The math to true love
You need to tell men to never be the first to say those “three little words.” A woman will tell you she’s ready to hear them by telling you first. It seems the dating gurus agree: When a man says “I love you” first, he throws the attraction physics all off because he lowers his…
Free live standup comedy TV taping! What’s not to like?
Local comedian Brandon Judd will be taping his television debut tomorrow for FOX-TV’s regional stand-up series One Mic Stand. It’s kind of a party atmosphere, says Judd. In addition to three comics each performing short sets, the show also features jazz from the Smoothtimes Band and effusive host Michael Pittman. As for what prospective audience…
New Video from Torch Tuesday
Over the past year or so, Torch Tuesday at Bar None has steadily transformed from a rap-oriented open mic night into a varied and exciting place for all elements of hip-hop culture — not just MCs and DJs but poets, visual artists, photographers, fashion designers, and more –to gather and find expression. There’s a lot…
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SPRINGFIELD LEAKS UNMASKED
Guess who showed up last Friday at Illinois State Police headquarters at the same time as we did to pick up a copy of reports on the DUI arrest of state auditor general William Holland? Calvin Christian. And how are things at Springfield Leaks, Calvin? “I’m not part of them, but I know who they…
babblepoem #1
you word lovers out there have youdiscovered babble on the net it’s freefor a bit then continues so withoutstats to help but life membership ispeanuts it’s a combo boggle-scrabble new grid daily it’s challenging but here’s what’s most fascinating the babblechat bar where clever clues are given babblers greet old friends welcome new pepper gridbabble…
Legislation backs access to local food
A state legislator is proposing a monthly Eat Local Buy Illinois Products Day to support local economies and healthier lifestyles. Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Round Lake Beach, proposed legislation to designate the first Saturday of each month to increase awareness and sales of Illinois food and agribusiness products. In conjunction with the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s…
Irish infusion
The Music of Ireland: Then and Now is the theme of the St. Patrick’s Day parade Saturday, March 16, at high noon in downtown Springfield. Parade marshal, Jim McDonough, who was a past parade president and is a United Cerebral Palsy and Saint Patrick School volunteer, will be accompanied by almost 100 entries including: floats,…
The Emerald Underground
Always a busy band during the St. Patrick’s Day celebration, The Emerald Underground goes for the pot o’ gold at the end of the Irish rainbow with three shows this weekend. Now into their second decade of performance, the group fluctuates from a TEU-lite on Friday to a full-blown eight members on Saturday. Now featuring…
Ex-rated movie
I’ve been with my boyfriend for a year. We were best friends and talked about everything – what our kids would be like, projects we’d do together, magical worlds, and even other people we found attractive. Then, on his computer, I accidentally clicked on what I thought was just some porn video, but I recognized…
Springfield small business owner lobbies in Washington, D.C.
If there’s a stereotype of a men’s clothing salesperson, Brandi Tolley of Springfield isn’t it. A work-from-home single mother and a military veteran, Tolley started her online eBay-based business about 10 years ago, and she quickly found her niche: buying and selling “big and tall” men’s clothes, sometimes even acting as a personal shopper for…
Let’s adopt these GOP national platform planks
From Rick Perry to Rick Santorum, many Republican sparklies say they reject the science of evolution, favoring instead the “science” of the Bible, including some of its interpreters who claim the Earth is not 4.5 billion years old, but has been around only about 6,000 years. Georgia Rep. Paul Broun (who ironically serves on the…
Pension reform problems linger
House Speaker Michael Madigan was hoping last Thursday to avoid the same results as the previous week when he presented some new pension reform ideas. The previous week, one of his pension reform proposals received just one vote – his own. None of his other pension amendments received more than five votes. That wasn’t supposed…
A penny here, a penny there…
I read with dismay – I always read with dismay, like some people always sleep with their cat – that the president would like the federal government to stop minting pennies. They can buy virtually nothing and cost more than twice their value to make, indeed are worth so little than even freelance writers don’t…
Florida makes Illinois look good
Anyone thinking Illinois state government is more screwed up, or more corrupt, than probably any other state in the union should have seen Florida as I did during a recent 10-day visit to the Tampa Bay area. Reform was to be the theme of the new legislative session in Tallahassee. The Senate president and House…
