Galling developments
Untitled Document While sitting on my grandparents’ porch last Sunday, I noticed numerous ball-shaped objects in their oak trees. Looking closer, I found that almost every limb of the 10-year-old trees contained gouty oak gall. A plant gall is an abnormal swelling that develops within tissues that have been colonized by a parasitic organism. The…
People’s Poetry
Untitled Document ecopoem #3 praise be I wasn’t a lederbrand cow drowsily dreaming in that predawn pawnee pasture when the buried pipeline burst sending a fireball six hundred feet into the air I’d be charbroiled pumice as it was sixty of my sisters stampeded bellowing from the red hot barn some haven’t been found yet…
Strawberry time
Untitled Document As usual, things were pretty low-key at the first regular downtown farmers’ market last week. There was an easy camaraderie as vendors greeted each other and familiar customers. There were lots of plants: flowers, herbs, and a wide selection of tomatoes. Spring produce was displayed in all its glory: young onions, bundles of…
For Frankophiles
Untitled Document When you have a career as remarkable as the one Frank McNeil has had in his 20 years on the City Council — from his participation in the voting-rights lawsuit that established Springfield’s aldermanic system of government to creating a police-review board and being the city’s conscience — somebody’s bound to throw you…
All is Welles
Untitled Document The Third Man (1949) is the greatest Orson Welles movie Welles didn’t direct. It is a testament to the greatness of this film that many people assume that Welles did direct it. Criterion has preserved this classic thriller on a new two-disc special-edition DVD. Joseph Cotten stars as an American who is invited…
Pointing the finger
Untitled Document The offices of the Illinois Association of Minorities in Government remained locked this week as new allegations of mismanagement against Roy Williams Jr., executive director of the 1,400-member organization and a Springfield community activist, surfaced. Williams, who was hired in 2005, and three members of his staff were put on administrative leave and…
Capital offenses
Untitled Document If you’re the kind of person who solves crossword puzzles with an ink pen, responds with the right questions faster than the contestants on Jeopardy!, and can reach a higher score using a Scrabble board than a bowling ball, today’s column is probably not for you. You, I’m sure, aced AP English, made…
Doing it, the old fashioned way
Untitled Document The backlash has landed: Wilco, the little indie band that could, isn’t getting a free pass from the press anymore. Sky Blue Sky, the Chicago outfit’s sixth album, isn’t being panned, exactly, but the response has been lukewarm. Where once the critics cited Kraftwerk, Neu!, and Radiohead, now they invoke Jackson Browne, the…
Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. WHEN CIVIL RIGHTS TRUMP TREATMENT Dr. Alex J. Spadoni hit the nail on the head in his recent commentary on treatment…
Reuse peanuts
Untitled Document Where can one find nonpolluting alternatives to foam “packaging peanuts” used for shipping fragile merchandise? Those little white polystyrene-foam packaging peanuts are nearly ubiquitous in our pack-and-ship culture, but they are no good for the environment, let alone human health. The basic building block of polystyrene is the nonrecyclable chemical compound styrene. Long-term…
Overloaded and bloated
Untitled Document The third chapter of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga mercifully brings the franchise to a close, I hope — and though the story makes little sense, it is an improvement over part two and delivers some impressive visual sights, which has always been the series’ strong point. Logic and coherence go out the…
Onion dip without mix
Untitled Document As a kid growing up in the 1970s, I defined food in terms of catchy names and brightly colored boxes rather than as meals made from scratch. The menu of my childhood was defined by my mother, whose views about feeding her family were shaped largely by the advertising world. For a 28-year-old…
A memorable Memorial Day weekend
Untitled Document Forget that summer-solstice business. Memorial Day weekend marks the real start of summer, and the best part of summer is all the wonderful outdoor live music. Here’s a lineup of three best bets: • The Shambolee Golf Club, in Petersburg (217-632-2140) hosts Melvin Taylor, a fantastic and renowned blues guitarist, 8 p.m.-midnight Friday,…
The intern
Untitled Document I never really wanted an intern. I’m sort of a lone wolf who prefers to work alone. But a longtime friend of mine, Jim Nowlan, pretty much demanded that I take on one of his prize students, Paul Richardson, as an intern this legislative session. I resisted at first but eventually met with…
Vacation on Warming Island
Untitled Document As summer approaches, families all across our country are making vacation plans. But some people get bored with the same old trips, whether it’s to the shore or to some exotic tropical island. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Well, Bucko, don’t get all mopey. Perk up your vacation life with something…
