This is the archive page for the category [Profiles]; below you should see headlines and summaries of all entries found here on the subject. Click the appropriate link at each to read the entire entry.

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Sebastien Kunert | May 14, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Paris-based photographer Sebastien Kunert. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: "Iron Sky" | May 13, 2008
Today's obsession: The new and extremely impressive trailer for "Iron Sky," the homegrown retro action thriller feature film by Timo Vuorensola and Samuli Torssonen, the Finnish team behind the cultishly popular "Star Wrecks." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Solitude," by Chris Dessaigne | May 13, 2008
Today's photo: "Solitude," by French photographer Chris Dessaigne. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Colonies,"by Olivier Gilet | May 12, 2008
Today's photo: "Colonies," by Belgian photographer Olivier Gilet. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Valencia Science Museum," by Roland Ellison | May 9, 2008
Today's photo: "Valencia Science Museum," by London-based photographer Roland Ellison. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "X," by "twO®" | May 8, 2008
Today's photo: "X," by French graffiti artist "twO®." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by "Peter" | May 7, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by German Flickr member "Peter." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "velvet," by Trane DeVore | May 5, 2008
Today's photo: "velvet," by Westerner-in-Japan Trane DeVore. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Night shoot St James Square Grimsby," by Gary Stafford | May 2, 2008
Today's photo: "Night shoot St James Square Grimsby," by British adult photography student Gary Stafford. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by "welovetaipei" | April 30, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Flickr member "welovetaipei." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Did you meet Rabelais?" by Olivier Gilet | April 29, 2008
Today's photo: "Did you meet Rabelais?" by Belgian photographer Olivier Gilet. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "BACK TO THE FUTURE," by "rober2010" | April 28, 2008
Today's photo: "BACK TO THE FUTURE," by Miami-based Flickr member "rober2010." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: modyfier | April 25, 2008
Today's obsession: The extra-smart electronic-music blog "modyfier," and especially their "Process" series of long-form mix-tapes that I thought had died with cassettes back in the '90s. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "last ones up," by "Felix Constantinople" | April 25, 2008
Today's photo: "last ones up," by Canadian Flickr member "Felix Constantinople." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "BUILDING DING-DONG," by Cala Morlanda | April 24, 2008
Today's photo: "BUILDING DING-DONG," by Spanish photographer Cala Morlanda. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "finestre di Bruno Schulz," by Eugenio Azzola | April 22, 2008
Today's photo: "finestre di Bruno Schulz," by Italian-Austrian Eugenio Azzola. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 22: Author Nick Ostdick | April 21, 2008
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: A 45-minute talk with Chicago author, small publisher and event organizer Nick Ostdick (RAGAD, "Sunbeams and Cigarettes"). | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by David Zimand | April 21, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by New York professional photographer David Zimand. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Vanishing Point," by Eddie Moy | April 16, 2008
Today's photo: "Vanishing Point," by Chicago college student Eddie Moy. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Carpet rolls," by Sandor Weisz | April 15, 2008
Today's photo: "Carpet rolls," by Chicago blogger Sandor Weisz. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Getty Beams," by Dave Miller | April 14, 2008
Today's photo: "Getty Beams," by Santa Monica-based professional photographer Dave Miller. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Paenitentia," by Chris Dessaigne | April 11, 2008
Today's photo: "Paenitentia," by French photographer Chris Dessaigne, taken during an obscure Christian ritual held in his town each Good Friday called the "Procession de la Sanch." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "southwest winds," by Augusto Rosa | April 10, 2008
Today's photo: "southwest winds," by Maine-based photographer Augusto Rosa. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Abigail's X-Rated Teen Diary | April 9, 2008
Today's obsession: The deceptively smart and cynical video podcast "Abigail's X-Rated Teen Diary," from "Goodnight Burbank" creator Hayden Black. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Craig Turner | April 9, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Yorkshire (UK) photographer Craig Turner. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "tin soldier," by Evgeniy Nelmin | April 8, 2008
