Untitled Document For the Junior Varsity, home usually means the highway, but to write their new album, Cinematographic, the rock band hit the brakes. Earlier this year, the hard-touring quintet hunkered down in a Springfield house to craft their second release for Victory Records, an album the band chose to steer in a new direction. […]
Marissa Monson
Marissa Monson, former Illinois Times staff member, recently received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois.
Posted inArts & Culture
To Japan and back
Untitled Document One need only look at the roof of the Dana-Thomas House, with its upturned corners, to see Japan’s influence on architect Frank Lloyd Wright. “Even though [Wright] hadn’t been in Japan, he was already very aware and had been studying Japanese architecture for about 10 years before he built the Dana-Thomas House,” says […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
See you in the cornfields
Untitled Document Sure, the skyline isn’t much, and there’s nary a roller coaster in sight, but for a low-key trip out of Springfield, the charming twin towns of Champaign and Urbana may be just what a capital-city resident needs. Whether you want to disappear in a dark theater for hours or push the limits of […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Summer Guide Calendar 2007
Untitled Document Unless otherwise noted, events are in Springfield and Sangamon County. Information for some events was incomplete at press time. Check upcoming editions of Illinois Times for details. MAY Through June 9 Emerging Artists Exhibition of fine art and craft created by youth and adult students of the Springfield Art Association, Springfield Art Association, 700 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Big Dam road show
Untitled Document The emergent Young Springfield Professionals Network takes a cue from the Young Professionals of Quincy: a short film festival highlighting 18 movies from around the country. The best entries from Quincy’s Big Dam Film Festival, each clocking in at less than 20 minutes, unspool this weekend in Springfield. A few YSPN members traveled […]
Posted inNews
Moon men
Untitled Document The trek up the concrete steps to the University of Illinois-Springfield’s rooftop observatory is a lesson in endurance. At the top, the open sky awaits. An old sign hanging on the deck greets would-be stargazers with the NASA motto, the Latin phrase per aspera ad astra — “through adversity to the stars.” Charles […]
Posted inNews
American beauty
Untitled Document DoraLee whips around town in her lime-green Monte Carlo replica racer. She has held a license to steer big tour buses since 1991, and recently, she burned enough rubber to take home the trophy for Ultimate Go-Kart Champion at Kicks Entertainment. That’s DoraLee Durham, the new queen of Springfield. She sports bright-pink lipstick, […]
Posted inMusic
Expect the unusual
Untitled Document Menomena isn’t easily pigeonholed. The Portland, Ore.-based experimental trio doesn’t fit easily into any particular genre; it’s much too complex for that. At first glance, the band’s setup seems simple enough — guitar, drums, piano — but then such instruments as the baritone sax and what sounds like a large set of keys, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Party time, excellent
Untitled Document Don’t get caught stuck to a barstool in lieu of ringing in the new year. The last day of 2006 is a time for changes. Make this year the year you actually remember singing the chorus of “Auld Lang Syne.” First Night Springfield, a family-friendly, alcohol-free holiday celebration, boasts a wealth of entertainment […]
Posted inMusic
Stories of sadness and strength
The cover art for Joanna Newsom’s sophomore album, Ys (pronounced ees) depicts the folk chanteuse as a Renaissance peasant with a sickle in one hand and a portrait of a butterfly in the other. The juxtaposition of strength and fragility is a perfect visual metaphor for Newsom’s music, which manages to incorporate both cold grandeur […]
Posted inMusic
A less-than-spirited return for Jay-Z
It’s difficult to muster up the nerve to throw stones at a guy like Jay-Z. Ever running the rap game, he released a chain of hits, rarely missing a link and never staying off the charts for long. From his rocketing start with Reasonable Doubt to his graceful bow-out on The Black Album, the Brooklyn-born […]
Posted inMusic
Change of pace
SINGLES ONLY We’ve stood at the edge of commercial crap with Gwen Stefani before, but with her new single, “Wind It Up,” we have fallen off the cliff. Not only does the Hollaback Girl yodel badly, but she’s also yodeling to the chopped-up “beats” of The Sound of Music’s “The Lonely Goatherd”! A little discretion […]
