ISSUE 326 February 2024
A L W A Y S
F R E E
TA K E O N E !
PLUS!
A test of Iowa’s protest laws REVIEWS: New Taste of India, Basic Bird The Blind Boys of Alabama Ramona and the Sometimes DEAR KIKI: Perks and pitfalls of endless love
he in t s r ence e g n l u n d . 24 si d ual In vine. P n a t di nts erpe om i a S f P reed o s er sf Sist giou reli make
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6 From the Newsletter 8 Ad Index 12 Interactions 17 Fully Booked 18 Contact Buzz 20 Tara McGovern 24 Sistory 28 Q&A with Saint Suzie 30 Bread & Butter: New Taste of India 32 Bread & Butter: Basic Bird 34
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A-List: Catan
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Events Calendar
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Dear Kiki
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Astrology
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Local album reviews
61 Local book reviews
Jim Herrington
63 Crossword
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A Protest in Iowa City
Artist and teacher Tara McGovern will defend their rights in court.
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EDITORIAL
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Issue 326
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February 2024
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Avery Gregurich is a writer living
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February Contributors
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music and film.
Avery Gregurich, Ben Smasher, Benjamin
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From the Newsletter Four of the top stories featured last month in the LV Daily, Little Village’s weekday afternoon email written by Paul Brennan. Subscribe at littlevillagemag.com/subscribe
The Kum & Go name will go with rebrand, new Utah-based owners decide (Jan. 9) By the time this year is over, Kum & Go will have gone. The stores will remain, but the iconic Iowa name and branding “will disappear by 2025,” CSP Daily News reported on Monday. Maverik, a Utah-based convenience store company, purchased Kum & Go from Iowa’s Krause Group in August, originally with a promise to maintain the iconic branding.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds proposes special education changes, income tax cuts in Condition of the State speech (Jan. 10) Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday she plans to continue work this year on cutting taxes and consolidating and reorganizing Iowa’s state government systems with a focus on special education, boards and commissions and mental health care providers. Reynolds began her speech with a moment of silence for the victims and families of last week’s Perry High School shooting.
After being repeatedly denied press credentials by the Iowa House of Representatives, journalist Laura Belin files a federal lawsuit (Jan. 19) Laura Belin, one of Iowa’s leading political journalists, has filed a federal lawsuit after being denied press credentials by the Iowa House of Representatives for the sixth year in a row. She is being represented by the nonprofit Institute for Free Speech. (Update: On Jan. 24, Belin’s credentials were approved by the chief clerk of the House.)
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: London, England-based artist Nabihah Iqbal performs at xBk Live in Des Moines on Monday, Jan. 22. They shared the bill with hometown alt-rock group Annalibera. Photos by Sid Peterson
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IS 2024 THE YEAR THAT YOU WILL DISCOVER YOUR POTENTIAL, DEVELOP ESSENTIAL SKILLS, AND UNLOCK NEW OPPORTUNITIES? Project Iowa offers transformational programming for individuals that are looking to grow personally and professionally. Our holistic training approach connects individuals to their purpose and meaningful, stable employment.
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THANK YOU TO THIS ISSUE’S ADVERTISING PARTNERS This issue of Little Village is supported by: Adamantine Spine Moving (57) Arnott & Kirk (25) Baker Paper Company (19) Ballet Des Moines (42) Broadlawns Medical Center (37) Bur Oak Land Trust (7) Catch Des Moines (15) Cedar Rapids Opera (21) CommUnity Crisis Services (45) Coralville Center for the Performing Arts (45) Coralville Public Library (60) Des Moines Art Center (37) Des Moines Metro Opera (39) Des Moines Performing Arts (49) Des Moines Playhouse (53) Des Moines Symphony (9) Farm to Film Fest (56) FilmScene (35) Full Court Press (18, 51) Goodfellow Printing, Inc. (12) Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens (9) Grinnell College Museum of Art (33) Hancher Auditorium (2, 4, 36-37)
Historic Valley Junction (39) Hive Collective (55) Independent Cedar Rapids (4647) - NewBoCo - Goldfinch Cyclery - Next Page Books - Cobble Hill - The Daisy Independent Downtown Iowa City (10-11) - Release Body Modification - The Green House - Harry’s Bar & Grill - Merge - Mailboxes of Iowa City - Critical Hit Games - Beadology - Record Collector - Yotopia - Revival - Prairie Lights Bookstore & Cafe - Hot Spot Tattoo & Piercing Independent Highland Park/Oak Park Neighborhood (44-45) - Des Moines Mercantile - The Collective
- The Slow Down Independent Northside Marketplace (26-27) - George’s - Oasis Street Food - Pagliai’s - John’s Grocery - Marco’s Grilled Cheese - R.S.V.P. - Dodge St. Tire - Artifacts Indian Creek Nature Center (33) Iowa City Communications (7) Iowa City Community Theatre (56) Iowa Department of Public Health (21) Jethro’s BBQ (58) Kim Schillig, REALTOR (16) Martin Construction (9) Micky’s Irish Pub (19) Mission Creek Festival (52) Musician’s Pro Shop (12) New Pioneer Food Co-op (62) Nodo (19) Optimae Home Health Services (24)
Orchestra Iowa (47) Orchestrate Hospitality (54) Phoebe Martin, REALTOR (22) Polk County Conservation (31) Primary Health Care (63) Project Iowa (7) Public Space One (38) Raygun (15) Resilient Sustainable Future Iowa City (54) Riverside Theatre (25) Science Center of Iowa (31) Shakespeare’s Pub & Grill (15) Sierra Club (64) Splash Seafood Bar & Grill (7) Table to Table (55) The Club Car (15) The Wedge Pizzeria (12) Theatre Cedar Rapids (8) Varsity Cinema (29) Vino Vérité (19) Wig & Pen (57) Wildwood Saloon (22) Willow & Stock (31) xBk (56)
“Dear Kiki, I want to fall in love forever. I never want to stop experiencing the rush of new love, and why should I?” Read the answer on pg. 55
Submit. You’ll love it.
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DISCOVER GERSHWIN SAT MAR 9 7:30PM / SUN MAR 10 2:30PM / CIVIC CENTER AWARD-WINNING PIANIST MICHELLE CANN MAKES HER DES MOINES DEBUT CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF GERSHWIN’S ICONIC RHAPSODY IN BLUE. Joseph Giunta, conducting Michelle Cann, piano Carlos SIMON Amen! GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue FRANCK Symphony in D Minor TICKETS $15+ DMSYMPHONY.ORG/GERSHWIN
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Letters & Interactions LV encourages community members, including candidates for office, to submit letters to Editor@LittleVillageMag.com. To be considered for print publication, letters should be under 500 words. Preference is given to letters that have not been published elsewhere. Iowa’s loose-meat sandwiches go by several names (just don’t use the wrong one) (Jan. 5)
Ask Joey Chestnut. The world champion ate 28.5 of the monster sandwiches. Come down to Ottumwa and try one. —Dennis T.
Potlucks beware! —Bret J.S.
It’s called a Messy Jeff. —Eric B.
Maid-Rites =\= Taverns. They are 2 completely different flavors. No comparison. —Jeneane O.
The Kum & Go name will go with rebrand, new Utah-based owners decide (Jan. 9)
There’s only a few things that will trigger an Iowan, tenderloins and Maid-Rites are 2 of them. A Maid-Rite is a Maid-Rite and Indiana tenderloins are trash. Iowa has the only tenderloins that matter. Hawkeyes or Cyclones? —Dave B. The Canteen Lunch makes the best loose meat canteen sandwich in Ottumwa, Iowa!!
