Black But Not Fat

From the TEH e-mailbag: Dave, how come no fat presidents?

It's certainly true there have been no hugely overweight presidents since at least the dawn of the television age and not many even before that. But why? Here are some possible reasons.

Fat bigotry. Being overweight doesn't play well in the media and to win elections you need to play well in the media. That isn't necessarily the media's fault, but we seem to favor people who look good. And, for better or worse, being overweight is considered points off in looking good.

Workouts. Overachievers apply their overachiever-ness to their health as well. It's common, and almost required, that modern presidents workout. Bush cycles, Clinton ran, Obama bowls, er, plays basketball.

Stress. All that campaigning and governing is stressful. Stress often helps keep the weight off even if for the wrong reasons.

Fat bigotry is probably the biggest part of the answer and may even motivate the workout routines to stay in shape and not become less appealing in the media. Stress probably only plays a minor part since the presidents likely would not have gotten to the stressful position had they been overweight in the first place.

So anyone have a better answer?

Not Uptown, But Downtown

This got me thinking about what I consider to be “Downtown” Springfield. That is, I decided I would try to define downtown geographically. Here’s what I came up with:

Basically, I think downtown is the area bordered by Madison to the north, 11th Street on the east, Cook on the south and Pasfield to the west. (I guess I could add or subtract a specific block here and there, but I prefer symmetry.) Does this sound about right or am I being too inclusive or exclusive?

Update: Gish in comments suggests the location of a “culinary downtown” where you find the best places to eat and drink.

I would move that east two blocks to 8th to get in Brewhaus and Saputo’s.

Obamemorabilia

In my winter coat pocket, I still have one of the hand warmers that were being passed out at the February 2007 Obama presidential campaign kick-off speech at the Old State Capitol. Since there now seems to be interest in stuff from that day, I’ll let it go for a price. Or trade it for a vintage car.

Shorter Kev 12/08/2008

Blago still sucks! No really, I think he really, really, really sucks. He hates Springfield and I have more proof. See, he hasn’t formally asked President Obama for infrastructure improvements money for Sangamon County like he has for a handful of other Illinois counties! What a jerk! Blago didn’t ask for money for 90 percent of Illinois counties but this is definitive proof that he specifically hates Springfield. But he loves Chicago. And when I say Chicago I mean it the monolithic and uniformed way a lot of people around here mean it: anything north of I-80 and east of I-39.

Kevan Kavanaugh’s commentaries can be heard regularly on AM 970 WMAY .

Steppin' Out

Joe Jackson at his best from way back when.

We are young but getting old before our time
We'll leave the TV and the radio behind
Don't you wonder what we'll find
Steppin' out tonight

I've always loved those lyrics.

It's odd that Joe started out as an Elvis Costello-esque punk, but that's how I initially got hooked on him in the very late '70s. Check out Kinda Kute and I'm the Man. He quickly evolved into something better.

Over Juiced

It’s 1995! Eating my lunch today, I saw O.J. in a courtroom on all the cable news teevee channels. I watched a rerun of the Just Two Guys building marshmallow structures on Access 4 instead. It seemed more informative than O.J. pretending to be sorry for something he’s done.

Jerome Profit

And here I thought the Jerome police were a traffic detail 365 days a year. Springfield really needs to build or improve more roads (especially east-west roads) so that Jerome and Leland Grove can be avoided entirely and conveniently.

Permanent roadside safety checkpoints at all entrances to the villages by Springfield police might be fun and profitable too. I offer that as an alternative to my idea on building a Berlin-style wall around the parasitic communities.

Friday Beer Blogging: Not a Beer Edition

I was in the liquor store a few weeks ago and noticed that Michelob Ultra now has a Pomegranate Raspberry edition on the shelves. It's part of Michelob Ultra's new collection of fruit infused beers which also includes Lime Cactus and Tuscan Orange Grapefruit. The company website describes the Pomegranate Raspberry this way: A pilsner with a berry aroma, raspberry flavor, and a hint of pomegranate.

