The second week of January Phil will compete against 11 of the best loop musicians in the world for the title of World’s Best Loop Musician. A mere 6 days before his competition he will be honing his Reggae influenced music and looping abilities here in Quincy at the Kix Club.

On October 23rd, 2010 Phil beatout 6 of the countries best Loop musicians at the Boss Loop Station Championship with his original composition “Nuclear Fusion”.

“The one thing that (Police Guitarist) Andy Summers said that did stick in my head was that my performance was very conventional,” he says. “For the Worlds, instead of doing a song, I’m going to do a routine where I pretty much demonstrate everything you can do with the pedal.”

Specifically? “I’m going to take one of my songs and I’m going to just change it up so it has all these gimmicky parts in it. I’m going to have a part in the middle where I start playing harmonica into a telephone. I’m going to build the beat out of junk – I’ve got a box of junk and I’m just going to bang on it.”

Already known for his high energy and extremely entertaining sets Kix Club can expect to see Phil pulling out all the stops in preparation for his Worlds competition.

Phil Stendek Live

Kix Club

Sat January 8th

9:00pm

Live Music, Quarter Beer, and Good Food.

This is the 9th year of “Make -A- Merry Christmas” and Kix Club is thrilled to be a part of it. Playing the part of trusty elves:
The Texas Funerals
Wild Wild West
Esther C. Moore
Jason Lohmeyer

Did we mention Quarter Beer

$5.00 Donation at the door goes to providing gifts to needy children of the Quincy Public Schools.

If you can’t stop by Friday but still want to help contact… us at TheKixClub@gmail.com

On the Second part of the Qtown Halloween podcast special we continue our discussion with the River Town Paranormal Society. On this episode we discuss the day to day operation of a paranormal investigation team. We discuss methods of investigations, equipment used, different theories  about what ghosts are and how their presences may be experienced. We also talk about what they’ve found here in Quincy on their investigation as well as many other topics. Give us your feedback in the comment section below or email helloqtown@gmail.com or call the comment line at 217.919.0492

10 months in the Making, the 2nd Qtown Podcast is here. This is part 1 of a 2 part interview with Quincy, Illinois paranormal investigation group River Town Paranormal Society (RTPS). In part 1 we discuss and list out the places in Quincy, Illinois most often labeled as being Haunted. RTPS gives their specific input and we discuss overall investigation techniques and other paranormal related content.Whether your a believer or a skeptic, I think you’ll find this podcast informative and interesting. After all what better way to get into the Halloween spirit then to sit around and listen to ghost stories? Part 2 will be posted in the next few days so keep your eyes open.

Give us your feedback in the comment section below or email helloqtown@gmail.com or call the comment line at 217.919.0492

For most people throughout the country, the mention of Illinois produces a very polarizing contrast of Chicago and rural towns. As a generalization, Chicago typically brings forth images of a corrupt government, high crime, but also a thriving arts community, great pizza, unfortunate sports teams, and all other lore good and bad that the windy city produces. One of the next ideas of Illinois involves a generic view of varying fields of crops dotting the landscape with small possibly backwards towns trying desperately to show that Chicago is only a small portion of the state, and in no way represents state as a whole.

In the late 1960′s west central Illinois residents grew increasingly frustrated that government projects seemed to be blind to a 14 county region of the state including Adams County. A lack of major highways and a mere 5 Mississippi River bridge crossings south of Peoria seemed to further isolate a number of once booming rivertowns that saw a mass exodus of Industry leaving various shells of towns decaying from their once glorious past. 1971 saw a shift from traditional passenger train transportation to a new system of routes as the Amtrak service began. Passenger train service that once flourished on the Chicago to Quincy route was left out in the cold in the initial Amtrak plan serving to  further isolate the region from not only large highway access but now passenger train access.

McDonough County residents grew tired of this continuing trend and with tongue firmly planted in cheek, began a campaign for the 14 country region making up the western bulge of Illinois to succeed from the state. This new fictional state would be called Forgottonia setting up shop in the small town of Fandon, Illinois, even proclaiming an acting governor in Neil Gamm, a Western Illinois University Theater major. Gamm was diligent in getting the word out on this mock succession movement. This campaign to shed a national spotlight on the seemingly forgotten area of Illinois was handled much like a political campaign…some would consider it much better constructed then most political campaigns. 25 year old Gamm was a media darling, often sporting an elegant suit and bow tie quick to give out nuggets of insight about the real world issues that this somewhat farcical movement represented.

