Blue Monday
Enjoy after-Christmas blues of the best kind with the Sally Weisenburg Blues Trio. From Peoria, Sally (vocals, keyboards and keyboard bass) Don Berbaum (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and Tony Corpus (drums) execute their professional sound of blues and R&B during the Illinois Central Blues Club Blue Monday at the Alamo. Held every Monday, musicians are encouraged…
Halfwits at it again
When I decided to get my health and fitness in order, I took up running because it was the easiest way to make a change – easier than improving my diet, that is. Since then, I’ve come a long way, and one group in Springfield has helped me achieve something I thought impossible. The Half…
Speaker Madigan likes to share the pain
For years, reporters and pundits have said that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan preferred Republican governors because Madigan wanted to be the state’s most powerful Democrat. There is some truth to that. Madigan hasn’t played well at all with the two Democratic governors whom he’s served under as speaker. He battled constantly with Rod Blagojevich,…
City must put neighborhoods first
Promoting safe and livable neighborhoods throughout our community should be the number one priority of city government. Embracing that priority must not only include the wise investment of our limited resources but also a willingness to seek solutions to neighborhood problems. That commitment is lacking. Nowhere is it more evident than in our older neighborhoods…
Happy holiday happenings
A very important ingredient in having a happy holiday, which is the ubiquitous call to all heard across the land in some form or another this season, is a good dose of live music. Fortunately for us patient and persistent participants of performance, our cup runneth over during the season to be jolly and other…
The cookie eaten around the world
It really is a small world. If I hadn’t known it before, it was brought home to me when I first journeyed to New Zealand. My youngest daughter, Ashley, was going there to study viticulture and oenology (grape-growing and wine-making). Down under, the school year starts in late February, because the seasons are reversed. So…
Trash Martini
One look says it all: these guys are living the rock band dream of wild times on the edge. Trash Martini hails from Chicago with Ral II and Erik Donner as the brothers behind the band. Offspring of Ral Donner (1943-1984), a Chicago native who scored a few Billboard Top Ten hits in the early…
Letters to the Editor 12/24/09
VIDEO POKER BAN Construction jobs are not at risk if communities ban video poker machines. Video gambling will neither bring nor reduce road and construction projects for any community. The state found a way to pay for the capital projects. A bill approved during the veto session allows Illinois to proceed with the sale of bonds for…
First Night 2009
Ringing in the new year doesn’t need to be an adults-only party. Instead, welcome 2010 with a celebration of family-friendly arts, music and theater at the 23rd annual First Night. This year’s schedule, a mix of yearly favorites and all new acts, features an eclectic – to say the least – group of performers such…
Holidays at the movies
Avatar: A wonder to behold, a story to forget I had more than a few reservations going into James Cameron’s Avatar. It wasn’t the hype so much (“the most expensive film ever made!”) that made me leery – we’ve been down that road before with the writer-director and that flick he made about the big…
Congress ethics rules undermined by weasels
Scientifically speaking, the weasel is in the mustelidae family, but it is not the only burrowing rodent of its genus. There’s also the mustela congressa lobbyista, which is that mischievous grouping of Washington lobbyists who habitually team up with certain congress-critters to burrow loopholes in our country’s ethics laws. You might recall the big ethics…
Interfaith breakfast
Most business owners close up shop and spend time with their families on Christmas Day. Hence, many restaurants are closed. The Temple understood that some folks might want to eat out before or after church services, while others just want a good meal or the company of others on Christmas morning. So they decided to…
Holiday home
Discover how the Lincolns celebrated Christmas when you take a tour through the Lincoln Home during the last week of December. Ranger-guided tours start at 9 a.m., with the last tour around4:30 p.m. Don’t miss seeing the Lincolns’ Christmas feast on their dining table, inclusive of oysters, one of Abe’s favorite Christmas foods. See where…
Faith gatherings
Check out our calendar under the category, “Faith,” for Christmas Eve and Christmas services at Springfield churches. Many offer candlelight and music. If you want to combine prayer with a beneficent deed, the folks at First Church of the Brethren, with the help of community volunteers, prepare meals for nearly 200 people on Christmas Day,…
Unicorns on the Sangamon
When asked by new acquaintances which of my many achievements I am most proud, I do not mention my bird imitations or my role (admittedly peripheral) in the Great Bran Flake Robbery in 1967. I tell them I am proudest of having won the Harvard Prize Book. I do not tell them — it being…
Eating Right
As I sit here munching on all the goodies bestowed upon the office this week from wonderful friends and clients, I can’t help but wonder why in the world would I think that I can write anything useful about eating right? But then I remember that eating correctly is the usual thing I try to…
Health care reform for Christmas?
