June 25, 2014 by justin
in Food Dude
Food trucks are more American than apple pie. Actually invented here, the trucks evolved out of the Great Plains cattle drives’ chuck wagons. Those were invented by the legendary Charles Goodnight, the real-life model for Woodrow Call (Tommy Lee Jones) in Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove saga. In the east, their
Read More →Dead Horse Trauma is not a band to rest on its laurels. Even among people who aren’t fans of the band’s sound, DHT is generally regarded as one of the hardest working bands in the state. Even as they released last year’s excellent “ViOps” album, they were already working on
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June 25, 2014 by justin
in Center Stage
Landmarks of African-American experience turn up all through August Wilson’s drama, “Fences,” which helped it win the 1987 Pulitzer Prize. But the story of the player who broke baseball’s color line, Jackie Robinson, fits especially well. The time is the 1950s, the protagonist is a former Negro Leagues star, and
Read More →Cerebral Ballzy “Jaded & Faded” Cult If hardcore skater punk is your thing, Cerebral Ballzy is your band. The longest song they’ve ever written is just over three minutes long, and lead singer Honor Titus carries a kind of lyric drawl that’s somewhere between Joey Ramone and Mike Muir. “Jaded
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June 25, 2014 by justin
in Film Review
“Venus in Fur” 5 stars Not Rated 96 minutes Drama Starring: Emmanuelle Seigner, Mathieu Amalric Roman Polanski’s 20th film is an exquisite deconstructionist articulation of a quicksilver sadomasochistic tug-of-war between a middle-aged theater director and an enigmatic actress auditioning for a role in his upcoming play “Venus in Furs.” She
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June 25, 2014 by justin
in Cover Story
In his “Act of Creation,” Arthur Koestler defined the creative process as a Hegelian dialectic in which an idea is subjected to an antithetical environment from which something original is synthesized. He showed that great discoveries in science, art and humor all resulted from such a similar process. On my
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June 25, 2014 by justin
in Locker Room
Despite what some believe, the rush after a nice workout is worth all the bitching and moaning it took to get you started. And after a spot of exercise, is there anything better than cracking open a cold one and dropping trou (short for trousers)? Simply put: No. But what
Read More →MICROSOFT AT E3 Last year, Microsoft annoyed hardcore gamers by focusing their press event on the Xbox One’s exotic multimedia features. It was a futile effort to lure in the casual gaming crowd, but as it turns out, casual gamers don’t buy Xbox Ones. Nowadays, they get their gaming fix
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June 25, 2014 by justin
in Civic Skinny
“As a community focused non-profit organization led by a volunteer Board of Directors, we value transparency,” Susan Ramsey of the Greater Des Moines Partnership told Cityview the other day. That, of course, meant she’s wasn’t going to answer the question. Sure enough, she didn’t. The question was: How much do
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Fay Jones Ooligan Press 04/01/14 $16.95 288 pp With his worthwhile new memoir, Sean Davis gives an honest portrayal of his life before, during, and after time spent in combat in Iraq. On Sept. 12, 2001, Davis joined the Oregon National Guard, reenlisting in
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