River Cities' Reader, Issue #767 - December 9, 2010

8/8/2019 River Cities' Reader, Issue #767 - December 9, 2010

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RiverC

itiesReaderVol.18No.767December9-22,2010

Tis undermines the required sense o publicawe.

WikiLeaks is playing oto. It has racedbehind the curtain and is pulling the pants lego the ersatz wizard.

Obama has wisely not joined in the howls orage. I he did, he would look like the wizard.He is letting others do this. Te wizard isclearly impotent.

Maybe the anonymous source o the leakswill be tried. Maybe Assange will be tried. Butthey have made themselves part o history.Tey are getting way more than 15 minuteso ame. Tey are the Matt Drudges in thisdecade. Assange will get a paragraph in some

uture U.S. history textbook. He may evenmake it into a European history textbook.

WikiLeaks is now headquartered in Iceland.Iceland is considering passing a law next yearmaking it the stolen-data-distributional capitalo the world. Tere will be other small nationsthat try to compete or this title.

Or, to quote Wilord Brimleys character inAbsence o Malice: You had a leak? You callwhats goin on around here a leak? Boy, thelast time there was a leak like this, Noah builthissel a boat.

Tere will be more leaks. Tere will be more

scandals. Tere will be more governmentocials exposed as little men behind thecurtain.

More o Gary Norths commentary can be oundat GaryNorth.com.

Classes start 01/10/11

in the Quad CitiesEnter to win a FREE course

Applications must be received by Dec. 31, 2010

www.uiu.edu/quadcities

WikiLeaks Marketing Strateg: A Strke f Geniusby Gary North

ew days. Ten he releases them to everyone.Want a scoop? Ill provide it. Want to be an

also-ran? Just sit on the story. He has themsalivating or the next release. Te papers have

staers ready to read, write, and post.Tis strategy is working. Te Establishment

press is all over these stories.

Te public, Pavlovian to the core, cant waitto get the next bit o gossip. And then she saidthis!

Tis is National Enquireror the literati.Obamas spokespeople are playing it cool.

Tis is wise on their part. Meanwhile, what wemight call the Lieberman/Huckabee/Palin axis

is going ballistic. We must stop WikiLeaks!

Really? Why bother with WikiLeaks? Justarrest the editors and publishers o the outlets

the major Establishment media. I all thosegovernment-unded ocial leakers (spies)are at risk, then the source o this risk is theEstablishment media.

But the critics cannot arrest the editors andpublishers. Te ACLU would go into action.So would the other Establishment media. Tis

is a reedom-o-the-press issue! Tis is a FirstAmendment issue. Tis is a hits-on-our-siteissue.

When Te Guardian did a live interview

with Assange on December 3, it got so muchWeb trac that the site went down.

Te incensed critics are not about to stick

their ngers into this media hornets nest. So,they call or Assanges head. Why? Economies oscale. It is cheaper to shut down WikiLeaks site.

T

o understand what WikiLeaks hasdone, we must understand economic

cause and eect. Let us begin with acomparable market: the market or gambling.

Governments arrest bookies. But bookiesare merely providers o the service. Te sourceo demand is the individual gambler, the guy

who is placing the bets. Te inrastructurethat delivers the service is surely basic to theprocess, but it is the individual citizen who is

the prime mover. Why? He is paying or it.Want to understand the process? Follow the

money. It ends with the customer.Te government prosecutes the bookie

because it is cheaper than ollowing the money

to the sources. Its a matter o the economies oscale. But it is hypocritical to blame the bookie.

It is cheaper to arrest and try him than to arrestand try all o his customers, but he is not thesource o the practice. Customers are.

Back to WikiLeaks. Who is the source o

the problem? Readers o articles about thescandals. Tis is gossip or educated people.Tis is Jerry Springer or college graduates. Tis

is You know what she said about him?Readers are going to Web sites (plural). Tey

are not going to the WikiLeaks site. Tey are

going to the bookie sites: Te Guardian, Der

Spiegel, , and the New York imes. Tese are thenational newspapers o record. Tese are theEstablishments main news sources in the West.

Do you see what Julian Assange has done?He has pitted one against another. He givesthem rst shot at the leaked documents or a

But this does little good. Te mirror sitesare too numerous. Tere is no way to stop the

ow o inormation on the Web. WikiLeaks isproving this, day by day.

I the mirror sites go down, there will beFedEx deliveries to the Establishment outlets othumb drives lled with data. Do you think themedia outlets will exercise sel-restraint, whenthey know that the others have also receivedFedEx packages? I dont think so.

Te U.S. governments attempts to shut downWikiLeaks, as Assange knew in advance, iscreating enormous publicity or WikiLeaks.Tis makes it even less likely that any o theEstablishment media outlets is going to cease

publishing stories based on the leaks. Andthen she said ... !

Te problem is this: Te public lovesthe gossip. It delights in hearing about thelatest blunder. Tis is a eeding renzy. It isboosting trac. Te press has never been ableto resist this, once a single member o theEstablishment breaks ranks.

Assange has done his homework. He set itup so that the Big Boys one per nation aregiven rst dibs. Tere is an implied warning:He who hesitates is lost.

We are witnessing the undermining o the

U.S. government. Te stories are harmless.Tey are all gossip. But it makes the expertslook like the rest o us mean-spirited, jealous,behind-the-back snipers. Tese experts haveno respect or the bureaucrats on the other sideo the borders. Tey look like petty schoolgirls.


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Business

Politics

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but three o them Democrats, provided neededvotes or passage last week. At least some othose members might have voted no had theywon reelection.

Despite the bipartisan and target-richvote in avor o the legislation, l ast weeksaction probably cant be used a s a model ornon-social-issue votes such as a tax hike.Black will leave beore the January lame-duck session. Bassi and Beaubien are strongscal conservatives. Saviano is a member oGOP leadership, which is united against t heDemocrats. Polls showed that suburban voters

supported civil unions but not tax hikes, sothose Democratic targets who voted yesprobably wont be on-board, either. Many

o the DownstateDemocrats whovoted against civilunions (Beiser,Bradley, Holbrook,Jeerson, Mautino,Phelps, and Reitz)will probably alsobe against a taxincrease, mainlybecause their regionshave become soconservative lately.

Te debate lastweek was almostuniversally respectuland stayed on thehigh road, except

or some weird comments by RepresentativeRon Stephens (R-Greenville), who, amongother things, called himsel an old-ashionedtraditionalist during his remarks. Stephens

has twice had problems with his pharmacylicense or alleged substance-abuse issues, wasrecently popped or a DUI, and is divorced.Old-ashioned traditionalist?

Te momentous civil-unions bill passedthe Senate the ollowing day with 32 votes two more than t he minimum required. OneRepublican, Senator Dan Rutherord, joinedwith 31 Democrats to approve the legislation.Democrats later claimed that Rutherord hadmade a politically smart vote, i it doesnt ruinhim in a Republican primary. Hell almostcertainly be able to establish a new and

strong base o Chicago-area-undraisingsupport or being the only Senate Republicanto stick his neck out on the bill.

Unlike in the House, where only twoRepublicans rose in opposition, several SenateRepublicans spoke against the bill, and theymostly stayed on-message. Te Republicansalmost universally complained that theDemocrats were spending no time on solvingthe budget crisis and the precarious economicsituation while debating social issues.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a dailypolitical newsletter) and TeCapitolFaxBlog.com.

by Rich Miller

Six Illinois House Republicans votedwith 55 Democrats l ast week to approvea civil-unions bill. But a ew o the

Democratic yes votes were a bit moresurprising.

All but one o the six Republicans weresuburbanites. Bill Black, who is retiringlater this month, was the only Downstater.Representatives Suzi Bassi and Beth Coulsonwere suburban yes votes who are notreturning next year. Representatives MarkBeaubien, Rosemary Mulligan, and SkipSaviano were the other Republican yes votes,

and all three are suburban legislators. Noneo those was a particularly huge surprise.Black has been a more traditionally liberalRepublican or years,endorsed by laborunions and backed bymany Democrats in hisdistrict. Black quotedlate U.S. SenatorEverett Dirksenduring the debate,citing Dirksens crucial

vote or civil-rightslegislation in 1964 asthe basis or his ownposition.

But just about everypolitically targetedsuburban Democraticincumbent whosurvived the Novemberelection also voted or the plan, even thoughthey just came o grueling campaigns againsttough opponents. Tat support was even morenewsworthy.

Representative Keith Farnham (D-Elgin)won by just a handul o votes two years agoand beat the same opponent in a rematchby just 627 votes this year, but he voted orthe civil-unions legislation. R epresentativesCarol Sente (D-Vernon Hills) and FredCrespo (D-Homan Estates) were both ierOne campaign targets, yet they also votedor the bill. R epresentative Emily McAsey(D-Lockport) easily won reelection this yeardespite heavy spending by Republicans, andshe also voted yes. Representative JehanGordon (D-Peoria) was one o just threeDownstate Democratic Representatives whovoted or the bill w ho arent also l ame ducks.Representative Jack Franks (D-Marengo) hasnot been a target in years mainly because hehas cultivated a strongly conservative votingrecord, yet he also voted or the civil-unionsbill.

