Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market......

For our parents, it was the assassination of JFK. Ask any of them and they can remember exactly what they were doing at the time they found out JFK had been killed. I never understood that until September 11, 2001. Our generation can remember it like it was yesterday. For us, that moment, frozen in time, is and will always be 9/11. Back then I was in community journalism at a small paper in Bristol,......

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom......

What's new and/or interesting at Philly theaters this weekend. 2 Days in Paris - Julie Delpy wrote, directed, and starred in this romantic comedy about a couple - Marion and Jack (Delpy and Adam Goldberg) - who are stopping in Paris to visit Marion's parents after a "romantic" vacation to Venice that ended up driving them further apart. After meeting Marion's parents, her friends, and innumerable exes on the streets of Paris, Jack begins to......

Films: The Cats of Mirikitani, Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild Wild Women, Sweet Mud Future Screenings: No future screenings of any of the above films scheduled Once again, I took advantage of the night and sat through a wide range of movies. I didn’t feel that the short film collection Cigarettes and Whiskey and Wild Wild Women could be given just one rating. I would have preferred to have rated them individually; however, this was......

Dear Major Air Carrier That Was Responsible For My Transportation Over Thanksgiving Weekend: When I checked into my flight online, I was given the opportunity to upgrade my seats for $75 on each leg of my flight. For First Class, that'd be a steal. But this wasn't first class. This was something that, to protect your identity, I'll call "Coach Plus." Apparently, my $75 would have bought me five extra inches of leg room.......

Today is the anniversary of an awful event in recent American history (and the mainstream media is determined not to let us forget it). If you, unlike Phillyist, are not overwhelmed by what we are increasingly hearing referred to as "9/11 porn," you may be interested to know that there is a free screening of the film "Saint of 9/11" tonight at 7:30 PM at Penn's Landing. Phillyist thinks it's important that we remember......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Presidential Address (Mon; 9PM-9:15PM; all network affiliates) - Incredibly, it's already five years since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. W addresses the nation on the anniversary of those events and "is expected to discuss what the day means to the U.S. and the lessons Americans can take from it." ABC Sneak Peeks (Wed; 9PM-10PM; ABC) - The first half hour will cover ABC's comedy and......

By now you’ve probably heard of Nouvelle Vague, the French band covering songs of the English new wave in the loungey style of Brazilian bossanova. They’re on the stereo at your hipster friends’ parties, they’re showing up on every list as one of the best breakout albums of the summer, and most recently, they’re on the soundtrack for a T-Mobile commercial. And now the band is bound for World Café Live, the Philadelphia stop on......

We’ll be back in Philadelphia tomorrow (after an extended stay with the folks in Texas), and we’ve certainly picked a good theatre weekend to return for! Macbeth - We all read it in high school, and we probably remember it at least a little, so we’ll spare you the trouble of reading our summary and just let you check out the Curio Theatre Company’s production of “The Scottish Play.” The play opens this weekend and......

We’re still Deep in the Heart of Texas, as it were, but our love for performing arts in Philadelphia knows no bounds. Keep reading for exciting upcoming events! Hairspray - Those of us who are fans of the Fox summer hit So You Think You Can Dance have heard the producers say on more than one occasion that they’d like to be able to say that big girls can dance. Hairspray proves that at least......

Even while on vacation in Texas, we’re still keeping track of what’s going on in Philadelphia’s Theatre Scene. Read on! The Marriage Play - The Triangle Theater brings you a very limited run of this Edward Albee play before it continues on to the Deertrees Theatre in Maine. Performances will be August 17-20 at 8 PM. Tickets are $20, or $15 for seniors and students with valid IDs, and can be purchased over the phone......