A Little Springfield Trivia

When Elijah Iles, Pascal Enos, John Taylor, and Thomas Cox laid out their plan for a city in 1823, they had a different name in mind than Springfield. What name did they choose as the "official" name of the city?

The name never stuck. The citizens always preferred the name "Springfield," but it wasn't until 1832 when the city became incorporated that it was formally given that name.

Anyone know the answer?

Stories of Abraham Lincoln

Here's a short story about Boston Corbett and his role in the shooting of John Wilkes Booth in the days following Lincoln's assassination. Boston Corbett is an interesting guy himself because he was pretty much insane his entire adult life. He plied his trade as a hatter, and there is some speculation that mercury caused his "strange behavior."

As a relatively young man, Corbett began to wear his hear long in an imitation of Jesus. That's never a good sign. Then, at the age of 26, Corbett became interested in prostitutes, but it was against his religion (he was a born-again Christian). He decided that the best way to avoid prostitutes was to self-castrate himself with a pair of scissors. This was in 1858, still well before the Lincoln Assassination attempt and Boston's claim to fame.

On the day that Booth was shot, Boston and a group of cavalryman had Booth surrounded in a tobacco barn in Virginia. They were given orders to hold their arms and to take Booth peacefully. The idea at the time was that the people of America wanted a chance to take collective revenge on Booth. Instead, spying Booth's movements through a crack in the barn, Boston Corbett fired a bullet from his Colt revolver. The shot hit Booth in the neck, and he died a few hours later. When asked why he took a shot against his orders, Corbett's response was, "God Almighty directed me." He went on to claim that Booth had been preparing to fire on the cavalrymen, and he reacted accordingly. Several witnesses refuted this claim.

After the big standoff with Booth, Corbett returned to his normal life as a hatter and proceeded farther and farther into insanity. In 1875, while attending a reunion of Civil War soldiers, Corbett took offense to the tone of a conversation and pulled a pistol on several of the attendees. The situation was settled peacefully and no one was hurt.

A few years later, Corbett moved to Kansas, where he lived in a hole he'd dug into the side of a hill. During his time in Kansas, he was appointed to work as a security guard for the Kansas House of Representatives in Topeka. One day, Corbett thought the opening prayer was insincere and he pulled his revolver of several of the representatives in attendance. On that day, he was arrested and declared mentally insane and placed in a mental institution.

But his story doesn't end there. He eventually escaped from the institution in 1868. After staying briefly with a friend, he declared, "I'm leaving for Mexico." Little is known about Corbett after this date. In 1894, the Great Hinckley Fire swept across Minnesota, covering over 200,000 acres and killing over 400 people. Corbett's name was listed among the dead, although no one has ever been able to confirm that this is what killed him. In fact, no one really knows the date of Corbett's death.

BOOTH SHOT BY "BOSTON" CORBETT.

The last orders given to the squad pursuing
Booth were: "Don't shoot Booth, but take him
alive." Just as Booth started to the door of
the barn this order was disobeyed by a sergeant
named Boston Corbett, who fired through a
crevice and shot Booth in the neck. The wounded
man was carried out of the barn and died four hours
afterward on the grass where they had laid him.
Before he died he whispered to Lieutenant Baker,
"Tell mother I died for my country; I thought I
did for the best." What became of Booth's body
has always been and probably always will be a
mystery. Many different stories have been told
concerning his final resting place, but all that
is known positively is that the body was first
taken to Washington and a post-mortem examination
of it held on the Monitor Montauk. On the night
of April 27th it was turned over to two men who
took it in a rowboat and disposed of it secretly.
How they disposed of it none but themselves know and
they have never told.

from Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Col. Alexander McClure (public domain)

New Poll Rotation

I've added a new poll rotation to the blog. There are 4 or 5 new polls that I've written that will appear randomly every time you visit. Long gone are the days of voting in a poll in a forgetting about it. Now you have to check the poll every time to you hit the site.

Don't worry. The baseball stadium poll is still here. I've just moved it down a few pegs in the right hand column.

Vote now.

Poetry at the ALPLM

In honor of National Poetry Month (or as most people refer to it, April), the ALPLM is featuring a pretty large collection of poetry from Illinois poets, including Carl Sandburg, Vachel (pronounced like Rachel for those who don't know) Lindsay, and Gwendolyn Brooks. The display digs deep, even featuring poetry by the mysterious poet, known only as H., who wrote during Lincoln's day. It will also include campaign songs and political satire.

The exhibit will be on display through September.

Movie Geeks Disaster

Last night's screening of Strangers on a Train was a trainwreck. About 3/4 of the way through the movie, the DVD skipped back to an early scene in the movie when Guy and Bruno first meet each other. We had the go grab Jason, the owner of Capital City to help us get back to our spot in the movie. A few minutes later, it happened again. Thankfully, we had the always dependable Russ Friedewald to take control of the situation. He literally sat at the DVD player and monitored for skips and freezes. When a frame froze, he'd 2x through it. When it skipped back, he'd speed us back to our spot in the film.

