Upcoming Tom Irwin shows
Catch IT’s very own Tom Irwin in his upcoming shows. _______________________________________________From Tom himself: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7-10p.m. at Brewhaus with The Hayburners featuring Bruce Williams, Brad Floreth and Peter Romano doing some wild, electrified rock-n-roll music. Friday, Nov. 13, 5-8p.m. at JP Kellys (Adams and Third) as McKinney & Hennessey Irish Duo doing Clancy Bros…
Bike council gets down to work
It would be like putting a lobbyist for the pesticide industry in charge of promoting organic food. That’s how one founding member of the Sangamon County Organization for Reform of Cycling Habitat (SCORCH) describes the city’s nomination of David Sykuta as the chairman of the new Springfield Bicycle Advisory Council. Sykuta, the executive director of…
Behind the bowtie, a politician of uncommon integrity
Paul Simon kindles memories of Frank Capra’s classic 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The fictional drama features Jefferson Smith, a wholesome idealist played by James Stewart. Maintaining uncommon integrity while occupying a seat in the United States Senate, Smith emerges as a lonely voice against the corruption and unbridled cynicism often rampant in…
Lincoln brought politics into the war? Really?
Poor Abraham Lincoln. Even in his 200th birthday year, the guy is still being sliced and diced, his every action scrutinized in an estimated 100 new books that have hit the shelves since the Lincoln Bicentennial festivities kicked off two years ago. Case in point is David Work’s just published military history of Lincoln’s Civil…
Overflowing the overflow
The flagging economy is delivering a fatal one-two punch to homeowners, and Springfield will likely feel the knockout this year as the city’s growing homeless numbers overwhelm local shelters. According to online foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac Inc., banks continued to foreclose on homes at an astonishing pace this quarter – 937,840 homes across the nation in…
Healthcare hypocrites
How do you spell “hypocrisy”? Try this: “H-Y-P-O-C-O-N-G-R-E-S-S.” The hypocongress consists of those Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who have risen up on their hind legs in recent weeks to snarl and howl at any mention of a government role in meeting America’s health care needs. “Socialism,” they bark — we won’t allow Barack Obama…
Puppy love
Sylvia is a romantic comedy about the dynamics of a middle-aged couple’s home life and relationship after Gregg brings home a new pet, a dog named Sylvia, whom he proceeds to fall madly in love with. Gina DeCroix plays Sylvia, John McAdams is Greg and Aasne Vigesaa, Kate. Troy Thomas-Pfaffe tackles all the other characters.…
New tool could clear wrongfully convicted
One summer night in 1989, 18-year-old Melissa Koontz disappeared from a grocery store parking lot in Springfield. She was found a week later in a cornfield west of town, stabbed to death. Thomas McMillen, then 39, was convicted of Koontz’s murder in 1991, along with Gary Edgington, then 34. Both men are serving life sentences…
My life as a guide at the Lincoln law offices
I was out of school, out of work and out of ideas when the new owners of the Tinsley Building hired me. It was 1968, and they had just restored the building at Sixth and Adams, believing it prudent to preserve the only remaining Springfield building in which Abraham Lincoln maintained a law office. The…
Jackson documentary sings an incomplete tune
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Michael Jackson documentary This is It but I didn’t anticipate being bored. However, that’s exactly how I felt sitting through this cobbled-together collection of footage taken while the performer was preparing for what was to be the penultimate event of his career. His death not only casts…
Daddy’$ Money
Good friends can make for good bands and Daddy’$ Money does just that. Bill and Lori McKenzie, Troy Roark, Jack White and Chas Blythe all first met at the Jimmy’s Sub Shoppe open mic about 16 years ago while Angela Starr ran into the bunch at another open mic. They’ve remained comrades-in-music throughout the years,…
COMPUTER MEMORY
The Illinois State Fair celebrates agriculture once a year, but let’s face it, that’s just not enough for some of us. This week the Illinois State Museum introduced a solution with its new Audio-Video Barn Web site. The two-year Oral History of Illinois Agriculture project showcases audio and video interviews with more than 130 people…
Writing of the state. The state of writing.
