Hunters and Gatherers
“Garage sale!” My mom would shout into the back seat of our yellow 1982 chevy cavalier. She always said it like she’d just spotted someone famous skulking the streets of our suburb. No matter where we were headed, she’d pull over immediately to take a look. We’d venture into someone’s garage, driveway or backyard to…
Conservation Consumerism: Green Bags
I don’t make a lot of New Year’s resolutions, but I did stick to one this year: stop wasting food. As a busy undergrad sharing a refrigerator with four other people, I often bought produce and lunch meat and forgot about them, leaving my hard-earned money (OK not that hard-earned, I did data entry for…
COFFER FILTER
After last week’s 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, people from around the world have answered the devastated country’s desperate plea for food, water and medical supplies. Community organizations, schools and even local businesses like Springfield’s Grab-a-Java still continue to join the cause. The coffee shop, with locations at 1702 S. Sixth St. and 3115 Hedley Rd.,…
Creative differences
In spite of severe budget cuts and the subsequent suspension of several of its programs, the Illinois Arts Council is doing what it does best — getting creative. Earlier this month the council introduced the Individual Artist Support initiative, a new two-pronged program that offers artists financial assistance for future projects or professional development. Artists…
Anti-terrorism officials are regulating us, not terrorists
You didn’t get a virgin when you drew me as one of your political commentators, for I’ve been through the fires of Texas politics, including having been elected state agriculture commissioner. Among other duties, this office made me the regulator of such matters as pesticide use, the accuracy of gas pump gauges and even the…
Feasts and Food Rules
One of my first catering jobs was for a dinner party given by a cardiology group to honor a colleague who’d come to lecture at SIU Medical School. I thought it would be a creative challenge to come up with a meal that would be “heart healthy” as well as delicious, satisfying, sophisticated and beautifully…
Primary primer
The 2010 primary election is right around the corner, and there’s a lot at stake for Illinois. With heavy budget troubles, Illinois’ next batch of leaders will have a huge say in the state’s future. It’s a year of hot-button issues and hotly-contested races, with many politicians aspiring to higher offices. On Feb. 2, candidates…
King remembered
Guest speaker next Monday for the Frontiers International Springfield Club’s 35th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Breakfast is Joseph A. Brown, S.J., Ph.D. Brown is a Catholic priest, professor and director of the Black American Studies program at Southern Illinois University, published poet and author. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial BreakfastMonday, Jan. 187:30amSpringfield Hilton…
Confessions of a Literal Tree-Hugger
Hi, there! I got so excited about wind turbines (or well, as excited as anyone can get about wind energy, which in some cases is pretty damn excited) that I didn’t have time to introduce myself. My name is Diane, and I’ll be your new blogger for “Environmentally Friendly.” First, a little bit about me.…
Reel foreign
Springfield area cinephiles benefit as the Route 66 Film Festival and the Springfield Art Association’s Film Series grow in size and quality. The 2009 Route 66 Fest, held last September, tripled its 2008 attendance while the SAA’s 2010 Film Series features one of its best lineups yet. Seven acclaimed films are en route to local…
Nana’s spinach
My grandmother’s “creamed” spinach contains no cream; rather it uses the water the spinach was cooked in. It remains my most favorite food; and is the only thing I’ve ever eaten so much of that once, when I was a child, I got sick. The recipe can be found online at IT’s website. 1 1/2…
New state architect chips away at Capitol Complex restoration
The Illinois Statehouse’s silver dome has been an integral part of Springfield’s skyline since workers laid the last limestone block in 1888. Throughout the years, the Statehouse has retained its grandeur and status as the tallest non-skyscraper capitol at 361 feet. But where the zinc-plated beacon once stood lonely against a prairie sky, structures like…
Letters to the Editor 1/14/09
DRINK AND DRIVE-UP If you people think Sam Cahnman is an embarrassment, what about the fact that Springfield is the only major city in Illinois that still allows drive-up liquor window sales? How embarrassing is it to know that of the ten largest cities in Illinois Springfield is the only major city that still allows…
Should Quinn be held accountable for botched early prison release program?
