This page is a Monthly Archive of entries from June 2008 listed from newest to oldest.
Once I went to a conference where I listened to a bunch of “successful” people explain what, exactly, were the secrets to their success. One of the speakers talked about finances and he said that there are only two ways to make money: 1) You work for your money (in other words you get a job); or 2) Your money works for you (in other words, you invest). Of course, he conveniently avoided the obvious question: Where do the people who invest their money get the money to invest in the first place? It seems to me that at some point or another you have to work for it (unless you’re lucky enough to inherit a fortune — or spill hot coffee on your crotch and sue McDonald’s for millions).
As America slugged down their first cups of coffee, and had their morning debates concerning Ralph Nader’s recent statement about Barack Obama’s campaign stances, I found myself doing much the same, but with a nice trip down amnesia lane while I was at it.
There’s no doubt Ralph Nader has a sound mind for this country. The five-time presidential nominee for the Green Party, [ed. as an Independent and a write-in candidate] has shown those who would listen (and a host of others that should have), a different painted picture of what this country honestly needs.
However, the wise words and messages of concern become somewhat dull in the face of two simple, pointed words Nader accused Obama of to a Colorado newspaper : “talking white.”
Everyone’s asking me how the Garage Sale went
Having it on a Friday when The Preschooler was at work was the greatest idea! I started it at 11 a.m. instead of 7 a.m., too. I didn’t even know there was a 7 a.m. in The Morning.
So in the middle of the night on Friday morning, around 7 a.m., I hear these cars driving by, stopping, and then driving off. What the hell. The ad in the paper listed 11 a.m.! Still, that was kind of exciting. All morning people drove by, and then finally around 10:20 a.m., I started bringing the stuff out to sell. When I brought out one box, a lady who seemed to be just passing by stopped and asked me politely, “Mind if I take a quick look at what you’re bringing out?”
“Not at all," I replied.
Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing unseated the three-term incumbent Tod Satterthwaite in a tight race in February 2005. But, Mayor Prussing’s first term is no fresh spin in political circles for her; she served as a State Representative for the Illinois House in the early 1990s.
Running on a platform to build up the Philo Road area as well as Urbana’s downtown, during Mayor Prussing’s three years in the City Building, the southeast area of Urbana near the Philo and Windsor intersection went from very little development to building up housing subdivisions and attracting popular businesses including Milo’s Restaurant.
She’s also voiced strong rejection to Ameren’s electrical and American Water Company’s water rate hikes. Mayor Prussing, at a City Council meeting, said about the hikes, “We have higher than average water rates. Our rates are higher than publicly-owned systems, and our electrical rates are higher. Both of those together are a drag on our economic growth.”
Some citizens were unhappy about the recent vote the mayor favored to allow Urbana’s Lincoln Hotel to be developed without a historic designation seal that would have protected the portion built by local architect Joseph B. Royer in 1923.
How do you view Mayor Prussing’s first three years in the mayor’s chair? What decisions do you agree or disagree with?
This Church Hopper is going to be a bit different than the others. In previous installments, I simply shared what I had experienced at the worship services of various local churches. And I guess that’s a fair thing to do because for so many churches, the worship service is really what they’re all about. When most of us think of “church,” we think of things like cathedrals, sanctuaries, pulpits, pews and organs. Or, if we’re more contemporary, we might think of auditoriums and praise bands.
But I wonder if this emphasis on worship is a good thing. The prophet Amos had some strong words to say about making worship services the focal point of our faith:
I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.... Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
George Carlin died on Sunday, which you certainly already knew before you visited this site. Carlin, a groundbreaking comedian and social commentator, passed away from heart failure at the age of 71. He appeared three times at the Assembly Hall: in September 1973, November 1993 and September 1995.
Joel Gillespie remembers Carlin, after the jump.
Two small waterways flow through north central Champaign County. One drains land from the Rantoul-area, flows through Urbana’s Crystal Lake Park, and then eastward before joining with the Salt Fork River at St. Joseph. The other begins its journey near Ludlow, taking a southerly route past Rantoul and connects with the Spoon River north of St. Joseph, the two of which form the Salt Fork River itself.
Last summer, Sun-Times columnist Tom McNamee listed his choices for the ten best Chicago movies of all time. His list appears to be lost to history via a content-reshuffle at the Sun-Times Web site, but I thought it was a fun exercise, and decided to do my own last year. I’m on vacation this week, but summer is a time for re-runs, so I am shamelessly reprinting my list as a “column” this week.
Note that I would be perfectly willing to list the ten best Champaign-Urbana movies of all time, but I couldn’t even come up with ten movies that reference Champaign-Urbana, much less are set here. Perhaps local movie aficionados can weigh in with a good list.
In accordance with state law, a provision must appear on the Illinois general election ballot every 20 years asking voters whether or not to call a constitutional convention. That question will be on the ballot this year, but do not expect it to receive the 60 percent affirmative vote that it needs in order to trigger a call.
