Broadway’s best and worst
Untitled Document What has happened to the musical genre? We used to get peppy children singing and dancing on mountains, or women trying to wash men out of their hair. Now it’s all about sex, murder, and madness. Achieving adulthood is a plus for this somewhat dubious genre, but it doesn’t solve all the problems.…
Women in the kitchen
Untitled Document Until only the last few decades, the professional restaurant kitchen was an exclusively male domain, particularly in sophisticated establishments with elegant cuisine. The culture and attitudes that kept women out of restaurant kitchens were mostly no different than those regarding women in any workplace. Specifically, however, it was commonly accepted that professional kitchens…
One who got away
Untitled Document Michael Newman wasn’t fit to fight fires in Springfield. When he applied to the Springfield Fire Department, he scored well on the written test and passed the physical and psychological tests with no problems. However, Newman — the highest-ranked African-American on the 2005 firefighter-eligibility list — was disqualified by a background check. City…
Inconclusive evidence
Untitled Document If arguments by supporters of the Springfield smoking ban have held up, business at liquor-serving establishments should be booming as nonsmokers pour into the city’s formerly hazy bars and taverns. Conversely, if opponents of the ban are correct, watering holes on the city’s perimeter, near municipalities where smoking is still permitted, should be…
Surviving on the lonesome prairie
Untitled Document If success in the music business world is measured on the basis of peer recognition, good bookings, and creative output, singer/songwriter/player Chris Vallillo deserves a gold star for achievement. The multitalented multiinstrumentalist from west-central Illinois began more than 25 years ago as a songwriting guitar picker looking for steady work. Today Vallillo is…
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. POWERFUL AND HEARTFELT STORY I am a regular reader of Illinois Times, and I would like to comment on “The…
Introducing the caffeine nap
Untitled Document I’ve been doing a little research on sleep. I have found that the more I understand about nutrition, the better I eat, and I thought the same would hold true for sleep. In fact, on my way to convincing myself of the need to sleep more, I found mostly research to help me…
George W.’s war legacy
Untitled Document One thing that President George W. Bush can count on is that history will wholly and harshly condemn his bumbled war effort — and I’m not talking about Iraq. A special spot in historical hell is being reserved for Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld because of their…
What makes for a happy new year?
Untitled Document This time of year, everyone is wishing everyone happiness. In the week after Christmas we all heard, a hundred times, “Happy New Year if I don’t see you.” Cards and e-mails offer hope of a “happy and prosperous new year,” a reminder that the two are not the same. This is all just…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document newyearspoem2007 hate to say it folks hate worseto see it my snowdrops bloomingby the step not that it doesn’t giveheart lift but with a wrench sinceit’s newyears day probably daffodilsmidmonth robert frost debates fire and ice favors fire those studies by global experts forget the bushie brownnosers agree give us a window…
Time to learn
Untitled Document Though you may not be able to engage in many outdoor gardening activities at this time of year, this period of enforced inactivity is a great time to learn more about your favorite hobby. University of Illinois Extension is offering several programs for gardeners. Garden Basics — In cooperation with the Springfield Civic…
Don’t fear the reaper
Untitled Document When it comes to death, most sane people would prefer to put it off for as long as possible. As Dylan Thomas famously advised, “Do not go gentle into that good night/Old age should burn and rave at close of day/Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Guy Blakeslee, whose nom de…
On the same page
Untitled Document The Better Government Association filed a lawsuit last week that could create lots of fireworks. The BGA wants to force Gov. Rod Blagojevich to release federal grand-jury subpoenas his administration has been served with between January and July of last year. The BGA initially filed a Freedom of Information Act request last year…
Improvising chili
Untitled Document There’s a line from a John Lennon song that sums up a recent attempt to fix dinner: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” The plan: turkey chili. I had envisioned a low-maintenance evening, spending about an hour with some canned white beans and seasoned ground turkey. Inspired…
The man who talks to cats
Untitled Document When you reach Medicare age, they send you an official paper informing you that you are entitled to one free and complete medical checkup. A friend of mine — we’ll call him Andy — scheduled his doctor appointments bottom to top: He started with a podiatrist and worked his way up, nine “ologists” all…
Lost boys
Untitled Document Director Nick Cassavetes has gone to great lengths to distance himself from the work of his father, John. Whereas the elder Cassavetes was known for pioneering an avant-garde sense of realism in his low-budget independent films (Shadows, Faces, Husbands), his son has tackled a wide variety of genres, as if trying to find…
When two beds are better than one
Untitled Document Love means never having to say you’re sorry — that you’re sleeping apart. Although many older couples remain young valentines at heart, experts say, the increase in snoring, sleep disorders, and stirring in bed often spurs partners to consider separate bedrooms. “I don’t think that most couples sleep apart; I think that most…
Why can’t I sleep?
