MadagascarMADAGASCAR

See enough movies, especially ones geared to the younger set, and you all but stop expecting to be surprised by the arc of the plot; our heroes will learn valuable Life Lessons, generally while embarking on A Perilous Journey, good will triumph over evil, the comforts of home, family, and friends will prove more beguiling than any possible adventure, yada yada yada. The joy - the shock - of the new computer-animated comedy Madagascar is that, from scene to scene, you might find yourself having no clue where events will lead, yet you're laughing too hard to pay the matter much mind.

• With music fans packing up the van for SXSW in Austin, Texas, this month, or dreaming of the big tie die in the sky in June's return of the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee, one more outstanding music fest deserves a big red road-trip circle on your calendar: the second annual Wakarusa Festival near Lawrence, Kansas.
It needs to be stated upfront: The Isle of Capri's (IOC) proposed casino hotel on downtown Davenport's riverfront is not a done deal. Regardless of IOC's ambitious presentation at two public meetings last month now being shown on the city's cable channel, or the splashy direct mailer households received in recent weeks, this casino hotel has not been decided by any stretch.
It was dreary that day before the November election, and it was not a good day for my 83-year-old father. He had been told following eye surgery that he might lose the sight in his left eye - bad news for someone whose sharp mind and wit are fueled by reading newspapers cover-to-cover and watching every news program he can.
• First Lady Laura Bush has designated Rock Island as one of 20 new "Preserve America" communities. The official designation was announced March 18 and was delivered last week by U.S. Representative Lane Evans (D-Rock Island) to Rock Island Mayor Mark Schweibert during a ceremony at city hall.

Christina Ricci and Charlize Theron in MonsterMONSTER

In all honesty, I was rather dreading Patty Jenkins' Monster, the much-lauded drama that has received nearly universal acclaim (and a Best Actress Golden Globe) for star Charlize Theron.

While reading the less-than-enthusiastic "pedestrian survey" of the recent Pigstock/Jaegermeister festival [see "They Did It Better in Clinton," River Cities' Reader Issue 449, October 29-November 4, 2003], I couldn't help but wonder if the writer knew what sort of event she was at, or if she'd ever been to a rock concert before.
Last Tuesday was a public-relations nightmare for Governor Rod Blagojevich, but he did manage to avert a complete PR meltdown with a last-minute deal. A few months after freezing wages of nonunion state workers and deducting 4 percent from their checks to pay for their pension contributions, a month after vetoing pay raises for legislators and judges, two weeks after he unilaterally slashed the operations budgets of two statewide constitutional officers, and the same day that Latino legislators slammed him for breaking his promise about not cutting funds for social programs, the Chicago Tribune reported that the governor had given pay raises to some of his employees.
This week's feature story on DavenportOne's New Ventures Initiative (NVI) presents some bold new ideas in business development. The concept of a full-service business-development center is progressive, dynamic, and full of promise .
I had another interesting experience thanks to Deb Buttleman-Malcolm, the energetic, creative journalism teacher at Davenport Central High School. Over the years, Deb has partnered with the Reader on behalf of her students in an effort to expose them to real-world journalism issues, perspectives, and practices.

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