After the Independence Day success of the 80-35 Music Festival in Des Moines and the Jazz Festival here, it’s Cedar Rapids’s turn to get into the summer festival mix with its second annual New Bohemia Music Festival. This year they were planning for major expansion and a more youthful sound, but the floodwaters washed away […]
Things to do in Iowa City
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Roll Tape!
Perspectives on the Iowa Filmscape The state of Iowa still struggles to prove itself as a cultural oasis, attractive to those looking for a well-rounded place to plant new roots. Iowa City is some kind of exception to this, but still lacks the entertainment options of a big city—even if it has that big city […]
Posted inFood & Drink
International Flavor
International food can be hit-or-miss in small Midwestern cities. But thanks to a diverse population and a propensity for eating out, Iowa Citians can eat their way through a culinary world tour within city limits on a reasonable budget. Here are two stops that should be on everyone’s list. Oasis Falafel 206 N. Linn St., […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Food Without the Wrapper
Too many people in this country, I have learned, have been sold a bill of goods. They’ve been tricked. Flim-flammed. Conned. Hussled. Bamboozled into believing that food comes wrapped in plastic from a freezer in the nearest Wal-Mart and that cooking is a chore, like laundry or washing windows, to be avoided if at all […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Weekender: August 1-3
Sometimes the natural course of things set in and your weekend options are dictated by the turning of the earth. This is such a weekend. Summer is closing fast (school starts when?) and Iowans love a good festival. In that vein, your weekend options all depend on where you want to spend a care-free August […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Weekender: July 24-29
The big story is RAGBRAI. It’s an awesome experience, but if you don’t already have bicycling plans, you may want to steer clear of North Liberty and Tipton as things will be awfully crowded. There’s still a lot of other stuff going on this weekend, and one show on Tuesday. Thursday, July 24 Johnson County […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Dark Knight Movie Review
Dark Knight 150 min Directed by Christopher Nolan Every summer, a new round of superheroes arrive as a pulp retreat from the oppressive summer heat…or so it used to be. Not this time. Dark Knight is not mindless summer escapism but a brutal caricature of our own sinister world. Putting as much distance as possible […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Weekender: July 17 – 20
Hey-ya, it’s the weekend! The mid-point of summer has hit and there’s only one way for the amount of sunlight to go from here: down. Fight the humidity and take advantage of every minute. Thursday, July 17 Moving Home Brucemore 2160 Linden Drive SE Cedar Rapids, Iowa Phone: 319/362-7375 Thursday – Saturday, July 17 – […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Simple pleasures
Quick. Name the #2 rated show in America. No, it’s not CSI: Law & Order Unit. It’s ABC’s Wipeout. I have to admit, I love it. Our society has had a long love affair with pratfalls and groin shots. America’s Funniest Home Videos was built on the concept, and YouTube exploded into the collective conscious […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Weekender update: July 11-13
Click here for the complete Weekender for July 10-13. Friday, July 11-Sunday, July 13 Twisted: A Balloonamentary | Iowa City Public Library | Multiple showings (below) | Free Little Village is pleased to hear that our good friends over at the Bijou Theatre have found a home for some of their films. According to the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Weekender: July 10-12
The weather has ruled my summer. The past month has been spent preparing for and recoiling from the floods…that one’s a given. But from rained-out softball games to the perfect-sky of the jazz fest, I’ve been watching the sky more than ever. This weekend will be no exception. Thursday, July 10 Bike-In Theater | PATV, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Surfwise Movie Review
Surfwise Documentary, 93 min Directed by Doug Pray The floods have got me thinking about water: the great life-giver, the great destroyer. Lao Tzu, the founding Taoist, says that we should emulate water over rock; for the softness of water, which yields infinitely to anything in its path, eventually overcomes and destroys the hardest stone. […]
