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QCA Today: May 18, 2012
This feature collects articles published online by the following Quad Cities-area media outlets: Quad-City Times, Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispatch, River Cities' Reader, and WQAD. It also includes items...
A Long Shot Comes in: Jaimy Gordon, April 19 at Augustana College
There are few people in the arts who admit to being concerned about either their fame or their place in history. Jaimy Gordon is one of that rare breed, but she doesn’t need to fret anymore. Over the...
Destroy the Language: Matt Hart and the Poets of “Locuspoint: Quad Cities,” March 10 at Rozz-Tox
Philosophy wouldn’t seem to lead naturally to poetry, but it can if you find the right philosopher. For Cincinnati-based poet Matt Hart – who will be reading from his work on Saturday at Rozz-Tox...
"I Love You," in Pieces: Ballet Quad Cities' "Love Stories: Love on the Run," February 18 at Augustana College's Wallenberg Hall
What first struck me during February 18’s performance of Ballet Quad Cities' Love Stories: Love on the Run was the venue, as Augustana College's Wallenberg Hall provided exactly the spatial experience...
How Public-Safety Pensions Are Increasing Your Taxes
State public-employee pension systems are grossly underfunded in general and are financial time bombs for most states. According to the 2010 paper “Are State Public Pensions Sustainable?”, 31 state...
GOP Ensures that Overtime Session Likely
Senate President John Cullerton has been telling some of his members for weeks that he was resigned to an overtime session. The General Assembly likely wouldn’t be able to adjourn by the scheduled May...
Shikha Dalmia: Half-Right on “Right to Work”
Shikha Dalmia, writing in Reason (“Are Right to Work Laws the New Slavery?,” April 26), dismisses most union objections to “right to work” laws. But she concedes that on one issue – the requirement...
Start Thinking Solutions or Stop Thinking You Matter
It is a deeply painful thing to finally admit that the government you thought was your protector and friend is anything but. Or that the politicians charged with upholding the U.S. Constitution – as...
Smith’s Initial Defense Suggests a Blagojevich-Like Circus
Call it “Blagojevich Lite,” or whatever else you want, but it became pretty darned clear last week that the attorneys for state Representative Derrick Smith are planning the same sort of mockery of...
Is Terronez Being Treated Justly?
Much has been published about the penalties imposed upon (now former) Rock Island State’s Attorney Jeff Terronez for purchasing alcohol for an underage girl. “He who makes judgment without hearing...
Now Playing: Friday, May 18, through Thursday, May 24
For show schedule information, visit: Great Escape Theatre, Moline Nova 6 Cinemas, Moline Putnam Museum, Davenport Rave Motion Pictures Davenport 53, Davenport
Curses!: "Dark Shadows"
DARK SHADOWS Dark Shadows, director Tim Burton’s take on the 1966-71 gothic soap opera that remains a cult favorite, is gently satirical and totally watchable, and filled with inventive fringe touches....
Power Surge: "The Avengers " and "Bully"
THE AVENGERS Prior to its national release, the scuttlebutt on The Avengers seemed to be that the Hulk totally stole the show. Having now seen director Joss Whedon’s long-awaited, cinematic commingling...
Prenuptial Agreement: “The Five-Year Engagement,” “The Pirates! Band of Misfits,” “The Raven,” and “Safe”
THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT Say what you will about the current state of movies. Yet in the history of the medium, have the actors who populate film comedies ever been as across-the-board-excellent as they...
Tour of Doody: "The Lucky One," "Think Like a Man," "October Baby," and "Chimpanzee"
THE LUCKY ONE Every time I leave a movie version of some Nicholas Sparks novel, I’m relieved if it’s not, thus far, the worst movie version of some Nicholas Sparks novel. It’s to The Lucky One’s...