Untitled Document I really personally believe that many psychological disturbances are the result of inadequate sleep. I did something stupid a while ago. I was pulling out of the Starbucks parking lot on a Saturday morning, and somehow my foot was on the gas instead of the brake as I put the car in reverse.…
Weary women
Untitled Document All that Harjinder Sandhu wanted was more time with her children. To make more daytime hours for them, this 39-year-old mother of three worked nights as a nurse at a convalescent center several miles from her home in Stanton, Calif. Finishing her shift at dawn, she was sometimes too tired to drive home…
No rest for the wicked
Untitled Document When you get information that will forever change your life, the moment tends to crystallize in your memory. Years later, you can recall where you were, who gave you the news, and exactly how you reacted. I have such a distinct recollection about the day I learned that most people spend a full…
The race to ban what%uFFFDs bad for us
Untitled Document Is there any doubt that the infantilization of adults is one of the defining characteristics of contemporary politics? New York City just banned the use of trans fats in restaurant meals, and an Ohio law passed in November that bans smoking in virtually all business establishments (even in company-owned vehicles such as trailer-truck…
Choosing sides, early
Untitled Document If you’re not afraid of the political influence of the Christian right wing, you probably will be after watching Jesus Camp, a fly-on-the-wall account of the annual Lakewood Park Bible Camp, a gathering for children as young as 5, hosted by evangelical children’s minister Becky Fischer in Devil’s Lake, N.D. Filmmakers Heidi Ewing…
Candidates of the corn
Untitled Document The Midwest is where it’s at — for corn and politics. Five Midwestern states — Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana — account for half of the nation’s corn production and more than 40 percent of all ethanol-processing facilities. Midwestern states are also key in national politics: In almost every presidential election since…
Alone in a crowd
Untitled Document It’s Saturday night. Tandra Anderson is in St. Louis to do a little holiday shopping. Kim Moore also is in the Lou, on business. Jimmy Rice is at the Panera Bread on Springfield’s east side, typing quietly on his laptop and sipping hot tea. He is toying with the idea of going to…
Davis retires
Untitled Document With no fanfare, Springfield Police Department’s most colorful crime-fighter quietly cleaned out his desk and retired this week. Lt. Rickey Davis, well known as a leader of the Black Guardians and as a plaintiff in two race-discrimination lawsuits, has been on leave from the SPD since March 7. He declines to say what…
Bright lights and dim bulbs
Untitled Document Maybe you’re thinking that the world doesn’t need another Daniel Johnston tribute album, and maybe you’re right. Regardless of where you stand on the highly vexed outsider-art question (are we laughing with ’em or at ’em?), it’s hard to argue that Johnston, who’s been the quintessential cult hero’s cult hero for more than…
Taking stock
Untitled Document Well, the holidays are over. As always, much as I’ve enjoyed the parties and celebrations, and the copious amounts of food and drink, I’m ready for it to end. Nothing sounds so good as a quiet evening at home and a simple meal. This time of year, I’m always glad I have a…
Busing ads to school kids
Untitled Document You know what’s wrong with kids today? They’re just not getting enough advertising in their lives, that’s what. Take school. Sure, there are ads in the hallways, on classroom televisions, and even in some of the textbooks. But, I ask you, what about school buses? Yeah, I know that there are ads on…
The lighter side of spies
Untitled Document The Good Shepherd presents a realistic view of the Central Intelligence Agency, but sometimes it is difficult to take the world of spying seriously. Movies have often taken a lighthearted poke at spies. James Bond movies are borderline spoofs, and their success opened the floodgates of lunacy in the ’60s. Check the bottom…
Trailer park trashed
Untitled Document Mike Markberry has a tall pole with an American flag flapping above his residence at the Applegrove Mobile Home Park. He has a deck built over his storage shed and a big barbecue smoker conveniently situated just outside his door. Three years ago, his friends and relatives added a wooden wheelchair ramp so…
Cauliflower power
Untitled Document If cheese sauce is all you’ve ever had in the way of broccoli and its kissing cousin, cauliflower, then we need to talk. It is hard to mention one without the other, given the popularity of the newfangled hybrid Broccoflower, plus cauliflower is available not just in traditional virgin snow white but in…
Wearing the curmudgeon’s coat
Untitled Document Usually I try to walk on the sunny side of the street, but for this look at the Springfield arts and entertainment scene I’m crawling in the shadows. A few music clubs closed their doors in the last couple of months and even more disappeared at the end of the year. Other places…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document newyearspoem 2007 #1 I shouldknowby nowI can’tgetmy lifein orderby makinglists ©Jacqueline Jackson 2006 American Life in Poetry How many of us, when passing through some small town, have felt that it seemed familiar though we’ve never been there before. And of course it seems familiar because much of the course of…
