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Politics
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Honoring the deeds and misdeeds of 2011 at the city, county, and state level
- by Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke
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Tags: Politics, 2011 in review, Ameya Pawar, cannabis, Chicago casino, Chicago Teachers Union, City Council, Ed Burke, Forrest Claypool, Freddrenna Lyle, James Cappleman, Juan Rangel, Karen Lewis, marijuana laws, Michael Madigan, Pat Quinn, Patrick O'Connor, property tax, Rahm Emanuel, Ralph Metcalfe, Richard M. Daley, Roderick Sawyer, Toni Preckwinkle, United Neighborhood Organization, William Beavers
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On Culture
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For the second generation in a row, a push to rename the Chicago Cultural Center after a Mrs. Daley
- by Deanna Isaacs
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Tags: On Culture, Magey Daley, Mayor Daley, Richard M. Daley, Fred Fine, Eve Pinsker, Joan Harris, Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlene Rakoncay, Al Booth, International Music Foundation, Chicago Artists' Coalition, Hedy Landman, Chicago Cultural Center
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Savage Love
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From fuck-bud silver to boyfriend-girlfriend gold, my controlling girlfriend is policing my masturbation
- by Dan Savage
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Tags: Savage Love, degradation, homophobic porn, BDSM porn, tolerance, fuck buddies, dating, monogamy, sex schedule, masturbate, DTMFA
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Gossip Wolf
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The garage scene helps cover Letha Rodman-Melchior's medical bills, Cloudbirds hatch a sweet new album, and Wimps ride a goth wave on their debut
- by Jessica Hopper and J.R. Nelson
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Tags: Gossip Wolf, Letha Rodman-Melchior, Ruby Falls, melanoma, breast cancer, Dan Melchior-Rodman, Hozac, Todd Killings, The Coffin Pricks, Ryan Weinstein, E+, Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Cloudbirds, the M's, Chris Batte, Stan Wood, Tomorrow Never Knows, Wimps, Teen River
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In Rotation
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Plus: Reader digital content editor Tal Rosenberg on post-punk party songs about suicide and Biz 3's Kathryn Frazier on dainty punks and dancing to ding-dongs
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Tags: In Rotation, The Raincoats, Franco, Matthew Halsall, Kathryn Frazier, Kate Bush, Etta James, LMFAO, J.R. Robinson, Wrekmeister Harmonies, Weakling, Saxondale, David "Honeyboy" Edwards
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Music Feature
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Reader writers and friends tackle 2011 from five different directions
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Tags: Music Feature, 2011 in review, PJ Harvey, Atomic, Roscoe MitchellAzita, Matana Roberts, Wild Flag, Amir ElSaffar Two Rivers Ensemble, Lykke Li, Charles Bradley, Craig Taborn, R&B, chillwave, Beyonce, Spotify, Busta Rhymes, Yob, Wormrot, Inquisition, Arkona, The Gates of Slumber, PSychic Paramount, Liturgy, Cave, Russian Circles, Pygmy Shrews, Sao Paolo Underground, Logan Hardware, The UV Race, Prom Night Records, Video
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The Secret History of Chicago Music
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This visionary artist, who died December 9, wrote the world's longest poem and lent his voice to the band Sundog Summit
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Tags: The Secret History of Chicago Music, Lee Groban, Bowen High School, Proto-punk, The High Commissioner of Cyprus, Festival of Life, John Henry Timmis, J.T. IV, The Cure for Insomnia, The Secret History of Chicago Music
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Culture Vultures
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Threewalls’ Community-Supported Art, Manual Cinema, and Starz series Boss
- by Armando Salazar
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Tags: Culture Vultures, Lori B. Andrews, threewalls, Christy LeMaster, Manual Cinema, Jamil Khoury, Boss, Kelsey Grammar, Starz
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Performing Arts Review
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Ten favorite shows from 2011, plus five honorable mentions
- by Tony Adler
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Tags: Performing Arts Review, 2011 in review, Denis O'Hare, Lisa Peterson, Court Theatre, Werner Schwab, Trap Door Theatre, Enda Walsh, A Red Orchid Theatre, Goodman Theatre, David Henry Hwang, Leigh Silverman, Yasmina Reza, Rick Snyder, One Step at a Time Like This, Circle Theatre, Kevin Bellie, Hershey Felder, Leonard Bernstein, Royal George Theatre Center, Shakespeare, Darko Tresnjak, Tom Nelis
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Food & Drink Feature
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From three iterations of Next to the humble pies of Bridgeport
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Tags: Food & Drink Feature, 2011 in review, El Ideas, GT Fish & Oyster, Lao Hunan, Maude's Liquor Bar, Next Restaurant, Perennial Virant, Pleasant House Bakery, Vera, Next, Vera Chicago, Slideshow
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Bleader
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According to Cook County assessor Joe Berrios, it's silly to think that campaign donations carry any influence.
