In a case of perfect timing, the MAGA six handed down their decision annihilating affirmative action in the name of “meritocracy” as another local municipality offered the Bears a handout they, the Bears, didn’t need, deserve, or earn. Proving, again, that meritocracy doesn’t exist in the real world—only in the fantasies of MAGA Supreme Court […]
Tag: Aurora
Posted inBest of Chicago
Best suburban source for horror writing and talk
Jon Kitley of Aurora has made a friend of horror. For 22 years he’s run Kitley’s Krypt, a site devoted to horror films, ranging from the earliest silent nightmares to the latest terrors from overseas. The site started in October of 1998 using the now-defunct Microsoft FrontPage tool. Kitley’s Krypt continues to provide regular updates […]
Posted inOn Politics
No más
With word just breaking that Kenneth Griffin kicked in $20 million to Richard Irvin’s gubernatorial campaign, I guess you can say he passed the audition. Irvin, that is, not Griffin. No, Griffin’s running the audition. It’s his play, and he’s casting it. I thought Griffin might abandon Irvin after his inability to answer a straightforward […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Sklar Brothers—like you—would like to ring in a better, happier New Year
The last time the Sklar Brothers performed stand-up on New Year’s Eve was more than a decade ago in Sacramento, according to Randy Sklar. Known for their quick banter as seen on cult TV show Cheap Seats on ESPN Classic, and as co-hosts of the podcast Dumb People Town, the twin brothers who perform together […]
Posted inMusic
Sour hearken back to thrash metal’s glory days on their self-titled debut
If you blindfolded me and played me the self-titled debut from Aurora thrash band Sour, I’d totally believe it’d been recorded in 1984 with a cassette four-track in a dusty garage. They recall thrash metal’s glory days with guitar shredding that makes you want to skateboard off your roof, drumming that erupts with cavalcades of […]
Posted inMusic
Chicago postpunk gets its Wu-Tang Clan
Local label Chicago Research has built a powerful, tight-knit collective of dark underground rock and electronic artists.
Posted inFilm
Ben Sachs’s 25 favorite movies of the decade
You might have missed some of the most groundbreaking and innovative films of the 2010s.
Posted inBlogs
Chicago corruption for sightseers: Walking tours show seedy underbelly of the city’s politics
“I lure them in with promises of wacky Blagojevich stories, and leave them with civics,” journalist Paul Dailing muses.
Posted inMusic
Decades after Stumpwater put out their only single, the Aurora folk-pop group ride again
Dan Berg, Dan Haligas, and Joe Gloor released two songs in 1975 and split up in ’80, but now they’re back to writing, recording, and gigging.
Posted inBlogs
Billionaire J.B. Pritzker makes his 2018 gubernatorial run official, and other Chicago news
Also, a Toronto-to-Chicago flight was grounded after a fake bomb was found in a passenger’s luggage.
Posted inMusic
Chicago protopunks the Crucified released a notorious EP in 1977
The Crucified predated the codification of punk as a musical style, so to modern ears their only record sounds more like great, no-frills hard rock.
Posted inFilm
Our guide to the Chicago Latino Film Festival, week two
South American sci-fi dominates this week’s roundup of the Chicago Latino Film Festival.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Rahm’s school board and the teachers’ union actually agree on charter law
Chicago officials don’t want their hands tied by state charter rules.
Posted inBlogs
Essential versus arbitrary mystery in contemporary art house cinema
Reflections on trends in contemporary art house movies, as observed in this year’s Chicago International Film Festival and Doc Films’ ongoing Hou Hsiao-Hsien retrospective
Posted inBlogs
Reader’s Agenda Sun 6/23: Michael Palascak, Chicago Gospel Music Festival, and Chicago beer festivals
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Sunday, June 23