backstage pass 4-28-05
Springfield Theatre Centre had a big hit last year with its production of Annie. The same STC directing team (Julie Davis, Doug Hahn, Gary Shull) is back with this week’s opening of Bye, Bye Birdie on the main stage of the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The show runs two weekends, April 29-May 1 and May…
quick takes 4-28-05
WHO’S THE GREATEST? WE ARE! The Discovery Channel comes to Springfield in June to promote its upcoming Greatest American series, a viewer-driven contest to identify Americans who have made important contributions to the nation’s history. One hundred nominees were announced earlier this month. The cable channel plans to feature the viewers’ top choices on four…
Promises, promises
Other than a handful of state employees, highway workers, Medicaid vendors, commercial-truck owners, and poor people, few out there in Voter Land have really paid much attention to the state’s budget problems. Sure, they know that the troubles exist, but only on an abstract level. Most people have very few direct contacts with state government,…
A state of mind
When my friend Debora heard that I was moving to Illinois, she took me aside to offer me advice about Midwesterners. “You can’t expect them to act as friendly as Southerners,” she said, “but when they are nice, you’ll know they mean it.” At the time, her counsel mystified me. I never thought of Debora…
gardening 4-28-05
Looking for a way to decorate a fence, create privacy, complement a good architectural feature (or hide a bad one), or break a monotonous corner? Climbing vines, which have a large effect on a landscape but use a only small amount of ground space, could be your answer. Their diversity of leaves, flowers, fruit, and…
letters 4-28-05
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com HOW TO FIGHT HIGH GAS PRICES Beni Kitching, in her letter titled…
Security situation
Security measures at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum have been decreased during the past four weeks, according to local law enforcement and sources inside the complex. Ever since an ALPLM security guard accidentally discharged his weapon into the carpet on March 27, all but one guard has been unarmed. Christine Glunz, ALPLM spokesperson,…
music notes 4-28-05
The anticipation is over, and the 2005 Illinois State Fair Grandstand lineup is out. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, our Illinois leader and proud owner of a score of 18 on the ACT, claims the fair staff “has done an excellent job, and “the lineup appeals to a broad range of music fans [and] will not only…
Jacqueline Jackson 4-28-05
aroundthecosmos poem #2 pluto is demoted demoted demoted pluto is demoted let’s dance around the ring we’ll tighten up our kuiper belt kuiper belt kuiper belt we’ll tighten up our kuiper belt and dance around the ring our heads are in the oort cloud oort cloud oort cloud our heads are in the oort cloud…
Got water?
Since he was a child, Brett Dixon’s drinking water had come from the brick-lined well in his family’s front yard. Their home — a quaint stone structure tucked behind a row of blue spruce on Route 97 — is a former schoolhouse from the Civil War era. Dixon marvels that children wet their whistles from…
now playing 4-28-05
Lots of guys are out there playing the blues — just check the weekly local bar listings, listen to TV commercials, or check out the neighborhood kid. But only a few of the musicians who’ve played with the creators of the modern electric blues are still alive and pickin’. John Primer began playing guitar as…
appetite 4-28-05
Shanita Auxila and her two small children, Zaria and Darius, are sharing a plate of smoked ribs, which she describes as amazing. “You can tell they’re smoked — they’re perfect,” she says. They’ve already shared a fried-oyster poorboy sandwich, courtesy of Sebastian’s Hideout, and chocolate-dipped strawberries from Coco-Bon. They’re pondering their next snack — perhaps…
health wise 4-28-05
My first experience with Jim Sullivan was light on words and heavy on physical touch. I had heard about Sullivan’s skill with bodywork and went for a massage — a satisfying experience in which he practiced a variety of techniques. But it was after hearing bits of his personal history that my real interest was…
flicks 4-28-05
If your house told you to leave, wouldn’t you listen? Of course you would — unless you were a Lutz. The Amityville Horror, based on what was claimed to be a true story by George and Kathy Lutz, was a huge bestseller and the second most successful horror film of the 1970s. But the only…
sound patrol 4-28-05
A paraplegic since 1983 and an acclaimed singer/songwriter since 1988, when he was Officially Discovered by Michael Stipe, Vic Chesnutt has enjoyed a long, prolific, and adventurous career. He’s cut albums with scores of supporting musicians — from countrypolitan iconoclasts Lambchop to jam-band stalwarts Widespread Panic — but no matter how dramatically his sound has…
people’s poetry
An Ode to Spring or Something A strand of duct tape As long as a person, Its tacky life spent Winter-long stolidly loving The plastic shroud around A window air conditioner, Is silvering pure grace In the flipping April breeze. This servant freed (Though anchored, still, lest lost) Surrenders to the whispery That bears its…
movie review
Who would have thought that director Danny Boyle, the man responsible for Trainspotting, a gritty look at England’s modern drug culture, and 28 Days Later, a grisly zombie film, would be capable of making the sweetest film of the year? His latest, Millions, is a much-needed breath of fresh air at the local multiplex. Brimming…
common sense 4-28-05
One of the worst aspects of the global corporate culture is that it routinely pits one group of workers against another in the corporate pursuit of dirt-cheap labor. This has come to an ugly head in recent years with the mass offshoring of U.S. call-center jobs. These workers answer questions that American consumers have about…
history talk 4-28-05
The Rev. Dr. James H. Magee (1839-1912) is one of the most interesting, yet obscure, characters in Springfield history. Were it not for a semiautobiographical book he published in 1873 while serving as pastor of the Union Baptist Church of Cincinnati, scant little indeed would be known about this high-minded, eloquent African-American social progressive and…
earth talk 4-28-05
Dear “Earth Talk”: Which types of household products are most likely to cause chemical sensitivities? — John Morgan, Somerville, Mass. Household products trigger chemical sensitivities in hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, yet few people make the connection between their skin rash or sneezing and the bottles and cans stored beneath their kitchen sinks…
Road trip
Doug Waterman, a retired teacher from Davis, Calif., plans to visit his son Ryan and daughter-in-law Julie here in Springfield next month. There’s nothing remarkable about that, except that Waterman’s choice of transportation has raised some eyebrows, even among his family. Starting today, April 28, Waterman plans to cycle the length of old U.S. Route…
