Cityview | Central Iowa's Independent Weekly

12-21-12
The end is near

Experts say only 1,148 days until the beginning of our demise

Throughout time people have predicted the future and the impending doom of the world. And, every few years, a certain date or time period is overly examined and presented as the end of days.

The Internet didn’t shut down during the Y2K fiasco, and the world wasn’t sent back to the Stone Age without utilities and computers, as predicted by critics, thinkers and software geeks. On June 6, 2006 (6-6-06), some were afraid that the date symbolized the end as the Antichrist would rise and destroy us all. But, once again, nothing happened. In the classic 1991 film, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” the so-called “judgment day” when the robots took over the world, destroying humans and life as we know it takes place on Aug. 29, 1997. In 2003’s, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” the date is listed as July 24, 2004. We have survived both of those dates, with a robot take-over not looking credible in the foreseeable future.

Can Roxanne Conlin raise $10 million without PACs?

Roxanne Conlin told Skinny the other evening that she’ll need to raise $10 million to $12 million to take on Republican Sen. Charles Grassley next year. Then she said she won’t take any money from lobbyists or political action committees (PACs). Conlin doesn’t smoke anything or drink anything these days — but she must have been under some mind-addling influence to make that statement. Maybe that nicotine gum and those nicotine patches affect political judgment. Or maybe there was something in the hors d’oeuvres.

(Social note: This is the first time “hors d’oeuvres” has appeared in a column by the upwardly mobile Skinny.)

“Realism seems absent here,” a Conlin friend, fellow Democrat, long-time pol and strategist for several winning campaigns told Skinny. Another pol notes that Conlin will be competing in fund-raising with Chet Culver, who needs $10 million or so to run for re-election as governor — and who is nothing if not a tireless and prodigious fund-raiser. Read More>>

Matisyahu finds fans and fame through Twitter and Posse

Matisyahu prides himself on his close relationships with his fans. That much I learned about the Hasidic Jewish musician from New York City when I interviewed him a few days before his July 3 performance at the 80/35 music festival in downtown Des Moines.

Four months ago, he spoke to me about the importance of using Twitter to keep fans informed of his whereabouts while on tour, as he frequently holds casual listening parties in his RV. Twitter, he said, has become a powerful tool in helping him to promote his new album for Epic Records, “Light,” a blend of familiar reggae-soul styling with dancehall, ska-like New Wave, pop-rock and acoustic folk. Read More>>

35th Street Café

The re-opening of 35th Street Café this month signaled the final stage of a long, controversial makeover of the Ingersoll Avenue Dahl’s, a neighborhood anchor since the Truman Administration.

The original store opened in 1952 with a band, an elephant and a donkey, plus building-sized photos of presidential candidates. It introduced brave new concepts to Des Moines including an underground train that transported groceries to a Dahl House pickup station, a Kiddie Koral, rotisserie chickens and an in-store café. The restaurant kept loyal customers until it closed in the first phase of the makeover. Scores of regulars were then displaced after decades of sitting around three oval counters that facilitated conversation and camaraderie but not table turning and profits. The café stayed packed for most of 55 years, with people waiting for a seat to open at rush hours and retirees chatting over coffee during off hours. Because the store’s customer base is heavy on nostalgic senior citizens, expectations for the reopening were high. Too high. Read More>>”

Vikings 33-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens

As much as Game Day dislikes like the Minnesota Vikings, it’s hard not to pay respect to a team that is currently undefeated behind the ageless Brett Favre. The Vikings (6-0) pulled out a 33-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. The win proved the Vikings are on a mission this year, but the road won’t be easy as this week they head to Heinz Field to take on the Super Bowl defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers.