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Places To Go

Lee Gurga leading haiku lecture and workshop

[SEPT. 21, 2002]  Lee Gurga will present a haiku lecture and workshop at the Japan House, 2000 S. Lincoln Ave. in Urbana, on Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Dr. Gurga, a Lincoln dentist, is past president of the Haiku Society of America and editor of the journal entitled Modern Haiku. In 1998 the Illinois Arts Council awarded him a poetry fellowship for his work in haiku. Two of his books have won first prize in the Haiku Society of America’s annual book awards.

Workshop participants will be given a brief introduction to the art of Japanese haiku. Participants will also have a chance to write their own haiku and share insights with others. Haiku is a social art as well as a literary art, and sharing is an important part of the haiku tradition. This sharing allows both the writer and the listener to grow.

The registration deadline is Oct. 4. For more information call Japan House at (217) 244-9934.

[News release]


‘Workshop: Methods of Work’

[OCT. 3, 2002]  "Workshop: Methods Of Work." Jim Richey, editor and illustrator, Taunton Press, 2000, 234 pages.

"At my house my shop is my sanctuary, my little kingdom, the place I go to unwind and tinker," writes author and woodworking enthusiast Jim Richey. During his tenure as editor and illustrator of the "Methods of Work" column in Fine Woodworking magazine, he has assembled a wonderful collection of submissions from woodworkers across the country. The collection contains a variety of topics pertaining to home shop strategies, including how to set up a shop, workbenches and sawhorses, tools, measuring devices, and other components found in a woodworker’s shop.

Shop setup

Proper setup of a shop is the key to efficient use of its space, tools and materials. Richey includes instructions on installing or making your own space-saving devices, including shop organizers, lumber storage systems, hardware storage racks and eye-protection cleaning stations. One of the more interesting projects is the construction of a shop moisture gauge built from wood.

Workbenches, vises and sawhorses

These interactive devices play a pivotal role in any project. Workbenches and sawhorses provide safe work surfaces necessary for working with wood; vises are used to secure materials in place while you work on them. Depending on their purpose, vises can come in many different types and include bench, universal, horizontal and portable. The same is true for workbenches — such as for sawing and assembly, rolling two-level and outdoor. Although basic sawhorses are a staple of any shop, the frame and foot sawhorse is useful for supporting cabinets or laying cuts in long boards.

Shop-made hand tools and hand tool fixtures

After setting up a shop the first projects to consider are shop-made hand tools and fixtures. Richey includes instructions for making a wooden mallet, hammer shield and triangular scraper. For the more ambitious woodworker there are plans to build devices for dovetails — pin markers, two modified dovetail saws and dovetailing chisel.

Sharpening and grinding

Any woodworker will tell you that tools are only as good as the condition in which they are kept. Richey offers several methods and devices for keeping tools in optimum condition. Grinding wheels, honing tools and sharpening stones are just some of the things used for tool maintenance. For those who have damaged the hardness in carbon-steel-edge tools while sharpening, Richey has a simple three-step process that will reharden the edge and increase the tool’s performance.

Portable power tool fixtures

Power tools are a common fixture in a shop; they can also be expensive. It is important to properly maintain them and maximize their use through the right tool fixture. Power tool fixtures that should be a part of any shop include stop blocks, circular saw templates and drilling jigs. One tip that will be beneficial to electric drill users — use a masking tape flag around the bit stem for a depth stop.

 

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Measuring, marking and layout

Precision measuring is the secret to achieving perfection when working with wood. There are many tools that aid the woodworker in perfecting the fine detail required in many projects. These devices vary depending on whether the project calls for straight lines, curves or both. Among the most useful are the preset mortise gauge (for chairs), overhang marking gauge, guide for drawing parallel lines and ellipse drawing aid. Richey reminds us to always keep an open mind about tools that may be helpful in the workshop — he includes a cloth dressmaker’s tape (used to measure curved items when a metal tape is impractical).

