Black bean chilli. PHOTO BY NURI VALLBONA/TNS When my Illinois Times colleague David Hine asked if I would devote a column to chilli in advance of the Super Bowl, my response was, “Sure, as long as I can spell it with two lls.” But truthfully, writing about chilli is something I’ve both wanted to do […]
Illinois Times
Posted inArts & Culture
tintin poem #2
tintin poem #2 WILL has opera on saturdayalso classics by request not surewhich this was on but I’ve alwaysliked the announcer john frayne Ilisten in the car didn’t get in on thefirst bars of a soprano singing aflorid aria lots of high notes trillsvolume john frayne at its finish saidthat was the jewel song from faustby […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A comedy of bad manners
Beat the winter blahs by taking in a hilarious comedy of bad manners set in a 1920s English country house. Hay Fever tells the comical tale of retired actress Judith Bliss, her novelist husband and their two avant-garde adult children. Each member of the family has invited a guest to the family home for the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A play about pursuing a deam
Join the Springfield Theatre Centre at the Hoogland Center for the Arts Jan 15-17 and 22-24 for their presentation of Tick, Tick… BOOM!, an autobiographical musical by American award-winning composer Jonathan Larson. Tick, Tick… BOOM! is set in New York City during the 1990s, and tells the story of a young man who is questioning […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Homecoming for Hillary
Enjoy an art exhibition and meet and greet with Hillary Werth, a skilled athlete turned talented contemporary artist. This is the first hometown art show for Werth, a 2005 graduate of Chatham Glenwood High School who excelled in sports, especially track and field where she earned the title of AA sectional champion. Hillary began competing […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Stunted Forest fails to thrill
Yukiyoshi Ozama, Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kinney in The Forest. PHOTO COURTESY GRAMERCY PICTURES Not sure why early January has become the time for low-budget horror films to be released, but it’s become a bit of a tradition, at least where the last five years are concerned. And while quality is not always guaranteed, the […]
Posted inMusic
Angela Perley & the Howlin Moons
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio and hitting towns all over the Midwest since 2009 with the sound and the fury of a modern American rock and roll band on a mission, Angela Perley (vocals, electric guitar, musical saw), Chris Connor (lead electric guitar), Billy Zehnal (electric bass) and various drummers including Maxwell Button, Adam White and […]
Posted inOpinion
Should corporations pay their taxes?
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Carl Icahn, noted corporate predator and takeover specialist who made billions of dollars in corporate deals, has recently begun pushing a charitable cause involving a group of people who, through no fault of their own, are being forced out of America. Syrian migrants who’ve lost everything, you ask? […]
Posted inArts & Culture
deception poem # 1
deception poem # 1 my stalwart upright grandfather“took the pledge” when a youthnever to touch alcohol never didnor did the farm men a stipulationof their hiring those found drinkingwere fired on the spot I was eight orso when my mom made a genuineplum pudding for a holiday dinnergrampa and grama were our guestsmother poured the […]
Posted inOpinion
Right-wingers, the Red Pope and Jesus
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Aah, ‘tis the season for family, friends, eggnog, chipmunks singing Christmas carols – and all-out, no-mercy, blow-’em-all-to-hell war. Not war like in Afghanistan. No, no – this is the far right’s God-awful “War on Christmas.” In this season of Peace on Earth, a delusional faction of rightists has […]
Posted inOpinion
Legislative competition up for 2016
One of the realities of Illinois legislative politics is that our state’s system tends to discourage competition. Byzantine ballot access laws, a highly partisan legislative district map-drawing process, heavily concentrated populations of partisan voters in Chicago (Democrats) and in the collar counties and Downstate, (Republicans) along with often tireless work by incumbents and political parties […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A tasty tradition
This Christmas enjoy a hot, delicious meal shared among individuals of all faiths during the 12th Annual Holiday Interfaith Breakfast at Temple B’rith Sholom. The breakfast consists of scrambled eggs with chile verde sauce, roasted turkey sausages, hot pancakes (chocolate chips or blueberries available upon request), fresh fruit, juice and coffee. Admission is $6 for […]