Today's photo: "tin soldier," by Russian photographer and Hasselblad owner Evgeniy Nelmin. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "1888, Kitchen Road.," by Emmanuel Breton | April 7, 2008
Today's photo of the day: "1888, Kitchen Road.," by French photographer Emmanuel Breton. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Melanie," by Tara Sloan | April 6, 2008
Today's photo: "Melanie," by Seattle-based professional photographer Tara Sloan. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Piotr," by "Hudi" | April 4, 2008
Today's photo: "Piotr," by a Polish photographer named "Hudi" currently living in Los Angeles. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by "Juergen" | April 3, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by German (living in China) photographer "Juergen." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: For Tax Reasons | April 2, 2008
Today's obsession: The comedy duo and animation team "For Tax Reasons," including an embedded video of some of their work. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "my very first cyanotype [yay]," by Emily Barrera | April 2, 2008
Today's photo: "my very first cyanotype [yay]," by Chicago photography student Emily Barrera. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "venice beach fishing," by Sheila Bocchine | March 31, 2008
Today's photo: "venice beach fishing," by professional Phoenix photographer Sheila Bocchine. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "rust," by Bunny McIntosh | March 29, 2008
Today's photo: "rust," by Louisville-based Bunny McIntosh. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Chicago Board of Fog," by Brad Bretz | March 28, 2008
Today's photo: "Chicago Board of Fog," by Chicago photographer Brad Bretz. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: "The Reprover/Le Réprobateur" | March 27, 2008
Today's obsession: The witty, experimental hyperfiction project "The Reprover/Le Réprobateur," by French artist and CCLaP reader François Coulon. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "On my way..." by Ilona Olkonen | March 27, 2008
Today's image: "On my way..." by Russian photographer Ilona Olkonen. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Green Hose," by Danny Putrus | March 26, 2008
Today's photo: "Green Hose," by Chicago-based CCLaP regular Danny Putrus. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: FriendFeed.com | March 25, 2008
Today's obsession: The free "super aggregation" service FriendFeed.com, in which you type in all the accounts where you do little updates (Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, etc) and it spits out a "master feed" to all this information. Click through for more. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "14," by "Yan" | March 25, 2008
Today's photo: "14," by Chinese London college student "Yan." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by David Drennon | March 21, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Nashville Hasselblad owner David Drennon. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 21: All-Music Special | March 17, 2008
Today's episode: It's yet another cold, dreary, gray day here in Chicago, which means it's time for another all-music special, collecting up all the indie-rock I've been recently enjoying and sharing it all with you. I hope you like! | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Google Docs as mobile eText reader | March 17, 2008
Today, a simple "lifehack" to share -- how I use the free online webapp "Google Docs" as a surprisingly good eBook reader for my mobile device. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "I'm blurry.," by Jenna Noll | March 17, 2008
Today's photo: "I'm blurry.," by Kentuckian Jenna Noll. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Michael Green | March 14, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Californian (I think) Michael Green. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "biarritz-mgla," by "janusz.st.a" | March 13, 2008
Today's photo: "biarritz-mgla," by Portuguese Flickr member "janusz.st.a." | Read entire entry

The latest "Creative Screenwriting" podcast is their best yet | March 12, 2008
Just wanted to mention that one of my favorite podcasts, the one produced by "Creative Screenwriting" magazine, just put out their best episode yet -- a 90-minute talk with Drew Goddard, writer not only of "Cloverfield" but also "Lost," "Alias," "Buffy" and "Angel." (Whew!) Click through for more. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "This Way," by DROOO | March 12, 2008
Today's photo: "This Way," by Flickr member "DROOO." | Read entire entry

RIP Gary Gygax, and a personal story | March 5, 2008
