Madonna “Rebel Heart” Boy Toy “You’re gonna love this,” Madonna claims in the first line of the song, “Bitch I’m Madonna.” But despite her seemingly confident proclamation, love never really blooms. The Diplo-produced track is almost completely uninspired and quickly devolves into a mish-mash of EDM ear-barf. The rest
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March 11, 2015 by justin
in Sound Check
March 11, 2015 by justin
in Sound Circuit
Getting strong now
Strong Like Bear is an alt/jam/prog/rock four-piece out of Ames. For those familiar with the band, its willingness to experiment and get a little weird with its sound is the act’s biggest hallmark. Frequently seen messing around with surrealist blues outfit Electric Jury, the two bands have joined forces for
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March 11, 2015 by justin
in Book Review
‘The Innovators’
This is an account of the history of the digital age, from Ada Lovelace’s mathematical writings in the 19th century to the emergence of the Internet that we have today. In between, there are many fascinating stories of the people who worked together to make it happen. Isaacson’s theme of
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March 11, 2015 by justin
in Film Review
Almost human
Remember last week’s discussion about the difference between entertaining movies and good movies? Neill Blomkamp has given us another example to work with in “Chappie.” On a purely emotional, gut level, “Chappie” does everything it sets out to. It is moving, funny, exciting and gut-wrenching. Taken purely from that point
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March 11, 2015 by justin
in The Sound
Preach on
Reverend Horton Heat has spent the past 25 years melting the faces of anyone who strays too close. The act, consisting of Jim “Reverend Horton” Heath, upright bassist Jimbo Wallace and drummer Scott Churilla, serves as the gold standard for modern rockabilly, and the trio is lauded by fans for
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March 11, 2015 by justin
in Civic Skinny
Judge list is cut to 11; Eric Branstad buys a house.
Eleven people apparently have made the cut for second interviews with the Grassley pals who are screening applicants to advise him on whom to back for two open federal judgeships in Iowa. Yes, Chuck Grassley is a Republican and Barack Obama is a Democrat, but Grassley isn’t just any Republican;
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March 11, 2015 by justin
in Tech Talk
FCC to the Net Neutrality rescue
In case you haven’t heard, the last couple of weeks have been pretty big concerning the future of the Internet. Net Neutrality, a term that means everything and nothing, depending on your web literacy, was for all intents and purposes cemented in the Federal Communications Commission’s book of regulations. The
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March 04, 2015 by justin
in Once Upon A Time
From the Des Moines City Council minutes
100 years ago (February 1915) : Permission granted to J.C. Watson to “shoot two pounds of dynamite for breaking frozen ground” on the premises of C. Staves, 1730 York St., under the provision of the Dept of Public Safety. (Today the city does not have such a department.) Discussion: Should
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March 04, 2015 by justin
in Political Mercury
Senator Ernst: Don’t deport the kids
Newly installed U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, a Red Oak Republican, breaks with many conservatives in agreeing with President Barack Obama on a highly controversial element of White House-directed immigration reform. Ernst says she doesn’t think undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children should be deported. They should
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