Man vs. good lord, my mouth’s on fire
Wednesday, watch as Man vs. Food’s Adam Richman eschews “chili” for chilLi the Springfield way. In the Springfield-based episode, taped in July, Richman visits Springfield favorites D’Arcy’s Pint and Cozy Dog Drive-In, sampling local delicacies such as the horseshoe and hot dog on a stick. The titular premise, however, comes into play when he visits…
Man vs. good lord, my mouth’s on fire
Wednesday, watch as Man vs. Food’s Adam Richman eschews “chili” for chilLi the Springfield way. In the Springfield-based episode, taped in July, Richman visits Springfield favorites D’Arcy’s Pint and Cozy Dog Drive-In, sampling local delicacies such as the horseshoe and hot dog on a stick. The titular premise, however, comes into play when he visits…
Springfield’s shrinking state workforce
Thousands of state jobs are at stake in Illinois as the largest union of state employees squares off against Gov. Pat Quinn in the fight to keep their jobs. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 filed a lawsuit against the state in August to stop Quinn from cutting 2,600 state…
Pandorum’s reach exceeds its grasp
There’s no doubt that director Christian Alvert is doing his level best to duplicate Alien with his outer space, creature feature Pandorum. From its setting (a vast spaceship adrift in the cosmos), characters (a ragtag crew of misfits) to its monster (a horrific, carnivorous creature), this is a rip-off of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic if…
Educator: Springfield needs more charter schools
Dr. Patrick Hardy, chief academic officer for Rockford Public Schools, visited Springfield last week to encourage educators and community members to consider offering more alternatives to traditional public education. During a presentation hosted by the Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and education organization, Hardy contended that charter schools — open-enrollment public schools usually operated…
Here’s what’s sweet about sweet potatoes
This weekend the anticipation became unbearable. I finally had to dig a hill of sweet potatoes in our garden. They looked beautiful and tasted great. Soon, we will dig all 50 plants and surely have an abundance for this winter. Sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas, is a versatile food crop. Despite its name, it is not…
Vernon Harrington and the Atomic Blues Band
Vernon Harrington grew up on Chicago’s West Side surrounded by blues music and other facts of life in the area. His father, a preacher by trade, also ran a blues and gospel record label, allowing young Vernon a direct window into the world of musicians and music of the 1950s and ’60s. After an encounter…
Fossil bonanza
Shark Attack, featuring shark fossils, is the 2009 theme of Springfield’s Lincoln Orbit Earth Science Society’s rock, gem, fossil and mineral show this weekend. Expert, collector and lapidary exhibitions, demonstrations and activities span the Illinois Building. This is a fun and informative family-oriented exposition. LOESS Rock, Gem & Fossil Show Saturday, October 310am-6pmSunday, October 410am-5pmIllinois…
Sharp-edged humor
Jerry Seinfeld bursts upon Sangamon Auditorium stage Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. Hailed as “the best comedian of our time” in a Washington Post article, the comic revisits his first love — stand-up comedy — after a successful television career in the late 80s and 90s on the popular show “Seinfeld.” Running for nine…
Letters to the Editor 10/01/2009
FILM PROPSWhat a difference a year makes! The Eighth Annual Route 66 International Film Festival attracted about three times the audience as last year, thanks to the sponsorship and support of Illinois Times, Peroni and WUIS. More than 50 filmmakers traveled from across the country and Canada to show their films and network with each…
Springfield’s destination diner
It’s practically a place of pilgrimage. A Mecca for food historians. Tourists flock there, not just from Illinois, but from all across America and around the globe, by motorcycle, car and by the busload. It’s the Cozy Dog on South Sixth Street. The story of Cozy Dogs — the original hot dogs on a stick,…
Helping parents get their kids back
Stephanie Spain, 26, a Petersburg native now residing in Pawnee, is no stranger to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Several years ago, her two daughters were taken from her due to neglect. Spain, like all parents whose children are removed from the home, was given a plan of action, detailing a list…
Ending foreclosure profiteering
