Malisa Mac Nab opened a children’s boutique called Minijoops at 424 E. Locust St. in the East Village on Aug. 1. The clothing store sells international brands for sizes 0 to 8, and the inventory includes tutus, T-shirts, swimwear and trendy play clothes, among other items. Mac Nab is a
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Posted August 12, 2015in Food Dude
Chef George Formaro recently discovered a 1922 menu from a Fort Des Moines Hotel restaurant. The fare offered was far more classically French than anything I remember here growing up in the 1950s and ’60s. Appetizer menus in my youth consisted of maybe four things. The Fort Des Moines’ menu
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Posted August 12, 2015in Center Stage
The goodwill in the room practically spills out the windows. Upstairs in West Des Moines Public Library, laughter punctuates the run-through of “Masha,” the latest project for the Tallgrass Iowa Playwrights Workshop, one of two new local programs for developing fresh talent. At this rehearsal, the script has reached “version
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Posted August 12, 2015in Belly Up To...
Dinner and a show has been a classic date form since cowboys took their ladies to see the showgirls perform at saloons, and probably before that. Dinner, drinks and entertainment at the same place — what’s not to love? The Last Laugh Comedy Theater offers just that — but with a
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Posted August 12, 2015in Once Upon A Time
100 years ago (August 1915): Ordinance No. 2396 passed “prohibiting circuses, menageries, caravans, shows or any other exhibition or performance of any kind whatsoever between the 25th day of August and the 3rd day of September…” subject to fine not less than $10 nor more than $100. ($10 then is
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Posted August 12, 2015in Film Review
In a summer that has been surprisingly bereft of any kind of obvious blockbuster outside of “Jurassic World” — which was nowhere near as good as its box office take would have you believe — the past few weeks have still managed to stand out as particularly bad. First, there
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Posted August 12, 2015in Joe's Neighborhood
The trainer sits large at his desk. Clothing loosely draped. Arms and legs wide and open. Hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. He seems too meaty to be your typical trainer. Too much bulk. Picturing him doing a downward dog seems like a stretch. It’s much easier imagining him
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Posted August 05, 2015in Cover Story
Everybody knows that the Iowa State Fair is the place to go for all kinds of strange and wonderful foods on a stick — or deep-fried and then put on sticks. But the one thing that always changes at the Fair is the entertainment. Sure, there are some things that
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Posted August 05, 2015in Film Review
“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” is the fifth installment of the “Mission Impossible” franchise. It sees agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) back in action, joined in the field by Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames). The film picks up where the fourth installment left off: with Hunt on
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An important addition to the library of Iowa history
While Congress and several state legislatures, including Iowa’s, were reinforcing the barriers to gay marriage, a determined handful of Iowa gay-rights advocates were preparing to go to court. A new book, “Equal Before the Law,” which came off the presses this summer, offers a highly readable, thoroughly researched and sometimes
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