People’s poetry
Untitled Document ypoolceiling poem #1 it’s not totally boring theflat white y pool ceilingin the middle squats a fat metaldisk and ranged neatly up the sidessmaller disks maybe a sow bellyher navel and enough titties for twelve piglets but I never saw a sow’s navelthat big in fact I’ve never even seena sow’s navel…
Before graphic novels, there was Tintin
Untitled Document Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles! In a thundering typhoon! This is the 100th birthday of Belgian author/artist Hergé. The complete Tintin isn’t the book you’ve all been waiting for, though it should be. Right now there’s a lot of hype about graphic novels, stories told pictorially, with balloon conversations. But these aren’t…
Testing the Waters
Untitled Document When Springfield mayoral write-in candidate William D. Waters visited the offices of Illinois Times for an interview, he brought along a list of talking points, a campaign brochure, a camcorder, an “interview contract,” and a young public-relations representative who identified herself only as “Theresa.” The video camera, they explained, was to protect the…
A big disappointment
Untitled Document The endlessly debated but yet-to-be-resolved crisis in state education funding came up again this week when on Tuesday state Rep. Mike Bost, R-Carbondale, and Lou Lang, D-Skokie, proposed amending the state’s constitution to eliminate local property taxes as source of financing for Illinois schools. The bill is unlikely to get very far, given…
Something sappy
Untitled Document Drip, drip, drip . . . It was late February. After a long, cold winter, it was first day to hint that spring was on the way. Drip, drip, drip . . . It had been below freezing overnight, but by noon the sun was warm. Drip, drip, drip . . . I…
Mardi Gras makes its mark
Untitled Document The valiant struggle to transform Springfield into an appealing place continues with a glorious 2007 celebration of Mardi Gras. The famed party has tickled me ever since I discovered that the reason for going crazy with gluttony and drunken revelry was the upcoming forced fast of Lent. How quaint. By now, I assume,…
Breakfast at Mardi Gras
Untitled Document I have a recurring dream that puts me in New Orleans. In fact, I have the dream often enough that I honestly can’t remember exactly when I was there last. All I know is that my last trip predates 9/11. It’s been a long time, I know, but the dreams, they started after…
Eleni Mandell’s timeless Miracle
Untitled Document Eleni Mandell might not be the best singer in the world, at least by American Idol criteria, but she’s got a voice to die for. More precisely, she has two killer voices: the singing kind and the writing kind. Both are exquisitely expressive, instantly recognizable, and so perfectly symbiotic that describing one necessitates describing…
A parent’s intuition
Untitled Document I’ve got a belated Valentine. I’m a day late, but everything’s relative: The love story I’m about to tell you was delayed for nearly a decade. It begins with a pair of high-school sweethearts — Heather Siebert and Jason Morgan. They started dating in July 1994 and broke up eight months later. “He…
Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. REMEMBERING MOLLY IVINSPolitics, she said, is nothing you can leave to politicians: “Politics is about you and me.” Molly Ivins, courageous and…
The dearth of good comedy
Untitled Document Has anyone else noticed the dramatic slide in the quality of movie comedy in recent years? The outlook is a bit bleak but not hopeless. The major success of two excellent comedies last year, Borat and The Break-Up, could lead to some better rip-offs. Until then we are left with a group of…
When cute meets charming
Untitled Document Music and Lyrics Running time 1:35 Rated PG-13 Parkway Point, ShowPlace East To succeed in the movie business, it helps to have talent. Being adorable, however, can help sustain a career long after its expiration date. Though an accomplished thespian, Hugh Grant has turned charm into an art form. Pair him with Drew…
Springfield’s worst nightmare
Early one morning, about a quarter till seven, Larry Washington heard a knock at his front door. When he looked out, he saw a phalanx of Springfield police officers. “Who y’all here to see?” he asked. They had a search warrant with his name on it. He let them in. Built like a boulder, the…
Davlin vs. Strom
Untitled Document On the Iraq War . . . The Springfield City Council last week rejected, in a 6-3 vote, a measure calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq. The sponsor, Ward 2 Ald. Frank McNeil, pointed out that a majority of Springfield voters supported a similar measure in November. Attempts by…
Pressure cooker
Untitled Document The governor has said he wants billions more a year for a universal health-care plan. Last week, a coalition of business and labor groups called on the state to put $5 billion a year into transportation for five years. The Regional Transportation Authority estimates that it needs $57 billion over 30 years to…
Bush’s rhetoric on renewables
Untitled Document Just before George W. Bush’s State of the Union speech in January, a top administration official gushed that the president would announce new policies for energy independence that “will knock your socks off.” Well, my socks are still tightly attached. Bush basically mouthed the same words he’s used before: Stop America’s addiction to…
Green buildings
Untitled Document What does it mean for a building to be “LEED-certified?” Does that mean it is a green building? LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the U.S. Green Building Council’s national program for certifying environmentally sustainable design, construction, and resource-use practices for the American building industry. The organization launched the rating…
