The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) last week named Davenport one of Iowa's "Great Places." The announcement came after the Iowa Great Places Citizen Advisory Board concluded a four-day tour of seven finalist locations and made its recommendations to DCA Director Cyndi Pederson, who approved the advisory board's recommendations. The program asks communities to develop proposals that address seven dimensions that make places special: engaging experiences; rich, diverse populations and cultures; a vital, creative economy; clean and accessible natural and built environments; well-designed infrastructure; a shared attitude of optimism that welcomes new ideas; and a diverse and inclusive cultural mosaic. For more information, look at (http://www.culturalaffairs.org).
On
"Puttin' People on the Moon," the Driver-By Truckers'
Patterson Hood sings a litany of tragedies personal and regional:
"Mary Alice got cancer just like everybody here / Seems everyone I
know is gettin' cancer every year / And we can't afford no
insurance, I been 10 years unemployed / So she didn't get no chemo
so our lives was destroyed / And nothin' ever changes, the cemetery
gets more full / And now over there in Huntsville, even NASA's shut
down too."
Protectionists
claim that free trade is bad for America - that increasing imports
of goods means increasing exports of jobs, thereby gutting our
economy. This notion could only be valid in a zero-sum world with a
fixed number of jobs, where one country's gain would be another's
loss; in fact, though, the number of jobs, both at home and abroad,
is locked into a clear uptrend. New businesses and industries
continually emerge in the never-ending attempt to satisfy humankind's
insatiable wants. We can never run out of jobs.
It's a woman's world in two upcoming CD tribute projects that benefit breast-cancer support and awareness. Later this month New Jersey's Face Down Records will release About a Girl, collecting cover contributions from Philadelphia-area artists taking aim at songs with a woman's name in the title. AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" is found within, covered by Beretta 76, as is the Jukebox Zeroes' spin on The Sonics' "Cinderella" and the Creeping Weeds' hand at Arthur Alexander's "Anna." With proceeds benefiting the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, the disc also includes covers of Elvis Costello's "Allison," Weezer's "Suzanne," The Kinks' "Victoria," and the AM-radio nugget by The Looking Glass, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)."
On
its new album, Silver Storms,
the Philadelphia-based quintet The A-Sides has crafted a striking mix
of ephemeral, elusive pop in the vein of The Shins; meaty,
arena-ready guitar parts; half-speed songs with patient crescendos;
upbeat power pop; and surprising accelerations.
The
newspaper headlines were just what Governor Rod Blagojevich wanted
last week.
