My thighs burned as I pushed the pedals up another asphalt-covered hill. Each climb was harder than the last and a personal battle, which was to be followed by a spectacular view of snow-patched cornfields as far as the eye could see–-and a nice long coast. These rolling hills of Iowa guide the joyrides for […]
March 2009
Posted inFood & Drink
Growing Excitement
Just about everyone I know has been pouring over seed catalogs for the last month. Eagerness to plant supplants many other priorities and they begin rifling through each newly arrived issue like a 12-year-old boy with a lingerie catalog. Plans for this year’s garden become an obsession that quickly grows out of all reasonable proportions, […]
Posted inCommunity/News, UR Here
UR Here: Nature's Economy
As the global economy crumbles around us, I have been writing about relocalization as a way toward sustainability, last month expanding on the concept of abundance as the foundation upon which it could work. One more important fundamental concept for a sustainable economy is looking to the natural world as a model, so I’d like […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Prairie Pop: Major Disappointments
I’m guessing that many of you have never heard of Tommy Keene. He’s a working musician who has accumulated a fairly deep catalog over the past 30 years, but he has never scored major hit and, in fact, the man has had his share of setbacks. Keene’s experience with Geffen Records in the 1980s, for […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Designing Woman
For UI President Sally Mason and others, the outfit may not make the woman, but it matters. Pragmatism may soon skirt the runway as more people struggle with employment and basic needs. But still, fashion parlance ought to remain, albeit for a serious purpose: business. Such is Sally Mason’s wardrobe. Business first, pleasure second. And […]
Posted inCommunity/News
We Can't All Be Snappy Dressers
I’ve never been able to dress myself. I know the singsong directions about which limb goes in which hole, that the tag goes on the inside of your shirt, and all those other Puritan rules. I get it, okay. But when people talking about clothing as an extension of power, of a critical element of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Sit-Down with Leighton Pierce
Related: Agency by Leighton Pierce You’ve got a lot of your works online. Some artists are reluctant to do that. “For a while, I didn’t put much online. Then I put online only older things. Now I’m thinking, why not let people get some sense of the work? Let it capture their interest. The two-inch […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A Wrinkle Time
Agency Leighton Pierce Related: Q&A with Leighton Pierce www.leightonpierce.com In his latest work, film and video artist Leighton Pierce gives visual manifestation to one of modern society’s greatest fears: lost time. Agency of Time (Toward part 2), a five-channel video, two-channel audio installation, uses lush, abstracted imagery and sound cues to draw the viewer into […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Talking Movies: Tears of a Clown
La Strada dir. Federico Fellini 108 mins In the early morning hours, at the end of a spirited drinking party, as passed-out sophisticates snore on the couches, an old man lectures two weary writers that tragedy and comedy have the same source, and that one who truly understands their root should be able to compose […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
On the Beat: Spring breakdown
March in the actual world might be known for St. Patrick’s Day or warmer weather (hopefully), or a certain kind of basketball madness, but in the music world, it’s all about one thing: the SXSW music festival and conference in Austin, Texas. Perhaps the biggest and most indulgent exercise in industry self-love ever to be […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The REAL Irish Pubs of Iowa City
St. Paddy’s Day in Iowa City can easily devolve into a grotesque debacle, a cavalcade of fake accents, leprechaun abuse, green beer and vomit — the traditional parade of stereotypes. Did St. Patrick go to the trouble of ridding Ireland of snakes (even if he really didn’t) for this? But in spite of it all, […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Animals in the Dark | William Elliott Whitmore
William Elliott Whitmore Animals in the Dark www.williamelliottwhitmore.com William Elliott Whitmore’s fourth album (and major label debut), Animals in the Dark kicks off with what will likely be the most divisive track in his catalog: “Mutiny.” The call and response chant cribs lyrics from both Dr. Dre and The Bloodhound Gang, rides a wave of […]
