A free download of a professional recording of Jeff Tweedy’s January 31 performance at Foellinger Auditorium is available here: http://www.populusque.com/post/91040874/tweedyrecording Enjoy! Here’s our review and pictures from the show, to jog your memory.
Urbana’s Market at the Square doesn’t start for another five weeks, but you can get a taste of things to come if you head out to Prairie Fruits Farm on Saturdays through the end of …
What if every day you were walking over a time capsule of secrets? This is the fascinating true story of such a mystery being uncovered in the middle of a busy Brooklyn intersection. A documentary …
Hear, hear! Rose Marshack, our beloved punk rock bassist turned educator and mother will be tracking her latest arrival with Twitter and allowing Smile Politely to follow along! With help from a strange little iPhone …
Things were going so well for Smile Politely, the Facebook entity. We had won hundreds of friends and were well on our way to influencing people. Then, one day, the ill-humored Facebook overlords disabled our …
Those who are fully invested in our hometown boy-cum-iconic film critic wait (im)patiently each year until ol’ Ebert reveals his selections for his Overlooked Film Festival. This is the 11th year, and the list has …
Are you the type who picks a bar based upon the beer? If so, read on to find out the freshest brews in town. Crane Alley On tap: Dogfish Head Red & White, Dogfish Head …
This is from an upcoming 60 Minutes interview. Good lord.
The Urbana Farmer’s Market received a $7,500 grant from the Illinois Department of Agriculture “to help market their homegrown produce.” That amount was tied for the largest award of any in the state.
After a long, nasty winter, what better way to welcome back spring than by taking in a movie at Gibson City’s historic Harvest Moon Drive-In Theater? This is the first year the twin drive-in will …
How can you pay for a renovation when your property is being foreclosed upon? The owners of the Historic Lincoln Hotel are trying to figure that out, as their management company claims to be moving …
Earlier this year we posted Headlights covering XTC, because we at SP like cover songs. In that fine tradition, here’s Mr. Bob Nanna as City on Film covering a Dexy’s Midnight Runners song you’ve all …
Furniture Lounge in downtown Champaign is having a big sale prior to its move to downtown Urbana: 75% off storewide through March 30. Vintage clothing is $5 a bag and records are 25 for one …
Electronic musician Dan Deacon will be touring in support of his new record, Bromst, and on this magical mystery tour he’ll be appearing at The Canopy on May 6. Unlike his show at The Canopy …
Dave Eggers, a former university student at UIUC and famed author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, has decided to throw his hat into Hollywood’s ring. Last year, he announced that he would be …
I had the pleasure of meeting Audrey Niffenegger, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Time Traveler’s Wife, when I was going to Columbia College Chicago. During our meeting, she spoke about her next …
The University of Illinois baseball team won their final game against Central Connecticut State in Winter Haven, Florida, by a 6-0 count. The Illini went 2-3 overall in the Sunshine State, and return home for …
Smile Politely has decided to seek a freelance advertising rep to help put the small businesses that make our town tick on the pages of our Web site. We are looking for a self-starter; someone …
Perhaps it’ll go back down? Check for local gas prices here.
The Esquire doesn’t lie.
William Gillespie wrote about its decrepit condition on this very site last week, and now comes the announcement that the Historic Lincoln Hotel is closing for a nine-month renovation. Any suggestions for the new name?
It seems like the Urbana mayoral elections are heating up. From a press release just today: The Prairie Green Party has denounced illegal ballot placement for the Urbana municipal elections. Phyllis Clark, Urbana City Clerk, …
Eureka Brown, the Urbana band known mostly for their epic recordings, have unleashed a new album recently, and has invited the Smile Politely community to share in their accomplishment. Download the whole album for free …
However, what the campaign apparently doesn’t realize is that with most hosting services, when you own a couple of domains, they tend to put them all on the same web server and use the same …
OPENSOURCE Art is looking for artists for their upcoming exhibition, “A Vernacular of Dissent: American Expression and the America of George W. Bush.” The exhibition will be held at the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center from …
Those of us with iPhones and G1 can start celebrating and you know it’s legit when Rose Marshack just twitters about it, too. 3G is coming to Champaign-Urbana this year. Word.
