Code Goo

I’m a 33-year-old nurse in a five-month “friends with benefits” thing with a doctor co-worker. I am only 18 months out of an abusive 10-year relationship and wanted something fun and

Witchful Witchful thinking

I’m a retired pastor in my 50s. A nearby church wanted my help with their Christmas musical, and I asked my wife of five years, who played bass at my church, to join me. She became angry at this

I smell a rut

I just got dumped by a guy who swore he was ready to settle down (after years of serial monogamy). His relationship history reminded me of the man you wrote about recently who had been married and div

Brief-stricken

A divorced male friend and I recently became “friends with benefits.” However, I’m not receiving the same, uh, level of benefits as he is. He isn’t giving me orgasms from inter

The cad catalogue

Three years ago, I was divorced six weeks from a 22-year marriage when I got involved with a married co-worker and persuaded him to divorce his wife for me. He has been married five times and cheated

Blister wonderful

I’m starting to have feelings for this guy friend I’ve been fooling around with, but I’m worried he isn’t feeling the same way. He’s stopped short of having full-blown in

Her best friend’s waiting

My girlfriend’s best friend is her ex. They broke up six years ago (upon mutual agreement). She swears she’s much happier being his friend and says they both feel they weren’t meant

Pest wife regression

Two years ago, my man left his 22-year marriage to be with me, but he told me he loved his former wife and would always want a friendship with her. I accepted that (I’m friends with my ex), but

Give till it Hertz

For 10 years, this woman and I have had a hot-and-cold long-distance relationship, the temperature of which she’s always controlled. She’s 56; I’m 46. Last year, she felt ready to tr

Snorting hope

I’ve been with my boyfriend for three years. The first year was rocky. He was selling drugs, got addicted, and went to prison. Three months after getting out, he relapsed. I persuaded his mother

Bleu Edmondson

Here’s a music business story with a happy twist and one that continues an upward spiral. Rather than the usual tale of playing music from the cradle, Bleu Edmondson first picked up a guitar and

Mike McClure Band

If you were from Oklahoma and if you were into hard-rocking, good country music like that of the Red Dirt scene, seeing Mike McClure’s name would send you boot-scootin’ for the ticket boot

Mike Zito

A St. Louis native who took to working at Tower Grove Music fresh out of high school intent on making music a lifelong endeavor, Mike Zito plays the blues like nobody’s business. After years of

Eric Lee Beddingfield

From his hometown of Augusta, Ga., Eric Lee Beddingfield has scaled the heights of country music stardom to play on the Grand Ole Opry, plus record with George Jones and Dolly Parton, while sharing th

Cabin Fever

In 2005 this hardworking, easy-playing quintet of Zach Johnson (vocals, harmonica), Mike Eck (vocals, guitar), Danny Sronce (vocals, guitar), Geoff Ryan (electric bass) and Justin Schmidt (percussion,

Robert Sampson & Blues Gumbo

Not just another blues band, this group of seasoned area musicians comes together to play music bringing decades of experience in performance, perseverance and practice. With Jacksonville resident Rob

Frank Trompeter Quintet

Saxophonist, singer and band leader Frank Trompeter celebrates 200 nights of the Jazz Etc. Happy Hour at Marly’s this Friday. Here’s a breakdown for you math-challenged folks: for the week

The Farewell Drifters

This Nashville-based band comes on with feet and fingers, music and minds in several generations. Members of the Farewell Drifters, born in the 80s and 90s, reach into the past for inspiration, conjur

The Oohs

From the extraordinary and challenging cover song choices to the brilliant, self-penned power pop pieces, no other rock band in Springfield has ever come close to achieving the sonic reality of the Oo

Next of Kinn

Once a band, always a band, former members of Next of Kinn could say. The rocking country, old-fashioned funk and classic rock combo recently re-formed to rekindle the magic from when fans voted the g