Maturity and Grace in Rough Packages: Scott H. Biram and Lydia Loveless, June 6 at RIBCO
RIBCO’s June 6 show features two Bloodshot Records artists, and there the surface similarities end. Scott H. Biram is a 38-year-old one-man-band road dog from Texas whose music draws from the blues...
A New Soundtrack for the Old West: Spindrift, May 19 at Rozz-Tox
The Los Angeles-based quintet Spindrift has developed a reputation for its cinematic sound – something that started with a score for a film that was then only an idea in the head of bandleader Kirpatrick...
Crayon Art, Kitchen Sink Included: Konrad, “Shadow Boxing”; Performing May 11 at Rozz-Tox
Jeffrey Konrad’s Shadow Boxing, his second “official” release under the name Konrad, is all over a pop map written mostly in crayon, with keyboard cheese and drum machines aplenty. If the album...
“Everyone’s Invited”: Koffin Kats, May 5 at the River Music Experience
The Detroit trio Koffin Kats – headlining an all-ages show at the River Music Experience on May 5 – performs in the musical subgenre known as psychobilly, and the fusion of punk and rockabilly isn’t...
Keys to Success: Franz Mohr – Piano Technician to the Greats – Speaks at West Music Quad Cities, April 27 and 28
If you’re familiar with the talents of such classical pianists as Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, and Glenn Gould, you’re indirectly familiar with the talents of Franz Mohr, who served as the...
Atlantic Overtures: "Titanic Aftermath," at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through May 20
Director Paul Workman deserves high praise for making the Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s Titanic Aftermath at all watchable, particularly as the boat is sinking in the second act. Throughout Friday’s...
Green Elevator: "The Guardian," at the Village Theatre through May 20
I was willing to give the Internet Players’ The Guardian a lot of leeway, accepting playwright Kevin Straus’ presentation for what it is: A morality tale of environmental responsibility. While watching...
One Story, Many Voices: Disaster Tales Are Shared in "Titanic Aftermath," May 11 through 20 at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre
As Oregon-based playwright Michael Wehrli is the author of Titanic Aftermath – the historical drama being staged at Moline’s Playcrafters Barn Theatre May 11 through 20 – I initially presume that...
Torture Chamber Play: " The Pillowman," at the District Theatre through May 12
On Thursday, the District Theatre debuted a most admirable, impressive production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, a play boasting numerous surprises both major and minor. Yet if the reactions of...
Mostly Toothless: “Bat Boy: The Musical,” at Augustana College through May 6
A musical based on the Weekly World News' tabloid-famous Bat Boy screams “camp.” Augustana College’s production of Bat Boy: The Musical, however, is not campy enough, as a couple of the leading actors...
Art in Plain Sight: “Lloyd’s Trek”
A large abstract sculpture, Lloyd’s Trek, greets visitors to Schwiebert Riverfront Park in the District of Rock Island. Standing some 20 feet tall at the park’s southwest corner, the sculpture seems...
Featured Image from the Quad Cities Photography Club
(Editor’s note: The River Cities’ Reader each month will feature an image or images from the Quad Cities Photography Club. Click on the photo for a larger version.) This colorful image...
A Visual Menagerie: Diane Naylor, Louise Rauh, and Elizabeth Shriver, through April 30 at the Quad City International Airport
The phrase “the elephant in the room” is a metaphor for the obvious things we choose to ignore. In The Great White Elephant, Diane Naylor treats those words literally to explore our often contradictory,...
Art in Plain Sight: Charles J. Wright Transit Center
The Charles J. Wright Transit Center at 300 West River Drive in downtown Davenport has two very different works of art related to travel. One is a sculpture of an impoverished Irish family traveling...
Cuddly Monsters, Captivating Portraits, and Juicy, Gross Textures: The 36th-Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition, through April 22
Jessica Teckemeyer’s Fawn or Foe is both a cuddly creature and a disturbing monster, with a lifelike aura that defies the porcelain from which it’s formed. In this year’s Rock Island Fine Arts...
