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QCA Today: May 17, 2013
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, KWQC, and WQAD. It also includes...
Enter the Reader’s 2013 Photo Contest! Deadline Extended to May 21
The three categories for the River Cities’ Reader’s 2013 photography contest are “illumination,” “future,” and “brazen.” The deadline for entries is May 21, and the rules are below. We...
Vaudeville-in': Comedian Josh Kahn Hosts "Bottoms Up Burlesque: Komic Kahn," May 17 through 25 at the Circa '21 Speakeasy
As emcee for the Bottoms Up Burlesque troupe and a former emcee for Burlesque Le’ Moustache, Josh Kahn’s formal responsibilities shouldn’t include disrobing in public. But if you ask Kahn about his...
Glass (Ballet) Slippers: Ballet Quad Cities' "Cinderella" at the Adler Theatre
There were two particular elements that made Ballet Quad Cities’ Cinderella (which ran for two Adler Theatre performances on April 20) especially watchable beyond Courtney Lyon’s exquisite choreography:...
Spring/Summer Dining Guide Survey Winners
The River Cities’ Reader’s dining survey was open from October 2012 through February 2013. Respondents needed to provide reasonable answers in at least 15 categories for their votes to be counted. Vote...
American Lemmings and Crony Capitalism
It’s become a fascination to observe what I refer to as the American “lemming effect.” So far, government overreach – no matter how egregious, harmful, dangerous, or in some cases lethal – has...
Polls Show Both Major Parties Have an Uphill Struggle with Voters
Illinois Republican Party Chair Pat Brady resigned last week just as a new statewide poll showed big trouble for his political party’s brand. Brady had been under pressure to resign ever since the...
Strong Candidate (Wisely) Backs Off Key GOP Job
In yet another blow to the Illinois Republican Party, state Senator Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) has withdrawn his name from contention for the state-GOP-chair job. And, no, it didn’t have anything to...
The Insecurity State
(Editor’s note: This essay is a response to this commentary.) The scene in Boston on April 18 and 19 was awesome. By that, I don’t mean it was cool. Rather, the mass law-enforcement action to...
Rights Are Non-Negotiable
I’m beginning to have a modicum of hope for perpetually misinformed Americans. The turning point occurred when, after the attacks on the three World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon on September...
Lively, Long, and Prosperous: "Star Trek Into Darkness"
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Star Trek Into Darkness opens on a note of frenzied, almost satiric busyness. For reasons initially left unexplained, and in a set piece suggesting a futuristic Raiders of the...
Now Playing: Friday, May 17, through Thursday, May 23
For show schedule information, visit: Nova 6 Cinemas, Moline Putnam Museum, Davenport Rave Motion Pictures Davenport 53, Davenport Regal Moline Stadium 14, Moline
Out with the Old Sport, in with the New: "The Great Gatsby," "Mud," and "Peeples"
THE GREAT GATSBY Although, in the end, the film wound up an engaging and surprisingly touching entertainment, and it’s visually spellbinding throughout, the first half hour of Baz Luhrmann’s The...
Heavy Metal: "Iron Man 3" and "Space Junk 3D"
IRON MAN 3 Iron Man 3 begins with narration by Tony Stark, the superheroic multi-billionaire voiced and eventually embodied, as always, by Robert Downey Jr. His tone is steady and somber as he makes...
Meatheads: "Pain & Gain" and "The Big Wedding"
PAIN & GAIN In Pain & Gain, the witty, savvy, almost perfectly pitched new release by Michael Bay, Mark Wahlberg plays a dimwitted personal trainer who decides he’d rather steal than pursue...
Blues with a Beach Boys Dream: Rachel Brooke, May 23 at RIBCO
Rachel Brooke grew up with bluegrass and country standards and in high school played them in her father’s band. Her album A Killer’s Dream (from late last year) puts that experience and her voice in...
Electric Blood: Unknown Component, May 11 at Circle Tap
When I last wrote about Unknown Component, the one-man DIY project of the prolific Keith Lynch, I focused on one song and compared his voice favorably to Kurt Cobain’s. Five years – and at least...
Photos from the Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis Concert, May 4 at the Redstone Room
Photos from the Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis concert at the Redstone Room on May 4, 2013, with opener David G. Smith. For more work by Matt Erickson, visit MRE-Photography.com. Bruce Robison &...
At Home in Two Worlds: The Lonely Wild, May 4 at Rozz-Tox
On the Web site of the California band The Lonely Wild is a country-rock-stomp version of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” notable for its clarity, the way it bends the song to the band’s style...
Photos from the Lucero Concert, April 27 at RIBCO
Photos from the Lucero concert at RIBCO on April 27, 2013, with opener Langhorne Slim & the Law. For more work by Matt Erickson, visit MRE-Photography.com. Lucero:
Summer of 69: Theatre in the Quad Cities and Surrounding Areas, May through August
At last count, there were a grand total of 69 theatrical productions scheduled to debut at area venues between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend. That’s awfully impressive. Yet what’s even...
A Full House, with Jokers: "The Trouble with Cats," at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through May 19
The trouble with the Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s The Trouble with Cats is that Patti Flaherty is not featured enough during its two-and-a-half-hour length. Playing a dry, crass, flirtatious lowbrow named...
Apocalypse Now-ish: "boom," at the QC Theatre Workshop through May 18
While playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s boom is slyly hilarious, and the QC Theatre Workshop’s production of it laudable for so many reasons, there is one aspect of the performance that stands out...
The Young and the Restless: "subUrbia," at Augustana College through May 5
Augustana College’s production of subUrbia features one of the most (if not the most) layered and fascinating sets I’ve yet seen on a local stage, as Adam Parboosingh's scenic design manages to give...
Turning Children's Theatre Into Ar-r-r-rt: "How I Became a Pirate," at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through May 11
While I’ve loved every children’s production I’ve reviewed at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, How I Became a Pirate marks the first in which I wish I had the soundtrack to enjoy with my partner’s...
Art in Plain Sight: The Centennial Bridge
Connecting Davenport and Rock Island, the Centennial Bridge is one of the most beautiful architectural structures in the Quad Cities. Viewed in the daytime, it is a graceful example of modern design....
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.) Lady in Red, created by Andy Seynaeve, was one of the high-scoring images...
Winners from the 37th-Annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition
For the 37th-annual Rock Island Fine Arts Exhibition, the River Cities’ Reader invited winning artists – selected by juror Pamela Blotner of California – to write about their work. Their statements...
Art in Plain Sight: Bix 7 Plaza
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Bix 7 race, a bronze statue of two runners was unveiled in 1999 at the corner of Fourth Street and River Drive in Davenport, in front of the Quad-City Times...
Art in Plain Sight: Civil War Memorials
The Quad Cities have two prominent, highly visible Civil War monuments: the Rock Island County Soldiers’ Monument in Rock Island and the Scott County Soldier’s Monument in Davenport. Both were completed...
