Soul at the Center of Labyrinthine Days of Future Past
In the Marvel Comics Universe, the X-Men books were always the ones with a social conscience, focusing on issues of alienation and bigotry in whatever forms they may have taken during different phases of the series’ existence. So it goes with the movies, as the Spider-Man films are more romp than circumstance, the Avengers universe…
Wookiees 6, Bears 0
(Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune / May 19, 2014) As I noted in Cultural Arts Major, Star Wars creator George Lucas wants to buy some U.S. city a new museum to house his collection of graphics arts of the magazine, book, film and comic book genres. The City of Chicago would love to have it – assuming a site…
Torch Tuesday Tonight: Welcome To My City Tour
If you’re in the market for some live hip-hop tonight, several local and regional favorites will be taking the stage at Bar None for the “Welcome To My City Tour,” part of the ongoing Torch Tuesday Concert Series Headlining the show will be the very popular Pytch Wyte, winner of both Artist of the Year and…
George Lucas and the pizza king
One last thought on Chicago and the George Lucas Cultural Arts Museum. The man Lucas most reminds me of is Tom Monaghan, the former Domino’s pizza magnate. You might recall Monaghan as the man who for a time threatened to corner the market on everything Frank Lloyd Wright. For example, in 1987 it took a…
Letters to the Editor 5/15/14
More than 100 folks came out to Washington Park May 10 to support a new Washington Dog Park. The event brought in $3,100. PHOTO COURTESY FACEBOOK.COM/SPRINGFIELD.PHOTOS SHAKE A PAW, VOTEWe need your help to vote for Springfield, Illinois, in the Bark For Your Park Contest. The winner will win $100,000 to build a PetSafe…
Remembering Sen. Vince Demuzio
Last month marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Vince Demuzio, the longtime state senator and a powerful political voice of downstate Illinois. His legacy lives on in a multitude of ways. Demuzio, D-Carlinville, was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 1974 and served until his death from colon cancer on April 27,…
Arm the same old game
Lake Bell as Brenda Paauwe and Jon Hamm as J.B. Bernstein in Million Dollar Arm. PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES In 2007, sport agent J.B. Bernstein was in trouble. Having failed to sign any big name clients after deciding to set up his own firm, he was in danger of not only losing his business…
Fun squared
A full day of fun is planned at the Jacksonville Main Street Downtown Celebration Saturday, May 17. The popular and versatile band Madd Hoss Jackson headlines the main stage from 6-10 p.m. World-traveling Randy “The Cowboy” Erwin takes the stage at 3:15. Touted by USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, he’s a hoot and…
Unbroken record
Curses, foiled again• British police arrested a 30-year-old man they said broke into a hotel in Gloucester but fell off the roof while making his getaway. He tumbled 40 feet and had to call emergency services to rescue him. He had a broken pelvis, leg and nose, a police official said, adding, “Suspected stolen lead…
Homer Soda Company
Homer Soda Company storefront in downtown Homer. PHOTO COURTESY HOMER SODA COMPANY Regular readers of this space know that I’ve railed against the American habit of constant soda consumption more than once. But truthfully I like soda. I like it a lot. If it weren’t for the problems – medical and dental – excessive soda…
JOAN WALTERS AWARDED FOR PUBLIC SERVICE
Joan Walters of Springfield was awarded the 2014 Rail-Splitter Public Servant Award by the Central Illinois Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) at a May 8 ceremony. Walters served 16 years in Illinois state government. She was on Gov. James Thompson’s staff, when she was first involved in government reorganization, and then…
A life-or-death decision for Dallman power plants
PHOTO BY RACHEL WELLS CWLP power plant Springfield City Water, Light and Power must decide whether to upgrade or decomission its three oldest boilers in light of changing pollution regulations, and the utility’s decision could affect the cost of power in Springfield for decades. An environmental compliance study commissioned by CWLP in December 2013 explored…
Making mid-May music
The Funky Butt Brass Band blows in from St. Louis for a show at The Creek in Chatham on Saturday night. As foretold and promised in recent accounts here in this column, May is heating up musically almost as much as the weather did last week. Even though the current outside temps seem to indicate…
The church lady
Anita Bedell is the longest-tenured director of Illinois Church Action On Alcohol and Addiction since the organization’s start as a temperance group in 1898. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE She’s almost always outgunned, outfinanced and outvoted, but it’s hard to imagine Anita Bedell getting outworked. As executive director of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction…
