First things first: The winner of last month’s contest is Rachael Carlson, who not only came up with a reference to urine in Shakespeare but also came up with one that I did not even know, from Measure for Measure: “It is certain that when he makes water, his urine is congealed ice.” Congratulations to […]
writing
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: CaseTheJoint – Stalking To Myself
There aren’t many musical pursuits harder than making hip-hop. You have to write rhymes, you have to memorize them, you have to find or make beats. You have to deliver your rhymes in dingy clubs with crap sound and sell yourself to the pickiest audiences in the world–the people who added a new definition to […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Get Out of bed! Your Characters Have Places to Go!
Once I got over my writing depression, I basically had to laugh at myself for dreading it so bad. The intervening chapters had done so much to develop the plot and the characters that, now that it was my turn again, the chapter practically wrote itself.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Lit Scene: The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth
“NonfictioNow” to me was a question: What is nonfiction (now)? There was not one answer. Asking a group of graduate students from the Nonfiction Writing Program yielded all different responses:
“The only genre defined by what it is not.”
“Fiction with a prefix.”
“There’s only one thing it isn’t, though often it is.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Gimme a (Line) Break
In a town like Iowa City, there’s no shortage of writers. It seems like everywhere you go–the Java House, The Times Club at Prairie Lights, the Burlington street Kum-and-Go at midnight on a Tuesday–you run into someone who either writes, wants to write, or (possibly) is holding a Pulitzer prize.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Uffie, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans
Following years of Myspace releases, Uffie, the most divisive artist on Ed Banger Records (home of Justice and formerly most divisive artist Mr. Oizo), finally puts out her debut Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans. She has more than her own boatload of hype. The question is does her album actually stand up to it all?
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Monotonix/The Tanks/Liberty Leg: Blue Moose Tap House 4/22/10 (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Photos by Zak Neumann Thursday night’s three three-man-band bill at The Blue Moose Tap House’s Blue Room (upstairs) was a master class in the power of the trio. All three bands on stage repped a drummer, a guitarist/bass player and a vocalist, and none suffered for missing a conventional piece of the rock ‘n’ roll […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Pitch Imperfect
Prairie Pop: April 2010 – Apparently, the naked human voice isn’t good enough. Whether we’re talking about studio gimmickery or vocal tricks not aided by technology–Appalachian yodeling and Tuvan throat singing come to mind–we’re often suckers for interesting oral freak-outs. Voice alteration gizmos soon began popping up in hit singles of the 1970s and 1980s–applying […]
Posted inCommunity/News, UR Here
UR Here: Place in Time
For the past few years, July has been a special month for me. Since 2005, I have taught a one-week workshop in the Iowa Summer Writing Festival focused on writing about place and writing about nature. Since 2007, I have followed that up with a several-week course at the Iowa City Senior Center focused on […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Free $12,000 Stimulus Check!
“$12,000 Stimulus Checks – www.JeffsGrantsBlog.com – I Got a $12,000 Stimulus Check in Less Than 7 Days. Get Yours!” Sound too good to be true? Well, guess what, it surely is. Clicking through to the site will lead you to an offer for a stimulus grant writing packet, which promises instant governement riches in a […]
Posted inCommunity/News
On a Personal Note
I don’t want to spam up the LV blog, but … I’ve started my own blog at http://www.music.cornwarning.com. I’ve entitled it “Do My Eyes Look Scary?” which is the name of a book of poetry one of the guys in my Undergraduate Poetry Workshop claimed to be writing. I don’t think he ever actually published […]
Posted inCommunity/News
With a Bachelor's & a Backpack
My Grandfather had a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. He taught classes, was involved in the state legislature and founded a business. My Dad has an M.B.A. I always felt my parents had great expectations for me. At times, my dreams were greater than their expectations. But, throughout most of my adult life they would probably just […]