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“If you’re growing cross-regionally, which brand do you think will have more appeal to a new audience: Maverik or Kum & Go?” one of them said. “No disrespect to Kum & Go, but the answer is pretty clear.” Kum & Go has more appeal you ding dongs. The double entendre is why everyone loves it. —Kelly H. We’ll be calling it Kum and Go for the next 20 years no matter what they call it next. —Randy P.
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HAVE AN OPINION? Better write about it! Send letters to: Editor@LittleVillageMag.com New for 2025, Iowa’s newest convenience store phenomenon: Spooge and Split. Sources tell us that the name Ejaculate and Evacuate was also considered, but executive leadership believed that the shorter Spooge and Split was enough of a mouthful already. —Erin M. Splash & Dash. —David H. So does that mean the Kum n’ Go name will be up for grabs? —Ofer S. Bill Krause and Tony Gentle created the Kum & Go Convenient Stores, which once was the Hampton Oil Company. I designed the Kum & Go logo when I worked as the Krause Gentle company artist in Hampton, Iowa. KG is the inspiration of the name “Kum & Go.” Amen!!! —Michael P. Letter to the editor: By rezoning the old Kirkwood campus, Iowa City is turning their backs on Southeast District residents (Jan. 16) As a long-time SE resident, I had no idea
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 13
V I L L AG E
C R I E R
Christopher Harris, an associate professor in the University of Iowa’s cinema arts department, is one of 69 artists and two collectives to make the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 2024 Whitney Biennial list. The 81st survey of the U.S. art scene is titled “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” and includes an expanded film section—screenings won’t just be held at the Whitney in New York City this year, but online as well starting in late March.
Author and University of Iowa creative writing professor Kerry Howley’s 2023 book Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. The winner will be announced on March 21.
Read Little Village’s review
From Pete McCarthy: Regarding the Iowa Pork Producers TASTE Chef Competition that was held in Des Moines on Monday, Jan. 22. Wildwood Chef’s Paul McDermott and Beau Ketchem won the Media’s Choice Award. “It was definitely an upset! They were competing against some top tier restaurants in Des Moines. Was pretty cool to represent Iowa City and come home with a plaque.” Romeo Oriogun, youth programs coordinator in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, is a finalist for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards for his whose poetry collection The Gathering of Bastards.
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Froggy is a pocket pitty: small, sweet and squiggly. A people person who follows his nose, this 10-monthold should be a cinch to train and socialize -- he may even help you make friends. Could Froggy be the frog to your toad? Hop over to the Iowa City Animal Center and see: icanimalcenter.org. Send your personals for consideration to editor@littlevillagemag.com with subject line “Personals.” 14 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
I N T E R AC T I O N S
LittleVillage
READER POLL What animal phallus gives you the envy?
Sea slug (regenerates)
20%
Sea turtle (four-pronged)
10%
Argentine lake duck (spiral)
15%
Argonaut octopus (detachable)
55%
Percentage of 20 total votes
this is what was being attempted in our area. VILE. —Wendy D. So we can’t have zoning for coffee shops and corner stores in neighborhoods but corporations can come in and spew chemicals on us. Cool cool cool. —Jayne Ralston Creek already smells like shampoo when it rains heavily or when the snow melts. Who knows what else is being let into the water system from these manufacturers. —Ben C. Surely preventing P&G from spewing chemicals can be done independently of zoning permits? Why conflate the two issues? —Astar ‘Buy larger tractors’: Donald Trump says goodbye to Iowa after a sweeping win in the Republican caucus (Jan. 17) Xi Jinping knows more about Iowa and farmers than Trump does lol. —W.B.
WE HAVE THE “WHERE?!” FOR EVERY “WHAAAT!” catchdesmoines.com/desbest
Yeah, farmer here. Trump’s trade wars killed grain markets in the US during his Presidency but somehow magically that was just “market forces at work.” Yeah, market forces due to a moron in the White House pissing off the two biggest customers for American ag products, China and Mexico, to score points with the morons who can’t grasp that we live in a global economy whether they like it or not. Agriculture provides America’s number one export by a huge margin and those markets should be carefully and skillfully curated with the best interest of the American economy in mind. Now here comes the business majors with their “we are a service economy and that’s all we should worry about” bullshit. —O.B.B.
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I N T E R AC T I O N S Half of what was it, 15% of the Republican voters that turned out for the caucus. You know, the ones that were instructed by their leader to get out and vote even if they die. —D.W. Are you fucking kidding me? Any Iowan who doesn’t find that insultingly stupid is either a liar or a bootlicker. I know people who’d drag them by the end of their truck nuts over that shit. —Jandros Q. Letter from Laura Bergus and V FixmerOraiz: It’s time we talked about authoritarianism in Iowa (Jan. 18) When Reynolds breaks the law and Rob Sand faces consequences for it: authoritarianism. —H.F. Bill to remove protection against gender identity discrimination from Iowa Civil Rights Act gets a scheduled hearing (Jan. 26) Hilariously dumb. It’s also against the Civil Rights Act to discriminate against people on the basis of disability. Legally defining trans people as disabled just shifts what section of the law they’re protected by. —Cristal M. It will require them to get a diagnosis of gender dysphoria to join the protected class. Many trans people don’t have access to health care or would find it insulting to have to get this diagnosis. —Xipher T. Limited government *terms and conditions apply. —Aurora C.
