Strawberries with real shortcake
Obsessive compulsive disorder – a.k.a. OCD. It’s become one of those “in” conditions people use to describe themselves or others. Like depression, OCD can be a genuine clinical disorder requiring treatment. In popular vernacular, though, it’s merely become a reference about someone caring about getting something right. And most of us have at least one…
Gas guzzlers
In an effort to adopt more comprehensive green energy standards, new legislation will evaluate the energy performance of state-owned buildings, Gov. Pat Quinn announced as he signed the bill into law May 22. “Illinois is committed to being a leader in the green movement,” Quinn says. “This bill is the first step in creating standards…
Candidate Mark Kirk is damaged goods
Political reporters and pundits have a bad habit of saying: “If present trends continue.. . .” The truth is, in politics, “present trends” almost always change. Last week, Illinoisans were treated to a classic example of how that overused phrase can so often be horribly wrong. Let’s take a look back, shall we? For years,…
My life of soccer in Springfield
I’m one of 2.5 billion (that’s with a “b”) people who will be watching an upcoming quadrennial event on TV with great anticipation. The top 32 national teams of the world will meet in South Africa to compete in the “World Series” of soccer, futbol, futebol, calcio, voetbal, le foot, podosfero. Whatever the name for…
Splice undone
You can always count on egotistical scientists to pay no heed to logic or past mistakes. If you believe the movies, none of them have read Frankenstein or Jurassic Park, otherwise they’d know not to mess with Mother Nature. Genetic engineers Clive and Elsa (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) surely missed the “Do Not Play…
BINARY BYE-BYE
Computers have practically replaced dogs as man’s best friend, accompanying us everywhere and making our lives incalculably easier. But when we’re done with our computers, disposing of them properly can be a challenge. The metals in those motherboards can contaminate the environment, and much of the material is non-biodegradable. If you want to keep your…
June is for garden tours
This month, gardeners have the opportunity to explore the backyard sanctuaries of several Springfield private properties. In addition gardeners can enjoy watching the creative transformation of nature into art at Lincoln Memorial Garden. Symphony Garden TourThe Illinois Symphony Guild will host its 21st annual garden tour on Saturday, June 19, from 11 a.m. to 3…
Honor Flight gives WW II vets a trip, and a salute
For World War II veteran Harold Parkes, a trip to see the new World War II memorial in Washington, D.C., was beyond description. “It was just hard to describe,” Parkes said. “It was spectacular. To see it in reality is altogether amazing.” Of course, having an organization that flies veterans to the nation’s capital to…
Swell of bells
Friday and Saturday wrap up the International Carillon Festival at Washington Park. Hear the bells swell under the musical touch of carillonists Lynette Geary of Waco, Texas, and Doug Gefvert of Valley Forge, Pa., on Friday, June 11; and Frans Haagen of the Netherlands and Karel Keldermans of Springfield on Saturday, June 12. Fireworks color…
Strawberry chocolate Napoleons
If you’d like some chocolate with your strawberries, try this recipe, which looks as good as it tastes. Phyllo dough is available in the freezer section of most grocery stores. If you’ve never worked with phyllo dough, don’t let the tissue paper thin sheets intimidate you. Just remember to keep the sheets you’re not working…
Cheeseparing in the Capitol complex
The William G. Stratton Building – eyesore, health risk, money trap – has gotten a reprieve. It has been sitting on Death Row since 2007, when the State of Illinois launched an inquiry and found the 56-year-old office building to be guilty, and began the process that would lead to its execution by bulldozer. Turns…
Top tour
One of the biggest women’s pro tour golf tournaments hits Springfield’s west side from June 7-13. If you haven’t attended the practice and preliminary rounds earlier in the week, there’s still four full days of classic play through Sunday, June 13. Watch the best names in women’s golf, such as Yani Tseng, Suzann Pettersen, Cristie…
Beastly good time
Mac Warren directs this romp into Dr. Seuss-land where animals and Whoville citizens entertain you with music, dance and silliness. The musical centers on kindhearted Horton the Elephant, played by Sean Michael Butler, who protects and defends his tiny friend Jojo, Jakob Groeteke, (and other invisible Whos). Though ridiculed and challenged time after time, Horton…
