Posted December 04, 2013in Belly Up To...
Confession: The south side has been deliberately neglected by this column, because a reporter has to have her hideouts. Just over the Southwest Ninth Street viaduct is a business stretch that fits no pigeon hole offering thrift stores, restaurants, groceries and gas. And a different bar beckons conveniently from nearly
Read More →The real Bonnie and Clyde were grotesque killers with no redeeming qualities. But the new TV movie “Bonnie and Clyde” (Sunday and Monday, 8 p.m., A&E, Lifetime and History) swathes them in glamour. As played by Emile Hirsch and Holliday Grainger, they’re Depression-era hotties who look fabulous while robbing banks
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Posted December 04, 2013in Film Review
“Inside Llewyn Davis” 5 stars Rated R 105 minutes Drama Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman The Coen brothers are master curators of culture. You can see it as far back as their debut film, “Blood Simple,” a gritty neo-noir that exulted in the genre’s tightly knit excesses of
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Posted December 04, 2013in Political Mercury
A 51-year-old retired Texas energy company CEO, who recently returned to his native Iowa to launch a bid for the U.S. Senate, says Hawkeye State voters will overlook the carpetbagger tag if he can make the case as a candidate with job-creating bona fides. “I think what people care about
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Posted December 04, 2013in Civic Skinny
Were matters so out of hand in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Cedar Rapids three years ago that one lawyer there feared for her safety, feared that she might be shot by another lawyer there? And was her boss scared, too? When then-U.S. Attorney Stephanie Rose — now federal district
Read More →Todd Partridge has something to sell you. It’s more than just merch or an album (King of the Tramps actually has two: “Good People” and last year’s “Wicked Mountain”); it’s an ethos. From the band name, to its lyrics, to the between-song banter, Partridge and his mates want to sell
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Posted December 04, 2013in Cover Story
Gargle and spit. That’s what you do with fluoride. You scrub your teeth with it, your tongue and your gums, then, you rinse and spit. “Do not ingest,” it says on the label. And Mom said so, too. But what about a little? Just 0.7 parts per million of fluoride
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Posted December 04, 2013in Locker Room
As folks embark on the last month of 2013, it’s finally appropriate to put out Christmas decorations, shovel food into their mouths and spike family punchbowls. But for those already thinking about their New Year’s resolution, getting active in December may be a better choice. While the gym provides everything
Read More →Boston “Life, Love and Hope” Frontiers Let’s all just take a moment and appreciate the fact that there’s a new Boston album. It’s an actual, genuine thing that you can touch and listen to and everything. Let’s take another second to revel in the fact that the cover art looks…
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Forget John 3:16; It’s all about Bob 7:14!
Say your prayers! According to a Des Moines Register news report, Robert Vander Plaats is soon into another resurrection as a religious right candidate for public office, rallying his troops around scripture, Chapter 7, Verse 14. The Register didn’t say which 7:14 — so it might have been the Book
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