Not all targets were on board. RepresentativeKevin McCarthy (D-Orland Park) votedpresent last week. McCarthy, who surviveda brutal campaign with a relatively narrowvictory against a tea-party Republican, said he

was opposed to the legislation but wanted tosoen the impact by voting the yellow button.Eleven o the chambers 18 lame ducks, all

Lame Ducks Ke inCivilUnins Vte

Eleven of the Houses

18 lame ducks provided

needed votes for passage

last week. At least some of

those members might have

voted no had they won

reelection.

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RiverC

itiesReaderVol.18No.767December9-22,

2010

jobs. She said the involvement o the

private sector must go beyond membership

on state boards. She also said that

anything involving public unding will be

transparent.

Te Iowa Democratic Party was quick

to jump on Durhams comments that

Branstads goal o creating 200,000 new jobs

is a stretch goal.

Iowans deserve an administration that

will take job creation seriously instead o

abandoning the promises they made on

the campaign trail, said Iowa Democratic

Party Chair Sue Dvorsky. Unortunately,

less than a month afer being elected, the

Branstad/Reynolds administration has

abandoned one o its key promises to

Iowans.

010 Sees Recrd Numberf Midterm Vters

Te more than 1.1 mi llion Iowans

who voted in the November 2 election

represented the highest number o totalvoters participating in a midterm election

in state history, Iowa Secretary o State

Michael Mauro said.

Te turnout o 1,133,434 was 54 percent

o the states 2.1 million active and inactive

registered voters. While the percentage was

not the highest because past elections had

ewer registered voters, the number that

turned out was the highest ever.

Voter turnout was announced at ameeting o the State Board o Canvass,

which made ocial all results o theNovember 2 election except the governorsrace. (Tat will be canvassed by the GeneralAssembly on January 10. Unocial resultsshow that Republican Branstad deeatedDemocrat Chet Culver 52.2 to 42.8 percent.)

Mauro chaired the meeting, certiying

results o the election in which he lost his

job to Republican Matt Schultz.

Mauro, a ormer Polk C ounty auditor,

has worked in government overseeing

elections or 28 years. He told IowaPolitics.

com that he has not yet made a decisionabout his uture, despite getting a call rom

Governor-elect Branstad shortly afer the

election. He said he hasnt been ormally

oered a job rom Branstad yet.

For an expanded version o this article, visit

RiverCitiesReader.com.

Tis weekly summary comes rom

IowaPolitics.com, an online government

and politics news service. Reporter Andrew

Duelmeyer and other correspondentscontributed to this report.

by Lynn Campbell, IowaPolitics.com

Governor-elect erry Branstadhas picked Siouxland Chamber

o Commerce President DebiDurham to be the new director o the Iowa

Department o Economic Development.As Branstad introduced her, the two o

them began outlining how they plan tochange the department into a public/private

partnership and create the 200,000 newjobs in Iowa that Branstad promised on the

campaign trail.Tat takes legislation, Branstad said

o the transormation to a public/privatepartnership. Were going to work rom thepresent ramework that exists, but we are

going to envision where we want to go andwere going to lay that out. We did some o

that during the campaign, and were nowgoing to move orward very aggressively on

this even during the transition beore wetake oce. But we will then need to work

through the legislative process to get thechanges made that we want to ge t made.

Branstad said hell have Durham, 50, start

immediately on the analysis o w hat staysand what goes in the department, although

he wasnt sure i that could be accomplishedby January 14.

Durham praised the sta at thecurrent Iowa Department o Economic

Development and indicated that perhapsshe wouldnt entirely clean house or

replace all o the sta once shes the newdirector.

I have worked with this team at theDepartment o Economic Development,and I know it is comprised o very

dedicated individuals, and I look orward tojoining them in their eorts as we move this

department orward, Durham said.More than 82 percent o workers

at the Iowa Department o EconomicDevelopment are considered at will and

could be out o a job.Branstad said Durham will work closely

with Lieutenant Governor-elect KimReynolds, who will be the chair o thenew Commission or the Partnership or

Economic Progress.

Durham stressed that she cant do italone. Job creation was the cornerstoneo their campaign, and I am charged with

the task o initiating and preparing theramework or the new department, which

will be called the Partnership or EconomicProgress, she said. I t hink the key word

in this new name is partnership, becausethat really is w hat its about. Debi Durhamcannot create 200,000 jobs.

But Durham said in partnership withthe economic-development proessionals

around the state and those in the education

community, state universities, and theprivate sector, Iowa can create and retain

Branstad Picks Durham t HeadEcnmicDevelpment

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Author Paul Connett Wants People to Take a Fresh (or First) Look at Fluoridation

Dnt Drink the Water?by Jef Ignatius

[email protected]

I youre approaching this article onwater uoridation with trepidation, Paul

Connett knows how you eel.I didnt want this issue, said Connett,

the co-author o the recently published

bookTe Case Against Fluoride, in a phoneinterview last week.

When my wie dumped a whole bunch

o papers on my desk oneafernoon in July 1996and said, Dear, would you

read these papers? herecalled, I said, What is it?

Whats it about? She says,Fluoridation. I said, akeit away. Tese people arecrazy.

Connett already had aull-time job as a proessoro chemistry at St. Lawrence

University in Canton, NewYork. And or a decade hehad been a vocal opponent

o waste incineration, acause that sent him aroundthe world presenting

lectures.I didnt want a third issue, Connett said.

I certainly didnt want this one, which was

stigmatized ... as the province o a buncho Flat Earth Society crazy people. And Idsuccumbed to that same notion without

doing any research.Tat night the Village o Canton

was considering whether to continue

uoridation o the citys drinking water.Connett said: When I started to read thepapers that she put there, my intention was

as quickly as possible to nd out wherethese crazy anti-uoridationists had madesome undamental scientic mistakes and

[determine] that there was nothing toworry about. ... It didnt take me long torealize that there were some very seriousproblems with that practice o uoridation.

He said he told his wie: Tis is goingto be easy. When they hear what I read thisafernoon, theres no way theyre going to

continue uoridation.Connett was wrong. Te crusade to

stop uoridation o Cantons drinking

water took more than seven years aferthat rst night. Tat initial meeting waswhat Connett called his rst shock. All

the dentists and several doctors were linedup to give t heir complete, utter, condentassurance that this was the best thing since

sliced bread. It was per ectly sae.Afer the meeting, Connett said, he

approached one doctor who had spoken

in avor o uoridation and asked him toread three papers; the doctor said he didnthave time. Connett replied, You shouldnt

let these people believe that youve readthe literature and its your proessional

judgment that this is perectly okay when

thats obviously not the case.

Yet that doctor was hardly alonein speaking without having reviewedthe science behind uoridation. Tat

discussion on that night was a microcosmo what I was to see or the next 14 years that local, state, and ederal ocials

will go onto public platorms and makethese absolutely, 100-percent-, 150-percent-

condent statements thatuoridation is perectlysae and perectly

eective, Connett said.And its almost to thepoint that they get some

kind o commissionevery time they use thewords sae and eective.

Its like a mantra saeand eective, sae andeective. And they havent

read the literature; theyhavent read it. And i theywere to do so, theyd be

utterly shocked at the waytheyve been corralled into

supporting this nonsense.

So Connett became one o those FlatEarth Society crazies. And while itsunreasonable to expect many people tohave a similarly lightning-quick epiphany,

he hopes that his book will get peopleto consider the issue o uoridation probably or the rst time beyond the

endorsements o proessional societies andpublic-health ocials.

Basic Arguments inThe Case Against Fluoride

Connetts book, which was published

in October, is meant as a corrective to sixdecades o uoridation promotion. Whilethe provocative subtitle is How HazardousWaste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water &the Bad Science & Powerul Politics TatKeep It Tere, the books primary concernis science.

Te Case Against Fluoride has three basicarguments:

Fluoridation is bad medicine becauseits a drug given to all without a doctorconsultation, without inormed consent,

and without control over the amount ouoride ingested. Tis is primarily anethical argument based on the assertion

that uoride is a drug, in sense o theMerriam-Webster denition o a substanceintended or use in the diagnosis, cure,

mitigation, treatment, or prevention odisease.

Tere is little or no sound scientic

evidence o uoridations eectiveness inpreventing tooth decay. Further, currentevidence suggests that uoride primarily

works topically (in toothpaste, or example)

rather than systemically (administered

through drinking water). Connett and

his co-authors review studies supporting

the benets o uoridation and nd them

awed.