Following in Lincoln’s steps

Photographer and historian team up to produce a fine new book

Rarely in publishing is there such a perfect collaboration of writer, photographer and publisher as in the new book, Abraham Lincoln Traveled This Way. The lovely landscape photographs by Illinois pho

Putting the story in history

The biography of an American farm where there’s “life as well as a living”

The Beloit University Press has just released Volume One of Springfield writer Jacqueline Dougan Jackson’s planned three-volume opus The Round Barn – The Biography of an American Farm. It

Baseball’s perfect warrior

Stan Musial: An American Life, by George Vecsey. Ballantine Books, 2011. 397 pages. $26.If you are disturbed by multimillion-dollar athletes who seem less than grateful for their status, listen to thi

Finely crafted verse

Local poet’s new volume embraces multiple traditions well

I first met Hugh Moore in Allen Ginsberg’s living room, which often served as an auxiliary classroom for Naropa Institute, home to The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. We spent a soli

Springfield author e-cstatic over e-publishing success

Over the past 13 years, Springfield author Joseph Flynn has written 12 page-turning novels, most of them thrillers. He has been called a “master of high octane plotting” by the Chicago Tri

A Springfield author’s likeable murderers

She’s done it again! Martha Miller, our local crime-fiction author whose two previous Springfield detective books are so stellar, has a newcomer. It’s the best yet. It’s titled Retir

Fiction recalls terrible Springfield crash

But For the Crash, George A. M. Heroux. Connecticut: Eloquent Books, 2010.  Paperback $13.95, Kindle Ed. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-60911-453-4.George Heroux lives in Springfield and is an attorney and th

It’s OK in my book

Jacksonville professor explores ‘America’s greatest word’

A friend laughed when I said I was reading a book about OK. “I can see a paragraph,” he said, “but a whole book?”Well, yes, that is exactly what Allan Metcalf, professor of Eng

New collection brings Springfield poems to life

The late Pat Smith was a former Springfield resident, one of the three founders of Brainchild, a women’s writing collective that lasted more than 30 years and published a number of books. Now Pa

What Lincoln read shaped the man, and history

The first book I ever owned was a child-sized version of the life of Abraham Lincoln – a gift from my book-loving father, who was convinced Lincoln read everything he ever got his hands on. His

A green beauty

For his own office building, architect John Shafer optimizes sustainability and design

Architect John Shafer’s new office building at 1230 S. Sixth St. in Springfield recently won an award for sustainable design from the Central Illinois Chapter of the American Institute of Archit

Anatomy of an Advice Goddess

Illinois Times interviews columnist Amy Alkon on her career, methodology and the scourge of rude behavior

Every week, Amy Alkon provides IT readers with her spin on romantic problems in her syndicated column The Advice Goddess. The column, which received the first place award for commentary last month fro

Taste of Downtown

In celebration of local food and good music

Visitors and residents hungry for good music and good food in Springfield are sure to find some of both this weekend at the 11th annual Taste of Downtown. The popular event is presented this year in c

Steal these ideas

Springfield should copy what works in other towns

“To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything.”Abraham Lincoln uttered those words in his famous farewell speech to Springfield almost 150 years ago. Since then, Sprin

Dancing without the stars

The capital city learns to tango, swing and waltz

It’s chilly in the packed parking lot of the Eagles Club on Springfield’s far east side. But inside the club’s cavernous concrete ballroom more than 100 novice dancers are shedding s

Hero of Hotel Rwanda campaigns for truth about genocide

Paul Rusesabagina speaks in Springfield May 12

Just when we thought Rwanda had reinvented itself into a genuine success story in Africa, and that Rwandan president Paul Kagame had become a star of international leadership, along comes the hero of

Tourist town

Springfield and Illinois hope to increase tourism despite poor economy

Illinois Bureau of Tourism Deputy Director Jan Kostner refuses to dwell on the poor economy and its effect on tourism.In mid-February, as she delivered the annual State of the State of Tourism Address

