Short films will fill the 10 foot screen and all the plasmas in the popular night spot, The Original Mother’s, for the eleventh incarnation of Indie Incubator Film Fest on Tuesday, November 30, 2010. There isn’t a bad seat in the house, and management even breaks out the couches and free popcorn, too. These shorts are anywhere from 30 seconds to 20 minutes in length, and genres run the gamut from comedy to horror, with everything in between. It is never boring, with energetic hosts and great films, the crowd is constantly entertained.

Now in its fifth year, Indie Incubator has gained credibility, momentum and a distinct voice in the Chicago area independent film scene. The fest has prided itself as the best alternate venue outside of the traditional festival circuit for local filmmakers work to get shown and get noticed. They have yet to charge a single film maker ANY submission fee! “Submission fees are a racket,” says Matt Kubinski, creator of the fest. “Why should independent filmmakers be charged just to submit their film for the possibility of being shown at these fests? Don’t films already cost enough to make?”

Every filmmaker will take home something, but the big award for ‘Best of Fest’ is decided by the judge’s panel. The panel consists of working professionals in the Chicago film community. Past judges have included Kathy Byrne from the City of Chicago’s Film Office, Eddie Griffin Producer of Image Union and Ryan “The Movie Guy” Jagiello of Cinemajaw.com.

The Original Mother’s is located at 26 West Division Street in Chicago. Doors will open at 8:00pm. There will be at least 2 hours of running time with short intermissions throughout. Admission is FREE. $5 PBR Tallboys and $5 Jameson will be the featured specials. Attendees must be 21 and over.

The show is hosted by award winning comic book creators and filmmakers, Matt Kubinski and Charles Klein, with a post party to follow for the rest of the night. Film list is not final and Mr. Kubinski and Mr. Klein have been known to take last minute entries that are especially good.

SUBMIT A FILM! Filmmakers who would like to enter a film, please contact mattk@rushanddivision.com. Trailers and music videos are also accepted. For more information about the Indie Incubator Film Fest please visit www.indieincubatorfilmfest.com, Facebook or @IndieIncubator on Twitter.

If you haven’t heard of TBOX, I’d be surprised.  But now that I’m going to tell you about it, this is all you’ll be hearing about.  A coworker of mine had a 3-word description of it, “A Hot Mess”.  For the uninitiated,  here’s all you need to know: Cereal, stickers, costumes, thousands and thousands of people (over 7,000 last year!) and drinking. Lots and lots of drinking.  This epic pub crawl starts at 8am at the Cubby Bear in Wrigleyville and goes till the bars close.  Yeah.  That’s one hell of a day.  So get some friends together, find a costume, pick up some cereal from the grocery store and buy your tickets online at www.tbox2010.com.  Read on for more details!

What do 36 bars, 73,000 stickers, 12,000 boxes of Cap’n Crunch cereal and holiday cheer have in common?? They are all vital ingredients to TBOX – Festa’s 12 Bars of Xmas Pub Crawl! The first TBOX was held in 1996, when founder Christopher Festa organized his friends together for a small holiday bar-hopping gathering. Since then, TBOX has grown exponentially; it attracted over 7,000 participants last year and even more are expected for 2010. TBOX has developed a cult following, not only to Chicagoans, but with crawlers coming in from over 40 states and a dozen countries. In keeping with the TBOX2010 Amusement Park theme, it really is a “Crawl World After All!”

TBOX is unlike any other pub crawl, a day filled with absolute insanity and an anything-goes mentality. Attendees are encouraged to dress in crazy costumes, welcome mouthfuls of cereal shots, collect stickers, go “Wire to Wire” from morning until closing time, and soak up the manic energy of this 18-hour, starting-insanely-early, mid-winter, all-day and all-night celebration. And TBOX Virgins be warned: this is THE definitive Chicago party experience; after you come once you’ll be hooked for life.

If you’re a fan of good beer, good whiskey, and good food without the chaos of overcrowded bars, then the Bar on Buena is the place for you. Located a few blocks north of the Sheridan Red Line stop, the Bar on Buena is known for their eclectic beer selection and their wide array of whiskeys. Starting tonight, July 23rd, the Bar on Buena is hosting its annual Laugunitas Fest. The fest will feature new, and rare, brews and brands, along with food and live music. The fest will be going on all weekend, so there’s plenty of time to stop by and check it out!

