The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

Elsewhere in the Ist-a-verse

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Feb 4, 2007 10:06PM

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Between fake terrorist alerts and scandals big and small, this just might be the best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it.

First up, SFist, who saw their little 'ole site be the center of what was a nice little scandal (even getting their editor on TV) only to find their scandal dwarfed by the even bigger scandal caused by their Mayor boffing one of his aides' wife. We're not just tooting our horn when we say we think SFist summed up the whole thing better than anyone: Holy Crap!!!!!

Next up Bostonist, which saw their city held hostage to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They detailed the story when it broke and when heads were called for, and they wrapped it all up when it was over. Oh, and then there was the spectacular press conference the next day. Those guys are our heroes.

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Chicagoist had Super Bowl fever. Despite it all, they were able to weigh in on the whole ATHF thing and get catty over the reality show "Check Please." Sadly, one of their own watched as their apartment building caught on fire.

Unlike Bostonist, Gothamist didn't panic over the mooninites. Maybe it was because they were too busy doing the urban Idiotarod. Or doing sociological work on the new urban phenomenon the blipster. Or maybe it's because they scored an interview with the runner up in "Top Chef."

Phillyist said hello to Prince Charles and the Wing Bowl, goodbye to Barbaro, and good riddance to Jack Bauer wannabes and clueless indie-rock fans.

LAist had their own mini-scandal too when one local representative called another one "a whore." See, we told you this was the best Best of the -ists ever. Unlike Phillyist, they did not mourn for Barbaro but were cheered by a sign post looking for love. They also interviewed Tommy Guerrero.

Londonist had no scandal unless you think naked Harry Potter is scandalous. They did have a problem with mice and with an arena getting torn down for luxury apartments.

DCist wished they had a much more exciting week than they really did but did have three fires at the same Metro station in the same week. They also saluted awesome METRO Conductors, wondered if their very own George Washington University is worth being the most expensive University in all the land, and wrote about a long, crazy drama involving police chases, standoffs, and a frying pan.

Houstonist had a tale of online love gone really wrong and a new way of using car pool lanes (claiming your unborn baby as an extra passenger). Oh, and somebody stripped while being chased by the cops. They then made some yummy drinks for the Super Bowl.

freehugs.jpgParisist saw a smoking ban take hold (prepare for the coming strikes!) and the Champs-Élysées turn into an over-commercialized Times Square. But a couple of tree-hugging hippies decided to hug the Eiffel Tower, which was an easy thing to do when hugs are free.

Seattlest wasn't in a very good mood when their car broke down and so heckled a bunch of high school basketball players. What made them feel better was being rocked by Girl Talk and seeing one ex-local high school basketball star show up in an actual NBA game.

Austinst paid tribute to Molly Ivins, helped find a lost chicken, and interviewed a whole bunch of SXSW bands.

Torontoist stirred some stuff up too. They uncovered the mystery of Bridezilla, got pissed about Diesel's new ad campaign, and got more pissed about Toronto's lousy tourism ads. Like a lot of people this week, they too needed a hug.

By SFist Jon Shurkin.