Sad news from the world of gaming this week: E Gary Gygax, one of the creators of legendary roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, has died. Click through for a personal story I happen to have about the man. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Thomas Anderson | March 5, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Chicagoan Thomas Anderson. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Malvolio," by Danny Putrus | March 3, 2008
Today's photo: "Malvolio," by Chicagoan Danny Putrus. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Chicago Transit Abstraction," by Reinhardt Schoenfeld | February 29, 2008
Today's photo: "Chicago Transit Abstraction," by Reinhardt Schoenfeld. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Summerdale Community Church," by Comtesse DeSpair | February 28, 2008
Today's photo: "Summerdale Community Church," by Chicagoan Comtesse DeSpair. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "exhaustion," by Christine Clemens | February 27, 2008
Today's photo: "exhaustion," by British California transplant Christine Clemens. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Urbino," by "dearlove.cc" | February 26, 2008
Today's photo: "Urbino," by Italian Flickr member "dearlove.cc." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "benched," by Joseph Palmer | February 25, 2008
Today's photo: "benched," by Chicagoan Joseph Palmer. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 20: 37signals' Jason Fried | February 19, 2008
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: An interview with tech guru and gentleman philosopher Jason Fried, one of the founders of highly popular Chicago software company 37signals. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Chicago," by "reservoir osprey" | February 19, 2008
Today's photo: "Chicago," by Flickr member "reservoir osprey." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "The Silent Fog," by "Audrey" | February 18, 2008
Today's photo: "The Silent Fog," by Chicago Flickr member "Audrey." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Playground," by "QuantumJedi" | February 15, 2008
Today's photo: "Playground," by Chicago Flickr member "QuantumJedi." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Chicago looking a bit like a space station," by Rebecca Whitney | February 13, 2008
Today's photo: "Chicago looking a bit like a space station," by Rebecca Whitney. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Broken Dreams 5509," by "Joe M500" | February 12, 2008
Today's photo: "Broken Dreams 5509," by Chicago Flickr member "Joe M500." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Jesus," by Thomas Anderson | February 11, 2008
Today's photo: "Jesus," by Chicago college student Thomas Anderson. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Drop.io Voice | February 8, 2008
Today's obsession: The new voice option for media-management system Drop.io, which lets you call a phone number and leave a message like normal, but then converts it into an MP3 for mobile podcasting. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by RK | February 8, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Flickr member RK. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Nine," by Mike Innocenzi | February 7, 2008
Today's photo: "Nine," by Chicagoan (and frequent CCLaP feature) Mike Innocenzi. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Chicago River," by Mike Gonzalez | February 6, 2008
Today's photo: "Chicago River," by Mike Gonzalez. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "pin mill," by Paul Hockett | February 5, 2008
Today's photo: "pin mill," by Nottingham (UK) photographer Paul Hockett. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Tooble | February 4, 2008
Today's obsession: The simple freeware program "Tooble," which downloads YouTube videos, converts them into MP4s, and adds them to your iTunes movie library. Pretty simple and pretty cool. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "sleepshop," by Michael | February 4, 2008
Today's photo: "sleepshop," by Canadian photographer Michael of HighPlainsDrifter Photography. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Matiasma," by "Miladysparis" | February 1, 2008
Today's photo: "Matiasma," by Flickr member "Miladysparis." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: The Take Away Shows | January 31, 2008
Today's obsession: The unique video-based music podcast "The Take Away Shows," in which indie-rock bands are dragged through the streets of Paris and filmed as they perform songs live. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "The place where we met," by Bernard Mosselmann | January 31, 2008
Today's photo: "The place where we met," by Belgian Bernard Mosselmann. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: LEGO Moonbase | January 30, 2008
Today's obsession: The shared standard "Moonbase" for the LEGO building-block toy company, created by a passionate builder so that other passionate builders can hook their unrelated creations together at weekend conventions. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Central Iron Works," by Mike Innocenzi | January 30, 2008
