A confederacy of dunces
Let’s consider how we came to once worship a hat that could have belonged to Abraham Lincoln – or Willy Wonka, or Slash, as some Twitterheads, including myself, have suggested. The year was 2007, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation was drooling over a collection of Lincoln documents and artifacts, including a stovepipe hat…
How far-out is Trump’s war policy?
America is now militarily involved in 76 countries. Yet, the war machine -– including a massive army of profiteering corporate contractors and the politicians they buy – keeps demanding more: more troops, more money, more profits … more war. Finally, We the People need to awaken to another stark reality: War is stupid. The place…
All heat, no light
The first gubernatorial debate of the 2018 general election was almost all heat and no light. Instead of talking about where they want to take the state, the candidates focused mainly on delivering rehearsed zingers at other people in the race. Gov. Bruce Rauner and Sen. Sam McCann, the Conservative Party candidate, crafted some of…
Letters to the Editor 9/27/18
LANPHIER ‘IMPROVEMENTS’ I noticed the picture of the proposed improvements to Lanphier High School in the Sept. 13-19 edition of Illinois Times. What the picture failed to show was the two new sets of railroad tracks that are being installed within a few hundred feet of the school at a level higher than the windows. These tracks…
Environmentalism shouldn’t be a dirty word
Is there a more despised word among Republicans than “environmentalist”? For many GOP voters, the term conjures up a mental image of tree-hugging socialists hell-bent on regulating our country back to the Stone Age. That’s a shame. The GOP boasts a proud history of environmental activism, one grounded in the fundamentally conservative notion that natural…
‘Fancy’ materials meet everyday objects
On Thursday, Sept. 27, attend the opening reception for “Let the fancy,” the new exhibition at the UIS Visual Arts Gallery that is inspired by the John Keats poem of the same name. The exhibition features mixed-media artworks by regional and national artists that assert the richness of “fancy” materials and designs juxtaposed in a…
Tractors, small engines and steam engines
Take in three days of family fun during the Prairie Land Heritage Museum Fall Festival and Steam Show. This seasonal festival features bandstand performances, daily demonstrations and displays, as well as the opportunity to tour attractions such as a general store, one-room schoolhouse, sawmill, blacksmith shop, museums and Liberty Church. Additionally, there are many opportunities…
A fall festival and flea market
Celebrate the fall harvest during the annual Apple ‘n Pork Festival at the C.H. Moore Homestead DeWitt County Museum in Clinton. The family-friendly event, which began 50 years ago with a pot of soup and a stack of sandwiches, has expanded to become one of the most popular festivals in downstate Illinois. The festivities include more…
Pouter keg
My girlfriend, who’d been traveling, lost track of what day it was and was surprised when I showed up on the usual night I come cook her dinner. She was happy to see me but said she needed to finish this one “urgent work email.” How nice. Dinner would get cold while she took forever.…
Starting Springfield’s economic engine
If nothing else, hundreds of thousands of dollars in public money buys hyperbole. “This is, indeed, a once in a generation opportunity,” Timothy Killeen, University of Illinois president, said as he drew comparisons with Silicon Valley. “We are on the cusp of an extraordinary future for the state of Illinois,” Gov. Bruce Rauner stated as…
Legacy’s Violet promises a transcendent musical road trip
“Left my troubles back there when I climbed on board…”- from Violet Following a cross-country Greyhound ride undertaken by a young woman in search of healing, Violet is the Legacy Theatre’s most recent production, a musical set in 1964 which promises to skirt the trappings of flashier shows to deliver an emotional punch via strong…
Not just for business majors anymore
Associate professor Nathan Steele, Ph.D., a popular and respected instructor and researcher in the University of Illinois Springfield’s college of business and management for over a decade, is excited about his recent appointment as director of the university’s Master of Business Administration program. He especially wants to clear up what he sees as some misconceptions…
GREAT GATSBY FOR SYMPHONY
Classical music supporters and latent jitterbug-flappers alike, take note: On Sunday, Sept. 30, at 5 p.m., the Bloomington DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center will provide the setting for “The Great Gatsby Gala, A Roaring Fundraiser for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra,” your best chance to help fund the ISO while emulating F. Scott Fitzgerald’s glamorous prohibition-era hepcats…
UIS MUSLIMS HOST PAKISTAN LECTURE
The Muslim Students Organization of University of Illinois Springfield will host a public lecture Saturday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. on the subject of “Pakistan’s foreign policy under the Imran Khan administration: Implications for the great powers.” Featured speaker will be Shahbaz Gill, who acts as an adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Khan in addition…
Timely Assassination a vicious cautionary tale
A primal scream from today’s generation, Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation is a film that brims with anger, a work propelled by confusion and resentment that rages against the machine that is the internet and the hypocrisy that emerges when people’s backs are against the wall. Graphic in its violence and the sexual habits of its…
Healing arts and blues
Other than the usual complaints of time passing quickly, we’ve had a dang good run of summertime fun, outdoor gigs and all. Now, as the festivals come to a close, with only a few left in early October and as the Sunday Funday patio and beer garden shows fade back inside, enjoy the time out…
Joel DaSilva (and band)
This award-winning, hard rockin’, busy, traveling blues man calls his stuff “Americana, roots rock and blues soul” to cover a wide range of an intense area of American music. Joel also adds in “rock ‘n’ roll, surf, swing, rockabilly, blues-abilly, funk, dunk, twang and songwriter” as parts of his musical expertise, making all this available…
Cravings: How I Conquered Food
When I was 20, I crossed the burning border / I came to find the good life / And brought my daughter here … We came for democracy and hope / Now all we have is hope … My daughter is a Dreamer … The rapturous applause at Rockford’s historic Coronado Performing Arts Center had…
kid shenanigans #2
kid shenanigans #2 there’s a lotta ugly things to write about but let’s stick with maybe funny: us sibs on the farm made our own amusement here’s grama’s rat terrier again we’d yell “sic ‘m, bounce!” – outside he’d race in circles seeking the rat finally in frenzied frustration he’d rush up a certain tree tear…