It was like we were watching some sort of experimental art project, as the movie skipped, froze, and bounced. All we needed to complete the feel was techno music and ecstasy.

My apologies to everyone who showed up last night, especially to the folks who had never seen Strangers before. You were all really great sports, and everyone seemed to understand that it was a situation out of our control. Lincoln Library has a copy of the movie, if you want to catch the "unedited" ending. You can also get it at Netflix. Unfortunately, none of the video stores in town have a copy (at least that I know of).

I hope to see you all back next month!

Stadiums for Thought

I saw this story today about the top 10 MLB ballparks, and I thought it would be good for all of us baseball junkies to meditate on these for awhile. There's just something I love about a great baseball park.

Movie Geeks Club presents Strangers on a Train - March 27th, 7:00 pm, Capital City Bar and Grill

Alfred Hitchcock's classic film is this month's Movie Geeks Club choice. Plot: How do two complete strangers pull off murders for each other? Do you need more?

Join us at the Capital City Bar and Grill tomorrow night (Tuesday, March 27th). Doors open at 7:00 pm and the show starts promptly at 7:30 pm. As always, Capital City offers their full menu of food and drinks during the showing.

Please join us for an enjoyable evening and as always, bring ideas for future movies to be shown. We are very democratic in our selection process.

See you then!

The Drew Emmitt Band

The Drew Emmitt Band will be playing at City Nights at Capital City Bar and Grill on Saturday March 24 at 8 PM. Tom Irwin wrote a nice piece about Drew and the band here. According to Irwin's article, this tour will feature Emmitt breaking away from his traditional mandolin playing and instead taking up the electric guitar.

For those of you who don't know Drew Emmitt, he played mandolin for the bluegrass/newgrass inspired rock jam band Leftover Salmon for many years. Leftover Salmon has been on hiatus for a few years, and Drew's been touring with his own band.

Internet Archive has a nice collection of Drew Emmitt Band, if you want to check the band out before Saturday night.

Local bass hero Bill Laymon (New Riders of the Purple Sage) will open for Drew with Luke Turasky's Bourbon Bluegrass Band.

No Lassie, Put Down that Beer!

I have a dog who loves beer. My wife and I joke that she was a beer slugger in a former life because any time I put a beer down within her range, she tries to drink it. I've always taken it away from her on the general principle that my dog doesn't need to get drunk, but I've never really worried about it. It became a joke.

Then one day I was trying to learn about substances that can be dangerous to dogs. To my surprise, I saw hops included in the list. It turns out that ingesting even a small amount of hops can cause a serious reaction in dogs, called malignant hyperthermia. It can cause serious internal discomfort and even death in dogs.

For those of you who want to cater to your dog's beer-drinking needs, The Dog Star Brewing Company has developed a non-alcoholic, non-lethal brew that Lassie can drink in leisure.

Great Places in Illinois

The American Institute of Architects released its list of 150 Great Places in Illinois. These are places within a community that enrich the quality of life of the area in which they are located. Springfield has two great places, the Old State Capital and Lincoln's Home. Big shocker there.

I personally find it sad that Springfield, a town that boasts a rich, deep connection to history, only has two buildings that make it on this list.

UPDATE: My bad. As Greg points out, there are several buildings from Springfield on the list, including the ALPLM, the Dana Thomas House, and the current state capitol. When I used the Great Places website I navigated using their default statewide map. When clicking on Springfield, the dots overlap making it difficult to find all sites listed. It's best if you choose to search by city. My apologies. Kudos to Springfield for having so many places on the list.

Give Me Baseball, or Give me Death

In his best Patrick Henry, The 26th Man has written a post on the baseball stadium issue that takes the discussion to a whole new level. It's a definite must-read for anyone interested in bringing baseball back to Springfield.

Thanks, Jeff. Your baseball knowledge is a true asset to this discussion.

Lincoln's Birthday Gets a Website!

Apparently the commission involved with organizing the events for Abraham Lincoln's birthday has just developed a website to share information about Lincoln's birthday and to generate buzz.

Here's the address:

http://www.lincoln200.net

Update: As Will points out in the attached post, if the bicentennial commission paid $100,000 for that site, they got ripped off. Big time!

Plus, as an aside, I tend to dislike websites with black backgrounds. I feel like they drain my web-surfing energies, and this comes from a guy who professionally surfs the web. No joke. I generally just feel like I need to navigate away from black (or even worse, red) websites.

My Take on the Whole Baseball Stadium Issue

We have to try new things in this town.