Close your eyes and think of Illinois. Take your time. Free associate. I’m not a mind reader but I guess you see fields of corn and red barns against blue skies. Now think architecture. Of course, Frank Lloyd Wright. History — who else but honest Abe? Politics — no not our ex-governor. I’ll give you…
The first First Husband is the president’s private eye
Joseph Flynn, a Springfield writer, is the author of a number of well reviewed novels. In this, his latest thriller, the plot is familiar — the bad guys go after their target by going after the person our hero cares about most. In this case that person also happens to be the first U.S. woman…
Beyond the bars
Looking over recent Now Playings I noticed we’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time in the bars and at booze-related venues lately. It’s true our libation-selling nightclubs consistently host live music on a nearly nightly basis, but perhaps we should review a few other music-producing institutions outside of the tavern scene, if for nothing…
The famous architect who was never alone
In his most recent book, Communities of Frank Lloyd Wright: Taliesin and Beyond, historian Myron Marty strives to define the Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin Fellowship in the context of other groups Wright worked with and other “intentional communities.” Together with his earlier book, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship (Truman State University Press, 1999), co-authored with…
Connecting readers and Illinois writers
Starting in 1984, the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book began to establish affiliate centers in the 50 states. Today, there is a state Center for the Book in all 50 states. The Illinois Center for the Book is located in the Illinois State Library at Second and Capitol Streets. The Center’s mission is…
Letters to the Editor 11/05/09
MONDAY NIGHT SLURS Racism and the acceptance of racism has reared its ugly head again! On Monday, Oct. 26, my husband and I went to the Capital City Bar and Grill in Capital City Shopping Center for their $1 hamburger, fries, beer and Monday Night Football. What we got was an earful of racial slurs…
Renowned rhymester
Pictured sits internationally-acclaimed poet Vachel Lindsay’s home today (located directly south of the governor’s mansion). Celebrate with local poets and musicians who perform Saturday including: The Vachel Lindsay Repertory Group (10:30 a.m.), Walter Lipe (11:30 a.m.), Sandra Kuizin McKenna (12:30 p.m.), Bill Furry (1:30 p.m.) and Job Conger (2:30 p.m.). Also in attendance, Artist in…
Pasfield House Egg Strata
These recipes in the Illinois Bed and Breakfast Cookbook were contributed by Tony Leone, proprieter of the Pasfield House. Other Pasfield House recipes appear in every one of the cookbook’s categories. Running a B&B sounds appealing to me except the part about regularly rising before dawn to prepare guest breakfasts. Leone has a solution: He…
Asparagi alla Stimpirata
These recipes in the Illinois Bed and Breakfast Cookbook were contributed by Tony Leone, proprieter of the Pasfield House. Other Pasfield House recipes appear in every one of the cookbook’s categories. Running a B&B sounds appealing to me except the part about regularly rising before dawn to prepare guest breakfasts. Leone has a solution: He…
Strings ’n harmony
No need for your lawn chair at this indoor weekend festival. The concert rooms are fully stacked with seats and a lineup cushioned with the likes of 2009 International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainers of the Year, Dailey and Vincent; seven-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, Rhonda Vincent and Rage; and multi-IBMA award winners, Doyle…
Affair in a Chicago heat wave
Midway through Beautiful Piece, an entertaining and gritty novel written in the noir style of mysteries, I began to have an eerie feeling. Imagine, if you will, the look on the face of Bill Murray each morning at 6 a.m. when he awakens to the sound of Cher belting out the lyrics to “I got…
Reformers capitulate on campaign finance
A few weeks ago, I asked a top Republican what his party’s plan was in the ongoing war over campaign finance reform. “We are not for some sham ethics bill,” the official said, then added with tongue slightly in cheek, “We stand with the reformers, until they capitulate, then I’m not sure where we stand,…
Trees made him worth his salt
The 19th century witnessed America’s transformation from a rural, agrarian economy and culture into a restless, 20th century industrial giant and imperial power. Large 19th and early 20th century firms were publicly identified with the men who founded them or guided their early growth — Ford and his auto, Edison and his light bulb, Carnegie…
What it’s like to be unemployed
I am six months into an involuntary sojourn outside the full-time compensated workforce … and I gotta tell you, I don’t like it. Oh, sure. Some may think I am living high on the hog, thanks to all the handouts I get from the big-time elite socialists in Springfield and Washington, D.C. But ask the…
A poetic roller coaster — hold on for the ride
Q: What is there to love about Sufficiency of the Actual, Kevin Stein’s new book of poetry?A: Everything you’ve loved about Stein’s other work: delightful wordplay, humor (light and dark), cultural icons from classical to popular, universal themes (light and heavy)and dagger-strike vivid images. If you haven’t yet read Kevin Stein, there is no better…
Dodging silent killers
When Roy Wilkerson saw an ad last summer offering four screening tests for stroke and related illnesses for a total of only $120, the 83-year-old Springfield resident thought: “Why not?” Although his father died of heart disease at the age of 85, Wilkerson, who only occasionally suffered the minor aches and pains people his age…
Amelia fails to soar
Film biographies, or bio-pics as they were called, were a staple of film studios of the ’30s and ’40s, particularly at Warner Brothers which perfected the formula of using A-List stars to flesh out A-List historical figures on screen. The Story of Louis Pasteur, Sergeant York and Yankee Doodle Dandy, all presented their subjects in…
Photographer, rollin’ on the river
Who wants another coffee table book? Another big picture book to clutter things up? Well — we do, this one. It’s us, guys — where we live and breathe and do our everyday living, in central Illinois — along the Illinois River. In late 2005 David Zalaznik, a photographer for the Peoria Journal-Star, was invited…
Books briefly noted
Grant Achatz’s award-winning Chicago restaurant is thought to be the best in town. If your travel budget doesn’t allow a trip north, you can enjoy, even attempt to prepare, the chef’s unforgettable dishes with the help of Alinea, a cookbook that is itself a sensual experience. Achatz, 416 pp. In The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair…
Getting away close to home
Whether it’s spring when they’re carpeted with wildflowers, the fall when maples form a golden canopy overhead, or winter when snow blankets the ground and frosts the trees; whenever I take a walk in the woods across from our house, I’m struck by the fact that people travel far distances to experience such beauty and…
Good vibes from the ancient art of Reiki
“We are all connected.” So begins Gay Stinnett’s lovely new book about her experiences with the ancient art (she calls it the “wondrous gift”) of Reiki (pronounced ray-key). The International Center for Reiki Training defines the practice as “a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by ‘laying…
Outstanding visions
Three Springfield artists and Prairie Art Alliance members have their work featured this November and December. Tiffany Beane paints a striking oil portrait of Obama, titled “Moving Forward with Faith.” She exhibits works in other various media crafted with the goal in mind to produce an emotion in the viewer. Also, Shirley Caldwell Smith displays…
