“On a long enough timeline the survival for everyone drops to zero.” That paragon of pessimism comes courtesy of Chuck Palahniuk’s “Fight Club,” and the disturbing wisdom of the phrase can be applied to pretty much everything. Your career, your life, our planet — all of it will one day
Read More →Iowa State (2-6) vs. Kansas (2-6) When: Saturday, Nov. 8 Where: Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. CDT Hey. Iowa State. If you wanted me to make an ass of me, why didn’t you just release a copy of my transcripts instead of getting me all positive and thinking
Read More →Taylor Swift “1989” Big Machine With “1989” there is, finally, no doubt about where Taylor Swift’s future lay. The soon-to-be 25-year-old got her start in country but has been slowly phasing those influences out of her music with each successive release, and “1989” is her first full-throated pop album. Swift
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November 05, 2014 by justin
in Civic Skinny
Lawyer Jeff Stein withdrew his application to be executive director of the Iowa Public Information Board just in time. He was about to be booted off the list of four finalists after political aides from both parties alerted the board to the fact that Stein had twice had his law
Read More →On the chalkboard outside the Des Moines Social Club Basement, I saw some sad news. I was there for last week’s late-night “Cabaret,” but for this week, I saw conventional start times. That’s a shame. This is a show made for after-hours. “Cabaret” remains best known for the 1972 movie,
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October 29, 2014 by justin
in Civic Skinny
Three years ago, John Pavone won a $10 million judgment against Gary Kirke. Now, Pavone is suing Kirke again, on the same issue. Pavone claimed — and the Iowa Supreme Court agreed — that in 2004 Kirke had agreed to negotiate a management agreement with Pavone for any casinos Kirke
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October 29, 2014 by justin
in Food Dude
For whatever reasons, geography has swayed the way restaurants cluster in the metro. Local independents thrive in the inner city, and big chains in the far-flung suburbs. It’s been so dramatic that after the opening of the all-chain Jordan Creek Town Center, one Des Moines restaurateur proposed that downtown needed
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October 29, 2014 by justin
in Book Review
Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Shirley Shiffler William Morrow & Company Sept. 23, 2014 $28.99 416 Pages In “A Deadly Wandering,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matt Richtel has written a gripping account of the tragic consequences of our modern use of technology. Early in the morning of Sept. 22, 2006,
Read More →Reading Douglas Burns’ cautionary column (Political Mercury, Oct. 23) about the prospect of Joni Ernst actually getting elected to replace Tom Harkin reminded me of H.L Mencken’s assertion that “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it — good and hard.”
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