Behind the scenes at Shen Yun, a controversial practice: Falun Gong

Promotional flyers for Shen Yun — a multimillion-dollar stage production set for Feb. 9 at Sangamon Auditorium — are lavish, four-color photo montages of elaborately costumed dancers, whir

Urbana’s grand stage

University of Illinois’ Krannert Center aims to provide a space for all to enjoy the arts

Mike Ross, director of Urbana’s Krannert Centerfor the Performing Arts, is hard-pressed to name his favorite place to be inside the University of Illinois’ celebrated arts space.Ross

Adults invade Facebook

"I'm trying to get the hang of Facebook, but it's not going well."

I had seven e-mails from an older gentleman who is the president of a highly respected nonprofit asking me to become his friend on Facebook. It was so unnerving I joined Facebook just to make the e-

Actor James Cromwell on The Artist and success

Character actors are made, not born. Often circumstances steer performers towards a career consisting mostly of supporting roles. James Cromwell would agree with this sentiment as he’s fashioned

Carano an action star to be reckoned with in Haywire

Upon seeing mixed martial arts champion Gina Carano dispatch one of her opponents during a short-lived title match, director Stephen Soderbergh wondered why no one had turned her into an action star.

The Grey stands apart from the pack

At the age of 59, Liam Neeson has become a bona fide action star, a go-to guy who audiences have willingly embraced in the well-worn genre. There’s a lived-in quality to his characters; these me

The Artist, a lovingly rendered homage

Along with Hugo and Drive, also 2011 releases, Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist is a film steeped in the history of American cinema. With nods towards A Star is Born, Citizen Kane and Singin&rsqu

Inspired cast and clever twists elevate Contraband

From the 1930s through the 1950s, double features were common in American cinemas and the film that played on the lower part of the bill was referred to as a B-movie. These were exercises in narrative

Intelligent Tinker rewards patience

With its labyrinthine plot, shifting narrative threads and myriad characters, Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John le Carre’s classic spy novel, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, may be initially

Extremely Loud and ridiculous

Some 10 years later, we’re still trying to come to terms with the attacks of 9/11. Perhaps the most important aspect of art is that it allows us to examine tragedies of this sort in an attempt t

Streep’s steely performance propels Lady

One of the more polarizing political figures of the 20th century, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, still inspires passionate support or derision some 21 years after she reluctantly stepped aw

Stars shine in My Week with Marilyn

Marilyn Monroe’s personal troubles have been well documented. Plagued by self-doubt, constantly in search of love, in hindsight the actress’s tragic early death was seemingly inevitable, w

In Game of Shadows, Sherlock is better than ever

Briskly executed, genuinely exciting and altogether entertaining, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, manages to outdo its predecessor by keeping all that was right about that film – the chemist

Chuck Koplinski interviews Mike Kortlander

Chuck Koplinski interviews Doug Jones and Katlyn Carlson

Illinois Times film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Doug Jones ("Hellboy", "Pan's Labyrinth") and Katlyn Carlson, stars of the indie feature "My Name is Jerry", winner of Best Comedy Feature at the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Chuck Koplinski interviews Oscar Piloto and Alfonso Corona

IT film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews star Oscar Piloto and director Alfonso Corona (both are co-producers) of the short film "Dixon's Girl".