Growing ‘populist lobby’
Imagine a bold headline blaring, “An Army of 1,500 Lobbyists Swarms Capitol Hill.” But that wouldn’t be news, since it happens every day. In fact, an occupying army of Gucci-clad corporate lobbyists is permanently encamped in Washington, numbering not a mere 1,500 – but more than 12,000. Yes, that works out to nearly 22 lobbyists…
Livestock industry opposes feedlot registration
Livestock producers in Illinois oppose a regulation that would require feedlots to register with the state, but a legislative panel appears poised to approve the regulation. The proposal is part of a series of changes to how Illinois regulates confined animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered changes in…
Paying for the Obama presidential library
It’s been assumed all along that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s proposal to spend $100 million to help build Barack Obama’s presidential library was designed to put the Republicans on the spot and perhaps provoke an over the top, maybe even racial response, which would help gin up Democratic turnout a bit this November. President…
frustration poem #gazillion
when you’re hunting for somethingreally important and can’t find it youyou turn up a lot of other stuff thatshould’ve been tended to yesterdayor last week or last year or even beforethey flood you with intents andpurposes unfulfilled and even if youfind what you were looking for andthat’s only half likely you end up intotal distraction…
WHAT PART OF “SUNSHINE” DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?
It didn’t take long for Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John “Quick Draw” Schmidt to gun down an attempt by the City of Springfield to wriggle out from under a court order barring the city council from violating the state Open Meetings Act. The best judge east of the Rockies took barely three minutes on…
Lyle Lovett delights
Backed by a small acoustic band, Lyle Lovett captivated a small crowd last Saturday at UIS. PHOTO BY BRUCE RUSHTON The lack of artistic taste in towns the size of Springfield can never be underestimated. You didn’t have to look further than the empty seats in Sangamon Auditorium at the University of Illinois Springfield last…
Setting the stage for Lincoln’s funeral
The hearse used to carry Lincoln’s body at his Springfield funeral will be re-created for the 150th anniversary reenactment in 2015. It is still a year before Lincoln’s 150th anniversary funeral reenactment. But to event organizer Katie Spindell, it seems like there’s no time at all. Spindell is chair of the the 2015 Lincoln Funeral…
Pipers in the park
Maybe you’ve heard the St. Andrew’s Society of Central Illinois Pipes and Drums. If you thought they were amazing, listen to several regional bag pipes and drum groups at noon and 5:30 p.m. at the 19th Annual Springfield Highland Games and Celtic Festival Saturday, May 17. The gathering celebrates the Irish and Scots but you…
My life of service
Foreign travel is usually regarded as a perk of high office. After I had been elected president of Springfield High School’s Interact Club, the service club for boys, sponsored by the local Rotary Club, I learned that my official itinerary would extend no farther than New Jersey. One of my duties (actually, just about the…
Euphony for the eyes
The Old Capitol Art Fair takes place downtown on two days, Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18. Perhaps the most popular event of the year, the fair features outstanding art from more than 160 artists. It’s the place to be – full of creativity, a convergence of friends and acquaintances, music, food, children’s art area and…
Bad harem day
I’m 30, and I’ve been married to my sweet, beautiful wife for three years. I am a bartender at a club and have numerous opportunities to cheat dangled in front of me. After coming close on several occasions, I finally told my wife I wasn’t happy, and we separated three months ago as a prelude…
Inclusion celebration
The Phoenix Center will host the fourth annual Springfield PrideFest on Saturday, May 17, from 12-10 p.m. on Capitol Ave. between Fourth and Sixth streets. The free day-long celebration of diversity strives to offer something for everyone whether you are gay, straight, bisexual, transgendered, queer and no matter what your age. Headlining is the dynamic-performing…
Dog of Panic
Dog of Panic For five years running, Dan Rohde (guitar, lead vocals), Josh Begue (bass, vocals) and Jesse Miller (drums, vocals) made Dog of Panic one of the area’s most interesting bands. Playing original music self-described as “rock with roots in jam, funk, metal and punk,” the band cites musical influences from Primus to Tool,…
