Like Buddy Rich having a seizure
On the subject of drummers: No singer/songwriter/producer has made more creative use of unconventional percussion over a 44-year career than Tom Waits — probably because (as he put it in a 1983 interview, “I’ve always been afraid of percussion for some reason. I was afraid of things sounding like a train wreck, like Buddy Rich…
Call the police
My recent column decrying the rise of the all-purpose preposition moved faithful reader John Garvey to share. “I’ve been noticing, especially on radio, that the word ‘an’ is nearing extinction. People will refer to ‘a excellent example’ and ‘a overhead beam’. . . Meaning doesn’t change, but the experience of listening does. I find the…
DEMO Project Closing Reception This Friday: Dominic Paul Moore
As detailed in the recent Illinois Times cover story on the state of the arts, Springfield is increasingly becoming a destination for artists from around the region and the world. Nowhere is this the case more than at the DEMO Project, located on the campus of the Springfield Art Association. Tonight is the opening reception of a new…
Between The Cracks: Wir Können
Once again, Faingold at Large proudly presents Between the Cracks – the recurring feature designed to shine a light onto Springfield-area bands, and all in their own words, to boot. Join us, won’t you? There’s gold between them thar cracks! Today’s BTC flashlight shines on youthful emo-rockers Wir Können. Band name: Wir Können Web site: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wir-K%C3%B6nnen/531395936913921…
Ras Kass and Copywrite: National Hip-Hop Acts at Torch Tuesday Tomorrow Night
Every week at Bar None, Torch Tuesday provides Springfield’s most consistent showcase for exciting local and regional hip-hop artists. The show tomorrow night ups the ante presenting two of the most prestigious and renowned performers to appear at Torch Tuesday since a one-off appearance in 2011 by Raekwon from the Wu Tang Clan. Ras Kass…
Delayed payments
My recent column complaining about the pension “reform” plan cobbled together by the General Assembly annoyed some readers. One reader asked whether, when I was young and did not get a toy I wanted for Christmas, did I forbid others from having it. No, but I might if I was being asked to pay for…
Uncontained zaniness
PHOTO COURTESY HTTP://WWW.DALEJONESCOMIC.COM/ “It’s like being in the zoo without the window,” quips Dale Jones during one of his zany shows. Jones visits Donnie B’s Comedy Club on Jan. 3 and 4 for two shows each night. Trained at the renowned Second City, Jones has appeared throughout the country, on numerous TV shows and radio,…
Payne and Dern find modest nobility in Nebraska
Bruce Dern as Woody Grant and Will Forte as David Grant in Nebraska. PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT VANTAGE’S NEBRASKA Director Alexander Payne knows that it’s hard to find fulfillment in what Hollywood pejoratively refers to as the “flyover states” – that vast part of the country that stretches from east to west from Missouri to Utah…
Editor’s Note 1/2/14
For our Jan. 1, 1976, edition, Illinois Times asked local leaders to prognosticate on the year ahead. Irv Smith, then the Sangamon County Superintendent of Schools: “I think it’s predictable Springfield schools will continue to drop in enrollment as long as people are undecided on what integration is going to bring. In mid-sized cities. .…
Problem solved (Chinese style)
Curses, foiled againPolice charged Nace Eugene Houchin Jr., 33, with murdering a woman in Williamsburg, Va., after they found a handwritten note in his wallet “confessing to the homicide,” according to the arrest report. Besides detecting multiple fingerprints on the note that matched Houchin’s, a handwriting analysis concluded that he “more than likely” wrote the…
Photos and documents make Lincoln come alive
A 1919 painting of Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas during a debate at Charleston, on Sept. 18, 1858. Abraham Lincoln: An Illustrated Life and Legacy, by Thomas F. Schwartz and Thomas Cussans. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, Calif. 96 pp., $29.99. ’Tis the new year, and a good time for settling in with a good…
Jumping hijinks
PHOTO COURTESY HTTP://WWW.HARLEMGLOBETROTTERS.COM/ The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters bring their hijinks to Prairie Capital Convention Center on Thursday, Jan. 2. Last year, fans were able to vote on new rules to add to the Globetrotter game. It was such a success in 2013 that they are doing it again this year. The 2014 Fans Rule World…
New Year news
