Letters to the Editor 10/24/13
PHOTO BY DAVID HINE GAME-LOVEMr. Krohe seems a bit negative in this article. (“Courting new fans: The Velasco Tennis Center opens in Washington Park,” James Krohe Jr., Oct. 17). I’m a pretty average player and my wife is even more average. Include our not-yet-teenage son and daughter, and you’ve got tennis players who just like…
Journey of a lifetime
Through Time and Space, $15, by Sarah Hathaway Thomas, 2013. Available from Prairie Archives, The Sly Fox in Virden and Amazon.com. In Through Time and Space, Sarah Hathaway Thomas’ new book, “time” refers to stories of World War II – her parents, aunts, a childhood chum – and brings us to recent time with adventures…
Steve Grand performs at marriage equality rally
Singer-songwriter Steve Grand of Lemont, Ill. sang his hit single “All American Boy” at the March on Springfield for Marriage Equality today. The march brought several state officials, labor leaders and religious organizations together to support a bill lifting the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Faingold at Large Presents: Rocktober Part 5 – Built To Spill and friends in Bloomington
My perhaps foolhardy “Rocktober” tour of regional music and comedy shows came to a weird (and weirdly exultant) conclusion last night at Bloomington’s Castle Theatre for a concert by long-running Boise, Idaho guitar band Built To Spill. In contrast to most show reviews, I will start by focusing on the opening acts and then pretty…
People’s Poetry
Here’s a seasonal poem from Springfield, Ill. poet Lola Lucas. Her comments about the poem: “Seems like America has gone mad for zombies. My theory is that they represent a chance to relax and not worry about appearance, time, success or any of the responsibilities that life entails. As for the local angle, it’s the…
Faingold at Large Presents: Rocktober Part 4: Neko Case in St. Louis
“Migraine or not, we will now shred.” Like the steadfast musical soldier she so clearly is, singer Neko Case led her band through a searing, satisfying set at last night at The Pageant in St. Louis. Early in the show, Case matter-of-factly informed the audience that she was experiencing a migraine behind her right eye,…
Faingold at Large Presents: Rocktober Part 3: John Hodgman, Kristen Schaal and Eugene Mirman
My continuing Rocktober travels around the region in search of extra-Springfieldian entertainment brought me to Chicago’s Vic Theatre this past Saturday for the “Sandwich to Go” tour featuring comedians Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal and John Hodgman. The three comics are all known for combining the cerebral with the silly. Hodgman and Schaal have both…
A stinging forehand
In the process of commenting on the zippy new surfaces at the Washington Park tennis courts (now the Velasco Tennis Center) in “Courting new fans,” I mentioned that I used to play there in the 1960s and ‘70s. The courts at Washington and Lincoln Parks in those days were of clay in the classic mold,…
Look on the bright side
Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular will dazzle you with 2,013 glowing carved pumpkin faces lighting up Washington Park near the Carillon and Botanical Garden. Friday and Saturday nights, Oct. 18-19, rain or shine, walk through the grounds and see the amazing display. Chaditos, Dew’s Chili, Pease’s Candy and other food vendors will be on site, too. Don’t want…
News Quirks 10/17/13
Curses, foiled againWhen an unidentified burglar entered a San Francisco bank through a ventilation shaft, he triggered a silent alarm. Police Chief Greg Suhr said that when officers responded, the 230-pound suspect fled to a nearby building and promptly fell through the roof into an apartment, where officers arrested him. (Associated Press) British police identified…
WORKPLACE BULLIES
A former Sangamon County court assistant is pushing for action on workplace bullying in Springfield. Autumn Tibbs of Springfield says she was fired from her job in 2012 for supporting a judge that her boss, Sangamon County Chief Judge Leslie Graves, didn’t like. Tibbs is suing Graves, another court employee, and the Administrative Office of…
Walk this way
PHOTO COURTESY SPRINGFIELD ZOMBIE WALK Join the walking dead as they stroll through Lincoln Park on Saturday night, Oct. 19, during Springfield Zombie Walk. Don your best undead attire and makeup because organizers have prizes for costumes. There’s also fun zombie games, such as a tomahawk throw, plus a roaring bonfire, game prizes and popcorn.…
farmer letter poem #16
farmer letter poem #16 thursday we had the universitydown harvesting their corn yieldtest plots then yesterday we madesixty-five cows happy by tellingthem the extent of their pregnancy ©2013 Jacqueline Jackson
Pension wars
Springfield Mayor Mike Houston last week appointed the city’s budget director to fill a lapsed seat on the city’s Police Pension Board that has defied a state order to calculate pensions at a lower rate than has been the board’s practice. The appointment of budget director Bill McCarty came one day after Ward 7 Ald.…
Tease for two
I’m dating a wonderful guy I’m totally in love with. He’s always looked up to his older brother, a very attractive guy who’s a real lady’s man. I’ve found myself behaving in some unsettling ways when we hang out with his brother, like fixing myself up beforehand like I’ve got a big date. I realized…
Phillips, gripping tale of two captains
Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips. PHOTO COURTESY COLUMBIA PICTURES We all like to think that we would behave in heroic fashion when put in a stressful situation. Thankfully, very few of us will find ourselves in the sort of position Captain Richard Phillips did on the morning of April 8, 2009 when four Somali…