There seem to be a couple of different camps on the whole baseball team/stadium issue. On one hand, you have the folks who don't believe a minor league baseball team in Springfield could ever survive. These are the folks who use the argument, "Well, we've never been able to do it before, we certainly won't be able to do it now."

On the other hand, you have the folks who have never really known a baseball team in this town. I can vaguely remember going to see the Cardinals team here when I was a kid, but I remember little more than just really enjoying baseball. There's a whole generation of people who are willing to see things change in Springfield. Willing to see things grow here. Willing to see things change.

I think there's a generation of people here who have seen things come and go, and their philosophy is that nothing will ever change in Springfield. Certainly nothing is ever going to change if we don't make it change. Well there is a younger generation in Springfield who might like to see things change. I count myself as one of them. We may still be in the dream stages on projects like this, but I think there's so much more that can be done to rejuvenate Springfield. It's just a matter of time.

We've read the evidence. In this particular article, I'd like to highlight the following quote:

There will always be some city willing to build a new ballpark for a nomadic team.

Are we that city? Or would we rather sit by and let every other similar-sized city in America make a try? Seriously, the argument that we need to use Lanphier stadium falls apart when you realize that the reason teams abandoned Springfield in the first place (10 years ago) was that the stadium was outdated.

A new stadium strategically located downtown would be a boon for businesses downtown. The new stadium, if tied correctly to the Abraham Lincoln sites could appeal especially to regional tourists who might want to come to Springfield but not just for the Lincoln stuff. I can imagine families making a weekend of it. They come on Saturday morning, take in the Lincoln Museum and maybe Lincoln's Home, have a nice dinner downtown, and take in a baseball game. The next day, they could take a gander at Lincoln's Tomb or enjoy a nice picnic lunch at Lincoln's New Salem before returning home.

If the stadium were built correctly, it could have an in-house restaurant or bar, and it could be located adjacent to property that would allow bars and restaurants to grow and flourish. We need to build a community around the ballpark, not just build a ballpark. In my opinion, just plopping down a baseball stadium out where a cornfield sits today is a bad idea, and it's bad karma. We've got plenty of dead space in the city. Let's breathe some life back into it.

If I may analogize for a moment, let's think about Wrigley Field. There's a community built around the park. It's a city park. Even Busch Stadium is located closely enough to bars and restaurants downtown that people have a place to go before and after games. If you took either of those parks and dropped them out in the suburban reaches around the city you'd simply have parks that everyone has to drive to and from. Drive to the game, watch the game, drive home. It's one of the biggest problems I have with Turner Field in Atlanta. That's a cool stadium, but it's located so far away from anything else in Atlanta that all you can do is drive to the game, watch the game, and then drag your butt home. I like the option of grabbing a bite to eat after a game and letting the crowd dissipate a bit.

I just don't see any good reason why we would have to build a park on the west end of town. If we're going to build it somewhere outside of the city, I'd rather see it go up somewhere scenic (along the river toward Sherman, or somewhere within view of the lake) than in a corn field that's eventually going to be eaten up with houses and strip malls. Let's get real. We can't keep catering to the rush of people spreading west.

I'm not sure the argument "build it where the traffic is" is a valid argument either. That's like saying if I want an omelet I have to make a run to the chicken coop (sort of). Put the stadium where it's best to put a stadium and people will come to it. People used to drive to the north end to watch Cardinals games. Every day in Chicago people drive from the suburbs to take in games at Wrigley. Are people on the west side of town really so selfish that they would refuse to go to a game anywhere but on the other side of a strip mall from their neighborhood? It's not like the areas on the west side are particularly walker friendly. You can't walk to a game out there, even if it's "just down the street." If you're going to spend the time and energy getting in your car and driving to a game, why not drive downtown?

Huge News on Upcoming Shows!

We haven't taped a new show in quite some time, but we're gearing up for two tapings in early April. We just confirmed late last week that Carl Madonna and Jessica English of Channel 20's Sunrise This Morning have agreed to an interview during our April 5 taping. We're very excited to have these two talented anchors on our show.

As mentioned previously, we tape on April 10 with the ladies who publish The Writer's Block, a local monthly creative arts magazine. We've been working with these ladies since summer of last year to get them on the show, and we're finally going to make it happen. This should be a great interview!

New Springfield Baseball Stadium

Spring is upon us. One of the great signs that the season is changing and that we have warm days ahead is the start of the baseball season. I am a loyal Cubs fan. This is always the most optimistic time of the year. Hopefully that feeling will last beyond the first week of May this year.

I love live baseball. There is that certain, almost undescribable feeling that comes from watching a game during a warm summer day or night. I always prefer night which doesn't go well with my Cubs loyalty. When I moved to Springfield, there was minor league team here. I went to a game then but my best memories were going when I was younger while visiting relatives. I think it is a shame that Springfield does not have a minor league team anymore. The collegiate league team is nice for anyone who does enjoy baseball but that affliation with a pro team means so much more.

