A long drive out on Burlington Road

                                                             Kevin Botterman photo

I'm at an age when simple tasks spark memories of past experiences and events, some important, others routine, some that were painful, but many more that were pleasant, and well, memorable to me. 

I recently enjoyed one of those moments, while driving out on Burlington Road, a county highway that I once frequently traveled nearly a decade ago, but seldom have reason to use in recent years. On this occasion, I was driving to meet friends from my days at college, including one I had not seen in nearly 40 years. 

The view from the driver's seat on this outing was much the same as he had been years ago. Farms still dominated the countryside, along with a few private residences, and a county highway garage. Much of what I could see was exactly what was in place years before, back when I drove Burlington Road twice a week, on Wednesdays, and twice a weekend, two weekends each month. 

That was the visitation schedule I followed for more than 14 years in order to spend time with my daughter. Burlington Road was the main county highway connecting my home in Batavia to her's in Hampshire, and I drove that road year-round, in all types of weather conditions, frequently alone, but sometimes with my daughter. It was, on average, a 40-minute drive, one-way. 

I thought about those drives as I drove to meet my college friends. And memories of my college days mingled with memories of many car rides with my daughter and the conversations I shared with her. 

I was reminded that I am blessed with a happy and positive relationship with my daughter, who is now an adult, well along in her career, satisfied in her chosen profession. I remembered that nearly all of our time together was pleasant and enjoyable, minus some exchanges during her early teen years. 

And I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude that during all of the miles traveled, during all the hours in our car, my daughter and I never experienced a serious accident or mishap. That alone was a great blessing, and I offer thanks for that.

During those years, I was often sad and reflective while making the return drive home alone, partly because I was already missing my daughter, but mostly because I knew it would be days, perhaps a week before I would see her again. 

Still, I recall always feeling grateful for the time I had shared with my daughter as we drove back and forth from her home to mine, out on Burlington Road.  

- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome. You may post them here, or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com

Another school year comes to an end

 

I've had time during the past two weeks to pack items from the recently completed school year, start a few of the summer projects my wife planned for me, and even reflect a bit on the nine months that were the 2023-24 academic year.

It was a good year from my perspective, which is to say that student behavior and conduct was above average and what one would expect from middle school students in the post-pandemic years. 

In fact, in the school where I have worked for the past eight years, student behavior was much improved from the 2022-23 school year, which saw some of the most disruptive and anti-social student conduct in recent years.

The least said about the years immediately following the pandemic, the better, in my opinion. I'd much rather discuss the present, and in that regard, our current crop of students performed quite well in most respects.

Our 8th graders did well throughout the academic year, finished on a strong and positive note, and now enjoy a summer break before starting as freshmen at the high school in August. I will miss many of them.

The 7th graders, the most troublesome and disruptive group of students during the past year, will move on to the 8th grade. Perhaps many will mature during the summer break. We'll see about that in August, when they return for the 2024-25 academic year. 

The 8th grade typically is my favorite group of students. They can be challenging, particularly the boys, but they also often are bright, engaging and can be very funny at times. 

Last year's 6th graders will advance to the 7th grade, and I hope they will continue to be the well-behaved, good-natured group they were when I last saw them. I can hope for that, but if they are anything like previous groups of 7th graders, the seats in 7th-grade lunch detention will be full year round.

The end of the school year saw 10 teachers in our building and more than 20 others throughout the district retire, an usually high number. I will miss those who worked at the middle school. However, they've earned long and peaceful years of rest.

Five other teachers, younger members of the staff, left to accept positions in other districts or to pursue opportunities in other fields. I wish them well.  

My wife has a list of summer projects for me. I have completed a few of them, but have more work ahead of me. There are several books I have started to read, and I hope to complete them during the coming weeks. I also aim to write a few essays, so please watch for those. 

I hope you will enjoy your summer. 

-- Thank you for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment or question.

A few minutes with my dog on a Sunday afternoon

 I promised my dog I'd make time to sit with him for at least a few minutes in our backyard this afternoon, and so I did. 

The temperatures only reached the low 50s today, but the sun was shining, and Otto and I were warm and comfortable.

And so we sat. I rubbed the underside of his snout, and he seemed to like that. There were few distractions. No cell phone. No visitors. A passing vehicle could be heard on the street out front, and birds sang in the trees above.