SCOTT HANSEN CORRECTION! Little Village miscredited January comic artist Scott Hansen for his work on pg. 25 of issue #325, shown here. 16 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
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Velvety voices and vivid scenes
E
very night for the past eight years, sometime between 8:30 and 10 p.m., my child has had the comforting voices of myself or his father lull him to sleep with a great story. I need that comfort, too, and I get it from my beloved audiobook narrators. They bring fiction to life, stories floating in my reverie as my consciousness slips into dreaming. When the lights are out and my eyes are closed, my imagination awakens and erases the stressors of the day. It’s just me, the author and the voice. Great narrators immerse you completely in a book, making you forget that anything matters besides the characters and the plot. Recently I found myself listening to Julia Whelan’s Thank You for Listening, a novel in which an audiobook narrator meets her equal in a bar. They both don dramatized personas and accents, thinking they’ll never see each other again. Whelan herself is an audiobook narrator and performed each voice in the story, and despite knowing that Whelan voiced both the man and woman in the scene, my mind saw the table, the drinks, and the couple each as living elements in the bar. I was lost in their world—and loving it. Julia Whelan is one of my favorite audiobook narrators. In 2020, AudioFile magazine crowned Whelan with their Golden Voice Award, a lifetime achievement for the field. She’s narrated over 500 audiobooks; chances are, if you listened to books by Emily Henry, Kristin Hannah or Taylor Jenkins Reed, you’ve heard her. Her 2019 performance of Tara Westover’s Educated landed her an Audie for Best Female Narrator. Hosted by the Audio Publishers Association, the Audies are the Oscars for audiobook narrators. The 2024 Audie Gala takes place March 4 at the Avalon Hotel in Hollywood, California. Last year’s Audie for Audiobook of the Year went to Viola Davis for her self-narrated memoir, Finding Me. That audiobook also won her a Grammy, pushing her to EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). Yes! Narrators can win Grammys! Many actors-cum-authors choose to read their own memoirs—last year’s highlights include Patrick Stewart’s Making It So, Barbra Streisand’s My Name is Barbra, and Leslie Jones’s Leslie F*cking Jones. Other authors have found success drafting Oscar winners as their narrators. For this year’s Audies, I predict Audiobook of the Year will go to Michelle Williams for reading Britney Spears’s memoir The Woman in Me, or to Meryl Streep for Anne Patchett’s Tom Lake. I cannot write a love letter to audiobooks without mentioning industry heavy hitters. Scott Brick, the 2004 Golden Voice winner, has performed more than 900 audiobooks for so many bestsellers and wellknown authors. Audiobook publishers have also hired him to enliven modern classics like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep. Join me in celebrating these voices. Indulge in these performances by checking out an audiobook today through the Libby app. —Melody Dworak LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 17
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Art You Can Feel Creative activism helps all voices be heard, from the stage to the canvas. BY JOHN BUSBEE
“The power of our dreams and the creativity we employ can break the chains of injustice and oppression.” —Desmond Tutu
T
he creative soul will find ways to combat injustices, small and large. The arts can be a solace for the heart and soul, but they can also provoke righteous anger, inspire action and awaken a new way of thinking. Once in a While Productions in Des Moines, founded by talented actor and producer Emily Davis, is set to premiere its first show, Eve Ensler’s 1996 episodic play The Vagina Monologues, on Feb. 9. Much has changed in the five years since the show was last produced in Central Iowa, Davis said, in particular the overturning of Roe v. Wade. “We’re in 2024 and we’re still finding valid reasons to come back to the show,” explained director Rachel Meyer, who is trans nonbinary. “The show still speaks to us. As much as things have changed, a lot of things have stayed the same. We’re all so connected, but it feels like it’s harder than ever to truly understand what’s happening in the world. Any attempt we can to understand each other and find the truth of someone’s story is so healing and so important.” Other arts advocacy leaders in Iowa include Jill Wells, a Harkin Institute fellow and Des Moines-based multimedia artist whose murals confronting issues of race, history, accessibility and human experience have been seen—and felt—by thousands. She is midway through fundraising for a 3D, tactile mural
18 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
model designed with the disability community in mind—the first of its kind in the state of Iowa or the Midwest. Wells was recently invited to Vienna to give a U.N. presentation on her touchable works of art, from a mural in a local elementary school adorned with fabric butterflies, appealing to children with sensory sensitivities, to a intricately sculpted landscape mounted to a plaque, accompanied by a written description in braille. “What this does is it allows me to independently check out the piece, to look at it, to get from it what I perceive, so it doesn’t come from anyone else’s perspective,” Bettina Dolinsek, a blind woman and fan of Wells’ work, said in an interview with Local 5 News. “It’s my perspective.” The nonprofit ArtForce Iowa exists to create opportunities for youth to transform through art: visual, ceramic, movement, fiber, music, filmmaking, photography, theater, creative writing and more. This gives their at-risk population positive outlets to pursue through projects, monthly interactive open houses at Mainframe
Multimedia artist Jill Wells assembles pieces for her installation at Harlan’s Barbershop, September 2023. Courtney Guein / Little Village
Studios and career path exploration, all mentored by experienced artists. ArtForce has established a solid long-game approach to preparing next-generation citizens. Find your outlet, bond with a tribe, build a movement, support initiatives that resonate with you and leverage artistic expression to respond to injustices in the world. You can and should make a difference. “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world […] would do this, it would change the earth.” —William Faulkner John Busbee produces a weekly arts and culture radio show, The Culture Buzz, interviewing artists, musicians, authors and environmentalists— just to name a few.
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Community
‘A Matter of Principle’ Tara McGovern, facing jail time for protesting in Iowa City on Oct. 16, prepares for a life-changing trial. BY PAUL BRENNAN
S
ince coming to Iowa City in 1995 to attend the University of Iowa, Tara McGovern has made a name in the arts: a professional musician, well known as an accomplished fiddler, a music therapist, an arts instructor. At the same time, McGovern has also carved out a place as an activist for social justice causes, a participant in countless protests over the years and a volunteer for community and progressive political causes. And on March 12, McGovern will play a new role: defendant on trial for two charges that could result in more than a year of jail time and almost $3,500 in fines. McGovern is one of seven people charged with breaking the law during a Oct. 16 protest in front of the Iowa Memorial Union. The protest was in response to the second anti-transgender event of the year at the IMU hosted by the university’s chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) .
just some general shoving and pushing by law enforcement officers wanting people to move out of the walkway to create a lane for cars that were trying to leave the IMU [parking] ramp,” McGovern recalled. “I didn’t leave because there was no dispersal order.” McGovern was far from alone in continuing to protest. Only “tens of those [200 protesters] abided by police requests and instructions to leave the roadway and were non-confrontational,” UIPD Detective Ian Mallory wrote in his investigative report on the protest. Mallory’s report states UIPD decided to arrest McGovern and five other protesters “for their aggressive actions” that night. But reports prepared by UIPD officers on the scene only refer to McGovern as part of a group of three marchers who argued with an officer “and claimed they had rights.” In his review of police body-camera footage, Mallory said McGovern argued with a second officer and yelled at that officer for touching them. According to Mallory, it was McGovern who walked into the officer’s “outstretched arm” when refusing to obey “the command to get out of the street.” (McGovern says the officer touched them. McGovern also said they plan to
Mallory’s report states UIPD decided to arrest McGovern and five other protesters “for their aggressive actions” that night. But reports prepared by UIPD officers on the scene only refer to McGovern as part of a group of three marchers who argued with an officer “and claimed they had rights.” The University of Iowa Police Department (UIPD) expected protesters that night. The YAF event in March featuring Matt Walsh, a self-described theocratic fascist and one of the country’s leading anti-trans activists, attracted a large and vocal protest. Ahead of the YAF’s Oct. 16 event, UIPD and deputies from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department were deployed to the IMU. The police estimated about 100 people attended the YAF event, and between 200-250 showed up outside the IMU to protest. As both protesters and police agreed, after the event hundreds of protesters began marching in a loop, with a constant stream of people using the crosswalk in front of the IMU, delaying traffic. After about 20 minutes, officers moved in to clear the street. “There was no dispersal order, there was 20 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
present video footage showing this at trial.) Those are the “aggressive actions” that got them singled out from 200 other protesters for arrest. “It was a matter of wanting to be there to show people that there’s a trans community here, that we exist and that we deserve to have rights,” McGovern told Little Village. “A lot of us were frustrated that the university continues to platform this anti-trans propaganda, especially given how under attack we are in Iowa.” The Oct. 16 event came after years of Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate pushing through bills imposing new restrictions on transgender people, while state and national Republicans embrace transphobic ideologues like Matt Walsh, who calls trans people “the greatest evil our country faces.” Two days before
“I’m not comfortable with what I see as an escalation of unchecked power the police have to use against peaceful protesters,” Tara McGovern said. Sid Peterson / Little Village
the protest at the IMU, Gov. Reynolds had a professional anti-trans activist as the featured speaker at her big annual fundraiser. It’s clear from the UIPD reports the police didn’t like McGovern’s attitude. The report from an officer on the scene that mentions McGovern—“an older lady, wearing a blue stocking cap”—says that after asserting that protesters have rights, “the older lady hissed back at me to not misgender her nor talk to her and walked away from me.” In his summary of the body cam footage of McGovern’s encounter with a different officer, Mallory says it’s McGovern’s fault there was bodily contact, because they “wanted to disobey [the officer’s] commands and was walking into [his] outstretched arm. [McGovern] could have followed the command to get out of the street by turning around and leaving, rather she opted to be confrontational.” It wasn’t until mid-November, 29 days later, that the arrests began. (A seventh would be arrested in December.) Mallory reached out to McGovern by phone, but McGovern was driving when he called, and the call went to voicemail. “I’d like to discuss some things with you,” Mallory said in the voicemail McGovern played for Little Village. “I have some paperwork that I need to turn over to you.” After a brief round of phone tag, McGovern learned the paperwork was an arrest warrant and turned themself in the following morning. McGovern was released on their own recognizance.
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McGovern is charged with disorderly conduct—obstruct street/sidewalk/highway, a serious misdemeanor, and interference with official acts, a simple misdemeanor. The first carries a maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment and a $2,560 fine, the second has a maximum penalty of 30 days imprisonment and an $850 fine. “I’m 45, I’ve been protesting for a long time, so I have a general knowledge of my rights, which comes from information provided by the ACLU protesters’ rights,” McGovern said. “But it turns out the 2021 Back the Blue bill cast a shadow over what I thought I knew about my constitutional rights.” That bill was passed in response to protests in 2020 that followed the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The bill created new protest-related crimes, increased penalties for some already on the books, expanded qualified immunity for police officers and even granted some immunity for drivers who run over protesters in the street. Even before Gov. Reynolds signed it into law, critics were warning it would have a chilling effect on peaceful protests and might lead to harsher treatment of protesters. Based on decades of experience, McGovern was expecting police to issue an official dispersal order to protesters. But under current Iowa law that isn’t necessary. Anyone “who obstructs any street” without “authority or justification” can be charged with disorderly conduct. In December, Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann-Smith offered plea deals to those who were arrested for the Oct. 16 protest. In exchange for pleading guilty to the lesser charge of interference with official acts, the more serious disorderly conduct charge would be dropped. McGovern is the only one who didn’t take the deal. “I don’t want to plead guilty, because I feel I was within my constitutional rights to protest,” they said. The decision to reject a plea deal was reinforced by the rough treatment law enforcement officers used on pro-Palestinian protesters at Kinnick Stadium on Dec. 9. “I don’t think people realize that even here in Iowa City, peaceful protesters are being denied their First Amendment rights, and that peaceful protesters, in my opinion, are being targeted because of the marginalized groups that they belong to.” McGovern’s never been arrested before, and is apprehensive as the March 12 trial date approaches, but still rejects the idea of taking a deal. “It’s a matter of principle,” McGovern said.
Community
Holy Mother! Blending drag, charity and religious parody, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have blessed parades and protests around the globe for 45 years. But Pandora’s box was opened in Iowa. BY ZEPHIN LIVINGSTON & EMMA MCCLATCHEY
I
n 2014, while the marriage equality movement worked to prove just how normal and nuclear LGBTQ families could be, Des Moines-born musician Perfume Genius released “Queen,” its lyrics glamorizing age-old stereotypes of queer men: “cracked, peeling,” “wrapped in golden leaves,” “riddled with disease” and, triumphantly, “No family is safe when I sashay.” The song quickly became a Pride anthem, following a long tradition of LGBTQ art and performance poking fun at gay panic while reclaiming the words, images and symbols used to oppress those who don’t conform to a strict conservative Christian ideal. Take the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a 45-year-old group of queer and trans folks best known for dressing up as Catholic nuns, painting their faces white, adopting silly and/or self-important titles and ministering at public events and protests. “From the moment I met the Sisters,” said one member, Sister Saviour Applause, “they were fuckin’ modern-day badass drag queen superhero nuns!” The Sisters’ most recent sashay through the public eye came in May of last year, courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who announced they would honor the nonprofit with a Community Hero Award before a home game as part of the team’s Pride Night. Offended by the Sisters’ creative take on clerical dress and behavior—and empowered by a culture war painting drag artists and trans, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people as demonic and predatory—many Catholic
Emma McClatchey / Little Village
organizations and voices, like the Catholic League and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, were outraged. The Dodgers hastily rescinded the Sisters’ invitation for 2023. It all felt a little on-the-nose, banning an LGBTQ nonprofit on Pride Night, especially one with a history of using “humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit,” as the Sisters describe their mission. Other human rights groups
IOWA CHAPTERS OF THE
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Priory of the Wilde Rose Sisters (Des Moines) potwrsisters.org; potwrsisters@gmail.com Instagram: @potwr_sisters Iowa City Sisters icsisters.org; admin@icsisters.org Instagram: @iowacitysisters
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agreed—backlash from L.A. Pride, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the ACLU of Southern California, all of whom threatened to pull out of the event, convinced the Dodgers to re-extend the Sisters’ invitation. Only a few protesters bothered to show, and Pride Night went ahead as originally scheduled. While their tone is tongue-in-cheek, the Sisters are serious about activism. It takes months of meetings, service work and event attendance before a member earns a place among the order (including the right to wear the white face and habit). Many sisters are ex-Catholics or otherwise non-religious, but all beliefs, backgrounds, genders and sexualities are welcome. Members are promised community, but some sisters also find real spiritual enlightenment in this congregation of friendly jesters. “I’ve always been fascinated by this whole holiness about being queer,” Sister Tilda NextTime of San Francisco told the Smithsonian’s Folklife Magazine last year. “Our religion is basically just making people realize that you are important. You are loved and you are necessary to this world. And you should flaunt this in front of everyone.” While the Sisters were founded in San Francisco, the roots of the movement—its activist spirit, unapologetically queer attitude, even the original headwear—trace back to Iowa. Kicked out of Catholic seminary for being gay, Fred Brungard came to Iowa City as an out, ex-Catholic graduate student in the UI film program. There, he met Iowa native, anti-war activist and former Mennonite Ken Bunch, another newly out and proud gay man. During the pair’s tenure as co-chairs of the UI’s Gay Liberation Front (GLF) chapter, Pride became a regular presence on campus, from homecoming to the first Midwest Pride Conferences to film screenings of seminal ’70s queer classics Tricia’s Wedding and Pink Flamingos. When not busy with work or activism, Bunch, Brungard and their friends Sue Gilbert, Tracy
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INDEPENDENT
A photo for the San Francisco Sisters’ 1995 HallowQueen event. Sister Embellisha Helluvalotta, Sister Mystie Grey, Pope Dementia The Last, Sister Phatima La Dyke Van Dyk, Sister Penny Costal, Sister Zsa Zsa Glamour, Sister Mae B. Hostel and Sister Dana Van Iquity. Brian Ashby
Bjorgum, Michael Salinas and Lisa formed a drag troupe called the Sugar Plum Fairies. They experimented with caked-on, Cabaret-inspired makeup looks. Soon, they got in the habit of wearing habits in performances, originally acquired by Gilbert from Cedar Rapids’ Sacred Heart convent. “We performed at the few gay bars across the state of Iowa,” Bunch says in his online recounting of SPI “sistory.” “Most drag shows at the time consisted of classic diva tributes. (Diana Ross, Judy Garland, etc.) Queens weren’t ready for the iconoclasm about to engulf them! When we hit the stage doing a pom-pom routine to the U of I ‘Fight Song,’ the audience erupted into pandemonium!” Bunch moved to San Francisco’s Castro District in 1977, and Brungard followed shortly after. They found the center of U.S. gay culture beset by masculine conformity, “Castro clones” roaming the streets in jeans and muscle shirts. By 1979, Bunch was ready to shake up the neighborhood—only, he’d left all his drag in Iowa. Everything but the nun habits, at least, which he’d decided to keep on a whim. “It is amazing that history can turn on a small moment and an instant decision,” Bunch recalled in 2021. “I decided they would be the ONLY drag I would keep ‘in case one day I get bored.’” On Easter weekend of 1979, Bunch, Brungard and their friend Baruch Golden donned the habits and strolled in and around the Castro and a nearby nude beach. The reaction from the public was “electric,” Bunch said, “like someone had lit a stick of dynamite!” The genderfucking nuns reappeared at a Gay Softball League game, stealing the show with their creative cheerleading routine. Soon, the group decided to take their silly pastime a little 26 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM
more seriously. “The general consensus between us was that we should form a group, making use of the intense energy this iconic symbol seemed to evoke, not only in the general public, but also in ourselves,” said Bunch, who took the title Sister Vicious Power Hungry Bitch. “Maybe we could use this as a tool for social activism and have some fun as well.” The Sisters brightened up protests against nuclear armament, hosted a popular Bingo fundraiser for gay Cuban refugees and handed out playful and plain-speaking informational material on safe sex and STDs. In June 1982, musician Jane Dornacker and actor Shirley MacLaine teamed up with the org for an early HIV/AIDS fundraiser. The Sisters also led the first candlelight vigil for AIDS awareness in 1983, hoisting a banner that read, “Fighting for our Lives.” “We do a lot of work in the community that originally would have been done by a religious order,” Sisters member Guard HOOOO?! told Folklife. “During the AIDS crisis, so many people were being turned away by their churches, turned away by their families. They could not be open to anybody about their spirituality because they were gay. And they were excommunicated.” “It was a question of whether to ‘accept’ gay people, or whether gay people should reject their own identities in order to conform to the religious vision of what a good person looks like,” she continued. “So we presented ourselves as religious figures.” From the start, angry calls and letters to the editor have flowed in from conservative critics of the Sisters, mostly to their delight. In 1987, when Pope John Paul II visited San Francisco, the Sisters rolled out a red carpet in Union Square and held a fullon exorcism. They were proud to discover they’d made the official Papal List of Heretics. The order continued to grow, tackling a range of issues facing their queer and marginalized congregants and earning media coverage in the process. While still most active in California, the Sisters have grown to include autonomous chapters in major cities worldwide such as Montreal, Berlin, Zürich and Seccional, Colombia. Des Moines gained a chapter in 2022 called Priory of The Wilde Rose, helmed by Sister Phoebe-Milk and Sister Zan Ax. The pair are also working to establish a chapter in Iowa City, bringing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence full circle. “Our first experiences in those Iowa nuns habits in 1979 were the flame that became a roaring bonfire blazing across the world to this very day,” Bunch concludes in his sistorical record. “If only those Catholic nuns and Mother Superior in Cedar Rapids, Iowa knew what their habits had ignited!!!”
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Community
The Gospel According to Suzie An Iowa City icon, drag king and queer saint makes her confession. BY ZEPHIN LIVINGSTON
I
t’s time for Sue Gilbert to come clean. At least, that’s what she told me in an email leading up to this interview. Gilbert played a supporting role in the growth of Iowa City’s drag and Gay Pride scene in the ’70s—and, thanks to a bizarre and surely predestined string of circumstances, planted the seed for a now-global community of queer nuns. “It’s my fault,” she said. “I had to open my big mouth.” Gilbert partied, performed and organized with some of Iowa City’s first out and proud LGBTQ activists, including Ken Bunch and Tracy Bjorgum who, in 1976, became the first men in the state of Iowa to apply for a same-sex marriage license; Fred Brungard, who co-chaired the University of Iowa’s Gay Liberation Front with Bunch, hosting Pride conferences and participating in UI homecoming; and the late Rick Graf, co-founder of the Iowa Center for AIDS Resources (ICARE). As a straight woman during a time when queer identity was often ignored or condemned, Gilbert knew when to let her gay friends lead the way. But her decades-long allyship with, and contributions to, Iowa City’s LGBTQ community cannot be overlooked. Nor can her crucial role in helping outfit the original Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, founded 45 years ago by Bunch and other queer activists seeking self-expression, spiritual healing and a community of lifelong sisters. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you first come into contact with [Sisters co-founder] Ken Bunch?
Everybody kept running into each other over and over again until it all kind of coalesced. I was 15 and dating this wonderful guy named Scott who came out to me when we were 15. It didn’t throw me at all because I had been raised Catholic, and nobody had ever discussed that with us. Scotty was somebody I loved dearly, so we just kind of ignored that and continued our relationship. We got tired of all the two bars in Cedar Rapids, so we decided to go to the bars in Iowa City, where we met all the gay guys in Iowa City. Scott and I met a bunch of good folk, and we 28 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Sue Gilbert, a.k.a. Saint Suzie, a.k.a. Freddie J. Foxfire, was sainted by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for securing the original nun’s habits from her former Catholic school teacher in Cedar Rapids. (The nun assumed they’d be used as costumes for The Sound of Music.) Courtesy of Sue Gilbert
started hanging out and choreographing dances for the bar. Kenny [Bunch] said, “You realize, of course, we have a drag team here. We have the start of a drag show.” And I said, “Oh, how nice! What am I going to do?” And he said, “Well, I need a costumer, and you’ve worked your whole life in the theater, and you can do choreography. So you’re in.” Who was in that initial troupe [the Sugar Plum Fairies]? We had [future theater critic
and journalist] Michael Salinas, Michael Lisa,
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Tracy Bjorgum and Kenny Bunch. So we put this group together, and I made costumes. We choreographed a whole bunch of ridiculous numbers. Everybody in the group had theater experience, so we just performed [the singing] ourselves. We were having a wonderful time, we toured the show all around our area, and when we ran out of places to go, Kenny decided we needed to put a whole new show together and take it to Des Moines. Kenny had recently gotten addicted to Lou Reed, and so the show became the Lou Reed Wouldn’t Do This Show Revue. It was quite successful. We got booked into this brand new gay bar in Des Moines, and Kenny decided we had to do the opening song to Cabaret to open the show, but that led to an enormous problem because none of those idiots wanted to play the [male] emcee. They wanted to play the skanky chorus girls. Well, yeah of course, that’s the fun part!
Right! So I end up coming into rehearsal one day and get slammed into a chair. They’re trying clothes and makeup on me ... By the time they got done, I did not look like Joel Grey. I looked frighteningly like John Aston from The Addams Family. I told them I would do it, but that I would dress myself, thank you. So I threw together this kind of Blue Angel weird thing with tap pants and a tuxedo and a corset. How did the show do? For reasons I’ve nev-
er quite understood, the show was a monster hit. We were just flabbergasted that we kept getting called to take the show to other places. When I wasn’t actually introducing numbers for the show, I was being dragged all over the audience and sitting on people’s laps and mooching drinks and cigarettes. It finally dawned on everyone that I didn’t have a drag name. I became Freddie J. Foxfire in honor of my ex-husband. There’s still people out there in Minneapolis and Chicago and stuff who only know me as “Freddy Foxfire.” It was tremendous fun, those days … but politically, it was getting hot.