This brings me to the title of this post. Springfield needs a new baseball stadium. I am not the only who believes this. Most people who care about this issue of getting a minor league team believe it too. It is always the main topic of conversation between John, JS (Senior Executive Producer of Just Two Guys) and myself. The reason that we see the current location as a problem is because of its remote location in Springfield. Yes, most of us know where it is. It's just not strategically placed in terms of other landmarks, parking or atmosphere.

We believe the new stadium should be built in downtown Springfield. The exact location is debatable but we agree it should be there. We have also heard other suggestions from people interested in the topic and I have listed them in the poll. I could see some of the other ideas work. Funding is of course the main concern. We have no answer for that. Corporate sponsorship would be the best bet but the city would have to kick in a bit. Easier said than done. We just believe a public discussion should begin. If it hasn't already. I have posted a couple of pictures of well-placed stadiums in similar sized cities.

O'Brien Field in Peoria. Beautiful view of Peoria.

Stadium in Joliet.

Here is where the Swing of the Quad Cities play.

Here is Rockford's new stadium.

A nice corporate suite in Cedar Rapids.


Very impressed by the new stadium in Springfield, MO.

Update: Here is a great article from a year and a half ago that describes the problems of Lanphier Park.

Upset

I don't care about college basketball, but I couldn't help but smile when I saw that my alma mater had delivered a crushing defeat to Duke last night. That's pretty sweet. Take that giant school with oodles of name-recognition!

The Public Access Star is Rising

There's a great article in today's SJ-R about Springfield's local public access channel, Access 4. Daniel Pike does a nice write up on some of the more unique offerings on Access 4, and makes it a point to recognize that the local access channel offers more than just "guns and god." I do think Springfield is fortunate to have such a diverse access channel. And it seems to keep getting better and better.

I'd personally like to see more people involved with bringing shows to public access. Even for one-off shows that might raise awareness about important issues.

Note: I don't think articles in the Heartland Magazine insert of the SJ-R are featured on their website. You'll have to get your fingers dirty if you want to read this one.

Stupid Starbucks

Yes, this is a poor man's photograph of the Starbucks on Monroe near Chatham Road. I don't have the time or the energy to go down and take an actual photograph, but I still feel the pressure to post this story with some sort of visual.

To get to my point. I hate this Starbucks. When I first heard it was coming, I thought, "Okay, cool. I'm not a huge Starbucks fan, but this is pretty close to where I live and sometimes it's nice to have a drive-thru coffee place nearby. Since it's opened, I've been there 4 times. And 4 times I've left unsuccessfully without coffee. I can't get through the drive-thru lane because it's so backed up, and I refuse to wait in a line from the street. You can't change your mind and grab a parking space because the 4 parking spaces in this Micro Machines parking lot, are always taken.

It was a really bad idea to put a Starbucks at that location. Maybe the demographics will support a Starbucks there, but the geography won't. The lot is not big enough for the traffic that needs to go in and out of that place. It doesn't help that so many people in the drive-thru order drinks that take 6 staff members 9 hours to construct on a Henry Ford-inspired assembly line; something that inevitably has 4 pounds of caramel and whipped cream in it. I'm surprised there hasn't been some sort of incident there, what with caffeine-deprived pressure cooker cooped up in that pressure cooker of a parking lot. It's only a matter of time.

I've completely given up on it. I'll never go buy a cup of coffee at this location.

Vintage Cartoons

If any of you are interested in classic cartoons, the Film Chest Vintage Archive has a great collection of the earliest and finest classic cartoons. You can find everything from Betty Boop to Mighty Mouse to the Stupidstitious Cat to very early Bugs Bunny. One of my favorite aspects of the collection is that it includes old propaganda cartoons from the WWII era. For example, in Superman: Eleventh Hour (that's right, Dave, I said Eleventh Hour), Superman commits numerous acts of sabotage against the Japanese military while they hold Lois Lane hostage.

Stories of Abraham Lincoln

Here's another story about Abraham Lincoln. This is a little "behind the scenes" story about Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

HE WANTED A STEADY HAND.

When the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr.
Lincoln by Secretary Seward, for the President's
signature, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in the
ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature,
held it a moment, then removed his hand and dropped
the pen. After a little hesitation, he again took
up the pen and went through the same movement as
before. Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward and
said:

"I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this
morning, and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If
my name ever goes into history, it will be for
this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand
trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who
examine the document hereafter will say, 'He
hesitated.'"

He then turned to the table, took up the pen
again, and slowly, firmly wrote "Abraham Lincoln,"
with which the whole world is now familiar.

