The Weekender: June 26–28
Wow, is it hot. No two ways about it.
FRIDAY
The not-so-secret life of bees: Take the kids to the Douglass Branch Library this afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. for Pollination Station, part of National Pollinator Week. Bees make the plants grow, ya know?
Caution, baby: That's the English translation of the seminal 1991 U2 album Achtung Baby!, but it's also a warning to everyone out there: it's the name of the newest tribute band in town, as well. These four "lads" seem to be the real deal, kind of actually really looking like the members, with a light show planned, and two and a half hours of music in the can. Will they deliver? Only one way to find out. They hit the stage at Canopy Club around 9:30 p.m.

Don't stop 'til you get enough: In light of the passing of Michael Jackson yesterday, we recommend C-Street as the best place to go out and get down to what will no doubt be a weekend filled with DJs spinning tunes by the "King of Pop." No other way to look at it but a really sad ending to a life so filled with oddities and larger-than-life talents. RIP, Jacko.
Do it, and drink, and don't think (of the calories): It's finally here! The 2nd Annual Blues, Brews, and BBQ Festival hits downtown Urbana tonight starting at 5:30 p.m. Check out our article here about it, but remember, this year, it's totally FREE! Unreal. Last year it was $20 with just a few decent acts, and this year it's FREE, with the likes of Sonny Landreth, and Pinetop Perkins (in what is rumored to be his final appearance) performing. We'll see you there, so stop by our booth and say hello!
SATURDAY
Today's the day for gourmet: Smile Politely is teaming up with Art Mart gourmet foods to bring you a very special presentation in their "hallway dining area" tomorrow during the Market. Chef Matt Zagorski, a national winner in pie making, and a featured chef on the Food Network Challenge, will be teaching us a thing or two about handheld blenders, and how to use them to the best of their ability. You can read our interview with the chef here. It's live cooking. It's Art Mart. It's Smile Politely. It's fucking hot outside. Enough said. See you there!

It's bound to be cool in the Urbana Free Library: From noon to 5 p.m., the UFL is hosting a Game Day, where families can bring their own board games or play some favorites that will be on hand. "The auditorium will be reserved especially for families with younger children."
Laugh, you old horse: We've spoken about it ad nauseum, and we've even featured them on the cover of the magazine, but there is a good reason: The Horse's Ha are no ordinary band from Chicago. Featuring Janet Bean, Jim Elkington, Nick Macri, Charles Rumback, and Liz Payne, this group promises to deliver some real art to downtown, in an otherwise artless bastion of bad food, expensive drinks, and loud people. Let's hope they have enough respect to notch it down for their performance. Read our interview with Janet Bean here.
SUNDAY
Last chance to get miserable: It's the finale of the youth of CUTC's series of performances of Les Miserables, at the Virginia Theatre at 2:30 p.m. Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread, and hilarity ensues. Or not. Tickets are $19 for adults, $17 for seniors and students, and $6 for children.
The $7 Sunday: This is reserved for all of you that have children. Above we recommended Sholem pool at Centennial Park in Champaign to beat the heat, but what about kickin' it old school? What do you do when you don't want to drop $30 on a family outing to a pool? Keep it real.

