Cityview | Central Iowa's Independent Weekly

Rosewood Thieves steal time to tour between recordings

Erick Jordan, the 23-year-old singer-guitarist for one of New York City’s hottest DIY rock bands, The Rosewood Thieves, vowed that if he ever formed a band he wouldn’t wait every few years to release a new album. Growing up in “the woods of Pennsylvania,” he hated having to wait for the next record by his favorite bands. Read More>>

On the town

Cityview brings you updated nightlife images, trivia and bar specials from the metro area's hottest spots. See More>>

Iowa (3-0) vs. Penn State (3-0)

Lightning, they say, never strikes twice in the same place. Or is it that it doesn’t strike twice? Or can it strike twice in the same place but rarely does? Whatever. Put it this way, it’s tough for something really cool to happen once. But to turn around and happen again and be even cooler than it was the first time? No sir. Not going to happen. And that’s bad news if you’re the Iowa Hawkeyes, who used their five-year allotment (one) of lightning strikes last season with a 24-23 upset of then No. 3 Penn State, which flushed the Nittany Lions’ national title hopes down the crapper. But as Lou Gramm says: “That was yesterday.”

Dish freshens up

When Trostel’s Dish opened in the fall of 2005, it delivered some rather daring new concepts to greater Des Moines: a transcontinental, all tapas menu; a completely non-smoking bar; and a transparent, Post Modern interior design. All of their concepts created unique niches to help lure diners away from franchise chain restaurants that were metastasizing in the western suburbs. As things played out, Dish was merely ahead of an industry curve on the international tapas trend, and state legislation took away their non-smoking niche. Then inflated food costs and a stock market crash decimated the restaurant business. I visited Dish to see what has changed and what’s remained the same four wild years later. Read More>>”

When the pedal hit the metal

Two 9-year-old boys line their tread-worn tires up head to head at the intersection of Aurora Avenue and 128th Street at the Day’s Run housing development in Urbandale. Minivans and SUVs creep by as the boys pick up speed until their bikes surge across the finish line. Little do they know how reminiscent this scene is of a time when the same location served as one of the city’s most popular attractions of the ’50s and ’60s — the Des Moines Dragway.
“I always remember hearing about it as a kid and thought it would always be open,” said Larry Latham, Des Moines Dragway historian and creator of the Web site, www.desmoinesdragway.com. “I started racing in 1968 and really regret not going there before it closed.” Read More>>

Tramontina’s luck runs out; Guess who didn’t vote

Just for the hell of it, Skinny made a list of public officials and one or two others and asked Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald if they voted in the school-board election the other day. Here’s the list: Polk County legislators Janet Petersen, Matt McCoy, Jo Oldson, Jack Hatch, Wayne Ford, Ako Abdul-Samad, Bruce Hunter, Dick Dearden and Rick Olson. Des Moines City Council members Chris Coleman, Bob Mahaffey, Michael Kiernan, Tom Vlassis, Christine Hensley, and Brian Meyer. Mayor Frank Cownie. Council candidates Cyndi Chen, Skip Moore, David Adelman and Leisha Barcus. Partnership boss Martha Willets and Register political editor Carol Hunter. Gov. Chet Culver and First Lady Mari Culver. School board winners Margaret Buckton, Patty Link, Teree Caldwell-Johnson and Connie Boesen. Holdover school-board members Jeannette Woods, Virginia Strong and Dick Murphy, and departing member Jon Narcisse. Read More>>