All I want for Christmas is a City Council with a backbone

Something to be happy about this holiday season: Chicago's horrible political year is coming to an end.

• by Ben Joravsky
• Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, Rahm Emanuel, aldermen, Ameya Pawar, TIFs, Mariano's grocery, Peter Orner

Chicago Publishes unpublishes

Chicago Publishes unpublishes part of an interview with indie publisher Gabriel Levinson

• by Deanna Isaacs
• Tags: Deanna Isaacs on Culture, Gabriel Levinson, publishing, indie publishing, Chicago Publishes, Book Bike, Antibookclub, censorship, Ben van Loon, Danielle Chapman, peddling, book selling

Money talks, twice

Mayor Emanuel's political action committee gives the rich a second chance to please him

• by Steve Bogira
• Tags: Feature, Rahm Emanuel, campaign donations, campaign finance reform, Gery Chico, PAC, New Chicago Committee, Chicago for Rahm Emanuel, political access, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, Steven Spielberg

Blackhawks looking good, need to look uglier

The Blackhawks have the flashy scorers, but do they have the gritty defenders?

• by Ted Cox
• Tags: Mudville, Blackhawks, hockey, NHL, Patrick Kane, Denis Savard, Stanley Cup, championship, Jonathan Toews

Defining 'newsworthy'

At the Tribune, the news is whatever it reports, whenever it feels like it

• by Michael Miner
• Tags: Michael Miner on Media, Chicago Tribune, Chicago News Cooperative, Dan Mihalopoulos, Kevin Guilfoile, Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, Gerould Kern, Mick Dumke

Should I feel guilty about my spanking kink?

Dan Savage counsels a man into spanking now involved with a woman who was formerly abused, a woman who's longtime boyfriend had a one-night stand with someone much younger, and a young woman avid to learn about BDSM.

• by Dan Savage
• Tags: Savage Love, spanking, consent, consensual kink, affairs, cheating, bitchez be crazy, BDSM

Three Beats: The Old Town School preps new digs and digs into its past

Three Beats: Old Town School preps digs and digs deep, Chrome Waves roll in, Vic’s Drum Shop invents a holiday, and Lovely Little Girls reemerge with a new lineup

• by Kevin Warwick, Philip Montoro and Monica Kendrick
• Tags: Three Beats, Old Town School of Folk Music, Colby Maddox, Chrom Waves, Stavros Giannapoulos, Jeff Wilson, Bob Fouts, Nachtmystium, Vic's Drum Shop, Holiday Metal Bash, Gregory Jacobsen, Lovely Little Girls, Alex Perkolup, Old Town School of Folk Music, Maurer Hall

The Secret History of Chicago Music: O.W.L.

The lone LP from Stephen Titra's O.W.L. finally saw release after a test pressing turned up in a thrift store

• by Plastic Crimewave
• Tags: The Secret History of Chicago Music, Owl, Stephen Titra, Wondrous Legends, Locust, Mountain Bus

The music you should've heard in 2011

From Crazy Band to Lucky Dragons, the music you should've heard, but didn't, in 2011

• by Jessica Hopper
• Tags: Music Feature, Best of 2011, Crazy Band, Army Girls, Lucky Dragons, Tasseomancy, Nikki Lynette, Twerps, best music you haven't heard

Artist on Artist: Nels Cline of Wilco

Nels Cline of Wilco talks to Jim Elkington of the Horse's Ha and Eleventh Dream Day

• Tags: Artist on Artist, Wilco, Nels Cline, Jim Elkington, guitar, Nick Lowe, Lula Cafe, Jimi Hendrix, Slideshow

Gossip Wolf: The last of Pitchfork’s local editorial staff heads to Brooklyn

The last of Pitchfork’s editorial staff heads to Brooklyn, Bob Nastanovich DJs a hair salon, and more

• by Jessica Hopper and J.R. Nelson
• Tags: Gossip Wolf, Pitchfork, Ryan Schreiber, Amy Phillips, Mark Richardson, Elia Einhorn, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, Guilty Pleasures, Matt Williams, Jered Gummere, Srini Radhakrishna, garage rock, Chuck Scherbaum, Pavement, Bob Nastanovich, Steve Krakow, Plastic Crimewave, The Secret History of Chicago Music, Galactic Zoo Mix Tape Club

Freudian slip

Jung and Freud clash in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method

• by J.R. Jones
• Tags: Movie Review, David Cronenberg, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, psychoanalysis, John Kerr, A Most Dangerous Method, Sabina Spielrein, Michael Fassbender, Kiera Knightley, Christopher Hampton, Sarah Gadon, Viggo Mortenson, Burgholzi clinic

Indian bummer

That Girl in Yellow Boots: no dragon tattoo, no playing with fire, no hornet's nest

• by J.R. Jones
• Tags: Movie Critic's Choice, Anurag Kashyap, Bollywood, Kalki Koechlin, Mumbai

Key Ingredient: gjetost

Jason Hammel of Lula makes a gratin with the sweet brown cheese gjetost.