Chuck Koplinski interviews director Sam Holdren

Illinois Times film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Sam Holdren, director of the film "The Paradigm Shift", playing in the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Chuck Koplinski interviews Brian Dobrik

IT film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Brian Dobrik, director of the indie short "Robert Shaw", playing in the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Chuck Koplinski interviews director Daric Gates

Illinois Times film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Daric Gates, director of the film "Crook", winner for Best Thriller in the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Chuck Koplinski interviews Dominique Schilling

Illinois Times film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Dominique Schilling, director of the film "Business As Usual", playing in the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Chuck Koplinski interviews Zach Baliva and Morgan Mead

Illinois Times film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Morgan Mead, director, and Zach Baliva, co-producer, of the film "My Name Is Jerry", winner for Best Comedy in the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Chuck Koplinski interviews directors and star of Sinnerman

Illinois Times film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Travis Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris, co-directors, and Matthew Cadet, star of the film "Sinnerman", playing in the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Chuck Koplinski interviews Lynelle White

Illinois Times film critic Chuck Koplinski interviews Lynelle White, director of the film "And Seven Hours Later", playing in the Route 66 International Film Festival.

Vital visions

Many local institutions are celebrating African-American History Month with activities in February. The Vachel Lindsay Home offers viewings of two films, Hallelujah!, one of the first MGM all-black fi

Fast facts

Springfield PechaKucha returns for another enlightening evening at Capital City Bar and Grill on Thursday, Feb. 9. A great lineup of locals and presentations includes: Wade Kammin, The Making of an As

Sweet strings

The Springfield Classical Guitar Society welcomes Michael Hull, performing classical guitar melodies, in an evening concert Saturday, Feb. 4. Hull currently serves on the faculty at Bradley University

Medieval minstrels

Istanpitta, a United States medieval music ensemble, performs Saturday, Feb. 4, in Rammelkamp Chapel at Illinois College. Their concert, “Exiled,” explores the expulsion of the Jewish race

Blues bash

Grammy-nominated blues guitarist Eric Bibb takes to the stage as the University of Illinois Springfield Kitchen Sink Series continues on Saturday, Jan. 28, in the UIS Studio Theatre in the PAC Buildin

In the groove

A host of celebrated musicians come together for an in-theater concert broadcasted live from the House of Blues Boston. On the big screen, see and hear world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, legendary blueg

Harlem swing

The Hoogland Center for the Arts and SIU Voice Clinic present the Fats Waller musical Ain’t Misbehavin’ for two weekends in the LRS Theatre. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical s

New crop

Join individuals interested in healthier and safer foods at the 4th Annual Slow Food Springfield Film Festival held at Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Friday, Jan. 27. The 50-m

Moving pictures

The Molly Schlich 2012 Film Series begins Sunday, Jan. 22, at the AMC Parkway 8 movie theater with the viewing of the inspiring American film The Hammer. The story follows a young deaf wrestler who wo

Power plays

The Sangamon Valley Group of the Sierra Club and Sustainable Springfield, Inc. host a Smart Energy Forum at Lincoln Library on Jan. 24 during the SVG’s monthly meeting. Featured is the City Wate

The Warrior's Way

In theaters December 3, 2010 is The Warrior's Way, a visually-stunning modern martial arts western starring Korean actor Dong-gun Jang who plays an Asian warrior assassin forced to hide in a small

Faster

After 10 years in prison, Driver has a singular focus - to avenge the murder of his brother during the botched bank robbery that led to his imprisonment. Now a free man with a deadly to-do list in han

Love & Other Drugs

Maggie (Hathaway) is an alluring free spirit who won't let anyone - or anything - tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him w

The Next Three Days

Life seems perfect for John Brennan until his wife, Lara, is arrested for a gruesome murder she says she didn't commit. Three years into her sentence, John is struggling to hold his family together,

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,is a much-anticipated motion picture eventto be told in two full-length parts. The long-feared war has begun and Voldemort's Death Eaters seize control of the Min

Morning Glory

When hard-working TV producer Becky Fuller stumbles into a job at Daybreak, she decides to revitalize the show by bringing on legendary TV anchor Mike Pomeroy. Unfortunately, Pomeroy refuses to cover

Skyline

After a late night party, a group of friends is awakened in the dead of the night by an eerie light beaming through the window. Like moths to a flame, people outside are being drawn to strange lights,

