See you at the Holiday Farmers’ Market
I’m going through withdrawal. It’s not from the pain meds prescribed for a recent injury. No, I go through this withdrawal every November: Farmers’ market withdrawal. From May through October, unless I’m out of town, I can be found at our local farmers’ markets at least once a week, and usually twice. My husband and…
Someone’s going to win $1000!
Hopefully by now you’ve heard about the Capital Area Independent Business Alliance and our holiday campaign KEEP YOUR MONEY HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. The campaign runs from November 1 through December 15 and the message is oh so simple: Don’t shop in St. Louis, or Chicago. Don’t make that trip to…
Rock out for a cause
The Second Annual Central Illinois Foodbank Benefit Concert with The Station AXA Advisors and Planet Playground Records are proud to present the Second Annual Central Illinois Food Bank Benefit Concert Friday November 27th at the Hoogland Center for the Arts at 420 S. 6th St. in Springfield. This year’s musical lineup includes The Station -…
Taste of the East
Finally, a reason to break out your saris and kurtas – for a good cause, no less. The Asian Indian Women’s Organization of Springfield is hosting its seventh biennial India Night. AIWO is a local nonprofit group that works to improve the community, and they’re eager to share their culture with Springfield. It’s a chance…
Anything for love?
The UIS theater program begins its 2009-2010 season with a production of Neil LaBute’s drama about four characters who struggle in the matters of love and art, examining how far people will go for the love of love. Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson directs. Not suitable for children. The Shape of ThingsFri and Sat, Nov 13-14, 19-217:30pmSunday, Nov…
Sly cast saves Goats
There’s a meandering quality to Grant Heslov’s The Men Who Stare at Goats, an odd but entertaining semi-fictional look at a secret government program whose purpose was to train soldiers to use an unconventional weapon to fight their enemies. As recounted in Jon Ronson’s best-selling nonfiction book, this elite group was known as the New…
USER FRIENDLY
Ever wonder how much of local and state government’s inner workings are open for public review? Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan plans to give you the skinny through a series of free seminars held around the state beginning this week. Her office will explain the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act and…
Departing chief’s old job overlaps with new post
Ralph Caldwell begins his new job as director of the Metropolitan Computer-Aided Dispatch agency in Champaign County on Dec. 14, but city officials confirm that he’ll still be employed as chief of the Springfield Police Department through January. Ernie Slottag, city communications director, says Caldwell will be on the city’s payroll until Jan. 19. Assistant…
Big Fun for Less Dough
With this year’s tighter budgets, many holiday cooks will be limiting their entertaining splurges. Fancy menus and imported ingredients are facing the ax, as shopping lists face greater scrutiny. Instead, many are taking a new look at old favorites, which can help cut holiday-meal costs without having to cut guest lists. While in recent years,…
The value of open mics
The number of open stages and jams listed in last week’s Illinois Times Pub Crawl was 13. That’s more than double from the six I found in the July 23, 2009, issue of IT and averages nearly two a day for the week. What’s going on here and why? More than likely it’s a combination…
Attorney general files complaint to stop proposed central Illinois strip mine
Strip mining — a type of surface mining that involves excavating earth, rock and other sediment to uncover coal — has once again come under fire in central Illinois. Last month Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a complaint in Fulton County, asking that the circuit court require the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to…
Hoogland Center’s second act
Nestled in the basement between thick square support pillars, the young musicians eagerly consume sheet after sheet of music, building a crescendo with violins, timpani and horns. Three floors up, a group of usually-playful thespians reenact a somber scene of social injustice that weighs heavily on the hearts of both performer and observer. Just down…
Roast Turkey
Read through these instructions at least a couple of times before beginning, to get an understanding of how everything comes together. For additional help, I’ll be demonstrating how to cut up a chicken at the Nov. 21 Holiday Farmer’s Market, much of which is applicable to this preparation. 1 turkey, any size Brine to cover…
BigFur
2001 marked the first sights and sounds of BigFur, Springfield’s original, alternative rock band created to define a new musical experience on the Midwest scene. In spite of rocky roads here and there with band member business combined with a definite case of drummer-disappearance phenomenon, the core of the band stayed together and weathered the…
My fond farewell to this year’s farmers’ marke
This past August, I came to Springfield, beginning my life as a college student at UIS. One of the first things my English class did was take a field trip to the Old Capitol Farmers’ Market. I was instantly enthralled by the abundance of fruits and vegetables and the sweet aromas of pastries and kettle…
Who deserves Wall Street bonuses?