Fluoride administered through thepublic water supply might cause signicant

health problems. Connett and his co-

authors argue that water uoridation could

have adverse health eects on the teeth (in

the orm o dental uorosis), brain unction

(including lower IQ), the endocrine

system (including the thyroid and pineal

glands), bones, and kidneys. Tis section is

premised on the medical-ethics principle o

The Strange Case f Fluridatinin the Iwa Quad Cities

I you oppose uoridation or think that its saety and eectiveness need to beproved beyond a doubt, good luck in stopping the practice in the Quad Cities.

Illinois in 1967 mandated uoridation o drinking water, meaning that any changewould need to happen at the state rather than the local level.

The situation is more complicated in the Iowa Quad Cities. The state o Iowa does

not mandate uoridated drinking water, but local governments served by IowaAmerican Water would need to act unanimously to stop it.

Dennis J. Alt, a supervisor with the Water Supply Engineering Section o the Iowa

Department o Natural Resources, wrote in response to an e-mail question: In Iowa,a public water system, whether it is publicly or privately owned, can choose to addchemicals in order to treat the water. They do not need to receive approval rom

a unit o government or the people they serve. ... We do not require public watersystems to add uoride, nor do we prohibit it. (Utilities still need to comply withstate and ederal drinking-water standards.)

So with a water utility owned by a city government, there would be local control.But when the utility is privately owned as it is in the Iowa Quad Cities there isnt.

This situation was conrmed by the City o Davenport. In a 2007 memo

responding to questions raised by Joel Webber, Acting Corporation Counsel ThomasD. Warner wrote: The City does not have jurisdiction over drinking-water quality andcannot stop uoridation o the water by the Iowa American Water Company. ... The[ederal] Sae Drinking Water Act, the Iowa Code, and the Iowa Administrative Code

occupy the eld in this area and do not allow the City to assume any jurisdictionover the content o the public drinking water in Davenport.

Technically speaking, this is true.

However, Iowa American Water claims that it would comply with a request romlocal government to stop uoridation. Theres a big catch, though: Such a requestwould need to come rom allthe Iowa Quad Cities that Iowa American Water serves.

Lisa M. Reisen, Iowa American Waters manager o external aairs, provided thisstatement: Ceasing uoridation would require coordination o the cities, the IowaUtilities Board, the Iowa Department o Natural Resources, and likely the health

department. I we were directed by legislation (local or state), we would comply.Any agreement would have to be unanimous among all the communities served,because we cant tailor the treatment to individual communities.

That means there is eectively regionalcontrol over uoridation in the Iowa QuadCities, but not municipal control.

The issue o why Iowa American Water uoridates the water in the Iowa Quad

Cities lacks a complete answer. Iowa American Water ofcials cited a 1952 resolutioninvolving the City o Davenport that started uoridation here but could not saywhether other municipalities signed on; Reisen said she could not locate a copy o

the resolution. However, it is likely that Riverdale and Bettendor were also parties;all three cities began having their water uoridated on July 27, 1952, according tothe Iowa Department o Public Health.

Reisen wrote that the company has no record o a community request oruoridation beyond that resolution rom 58 years ago.

And when asked whether the company regularly surveys the communities

it serves about its uoridation preerences, Reisen wrote: Iowa American Water

distributes an annual water-quality report to all customers and municipalities thatclearly shows that we do uoridate the water. She added that uoridation has not

been an issue o concern with our customers or the cities we serve. Jef Ignatius

Continued On Page 18


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RiverC


2010

I

you want

a sense o

what MiniMansions sounds

like, interviews

and reviews

ofen reerence

the Beatles

experimental

side and the late

singer/songwriter

Elliott Smith. But

youre advised

not to raise the

comparisons with

Michael Shuman,the Queens o the

Stone Age bassist

who ormed Mini

Mansions in early

2009.

Shuman has previously been up-ront

about the inuences o and his love or the

Beatles and Smith, but when I asked him

about Mini Mansions new sel-titled album

compared to the Beatles, he responded

curtly: I dont think it sounds anything like

them. A lot o writers have repeated thecomparison, he said, but I just think it was

the wrong bandwagon.

A trio that primarily employs keyboards,

bass, drums, and voices, Mini Mansions

perorming at RIBCO on December

11 plays pop music that immediately

grabs you but is also streaked with oddity

and darkness. Te Beatles comparison is

rankly inevitable because o the vocal style

and harmonies, and the spirit o Smith is

undeniable as well. (For the record, outside

o a closing scream and vocal ourish inMonk, theres barely a hint o Queens o

the Stone Age.)

Yet Shumans dismissal o comparisons

is entirely reasonable. Nobody likes the

implication o being derivative, and Te

Beatles are at the root o virtually all

modern pop music, including Smiths.

More importantly, Mini Mansions debut

released last month is so condent and

unapologetic in both its weirdness and

the way it sugarcoats dark cores that its

orebears are largely irrelevant.

Te bands sound, Shuman said, was

radically dierent when the trio began,

with bandmates Zach Dawes (who now

plays bass) and yler Parkord (who now

sings and plays keyboards and guitar, and

who shared writing duties with Shuman).

When we rst started, it was a lot more

stripped down, and we didnt even really

want drums in the band, said Shuman,whose primary roles are now drumming

and singing along with some guitar.

We wanted to make it acoustic, almost

orchestral without percussion. Using three

or our instruments and voices that could

create a more ethereal sound, a broader

landscape o sound.

But as songs were nearing completion,

the players would switch roles. We would

try ever y song in ever y way, Shuman said.

What they ound, he said, was that many

songs worked well with a oundation okeyboards, bass, and drums. Mini Mansions

still experiments with arrangement and

roles, Shuman said, but that basic division

o labor has held: Denitely no rules; it just

seems to be the best ormula.

Aside rom being keyboard- rather

than guitar-based, Mini Mansions is

distinguished by what Shuman describes

as a weird, towering ghostly eeling over

all the songs. Its an element o danger

and dread that hangs over the record, a

dimming o the songs natural brightness

an eect alluded to in the albums three

tone-setting vignettes.

Outside

o those,

Wnderbarseatures at beats

and subdued

bursts o noise

that pull down

the alsetto

vocals recalling

the tensions o

Mike Pattons

Mr. Bungle.

Te second

halves o Te

Room Outside

and MajikMarker detour

into energetic

bass-dominated

interplay

between the

instruments. Te initially bouncy Crime

o the Season sneaks rom summer to

autumn, trading a driving piano or a

horror-movie organ.

It just kind o happens, Shuman

explained. I its a simple pop song written

on acoustic guitar, or some reason I alwayshave this weird urge to just make it eel

like someones coming around the corner

theres this ominous cloud looming over

the song.

I asked Shuman about his avorite

example outside o Mini Mansions, and

he paused a long time. I want to say

something rom the Beatles, but I really

dont want to talk about the Beatles

anymore, he nally answered, grudgingly

settling on the opening o Blue Jay Way.

Mini Mansions will perorm on Saturday,

December 11, at RIBCO (1815 SecondAvenue in Rock Island). Te bill also includes

Break Up Art and Centaur Noir, and theshow starts at 9 p.m. Cover is $5.

For a eature article on Centaur Noir, visitRCReader.com/y/centaur.

For more inormation on Mini Mansions,

visit MySpace.com/minimansionsmusic.

o listen to Mini Mansions Daytrotter.com

session, visit RCReader.com/y/mansions.

Sugarcating Dark CresMini Mansions, December 11 at RIBCO

by Jef Ignatius

[email protected]

Vl. 18, N. Dec. 9 , 010

532 W. 3rd St.

Davenport IA 52801


(563)324-0049 (phone)

(563)323-3101 (ax)

Publishing since 1993

The River Cities Readeris an independent newspaper

published every other Thursday, and available reethroughout the Quad Cities and surrounding areas.

2010 River Cities Reader

DEADLINES

To purchase a display ad,

([email protected]): 5 p.m. Wednesday

To purchase a classifed ad,

([email protected]): 10 a.m. Monday

PUBLISHERTodd McGreevy

EDITORKathleen McCarthy

EDITORIALManaging Editor: Je Ignatius [email protected]

Arts Editor, Calendar Editor: Mike Schulz [email protected]

Contributing Writers: Amy Alkon, Rob Brezsny, Lynn Campbell,

Michelle Garrison, Luke Hamilton, Rich Miller, Thom White

ADVERTISINGAccount Executive:

Chris Walljasper [email protected] Coordinator: Cameo Losasso

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Laura Miller amiliar to Circa 21patrons as a member o the perorming

wait sta, the Bootleggers is a charmingly

riendly Elizabeth, oering a sense o

wonder in her speech and a so, supportive

tone in her eorts to be riends with

Jack. Fellow

Bootlegger

AndreaMoore makes

a wonderul

Rabbit, usingthe lower

registers o her

voice to imply

a wisdom in

her words;

her Momcharacter is

also good, and

her beautiul

singing voice

is even better.

