Spellbound Documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Blitz follows 8 of the 249 finalists in the 1999 National Spelling Bee. Nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary, the film lost out to Bowling for Columbine, which partly focused on students of another ilk. Though I was an admirer of Columbine’s power, Spellbound has so much more to offer. […]
Arts & Culture
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Backstage Pass
OK, I admit it: I saw Muni Opera’s The Wizard of Oz three times. It was just one of those special productions in which the audience and the actors each contribute to making an uncommon theatrical event. What did the audience bring? Well, the kids brought their imaginations, for one–and whoever says that kids these […]
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Bards of the Sangamo 8-14-03
By Lee Gurga And for those of us who have Seabiscuit on our minds . . . Hooves Pounding Capitol Teletrack contains the fascinating world of horseracing. I’ve gone there in winter to warm, bet races, and get something to eat. I’ve gone there in summer to cool, play races, and beat the heat. At […]
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Making America’s favorite condiment
Tip of the week Regular watering and mulching can help prevent blossom-end rot on tomatoes and peppers. Prevalent during periods of high humidity, blossom-end rot is revealed in small, sunken black areas near the end of the fruit. Are you stuck with bushels of tomatoes and peppers? How about making salsa? One of my favorite […]
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Movie Reviews
Open Range More than once the death of the Western has been greatly exaggerated. Whenever critics are ready to hammer the final nail in the genre’s coffin, someone comes along to remind us of why it is the most American of movie types. The Western has always served as a reflective template for whatever social […]
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Only for the summer
Tip of the week If your petunias, impatiens, or other annuals are starting to look straggly and have few flowers, cut them back 6 to 8 inches after flowers have decreased to encourage compact growth and promote a second flowering. Also water and fertilize. It’s never to early to start planning for next year’s garden. […]
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Backstage pass
Some shows keep coming back every few summers–Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, Peter Pan. This summer it’s The Wizard of Oz at the Springfield Muni, opening this weekend and running through August 17. Directed by Leigh Ann Smith, this Oz is based on the 1988 version produced by London’s Royal Shakespeare Company–it’s close to the […]
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Movies
What other critics are saying . . . Edited by Imran Siddiquee American Wedding A comic weekend wedding, complete with bachelor party. “The grossest, least funny–and, here’s hoping, the last–installment in the American Pie series.” (Manhola Dargis, Los Angeles Times) “Awkward and mythic in its humor, the American Pie movies have accomplished a unique position […]
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Knoepfle 8-7-03
the lord possessed me do you have a name my little one what shall we call you drop of rain on the window blossom so unassuming it hides in clover quick thought escaping even before memory trace of honey drift of snow skipped beat small heart © John Knoepfle 2003
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Bards of the Sangamo 8-7-03
The Vision Holds The Vision holds Its ancient face Takes time to remember This wrinkled place And all that yet The twinkle remains In Springfield’s eyes The Artists’ domain. –Anita Stienstra Local poets were writing about contemporary events in the Sangamo Journal as early as the 1830s. People’s Poetry wants you to share your thoughts […]
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Bards of the Sangamo 7-31-03
TRINITY ‘Neath faille skirt of zealous genuflect, gold stare by pious eye, valley city sweat goth despair that cloudless cursed July. ‘Round coo-still Capitol dome pigeon bird shallow panted. While from burb to bowery home, fan whirred–summer recanted with each ragweed sneeze each rale each weeze on fallow grist. Stampeding stale through settler’s swath, wild […]
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W-e-e-d
Tip of the week To view the best free garden display in central Illinois, drive through the Illinois State Fairgrounds in the next couple of days. The other day I almost lost my one-year-old daughter–she had walked into the garden where the weeds were tall. I had to face up to the chore I’d put […]