Unstoppable

A massive unmanned locomotive, nicknamed The Beast and loaded with toxic cargo, roars through the countryside, vaporizing anything put in front of it. A veteran engineer and a young conductor, aboard

Megamind

When super villain "Megamind" defeats his archrival Metro Man, the world should be his oyster. But instead, "Megamind" falls into total despair. It turns out that life without a ri

For Colored Girls

In 1974, Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf” made its stage debut, combining poetry, dance and music, and most signif

Reel foreign

Seven international films screen in Springfield

Springfield area cinephiles benefit as the Route 66 Film Festival and the Springfield Art Association’s Film Series grow in size and quality. The 2009 Route 66 Fest, held last September, tripled

An independent obsession

The behind-the-scenes process that brings foreign and indie films to town

Molly Schlich knows movies. She has organized the Springfield Art Association’s annual film festival for the past 18 years. The event, she says, was started not as a fundraiser, but as a way to

Q&A with Goodbye Solo director Ramin Bahrani

2009 was a good year for director Ramin Bahrani. The 34-year-old was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and watched as critics continued to laud Chop Shop (2007) and Goodbye Solo (2008). Not

2009 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

WED, SEPT 16Taste of the Festival7-9pmFREE Open to the publicCapital City Bar and Grill3149 S. Dirksen PkwyFor those not familiar with film fests, this evening event will include a preview of 5-6 of t

Terrible teens

They’ve met the enemy – and it’s them

Untitled Document Many recent films about troubled youth remind me of Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit, in which hell is other people. The biggest problem facing teens today

Fab Four on film

The Beatles left an incredible screen legacy

Untitled Document Forty years ago the Beatles changed music for the second time with the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and it still tops lists as

Mr. Costner

A reliable presence, even when he defies expectations

Untitled Document Kevin Costner needs no introduction, but he seems to need a reintroduction. Audiences mistakenly think that they know what to expect from him. His taking on the

Hurricane Billy is back

Bug marks William Friedkin’s return to form

Untitled Document Bug may have been drowned in the current flood of sequels, but it has great cinematic significance. The intense psychological-horror thriller marks the return t

The cult of Jodorowsky

Mexican director’s influence goes beyond his name recognition

Untitled Document His is hardly a household name, but the influence of Alejandro Jodorowsky goes beyond name recognition. His best-known film is El Topo (1970), which translates

All is Welles

The greatest Orson Welles film he didn’t direct

Untitled Document The Third Man (1949) is the greatest Orson Welles movie Welles didn’t direct. It is a testament to the greatness of this film that many people assume that

This Langfelder son is a New York singer

Home for the holidays, Jacob Langfelder performs in Springfield Dec. 29

From the moment he made his musical debut at age 10, lip syncing Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” at Blessed Sacrament School’s talent show, Jacob Langfelder wanted to be on sta

Hip-hop in the Heartland

The talent at Torch Tuesday may be the Springfield music scene’s best-kept secret

[SOUND EFFECTS: needle drops onto vinyl; surface static; reporter clears throat]I’ll never forget the day I stumbled onto Springfield’s underground hip-hop scene. It all started with Raekw

The mysterious Lazer Dudes

Springfield’s own electro-rock-sex-revival adventure

Black leather fingerless gloves. Love Club and Stripping Glitter. Tattoos of strange designs in stranger places. Cahokia Mounds and MoonPandas. What link ties these odd and peculiar things together? A

Central Illinois bands in Texas

Sounds from home at South by Southwest music fest

Austin, Texas — At the South by Southwest music festival, the spring break of the music industry, sensory overload is practically guaranteed. From March 17-21, nearly 2,000 acts played in Austin

Urban music radio comes to Springfield online

It began with a childhood dream of becoming a radio personality. But when Angel Macon sent demos to countless area radio stations, none responded. Instead of idly waiting for that big break, Macon too