• by Julia Thiel
• Tags: Key Ingredient, gjetost, brunost, Jason Hammel, Norway, Lula Cafe, Video

At Ripasso, a war on salt

Theo Gilbert's Ripasso could use a pinch or two of salt.

• by Mike Sula
• Tags: Restaurant Reviews, Theo Gilbert, Terragusto, Salt War, Perugian commune, pane sciapo, Marcella Hazan, Tim Lacey, maiale tonato, sformato, Ripasso

Burly ingenues and animal hybrids like whale-ducks

It's time for The Fifth Annual Hideout Christmas Egyptian/Cosmic Panto

• by Elly Fishman
• Tags: Performing Arts Sidebar, panto, pantomime, Sally Timms, Hideout Christmas Egyptian/Cosmic Panto

This week's Culture Vultures recommend . . .

In-the-know Chicagoans recommend Lincoln Park's Zoolights show, Bing Crosby's White Christmas, and more

• by Asher Klein and Jordan Larson
• Tags: Culture Vultures, Cleo Wilson, Intuit: The Centuer for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Beth Gutcheon, David Spadafora, Newberry Library, Lincoln Park Zoo, Zoolights, Vic and Paul show, Victoria Zielinski, Paul Barrosse, Practical Theatre Company

Trapped in the stables in a play about the Virgin Queen

Chicago Shakespeare Theater performs Timothy Findley's drama about Queen Elizabeth

• by Tony Adler
• Tags: Performing Arts Review, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Diane D'Aquila, Timothy Findley, Barbara Gaines, Steven Sutcliffe

Despite the Speedos . . .

Steppenwolf’s production of Enda Walsh’s Penelope could use some oomph

• by Kerry Reid
• Tags: Performing Arts Review, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Enda Walsh, Bedbound, The New Electric Ballroom, Amy Morton, speedos, Logan Vaughan, Homer, The Odyssey

The Hoover Dam as performance art

Defibrillator presents On | Off, and evening of performance art by various artists

• by Elly Fishman
• Tags: Performing Arts Sidebar, Goat Island Performance Group, Judd Morrissey, Mark Jeffrey, LeRoy Bach, Will Bond, Defibrillator, Katherine Behar, Marianne Kim

Don’t buy it—build it!

A Logan Square graystone filled with custom-designed furniture

• by Dean Fisher
• Tags: Space, fashion, design, Whitney Gaylord, Ikea, buy local, Maker, graystone

This week’s Chicagoan: Jennifer French, FBI special agent/wedding coordinator

Jennifer French, FBI special agent and wedding coordinator, seventeen guns later

• by Anne Ford
• Tags: Chicagoans, FBI, white collar crime, wedding coordinator, Jennifer French, FBI agent

Show us your . . . studio

Each week, we ask you to show us something. This week it's toy maker Travis Lampe's studio

• by Sam Worley
• Tags: Show us your [____], Travis Lampe, illustration, Camille Rose Garcia, Tear Drips, Kidrobot Dunny, La Grange

Zoom in: Bronzeville

So far, the city hasn't done right by Ida B. Wells-Barnett

• by Sam Worley
• Tags: Zoom in, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Free Speech and Headlight, NAACP, Ida B. Wells Homes, Richard Hunt

Sell High

Solution

• by Ben Tausig

Chicago aldermen have no money for libraries but millions for ward map fight

Another day, another alderman squabbling over the ward map

• by Ben Joravsky
• Tags: Politics, News, Clout City, Chicago City Council, Chicago Sun-Times, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Alderman Danny Solis, United Neighborhood Organization, Cuahutemoc Morfin, ward map

The Zany Newt Scrabble contest

Gingrich may be zany and yappy, but what words starting with X or Q fit him?