He then looked up, smiled, and said, "That will
do."

from Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Col. Alexander McClure (public domain)

New Polls

I've added a poll to the right hand bar of the blog. For a long time, we've wanted to host polls on the blog, but we couldn't really decide the best way to do it. We tried with Bravenet for awhile, but it generated pop-ups on the site. I hate pop-ups (which is also why I use Firefox). Pollhost doesn't interfere with your browsing experience here, but rather generates a popup when you click to see the results. I thought that was a decent trade-off.

If this is a problem, please let us know. I want to put polls up because they are fun. I don't want to annoy people. Any feedback is appreciated.

Reflections

For some reason I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When I was in college, I couldn't afford college. So, I joined the National Guard. It was crazy and, looking back, I realize that it was really not the right place for me. If I had it to do over again, I would do just about anything instead of going into the Guard. No offense to the people who do it. We need you, and I applaud you for your dedication. I met some fine people in the Guard. It just wasn't the place for me, and it made my life very difficult.

Here are some things I've been reflecting on lately about my time in the Guard that make it seem truly strange to me. We truly live in an absurd world.

1. I remember when I arrived at Basic Training I thought it seemed like a mental institution with lots of running and pushups.
2. Looking back, I realize it was a lot more like a mental institution than I thought.
3. We were all terrified that the Victory punch was laced with saltpeter and that our junk would stop working.
4. We were wrong. Everyone's junk seemed to work just fine. People hooked up all over the place. In nasty back stairways, in tents, on dirty toilets, in the sand trap behind the barracks.
5. Once, a drill sergeant made us pee three at a time in a port-a-potty. I hope I never have to do that again.
6. One kid tried to eat floor wax one Sunday morning so they'd kick him out. They did kick him out. They also took away our floor wax and then punished us constantly because we could never get the floors shiny.
7. One Saturday night some of the guys got passes. This one dude managed to sneak off base and get rip-roaring drunk. When he got back in, he stopped at my bunk and woke me up. I told him to bugger off and go to bed. I fell asleep, and deep sleeper that I am, didn't notice that this cat passed out in the bunk next to me. The next morning, I woke up to a drill sergeant screaming, "What the hell's going on here privates?!"
8. Somebody used to think it was a good idea to poop on the floor in the middle of the bathroom. Drill sergeants really take kindly to that kind of habit.
9. The only time I ever ran and threw up was at basic training. I did it at least twice a week. I'd never done it before, and I've never done it since.

Speaking of the Simpsons

Does anyone remember this?

My say is, if Springfield, Illinois was good enough for this international contest sponsored by Fox, it certainly should be good enough for a puny little domestic movie premiere? Am I right?

And check out this quote from the contest's organizer at Fox UK:

When arranging the contest prize, Meadows said, choosing between the 33 cities called Springfield in the United States posed a problem.

"I looked at a few Springfields, two in particular - the one in Illinois and the one in Massachusetts," she said. "There was more sort of opportunity in Illinois because of the doughnut factory and the high school."

Seriously, though. How cool is it that the contest landed two guys here in the Land of Lincoln to do a Simpsons tour. And I'm curious about what type of beer they gave these guys with the "Duff" name. Springfield needs to seen a local brewery pop up. I'm sure people here would embrace the stuff just like Homer hugs his Duff.

Cartoon Springfield

The Simpsons Movie will hit the big screens this summer. Apparently there's some debate over where to hold the premiere.

Fox publicist Gwyne Ortiz said Fox has asked 16 Springfields from Oregon to Massachusetts to participate.

Fox will pick the winner after reviewing short film entries showcasing the community's positive aspects and links to the Simpsons, who live in their own fictional Springfield.

from MSN article found here

Has anyone heard anything about this? Is our Springfield one of the 16 being considered? This is the first I've heard of such a competition. Over the years I've spoken with numerous locals who can get quite vocal about their belief that our Springfield is indeed the Springfield.

UPDATE: Apparently this topic has made its way onto the local radio airwaves. Thanks Blevins.

Stories of Abraham Lincoln

Here's another story about Abraham Lincoln. A while back I read an article about the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman. Now, naturally, being from Central Illinois (and within 15 miles of New Salem), I was practically born with an interest in Abraham Lincoln. As for Whitman, he's a poet that I've grown to enjoy over the years. Something about aging has made Whitman's poetry immensely more appealing to me than when I first read it as a teenager. Even more than his poetry, I think Whitman's entire worldview is what makes him appealing, especially during the Civil War years.

To make a long story short, I've become really interested in the relationship between these two men. I've read Whitman's poems about Lincoln, and I've read Whitman's journal entries about his experiences watching the president. In this particular article, Lincoln and Whitman are described as "kindred spirits," and the article includes this comparison, which I can't stop thinking about:
"They were elective affinities -- the poet as public servant, the president as dramatic poet."