(With Mooreadditionally

serving aschoreographer,

the shows

dance moves

are nicely sophisticated.) Shouting out

the days headlines, Ben Holmes brings

a gooy, rantic nature to his Newspaper

Vendor. And Bret Churchill couldnt be

more likable as Jack Frost, with a sweetuncertainty in his voice mixed with a

childlike innocence that makes you want to

hug him.As is typical o his work, Gregory Hiatts

costumes among them Jacks el-like suit

are impressive, with the animal costumes

especially creative and interesting. Using

mostly headpieces, rather than ull-bodyoutts, Hiatt has chosen an overstued

stued-animal look or Raccoon, Rabbit,

and Polar Bear, and his Penguin costume

is perhaps the shows cutest, with its

headpiece attached to long sleeves closed

at the ends to create wings. And Sheridan

works in a bit o simple, but eective, stagemagic when Jack creates rost on a window;the moment involved nothing more than

the pulling down o a translucent shade,

but when it happened, it was so unexpected

that it kind o took my breath away.

I expected to be mildly amused byJack

Frost Saves Christmas, hoping my seven-

and 11-year-old companions would be

delighted by it. What I didntexpect was

to be so joyously captivated by the sweet,tender holiday tale mysel.

For tickets and inormation, call (309)786-7733, extension 2, or visit Circa21.com.

The Circa 21 Dinner PlayhousesJack Frost Saves Christmas is the

most adorable childrens play Ive

ever seen. Okay, its also the only childrens

play Ive seen since... well, since I was a

child. Still, it brought out the kid in me

as I danced

and sang

along at theappropriate,

invited times,

o course and I wasnt

alone; the

children in

attendance

at Saturdays

perormance,including the

two I brought

along with

me, laughed

and danced

and shoutedexclamations

o delightat the plays

proceedings.

Directed

here by Daniel D.P. Sheridan, this short

(one hour plus intermission) musical tells

the tale o Jack Frosts birth, his discovery

o his unique gis, and his attempt to make

riends with the people o Christmas own.Initially cast out or his lack o talent,

Jack eventually saves the day that being

Christmas Day when he uses his rostypowers to bring back the missing snow and

cold in time or Santas annual sleig h ride.

Santa himsel was clearly the crowd

avorite, bringing down the house with

his (unexpected) Hawaiian shirt and red-velvet shorts trimmed with white ur, and

dancing and joking his way through the

higher-temperature portions o the show.

It helped that St. Nicks celebrity preceded

him, but also that Janos Horvath managed

to bring the requisite jolliness to the role

while adding his own style o physicalhumor, with big gestures and well-chosenpauses in his vocal deliveries.

While the kids most enjoyed Santa,

no one tickled my ancy more than Don

Denton, double-cast as Penguin and Mr.

Holly. As Penguin, Denton employs a silly,

almost skipping waddle to move around

the stage one that made me giggle with

every step and as Mr. Holly, Denton

speaks with an eeminate, condescendingtone thats more nutty than negative. Te

character is the plays antagonist, but

Denton is so amusing in the role that hes

easy to like.

JackBe Nimble,JackBe QuickJack Frost Saves Christmas, at the Circa 21 Dinner Playhouse through

December 26

By Thom White

The Jack Frost Saves Christmas ensemble


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needed to be at a level that at least matchedthe actors microphone levels.) I also

wouldnt have complained i hed been a bitmore grand with his gestures as he tinkledatware against dinner plates and dropped

objects into a barrel o water; his creationo the sounds embellishment o the scriptswords could easily be a show within thelarger show.

Unortunately, the plays program doesnot list thecharacters that

each actorportrays, andbeing previously

amiliar withonly three o thecast members,

I cannotcommend the

majority byname. (Techoice to listonly the actors

and not theirroles is likelydue to the size

o the cast,which is at leastdoubled by the

employment oa childrens choir, and the act that manytake on several dierent parts.) Some o the

perormers, though, notably dierentiatetheir characters with the use o accents Irish, Boston, and a highly amusing Italian

and each accent is executed remarkablywell; their accuracy and consistency areespecially impressive given how young

most o the actors are (and how ofen Iveheard inconsistent accents on stage).

All o the cast members, however, could

use more inection, more emotion, intheir voices. Tats not to say that the Itsa Wonderul Lie perormance, overall, is

at it could just use a boost o passion,since the vocal acting, carrying the weighto the tale, has to compensate or the lack

o movement and visual storytelling. TeShowboats work plays out more as a goodreading o the script than an actual radio

play. Still, Its a Wonderul Lie: A Live RadioPlay is a pleasant-enough holiday outing,mainly or its enjoyable amiliarity as a

Christmas tale. o make it a holiday showto remember, though, the Showboats castcould use a touch more spirit.

For tickets and inormation, call (563)242-6760 or visit ClintonShowboat.org.

The Clinton Area Showboat Teatresproduction oIts a Wonderul Lie:A Live Radio Play has several things

going or it. One, its nostalgically amiliar who hasnt seen the Its a Wonderul Liemovie at least once? wo, its a holiday showor an audience thats more than likely ina Christmas spirit, and already jolly whensitting down to watch the play. And three,

its short, running one hour without anintermission.However,

theres onemajor elementmissing rom the

Showboats showthat would makeit really good:melodrama.

Designed as

a radio show that is, a readingo a script withsound eects,

and not a ull-on productionwith sets and

movement Itsa WonderulLike: A LiveRadio Play isone o those stage opportunities that callsor at least a little overacting. Te audience

doesnt get to see much happen as the taleunolds, and thereore has to heartheaction in the voices and sound eects.

Yet as directed by Patrick Stinson (whoseeorts made the Showboats Dracula armore interesting than the script, and

Sunday in the Park with George my avoriteproduction o the several Sundays Iveseen), this oering misses the mark, or

the most part, on both counts. Te actorsbarely do more than read the scripts intheir hands, the sound eects need to be

higher in volume, and the man creatingthese eects on stage needs to be moreprominently eatured.

Te latter is arguably the most signicantailing, in that watching and hearing thesounds being made dinner plates clanking

during a meal, high heels walking across aoor are the most un elements o a radioshow. During Friday nights per ormance,

the actor making these sounds seemedto be right on cue with each one and waseective in delivering them, but not all

o the sounds could be heard clearly overthe actors voices. (Te volume on themicrophone picking up the sound eects

Bailes

n the RcksIts a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatrethrough December 12

By Thom White

Members of the Its A Wonderful Life childrens choir

309-756-4600 800-477-7747 Open 7am-5am daily

ALWAY

SSMOKE

-FREE!

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling andreferral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537).

Were throwing an all-day, non-stop party. And youre invited.Noon Years Eve 11am-1pm Countdown at Noon with non-alcoholic champagne

Free party favors

Music by the River City 6 11am1pm

New Years Eve Day Prime Steak & Lobster Tail Buffet from 10am11pm just$19.99*! This buffet features USDA prime steak, fresh lobster tails, fresh saladsand desserts. *With IMAGE Players Club Card$24.99 without card.

New Years Eve Midnight countdown and balloon drop on casino floor

Free midnight non-alcoholic champagne toast

Free party favors

Music by the River City 6 10pm2am

Put a fork in 2010, then in our Steak N Eggs Buffet from 12am3am just $5.99*!*With IMAGE Players Club Card$7.99 without card

Music? Weve got the Edje!For the very best in FREE live entertainment,

theres only one place to be: the Edje! Every Friday and Saturday 8pm to Midnight!December 10 & 11 Pappa-Razzi December 17 & 18 Gray Wolf Band

December 31 & January 1 Smooth Groove

SmoothGroovein the EdjeNightclub

8pm1am


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My avorite o the cast, however, isWoods, who seems more well-suited toPozzo than to any other role Ive seenhim in on stage. Its as i he were born toplay the character. My companion or theevening said Waiting for Godotcame tolie when Woods entered, and I agreed;the play wasnt lieless prior to Woodsentrance, but his grandiose aectationsadded quite a bit o punch to it. With an airo superiority dripping rom every line hespoke, Woods had me in stitches with his

intentionally

pretentiousperormance,enhancedby clearenunciationand slightlyeeminateinectionand gestures.He wasutterlydelightul,especially

when hemade thesimple acto sitting agrand aaireach andevery timehe sat.

Alsoserving as set designer, Kingsburytransorms the Harrison Hilltops spacewith oor-to-ceiling white curtains or

Godot two narrower ones creatingwings on the sides o the stage, and awider curtain covering its back. Tey givethe theatre the look andeelo a theatre,and also give lighting designer ristanapscott the opportunity to hide lightsbehind the wings, where they splashswaths o illumination across and throughthe curtains. Te expanse o curtains,meanwhile, is embellished by a somewhatabstract tree, creatively made with woodenplanks and sticks; an interchangeable,hanging moon and sun; a rock (at least I

think it was a rock) made o an overturned,oblong, metal container; and a painted pathon the oor. Overall, the set is quite simple,but it makes a magnicent impression.