• by Steve Bogira
• Tags: Flotsam and Jetsam, Politics, Clout City, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Gail Collins, New York Times, Scrabble, xenophobia, immigration, Bill Keller, Republican candidates

Weekend music movies: Cisco Pike

Kris Kristofferson's highly recommended hippie countrysploitation flick

• by Miles Raymer
• Tags: Crickets, Film, Music, Kris Kristofferson, Cisco Pike, Doug Sahm, Gene Hackman, Harry Dean Stanton, country music, movies, Video

Best of 2011, number 7: The Elephant in the Living Room

J.R. Jones on The Elephant in the Living Room, his number 7 movie of 2011.

• by J.R. Jones
• Tags: Film, Ben Sachs, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Michael Webber, The Elephant in the Living Room, Tim Harrison, Terry Brumfield, exotic animal sanctuary, Zanesville, William S. Burroughs, exotic animals, animal rights, movies

"Clunkers"—or masterpieces?

Paperweights — art? Steve Johnson says no, but he's wrong.

• by Michael Miner
• Tags: Media, Visual Art, News Bites, Steve Johnson, Art Institute of Chicago, Arthur Rubloff paperweight collection, Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, urinals, Chicago Tribune

Stylish events and sales

Donate food, save on bridal jewelry and accessories, and get some last-minute gifts from local designers.

• by Heather Kenny
• Tags: Style, Left Bank Jewelry & Bridal Finery, Katrin Schnabl, June Blaker, Anke Loh, Gillion Carrara, Andrea Reynders, Kristin Marini, Redshift Couture, Frei Designs, Wolfbait & B-girls, Veronica Riley Martens, Damen + DIvision, Sarca

The Empty Bottle's Chili Home Companion

A chili cook-off to benefit Graze, a forthcoming literary journal.

• by Sam Worley
• Tags: Food Chain, Lit & Lectures, Food & Drink, Food, Books, A Chili Home Companion, the Empty Bottle, Birchwood Kitchen, Jam, Revolution Brewing, Food on the Dole, Hugh Amano, Soup and Bread, Martha Bayne, Key Ingredient, Julia Thiel, James Beard, Cains & Abels, Angela James, Tin Tin Can, Graze

Query me this

"Pragmatic" was the word most often searched in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary in 2011. Bo-ring!

• by Sam Worley
• Tags: Flotsam and Jetsam, Merriam-Webster, pragmatic, ambivalence, David Gergen, CNN, Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune, Steve Jobs, Kim Jong-il, Keith Olbermann, Moammar Ghadafi, supercommittee, Newt Gingrich

Quicksails and Ryley Walker play a back-from-tour show Sunday

Quicksails and Ryley Walker, out on tour for the past two weeks, play a homecoming show Sunday at a local DIY space.

• by Luca Cimarusti
• Tags: Crickets, Music, Quicksails, Ben Billington, Ryley Walker, Plastic Crimewave, Moonrises, Tiger Hatchery, Flowerman, Caboladies, 56K, Josh Burke, Ball Hall, Bleak Horizons, Video

CityFiles Press: the little press that could (and does)

The authors of The Lost Panoramas: When Chicago Changed Its River and the Land Beyondon Saturday, December 17, at 11 AM at the Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka.

• by Jerome Ludwig
• Tags: Lit & Lectures, Books, The Lost Panoramas: When Chicago Changed Its River and the Land Beyond, CityFiles Press, Richard Cahan, Michael Williams, Edgar Miller and the Handmade Home, Book Stall at Chestnut Court, James C. Kirie Water Reclamation Plant, Video

Goose Island collaboration beers on tap at Frontera

Frontera Grill taps two new beers brewed in collaboration with Goose Island.

• by Julia Thiel
• Tags: Food Chain, Food & Drink, Food, Frontera Grill, Goose Island, collaboration beer, Rick Bayless, Xocolatl, Alma, barleywine, red wheat beer

This week on the B Side

Overlooked releases from 2011, tons of local music news, and a chat with one of the Wilco dudes

• by Miles Raymer
• Tags: Music, B Side, Chicago, Jessica Hopper, Gossip Wolf, Pitchfork, Pavement, Old Town School of Folk Music, Chrome Waves, Lovely Little Girls, Wilco, Nels Cline, Jim Elkington, O.W.L., the Bad Plus, Mighty Diamonds, Skeletonwitch, Great Society Mind Destroyers, Sharon Lewis, Hamid Drake, Michael Zerang

Best of 2011, number 4: Goodbye, First Love

Our year-end review continues with Mia Hansen-Love's Goodbye, First Love.

