It's a good day outside and with the combination of springing forward the clocks, the South Side Irish Parade Sunday, and warmer temps next week there are plenty of weeks to go out. Start the weekend off by leaving work early and heading to the Artisan Cellar at the Merchandise Mart, where they'll be having a tasting of the new-to-the area Graham Beck wines from South Africa. The free tasting runs from 3:30-6 p.m.,......

Bears quarterbacks Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton can be forgiven if they have a extra pint tonight -- or some fruity cocktail in Orton's case, since he's on his honeymoon in Hawaii -- because the Bears finally got them some help at wide receiver. Following three weeks of his lobbying, former Bears wideout Marty Booker overcame initial indifference from Jerry Angelo and re-signed with his former team on Wednesday. By signing a two-year deal with......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Gypsy jazz guitarist Alfonso Ponticelli and his band, Swing Gitan, are one of the go-to acts to fill in at the Green Mill whenever Kurt Elling is out of town for his regular Wednesday engagement. Ponticelli's faithful recreations of old Hot Club of Paris numbers, complemented with original compositions, are fresh and accessible without......

We've always wanted to have a Russian Writers Party, wherein everyone has a typewriter, a shot glass, and a bottle of vodka. We still think it's a good idea, but have decided it's best left unrealized. Unlike our ill-conceived notion of mixing books and booze, the folks at Reading Under the Influence (RUI) got it right. Hosted every first Wednesday of the month, a group of writers and drinkers get together to read short pieces......

We were grabbing a granola bar from the Walgreens by our office this morning and came across these amazing treats. It was then we realized that we've been so caught up in the Leap Year excitement that we nearly forgot that it's time to get excited about St. Patrick's Day. While most of our non-Irish friends celebrate this time of year by getting drunk on green beer and acting like idiots, we like to......

To the surprise of absolutely nobody in the entire state, Governor Rod Blagojevich denied any wrongdoing in the Tony Rezko trial at a press conference held Wednesday to announce the demolition of the hall where the NIU shootings occurred. Blagojevich denied that he is the Public Official A cited in the federal indictment against Tony Rezko. "It doesn't matter what letter of the alphabet it is. What was described there doesn't describe me or how......

Taste Food and Wine is fast becoming one of our favorite specialty shops. A large reason for this is their tastings. This evening they'll be hosting a free wine tasting from 6-7:30 p.m. featuring Bordeaux selections from Château Lestrille. Louisa Chu of Movable Feast and Diary of a Foodie fame will be speaking at Kendall College tomorrow about what it's like behind the scenes of food television. Should be promising. Presented by the Chicago......

Photo by PhotoDu.de Update on the Waukegan explosion: Nine people were injured, at least two seriously, and one person still may be unaccounted for. [Trib] The gigantic stuffed bear Truffles, mascot of the Rocky Mountain Factory in Orland Park, has safely come home after he was stolen. "Rumors surfaced Wednesday that a high school student wore Truffles' clothes to class." The students returned the bear. [S-T] What if all the fashion-conscious outfits featured on......

While a Chicagoland Legoland is years away, The Graham Foundation’s latest exhibit is architectural fun with Lego models. “Models” doesn't quite describe them. No, they’re “7 New Architectural Species from the Danish Welfare State,” the brainchildren of Copenhagen’s Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). BIG’s big idea is to find new practical utopias by “investing in the overlap between radical and reality,” to create a “new breed in urban life forms.” We assume they're speaking metaphorically. Either......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Film Have you heard the new place to play hooky is the Portage Theater's classic Wednesday matinée series? Last week it was the Marx Brothers at their most anarchic. This week Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald star in "I Married an Angel." This classic 1942 fantasy features some classic Rogers and Hart songs sung beautifully......

There's something kind of great about the way this row in our Flickr pool lined up. Photos from Katherine of Chicago, Katherine of Chicago, Chilene, Timo3K, JoeM500, and fjsjr. Local outfit Coudal has unveiled a betting pool for the 2008 Tournament of Books. Place your bets with Coudal, and all the money goes to First Book, an organization that gives new books to kids. Other companies are offering matching contributions, so bust out your......

We love t-shirts, and it seems we can’t ever have too many balled up in our dresser drawers, but it’s never fun to have the same ones everyone else has. (Think “Vote For Pedro,” or “More Cowbell.”) Thank goodness for Threadless, the online t-shirt vendor and Lakeview store that keeps its merchandise constantly rotating and therefore minty fresh. Threadless stocks its t-shirts on a rolling admissions basis. Artists submit their designs and after a......

The Cook County Board of Commissioners had a contentious meeting yesterday as they tried to resolve a looming budget shortfall of nearly $300 million. The board must pass a budget by Feb 29 or face a partial shut down of the county government. Board President Todd Stroger has been trying to convince county commissioners and the public that unless the county sales tax is raised to two percent from its current 0.75 percent, county health......

Photo by Andy Marfia We can't stop complaining about how cold it is--and luckily, it's not just us being pussies. It really is freakishly cold. Tomorrow's going to be the record-breakingly chilly: "The predicted high of 9 degrees at O'Hare would be the coldest this late in a cold season since a 3 degree high on Feb. 21, 1963." Our entire area is under a wind chill advisory starting this evening because polar gusts......

It's a Bottle edition of Local Options to reduce, reuse, and recycle this week. Wednesday, 2/20: Speck Mountain and Box of Baby Birds at Empty Bottle (with Arms and Sleepers), 9:00 p.m., $7 Much buzzed-about Chicago dream-pop trio Speck Mountain are joined by Box of Baby Birds to bring ethereal, experimental folk to the Empty Bottle mid-week for a shoegazey, acoustified romp with Boston's Arms and Sleepers. MP3: Speck Mountain - Stockholm Friday, 2/22: Moxie......

