little blog on the prairie

Looking forward to some beautiful fall weather and …

•  I’ve been a sucker for the Other Guys, the UI’s long-time men’s a capella group, ever since they performed at my high school. See them for free by attending the celebration of Foellinger Auditorium’s 100th anniversary on Saturday at 7 p.m.

• It’s Kids Day at the Krannert Art Museum in Champaign (not to be confused with the Krannert Center in Urbana, people) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  “Fun-filled event for the entire family with demonstrations, hands-on art projects, dance, music, and storytelling.”

• The Worldwide Day of Play celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Urbana’s Crestview Park. Here’s the description for the Urbana Park District: “Join us for this FREE afternoon of fun games and activities to celebrate Nickelodeon and the American Heart Association’s Worldwide Day of Play! We’ll supply the games, sports equipment, craft supplies, and healthy snacks; all we need from you is to turn off the TV and come out to play!” (Thanks for the tip, Jenna!). There’s also a Day of Play celebration in Savoy’s Prairie Fields Park from 1 to 3 p.m.

• Head to Dallas and Co.’s 19th annual Magic weekend. All day Saturday and Sunday too.

As a first-time mom whose child would be outdoors every blessed nanosecond of every day, I’ve already started wondering how in the world I’m going to keep her entertained after the leaves fall off the trees.

The other night I was at a meeting about our neighborhood park (that’s a post for another day) and afterward I was talking with the director of the Champaign Park District. She happened to mention that she recently had been to visit her grandchild, and somehow the conversation segued to me asking her whether the park district had every considered developing an indoor playground here in Champaign. Basically, her answer was that there are so many other needs, it’s not even on the radar.

The conversation made me recall something I had heard from a friend awhile back about an indoor playground at the First Christian Church in very southwest Champaign that is free and open to the public. My memory was a little fuzzy; was it some sort of science fiction twilight zone that I was in, and I had never really heard about this? I mean, c’mon, an indoor playground that is FREE? And open to the public 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily weekdays, (except for Thursday mornings)? That can’t be true. There has to be a catch.

I packed up Peanut and met a couple of friends down there recently. The playground is fairly new, and has something for everyone, even an old-school merry-go-round that took me back to my elementary days. The large playground equipment — complete with slides, monkey bars, etc. is probably best suited for children 4 and up. All in all, we had a good time — it’s a great place for toddlers to run around, because it has that soft flooring. There’s even tables and chairs where you can sit and have a snack or picnic lunch; you can also watch your child and exercise at the same time on the walking track that surrounds the fenced-in play area. My only caution is to watch for the bigger kids — although we were there in the morning, there were several school-age children there who told me they were home-schooled.

As far as a catch: maybe I’m naive, but I couldn’t pinpoint one. There was no one there trying to convert us or recruit us to attend the church. The only thing that reminded me that I was in a church was a mural on the wall that told a story about Jesus, but it was so benign that if you didn’t know the story you wouldn’t have any idea what it was about.

As Yogi Berra would say, it’s deja vu all over again. A minor league franchise (a very minor league team, people; in the history of the Frontier League, five players have made it to the majors) may play in Illinois Field, home of University of Illinois baseball, starting in 2009. Curiously enough, without getting into all the details, the deal may hinge on whether or not the state and university will allow alcohol sales at the stadium. That did happen once before, when the Chicago Bears played at Memorial Stadium during the 2002 season due to renovations at Soldier Field.

Beer and baseball go together like macaroni and cheese. But how about a pint with your popcorn?

Up the road in Bloomington, a new movie megaplex scheduled to open in December was denied a city liquor license to vend beer. Although the Bloomington people thought better of it, this seems to be a nationwide trend, as more and more chains try to cater to adults. Alcohol in independent, small theaters isn’t uncommon; a long time ago I saw the Beavis and Butthead movie at Chicago’s Brew and View. It made the movie that much more hilarious. Of course those theaters aren’t catering to children, and that seems to be the main sticking point — that beer would be served no matter if the movie is G or R-rated. Whether they serve beer or not, that new theater looks like a welcome addition to the Central Illinois movie scene. Hopefully they’ll send Sing-Along Grease over this way.

I’m sure all of you are waiting with bated breath to hear my take on Urban Outfitters coming to town. Yawn.  Every college town in America seemingly has one of these (was at the one in Bloomington, Indiana a while back. Bloomington is much smaller than C-U). I’m just surprised it took so long — so long that I’m just too damn old for that place. (Gamera uses this news to make another plea for blog pet Trader Joe’s.)

Did any of you see the obituary in the News-Gazette the other day for the 64-year-old woman who had 28 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren? My brain is still trying to process how that is possible.

You know you live in Central Illinois when … there are corn husks all over your yard, and you live more than a mile away from a corn field.