Raimi and Franco save new Oz
Is Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful a foolhardy endeavor to cash in on one of the most beloved films of all time or an honorable addition to the folklore of this classic slice of Americana? Actually, it’s a little bit of both and then some. This Disney production contains more than its share…
Education to suffer most under next state budget
Illinois’ public pension costs will eat up nearly a fifth of state spending in the coming fiscal year, with education largely absorbing the impact. “This is the most difficult budget I have ever submitted to you,” Gov. Pat Quinn told lawmakers on March 6 during his annual budget address at the Illinois Statehouse. Quinn’s proposed…
Africans lived here first
Historians credit Christopher Columbus for finding the Americas, but Kaba Hiawatha Kamene declares that African descendants lived in what is now the United States many years prior to 1492. Kamene, a staff developer at Harriet Tubman Charter School in the Bronx, New York, who has master’s degrees in art history and in Science of Education…
Get creative with leftovers
I’ll never again be able to make some of the best things I’ve created in my kitchen. Not because they were complicated and/or expensive, although I’ve made a few of those, too. It’s because those creations – they couldn’t accurately be called recipes – were concocted from bits of leftovers or things that would spoil…
Sensorium
In a 1981 case study conducted at the University of Kansas, researchers described the experiences of a woman with the neurological condition called chromesthesia, which caused her to experience sound as a visual color experience as well as an auditory sensation. Chromesthetics describe every sound they hear as triggering a simultaneous visual component. It is…
FIXING FORECLOSURES
Springfield continues to struggle with abandoned houses, despite efforts by the city and several nonprofit groups to tear down the worst ones. So it’s welcome news that last month, Gov. Pat Quinn approved a law that speeds up foreclosures without running roughshod over struggling homeowners. Allowing for expedited foreclosures means a home can be back…
Eastern points
This Engaged Citizenship Common Experience Speaker Series at the University of Illinois Springfield is one you won’t want to miss to learn more about countries bombarding the news lately, particularly North Korea and China. The key challenges and opportunities presented to the U.S. by the historic rise of Asia will be discussed by Robert M.…
Letters to the Editor 3/14/13
CUT THE FRACKTo frack or not to frack … that is the question. There are two bills being presented in the Illinois State legislature. SB 1418 proposes a halt to any hydraulic fracking until we have a better understanding of how it will affect our water supply. HB 2615 has been crafted by both environmentalists…
Doctor awarded for medical innovation
The Illinois State Medical Society’s third Medical Innovators program honored several innovative medical scientists, clinicians and professionals in Sangamon County. The program highlighted their achievements in medical treatments, research and community service. Among the honorees was Dr. Kathleen Campbell, a professor and director of audiology research at the SIU School of Medicine. Campbell is known…
Fixing things
No one seriously argues that Springfield doesn’t need street, sewer and sidewalk repairs. Anyone who negotiates potholes at 11th and Carpenter or the cracked-and-crumbling stretch of Ash between Third and Fifth or dozens of other intersections and streets knows that. Sidewalks, where they exist, are in such poor condition that the sight of kids riding…
St. Pat’s party
Welcome one and all to the great American invention of St. Patrick’s Day. Once contained within our Irish-American communities, St. Patty’s Day now involves all who want to be included in the delightful debauchery deemed necessary in the party process of this Gaelic gala. Fortunately for us, the encompassing celebration of the Seven Celtic Nations…
Eat, love, play
Musician David Cain (vocals, saxophone), seven-time Grammy-winner Paul Wertico (drums), Larry Gray (upright bass, cello and flute) and David Hoffman (trumpet and arranger for Ray Charles for 13 years) present a concert Saturday, March 16 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts. And present is the correct word here. The group does more than play…
Powerful pair
You’re in for a powerful treat, as singer, songwriter and guitar players Janis Ian and Livingston Taylor play at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS, Saturday, March 6. Best known for her hit song, “At Seventeen,” Ian is one of folk music’s living legends. Her words resonate with truth, wisdom and beauty, whether in lyric or prose as…
