's alter-ego roommate Dolores over at The-Panopticon. This sheep makes me snort on a regular basis. Without further ado, I introduce you to Dolores.
Songs: Illinois
songs:illinois is an excellent little mp3 blog run by Craig Bonell in Oak Park. There's definitely a folk/ acoustic/ singer-songwriter focus but what excites me personally is that I've only heard of maybe one artist on the homepage. A nice deviation from Pitchfork and the like, dig in and discover some new tunes.
Hark, Reader! A Blog!
The Reader has launched its first blog, the Daily Harold, by longtime staffwriter Harold Henderson. Henderson claims to be "the World's First Blogger," conveniently leaving out of the Wikipedia definition the part about a blog being on the Web. Good luck with that.
No Thanks for the Blog!
While I'm not entirely convinced the promotion of personal blogs by complete strangers is an epidemic problem in real life -- seems more confined to willy-nilly "friend" requests on MySpace at this point -- in today's Sun-Times, Andy Ihnatko offers an amusing checklist for smacking that would-be internet superstar down.
The Tattler Redesigns
The CTA Tattler, Chicago's number one source for transit scuttlebut, has redesigned.
From Punk Band to Papa to Podcast
Former Allister bandmember, now fulltime proud parent Eric in Aurora has turned his love of rockin' into a pretty darn interesting music blog called Can You See the Sunset from the Southside. He also has started podcasting on a sister site, Can You Hear the Podcast from the Southside. Podcast number three is fresh for your listening.
Let Me Count The Ways
If only for a day, Eric Zorn wants to be your whipping boy.
Making Media Connections
The Community Media Workshop here in Chicago is holding a conference tomorrow and Thursday called "Making Media Connections". As they put it: "Join community leaders, nonprofit communicators and board members, mainstream and independent journalists, publishers, media experts and the general public to discuss getting our communities' important stories told." GB staffer and ChicagoBloggers curator, Brian Sobolak and myself will be joining Steve Rhodes of The Beachwood Reporter on Thursday from 1:45-245pm on Thursday, the only day left for registration at the door. We'll be discussing "Emerging Online News Outlets" but there are plenty of other events and discussions going on to pique your interest.
Bands All Booked
You might have spent many a lunch hour in the past week mashing up bands and book titles (or bands and movie titles). Coudal Partners has posted its favorites, and the three lucky winners.
Big Brother in MySpace
I doubt any of our readers are currently enrolled in Libertyville/Vernon Hills public schools, but you'll still be slightly alarmed to hear that School District 128 is now holding its students responsible for anything posted on MySpace or elsewhere on the Internet. Expect a lot of teenagers suddenly going anonymous in response.
Horton Hears a Hoobastank
Coudal Partners has a great game on right now: take a band name and a book title and mash'em together. What do you get? Check out the stand-outs so far and submit your own to bryan
Attack of the Marauding Palazzo Pantsed Queen
Drunken Bee on the perils of shopping Division Street. (How many thieving transvestites on the prowl for Fred Perry are you going to encounter on Michigan Avenue?)
Blogless
The good news: Threadless is about to relaunch their site.
The bad news: As they were making the new site live, "the robots attacked," killing all of members' blog posts from December 2005 forward.
If you lost posts but have any of them bookmarked, you can submit the URLs here for recovery.
Sunsets Over the City
Since it's likely we won't be able to see the sunset tonight, you might want to head to this weblog and get your fix.
Printed Fun On Every One
Did you know they're printing Guinness World Records on Pringles now? Matt Maldre of Spudart got a tube, and among the world records was an odd looking print-out that included the phrase "printed fun on every one." He realized it was a diagnostic display intended to show the density of ink being sprayed by the chip printer.
reknit, re:knit
I'm a crafty gal. But running a small business means I now spend more time reading articles put out by the Small Business Administration than I do reading knitting blogs. And I miss it. Thankfully ex-GB'er Brenda Janish has created a re-blog that I'm delighted by. re:knit culls feeds of many of the knitting blogs I read when I had the time.
Regnef Blogger Speaks
So you know that teacher we told you about who wrote scathing commentary about Fenger High School on his blog, then leaked it on purpose? He wrote an email to Dawn Turner Trice, who'd written a column about him last week. The upshot: the blog was a misunderstood cry for help.
Parsing Pitchfork
Cleveland blog goodhodges runs a statistical analysis of Pitchfork reviews and finds that, big surprise, they tend to review albums they like. The follow-up breakdown of scores is interesting, too. [via] This all brings to mind Pitchformula, a UofC student's thesis analyzing reviews and writing songs that would garner the highest ratings, which we told you about awhile back.
I Hate My Developer
I didn't actually hate mine, but I wouldn't say I was in love with him after we found out about all the corners that were cut. The Woodlawn Wonder has been writing since August of last year after she became a member of her condo board. If you're thinking of buying a condo, or if you have a condo and are questioning your developer there are 9 months of posts that might help answer your questions or spur you to action. The links list alone is a worth a visit.
Rule #1: Don't Blog About Work
Apparently all those scare stories on the news didn't sink in with one Chicago teacher. He wrote all sorts of trash talk about his school, Fenger High, on his now-deleted blog (sample posts were temporarily republished here, still viewable in the Google cache). When its existence was leaked, the shite hit the fan, both among the student body and the teachers. More lively discussion on MetaFilter.
After the Mugging
Theresa at The Local Tourist was mugged and brutally beaten walking down Diversey Avenue late at night two weekends ago; her assailant beat and kicked her repeatedly in the head, and may have planned on doing much more. You can follow her recovery on her blog; she has advice on what to do if you get mugged or attacked here.
Local EPpy Noms
EPpy nominations were kind to the Tribune this year; they include Maureen Ryan'sThe Watcher, ChicagoSports.com and the paper's multimedia special on "the Mercury Menace." The Crain's site was also nominated. The EPpy Awards annually honor new media forays by old media and will be handed out next month in Vegas.
Spring Has Sprung. Now, What To Wear?
