LET’S TALK TOMLIN
Actress and comedian Lily Tomlin will bring her one-woman show to Sangamon Auditorium in Springfield at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 13. In “An Evening With Lily Tomlin,” Tomlin will portray more than a dozen characters onstage, from a six-year-old girl to a disgruntled telephone operator. Following the performance, Tomlin will participate in a question-and-answer…
Cutting taxes creates jobs
It takes a lot of nerve to take credit for something you didn’t do. It takes a politician to take credit for something that hasn’t even happened. My opponent, U. S. Rep. Phil Hare, is currently touting his alleged jobs record, patting himself on the back for how many jobs he’s created. Unfortunately, Mr. Hare…
SOHO number six
When it comes to outdoor music festivals in Springfield, only one event supports live, original music with predominantly area talent. The SOHO Music Fest is a treasure chest of up and coming locals, out of town discoveries, tried and true troupers, soloists, combos, rockers, folkies, rappers and other varied assortments of alternative-edged performers creating random…
Bike to the future
It’s a good time to be in the bike business, says Rich Moscardelli, manager of Ace Bike Shop on MacArthur Boulevard in Springfield. Among the hip trends this season are saving money, getting in shape and green living – all factors that push people to ride bikes. “It’s getting to be more popular, and especially…
Canning food, from Napoleon to now
The sweet-sour vinegary smell hit me as soon as I got off the school bus. I wrinkled my nose, wishing I could get back on the bus and go someplace – anyplace – else. Nana was making her prize-winning chilli sauce, as she did each September. Every window was open on those sunny Indian summer…
Passion for punishment
Dan Billingsley and Jason Beeler of Springfield admit they have a problem. Their shared addiction taxes their bodies and consumes their very lives, but these aren’t your usual junkies. Their high comes from grueling triathlon races comprised of swimming, cycling and running. They are a self-described Hardy Breed. “You live off the endorphins,” Billingsley jokes.…
Dan Hubbard and the Humadors
Based in not-so-faraway Normal, Dan and the gang list themselves as an original rock and roll band, which is pretty cool when you think about it. No hyphens or hype, invented categories or inverted genres, just a guy writing good songs with a fine band backing him up. They claim influences from Tom Petty, Neil…
Helping others help others
Local health and human service agencies will receive much-needed funding, as United Way of Central Illinois awards $1.7 million to 45 programs this year. The largest private funder of health and human services in Sangamon County, United Way gathered donations from 9,200 individuals and companies. The donations will fund social service programs meeting basic needs…
Sex 2: Narcissism cont.
Men want to be James Bond; women want to be Carrie Bradshaw. Once you understand this, the appeal of Sex and the City is obvious. This New York babe has it all – professional success, a rich, good-looking husband, a wardrobe to die for and enough shoes to shod a small village. And yet, having…
SCHOOLS ARE CEREAL SAVERS
You’ve probably seen them in the cereal aisle at the grocery store: bags of bargain cereal with one-off names like Cinnamon Toasters, Apple Zings and Honey Nut Scooters. The titan of bagged cereals, the Minneapolis, Minn.-based Malt-O-Meal, has found a niche in offering cereals almost identical to name-brand products from General Mills, Kellogg’s, Post and…
Fine art alfresco
With the MacArthur extension open, the folks at the MacArthur Boulevard Business Association hope commerce along this southwest corridor picks up. Perhaps one of their classiest solutions to draw people to the area is their fine-art fair held every Saturday in June. This year the artwork is semi-juried, highlighting different artists each week such as…
Birthday, earth day
Learn how everyday actions here in the Midwest impact the oceans while celebrating the 50th birthday of Dr. Seuss’s book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Ongoing activities for all ages through the day including reading by zoo director and Dr. Seuss hats. The Henson Robinson Zoo joins the Association of Zoo and…
A Republican gets thrown out into the cold
Illinois House Republicans had a universal message for Rep. Bob Biggins (R-Elmhurst) last week: You are officially an outcast. Rep. Biggins infuriated his fellow Republicans by switching his position and voting for a $3.7 billion borrowing plan supported by Democrats. The money would be used to make the state’s annual pension payment. Without it, the…
Treasures from faraway seas
The advantage of pursuing an education in a bookshop rather than a school is that at the bookshop young readers can pick out books that teachers and parents think aren’t good for you. I had bought several books by the historian Richard Hofstadter, then the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Reading…
Few consequences for four-wheeler vandalism
Jo Hendrickson and her husband, Dave, of Hendrickson Farms in Rochester have dealt with both teenagers and adults using their property as a makeshift track for everything from dune-buggies to go-karts to four-wheelers, with one group even lodging their truck into a mudhole, ruining crops and causing damage. On May 29, two boys and two…
farewelltopaul poem
nephews nieces cousins of all ageswe searched the serene chicagocemetery sunday alone except forthe myriads of departed but wherewas our departed the heirs who carriedhis coffin through the february driftssaid he’s here somewhere the snow wasover the tombstones then but now withsun and grass and flowers . . . we never did find the plot…
Romantic comedy
All the Pigeons Productions presents this feel-good, funny play written by actor and prolific playwright Jeff Daniels about public TV employee, Annie, who looses her faith in God, men and PBS, even going so far as to tell viewers that Big Bird will die if they don’t send money to the station. 2010 UIS graduate…
Letters to the Editor 06/03/2010
DOWN THE DRAINAfter reading your Earth Day issue I was fired up to find a local or regional hazardous waste disposal day. As recently as two years ago, civic or nonprofit organizations could sponsor a Household Hazardous Waste Pick-up Day. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) would hold one-day pick-ups of hazardous household waste if…
Disclosing the meekness of the ‘DISCLOSE’ bill
At last, after weeks of analyzing, calculating, pondering, consulting and crafting, Democratic leaders in Washington have unveiled their much-awaited legislative response to the Supreme Court’s January decision in the infamous case of Citizens United. That’s the destructive dictate that allows oceans of corporate cash to flood America’s elections and drown out the voices of ordinary…
Late-in-life journey
In an old Cher movie called Moonstruck, Olympia Dukakis is talking to her 40-plus-year-old daughter (Cher) about getting married and having a baby. Cher protests that she’s too old for a baby. Olympia says, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Yet most of us think of old age as a time of reflection rather than…