I didn't Immediately buy any because I was quite sure it was going to be way too fruity for my taste. However, Mrs. TEH is a fan of both pomegranate and raspberry flavored things. Sometime later, I took her into the store to show her. She was a little reluctant to buy a six pack since she wasn't sure she would like it. I told her I would try one too so we would, at most, only be wasting four of the drinks if neither of us liked them (and I was pretty certain I wouldn't).

Well, we got them home and each had one. I was expecting a fruit flavored beer but what I had was, well, a wine cooler. I mean it tasted nothing like a beer. Which is OK if you like wine coolers. And who doesn't like to mentally travel back to the '80s with a nice wine cooler once in a while? Mrs. TEH said she could taste beer in there but I wasn't able to.

I mean, who wants a beer that has this as an ingredient?

Anyway, if you want a decent wine cooler that sort of looks like a beer, try the Michelob Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry.

Have a great weekend! And try to keep the fruit out of your beer.

The State of Columbia

I like the plan Matthew Yglesias puts forth for finally getting the citizens of Washington DC some representation in Congress.

What I’d like…is for congress to use its power to admit new states to admit the State of Columbia as the fifty-first state. You would, of course, need to carve out a portion of the existing city to continue serving as the “federal district” and capital of the country. But that could easily be made a compact area around the Mall where nobody (except the President and the First Family) lives and thus nobody is denied voting rights.

For Democrats, this would mean two new Senators and one new Representative. It would also uphold the basic America idea that citizens should be allowed to vote and should be represented in congress. It would be totally constitutional. And though Columbia would be a small state, it would have a larger population than several current states.

Republicans, obviously, wouldn’t like the idea.

Right. Republicans will hate this idea more than Democrats will like it so it’ll never happen. So let me offer an alternative. Give, or force, DC back to Maryland (from which DC was originally carved. That would mean no new senators. However, give Maryland another representative in the House. That would still be an advantage for Dems but a much, much more diluted one. The folks in DC really do deserve representation.

Where Are The Pizza Hut Wolves When You Need Them?

Last night when I got home from work, my 5 year-old came up to me and asked if we could go to Pizza Hut. He enjoyed our last visit there a few weeks ago when we went into the Hut to redeem his coupon for a free Personal Pan pizza he got through his school’s Book It program. (Of course, we also wound up buying meals for MRS. TEH and me, so Pizza Hut does OK in this deal.) Ever since, he’s wanted to go back and he recently got another Book It coupon.

I wasn’t in the mood for going out in the falling snow to eat at Pizza Hut. I told him that we wouldn’t be going but maybe we would this weekend. Well, this didn’t sit well with him and he began to fake cry and started in on one of those whinny mantras that kids his age do when they want something and aren’t getting it. For the next 45 minutes all we heard was “I…WANNA…GO…TO…PIZZA…HUT.” Over and over and over again.


This reminded me of the time when Daughter Number 2 was about six years old and we were leaving my in-laws house near Effingham one night after dark to come back to Springfield. D#2 didn’t want to leave her grandmother “Gram”. So for about 30 miles in the back seat all we heard was “I…WANT…MY…GRAM”. Over and over and over again.

Mrs. TEH, who was driving, finally couldn’t take it anymore and pulled off the highway onto a country road. She took D#2 out of the car and sat her on the trunk and began having a stern talk with her about how she had to stop the whining mantra. D#2 was not heeding the request. Suddenly, a dog howled off in the distance and in a moment of quick-thinking desperation, Mrs. TEH told D#2 that that noise was wolves and if she didn’t stop the whining, we would leave her there and the wolves would get her. D#2 immediately shut her mouth and got into the car. The rest of the ride home was quiet.

Last night, I was desperately trying to think of ways to get wolves into the picture but eventually had to just wait it out.

