Upon my first week living in Chicago, a 90 year-old man wearing a Russian commandant’s cap rode past me on a rusted bicycle and accused me of stealing his dog. Shortly after, I got to watch an original reel of Evil Dead screened in a massive, ornate, velvet-curtain-draped movie theatre built in 1929. Sometime later, a man in a toga stood in the middle of Water Tower square with a megaphone, handed out cardboard tubes, and goaded myself and other strangers into gladiatorial combat until the cops broke up the melee.

What does all this mean to you?

Well, what I mean to say in not so many words is that I absolutely Love. This. City. Even better, I’m not alone in this. Not even close. Much of the Dtoid army has made known their residence here too. Yet we sit on the sidelines as glorious NARPS surge across the country without us. No more, I say. It’s about time we organize. Form a raiding party for amusement. Turn this single-player into some Team Objective. Morph into one big Katamari of comradery. Comratamari. Katamradery.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to announce the formation (or possible re-formation) of Dtoid Chicago! An structured hub of gaming and gaming-related events taking place in Chicago. Hopefully, it’ll be an excellent avenue to plan parties, get togethers, and perhaps schedule some epic NARPS.

As the Dtoid site in general is on it’s way to some upgrades, most social networking group formations are on hold. But there is a twitter up right now, so hop on board at DtoidChicago. I’ll be updating the feed regularly with notes about interesting events and also as a weapon to spearhead events. What kind of events, you say? How about one of these?



Team America Screening at the Music Box Theatre
When:October 8th at 10:00 pm
Where: Music Box Theatre 3733 N. Southport Ave. Chicago, IL 60613
What: You'll be hearing a lot about this place, I imagine. It's one of the greatest film venues you ever seen. Opened in 1929, the theatre still keeps it's original form with velvet curtains, gargoyles, and ornate framework. You'd think a place like that would just play art-house films, right? Nope!

Every weekend, the theatre streams cult classic films like The Room, Demolition Man, and Evil Dead. Coming up next weekend is a special showing of Team America with the Chiodo Brothers, who did all the special effects on the film, as well as on such gems as Critters and Earnest Scared Stupid. They'll be in attendance to talk about their work on the film with the Chicago AV Club. You'll really never see something like this again, so come on out!



Halloween at the Lounge
When: Halloween weekend (Exact day / hourly time TBA)
Where: The Lounge (aka My sweet-ass apartment)
What: You know what Halloween is! You know how parties work! Well, I'm hosting one of latter things during the former thing. What I'm saying is: I'm having a party and Dtoid is invited.

Held at my apartment, aptly named The Lounge, is going to be a party of epic proportions. Held in my spacious home featuring screens for gaming, corn-dog themed art on the walls, friends, booze, and Dead Kennedys playing on the turntable. The party is in planning form and the exact details will be announced through a soon-to-be-created Google Group/Facebook event.

As for possible events, I'm hoping the Dtoid Chicago community can help me out on that part. I know the Piper's Alley AMC near downtown has a weekly Game On! event with cheap admission to play your favorite Xbox 360 up on the massive theater screen! DePaul University has a semi-montly demonstration of their illustrious gaming design school's indie games in development called Indie City Games. Of course, there's also no doubt we've got some of the greatest bars scattered across this fancy metropolis. If anyone's got a favorite (preferably spacious) watering hole, speak up! And we can organize a night of exaggerated discussions and shouting at bartenders.

Changes are coming to Dtoid and more from the Chicago community branch will be coming with it. Please be patient and I’ll start setting up various social networking groups to manage events, ideas, and community members looking to organize. And feel free to commandeer these aforementioned groups at your disposal. It’ll make me quite happy to use the Dtoid Chicago group even for spontaneous events, like getting everyone together to watch a midnight showing of a new movie or gather up to stand in line for a game release. Cheers![img]