2011: the year in Chicago news, from Chet Haze to Drew Peterson
He's watching you.
2011 was a tumultuous year for Chicago, Illinois, and the country as a whole. But instead of dwelling on politics and all things “Occupy,” we prefer to remember the year for its more mundane and dopey moments. Here are a few of our favorite news stories from 2011, ranging from fake mayors to—sigh—the rapping offspring of one Mr. Tom Hanks.
January
The big story: Tom Hanks’ son goes to Northwestern, is a rapper
Imagine, if you will, a time when we all didn’t know everything there was to know about Chester “Chet” Hanks, known to the assholish Internet and hip-hop communities as Chet Haze, amateur rapper and gadabout. In January—not even a full year ago—the world was introduced to Haze through his Wiz Khalifa takeoff, “White And Purple.” It was underwhelming, to say the least.
Other stories: Macy’s sold an oil painting of Seth Meyers for $5,000; Braid reunite for a new release.
February
The big story: Dan Sinker is @MayorEmanuel
Punk Planet founder Sinker came clean as Rahm-bo’s insane Twitter alias to The Atlantic magazine after months of speculation as to who the man behind the Internet mask could be. Sinker subsequently published a book and released a line of T-shirts featuring the characters he created during some intense tweet stories.
Other stories: Wicker Park’s Earwax closes for the first time; Chet Haze releases first big mixtape.
March
The big story: Northwestern prof in hot water after guest uses “sex saw” during in-class demo
It might seem like a big “duh,” but Human Sexuality Professor John Michael Bailey found his tenure on the skids after local activist Ken Melvoin-Berg demonstrated a “fucksaw” on a live woman in class. Attendance at the lecture wasn’t mandatory and this class reportedly wasn’t for the sexually faint of heart, but, yeah, still maybe not the best idea.
Other stories: Goose Island sold to Anheuser-Busch; Charlie Sheen drops by the Chicago Theatre for a reported $275,000.
April
The big story: Record Store Day
The A.V. Club went all out talking about Record Store Day, doing not one but seven features about the yearly event, including talks with Numero Group’s Ken Shipley about why he abhors the day and Laurie’s Planet Of Sound’s Melissa Geils about what it’s like to work in an actual record store on Record Store Day.
Other stories: Guy Fieri and Vanilla Ice ate together at Sunda; Dave Grohl let the world know that his first concert was Naked Raygun at the Cubby Bear.
May
The big story: Sarah Palin got all riled up about Common going to the White House
Fearing big, bad, gangster rapper Common, Sarah Palin—along with a whole bunch of other right-wing commentators—went on the offensive against the native Chicagoan’s visit to the White House. Common, who was going for a poetry event, retaliated, but not before having his artistic integrity and American-ness questioned ad nauseam.
Other stories: Gwyneth Paltrow went to Schwa; The Home Alone house went up for sale; State Republican leader quotes Wu-Tang on the Senate floor.
June
The big story: Q101 went off the air
It wasn’t a shock for anyone working in music—or really any industry—to hear about another shakeup in the music world when news dropped that Q101 would be going off the air this June. All the same, supporters and ex-employees rallied together to remember the good old days of the station.
Other stories: Cubs owners, players make an It Gets Better video; Colbert kills with a fucksaw-laden commencement speech at Northwestern.
July
The big story: Pitchfork Music Festival conquers Chicago once again
The A.V. Club covered Pitchfork quite extensively, from our advance feature about cool “hipster” facts to drop on hot concertgoers so they’ll go home with you to a wrap-up of the whole weekend. (In May, we also wrote a well-received blog on all the hubbub about Odd Future appearing at Pitchfork.)
Other stories: Goose Island’s Greg Hall turned to cider.
August
The big story: Some festival called Lollapalooza
Just like Pitchfork, The A.V. Club was all up on this fest, too. We wrote plenty of preview coverage of the whole weekend, as well as a rainy wrap-up of the gross affair.
Other stories: Billy Corgan got in a nasty fight with a trans activist online; Numero Group accused Jay-Z and Kanye of sampling shadiness
September
The big story: Jeff Tweedy covers the Black Eyed Peas, hilarity ensues.
As part of Dan Sinker’s @MayorEmanuel book launch, Jeff Tweedy took over the Hideout stage to perform two Black Eyed Peas songs: “My Humps,” and “I Gotta Feeling.” Neither was particularly heartfelt, but both were wrought with over-thinking and charm.
Other stories: Downtown’s Marilyn Monroe statue voted the worst public art in the whole world; The A.V. Club sings with They Might Be Giants; Ira Glass got super drunk on stage.
October
The big story: Jersey Shore finally got that academic conference it so justly deserved
A University Of Chicago student organized a full-on two-day conference on Jersey Shore for academics and media theorists from around the world. The A.V. Club went, of course, and was both impressed and saddened.
Other stories: Softcore pee-paw Hugh Hefner grouses about Playboy Club cancellation; Courtney Love divulges she and Kurt Cobain first got busy in a Chicago Days Inn; Lula went as Taco Bell for Halloween.
November
The big story: R. Kelly’s forthcoming memoir has an even better title than expected
It’s Soulacoaster: The Diary Of Me, and it’s due out—allegedly—in the spring. It’s been much delayed, but considering Kells’ recent resurgence, we’re holding our breath for this one.
Other news: State rep tries to kick Chicago out of Illinois; Someone jerked off at Northwestern; Rockford band Cheap Trick set to open a museum in Chicago.
December
The big story: Ebert shuts down At The Movies
Roger Ebert pulled the plug on At The Movies, the show he once hosted with Gene Siskel. Ebert had been producing the show, which featured two new hosts, but cited pending financial failure as the reason for the shut-down.
Other news: Yo-Yo Ma hung out with a wombat; Chet Haze refused to take school seriously; The Drew Peterson Lifetime movie trailer slayed us; Jeff Tweedy did the weather.
