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GO columnist Georgette Braun is curious about a lot of things. She’ll answer your questions, pose some of her own, and comment on everything from entertainment to life and death. |
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Add comment May 29th, 2009
Tower Productions is casting for the Midwestern premiere of a housewives show in Chicago similar to Bravo’s “Real Housewives,” which has focused on Orange County, New York, Atlanta and New Jersey, according to this story in the Chicago Tribune.
Add comment May 29th, 2009
A bass player with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, who performed a duet with with eclectic vocalist Bobby McFerrin in 2005 at the Coronado Performing Arts Center in Rockford, is a member of a Chicago quartet releasing a new record.
Karl E. H. Seigfried of Chicago plays bass in The Lost Cartographers‘ “Walk On.” A CD release party for the group’s debut album featuring 10 songs filled with country, bluegrass, folk, jazz and rock will be at 10 p.m. June 19 at Morseland, 1218 W. Morse, Chicago. Cover charge is $5.
Seigfried has performed with the Rockford Symphony since 2002 and also plays with other symphonies and orchestras.
Add comment May 28th, 2009
Obama’s Supreme Court nominee’s name is pronounced SOAN-ya so-”toe”-my-YOR, though some right-wingers don’t like the way Sonia Sotomayor pronounces her own name.
Did we have trouble pronouncing the name of the Justice she is tagged to replace? Did we call David Souter, David Sow-ter? Now we all know it’s SOO’-tur. But how many of us have uttered his name in the past several years, before Obama’s nomination of Sotomayor this week?
1 comment May 27th, 2009
A mobile museum — Titanic: Treasures from the Deep — features authentic artifacts recovered from the Titanic on the ocean floor and the items will be on display for touring for free Friday through Sunday at CherryVale Mall, Cherry Valley.
You’ll see a perfume vial, cufflinks, stick pin, fountain pen and money, and learn about the personal stories as told through those treasures.
What you won’t see is Rockford’s connection to the Titanic. According to this April 26, 1912, story in the Rockford Morning Star, a predecessor to the Rockford Register Star, Dagmar Bryhl survived the sinking, though her brother and sweetheart did not. They were on their way from Sweden to stay with her uncle, Oscar Lustig, in Rockford.
According to other accounts, she was booked on the Adriatic, which arrived at Liverpool on May 12, returned to Sweden and later married. She died in 1969.
1 comment May 26th, 2009
If Judge Sonia Sotomayor becomes a Supreme Court Justice, she’ll not only be the first Latina but also the first diabetic on the court.
So, big whoop-de-do, about the diabetes part.
She’s not a surgeon. She’s not a pilot. So, her low blood sugars, if she has them, won’t risk her’s or others’ limbs nor lives. Yet this Time.com story raises the question if her Type 1, or juvenile-onset, disease will be a handicap.
The Bears aren’t fretting about new quarterback Jay Cutler’s Type 1 diabetes. And he’s making split-second decisions, not pursuing long, drawn-out law reviews.
I am curious about Sotomayor’s Hemoglobin A-1 C blood tests, which show how well controlled her diabetes has been in the previous three months. If they’re in the mid-to-even-high 6-range, she’ll have my admiration for her discipline.
Add comment May 26th, 2009
Two comedies, a variety show and “The Wizard of Oz” will be presented by the Byron Civic Theatre for its 15th season starting in August at the new Byron Middle School, 850 N. Colfax St., Byron:
“The Wizard of Oz,” featuring a tornado, rainbow, Dorothy and Toto, the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow, and munchkins will be Aug. 14 to 16 and Aug. 21 to 23.
“Christmas Kaleidoscope,” a variety show, will be Nov. 27 to 29 and Dec. 4 to 6. The holiday classic showcases new songs, holiday favorites, a winter wonderland set and must-see costumes.
“See How They Run,” an English comedy, will be Jan. 29 to 31 and Feb. 5 to 7. Its tense situations include vicars and mistaken identity.
“The Producers” is a comedy about two con men who try to take money from theater investors. It will be April 23, 24, 25 and 30 and May 1 and 2.
Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets cost $12, $10 for seniors, $6 for children and students. Memberships cost $36, $30 for seniors. A membership entitles members to one ticket to each production, along with other benefits and are available through the close of the first show. It’s like getting one show free.
For more information, call 815-234-3000.
Add comment May 26th, 2009
This Chicago Sun-Times story tells all about how spouses using GPS to track infidelities of spouses, rather than hiring private investigators.