REO Speedwagon rolls home

Central Illinois’ classic rock favorite sons perform here Feb. 25

“When I look down the tour itinerary and see towns like Springfield and Champaign, the word that immediately comes to mind is ‘home,” says REO Speedwagon’s lead singer Kevin Cr

Springfield Choral Society sings for peace

Weekend concert also honors service members

Marion van der Loo was already thinking about Christmas back in June.As the music director of the Springfield Choral Society listened to “Jul, Jul, Strlande Jul,” a song from Sweden that

Buddy Holly tour was scheduled for Springfield “The Day the Music Died”

The musicians of the “Winter Dance Party 1959” played Kenosha, Wis., on Jan. 24 of that year, one of the few stops on an ill-fated sojourn which ended for Buddy Holly in an Io

Music ‘repairing the world’

Rick Recht comes to Springfield to “Tear Down the Walls”

Love your neighbor as you love yourself. It’s a commandment familiar to both Jews and Christians, but it takes a person of strong faith to both talk the talk and walk the walk. Ri

Fall concerts

Here’s who’s coming to bring you music

The fall season is upon us, and for bands across the country it's the perfect time to tour. Hopping in the bus — musicians from David Crosby and Graham Nash to Ta

From Springfield to Memphis

In the last few columns I’ve mentioned the amazing and wonderful fact that three area blues organizations selected three Springfield-based blues bands as representatives to the International Blu

2012 forecast

What good are predictions anyway? Is there any meaning in the fact that someone states “so-and-so shall do that and turn out this way” and then it does, or doesn’t for that matter? R

Early morning ruminations

Oh boy, call it a late one, or early as the case may be. The clock says 4:32 a.m. and I’m wide awake. The problem stems from the schedule switch I attempt to accomplish each week as the nighttim

Talking with Todd

I just had the best time visiting with Todd Snider on the phone. I’ve always heard he was a nice guy and he even wrote a song called “Alright Guy” that made number one on the country

Elvis by the numbers

As I prepare to research Elvis Presley and numbers, what better snack than one of the King’s favorite repasts. According to one of the many Internet sites on everything-about-Elvis, the recipe i

New Year’s news

Wow, I feel like one of those people saying, “Wow, it’s New Year’s already? I thought we just celebrated the last one.” Or something akin to that exclamation of realization and

Holiday music musings

If you want a way to mess up a good weekend for local live music, try putting Christmas Eve on a Saturday night and see what happens. That’s what the calendar gave us for 2011 and the Pub Crawl

No Plain Jane

When I first saw Nora Jane Struthers she was standing around at a Folk Alliance conference in Memphis, Tenn., in February of 2010, passing out promo EPs of her upcoming CD. At those get-togethers ever

Frank rocks out of town

Whenever area guitar players get mentioned, Frank Huston’s name is sure to come up early in the conversation. Huston, now into his fourth decade of playing music on the local scene, is moving to

December goodies

I got started on one thing and that led to another and, before you know it, so many cool things were going on now and through the next week I just had to write about as many as I could. Let’s ch

A winter full of fine Springfield theater

The new year begins with exciting theater in Springfield, with the now-playing Chess, a musical by Benny Anderssen and Bjorn Ulvaes (of ABBA fame) with lyrics by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evit

The 25th annual First Night

On New Year’s Eve come downtown for a bargain celebration of the arts

On Dec. 31, 1987, Springfield became the first city in Illinois to host a First Night event celebrating the new year through the arts. Penny Wollan-Kriel, executive director of the Springfield Area Ar

A family’s clash of values in a time of war

Shenandoah at New Salem July 15-17 and 21-24

Don’t let the music fool you. The stage adaptation of Shenandoah is a drama. Set in the Commonwealth of Virginia during the Civil War, the play explores the impact of the war on a family whose p

Springfield playwright brings ice cream to comedy

What could possibly be more fun than a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake? How about two ice cream cakes and one wedding ring? Throw in a rich software developer named Alvin Chandler, a veterinarian named

A rich season of summer theater

Summer theater is upon us and there’s quite an exciting list of possibilities for area theater-goers over the next three months.Theatre in the Park at New Salem outside Petersburg opens its seas

Slavery in the shadow of Lincoln

Presidential Museum commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with Flight

Playwright Charlayne Woodard has something in common with her characters. Like Oh Beah, Mercy, Ezra, Alma, and Nate – the five slaves in Flight’s ensemble – Woodard is compelled to t

Spotlight on Ice

This year’s show features witches, greasers, and man-eating plants!