• by Ben Sachs
• Tags: Film, Mia Hansen-Love, Goodbye First Love, Olivier Assayas, Carlos, Irma Vep, demonlover, Best of 2011, Chicago International Film Festival, J.R. Jones, Ben Sachs

Willis Earl Beal lands a record deal

When I met Willis Earl Beal earlier this year he was "super unknown." Now he has a record deal with XL imprint Hot Charity.

• by Leor Galil
• Tags: Crickets, Music, Willis Earl Beal, Acousmatic Sorcery, music, antifolk, Hot Charity, XL Recordings, Adele, M.I.A., Radiohead, Video

Big hitter fights for medical marijuana

• by Mick Dumke
• Tags: Crime, The Reefer, Politics, Clout City, News, marijuana, Jesus, medical marijuana, pot, cannabis, cannabis caravan, Jason Christ, Jean-Claude Brizard, Montana, California, Michigan

Blackhawks: Not the season to be greedy

John Scott comes up big in the Hawks' win over the Anaheim Ducks.

• by Ted Cox
• Tags: Mudville, Sports, Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville, John Scott, Ray Emery, National Hockey League, hockey, Chicago sports

Hollywood Holt, punk stylist

Rapper turned jacket customizer

• by Miles Raymer
• Tags: Crickets, Music, Hollywood Holt, Chicago, hip-hop, punk, Nicole Richie, Video

This week's movie action

New reviews and notable screenings in this week's issue.

• by J.R. Jones
• Tags: Film, Carl Jung, Michael Fassbender, David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method, Sigmund Freud, Viggo Mortensen, Sabina Spielrein, Keira Knightley, That Girl in Yellow Boots, Lads & Jockeys, Frederick Wiseman, The Last Circus, Alex de la Iglesias, El Crimen Perfecto, New Year's Eve, Garry Marshall, Pretty Woman, Valentine's Day, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, The Sitter movie, Jonah Hill, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, John le Carre, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Music Box, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Antonio Gaudi, Gene Siskel Film Center, The Johnny Cash Christmas Special, Delilah's, Vincente Minnelli, Meet Me in St. Louis, Northbrook Public Library, Mitchell Liesen, Remember the Night, Portage theater, Northwest Chicago Film Society, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Santa Sangre, Chicago Cinema Society, film societies, movies, Video

There's no 'i' in 'loyalty'—and for that matter, no 'u.' (There is a 'y.')

Trying to deal with Albert Pujols leaving the Cardinals.

• by Michael Miner
• Tags: Mudville, Media, Sports, News Bites, Hitler, Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals, Mexican League, Pasquel brothers, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter, Ken Boyer, Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Brock, Bruce Sutter, Ozzie Smith, Frank Lane, Gussie Busch, Dorothy Broeg, Video

Best of 2011, number 5: Poetry

Our year-end review continues with Lee Chang-dong's Poetry

• by Ben Sachs
• Tags: Film, Poetry, Lee Chang-dong, Chicago Reader, Ben Sachs, Secret Sunshine, Best of 2011, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Decalogue, the human condition, South Korea, Minister of Culture, J.R. Jones

The Chicago Sentinel? Come on!

Everyone knows the Sentinel on Boss is really the Tribune.

• by Michael Miner
• Tags: Media, News Bites, Boss, Starz, Chicago, Tom Kane, City Hall, Bensenville, Sam Miller, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sentinel

Bears: Last will and testament

The Bears lose, and it looks like losing Jay Cutler is the reason.

• by Ted Cox
• Tags: Mudville, Sports, Chicago Bears, NFL, National Football League, Seattle Seahawks, Charles Dickens, Jay Cutler, National Football Conference, Green Bay Packers, Fox Spots, Indianapolis Colts, Super Bowl, Peyton Manning, Brian Urlacher

Key Ingredient turns 50 (episodes)