Let's all cross fingers that we can ditch the anoraks, coats, jackets, blazers, sweaters and various other forms of outerwear for at least a few months. It's 78 degrees, and that's cause for celebration. Still, the anonymous female blogger behind Make Love, Not Debt is struggling to find a black shirt that'll meet her Chicago springtime needs (and there are several of them). Ladies, if you've got recommendations, be nice and pass 'em on.
Daily Kos disses Dames
Kos, of Daily Kos was in town yesterday signing books and Roni went to see what he had to say, and ask him about his view of feminists and civil rights. His basic theory is that any Democrat is better than any Republican. Roni points out why party affiliation isn't the main point.
A Pill with a New Flavor
We're not the only ones who've done a bit of reno recently. Nope, Flavorpill's experimenting with beta taste. It's added a blog to its excellent weekly newsletter, which, incidentally, reminds you to head to Hyde Park this afternoon for a dose of Žižek.
The Therapist Moves In
While we were redesigning yesterday, another site was launching: introducing Apartment Therapy : Chicago, a new local channel of the popular interior design blog.
Such Smart Kids
I believe the children are our future.
Keeping Tabs on Triblogs
For handy bookmarking, the Tribune has helpfully consolidated its various blogs on a single portal. (Although it has fewer, the Sun-Times's blogs are similarly accessible.)
Chicago Blog News
EatChicago has redesigned. SharkForum is a group blog featuring some big shots from the Chicago arts and music scene, including Redmoon's Jim Lasko, New City's Ray Pride and Nicholas Tremulis. And holy crap! Sour Bob is back!
Live-Blogging The Elections
Eric Zorn of the Trib is doing a pretty decent job of live-blogging the primaries, if you want a wide-view. (And the turnout is SO LOW! They speculated at my precinct that 15% came out to vote, a lot of suburban items have less than a few hundred votes. Amazing.)
Support Your Daily News
The Chi-Town Daily News needs your help. Think of it as a pledge drive: donate at X level and receive one of these wonderful gifts as a token of their gratitude.
Your Daily Dose of Comedy
Hey! Schadenfreude redesigned!
Live-Blogging the Oscars
Watching the Academy Awards tonight? Follow along on as Edward Champion and a vast and varied cast of characters live-blog the pseudo-event on the Oscar 2006 Blog.
New And Notable On Chicagobloggers
Nifty new-ish blog: To Whom It May Concern, a blog of letters written but never sent. Great humor.
Blogging Live Music
The succinctly named Live Music Blog is the web baby of northside Chicagoan Justin Ward. A venue (ha!) for his widely varying tastes in music, the blog is one part podcast, one part news thread and one part discussion group. The topics range from guesstimates on upcoming festival lineups, to music you should be listening to, to the news of a newly re-re-named local venue. (First titled the "World Music Center", then "Tweeter Center" now you can call it the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater. Whatever you call it, you still have to drive out to Tinley Park.) [Thanks, Dan!]
Reporting Live from the Bar Down the Street
Steve Rhodes, former media critic and investigative reporter for Chicago Magazine, has launched the Beachwood Reporter, a blog covering Chicago media and whatever else crosses his mind. The site is apparently named after a certain Wicker Park bar.
New And Notable On Chicagobloggers
A few new and notable blogs on chicagobloggers.com: Today's Chicago Blues, a well-done blog covering the blues scene in Chicago. The author will also be publishing a book about the topic with friend of GB Lake Claremont Press. Also, Overheard in Chicago, a new blog attempting to do what New York's already done. Still interesting.
In Defense of Blogs
A day after the Tribune's snide editorial about the "indefinite" future of blogs, columnist Eric Zorn demurs, calling the paper itself "a veritable Blogoslovakia" with a growing presence online. Mind you, Zorn could have gone farther: he fails mention that the Tribune has taken to printing web log content among its editorials, and he's gracious enough not to point out that you just can't get more tired than Al Gore/Internet jokes.
Blogger Meetup: Copyright & Fair Use
The monthly Blogger Meet-up hosted by Columbia College's Barbara Iverson tonight features Matthew J. Sag, a law professor and author of the paper "God in the Machine: A New Structural Analysis of Copyright's Fair Use Doctrine." He'll be talking about how copyright and fair use come into play in blogging. Head to the second-floor "Mini Auditorium" at 33 E. Congress at 6:45pm to join in the free discussion.
CGBB 2, Electric Boogaloo
Back by semi-popular demand, next Thursday I'm hosting the second annual Chicago Gay Bloggers Bash, a shindig for Chicago's LGBT bloggers and their friends, families, and fans, straight and gay alike, to meet, greet, booze and cruise. It's totally casual, not unlike our monthly GB Get-Togethers (this Friday with no fries, chips!) and all GB readers are welcome to show up at Crew Bar + Grill. See my site or Slowdown for the deets.
steppenwolf.blog
Looks like the Steppenwolf has jumped on the blogging bandwagon.
Sounds Around Town
Audio blog The Square Tracks is an interesting mix of self-produced stuff and shared mp3s. The most recent post is a set of field recordings made around the city, including a number of street performers you're likely to recognize.
Hello Teatro!
Would you look at that: Edward Lifson, host of WBEZ's Hello Beautiful!, has begun a blog.
Blogger Bowling Blowout
Last night, Gapers Block met Chicagoist and Coudal Partners for a little friendly competition down at Lucky Strike: eight frames later (we ran out of lane time), GB emerged victorious! Here are photos from us, Coudal and Chicagoist.
Big Happy Prune House
"Dear Sweetheart,
Please cook me some prunes.
Love, Daddy"
Chicago Bloggers, IRL
Barbara Iverson of Columbia College has organized a group for local bloggers on Meetup, the second meeting of which is set for Wednesday night; this month's topic is search engines and audience building. The event takes place at 6:15pm -- register to get more details.
Six-Flat Therapy
New York's Apartment Therapy is expanding: they're launching a Chicago version of the site (along with one in San Francisco; they already have one in LA) to talk about local architecture and interior design. They're looking for an editor with both blogging and ID experience. And hey, it's a paid position! (Thanks, Aaron, and congratulations!)
