• A new DVD released last week raises the bar in honoring Galaxie 500, one of the most beloved and influential bands of the late 1980s. With videos, live footage, and two "bootlegged" concerts from 1990, the two-DVD set from Plexifilm is pure slow-motion, dreamy, jangle-pop joy.

In its effort to capitalize on available state money, the City of Davenport is working quickly to finalize its first phase of the joint Rock Island/Davenport River Vision implementation. But chasing that money - the city plans to ask for $15 million from Iowa's Vision Iowa and Community Attractions & Tourism (CAT) programs - means the city council probably won't be giving itself or the public much time to study the plan's details, including its financing or a riverfront casino hotel that became part of the discussion only at the tail end of the process.

It used to be that theologians would waste their time arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Now it appears the discussion has swung to what political party Jesus would belong to. (How would Jesus vote?) I have been following with minimal interest the ongoing discourse in theolitics.

While I typically look forward to the Reader, last week's "Champagne Appetite with a Beer Purse" was a mean cut at an easy toss that missed by a mile. John O' Donnell's re-opening is a home run for Davenport.