Subject: Illinois

• Junkie Jukebox: Remix Artist Collective

  June 12, 2008

• KC Gets Smoked for Smoker Business

  August 27, 2008

• The Republic Tigers on Daytrotter

  October 31, 2008

• Missouri and Kansas are among "Dirty Dozen" for mercury pollution

  Ameren's Labadie power plant By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI Environmentalists in Missouri celebrated earlier this month when a ballot initiative requiring investor-owned utilities to produce more renewable power faced no organized opposition and passed with a resounding 66 percent of the vote. Last year, the administration of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius denied the permit for a massive new coal-fired power plant, even though the political fallout virtually paralyzed the 2008 legislative session.

  November 20, 2008

• Forbes: Grandview eighth fastest-dying town

  Grandview, it could be worse. You could be Bensenville, Illinois. Forbes ranked America's fastest-dying towns, and Grandview, once home to Harry Truman and now the International House of Prayer, ranked No. 8 out of 10. Forbes says:Poverty has doubled while incomes have remained flat, and have fallen when adjusted for inflation. What's more, the housing market has deteriorated, with prices falling 10% in the last year, according to Trulia.com. With few buyers, and no one moving in, home prices ha

  December 10, 2008

• Breakfast Buffet: Tuesday, 12/23

  Musings from a St. Louis transplant on the city's unique style pasta and the way it has evolved. [Gone Mild]If you're going to pull off your own successful Ponzi scheme, it's good to learn from the masters. Here's the nine most brazen Ponzi schemes. [Neatorama]It's not even 2009 and we already have a food trend for next year. I hope you like oatmeal because you're going to be seeing a lot of it. [WSJ]Drive-throughs are not known for their healthy selections but these 20 fast-food items take the

  December 23, 2008

• From the Ashes

  March 22, 2001

• Two hot chalupas say I do at Taco Bell

  If "Married in a Taco Bell" ain't the name of a country song, it should be. This past Friday, a young couple (they both had the same last name before the wedding) got married in a Taco Bell in Normal, Illinois.They didn't even rent out the place. Normal customers were saying "I'd like..." as the couple was saying "I do."Whether out of convenience, shock-value or cheapness (perhaps a mix of all three) I applaud the couple for seeing just how pointless over-the-top weddings are. Even the minister,

  January 12, 2009

• KKK boycotting Hallmark

  So an Illinois chapter of the Ku Klux Klan is recommending that their pasty brothers and sisters boycott Hallmark 'cause Hallmark likes the gays and "homo sexuals." Klan spelling, not mine. Our sister blog in St. Louis -- the St. Log -- received a press release succinctly explaining the reasons for such a boycott. See, Hallmark's "trying to corrupt the morality of Americans by offering gay/lesbian wedding and greeting cards."Follow the St. Log link to see exactly how "immoral" a greeting card co

  January 16, 2009

• War and Peace

  November 8, 2001

• If You Knew Sushi

  June 13, 2002

• American Pie

  March 27, 2003

• Rock of Love Bus Gets Lost In Missouri, No, Make That Illinois

  Many thanks to Mr. Kendall for pointing out this blog recap of the latest episode of popular television show Rock of Love Bus, wherein dolled-up '80s hair rock homunculus and his silicon-enhanced female entourage Writes the recapper... Not surprisingly, however, none of them know what state St. Louis is in. Further, none of them are quite sure where Missouri is, either. As they puzzle themselves with geography, Brett ponders why he hasn't "felt a connection" to any of the girls yet. And by "

  February 9, 2009

• Daily Briefs in Brief: No Jump Friday

  Krunk Meridian: California has the country's largest economy, with a well-endowed $15 billion deficit that's expected to grow to $42 billion by 2010. This Slate article documents its many and varied budgetary shortfalls, followed by the suggestion that legalizing and taxing marijuana would actually not be all that much help. Jesus, California is so screwed. BONUS: The headline contains a pun. Kiss my bipartisan legislative grits, Judd Gregg. Douche Maneuver: During the presidential transition,

  February 13, 2009

• The Zip Code

  February 24, 2005

• Drive Through

  April 21, 2005

• Jars of Clay

  October 27, 2005

• Seeing Stars

  July 20, 2006

• Nite Owl

  November 9, 2006

• The Download

  December 7, 2006

• Repeat Viewing Alert

  March 12, 2009

• Go 'Roos!

  January 15, 2009

• High-School Dunking

  December 18, 2008

• Backyard Tire Fire

  November 1, 2007

• Busdriver

  October 25, 2007

• The Bottle Rockets

  August 10, 2006

• Redneck Rules

  Gretchen Wilson shares her man-ropin' secrets.

