Radio and books
Get a dose of laughter as NPR Humorist, author of Naked, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim and When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and regular New Yorker contributor injects Sangamon Auditorium with the silly stings of the human condition. Called the master of satire, if there was a Ph.D. in comedy, he would…
A woman’s movement
University of Illinois Springfield Theatre Program produces the thought-provoking Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by American theater icon, Wendy Wasserstein. Relive the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s through the humorous, historical and cultural trek of Heidi Holland as she moves from high-school brainer to adult professor and feminist. UIS Assistant Professor of Theatre Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson…
Taste the wild side of walnuts
They’re wild. Their flavor is intense and unique. They’re local – native to the Midwestern and Eastern United States. And they’re darned hard to get out of their shells. Black walnuts (juglans nigra) may be related to their European cousin, the English, or Persian walnut (juglans regia), but they taste very different: Different in flavor,…
Debating the debates
Before the Oct. 17 gubernatorial debate between Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn and Republican Bill Brady at Elmhurst College near Chicago, Green Party candidate Rich Whitney and a group of supporters stood outside in protest, megaphone and signs in hand. It’s a scene that will be the new norm until debate hosts start inviting all established…
Black walnut shortbread cookies (dipped in chocolate)
3/4 c. black walnuts 1 c. unsalted butter, softened 1 c. LOOSELY packed dark brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract ¼ tsp. kosher or sea salt 2 ¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour Approximately 8 oz. good quality bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate (if dipping) Toast the black walnuts in a 350º-degree oven in a single layer…
Peggy Lowder and Harry Lounsberry
These two seasoned veterans of the local music scene recently collaborated on a CD of original tunes and intend to perform them at the CD release show. Conceived by Lounsberry (vocals, keyboards), Lowder (vocals, percussion) contributed to the production as the two performing songwriters combined to create a project designed to “capture an audience that…
Wicked Springfield
“This book is not about Abraham Lincoln and his virtues,” announces Erika Holst in her introduction to Wicked Springfield: Crime, Corruption & Scandal during the Lincoln Era. “It is about Lincoln’s hometown and its vices.” Rather than the by-now familiar cast of supporting players in Abraham Lincoln’s drama of self-improvement, Holst introduces us to the…
Who’s behind Stand for Children?
It’s not every day that a group almost nobody has ever heard of gives $175,000 to a single state legislative candidate. But that’s just what happened on Oct. 7 when Stand for Children Illinois PAC handed over that gigantic check to Republican Ryan Higgins, who is vying to replace retiring state Rep. Paul Froehlich (D-Schaumburg).…
OXTOBY ACHIEVES
Carolyn Oxtoby has spent more than 30 years restoring and preserving historic buildings in Springfield, from the famous Lincoln-Herndon Law Office to the former Masonic Temple she helped turn into the Hoogland Center for the Arts. She worked to save and restore Springfield’s Elijah Iles House and even started the local nonprofit Heritage Foundation, which…
Teaching Millennials some manners
In an article for The New Yorker, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, a social network that has had its problems with privacy, claimed that privacy is an “evolving social norm.” Since the death of Tyler Clementi, the college student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge because his dorm-mate used a webcam to broadcast…
When slaves were sold at auction in Springfield
You can’t help but wonder what Abraham Lincoln would have thought if he’d witnessed the public auction here of two slave girls in July, 1827. Even though the event occurred 10 years before Lincoln came to Springfield, its repercussions would affect him many years later. It’s hard to imagine a slave auction being held in…
Third Floor opens doors