As does Harrison Hilltops Waiting forGodot. I was so delighted by the productionthat my only disappointment was that soew people were in the audience with me.Hopeully, though, the rest o the showsrun nds more people in the theatres seats,which, I think, this highly creative eortdeserves.

For tickets and inormation, call (563) 449-6371 or visit HarrisonHilltop.com.

With its themes o loneliness,reality, death, the meaning(and absurdity) o lie, and

the search or sel, playwright SamuelBecketts tragicomedyWaiting for Godotis considered, by some, to be the mostsignicant English-language play o the20th Century. Frankly, though, I didntsearch or meaning in the script duringTursday nights Godotperormance atthe Harrison Hilltop Teatre, as I was toobusy being entertained, to the point o loudlaughter, by

the captivatingoddity o thedialogue andperormances

Directed,here, by JeKingsbury,Waiting forGodoteaturestwo vagabonds,Vladimir(David urley)and Estragon

(Matt Mercer).Tey arewaiting orsomeonenamed Godotto arrive. Teybide their timeussing withboots andhats and nding some entertainment inthe antics o traveling actor Pozzo (BryanWoods) and his elderly servant Lucky

(Paul Workman), who arrive on a dailybasis, but cannot recall having even metthe vagabonds the day beore. And whileVladimir and Estragon ponder what it isto be human while observing Pozzos sel-importance (and his habit o leading Luckyon a leash), Godot himsel never arrives,leaving Vladimir and Estragon to wait, dayaer day, or a man theyve never met.

Mercer brings a buoonish charm to hisrole through the use o big gestures, unnyacial contortions, and delightully unusualsounds that are similar to sighs and growls.

urley makes great, amusing use o hiseyes, rolling them here and squinting themthere, to portray rustration with othercharacters. Workman, mostly mute duringhis time on stage (other than in one reallylong, wordy monologue), also deliversmuch o his perormance through his eyes,using them to clearly show ear, sadness,anxiety, and eagerness to please, much likea dog. (Also like a dog, Workmans Luckypants a lot and drools.) Chad Ackermanportrays Te Boy with a believableapprehension, using slow speech andmovements to esh out the simple-mindedmessenger o Godot.

VagabndingWaiting for Godot, at the Harrison Hilltop Theatre through December 18

By Thom White

Matt Mercer and David Turley

Moline Public Library 3210 41st Street Moline, IL 61265 309-524-2440 www.molinelibrary.com

Ad sponsored by the Friends of the Moline Public Library

Searching for holiday stories?Check us out!

Don't forget our 24/7 accessto information online with

your Moline PublicLibrary card.Support the

Moline Public Library:Adopt a Program!

Purchase an ornament toraise funds for programmingat the Moline Public Library.

Contact us at the library for details.


11/24


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FAIR GAMEPresuming that it might not open locally, I caught

director Doug Limans Fair Game in which Naomi

Watts plays outed CIA operative Valerie Plame, and

Sean Penn plays Plames husband, ormer ambassador

Joe Wilson in Chicagoland on Tanksgiving night.

I thought the movie

was intelligent and

intensely well acted,

but still didntfeel

much toward it, andwith so many o

the lms characters

arguing over events

that, by 2010, have

become old (i still

inuriating) news, my

eyelids grew droopy

during a ew scenes

too many.

Tis past weekend, however,Fair Game did indeed

arrive in our area, and with only one other debuting

release to attend (see or, rather, dont Te Warriors

Way), I thought Id give the movie another shot. Iam now ocially blaming the Tanksgiving-turkey

tryptophan or my initially lukewarm response,

because on a second viewing, I ound Limans latest

to be positively riveting, an alert, entertaining, and

resonant re-telling o the notorious Plame-Wilson

scandal thats actually the exact opposite o an

earnestly somber recent-history lesson.

A drama shot and edited like a thriller, Fair Game

ollows the real-lie events that led to the war in Iraq

and Plames secret-agent cover being blown, and

given the (expected) actual omissions and creative

liberties taken, plenty o politically astute audience

members will no doubt have several bees with

the lms account o the truth. Based on books

authored separately by Plame and Wilson, Fair

Game with its screenplay by Jez and John-Henry

Butterworth is unquestionably on the side o its

married protagonists, who are seen solely as patriotic,

righteous, and unjustly maligned throughout. And

even i you undamentally agree with Plames and

Wilsons conspiracy theories, you can still sense

some Hollywood white-washing going on. Despite

his enjoyable, hammy brio, David Andrews, as

Dick Cheney chie-o-sta Scooter Libby, is just a

mustache-twirl away rom caricature, and the subplotthat nds an Iraqi doctor (the excellent Liraz Charhi)

recruited by Plame as an undercover operative plays

too much like the convenient ction it is.

Yet no one can, or should, expect documentary-

style vrit in a liberal rabble-rouser by the director o

Te Bourne Identity starring the vocierously liberal

Sean Penn, no less and while Fair Game might

not be entirely air, its still a supremely intelligent,

energetic, and orceul production. Wielding a

hand-held camera, Liman (also credited as the lms

cinematographer) keeps the action moving with

swi directness, and has an eye or beautiully telling

bits o business; a quick throwaway o Plame and

Wilson walking down a hallway, him giving her a

playul shove on their way to a deadly serious CIA

conerence, provides a lovely bit o marital amiliarity.

Liman is also marvelously inventive in his handling

o the storys increasingly propulsive narrative.

With no type o three months later title card ever

popping on the screen, televised news programs

and press conerences

oentimes witnessed

merely in the

backgrounds o shots continually clue you

in to just where and

when in the Iraq-war

saga you are, and subtly

raise the stakes or

each o Plames and

Wilsons encounters and

setbacks.

Considering its

relatively intimate scale, Fair Game displays major

lmmaking gravitas, and or perhaps the rst time

since 1999s Go, Liman, here, reminds you that he

can be a antastically savvy and generous directoro actors. (A point nearly orgotten thanks to those

plasticized, high-concept outingsMr. & Mrs. Smith

andJumper.) Delivering a pair o wonderully

vivid portrayals, Watts and Penn delineate the

gradual meltdown o a once-secure marriage with

heartbreaking emotional accuracy, and the stars are

backed by an almost staggering supporting ensemble:

Sam Shepard and Polly Holliday as Plames parents;

Jessica Hecht, om McCarthy, Brooke Smith, y

Burrell, and Norbert Leo Butz as the dinner-party

riends whom Penns Wilson cant stop (accidentally)

insulting; Bruce McGill, Michael Kelly, Noah

Emmerich, im Grin, and David Denman as CIAassociates orced to turn their backs on Plame. Its a

SAG-member smrgsbord o talent, and Fair Game

itsel is requently as exhilarating as its cast, a movie

successully designed to wake you up, and then piss

you o all over again.

THE WARRIORS WAYWith its schizophrenic blend o stylized blood-

letting and abject gooness, Te Warriors Way is

what youd get i you combined Shanghai Noon with

300and added a healthy dollop o HBOs Carnivale.

Could anyone have thought this was a good idea?aciturn Dong-gun Jang stares down the camera,

drunken sharpshooter Georey Rush channels

om Waits, ever-villainous Danny Huston (with an

old-timeyPhantom of the Opera mask) glowers and

salivates, and Kate Bosworth sports the purtiest pink

lipstick in the Wild Wild West, and its all as senseless,

repellent, and tiresome as can be. Te lms one

honest pleasure comes rom the amusing reaction

shots o Jangs toddler, whom the martial-arts master

carries like a suitcase, and who watches the dimwitted

goings-on with an expression o, Are you reakin

kiddingme with this? Te kid cant be one year old

and stilloutsmarts everyone on-screen.

LISTEN To MIKE EVERy FRIDAy AT 9AM oN RoCK 10-9 FM WITH DAVE & DARREN

Secret Agent Woman

Movie Reviewsby Mike Schulz [email protected] Mike Schulz [email protected]

Movie Reviews

Naomi Watts and Sean Penn in Fair Game


12/24

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,2010

Business

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Arts

Culture

Now

YouKno

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1

Whats Happenin - The All-Quiz E

ComedyDouble Wider: Murder at theChitlin County FairandFiveCard MurderThe Lodge Hotel and Skellington Manor

Friday, December 10, and Friday,

December 17, 6:30 p.m.

When I rst heard that Five CardMurder the latest interactivecomedy by the Quad Cities Its a

Mysterytroupe concerned akilling thattakes placeduring a

poker game, I thought it sounded likean ideal setup or big, juicy laughs.Ten, a couple weeks later, some

riends emptied my pockets in a pokergame o our own. Now Im just eelingenormous empathy or the killer.

