Torch Tuesday Tonight: The Return of Corn Bread!
Springfield hip-hop eminence Corn Bread is taking a break from his ongoing Los Angeles adventures to cast his verbal and sonic pearls before the Torch Tuesday Concert Series crowd tonight. Endlessly antic, inventive and irreverent, the man alternately known as Corn the Coon, Agent Double-O-Negro, and Cornfucius (depending on his mood) will appear tonight with occasional assists…
“Below” a Cut Above Standard Horror Fare
On the surface, John Erik Dowdle’s As Above, So Below appears to be a typical horror movie populated with stereotypes stuck in an all-too familiar situation. However, it quickly becomes apparent that what with its uncommonly intelligent script and its precise, economic execution that this low-budget fright film is a cut above the typical genre…
Searching for the mot juste
In “What do you mean by that?” I ventured the opinion that “big words” words are not, like jewelry, mere adornments to the educated, but essential tools that equip us to communicate more clearly with ourselves. New Yorker writer John McPhee took up another side of the topic in that magazine’s April 29, 2013 issue. He relies on…
The charms of St. Charles and Batavia
Mary Todd Lincoln’s bed at the Batavia Depot Museum. PHOTO BY CINDY LADAGE When thinking of heading north, often we think of Chicago. The suburbs get lost in the plans. A recent trip reminded me that there is a lot of beauty and history outside the urban sprawl. This fall, when the leaves are turning,…
Lots of good music coming this fall
Donnie’s Homespun showcases the return of rockabilly-infused madman the Reverend Horton Heat Sept. 10. As reliable as the leaves donning their brilliantine colors and that familiar chill exiling the once seemingly interminable humidity, music is once again in the air as autumn gets underway. This fall finds sounds of nearly every stripe making their way…
A pedophile’s playpen
Steven R. Battles PHOTO COURTESY SANGAMON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE When Springfield police called Steven R. Battles in 2010 to ask about his contact with boys, he asked an odd question. “I advised him it was in reference to criminal sexual abuse,” Detective Paula Morrow wrote in her report. “Battles then asked if it was a…
What we’ve paid for war
War is hell. Major General Harold Greene could certainly tell you all about that – but, sadly, he’s dead. On Aug. 5, General Green became the highest-ranking American soldier to die in our unfathomable, 13-year war in Afghanistan, joining 2,339 other service members who’ve paid the ultimate price for being sent by warmongering politicians into…
Just Abe
There are two days left to catch John O’Connor as Mr. Lincoln in the Theatre in the Park production Mr. Lincoln that opened with two amazing performances earlier in the month. A one-man play written by American playwright Herbert Mitgang and directed by central Illinois’ Carly Shank, Mr. Lincoln brings to the stage a portrayal…
Take a walking tour of Rochester houses
Though not featured in the 1918 Orange Judd photo book, this handsome home at 605 East Main, like many others in the neighborhood, invites further exploration. PHOTO BY WILLIAM FURRY If you’ve long thought Rochester the last exit on the Lost Bridge Trail, the end of the line for your urban adventures on the fringes…
Explore southern Illinois on the Ohio River scenic byway
Reputedly once a hangout for gangs of river pirates, the large cavern along the Ohio River is the main attraction at Cave-in-Rock State Park in Hardin County. The park also has a restaurant, cabins, campsites, trails and scenic views. PHOTO BY BRENT BOHLEN Once upon a time in far, far southeastern Illinois there lived slaves,…
Steak your claim
If you’re grilling steak this Labor Day weekend, why not grill extra for a second meal later in the week? Below are three of my favorite ways to use leftover steak, although, they’re delicious enough that I sometimes grill steak just to make them. This is wonderful picnic or travel fare. It can be made…
A letter of anguish from Dominican sisters in Iraq
Many Springfield residents will be familiar with the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Sienna in Iraq because of their association with the Dominican Sisters of Springfield. Over a period of 15 years, U.S. Dominican congregations, the Springfield Dominicans among them, have developed an enduring bond with their Iraqi sisters. As the crisis in Iraq…
What do you mean by that?