As the Hoogland Center for the Arts continues to be a major force in area arts events and a blessing upon our collective artistic sensibilities, a certain element of the local scene remains out of the loop. Stellar community theater presentations abound and miscellaneous entertainment occurrences appear including touring music concerts, comedy acts, dance shows…
Schedule a day of mindfulness
An entire day meditating in silence may not be how you usually fill a Saturday, but here’s an opportunity to try something different. Eva Muller and Juliet Slack are leading “A Day of Mindfulness: a Meditation Retreat” Saturday, Oct. 23. They claim that the activity is a calming, healing experience. And as the cacophonous political…
Jackass 3D is everything you’d expect and less
Since their invention in 1896, the vicarious experiences that motion pictures have provided have perhaps been the greatest source of their appeal. Whether it be plundering for treasure on the high seas, living happily ever after with the love of your life or winning the big sporting event in the final moments, film has given…
Black walnut praline pork chops
Black walnuts are available from at least two vendors at the Old State Capitol Farmers Market, completely shelled as well as with pre-cracked shells. Hammons Black Walnuts are available at several local grocery stores. 4 pork chops, approximately 1/2 – 1-inch thick 1/4 c. kosher or sea salt 1 qt. cold water Freshly ground black…
Powerful multimedia
If you missed the first PechaKucha Night in Springfield, you won’t want to miss the second, held Oct. 28 at the City Lights Theatre at Capital City Bar and Grill. Nine local individuals: Chris Britt, Jeff Nevins, Jennifer Snopko, Thomas Pasko, Janice Hahn, Kent Massie, Jonathan Reyman, Rachel Rambach and Terry Taylor take the podium…
Letters to the Editor 10/21/10
DONORS FIRST Ryan Louis was very lucky to get a heart transplant [see “Springfield man celebrates 25 years with transplanted heart,” by Patrick Yeagle, Oct. 14]. There are now more than 108,000 people on the National Transplant Waiting List, with more than 50 percent of these people dying before they get a transplant. Most of…
Former death row inmate speaks out
While sitting on death row for 12 years, Randy Steidl wasn’t against capital punishment. Not in the general, philosophical sense. “I came from a conservative farm family,” he says, explaining his position on the death penalty when he was arrested for murder in 1986 at the age of 35. “I believed in the system,” he…
Rockin’ radical
You might have seen or heard this musician on “Austin City Limits,” “Letterman,” or via “True Blood’s” episode two closing song. WUIS Bedrock Series and E&F Distributing Company bring political songwriter and prolific rock ’n’ roll classicist to the Hoogland Center for the Arts on Oct. 22. With a wide range and height of credits,…
Administration claims no more early release
Republicans are hammering Gov. Pat Quinn on early prisoner release programs, but their claims are raising eyebrows at the Illinois Department of Corrections. According to a press release from the Illinois Senate Republicans, Quinn continues to secretly release thousands of inmates from prison before they’ve served their time, despite Quinn’s claims that he suspended all…
BIG BUCKS
Want a piece – a BIG piece – of the John Deere company’s history? Now’s your chance. An eight-foot long, eight-foot tall buck sculpture commissioned by John Deere’s son in 1893 is up for auction next weekend at H.A.S. Auction of Virden. Charles Deere was the president of the Deere Company from 1887 to 1907,…
Apple Plenty cake
3 eggs 11/2 cups neutral vegetable oil, such as canola 2 cups sugar 3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 4 c. peeled, cored and chopped apples 1 c. black walnuts, lightly toasted if desired 2 tsp. vanilla extract Glaze: 1 c. dark brown sugar, packed 1/4 c. milk 1/2…
The cost of Bill Brady’s plan
Of the estimated 400 to 500 people who showed up to a Columbus Day rally in Charleston for state senator and Republican governor hopeful Bill Brady of Bloomington, most were Republican voters angry with the state of the state. They cheered loudly as Brady criticized the policies of current Democrat governor Pat Quinn, comparing him…
Bleeding in Afghanistan
Are you aware that America has now been at war for nearly a decade? We’ve been fighting, bleeding and dying in two hellacious, multitrillion-dollar conflagrations since 2001 – and our blood continues to flow, with no end in sight. Well, not our blood. Not yours and mine. We continue to go about our daily routines…