My bitterness aside, theres sure tobe all manner o hilarity on hand inthis new production by author ScottNaumann (pictured hes the one onthe le), with Five Card Murderbeingperormed at Rock Islands SkellingtonManor on December 17. And the giedIts a Mystery artists are doubling ourdelight this month, with December10s Lodge Hotel staging o Naumanns

trailer-park whodunit Double Wider:Murder at the Chitlin County Fair.Both events will begin with a 6:30p.m. cocktail hour ollowed by ascrumptious dinner with the mysteriesrespective suspects ... one o whom, ineach case, wont be around or dessert.

While roaring at the perormersover-the-top antics, Its a Mysteryguests will have plenty o opportunitiesto study clues and suss out potentialassassins. But i you want a leg upon your ellow sleuths, heres a little

pre-introduction: ry guessing whichcharacters are in Five Card Murder,which are in Double Wider, and which

1

t

c

I

MusicNaughty by NatureRock Island Brewing Company

Saturday, December 18, 8 p.m.

As we know rom the song, Santa makes a list and checks it twice to nd out whos naughty

or nice. Te jolly old el could save himsel the trouble,though, just by heading to the Rock Island BrewingCompany on December 18. Several nicely naughty

ones there.Not that they can help it, as theyre Naughty by

Nature, the Grammy Award-winning hip-hip artists

wholl perorm an 8 p.

Daytrotter. Formed in

composed o reach, Vplatinum-selling trio w

all proceeds benetingWay Wish List prograBillboardhits rom sucParadise, and the grou

You may be particulNatures smash single

Jackson 5s ABC andpop charts but howmusicians output? ry

Naughty by Nature son

Music & DanceHandels The MessiahandThe NutcrackerAugustana Colleges Centennial Hall and

Davenports Adler Theatre

Saturday, December 11,

and Sunday, December 12

The holiday season is a time otradition. Gathering together

with riends and amily. Sippingcocoa in ront o the replace.Explaining that you wouldve written

Christmas cardsi time hadntslipped away romyou, even thoughyou were reallyjust distractedevery night by thebottles o rum thatyou picked up tomake eggnog ... .Oh, Im sorry is

that just my tradition?

And or Quad Citians, December11 and 12 will bring with them twomore annual, and beloved, holidayevents: the Handel Oratorio SocietysAugustana College presentationso Te Messiah, and Ballet QuadCities Adler Teatre stagings oTeNutcracker.

Featuring our internationallyacclaimed soloists includingmezzo soprano Astrid Robillardrom Stockholm, Sweden thisyearsMessiah will also boast a ullproessional chamber orchestra and

nearly 250 singers rom the collegeand the Quad Cities community, andis, i you can believe it, the 130th-annual perormance o composer

George Frideric Handels legendarywork to be held at Augie.

Te Nutcracker, meanwhile, willnd those crazy-gied proessionaldancers o Ballet Quad Cities (andsome sure-to-be-adorable oversizemice) bringing exhilarating lie tochaikovskys balletic masterpiece,with pre-perormance holidaytunes sung by the DavenportChordbusters, Davenport Northshigh-school choir, and DavenportCentrals Holiday Singers.

But while you might be amiliarwith both Quad Cities traditions,how do you are when it comes toMessiah and Nutcrackertrivia? Letsnd out, shall we?

1) How many days did it take

Handel to compose the entireMessiah oratorio?A) 24B) 47C) 71

2) Which o the ollowing is nota dance in Te Nutcracker?

A) SpanishB) ArabianC) Indian

3) Te Messiah is an exceptionto the traditional denition o

oratorio because it has no _____.A) spoken narrative or dialogueB) plot or charactersC) acts or scenes

4) Which character dances withthe Nutcracker Prince in the Pas de

Deux?A) Te Snow QueenB) Te Sugar Plum FairyC) Clara

5) In which city, in 1742, did TeMessiah premiere?

A) DresdenB) DublinC) London

6) Which Readeremployeeplayed Drosselmeyer in Ballet

Quad Cities 2006 Nutcracker?A) odd McGreevyB) Je IgnatiusC) Mike Schulz

Handels Te Messiah will beperormed at Augustana CollegesCentennial Hall at 8 p.m. onDecember 11, and 2 p.m. onDecember 12. ickets range rom$16 to $20, and are available bycalling the Augustana box oceat (309)794-7306 or visiting

Augustana.edu/tickets.Perormances o Ballet Quad

Cities Te Nutcrackerwill takeplace at the Adler Teatre at 2 and8 p.m. on December 11, and at2 p.m. on December 12. icketsare $8 to $25, with ages our andunder ree, and can be reservedby calling (800)745-3000 or

visiting BalletQuadCities.com orAdlerTeatre.com.

.

Answers:1A,2C,3B,4B,5B,6C.Didyougetthatlastoneright?Youdid?Aw,howsweetofyoutoremember!

George

Frideric Handel

Ballet Quad Cities

The Nutcracker


13/24


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ition!by Mike Schulz

[email protected]

Continued On Page 17

What ElseIs HappeninMUSIC

Thursda, December 9 Christmas at

the Speakeas. Holiday cabaret performance

with the Circa 21 Bootleggers and cast

members from the theatres production of

Plaid Tidings. The Circa 21 Speakeasy (1818

Third Avenue, Rock Island). 7 p.m. $10. For

tickets and information, call (309)786-7733

extension 2 or visit Circa21.com.

Friday, December 10 A Christmas

Celebration with Rachel West Kramer.Holiday concert with Midwestern Christian

artist and special guest Jairo Aryizu. Orpheum

Theatre (57 South Kellogg Street, Galesburg).

7 p.m. $11-15. For tickets and inormation, call

(309)342-2299 or visit TheOrpheum.org.

Friday, December 10 Crystal Gayle.

Christmas concert with the Grammy Award-

winning country-pop singer. Riverside

Casino & Gol Resort (3184 Highway 22,

Riverside). 8 p.m. $25-35. For tickets and

inormation, call (877)677-3456 or visit

RiversideCasinoAndResort.com.

Saturday, December 11 An Old-Fashioned Christmas. Holiday concert

eaturing perormances by the Davenport

Chordbusters, Choir Boys, the Second Baptist

Church Brotherhood Male Chorus, Davenport

North High Scho ol Chamber Singers, A

Touch o Fun, and Possible Side Eects.

Second Baptist Church (919 Sixth Avenue,

Rock Island). 2 p.m. $5, ages 12 and under ree.

For inormation, call (563)332-4810.

Sunday, December 12 Quad City Wind

Ensemble Holiday Chamber Music Concert.

Featuring a variety o Christmastime and

classical pieces including combinations

or woodwinds, brass, and the organ with

ne I made up to throw you o track:) Five Card Murder) Double Wider: Murder at the Chitlinounty Fair

) Flemm Hockin) Jack OHarts) Ma Banks) Mike the Mark) Mo Ron) Pastor Prime) Pooter Ann) Ruby Redd

eservations to Five Card Murdercane made by calling (563)344-9187,ckets to Double Wider: Murder at thehitlin County Fairare available byalling (563)359-1607, and inormationn both shows can be ound atsAMysteryQC.com.

TheatreA Christmas StoryDavenport Junior Theatre

Saturday, December 11, through Sunday, December 19

For this years annual holiday presentation,Davenport Junior Teatre is producing the

stage adaptation oA Christmas Story, the modernlm classic about a boy, his amily, and his quest

to secure an ocial Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rie with a compass in thestock and this thing which tells time. O course,

thats a rather long-winded description o the plot.I probably couldve just written A Zeppeli-i-in!!!and memories o the movie wouldve come oodingback to you.

As thats my absolute avorite line o ChristmasStory dialogue, Im hoping that this student-perormed take on the tale, directed by JessicaSheridan, will nd room or it in the shows hour-long running length. But i not, there are dozensupon dozens o other unorgettable quotes thatll nodoubt be included. Prep yoursel or Junior Teatres

Christmas-themed amily un running December11 through 19 by matching the memorableChristmas Story line with the character who says it.

. concert co-sponsored by

ast Orange, New Jersey, and

n Rock, and DJ Kay Gee, thell headline an event that nds

the Quad-City imes/United, and that will showcasealbums as Iicons, Povertys

s sel-titled 1991 debut.rly amiliar with Naughty by.P.P. which sampled the

ound crossover success on theell do you know the rest o thelling in the blanks on these

g titles.

1) _____ Anthem

A) Downtown

B) UptownC) Jersey

2) Feel Me _____A) Flow

B) RightC) Please

3) _____ All by My LonelyA) ImB) Stuck

C) Dirt

4) Mourn You il I _____ You

A) Join

B) LeaveC) See

5) Written on Ya _____A) Mind

B) SoulC) Kitten

Tickets to Naughty by Natures RIBCO concert are $20 inadvance and $25 on the day of the show, and more information

is available by calling (309)793-4060 or visiting RIBCO.com.

Answers:1B,C,H;2A,E,F,G.DisthenameImadeup...orrather,thenamegiventomebymy

poker-playingfriends.Tebastards

Answers:1D,2F,3E,4B,5C,6G,7A.Letsassumethatlastonewont

beheardinJuniorTeatresversion.