In what way? Tracy and Kenny decided to push
the state a little bit in the belly and applied for a wedding license.
What happened after that? It went from talking politics to getting very, very political, and you know Rick Graf, the name? Yes. He started ICARE [Iowa Center for AIDS Resources & Education]. He and his partner,
Don Engstrom, became kind of like the center of a group of highly political gay guys that got together to try to figure out how to make things better, particularly with AIDS flaming in those days like nobody’s business. So Rick organized ICARE, and it gave everybody a place to go and work and help. And Kenny decided that since there was a huge influx of people coming in, they’d organize the first Pride gathering. Did you help with the event at all? Because of the lesbians not wanting to have to deal with the gay guys, I wound up getting dragged into the thing a great deal more than I ever expected to. Megan Terry and the Omaha Magic Theatre were booked to come to the Pride event to perform, and they were delighted to come, thrilled to death, didn’t want anything to do with Kenny or any of the boys. So I got assigned as the Magic Theatre’s guide dog. I took them places, I helped them shop, I helped them get checked into their hotel, and I wound up spending most of the event with them. And it was a fascinating experience! Do you still attend drag shows? Oh, I love
it! It’s tremendous fun, the people are a riot, and I’ve been fascinated watching the development from our days. I’m [an] ordained minister for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and I do weddings a lot. I did a wedding for a pair of drag kings that was just brilliant. They and their entire wedding party were so cool. But anyway, the nuns’ habits, which is particularly what Kenny wants everybody to know about.
Like for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence? It’s my fault; I had to open my big
mouth. I was flipping through magazines one day trying to get ideas for stuff I could destroy and make costumes out of. And there was this old LIFE magazine. And the center foldout was this amazing black-and-white photo of a tall, skinny young man with a beard, dressed completely head-to-toe in a 16th-century nuns’ habit. And I mean dead-on right correct. Pinned correctly, veil correct. The whole thing was gorgeous. And rollerskates. I thought that was so cool! And Kenny Bunch in those days lived on rollerskates. I can’t remember a time he didn’t have rollerskates on. So one day, I took this photo to rehearsal and [showed Kenny]. He went, “Isn’t this illegal?” And I said, “To who? The Vatican? I can’t remember the last time anyone got arrested Cont.>> on pg. 58
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Bread & Butter
LV Recommends: Eastern Iowa
New Taste of India
This humble West Liberty eatery is a port in a storm. BY BEN SMASHER
M
any of us who lived in Johnson County in the ’80s and ’90s can remember Rockitz, an iconic traditional American diner right off interstate 80 by the West Liberty exit. I’m pretty sure Fonzie frequented there, or some scene of American Graffiti was shot there. The diner didn’t make it past the turn of the century and it sat empty for eighteen years. Other businesses would spring up in the neighborhood and quickly fail. I moved out to Cedar County in 2020 and my daily commute to Iowa City now takes me past this former diner every day. After moving there, I quickly learned that the gas station that sits nearest this diner is owned by a Punjabi family, and rather than give my money to Casey’s (who are known to have funded Ted Cruz and Steven King’s campaigns), I personally feel much better about buying my petrol from the immigrants that
30 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
make Iowa a great place to live. So, I’m pumping gas the other day, staring off into the sky, and I noticed that this typically dead-ass diner, once eroded and forgotten by time, now had a marquee sign above the entrance reading “New Taste of India.” I did that thing you see in zombie movies where you drop the gas handle and slowly approach to be sure it’s not a hallucination. A miracle had appeared before my hungry eyes. Instead of funding another Republican campaign, my gas money would now make hot paneer dishes in West Liberty, Iowa of all places. The Punjabi family who owned the nearby gas station had been quietly renovating this iconic diner to serve a new community: the growing Punjabi immigrant population that have found jobs in the overworked trucking industry that relies on Interstate 80 for transport. Punjabi immigrants now make up almost 20 percent of the U.S. trucking industry. Although New Taste of India is primarily suited to serve to-go orders, curious and hungry guests are also welcome to have a sitdown meal within this special relic of a building. There is a surprising amount of leftover decor from the diner it once was; rather than overhaul the interior design, they have merely updated it in some fun ways that resemble no Indian place I have ever set foot in. Though the lack of familiarity and cohesiveness in vibe, as the kids say, may be a hindrance to your more ordinary locals,
New Taste of India 1947 Garfield Ave, West Liberty, 319-627-2800
I find it entirely inviting. This is a vibe I can vibe with, and the food is more than adequate. The butter chicken—their most popular dish, according to Harry the owner—is intensely flavorful, with traditional Indian spices. When poured over basmati rice and the perfect garlic naan bread, you, my friends, are in for a series of exceptional bites that you won’t soon forget. I also tried the egg bhurji, which was new to me. I was pleasantly surprised by a bouncy scrambled egg texture, filled with finely diced peppers and onion and heaps of turmeric. The menu at Taste of India is not elaborate but wholly sufficient, the prices are fair and the portions are more than enough for two meals. Standard Indian fare is plentiful, even for vegetarians. There is also a small section of Indian groceries, which is where our mango lassis came from. The host even gave us some aloo snacks in the house while we waited. After dining here twice, I can confidently say I’m eager to return. In an area with little in the way of locally owned southeast Asian restaurants (except for Saap Saap!), getting to enjoy flavors from the other side of the globe within the remains of a traditional American diner is fun cultural experience.
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Bread & Butter LV Recommends: Central Iowa
Back to Basics Meet Joe Tripp, the chef and restaurateur behind Harbinger, Little Brother and Basic Bird in Des Moines. BY DAN RAY
“We saw a lot of success in business models that just focused on one thing, and we knew we wanted to fry chicken. We had done quite a bit of traveling and ate quite a bit of Korean fried chicken. I actually had some of the sauce for it from one of my original kitchen jobs—it was shared by a grandma I knew.” ––Joe Tripp What got you into cooking in the first place? I graduated in 2008 from the University
of Iowa with a degree in psychology and philosophy, and there wasn’t much of a job market. I started cooking just to pass the time between grad school, and I never left the kitchen. So I graduated from Iowa, started cooking in kitchens, moved out to Denver and cooked for Alex Seidel at Fruition Restaurant for about five years. It’s been kind of nonstop since then.
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Sid Peterson / Little Village
I
f you google “best restaurants in Des Moines,” you’ll be hard-pressed to find a list that doesn’t include Harbinger. The vegetable-forward, small-plate restaurant co-owned by husband-and-wife duo Joe and Alex Tripp has been a fine dining destination since it opened in 2017. In 2022, the duo opened Windsor Heights’ Little Brother, a breakfast-centric joint with a menu inspired by Joe’s Jewish upbringing. This January, the Tripps opened their third restaurant, Basic Bird, chef-driven, fast and focused on one thing: Korean fried chicken. Oh, and it’s gluten free. I sat down with Joe at the end of January to talk about the opening of Basic Bird, his goals for this new venture and why he sources as many ingredients locally as possible. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You’ve been nominated five times for Best Chef Midwest at the James Beard Awards. What does it feel like? I feel good.
