TOC’s own Jake Malooley spoke live last night with a presenter on BBC 5 about Oprah’s imminent departure from broadcast television. Best moment: When they asked Jake if Oprah might go into politics and become a U.S. ambassador, he said no, because she’d have to take too big of a pay cut. Listen to the segment above.

Our local rep tells me that Fox won’t have a print of Avatar ready until after the Chicago Film Critics Association’s voting deadline. This is consistent with what Indiewire’s Anne Thompson reported nine days ago, which is that no one anywhere will see the film before December 10. By holiday-movie standards, that’s actually a pretty ominous sign: If it turns out to be true, it means the movie won’t be in contention for the National Board of Review’s awards, the Golden Globes (see calendar) and many critics’ best lists. Obviously, this is no ordinary film, and it’s easy to believe that James Cameron will be futzing with his putatively revolutionary technology until someone drags him away from his keyboard. But it’s harder to believe that Fox won’t shove a rough version at awards groups, as New Line did in 2005 with The New World. (New Line actually released the first cut for a New York/L.A. run in December before rolling out a shorter version in January, which meant that only the early one was eligible for the Oscars.) It’s true that the reaction to the Avatar footage shown in August was, as this video makes clear, not super-duper positive. But on two occasions Cameron has made hits out of what were, in their respective times, the most expensive movies ever made, Terminator 2 and Titanic. He’s also been underestimated before—remember, advance buzz suggested that Titanic would be a disaster. I’m still guardedly optimistic.

Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering were an alternative nation sensation on their first go ’round as the Pixies—during the days when you had to stay up to 1am to catch one of their videos. As a reunited cult act, they’ve been bigtime—a touchstone band for an influential musical era. The group defined the loud-quiet-loud aesthetic on its Surfer Rosa album. Last night, the band played the first of three nights at the Aragon. For a visual taste of what you missed, or what you might see tonight, check out the photo gallery above.

Photos: Andrew Nawrocki

Friday 20
If chocolate carries as much weight as wine, check out le Flour’s Chocolate Tasting class. Learn the history, varieties and how to taste. Be prepared to journal and get your chocolate fill. 6701 N Olmsted (leflour.com, make your reservation: 773-631-1400). 6–10pm, $25 (adults only).

Organic School Project is hosting its Fall Harvest Dinner/Fundraiser. G0 and enjoy the seasonal fare prepared by chefs from Rockit, Foodlife and Goose Island. Kick off the season right. Leslie Hall, 1111 N Wells St (purchase tickets). 6–8pm, $40.

The Beaujolais Nouveau is out. Get your fill at Brasserie Jo. Order it by the glass ($8) or the bottle ($39) while you enjoy the chef’s special beef bourguignon pairing. 59 W Hubbard (brasseriejo.com, 312-595-0800).

Saturday 21
La Madia is promoting lazy Saturday afternoons by hosting a Wine and Cheese Class. Sit back and enjoy lunch (pizza and salad) while you learn about holiday entertaining, wine and cheese (you get to eat/drink the wine and cheese too). After all that relaxing, who wants to throw a holiday party anyway? 59 W Grand Ave (dinelamadia.com, call to make your reservation: 312-329-0400). 11am–1pm, $30.

Center on Halsted (serves as a catalyst for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities that links and provides community resources, and enriches life experiences) is hosting a Potluck Thanksgiving Party. Show up with our favorite appetizer or dessert and learn more about their programs. 3656 N Halsted (centeronhalsted.org, call for reservations: 773-472-6469). 3–6pm, FREE.

If you are hitting up the 18th Annual Lights Festival with the kids, head over to Osteria Via Stato for dinner. The restaurant is serving up The Famous Italian Dinner Party menu (aka family style). Kids will dine for half the price. 620 N State (osteriaviastato.com, 312-642-8450). 5–9:30pm. $24.95–$38.95 (full price).

Know the ins and out of beer? How about the ABCs? Check out The Globe Pub’s Beer: A-Z event. Bar-goers will actually taste one beer for every letter of the alphabet while learning some beer basics from Eric Hobbs of Goose Island Brewery. Just make sure you can still say your ABCs at the end of the night. 934 W Irving Park Rd (purchase tickets). 6–9pm, $40.