Gov. Pat Quinn was quoted by the Associated Press last week as saying he’s answered all questions about his administration’s controversial, secret and completely botched early prison release program, so he’s done talking about it. I beg to differ. I called the Department of Corrections soon after I saw that quote and asked a few…
Q&A with Goodbye Solo director Ramin Bahrani
2009 was a good year for director Ramin Bahrani. The 34-year-old was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and watched as critics continued to laud Chop Shop (2007) and Goodbye Solo (2008). Not only has Roger Ebert dubbed Bahrani the “new great American director,” but the critic ranked Chop Shop the sixth best film of the…
Elvis contest
Elvis fans are expected to pack downtown’s Hilton Hotel this weekend for the popular Elvis competition. Seventeen Presley tribute artists, selected from over 200, shake, sing and strum for cash prizes. Special guests are KAVAN, World’s No. 1 Rock ‘n Roll Elvis and Alphonse Franklin, a Smokey Robinson look-alike and former lead singer of the…
Leap Year takes few chances
Unless someone comes up with a radical departure in the romantic-comedy formula, there should be an indefinite moratorium on these types of films. Just once, I would like to see the boy and girl in question meet in a way that’s not overly cute. Just once, I’d like to see the couple not put into…
Daybreakers has bite
As I walked in to see the Spierig Brothers’ Daybreakers, I thought the last thing I needed to see was another vampire movie. Yet, as the end credits rolled, I was satisfied. Despite its weak third act, the effort manages to put a fresh spin on the world of the undead as it becomes an…
Age-inappropriate literature
I was a bookish boy. I read at school and at home, encouraged by boredom and the summer reading programs at Lincoln Library. I didn’t read to learn; I read to be entertained. (There is no spur to youthful literacy as sharp as crap TV.) I plowed through the entire collection of nonfiction — it…
HAVE A BALL
You don’t have to be of African descent to appreciate Black History Month — especially when there’s free food involved! One in a Million, Inc., a Springfield-based community group led by east-side activist Mike Williams, is hosting a fundraiser Thursday night to prepare for their upcoming annual Black History Ball. The ball is a celebration…
Jake’s Leg
For over 30 years, Jake’s Leg has faithfully and uniquely reproduced the music of the Grateful Dead while extending the spirit of the popular band through heartfelt lifestyle interpretation and imitation. The St. Louis-based group started as a guitar/vocal duo with Randy Furrer and Tim Fahy in the mid-70s, then later added lead guitarist Dave…
Terry’s take on the top ten
Prior to taking off on an adventure somewhere this week, I needed a Now Playing idea before I left. Lo and behold, Terry Hupp, one of my best friends ever, delivered a review of what he says are the 10 Best Albums of the 2000s. Since I haven’t listened to a new album in years…
Comedic caper
This weekend and next, Springfield Theatre Centre presents Earnest Oscar Wilde’s comedy of mistaken identities and deflated Victorian pomposity. No one is quite who they seem to be in this witty farce. Directed by Rebecca Loschen and produced by Jim Leach. The cast includes Matthew Husky as Algernon; Steven Stowers as Jack; Jessica McCormik as Cecily;…
An independent obsession
Molly Schlich knows movies. She has organized the Springfield Art Association’s annual film festival for the past 18 years. The event, she says, was started not as a fundraiser, but as a way to offer greater variety to Springfield’s movie audiences. “We thought we could add a little more culture and a little more choice,”…
YOUR TURN TO LEARN
If you think you’re too old, tired or busy to learn something new — think again. Lincoln Land Community College is making it easy for the overworked and overburdened to take one-time-only classes on things like umpiring, drumming and wood-furniture refinishing with its new Try It! program. This month’s classes — only $12 each —…