This morning, as I was combing for a Lincoln story, I came across this one, and it made me think of how Lincoln was a poet. In his stories and speeches. In his unique turns of phrase. In his demeanor and his sense of wit. In just about everything Lincoln did, he inspired poetic sensibilities. That's why he's been so written about, so talked about, so often conjured in the political speeches of others. And that's why he's still so loved today.

Here's the story. It makes me ponder the youthful Lincoln and how he felt about the world and his place in it:

A YOUTHFUL POET.

Some records of his schoolboy days are still left us.
One is a book made and bound by Lincoln himself, in
which he had written the table of weights and
measures, and the sums to be worked out therefrom.
This was his arithmetic, for he was too poor to own a
printed copy.

On one of the pages of this quaint book he had written
these four lines of schoolboy doggerel:

"Abraham Lincoln,
His Hand and Pen,
He Will be Good,
But God knows when."

The poetic spirit was strong in the young scholar just
then for on another page of the same book he had
written these two verses, which are supposed to have
been original with him:

"Time, what an empty vapor 'tis,
And days, how swift they are;
Swift as an Indian arrow
Fly on like a shooting star.

The present moment just is here,
Then slides away in haste,
That we can never say they're ours,
But only say they're past."

Another specimen of the poetical, or rhyming ability,
is found in the following couplet, written by him for
his friend, Joseph C. Richardson:

"Good boys who to their books apply,
Will all be great men by and by."

In all, Lincoln's "schooling" did not amount to a
year's time, but he was a constant student outside of
the schoolhouse. He read all the books he could borrow,
and it was his chief delight during the day to lie under
the shade of some tree, or at night in front of an open
fireplace, reading and studying. His favorite books
were the Bible and Aesop's fables, which he kept always
within reach and read time and again.

The first law book he ever read was "The Statutes of
Indiana," and it was from this work that he derived
his ambition to be a lawyer.

from Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Col. Alexander McClure (public domain)

Show Update

This week, I contacted Kavitha Cardoza, a reporter with our local NPR affiliate, WUIS, about appearing on the show during one of our upcoming tapings. We originally contacted Kavitha back in November about appearing in our donut eating contest, but she had a conflict. She did seem genuinely interested in appearing on the show, however, so we thought we'd try again when our booking schedule smoothed out a bit. When I spoke with her this week (via e-mail) she said that she would definitely come on the show for an interview this summer. Now we just need to get some tapings scheduled and get her booked.

I have to say that personally, this will be a cool interview for me. I'm a bit of an NPR nerd. In fact, NPR is about the only radio I listen to these days, although I do find myself frequently flipping to 970 WMAY during the day. I just don't find myself at all interested in listening to the other radio stations. Kavitha Cardoza is a great reporter, and I think Springfield is lucky to have her here.

Public Access Superstar

Only on the Just Two Guys blog will you get a post about Abraham Lincoln followed immediately by a post about Sondra Prill. Dubbed the "Queen of Tampa Public Access," Sondra shocked and delighted audiences in the Tampa area in the early 90s with her music video adaptations of popular songs. We could only wish to have someone as bizarre and truly awesome as Sondra Prill on our local access station. Yes, she sings off-key. Yes, she shouts through most of her songs. Yes, the hair. The fur. There is something beyond these bizarre surface features, though, that make Sondra Prill a truly frightening creature. The result is both bizarre and dazzling. To get you started, you should watch her video for Nasty Boys, the popular Janet Jackson song from the late 80s.



You can watch Pump Up the Jam, where Sondra wears a huge fur coat on the beach while she sings the Technotronic jam and kicks dust on people trying to read. Like Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love?" You won't after you watch Sondra Prill's horrible version of this 80's pop staple.

Stories of Abraham Lincoln

Here's another story about Abraham Lincoln. This is from his time in Springfield and gives you an idea of the kind of man Lincoln was.

LINCOLN CARRIED HER TRUNK.
"My first strong impression of Mr. Lincoln," says a lady of
Springfield, "was made by one of his kind deeds. I was going
with a little friend for my first trip alone on the railroad
cars. It was an epoch of my life. I had planned for it and
dreamed of it for weeks. The day I was to go came, but as
the hour of the train approached, the hackman, through some
neglect, failed to call for my trunk. As the minutes went
on, I realized, in a panic of grief, that I should miss the
train. I was standing by the gate, my hat and gloves on,
sobbing as if my heart would break, when Mr. Lincoln came
by.

"'Why, what's the matter?' he asked, and I poured out all
my story.

