Subject: Chicago

• Vicarious thrills via YouTube

  January 21, 2008

• The Via Maris: A Song Worth Checking Out

  September 24, 2008

• Best Italian Beef Sandwich

  Luke's
  1602 East Indian School
  602-264-4022
  (and 2240 North Scottsdale Road, Tempe, 480-970-5693)

  September 21, 2000

• A Tale of Two Chicagos

  Restaurants share name but not standards

  December 14, 2000

• Chews in the News

  "Salmon pipes" are just as unappetizing as their name would suggest

  May 31, 2001

• Best Hot Dog

  Luke's Chicago Beef

  September 20, 2001

• Best Chicago Beef

  Luke's

  September 26, 2002

• Tortoise

  It's All Around You (Thrill Jockey)

  May 13, 2004

• Various Artists

  Chicago Soul
  (Soul Jazz)

  July 22, 2004

• BEST BARBECUE

  A & J Chicago-Style Bar-B-Q

  September 30, 2004

• Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble

  December 27, 2007

• The Dark Knight

  July 17, 2008

• Steve Miller's Live from Chicago DVD takes fans back to his formative Windy City years

  August 7, 2008

• Miller Time

  August 7, 2008

• Monday Night Martha: Alinea's Liquefied Caramel Popcorn

  The new cookbook from Alinea certainly topped a lot of Christmas lists, and some of us were lucky enough to get it. For those not completely obsessed with molecular gastronomy, Alinea is the hoity-toity Chicago restaurant that's famous for its ueberly deconstructed food. The twenty-five course menus include oddball delectables such as English peas served on a pillow of lavender scented air, or bacon fat compressed into a powdery bite the size of a Starburst candy and wrapped in pineapple g

  January 19, 2009

• Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood Coming to Jobing.com

  Fresh off a three-night stint at Madison Square Garden, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood have announced a 14-city U.S. tour beginning in June, which stops in Glendale on Friday, June 26. Tickets go on sale Monday, February 23 at 10 a.m. through LiveNation.The duo teamed up at the Chicago Crossroads Guitar Festival last July fueling hopes among riff-heads, which were fulfilled in New York with shows that had the men playing songs from their '60s band Blind Faith as well as their solo hits.

  February 17, 2009

• Budget Beat: Boomer's Sweet Home Chicago

  Sliders: Why eat just one burger when you can have six? Given the ridiculous number of Chicago transplants (count me among the ridiculous) in the Valley, you'd think there would be more eateries specializing in the dietary staples of that great Midwestern metropolis. To my knowledge, there's only a handful: Luke's, Chicago Hamburger Company, and a relatively new addition to the West Valley, Boomer's Sweet Home Chicago. In a strip mall (where else?) on the northwest corner of 59th Avenue

  February 20, 2009

• Luke's of Chicago Plans to Open Downtown

  Did I live in Chicago in a former life? Because the thought of a good Italian beef sandwich, drenched in meaty juice, sounds insanely appealing right now. A Chicago-style hot dog with the works sounds good, too. I'm getting all hungry at the thought of a brand-new Luke's of Chicago opening right on 7th Street, in that cool brick building that's been in need of an interesting tenant for a while now (583 N. 7th St., at Fillmore). For the time being, you'll have to keep going to Luke's other

  March 6, 2009

• The Nightmare Years

  Reliving the glory days of boners and acne in Chandler

  January 1, 2009

• Chef Stephanie Izard

  December 11, 2008

• You Can't See Me

  December 11, 2008

• Big Top Circus Punks

  Crazy marching band makes with the sis-boom-bah

  October 9, 2008

• A One-Two Punch of Rock

  April 17, 2008

• Felix Da Housecat

  November 8, 2007

• Dave Riley and Bob Corritore

  Travelin' the Dirt Road
  (Blue Witch)

  Various Artists
  House Rockin' and Blues Shoutin'
  (Blue Witch)

  September 20, 2007

• Street Dogs, and The Tossers

  Getting the Irish up

  July 26, 2007

• Tom Baker Quartet

  Look What I Found
  (Present Sounds Recordings)

  April 12, 2007

• The M's

  Future Women
  (Polyvinyl)

