Eerie locale wasted in predictable Diaries
I couldn’t help but feel that there were many wasted opportunities in Bradley Parker’s Chernobyl Dairies, a by-the-numbers horror film that features a genuinely eerie setting but little else. As written and produced by Oren, the script is a rote exercise that contains little in the way of innovation what with its standard premise and…
ashespoem #3
last week walker church over 100 years oldburned down a monstrous blaze all over theinternet five firefighters hurt one bad likelycause lightning the church community ralliedwent ahead the next day feeding the homelesson schedule 200 people came walker was morethan a church the congregation of all colorsfaiths backgrounds a first to openly welcomegays we had…
We’ll always have parasites
My boyfriend of two months is a gem, but his house is a horror. The fridge and bathroom are disgusting, and the whole place is seriously messy. There’s this eerie feeling that the house was formerly homey, like nothing has changed since his wife left him three years ago — down to the box of…
New Beijings
I have often lamented here the continuing decline in the population of Illinois’ rural parts. (See “Devoid of life,” July 14, 2011.) Like a great many readers, I have roots in central Illinois that go deep. My interest in the central question – if the present population cannot support itself on the countryside, how might…
Ceviche with seafood, avocado, and grapefruit
Basic instructions for cooking scallops Cooking scallops is easy and fast – in fact, the only potential concern is making sure they’re not overcooked, in which case you’ll be eating tasty morsels with the texture of a rubber band. Scallops available locally are usually either small bay scallops – about an inch long and as…
Exclusive excursion
The Prairie Art Alliance offers an exclusive and interesting peek inside five of its members’ studios and their gardens. Sites include a ceramics and firing studio, a glass studio, and painting and pastel studio. You can see the sites in any order you’d prefer and work will be available for purchase. The locations along this…
Two Springfield couples fight for same-sex marriage
Randy Walden did everything right, but it wasn’t enough. When Walden’s partner of nine years, Curt Sills, was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, Walden and Sills drew up documents giving Walden power of attorney and placing Walden in Sills’ living will. As Sills grew weaker in 2004 and had to be taken to the hospital,…
The impact of divorce on children
Today one in two marriages will end in divorce, so, if you are married, you have a 50/50 chance of making it “until death do us part.” My parents were married 55 years. They had something figured out. My sister and I were not so lucky. We suffered through court battles, arguments, rage, tears, sleepless…
Jailhouse doctor free to practice
The ill in Oklahoma need not worry about Dr. Stephen Austin Cullinan. The Peoria physician with a history of six-figure lawsuit settlements and a trail of tragedy allowed his license to lapse last month in the Sooner State. But Cullinan remains good to go in Illinois and several other Midwest states despite a horrific record…
Summer pension session unnecessary. Leaders will decide.
At least for now, it doesn’t appear that rank and file legislators will have to spend much time in Springfield this summer, even though they failed to finish their work on public pension reform last week. Aides to Gov. Pat Quinn claim that they’ve learned from the mistakes of their predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, and won’t…
Springfield Sliders, a family operation
Some children draw pictures of dogs and cats, but when Shane Martin was a child growing up in the early 1980s, he drew baseball stadiums. Shane, the new owner and CEO of the Springfield Sliders baseball team, grew up in Farmington, Minn. – a rural suburb of Minneapolis – in a gray tri-level house with…
Scrumptious scallops
Many years ago, I bought sea scallops. It was a cool day. I came home directly from the store and refrigerated them, but when I opened the bag to start cooking, a nauseating smell hit my nostrils. Even now, remembering that smell makes my stomach turn. I resealed the bag and stuck it back in…
Musical donations
Now that the SOHO Fest in lovely downtown Springfield is in the books for 2012, the controversy about the early closing of small festivals downtown will subside, but other events are approaching and the issue needs to be addressed. According to SOHO organizer Eric Welch, this “was the most successful event by far we’ve ever…
JUNETEENTH EXPLAINED AND CELEBRATED
The Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum will hold a special event on June 9 at 3 p.m. to explain the history of “Juneteenth.” The forum will be held at Representatives Hall in the Old State Capitol building. Juneteenth is the annual celebration of the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln.…
Prometheus provides little new knowledge
Perhaps my expectations were too high. Maybe I shouldn’t have bought into the publicity from director Ridley Scott when he stated that “the last eight minutes of Prometheus will evolve into the DNA for Alien.” Maybe I’ve seen too many movies and have become too hard to impress. Perhaps this is just not a very…
Darker White makes for a vibrant tale
The second entry in this year’s Snow White Sweepstakes arrives in the form of Snow White and the Huntsman, a far darker take on the tale than Mirror, Mirror, which debuted a mere two months ago only to come and go with a $61 million whimper against its $85 million budget. A third version of…
Renowned rockers
Legendary rock band Chicago plays in Springfield for one night on Wednesday, June 13 at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS. Sited as #13 on Billboard Magazine’s Top 100 artists of all time, Chicago has won a Grammy Award, multiple American Music Awards, a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Chicago street named after them, and so…
Lawmakers vote to reinstate early prisoner release
Illinois prison inmates may soon qualify for early release once more under a bill passed by state lawmakers last week. If approved by Gov. Pat Quinn, the move would address state prison overcrowding that resulted in part from the suspension of early prisoner release more than two years ago. On May 31, the last day…
Biblical musical
The popular musical, Josepeh and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, opens a summer season of theater at The Muni. Set to an engaging cornucopia of musical styles, from country western and calypso, to bubble-gum pop and rock ’n’ roll, this production of the Biblical saga of Joseph and his coat of many colors, will deliver you…
School’s out at St. Joseph’s
“Good morning! Today is Thursday, May 17,” said St. Joseph’s School principal Linda Tusek into the intercom one recent morning. She began with the day’s announcements to students and teachers, then delivered the day’s “Caring Message,” centered around that week’s theme of “character:” “Anne Frank said, ‘Parents can only give good advice or put their…
30 YEARS OF RELIEF
Thirty years ago, on June 7, 1982, the Central Illinois Foodbank started its outreach with just one ton of apple cobbler in an empty warehouse. Today, the Springfield-based charity reaches 21 counties, distributing more than 8.5 million pounds of food to more than 100,000 people in 2011. Executive director Pam Molitoris says 1.5 million pounds…
Crumbling cases
A second drunken driving case involving former Jerome police officer Steven Stirmell has been dismissed after the officer refused to testify, invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege because he is under criminal investigation. Meanwhile, the investigation into Stirmell by the Sangamon County state’s attorney and the state attorney general has spread from Jerome to Divernon, which…
Letters to the Editor 06/07/12
POT SMOKERS GET SLEEPYIn response to Sheldon Richman’s column [“When will Obama evolve on the drug war?” GUESTWORK, May 24], I agree. Marijuana should be legalized. In the late ’80s I worked as a correctional officer in a men’s work release facility. Most of the inmates were 18-35, serving the last few years of their…
Talent trove
MacART Fest features two new fine art events from the folks at The MacArthur Boulevard Association set to double your weekend pleasure Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9. Art in Action, a Friday night fundraiser for MacArthur redevelopment, boasts some of the tastiest Springfield food, Brazilian jazz from Samba Llamas and 21 of the…
Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers
Last seen in Springfield on stage at the Hoogland for a Bedrock 66 Live! concert on Oct. 1, 2011, Zoe Muth has since continued on a veritable rampage of critical acceptance and festival appearances. Her soulful and bare bones country style captured the heart of purists who like for the music and the show to…
Who needs Wall Street giants?
JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and the handful of other behemoths of Wall Street that dominate American banking – who needs them? After enduring years of insatiable greed by the slick-fingered hucksters who run these gambling houses; after watching in dismay as their ineptness and avarice drained more than $19 trillion from America’s…
