The final festival of the Summer of the Arts’ 2017 season kicks off this Friday, Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. on the Ped Mall. The youngest of Iowa City’s three major summer offerings, the Iowa Soul Festival may be only four years old, but its ramped up schedule of events and top-notch music line-up have it rivaling its older siblings already.
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Opening in August: Van B’s Brewery
A new Iowa City restaurant promising burgers, brews and burritos is opening in August.
Posted inCommunity/News
Painted devils, the death clown and an excellent view of the Ped Mall: The hidden world of the Swisher building’s top floor
Hidden away on the long-vacant top floor of a familiar Ped Mall building is a strange world of graffiti art.
Posted inCommunity/News
Futsal and Party in the Park at Wetherby Park on Thursday
A new sports court is opening at Wetherby Park during Party in the Park on Thursday. The dual use court is the first in the city designed for futsal, a popular variation on soccer.
Posted inPrint Edition
Little Village magazine issue 225: Aug. 2-15, 2017
Flip through the pages of Little Village magazine issue 225. In this edition, we talk with Iowa City writer Inara Verzemnieks about her mission to reconnect with her grandmother, great-aunt and familial home in Latvia. Also inside: A look at the upcoming premiere of Amelia 2.0, a new sci-fi film created and shot in Cedar […]
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Author faces ‘ghosts’ of family separated by World War Two
Among the Living and the Dead: A Tale of Exile and Homecoming on the War Roads of Europe, the recently published book by University of Iowa Assistant Professor Inara Verzemnieks, explores her family’s diverging journeys as war descended on their Latvian home — resulting in trauma and loss that would reverberate through the generations.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A-List: Cedar Rapids sci-fi play is reborn on film
Cedar Rapids writer Rob Merritt has seen his play, The Summerland Project, premiered as part of the Underground Festival in the intimate Grandon Studio at Theatre Cedar Rapids, produced on TCR’s mainstage and staged by the Olathe Civic Theatre Association just outside Kansas City, Kansas. This month, he’ll see the film adaptation, Amelia 2.0, on the big screen.
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Democracy in Crisis: Trump’s America is not “not normal”
Trump was right when he said the system was broken. He is proof of that. He is a product of our normal, its culmination. It’s not normal that a psycho rich guy like Trump takes over the office to make profit for his family. But it is normal for rich guys to hold the office.
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En Español: Chronicle of a bilingual adventure
Estoy sentado en el pasto en el Old Capitol. Toca The Cookers en el Festival de Jazz. Estamos despidiendo a nuestros amigos Alba y Carlo, que se van a Colombia. Kelsi me ofrece escribir para la revista, Little Village. Pienso que es una broma, soy el único que no soy escritor de todo el grupo, pero como estoy un poco borracho le digo que sí. Nina duerme a upa de su mamá.
Posted inFood & Drink
Family Dinner: The Toïngars gather for African cuisine
Ask Judith Toïngar, 5, what she wants to be when she grows up, and she will reply, “A lot of things.”
A police officer, a doctor, a nurse, a cashier at Dollar Tree: Considering the examples set before her, Judith’s vision is perfectly logical. Her mother, Brigitte Toïngar, is a part-time nurse, landlord and graduate student; her father, Ésaïe Toïngar, is a manager at Rockwell Collins, the author of three memoirs and the founder of two immigrant rights organizations. Both are parents of five children; Judith is the youngest.
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UR Here: Iowa City in August is a tale of two cities
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times: the first half of August in Iowa City. For half a month twice a year (also early January), tumbleweeds blow through our deserted streets. Those of us who are left enjoy Iowa City at its best. Those of us who are left suffer Iowa City at its worst.
Our town is at its worst at this time of year because the life has been sucked out of it. The university’s summer session is over, so even that relatively small summer population of intrepid students — the life-force of so much of Iowa City’s energy —
have headed for the beach, for home, for the mountains, wherever. Their professors have packed in their grade books and skipped town for the only two summer vacation weeks available to them. Even the university’s administrative offices are operating on skeleton crews before the onslaught of the fall semester begins.
Posted inFood & Drink
LV Recommends: Orchard Green’s Hot & Filthy
Somewhere, in a magical land between a Bloody Mary and a martini, exists Orchard Green’s Hot and Filthy. Simply vodka with hot pepper-infused olive juice, it breathes hope and positivity, claiming with confidence and calm: You don’t have to choose, people! Have that pure, boozy, olive heat without the trusted alcoholic brunch beverage viscosity, and live.
