SPlog

After negotiations on Saturday failed to reach a favorable conclusion for the Graduate Employees Organization, they’ve called a strike to begin 7:45 a.m. Monday with a rally on the Quad. According to a press release …

Well, at least it wasn’t in the headline, I guess. After a month of coverage of the Kiwane Carrington case in which the News-Gazette respected the anonymity of a juvenile defendant, he was suddenly identified …

Courtesy of an anonymous tipster.

Not the mics, and not the MCs — Davis and Tisdale. The players met the media Wednesday. The Mikes asked if I was going to Jay-Z Thursday. I explained that, while I look very, very …

… and I must say, it’s a really really dope spot. It’s located in the former Embassy space, and the design is really terrific: simple, clean, red (of course). The pattern next to you is …

Ain’t it just like I said?

As SP continues to dangle its judgment over the precipice of public opinion, I’m happy to tell you that there’s no WAY we’ll do as poor a job at “best of” as HuffPo did here. …

Last chance to prevent a strike!! Rally in solidarity with the GEO and show your support for our efforts. Can’t make it to Springfield? Not to worry! If we yell loud enough, they will hear …

Even Michael Jordan’s son isn’t above the rules.

Prussia and Ohtis both recently filmed a take-away show with Detroit blog Single Barrel Detroit. Both bands will perform with Palace Flophouse at Mike ‘n’ Molly’s on November 20th. RSVP!   Prussia – We Would …

The landscape of late-night TV gets more colorful this week with the addition of two shows: The Wanda Sykes Show, which premiered Saturday night on Fox and Lopez Tonight, which begins tonight on TBS, both …

The world lost a truly irreplaceable drummer today, Jerry Fuchs of Maserati.  Our thoughts are with his family and friends.  Here is a photo of Jerry in the green room at Pygmalion Music Festival this …

The undefeated mare Zenyatta defeats the most talented field of horses ever assembled in the $5 million dollar Breeders’ Cup Classic to become the first female ever to win the race; it was her first …

Scroll down just a bit, and read all about it. I’m not sure why yet, but we’ve put in an inquiry to Philip Bloomer, Tim Johnson’s press secretary, for an explanation. Evidently, he is considered …

Granted it only had to travel across the street to get there. Philip Graham, Creative Writing faculty member and frequent McSweeny’s contributer, will be reading from his latest book The Moon Come to Earth (University …

From the U of I Housing announcement: Top Chef Master Rick Bayless to Join Judges Panel at Chef’s ChallengeThursday, November 5, 4 to 7 p.m. at ISR Dining Room and Atrium See your professional chefs …

Man, when I first saw this, I thought maybe the New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh was coming to C-U, but alas: “The prize will be awarded Saturday (Nov. 7) at the National Press Club in Washington, …

Looking for local authors? The Urbana Free Library and the Champaign Public Library couldn’t provide a full list of local authors — but we thought it might be nice to provide these links and start …

When officers searched the truck further, they found 1,455 pounds of marijuana concealed inside furniture in the truck. Police said the marijuana had a street value of about $6 million. — From the N-G article, …

Despite the accidental anti-gay advertising over at Illini Media Company, on the whole, the kids over there really know how to do some cool things in spite of what seems to be a lack of …

Outgoing President B. Joseph White and Interim President-designate Stanley O. Ikenberry e-mailed all University employees this morning regarding the state and University budgets which look bleak for the foreseeable future. “We do not plan furlough …

In its review of Foo Fighters Greatest Hits, Pitchfork writer Matthew Perpetua has a few complimentary things to say about how our little ‘burg influenced the likes of the biggens like those guys. “Everlong”, perhaps …

Common Loon got pretty into the whole Halloween thing for their gig with Pomegranates and Headlights at the Iron Post on Saturday night. They looked a little too creepy, so it was worth documenting, which …

While it’s probably as a result of Google ads, we still take exception to this one which links to this lovely website. Illini Media Company — you should be ashamed: UPDATE: From Illini Media Company …

Nov. 14 Big Ten games: Noon EST/11 a.m. CST Northwestern at Illinois, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN Classic (*) Michigan State at Purdue, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN Classic (*) Indiana at Penn State, Big Ten Network …

Overnight rainfall boosted October’s precipitation total to 7.96 inches, enough to make this the second-wettest October on record in Champaign-Urbana. And there’s still an outside chance that predicted heavy rains today could make October 2009 …

Another day older, deeper in debt, and the first band practice in 16 or so years. Stay tuned for more news about these former music scene fixtures…

Is the UIUC English building haunted — yea or nay?

From Heather Murphy at the Library: We’d love to let Smile Politely visitors know about our upcoming Book Sale.  Here is the information: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library will hold its Book Sale …

Mason Jennings is rolling into the Highdive tonight for a 7:30 p.m. show with Anni Rossi opening. In fact, Gillian reports that she just ran into him at Barnes & Noble. It’s been just over …

If the author looks familiar, don’t feel surprised. She used to write for us, her own blog(s), and that other “magazine” in town… Cheggit. The article is really great. As of press time, Ryan Groff …

Where will the zombie flash mob appear this year?

Better late than never, right? Read on to learn about the final four days of our West Coast tour. Wednesday, Oct. 14; Santa Fe, N.M. After camping in the van somewhere in Arizona, we completed …

Gotta keep the City’s bond rating up!: “A trade publication says the city’s Department of Water Management is ‘considering a lease of its water and wastewater system.’” http://cbs2chicago.com/local/water.system.2.1267896.html

The horror… the horror… $125? The 70mm feature will be Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, to be shown in a rare print with Dolby Stereo surround sound. Mr. Ebert reminds us that passes to the festival …

Chicago-based I:SCINTILLA (pronounced “eye-sin-til-uh”) return to Champaign to celebrate the release of their newest EP, “Prey On You”. The female-fronted electronic-rock quartet last passed through Central Illinois twelve months ago as part of their three-month …

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/business/23carle.html Oops. This reminds me of the time I paid a Carle quack a thousand dollars to inspect some pain in my … reproduction area. He obsessed on my bartending, and kept pestering me about …

In this review of Sufjan Stevens’ September performance at The Highdive, blog Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good had this to say about one of our favorite live music haunts: Sufjan Stevens could have …

From a press release: URBANA – Market at the Square, the City of Urbana’s weekly farmers’ market that has taken place at or near Lincoln Square Village since 1979, has been chosen as one of …

To the editors of the Daily Illini — from the Graduate Employee’s Organization: In an October 15th editorial entitled “GEO request: Good idea, rough timing,” the Daily Illini Editorial Board argued that while a living …

I just heard from our sole non-guard walk-on candidate: “Coach Price and I spoke today and he said they are not going to add anyone to the roster at this time. Disappointing, but I can …

As if we didn’t see it coming… here is the Daily Illini link. There we go again: praising our “competition.” Oops!

Tune into WPGU today at 3 p.m., or check out the217.com around then too, for a first hand look at who is performing at the Inaugural Laughing Prairie Dog Festival this December 4, 2009 at …

Illinois Opens First Five Rows for NorthwesternFighting Illini Football Tickets Moving Quickly CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics has opened the first five rows of seats for the Saturday, Nov. …

Anybody going to screen this around here? Follow up to King Corn: http://www.bigriverfilm.com/