Business and civic organizations across the state are mobilizing against holding a Con Con, arguing that holding one in the midst of such a poisoned political atmosphere in Springfield could produce a document worse than what we already have.
Taking cues from the perennial event up north in Chicago, Taste of Champaign hits West Side Park this weekend for its 38th year, exposing thousands of area residents to the "best" of what Champaign-Urbana restaurants have to offer.
The weekend is filled with plenty of activities for citizens of all ages, including live music from Backyard Tire Fire, Hurricane Gumbo and The Boat Drunks, the ever-present Jimmy Buffett tribute act regularly seen at community events.
In addition to all the food and fun, the Champaign Park District is doing its part to make this year a benefit as well, attempting to raise $10,000 in funds for its Youth Scholarship Fund.
And while all of this is a wonderful contribution to the social fabric of the community, questions in years past have risen: Why is there a McDonald's booth at the Taste of Champaign? And what about Applebee's? Are these restaurants really an accurate representation of what restaurants C-U has to offer, or do they merely represent restaurants that can afford the cost of renting a space at an event like this? Does it matter if the restaurants in attendance are run by Mom and Pop or by suits living in some other city?
Tell us your thoughts. In the meantime, we'll be there, stuffing our faces with one thing or another.
As I strolled through the quad on an absolutely breathtaking April afternoon last semester, something caught my eye on the sidewalk I was trekking over. My opposition to wearing corrective lenses led me to believe that what I thought I was seeing simply did not exist. However, upon further examination, I discovered a rather peculiar drawing gracefully imprinted on the University sidewalk. The red ink stencil included a marijuana leaf and the letters “THC.” For those who don’t know, THC is the abbreviation for tetrahydrocannabinol, that special sauce in those marijuana cigarettes that all the kids seem to be getting groovy on these days.
Champaign-Urbana, for all of its glory, lacks a couple of things that might help qualify it as a more well rounded and culturally relevant city. Minor League baseball, perhaps, is a missing element. An amusement park to draw in the regional folk for a Saturday afternoon of theme-filled fun is another.
Something notable that's missing and simply can't be denied when looking at the cultural make-up of C-U is the absence of a zoo. Oh sure, we have a petting zoo at Prairie Farm at Centennial Park, and you can feed a goat at Curtis Orchard come fall, but those are not zoos. Those are spaces with dirt, .25 cent feed and farm animals.
The concept of “up” is a strange thing to ponder. For the ancients, “up” was a positive place where the Gods dwelled either someplace in the sky (heaven) or perhaps up on a mountain (e.g. Mt. Olympus), while “down” was a negative place under the earth (hades) where our souls went after death.
This cosmology was prevalent even after such noted scientists as Copernicus and Galileo gave us a more accurate view of the universe. And today in the 21st century, after having ventured a little bit into outer space, we know that “up” is really a relative term. I mean, have you considered that when you are pointing up here in C-U, it is the opposite direction of someone who is pointing up on the other side of the world? Yet many of us Christians continue to speak in spatial metaphors when describing the spiritual realms of heaven and hell.
One of the things I like about living in Champaign-Urbana is that you almost never have to contend with random, out-of-control, angry teenagers who throw rocks at your van while you drive the family home from a little league game.
And yet, it was bound to happen sooner or later.
My wife was driving us home from a game last week with the van window open. She felt a sudden sharp pain of something thrown into her leg, which she naturally assumed was the first volley of some kind of tantrum in the backseat. She yelled “Ouch!” then pulled the van over and glared into the backseat. While she found nothing amiss there, she did notice someone about a half-block down throwing stuff at us.
Some political wrangling has been taking place in Urbana between Mayor Prussing and some local political groups centered around the Citizens for Instant Runoff Voting, and made up of local Green Party representatives, as well as Libertarians and self-described political progressives.
Urbana allows for the petitioning and placement of referenda on voting ballots through Special Township Meetings where citizens are allowed to attend and vote on the placement of such items. The local group Citizens for IRV has been working to place non-binding referenda on Urbana and Cunningham Township ballots for the Nov. 4 election. This attempt to add referenda to the Nov. 4 ballot had been attempted by Citizens for IRV previously through the Annual Township Meeting. However, this attempt at adding ballot referenda was prevented at the Annual Township Meeting by Mayor Prussing and local Democrats who voted not to add the discussion of those referenda to the agenda for that meeting.
With the temperatures soaring into the 90s and summer in full swing, the Champaign-Urbana community starts itching to get outside and take in the season. One of the newer traditions in town is the Champaign Park District-sponsored downtown street fests that occur three times per year.
This Saturday is the first of these, featuring two artists, Freeze Dried — a band that claims rock, polka and cajun as its influences, and, Od Tapo Imi — a fusion band mixing island sounds, steel drums and non-traditional percussion.
The "festival" takes place on the corner of Walnut and University avenues, whereas the others are on Main and Chestnut and Neil and Main streets, July 12 and Aug. 9, respectively. Alcoholic beverages are allowed on the street within the parameters of the designated area, although it's been suspected that Champaign's finest turn a blind eye to anyone walking out of the zone as well.
