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May 15, 2013 by justin in Sore Thumbs

Sore Thumbs 05.16

‘DRAGON’S DOGMA: DARK ARISEN’ (M) *** Capcom Xbox 360 In case last year’s “Dragon’s Dogma” wasn’t difficult enough for you, here’s “Dark Arisen” — a re-release of the original game with additional content — to cause you the requisite amount of grief. For the uninitiated, “Dragon’s Dogma” combines the role-playing

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Sound Stage

A High water mark

After watching four of the capital city’s female songwriters perform solo on the Ritual Café’s stage just a couple weeks ago, I’ve had the good fortune of catching two of them performing with their bands a short time after. Last week I got to see Lavonne McRoberts and Peace, Love

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Geek Chic

Head in the cloud computing

If there is one term in the tech world that is off-putting, exciting and confusing all wrapped in one, it’s cloud computing. While there is definitely a high degree of nerdery when talking about “the cloud,” chances are you are already using several cloud services. YouTube, Wikipedia, WordPress, Dropbox, TurboTax,

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Sound Notes

Sound Notes Pick o’ the Week

Wooly’s kicks off the coverage week with a big show on Thursday, May 16. On that evening, First Fleet Concerts and Metro Concerts Live come together to present Mushroomhead, performing along with Corvis, Lydia Can’t Breathe, Ionia, This Sudden Darkness, The Boomstick Revival and Apathy Syndrome. Tickets are $18 in

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Sound Check

CD Reviews

She and Him ‘Volume 3’ Merge M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel are entertaining enough people. Ward is a perfectly acceptable guitarist and Deschanel gamely holds up the vocals. But there’s this niggling part of me that can’t help but ask: If Deschanel was just another girl, would this group have

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Art News

Image-making across the metro

Art-driven image makeovers are being created around the metro this merry month of May. Consider Clive, surely the largest city in Iowa without a high school. Most towns identify predominantly with their schools, particularly with their high schools. Residents wear their colors, call themselves after their mascots, cheer their teams

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Locker Room

Do you have the grit?

Here in Des Moines, we have our share of 10K challenges. It seems like every weekend someone is raising money for a worthy cause at the minimal cost of running with some friends. Sure some folks compete with one another, but the goal isn’t to come out on top; it’s

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Cover Story, Rap Sheet, Sound Notes

Chasing the storm

It was a phenomenon that defines irony: A town was put on the map for being all but wiped clean of it. It was five years ago, almost to the day, that Iowa made national headlines when the town of Parkersburg was ravaged by an EF5 tornado. It was an

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Your Money

Paid for by taxpayers in… Des Moines Public School district

Amount: $6,421.53 To: Academy Roofing and Sheeting For: Payment for services for miscelleneous roof repairs to the schools and buildings.   Amount: $34.99 To: ACE Educational Supplies For: Purchase of Consequences board game, including $10 for shipping.   Amount: $941.81 To: ACP Direct For: Purchase of slim personal CD players

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May 15, 2013 by justin in Good Bad Ugly

The good Metro Waste Authority is now accepting applications for grants to support environmental projects, such as cleanups, rain gardens and recycling initiatives. Recipients can receive up to $2,500 for projects. Applications must be received by June 7, with winners notified by June 28. Metro Waste Authority has provided more

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