The mysterious Lazer Dudes
Black leather fingerless gloves. Love Club and Stripping Glitter. Tattoos of strange designs in stranger places. Cahokia Mounds and MoonPandas. What link ties these odd and peculiar things together? Answer: the Lazer Dudes. Not much help? Maybe figuring out what possibly constitutes a Lazer Dude could aid in solving our puzzle. First and foremost they…
Military life
Join military life on the prairie June 11-13 in downtown Springfield. Three days of enactments with special interactive activities for groups and families on Education Day, June 11. Register by phoning 785-7960. Sponsored by Memorial Medical Center, the event’s focus is the practice of medicine during the Civil War. Civil War EncampmentJune11-13, 9am-4pmOld State CapitolFree
Springfield, the buyers’ market
If the $11,000 house for sale at 1031 N. Fourth St. is any indication, the fruit of Springfield’s housing market is ripe for the picking. “Now is a very good time to invest in a house,” says Linda Maier, a realtor with The Real Estate Firm in Springfield. “Interest rates are low right now, and…
Raw Deal
Music director Karen Lynne Deal will be saying goodbye to the Illinois Symphony Orchestra at the end of the coming season, but the controversial maestra would prefer to stay if she could. “I wish this wasn’t the way this was ending, because I feel like we’ve finally gotten the pieces of the puzzle together so…
Letters to the Editor 06/10/2010
A BIKE FRIENDThe cover story was a gem [see “Bike to the future,” by Patrick Yeagle, June 3.]. I have been a cycling buff for some time, even commuting to work several times a week. Your story captured the real issues our community has with advancing cycling and an active lifestyle. You can’t imagine the…
Government impotence and corporate rule
Many news reports about the Gulf oil catastrophe refer to it as a “spill.” Wrong. A spill is a minor “oops” — one accidentally spills milk, for example, and from childhood, we’re taught the old aphorism: “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” What’s in the Gulf isn’t milk and it wasn’t spilt. The explosion of BP’s…
Funny Greek is also poignant
The pedigree for Get Him to the Greek is more than a bit unusual, even by Hollywood’s standards. A spinoff of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a marginally successful ($63 million) comedy, it stars Russell Brand as egocentric rock star Aldous Snow and Jonah Hill as Aaron Green. Forget that the actor was in Marshall but plays…
PAINLESS PHILANTHROPY
Use your monthly utility bill to help the homeless with City Water, Light and Power’s “Round Up To End Homelessness” program. The campaign allows customers to round their monthly bill to the nearest dollar, with the extra change set aside to fund programs that ease homelessness in Springfield. Customers can also make a larger contribution,…
Strawberry shortcake
Here’s the real deal. I like to use a generous amount of strawberries in proportion to the shortcake, making this a big dessert. So keep the previous part of the meal on the small side. Then again, people eat biscuits and berries in the morning meal. Since shortcakes are part of the biscuit family, why…
Max Allen Band
Fresh from their Springfield debut at last week’s SOHO Music Festival, the Max Allen Band (MAB) drops into Marly’s on June 17 for a night of funk-blues-jam-jazz-rock songs. A seasoned group on the Midwest jam-rock music scene, the trio of Max Allen (guitar, vocals), Shaan France (drums, percussion) and Dace Robie (bass) tours regularly performing…
poem: all roads lead to …
ever since that great toad of awalmart went up off south sixthsmothering the green field waitI like toads they’re good for thegarden so spell it with a “u”no that word also means goodstuff the cow pats kept our fieldsfertile well anyway ever sincethen I’ve avoided that route to theuniversity going instead throughthe area some poll…
Big Bottoms? They got ’em
Listen up you high-enders. The time has come for the low frequency players to rise up and proclaim the often-overlooked work of the bassist as a necessary and worthwhile part of music instrument combos. Springfield hosted Guitartown, then Drumfest and now rolling in at the bottom of the barrel comes BassBerg. Conceived by longtime Springfield…
Beloved personas
The beloved and hilarious Lily Tomlin shines into Springfield to light a huge smile upon your face and ignite laughter from your lungs with more than a dozen of her famous characters, including the infamous youngster Edith Ann and telephone operator Ernestine. Presented by Roxy Entertainment, Tomlin takes questions after the performance. Lily TomlinSunday, June…