Ronald’s Taste in Buildings Evolves

This from the SJ-R cracks me up:

With the kick-back-and-stay-awhile feel of a coffee shop, the new McDonald’s restaurant at 522 W. Jefferson St. — opening today — is the first in Springfield to show off the company’s prototype building design.
…
The fast-food restaurant embodies McDonald’s first major architectural makeover since 1969. The new design, dubbed “Forever Young,” forgoes the bright red-and-yellow color scheme, sturdy plastic furnishings and signature mansard roof.

In its place is an interior with contemporary, clean lines and neutral colors, brought out through the use of stone, wood and glass.

Recessed lighting and pendant lights replace harsh fluorescent bulbs. The exterior sports white stucco, terra-cotta brick, yellow awnings and a modified logo on the face that’s more blonde eyebrow than golden arch.

Architectural Digest goes fast food?


And who here is old enough to remember when the McDonald’s on MacArthur used to look like this? I think the style was called was called "Forever Outside".

More Training

Somewhat faster trains running throuigh Springfield don’t bother me so much, but more of them kind of does. But if the use of more efficient rail helps the nation reduce the number of trucks on the road, then it’s probably a price worth paying. That’s real easy for me to say since I don’t have to deal with the Third Street tracks commuting to work, nor do I live near the tracks (although I have done both in the past).

And hey, at least the additional trains won’t be disrupting tours of the Dana-Thomas House!

Longer Kev

As always in my Shorter Kev posts, I have fun today with WMAY’s Kevan Kavanaugh’s commentary (see the post immediately below). But today’s commentary was really great. In it, the president and general manager of the radio station blasts his own talk show hosts, Dave Kelm and Kirk Farah (Kelm & Kirk), for taking a position opposite of his on the Maisnebacher House issue. He calls them “knuckleheads”. On the air.

Now, no one is in more agreement with the knucklehead label for Kelm & Kirk than I am. They really are loathsome, reactionary know-nothings that make Sarah Palin look informed and competent. But I think it’s a bit silly, and frankly a bit self-serving for Kavanaugh, to give them sole credit for the defeat last night of funding for the Maisenbacher House by the city council. If I didn’t know better (and I guess I don’t) I might wonder if this in-house dust-up was really just a stunt.

Kavanaugh is claiming K&K motivated listeners to flood Springfield aldermen with calls opposing the Maisenbacher House funding. Aldermen, in turn, got scared and refused to support the plan. I think that’s hugely simplistic and, again, more than a little self-promoting. Let’s face it, the Maisenbacher “debacle” has a whole host of real (not just faux talk show) problems associated with it, and it’s just possible those problems motivated not only the calls to the aldermen but also affected the decisions of the aldermen just on the merits.

Personally, I support the use of the available funds for the preservation of the Lincoln-era house. But I also recognize how poorly planned this whole thing had been and I appreciate the concerns people have about the large amount of money that has been spent and how much more money is needed. Opponents have a real case and I think the votes of the aldermen last night reflect genuine concern in the community over the cost of the project. The fires of that concern may have been fanned by talk show hosts largely motivated by hating Mayor Tim Davlin, but I think there was also plenty of outrage from people reading about the issue in the SJ-R or seeing stories on it on Ch. 20 or even from local blog surfers.

Kev can continue to out K&K as the “knuckleheads” that they are, but I wouldn’t give them more credit than they deserve. That might just encourage them.

Shorter Kev 12/03/08

Radio talk show hosts suck! Especially the “knuckleheads” that I employ. They, and they alone, made the cowardly Springfield City Council members vote against money for the Maisenbacher House. Lincoln was a better leader and would cry if he knew what bad alderman and talk show hosts had done to his Maisenbacher House investment.

Kevan Kavanaugh’s commentaries can be heard regularly on AM 970 WMAY .

Serious Insights: Save Our Houses Edition

Maybe if Barack Obama had announced his candidacy for president from the steps of the Dana-Thomas House and introduced his running mate from the steps of the Maisenbacher House, we would have federal, state and private money being thrown at us to keep those houses preserved and open.