Today's photo: "Central Iron Works," by Chicagoan Mike Innocenzi. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: EveryBlock.com | January 29, 2008
Today's obsession: The new info-rich neighborhood-news aggregation site EveryBlock.com, now working for the cities of Chicago, New York and San Francisco. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Jason Regan | January 29, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Californian Jason Regan. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Regeneration and Wrigley," by "Stephen S" | January 24, 2008
Today's photo: "Regeneration and Wrigley," by Milwaukee-based Flickr member "Stephen S." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "dewy," by Jessica Leigh | January 23, 2008
Today's photo: "dewy," by South Carolinian Jessica Leigh. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Lines," by Danny Putrus | January 22, 2008
Today's photo: "Lines," by Chicago artist Danny Putrus. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by "¢am β" | January 21, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Winnipeg-based Flickr member "¢am β." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Evening," by "lamiller1963" | January 18, 2008
Today's photo: "Evening," by the mysterious Flickr member "lamiller1963." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Walk the Line," by James Marsh | January 17, 2008
Today's photo: "Walk the Line," by London-based James Marsh. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "a quiet street in rogers park on a snowy new year's eve," by "deep blue skies" | January 15, 2008
Today's photo: "a quiet street in rogers park on a snowy new year's eve," by Chicago Flickr member "deep blue skies." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Auksinis-sniegas," by Julius Narkunas | January 14, 2008
Today's photo: "Auksinis-sniegas," by Lithuanian artist Julius Narkunas. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Protagonize.com | January 10, 2008
Today's obsession: The collaborative "Choose Your Own Adventure" style literary website, Protagonize.com. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Road construction," by Amy Strass | January 10, 2008
Today's photo: "Road construction," by Chicagoan Amy Strass, a photographer who's been featured here before. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Revolution," by Amanda McCracken | January 9, 2008
Today's photo: "Revolution," by Washington-state resident Amanda McCracken. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Urban Snowfall," by Thomas Anderson | January 8, 2008
Today's photo: "Urban Snowfall," by Chicago college student Thomas Anderson. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "monroe," by "wvallen" | January 7, 2008
Today's photo: "monroe," by Chicago doctoral student "wvallen." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Carey Primeau | January 4, 2008
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Chicago urban-architecture photographer Carey Primeau. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: The Open Architecture Network | January 3, 2008
Today's obsession: The non-profit Open Architecture Network, in which a series of smart builders around the world openly share plans for affordable sustainable constructions, from third-world villages to disaster camps and more. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "on Francisco b/t Wellington & Nelson," by Andrew Ciscel | January 3, 2008
Today's photo: "on Francisco b/t Wellington & Nelson," by Midwestern nomad Andrew Ciscel. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "under tree, drinking tea," by Mel Vyvyan | January 2, 2008
Today's photo: "under tree, drinking tea," by Wisconsin Flickr member Mel Vyvyan. | Read entire entry

Personal essay: The Year in Books, 2007 | December 31, 2007
Today, CCLaP's look at the year in books for 2007; not a look at the entire industry, of course, but rather the 50 or so books I personally got to read and review this year, including new synopses of the ones I found the best. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Day 72: Decidingly Subded," by "Luca of Lollibomb" | December 28, 2007
Today's photo: "Day 72: Decidingly Subdued," by Flickr member "Luca of Lollibomb," uncoincidentally the owner of beauty-supply company Lollibomb. | Read entire entry

Congratulations to Nathan Rabin and his "Year of Flops" | December 27, 2007
Today, a small fan entry about a group that usually gets nothing but criticism, the 800-pound indie gorilla The Onion; specifically, an entry about how much I loved Nathan Rabin's essay series "My Year of Flops," which is just about to end its remarkable run. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "day42/light scar," by "Bryan" | December 27, 2007
Today's photo: "day42/light scar," by Flickr member "Bryan." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Afterworld | December 21, 2007
Today's obsession: The new online "vertical science-fiction project" Afterworld, which not only uses multiple media to tell its story but also to distribute its content. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by "a n g e l a" | December 21, 2007