Take the kids to visit the pickle tree at The Berghoff. In honor of the Bavaria-American tradition, kids can look for the pickle ornament on the holiday tree. Kids who spot it, win a root beer float (and a year of good luck). And you thought we were joking. 17 W Adams (312-427-3170).

If you’re o.k. with sketchy details, a shocker of a dinner and BYOB, then X-marx is for you. Check out this underground dining experience at a place unknown (that is until you sign up).  We do know there will be seven(+) courses, but that’s all we got. (purchase tickets) 7–11pm, $95.

Stop by the Hotel InterContinental and warm up at the Lights Festival with some hot chocolate ($1) or roasted chestnuts ($4). Corner of Illinois St and Michigan Ave. noon–6pm.

One last Lights Festival stop before the end of the night: FREE cupcakes at more. Enough said. 1 E Delaware Pl (312-951-0001). 7–9pm.

Sunday 22
Hosting Thanksgiving…not a clue where to begin? Check out A New Dawn’s class at Whole Foods. They’ll point you in the right direction (demos, tastings, BYOB). 1550 N Kingsbury (purchase tickets). 6:30pm, $45.

Learning how to make pasta sounds like a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon (note: Bears play at night). Make reservations for the how-to class at Quartino. A Sunday with pasta tasting, wine and a new cookbook in hand who needs football anyway? 626 N State (reservations required: 312-698-5000). 1–2:30pm, $24.95.

Need some brioche? Learn how to make it yourself. Head over to le Flour for the tutorial. Best use: French Toast 6701  Olmsted (make reservations: 773-631-1400).  2–4pm, $25.

Upgrade the lousy movie popcorn and soda to a prix-fixe wine dinner at BIN 36. The movie: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Dinner and a movie just got way better.  339 N Dearborn (call for reservations: 312-755-9463). 6pm, $48.

There are two things Gina Howie is passionate about: pastry and brunch. She and Brooke Dailey, a friend she met in pastry school, have devoted themselves to the pastry passion since 2007 at Lovely: A Bake Shop; now the pair have added Howie’s husband—and fellow French Pastry School alum—Bob Hartwig to the team and gotten serious about the brunch at Bakin’ and Eggs, a BYOB, breakfast-all-day spot in Lakeview. But there’s something else the group is incredibly passionate about, and that’s bacon: You’ll find it in the expected places (a breakfast BLT, a caramelized-onion-bacon-blue-cheese frittata) and some less-expected ones (mixed into waffle batter, baked into mac and cheese, pictured). The truly passionate will head for the maxed-out “bacon flight”—a showcase of five bacons, ranging from honey to jalapeño.

3120 N Lincoln Ave (773-525-7005). Mon–Sat 7am–5pm; Sun 8am–4pm.

Chicago Magazine’s Dish reported last week that the peripatetic Goose Island chef and consultant John Manion, who was brought in January to upgrade the brewpub’s menu, would be leaving to get things into shape over at Branch 27. Goose owner John Hall told Dish that Manion would be replaced by an internal candidate, and this morning, Goose PR announced that the company has chosen Andrew Hroza, who has worked at Goose for “several years,” and is a chef and certified Cicerone (beer sommelier), as the replacement. Hroza catered for rockers like Van Halen and Prince before coming to Goose Island, and he’ll be assisted in the kitchen by sous chef Matt Andorka. Last night was Manion’s farewell Thanksgiving-themed dinner, but the kitchen promises things aren’t slowing down: Tonight’s special is housemade goat sausage with pickled Brussels sprouts.

FILM/MUSIC - All Tomorrow’s Parties
The independent-oriented music festival, founded by Barry Hogan in 1999 as an alternative weekend getaway to larger, increasingly corporate festivals, doesn’t go for sponsorship logos and has allowed artists to act as curators, selecting their favorite acts to play on the bill for festivals held in spots with common live-in quarters for bands, fans and industry. ATP (also a record label now) pioneered the Don’t Look Back concept of artists playing classic albums in their entirety. This kaleidoscope DIY concert film features performances from Battles, Sonic Youth, Belle and Sebastian, Iggy and the Stooges, Portishead, and others. One night only. Otherwise, you’re stuck renting it on DVD with your buds. Facets Cinematheque, 11:30pm, $9.

