When
Michael Burks was 12, he wrote a letter to his idol B.B. King,
"telling him that, hopefully, one day I could meet him and show him
I could play like him," he said in a recent interview.
That wish actually came true when Michael was 39. In 1996, King celebrated his 71st birthday at a show in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Michael played alongside the blues icon. "All my life I'd been loving this man, admiring this man!" he said. It was a defining moment, and just the start of well-deserved recognition for Michael's lifelong immersion in the blues.
With the world gone crazy in the Middle East, what better to wash it all down than Devo? Next week Gerald Casale of Devo slides on the Roy Orbison shades and turban of his alter ego, Jihad Jerry, for a nutty, beat-crazy romp in Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers' Mine Is Not a Holy War on Cordless Records. Casale's wit shines in this first solo venture, as his war is a "war on stupidity" with a never-ending list of first-class offenders. Flanked by vocalists Geri Lynn and Alex Brown, and guests appearances from Devo bandmates Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and Robert Casale, project drummer Josh Freese sums it up as the "best Devo record that never was." A real hip-shaker and house-rocker, I'm ready to sign up for active duty in "Army Girls Gone Wild," the Talking-Heads-meets-Heaven-17 funk of "What's in a Name?," and the frantic fury of "I've Been Refused."
Nearly
1,500 volunteers cleaned area streams, creeks, drainage ways, rivers,
and illegal-dump sites on Saturday, August 19, and removed more than
150,000 pounds of garbage, tires, and other illegally dumped items.
Xstream Cleanup, which took
place from 8:30 a.m. until noon, targeted 31 sites in both Scott and
Rock Island counties. Volunteers removed an estimated 5,200 tires,
2,200 bags of trash, 58 pieces of furniture, 36 appliances, 25
bicycles, and 22 pallets from area waterways. In addition, site
coordinators reported finding bags of clothing, a wine rack, shopping
carts, automotive parts, hair and beauty supplies, toilets, various
electronics, boat carpet, blankets, barge cable, safety cones,
recliners, and wire. At one site near Milan, volunteers found nearly
everything one would need to build and furnish a home including
carpet, appliances, furniture, wood, metal, drywall, siding, and
shingles. Volunteers donated more than 4,500 hours of work during the
cleanup. Organizers estimate that nearly $100,000 in staff time,
equipment, collection, and disposal costs were avoided with the help
of volunteers and in-kind donations for the event. Cleanups took
place in Bettendorf, Davenport, and LeClaire, Iowa; and East Moline,
Milan, Moline, Rock Island, and Taylor Ridge, Illinois. For more
information and to view photos from Xstream Cleanup, visit
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When
the Davenport Museum of Art brought in Lauren Greenfield's Girl
Culture exhibit in 2003, it
was the institution's boldest exhibit to-date. A venue not known
for being confrontational showcased Greenfield's high-gloss
photographs with their blunt, distressing messages about the status
of girls and women in the world.
To
be blunt about it, there's no way people in the Quad Cities have
any reason to know of the Los Angeles-based rock band Also,
performing Sunday at the Redstone Room in downtown Davenport.
