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Posted December 11, 2013in Film Review

A sloppy con

“American Hustle” 3 stars Rated R 129 minutes Drama Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper If awards were handed out for the sloppiest movies, “American Hustle” would be a dead ringer for just such a booby prize. The damn thing is all over the place. It can’t decide if

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Posted December 11, 2013in Your Money

Paid for by taxpayers in… Des Moines

Amount: $1,190 To: ABC Pest Control For: Payment for services eliminating/preventing infestations of ants, spiders, roaches, silverfish, rats and mice.   Amount: $194,201.22 To: Ampco System Parking c/o ABM Parking Services (Ohio) For: Reimbursement payment for downtown parking fees for the month of October.   Amount: $15,268.97 To: ADPI EMS

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Posted December 11, 2013in Tech Talk

Beware the native ad infestation

Whenever a new website pops up and becomes super popular, eventually everyone asks the same question: How does this site make money? Usually sites first make it online with minor personal investments followed by private investors, but all investors want a return, and more likely than not that means advertisements.

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Posted December 11, 2013in On The Tube

Crime-fighting through song

Creator Steve Franks has made a success out of “Psych,” the comedy-drama about a private investigator who fakes psychic powers but now faces the challenge of freshening things up after seven seasons. Franks goes for broke with “Psych: The Musical,” a two-hour, over-the-top Broadway-style episode (Sunday, 8 p.m., USA). That’s

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Posted December 11, 2013in News of the Weird

Something in the Air Is the signature smell of Texas A and M University more “Italian lemon, bergamot and iced pineapple” (that open into “a body of vivid florals, raw nutmeg and cinnamon”) or more “bat feces” and “chilifest stink?” The two commentaries were contrasted in a November Wall Street

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Posted December 11, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood

Flowers for you

Holiday shopping requires a certain level of maturity that I just don’t possess. Let’s take Black Friday. I’ve tried it. My sister-in-law had everything all mapped out for us the year we headed out in the early morning to stand in line at the Target store at Merle Hay Mall.

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Posted December 11, 2013in Center Stage

Feminism meshed with sex jokes makes for best show of the season

Ever been to an Iowa Cubs game and seen, between innings, the kids and parents throwing themselves into “YMCA”? Whole families, doing the Village People? Ever thought about that — how the song is an anthem for gay hookups? The performance costumes, back in ’78, were stereotypes of men’s sexual

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Posted December 11, 2013in Book Review

‘The Princess Bride’ anniversary edition, great holiday gift

Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Shirley Shiffler Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 11/5/13 $25 450 pp. When I was in high school, my brother gave me a copy of “The Princess Bride.” One of my favorite gifts ever, I was enchanted. When the movie came out a few years later, I

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Posted December 11, 2013in Political Mercury

Mirror, mirror on Tyler Olson’s wall

Is Tyler Olson running a gubernatorial campaign or life-synching his way through a Hall and Oates song? “Leave me alone, I’m a family man…” (Of course, vote for me, before extending the politeness of privacy.) The leading edge of Olson’s image campaign is an unabashed self-fashioning as The Family Man.

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Posted December 11, 2013in Sound Notes

The Des Moines Choral Society is hosting its annual “Christmas With the Choral Society” on Saturday, Dec. 14 at St. Ambrose Cathedral downtown. For more information, or to purchase tickets (which range from $7 for students to $20 for preferred seating), head over to www.dmchoral.org. Jazz vocalist Max Wellman is

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