Don't worry, little blog on the prairie hasn't closed up shop. We're just moving. Please change your bookmarks to: http://lbotp.wordpress.com See you there!

Sorry for the blog break. I have been a little under-the-weather this week, and blogging took a back seat to sleeping. That said, I have some big lbotp news: We are MOVING. I am fed up with blogger and have decided to move lbotp to wordpress.com. I still haven't migrated all my links, etc., but I will start posting there as of Monday, September 25. The good news: It is very easy to use, I can categorize posts, easily put up an RSS feed (some people have been bugging me for that) and I was able to transfer all my posts. The bad news: I wasn't able to transfer haloscan comments. But I will leave the old lbotp up here, so they won't disappear.

• It appears the on-again, off-again, kosher-style deli is off again, according to my source. Grrr.
• Paul reported in the previous comment section that the Hub is no more (although their website with the really annoying hipster-wannabe music is still ticking). Perhaps that has to do with the controversy over "Kitchen Sync" as documented by The 69th issue. If this is indeed true, then the Hub will go down in history with the likes of The Paper, The Octopus, and CU Cityview, all failed metamorphaseses of C-U alternative weeklies in recent memory.
• Happy5767.

The prettiest public bathroom in C-U. Check out the first-floor water closet at the new Alice Campbell Alumni Center, located right off of Lincoln Avenue, just south of the Hallene Gateway. The Alumni Center, which is a beautiful building, is available for public rental; I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes one of the most sought-after wedding reception locations in town. Unless you must have "Glitter, silly string, rice, sprinkles or confetti" which are not allowed there (check the contract). Be careful what you put on your cake.

I really really like to eat. But I can't cook. It should be in my genes. My Nana is a fabulous cook, although she doesn't do it that much anymore. And I love my mom's food too (who doesn't)? Maybe I can learn a thing or two from some C-U bloggers. Our food blog scene keeps growing everyday. The latest addition is Malajusted, a frequent lbotp poster. In a older post, gninghtgirl's Hey, Hey Good Lookin gave us the rundown on local ethnic grocers. Speaking of foodies, Mr. lbotp and I decided to try Junior's, the burger joint that joined forces with Cozy's Custard. I remembered seeing this glowing review of the campus location, and we were strapped without much food in the house for dinner. So Mr. lbotp went over there. He ordered a veggie burger for me; a few minutes later they realized they were out. And they were out of carry-out menus, a big no-no in Mr. lbotp's book. He ranked his burger as average and barely ate half of it. And the fries weren't that good either. Oh well, a wasted meal.

I'm lost. I think I'm in central Illinois, but those folks from the state of Chicago keep telling me I'm in the southern part of the state. Take, for instance, today's post on the Chicagoist blog about Sonic "inching closer" to the Second City: "With the concept centered on the drive-in and carhop appeal, Sonic has previously favored the warmer-weather climates. However, southern Illinois is already home to several Sonic locations – with the closest in Champaign – and Kouri and Peterson are already looking to expand along I-80, toward Chicago." I chuckled when I read this. It reminded me of my goofy aunt -- everyone has one of those -- who always asks me about our life in "southern Illinois." Speaking of Sonic -- that's one of those places that I rarely go to, but I'm glad it's there. When I was a vegetarian living in meat-crazed Texas, I could always count on there being a Sonic in any small town I happened past on my travels. Their grilled cheese isn't anything to write home about, but it's edible.

The Illini pigskin boys will host another orange-hued squad from upstate New York this Saturday. There isn't much of anything notable about this battle of the gridiron, other than how wretched each team has been over the past five years. With one exception. Call this game the Nancy Cantor invitational. The former U of I chancellor, who was practically chased out of town by the pro-Chiefers, left C-U in February 2004 to become the president chancellor of Syracuse University. But a story out of Syracuse this morning indicates that Ms. Cantor won't be able to return to Champaign for the game, giving the good ol' "prior committment" excuse. That would be acceptable, but for one caveat; football schedules are made years in advance. In fact, it's likely that this game was scheduled before Cantor ever left Champaign.

Let's play a game of connect the dots.

• Within the past 18 monthsyears, Supervalu, one of the country's largest retailers, opened a "speciality produce company" called W. Newell & Co. (sounds old, huh; circa 2005).
• W. Newell & Co. is headquarted in our own backyard.
• Supervalu is currently opening a chain of discount organic grocery stores called Sunflower Market. So far it has two locations, both in trendy neighborhoods of big cities -- Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, and Lincoln Park in Chicago.
• Both Sunflower Market stores are (not coincidentally) within a few hour's drive of Champaign.
• W. Newell & Sons supplies all the organic produce to Sunflower Market.

I haven't been to a Sunflower Market store, so I can't say whether this would be a good thing or a bad thing. The next Sunflower Market is headed for Columbus. Yes, Columbus is a college town, but it also happens to be the biggest city in Ohio. I just find it interesting to know that there is this huge warehouse of organic produce sitting in Champaign. I wonder if our local organic farmers are in on this gig. It's still not Trader Joe's, but hey, it could be a start.

Yippee! Another County Market is coming to town! As if we didn't have enough of them already. OK, so I'm happy for those kids in Campustown who don't have a beemer to drive to Schnuck's. There wasn't a grocery within walking distance of my college campus either, so I know what a pain that is. But County Market? Can't we do better? This whole Burnham project is a joke. First, it is eating our tax dollars. I was willing to tolerate that in exchange for the beloved Trader Joe's. But County Market, you are no Trader Joe's. More on this later -- the computer just ate this post and I have a lot more to say on this topic.