Getting a photo into the Best of Springfield issue surely grants the Groove Daddies a special award as the best band in Springfield to never win a category. The venerable group formed in 1990 with lead vocalist Gary Bloom as the heart and guitarist Jeff Kornfeld as the soul of the band. Add in Brian […]
Illinois Times
Posted inArts & Culture
Everybody’s weird at The Rocky Horror Show
I admit that I watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show a few times growing up, mostly to learn the dance steps to the Time Warp to fit in at the high school Halloween Dance… so I turned the movie off after that song. Had I kept watching, I would have learned the rest of the […]
Posted inMusic
Halloween happenings
With the holiday landing on Saturday this year, Halloween parties at the bars abound, with private parties happening too. Even public parties at private facilities are shaking, like the scary Sangamo Surf Club out on lonely Lake Springfield hosting the revolting Roxschool. I hardly know where to start to cover them all, but since we […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Goblin-filled grocery
Halloween weekend at the Farmer’s Market marks the end of the selling season with some ghostly-good fun and music. Register your kids (up to 12 years old) from 10 a.m. until judging at 11 a.m. Prizes will be awarded in three age categories. Register your dressed-up dog at 11:30 a.m. until judging at noon. The […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters to the Editor 10/29/09
FREE THE BLOGGER This incident is deeply disturbing [see “Blogger busted: Free speech goes on trial in Sangamon County,” by Amanda Robert, Oct. 15]. If the reporting is accurate here — and I have no doubt that it is — then what Scott Humphrey wrote does not rise to the level of either obscenity or […]
Posted inOpinion
Polls show half of voters disapprove of Quinn’s performance
For the first time since taking office, a new Rasmussen Reports poll of Illinoisans shows that more than half of all voters disapprove of Gov. Pat Quinn’s performance in office. The poll of 500 likely Illinois voters taken Oct. 14 found that 53 percent disapproved of Quinn’s performance while 45 percent approved. That’s a six-point […]
Posted inNews
Independent watchdog warns: Illinois needs better accountability
You could call him an immovable object. He has outlasted three governors, called countless state agencies to task, and even survived an attempted hostile takeover of his constitutional office. Illinois Auditor General William “Bill” Holland spoke Oct. 23 to the Citizens Club of Springfield at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, addressing questions about his […]
Posted inOpinion
WAR MACHINES
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) announced this month that Congress had approved $11 million in defense appropriations that will buy two new types of vehicle simulators for the Illinois Army National Guard stationed at Camp Lincoln in Springfield. One kind of simulator teaches soldiers to drive the Army’s new mine-resistant armored personnel vehicles, which are designed […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Touching wind and wood
Tuesday holds your chance to experience the voice and instrumental wonders of two-time Grammy, and seven-time Native American Music award, winner musician Bill Miller who performs at Lincoln Land Community College. Besides a folk and bluegrass singer/songwriter, Miller excels as a Native American flute master, guitarist and humanitarian ambassador. Bill MillerTuesday, Nov. 311:30am Student Union, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Soileau’s Chili
5-7 quart pot 2 lbs. 80/20 lean ground beef 1 large onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced Entire package Soileau’s Chili Seasoning 2 8oz. cans tomato sauce 16 oz. water (add more if needed) 1 can cooked black beans, or beans of your choice (optional) 2 Tbsp. olive oil 2 Tbsp. butter Melt butter in […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Boys walks an emotional tightrope
The premise of Scott Hicks’ The Boys are Back has movie-of-the-week written all over it. Joe Warr (Clive Owen), a dad who’s hardly ever around, finds himself adrift when he’s faced with raising his young son (Nicholas McAnulty) after his wife succumbs to cancer. Barely coping at this, he’s forced to come to terms with […]
Posted inOpinion
The prospect for an American Renaissance
The financial, economic and environmental crises are alarm signals to the world, and particularly to us in the U.S. The crises arose because we rushed into unsustainable and destructive practices. Yet we now have an opportunity to build the foundation for an American Renaissance. Extrapolating from Peter Senge’s learning organizations, “where people continually expand their […]