The media attention of the Forgottonia movement as well as other entities helped focus statewide project funding for west central Illinois. In 1971 the Illinois Service Innitiative with partial funding form the Illinois Department of Transportation created a Quincy to Chicago Amtrak line Cutting through the heart Forgottonia. In the 1980′s and even recently, large statewide highway projects have been focussed on the west central illinois area. In 1974 the spotlight on Neil Gamm and the Forgottonia movement quickly faded leaving few traces of this social movement to increase accessibility throughout the 14 county region that made up Forgottonia.

Cut to 2010

A friend messaged me a blurb about Forgottonia, which I had previously never heard of. The more I found out about it, the more I knew I had to make my way to nearby Fandon, to see for myself the once capitol of this farcical succession movement. Fandon lies about 10 minutes south of Macomb. Recently, a friend and I headed north to discover for ourselves what secrets if any the small town of Fandon, Illinois held. Ironically, we set off on the recently completed highway towards Macomb utilizing my iPhone’s GPS capabilites to navigate our way. No exit sign indicates you are growing close Fandon Illinois, somewhat of a slap in the face considering the Forgottonian movement’s goals. If you blink you will miss it only a simple paved road exits from the highway which if followed will lead you winding down a simple winding road until you find in yourself in the middle of a small town without as much as a sign displaying it’s name. It wasn’t until we noticed the small town’s church and saw in small type the name Fandon did we know were there. Few if any businesses could be seen, some buildings showing their fair share of decay. Contrarily, most of the homes were in great shape, some even undergoing improvements. It struck me as odd that this small community did not have some kind of sign declaring it’s namesake. Did some resident’s of Fandon recall the Forgottonian movement, the days where an eccentric 25 year old Neil Gamm walked the streets media close behind. I couldn’t help but wonder how this movement was received by the lifelong residents of Fandon, Illinois. Perhaps they felt singled out when the town was named as a mock capitol in a movement wanting to show how disconnected and left behind an area could be. I am curious how many people grew irritated with Gamm’s antics and continued poking fun of their small town. Obviously the movement’s goals would benefit Fandon, however to some residents this was home, this strange movement may have seemed to envelop the town against their will. Was the lack of a sign indicating the town’s name intentional? Was this an attempt to make people passing through just keep on going? Were the residents tired of people like us driving through their town hoping to catch a glimpse of the movement that was once Forgottonia?

I think it’s a shame that there isn’t some kind of reminder about what happened in this sleepy town more than 20 years ago. A farcical movement with real goals helped re-connect an area of the state with the Quincy to Chicago amtrak line, as well as helping send government funded highway projects that improved the roads and accessibility of the area. Then again, perhaps the Forgottonian movement is best remembered and shared through random stories passed on, each time serving as a near forgotten gem of how a group of people can evoke positive change…the kind of fuzzy detailed story that becomes a legend as it makes its way down the the roads of time.

Below are some images taken from Our expedition to Fandon Illinois. Photo credits to Thomas Cane.

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Overall Service:
We had a new waitress and she tried very hard.

General Wait Time:
We got a table right away and our order was taken right after we sat down.  No waiting at all except for our bill.  Maybe because she was new it seemed like she forgot to bring the bills.

Portion size:
The portion size was great and the quality was wonderful.

Taste:
We all loved our food and the order was correct.

Cleanliness:
BWW is very clean.

Overall Rating:
The dining experience at BWW would have to be 4 Gems.

Restaurant:
Gem City Pizzeria

Overall Service:
Excellent the waitress was friendly and on top of her tables.

General Wait Time:
We got there early and were seated right away.  Our order was taken promptly and our food came in record time.

Portion size:
At Gem City you always get what you pay for, high quality and great quantity.

Taste:
Our table had Pizzas and Mexican and all of our food was served hot and tasted wonderful.

Cleanliness:
For the most part Gem City is a very clean restaurant, however they could check their restrooms more often.

Overall Rating:
I would say that for this trip Gem City Pizzeria would get 5 out of 5 Gems.