Out-of-this-world tryst
Halloween in Springfield is not complete without the Rocky Horror Show. Director Mac Warren, Producer Gus Gordon, Hoogland Center for the Arts and ADHD Productions once again help you get wildly lost in the wacky, wonderful world of the cult classic musical. You may be more familiar with the cult classic film that was made…
Springfield’s role in preserving the dead
Before the Civil War, embalming was mainly done in America by medical men seeking to preserve corpses for anatomical study. It wasn’t until the outbreak of the Civil War, when tens of thousands of soldiers died on battlefields far from home, that embalming came into fashion as a means of preserving bodies before burial. And…
Comedy of heir-ors
Tartuffe opens at University of Illinois Springfield Studio Theater Oct. 26 igniting the 2012-2013 season for the UIS theater department. Six performances showcase this comedy by Moliere, twice banned in the 17th century as sacrilegious, and brought to light in a contemporary translation by Ranjit Bolt. Subtitled, “The Hypocrite,” the play focuses on a religious…
Young women, grab the power. Vote.
As a college sophomore and college professor, we often talk with young women about national politics. Too frequently, we hear them say that politics is too intimidating and complex to understand or too messy to want to get involved in. Not only do these young women choose to look the other way, but by saying…
The dirty little secret of private equity profits
Today, for the first time, I am officially notifying the honchos of Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and other big-time private equity funds that I am available. My little company, Saddle Burr Productions, can be had. For a price. I publish this notice in response to a recent news item revealing…
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Unfortunately many folks, not from the great state of Texas and not into the intense singer-songwriter-Americana scene that sustains and supports songwriting there as an art to be experienced and believed, don’t know of Ray Wylie Hubbard. It’s possible you have heard one of his songs from long ago, the classic, “Up Against the Wall…
Activity 4 a bore
Having racked up serious box office and generally favorable reviews with the first three Paranormal Activity films, the producers of the series have finally gone to the well once too often. The fourth entry proves to be a tepid affair that elicits more snores than scares. While directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman impressed with…
Best of 2012 (Part 2)
BEST NEW BAND 2012BrushfireOur voters had impeccable taste in choosing this intensely hot country band, as this summer the group finished first in a national contest judged by country music industry hot shots. After beating out some 300 other bands vying in the Battle for the Saddle, Brushfire performed at Nashville’s legendary nightclub the Wildhorse…
Best of 2012 (Part 1)
Welcome to BOS Often the news business takes us to the worst of Springfield, so we look forward every year to this edition, which brings you the best. In these pages, 72 of them this week, we celebrate our readers’ choices in more than 100 categories for the best in food and drink, music and…
I got spew, Babe
You wrote in your column, “Men, especially, are compelled to ditch what’s chasing them and chase what’s trying to ditch them.” It seems you’re advising that the simple desire to love a man must be approached without authenticity and personal integrity. Must a woman really scheme to get a man, using a painfully conscious strategy…
Third-party candidates even lose to jailbirds
Ever since I published a poll last month showing indicted former state Rep. Derrick Smith, D-Chicago, leading third party candidate Lance Tyson in the 10th Illinois House District race by a mind-boggling 47 percent to 9 percent, there’s been a lot of grumbling about how Chicago voters ought to know better. Smith was arrested and…
The needle and the records won
San Francisco, city and club, are famously tolerant of people who don’t play by the book, but Major League Baseball tolerates it only among its umpires. The game’s poobahs have ruled that a player who uses the same sort of methods to win a job on a big-league club that its owners used to acquire…
Spooky eyes
Spooky eyes • Hard-boiled eggs, shelled• Black food coloring• Mayonnaise• Turmeric, optional• Dijon mustard• Cider vinegar• Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste• Extra large pimento-stuffed green olives (or smaller ones if your eggs are small) The day before you plan to serve the “eyes,” fill a large jar or deep…
Not so sweet Halloween treats
Halloween is traditionally all about the sweet stuff, at least from a culinary standpoint. But you can get into the Halloween “spirit” without the sugar. Here are a couple of recipes that do just that. I have called this riff on deviled eggs by various names over the years: Devil’s Eyes, Evil Eyes, Devilish Eggs,…
furniture poem #1
furniture poem #1 my parlor is commanded by apowder blue chair fairly comfyslightly fuzzy very ah yes verypowder blue donated by a friendwhose husband couldn’t stand itthose who gather in my domicileare aesthetically divided one thingis certain that chair is just waitingto have a cup of coffee spilled on it 2012 Jacqueline Jackson
Halloweening and how
Now, now my frantic friends, let this week bring out the inner Halloweener in you. But first, we have some sad and serious news to report in a joyous way. This Sunday, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Robbie’s (thanks Archie!), musicians, family and friends gather to celebrate the life of John Henry Johnson. Born…
Bloody good gravy
Bloody good gravyto be served with roast beast Sure, you can serve spaghetti with tomato sauce and give it a creepy name, maybe Guts and Gore. But let’s face it: everybody will know it’s just, well, spaghetti and tomato sauce. The dark red/purple beets do a much better job of imitating actual blood. In fact,…
Awe-inspiring tribute
Organ music and electronic lighting that are dramatic, evocative and perhaps a little eerie, accompanied by expressive dance, work together to commemorate All Saints’ Day. Award-winning organist Christopher Holman performs Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera Overture” and pieces by composers Widor and Gounod, among others. Organizers…
Perry gets Cross-ed up
While I appreciate Tyler Perry’s desire to branch out from his “Medea” films, which have put him on the map as far as the movie community is concerned, I couldn’t imagine a worse breakout effort than his current feature Alex Cross. Based loosely on the twelfth novel in James Patterson’s best selling series that revolves…