It Would be Funny If it Weren't True
Luke Seemann's Internet Tendency on "Things I would do if I were an alderman and wanted to make my neighborhood suck."
Obligatory Pandering for Votes
It's Bloggies time again — a time when weblogs plead with their readers to nominate them for an award that means little more than bragging rights among bloggers. But hey, we're not above that: it'd be great if you'd put our name in the running for a couple categories. May we suggest Best Group Weblog, Best Writing of a Weblog, Best Topical Weblog and, for Rearview, perhaps Best Photography of a Weblog?
Bloggers Look Back on 2005
For hours of link following fun, check out Eric Zorn's list of bloggers' takes on the year's most significant local news.
Chicago Blog-Times
The Sun-Times has finally caught up to the other major dailies and launched a blog: columnist Debra Pickett maintains the paper's everyman ethos with remarkably average posts. In the meantime, it'll be interesting to see which paper catches up to the Defender and adds a podcast.
Opinion With Teeth
Check out SHARKFORUM, a newish news and culture blog. Contributing editors include poet Simone Muench, Wesley Kimler, Dave Roth, Lynne Warren (MCA curator), James Beckman (co-founder of Ante), Mark Staff Brandl (corresponding editor for New York's Art in America), Jay Bonansinga (novelist and visiting professor at Northwestern University), Nancy Bockoven, Paul K, Ray Pride, and Norbert Marszalek.
The return of Daily News
The Tribune mentions today that there's a new Chicago news site, but this one has a familiar name: The Chicago Daily News, a news site run by a former Tribune reporter. The original Daily News ran through 1978, at which point the trademark lapsed on the name. The new Daily News is soliciting stories and photos from its readers, which will hopefully allow it to cover stories that aren't normally in the papers. Good luck, Chicago Daily News, and welcome.
Blogs of Operatic Proportions
It's interesting to find blogs by more than one person connected to Chicago's opera scene. Erin Wall, a soprano based in Chicago, writes at Canadienne (figures I'd discover it just as she goes on hiatus), and Brian Dickie, general director of Chicago Opera Theater, has his own blog, too.
Battle of the Bucket Brigade
There was a big fight over at Chicagoist yesterday in the comments of their post on Alderman Natarus' plan to get rid of street performers in the Loop again. Mostly, it was one guy against the hordes.
Video Killed the Podcast Star
If hearing your favorite local webloggers isn't enough, find some to watch at Chicago Videobloggers.
Eat. Drink. Play. In Chicago
To supplement your entertainment planning needs, American Express' In:Chicago card has launched a blog: mmmChicago.com.
A Really Good Apple
Autumn may be leaving us, but the web makes it possible to hang on a little while longer with, well, some photographs of fall fruit. Over the past couple weeks, Thrown for a Loop has been "appleblogging." He finished yesterday with the Cameo variety, one he claims is hard to top. Makes a person wanna dash to the produce market while there's still time.
Da Monsters of the Gridiron
We give you Sports in Five once a week. Say, though, you want more. One of Deadspin's recurring features is running down "Blogdom's Best"; today, it tackles the Bears.
We're Just Muggles in Their Midst
If you're a real Harry Potter fan, you know that there's just a few hours until GOF (that's Goblet of Fire, for those who don't know) opens at midnight tonight. If you're a fan, you also know all about Mugglenet.com. The site was founded by 18-year old Emerson, who lives in Indiana "near Chicago", who's helped out by his brother, and a team of Potterfans around the world (including one in Buffalo Grove). They have a virtual treasure trove of interviews, film clips, stills, and one very important countdown clock. Get your wands at the ready.
"MOVE. NOW."
It's best not to mess with Mimi Smartypants. Or, at least, best not to mess with yourself while in her Red Line car. She's seen this kind of thing before, and she's not gonna put up with anymore nasty shenanigans.
A Million Words
Music site Coolfer introduced Damian Kulash of Chicago's OK Go as a guest blogger over the weekend. Kulash will be reporting from the road as his band finishes its current tour; today, he takes on DRM. OK Go will play a local show on Friday, with a 7pm signing at the Tower Records on Clark. Fans or the merely curious can email Kulash: damian at coolfer.com.
Bloggy McBlog-a-little-less
Chicago-area blogger Mandy Stadtmiller (aka: Bloggy McBlogalot), has accepted a position as a features reporter at the New York Post, starting in mid-December. Previously, Mandy penned (or typed them using a word processor) articles for The Washington Post, The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, The Des Moines Register and did PR work for Northwestern University. Did I mention she is funny as hell? Read her.
Windy City Weblogs
Chicago Bloggers, updated and online.
Round-tripping
Barrington resident Megan Kearney is traveling around the world, and documenting it on her site, Me-Go.net. So far, she's covered Asia from Japan to Thailand; I can't wait to see where she heads next. You can follow along through her blog, photos and sketchbook.
Casting for Podcasters
Do you have a podcast? If so, ChicagoPodcasters.org wants to hear from you. The site is looking for "podcasters in the Chicago area to interview and submit stories from the people in their lives." Now if someone could just put together a directory of local podcasts... for now, this will have to do.
More Refreshing Than a Beer Ad
While we wait for the Sox to start their next playoff series, FlowFeel provides a diversion by breaking down and linking up all those "more refreshing" Old Style ads. (Grab mp3s of the radio commercials here.)
Whole Lotta (Heart)in'
If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say it was a meme: within moments of one another Metblogs and Chicagoist each posted love letters titled with the "I (heart) U" formulation. The objects of their affection could hardly be more different -- Washington Mutual and Queens of the Stone Age -- but, on a dreary day like today, there are worse questions to ponder than "Whom do you (heart)?"
DIY iPod Case
AKMA made a protective cover for his new iPod nano out of one of those plastic folders that come with business cards. Chic and functional!
All Mixed Up
Stereogum mentions mp3 blog Out of 5 today. Look closely at the names of the involved, and I bet you'll recognize a couple. (Or, if you need a hint...)
