Grace about town 8-12-04
I’m sure I’ve mentioned my complete lack of competitive athletic skills, especially in sports involving balls. Throw a ball at me, and one of two things will happen — I’ll duck or you’ll hit me in the head. At least when I go running, the only bad thing that happens is that I fall down…
sound patrol 8-12-04
Jolie Holland Escondida (Anti) With her languid drawl, her vintage guitars, and her penchant for ancient parlor tunes, Jolie Holland traffics in what rock scribe Greil Marcus once called “the old, weird America.” But don’t think for a minute that she’s some dusty period piece. On Escondida, her second album and her first for Anti,…
Knoepfle 8-12-04
sandalwood poem #14 where we have gone into our hidden selves we do not need to find each other at home in that country or bother to know what we know those beloved things familiar images places of concord the lights that burn there burn without flickering © John Knoepfle 1978, 2004
Keyes to victory?
The new Illinois Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Maryland activist Alan Keyes, may be most famous for his most liberal act: jumping into a mosh pit while Rage Against the Machine performed, body-surfing the crowd, and exchanging body slams with a spiky-haired teen as a means of getting filmmaker Michael Moore’s endorsement for president…
Rally ’round the books, boys
“‘Arbolist’ … Look up the word. I don’t know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it’s an arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees.” — President George W. Bush, USA Today, Aug. 21, 2001 Little did George W. Bush realize, when talking to reporters in defense of his initiative to allow logging in national forests, that…
quick takes 8-12-04
EXIT STRATEGIES • Today is the last day to get a bite at the Bachmann & Keefner soda fountain — if there’s anything left to eat. The drugstore said it will stop serving food on Aug. 12 and transfer pharmacy operations to the CVS at 211 E. Carpenter St. on Tuesday. The Bachmann & Keefner…
letters 8-12-04
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 WHEN ADULTS GO BAD This comment is regarding the “Unplugged” article by…
Seurat in Chicago and Springfield
In a wonderful case of serendipity, we get to enjoy the artistry of Georges Seurat in two media: a major exhibition in Chicago and an upcoming Springfield production of Stephen Sondheim’s A Sunday in the Park with George.The exhibition and the musical are anchored by the same visual element: Seurat’s masterpiece, A Sunday on La…
The rush is on
Something major is taking place in our country that corporate chieftains don’t want us talking about: jobless creep. It’s no longer blue-collar families who are seeing their jobs hauled offshore to faraway havens of low-wage production. Now it’s hundreds of thousands (and soon to be millions) of well-paying white-collar and high-tech jobs that are being…
“Honest money”
Bored with the same old routine, Jimothy Kirkham, a 16-year-old student at South East High School, wanted to try something new this summer. So, through an internship program he learned about from his church, Kirkham went to work for the Springfield Park District. For six weeks starting in June, Kirkham performed maintenance and cleaning duties…
Schools need courageous politics
Conventional wisdom in Illinois says that politicians who take politically difficult positions are doomed to defeat, but the late Paul Simon always challenged that. “It is not true,” he boomed back to me not so long ago, after I had voiced the cynical view. He said if you’re honest with voters and make a case…
Into thin air
Jacksonville is known for its two small private colleges, its state-supported educational institutions, and the oldest of the Illinois Department of Mental Health’s developmental centers. But worldwide, many more people have learned of the town by stumbling across mentions of one of the most mysterious cases in downstate-Illinois history. On April 13, 1959, Bruce Campbell…
Lovett or leave it
Perhaps he is best known by the masses as half of the beauty-and-the-beast story that played weekly in the tabloids during his brief marriage to actress Julia Roberts. Fortunately, Texas-based Lyle Lovett is also justifiably recognized as the author of some of the finest songs penned in the last 20 years. Flirting with traditional country…
Vanity fare
A new glossy lifestyles magazine that aims to peek behind the plush velvet curtains of Springfield’s upper crust and swinging social set will hit newsstands this fall. Springfield Scene is the brainchild of media veteran Don Hickman, who recently retired as anchor and news director at WICS after 29 years. “I had no inclination to…
Outdoor-dining options abound in Springfield
Is there any better way to enjoy the warm-weather months than to dine in the open air? Food just seems to taste better when it’s served outdoors in the sunshine. At one time, the choices for outdoor dining in Springfield were few. But, fortunately, more restaurants this year are responding to customer demand for dining…
Now playing 8-12-04
I hope you got some rest this past week or you’re going to be plain pooped out for the next week’s festivities surrounding the great and glorious Illinois State Fair. There are almost as many bands playing at various venues around the grounds as there are houseflies coming to enjoy the fine delicacies offered by…
Last dance
After hearing about all the beer-swilling, pot-smoking, car-surfing vandals, Sangamon County Board member Sam Cahnman wanted to see for himself if Club 10 really was a teenage wasteland. On Sunday Cahnman attended the popular all-ages live music venue at 1200 N. Bradfordton Rd., where 14 bands jammed for a crowd of nearly 300 toe-tapping local…
Ramble through the brambles
Fresh blackberries and raspberries, from plants often referred to as brambles, are currently available at local produce stands. Because blackberries and raspberries belong to the same genus, Rubus, the plants and fruits are easily confused. To confuse matters further, fruits are not always true to their names — for example, there are red blackberries and…
