Gapers Block has ceased publication.
Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
TODAY
Tuesday, April 23
Fuel
Add Yours? Jul 14 2004
We're relaunching next week — that's right, the redesign is right around the corner — and we need a little help. Describe the site by finishing this (in twenty words or less): Gapers Block is...
'That Ian' / July 14, 2004 9:27 AM
Lacking hot hipster T&A -- where's that section goddammit?
Vit / July 14, 2004 9:43 AM
Well written, quick loading without too many unnecessary and flashy graphics, not trendy (a good thing), and I like the masthead.
Archie / July 14, 2004 9:53 AM
one of my daily sites that I surf to be unproductive in the office. Thank you for being a comprehensive news source for Chicago related info.
MC High Life / July 14, 2004 10:16 AM
...a website.
Eamon / July 14, 2004 10:22 AM
better than twenty Mickey Mouse statues!
Steve / July 14, 2004 10:30 AM
...informative and interesting. And a fairly cool community.
Pete / July 14, 2004 10:42 AM
...actually written by Chicagoans, unlike other sites that shall remain justifiably anonymous.
Andrew / July 14, 2004 10:49 AM
OK, a little clarification: Please complete the phrase without slamming other sites. We like Chicagoist. They're doing something different from us, and that's good.
Matt / July 14, 2004 10:49 AM
Way better than any other publication that i have read on the web, concerning off-the-beaten-path type of info on Chicago. Keep up the good work. I use you guys for info and laughs during the boring work day. Thanks guys!!
Carly / July 14, 2004 11:10 AM
Informative, insightful, entertaining, humorous, "local".
All around I like the set up and how often it's updated.
robin.. / July 14, 2004 11:12 AM
...my daily dose of everything chicago, and [text missing] [text missing] [text missing].
paul / July 14, 2004 11:30 AM
...intensely Chicago.
or...
...everything Chicago that isn't rehashed from the Trib or Sun Times.
Ok, sorry, that wasn't very nice to the 'other' site. I like 'em too.
Eamon / July 14, 2004 11:33 AM
Heh. Sorry about starting things off on the hater tip.
Anyway, are you looking for real feedback or just cutlines?
Andrew / July 14, 2004 11:35 AM
Both, actually. I don't want to give too much away, but at least some of these responses will be used in some way in the redesign. But beyond that, we'd like to know how our readers view us.
pat / July 14, 2004 11:56 AM
Wow. I thought the correction of the "Chicago Stars" in the logo was face lift enough. I like to think of Gapers Block as a topical web version of "Wild Chicago" in its glory days with Ben Hollis. Well, no not all that really. But I think it has all the same qualities. I'm talking off beat features, interesting happenings, an open forum, and a design that's simple yet elegant.
Eamon / July 14, 2004 12:37 PM
Well, then, kidding aside, Gapers Block presents a ton of information with a minimum of clutter. I like that the most volatile items-- Merge and Fuel-- are in the easiest to find areas: left-top and right-top. You can tell at a glance what's been updated, which is why I feel my time isn't wasted when I reload half a dozen times a day.
Of course, the layout isn't half as important as the content, and that's where I think Gapers Block shines. Plenty of updates, a hand-picked list of quirky events, and just fantastic Airbags. And although the site has pretty distinctive voices, they don't get in the way of the posts-- a definite rarity amongst these kinds of sites.
So, in summary, I really love the current site. I'm sure y'all worked hard on the redesign, but I kind of hope the changes are minimal.
Kenan / July 14, 2004 1:45 PM
...very good, and getting better all the time. Quality attracts quality, and as more and more potential contributors wonder where to send their Chicago-y stuff, Gapers Block is the increasingly obvious choice.
As a certain city-named band once said, it's only the beginning.
Pete / July 14, 2004 2:05 PM
I concur with everything Eamon said, plus I always enjoy the Glovebox list, which I have gleefully ripped off/paid tribute to on my own blog ("Fab").
Benjy / July 14, 2004 2:47 PM
...actually written by Chicagoans, unlike other sites that shall remain justifiably anonymous.
Some of us are native Chicagoans...
Andrew / July 14, 2004 2:48 PM
...and not all the GB staff is native.
Xan / July 14, 2004 2:48 PM
solid.
Steve / July 14, 2004 3:45 PM
Suggested endorsement line: "If Kenan H. likes us, we must be good." (This assumes your redesign avoids the missteps taken by Pitchfork and AllMusic, of course.)
josh / July 14, 2004 5:32 PM
Gapersblock is power to the people. Media outlets tell us what, when, and where to be. They tell us if a play is good, or if it is a waste of money. While I don't like wasting money, i also don't like it when a few people have all this power. The more voices the better.
Gapersblock is a fun, intelligent voice that has its nose to the grindstone and its ear to the tracks -- just don't get run over.
The four stars in the masthead aren't an homage to the Chicago flag so much as they are four times the power of the red star of the golden age of socialism. Gapersblock is Pravda for postmodern Chicago.
Chris / July 14, 2004 7:46 PM
A well-written and well-designed Internet publication that features lots of interesting stories on or about events in Chicago. The staff seems to be grounded, and they lack the lame hipster-doofus attitude that I despise.
Kenan / July 14, 2004 9:13 PM
...conspicuously lacking celebrity playlists.
Lyle from Lisle / July 14, 2004 9:39 PM
...rilly kewl. This isn't a criticism, but, the fact that your April Fool's gag about being bought out by The Reader "got me good" for a few minutes -- I guess that reflects more what I think/fear about The Reader than Gapers. Because you'd never, never, *ever* sell us out, right? Right!
Mythical Guy Who Did FakersBlock / July 15, 2004 12:54 AM
...a bunch of mark-ass tricks and lobstaheaded punks!
Craig / July 15, 2004 9:16 AM
...a lot like if WGN started doing news for hipsters.
bean / July 15, 2004 10:29 AM
A breath of fresh air.
My favorite place to have breakfast.
Ricky / July 15, 2004 10:36 AM
...really Midwest, but maybe a little too emo.
Paul / July 15, 2004 10:47 AM
...way the hell better than those "red" papers.
pj chmiel / July 15, 2004 10:48 AM
a group weblog for a pretty smart and well-informed bunch of Chicago friends.
dce / July 15, 2004 11:41 AM
The inferiority complex of "The Second City" rendered in HTML.
Eamon / July 15, 2004 12:08 PM
...Chicago, is not Chicago.
...my kind of site, Gapers Block is.
...that toddlin' blog.
...the 2nd fattest website in America.
...the 14th sootiest website in America.
...sinking at the rate of about a millimeter a year.
...the website that works.
...on fire!
What did we do before Google?
Steve / July 15, 2004 12:19 PM
...mad, bad, and dangerous to know.
Heather S. / July 15, 2004 12:39 PM
....a great reference to go when you're bored and looking for what going on next weekend.
...run by people that are friendly.
...doesn't take itself too seriously.
...is cool. Real gapersblocks suck. It's just an accident people! No need to slow down to 2 mph. (Can you tell I drive the Kennedy every day? Don't even get me started on those merging cars...)
Krissy / July 15, 2004 2:13 PM
... a nice place to visit but a better place to rock.
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Eamon / July 14, 2004 9:16 AM
way better than Chicagoist.