A Huff Po for the Legal Set
Introducing the University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog. It may have a cumbersome name, but the idea behind it is an exciting one. Promising to feature posts from "Chicago friends, faculty, and alumni," the site aims to take conversations outside the classroom and into the world.
Moving out
As Matt points us to a great post made by Christine Cupaiuolo on Ms. Musings, I notice that she's packed up her bags. While she'll no longer be writing for Ms. magazine (a damned shame if you ask me) she will be continuing her writing at Pop Politics. It's always sad to hear that a professional weblogger has lost a job, but I'm glad that Christine has decided to stick around Chicago and keep writing. Her voice is strong and will carry on.
Video Bloggers
Lime Green Tangerine offers up this list of local video bloggers, or "vloggers." Is that really all of them?
Rogers Park, Represent!
I don't know who Archie Gait is, or whether that's even his real name, but he deserves credit both for his site's enthusiastic voice and for its humorously straight to the point subtitle: "A blog dedicated to dispelling the myth that Morse Ave. is some sort of hellhole."
Other Local BOTWs
We weren't the only Chicago-based blog to make Forbes' Best of the Web list: Bookslut's blog is among the top literary blogs, Jim Romenesko is their pick as the best media blog, and both AsianMack Super Filter and LiveMusicBlog make their list of music blogs.
Now with Photos
Chicago.Photobloggers has redesigned, and it's lovely. In addition to having actual photos on the site, they're looking for contributors to write articles about photography and photoblogging. More info here.
Not Safe for Weblogs
The RedEye ran a story about blogs today. I'm not sure why it was called "Porn on the Blog," since it's not about sexblogs at all -- I keep mentally rhyming it with "corn on the cob," so maybe that's it. Anyway, the reporter goes to a "porn superstore" with Leigh Anne Wilson of the Honeysuckle Shop and One Good Thing, and also talks with Wendy McClure and Justin Kaufmann. UPDATE: Eric Zorn reprinted a Tribune profile of Wilson from last year.
One year of tattling
It's hard to believe that The CTA Tattler, the very funny and entertaining blog of all things CTA-related, is only one year old, but it's true. And tonight the Tattler celebrates its anniversary at Rock Bottom Brewery. Details on Slowdown. Happy birthday, Tattler!
Big Happy Photobloggers
Ron Slattery, GB contributor and tour guide of the Big Happy Funhouse, got written up in a New York Times article about photoblogs today. (If you don't have an NYT subscription, suffer through the 30-second ad on this link.)
Making Media Meta
Community Media Workshop is hosting a large conference today and tomorrow entitled "Making Media Connections". You can still register (follow the link prior) and there are various prices for the different sessions. GB co-founder and editor-in-chief Andrew Huff will be on a panel with Eric Zorn and Barbara Iverson called "Blogging and how it's transforming the media landscape". Now if this isn't all geeky enough for you, read Andrew's post, Eric's post and Barbara's post. Once that's done and it all makes complete sense to you, give yourself a pat on the back and then write a post about it.
Squaring the Online News Game
Online News Squared is a newly public blog from Tribune Interactive, covering the field of online news. (They say it's been around since late 2003, but the archives only go back to April '04.) UPDATE: Author Scott Anderson explains that the blog started on Blogger, and he never imported them to Movable Type. So there you go.
Hedgehog Olympics
Brandy at Loosetooth.com recently got a hedgehog, Numo, and last weekend she entered him in the "Hedgehog Olympic Gym-Bar-E." Cute pictures ahead in her Numo Blog.
Black Sox Lore
Stephen Dubner, who co-authored Freakonomics with U of C economist Stephen Levitt, examines a bit of Chicago sports history in the Freakonomics Blog: did the 1919 White Sox get their nickname, the "Black Sox," due to their throwing of the World Series or for their notoriously dirty uniforms?
Anonymous no more
Yesterday we noted the newly launched chicagocrime.org. Those who looked at the site closely might have read that its developer stated a wish to remain anonymous. That's evidently no longer the case. Adrian Holovaty has spoken up to claim credit, and, accordingly, you can now read his account of the site's aims, as well as get in touch to make suggestions.
Easier read than done
If you follow U of C professor Daniel Drezner's blog, you'll know he drafted a tag team of substitutes to fill in while he was away on holiday. Drezner offered a "farewell warning" that the pair were of a different ideological stripe than that to which readers were accustomed, and, in his absence, commenters kept things plenty lively. David Greenberg, one of Drezner's fill-ins, describes the experience in the New York Times and concludes he's just "not cut out for blogging."
The Suburbs Go Beep
Beep is a new weblog published by the Daily Herald in collaboration with Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism as part of "a larger effort by the Daily Herald to attract non-graying readers." They're also building a directory of suburban blogs (within the Herald's distribution range), which is kind of nice.
Houseblogs in Your Neighborhood
The folks behind House In Progress have launched HouseBlogs.net, an aggregator of, well, exactly what it sounds like. A very cool feature is this map of house bloggers worldwide, including a half-dozen in Illinois, mostly in Chicagoland.
Farewell to the Honeysuckle Shop
We're sorry to report the recent closing of the Honeysuckle Shop, a Wrigleyville lady-friendly sex toy and lingerie shop run by a husband-and-wife team. Leigh Anne Wilson, the public face of the shop and proprietress of the popular blog One Good Thing, shuttered their store after a bout with pneumonia. The Honeysuckle Shop remains alive online as well as in Wilson's garage. (Thanks, Marie)
Car Blog Geekout
I have a friend who can identify a car by sound -- the purr of the engine, the growl of the muffler. He'd no doubt enjoy Chicago Car News, a relatively new blog about automobiles. (And did you know the author of Autoblog is local?)
Gary 'n' Rich's Blog
The Tribune has a substantial feature on The Becker-Posner Blog, a weblog written by Nobel Prize-winning professor Gary S. Becker and US Appellate Judge Richard A. Posner. Trib columnist Eric Zorn, however, takes the pair down a notch on his blog: "Don't swan in like an opera singer deigning to lend his talents to a lurid minstrel show."