The Bar on Buena
910 West Buena Avenue
Chicago, IL 60613-1614
(773) 525-8665

“Whether it’s in good economic times, or bad, our mission is to do all we can to enhance the quality of life for every Chicagoan and the experience of visiting our city for our tourists and out of towners. But like every level of government, the bad economy has challenged us to do more with less and to even more efficiently manage our limited resources,” said Megan McDonald, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.

“It’s with this in mind that we have rethought many of the events on our schedule and challenged ourselves to improve on a number of our long-time festivals. We’re excited about these changes, which we believe will improve on the experiences that each of our festivals will offer.”

This year will mark the 30th anniversary of the Taste of Chicago, the largest of the city’s festivals and one that Chicago is identified with around the world.

The city made several enhancements to the Taste over the past couple years to add greater value to residents and visitors including a new festival footprint that makes it easier for visitors to move through the venue, and upscale gourmet area on the Buckingham Fountain table, lunchtime Loop trolleys during the week and a large menu of free programming.

McDonald outlined two major changes that will take place during the Taste of Chicago this year:

* First, instead of holding one major Independence Day fireworks display in Grant Park on July 3rd, the City will be organizing three coordinated lakefront fireworks displays on July 4th so that residents can more easily enjoy them, closer to their homes. The fireworks display on July 4th will be a coordinated show that includes a central location at Navy Pier as well as a South lakefront location and a North lakefront location. It will begin at 9 p.m.

* Second, the Taste of Chicago will close at 6 p.m. on both July 3rd and July 4th (Taste of Chicago has always closed early on the final day.) However, the Taste will open everyday at 10 a.m.

“We recognize that there are many who enjoy the Independence Day holiday in their own communities with friends and family, so we decided this year to bring the fireworks to them.

This will result in a more cost efficient celebration and less congestion of people in one site for a more pleasant experience. Additionally, these savings will enable the Office of Special Events to feature name talent every day of the ten-day Taste of Chicago,” added McDonald.

McDonald outlined details regarding the other events/festivals including:

* The City will move three music festivals from Grant Park to Millennium Park. The previously announced moves are Celtic Fest Chicago, May 8-9; íViva! Chicago Latin Music Festival, September 18-19; and the Chicago Country Music Festival, October 9-10.

* Blues Fest and Jazz Fest will remain in Grant Park this year and their schedules will remain the same as they have been in the past.

* Other lakefront events including the Air and Water Show, Bike to Work Day Rally, Kids and Kites, and the Memorial Day parade will all continue this year and are free and open to the public.

* Due to the challenging economy this year, the City was forced to cancel Venetian Nights, the Chicago Criterium, the Outdoor Film Festival and Great Chicago Places and Spaces.

“We are pleased to roll out a very exciting calendar of events this year. We are proud of our events and festivals and proud of the fact that we remain on of the only major cities in the country to continue to offer free family programming for those who live, work and visit here,” said McDonald.

Snow Days Chicago is offering a plethora of reasons why it’s better to brave the windy city weather this time of year versus those boring warmer climates.

The events during Snow Days Chicago on Friday and Saturday the 29th and 30th include a national snow sculpting competition, an activities igloo (don’t tell me you’ve never wanted to go in an igloo), dogsled racing demonstration, “snowboard rail jam”, and plenty more.

Grant Park will be filled with over 27 unique snow sculptures this weekend, and … (best part)… it’s FREE. So if you’ll be downtown at all during the festival, you have no reason not to swing by the Michigan Ave. local to catch some winter wonder.

The fest kicks off Fri. January 29th at 4 pm and ends 8 pm. Snow Days will be open Sat. Januray 30th from 11 am to 8pm. And, again, absolutely no cost (no, not even for an igloo tour).

Grant Park, S. Balbo & Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL, 60603

Flyer for the Fashion and Shopping Extravaganza in Wicker Park (Click for larger size)

Fashion Rocks Chicago and See More Shopping is inviting you (yes, YOU) to the ultimate all-inclusive shopping/fashion event I’ve ever heard of. The Fashion and Shopping Extravaganza this Saturday December 5th at the Creative Lounge in Chicago’s trendy Wicker Park offers plenty of reasons for you to log off eBay and hit the town for your holiday shopping experience.

Not only is there an incredible lineup of local fashion and jewelry designers, but this event will provide you with complimentary snacks, gift raffles, and will reward the early birds (it starts at 11 a.m. and lasts until 5 p.m.) with goodie bags and mini-makeovers courtesy of Sugar & Spice. And all for FREE! Yes, zero dollars! Won’t cost you one measy penny, FREE.

