Pieta BrownThe title of Pieta Brown's new record, Remember the Sun, evokes a seemingly endless darkness without sounding hopeless, and the opening track, "Innocent Blue," does, too. On a bed of warm keyboards, she sings: "Iron bars with no irony / One is bound so none get free / In the innocent blue ... the innocent blue."

The Artists Advisory Council, a volunteer organization within the Figge Art Museum, will host an exhibition at The Arts Café at the Figge, a new gallery opening in the dining area of the museum. The exhibition Mississippi Flyway will complement the Audubon show coming to the Figge in February. Artists who live within 150 miles of the Quad Cities are invited to submit up to five works for consideration. Artwork will be selected by judges representing MidCoast Fine Arts, Quad City Arts, and the Figge Art Museum. The submission deadline is January 9. For details about submission formats and the exhibition, contact Arts Café Chair Heidi M. Sallows at at (309) 781-2891 or (hmms33@yahoo.com).

 

My 2007 Album

Reader issue #664

This isn't a list of the "best" songs of 2007, or even my favorites. It's a personal 2007 compilation that tries to capture my experience with music over the past 12 months. The songs are meant to play off each other - sometimes in obvious ways, often not - and there's a purpose to the sequencing.

 

 

best stamp 270.jpg Click here to vote. The deadline is January 25, and we'll be conducting weekly drawings from valid ballots for great prizes. Remember: You must provide valid answers for at least 40 categories for your ballot to be counted.

The words "thoughtful" and "newspaper columnist" don't normally go together. Columnists can be many things - angry, or incisive, or crabby, or nostalgic, or funny, or cloying - but rarely do you find one who seems genuinely curious about the world around him, and who has many experiences through which to view it.

Kim Wiseman & Mark A. JohnsonKim Wiseman & Mark A. Johnson, Visiting Old Friends at Christmas

 

This holiday album announces itself with three trumpet blares, and by the time you've checked the case to make sure you haven't made some mistake - Is this mariachi? - the familiar lyrics of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" have clarified what's going on: The CD from Quad Cities vocalist Kim Wiseman and producer/arranger/musician Mark A. Johnson is a modern take on Christmas classics and a few more contemporary songs.

Ron Paul Ron Paul, the 10-term Republican congressman from Texas, is running for president, and his candidacy warrants much more exposure than the mainstream media has afforded the voting public. Dr. Paul, an OB/GYN and former Air Force flight surgeon, has a sterling conservative, limited-government voting record over 20 years. The Wall Street Journal wrote last week, "As the GOP front-runners address crowds of dispirited primary voters, Mr. Paul has been tearing across the country, leaving a trail of passionate devotees in his wake."

Yesterday With so many recent pop albums offering up only one or two decent, memorable songs and top-selling artists taking years upon years between mediocre releases, it's no surprise that music continues to slide into nothing more than computer files shared between MP3 players, personal computers, and 10-cent blank CDs. Not to sound like a crusty ol' curmudgeon, but sheeeee-it, I can feel my cerebellum shake when I think that over the course of 28 months, from August of 1965 to November of 1967, the Beatles released Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Magical Mystery Tour. Imagine my joy, when my teenage son's pals' Christmas wish lists are yearning for "real" copies of The White Album or gift certificates to buy "classic" used vinyl LPs at the ever-dwindling local record store. Wanna save American youth? Pick up any working turntables you might come across at yard sales, and place them at the feet of the next generation.

In an effort to create a regional approach to talent attraction and retention, the Young Professionals Network of the Quad Cities (YPN), an initiative of the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce, and DavenportOne's neXt Professionals will be merging into one organization. All area young professionals are invited to join in the first combined YPN/neXt event Thursday, January 17, at Centre Station in downtown Moline at 5:30 p.m. A celebratory event for the unveiling of the new young professionals organization is tentatively scheduled for April 3.

 

Thank You!

Thank you for participating in the Best of the Quad Cities survey! We appreciate your taking the time to complete our survey, and we hope you had fun with it.

The results will be published in print on March 31, and online earlier in the month.

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