Weird Al
As if Alan Keyes wasn’t embarrassing enough with his hours-long diatribes, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate had to go off and verbally slime the vice president’s daughter. That’s just great. It’s not as if Dick Cheney holds grudges or anything. Calling Cheney’s lesbian daughter a selfish hedonist will have absolutely no repercussions. If Keyes…
music notes 9-9-04
• PENNY LANE, Springfield’s only surviving store that was once called a headshop, sponsors a free outdoor concert on Sunday, Sept. 12, at Douglas Park. The concert, which began as a tribute to Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, has become a mid-September tradition, celebrating Garcia’s life near the date of his death. Perfunctory This…
letters 9-9-04
Letters policy We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity. Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois 62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com SWIFT CARTOON WAS INSENSITIVE Although I usually do not read your publication,…
movie review
Paul McGuigan’s Wicker Park is the sort of film that doesn’t really entertain as much as frustrate its audience. A remake of the 1996 French film L’Appartement, this movie aspires to be a tale of obsessive love in the tradition of Vertigo. However, Wicker Park occupies a cinematic level many rungs below Hitchcock’s masterpiece, and…
common sense 9-9-04
See whether this sounds familiar: A sour and rabidly partisan Vietnam vet named John O’Neill is plucked from obscurity by the Republican White House to be used as an attack dog against John Kerry. O’Neill creates a hokey “citizens” group to pound Kerry over his war service. But the assault I’m describing is not this…
backstage pass 9-9-04
One can take the pulse of a community’s theater scene by counting the number of new or little-known shows that are produced. It’s always a risk to stage something new because, more than likely, the audiences will be small. But theater patrons who are willing to try something new are also an appreciative lot, and…
Censored!
In late July, more than 600 people showed up in Monterey, Calif., to speak at a Federal Communications Commission hearing on ownership concentration in the news media. The participants had a single consistent complaint: The mainstream news media are doing a deplorable job of covering the day’s most important stories. That’s no surprise: Consolidation of…
The nation’s treasure
“It is my belief that what is being accomplished will conserve our natural resources, create future national wealth, and prove of moral and spiritual value not only to those of you who are taking part but to the rest of the country as well.” — President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Greetings to the Civilian Conservation Corps,”…
Not another Clinton nuke
Two St. Louis men were arrested last month after being seen operating video cameras in the vicinity of City Water, Light and Power’s coal-fired generating station. Turns out they were filming ducks on Lake Springfield, but hey, you can’t be too careful these days, right? You can be too careful about some things and not…
Crossroads
After a 27-year career in state government, Maynard Crossland quietly cleaned out his desk at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and left. With his departure, announced by the agency on Aug. 30, Crossland became the second IHPA director to leave since construction of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum began in 2001. In an…
Grace about town 9-9-04
Did you see that movie Pay It Forward? Kevin Spacey was in it, as were Haley Joel Osment and Jon Bon Jovi. Here’s something funny about Jon Bon J. You’re probably aware he’s a big rock star. He used to have really big hair. I’d never actually seen him because of my general lack of…
Knoepfle 9-9-04
sandalwood poem #18 I am drained like a shadow like sunlight dancing on a sacred river cracked bones and dust the earth floods now and is sweetened old sprinkler man comes home returned from some thought brooding cavern released from some bandit hour a fall of dew a fragrance of rosemary mysterious flowers scattered on…
now playing 9-9-04
Sometimes something sounds too good to be true, yet — miracle of miracles — it exists. Take, for example, two bluegrass enthusiasts who build a beautiful log-cabin home in the country. They decide to book some traveling musicians and invite friends over to hear the band. After a successful outing, they continue bringing more incredible…
On the mole patrol
Every summer, gardeners envision a beautiful lush green lawn and flower gardens abounding with color. Then along come four- and six-legged creatures to dine on the smorgasbord provided for them. Although many four-legged animals damage plants, others are just obnoxious. Among them is the lowly mole, a four- to seven-inch-long beady-eyed burrowing mammal with velvety…
Equality’s the reason
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes’ homophobic views. Vice President Dick Cheney’s lesbian daughter. President George W. Bush’s efforts to adopt a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. These were some of the issues raised during an hour-and-a-half-long informal discussion led by gay-rights activist and author Candace Gingrich at the University of Illinois at Springfield on…
sound patrol 9-9-04
Doug Hilsinger and Caroleen Beatty Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (DBK Works) Thirty years after Brian Eno released his second solo album, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), multi-instrumentalist Doug Hilsinger and vocalist Caroleen Beatty, both of the San Francisco indie-rock outfit Waycross, pay it a peculiar homage, performing all of the Maoist opera’s…
Sweet 16 for popular craft fair
More than 60 artists from 12 states have registered for this weekend’s Edwards Place Fine Crafts Festival, an annual event hosted by the Springfield Art Association. The number of participants is especially impressive in light of the competition offered by other cities, says Carole Walton, one of the event’s chairwomen. When it started, the fair…
quicktakes 9-9-04
REMEMBERING 9/11 Area libraries mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attack with several events this weekend. A ceremony at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, kicks off 24 hours of observances at Lincoln Library, 326 S. Seventh St. Among the scheduled events, the library shows the Frank Capra classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, at 6…
“A bunch of bozos”
The Springfield City Council on Tuesday night pressed for an answer to a question contained in a Freedom of Information Act request filed last week by Illinois Times. That question: What are the race and sex statistics for city employees? Officials in other cities readily answered this question when contacted by Illinois Times and offered…
prairie notes 9-9-04
‘Tis the season to be wooed. Ardent politicians, like new lovers, fill the air with promises crafted to push our hot buttons and spend money as if it belongs to someone else. Millions are spent on polls to figure out what’s important to us, millions more to convince us they have the solution to whatever…