This could be a critical week in the national health care debate as Democrats aim to deliver reform by Christmas. Senate Democrats in Washington, D.C. have mustered the required 60 votes to stop a Republican filibuster of a health care reform bill, clearing the first of the remaining parliamentary hurdles before the massive bill can…
Homeless clinic treats more than just illness
With a cheery grin that belies her housing situation, Springfield native Sienna Quick chats casually with the medical student checking her blood pressure. “It’s usually lower than that,” a surprised Quick says of her diastolic pressure. As she approaches a tape measure fastened to the wall temporarily with duct tape, Quick confidently predicts her height…
Letters to the Editor 12/17/2009
SMOKE FOR HEALTHPlease contact your state lawmakers and urge them to support the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, Senate Bill 1381 and House Bill 2514. The recent calling for a review of cannabis as a “schedule one drug” by the American Medical Association is one more reason why lawmakers need to protect…
Access 4 producers satisfied
Springfield’s public access TV channel may be black now, but the familiar faces of Access 4 are not fading away. The Springfield city council on Tuesday approved a deal to accept management of Access 4 from cable provider Comcast. The recently-formed Access 4 Producers Group supported the deal after several of their concerns were addressed…
Better boxes
Having resolved to build new high school facilities it can’t pay for, the board of School District 186 is exploring several tax hike proposals that the voters won’t approve. The board’s preferred plan to bring Springfield’s public high schools into the late 20th century is likely to cost nearly a quarter-billion dollars. Some $57 million…
Discovering moon rocks in Illinois
I am a criminal justice graduate student whose professor assigns students the task of investigating and hunting down the whereabouts of the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 moon rocks, given to the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the nations of the world. My professor at the University of Phoenix, Joseph Gutheinz, is a retired senior…
Community Wish List for 12/17/2009
Lend a hand to these central Illinois organizations this holiday season. Thank you to all of the organizations who participated! Sojourn Shelter and Services, Inc. 1800 Westchester Blvd., 726-5100 (office), 726-5200 (24-hour hotline) Sojourn Shelter and Services, Inc. was founded in 1975 with a goal to provide a safe place to help victims of domestic…
Books for cooks 2009
Looking for something to give to the cooks on your holiday shopping list? Here are some suggestions for books that will be equally welcomed by would-be, novice and experienced practitioners of the culinary arts. These books are far more than cookbooks that consist merely of a collection of recipes. They’re references useful to anyone with…
Invictus: A moving testament to forgiveness and redemption
When making a historical film, there’s always the danger of treating the material with such reverence that the story itself becomes staid and dull. Fortunately, director Clint Eastwood avoids that trap with his latest film, Invictus, an account of Nelson Mandela’s attempt to heal his fractured homeland by having the citizens of South Africa rally…
Miles Nielsen not a Cheap Trick
Okay, let’s get this out of the way right now. Miles Nielsen is the son of Rick Nielsen, guitarist and founding member of a band called Cheap Trick. The famed quartet hails from Rockford, and became fabulously famous in the late 70s for pop rock renditions of original songs of teen angst and desires. Miles…
Live in your living room
For the music lovers on your gift list, let them know concerts are never expensive when they’re being watched from the comfort of the sofa and music videos don’t have to be a forgotten thing of the past. This year, treat the music lover in your life to one of these documentaries, live performances and…
Festively fast and funny
Hold onto your scarves or other loose clothing and get ready to be blown away by Gordon Productions’ rendition of the hilarious 90-minute stage show, Every Christmas Story Ever Told. Joey Cruse, Gus Gordon and Johnny Molson play three actors who, after abandoning a boring Christmas program, rocket through all the holiday stories and carols…
CWLP employees learn to deal with diversity
Employees at City Water, Light and Power are now taking diversity awareness training, following incidents of alleged racism there earlier this year. In July, CWLP employee Mike Williams reported a rope tied into a noose hanging from his work station, sparking a months-long controversy that culminated in 60-day suspensions for the two employees involved. As…
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
OK, so they probably don’t care much about Christmas, but that still doesn’t mean we want neglected cats and dogs spending the most wonderful time of the year alone in a cage at the local animal shelter. Get in the spirit with Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays — a national program inspired by…
BIG-HEARTED BIKERS
Imagine Santa Claus on a sleek, sporty motorcycle, his bulging sack of toys overflowing from the rear seat. That’s the image evoked by Steve Unverzagt as he collects toys for disadvantaged kids across the city. Though he doesn’t look a thing like Santa, the motorcycle-loving Unverzagt has worked to bring holiday cheer to disadvantaged Springfield…
How’s our economy doing?
Most economists, media outlets and politicos judge economic performance by such statistical indicators as the Dow Jones Average. Aren’t there better indicators than stock prices? Forbes.com has found several that it says could be more accurate — such as the size of restaurant garbage piles. The bigger the pile, the better, as more garbage indicates…
Thornhill
The band Thornhill, originally began when Tina Thornhill, lead singer, rhythm guitarist and namesake of the group, moved to Springfield from Ohio several years ago along with drummer Patty Kniss to play cover songs of the day, including those of Heart and other popular rock bands. After an early surge the group took a hiatus…
beautypoem #4
when we were kids the magazinesat review asked famous folk theirmost beautiful words or phrases inthe english tongue franklin p adamsheaded his list with “cellar door”many years later author ursula kleguin in her book the farthest shorenamed the island at the world’s end“selidor” she surely thought no onewould make the connection but I didI did…
Creatures stirring
If your home harbors a scratching pad or climbing tower, cans of kitty chow or long pole-like contraptions with string that your feline favors, you must head north to Lincoln on Monday evening. The Amazing Acro-Cats from Chicago are the Cirque du Soleil of the animal kingdom. They jump through wreaths, roll ornaments, push a…
Hynes looks like a fussbudget, denying loan to ‘little people’
Last week we all celebrated — or bemoaned — the first anniversary of Rod Blagojevich’s arrest. After Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office, I, like most others, thought that things were going to be different with Pat Quinn in charge. But the Statehouse bickering continues and the gridlock over the state’s paralyzing and mind-boggling…
Candle moonlights
While Christmas-light cruising on Sunday with the family, drive by the Dana-Thomas house so the kids can see the 12,600 square foot Prairie-style structure alit in candle moonlight. Better yet, plan a trip to see the 950 candles in paper sacks lining the sidewalks and horizontal ledges and exit the car to take an evening…
The tale of many Santas
On a blustery, sub-20-degree night in downtown Springfield, the bright-green-and-red painted Santa House stands out like a beacon to children itching for the start of the Christmas season. Tiny tots decked head-to-toe in fleece, down and wool waddle behind older brothers and sisters who break free of mom and dad, racing toward his front steps,…