This is the perfect afternoon shopping day for you and your girls, but complimentary snacks? This is also quite the date opportunity as well. Two birds, one stone.

Please rsvp to lidia@evilkitty.net

Now check out this SOLID list of the amazing up-and-coming local Chicago designers that will be selling some of their unique, innovative, and straight up HOT designs this Saturday:

Rosina Mae, Evil Kitty, Anastasia Chatzka, 5p1t, CC Bella, K Fleye, Mr. Tastees, Poise.cc.

This event is located at the Creative Lounge Chicago
1564 N. Damen, 3rd floor
Chicago, IL

I’m not quite sure when it started, or why really.  It’s just one of the many fun internet holidays that gained popularity through internet forums and word of mouth, much like Talk Like A Pirate Day (Sept. 19).  I made it 2 weeks last year and hope to make it the whole month this year.  A quick google search provided a plethora of links and videos of people celebrating this annual tradition.  So I’m curious, have any of you participated before?  Have you even heard of it? I say, give it a try!  You have nothing to lose but will at least gain a few more minutes of time in the morning by dropping your shaving routine!

WPB, the special service area for Wicker Park and Bucktown, and Collaboraction Theatre company, a 14 year old award winning arts organization, invite the public to join them as they create a theatrical procession of dancers, actors, musicians vampires, and mummies that travels through Wicker Park, making stops to trick-or-treat dance and cavort at local parks and businesses along the way.

This unique civic effort is aimed at giving local families an opportunity to join a sidewalk costume parade with a 20 person performance ensemble led by Collaboraction, who is known for it’s unique theatrical events, such as their annual SKETCHBOOK Festival of short plays, music and visual art and their public events such as the quarterly After Dark series at the Art Institute of Chicago. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to create a joyous costumed public procession through the vibrant neighborhood of Wicker Park” said Anthony Moseley, Executive Artistic Director of Collaboraction. Moseley adds “If you like to dance, sing and carouse Halloween-style, please join us at noon at Ashland and Division [google map]and bring your noise makers and wear your costumes!”

The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce and other neighborhood partners, including Friends of Pritzker School and the Wicker Park Advisory Council, will be sponsoring other “Boo-Palooza” activities throughout the afternoon, including pumpkin decorating, face painting, and a Monster Mash Music Bash.

The Dadio Foundation and Collaboraction Theatre Company present the 1st annual Haunting in the Square, an artistic Halloween Celebration that will include interactive programming for kids by day and short plays, DJs and dancing for adults by night. Family friendly programming will take place until sunset on both days. This unique event will be held in at the Firehouse Square, a 19,000 square foot outdoor courtyard that is part of the historic firehouse at 459 N. Wolcott [google map].

The festivities will begin each day with family friendly programming including circus performances and training for kids, an interactive photo booth, carnival games, and a pumpkin carving station. There will be a children’s costume competition on Friday at 4pm and a balloon drop (with money in the balloons!!!) on Sat. at 4 pm. Collaboraction, an award winning theatre company, will be presenting ghost stories written by Emily Schwartz throughout. As the sun sets, the more adult themed programming will take over including fire dancing, DJs, an adult costume competition on Saturday at 10 pm and much more, see schedule and more (TBD) at collaboraction.org

The Haunting in the Square will take place at 459 N. Wolcott from 3pm to midnight on Fri., Oct. 30 and noon to midnight on Sat., Oct. 31. There is a suggested donation of $5 per adult, $2 for child or $10 per family. It will be moved in doors in case of inclement weather.

On Saturday evening from 7 pm – midnight there is also a Haunting in the Square Fundraiser inside the Firehouse with tickets available for $50 and that includes light appetizers, hosted bar, rooftop access to the programming in the square and more. Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the Dadio Foundation and Collaboraction. To buy tickets to the fundraiser go to www.collaboraction.org or call 312.226.9633.

Schedule for Friday, Oct. 30^th
3 pm – doors open and family activities and games open
5 pm – Kiddie Costume Competition and Rock For Kids Choir Performance
5:15 pm – Thin Man performance
6 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story I by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
7 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story II by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
8 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story I by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
9 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story II by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
10 pm – DJ Anaroxsic and Pops Q

Schedule for Saturday, Oct. 31^th
noon  – doors open and family activities and games open
5 pm – Balloon Drop (with money in the balloons!)
6 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story I by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
7 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story II by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
8 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story I by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
9 pm – Performance of Haunting in the Square Ghost Story II by Emily Schwartz, directed by Eric Ziegenhagen
10 pm – Dark Wave Disco DJs