Posted June 18, 2014in Film Review
“22 Jump Street” 2 stars Rated R 112 minutes Comedy Starring: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ice Cube Everything about the concept of a “Jump Street” franchise reeks of Hollywood’s perpetual drive to repackage a formula and call it a movie. This year has been an abysmal year for Hollywood movies
Read More →Lana Del Rey “Ultraviolence” Polydor There’s a school of thought that says “Ultraviolence” is an unnecessary album. Del Rey herself seemed on the fence about making any more music after 2012’s “Born to Die,” and, indeed, many people found that album to be nothing more than a one-trick pony, albeit
Read More →“I need a woman” and “Modern day David?” (Your View, June 4) are two reasons why more people need to know there is a third choice for governor in 2014: Lee Hieb. Dr. Hieb was selected to be the candidate of the Libertarian Party because of her experience and ideas
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Posted June 18, 2014in Political Mercury
Tears rolled for many reasons as the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved a gambling license for Greene County in a suspense-filled session at the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington. It brought culmination to more than a year of advocacy for what regional economic-development leaders believe will be a game-changer
Read More →State government prepared for the students’ arrival by buying armor-plated tanks and machine guns. White supremacists stocked up on nooses. Mainstream Mississippi politicians thundered about “crushing the enemy,” meaning outsiders who dared to question racist practices. And they meant “crushing” quite literally, evident in the murder of three activists at
Read More →With more platforms than ever before, entertainment dollars are stretched thin these days. Everything from live entertainment and cable television to smartphones and physical media such as DVDs are fighting for a piece of your expendable income. In this entertainment tug of war, few industries are struggling to hold their
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Posted June 18, 2014in Food Dude
As surely as the first strawberries follow asparagus and morels, every spring the food media declares the latest trends. If several such recent stories are correct, then kale and bacon are still somehow rising in popularity. I’d rather note less obvious trends. This week’s column continues three happy themes we
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Posted June 18, 2014in Duffy
Posted June 18, 2014in Civic Skinny
The circulation of The Des Moines Register is continuing its free-fall. Combined print and digital circulation of the Monday-Friday newspaper in the six months ended March 31 totaled 86,982, down 6.7 percent from the 93,304 of a year earlier. Two years ago, the figure was 101,915. Five years ago it
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Posted June 18, 2014in The Sound
Listening to The Goddamn Gallows is not a passive experience. You don’t sit quietly in your seat and watch the band play. You do not attend a Goddamn Gallows show like an evening at the cinema. The band is too loud, too raucous, too fun for such disengaged interaction. They
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