Thoughts on the first 50 episodes of Key Ingredient

• by Julia Thiel
• Tags: Food & Drink, Food, Key Ingredient, Jason Hammel, Lula Cafe, gjetost, Michael Gebert, James Beard award, Grant Achatz, Alinea, John des Rosiers, Inovasi, Curtis Duffy, Avenues, Grace, geraniums, Mindy Segal, Hot Chocolate, Mark Steuer, the Bedford, bananas, Michael Carlson, Schwa, Shawn McClain, Green Zebra, blood, Malort, Greg Biggers, Cafe des Architectes, azuki bean paste, Jared van Camp, Old Town Social, Nellcote, Stephanie Izard, Girl and the Goat, confectioner's sugar, Erling Wu Bower, the Publican, Asian carp, Bryce Caron, Blackbird, Cary Taylor, the Southern, fish eyeballs, Doug Sohn, Hot Doug's, chicken feet, fresh blood, Shawn McClain, Green Zebra, rabbit lungs, Jeffrey Hedin, Leopold, duck Tongues, Jason Vincent, Nightwood, bamboo woms, Luke Creagan, Pops for Champagne, cod milt, Duncan Biddulph, Rootstock, bull's testicles, David Posey, Blackbird, natto, Brian Enyart, Topolobampo, balut, Kristine Subido, Wave, John Anderes, Telegraph, ash, Andrew Zimmerman, Sepia, lamb fat

Calls for proposals: rivers and intersections

Friends of the Chicago River and AREA Chicago are looking for stories.

• by Sam Worley
• Tags: Lit & Lectures, Books, AREA Chicago, Friends of the Chicago River, Chicago River, Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum, submissions, call for submissions

Now open: Goosefoot

Chef Chris Nugent, formerly of Les Nomade, has opened Goosefoot in Lincoln Square.

• by Kate Schmidt
• Tags: Food Chain, Food & Drink, Food, Chris Nugent, Goosefoot, Les Nomades, prix fixe fine dining, BYO

Baquet slags Kern

Dean Baquet slags Gerould Kern.

• by Michael Miner
• Tags: Media, News Bites, Dean Baquet, Gerould Kern, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Video

Coming soon: Northwest Chicago Film Society's winter calendar

A preview of Northwest Chicago Film Society's winter calendar

• by Ben Sachs
• Tags: Film, Northwest Chicago Film Society, repertory programming, Portage Theater, Too Late Blues, John Cassavetes, Reds, Warren Beatty, Jean-Luc Godard, Histoire(s) du cinema, WPA Federal Theater, One-Third of a Nation, Edward Dmytryk, Give Us This Day, Christ in Concrete, House Un-American Activities, Preston Sturges, Sullivan's Travels, Gregory LaCava, So's Your Old Man, W.C. Fields, Twentieth Century, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, Man of the West, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Cecil B. DeMiille, Ten Commandments, Angel (1937), Marlene Dietrich, Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Margaret, Brasher Doubloon, John Brahm, Otto Preminger, Centennial Summer, Max Ophuls, Liebelei, exile, Cine-File, Michael Castelle

Now playing: The White Reindeer

A preview of the 1952 Finnish feature The White Reindeer, which screens this Sunday.

• by Ben Sachs
• Tags: Film, The White Reindeer, Erik Blomberg, Finnish cinema, Lapland, folktales, Kaneto Shindo, The Naked Island, Cannes Film Festival

Truth and dare

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports at least 43 journalists worldwide were killed this year because of their work.

• by Michael Miner
• Tags: Media, News Bites, Committee to Protect Journalists, Killing of journalists, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, Mexico, Noel López Olguín, Joel Simon

Why Rahm and Forrest blame the unions—because it works

What riding the CTA can teach you about unions.

• by Mick Dumke
• Tags: Transit, Politics, Clout City, unions, unionization, CTA, Chicago Transit Authority, Red Line, Grand Avenue, Forrest Claypool, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago politics, CTA budget

Christopher Hitchens dies, does not go to heaven

Christopher Hitchens dies, does not go to heaven

• by Deanna Isaacs
• Tags: Media, Lit & Lectures, Books, Christopher Hitchens, American Humanist Association

A sweater purchase gone horribly wrong

Claire Zulkey has buyer's remorse.

• by Heather Kenny
• Tags: Style, Claire Zulkey, Anthropologie

Best of 2011, number 6: Client-9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

J.R. Jones on Client-9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, his number 6 movie of 2011.