I was reading the other evening, which is what I do when I can’t read during the day. My choice this night was a detective novel written by Englishman Bruce Montgomery as Edmund Crispin. Montgomery’s stories are intended as entertainments, but that did not – or did not in 1948, when this one was published…
Beer and vittles and pipes
Rain or shine, Sunday, Aug. 31, enjoy a festival put on by a group that likes to have a good time. Central Illinois St. Andrew Society and the folks of Celtic Mist invite you to their second annual Celtic Festival on the streets of downtown Springfield in front of the Celtic Mist Pub. The St.…
Letters to the Editor 8/28/14
GRAPHIC BY JOSEPH COPLEY 30 YEARS FOR WEED“Nobody gets multiple decades for pot!” These words often sing in my ears while discussing my prison sentence with people. When I was 19, I started bringing cannabis from California and soon found myself in a prison cell with a 30-year sentence. I will be 36 when I…
Fall curtain call
The Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield finishes its run of The Mikado on Aug. 29, 30 and 31. PHOTO COURTESY HOOGLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS A good actor isn’t afraid to be emotionally naked in front of an audience. From the silver screen to Broadway, talented thespians figuratively bare themselves to the public.…
Dame: dynamic yet tired
Mickey Rourke as Marv in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. PHOTO COUTRESY Dimension Films There’s no question that Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is a visually stunning piece of work, the sort of film DVDs were made for – you’ll find yourself wanting to freeze-frame multiple…
Life lessons
Curses, foiled again• Police charged Danielle Saxton, 27, with shoplifting from a boutique in West Frankfort, Ill., after investigators saw pictures of her wearing the stolen clothing and jewelry that she posted on Facebook. Police Chief Shawn Talluto said officers used background images to determine the suspect’s exact location and found her still holding the…
Fixing neighborhoods
More than 50 city officials and neighborhood activists gathered Monday to hear what Peoria is doing to revitalize neighborhoods. PHOTO BY BRUCE RUSHTON Faced with budget cuts, city officials in Peoria charged with enforcing building codes and otherwise keeping neighborhoods spiffy have reorganized in hopes of revitalizing neighborhoods. More than 50 neighborhood activists and Springfield…
Labors of love
Exorna performs Sunday at The Celtic Festival, outside the Celtic Mist Pub. As the Labor Day weekend approaches, the common calendar says to bade the summer season goodbye and begin our autumn adventures. Labor Day proper, always the first Monday in September, falls on the first day of the month in 2014, so we are…
Our objects, ourselves
University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery kicks off their season Monday, Aug. 25, with the installation project Filler by Springfield native Jeff Robinson, UIS Visual Arts Gallery director, UIS instructor and DEMO Project gallery co-founder. Explains the artist, “I’m interested in exploring the role that amassed objects play in our lives and how we,…
MP3’s a crowd
I’ve been dating a girl for two months, and I go back and forth from thinking the relationship has legs to wanting to end it. I just had a birthday, and she got me a new iPod Touch with my name engraved on the back. I told her it was too extravagant, but she insisted…
Promote the vote
Some recent Chicago Tribune poll results appear to indicate that support for raising the minimum wage in the state’s largest city may be enough to increase voter turnout for a nonbinding November ballot referendum. The poll found that 84 percent of registered Chicago voters support a city task force recommendation to increase the minimum wage…
Ocean State
Formed in early 2014, Ocean State performs a classic selection of American country, blues and jazz standards along with a good splash of Brazilian-based, samba-influenced compositions. The can’t-go-wrong set list contains tunes penned by top-shelf writers, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Fats Waller, John Lee Hooker, Hank Williams, Chet Atkins and others. The…
2014 Fall Calendar
AUGUST Pittsfield Fall FestivalAug 28-31, 6pm Thu-Fri, 9am Sat, Food vendors, crafts, carnival and many activities. Parade on Saturday. Free. 217-617-2656. Pike County Courthouse, 100 E. Washington St., Pittsfield. Budweiser Illinois Blues FestivalAug 29-30, 1pm-12am Fri-Sat, Internationally-known blues artists on three stages. Bring a lawn chair. Admission. Ticket prices to be announced soon. RiverFront…
laborday poem #1
a 1952 news item just found:“Dairy Workers to 5-DayWeek” – ten years beforethis clipping I heard mygrandfather say “We can’tgo to a six-day week untilwe breed a six-day cow.”
Obamacare enrolls 622,000 in Illinois
More than 622,000 previously uninsured people in Illinois now have health coverage, thanks to the federal reforms known as “Obamacare.” That accounts for about 51 percent of the estimated 1.2 million people in Illinois who didn’t have health insurance prior to the reforms. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nicknamed “Obamacare,” was enacted in…
