John Deere Classic

TPC at Deere Run

Monday, July 7, through Sunday, July 13

 

Jonathan ByrdTake out your plaid pants, put on your polo, and get ready to hit a hole-in-one, because the John Deere Classic is coming to the TPC Deere Run. Okay, so you might not be hitting a hole-in-one in this tournament, but from July 7 through 13, 156 golfers from the PGA Tour will give it their best shot. Defending champ Jonathan Byrd (pictured), J.B. Holmes, Ryuji Imada, Sean O'Hair, Kenny Perry, Jeff Quinney, and Boo Weekley are some of the players who will be competing for the $4.2-million purse and the classic deer-shaped trophy.

The John Deere Classic, which originated in 1971, raised over $4.6 million for charity last year, and it's the number-one tournament in per-capita charity donations. One of the major contributors to the tournament's financial success is its Birdies for Charity program, which allows you to make either a flat donation or a pledge for every birdie made in the tournament; last year, golfers chipped in more than 1,800 birdies to raise $3.8 million. You're also invited to guess the number of birdies that will be made at this year's tournament, and whoever makes the most accurate prediction wins a new Buick Enclave.

Tickets to the John Deere Classic in Silvis are $24 in advance or $28 at the gate. To purchase tickets or find out more information on the tournament, go to the event's Web site at (http://www.johndeereclassic.com), or call the JDC office at (309) 762-4653. - Marguerite Day

 

 

 

Iowa City Jazz Festival

Downtown Iowa City

Friday, July 4, through Sunday, July 6

 

BoneramaJazz will take over downtown Iowa City's pedestrian mall this Fourth of July weekend with the Iowa City Jazz Festival, a three-day event that strives to bring some of the genre's biggest names to town. You and 25,000 of your closest friends can hear the United Jazz Ensemble, the Joshua Redman Trio, Medeski, Martin, & Wood, and the John Scofield Trio & the ScoHorns, among other bands, as well as a group called Bonerama (pictured), who I presume won't be playing instruments with their hands.

Moving on. There's also a stage for collegiate jazz enthusiasts, with such groups as Fresh Heir and the mysterious Group X, and youth musicians performing on July 5 and 6. Students are also invited to attend workshops taught by several of the event's musicians, and on the festival's final day, local jazz artists such as Kate Roche and the Dioramas will take the stage.

Iowa City's jazz festival kicks off at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and 1:30 p.m. the following two days, and admission is free for all - which is surely one of the best bargains you'll find all summer. For more information on this musical celebration, check out (http://www.summerofthearts.com/jazzfest). - Ben Clague

 

 

Red, White, & Boom!

Downtown Davenport and Downtown Rock Island

Thursday, July 3.

 

Red, White, and BoomThere's nothing like an awesome fireworks display to turn even cynical, jaded adults into wide-eyed, innocent kids. (At least, that's what I've been telling myself ever since I watched the climactic fireworks presentation at Disneyland when I was 21 and cried.)

So no matter which side of the river you reside on, consider treating your children and your inner children to the festivities at the Fourth of July celebration Red, White, & Boom! Taking place on July 3 in Davenport's Centennial Park and the District of Rock Island (in the parking area behind Quad City Arts), this annual bi-state event will feature youth activities, food vendors, patriotic music - courtesy of Star 93.5 in Illinois, and Ellis Kell & the New Horizons Band in Iowa - and, when dusk turns to dark, a spectacular fireworks display above the Mississippi.

Yet just how familiar are you with these aerial wonders that make people "oooh" and "aaah"? Try matching the name of the individual firework with its description:

 

 

 

 

1) Chrysanthemum

2) Crosette

3) Kamuro

4) Lampere

5) Peony

6) Salute

7) Spider

8) Willow

 

A) A spherical break of colored stars.

B) A spherical break of colored stars that leaves a visible trail of sparks.

C) A spherical break of gold or silver stars that trail off into a soft dome shape.

D) A burst of silver or gold stars that leave a heavy trail of glitter.

E) A shell of large stars that break into smaller stars, accompanied by loud crackling.

F) A shell of flash powder that produces a quick flash and a loud boom.

G) A shell of flash powder that produces a fireball.

H) A shell that, when burst, causes the stars to travel in a straight, flat trajectory

 

 

For more information on the states' respective Red, White, & Boom! events, visit (http://www.downtowndavenport.com) and/or (http://www.ridistrict.com).

- Mike Schulz

 

 

Answers: 1 - B, 2 - E, 3 - D, 4 - G, 5 - A, 6 - F, 7 - H, 8 - C. But please don't be that irritating person who shares this knowledge after each new firework explodes.

 

 

 

This Must Be the Band

Bent River Brewing Company
Saturday, July 5

 

This Must Be the Band "Tell me about your dream, Mike."

"It was so strange, doctor. I dreamt that Mommy, Daddy, you, and I were on this road to nowhere, both seen and unseen. And she was burning down the house, entire cities even, with a psycho killer, and there was puzzling evidence - like a warning sign - that I was blind on drugs: I saw moon rocks, and houses in motion, and a paper Popsicle with a radio head ... ."

"Mmm-hmm ... ."

"But then I found a job as a television man, and this gangster of love with no compassion - Mr. Jones was his name - said I should stay up late so he could take me to the river, but it was just a swamp ... ."

"I see ... ."

"And in my mind, I made tentative decisions about how, once in a lifetime, a happy day with a girlfriend is better than heaven, and how memories can't wait even for cross-eyed and painless slippery people, at least based on the book I read ... ."

"Mike, can I ask what you were doing right before you fell asleep?"

"Writing my What's Happenin' piece on the Talking Heads tribute act This Must Be the Band. Why?"

"I think you're working too hard."

"Hey, now. I wish you wouldn't say that."

 

The Chicago-based This Must Be the Band will likely play several of the 37 aforementioned Talking Heads songs at the Bent River Brewing Company on July 5, and more on the group is available at (http://www.myspace.com/thismustbetheband). - Mike Schulz

 

 

Electra

Lincoln Park

Saturday, July 5, through Sunday, July 13

 

Sophocles The latest Genesius Guild presentation is a staging of Sophocles' Electra, which plays on Saturdays and Sundays from July 5 through 13. And if you happen to be strolling through Rock Island's Lincoln Park on one of those nights, find yourself tempted to watch the play, but are worried that you might be hopelessly confused, don't be - there are really only two things you need to know for full enjoyment of this classic tragedy:

 

1) Electra's backstory. Agamemnon had a wife named Clytemnestra, who had a lover named Aegisthus, who was Agamemnon's cousin. But Agamemnon, who had a lover named Cassandra, sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, at the behest of the goddess Artemis. In retaliation for the killing, Clytemnestra and Aesisthus killed Agamemnon and Cassandra, and planned to kill Clytemnestra's son, Orestes, who was instead saved by his sister, Electra, who sent him to Strophius of Phocis.

2) Electra's story. Orestes and Electra are out for revenge.

 

See? Not confusing in the least.

Electra performances begin at 8 p.m., and more information is available by visiting (http://www.genesius.org). - Mike Schulz

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