1) Icicles have been known to killpeople!2) Cry! Cry or me, crybaby! Cry!!!3) C-plus! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!4) Meat loa, smeat loa, double beet loa. I hate meat loa!5) NADDA FINGA!!!6) Youll shoot your eye out, kid!7) Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son o a bitch!

A Christmas Story will perormed on Saturdays at 1 and 4p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., tickets are $5 or ages three andolder, and more inormation is available by calling (563)326-

7862 or visiting D avenportJuniorTeatre.com.

Answers:1B,2A,3C,4A,5C.Poorkitten.

A) Ralphie ParkerB) Randy Parker

C) Mr. ParkerD) Mrs. ParkerE) Ms. Shields

F) Scut FarkusG) Santa Claus


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Tickets: www.augustana.edu/tickets

or call the ticket ofce at309.794.7306

Opera@Augustana presents

Truce o Carols

Libretto and music by Michael Taylor

November 19, 20 & 21 at 8 p.m.

Tickets: $10$12

Christmas at Augustana

Ensembles include the Augustana Choir,

Augustana Brass Ensemble, Augustana

Symphony Orchestra, Cantilena

Augustana, Jenny Lind Vocal Ensemble

and Wennerberg Mens Chorus.

December 3 at 8 p.m. and

December 4 at 4 p.m.

Tickets: $15$20

Handel Oratorio Society

presentsMessiah



Tickets: $16$20

Augustana Chamber Singers

present Lessons and Carols

December 16 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Event is free and open to the public.

Celebration oChristmas 2010


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and trivial in the grand scheme o things leaves me wanting a better sequel.

Recruiting assassins is a surprisingly unnew single-player eature. When you savecertain city dwellers rom oppression, theydedicate their lives to serve you. You cansend them away on jobs to earn money andgrow stronger, or call them into your battlesas backup or distractions. Its addictivewatching them progress into ull-edged

assassins, but this once again can makebattles too easy. I can accept that thesechanges help make stealth assassinationsmore strategic, but I dont think the idea wasully eshed out beore integration.

Multiplayer mode is undoubtedly thestandout here. Up to eight players select acharacter and get placed in a small sectiono a crowded city, each with a contract tokill one o the other players. Instead o arandom massacre like shooter games, youonly earn points by killing your target or

escaping your pursuer(s). It quickly turnsinto a psychological game, trying to seethrough your targets tricks while attemptingto remain incognito to both predator andprey. Its nerve-wracking and amazingly unbecause o it. With updates coming in team-play variants and maps as ree downloads,its going to have my attention or some time.

Once again Im le anticipating what willhappen next in this ranchise whetherthe developers will bring the story back upto earlier standards, or i my interest in thenarrative is going to get assassinated by my

desire to hunt down riends and strangersonline.Surprisingly, Ithink I wouldbe ne witheither result.

Need or Speed:Hot Puruit isnow availableon PlayStation3 and Xbox 360

for $59.99, andWii for $49.99.

For this review, the author played in multipleraces on both the racer and police sides, andcompeted in and recommended races in

Autolog.

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood is nowavailable on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for$59.99 for the regular edition and $99.99 forthe collectors edition with bonus content. Forthis review, the author completed the storyand played dozens of multiplayer matches.

Luke Hamilton is a buyer, creative designer,and online coordinator for Video Games Etc.

Need for Speed: HotPursuit

Im not a an o racing games, as they tendto be ar too similar to each other. Onlythe Burnoutseries caught my attention,

primally satisying in its exhilarating actionwith a ocus on wrecking other racersand events designed to cause as muchdestruction as possible. So when I saw that

the developers oBurnoutwere making thisyears Need for Speedtitle with a cops-versus-racers theme, I salivated like Pavlovs dog.While not as chaos-oriented as Burnout,Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit(on Xbox 360,PlayStation 3, and Wii) is still a wickedly unexperience.

You can reely switch between events suchas races, new-car previews, and escapingthe uzz, or jump into the squad car andtake down racersuspects one-on-one or as a group,or rush acrosstown to street-racing busts. Asyou progress,equipment startsplaying a rolein the orm ospike strips andelectromagnetic-pulse charges totake other cars out. For racers, the intensityhits a climax when police helicopters are

called in, keeping pace with your car anddumping panic-inducing spike strips everyso oen, ollowed by police barricades youllneed to avoid to survive.

Te same extreme matches can be setup online, with up to our racers and ourocers or some crazy team-based racingand smashing. All o these events carryleaderboards or bragging rights againstyour riends and grant Bounty points toreward players with ast new toys, ofineand online alike. Every event eatures high-octane action blazing across highways, as

you narrowly avoid trac and make sharpturns at breakneck speeds, all while tryingto make your opponents crash in stunningways.

Te Autolog system introduced in HotPursuitis a simple concept with big results.Its basically a more in-depth leaderboardwithin the game, allowing you to comparestats only with riends rather than everyoneworldwide. You can see how theyve done inraces and what cars theyve done best with.You also receive instant updates anytime

someone has surpassed your personalbest in an event. Race challenges can berecommended to riends, the system will

Grace f the Chase andthe Thrill f the KillNeed for Speed: Hot PursuitandAssassins Creed: Brotherhood

recommend new riends with similar racingtastes, and you can take and share ashyracing pictures. It brings comrades andcompetitors together like peas in a pod.

Its not a simulator like the Gran urismoand Forza series, in which upgrading partsand delicate touches matter; its mindless,arcade-style jump-in-and-drive racing at itsbest. Hot Pursuitcreates amazing excitementthat makes you eager to put the pedal to the

metal.

Assassins Creed:Brotherhood

Ive had quite the love or theAssassinsCreedseries (on PlayStation 3 and Xbox360), but the hype surrounding theintroduction o multiplayer modes onBrotherhood, the new installment, had me

worried thesolo story modemight become

second-ddle.My ears wererealized, butbecause themultiplayereaturessome o thetensest playingIve everexperienced,Im willing to

give the overall package a pass.Picking up at the closing moments o

Assassins Creed II(read my reviewat RCReader.com/y/creed),protagonist Ezioreturns victoriousto his villa, onlyto come underattack rom a newenemy that veryevening. With hishome destroyed,

allies dispersed,and equipment lost, Ezio begins picking upthe pieces in the heart o Rome and buildinga brotherhood o assassins.

Single-player gameplay remains largelyunchanged rom the last episode. Combathas a minor upgrade in execution streaksin which Ezio can take out many combatantsat a much aster pace. It comes o as tooeasy at times but still looks exciting. Telarger city o Rome gets the same detailedart-design treatment as the previous game,with historic landmarks and architecture. Its

still a lot o un to mess around in the city,but the lackluster story largely orgettable

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

by Luke Hamilton

[email protected]


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assistant working with students, who is theartist? LeWitt likened his wall drawings

to the plans o an architect, reminding usthat we dont requirethe architect to laythe bricks.

But thatcomparison doesntsatisactorily answerall the questionsraised by theseworks. Is talentor drawing skillirrelevant? Canthe re-drawn WallDrawing #405 trulybe the originalartwork? Iowerhas no narrativeand isnt meantto generate anemotional reaction,how are we torespond to it?

In many ways, anywork that promptssuch questions

that challengesus, that orces usto rethink basicconceptions iscertainly art. Maybeeven great art. Inthis digital age withnew considerationso appropriation,duplication odigital imagesthat are trulyindistinguishablerom the original,and tools thatmake drawingskills a moot point,such questioningbecomes even morepertinent.

Tough thesculpture anddrawings relate tothe architecturalorms o the

RiverCenter, thepresent location o

the owerand the wall drawing is a clearimprovement over their original site. Tesculpture no longer seems crowded bysurrounding buildings, and the view othe interior drawing is outstanding. Teminimalist exterior and interior o the Figgework beautiully with both pieces. And,

importantly, they still make us think.

Bruce Walters is a professor of art atWestern Illinois University.

I

n 1984, a site-specic sculpture by theinternationally renowned artist Sol

LeWitt (1928-2007) was installed nearthe south entranceo the RiverCenteron Tird Street inDavenport. itledsimplyower,this sculpture wasmade o our 21-oot-tall slabs oconcrete bolted to aramework o steelI-beams. Tese slabs,made o crushedmarble and silica,were cast using morethan a hal-mile oStyrooam strips.

Additional worksby LeWitt, WallDrawing #405 andwo Wall Drawings,were also installed inthe centers atrium atthis time. LongtimeLeWitt assistant

Anthony Sansottaworked with areaart students to makethese 18-oot-longdrawings. In all,roughly 30 QuadCitians helped withthe installations including artstudents, plasterers,carpenters,painters, cementnishers, laborers,iron workers,crane operators,truck drivers, andelectricians.