The Obama Blog
Barack Obama followers can now get their fix by reading Obama's new U.S. Senate blog. Woo hoo! (found via Eric Zorn)
Hedgehog blog
As odd as it seems, Chicago blogger Brandy Agerbeck seems to be the first person to create a blog specifically about her hedgehog. It's named Numo, not Ron Jeremy. It loves playing with toilet paper rolls. And she won't let my cats come visit.
Everyone has someone to hate them
LizWatch may have moved on to other topics without ridding the world of Liz Armstrong, but now there's another snarky, anonymous blog with a wider focus on the city's predominant free weekly: The Reader Sucks. In their first post this week, they passed on Crain's reporting that the Reader's circulation dropped for the sixth consecutive year.
Liz, Watched
A new blog has been making the rounds lately, appropriately entitled LizWatch: "There are far too many hours in the day and I have far too much time. This is a pathetic and bitter blog that takes the time to read and critique what is in my opinion the worst journalism in Chicago: Chicago Antisocial." Unfortunately, the Reader still doesn't offer free archives of their content online, so you'll just have to pick up last week's issue to see what all the fuss is about.
Where Blogging Comes to Die
In their usual practice of sucking the fun out of everything, University of Chicago professors are jumping on the blogging bandwagon. While not necessarily kept for professional reasons, most keep students in mind when posting to their sites. Because reading up on my prof's inner thoughts is totally what I wanted to do in my down time.
Douglas P. King
As the caretaker to two cats, I'm quite alright when you write about cats on your site. Last night though, it broke my heart a little (as it has in recent months with fellow friends with felines) to read about the passing of Douglas P. King, the friend, feline and companion to Chicago designer Patric King (infamous in recent months for the Gawker Empire's spread). Start here and read back and forth.
Republiteens Blog
"It's morning again in America!" That's the slogan of the new ReaganReview, a new conservative weblog run by teens 18 and under -- well, other than the state senator and state representative who contribute columns.
Blogging in the House (Theatre)
Pop-theatre critical darlings The House Theatre of Chicago have started their own blog, where artistic director Nate Allen and company hope to interact with the company's fans. Among the revelations so far: 1930's Chicago, as depicted in the online comic book we told you about last year, will be the setting for the final installment of the Valentine Trilogy next year. Meanwhile the middle piece of the triptych, Curse of the Crying Heart, runs through March 12.
Gay Chicago Bloggers Bash
Thursday, February 24 at Roscoe's is the first-ever Gay Chicago Bloggers Bash, co-hosted by me, GB staffer Kris Vire, and Aaron Bailey of 601am and Chicagoist. Expect it to be a casual gathering not unlike our monthly GB Get-Togethers. All are welcome: GLBT or straight, blogger or non-blogger. Details, as usual, in Slowdown.
Claire's Bistro
If you're a writer you're probably familiar with mediabistro, a website filled with articles on writing as a career and job links that, as a Chicagoan, I've rarely found useful. Today the site launched five new weblogs, including MBToolbox, a "resource blog for journalists and writers." The blog's editor? Chicago's own Claire Zulkey. Suddenly my faith in mediabistro is renewed.
Watching the Paper
And you thought we were the only ones who read the Sun-Times (and Tribune) so you don't have to. Introducing Sun-Times Watch, a daily blog where "Kit Kinzie" and "Will Wabash" dish on the tabloid's foibles. How soon before Trib Watch debuts? Oh, wait.
Lesbians! Podcasting! Satire!
Chicago film-maker and stage performer Richard Bluestein has apparently freaked out the fathers of podcasting, Adam Curry and Dave Winer, with his podcast featuring a character he created: Madge Weinstein, "saucy, outspoken breast cancer survivor and opinionated lesbian activist." Richard's crime? His podcasts were scripted, and Adam and Dave thought they were real.
Big Happy Fun Game
BigHappyFunhouse has started a weekly contest. Each Friday, he'll put up a special photo, and your job is to write a story to go with it and send it to ron
Blogging in McHenry County
Always on the cutting edge, the McHenry county daily paper, The Northwest Herald, writes an article about blogging. It does have some interesting statistics on blogging (92% are under 30), and then this great picture of a guy at a computer.
Anticipaaation
Chicago blogger and friend of GB Wendy McClure's forthcoming book I'm Not the New Me, based partly on her web journal, has a brand new promo site of its own. And she got blurbed by Jennifer Weiner! The book arrives April 26.
Diaries of Our Madmen
Shure Electronics, based in Niles, has an odd little webloggy thing on their site: their artist relations guys in Chicago and Nashville keep diaries of the bands and musicians they meet. It's a weird mix of fanboyism and product name-dropping.
Berwyn Barbie?
The Chicago Report has a scoop: a whole new line of Barbies is being rolled out -- with a Chicagoland theme.
I Rock in Iraq
Friend of GB Alicia Frantz is creating a care package for her brother, who is currently stationed in Iraq. In keeping with her orientation toward audio, she's sending him a bunch of minidisks, including one containing messages from random people back home. She's soliciting contributions: record a short message in .mp3, .aiff or .wav format and either email it to her or tell her where online she can grab it at aliciafrantz
Chicago Blogmap gets its own domain
Chicago Blogmap, one of two online collections of Chicago area blogger links that categorizes its entries by stops on the CTA train lines (the other one being Chicago Bloggers), has moved to its own domain, chicagoblogmap.com, after being hosted at Paul Goyette's site for well over a year. Adjust your bookmarks.
Another Blog in the City
BlogChicago is a new site started by a journalist and a couple copy editors. The content is currently made up mostly of music and movie reviews, as well as an "e-poll" asking random questions to local media and celebrities. However, the site also offers a Forum in which to discuss topics of the day.
Sifting Through the Geekiness
Mike Skallas of Everything Isn't Under Control has created NerdFilter, "a MetaFilter clone for Chicago geeks." The focus is more on technology and the arts than politics and news.