Via IlliniLoyalty.com, here’s a story catching up with next fall’s incoming Illini basketball recruits.
Love it or hate it, it is undeniable that the N-G is a significant part of the fabric of Champaign-Urbana. lbotp weighs in on why the News-Gazette is a vital source of local news.
A lack of a public lottery to determine ballot position has incumbent Laurel Prussing on the top of the docket, and a bunch of feathers ruffled on down the line. (Features incisive one-word quote from …
Tune in to WEFT 90.1 FM tonight at 10 p.m. for WEFT Sessions, this week featuring Dustin Danger of The Villens. Here’s a video of the band rocking Danville in 2007:
In case you missed the memo, Michelle Obama broke ground last Friday (March 20) on a 1,100-squre foot vegetable garden on the White House lawn. She was accompanied by a group of fifth graders and …
Thanks to The Baseball Zealot for the tip: you can download a pdf version of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Emerald Guide to Baseball 2009 for free, here.
Brenda Kay doesn’t think anyone — pro-choice or pro-life — should be in favor of HB 2354.
Those of you who know the music scene through and through know that Nate Jones (a former Smile Politely contributor) and his Brother Embassy bandmate, Quez, are known for pulling out all the stops when …
Illinois Republican Rep. Aaron Schock is being followed … by TMZ. If they’re learning about me on TMZ or some of these other blogs and YouTube videos, then they’re recognizing my face and my name …
We’re seeing a lot of anxiety and a lot of depression. There is a lot of insomnia, but that’s linked to the anxiety and depression. — Dr. Lenley Jackson, a family practice physician with Provena …
+ Interesting forms of payment accepted. + Not quite a chain letter. + For use with smoking tobacco, of course. + Invest your hard-earned money wisely, fool. No, seriously. + Looking to increase your flock? …
Still enjoy watching TV on your old analog set with rabbit ears? Well, without the digital converter box, you won’t be able to watch WILL after March 31, or WCIA after June 12. Hang in …
You ever wonder how people become entitled assholes? It starts here. A trip to the grocery store and bad parenting.
There are a couple of articles about the local impact of wind power in today’s News-Gazette. The first one deals mainly with the tax assessment impact of wind farms. The rural residents quoted expressed a …
Illinois Baseball Report has the details on Army’s 9-8 victory over the Illini in the opening game of their Florida trip. Also included is an anecdote about the former home of the Illini baseball field.
Here are some ideas for how to spend your spring break if your budget didn’t allow for travel.
… just not fans of the Illini. Champaign Centennial advanced to the IHSA Class 3A state finals with a last-second win today against Chicago North Lawndale. The 66–65 win sends the Chargers to face Oswego …
Here are a couple of fliers for the LIB-sponsored training sessions, coming up on March 31 in Champaign and April 1 in Urbana:
Day parties everywhere — Pomegranates at Space12: Moth! Fight! at Emo’s Annex: Motel Motel at Emo’s Annex: Ohbijou at Radio Room: The Mae Shi at Emo’s Main Room (under a parachute): School of Seven Bells …
A CPM apartment building at 2003 W. John in Champaign was damaged by fire yesterday afternoon.
The Illinois baseball team is heading to Florida for spring break, but no jello shots for them (at least not after curfew): there’s baseball to be played. The #19 Illini play five games in the …
The college and F&S have received three requests now to use Mumford House as a space for art shows this spring. Mumford House, while it will remain where it is, is not currently safe for …
The Champaign News-Gazette announced this morning that it would be discontinuing its weekday afternoon edition as of June 1. That’s a less-severe measure than many newspapers have been forced to take recently, but still unsettling …