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Flickr member "a n g e l a." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: The Bowery Boys | December 20, 2007
Today's obsession: The New-York-centric podcast "The Bowery Boys," co-hosted by Tom Meyers and Greg Young; Greg and I, in fact, are old college-radio buddies from our '90s University of Missouri days. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Batty," by " I.C.SillyPeople" | December 20, 2007
Today's photo: "Batty," by mysterious Flickr member "I.C.SillyPeople." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "quasi disegno..." by "fuzzylogic55" | December 19, 2007
Today's photo: "quasi disegno..." by Italian Flickr member "fuzzylogic55." | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 19: Author Ben Tanzer | December 18, 2007
Today's episode: An interview with Chicago writer Ben Tanzer, author of the coming-of-age novel "Lucky Man," specifically on the trials and tribulations of being a working day-to-day artist in a large Midwestern city. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Steve Ibsen, AKA "G-Shack" | December 18, 2007
Today's obsession: College student Steve Ibsen (aka "G-Shack"), creator of one of the silliest online guilty pleasures of recent memory, the instantly addictive "Kitty Cat Dance." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Spitzer Telescope podcast | December 17, 2007
Today's obsession: The new high-definition podcast for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, showing off the latest infrared images combined in an engaging slideshow style. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "wells st. bridge," by Andy Marfia | December 17, 2007
Today's photo: "wells st. bridge," by Chicago photographer Andy Marfia. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Danny Putrus | December 14, 2007
Today's photo: "Untitled," by Chicago photographer Danny Putrus. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Toghaus | December 14, 2007
Today's obsession: Chicago t-shirt company Toghaus, which among other things sells shirts representing each and every one of the 144 train stations of the city's transit system. | Read entire entry

Yet more interestingness: 11 Dec 2007 | December 11, 2007
Simple links to interesting things I've come across on the web in the last day or two, for December 11, 2007. | Read entire entry

Yet more interestingness: An explanation | December 11, 2007
Today, announcing a new type of blog entry that will start getting published here -- a daily roundup of interesting stuff I come across on the web, otherwise known as a "link blog." Click through for more on how I compile this list, and what software I use. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 18: All Music Special | December 10, 2007
Today on the podcast: It's been a cold and snowy week here in Chicago, hence this all-music episode, aka "I didn't feel like going out in the snow and cold and getting an interview done this week." Seven indie-rock bands featured! | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "massive," by Jimmy Walker | December 10, 2007
Today's photo: "massive," by Chicago photographer Jimmy Walker. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "or white?" by Jon Beardsley | December 7, 2007
Today's photo: "or white?," by Flickr member Jon Beardsley. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Monitor Mix | December 5, 2007
Today's obsession: The new National Public Radio blog "Monitor Mix," written by former Sleater-Kinney guitarist and current "ThunderAnt" comedian Carrie Brownstein. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: Untitled, by "Fozzie" | December 5, 2007
Today's photo: Untitled, by Chicago Flickr member "fozzie." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Movable Type 4 | December 3, 2007
Today's obsession: The newest version of content management system Movable Type, the "engine" behind many popular blogs, including CCLaP's. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Flight," by Bob Long Jr | December 3, 2007
Today's photo: "Flight," by Chicago photographer and fisherman Bob Long Jr. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Uptown weed," by Amy Strass | November 30, 2007
Today's photo: "Uptown weed," by Chicago-based Amy Strass. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: IWantSandy.com | November 29, 2007
Today's obsession: The new cutting-edge "Sandy," personal-assistant software that works through plain-language messages, sent through email or SMS or Twitter notes to a central AI database. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "newspapers," by Renzo Borgatti | November 29, 2007
Today's photo: "newspapers," by Chicago-area photographer Renzo Borgatti. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 17: Musician Ken Kase | November 28, 2007
