A dog’s life
People are stupid, or maybe just weird. So far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing. I’ve been a naughty dog — check out my file at Sangamon County Animal Control. In October 2004, officials at St. Francis Cabrini School called animal control because I was wandering through the school parking lot. They described me…
Cruisin’ for a bluesin’
What most people hear in their heads when they think of the blues is the electric Chicago style. Perfected in the 1950s and ’60s by such artists as Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, today it is much imitated, sometimes degraded, and only rarely perpetrated with the heart and soul necessary to achieving the level of…
Equip the grunts
There’s an old bumper sticker with the message “It’ll be a great day when our schools get all the money that they need and the Pentagon has to hold bake sales.” Well, guess who now has to hold bake sales to get the supplies they need? Not the Pentagon, of course — its official budget…
Wily Capote
The 1965 “nonfiction novel” In Cold Blood was Truman Capote’s masterpiece, changing journalism and, according to Bennett Miller’s unique biopic, undoing the author in the process. Working from an intelligent script by actor-turned-screenwriter Dan Futterman, the filmmaker crafts a spare, arresting portrait of Capote’s research and writing of the book and of the personal pitfalls inherent…
Taking it to court
Springfield Police Department Chief Don Kliment will be named as the defendant in a lawsuit from the unlikeliest of sources — next-door neighbor and fellow union activist Ron Vose. Vose, who served more than 27 years on the department and won numerous awards for his work in undercover narcotics investigations, resigned Jan. 19, citing fear…
Catalog the possibilities
It is hard to believe, but many gardeners have already started working on their garden “to do” lists. Even though it’s winter, they’re dreaming about the colorful weed-free flowerbeds that will adorn their front yards this summer. To help visualize these dreams, many gardeners thumb through garden catalogs, full of colorful pictures and vivid descriptions.…
Jacqueline Jackson
aroundtownpoem #9 there was this couple cruising alongside me down walnut street she was at the wheel had real spiky hair and was laffin fit to kill while he — well I don’t want to say what he seemed to be doing I could only snatch looks maybe she was having trouble with her seat…
Just the facts?
I used to work in a library, and the person I most envied there was the cataloger. She got to see all of the new books first and decide where they would reside in the cozy confines of the Dewey decimal system. Agatha Christie was always in the mystery section, and you could bet your…
People’s poetry
This poem, a response to last month’s mine disaster in West Virginia, is written from the perspective of those waiting aboveground. The earth itself becomes a character in the story. The “black diamonds” can be seen as the miners themselves. Lonely Vigil They wait,all through the endless night, standing in small groups,praying.Trying to keep the fear…
Memphis in Chan
Since 1995, Chan Marshall has been making music as Cat Power, a band in constant flux. Marshall is the only permanent member of this band, the only one who matters. Whether she’s enlisting members of the underground elite (see 1998’s Moon Pix, on which the Dirty Three backed her) or drifting toward the mainstream (see…
Malick’s nature
The films of Terrence Malick are an acquired taste, and The New World is not likely to gain him any new fans. The New World is only Malick’s fourth feature in a career that spans more than 30 years, but, despite the Hollywood veneer, it is his most idiosyncratic. Audiences who aren’t accustomed to Malick’s…
The verdict
You’ve heard this story a million times: Jury sits through a trial, listens in earnest, deliberates in good faith, delivers a verdict. Then sometime later — usually just as the credits roll, if it’s on TV — it dawns on the ladies and gentlemen of the jury that the verdict won’t be carried out in…
Letters to the editor
We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address, and daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length, and clarity. Send letters to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. THANKS FOR SHOWING THE LIGHT Your recent article on the local Springfield underground music scene couldn’t…
Doubly right
On pure style points, Jim Oberweis won last week’s Republican gubernatorial debate. His performance was Reaganesque. He had the Gipper’s head movements down pat, but also his forthrightness and optimism, his overly simplistic solutions, and the classic use of a real person to make a very good point (a trucking-company owner who promised to move…
It’s a dog’s world
Tragedy struck when Brandy was getting ready for her morning walk in her owner’s neighborhood near Lake Springfield. From across the street dashed a neighbor’s rottweiler. Brandy, a 4-year-old shih tzu, weighed about 10 pounds. A rottweiler tops out at more than 100 pounds. Tethered to a leash in her owner’s front yard, Brandy didn’t…
Increasing the peace
Kids have a pretty simple reason for why they want violence to end in Springfield: They just want to hang out with friends in a safe environment. “For us not to be able to fellowship with our friends is a shame,” says 12-year-old Katlyn Fields. With an ongoing feud between two local gangs and a…
Dog day afternoon
If she had been a child instead of a full-grown adult at the time of the attack, Carla Covington thinks, she’d be dead. Covington was crossing Lawrence Avenue in July 2004 to speak to Vicki Torres, a neighbor, who was standing in her yard behind a picket fence. Torres would later tell investigators that Covington,…
A pale Prince Charming
Everyone Kenya (Sanaa Lathan) meets is convinced that she’s a self-assured, independent woman. Indeed, she’s on the verge of being made a partner at the accounting firm where she works, owns her own home, keeps herself fit, and is, some would say, a knockout. But Kenya’s appearance is nothing but a façade used to ward…
Earth Talk
Dear “Earth Talk”: What is the deal with plastics recycling these days? Can you explain what the different numbers molded onto the bottoms of plastic containers stand for? —Tom Croarkin, Fairfield, Conn. Confusion over what we can and cannot recycle continues to confound consumers. Plastics are especially troublesome because different forms of plastic require differing…
State of the poor
More than one in four people barely make ends meet in Illinois — a state where the poverty rate for adults and children is the highest in the Midwest, according to the 2006 Report on Illinois Poverty released today, Feb. 2, by the Heartland Alliance in Chicago. With a median household income of $45,787, the…
Getting into the gap
A study group assembled last summer by Mayor Tim Davlin and the Springfield Urban League to examine African-American achievement is right on track — a third of the way through its “ambitious” timeline — says City Hall education liaison Sheila Stocks-Smith. The study group is part of a local effort to understand and, with any…
Good poet! Bad poet!
Before the Internet, before the search engines, Tullius Menard was a person of substantial worth, for he’d memorized most all the facts. When he was young, Tullius decided to earn his way in life by knowing all the data — a considerable task indeed. So he wasted no time with reasoning or understanding or appreciating…