Rundown on Rauner
Bruce Rauner has closer ties to top Democrats in this state and nation than many Democrats do, is pro-choice and reluctant to say where he stands on gay marriage, so you wouldn’t think he’d have much chance at winning a Republican primary for governor. But the retired multi-millionaire is running a pretty smart campaign and…
GOP unhinged by Obamacare: Laugh till it hurts
Whacking yourself on the head with a ball-peen hammer would be stupid. But doing it again and again – that’s insane. Welcome to your U.S. House of Representatives, presently led by a pack of tea party Republicans. They are so crazed by Obamacare that they repeatedly hammer themselves over the head with it, having voted…
It’s time for an intervention
The American public has lost patience with Washington. The question is, now what? Congress is unable to do its job. It displays neither competence nor responsibility. It lurches – reeling from crisis to crisis, each one self-manufactured in an effort to postpone the reckoning from some earlier crisis. It shut the government down over a…
Inside info
The entertaining and interesting PechaKucha returns to the Hoogland Center for the Arts on Thursday, Oct. 17. The next edition proves to be as much fun as the last. A few of the 10 presenters and presentations include Dave Blanchette, “The 16th President’s Press Secretary;” Wes King, “Building Community One Garden at a Time;” Nabih…
Kentucky Knife Fight
PHOTO COURTESY KENTUCKY KNIFE FIGHT From a raucous beginning during an open mic night at the Stagger Inn Again in Edwardsville, Kentucky Knife Fight has grown through the years into a formidable, well-respected, award-winning group. Based in St. Louis, with members from the Springfield area, the rocking and rolling, edgy and bright, loose-lipped and tight-playing…
Courting new fans
PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Is it entirely a coincidence that the Washington Park tennis courts, where the Springfield Park District offers lessons for young players, now are painted like a child’s bedroom? The courts were reopened in September after having been resurfaced, re-netted and painted blue and green, in the new approved U.S. Tennis Association…
Knights to remember
Springfield Theatre Center opens its new season with the hilarious Spamalot at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, weekends, Oct. 18-27. Yes, this musical was birthed from the classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie, one of the funniest films of all time. Yes, this production includes knights; and fake swords, probably; and showgirls,…
Graffiti grows up
Ryan Wilson (left) and Spencer Stokes show off a graffiti work in progress at Clay’s Popeye’s Barbeque in Springfield. They are part of Total Visual Renewal, a newly created graffiti crew in Springfield.. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Though it started as mere vandalism, modern graffiti has become an art form, and it’s making an appearance…
Project Censored
This year’s annual Project Censored list of the most underreported news stories includes the widening wealth gap, the trial of Pfc. Bradley Manning for leaking classified documents, and President Obama’s war on whistleblowers – all stories that actually received considerable news coverage. So how exactly were they “censored” and what does that say of this…
Coal ash ruling could mean new restrictions
A federal judge has ordered the United States Environmental Protection Agency to pass regulations on disposal of coal ash, which could have far-reaching implications for Illinois’ rebounding coal industry and coal plant operators like Springfield City Water, Light and Power. The Illinois-based environmental group Prairie Rivers Network participated in the lawsuit that prompted the decision…
A true Fulks hero
Robbie Fulks with musicians plays the Bedrock 66 Live! concert series at the Hoogland on Friday, Oct. 18 with the Old Fashioneds starting at 7:30 p.m. The latest piece of provocative songwriting and innovative instrumentation from Chicago-based musician and artist Robbie Fulks, Gone Away Backward, received critical and fan acclaim for the folk-bluegrass playing and…
HARD TO REPLACE
A trio of heavyweights is leaving the State Journal-Register. Molly Beck, who had a knack for prying loose secrets from the Springfield school board, has been hired by the Wisconsin State Journal to cover education. It’s a step up for her. The Madison newspaper has twice the circulation of the SJ-R, and its writers have…
France meets Italy
Fish soup and honey-dashed, wine-glazed fruits intermingle French and Italian cuisine. PHOTO BY JOE COPLEY Two weeks ago, I wrote about banh mi, the wonderful sandwich that resulted from France’s colonization of Southeast Asia, and the outstanding banh mi served at Springfield’s new Jujobee Café. But the comingling of France and Vietnamese cuisines is not…
Letters to the Editor 10/17/13
Other cast members look on as Henry Drummond (Jim Dahlquist, right) questions Matthew Brady (Rich McCoy, left) PHOTO BY DONNA LOUNSBERRY INHERIT JUST BAD “Is it timeless or just old?” asks Zach Baliva in his thought-provoking review of Hoogland’s production of Inherit the Wind (“Does Inherit the Wind say something today?” Oct. 10). The answer:…
Non-billable hours
Bishop Thomas Paprocki The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois hopes to start offering free legal services to the poor within six weeks, Bishop Thomas Paprocki announced Monday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It is a bit of back to the future for Paprocki, an attorney himself who co-founded the Chicago Legal Clinic after…