Simply Unstoppable!

Mayor Davlin always, always, always gets his way! I know this because I heard it on local talk radio today. He wants the money for the Maisenbacher House and he'll get it, dammit! Davlin is unstoppable! His powers are evil and unlimited! Er, what's that...oh:

The Springfield City Council voted 6-4 Tuesday against paying any more money to move the Lincoln-era building off Jackson Street and onto a permanent foundation.

Hmmm, not so powerful. Who knew?

Maisenbacher Goes Regional

Not just a local story anymore.

SPRINGFIELD (LEE) -- Here in Abraham Lincoln's hometown, history and politics often intersect.

And a two-story antebellum house on wheels sits at that intersection today - blocking traffic downtown, stoking tempers at City Hall and making some well-intentioned history buffs think twice about their latest cause.
…
The episode has disrupted more than just traffic in this capital city, which has often been accused of failing to preserve its own history. The issue comes to a head at City Council meeting tonight, at which Conn will press the city to provide $280,000 in tax-increment financing to pay for a foundation on which to set the house.

Even now, crumbling, dilapidated and perched on a relocation platform over massive wheels, the 3,200-square-foot brick structure is impressive. Like a lot of historic homes around here, it's got a name - Maisenbacher House - and a story: Lincoln is said to have loaned a Springfield neighbor $650 toward its construction in the
1850s.

None of that, of course, explains how it came to be parked in the middle of Jackson Street, behind ''road closed'' barriers and orange plastic fencing, for the past two weeks. That part of the story is more complicated, and more expensive.

One minor quibble here. Or maybe it’s just a question since I don’t drive downtown all that often. Is having the house parked on Jackson really "blocking" or "disrupting" traffic? How much traffic does that block of Jackson really see? Not much I’m guessing, except maybe for some cut-over traffic. Traffic really isn’t even much of consideration here compared to the issue of cost.

Give Us the Dana-Thomas House

Inspired by a conversation I heard this morning on WMAY’s The Jim Leach Show, I’d like to propose the State of Illinois turn the Dana-Thomas House over to the City of Springfield. I bet the city would even throw in the Maisenbacher House if the State wanted to trade outright. Springfield could use the money that will eventually be allocated for the Maisenbacher House to reopen the Dana-Thomas House.

Seriously though, there is no certainty that the State of Illinois will ever reopen the historic home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, so why not just give it away to some responsible party that wants to keep it open. It was obviously a very low priority for the State and the house primarily benefits Springfield anyway. I have no idea what the cost of maintaining the home is (I’m sure it’s a lot), but it surely would be a bigger draw to the community than the Maisenbacher House. I’m in favor of keeping both but if we have to prioritize, I say go with Dana-Thomas.

Also I think keeping the Dana-Thomas House open has reached a new level of urgency when its closing has the unintended consequence of cockblocking. And if that don’t get ya, try this emotional appeal.

So Will Hallmark Start Making Cyber Monday Greeting Cards?

So how was your Cyber Monday? Buy anything online yesterday? Or is Cyber Monday a media fabrication?

My answers: Like any other Monday, No, Yes

And There Was Much Rejoicing…Again

I’m an old (and getting older!) Griffin grad, but is it really all that exciting to have a championship football team year after year after year? For the kids involved, sure, it’s their time and they have earned it. But somehow SHG’s awesomeness is getting a little redundant for me. I imagine most other schools can look back to a few very successful years and take pride, but when it’s almost every year for decades, a specialness deficit starts to pervade.

Some of my attitude here probably comes from how each SHG march to the state title indirectly, but inevitably, makes me revisit one of the more horrific memories I have of high school. It involves watching a friend of mine’s head being beat on my desk in class by a man who coached the Cyclones to second place in the state that same year. And nothing was done about it. It still makes me pretty angry. The 1970s: Life on Mars indeed. Maybe I’ll write more on that incident later. I just don’t want any repercussions now for telling the truth about what happened then.