But beyond those noises, Otto and I sat undisturbed. 

It took me several minutes to get comfortable with the near silence, but before long I found myself content to lounge in the warmth of the sun in the quiet company of an old dog who asked for nothing more than to have his chin gently rubbed. And that was the best part of my day. 

-- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome. You may post them here or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com. 

 

Siskel & Ebert and 'Opposable Thumbs'

With the passing of time, it's easy to forget the influence and popularity Gene Siskel, film critic for The Chicago Tribune, and Roger Ebert, film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times, enjoyed as hosts of a PBS TV show featuring movie reviews. 

Matt Singer, in his engaging and mostly fast-paced book "Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever"  (2023) reminds readers Siskel and Ebert once were so influential to the U.S. film industry they made regular appearances on late-night TV talk shows, could make demands of Woody Allen (then at the height of his Hollywood power) and shared a dinner table in 1989 with George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. Pretty good for two film critics from Chicago. 

Singer's book is a good slice of nostalgia and a reliable choice for those seeking some lightweight reading for an upcoming summer vacation.

Singer does a fine job of telling how the two reached their positions at their respective newspapers (I found Ebert's journey more interesting, but that's me.). Singer gives attention to the creation of what was the pair's first effort in TV,  "Opening Soon...at a Theater Near You." It was on WTTW, Chicago's public broadcasting station, and featured a cast of three - Siskel, Ebert, and Spot the Wonder Dog. Spot was called on to help introduce the "dog" film of the week. 

The production remained at WTTW, but went through a number of name changes as it grew in popularity and influence - "At the Movies," "Sneak Previews," and "Siskel and Ebert." Singer offers details about the internal struggles that accompanied each name change and other show changes, for those interested. Readers learn how Siskel and Ebert came up with the now famous "thumbs up" (or down) manner of endorsing a film for viewing. 

He also offers plenty of humorous stories involving Hollywood's famous and self-important, including the time Marlon Brando called the production office to speak to either Siskel or Ebert, but someone concluded he was a prankster and hung up the phone. 

Singer does a good job arguing how Siskel and Ebert influenced the way in which a generation of movie viewers looked at movies, but he falls short of convincing readers the two changed movies forever. He shares the criteria each critic attempted to follow when evaluating a movie, noting that each man always asked if a movie was worth the price the average film-goer would pay for a ticket at the box office.

Singer also includes an important piece of advice Ebert once offered to his readers: If a movie doesn't engage you within the first hour, it probably isn't going to get any better, and won't be worth your time. 

I enjoyed both Siskel's and Ebert's reviews, and frequently found myself agreeing more with Siskel's. However, there was an aspect of Ebert's reviews I always appreciated and valued, and it was this: Even when offering a less than enthusiastic review of a movie, Ebert would note if the movie was a strong contender in a particular genre. 

For example, if the movie being reviewed was a science fiction tale, Ebert might write, "if you're a fan of this type of film, you might enjoy this aspect about this movie ...". I think that qualifier spoke to a specific audience, and said this movie isn't for everyone, but you might find it entertaining. And that is valuable, I think.

Back to Singer's work. He offers an interesting passage from that 1989 dinner Siskel and Ebert shared with Lucas, Scorsese and Spielberg. During the evening's conversation, Spielberg reportedly outlined a detailed (and sadly accurate) prediction of what the future of Hollywood would look like by 2020.

Singer also reminds readers that Siskel and Ebert probably would never have achieved the fame and influence they experienced in the 1980s and '90s without William J. McCarter, the president and CEO of WTTW from 1971 to 1998, considered the station's most creative and successful years. In addition to his work with Siskel and Ebert, McCarter also had a hand in "Soundstage" and "Chicago Tonight." 

-- Thank you for reading. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Post them here, or send an email to kbotterman@gmail.com

 

State's journalism task force issues final report

 

The Illinois Local Journalism Task Force recently released its final report.

The task force was created by law in 2021 and looked at the state of local newspapers and journalism in Illinois. The report details the findings, which are not surprising to anyone who has followed the newspaper industry during the past couple of decades.