- by Kate Schmidt
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Tags: Gift Week, Chicagoland, Politics, Clout City, Variations on a Theme, Cook County, Joe Berrios, Sun-Times, Cook County assessor's office, campaign donations, Cook County ethics board, Lisa Donovan
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Bleader
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Yeah, we Know, Derrick Rose isn't the ultimate American male paragon
- by Michael Miner
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Tags: Media, Sports, News Bites, Derrick Rose, Mark Yost, Chicago Tribune, Michael Jordan, male exemplars, Barack Obama, Walter Payton, Norm Van Lier, Reggie Theus, Barry Bonds
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Bleader
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The murderous "gift" of The Velvet Underground
- by Tal Rosenberg
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Tags: Gift Week, Music, Variations on a Theme, Gift Week, Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nico, The Gift, The Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat, noise, Booker T. & the M.G.'s., Video
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Bleader
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WHPK launches a weekly music-movie series at Doc Films.
- by Peter Margasak
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Tags: Film, Music, Post No Bills, Doc Films, WHPK, Roxploitation, Ramones, Rock 'n' Roll High School, Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, The Harder They Come, The Trip, Valley Girl
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Bleader
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Chicago Sun-Times breaks the news that Charlie Trotter's is closing.
- by Michael Miner
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Tags: Food Chain, Media, News Bites, Food & Drink, Charlie Trotter, Charlie Trotter's restaurant, Chicago Sun-Times, Janet Rausa Fuller, Phil Vettel, Chicago Tribune, WFMT, New York Times
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Bleader
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The best in no-cost rock, R&B, and rap
- by Miles Raymer
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Tags: Crickets, Music, Free Shit, Swag, Tiger Bones, Stagnant Pools, the Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Terius Nash, the-Dream, Danny Brown, ASAP Rocky, Gucci Mane, Wacka Flocka Flame, Death Grips, Nikki Lynette, Mr. Muthafuckin' Exquire, Iggy Azalea, Starlito, Don Trip
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Bleader
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A summary of movies screening in Chicago between December 30 and January 5.
- by Ben Sachs
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Tags: Film, Best of 2011, J.R. Jones, Ben Sachs, Tree of Life, Terence Malick, Gene Siskel Film Center, Hitchcock for the Holidays, Music Box Theatre, The Lady Vanishes, North by Northwest, Vertigo, To Catch a Thief, The Birds, Marnie, After the Thin Man, Alien, Ridley Scott, Northwest Chicago Film Society, Preston Sturges, Sullivan's Travels, Doc Films, Yilmaz Guney, Mikio Naruse, A Hard Day's Night, The Usual Suspects, Yojimbo, Scrappers, Hyde Park Art Center, The Maltese Falcon, Video
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Bleader
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Torah reading as bragging rights
- by Tal Rosenberg
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Tags: Religion, Flotsam and Jetsam, Testament Week, Comedy, Piety, Variations on a Theme, Old Testament, Torah, bar mitzvah, jealousy, anger, pride, narcissism
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Bleader
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A new coffee-table book on Chicago restaurant history
- by Mike Sula
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Tags: Gift Week, Food Chain, Food & Drink, Variations on a Theme, Chicago's Classic Restaurants, Neal Samors, Eric Bronsky, Chicago's Classic Restaurants: Past, Present and Future, Penny Pollack, Rich Melman, Lettuce Entertain You, Paul Kahan, Donnie Madia, Rick Bayless, Kevin Boehm, Rob Katz, Girl & the Goat, Blackbird
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Bleader
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I ate it all
- by Mike Sula
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Tags: Food Chain, Food & Drink, Tamales Garibay, the Florentine, H Mart, Prince Creperie Cafe, the Sodfather, Chez Violette, MingHin Cuisine, Butcher & Larder, Leopold, La Taberna Tapas, Ruby's, Bistronomic, Paris Club, Leader Bar, Frontier, Ing, Lure Izakaya Pub, Birrieria Zaragoza, Cafe des Architectes, GT Fish & Oyster, Next Restaurant, Paris 1906, Tour of Thailand, Childhood, Underground Meats, Nostrano, Aviary, the Molecular Collective, Paul McGee, the Whistler, Goose Island Madame Rose, La Chaparrita, the Bedford, Pleasant House Bakery, Golden Pacific Market, Aroy Thai, Harvesttime Foods, Scottish Festival and Highland Games, Rancho Mateo, Humboldt Park Puerto Rican Fest, Lemonhart 151, Mike Ryan, Sable, Union Sushi & Barbeque Bar, Rustic House, Black Sheep, NoMi Kitchen, Autre Monde, Wisconsin State Fair, Telegraph Wine Bar, Al Dente, Roots Handmade Pizza, Masa Azul, Lao Hunan, Michael Jordan's Steak House, the Pump Room, Tozi Korean BBQ, Cai Fine Dining and Banquet, Maude's Liquor Bar, Phoenix tofu, Three Aces, Harvard Sportsmen's Club, Wat Dhammaram Songkran, 2007 Black Slate Porrera, Vera, Almawal, El Ideas, Snack Planet, JoongBoo Market, Nha Hang Viet Nam, Nathan Sears, Baconfest, Mick Klug Farm, Ripasso, jicama stick, Victor Mejia, Tortas Frontera, Matty Eggleston, Perennial Virant, Barrelhouse Flat, Ben Schiller, Jason Turley, Bar DeVille
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Bleader
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The line of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Daniel Carcillo leads the Blackhawks to a win over the Detroit Red Wings.