I’d love to move to the next level at some point. There’s a lot of great chefs in the state of Iowa, and we’ve never advanced anyone to the next round. That’s a real shame. I don’t really do much of the chefing these days. I’ve got Ryan Skinner who runs my restaurant at Harbinger. He’s doing everything over there. If anybody gets a James Beard nod these days, it would be him. He’s definitely deserving of one. But [being nominated was] definitely an honor and a good kickstart to my career. Now I’m looking into the world of being a restaurateur more than just the chef. Basic Bird was born out of COVID. Why did you decide to make it a permanent thing? Harbinger’s my baby. I’m very proud of
what we’ve built there and what they continue to achieve there, but in the end it’s a chef-driven restaurant. It’s not the most sustainable thing for me as a dad. [Before the pandemic, Alex and I] had started looking at this idea of chef-driven fast food and why these kinds of places had to be any different than the types of restaurants we already owned. We saw a lot of success in business models that just focused on one thing, and we knew we wanted to fry chicken. We had done quite a bit of traveling and ate quite a bit of Korean fried chicken. I actually had some of the sauce for it from one of my original kitchen jobs—it was shared by a grandma I knew. COVID seemed like a good opportunity to try
Harbinger 2724 Ingersoll Ave, Des Moines, (515) 244-1314 Little Brother 6587 University Ave, Windsor Heights, (515) 277-7907 Basic Bird 2607 Beaver Ave, Des Moines
it out. We had the staff, we went for it, and it was an immediate success. It let us keep almost all my staff on board throughout the entirety of the pandemic. Most of them still work with me. A huge part of our success is keeping people around and keeping them happy at their job, and all of that is largely due to Basic Bird. The brick-and-mortar Basic Bird just opened at the beginning of January. How’s it going so far? It was a rough start
with a lot of weather issues. That threw quite a few curveballs at us. We’re on week three. We’re
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going to easily be able to operate for the entirety of the week, which was our goal. Next week we plan on offering online ordering. It’s baby steps, but I see a lot of growth potential. I’m really excited for what the future holds. I hope to open a couple of these. Iowa City is in my sight. I went to school there, I’m familiar with it, and I would love to see one of these open up there. Hopefully you can get some gluten-free chicken there at some point soon. Harbinger focuses mostly on vegetable dishes, and Basic Bird is gluten free and has a vegan option. Why is it important to you to offer menu items for different diets? I’ll be honest with you that the gluten
free thing is a blessing because a lot of people are looking for it these days, [but] we didn’t create Basic Bird to be gluten free. It just happens to be how I knew how to make Korean fried chicken. It uses potato starch and cornstarch plus a couple other secret ingredients that all happen to be gluten free. Then it was just a matter of sourcing a couple of gluten-free soy sauce substitutes and things of that sort once we realized that people really wanted that option. As far as the vegetables go, from a business model, meat is expensive. Vegetables are delicious. When we opened Harbinger, it seemed like a new way to introduce flavors to people. So we’ve always been vegetable focused over there. There’s only so many ways a piece of beef can taste different, but the world of vegetables is pretty vast. Harbinger also focuses on supporting local farmers and getting food from farmers markets. Why is that important to you? [We want to serve] great food. Usually
great food comes from great farms. One of the things I was taught growing up in kitchens and learning from chefs like Alex Seidel was that if you just do your job and start with good product and respect the product, then your job’s pretty easy. So Harbinger starts with great product because we want to be the best, and that just happens to come from local farmers and the connections we make with them. I’ve always been about supporting the people who support us, and that’s really what’s gotten us through this. Basic Bird was great during the pandemic because it allowed some really great people to stay with us. It’s those great people who continue to run Harbinger and who run Little Brother that allow us to grow and do what we’re doing at Basic Bird. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be anywhere. It’s all about the team.
On view through March 31
WILLIAM VILLALONGO MYTHS AND MIGRATIONS Image: William Villalongo, Specimen, 2022. Courtesy of the artist.
For updated information about events visit Grinnell.edu/museum
Culture Prairie Pop
The Boys are Back in Town A defining American music group of the last century continues to spellbind. BY KEMBREW MCLEOD
34 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Jim Herrington
T
he Blind Boys of Alabama’s decades-spanning career speaks to both the universal human condition—we are all just passing through this world, searching for connection—and the very specific experience of being Black and disabled in America. This venerable gospel group endured brutal Jim Crow racism, embraced the defiant optimism of the Civil Rights movement, survived the specter of Cold War nuclear annihilation, witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and have had their voices transported through every audio medium that has existed, from radio and vinyl records to streaming in the internet age. The embodiment of living history, the Blind Boys of Alabama keep past musical traditions alive while reinventing gospel music for the 21st century. “Music is the one thing that can bring people together,” longtime group member Ricky McKinnie told me. “When you’re sad, music can help you break through that, and when you’re feeling good, music is the thing that can make you feel better. So, we realized that as long as our music touches people, we’re gonna keep on singing, because that’s what it’s all about.” The Blind Boys formed as the Happy Land Jubilee Singers at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s. They changed their name after a Newark, New Jersey promoter booked them in a “Battle of the Blind Boys” with another visually impaired gospel group from Mississippi. Seizing on the ensuing publicity, the two groups changed their names to the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Blind Boys of Mississippi, respectively. For decades, the Blind Boys of Alabama were led by founding member Clarence Fountain, who passed away in 2018. Today, the gospel ship is steered by McKinnie, who was born in 1952 and joined the group in 1989. They had been part of his life for as long as McKinnie can remember because his mother was gospel singer Sarah McKinnie, whose path often crossed with the Blind Boys of Alabama on the southern touring circuit known as the gospel highway. “That’s how I met Clarence Fountain,” McKinnie said. “When my mom was singing with the Jean Martin Singers out of Atlanta. She
sang with gospel groups throughout the years, so when I was a kid, I would see the Blind Boys at the gospel concerts and enjoyed them, and eventually met all of them.” “Back during Jim Crow,” he continued, “we’d stay at a friend’s house when we were touring, and we would have to eat at that friend’s house because we couldn’t get served in restaurants. There were a lot of times we’d go to the gas station, and they wouldn’t want to give you gas. So, it was a trying time, but we also had good times.”