AP Photo The Chicago Blackhawks honored the NIU victims last night with above decal, which they'll wear on their helmets again tomorrow night in St. Louis and Wednesday night here against Minnesota. And Ozzie Guillen and co. were wearing NIU hats at spring training. [Blackhawks, Uniwatch] Jessica Baty, Steve Kazmierczak's girlfriend, gave an interview to CNN in which she describes him as a nice, sweet guy. She says he was on Prozac to treat......

The art of the postcard is a delicate thing. How does one evoke the entirety of a place, a mood, and the very essence of travel into a tiny block of text with a picture on the front? From the "thinking of you" sentimental to the "wish you were here" silliness, most often they miss the point. We come away happy for sharing, but ultimately lost on the breadth of travel in the brevity of......

We love to read and write, and not just our own posts here on the World Wide Webs. We’ve been working on our first novel for years. It’s a love story involving time-traveling unicorns and so far we have about 850 pages of it written, but we don’t know when we’ll get it published (fingers crossed!). As such, we have a soft spot in our heart for local writers who have been a tad more......

After being slighted by the passage of HB 429 last summer, the members of the Illinois Winemakers Alliance - comprising the larger wineries and vineyards in the state - have taken those lessons to heart. The IWA has enlisted the assistance of state Senator Carol Pankau (R-Bloomington) in filing SB2121. The bill, if passed, would amend the Illinois Liquor Control Act of 1934, allowing larger in-state wineries the ability to purchase a self-distribution license and......

Handlebar, everyone's favorite bicycle bar turns five tomorrow. The highlight, for us, is the serving of Bell's Kalamazoo porter. They're also offering free appetizers, half-off all drinks, and Mucca Pazza will do their best to blow out the windows. Festivities run from 10 p.m. - 3 a.m. For you guys who only bought your valentine doghouse roses, the James Hotel and Local wine Events Chicago have paired up to offer a $229, all inclusive......

According to a new study released by Chicago Urban League Wednesday, Chicago must expand education, business and economic opportunities for African-Americans in order to become and remain globally competitive. Cook County is the most densely black populated county in the nation with 1.4 million blacks, 1.1 million of whom live in the city. Funded by a $6.2 million grant from the BP Foundation, the Urban League is warning that the region's black middle class could......

Sure, it's still damn cold out. And the snow keeps coming. And coming. But spring is just around the corner. How do we know? Because Spring Training is finally upon us. The Cubs' pitchers and catchers reported to Mesa on Wednesday and begin practice today, while the White Sox pitchers and catchers are set to arrive in Tuscon on Saturday. Why the Sox waiting another couple days when clearly they're a team that needs all......

John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will visit Illinois next Wednesday, appearing at a fundraiser at the Rich Harvest Farms golf course in Sugar Grove to raise money for 14th District Congressional candidate Jim Oberweis. Oberweis's campaign spokesman Bill Pascoe said the appearance will give Oberweis a boost with independents as well as an infusion of cash heading into the the March 8 special election to choose a successor to former House Speaker Dennis......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Theater: There is A LOT of theater in Chicago, and it's often nigh impossible to select what shows you want to take in. Well, how about if you could catch a glimpse of what each show had to offer? that's the concept behind the Speed Theater Open House at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater. Check......

Baby, it's cold outside ... but Chicago's brightest musical talent is on display at a cozy venue near you. Here are some solid bets for this week: Wednesday 2/13: Cameron McGill, The Bon Mots, Tenniscourts at Schubas, 9:00 p.m., $8 Cameron McGill has been a staple on the local scene since moving here from Champaign several years ago, and his unselfconsciousness about shifting styles and band lineups ensures that his freak folk pop orchestration is......

Here are some things going around town to make you consider giving the weather a big ol' raspberry. Internet: Still sad that Chciagocrime.org shut down? Interested in how do do your own Google maps mashup? Or do you just want to understand how hyperlocal mapping works? Then head to the Garland Room of the Chicago Cultural Center this evening at 6 p.m. where chicagocrime.org's Adrian Holovaty himself discusses how they work. Film: If John Sayles......

Next Wednesday the Instituto Cervantes presents a fascinating evening of Buster Keaton, including a screening of one of our all-time favorite movies Sherlock Jr. The sad-eyed Buster created a film that was post-modern before "modern" even existed: he plays a projectionist who eventually steps into the very movie he's showing, in the process solving a crime that's taken place in the onscreen world. It's a hilarious movie that's also unexpectedly poignant, and it's been......

Some events in the next seven days to consider saving your freshly shoveled parking space with a few chairs. The annual Grand Chefs Gala for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation kicks off this evening at the Fairmont Hotel. The black tie-preferred event runs from 6 p.m. - midnight and will feature a safari theme this year. Among the participating chefs will be sola's Carol Wollack, "Top Chef" alum Dale Levitski, Aigre Doux's Mohammad Islam, and Adam......

An Austin man was killed in a car crash Wednesday, just hours before his home and business went up in flames. James Phillips called 911 yesterday morning from behind the wheel, saying he was having an asthma attack. Around 10:30, he lost control of his Escalade, crashed into a pole and died. Then nine hours later, his barbecue restaurant and catering business Phillips Ribs and his home above the restaurant on 5048 W Chicago Ave......

It's been a hard week for Oprah. Seems some peeps are mad that Oprah signed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (mouthful of a name) to her Oprah and Friends XM radio station. They're questioning how Oprah could sign someone who backs Giuliani when her support is so strong for Obama. Wah? This is why we don't wish for fame. Oh, and this reason: one of the other news stories this week is how Oprah is a......