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: A special St. Louis edition, featuring a talk and lots of songs from an old friend of mine, musician Ken Kase. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by Ferran Nogués | November 28, 2007
Today's photo: Untitled, by Catalan photographer Ferran Nogués. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Moi," by Matteo Fava | November 26, 2007
Today's photo: "Moi," by Italian photographer Matteo Fava. | Read entire entry

Announcing the CCLaP winter project: Gilbert & Sullivan | November 21, 2007
Now that it's winter and I'm doing a lot less bicycling and exercising here in Chicago, I've decided that it's time to take on an extended research project in the arts. This winter's research subject is Gilbert & Sullivan; click through for a lot more. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "High-Roller.," by "Sand Between My Toes" | November 21, 2007
Today's photo: "High-Roller.," by an Idaho-based photographer known at her Flickr account as "Sand Between My Toes." | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 16b: Public Radio International's Jesse Thorn | November 20, 2007
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: Part 2 of my extra-long talk with Jesse Thorn, host of Public Radio International's "The Sound of Young America." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: Untitled, by Susanna Bedohazy | November 20, 2007
Today's photo: Untitled, by the mysterious Susanna Bedohazy, which I'm only assuming at this point was taken in Egypt. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 16a: Public Radio International's Jesse Thorn | November 19, 2007
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: Part 1 of my extra-long talk with Jesse Thorn, host of Public Radio International's "The Sound of Young America." | Read entire entry

Field report: Erato Chamber Orchestra at the Chicago Cultural Center | November 19, 2007
Today, photos and a report from the inaugural concert of Chicago's new Erato Chamber Orchestra, dedicated to the showcasing of experimental and minor orchestral work, held down at the Chicago Cultural Center in the Loop. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "School grounds," by "Eric" | November 19, 2007
Today's photo: "School grounds," by Sussex (UK) Flickr member "Eric." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: LostAtEMinor.com | November 16, 2007
Today's obsession: The highly addictive pop-culture journal LostAtEMinor.com. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "beautiful people," by Charlie Cravero | November 16, 2007
Today's photo: "beautiful people," shot in Chicago by Italian photographer Charlie Cravero. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "purple line," by "yenna" | November 15, 2007
Today's photo: "purple line," by Chicago Flickr member "yenna." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: MoleskineCity.com | November 14, 2007
Today's obsession: The new notebook/guidebook hybrid experiment "City Notebook" from Moleskine, and the information-packed website supporting the project. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "No Reason at All," by Seth Anderson | November 14, 2007
Today's photo: "No Reason at All," by Chicago photographer and marketing consultant Seth Anderson. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 15: Split Pillow's Jason Stephens | November 1, 2007
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: A 20-minute talk with Jason Stephens, founder of the Chicago film organization Split Pillow, a group that helps underground filmmakers finish and distribute their experimental projects. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 14: Author Elizabeth Crane | October 22, 2007
Today's episode: A half-hour conversation with Chicago writer Elizabeth Crane, author of the story collections "When the Messenger is Hot" and "All This Heavenly Glory." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Rsizr | October 15, 2007
Today's obsession: The free online image resizer application "Rsizr..." which, by the way, also has an intriguing cutting-edge resizing algorithm you can play with too. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Windows," by Amy Strass | October 15, 2007
Today's photo: "Windows," by Chicago-based Amy Strass. | Read entire entry

Field report: "Petersburg" screening at Chicago Filmmakers | October 9, 2007
Today, photos and thoughts from my recent screening of the low-budget political thriller "Petersburg," produced by a great filmmaking non-profit in Chicago named Split Pillow. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Metra Train," by Merrick Brown | October 9, 2007
Today's photo: "Metra Train," by Chicago-based Merrick Brown. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 13: Reading Under the Influence | October 8, 2007
Today's episode: An eight-minute video report from the fun monthly drunken Chicago literary event "Reading Under the Influence." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Utata | October 8, 2007
