Visually Arresting “Dawn” Overstays its Welcome
One of the more successful franchise reboots, 2012’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes proved that there was a bit of life left in 40-plus year-old series. 20th Century-Fox knows you can’t keep a profitable ape down and has made no small plans where its simians are concerned, with a eighth film in the…
Crazy Judah and the Chinese
I noted my recent visit to Donner’s Pass in “Promised lands.” Trains go through that gap as well as trucks and cars, as Kevin Baker, a contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine, learned when he went through there while research his July 2014 piece on the state of American long-distance passenger trains, “21st Century Limited.” (The…
From prop to proposal?
Rahm Emanuel seems determined to see George Lucas’ museum of the visual arts – what one Hyde Parker more accurately describes as “The George Lucas Museum of Perpetual Adolescence” – built on the Chicago lakefront. Chicago is full of go-getters, and VIATechnik, a firm that offers technical services to architects, sponsored ”an unofficial contest to design an…
Easy peasy pie for the Fourth of July
Strawberry Pie with chocolate crust and a slice of Beach Pie with pretzel crust. PHOTO BY JOSEPH COPLEY Back when I gave cooking classes, one of the most popular was “Demystifying Pie.” While it explored different fillings from savory to sweet, the main emphasis was the crust: pie pastry, aka pâte brisée. I’ve been making…
Makin’ bacon
Curses, foiled again• Police reported that a gunman forced a 60-year-old man in New Orleans to withdraw money from an automated teller machine, but before the ATM dispensed the cash, the robber fell asleep. The victim alerted police, who arrested Meyagi Baker, 17. (New Orleans’s WDSU-TV) • While shooting scenes for a Fox television show…
They can do what they like; we just don’t like it
It occurred to me when I was in Chicago the other day that the media furor about billionaire mogul Donald Trump’s insistence that he be allowed to hang 20-foot-high letters spelling out his name on his new skyscraper is pretty much the same sort of mindset behind Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign to tag “Billionaire Bruce…
Triple our money by shopping local
What’s the best way to kick-start an argument anytime, anywhere? Start talking about taxes. It never fails. Next to hopping on a table at Obed & Isaacs or Floyd’s Thirst Parlor at happy hour and loudly declaring the superiority of the Cubs over the Cardinals (or vice versa), if you want to quickly gather…
Promised lands
James F. and Margaret (Keyes) Reed, who were members of the Donner Party. During four Junes since 1994 I’ve moved to and from Illinois and the West Coast. On that first trip, orange and yellow U-Haul and Penske rental trucks settled on the big roads by the hundreds, like migrating ducks lighting on an interstate…
Downtown delight
PHOTO BY METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION Capital City Celebration, July 3-5 in downtown Springfield, offers food, drink, free music, activities and fireworks! Capitol Ave. between Fourth and Fifth streets will have a stage with Lick Creek performing at 8 p.m. on July 3, with food and drinks available at 7 p.m. On July 4, a family…
Editor’s Note 7/3/14
Every year around the Fourth of July Springfield celebrates Independents Week by appreciating and patronizing independent, locally owned businesses. There are dozens of reasons to shop Local First, including the one pointed out on page 14 by Bill McMahon, executive director of Local First Springfield. McMahon makes the case that when you buy from locally…
The militarization of ‘Officer Friendly’
Let’s check our weaponry: 93,000 machine guns – check! – 533 planes and helicopters – check! 180,000 magazine cartridges – check! 44,000 night-vision goggles – check! 432 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles – check! OK, let’s roll! Only, this is not the U.S. military getting ready to head into battle in a foreign land. It’s our local…
Fresh food
PHOTO BY METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION Those living on the east side of Springfield will be privy to fresh produce that will be available each Monday through Sept. 29 in the parking lot of the Sangamon County Department of Public Heath, 2833 South Grand Ave. East. The East Side Farmers Market opens at 8:30 a.m. on…
Letters to the Editor 7/3/14
GREENS OVER GOLD Illinois Times reported that the Springfield Park District has met with a golf management firm about potentially privatizing the management of its four public golf courses (Cap City, “Fore!” June 26). This is one golf situation that calls for slow play. I recently have taken up the sport after admiring these four…
Destitution wedding
A friend asked me to be a groomsman in his wedding. It’s being held hours away, and the only hotel is pricey. With tux rental, attending will cost me over $500. I’ll also have to miss work. (I’m a waiter.) Is it okay to decline a wedding invitation because it’s too expensive to attend? –Not…
Old-fashioned fun
PHOTO BY TREVOR MILLER Based on a well attended 1842 Fourth of July gathering hosted by the Broadwell family, Clayville Historic Site is re-creating the historic event and inviting you. The daylong soirée features old-fashioned fun with music, horseshoes, softball and bocce ball. Bring your own softball equipment, all other sports equipment is provided. Also,…
Summer movie preview 2014
One look at the weekly box office totals for the first half of 2014 confirms that business is good in the American film industry. Too bad the massive haul the Hollywood studios rake in doesn’t necessarily mean there are quality films to be seen. It’s been a rather bleak year so far with The Grand…
Earth an echo of other better films
A scene from Earth to Echo. When does a film, obviously inspired by another, segue from being a homage to a blatant rip-off? If a story has a similar plot but some narrative changes, is it considered a variation on a theme or is it really the work of someone with little imagination? I think…
Houston looks back and forward
Springfield Mayor Mike Houston sounded both like a candidate and a politician ready to ride into the sunset during a speech last Friday at Citizens Club. He boasted of accomplishments that include reducing city employment by 97 workers, slashing 76 employees at City Water, Light and Power and another 21 from the public works department,…
on remembering poem #7
on remembering poem #7 daddy bathed us a row of four in the tuba gentle word bathe but with daddy it was four left legs aloft scrubbed down with a soapy cloth four left arms stuck out ditto all turn around four more arms four more legs stand up four frontsfour lower bums turn around…
In-between Independence Days
Jim McCarty, founding member and drummer of the Yardbirds, steps out to sing and play guitar as “The Frontman,” on Thursday, July 3, at Donnie’s Homespun. PHOTO BY PERMISSION OF CRAIG MOORE Here’s one thing on that Declaration of Independence stuff, in case you need some trivia tidbits to carry you through the holiday happenings.…
Foundation to play role in governance controversy
PHOTO BY DAVID CARSON/MCT Representatives from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation are expected to be part of a panel created to review governance issues at the institution. A struggle for control of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum isn’t just a matter of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which now calls the shots,…
Albert Castiglia
When your break in the blues world comes from being discovered by an iconic character such as the great harmonica man Junior Wells (with Buddy Guy for years), things are just going your way. Born in New York City and raised in Miami, Albert Castiglia (pronounced “ka-STEEL-ya”) did just that in the late 90s, as…
Improving federal freedom of information
Earlier this year, the Veterans Affairs Administration denied the Tampa Tribune’s Freedom of Information Act request for the names of VA hospitals where veterans died because of delays in medical screenings. To hide this information, the VA used the “pre-decisional” exemption, simply stating that the requested documents were “preliminary” communications and could thus be withheld.…
