now playing 3-24-05
Heaven help us as the Pimps, NIL8, Funky Circus Fleas, and Hot Iron Skillet come together in a concert of epic proportions — or at least one with colorful band names. The Pimps first appeared in the mid-’90s, billing themselves as the Goodyear Pimps until they were politely asked by a trademark lawyer to cease…
commentary 3-24-05
Over the last decade and a half, and especially since the 9/11 attacks, the Pentagon has developed methods to intervene in other countries without resorting to direct military force. The military has adopted tactics usually reserved for the Central Intelligence Agency as a means of avoiding congressional oversight and curious journalists. As is generally the…
Jacqueline Jackson 3-24-05
travelpoem # 2 her grandfather built the cottage one hundred years ago single room thick walled white the kind you see in coffee table books I sit in the inglenook is there an irish name for that recessed spot with seats on two sides fire in the middle you can look right up the chimney…
common sense 3-24-05
Are you smart enough to be a banker with the Export-Import Bank of the United States? Here’s a test: Would you loan $5 billion of U.S. taxpayers’ money to a British-owned company so that it can make a profit by selling U.S. nuclear technology to China, which in turn is likely to copy that technology…
Out, but not down
It was six years ago this week that Rep. Larry McKeon, the first and only openly gay state lawmaker in Illinois, outed the homosexual siblings of three Republican legislators. McKeon lashed out at his colleagues for blocking legislation to protect homosexuals from various forms of discrimination. Once the votes were tallied, he hastened to the…
A run for his money
Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka has a new poll that shows her trailing Gov. Rod Blagojevich by just 3 points in a head-to-head matchup. By just about any test, the numbers are real. I was given access to all of the poll’s results, and the internal numbers tracked with those of several other recent surveys. The…
art seen 3-24-05
Michael Dunbar still has a problem with his early school years: “When you know what you’re going to do and you have to listen to teachers and figure out ‘How does this apply to me?’, it makes school a real challenge.” Young Michael knew what he wanted to do for a living at a very early…
music notes 3-24-05
Born in Mexico and reared in Brazil and Venezuela, singer/songwriter Erika Luckett continued her international upbringing with extended stays in France. She sings in Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English on her latest CD, Unexpected (2005, Birdfish Records), tossing in flourishes of world music as fluently as she soars through the various languages. Luckett aptly explains…
appetite 3-24-05
Many foods are associated with the Easter holiday — ham, coconut cake, marshmallow-chocolate eggs — but one of the most traditional of all is lamb. Even so, it usually doesn’t top the list of most popular dishes and is not typically found on local restaurant menus, even at Easter. In fact, even though rosemary leg…
people’s poetry
Paul Muldoon teaches poetry at Princeton University, won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2003 for his collection Moy Sand and Gravel , and has been hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as “the most significant English-language poet born since the Second World War.” So why, you may ask, is he coming to Lincoln, Ill.?…
quick takes 3-24-05
ILES HOUSE OPENING SET A fundraising campaign kicked off this week to complete restoration work on Springfield’s oldest residence, the 1827 Elijah Iles House at 626 S. Seventh St. A grand opening for the house — which will serve as a museum exhibiting early Sangamon County artifacts — has been set for Sept. 24. For…
sound patrol 3-24-05
Like most worthwhile artists, the Los Angeles-based folk singer Mia Doi Todd is a mess of contradictions. This slipperiness, this ability to be simultaneously one thing and its opposite, makes listening to her interesting, but it makes describing her difficult. How can a singer sound both intimate and declamatory, both pretentious and plainspoken? Where does…
Writing “from the ground up”
The cover article by Chicago writer Alex Kotlowitz, “Suddenly, a Terrorist?”, in the March 20 New York Times Magazine, is about a small-town Michigan restaurant owner, Ibrahim Parlak, who had been minding his own business, making friends, and raising a family for 13 years until July 29, when the federal government arrested him as a…
earth talk 3-24-05
Dear “Earth Talk”: Are there any healthy alternatives to sugar? — Andrew Young, New York City, N.Y. Perhaps since the diet crazes of the 1970s, Americans have been looking to cut back on their intake of sugar. And doctors couldn’t be happier, for they consider the prevalence of sugar in our society the root cause…
movie review
Kevin Rodney Sullivan’s Guess Who benefits from the unexpected chemistry generated by Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher, which elevates this loose remake of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? above most of today’s comedies. In this twist on the 1967 classic, young and successful investment broker Simon Green (Ashton Kutcher) inexplicably quits his job during the film’s…
letters 3-24-05
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com ENJOYING HIS PIPE DREAM I appreciate your articles on climate change and…
history talk 3-24-05
Two of the most interesting, accomplished, and talented people ever to appear on the Springfield arts scene were Romain and Ellen Proctor, who quite casually fell in love with the ancient art of puppeteering during the Great Depression and over time became influential and internationally known experts in the field. Romain Proctor — or Proc,…
flicks 3-24-05
Movies have no real boundaries, but they are too often limited by the lowest common denominator. Movies must appeal to a mass audience. When a true cinematic mind-bender breaks free of the rigid Hollywood standards it is cause for celebration, but last year offered three movie wonders that managed to shine through in a mediocre…
The neighbors next door
Work is under way on the reconstruction of two long-gone residences in the Lincoln Home neighborhood, a project that caps Richard Lusardi’s tenure as superintendent of the national historic site. The rebuilding of the Burch and Carrigan homes, which sat closest to the Lincoln residence, is expected to give visitors a better sense of the…
