Posted October 24, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Suzanne Vega ‘Close Up, Volume 4: Songs of Family’ Amanuensis Productions Vega puts a bow on her “Close Up” series of albums with this fourth volume. Long known for her acoustic rock-ey folk, Vega has upped the ante here and taken 11 previously released tracks and stripped them to their
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Posted October 24, 2012in Book Review, Recent Posts
Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Cathryn Lang Atria Books 7/03/12 $26 451 pp A literary critic caught my interest with a claim that “Advent,” by James Treadwell, was the first of a trilogy to rival the magic of the “Harry Potter” series. Was the reviewer correct? I had
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Posted October 24, 2012in Belly Up To...
Get bruised shins, bloody knees and white knuckles at Lot 33 coffee bar and lounge — the newest member of the Ingersoll crawl. Trust me; it’s more fun than you think. The sound of bruised shins might make you cringe, but you’ll feel no pain after tossing back this Crown
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Posted October 24, 2012in On The Tube, Recent Posts
‘Happy Endings’ takes the sitcom to bizarre extremes I panned the pilot of “Happy Endings” last year, calling it “another would-be hip, fresh young sitcom about six friends dealing with relationships.” While I wasn’t looking, though, “Happy Endings” actually turned into the hip, fresh young sitcom it wanted to be.
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Posted October 24, 2012in Civic Skinny, Featured Story
The race between Congressional incumbents Leonard Boswell and Tom Latham must be close. Or, at least, the disbursing agents in Washington must think it’s close. Between Oct. 2 and Oct. 18, the national parties and political action committees poured more than $1.8 million into political advertising in the third district.
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Posted October 24, 2012in Film Review
Connection lost “Cloud Atlas” 2 stars Rated R 163 mins. Drama Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant “Cloud Atlas” wants to be more than it is. For a movie pitched as a Meta-Meta exploration linking all of humanity through the ancient past to the recent past to the
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Posted October 24, 2012in Art News
“Untitled (Structures),” Leslie Hewitt’s exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center (DMAC), had opening night visitors referring to Yazmina Reza’s play “Art.” In the latter, the lead character proudly reveals a large, expensive, completely white painting to his closest friend. Their relationship soon dissolves as differing opinions about what constitutes
Read More →Amount: $248 To: Lee’s Standard For: Purchase of 62 car washes at $4 each for the police department in the month of September. Amount: $1,198.81 To: Love’s Travel Shops and Country (Kansas City, Mo.) For: Purchase of diesel fuel for city vehicles (12 total transactions). Amount: $173.72 To:
Read More →The good Des Moines’ Australian Rules football team captured the USAFL Division 4 National Championship in Mason, Ohio, last week. The Roosters defeated the defending champs by a score of 42-28. Rooster Matt McDowall was named Best on Ground (MVP) of the Grand Final match, and the entire squad was
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Posted October 24, 2012in Joe's Neighborhood, Recent Posts
An alley can be a fiendish place. Tales from a host of ghoulish writers speak of dark deeds done in dark alleys. Perhaps the concern is that once you are in an alley, fleeing to the left or to the right is no longer an option. You’re penned in, and
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