During the real estate bubble, older urban neighborhoods across the nation, from Atlanta to Baltimore to Cleveland to Sacramento and countless communities in between fell victim to a devastating plague of predatory lending and mortgage fraud. This was enabled by Wall Street’s bottomless appetite for financing home loans, lenders’ lax standards and corruption among mortgage…
Everything is coming up ‘pink’
I put out the word that I wanted to hear about events with a ‘pink’ theme (supporting breast cancer awareness and research) — here are two more. This Thursday October 8th The Lincoln Land Community College Loggers volleyball team is hosting its fourth annual “pink” game. The game starts at 6 p.m. The Loggers (24-6)…
Traditional folk
Sangamon Auditorium, UIS comes to life Wednesday night as the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company highlights the beauty of its native Ukraine presenting a diverse concert program stocked with bright-colored costumes, a wealth of traditions and energetic, fast-paced and elevated dance moves. Young and old alike will find this choreographed folk dancing fascinating and exciting.…
Bedrock 66 and a political statement
October starts on a high note and crescendos over the next few weeks with some righteously happening entertainment. Not that September was off key, but things are sounding sweet for good music in October. Kicking off the month on Friday, Oct. 2 is a stellar Bedrock 66 concert series show at the Hoogland Center for…
Three into one won’t go
To build or not to build, that is the question. The answer will depend not on the review of high school facilities needs underway at School District 186. It will be determined by the voters — appropriately, if you are concerned about democracy, inappropriately if you are concerned about education. Common sense and consultants made…
Angelic harmony
International Irish music phenomenon, Celtic Woman, graces Sangamon Auditorium for the second leg of the “Isle of Hope” tour. Named number one top world music artist by Billboard Magazine, the multi-platinum group consisting of four vocalists — Chlo, Lisa, Lynn, and Alex — perform, along with Celtic violinist Máiréad, their heavenly renditions of Irish standards,…
Redesigning high schools from the inside out
While the Springfield School District plans to renovate its three high schools, and possibly build a new one, it has already embraced a new design for secondary teaching and learning. “Small learning communities,” also called academies or pods, will be built around specific career interests in each school. Students will pick a community and remain…
couldbeworse poem # 1
david visiting his folks with histwo small children in tow tookthem to the barn horses he’d knownall his life he patted badger’s nosebadger bit him bit off the end ofhis ring finger right hand a plasticsurgeon had to sew him up coverthe stump it was most painfulat dinner the other night the digitstill in a…
Look who’s Pat Quinn’s new best friend
Gov. Pat Quinn brought out one of the biggest Democratic Party guns possible last week in his latest fight with Comptroller Dan Hynes. As you already know, Hynes is running against Gov. Quinn for the Democratic nomination. Hynes recently refused to process several million dollars worth of state payments for tourism programs and various consulting…
How will people with disabilities get to Southwind?
When United Cerebral Palsy Land of Lincoln surveyed its clients recently, the organization found that people with disabilities need better access to recreational and social activities. Bridget Gilliam, UCP’s children’s services manager, says that many families are eager to explore Southwind Park, an 80-acre “all-abilities” venue near the intersection of Interstate 55 and Toronto Road…
“Local” goes loco
In Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty declared, “When I use a word, it means what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.” Mr. Dumpty would have loved living in our era of corporate-speak, when even a plain word of obvious meaning can be dumped down the semantical rabbit hole to be swirled…
Zombieland: Flawed but bloody good fun
Let’s get this out of the way — Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland is not a very good movie. Its third act requires that all the principals suddenly become dumber than the undead who peruse them in order to work, there isn’t an original idea in sight and it labors to reach its barely feature-length running time…
Springfield’s universities co-host Russian artist’s American debut
In 1988, Sergei Chepik, a 35-year-old Russian, arrived in Paris, France, carrying only a canvas, his father’s easel and a painting banned from exhibitions in his homeland. A sign of things to come, that painting, “House of the Dead,” went on to earn public acclaim and awards at Salon d’Automne, an important Paris art show.…
