Movie review
Jesus, the Lethal Weapon version Few films have generated as much pre-release fervor as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, a cinematic lightning rod that’s been labeled anti-Semitic and challenged for its excessively violent depiction of the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ’s life. The criticisms are warranted. In their defense, Gibson and co-screenwriter…
Letters 2-26-04
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 POT. KETTLE. BLACK. It’s ironic Don Hickman became a broadcasting critic [Bud…
Grace about town 2-26-04
Feb. 23, 11:41 a.m. I just got my braces off. Life is awash in rosiness. Way back on New Year’s Eve afternoon, during my monthly orthodontist visit, I got my one wish for the new year: He set a date for getting my braces off. The date was Feb. 23, which was in 54 days.…
Quick Takes 2-26-04
HELP LINE Springfield’s Sojourn Shelter & Services is collecting used, unwanted cell phones as part of its effort to curb domestic violence. Sojourn is working with Miramar, Fla.-based Shelter Alliance to collect and recycle old phones. Money raised from the sale of the used phones will be channeled to social-service agencies; also, some donated phones…
Shenanigans
The past week taught me two new lessons about the Springfield City Council: First, never make predictions, as I did in the previous Aldermania, because these characters are more creative than a boatload of buskers. That lesson is related to the second, which is to never erase a recording of a City Council meeting. Because…
Speaking for the trees
Environmentalists worry that a portion of a rare red-pine forest near Interstate 55, south of Springfield, will be removed to make way for a new water treatment plant. They’ve gathered thousands of signatures in opposition to the plan, which is slated for final action next week. The City of Litchfield’s consultant identified the city-owned property…
Care less
Buried deep within Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s annual budget address last week was a nasty argument with the most influential bunch of do-gooders in Illinois — the social service providers. These are the groups, many of them religious (like the Catholic Conference, Lutheran Social Services and the Jewish Federation), that take care of the state’s most…
Now playing 2-26-04
Time flies when you’re having fun — or so they say. And as we leap through February and land into March, I hope you’re having fun, ’cause time does fly whether the fun is there or not. Maybe this will help to expand your pleasure capacity while you’re spending your moments here on earth. It’s…
Knoepfle 2-26-04
mano this stone the life in it those who shaped it trusting their own culture walking this continent simply at home this essential implement these edges indented sides disturbed a form a possibility that would crack leg bones for marrow a maul a grinder for seeds a stone for a man a woman already restless…
A meeting place
When the late Rev. Peter Mascari built The Grotto in Sherman, he envisioned a gathering place for the senior citizens who were living in the adjacent apartment building and nursing home complex. Although the building has operated as a restaurant since opening several years ago, in some ways his vision was realized. Some local residents…
Gob story
Dot Timmerman feared the Christmas of 1999 might be her last. Doctors had just discovered a cancerous tumor below her left eye and behind her nose. She was told surgery wasn’t possible; radiation and chemotherapy were her only options. On the Friday after Christmas, Dot and her husband, Wilbert, traveled to St. Louis’s Barnes-Jewish Hospital…
Backstage Pass
When Roxy Group’s Swingtime Canteen opens this weekend at the Center for the Arts, many will remember the weekend after 9/11 when this valentine to the World War II-era USO shows first played at New Salem. Hearing the cast sing “I’ll Be Seeing You” four days after the tragedy at the World Trade Center was…
Her Reputation precedes her, and it’s all good
At age 19, Elizabeth Elmore was in a band. Sounds like a lot of 19-year-olds in college at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, right? That’s where the similarity ends. Elmore’s group, Sarge, became a darling of the critics, getting write-ups in Rolling Stone, Spin, Playboy, and kudos from Greil Marcus, granddaddy critic of the…
