Louisiana style
The UIS performing arts season kicks off with a Creole dinner and performance by BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, one of the premier Cajun bands in music today. The Grammy-winning group blends country, blues and New Orleans jazz and a myriad of other influences into new pieces and contemporary Creole versions of traditional songs. Since the…
Welcome the new Kid on the block
Some films are so a part of the time in which they were made it’s hard to imagine them taking place during any other period. The Karate Kid is a product of the 1980s through and through, what with its dated clothing, awkward pop soundtrack and less-than-subtle message. Yet what made the movie work was…
Letters to the Editor 06/17/2010
PREVENTING ALZHEIMER’SThank you for your very informative article [see “Preventing Alzheimer’s,” by Diane Ivey, May 20]. Ms. Ivey did an excellent job researching and talking with our doctors and researchers. I think many scientific articles tend to become boring if the reader doesn’t have a technical background in the topic, but Ms. Ivey presented the…
The demise of child labor in Springfield
In the late 1800s reformers in Illinois became concerned about child labor in manufacturing, especially in the state’s larger cities. They had good reason to be. In some shops young children worked long hours at dangerous jobs that left them deformed or ill. Others worked at safer jobs, but the never-ending workdays (14-plus hours in…
Something about a man in uniform
You wouldn’t think it was possible for a soldier to shoot himself in the back while marching toward the front line, but Congressman Mark “Don’t Get Fooled Again” Kirk has managed to do it several times. By all accounts a capable intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, Mr. Kirk felt compelled to make himself out…
Painters and Poets
The Prairie Art Alliance Gallery is hosting “Painters and Poets,” a gallery display where Springfield Poets and Writers will write and read poems inspired by the paintings of the Prairie Art Alliance juried artists. The paintings and poems will be on display and for sale. The artists will also be at the event to discuss…
Father’s Day Buffet
Parrots of the Caribbean perform Jimmy Buffet’s biggest hits at the Hoogland Center for the Performing Arts. The band attempts to replicate both the musical stylings and the laid back style Jimmy Buffet has become famous for, with the group’s leader, David Albrecht, often mistaken for Buffet by longtime fans. Albrecht is so similar to…
Cat in the Hat takes the cake
Only through the lens of the late Theodor Seuss Geisle, better known as Dr. Seuss, can a chaotic menagerie of made-up creatures bring order and wisdom from whimsy and fun. Filled with comedies such as that of the emerald eggs and ham, and tragedies such as a too-short tail and the battle for bread bit…
Car guys go for the X Prize
In a garage-turned-workshop south of Divernon sits what could be the future of personal transportation. Surrounded by spare parts and power tools is a made-from-scratch car that looks like something a science fiction writer in the 1930s would have dreamed about. The outside of this deceptively-classic “teardrop” car looks like a cross between a Volkswagen…
Big changes at the SJ-R
Tough economic conditions and a new approach to news distribution have prompted changes at Springfield’s daily newspaper. The State Journal-Register newspaper, owned by Fairport, N.Y.-based Gatehouse Media, last month underwent a change in strategy and leadership possibly tied to Gatehouse’s troubled financial position. On May 25, SJ-R announced the resignation of Scott Bowers as publisher…
Kentucky Knife Fight
With a name only a southern Illinois band mother could love, Kentucky Knife Fight arose from a raucous open mic night at the legendary Stagger Inn Again in Edwardsville to become one of the hardest rocking and most up and coming bands in the alt-country vein from the St. Louis area. Jason Holler (vocals), Nate…
New play details hardships of immigrants
Coming to America from Europe, the first thing many hopeful immigrants were sure to see would be the Statue of Liberty, an icon of freedom and opportunity. The most famous line of Emma Lazarus’ poem, The New Colossus, is inscribed inside the monument: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe…
Watching the Blago trial from the jury box
Keep in mind while watching coverage of the Rod Blagojevich trial that reporters in the courtroom have a far keener understanding of what is going on than do the jurors. Their perceptions are not necessarily the same as the jurors’ views. So, their coverage may not match up to how the case will turn out.…
Responsible policy creates jobs
Bobby Schilling’s June 3 op-ed “Cutting taxes creates jobs” is rife with so many mistakes and distortions I don’t even know where to begin. Mr. Schilling asserts that there are no new jobs in the 17th District. I suggest he visit the Rock Island Arsenal, where federal investment in the ASPI program has created and…
Team is Grade A Mayhem
While I am the first to decry how vacuous summer movies are, I have to admit that I had a blast at Joe Carnahan’s big screen adaptation of the ’80s TV hit “The A-Team.” While it has little in the way of socially redeeming values, it does accomplish its mission, which is to entertain and…
Civil War lunch break
General Grierson Days in Jacksonville is a time for visitors to look back at one of the darkest periods in American history and see the largest mounted Civil War reenactment in the Midwest. Visitors can see the lives of soldiers as they drill, prepare meals, practice medicine and prepare for battle. Food, a parade and…
Board expects vote on school construction plan
The District 186 school board could approve on Monday five new middle school gymnasiums, two rebuilt elementary schools and several additions to Southeast High School as the initial projects in a two-phase construction plan. A comprehensive plan including all of the elements outlined in “Option B,” the $231 million plan to revamp all of the…
Mid-June gems of live music
With so much to see and do where does one begin? I have no idea, but here is a bunch of cool and crazy things to do this week in no particular order, rhyme or reason other than what goes on in the grab bag inside my head. The Sangamon County Fair kicks off this…
DOWNTOWN IMPERSONATORS
Lincoln impersonators, singers and costumed interpreters have begun to fill downtown streets as the “History Comes Alive” program begins in an effort to boost tourism. “History Comes Alive” will feature historical performers and singers on the street and new programs such as stroller tours that will be friendly for families with young children as well…
wordspoem # 3
at a scrabble party the other nightwe found that asshole isn’t in theofficial dictionary my quarrel withthat scrabble authority has beenit omits the two-letter solfegesyllables except those popularizedby sound of music no di ri fi si libut now we can’t use the f wordthe c word or any other wordcurrently bleeped by the radio(yes dr…
Grilling from the garden
What does grilling bring to mind? Brats, burgers, or steak? Chicken or shrimp? But most vegetables are good for grilling, too. For omnivores, grilled vegetables can be the focal point of the meal, an accompaniment, or both. Diced, leftover grilled vegetables make a delectable filling for quesadillas, combined with melting cheeses such as Monterey Jack,…
WELCOME BACK VETERANS
The Land of Lincoln Honor Flight will be taking 95 central Illinois veterans on a one-day trip to Washington, D.C., on June 22, to visit the World War II Memorial, Arlington Cemetery and other memorials [see “Honor Flight gives WW II vets a trip, and a salute,” by Jackson Adams, June 16]. The organization’s chairman,…
Airlines battle workplace democracy
If you ever want to spook a smug, stuffed-shirt corporate CEO — I mean spook him so bad that he jumps clear out of his Guccis and screams louder than Little Richard — sneak up behind him and shout “union!” They hate that. Corporate chieftains get the heebie-jeebies at the mere mention of unionization for…