Wall Street bankers are really mad these days — in both senses of that word! You’d think these whizzes of speculative finance would be ecstatically happy and filled with gratitude, not anger. After all, having crashed our economy, they were allowed to keep their cushy jobs, get bailed out with trillions of our tax dollars…
Underground movements
Watching TV around Halloween — when so many rotting corpses rise from the grave to threaten the unwary that it is easy to think that it is an election year — reminded me that dead people are a waste disposal problem. Call them corruptible or call them putrescible, they rot. Frontier-era settlers learned to their…
BUSH BEGONE
Springfield author Forrest P. Redd describes the morning of Nov. 3, 2004, by saying “It feels like I just got hit by a bus.” It was the day after the reelection of former President George W. Bush, and Redd was quite displeased, to put it mildly. More than five years later, Redd is releasing a…
Roasting a better bird
“I swear, I’m done with turkey! It’s always overcooked and dry, or undercooked and rubbery. Next Christmas we’ll have beef roast or chicken – anything but turkey!” Those words were astonishing coming from my New Zealand friend, Bill Boeyen. He’s a retired hotelier/chef who spent a lifetime behind the stove, in his day cooking for…
Is Wal-Mart the new local?
As Wal-Mart seeks to rebrand itself as the socially-conscious superstore, the effects of the retail giant’s changes remain to be seen. At a Nov. 10 press conference in the south Springfield Wal-Mart on Lejune Drive, company representatives announced the store is committed to selling local produce. “For Wal-mart, health and wellness and being able to…
Community Wish List for 11/12/2009
Lend a hand to these central Illinois organizations this holiday season. Check Illinois Times next week for more local wish lists. Send lists to holidaywishlist@illinoistimes.com Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery1011 N. 7th St., 525-6800 Started in 1989 with a mission to prevent child abuse and neglect, the Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery provides free emergency, temporary care,…
Republicans catch ‘tea party fever’
“Tea party fever” is to the Republican Party what the H1N1 Flu is to the general populace. It’s spreading fast and it’s potentially dangerous. Establishment Republican politicians all over the country are becoming more freaked out by the angry, anti-tax, anti-illegal immigration, anti-Obama, anti-whatever tea party protestors and are mimicking their rhetoric. Even in Illinois,…
Stand-up act
Dave Coulier, comedian, television show host and star visits Springfield for five shows over three days this weekend. His stand-up act earned him appearances on “The Tonight Show,” HBO’s “Detroit Comedy Jam” and “Comic Relief at Radio City Music Hall,” but he is best known for his funny antics as Joey along side Bob Saget…
High school students begin pre-pre-med at SIU
Two dozen young students filed forward to receive their white coats at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine on Nov. 9. Not yet medical residents or even first-year medical students, this class is special — they’re all local high school freshmen chosen for a new initiative that will prepare them for careers in medicine.…
Springfield’s own Rosie the Riveter
“All the day long, Whether rain or shine, She’s a part of the assembly line. She’s making history, Working for victory, Rosie the Riveter…” -from the 1943 song, “Rosie the Riveter” by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb Rosie the Riveter – Roseville Big Band During World War II, Anna (“Ann”) Hayden, who’s now 92…
Remasters of The Universe
For the person on your list who thinks there hasn’t been music worth listening to since Reagan was president. Let them know good news awaits beneath the tree. Old is new again this holiday season – and thanks to some digital trickery it sounds better than ever. Check out the latest reissues that are sure…
Letters to the Editor 11/12/2009
NOT KICK’N F5Hats off to our friends in F5, Best of Springfield 2009’s Best Cover Band, for this great recognition! No doubt the F5 gang knows how to entertain! What everyone commenting and reading these comments [see “Best of Springfield 2009,” online comment thread, Oct. 29] needs to keep in mind is that the IT’s…
Food Guru
Joel Berg, author of the book, All You Can Eat: How Hungry Is America? that exposes the problem of hunger in America, speaks at UIS Monday night. He is executive director of the New York Coalition against Hunger and former senior executive for eight years at United States Department of Agriculture. Those wishing to participate…
Flying high
Fun for all ages, jump on board this weekend show at the Prairie Capital Convention Center where the big top comes indoors with acrobatics, tricks and elephants. Purchase reserved seats at Ticketmaster locations or general admission seat tickets at the PCCC box office and the Ansar Shrine Temple at 530 S. Sixth Street. Ansar Shrine…