Hey all you stay-at-home-dads: check this out.

When I was a kid, my family lived within a five-minute drive of the most famous basketball player on the planet. Back then, he resided in a (relatively) modest house, albeit with an extra-deep basement that had a basketball court in it. This was before Michael was the international franchise he is now, before he was married, before his son Jeffrey was even alive, well before he built this monstrosity (that I believe now belongs to his ex-wife). Back then, it wasn’t unusual for my brother to be driving me somewhere and we would pass by Michael’s street and see him playing pick-up games with the neighborhood kids. In fact, one time we gathered up enough courage to stop and ask Jordan for his autograph. He gladly obliged (and yes, I still have it).

Perhaps Michael Jordan is “moving” to my neighborhood (not really, but close enough) again. The hottest rumor in Champaign is that the father of the world’s most famous college basketball walk-on has purchased a home in Trails at Brittany, the same luxury southwest Champaign subdivision where Bruce Weber and Ron Zook sleep at night. I actually heard this tale from a friend who recently moved there, but even she didn’t know if it was true. There is no record of a Michael Jordan in the Champaign County taxpayer property record search, but he may have bought the property using a trust or something else. Or, it might just be too early for the sale to have registered there. There is a huge glut of luxury homes on the market here, especially in T@B, so I’m sure (giggle) he would be able to get a good price on one. After all, the man needs a place to crash after Illinois basketball games, and somehow I don’t think the Hilton Garden Inn would cut it.

But the people who may be the most excited about this urban legend are the folks over at illiniboard.com, who dissect every move the basketball program makes. Perhaps this (alleged) purchase may be a sign that another Jordan, Jeffrey’s younger brother Marcus — also a Division I prospect — plans to join the U of I family? Stay tuned.

Thoughts on a toasty September day:

• Head over to Huff Hall and meet the Illinois volleyball squad on Sunday. This is an all-ages, free event. Your kids will get to see that yes, girls can be tall too.
• Run, don’t walk, over to Curtis Orchard to get some Honeycrisp apples — my new apple obsession — before they disappear for the season.
• Check out Lisa’s detective work over at Champaign Taste on the new French restaurant coming to town.

It used to be that Champaign-Urbana was somewhat fad-free. Not anymore.

The News-Gazettte reported Monday that a “cupcake bar” is coming to downtown Champaign. (I guess if we didn’t get one Hollywood trend, we get another.) According to today’s USA Today cover story, cupcakes “cater to the kid in all of us.” Just a few weeks ago, I was watching Nightline with my parents and we saw a feature about Sprinkles, one of the gangbuster cupcake boulangeries in Beverly Hills. Supposedly, people wait up to 45 minutes in line for a chance to spend $3.25 on a cupcake endorsed by Oprah. Sprinkles has been so successful that they are now branching out across the country; a Chicago location is expected soon. There are even (of course) blogs devoted to cupcakeries.

As others have commented, it is curious that this is being called a “bar” and that the targeted market is the bar-hopping crowd. Obviously, I’m no MBA (or I would have figured out a way to make real money off of this thing a long time ago), but I’m not sure if the Bates sisters aren’t missing the boat here. While Downtown Champaign is surely a nighttime destination, the crowds aren’t coming for cupcakes, unless they have Kahlua in them. As the News-Gazette story notes, there are places downtown where you can get dessert late at night and drink. Most of the stories I have read about the cupcake phenomenon indicate that devotees are moms pushing strollers. The market isn’t limited to hipsters out on the town, but also morning hipster wanna-bes. (Of course in NYC, the cupcake mecca, they are open from early morning to after midnight).

Good luck to the Bates sisters. I applaud their entrepreneurial spirit and hope they prosper, and prove me wrong.

Easy ways to be a good citizen this week:

• Head over the Holiday Inn this evening for the Ninth Annual Signature Chefs Auction, a benefit for the March of Dimes. Your $50 ticket buys you a smattering of appetizers/desserts/etc.  Nine local chefs, from restaurants including Jim Gould and Kennedy’s (and oddly a couple from chains like Chili’s), will be offering up goodies. Most of the funds raised stay in the local community.

• Shop the A Woman’s Place yard sale on Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All proceeds go to the Urbana shelter that houses battered women and their children.

• Is Webster White C-U’s most famous canine? Meet the University’s “First Dog” at Oskee Bow Wow, an event Friday night benefiting the CARE helpline, a free telephone service that offers a friendly ear to people who are grieving the loss of a companion animal. This wine-and-cheese fest features a tour of the veterinary hospital in Urbana. Tickets are $50.

We were delighted to get the call from Krannert early last week that after nearly three months, our wait was over. At last, we had Dan Zanes tickets! Hurrah! How lucky were we? And we even got the full amount we asked for!