Dont look orthese works atthe RiverCenter,however. owerwas moved to theFigge Art Museumsplaza in October2004. Te original

wall drawings wereremoved rom theRiverCenter, and Wall Drawing #405 wasredrawn inside the Figge at the top othe stairway leading to the second-oorgalleries. LeWitt claimed this new drawingis not a re-creation but is still the originalartwork. He regarded his wall drawingsas impermanent and repeatable. And hiswork is intentionally unemotional.

Tese works are striking evenaesthetically beautiul objects. Yet alsoproblematic. I instructions are given to an

Art in Plain Sight: Sl LeWitt Wrks

by Bruce Walters

Photos by Bruce Walters


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a reception ollowing the concert. St. Johns

Lutheran Church (1450 30th Avenue, East

Moline). 3 p.m. $5/adults, students ree. For

inormation, call (309)507-2971 or visit Quad-

City-Wind-Ensemble.webs.com.

Wednesday, December 15 Kenny G.

Legendary soprano-saxophone stylist in

his 2010 Holiday Show.Adler Theatre (136

East Third Street, Davenport). 7:30 p.m. $44-

64. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 or visit

AdlerTheatre.com.

Thursda, December 1 Lessns &

Carls.The Augustana Chamber Singers

and Campus Ministries present the story o

Christs birth in readings and song. AugustanaColleges Ascension Chapel (3701 Seventh

Avenue, Rock Island). 4 and 8 p.m. Free

admission. For inormation, call (309)794-7473.

Friday, December 17 Rehab. American

Southern rockers in concert, with opener Curb

Service. Rock Island Brewing Company (1815

Second Avenue, Rock Island). 9 p.m. $16-22.

For inormation, call (309)793-4060 or visit

RIBCO.com.

Friday, December 17, and Saturday,

December 18 A Nova Christmas.Holiday

concert with the acclaimed vocal ensemble

the Nova Singers. Friday St. Paul Lutheran

Church (2136 Brady Street, Davenport).

Saturday First Lutheran Church (364 East

Water Street, Galesburg). 7:30 p.m. $10-15. For

tickets and inormation, call (309)341-7038 or

visit NovaSingers.com.

Sunda, December 19 Thelnius

Assault. Six-piece ensemble perorms and

educates as part o PolyrhythmsThird Sunday

Jazz Matinee Workshop Series. The Redstone

Room (129 main Street, Davenport). 3 p.m.

all-ages workshop $5/adult, children

ree; 6 p.m. concert $10-$15. For tickets

and inormation, call (309)373-0790 or visit

Polyrhythms.org and RedstoneRoom.com.

THEATREThursday, December 10, through

Sunday, December 19 The Gift of the Magi.

Musical adaptation o O. Henrys holiday-

themed short story, presented by New Ground

Theatre, directed by Lora Adams. Village

Theatre (2113 East 11th Street, Village o East

Davenport). Thursday through Saturday and

Tuesday 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, December 12

2 p.m.; Sunday, December 19 2:30 p.m. For


visit NewGroundTheatre.org.Sunday, December 19 Sisters Christmas

Catechism. Holiday comedy and audience

interaction by the creators o Late Night

Catechism. Orpheum Theatre (57 South

Kellogg Street, Galesburg). 2 p.m. $18-28. For


visit TheOrpheum.org.

COMEDYThursday, December 30 Jef Dunham.

Comedian and master ventriloquist in

his Identity Crisis Tour 2010.i wireless

Center (1201 River Drive, Moline). 8 p.m.

$48. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 or visitiwirelessCenter.com.

What ElseIs Happenin

Continued from Page 13

youre being blown o, there is that slimchance that a woman accidentally erased your

message. I shes just ambivalent, and you gether on the phone, you might charm her intogoing out with you again. (Its a lot easier to

delete a guy than say no to him.)Never ask a girl out by voicemail. I getting

her on the line seems impossible, only leave a

message asking her to call you, not asking herout. Its a small distinction, but no response toHey, call me! allows your ego to maintain

the ction that she just didnt call you backwhile no response to a dinner invitation prettymuch spells it out: Teres no amount o back

hair you can shave or ree let mignon youcan oer her to ever get her to go out with youagain.

Got A Problem? Ask Amy Alkon.171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405

or e-mail [email protected] (AdviceGoddess.com)2009, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved.

Askthe Advice GoddessBy AMy ALKoN

Askthe Advice GoddessAskthe Advice GoddessBy AMy ALKoN

yu Tech M Breath Awao waiting or that chance meeting, you haveincrease-your-chances meetings. With a ewkeystrokes, you can connect with countless

people you probably never wouldve met, andselect or the right religious belies, smokinghabits, and/or weird sex habits instead o

spending hours trying to tease the answers outo some guy in a bar.

Where people go wrong is in turning whatshould actually be called online meeting intoonline dating. Te same woman whod go homewith a near stranger she met in a bar will spend

weeks e-mailing a guy to assess how good hisgrammar is beore shell eel sae enough tomeet him. Shell tell hersel shes vetting the

guy, but what shes probably doing is gettingattached not to the actual guy, but her idea othe guy, and maybe how smart and unny she is

when shes talking to him. Investing all this timeand emotion can make it somewhat devastating

when she nally meets the guy and nds thathe looks wrong, talks wrong, dresses wrong,and smells like rotting liver.

So, sure, there are pitalls in online dating,

but it can be a great tool i you use it wisely.And when you say it seems unnatural, its truethat there was no DragMeByTeHair.com in

the Stone Age, but humans have always tried tond partners using the best resources at hand.Go into that painted cave in Lascaux with the

right archeologist, and see i that wall doesntjust read Single, hairy club-dragger seekssturdy woman or long walks on what will one

day become the French Riviera... .

Ive had some good experiences with

online dating, but I just cant get over this

eeling that it just isnt natural or sexy.

Clicking or Love

People romanticize chance meetings over

highly calculated search algorithms. Teyswoon telling the story, I I hadnt lled in

or the night nurse the evening he lopped ohis thumb... , as opposed to I I hadnt typed16 very specic terms into a search engineon one o the ve online dating sites I have a

membership to... .People also love the idea o the one that

one special someone theyre supposedly

ated to be with. In online dating, youretrying to weed that special someone out o aeld o thousands o other potential special

someones making the process eel about asromantic as a livestock auction. And while the

stigma ormerly attached to Internet dating islargely gone, what it still lacks is any plausibledeniability about ones intentions. In a bar, youcould be there to grab a beer, but theres no

pretending you posted your prole becauseyou were thirsty. In act, you might as wellstand in the center o town shouting, Hi, Im

alone! Heres how I look! Any takers? Yoo-hoo,anyone out there?

In addition to the weirdness o posting your

ace on an enormous bulletin board to see ianyone might end up loving you, theres theweirdness o shopping or the love o your lie

in between bidding on a used tennis racketon eBay. But with Internet dating, instead

Im sick o leaving a message asking

a woman out and getting no response.

Most recently, this happened when I lef a

voicemail or a woman whod verbally agreed

to another date. Instead o no reply, Id even

preer a lame excuse, like Hey, in the two

days since our date, I met the love o my lie

and dont want to lead you on.

On Hold

Its called the chase, not the call once andleave a message, then give up. I youre like alot o guys, you ask girls out by phone message

as a way o avoiding rejection. Unortunately,you wont avoid rejection this way; youll justavoid hearing it and knowing you can move

on. And while no response probably means

Deleting Him on


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Continued From Page 6

utilities add uoride to the water to reachan optimal level o 1.0 milligrams perliter, with the typical target range between

0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter. Te ederalEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)has set uorides maximum contaminant

level at 4.0 milligrams per liter.Oddly, theres no local control over

uoridation in the Quad Cities. In Illinois,thats a unction o state law. But in Iowa,

the situation is bizarre: Municipalities claimthey have no jurisdict ion over uoridationand apparently havent asked or uoridated

water in decades, yet Iowa American Water

representatives said the company letscommunities decide whether they want

uoridation. (See the sidebar Te StrangeCase o Fluoridation in the Iowa QuadCities.)

Ringing EndorsementsTe rst hurdle Connett needs to

overcome is the widespread and intuitive

belie that uoridation is good. Te generalpublic understands that uoride helpsreduce tooth decay, so adding uoride to

the water supply seems like a no-brainer.Tat thinking is shaped by the dental and

public-health establishments.Te American Dental Association

(ADA), on its Fluoride & FluoridationWeb page (ADA.org/uoride.aspx), makesthe ollowing claims about uoridation:

Community water uoridation is thesingle most eective public-healthmeasure to prevent tooth decay. ... Studies

conducted throughout the past 65 yearshave consistently shown that uoridationo community water supplies is sae and

eective in preventing dental decay in bothchildren and adults. ... oday, studies prove

First, do no harm. Te authors emphasize

the important dierence between the

possible health eects caused byuorideand those caused byuoridation. Tere isno doubt at all about the ormer; the debate

rages over the latter.Underlying the last t

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