"'How big's the trunk? There's still time, if it isn't too
big.' And he pushed through the gate and up to the door. My
mother and I took him up to my room, where my little
old-fashioned trunk stood, locked and tied. 'Oh, ho,' he
cried, 'wipe your eyes and come on quick.' And before I knew
what he was going to do, he had shouldered the trunk, was
down stairs, and striding out of the yard. Down the street
he went fast as his long legs could carry him, I trotting
behind, drying my tears as I went. We reached the station
in time. Mr. Lincoln put me on the train, kissed me
good-bye, and told me to have a good time. It was just
like him."

from Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Col. Alexander McClure (public domain)

Gluten Free Oatmeal

In my marriage, I've always gotten up and made breakfast. It just seems like the way it should be. I like breakfast, and it takes me a lot less time to get ready in the morning. So, I've always been the breakfast guy. Several years ago, Aubrey and I ate oatmeal for breakfast pretty regularly. Oatmeal is especially good on cold mornings, and it provides a nice steady stream of energy throughout the morning.

Then Aubrey was diagnosed with celiac disease, and we had to stop eating oatmeal. Oatmeal itself isn't problematic for people who have a gluten intolerance, but it is often harvested or processed on equipment that also handles wheat or the other grains that contain gluten. There is a sufficient amount of cross-contamination that occurs that renders oats completely off-limits for people with celiac.

We've spent the last few years searching for gluten-free hot cereal alternatives. And we've found some that are okay, but nothing has served to adequately replace the warm, rich texture and flavor of oatmeal. Most gluen-free cereals are extremely sensitive so they can be undercooked or overcooked very easily. Often they come out thick and sludgy. If they sit too long, they form a concrete-like mass. So, our breakfast menu for the last few years has been in constant transition as we try to find a good staple breakfast food again.

Then, Aubrey got a gluten-free e-mail bulletin touting a company that sells gluten-free oats. We immediately went to their website and bought a bag. This company is dedicated to gluten-free oat farming. All of their equipment is used only for oats, which prevents contamination with other grains. The oats laboratory test at a level low enough for gluten that most people with celiac are able to eat the oats without problems.

The bag of oats arrived yesterday, and I made oatmeal this morning for breakfast. It was like inviting an old friend over for a morning visit (and then eating them). When Aubrey came downstairs, she remarked that she could smell the oats cooking. They were delicious. Rich, creamy, sweet. All the things I remember about oatmeal. I could tell that Aubrey was happy to have oats again. It may seem like such a little thing, but after being entirely restricted from oats, it was a small victory for Aubrey to have them back.

Internet Archive Show of the Week -- Assembly of Dust 3-Day Run

For this week's show of the week, I'm going to post Assembly of Dust's three-night run at Paradise Rock Club in Boston, Massachusetts to close out 2006. Within these three shows you'll find just about every song in the Assembly of Dust library, including a number of sweet covers (from Zeppelin to David Bowie). The show on the 29th features a special guest appearance by respected Boston-area blues man Martin Sexton.

For the shows, click here:
December 31, 2006
December 30, 2006
December 29, 2006

All three shows are full of highlights, from new AOD songs to some of their best classic songs. The band is free and lose, with some great extended jams, and you even get a couple of chances to hear Reid perform solo. The recording quality of these shows is great. As fine as any live performance you can buy anywhere. If you like live music, give them a listen.

If you don't know Assembly of Dust, here's one description I've read of them that I like: If Pearl Jam and the Grateful Dead had a baby together and Willie Nelson delivered it, it would sound like Assembly of Dust. I do see elements of all three of those musical entities swimming around somehwere in the Assembly of Dust, but this is a band that really defies comparison.

Illinois vs. Mexico

The name Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna probably does not mean much to most Springfield residents. It's a name that probably shouldn't mean too much either if it weren't for a military regiment from Illinois that attacked the Mexican General and his men. They feasted on his chicken and took his leg.

Santa Anna was probably the single most important figure in 19th Mexico. He was a military hero, renegade and occasionally President. He led an amazing life and surprisingly lived to be an old man. To give him perspective in American terms, HE attacked the Alamo. In 1846, the United States and Mexico went to war over the Republic of Texas. President Polk and Santa Anna went back and forth to try to resolve the dispute but war seemed inevitable. The following comes from the Tazewell County Historical Society:

On 18 April 1847, the main part of the American forces assaulted the Mexican batteries head on, led by Captain Robert E. Lee, assisted by Lieutenants U.S. Grant, P. G. T. Beauregard, and George B. McClellan. At the same time, Shields' division, including the Tazewell County volunteers, made a wide encircling movement through mountainous rugged terrain in order to try to come upon the Mexican position from the rear. The Mexican forces had assumed this route to be impassable.