  May 18, 2006

• Whole Lotta Love

  March 16, 2006

• The Living Blue

  November 17, 2005

• Tonight: Headlights with the Love Language and Cowboy Indian Bear at the Jackpot (MP3 enhanced)

  I wasn't initially sold on Headlights, having caught the group at the Replay Lounge in the band's infancy (prior even to 2006's Kill Them With Kindness, I believe). But a couple albums and a couple shows later, consider me a true believer. Sure, I'm a little biased towards bands from Champaign, Illinois - the Poster Children, Menthol, and Hum being a few of my faves - but this is the new sound of middle Illinois: sweet, sugary, and smart indie-pop. Led by coed lead vocalists Erin Fein (keys) an

  April 16, 2009

• Convicted

  Saturday, July 23, at Main Street Café.

  July 21, 2005

• Window Dressing

  Letters from the week of March 3, 2005

  March 3, 2005

• Cat Power

  MU hosts a flippin' big gym party.

  February 24, 2005

• Survival of the Fittest

  The Jayhawks enter the eye of the tiger.

  January 27, 2005

• Deaf Jam

  These stereo geeks turned Bartle Hall into the city’s biggest boombox.

  December 30, 2004

• Endangered Species

  Will the Wildcats devour the Roos?

  December 9, 2004

• Nashville Star Tour

  Saturday, July 31, at the Beaumont Club.

  July 29, 2004

• Numbers Game

  How much did the Roy Williams deal cost KU?

  May 1, 2003

• Grub Shack

  At the Kansas Machine Shed, fine dining suffers a breakdown.

  September 5, 2002

• Belle and Sebastian

  Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (Matador)

  July 27, 2000

• National Skyline/Lafayette

  The Replay Lounge -- Sunday, May 7, 2000

  May 4, 2000

• Just Business- or preying on the weak?

  Short-term lenders can lead people twith lower incomes to long-term troubles.

  March 9, 2000

• Now Open: Savvy Coffee and Wine Bar

  For those of you who were wondering when the Power & Light District was finally getting the LatteLand it promised us, you can forget it. The deal fell through and in its place (literally) is the chic Savvy Coffee and Wine Bar, which opened three days ago at 1201 Main.Savvy is the brainchild of Richelle Broshous (pronounced like Brosius as in the Yankee's third baseman) who is from Illinois, went to school in Iowa and landed in Kansas City with an internship at a finance firm. She decided

  May 21, 2009

• Record Shopping Up North

  I am completely unable to walk past any store selling vinyl without popping in "just to check it out," to the chagrin of both my wife and my checking account. This extends as far as the clearance racks at Hot Topic (I found Scream's Still Screaming for five bucks, so it's worth looking, right?), but is usually confined to Goodwills, Salvation Army stores, and your usual record shops. For the past week, I've been bouncing around up north, and I return singing the praises of a couple of Illinois'

  June 15, 2009

• Naked Raygun to Release New Music

  Chicago punk rock legends (and one of my most favorite bands ever omg) Naked Raygun announced that they'll be recording new music. As an added bonus, they'll release it as a series of seven inch singles. "The band will be headed into Transient Sound Studios in Chicago, Illinois to lay down tracks that will eventually be pressed on a series of 7-inch records and represent the first new material from the band since 1992." I thought I was excited about the vinyl reissues Haunted Town started putti

  July 16, 2009

• From the Sea

  July 23, 2009

• Snobby genius author Jonathan Franzen tells you where you're from

  ​National Book Award-winning writer and literary fussbudget Jonathan Franzen, who looked a $1.5 million gift horse in the mouth by dissing Oprah Winfrey in 2001 when she picked his novel The Corrections for her book club, has now helpfully outlined the geographic and emotional boundaries of the Midwest. In an interview printed in the summer issue of Duke University's literary journal, Boundary 2, Franzen, who grew up in St. Louis suburb Webster Groves, explains:If you ask what the Midwest mean

  July 29, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Friday, July 31

  A look at the turkey sandwiches, baked beans and drink choices at the recently opened Greedy Man's Bar-B-Que & Grill. [Kansas City Lunch Spots]The KC Beer Blog questions President Barack Obama's choice of Bud Light at the White House beer summit. [KC Beer Blog]On the road with a competitive barbecue cook at the Illinois BBQ State Championships -- an annual event sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society. [The Huffington Post] The debate over backyard chickens comes to Columbia, Missour

  July 31, 2009

• The Cool Kids

  August 20, 2009

• The Bottle Rockets

  October 22, 2009