A Few Media Blogs
It's interesting to watch old media dip their feet in the blogging pool, and how each one goes at it. The Trib's Eric Zorn has been at it with his Notebook awhile now, and his colleague Maureen Ryan now has a TV blog (and someday the Tribune will give them permalinks). Jack Mabley, the 89-year-old editor emeritus of the Daily Herald, has his own blogspot, though it's been quiet in recent weeks. And Chicago Public Radio has gotten into the act with a "Pledge Blog" with their current pledge drive.
Yearning to contribute?
Our pals over at Chicagoist are hiring. Well, maybe hiring is the wrong word, since I'm pretty sure they (like us) are an all-volunteer army. At any rate, if fine arts, food and restaurants, or GLBT happenings are your forte, then Chicagoist would like to hear from you.
Amateur night
The always entertaining Chicagomuzik brings us an early guide to "where not to be" on New Year's Eve.
The Blogging Revolution
Daniel Drezner, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago, examines political blogs and asks, "Can blogs affect politics in regimes where there is no thriving independent media sector?"
Starbuckery
Jim Romanesko, Evanstonian blogger of Obscure Store and Media News fame, has started a new weblog. About Starbucks. Now you can get your fix without the jitters.
MT in WSJ
Not Chicago news, but fans of Movable Type (the software used to power this very site!) will want to check out this profile of MT and Six Apart in today's Wall Street Journal, if only to see the stipple portraits of Ben and Mena Trott.
Waste of Bandwidth
You may be familiar with Andy Ihnatko's work as technology columnist for the Sun-Times, but you probably weren't aware that he has a weblog. Or a Flickr account, where he has a photo of Studs Terkel in a neck brace with Molly Ivins.
Chicago Photo Weblog
Chris Karr is on a mission of sorts. He's set some rules for himself:
1. Carry a digital camera as often as possible.
2. Every day until October 31, take at least one photo.
3. No seeking out sites for the primary purpose of photographing them. Interesting things from daily life only.
4. Let viewers come up with their own stories to go with the photos.
The result: Chicago Photo Weblog.
Keeping the blog-light burning
We were saddened a couple of weeks ago, when we read that Aaron of Uppity-Negro had died. But we're glad to read that Aaron's mother Jessie, and his sister Val, will be keeping his blog alive by updating on occasion. Their first post shows promise and I think Aaron would be proud.
Del.icio.us!
Del.icio.us is a social bookmarks manager that allows you to categorize and share your bookmarks, while subscribing to other peoples' lists. There is, of course, a Chicago page, that lists all bookmarks tagged with "Chicago."
Map Yer Blog
The Chicagobloggers blog map is finally taking submissions again, after a too-long hiatus. Check in there for the blog nearest you, or add your own to the map. (Thanks, Michael!)
Blogging the RNC
Like the Democrats, the Republicans invited a handful of bloggers to come cover their convention. Our local representative is Tom Bevan of Real Clear Politics; the full list is right here. You could also read the Tribune's "blogs" by Ellen Warren, Charlie Madigan and Mike Tackett.
Law Bloggin'
Law blogs are a peculiar breed. Some interesting Illinois ones for your perusal:
Patently Obvious, a great patent law blog
The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog
The Illinois Personal Injury Weblog
Law Dawg Blawg, by the law librarians of SIU
the [non]billable hour, in downstate Highland
(Interested in more? Check Blawg.org.)
goskokie gone?
Six Northwestern graduate journalism students put together goskokie, which is supposed to be a community-driven website for Skokie residents that offers Skokie news. (Sort of a GB North.) Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated in nearly a month, and this (in addition to Dan Gillmor praising the site in a blog posting yesterday) prompted the reporters over at The Register to have a bit of fun and surmise that Skokie has disappeared.
Unconventional coverage
West Chicago-based Kirk Johnson of American Amnesia is one of the few dozen bloggers covering the Democratic Convention this week. He tells The Wall Street Journal that his coverage will be different from that of the 13,000 traditional journalists: "News viewers have to cut through a lot of lard before getting to the guts of an issue, which gets old pretty fast." He's accepting contributions to help pay the way.
Another Chicago Groupblog
Perhaps inspired by Gothamist's expansion into other cities, the guys behind Blogging.LA have started Metroblogging. Naturally, Chicago.Metroblogging is one of the first cities to launch. (Looks like we need to get moving on NY Block and Gapers.LA, just to keep up.)
One (Really) Good Thing
Having had many unhappy experiences in suburbs and pseudo-suburbs of this fine city and others, and loving this fine city so very much, I'm inclined to never move to a suburb. However, Flea tells us a story (June 26th entry) which makes me understand the draw of the suburbs a wee bit more than I do now. It's all about the kids.
Mugged, with Gun
Our own NH and JC were robbed at gunpoint last night. Read the play-by-play at Absenter.org.
A look at Lincoln Park
Your GB Humorous Moment of the Day courtesy of Atomly: A critical view of Lincoln Park.
Wardrinking
Boystown-based blogger palochi proposes a new activity for all you WiFi-enabled tipplers out there: Wardrinking. "Instead of driving around in your car looking for open wireless connections (i.e., wardriving), you go to bars and see if there's an unprotected hotspot you can use." Intriguing. [via Bradlands, who may be moving to CHI from STL this summer.]
Chicagoist
Gothamist introduces Chicagoist, "a website about Chicago and everything that happens in it. That means news and events, restaurants and bars, happenings and goings-on."
Go Skokie!
Skokie has gotten a community weblog all of their own. Go Skokie is aims to "create a community driven Web site for Skokie that offers 'news for the people by the people.'" The site was created by a team at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism.
Let's Blog Two!
There are blogs about everything, so of course there are some that focus solely on the Cubs and Sox. And if your not a fan of the home teams, BaseballBlogs.org can point you to one for your team.
One Good Thing
One Good Thing writer and Honeysuckle shop owner, Leigh Anne Wilson gets quite a nice write-up in Friday's Chicago Tribune. The geeky journalism student in me is jealous that I didn't get to write the lede. It's perfect.