- by Ted Cox
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Tags: Mudville, Sports, Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Daniel Carcillo, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Patrick Kane, Detroit Red Wings
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Bleader
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My favorite half-hundred records of 2011
- by Miles Raymer
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Tags: Crickets, Music, Weeknd, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Danny Brown, Wolves in the Throne Room, EMA, Clams Casino, Liturgy, Dirtbombs, SBTRKT, Girls
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Bleader
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Testament Week begins with Luke 6:27-29
- by J.R. Jones
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Tags: Religion, Testament Week, Film, Piety, Variations on a Theme, Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Bleader, Linus Van Pelt, Book of Luke, Jesus, Sermon on the Plain, New Testament, Chase Bank, Hollywood movies, Christian Bale, caramel corn, religious texts, Video
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Bleader
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Sara Lee says, "Thanks, Chicago, for giving us millions of dollars."
- by Ben Joravsky
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Tags: Gift Week, Politics, News, Clout City, Variations on a Theme, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Sara Lee Corp., Tax Increment Financing, TIF, Community Development Commission, Chicago Tribune, Republic Windows and Doors
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Bleader
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The first of a three-part series on Adam Curtis's essay-film All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace.
- by Ben Sachs
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Tags: Film, Adam Curtis, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, Information Age, Internet, Love and Power, Bill Clinton, Ayn Rand, Alan Greenspan, Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Jean-Luc Godard, Century of the Self, Power of Nightmares, Leonard Cohen, Monica Lewinsky, Loren Carpenter, New Economy, Peter Watkins, The War Game
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Bleader
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Peter Margasak's 40 favorite albums of the year, part three.
- by Peter Margasak
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Tags: Music, Post No Bills, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Nico Muhly, Lucinda Williams, Pandelis Karayorgis, Cave, Tinariwen, J.D. Allen, Phaedra, Marcelo Camelo, Sao Paulo Underground
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Bleader
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A late-19th-century feminist response to the Bible
- by Sam Worley
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Tags: Religion, Testament Week, Lit & Lectures, Piety, Books, Variations on a Theme, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Woman's Bible, the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, Revelation, suffrage, women's rights, Chicago Manual of Style, Anita Samen, Ben Zimmer, Genesis, creation story, Mary Seymour Howell, alpha, omega, liberation theology
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Bleader
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Our critics' eight favorite restaurants from 2011, along with ten honorable mentions
- by Kate Schmidt
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Tags: Food Chain, Food & Drink, Mike Sula, Next, Phillip Foss, Andrew Brochu, El Ideas, Boka Restaurant Group, GT Fish & Oyster, Giuseppe Tentori, Perennial Virant, Paul Virant, Brendan Sodikoff, Maude's Liquor Bar, Vera, Mark Mendez, Elizabeth Mendez, Tony Hu, Lao Hunan, Art Jackson, Pleasant House Bakery, Al Dente, La Taberna Tapas, Snack Planet, Telegraph Wine Bar, Key Ingredient, John Anderes, Jason Hammel, Lula Cafe, ash, Erling-Wu Bower, the Publican, gold leaf, the Burger Point, Burger & the Butcher, Cai Fine Dining & Banqjet, Del Toro
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Bleader
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Vintage Detroit garage soul, early dancehall, and more
- by Miles Raymer
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Tags: Crickets, Music, Bob Seger, Tal Rosenberg, Emitt Rhodes, Paul McCartney, Eek-a-Mouse, Flo & Eddie, Turtles, Frank Zappa, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Video
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Bleader
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What's in the December 29, 2011 issue of the Reader
- by Tal Rosenberg
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Tags: Inside the Reader, Behind Our Scenes, 2011, Peter Margasak, Miles Raymer, Ben Sachs, Mick Dumke, Ben Joravsky, city politics, Chicago Cultural Center, Deanna Isaacs, Maggie Daley, Sis Daley, Khalid Kamal, Nick Marzullo, Seth Mooney, Logan Square, Brand Brewing Complex, homophobic degradation porn, fuck-bud, controlling masturbation, Savage Love
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Bleader
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City job cuts hit black and Hispanic neighborhoods hardest
- by Mick Dumke
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Tags: Politics, Clout City, News, Rahm Emanuel, Richard Daley, mayor, City of Chicago, smaller government, job cuts, layoffs, budget, City Council, Chicago politics, Sandi Jackson, John Pope, Michelle Harris, Seventh Ward, South Shore, South Chicago, South Side, Southwest Side, privatization, patronage, city payroll, CTA, foreclosures, Chicago Police Department, streets and sanitation, Auburn-Gresham, Avalon Park, West Lawn
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Bleader
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From Zath at the Hideout in April to Cacaw at Treasure Town in October
- by Luca Cimarusti
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Tags: Crickets, Music, live, 2011, year end, Zath, Puffy Areolas, Off!, Thee Oh Sees, Disappears, Ty Segall, Cacaw, Logan Square, Pitchfork, Blackout Fest, video, Video
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Bleader
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A consideration of the X-rated Biblical epic Sodom and Gomorrah: The Last Seven Days.