4 comments May 22nd, 2009
You won’t be filling your belly anymore with pancakes and sausages cooked up by the Kiwanis Club of Rockford every spring for the past half century.
The club has found it too much work for its smaller-sized membership, and the profits they made to donate to charities has dropped, so Pancake Day ended its reign in 2008.
Gabe Moye eats a pancake during the annual Kiwanis Pancake Day at Rock Valley College in Rockford. (2008 Register Star photo)
In its heydey 20 or so years ago, the club raised $50,000 and served up to 20,000 people at the March single-day event, said Kiwanis Club of Rockford member Paul Werther. The past few years, about 5,000 people attended each year and the group raised about $25,000 annually for charity. The club has diminished in size from about 150 members about 20 years ago to 62 members, Werther said.
The club most recently had held the event at Rock Valley College’s gym, but it was being remodeled this year and wasn’t available. For many years prior, the Kiwanis held the event at the MetroCentre in downtown Rockford.
“The people who attended enjoyed it, and the members enjoyed it, … but we felt it was time to look at another fundraiser,” he said. The group still sells kettle corn at events such as On the Waterfront, the Pec Thing and the Phantom Regiment’s Show of Shows to raise money for charities.
The Kiwanis Club of Rockford also is seeking to redefine itself, he said, because young people aren’t joining clubs like they used to.
One of the rules the Kiwanis Club of Rockford is thinking about doing away with is one that says members must attend every Tuesday meeting at the Stockholm Inn. “The young people don’t have the time,” he said. “They still want to serve, but without having to attend every Tuesday meeting.”
The group also plans to focus its fundraising efforts to benefit children, he said. “It makes sense to have a focus, so we can tell the people of Rockford.”
Add comment May 22nd, 2009
While vacationing with family in Minnesota, Miriam Cecilia Carlson of Rockford collected pieces of mica from a mine and decided to use the mineral in making dresses.
Her collection of dresses including some featuring the mineral helped her win third place and $1,000 in at the Eighth Annual Driehaus Awards for Fashion Excellence competition in Chicago on May 18.
Carlson said she flaked off pieces of mica, sealed each with a polymer gloss and drilled little holes to be able to sew through and attached the mica to fabrics she used in her avante guarde Summer Storm collection: Lingering Glimmer, a short dress covered in the mineral; Tumbling Sky, a grey, knee-length dress with the mineral sewn to the waistband; and Wall of the Rain, which contains little pieces of mica sewn around the neckline.
Kacey Hahn models Carlson’s Tumbling Sky dress with mica belt.
Miriam Cecilia Carlson, right, with models wearing dresses in her Summer Storm collection. (Photos provided)
Carlson, who was home-schooled in Rockford in high school, is a 2009 graduate of Dominican University in River Forest and works at Zzazz Productions, assisting with backstage operations in fashion and bridal shows in the Chicago area. She is creating her own line of clothing, ranging from $45 high-waisted, pleated skirts to evening wear topping more than $500. She hopes to have her garments in boutiques this summer.
One of her first clients is Emily Bear, 7, of Rockford, who plays piano and has appeared five times on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and performed at the White House in 2008. Carlson said she will create three dresses for Emily to wear at upcoming performances.
Emily Bear modeling a piece Carlson made for her organic children’s clothing line called Simple Treasures.
“My desire to find meaning in life inspires not only the designs of my garments, but the process of construction,” Carlson said in an e-mail. “The development of each piece I create is a journey, where I allow the fabric to respond organically to my manipulation.”
Contact Carlson at miriamceciliacarlson@gmail.com.
Add comment May 20th, 2009
Rick Nielsen tells Premier Guitar magazine in the June issue that hits newsstands in Guitar Center, Borders and other stores next week that he’ll use about 50 guitars on Cheap Trick’s summer tour with Def Leppard and Poison. The story also will be posted on the magazine’s Web site later this week.
Nielsen, who has 17 of his guitars again on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., also says in the story that “even the crappiest guitar in your collection might be good for something.”
One more Cheap Trick tidbit: Its new album to be released this summer, maybe in June, has been named. It’s “The Latest.”
There’s also another Rockfordian featured this month on Premier Guitar’s Web site here. Ron Johnson, who plays with TRaSH 80s , talks about his Cheap Trick connections, along with his bass guitar collection. His first major show was in 1994 when he was with The Rodeo Clowns with Rick’s son, Miles. The band opened for Cheap Trick in Decatur.
“Rick grabbed me and smiled and said, ‘Hey, Ron. Don’t suck.’ ” The Rodeo Clowns didn’t, but that was one of the last shows the Rodeo Clowns performed.
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