Bloggers in the Trib
The Chicago Tribune finally gets around to covering last month's Gapers' Block/SPEC Chicago reading at Uncle Fun in today's Q section. The paper version includes pictures of Mimi Smartypants, Shasta MacNasty and other "digital beatniks" (seriously).
"Blog Jogging?"
The Rise of the Chicago Blogs continues: the Colorado Springs Independent writes up Mimi Smartypants for her book based on her site and Wendy McClure for her book deal based on hers. They don't know what the headline means either.
Pastry anyone?
Some of you have entertained the thought of attending culinary school. Perhaps as a patissier? If you'd rather live vicariously, then take a peek and read what it's like at Pastry School, written by Meg, who's currently attending here in Chicago.
Bloggin' in the City
The Daily Herald ran a mini-series on weblogs in yesterday and today's papers. In the first, Sour Bob beats groupies away with a stick; in the second, the reporter blogs about his love for Mimi Smartypants. (Disclosure: GB's editor was interviewed for both stories. His quote in today's article was taken out of context.)
MiMi on TV
The Mimi Smartypants, our local blogger celebrity, will be interviewed on Channel 2's 10 o'clock news tonight. ('Twill be interesting to see if the famously anonymous Mimi will show her face.)
At Street Level
Centerstage, the original events listings site (but don't tell Metromix), has started a blog. Hopefully they'll fix their comments, so we can respond to their call to "tell us more about [the city], in detail, with links."
Vehicles of mass destruction
It was not a good weekend to be a pedestrian. One of the weekend's three car-related homicides killed Chin Up Chin Up bassist Chris Saathoff (Friendster profile here). Blogger Mimi Smartypants was there. (Coincidentally, the Tribune's Transportation section on Sunday looked at what's being done to make cars less dangerous for pedestrians. Not enough, obviously. Cars kill more than 43,000 people a year in the U.S., and about 12 percent are innocent bystanders, the equivalent of one Sept. 11 every seven months.)
Romeoville 101
Everything you ever wanted to know about Romeoville, Illinois.
injust-spring Returns!
After a long hiatus, local blogger and former GB staffer Alex Valera has restarted her blog, injust-spring. Welcome back!
Poundy Book!
Wendy McClure, writer of Pound, has a book deal! Her upcoming book, tentatively titled "I Am Not the New Me," has been picked up by Riverhead Books, home of Nick Hornby and ZZ Packer. Huzzah!
One Hundred or So Ways...
...To Get an Ulcer is a relatively new weblog described as "A glimpse into the mind of an Chicago inner-city high school teacher". It's captivating reading.
Librarians Rock!
Especially, our librarian, Alice. The owners of House in Progress were trying to track down info about their street. They asked Alice, and she answered them. Librarians don't know everything, they just know how to find it.
And the Nominees Are...
The Bloggies, the longest-running weblog awards presentation (not that that's much of a boast), have announced the nominees, and there are two from Chicago in the running. Bookslut, a recent emigre from Austin, is nominated for Best Topical Weblog, and Sabrina Faire is up for Best Tagline. Go vote!
Penguins, LT, and beer
Mysterious and venerable Chicago blogger Mimi Smartypants has a book out soon. Weirdly, it's only being published in the UK.
Jorn Barger is Missing
Jorn Barger, creator of Robot Wisdom, one of the first weblogs -- in fact, he coined the term -- has been missing for two months. Barger moved to a small New Mexico town from Chicago last year, but hasn't been heard from online since October 1, and his housemate hasn't seen him since, either. Eric Wagoner is starting a search. UPDATE: Apparently his disappearance was the result of a domestic dispute. No need to panic, stop searching under bushes.
Bookslut in the Reader
Jessa Crispin, creator of the literary weblog and e-zine Bookslut, is on the cover of the Chicago Reader this week talking about her blog and her experience with incurring the wrath of writer Dale Peck. Jessa recently moved to Chicago from Austin, and we're thrilled to have her. This is also the Reader's Fall Books issue so run out and grab a copy.
Oh, boy!
IIT's Shlomo Argamon helped write the algorithm behind the Gender Genie, this week's blog meme. Enter a passage of text and the Genie predicts the author's gender. I entered several days of Merge, the Proprietors page and the current installments of Detour, Airbags and Fuel, and the results were unanimous: Gapers Block is a boy!
Calling all Chicago Bloggers
This week is the third Wednesday of the month which means it must be International Blog Meetup Day! Come meet some of your fellow bloggers this month at Southport Lanes located at 3325 N. Southport, Chicago, IL 60657 starting at 7pm. Let us know you're coming via RSVP at Meetup.com. Hope to see you there.
The Closing of a Restaurant
Sadly we report the demise of The Making of a Restaurant, a weblog by Sandor Weisz and Luke Seemann. On a happier note, we'd like to officially welcome Luke to the staff here at Gapers' Block! (Not that we had anything to do with them shutting down MoaR.)
Greatest Living American Blog Satirist
Former Reader and McSweeney's writer Neal Pollack returns to town to promote his latest book, "Never Mind the Pollacks." Thursday, Oct. 16, there will be a free reading at Quimby's (1854 W. North) at 7:30, followed by a 9:30 show at the Subterranean (2011 W. North) with his band, The Neal Pollack Invasion ($8). Friday at 12:30 he'll read at Borders (150 N. State), then at 9 open for comedy troupe Schadenfreude at the Athenaeum (2936 N. Southport; $20).
Bloggingworks for Business
Coudal Partners and 37signals still have a couple spots left open for their Bloggingworks workshop next Friday, Oct. 3. Tell your boss -- no, tell the CEO -- this is one workshop your company can't afford to pass up.
Chicago bloggers' maps.
After langushing behind cities like NYC and London for months and months, Chicago finally has not one but two sites devoted to matching up bloggers by (El and Metra) train station.
Mama Smartypants
Mimi Smartypants is having a baby! (Well, not really: she's adopting a baby from China.)