Heyward Banks jokes and plays around at the Mason City Comedy Club, Jan. 3 and 4, 2014. PHOTO COURTESY BOB & TOM SHOW VIA YOUTUBE.COM Welcome to good-old, brand-new 2014, folks. Glad you could make it. To quote a favorite songwriter of mine, Greg Brown of Iowa way, “who woulda thunk it?” But here we…
Letters to the Editor 1/2/14
Samuel Johnson of Springfield says he was pulled over by Springfield police because he is black, a practice known as racial profiling. Traffic stop data shows Springfield police pull minority drivers over proportionally more than white drivers. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE DRIVING IT HOMEI would like to make a comment about your article “Driving while…
All for one – and ‘for’ for all
These days, the editor’s desks of most newspaper and web news outlets are occupied by the very tender bottoms of bright boys and girls who are younger than some of my house plants. These are the people who are writing the headlines to our news reports, which means they are the people who are responsible…
Staying active
PHOTO BY METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION Springfield Park District has an array of lessons and activities for the entire family this winter at different parks and facilities in Springfield. At Nelson Center in Lincoln Park, figure skaters can take private 45-minute lessons. Kids 3-12 can learn to play ice hockey in a beginner program for both…
Kin I see you naked?
I’m 22 and deeply in love with the wrong person – my uncle-in-law (my mom’s sister’s husband). We started confiding in each other, one thing led to another, and we’ve been sleeping together for over a year. I’m so drawn to him. He’s magnetic, charming, a great person and a devoted dad. I know I…
Tail wagging the dog
When is a prosecutor actually a judge? When the legislature and the courts say so, at least in Illinois, where state’s attorneys are winning fights to gain exemption from the state Freedom of Information Act. State’s attorneys have long complained about being subject to the law aimed at compelling government to operate in the open…
The 10 best films of 2013
The more things changed, the more they remained the same for American movies. Superhero films and sequels still held sway at the box office as the top five grossing movies fell into one of these two categories, while more IMAX and other large screen venues were built than in any other year on record. Meanwhile,…
Merry Christmas, right-wingers, the Red Pope and Jesus
Ah, ’tis the season for family, friends, eggnog, chipmunks singing Christmas carols – and all-out, no-mercy, blow-’em-all-to-hell WAR. Not war like in Afghanistan. No, no – this is the far-right’s God-awful “War on the War on Christmas.” In this season of Peace on Earth, a delusional faction of rightist has cooked up a hokey “cultural…
Hearty, not heavy
Leeks, onions, shallots and scallions make up the core of Creamy five lilies soup. PHOTO BY NICK KOON/MCT It’s that time of year again. Whether or not there’s a specific diet in your immediate future, if you’re like me, you’re ready for some lighter fare after holiday indulgences. There’s just one problem. When cold winds…
The 10 best scenes of 2013
Movies are about moments – big moments that erase our cynicism about cinema and remind us of its capacity to dazzle, quiet scenes that succeed in touching our hearts. This happens in a way only possible with a medium that seamlessly combines so many other art forms. There are instants that prompt us to consider…
new year’s poem #9
hi folks and happy january I havegood news we can’t destroy our earthno matter how we whack it frack itpollute it subject it to every outragewe can’t destroy it we can do in a lotof species including ourselves but thisterrestrial ball will keep on orbitingit can change itself radically thoughwithout our help when the biggestvolcano…
Senate opposes persecution of Baha’is in Iran
The Springfield Baha’i community is celebrating the recent approval by the U.S. Senate of a resolution condemning Iran’s continued state-sponsored persecution of its Baha’i citizens. Senate Resolution 75 was introduced by Senators Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin of Illinois. The Springfield Baha’i community is asking other area faith communities to offer prayers for the hundreds…
Wir Können
PHOTO COURTESY BLACK SHEEP CAFE Direct from somewhere around here comes “three guys who play music, sometimes sad, sometimes not,” with a name in German that means, “We Can,” complete with Germanic-styled umlaut and everything. Mostly Austin Connelly (guitar, vocals), Mitch Baker (guitar) and Avery Otten (drums) play birthday parties or at least they say…