What do an Olympic figure skater, your favorite musicals and the greatest family entertainment in the area have in common? If you’re thinking of the Ice Capades then you’re in for a season

A rich season for local theater

The new year has begun with some new titles on area stages and several more are coming up in the coming weeks.Seeing the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee recently (a Springfield Thea

Springfield’s Mature Mob is back

Veteran performers host annual show to benefit Senior Services

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that members of The Mature Mob – Springfield’s over 50 singing and dancing troupe – are a little more “hip” than average senior citi

Onstage, a vet tells it like it was

A Long Way Home depicts the struggle of coming back from war

When Springfield resident Tom Jones reads about or meets a young veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan, something deep within him stirs. Jones remembers well the difficulties of adjusting to life

phonepoem #2

phonepoem #2when I call a business a library oralmost any number not a frienda robot voice will say listen carefully for our menu has changed then come seven choices none the entrée I need if I

readingpoem #7

readingpoem #7            A recent letter from my sister, Pat, relates this tale about our oldest  sister Joan as a kid. joan read all the time &ndash

griefpoem #8

when anyone says “how are you?” – a common greeting – I reply cheerfully “holding up” – that seems an acceptable answer and it’s true.I needn’t el

featherspoem # 6

featherspoem # 6 it deceives, this winter warmth twice now I’ve heard a familiar ck-ck-ck high on my back porch and known it was my old tenant the cardinal – when I looked there was the li

newyearspoem 2012

let’s praise old ladies’ beautiful bodies I see them daily in the Y shower room myself included some of us gaunt sinewy some with rolls of fat some in between but most with rounded bellies

readingpoem #7

A recent letter from my sister Pat relates this tale about our oldest sister Joan as a kid.

joan read all the time — do you recall when we were parked in front of the post office I don’t remember quite how it began but I have a clear picture of our sister emerging from the p.o. d

My Gift

My Gift           This poem was written by my mother,Vera Wardner Dougan, to my father,for their first Christmas together, 1924.If I could give to you one only gift

catalpaforest poem concluded

you could buy your way out of the civil war pay someone two hundred dollars to take your place the farmer on the road near us (well before my grampa was born) did so his replacement was killed. many y

swanpoem #1

swanpoem #1a lone swan patrolled this little stretch of the ohio for five years until he disappeared some say they saw him flying south in the company of two whistling swans so my friends’ small

catalpaforest story part 1

catalpaforest story part 1near the wisconsin farm we lived onwe kids at exploratory age followedthe crick discovered upstream a groveof trees planted incongruously in rowsstrange trees catalpa trees w

Talk derby to me

For fun, fitness and self-esteem, be a roller derby queen

“The night that I fell in love with a Roller Derby Queen, Round and round, oh round and round, The meanest hunk of woman that anybody ever seen, Down in the arena …,” – Jim Cr

Everybody plays

Thousands take the field for youth soccer

With the end of summer come the beginning of a new school year, the harvest and the start of an area tradition that draws thousands of children away from their video games and outside onto the mown gr

Swim, bike, run for fitness and fun

Maybe it’s the obesity epidemic that has so many people worried about their waistlines. Or maybe it’s the ongoing recession that has people looking for low-cost extracurriculars. Whatever

‘Ultimate Frisbee’ offers fitness, fun and community

Springfield group needs more women to play

If you’re home from college or just wanting to get fit and have fun in central Illinois this summer, ultimate Frisbee may be for you.A game of “ultimate” is like soccer but is played