Pitch in folksters!: The C-U Folk and Roots Festival is approaching faster than a fiddle player's fingers, and what better way to help ensure its success than to support them while enjoying a terrific show? This Sunday night, head over to the Rose Bowl to check out three great area artists in The Ruthless Goats, the Backyard BBQ Band, and The Corn Desert Ramblers. Cover is just $5, but we suggest throwin' in a sawbuck for kicks. Hey, it's for the cause!
4 comments
mike
any way we can get the links that are missing from the bbq and artmart events?
:(
any way we can get the links to something interesting to do?
Posted this to the SPlog but it hasn’t gone through yet. A reliable source tells me that soccer fans will be gathering at the Esquire at 1 PM to watch the US play Brazil. Should be a fun time, though I’ll probably end up being a little hoarse by the end of it.
that Pinetop Perkins/Willie Smith set was sweet, too bad Buckwheat got rained out.
Most Recent Culture Comments
Bobo was amazing; she threaded right through opponents in front of her like they weren’t there. I think the bout could have easily gone the other way if she hadn’t been skating for the Dames.
OHNO BOBO definitely made her mark with the Damgin’ Dames!! Great bout Friday night at Savoy Rec Center!!! TCDG is doing a great job bringing Flat Track Derby to the area! Keep up the good work and the crowds will come!
Mark, your first paragraph is mostly wrong. The second paragraph is true, though. Hulten has been a conflict of interest from Day One. The Champaign City Council made a big mistake in appointing him. The other two candidates were a lot better, a lot more intelligent, and far less biased.
I regularly commented at IP.com several moons ago, and I didn’t get the same impression of Gordy Hulten as the commenter above. While there were times when his conservative bias incapacitated his reading comprehension skills, for the most part he was a patient and kind moderator who…
“Glock 21, an IlliniPundit regular has described the new incarnation of the site as “dead blog walking”.“ Glock21 is an example of “brain-dead man walking.“ “The site had its strengths and weaknesses ...“ Mostly weaknesses, though. The main strength was tipping us off there are many, many…
Glock 21, an IlliniPundit regular has described the new incarnation of the site as “dead blog walking”. The activity and updates have come to a stand still. The site had its strengths and weaknesses, but was a good barometer of what the landed gentry were thinking. They…
If you liked last week’s SameSexSunday—you’ll love this week’s! http://bit.ly/91zLi0
“ChampaignPundit” is a pretty broken site—effectively, you can’t sign up for an account, because there’s no way to specify or change a password. That means you either do the email “reset my password” thing to get a temporary password every time you want to make a comment,…
I think the nutballs knew that all their crazy theories would be accepted and embraced. That parade argument was a great example. Never mind that unsafe conditions created a hazard to participants and bystanders—IT WAS A TERRIBLE DECISION TO CANCEL IT!@!!!!!!! Or at least that’s what the…
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Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win.
Jason, Savoy could easily join the CPL tax district, which is probably closer to most Savoy residents than the Tolono library is. But my impression is that Savoy residents as a whole don’t want to pay the cost of the CPL (Tolono’s library taxes are cheaper), even…
Sorry, but I am lagging behind on updates to the map. Also, some construction projects were delayed from their original start date. On a more positive note, I am putting together a map of haunted houses in Central Illinois. I have a few plotted already, and I…
I’ve never gotten the privilege of all the services CPL cardholders get. I just want to be able to go out of my way to drive to the CPL to check out books, pay fines, maybe buy some coffee, and enjoy the library. None of those activities…
These days, there is more to using a library than checking out books. At one time, paying into the Lincoln Trails system probably would cover the expenses incurred by other libraries in the system. Now, with Internet, videos, coffee shops, wireless Internet hubs, etc., I suspect the…
(speaking as a Savoy resident) By paying taxes to support a member of the LTLS, we are paying our “fair share” to use any LTLS library—Tolono, Champaign, Urbana, etc. This is how library systems work. The 6% of CPL’s circulation represented by Tolono users is NOT significant…
I would be interested to hear more about the “word on the street”—how are individual hauling companies fulfilling their promise to recycle?
Timbo makes a smart, sound argument. Reread it.
I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…
And, I might add, no one is being prevented from using the Champaign library. They are just being asked to pay their fair share if they are going to use it as their primary library.
The equation is pretty simple here. If you want social services, then pay the taxes required to run those social services. These things only work if everyone puts in their fair share. As a heavy user of the Champaign Library, I say bravo to this new policy.
What is the increased marginal cost of serving a resident of Savoy or Mahomet? I suspect negligible. What is the increased revenue to be realized by this new policy? I suspect very little. Aside from these financial aspects, what are the most probable results from this new…
Looks like you are also all members of the killer sideburns club.
Thanks for the article, Ben. I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar. A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…
Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…
@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.
Katie, have the residents of Savoy and Tolono thought about having their taxes raised a little to help their public library expand? That’s a possibility for them. And then everybody wins.
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I’ll agree that Gordy tolerated a lot of crap, but his patience wasn’t infinite—hence the banning of the nutcase übertea Wayne Johnson, exactly the kind of guy who gives libertarians the reputation for droolin’ batshittery they have. Gordy was also unwilling to pretend that gaybaiting was a…