  March 2, 2006

• The Swishy City

  Chicago party has Pumphouse II up in flames

  May 19, 2005

• Mahjongg

  Art rock for a new millennium

  May 12, 2005

• Djeremy at Counter Culture

  Catch the final Chicago Session

  March 24, 2005

• David *Netherland* Van Alphen Opening Reception

  June 4, 2009

• Radiotakeover Tour

  December 2, 2004

• The Ms

  September 16, 2004

• Scopin' Shorties

  The Kreme Machine parachutes into Jamaican Blue Lounge, an oasis of anti-Snottsdale in the belly of the beast

  May 20, 2004

• All That Jazz

  Phoenix Theatre's Chicago is a pleasant -- if familiar -- entertainment

  September 18, 2003

• Various artists

  Down to the Promised Land: 5 Years of Bloodshot Records (Bloodshot)

  July 27, 2000

• Shades of Gray

  February 17, 2000

• Little Room for Improv-ment at the Phoenix Improv Festival

  It sounds like the premise of an especially horrific nightmare: You're on stage in front of at least 100 strangers. One of them yells out the phrase "Silly String in the Desert." And then the crowd, who all paid $15 to be entertained for the evening, expects you to use that phrase as the title of the completely improvised 30 minute musical you're about to perform for them. Now...go! Be funny! And hope that if you say something, well, not so funny, another performer is there to pick up the slac

  April 19, 2009

• Blues Brother

  May 7, 2009

• On Mexican Professionals, Napkin Dispensers, and Improvised Purses

  May 28, 2009

• Big Brothers

  June 18, 2009

• Shootout at the MV Corral

  June 25, 2009

• Battle of the Sliders

  Chicago Hamburger Company vs. Boomer's Sweet Home Chicago This week we went to two Chicago-style restaurants to compare sliders, those adorable mini burgers that are so small they slide down your throat. Why Chicago? It's not completely clear but apparently Walter Anderson, the founder of White Castle, wanted burgers to be cheap, so he made them small and called them "slyders." They originally sold for a nickel a piece back in the 1940s. Now White Castle was started in Wichita, Kansas, not

  August 19, 2009

• Sex Scenes Late at Night with Diana Gabaldon

  August 20, 2009

• Snow Birds: They're Coming in Droves! Phoenix/ Scottsdale Ranks 11th in Travel Desinations For the Remainder of '09

  www.scottybud.com​As we sit on the cusp of kissing the daunting 110 degree days goodbye for eight glorious months, we can be certain of one thing: They're coming.That's right; as the majority of the country prepares to freeze its ass off for the rest of the year, as Phoenicians we prepare for the annual migration of the snow birds, and from the looks of things, they're coming in droves this year.According to the 2009 Travel Leaders Fall Travel Trends Survey, Phoenix, and Scottsdale rank 11th i

  September 3, 2009

• Peachcake Does Daytrotter

  ​Local psychedelic dance duo Peachcake are the latest Phoenix band to record a session for Daytrotter, an influential Chicago music blog. Like Dear and the Headlights and some others before them they were treated to a cool mid-fi recording session and the above portrait -- though we have to say it's almost subdued compared to the band's normal work. Here's part of what the writer said:What you want to say, just blurt out is, "No fucking way," when you hear that the electro-pop band Peachcake i

  September 15, 2009

• Fred's, Modern Steak, and Marcella's Opening Soon

  ​It's fun to shop 'til you drop, but even better to shop up an appetite. Shopaholics are buzzing about the new Barneys New York opening at Fashion Square on October 15, but there's plenty for restaurant-goers to look forward to as well. Three new eateries are set to open along with the mall's 100,000-square-foot expansion. After drooling over Martin Margiela jackets and Balenciaga boots, you'll be able to splurge on sandwiches, entree salads, pastas, pizza, and seafood at the Barneys in

  September 15, 2009

• Russian Circles

  November 5, 2009

• Food from Felons

  ​Getting a job after you've left prison may not be the easiest thing in the world. So some restaurants around the country are focusing on hiring ex-cons to serve food. Gadling.com reports that one eatery in Chicago, hilariously called Felony Franks, serves up hot dogs, steak sandwiches and more, brought to you by former criminals.

  November 5, 2009