• by J.R. Jones
• Tags: Film, Richard Cordray, Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, David Vitter, Los Angeles Times, Alex Gibney, Client-9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, John Ensign, Mark Sanford, politics, sex scandals, prostitution, documentaries, movies, Video

This week in Food & Drink

This week in Food & Drink: Mike Sula reviews Ripasso, Key Ingredient gjetost, New Year's Eve dining, and New Year's Day brunches

• by Kate Schmidt
• Tags: Inside the Reader, Food Chain, Food & Drink, Food, Behind Our Scenes, Ripasso, Theo Gilbert, Terragusto, the Florentine, Piccolo Sogno, Antico, Autre Monde, Key Ingredient, Jason Hammel, Lula Cafe, gjetost, John Anderes, Telegraph Wine Bar, New Year's Eve

Best of 2011, number 5: Tabloid

Our countdown of 2011's best films continues with Errol Morris's Tabloid, J.R. Jones's number five film of the year.

• by J.R. Jones
• Tags: Film, Errol Morris, Abu Graibh, Standard Operating Procedure, New York Times, Tabloid movie, Tabloid Errol Morris, Joyce McKinney, Katherine Zwick, movies, Video

Kanye's lawyer: We don't owe Syl shit

Looks like the "Joy" lawsuit won't be a breeze.

• by Miles Raymer
• Tags: Crickets, Music, Syl Johnson, Chicago, hip-hop, soul music, Jay-Z, Kanye, The Joy, Different Strokes, Watch the Throne, Video

A financial exchange

CME needed the big tax break it just got, because it has so many hungry pols to feed.

• by Steve Bogira
• Tags: Money, Politics, News, $$$, Clout City, Variations on a Theme, CME Group Inc., Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Board Options Exchange, financial exchanges, tax breaks, Rahm Emanuel, Mike Madigan, Pat Quinn, Ed Burke, Lisa Madigan, Anne Burke, Illinois supreme court, bribes, Richard M. Daley, Ben Joravsky, political action committees, congressional candidates

Your placebo drug information

Take two Pretendia and feel as well as you can imagine.

• by Steve Bogira
• Tags: Science, Flotsam and Jetsam, placebos, New Yorker, prescription drugs, drug warnings, arthritis, tendinitis, tinnitus, lethargy, depression, hypertension, insomnia, diabetes, pills, doctors, pharmacists, Republican debates

Now playing: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

A short review of David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which opens today.

• by Ben Sachs
• Tags: Film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher, Niels Arden Oplev, Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader, Steven Zallian, The Social Network

Shout-out for a shoot-out

The Hawks beat the Wild, the leading team in the NHL, in a shoot-out.

• by Ted Cox
• Tags: Sports, Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, Minnesota Wild, National Hockey League, shoot-out, Jonathan Toews, Niklas Backstrom, Patrick Kane, Ray Emery

Hawks: Getting cooking at home

A pre-game report of the Blackhawks' matchup with the Anaheim Ducks.

• by Ted Cox
• Tags: Mudville, Sports, Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, National Hockey League, Anaheim Ducks, Phoenix Coyotes, Joel Quenneville, Jim Cornelison

'Rip'-snorting Bulls

The incipient, exciting chemistry of Derrick Rose and Richard Hamilton was on display last night against the Pacers.

• by Ted Cox
• Tags: Mudville, Sports, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, Richard Hamilton, Rip Hamilton, NBA

In this week's Reader: Money talks, twice

What's in the December 15th, 2011 issue of the Reader

• by Tal Rosenberg
• Tags: Inside the Reader, News, Behind Our Scenes, Steve Bogira, campaign finance, Deanna Isaacs, Chicago Publishes, censorship, Michael Miner, Chicago Tribune, Ben Joravsky, Christmas, Mudville, Ted Cox, Blackhawks, You Are Here, Jennifer French, FBI, Travis Lampe, illustrator, toy-maker, Bronzeville, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Savage Love, BDSM

God's particle; God's quarterback

We look at Tim Tebow but do we see?

• by Michael Miner
• Tags: Mudville, Media, Sports, News Bites, Higgs boson, God particle, Tim Tebow, Michael Gerson, Chicago Tribune, Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, Phil Mushnick, New York Post

The power of negative thinking

Warning: the enclosed drug warnings may make you sick.

• by Steve Bogira
• Tags: Science, Flotsam and Jetsam, placebos, drug warnings, pills, medicine, clinical trials, New Yorker, Harvard, positive thinking, nocebos, back pain, physical therapy, massage, Pilates, Rolfing, Naproxen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs, prescriptions, heart attacks, strokes, ulcers, doctors, chest pain, sore throat, mood changes, ringing in the ears, seizures, headaches, joint pain, swelling, nausea, heartburn, side effects, heart disease, enlarged prostate, lawsuits