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. SHORT AND SWEET One word to describe “Hostile intent” [Dusty Rhodes, Oct. 26]: Outstanding! A.J. Woodson…
Flicks in the Lou
If the St. Louis International Film Festival were a restaurant, it would be one of those obscenely diverse superbuffets where you can get moo shu pork and lasagna and moussaka and enchiladas and, of course, soft-serve vanilla-chocolate-twist ice cream for dessert — the kind of dazzling diversity that makes you ask, “Where do I start?”…
Nothing to Crowe about
As ruthless investment banker Max Skinner, Russell Crowe seems right at home during the opening scenes of A Good Year. With his character belittling his employees and manipulating London’s financial market for his personal gain and his competitors’ ruin, the actor strides about in a cutthroat world not unlike the violent arena in his most…
Roast away your summer mourning blues
Now that summer is over, I have been at a bit of a loss. When the weather report recently called for an overnight frost, I found myself at midnight in my back yard with a flashlight and four garbage bags, clumsily trying to cover up my precious tomato plants. This was my first summer of…
Political thrillers
In Hollywood, the struggle for political power seldom has to do with electoral contests; instead, politics frequently revolve around scandal, assassination, and spying. The Sentinel (2006) begins with great promise as it closely examines the inner workings of the Secret Service and its rigorous methods of protecting the president. Then it goes off track with…
Bistro on the prairie
We lost a good friend last month. Harry Radwine lived in Taylorville and, in his later years, Springfield. He was active in Temple B’rith Shalom and civic organizations, but Harry also made an important contribution to the culinary life of central Illinois. Not because he was a chef, professional, or amateur. His wife, Leila, an…
“Green up” your home
Dear Earth Talk: What kinds of home improvements could I do that would make my house healthier and more environmentally friendly? Most homes are not lacking in ways they can be healthier for family and kinder to the environment. For one, indoor air quality is a serious problem affecting millions of homes. Studies show that…
People’s Poetry
poolpoem #5 there’s a strange bird that lives by the pool at the Y I’m hoping to glimpse her but she’s very shy they’ve posted her name and it hints at her call I’ve looked but can’t find her in sibley at all I’m sure she must wade where the water is shallow pray when…
Credibility gap
Some of the last radio ads aired by Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign were just about a perfect microcosm of the entire governor’s race. “Listen as Judy Baar Topinka runs down those who honor our veterans,” began one ad. “I’m a veteran. Served in Vietnam. Proud of my service. I was shocked by what Judy Baar…
Ghosts in the attic
Late as usual, I’ve got a ghost story for you. It’s about a dead poet, two local authors, and their brush with the supernatural. And I swear, I’m only exaggerating a little bit. Instead of a dark and stormy night, this tale begins on a bright and blustery morning. Jacqueline Jackson was putting her trash…
Bass player Trip
In spite of ridiculous and insidious jokes to the contrary, everyone knows that bass players are the foundation of a music group, allowing interchangeable band members to build fanciful interpretations. But what if the unheard-of happens and the bass player goes it alone, without the thrills and frills of a combo, with no one to…
How to improve ventilation
Dear Gene: My townhouse sometimes has a stale odor. I can’t open the windows for ventilation because they have no screens. What do you suggest? I would certainly take steps to install screens in some of the windows. There are some options, however, if this is impractical for some reason. One option is to install…
Cold Comfort
Empathy is long since lost” — or so it appears in Springfield, according to Marlene Moore. I meet Moore at the Helping Hands of Springfield, where she is a volunteer and the voice of authority at the intake desk, 5 p.m.-midnight every Friday. Her frustration over the city leadership’s lack of action or interest in…
Girth of a nation
It’s finally happened. Fat people in America are fed up. They’ve had their fill of state-by-state maps rolled out by the government that suggest that obesity is a raging national epidemic, of being labeled exemplars of the new “ugly American” and thereby dismissed by callow image-makers because “God don’t like ugly,” and of being made…
A vagabond’s scrapbook
Amy Annelle, the singer, songwriter, and sole permanent member of the Places, traffics in narcotic dream-folk cut with aleatoric noise. Sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by a revolving cast of musicians, she makes music both sordid and soothing, deadpan parables and sour lullabies inspired by the haunted places that she passes through between tour stops, forgotten…
Exporting patients
Good grief. Just when you think that America’s health-care policies can’t get any more ridiculous, corporate profiteers unveil a cockamamie scheme to globalize our health care! Already x-rays and medical tests are being offshored to India, but this scheme goes further, taking a flying leap into the surreal. Instead of sending your tests to India,…
Bad news?
Fresh from a heart transplant in the summer of 2005, billionaire newspaper magnate David Copley reassured employees that he wasn’t interested in selling his family’s company, Copley Press Inc. “As we celebrate a century in the newspaper business, I want nothing more than to be a good custodian of a great legacy,” he wrote employees…
Change course
It’s (not quite) official: people in Springfield don’t support the Iraq war. With all precincts tallied, Capital Township voters voted 60 percent to 40 percent in favor of a measure calling on President George W. Bush and Congress to immediately begin a comprehensive pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. The election results won’t be final…
Warm and fuzzy Wal-Mart
The other night, movie moguls Bob and Harvey Weinstein, MTV creator Robert Pittman, talk-show host Charlie Rose, and NBC Universal chief executive Bob Wright hosted a lavish bash at New York’s Rainbow Room, the sort of event that usually celebrates good box office or a good cause. Waiters served organic and fair-trade fare, including New…
Cutting carbon dioxide emissions
Dear Earth Talk: I heard that using a solar-powered water heater in my home would reduce my carbon dioxide emissions significantly. Is this true? What are the costs? — Anthony Gerst, Wapello, Iowa According to mechanical engineers at the University of Wisconsin’s Solar Energy Laboratory, an average four-person household with an electric water heater needs…
Pile on the insulation
Dear Gene: Our house, built in the 1960s, has several inches of insulation in the attic. The upstairs rooms get warm in summer and cold in winter. Should we add new insulation to improve the comfort? “Several inches” of insulation in the attic of a house is not enough in any climate of the United…
Best woods for flooring
Dear Jim: I am getting rid of wall-to-wall carpeting because of the kids’ allergies. I want to replace it with hardwood floors. Will hardwood insulate as well as the carpet? Which woods are best? Hardwood, one of the most beautiful flooring materials, is a natural, renewable resource. Even though wood is a reasonable insulator, it…
People’s Poetry
aroundtownpoem # 16 cold night out driving slow slow to hear — before the signal falters at my door — the whole of the concerto so achingly sweet achingly sad it forces tears I detour slowly into the alley of city water light and power drop my payment in the slot saves a…
Tool time
Except for leaf-raking, your fall garden chores are probably nearing completion. Before you lock up the garden shed for the season, though, be sure to care for your tools. A little preventive maintenance now can help prevent frustration next spring, and just think how nice it will be when you go to the garden shed…