The Blog "Phenomenon"
Of interest to bloggers in Chicago and elsewhere, a columnist in Canada's Globe and Mail writes today about his discovery of the "blog phenomenon," which he writes, "is perhaps the strangest side of the Internet. It's stranger even than all the porn."
How to: Finger becomes penis
Ruthie shows us evidence (scroll down a little) of how to make your finger turn into a small penis. Make sure you credit her the next time you work that into your party repertoire. It's a sure bet to impress the folks.
Feed Me
Localfeeds is a new blog aggregate service that incorporates GeoURL; any site that offers an XML/RSS feed and has GeoURL coordinates is picked up once an hour and collected on one page. The service is still fledgling (~500 blogs tracked), but Chicago's page is a promising start.
Eyewitness News
Normally Bonne Marie Burns writes poetically about all things knitty. But occasionally she writes eloquently about her life as a television news camera operator. Today she writes about her experience filming live during Chicago's first multiple workplace shooting since February of 2001.
Bloggers in the News
The press just keeps on coming for Chicago bloggers. Wendy of Pound, Erin Shea of Lose the Buddha and Paul McAleer of Big Fat Blog all got mentioned in a New York Times article about diet/weight issue blogs. Our Toledo correspondent tells us that Ms. Shea will be appearing on Tuesday's Good Morning America.
Triblog
Tribune columnist Eric Zorn launched "Breaking News," a Tribune-sponsored and -hosted weblog today, marking the first official "Triblog." He's had his own website for years.
Food Blogs
The Making of a Restaurant and KIPlog's FOODBlog got some press in a St. Petersburg Times article about food weblogs. (As Paul from KIPlog noted, "poor Jes once again doesn't get a direct link because of her 'in-your-face title.'"
Women Bloggers in the News
Hey, women bloggers got some props in the Chicago Tribune, yesterday.
[login: gapers/gapers]
Blog of Note
Ms. Amy at Rubbernun has gotten herself chosen as a "Blog of Note" by Ms. Musings.
"Don't be fooled by the props that she got
She's just Amy from the blog"
BloggingWorks
Pass this one on to your boss: 37Signals and Coudal Partners are teaming up to offer BloggingWorks, a one-day workshop on "how your business can harness the power of weblogs to improve efficiency and communication."
Coudal Kudos
Coudal Partners gets a nod from the Sun-Times today for using weblogs to raise its profile and earn street cred. They were also recently featured in an Inc. magazine article.
House In Progress
House In Progress is the diary of the restoration of a neglected Chicago bungalow, as well as a look into its history and a catalogue of things left behind by previous owners.
Ms. Musings
Did you know that Christine Cupaiuolo , the writer behind Ms. Musings (the Ms. Magazine blog) and the editor for PopPolitics.com, lives in Chicago?
Design Geek
You may be a geek, but are you a Design Geek? Our very own Paul McAleer ponders the usefulness of objects and the way they work. It's fresh and (somewhat) new. I wish he'd put up the old archives.
The Knife Sharpener
The American Sentimentalist takes a long, loving look at a job that has faded away in most neighborhoods, but not his: the Knife Sharpening Man.
Ira Cox yes?
In what may become a daily read for me, the misleading-at-first-but-makes-sense-after "North Avenue Traffic Report" (currently in a I-just-moved-no-internet hiatus), a site by one Ira Cox, details his adventures on his fixed gear bike (a man after my own heart), and escapades dumpster diving around the city. It's shocking to see the sort of stuff he finds... Via the indomitable Kiplog.
Restaurant Round-Up
Former Chicago web logger, soon to be ex-patriate traveling around the world, Paul Nendick gives us as his final good-bye gift, his round-up of favorite Chicago restaurants. Some obvious choices -- and some hidden gems ready to be jumped on. Good luck Paul!
ChiActing, a weblog
Stumbled across this, a Chicago Acting weblog, interesting links even if you're not an actor, written and maintained by David Lawrence.
Sour Bob Retires
Moments after slipping us a story tip, Sour Bob announced he's quitting his blog.
So long, indeed.
David Weinberger talk and party
As the capping event of the Digital Genres Conference (disclaimer: I am the conference organizer) uber-blogger and web-guru David Weinberger will be giving a talk on 'Why Weblogs Matter' 8pm May 31 (next Saturday) at the Julia Friedman gallery in the west loop. After which they'll be a huge party with lots of complimentary booze and the ranks of the conference goers will be swelled with artists, bloggers and other suspicious bohemian types. Come for the Heidegger, stay for the Heileman's! All are welcome.
Malaysian/Scandinavian Invasion
Ian Clarks weighs in on my Malaysian Invasion (at the bottom) as his in-vogue drink a few weeks back, but more interestingly, his twist to the recipe (sub Lingonberry juice for Cranberry) becomes the Scandinavian Invasion. A drink that sounds pretty damn tasty.
Blogging at U. of C.
University of Chicago professors discover blogs as a way to temporarily step off their pedestals and talk to the little people.
Gawker stalks Chicago
Hmmm, Gawker stalker is now stalking Chicago? "I saw Josh Hamilton at the 10:00 Saturday night performance of Wigfield (starring Strangers With Candy's Amy Sedaris, Steven Colbert and Paul Dinello) in Chicago. He was very cute, despite having two very dark front teeth." Hamilton, of course, is starring in Richard Greenberg's play The Violet Hour at Steppenwolf.
Dave Elfving, Alicia Frantz on NPR
Our very own Dave Elfving as well as our friend Alicia Frantz appeared on NPR's Morning Edition. The online version is here. Dave's audio entries are here. There used to be much more but he's taken most of them down and left you with a selection of "The best of". Alicia's sounds are at Audible Frequency. Don't be fooled by the props that I got, I'm still, I'm still Chicago from the block.
Smartypants on Boss Bar
Chicago Uber-Blogarista Mimi Smartypants includes a scathingly brilliant review of Boss Bar in her latest blog entry. As usual the inimitable Smartypants stylings are in full effect. We should get her on The Block.
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