The New One
This week’s poem is byguest poet Lola Lucaswho has written about myThe Round Barn, Volume I,soon to be published.Thank you, Lola! JJ The New Onefor Jackie JacksonSeptember 2011 Jackie brings her newest to my carFor me to coo over –“Oh, such a big one!”She’s had a dozen, I wonderIf she can really rememberAll their names.…
Who are the poor?
My favorite scene in Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist occurs in the second chapter. Oliver Twist is living with several dozen juveniles in a workhouse, all suffering “the tortures of slow starvation” and “so voracious and wild with hunger” that one large boy mentions his urge to eat a smaller boy. This simply will not…
This Steel is rusty
I have to admit that upon seeing the trailer for Real Steel, my inner 10-year-old perked up and said, “Wow, that looks cool!” Perhaps my reaction was rooted in the fact that my parents never did get me that “Rock ’em, Sock ’em, Robots” game I always wanted and my instant desire to see this…
House of Nasty closes
As we pass through the Ides of October and head toward indoor music events, let’s say our goodbyes to a wonderful warm season of terrific outdoor shows. Just taking a moment to revel in the past is a delight, making a pleasant path to focus on the future. What was your favorite warm weather musical…
Big scream flicks
Route 66 Twin Drive-In at Knights Action Park has a special October in store for families looking for Halloween fun. During the last three weekends in October, families have a choice of two double features nightly with entertaining ghostly and ghouly films such as How to Train Your Dragon, Casper, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken,…
CASH ON THE BARREL HEAD
The Barrel Head is scheduled to go on the auction block. The popular Jerome watering hole closed over Labor Day weekend in the midst of a foreclosure battle between owner Kevin Davlin and Illinois National Bank, which says that it is owed $1.4 million. Davlin at one point fought the foreclosure action by claiming that…
Sparks fly over electricity appointee
Gov. Pat Quinn has been trying to get rid of Illinois Power Agency director Mark Pruitt almost since the day Quinn was sworn into office. He finally did it, but the move is backfiring. The governor is a big cheerleader for alternative power like wind and solar. But Pruitt, whose main job is negotiating contracts…
Letters to the Editor 10/13/11
PROHIBITION Currently airing on PBS-TV, “Prohibition” explains how the Volstead Act changed America. One program stated “Prohibition had been enacted to forestall change; to put and end to alcoholism, safeguard the American family (and) to re-establish the moral supremacy of small town Protestant America.” If you substitute “tea party” for “prohibition,” “Barack Obama” for “change”…
PRESERVATIONIST OF THE YEAR
Already recognized by the state, Springfield’s Tony Leone got his latest kudos from the city. On Monday, the vocal advocate for saving old structures was named 2011 Preservationist of the Year by Mayor Mike Houston and the Springfield Historic Sites Commission. Leone is best known for his renovation of the structure at 525 S. Pasfield…
Something big is happening: Occupy Together
To paraphrase one of Bob Dylan’s songs of youthful protest, “Something’s happening here, and you don’t know what it is, do you Ms. Bellafante?” A New York Times writer, Ginia Bellafante, is but one of many establishment reporters and pundits who’ve been covering the fledgling “Occupy Wall Street” movement – but completely missing the story.…
Orange scented braised lamb shanks
McGee’s guidelines for succulent braises and stews: A moist, tender braise or stew results from the cook’s cumulative attention to several details of procedure. The most important rule: never let the meat interior get anywhere near the boil. Keep the meat as intact as possible to minimize cut surfaces through which fluids can escape. If…
Treasure Hunter strikes gold
Six years ago, Jeffrey Parsons of Athens declared bankruptcy. The filing came after he was sued by Attorney General Lisa Madigan for alleged violations of consumer protection and deceptive business practices statutes by a Parsons company that sold fireworks, some deemed illegal by the state fire marshal. In Springfield, he is known for establishing drive-up…
Leading UIS into the future
Asked what is her most important accomplishment at the University of Illinois Springfield, and Susan Koch, about 100 days into her position as chancellor, names Kimberly Pate. “The hiring of our athletic director was absolutely critical, and even though I wasn’t on board yet I was very, very involved with the hire through the months…
State worker charged with child porn keeps job
What would your employer do if he found pornography, including hundreds of depictions of children having sex, on your work computer? If you have a job at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, the answer is not much. Eric Knuth, an employee in the university’s information technology services department, remains on the job despite a recommendation…
Eliot Lipp
As the lines between musician and performer blur with DJ and electronic music maker, sounds are created by whatever is available, from a drumbeat to the computer and everything in between, a place where music exists by intent. Prominent DJ/producer Eliot Lipp brings in the normal sampling of existing music then adds bits and pieces…
In praise of braise
The heat is finally retreating. Even when daytime temperatures are warm, the nights are deliciously cool. Best of all, the high humidity has fled. When days and nights turn crisp, my culinary thoughts move away from salads and grilling towards stews and braised dishes. What’s the difference between the two terms? Not much. In fact,…
Show-within-a-show
Roxy Theatricals was granted the rights to produce the five-time Tony-award winning musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, which plays at The Legacy Theatre for three weekends minus the last Sunday. Laugh along with the modern-day musical theater addict, known only as Man in Chair (Ed MacMurdo, also the director), who watches the characters and set of…
Boomerangers
The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce is talking industrial parks as the way to make Greater Springfield – which I prefer to think of as Bigger Springfield – a Great Place to Do Business. Springfield’s economic development plans aim to import companies or expand one already in the city. Alas, attracting a successful firm is…
Chimney sweep is sweeping up
Reaching into a pocket, Bill Klein pulls out a tiny swatch of soot-stained red cloth. “Here,” he says to a smiling client. “I found this. Santa must have torn his pants.” It’s an “aha” moment that’s been repeated thousands of times by a man who’s been sweeping Springfield’s chimneys for nearly four decades, and it…
Pumpkins on parade
More than 2,000 jack-o-lanterns fill the night with light and character on two popular, illuminating nights at Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon and Washington Park Botanical Garden Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15. District 186 students, artists and the general public carved the crowd of pumpkins for the annual carillon fundraiser. Also visit the Pumpkin…
Mayor Houston withdraws a controversial nomination
A short-lived nomination to a once-forgotten city commission has prompted concerns about Springfield Mayor Mike Houston’s vetting process for city posts. Houston on Saturday withdrew his nomination of former police chief Kirk Robinson to serve on the city’s Community Police Review Commission. Robinson resigned as chief of the department in 1993 after allegations of sexual…