School’s out, but there’s plenty for children to do

For at least a few students, the countdown to summer vacation began last August. Others maybe waited until January, by which time the bitter cold and recent memories of semester finals started giving

Not ready for the big time

UIS stumbles into the NCAA

As the University of Illinois Springfield in October 2008 made another move toward full membership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, then-Chancellor Richard Ringeisen said the eventual

The final round

A Springfield boxing legend remembered

On a warm October day at the Harriet Tubman Susan B. Anthony Center on Springfield’s east side, 30 to 40 young men and boys dressed in gym clothes amble into a narrow room that seems to double a

What could be finer than pigskin and suds?

You may never have heard of the Capital City Outlaws, Springfield's very own semipro football team, but they're making lots of noise in the Original Midwest Football League. They placed second last ye

Skating club celebrates the holidays on, um, ice

For almost a decade, the Springfield Figure Skating Club has been ringing in the holidays with an evening of skating set to seasonal songs. Skaters of all ages and skill levels don their best Christma

Blue Birds

Cards lick their wounds as the hated Cubs advance

From the left field bleachers to the press box, from to the clubhouse to the front office, the refrain is repeated as if rehearsed: The Cardinals didn't make the playoffs this year because of nagging

Upbeat arts in a down economy

From ceramics to hip-hop, dedication and enthusiasm trump economic adversity in Springfield

“I’m glad they’re here, kicking the arts in the butt,” smiles Betsy Dollar, executive director of the Springfield Art Association. She is referring to the organizers and partic

Crunch time for the Hoogland

Arts center takes on $1.2 million fundraising challenge

“I had a person recently ask me what I do here,” recalls Fred Jarosz, executive director of the Hoogland Center for the Arts. “And I told them, ‘I’m the beggar. I’m

The Pharmacy offers a unique prescription for local art

Springfield collective debuts new work this Friday

“We want this to be a nice opening like you’d find in New York or up in Chicago,” enthuses local artist Andrew Woolbright, describing the debut exhibit this Friday (11.11.11) of The

Photography of friendship over fear

Temple B’rith Sholom exhibit features Muslims who saved Jews

From time to time world events force people of faith to choose between bending to the will of a despotic ruler or living out the core values of their faith. Some choose the risky path of faith.In the

The Third Thursday artists

How Springfield unknowns created a vibrant arts scene

Paris, Florence, Berlin, Rome, New York, Athens – when famed art-related cities of the world come up in conversation, Springfield, Ill., is not generally on the list. That’s not likely to

The starving arts

Springfield arts scene struggles, but survives

Fred Jarosz is a talker. To meet him, the executive director of the Hoogland Center for the Arts, and ask him about the health of the arts in Springfield is to be taken on a whirlwind aural tour of bo

Renaissance at the Art Association

Betsy Dollar’s fresh ideas for Springfield’s oldest arts organization

During the Middle Ages, the church used art in its cathedrals to draw the eyes of worshippers toward the heavens. Today, art is at the center of an effort to resurrect a blighted urban area once known

Artist to paint a five-story mural in pursuit of ArtPrize

Mike Mayosky needs a little help from his friends

Springfield artist and mural painter Mike Mayosky is always working on and promoting something. Our colorful local artist has something very big that he is promoting right now. He has entered the ArtP

The blacksmith as artist

See ‘L. Brent Kington: Mythical Metalsmith’ at the Illinois State Museum till Sept. 6

L. Brent Kington, professor emeritus at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, is widely regarded as the father of blacksmithing as an art form. The Illinois State Museum is hosting a retrospecti

ObamaComics

A prescient presidential pastiche

“I’ve caught a lot of flak for it,” says Springfield resident Chris Ward, author of the nonfiction comic book Barack Obama. “It’s just divisive by nature. I get people sa