The report also includes some suggestions for helping the industry. As one might expect those suggestions involve tax credits, grants, and government subsidies. None of the recommendations involve purely market-oriented solutions. That's a pity, I think.

The report is 22-pages long, including the appendix and a list of the task force's members, which alone is worth reading, and sheds some light as to the final recommendations, I think.

The report all but ignores the many important factors that contributed to the decline of newspapers and that continue to contribute to the slow death of legacy "journalism." Of course, it is the product of a government panel, so one ought to expect some serious flaws.

For a better read about the challenges to local journalism, one that provides market-proven success stories, I suggest "Beacons in the Darkness" by Dave Hoekstra, an Illinois based writer and recovering newspaper man.

-- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Kevin Botterman

What I hope to avoid (but probably won't) in 2024

 

Now that we've entered 2024, here are a few of the things I hope to avoid during the next 12 months. I acknowledge the struggle is real.

Anything related to or about Taylor and Travis - I have nothing against either personally and wish them all the best. I imagine they're a warm and engaging couple. I'm just not interested in seeing their photos or videos about them everywhere I turn, or in my news feed daily. So as nice as they might be, I'm happy to leave them behind in 2023.

Celebrity news and opinion - They've been with us forever, and celebrities of all types and stripes receive a disproportionate amount media coverage (see the couple named above), and that's just the way it is in our culture. I saw too much of it in 2023; more than any one reasonable, relatively balanced individual should see. I'm done. I'm trying to avoid all of it in 2024, and so far (yes, it's early), I'm doing fine. Wish me luck, and maybe offer up a prayer, if you're so inclined.

Professional sports - This one won't be as challenging for me as it was in the past. I lost interest in the NBA decades ago (about the time the league gave up any interest in playing defense) and can't recall the last time I watched a full game. 

I stopped watching the NFL back when the league allowed politics to become a part of the game. If I want that, I'll watch the news. Also, the broadcast became too long. I simply don't have the time or interest to commit more than three hours to watching a game. Professional hockey never captured my interest, but I do enjoy watching the college game. If you've never watched one, give it a try. 

I admit to watching a couple of MLB games in 2023, just to see how the pitch clock affected the game. I liked it, but not enough to watch an entire game. I shifted to radio broadcasts and enjoyed those. 

Anything related to The Walt Disney Corporation - The fools running that operation completely turned me off in 2023. It's not just that they produced weak movies, which they did. It was their decision to insert their cultural agenda and politics into everything they do and produce. That's the company's choice, of course. It's also my choice to walk away and spend my dollars elsewhere. That's easy for me to do on this one. 

Netflix and HBO - I've never cared much for the productions Netflix offers and the operation's movie collection doesn't match my tastes. Avoiding Netflix is doable for me. However, my lovely wife frequently watches the streaming service, so I might have to take the hit in order to spend time with her.

As for HBO, well the decision to run commercials during their presentations ended things for me. I understand most streaming services have or soon will be introducing commercials to their basic offerings. There's little I can do about that trend. But I've watched HBO since the early 1980s, and loved its commercial-free model in exchange for my cable (later streaming) subscription. Introducing commercials strikes me as a betrayal, one I can't bring myself to forgive.

Arguing with the misinformed and blindly partisan on social media - What was once an amusing distraction now leaves me annoyed. It seems the number of ignorant, blindly partisan and willfully misinformed grows with each day. The stupid and lazy live among us in great numbers. I once enjoyed toying with them, much as a cat plays with string, but I've lost interest in them. I can use your prayers on this one, too. 

Those are just a few of the things I hope to avoid in this new year. I could probably add many more, but I'm ready to move ahead, eager to meet the challenges of 2024. 

-- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Please post them here, or feel free to email me at kbotterman@gmail.com.

Hollywood's class of '83 is worth remembering

The year 1983 was one of the best years for Hollywood, one that offered something for audiences of all ages. Productions released that year included Oscar-caliber dramas, crowd-pleasing adventure movies and popular comedies. My list of favorites (and honorable mentions) includes many of the year's biggest box office hits and ones that I think capture Hollywood's spirit in that long-gone time. 

