Held in conjunction with the venue's current exhibition Anne Lindberg: think like the river with poet Ginny Threefoot, Davenport's Figge Art Museum with host a special Scholar Talk on August 25 with Dr. David Cunning – professor and chair of the philosophy department at the University of Iowa – as he explores themes from the exhibit in relation to the work of 17th-century notable Margaret Cavendish.

The literary gifts of more than a dozen area teens will be both celebrated and showcased in a special outdoor event on August 18, with the Rock Island venue Rozz-Tox hosting a release party for the Midwest Writing Center's 17th edition of literary journal THE ATLAS, an evening boasting performances of original work by 14 gifted and burgeoning talents.

A Baltimore-based talent renowned for her large-scale portraits of Black women will be the showcased guest in an August 18 Artist Talk at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, with LaToya Hobbs discussing her works including The Everyday, a portrait acquired for the venue's permanent collection earlier this year.

In celebration of the popular summertime event's 40th anniversary, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Quad City Bank & Trust treat audiences to a rockin' party on the Mississippi with the Riverfront Pops' choir-enhanced symphonic event The Music of Elton John, a salute to the Oscar-, Tony-, and Grammy-winning legend featuring such iconic hits as “Rocket Man,” “Madman Across the Water,” “Tiny Dancer,” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me."

A world premiere by a local stage talent, the heartwarming dramatic comedy The Christmas Letter Writing Club makes its debut at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre August 19 through 28, this holiday-themed tale of friendship written by Tom Akers – a familiar actor from Playcrafters' The Odd Couple and the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's Drinking Habits and A Doublewide, Texas Christmas.

An eagerly awaited day of outdoor fun culminating in an attempt to break a pair of Guinness World Records is set for August 20, when River Action hosts the 13th-annual celebration of paddle sports Floatzilla, with participants and spectators gathering at Rock Island's Sunset Park to see if the Quad Cities can boast the world's “Largest Raft of Canoes and Kayaks” and “Largest Simultaneous Kayak Launch.”

With its quartet of gifted tribute artists composed of Rich Kosak, Quinton Kufahl, Mark Hermansen, and Mike Collins, the rockers of Mr. Speed: The World's Best KISS Tribute perform a lakeside concert at Bally's Quad Cities on August 20, the group's musicians boasting, as heralded on their MrSpeedOnline.com site, "over 26 years of experience under their spandex."

With Laz Luhrmann's movie smash still in theaters, unforgettable hits such as “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “All Shook Up,” and other classics will have Coralville Center for the Performing Arts audiences dancing in the aisles during the August 20 stage celebration Joseph Hall: Rock N Roll Remember, a salute to the King of Rock 'n' Roll led by the lauded tribute artist and a former competitor on America's Got Talent.

As a movie lover/reviewer who's been at this a lo-o-ong time, it should go without saying that I almost never see a film anymore that I'd consider calling my new all-time favorite. But every now and then, I do see films that I'm pretty certain will be somebody's new all-time favorite, and director David Leitch's comedy thriller Bullet Train absolutely feels like one of those titles.