We (OK, I) was super excited that I found a way to make it to at least one of the Wall-to-Wall Guitar Festival shows. I could pretend that I was still as cool as I used to be (OK, I was never that cool) before my daughter changed my world for the better.

We went into the show at the Colwell Playhouse, the same venue where Ralph’s World played last December. I was immediately struck by two things: 1) how empty it was — could it be true? Perhaps no one showed up on a beautiful Saturday morning? Perhaps they all got stuck at the farmer’s market? and 2) the fact that there were grown-ups there without children.

I don’t think they were disappointed, as we weren’t. Dan Zanes puts on a spectacular show. He is entertaining, engaging, funny, and talented as heck. He certainly knows how to reel in a crowd, and not leave them hanging. It didn’t matter your age, there was something for everyone. Peanut let it loose and was shaking her booty. And it was truly a fabulous time.

I felt lucky to be there, in more ways than one. Lucky that my family could afford to bring our young daughter (maybe too young, but she loves music) and expose her to brilliant live music. Lucky that we had gotten tickets, when I know so many wanted them and weren’t able to get them.

Which brings me back to my first point. I would love for the lovely people at Krannert to explain to me why there were so many empty seats. Why, for so long, they turned people away from this concert, with tickets being unavailable from Day 1. Why we had to wait until they called us earlier this week. The only logical explanation I could come up was that perhaps they were holding tickets for relatives of the local kids who played on stage with Zanes (and who were totally awesome by the way). Still, this was ridiculous.

Which brings me to my last point: NEVER believe that anything is sold out at Krannert.

Welcome to the “Fab Four meme,” presented in part by the little blogger on the prairie. I was tagged by Leeanthro at Soy is the New Black, one of the great like-minded people I have “met” in cyberspace. Someday, I hope to meet her in person.

4 Jobs I’ve Held
1. Overnight camp counselor and sailing instructor in Minnesota (best. job. ever.)
2. Babysitter/tutor. I guess that was training for motherhood.
3. Office assistant at my parents’ businesses. I was never good at answering the phone or filing. I would rather watch five toddlers than have to shred documents for hours on end.
4. Sports reporter. Yes folks, it was my job to see grown men naked.

4 Films I Could Watch Over and Over
1. Field of Dreams. (I’ve even been to Dyersville, Iowa, to see the real thing. Great trip.)
2. The Wizard of Oz. Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?
3. Sound of Music. (Salzburg is a magical place. The Sound of Music Tour is a must.)
4. Heathers. Grow up Heather, bulimia is so ‘87.

(Honorable mentions: Coming to America, Titanic).

4 TV Shows I Watch
1. nip/tuck. Mr. lbotp says you have to be really messed up to watch this show. I guess he doesn’t mind being married to someone who’s so messed up.
2. Rescue Me. Another F/X show. It’s not as good as it used to be.
3. Friday Night Lights. Love it. Season Two starts soon, and they moved the show to Friday night. Go figure.
4. Hidden Potential. My latest HGTV obsession.

4 Places I’ve Lived
1. Evanston, IL
2. San Bernardino, CA (the armpit of the universe)
3. Washington, DC
4. Irving, Texas

4 Favorite Foods
1. Raspberries (fresh ones, right off the stem. Not those factory-farm, overgrown tasteless ones).
2. My mom’s challah french toast
3. spicy tuna roll
4. Anything chocolate

4 Websites I Visit Everyday
1. New York Times
2. Chicago Tribune (I’m a news junkie)
3. USA Today (See, I told you)
4. ESPN

4 Favorite Colors
1. chartreuse
2. burgundy
3. turquoise
4. eggplant

4 Places I Would Love to Be Right Now
1. At Wrigley Field, watching the Cubs win (but not in the bleachers. I hate the bleachers).
2. Shopping. Anywhere but here — New York City would be wonderful.
3. Reading a novel on the beach in paradise
4. In Japan eating real sushi.

4 Names I Love But Would/Could Not Use for my Children
1. Noa. This is a common girl’s name in Israel. I love it, the Mr. does not.
2. Madison. Makes me think of Darryl Hannah in Splash. It’s just too popular.
3. David. A classic. My favorite boy name, already claimed by another member of the clan.
4. Payton. As a tribute to the late Walter. But I’m sure Mr. lbotp wouldn’t go for it — he’s a Bengals fan.

I’m tagging the following four people for the Fab Four meme:

1. Matt at It’s Matt’s World. It’s been kind of quiet over in Matt’s World lately. I hope everything is OK.
2. Catch Her in the Wry. A new voice in the area blogger market, I enjoy her perspective and dry humor.
3. Lisa at Champaign Taste. She makes my mouth water, literally!
4. Matthew (aka Prairie Biker) at Lone Tree on the Prairie. This should be good.