Today's obsession: The thousands-strong photography community Utata, born from the ambitions of a highly active Flickr group. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Outrunning the Sea," by Brian Krummel | October 8, 2007
Today's photo: "Outrunning the Sea," by Pittsburgh-based Brian Krummel. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "billboard city," by Andy Marfia | October 5, 2007
Today's photo: "billboard city," by Andy Marfia. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! | October 4, 2007
Today's obsession: The National Public Radio humorous game show "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!," which I'm probably the last intellectual in America to actually learn about. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Blue Sky," by M.Réza | October 4, 2007
Today's photo: "Blue Sky," by experimental photographer M.Réza. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Wilson Avenue L Station, Chicago, 1988," by "Genial23" | October 2, 2007
Today's photo: "Wilson Avenue L Station, Chicago, 1988," by Flickr member "Genial23." | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 12a: Filmmaker Joe Swanberg, part 1 | October 1, 2007
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: Part 1 of my recent interview with Chicago filmmaker Joe Swanberg, one of the more well-known of the so-called "mumblecore" filmmakers getting so much attention these days. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Eric Wenger | October 1, 2007
Today's obsession: Eric Wenger, not only the brains behind the U&I Software company and their series of tools for artistic professionals, but also the creator of lots of short films highlighting the ways the software can be used. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Illumination?," by "Hanifa824" | October 1, 2007
Today's photo: "Illumination?," by Flickr member "Hanifa824." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: The Yamagato Fellowship | September 28, 2007
Today's obsession: The Yamagato Fellowship, a cool fake "viral" website created to support the NBC cult hit "Heroes." | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Noto," by "pamperoloco" | September 28, 2007
Today's photo: "Noto," by Italian Flickr member "pamperoloco." | Read entire entry

Mumblecore: A friendly beginner's guide | September 27, 2007
Today, finally, part 1 of CCLaP's mini-feature on Chicago filmmaker and "mumblecore" pioneer Joe Swanberg. Here, a gentle introduction to Swanberg's work, and a detailed look at what the hell mumblecore is anyway, including lots and lots and lots of online samples. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Layer Tennis | September 27, 2007
Today's obsession: The new live design competition "Layer Tennis," produced and sponsored by Chicago-based design firm Coudal Partners. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: Chicago00516, by Eduardo Angel | September 27, 2007
Today's photo: "Chicago00516," by Brooklyn-based Eduardo Angel. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Song-of-the-day podcasts | September 26, 2007
Today's obsession: Song-of-the-day podcasts, which simply deliver what the title promises. Click through for a better explanation, the reasons why I love such podcasts so much, and links to my six favorites. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Lot Light 2," by Ed Luschei | September 26, 2007
Today's photo: "Lot Light 2," by Madison, Wisconsin agronomy professor Ed Luschei. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Metaplace | September 25, 2007
Today's obsession: The new virtual-reality interface "Metaplace," by revered industry veteran Raph Koster; if it works like he claims, it could very well forever change the way we look at persistent distributed virtual realities online. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "The beautious side of Idaho Burning," by "capitalist_b" | September 25, 2007
Today's photo: "The beautious side of Idaho Burning," by Flickr member "capitalist_b." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: ThunderAnt | September 24, 2007
Today's obsession: Online video comedy troupe "ThunderAnt," which just happens to be comprised of former Saturday Night Live comedian Fred Armisen and former Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein. Yeah, I know! | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: Lightshow, by Jesse Crockett | September 24, 2007
Today's photo: "Lightshow," by Seattle-based (I think) Jesse Crockett. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Untitled," by "orseolo" | September 17, 2007
Today's photo: "Untitled," by the mysterious "oseolo" at Flickr. | Read entire entry

Photo of the day: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall," by "TechnoAtheist" | September 14, 2007
Today's photo: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall," by Chicago-based "TechnoAtheist." | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Nerve Video | September 14, 2007
Today's obsession: The very naughty Nerve Video, featuring dozens upon dozens of smart, dirty online videos from very good-looking nerds. | Read entire entry