Category > C-U Green
I hate to fly. It makes me sick — the scented air, like toilet bowl cleaner; the jerky, motorized sounds of the wings; the impossibly narrow seats. The only consolation, for me, is the beverage cart. Even on short flights, most airlines will offer a variety of drinks and a small bag of pretzels. Recently, I flew to Vermont. I flew Continental, an airline with a respectable environmental commitment statement on their website. Right up my alley. What I didn't …
My last article touched on the annoyance of the green movement. I've been questioning myself on what exactly I am annoyed about, and I think it boils down to greenwashing. I'm sick of seeing the color green. I'm sick of falling leaves and images of hands holding a ball of dirt with a plant growing out of it. Yet, I am also inspired and encouraged by the American public's power to push and influence business practices. Greenwashing is "the practice …
I know it's annoying when I dig out plastic cups from the trash so I can put them in recycling. I also know it's annoying when I say, "Sorry, I can't eat that; I'm a vegetarian." But why? I don't smell like patchouli oil. I don't put "terrorist" stickers on SUVs. I'm often too lazy to ride my bike. Yet even I can get annoyed with "being green." It has become cliché. It's as posh as Posh Spice. It's trendy. …
Tuesday afternoon, April, the sun is hovering low in the sky, and the chill of winter is making way for the warm embrace of Spring. I am looking for Nature's Finest, Inc., driving down smooth paved roads through cornfields of south Champaign. I drive by a small house, surrounded by what appears to be an explosion of wild growth, skeletal outbuildings, and a barking dog. A man holding some sort of saw on a long pole is cutting at a …
Sustainability: What Is It? Sustainability is the capacity to endure. Quite romantic, when the thing you want to endure is your community. In simpler terms, sustainability is about relying on our own community for all of our basic needs. Namely, food. Most people realize that the strawberries they buy in January were not grown anywhere near Champaign-Urbana. Bananas do not grow in Mahomet. For off-season produce to reach our markets, it has to be picked before it is ripe and …
Plastic toys are like an infestation of bats. You don't even notice them biting you in your sleep. They hide in corners and when you finally stumble across one—a brown lump of fur on the wall or between the sheets—you wonder how it got there. I wish my collection of plastic was so unintentional. A case of mistaken indulgence, perhaps. For Christmas, my daughter received a Sleeping Beauty makeup desk from her grandparents. It is a three-foot tall, talking, singing, …
Most Recent Culture Comments
@Jason: You’re right about that. I get groceries at Schnucks (they carry what I buy, which I can’t say of any other single grocery store in town), and if they have a beer I’m in the market for it’s usually a quarter or two cheaper per 6-…
Best Neighborhood Bar (& Grill) : Urbana - My ‘hood- the ‘Boom! http://www.boomerangbarandgrill.com Go on a Wing Wednesday or Fish Friday, or see a band play some night. Local blue-collar Urbana terroir galore. My only beer snobbish gripe is lack of a pale hopped ale, but you…
The one thing that’s bothered me for a while about the Friar is that, for most commonly purchased adult beverages, you can actually walk down the strip mall to Schnucks and get them cheaper. It makes no sense, but there it is. I suspect it’s because Schnucks…
Maybe I complained enough in person. One time I even explained to the (wholly uninterested) clerk how to navigate the Illinois Statutes web page, and Savoy’s Municipal Code database I wouldn’t know because I only go there when I want to pay 30% more for anything, which is never.
@Rob: You seem to have the weirdest experiences. I’m in Friar Tuck every other week (don’t tell my mom that I’m a lush). They never fail to ask for my birth date but never my age, they never card afterwards, and they often allow me to use…
This column affords me a long-awaited opportunity. I’ve wanted to write my own column called Fuck You Friar Tuck Liquors. but I always thought it’d be too pithy. Here, I can say Fuck You Friar Tuck Liquors and not feel bothered to stretch it out to 750…
Ha! Exactly. You, sir, are welcome at the bar in My House.
Why wait ‘til 3 pm?
I’m excited to go tonight- should be very fun!
Most Recent Comments
“It was at this point, before he started his business, that working with city employees should’ve raised red flags…” But they didn’t because: 1) The City Clerk’s office originally mis-interpreted the rules, or are indeed re-interpreting them. 2) Champaign’s brick-n-mortar merchants hadn’t yet started whining about The Crave Truck.
Super cool! Excellent track, Excellent band.
Looking forward to trying this place!
I’m in the middle (or the beginning or end, depending on how you look at it) of re-reading Slaughterhouse Five. What a great companion column.
Get yours early. The Rave’s CD will be available at Exile and at The C-U Flea on Saturday. C-U Flea details here: http://www.smilepolitely.com/news/sp_radio_podcast_c-u_flea_arrives/
I don’t know about Gerard and a random police sargeant. My (mild) outrage is based on this: “...he worked closely with Champaign City Clerk Marilyn Banks to make sure he was licensed properly as a transient food peddler, filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a $225…
Local Yocal pretty much nails it here. I suspect there will be merchants who oppose food trucks because they arguably don’t pay their fair share to locate their trucks in high traffic (high rent) areas. The food trucks take away business from rent payers, park in city…
Oh nice! I’d totally vote for Matt Campbell!
“Smile Politely sports writer announces candidacy for city government.”
I also got to visit Big Grove Tavern during the soft open and definitely enjoyed the pork belly the most of all the dishes I sampled. The cheesy grits and the vinegary pickled vegetables were a perfect compliment to the rich pork belly.
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
*slow. clap.* Still offering no threat of intelligence…. I know I said I thought you should just write this whole column yourself next year, Isaac, but now that you’ve gone and taken a “part deux” run at it, I’d like to modify my request: Best Music 2013,…
Actually, it’s kind of nice, the quiet. John Heoffleur’s engaging commentary/dialogue is sorely missed, however. In lieu of someone intelligent saying something, I’ve compiled a list of Honourable Mentions: BEST ROCK BAND: Take Care ::these gentlemen have four completely different sets at their disposal right now (which…
Facebook
Twitter
Full Site
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!