1. Terms of Endearment - When Hollywood made movies for adult audiences it made some fantastic movies, and this is one of them. Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson star in director James L. Brooks' Oscar-winning tale of a demanding mother and her relationship with her adult daughter and her family,  and a former astronaut. The movie won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (MacLaine), and Best Supporting Actor (Nicholson). The movie is at times funny, and a true tear-jerker. The great supporting cast includes Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow, and Danny DeVito. 

2. The Big Chill - Director (and writer) Lawrence Kasdan's tale of seven former college friends reuniting for the funeral of another friend from their college days was a hit with fans and critics alike. The movie received three Oscar nominations (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close) and Best Writing). In addition to Close, the stellar cast includes William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum, JoBeth Williams and Meg Tilly. Oh, and it has a rockin' soundtrack. 

3 The Right Stuff - Director Philip Kaufman's engaging and gripping telling (Kaufman shared script-writing credits with Tom Wolfe, the book's author) of the Mercury Project during the early days of America's effort to put a man into space. A talented ensemble cast delivers wonderful performances and includes Sam Shepard, Dennis Quaid, Veronica Cartwright, Levon Helm, Fred Ward, and Pamela Reed. The movie earned five Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and won for Best Sound. And it has a powerful soundtrack.

4. Risky Business - Tom Cruise stars (in his breakthrough performance) as a high school student who gets involved with a high-end prostitute and her friends. Rebecca De Mornay and Richard Masur also star. And Joe Pantaliano is terrific as Guido, the killer pimp. 

5. Trading Places - The best comedy of 1983, in my opinion. Director John Landis hit gold with his tale of what happens when a snobby blue-blood (Dan Akyroyd) is manipulated into trading places with a slick con man from the streets (Eddie Murphy). Jamie Lee Curtis and Denholm Elliott also star.

6. Silkwood - Director Mike Nichols' film received five Oscar nominations, including Best Actress (Meryl Streep), Best Supporting Actress (Cher), and Best Director. Kurt Russell delivers a solid dramatic performance, and the supporting cast includes a number of noteworthy actors. The movie is largely forgotten today, but is well worth watching, or watching a second time.

7. A Christmas Story - It's now a holiday classic and needs no summation. You know it and love it. 

8. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi - The third installment of the original Star Wars trilogy earned four Oscar nominations (all in technical categories). The movie was a hit with critics and audiences alike, and the original trilogy remains the best of the Star Wars franchise, in my opinion.

9. Scarface - Al Pacino stars as a Cuban migrant who makes it big in Miami's cocaine distribution market in the early '80s. The movie closely matched real life in 1983, struck a chord with audiences and remains popular with younger audiences today. The cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Loggia, and the late Mark Margolis. Good stuff.

10. Valley Girl - Director Martha Coolidge scored a commercial and critical hit with this work, one of the best of the teen romance movies, which were a Hollywood staple in the 1980s. A young Nicholas Cage and Deborah Foreman star as a dude from the wrong part of town in love with a girl from the Valley. The supporting cast includes Michael Bowen, Elizabeth Daily, and Frederic Forrest, who delivers a memorable performance as the girl's father. This one is reflective of the early '80s and includes an impressive soundtrack.

11. Lone Wolf McQuade - Chuck Norris stars as J.J. McQuade, Texas Ranger. Norris was well-established as an action star with a loyal and growing fan base, and this one certainly added to his popularity. Norris stars opposite David Carradine ("Kung Fu"), who plays a gun-running drug king. As one might expect, there's a climatic fight featuring Norris and Carradine. The supporting cast includes L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, and William Sanderson. It still packs a punch and captures the basic formula of the Norris films to follow.

12. Under Fire - Gene Hackman, Nick Nolte, and Joanna Cassidy star as three journalists covering the final days of the Somoza regime in Nicaragua in 1979. Many things are not what they appear to be. While the politics of the late 1970s seem a bit naive today, the film remains engaging and entertaining. Hollywood lost its interest in political thrillers some time ago, and that's unfortunate for audiences. The supporting cast includes Richard Masur, Ed Harris, Hamilton Camp, and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode 

Honorable Mentions - (Ten entertaining productions that I think reflect the spirit of 1983 and are worth viewing.)

All the Right Moves

Blue Thunder

Breathless

Flashdance

Gorky Park

The High Road to China

National Lampoon's Vacation

The Outsiders

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Wargames

-- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Post them here or send an e-mail to kbotterman@gmail.com.