Many happy returns
Every once in while, you discover a small-town café or corner diner that just feels like home. You don’t mind if the menu doesn’t change much — there’s just something about the place that makes you happy. That’s how I feel about the Morning Star Café in Salisbury. Although the chicken crêpes and apple pie…
Family values
Normal is whatever feels familiar to you, whatever seems plausible, perpetual, and permanent. Sometimes what seems normal isn’t, really; instead, it’s just your life, and you don’t know any better. What’s normal to you might not be normal to me, and vice versa. Here’s an example: Adoption seems abnormal to most people, but it feels…
Taken by Take
A deliriously affectionate ensemble of actors is having a ball in Springfield Theatre Centre’s production of the 1930s comedy You Can’t Take It with You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, which concludes its run this weekend at the Center for the Arts (8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday). Felicia Coulter must…
Baby trade
What price would you put on the smile of a child? How much would you pay for the pitter-patter of little feet? What about the singular sensation of a baby instinctively squeezing your finger or the exquisite pleasure of a newborn nuzzling sleepily into your neck — what are those warm fuzzies worth, exactly, in…
Stalking cyber terrorists
Remember the Super Bowl commercial featuring the curvy brunette who couldn’t quite keep everything tucked inside her tight-fitting tank top? GoDaddy.com, one of the world’s top Web-site providers, was responsible for that $4 million, 30-second spot. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company can also take credit for inadvertently making a different kind of impression. For weeks before…
common sense 2-17-05
Just when you think you’ve bottomed out on the cynicism it’s possible to feel in response to Washington’s constant kowtowing to the monied interests, along comes the American Jobs Creation Act. These days, whenever the White House and Congress put a positive-sounding title on legislation, you can bet it does the exact opposite of what…
movie review
Son raises the bar for animation When aspiring cartoonist Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy) comes into possession of an ancient wooden mask, he’s profoundly underwhelmed. “This is the crappiest piece of crap in Craptown,” he declares. That’s precisely the reaction I expected to have to Son of the Mask, the sequel to the 1994 Jim Carrey…
Heebie-jeebies
Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin is feeling anxious. Two months remain before the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, an event expected to draw national media attention, tens of thousands of visitors, foreign dignitaries, and, perhaps, even the president. “I’m nervous,” Davlin says. “You know, we’re all nervous because we have a lot of work…
people’s poetry
New Potatoes The new potatoes are rough and shaggy, Bearded with dirt, mountain men, Or 49ers, surely. But when I wash them They scrub up rosy, like round-cheeked Debutantes, a hint of white flesh Peeking out from their flimsy jackets. — Lola Lucas Lola Lucas is a research economist with the Illinois Department of Employment.…
earth talk 2-17-05
Dear “Earth Talk”: What has been causing holes in the Earth’s ozone layer, and what is being done about it? — Marcin Wasilewski, Delray Beach, Fla. Chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), of which there are many variations, are the prime culprits in the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer is composed of ozone…
sound patrol 2-17-05
Bettie ServeertAttagirl (Minty Fresh) Indie rock, like most cultural enterprises, is not a meritocracy. Consider Bettie Serveert, the Amsterdam-based outfit fronted by Canadian expat Carol van Dyk. Thirteen years ago, the group ruled the college-radio playlists enchanted critics with debut full-length Palomine, and toured with all the major dudes of the day. Thanks in large…
Signs of the times
Former Springfield Mayor Karen Hasara remembers the ample bosom that got people’s panties in a twist. The cleavage belonged — and still does — to Terry Harris, a North End native and owner of a local lingerie and adult-video store. There was Harris, a former model, clad in leather, bent over and holding a whip.…
Jacqueline Jackson 2-17-05
aroundtown poem #1 sometimes people would speed by me giving me the finger because of the sign NO RADIO in my little car’s window assuming i suppose that I didn’t like radio what the sign did mean was look buster if you break in once more and wreck up the whole dash this time you…
quick takes 2-17-05
30 YEARS YOUNG Two mainstays of solid public-affairs reporting in central Illinois, WUIS (91.9 FM) and Illinois Issues, mark their 30th anniversary next Thursday, Feb. 24, with a reception and program at the Executive Mansion. Kevin Klose, president and chief executive officer of National Public Radio, and Mike Lawrence, director of the Paul Simon Public…
flicks 2-17-05
Have you ever seen a functional family presented in a movie or a television show? Hollywood carefully avoids normality, unless you consider the cloying blandness of the Waltons or the Ingallses. Dysfunction means money, as proved by the return of the hapless Gaylord Focker (Ben Stiller), this time with his embarrassing parents (Dustin Hoffman and…
music notes 2-17-05
An explosion of Springfield songwriters is set to go off at Mojo’s (225 E. Monroe St.) around 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18. Included in Reirer “the Proprietor” Deloney’s big blast of acoustic guitar wielding lyricists are Micah Walk, Joe Frew, Josh Reilly, Matt Meinhert, Sarah Schnieder, Dave Littrell, and Tom Irwin. The band Jazz Orgy…
now playing 2-17-05
Doc Hollow’s Acoustic Revue, a collection of area pickers and grinners organized by Tom Beverly and Mark LeVault, is a once-in-awhile, if not a once-in-a-lifetime, music smorgasbord. The entertainment spectacle is like an old-time variety show with performers playing three or four songs each before the next act takes over. Beverly emcees the event, putting…
letters 2-17-05
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com HERE’S HOW TO BUILD A MAJORITY U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is the…
The other shoe drops
Yet another lawsuit has been filed involving Renatta Frazier, Springfield Police Lt. Rickey Davis, and their attorney, Courtney Cox. This time, however, these three are defendants, and the plaintiff is “Jane Doe,” the young woman whose rape in 2001 resulted in a scandal that led to the departure of Frazier and several top police and…
