Stu Pollard will be an exception at next week's MidCoast Film & Arts Festival. While most films at the event are still negotiating the winding road of distribution - trying to be seen by people who don't get to film festivals - Pollard's Nice Guys Sleep Alone has achieved success.
Erik Moe is obsessed with high-school hockey. He lives in the Los Angeles area, the creative director for an advertising company, but he's brought his Wisconsin-bred insanity with him; his agency even has a Wisconsin-high-school-hockey office pool.
In the coverage that follows you will find as close to comprehensive coverage of the four-day MidCoast Film & Arts Festival as possible. As one of the event founders and co-chairs, it has been my job to assist with publicity, programming, and logistics.
Master of the Game is great high-concept cinema. During World War II, four German soldiers and four Jewish prisoners are stranded in a farmhouse. The Nazis begin executing the prisoners, but one proposes a game: The soldiers can keep their weapons, but they must answer all his questions.

Feeling Blue

Kalen Allmandinger says that his mother can always identify him at the start of a show. He's in profile, and "she can always tell by my skinny neck," Allmandinger said. Of course, most mothers can readily identify their kids, but the task is a little more daunting if yours is one of three mute guys on stage with a bald pate, covered in blue grease paint.
The reminder that the media often reports the "news" as fed to it by those in power and ignores the relevant news - such as the reasons for the behaviors and policies - is validation of the continued existence of Project Censored, a program in its 27th year that collects under-reported stories from around the country and compiles a list of the top 10 "censored stories" as well as 15 runners-up.
Editor's note: This is the fourth and last story in a series of articles being filed from Iraq by River Cities' Reader political columnist and Chicago-based journalist Rich Miller. The previous three stories can be found
Last week in Rock Island, a crowd gathered for the announcement of a new housing development: Highland Place. It's a small project, but it's drawing a lot of attention as what is hoped to be the first of many new housing developments in Moline and Rock Island.
Editor's note: This is the third in a series of articles being filed from Iraq by River Cities' Reader political columnist and Chicago-based journalist Rich Miller. The previous two stories can be found
The Riverssance Festival of Fine Art will have quite a few changes in its first year being run by MidCoast Fine Arts. The festival, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Village of East Davenport's Lindsay Park, will feature stilt-walking harlequins (called "Harleys"), a wine garden, and new gates and way-finding signs, while still featuring more than 100 of the area's top regional artists and a children's art tent.

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