Sanding, gluing, clamping

The remaining chapters discuss some of the tricks of the trade employed when using sandpaper, glues and clamps. Sandpaper can be manipulated into many useful functions: curved or flat sanding blocks, two-faced slabs, and hand or belt sanders. To incorporate glue into your projects you need some kind of injector system, mixing bowls and pot heaters for mixing. If you add too much glue to a clamped joint, don’t worry — simply scoop up the excess glue with a piece of paper and rub some sawdust on it. The sawdust will create little balls of glue that remove all traces.

Anyone who enjoys working in their shop or is contemplating building a shop at home should become familiar with Jim Richey’s "Workshop: Methods of Work." These tips are the culmination of 25 years of experience in the woodworking field from people all across America. Richey writes, "Every once in a while we have a clever idea, a solution to a long-standing shop problem that makes us smile … it’s these clever ideas that this book is about." This book is recommended for anyone who has enjoys the art of woodworking or is considering adding an at-home workshop.

[Richard Sumrall, Lincoln Public Library District]


Mid-Illinois Book Center offers online book club

[SEPT. 24, 2002]  So many good books, so little time. The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center has been offering free audio book selections to members and is now launching a new free service: an online book club that delivers books electronically.

If you like audio books, you can listen to them in your e-mail by signing up for the audio book club. This is a great way to discover great books if you are too busy to visit the library or cannot visit the library because of a disability.

 Each day, Monday through Friday, the library e-mails subscribers a book portion that takes about five minutes to read, and subscribers can read three chapters during a week.

Each week the club features new books, and with seven book clubs to choose from, there is something for everyone. Patrons can read fiction, nonfiction, romance, business, good news and teen books. Soon there will be a mystery book club.

The Talking Books online book club is delivered to you through a service provided by http://www.chapteraday.com.

Chapter-A-Day founder and CEO Suzanne Beecher said, "It’s an honor to welcome Talking Books to our e-mail online book clubs. Talking Books helped me through a difficult time in my life. I have an eye disorder, and for a while I walked with a red and white cane and spent many afternoons on a sofa in my sunroom listening to Talking Books. They were my lifeline to a better quality of life for me at the time."

 

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Readers can sign up for the service at http://www.chapteraday.com/library/mitbc/.

 For more information on the program or for an application, call 1 (800) 426-0709 or 1 (800) 537-1274 toll-free. 

The Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center provides free library service including books and magazines on tape and playback equipment to individuals unable to read regular print because of a visual or physical disability.

The Talking Book Center is funded by the Illinois State Library, a division of the Office of Secretary of State.

[News release]

 




Movie classics

Logan County Arts Association upcoming films

All upcoming monthly features in the Logan County Arts Association series of classic films will start at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Cinemas, 215 S. Kickapoo.

Thursday, Oct. 10

Horror/sci-fi double feature

"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1931)

Frederic March, Miriam Hopkins

Based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men: a good and an evil side. He faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that changes him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.

 

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"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951)

Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe

An alien (Klaatu) with his mighty robot (Gort) lands their spacecraft on cold-war Earth just after the end of World War II. He tells the people of Earth that we must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.

Tickets will be available at Serendipity Stitches, 129 S. Kickapoo; the Lincoln Public Library Annex; at the door; or by calling (217) 732-4298. Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2.50 for children 13 and under. These features are one show only, with limited seating.

[Logan County Arts Association ]


Lincoln Community Theatre information

Lincoln Community Theatre’s box office, phone 735-2614,  is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday for the summer season. The office is located in the lobby of the Johnston Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Lincoln College.

Performances of "Dearly Departed" are scheduled for July 12-20, and "The King and I" will be presented Aug. 2-10. Show times are 2 p.m. on Sundays and 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The LCT mailing address is Lincoln Community Theatre, P.O. Box 374, Lincoln, IL  62656; e-mail: lincolncommunitytheatre@yahoo.com.

Visit the LDC website at www.geocities.com/lincolncommunitytheatre/index.html. Pictures from past productions are included.

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