Chamber Orchestra welcomes pipa virtuoso Wu Mon
Tomorrow night, the Illinois Chamber Orchestra will conclude its season with “Incredible Illusions” a program featuring Silk Road Ensemble member and world-renowned pipa player Wu Mon. The soloist was honored in 2013 by Musical America magazine, which named her Instrumentalist of the Year, reportedly the first time the award was bestowed on a player of…
Test´s Article’s for “Api & Plugin”
The owner of a Springfield head shop says he fears bankruptcy in the wake of a raid by federal agents who emptied his store of pipes and suspected synthetic marijuana. That Traveling Treasures on Chatham Road was selling pipes and so-called incense that – nudge, nudge, wink wink – was not intended for human consumption…
Video: The Pharmacy presents Epsom and Estuary Tomorrow
This Friday night, April 11 at 9 p.m., Springfield’s most sarcastic aging post-punk iconoclasts, Epsom (featuring this blog’s titular scribe on vocals/lyrics, so yeah, full disclosure, whatevs) will perform along with rarely seen NYC-Chicago band (with heavy Springfield roots) Estuary for an all-ages concert at The Pharmacy. Check out Pat Yeagle’s video of Epsom practicing…
Free-speech icon to speak at UIS
John and Mary Beth Tinker at the time of their 1965 protests. Nearly 50 years ago, when Des Moines, Iowa, teenager John Tinker and his sister, Mary Beth, took a stand against the Vietnam War, they had no idea they were helping to create a legal precedent that would echo through free speech jurisprudence for…
Letters to the Editor 4/10/14
Abraham Lincoln and 15-year incumbent Stephen Douglas battled for one of Illinois’ two U.S. Senate seats in 1858. Douglas won though Lincoln would beat him two years later in a nomination for the presidency. MORE TO CIVIL WAR You deserve credit for attempting to address the causes of the Civil War in your column (“Prince…
Musical stories
Roxy Theatricals presents Songs for a New World at The Legacy Theatre April 11-19. This contemporary musical by Jason Robert Brown is a collection of musical vignettes each about a crucial point in time when a choice is made that determines a future path in life. The production stars Sara Baltusevich, Brad Davis, Damien Kaplan and Mary…
Cap 2: Sober reflection
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Captain America. While it could be argued that Captain America is the least “super” of the superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe, there’s no question he carries the most symbolic weight. The character, having been created at the dawn of World War II, was an obvious propaganda symbol used…
Diversity is good for business
When thinking of immigration reform, we must ask ourselves what we want for the country. From a business perspective, important goals to aim for are innovation and entrepreneurship. And although there’s no simple recipe for achieving them, one key ingredient is diversity. Smart business leaders know this. The most successful corporations strive to be the…
Curry party
“Hey, let’s have a curry party!” Greg Hurt said. Peter and I looked at each other and smiled. We didn’t know what a curry party was, but it was sure to be fun and have delicious food. In the 1990s we had a group of friends I thought of as our British Commonwealth buddies. Most…
The Todd Henry and Stan Kupish Show
If you notice a couple guys sporting goofy glasses, wacky wigs, Elvis suits complete with sideburns, jumbo jackets, silly shirts, hilarious hats, all picked and paired at a moment’s notice to match songs from the 50s to the present performed with wild abandonment and superb aplomb, never fear, the odds are, it’s simply The Todd…
Getting it right
Brian Banks spent five years in prison for a rape that never occurred, but he was freed with help from the California Innocence Project. Banks is shown here carrying petitions calling for the release of another prisoner in California whom some believe to be innocent. PHOTO BY BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/MCT Brian Banks had the…
Reform wave hits DNR
Pursuant to legal action from the state attorney general and amid a spate of bad publicity, the state Department of Natural Resources has agreed to reforms that include changes to permitting processes for coal companies. Reforms to practices for issuing coal permits are contained in a March 24 settlement of a lawsuit filed against the…
Horror fun
Prairie Capital Convention Center will host ScareFest Road Trip, a convention for horror and paranormal enthusiasts, April 12-13. Intended as a preview of the larger convention held in Lexington, Ky., each year in September, attendees are encouraged to wear costumes or cosplay, though it is not a requirement for admission. There will be a meet…
