Issue of December 27, 2007

Cover Story

1,000 Words The Reader's first year-end photo issue, featuring our regular contributors as well as members of the Chicago Reader Flickr Pool.

Letters

"It is unusual they want to go after individual trainers one by one, spending millions of taxpayer dollars for an outcome that will never change. Yet, they won't target the source of their issue—the collar. Target the manufacturer by banning its sale and its use (like they did in Wales)."

Columns

The Straight Dope
Bacteria—in your ears and in your fridge
By Cecil Adams

Food & Drink

What's New American classic via Alinea at Powerhouse, Demera's excellent Ethiopian food, and uncompromising dishes at Korean Seoulfood Cafe. Plus: twenty more recent openings.

Arts & Entertainment

Music

The Secret of Shalloboi This husband-and-wife duo's self-produced, self-released bedroom bombast is worth seeking out.
Sharp Darts by Miles Raymer

Soul Jams and Social Justice New reissues from Chicago's black arts movement
By Peter Margasak

Theater
Did He or Didn't He? Steppenwolf's Good Boys and True, a mystery with moral ambiguity at its heart.
By Albert Williams

Lit
Short Takes Studs Terkel and Art Shay explore their beloved Chicago; Gene Wolfe goes far afield with a time-traveling pirate.
By Martha Bayne, Irma Nuñez, and Patrick Daily

This week’s crossword: Knock It Off! (PDF)
By Ben Tausig