- by Ben Sachs
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Tags: Religion, Testament Week, Film, Piety, Variations on a Theme, Jim and Artie Mitchell, Sodom and Gomorrah: The Last Seven Days, 70s porno, Cecil B. DeMille, Book of Genesis, Lot, John Wayne, Ben Sachs, extraterrestrials, Behind the Green Door, Zoar
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Bleader
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The Empty Bottle introduces one-year passes good for entry to both Empty Bottle and Empty Bottle Presents shows.
- by Kevin Warwick
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Tags: Gift Week, Music, Variations on a Theme, Empty Bottle, Friends of the Bottle, pass, Logan Square Auditorium, VIP, Bite Cafe, entitlement, Congress Theater, no lines, drink ticket
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Bleader
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More notable bites and drinks from 2011
- by Kate Schmidt
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Tags: Food Chain, Food & Drink, Mike Sula, best restaurants 2011, Inovasi, John des Rosiers, Antico, Brad Schiedler, Matt Maroni, GaztroWagon, Royal Coffee, Ethiopian breakfast, Sable, Mike Ryan, Glenwood Sunday Market, Sweet Attila's, the Growling Rabbit, MorSo, Choo, GT Fish & Oyster, Boka Restaurant Group, Benjamin Schiller, Mark Mendez, Liz Mendez, Vera, Barbari
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Bleader
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The Irving Park neighborhood now has a dependable if unsurprising Japanese restaurant
- by Mike Sula
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Tags: Food Chain, Food & Drink, Umi Japanese Restaurant, Irving Park, Japanese food, Katsu, Arami, ramen, sushi, tonkatsu, Galapagos Cafe
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Bleader
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John Anderes of Telegraph puts wood ash on the menu
- by Julia Thiel
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Tags: Food Chain, Food & Drink, John Anderes, Telegraph wine bar, ash, wood ash, Key Ingredient, Mindy Segal, Hot Chocolate, Luke Creagan, Pops for Champagne, bamboo worms
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Bleader
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Carolers come to the Morse el stop.
- by Kate Schmidt
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Tags: Religion, Flotsam and Jetsam, Testament Week, Chicagoland, Piety, Variations on a Theme, Rogers Park, Morse "L" Liquors, Morse Red Line stop, Youth With a Mission, Christmas carolers
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Bleader
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The small San Francisco-based company, Wood Thumb, is succeeding by selling wood. You heard me right, I said wood ties.
- by Kevin Warwick
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Tags: Style, Gift Week, Variations on a Theme, Wood Thumb, wood ties, Renegade Craft Fair, gift guide, Christmas present, Peanuts
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Bleader
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New free beats from Chuck Inglish and Flosstradamus
- by Miles Raymer
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Tags: Crickets, Music, Free Shit, Swag, Chicago, hip-hop, dance music, Cool Kids, Chuck Inglish, Egyptian Lover, Dr. Dre, Flying Lotus, Flosstradamus, X-Files, Video
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Bleader
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Arts staff cut from Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture
- by Deanna Isaacs
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Tags: Lit & Lectures, Music, Visual Art, Clout City, News, Performing Arts, Arts, Books, Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Michael Orlove
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Bleader
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My favorite albums of the year that the Reader wrote about
- by Kevin Warwick
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Tags: Crickets, Music, Battles, Fucked Up, Thee Oh Sees, St. Vincent, self-congratulatory, Liturgy, Total Control, Trap Them, WU LYF, Kurt Vile, pat on the back, Russian Circles, Disappears, Cults, Wooden Shjips, good for us