Pay at the pump, fix the roads
A group of unions and private sector groups say the state needs a gasoline tax increase to fix Illinois’ roads. The state’s major funding program for infrastructure improvements, Illinois Jobs Now!, was initiated by Gov. Pat Quinn in 2009 as a five-year program and ends this year. The lack of another capital funding plan and…
COMCAST CARES DAY
Comcast Cares Day, described as one of the “largest corporate volunteer initiatives in the nation,” will be renovating Springfield’s Boys and Girls Club, 300 South 15th Street, on Saturday, April 26, one of more than 80 similar projects happening that day across Comcast’s service region, which ranges from Quincy to South Bend, Ind., from Decatur…
PROSTATE PROGRESS
Men, welcome to the future: A developing technology that would make prostate biopsies far less invasive is coming to Springfield. Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and St. John’s Hospital announced this week that they have begun training to use magnetic resonance imaging, commonly known as an MRI, to detect cancer within the prostate. St.…
Six-month lay away
For my New Year’s resolution, I committed to not having sex for the first six months of the year and then another six months from whenever I start dating someone. I’ve never been good at waiting. In fact, the longest I have ever waited is a month and the shortest (and perhaps more typically) is…
Legislative little me’s
In a country where people of like social class (and thus political views) tend to huddle together like bison in a blizzard, defining the geographical reach of a given legislative district goes a long way toward deciding which party represents it. The unhappy results include uncompetitive races, political stagnation and columns like this one. The…
poop poem #2
poop poem #2 back to unpoetic topics here are twogrossies about dog poop I was inmadison working with my nephewhe lives three blocks from my sisterhe wasn’t up yet I figured I’d goshare a cup of coffee with my sisterit was raining I have to tell youabout my sister she is my big sisterthree years…
Conflicted Noah visually spectacular, narratively muddled
Hardly worrying about catering to the critical eye of theologians or the concerns of the bean counters at Paramount Pictures, director Darren Aronofsky has succeeded in creating a singular vision with Noah to the tune of $125 million. A film that created a stir from the moment it was announced, this is a project that…
Madigan and Rauner tool up
Worries about low Democratic turnout in an off-year election for an unpopular governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner’s millions in campaign spending are obviously driving much of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s personal legislative agenda this year. “If you’re an African-American on the South Side, what motivates you to vote for Pat Quinn when…
Let’s re-fund America
The powerhouses of Wall Street have tunneled directly into the cloistered backrooms of Washington deal making, extracting trillions of dollars worth of government bailouts, special tax breaks and regulatory favors every year. Yet, in a stupefying act of hypocrisy, they have also been the major force pushing policymakers to embrace extreme laissez-faire bunkum and to…
Praymate of the month
Curses, foiled againMichigan authorities identified Jules Bahler, 21, as the suspect in three bank robberies after he posted his picture on Facebook holding a submachine gun like the one used in the holdups. When questioned, Bahler confessed to the robberies. (The Smoking Gun) Paul James, 35, rented two mobility scooters while vacationing in Blackpool, England,…
Joy ride
Illinois State Fairground’s Coliseum comes alive April 11-12 with the rustle and bustle of C-Bar Rodeo’s championship bull riding and barrel racing. Bring the entire family out to a show like you’ve never seen before. You’ll also be amazed by specialty acts such as trick and Roman riding by Dusti Lynn Crain. The show starts…
Here comes the sun and the shows
Scott Miller performs the Bedrock 66 Live! concert series, Fri., April 11 at Julia’s Lounge. If there was no other way to tell the turning of the seasons than by careful observation of the local music scene, one might become as knowledgeable as the ancients were in noticing and identifying how the changing weather patterns…
Editor’s Note 4/10/14
We suppose it’s better late than never: The Quinn administration Department of Natural Resources has agreed to stop being so cozy with Big Coal. As you’ll read in Bruce Rushton’s story on p. 10 (“Reform wave hits DNR”), the department has agreed to comply with regulations requiring public notice of mine permit applications, and to…
