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QCA Today: September 3, 2010
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...
Hail and (Not Yet) Farewell: On Ray Bradbury, Near His 90th Birthday -- The Moline Public Library’s Fahrenheit 451 “Big Read” Campaign
"But of course he was going away, there was nothing else to do, the time was up, the clock had run out, and he was going very far away indeed." Unless one believes that Mr. Electrico's command to Ray...
Sean O’Harrow’s Exit Interview: Figge Executive Director Accepts University of Iowa Museum Position
In Sean O'Harrow's telling, the Figge Art Museum is gaining an ally as much as it's losing an executive director. It was announced last week that O'Harrow has accepted the directorship of the University...
New Way: Davenport’s Smart Transportation Plan and Its Roadblocks
In an interview promoting his 2007 lecture at the Figge Art Museum, urban planner Jeff Speck promised that his ideas would be "controversial." He explained to me that "most cities, for better or for worse,...
“A Law Unto Themselves”: Jury Nullification and the Deck Stacked Against It
(Editor's note: "Fully Informed Juries: A New Hope for Freedom," Don Doig's commentary on jury nullification, can be found here.) Like most people, Mike Angelos was surprised to learn about the power...
Iowa Politics Roundup: Parties Announce Headliners for Major Fundraisers
A pair of governors -- one current and one former -- will headline Iowa's major-party fundraisers in the months before the November election. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will headline the Iowa...
State’s Disclosure Law Upheld, but a Loophole Remains
A Virginia-based group that wanted to play in Illinois politics but didn't want to disclose its donors has lost round one in what could be an extended court battle. The Center for Individual Freedom...
Iowa Politics Roundup: Forbes Plans to “Agitator,” Not Presidential Candidate
Former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes says he will not run for president in 2012, saying he's now an "agitator" and will "leave the exercising to others." Forbes, who ran for president...
Quinn Against Brady Recalls Carter Against Reagan
Lots of people are having trouble getting their heads around the fact that Republican state Senator Bill Brady may well be our next governor. This is, after all, a Democratic state. But it's way past...
Letter: Hog-Farm Debate Doesn’t Address All Environmental Questions
As I follow the request by the Scott County owner of Grandview Farms to expand his Concentrated Animals Feeding Operation (CAFO), I do not think the debate has adequately addressed the question of how...
Mike Schulz with Dave & Darren on 104.9
Going to the cineplex or IMAX this weekend? Every Friday morning at 9 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on the Quad City Rocker...
Now Playing: Friday, September 3, through Thursday, September 9
For show schedule information, visit: Great Escape Theatre, Moline Nova 6 Cinemas, Moline Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre, Davenport Rave Motion Pictures Davenport 53, Davenport * * * The...
Devilish Fun: "The Last Exorcism," "Get Low," and "Takers"
THE LAST EXORCISM For the majority of its length, The Last Exorcism is a hell of a good time. I'd love to say that's because the movie is terrifying, but it isn't, really; the biggest jolt you're likely...
Kings of the Hills: "Restrepo," Opening Friday, September 3, at Rave Motion Pictures Davenport 53
Restrepo would be supremely noteworthy even if it weren't a documentary on modern warfare in Afghanistan that somehow found its way to a Quad Cities cineplex.
Gone to Seed: "The Switch," "Eat Pray Love," and "Nanny McPhee Returns"
THE SWITCH Since it's a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston that actually doesn't suck, it's temping to overrate The Switch, which opens with Aniston's Kassie preparing to be artificially inseminated,...
Photos from the Toby Keith Concert, August 26 at the i wireless Center
Images by photographer Chris Jones from Thursday's Toby Keith concert at the i wireless Center, with opener Trace Adkins. Click on any photo for a larger version. Toby Keith:
Photos from the Scorpions Concert, August 20 at the i wireless Center
Images by photographer Chris Jones from Friday's Scorpions concert at the i wireless Center. Click on any photo for a larger version.
Wielding a Precise Instrument: Nathaniel Rateliff, August 27 at Borders and RIBCO
When I talked with Nathaniel Rateliff earlier this week, he was driving a dump truck for his job as a gardener, and closed the interview with these pronouncements when asked if there was anything he'd...
Doing It Again: Nick Curran & the Lowlifes, August 30 at RIBCO
Nick Curran's Reform School Girl starts with Etta James' "Tough Lover," in which the Austin, Texas-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist breaks out his best Little Richard impression while staying true...
Travelin' Band: Creedence Clearwater Revisited, August 21 at River Roots Live
The idea, says former Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist Stu Cook, began simply enough. "Back in the mid-'90s, I relocated from southern California up to Lake Tahoe in northern Nevada, and Doug [Clifford,...
Leap of Faith: Playcrafters Presents the Biblical Musical "Hard to Believe," Opening September 10
"I think Playcrafters has traditionally had the reputation of being a stodgy old theatre that only does six comedies a year," says Tom Morrow, a frequent actor and director for Moline's venerable Barn...
Art History Minor: "Sunday in the Park with George," through August 22 at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre
There's one thing that appears missing from Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's Sunday in the Park with George: adequate rehearsal time. Actually, there are a number of things partially absent in this...
Dancing with Death: "Wit," at the Village Theatre through August 29
It is with great apprehension that I write this review of the Curtainbox Theatre Company's production of Wit, fearing I will not do it justice. The script's themes are so distressing and touching,...
E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T: "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," at the Harrison Hilltop Theatre through August 28
The Harrison Hilltop Theatre's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is both outrageously hilarious and poignantly touching. I laughed harder than I've laughed in a long time during Thursday's...
Deep in the Har-de-Har of Texas: “Christmas Belles,” at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre through August 15
The audience at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Saturday-night performance of Christmas Belles - a sequel to Dearly Beloved, which the theatre staged in 2008 - seemed to really want to enjoy this second...
Featured Image from the Quad City Photography Club
(Editor's note: The River Cities' Reader each month will publish images from the Quad City Photography Club. Click on the image for a larger version.) Photographer: Paul Riewerts. Getting the shot:...
Making a Splash: Artist Heidi M. Sallows Presents "The Mermaid Show," July 23 and 24 at the 7ly Design Studio
Local artist Heidi M. Sallows is the director of the 7ly Design Studio in Rock Island, and when she describes her venue's forthcoming The Mermaid Show as "not so much a show as an experience," you should...
Art Meets Body Art
Some people would never walk into a tattoo shop. Others would never walk into an art gallery. Mark Schwalm-Bell wants to draw both groups to Indigo Body Art Gallery, located just off the Centennial Bridge...
“New to Me”: Corrine Smith, through April at MidCoast Gallery West
The tree jumps out. And the buildings. And the still life. In the new show of 26 works by mixed-media artist Corrine Smith, these mundane objects are nearly shocking. Smith, who teaches design at...
Reverential Reflections: Emily Christenson’s “Rivers & Rain, Pieces of Denali,” through December at Bucktown
One of the biggest success stories to come out of Bucktown Center for the Arts is Emily Christenson and her nature-inspired works. Some early visitors to doeGallery were impressed with her art and took...
