For Everyone ~ This month brings a combination of flux and stability. We achieve a new and relatively secure status quo. This will lessen our concerns about the future. However, we will also find ourselves grappling with some things. We have a safe place to stand, but we will have difficulty integrating other people or […]
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Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Believe the Hype
When Public Enemy released It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in 1988, it was as if it had landed from another planet. The album came frontloaded with sirens, squeals, and squawks that augmented the chaotic, collage backing tracks over which PE frontman Chuck D laid his politically and poetically radical rhymes. […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Fields of Sea
Iowa experienced the flood of the century 15 years ago. That, of course, was a different century. Last month Iowans saw floods unlike any in living memory. Fourteen hundred city blocks in Cedar Rapids were inundated with water up to 11 feet deep. Twenty University of Iowa buildings were flooded. Interstates 80 and 380 were […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Art on the Water
Compiling this month’s Little Village calendar of events and seeing so many flood-related closures provided a somber reminder of the serious blow suffered by many of our beloved arts and cultural venues. Much hard work and rebuilding lies ahead. Below is an overview of where some of these organizations stand now that flood waters have […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Paul's Picks: July 2008
It’s time to highlight a few paperbacks that are unlikely to receive much national attention. Some are published by small publishers, which can’t buy expensive lunches for the New York Times reviewers. Others have been out of print for a while and are being republished on the chance that they might find their audience on […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Twisted: A Balloonamentary Movie Review
Twisted: A Balloonamentary Documentary, 79 min Directed by Naomi Greenfield and Sara Taksler How much does the best-paid poet in the world make? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s a lot less than one woman in Twisted: A Balloonamentary, who declares that she took in $1.5 million last year for twisting balloons into […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
On the Beat: At least the shows will be smokin’
As I write this, July 1 is creeping up like doomsday for many local smokers, and depending on your daily nicotine needs, shows are either going to be a lot more comfortable or a mild pain in the ass. The Mill has been experimenting with nonsmoking shows for some time now, on nights where the […]
Posted inCommunity/News, UR Here
UR Here: Farewell, Mr. Higgins
In Tribute to a Great Iowa Citian: Ron Prosser If you were in the Iowa City Public Library any time before a few months ago, you know who I’m talking about. There’s a good chance he checked out some materials for you, or you at least saw him sitting behind the new library card desk, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
To Protect Through Fear
The call came at 1:30 in the morning–from a friend in distress. Earlier in the evening we had developed a plan. Anyone could see by that point that the six days of sandbagging would not pay off. He was to box a few valuables tonight to facilitate the move in the morning. The city had […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Escape the Floodwater Jug Band – Wrong Doings and Done Wrongs CD Review
Escape the Floodwater Jug Band Wrong Doings and Done Wrongs Whiskey for Breakfast Records [audio:Escape the Floodwater – Rag Mama.mp3] Escape the Floodwater – Rag Mama (mp3) It’s perhaps apt that Escape the Floodwater Jug Band’s new album comes out just in time for the great flood of 2008. The band photo on the back […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
The Horde – From Empire to Ashes CD Review
The Horde From Empire To Ashes Scenester Credentials [audio:The Horde – Battle Cry.mp3] The Horde – Battle Cry (mp3) Heavy Metal long ago descended irrevocably into self-parody. It’s a genre that for me has always been hard to love, and yet impossible not to love a little. Especially if the band is in on the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Deliciously Fresh
Ask anyone from local and national media to the average customer in Orscheln’s, and you’ll hear how Iowa farmers have taken a hard hit this year. Because of heavy spring rains many never had a chance to plant their corn or soybeans. And the subsequent flooding has ruined many crops already in the ground. However, […]