THEATER - Rewind
When playwright Laura Eason was serving as Lookingglass Theatre’s artistic director in the mid-’90s (she’s still an ensemble member), she was also gigging at the Bottle and Cubby Bear fronting a power-pop band called Tart. Eason’s play Rewind, about a fictional band navigating the indie scene, debuts tonight at the side project. the side project theatre, 8pm, $18.

MUSIC - Brendan Benson
Brendan Benson success with the Raconteurs has led to a wider audience, bigger label and better producer for his latest solo trip across the ’70s AM-radio dial, My Old, Familiar Friend. Catch Benson downtown at the Apple Store on Michigan Ave for a free 6:30pm set before he heads uptown to Lincoln Park. Lincoln Hall, 10pm, $20.

SHOPPING & STYLE - Robin Richman anniversary
This Bucktown store has aged like fine wine: It just keeps getting better—and its customers are as loyal as they come. Stop in for a cocktail between 5–8pm, or come any time today for a 20% discount in honor of the store’s 12th (you read that right) anniversary. 2108 N Damen Ave (773-278-6150). El: Blue to Damen. Bus: 50, 56, 72. 10am–8pm.

NIGHTLIFE - Audion: Hecatomb
Matthew Dear has already done his fair share to further the cause of boundary-pushing techno. With Audion, Matthew Dear’s Big Hands and productions under his own name, most producers would have left if that. Not Dear, instead he’s upped the ante yet again with Hecatomb, an audio-visual performance he’s created with the help of graphic design and artist pals Will Calcutt and Eno Henze. The set consists of Dear, in his Audion guise, knocking the dance floor senseless with his punchy techno while kaleidoscopic pinwheel projections flood the dance floor in technicolor. Sounds like it’s the closest you’ll get to a psychedelic experience without the drugs. Smart Bar. 10pm; $12, $10 before midnight.

Ghost Whisperer 7-8pm, CBS. The ghost of a small girl befriends Aiden and threatens Melinda to stay out of her way, causing Melinda to fear for her son’s safety.

Read more »

Activision’s DJ Hero has been out for just shy of a month now and the recent reports on the games performance on the market—or lack thereof—has sparked a quite a bit of online discussion in the past few days. Prominent research company NPD Group reported last week that DJ Hero’s sales have peaked at just 122,300. And that’s across XBox, Playstation 2 and 3, and Wii formats—far lower than projected. Why is this? There are more than few opinions out there.

Joshua Glazer, Editor for DJ culture magazine URB, feels the marketing effort did little to tap into actual DJ culture. “Sure, they paid some of the top earners, like Z-Trip and DJ Shadow, to be a part of the game,” writes Glazer on Huffington Post yesterday. “But Activision’s real media buy seemed to center around TV ads featuring Jay-Z and Eminem (two acts who have very little actual connection to DJ culture) in a cynical bid for mainstream appeal.” I can see his line of thinking here, but I disagree. Especially with his new album, Jay-Z is getting a lot of play in the clubs, and why shouldn’t gamers want to come home and recreate that experience themselves? Plus DJ culture is something that most in the mainstream don’t understand. In order to overcome this, a populist game such as DJ Hero needs to be placed in the most familiar context possible.

The real reason is that DJ Hero falls short in game play. Where Guitar Hero grew into a social phenomenon, sparking get-togethers and themed club nights with people dueling it out to their favorite Santana song, DJ Hero is pretty much a one-man-show. Its attempts to have multi-player functionality ultimately fail to create the same sort of excitement that its six-stringed counterpart does. Another reason—one that’s also being put forth on gaming blogs across the web—is that regardless of the expansive catalog of songs, the tunes are inevitably chopped up, cut into and out of while playing and this doesn’t garner the same sort of familiarity with the music that other music-based games do. This is something that actual DJs are probably used to, but for anyone else who’s getting their first introduction to turntablism, the chopped effect could be seen as a turn off.

Dani Deahl, a local DJ and one of the participants in our initial DJ Hero test drive put it best: “It’s too ‘DJ’ for the layman, and not ‘DJ’ enough for the DJs.”  I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Lucky Chicagoans walked into a live opera in a food court on Michigan Avenue today where soprano Catalina Cuervo and baritone Martin Woods turned up to perform. It was the culmination of the Chicago Opera Theater and the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs surprise performance series to celebrate National Opera Month.

Photos: Andrew Nawrocki