Blues news
Who knows how these things happen – and frankly, my dear, who cares – but this weekend, the blues make an impressive showing in Springfield. For those of you who just returned from a time warp and somehow missed the 20th century (it was a blast!), the blues is a music genre credited to African-Americans,…
SPRINGFIELD ON SOUL
After selling 112 million copies in 40 languages, the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul book series is a household name. And soon, two Springfield authors will appear in the latest installment: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers, due out March 13. Kathleen H. Wheeler of Springfield contributed her story, “Changing My Expectations,” which…
Creative cluster
Ask anyone with a creative neuron in their noodle or an appreciation for spectacular art and the place to be Saturday night is The Pharmacy, at its second location, 1022 S. Pasfield, two blocks north of The Pharmacy studio. The March 10 warehouse exhibit features the work of fourteen members of this hip art colony,…
Illinois lawmakers in for unpleasant budget experience
Last year, the House was able to control the Statehouse budget process by releasing low-ball state revenue estimates early on and then vowing to stick to those numbers no matter what. The Senate Democrats wanted to spend more money, but were eventually stymied by the House’s revenue estimates. There was just no way around the…
Suited soul singers
The All New Original Tribute to the Blues Brothers, the smash hit featuring cast members from the original London run, comes to Sangamon Auditorium, UIS on Saturday, Mar. 10. Jake and Elwood Blues once again don their iconic hats, sunglasses and suits to bring to life a host of the duo’s most memorable hits, including…
Letters to the Editor 3/8/12
GUN GRIPE It is now confirmed our legislators are on meth! The actions of the Illinois House Executive Committee by approving the proposal for handgun registry by Chicago’s mayor seems to point in that direction. This is not yet law, but hopefully the main body will put this proposal into the round file where it belongs. The…
Window panes and the state’s fiscal pain
I was a painter in my younger days. With my dad, uncle and brother, we maintained many of the buildings in the Sangamon Valley back in the forties. I started when I was 17, making 50 cents an hour and working a 10-hour day. I remember the Taylor place. The rest of the crew were…
Not your grandfather’s John Carter
It’s been noted that no other character has been stuck in Hollywood’s development hell longer than Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter. First appearing in the author’s pulp serial “A Princess of Mars,” animator Bob Clampett of Looney Tunes had approached the author in 1931 to propose that his story be adapted into a full-length animated…
Power company generates questions
A power generating company with plans for a major new plant in Illinois has been implicated in the corruption trial of a former Oklahoma senator convicted of bribery. During federal court testimony last week in the trial of Oklahoma’s former senate president pro tem Michael Morgan, Nebraska-based power company Tenaska was identified as the firm…
The spinster cycle
I’m a 32-year-old woman with a Ph.D. I’m beyond happy with my career path, but I’m not meeting men I’m impressed with or inspired to see again. A girlfriend sent me a New York Times op-ed by a historian named Stephanie Coontz, who said that highly educated women can find a man if they drop…
End of the line?
Fiscal reality might finally accomplish what lawsuits and appeals to conscience could not. Gov. Pat Quinn says he wants to shut down Tamms, the state’s supermax prison about 100 miles north of the Kentucky border. The half-full prison where inmates are locked down 23 hours a day in solitary confinement is just too expensive, the…
Kitchen of dreams
They’ve built it, and people are coming. Walking into Lincoln Land Community College’s new Culinary Institute for the first time is an awesome, even jaw-dropping experience, especially for anyone in the food business. Located in LLCC’s spanking-new Workforce Careers Center, it’s a food professional’s dream. There’s a small dining room that’s sleekly modern yet warmly…
The Rockin’ Johnny Band
Originally from South Carolina, a young John Burgin went to the Windy City to study at the prestigious University of Chicago in the early 90s and ending up learning at the equally important reality school of blues, playing with some of the elder statesmen of the genre. After a stint with blues singer Taildragger in…
The Keystone XL flim-flam
For Rep. Allen West, the skyrocketing price of gasoline is not just a policy matter, it’s a personal pocketbook issue. The Florida tea-party Republican (who, of course, blames President Obama for the increase) recently posted a message on Facebook wailing that it’s now costing him $70 to fill his Hummer H3. It’s hard to feel…
Colorful comedy
This Tony-award winning musical features puppets, with their masters in full view, but don’t let the furry little guys fool you – these fellows are more like the older dudes on Fraggle Rock than the youngin’s on Sesame Street. And their bite of sarcasm and realism makes this an adult-audience-only show. The story follows recent…
Hunks of burning love
Fifteen Elvis impersonators bring the magic and song of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll to the downtown Springfield Hilton March 9-10. With thousands of dollars in prize money at stake, the soiree promises to be a weekend of fierce competition and smoking, energetic entertainment. Two special guests spark the festivity’s fire even higher. Hollie…
farmerpoem #11
farmerpoem #11 maybe I’ve told you thisbefore but my dad saysa country kid can runthrough a pasture andnever step on anythingwhile a city kid can pickhis way through a pastureand step on everything 2012 Jacqueline Jackson
BACK HOME AGAIN
What do you do after spending nearly a dozen years behind bars for a crime you didn’t commit? You go to California Pizza Kitchen and get a pie with the works. That’s what Jonathon Moore did on Tuesday after a Kane County judge vacated his murder conviction with the blessing of prosecutors. “That was his…
Bullish on Springfield
Christopher Stone bets big. A newcomer to the real-estate game, the Springfield lobbyist heads a group of investors that has bought up some big chunks of fallow real-estate in recent months, including the vacant Bressmer building on the 600 block of Adams Street. In addition to the Bressmer building, Stone’s group has also purchased the…
Pro chefs’ good eats
One of the best things about writing for the Illinois Times is getting to meet people. That’s never been more true than while I was working on this week’s cover story. Everyone at LLCC’s Culinary Institute was helpful and friendly, from the administrative staff to the students. Teaching chefs Denise Perry and Kate Almengor weren’t…
The Cadillac Queen drives again
Readers who were around back when Ronald Reagan was just another lying politician and not yet a saint will remember the Cadillac Queen. She was a Chicago welfare recipient who starred in Reagan’s stump speeches for having used 80 names, 30 addresses and 12 Social Security cards to collect benefits for four husbands who were…