While these events are mainly received well by citizens, there have been some vocal outcries regarding the programming choices and locations of the stages. Until this year, no original music had been booked to perform on any of these festivals, and arguments have been made that stage locations have seemed to favor particular bars, giving them an advantage over other drinking establishments in town, at least in terms of alcohol sales that evening.
So, what do you think? Are the street festivals a great thing for Downtown Champaign and all of the C-U area? Or do they still need some modification in order to properly engage the entire community and all of the businesses in the neighborhood?
What if the future of the United States of America rested on the shoulders of Champaign County?
I recently watched that new HBO movie, Recount, about the ‘truth’ behind the 2000 presidential election. The movie focused on the story of the citizens of Palm Beach County, Fla., where little old ladies misread ballots and the hanging chad changed the course of American history. Gore won, and then he lost, and then he won, and then he lost … all because the members of a small county didn’t have their act together.
This got me nervous thinking about the situation happening in our beloved Illinois community. Champaign City Council meetings frequently feature discussions about whether or not we should plant more trees in residential neighborhoods. What would happen if the nation’s eyes were beading on us to make the decision regarding our next president?
It’s November 7, 2000. Bush vs. Gore
Saturday, June 14, is the grand opening of the new Legends Golf Course located at 4551 Nicklaus Dr. (off Staley Road between Windsor and Curtis) in Champaign.
I don’t know about you — maybe you’re one of those insane golfer types so you might be delirious and giddy that there is yet another golf course opening in C-U. But I am not. I’m mad as hell. I really hate golf. I loathe it. Of all sports, I despise golf more than any other. Why? Not only is golf a huge waste of time, but it is a gross waste of land.
Now that Iron Man is almost out of the theaters, it is finally time for me to sing its praises. At the Schreiber house, we are often a month or more behind everyone else concerning popular culture, which is our way of disrespecting it. We pretend to be apathetic, but keep up on it, kind of, so as to be behind by just enough to be irrelevant.
So, I’ve come late to the Iron Man party. Usually, when people shout at me or beg me to go to a movie that they swear is the best superhero movie they’ve ever seen, I mumble some excuse and slowly back away. And yet, after finally seeing this movie, I find myself on the other side, shouting at people, and begging them to go see this movie. Maybe it’s because the hero is over 40 and acknowledges the myth of redemptive violence. More likely, it is the neato, super-cool Iron Man body armor suit.
It’s been a banner year for the weather gods — and we’re only six months in.
What makes this year so remarkable?
Nationwide, we’ve had nearly 700 confirmed (and more than 1,300 reported) tornadoes this year, and they’ve been accompanied by an onslaught of violent weather patterns like the ones that had Champaign-Urbana’s sirens ringing earlier this week.
The Pacific nations have seen five typhoons so far (more than 60 dead and another 40 remain missing). And in May, the nation of Burma experienced the worst cyclone disaster in its history, with almost 80,000 perishing and another 55,000 gone missing.
And then there are earthquakes. More than 67,000 killed in western China by a 7.9 quake. Other big ones in Algeria, the Congo, India and Indonesia. Even here in central Illinois, an unusual earthquake in April reminded us that we have some tectonic instability of our own.
Floods. T-storms. Hail. Droughts.
Unseasonably cold. Unconventionally hot. Nothing quite normal.
Question is: Why?
To be honest, I’m really not that interested in watching sports. They all have pretty much the same narrative: a bunch of big, sweaty guys run around chasing a ball. Sure, the shape and size of the ball might change (it might even be a puck), the uniforms might be different styles and colors, and the action might take place on a diamond or a field or a court. But it’s always the same old story: Guys playing with their balls.
Sorry, just not that interesting. Maybe for some. Not for me.
Then again, for some strange reason — and I’ve never really known why — I’ve always identified myself as a Cubs fan. Ever since I was around seven years old, I have been a Cubs fan. Why? My parents aren’t Cubs fans. Nobody ever told me I have to be a Cubs fan. It’s not like being Jewish or Christian or Muslim where you’re just sort of born into this cultural/religious identity.
So why in the heck am I a Cubs fan?
Is there anything less American than a loyalty oath? A country that prides itself on freedom of expression and association should be embarrassed to require people to swear allegiance to itself. Sure, old Soviets would do this kind of thing, but Americans?
Strange as it may seem, a California State-Fullerton professor was recently fired for refusing to sign a loyalty oath. In fact, all 2.3 million California state employees are required to sign an oath promising to “defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Signing the oath is part of the California Constitution, instituted during the McCarthy red scare era of the 1950s. Yet, it just seems so…unconstitutional.
“How do you like my new sunglasses?" My mother asked me. "They are Elle Scott Fitzgerald’s (or some other name),” she stated proudly. For a moment I wondered why mom stole another woman’s glasses and then I realized that the glasses had cost extra because of the name associated with them, and that my mom had paid to be respected and was trying to recoup some of it on me.
| 