Meanwhile, Santa Anna had moved his personal position to the left of the main battery. He decided to take a break to eat a roasted chicken dinner in his carriage, removing his artificial leg for comfort. According to a Mexican soldier's report, this is what happened next:

"General Santa Anna, accompanied by some of his adjutants, proceeded by the road to the left of the battery, when the enemy's column, now coming out of the woods, absolutely prevented his passage by a discharge which obliged him to fall back. The carriage in which he had left Jalapa was riddled with shot, the mules killed and taken by the enemy, as well as a wagon containing sixteen thousand dollars, received the day before for the pay of the troops. Every tie of command and obedience now being broken among our troops, safety alone being the object, and all being involved in a frightful whirl, they rushed desperately to the narrow pass of the defile that descends to the Plan del Rio, where the General-in-chief had proceeded, with the chiefs and officers who accompanied him.

Horrible, indeed, was the descent by that narrow and rocky path, where thousands rushed, disputing the passage with desperation, and leaving a track of blood upon the road. All classes being confounded, all military distinction and respect were lost, the badges of rank became marks for sarcasms, that were only meted out according to their grade and humiliation. The enemy, now masters of our camp, turned their guns upon the fugitives. This augmented more and more the terror of the multitude crowded through the defile, and pressed forward every instant by a new impulse, which increased the confusion and disgrace of the ill-fated day.
Cerro Gordo was lost! Mexico was open to the iniquity of the invader."

The voluntary regiment eventually became the Illinois National Guard. The members of that regiment returned to Illinois with their souvenir. They charged 10 cents to allow people to view it and eventually they turned it over to the Illinois State Military Museum at Camp Lincoln where it sits today. The Mexican government has been pleading with Illinois to get it returned for decades. It was even the subject of a King of the Hill episode. I take a neutral stance but it certainly is an issue that more people in the community should be aware of.

Upcoming Shows Update

We don't tape another show until April 5. Then we turn around and tape again on April 10.

On the April 10 taping, we'll be interviewing the women behind the local arts and writing monthly, The Writer's Block. These three ladies, Shanna, Jen, and Staci, have been publishing The Writer's Block for almost a year now. Their one year anniversary will be the May issue, so we'll get a chance to interview them right before this milestone.

As for the rest of our taping time, we're not sure yet how we want to fill it up. More than likely, we'll try to fit in another local history segment. We always like doing those. At some point, we may go head to head in some fierce Mario Kart action. We know how much everyone likes to watch other people play old school video games. We also have a backlog of folks we've contacted about the show that we need to follow up on. It's also about time to start thinking about another State Fair show.

Once we get the April shows knocked out, we should be able to get into a more regular taping schedule again. Ideally, we'd have one taping scheduled per month, but this can be hard to do because the taping slots fill up rather quickly at the Access studios. This is really a good time for Public Access programming in the Springfield area.

Home and Garden Expo

My wife and I decided to go to the Home and Garden Expo at The Center this weekend. We always have an ongoing list of home improvement chores to accomplish, so we decided to see what the Expo had for us.

For the most part, I was happy. We bumped into several landscaping firms who are now scheduled to come to the house and give us estimates to tear up our backyard (read: mudpit) and put down sod. We have a few estimates scheduled for tree trimming as well, and an estimate lined up for tomorrow for gutter topper, something I think will be invaluable in our neighborhood. We have a lot of tall trees that produce tons of falling leaves in the fall. It will be nice to not have to climb to the top of a 30' ladder to pull out handfuls of muck every fall.

Other than landscaping and gutter topping, however, there wasn't a lot there that interested me. There were a ton of places pitching outdoor porches, awnings, etc., and a ton of places selling specialty tubs and pools. None of these are things we're interested in or have the ability to prioritize right now.

For us, it was well worth the $4 admission.

Stories of Abraham Lincoln

Here's another story about Abraham Lincoln. This one shows his determination in arguing a point. What I like about this story, is that it illustrates a little argument that is analogous to Lincoln's later and much-larger fight to put an end to slavery.

KEPT UP THE ARGUMENT.

Judge T. Lyle Dickey of Illinois related that when the excitement
over the Kansas Nebraska bill first broke out, he was with
Lincoln and several friends attending court.

One evening several persons,including himself and Lincoln, were
discussing the slavery question. Judge Dickey contended that
slavery was an institution which the Constitution recognized,
and which could not be disturbed. Lincoln argued that ultimately
slavery must become extinct.

"After awhile," said Judge Dickey, "we went upstairs to bed.
There were two beds in our room, and I remember that Lincoln
sat up in his night shirt on the edge of the bed arguing the point
with me.

At last we went to sleep. Early in the morning I woke up and
there was Lincoln half sitting up in bed. 'Dickey,' said he, 'I
tell you this nation cannot exist half slave and half free.'

'Oh, Lincoln,' said I, 'go to sleep."'

from Lincoln's Yarns and Stories by Col. Alexander McClure (public domain)