I SAW THE LIGHT

The opening credits for I Saw the Light reveal that writer/director Marc Abraham’s bio-pic was adapted from Colin Escott’s book Hank Williams: The Biography. That “Just the facts, ma’am” title would’ve been perfectly fitting for Abraham’s staid, logy, passionless movie, too – although Hank Williams: The Skimming of the Artist’s Wikipedia Page would’ve been even more appropriate.

For many, the word “symphony” evokes the names of famed composers such as Brahms, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky, each of whose talents will be duly represented in the springtime repertoire for Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) musicians.

But if you have young children, it’s entirely possible that the word “symphony,” for them, will soon bring to mind a whole new set of names, among them Mary Poppins, Pocahontas, and Mulan.

ALLEGIANT

Over the past seven months, YA-lit adaptations have arrived in the forms of Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, The 5th Wave, and now Allegiant, the first part of the second sequel (yeah, I know ...) to 2014’s teen-dystopia thriller Divergent. And in each one of these releases, we’re taken to a hidden facility where our heroic youths are trained in combat and wartime procedures, sleep in bunk beds, eat in mess halls, and don nearly identical outfits designed, one presumes, to give them a collective sense of unity, purpose, and pride.

Events

i wireless Center

March through June

Shall we commence? If you’re a staff member at Moline’s i wireless Center, the only answer to that question is “Heck, yeah, we shall!” Because in its season featuring two-dozen events open to the public, a full 11 of them are commencements, as students and their families – from May 15 to June 5 – celebrate graduations from area colleges (Augustana, Scott, Black Hawk), universities (St. Ambrose, Western Illinois), and high schools (Rock Island, Pleasant Valley, North Scott, and Davenport North, West, and Central). Consequently, a bunch of you will already be spending time at the i wireless at least once this spring. But I urge you to also consider several additional visits, considering how many springtime engagements will leave patrons with the urge to cheer and throw their hats in the air.