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May 18, 2016 by justin in Belly Up To...

Jelly beans, grandfather clocks and German castles

  What do jellybeans, grandfather clocks and German castles have in common? A lady sitting at Des Moines’ east side Maingate Bar knows. Chrystal Smith alternates between sips from of [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Your Money

Paid for by taxpayers …

  Urbandale schools   Amount: $2,920 To: Environmental Property Solutions Inc. For: Asbestos removal   Amount: $12,033.74 To: Iowa Testing Programs For: Registration fee and standard service   Amount: $1,233.60 [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Book Review

‘The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero’ 

This book is the biography of Thomas Francis Meagher (pronounced Mah-ur), who grew up during the time of the Great Famine in Ireland. Born to a prominent merchant family, he [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Film Review

A song in our hearts

      “Sing Street” PG-13 106 minutes Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Jack Reynor, Lucy  Boynton   In 2007, Irish writer/director John Carney teamed with Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard to create [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Sound Circuit

Travel is a curse

  The Curse of Hail has been doing its thing in town for nearly a decade. But now, the current lineup of vocalist Ken Payne, guitarists Josh Adamson and Luke [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in The Sound

A final goodbye

  They say that all good things must come to an end. Try as we might, no matter how hard we hold on to the things we like in this [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Your View

The Party of Lincoln is about to crown a con artist

  It’s certainly fascinating and very amusing watching the Republican Party attempting to justify, accept and unify around Donald Trump.  From the very beginning of the Trump campaign, most Republican [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Center Stage

A whodunit gone haywire

  At first, “Every Five Minutes” suggests a whodunit. Jay Jagim’s set threatens to drown us; it suggests a swimming pool, blue, sloping away to the far corner. Laura Sparks’ [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Locker Room

Kickin it, Aussie-style

  There was once a time when ESPN consisted of a singular channel — ESPN. Go figure. There was no ESPN II, ESPN III or ESPN Classic. It was just [...]

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May 18, 2016 by justin in Joe's Neighborhood

How to eat a herring

“There are multiple ways of cleaning a herring. What I do is chop the head off, chop the belly off, make sure the skin is off, the fins are off. [...]

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