Between tribute bands, themed raves and touring acts, Des Moines venue Wooly’s hosts events produced by 3XWrestling, an independent wrestling promotion company based in Central Iowa, active since 2005. I attended 3XW’s bout on Friday, March 6 for a crash course in kayfabe.
Malcolm MacDougall
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: With its most eclectic show yet, ‘edify’ marks a high note for 237 Fashion Month
Cedar Rapids’ 237 Collective wrapped up edify, the third fashion show of 237 Fashion Month last Saturday at Groundswell Cafe with one of the most high-quality shows I’ve seen them put on so far. From beachy vibes to social activism, there was something for everyone.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: ‘Dishonorable Discharge’ put upcycled utility garments, odes to protests on the 237 runway
The peak of last Saturday’s Dishonorable Discharge, the Basement Collective show at Cedar Rapids’ Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, came halfway through. Poet Henry Morray, outfitted in a heavy camo jacket with an upside-down flag painted on the back, wheeled in a frenzied goosestep up and down the runway, barking the Rudyard Kipling poem “Boots” through a squawking megaphone.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Doily decals, graffitied luggage and nods to ‘Cabaret’ kicked off 237 Fashion Month with flounce
Last Saturday, Cedar Rapids’ 237 Collective kicked off Ephemeral, the first show of 237 Fashion Month, to a sold-out crowd of over 100 fashion appreciators in every vibe you could imagine — Bushwick babes rubbing shoulders with suited men with piratical earrings, Gaultier-adjacent bodysuits next to off-duty vampires. Seven local designers shared their visions in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
For the sake of science, NASA gave away hundreds of moon rocks. Iowa keeps its allotment under lock and key.
Is this heaven? No, but there are pieces of the heavens in Iowa — and 135 countries, all U.S. states and the United Nations. Specifically, four rice-grain-sized pieces of moon rock from the Apollo 11 mission, the first to land on the Moon. In total, the mission returned to Earth with 47.5 pounds of lunar […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The infamous Epstein birthday book includes a cringeworthy Iowa anecdote from 1988
In some cases, the truism “there’s always an Iowa connection” becomes a threat. The Jeffrey Epstein “birthday book,” revealed this summer, is one such case. Amid 238 pages of fawning, friendly and conspiratorial birthday messages to the billionaire rapist and child trafficker written by his rich, powerful cohorts and gathered by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 […]
Posted inFood & Drink
An Iowa State grad co-invented the Rice Krispie Treat (then never made them again)
Marshmallows, Rice Krispies, a little butter and your mom’s best 9”-by-13” Pyrex baking dish — the only ingredients needed for that ubiquitous, always-welcome fixture of the Midwestern potluck, the Rice Krispie Treat. The alchemist who helped turn Rice Krispies from a mediocre, snap-crackle-popping milk-sponge cereal into a dessert icon was Iowa State University grad Mildred […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Cult-favorite pasta salad, the perfect ‘mother-in-law restaurant’ and more eats in Cedar Rapids and Marion
For the 2025 Bread & Butter dining guide, Little Village food reviewers visited and reviewed 10 Cedar Rapids area eateries. You can find more local restaurant coverage here. MARION New York Gyro 808 7th Ave, Marion, 319-200-1750 I feel like once a year when I do these reviews, there’s always one restaurant I’ve never visited […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: At a unique CSPS show, silence, sound baths and Cerebro-like tech create a group trance — no rave or holy ghost needed
I show up about 15 minutes early to Concentric: Transcultural Resonance in Sound Practices on Tuesday, and the room’s already packed. There’s 50, maybe 60 people packed into the tiny CSPS Black Box Theatre when I arrive and slink towards the back into one of the chairs lining the walls.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Love is a thing with feathers in ‘La Cage Aux Folle,’ a triumph for Revival Theatre Company
It was a sweaty, 83-degree day when I went to Revival Theatre Company’s staging of La Cage Aux Folles. This was perfect weather to be spirited away to Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera and into a packed theater full of cheering, clapping and the best show I’ve seen this year. The musical is a reworking […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: The Beyond Fashion Fest made a dandy impression in downtown Iowa City, showcasing streetwear, grunge, indigenous and avant garde designs
Wright House of Fashion’s latest event was a two-day showcase of art, comedy, talks on fashion and diversity, and of course, fashion shows. The first fashion show of the inaugural Beyond Fashion Festival was Jamie Sauncoci’s JS Wear, sponsored by the Great Plains Action Society and hosted in the Graduate’s ballroom. The show opened with […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Upcycled and refreshingly unironic, Sadya’s ‘Warning Signs’ fashion show at 237 Collective was an orange and earth-toned treat
Last Saturday, the Cedar Rapids-based 237 Collective hosted Warning Signs, the first of three fashion shows to be presented in the Cherry Building during April 2025. The show was a solo showcase of the work of Sadya, the nom d’artiste of 237 Collective co-creative director Paxton Williams. Models strutted down the runway, a simple outline […]