“Back in the early days, the Blind Boys of Alabama were like family to me. All the original guys, they all knew me because I had been around them all my life, since I was a little boy. So, we would just be like one big happy family.” ––Ricky McKinnie McKinnie started out playing drums with a gospel group in his hometown of Atlanta, and when he was about 17, he got a call from Troy Ramey, who asked him to sing with the Soul Searchers. He cut his first major recording with the Soul Searchers before joining the Gospel Keynotes out of Texas, and during that time McKinnie sang on five records—including one that went gold, Reach Out, and another that went platinum, Destiny. He began losing his sight due to glaucoma
The Blind Boys of Alabama The Englert Theatre, Iowa City, Thursday, Feb. 29, 7:30 p.m., $20-58 Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines, Friday, March 1, 7:30 p.m., $21-85
around the age of 20, and by the time Reach Out was released in 1975, McKinnie was completely blind. Three years later, he formed the Ricky McKinnie Singers with his mother, youngest brother and eldest brother. They toured as a family for many years, though he also became part of a much larger community that formed on the gospel highway. “Back in the early days, the Blind Boys of Alabama were like family to me,” McKinnie said. “Clarence Fountain was a good guy. I loved him, and I respected him. All the original guys, they all knew me because I had been around them all my life, since I was a little boy. So, we would just be like one big happy family. Even though I was in the Gospel Keynotes in Texas, I had the opportunity to play drums with other groups, including the Blind Boys. So, even though I didn’t join them until 1989, I’ve always been a part of that group in one way or other.” McKinnie is one link in an unbroken circle much bigger than himself or any other past or present member. He joined the Blind Boys of Alabama during an uptick in their career that had followed a long period of dwindling fortunes in the 1960s and 1970s, when many gospel fans and singers shifted their attention to secular forms of Black popular music like soul
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and funk. The Blind Boys of Alabama had primarily played in churches and community centers during the first four decades of their existence, until 1983, when they were cast in an AfricanAmerican adaptation of Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus at Colonus, retitled The Gospel of Colonus. The group collectively portrayed the blinded Oedipus, Morgan Freeman played The Messenger, and the show won an Obie for Best Musical in 1984—after which it moved to Broadway for a successful run that gave the Blind Boys of Alabama their first real taste of mainstream success. Since the turn of this century, they have released a string of critically acclaimed records on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label and have performed with a wide range of musicians, from Gabriel and Lou Reed to Prince and Stevie Wonder. Their cover of Tom Waits’ “Way Down in the Hole” was used as the theme song for The Wire when that groundbreaking HBO series launched in 2002. The Blind Boys of Alabama’s most recent album, Echoes of the South, was named after the Birmingham, Alabama radio program that hosted their first professional performance in 1944. “I’ve been with the Blind Boys through all of the major events that they’ve had,” McKinnie said. “For every Grammy Award, and for the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Helen Keller Award. We performed at the White House three times for President Clinton, President Bush and President Obama.” “Right now, we are getting ready to do a PBS special with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and Echoes of the South was nominated for three Grammys in three different categories. In March, a book on the Blind Boys of Alabama book is coming out, called Spirit of the Century, so we have three major days in the next three months.” The respect and accolades that the Blind Boys of Alabama have earned is certainly gratifying, but what matters most to McKinnie and his bandmates is the music itself and the deeper truths that underpin the songs they sing. “If you feel bad, you come to a Blind Boys show and you’re going to feel glad,” McKinnie said. “If you feel like clapping your hands, if you feel like doing a dance, or you feel like singing a song, we’re exactly what you need. So, don’t miss it when the Blind Boys are back in town!” Kembrew McLeod bought his first Blind Boys of Alabama album roughly 33 1/3 years ago, and he has been a fan ever since.
THE FILMS OF DIRECTOR BONG JOON HO
FEB 10, 13 FEB 16, 18, 21 FEB 23, 25, 28 MAR 2, 6 MAR 9, 13 MAR 16, 19 MAR 24, 27
BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE MEMORIES OF MURDER THE HOST MOTHER SNOWPIERCER OKJA PARASITE
ICFILMSCENE.ORG LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 35
THREE ELECTRIC PERFORMANCES featuring UI students and faculty. One vibrant campus with creativity at its heart. This semester, join us for brilliant, diverse, eclectic artistry celebrating students and faculty across the performing arts. Dance students working with Professor Stephanie Miracle and Professor Eloy Barragan will take to the Hancher stage with the iconic Martha Graham Dance Company. Theatre Arts students will bring a beautiful play to life under the direction of Professor Caroline Clay. And School of Music students will perform a new opera at Hancher with music composed by Professor William Menefield, who will also direct. Each performance is emblematic of what’s possible on a campus committed to collaborative, transformational arts experiences for artists and audiences alike.
MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY GRAHAM100
PRESENTED BY HANCHER AUDITORIUM WITH SUPPORT FROM UI DEPARTMENT OF DANCE
Friday, March 29 / 7:30 p.m. Hancher Auditorium An indispensable dance company celebrates 100 years, bringing is founder's classic works to the stage alongside new work by contemporary choreographers. Martha Graham—an icon among 20th century artistic icons—radically expanded the dance vocabulary, and her work has captivated audiences worldwide while influencing generations of artists. TICKETS Adults $65 / $45 Students & Youth $10
OF MUSIC / DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS / PERFORMING SCHOOL DEPARTMENT OF DANCE / HANCHER AUDITORIUM / ARTS AT IOWA PERFORMING ARTS PRODUCTION UNIT
36 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the sponsoring department or contact person listed in advance of the event.
IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER
By Tarell Alvin McCraney Directed by Caroline Clay
PRESENTED BY UI DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS
Friday–Sunday, April 12–14 & Wednesday–Saturday, April 17–20 Theatre Building San Pere, Louisiana: Oya runs fast, but her collegiate future is placed on hold to care for her mother. Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s Yerma and Yoruban cosmology, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water is a lyrical offering at the intersection of ancestral myth and ritual about a young woman’s coming-of-age navigating lovers, community, and her chosen path. TICKETS Adults $20 Senior Citizens $15 Youth & Non-UI Students $10 UI Students $5
FIERCE PRESENTED BY HANCHER AUDITORIUM, PERFORMING ARTS PRODUCTION UNIT, AND UI SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Friday & Saturday April 26 & 27 7:30 p.m. Hancher Auditorium An opera for the 21st Century, Fierce follows four teenage girls finding identity and purpose in the world as they write their college essays in a high school writers’ workshop. The young women face striking internal challenges—the difficulties of high school popularity and social media, the weight of parental expectations, personal loss, and unstable lives at home—but come together to find community, self-empowerment, and the confidence to embrace new chapters. TICKETS Adults $20 Youth & Non-UI Students $10 UI Students $5
MORE INFO AND TICKETS AT
PERFORMINGARTS.UIOWA.EDU37 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024
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Culture A-List: Eastern Iowa
Hex Code Gatekeepers need not apply to an upcoming Catan tournament in CR. ess abstract than chess, but more complex than Scrabble, Eurogames—which came to prominence in the late ’70s and early ’80s in Germany and quickly spread across Europe—offer players multiple paths to victory and more intricate strategy and tactics. Leading the charge of this stylistic expansion stateside was Klaus Teuber’s 1995 release Die Siedler von Catan—Settlers of Catan, now called simply Catan. Others ventured worldwide sooner, but Catan eclipsed them all in popularity. The game has been translated into 40 languages and sold more than 40 million copies. While it doesn’t even crack the top 500 in terms of ranking on the online forum and database BoardGameGeek.com, it sits at the top of the list for number of votes, followed by Carcassonne and Pandemic. Each of the top three has a cool 20k+ more votes than the game in fourth place. It might not be everyone’s favorite, but it is ubiquitous, thanks to a distinct balance between the simplicity of its rules and the complex opportunities of its strategy. “You don’t need to be a Catan pro or a gaming expert to play or, for that matter, have a shot at being crowned our champion,” Tony Tandeski told Little Village. Tandeski’s board game popup, the Rook Room, which he runs with Annelise Tarnowski, hosts Catan competitions. “There are definitely people that attend who probably have thousands of games under their belt, but we’ve also had first-time players come and make it all the way to the finals.” The game, for two-to-four players (five-to-six with an expansion), is set on the island of Catan, where players compete to gather resources and build the biggest settlements. The board consists of 19 land hex tiles that can be arranged randomly to make each game unique. Numbered circle markers are placed on top of each hex tile, except for the desert where the robber pawn is placed. Victory points are awarded for a variety of development successes, and the first player to reach 10 victory points wins the game. Catan has been the subject of a documentary (Going Cardboard, 2012) and a short film starring Amy Acker and Fran Kranz (Lord of Catan, 2014). It’s been adapted for video game consoles and for PC and spawned numerous expansions— the latest, Catan: New Energies, comes out this spring; it has a modern setting and offers players a choice between clean energy and fossil fuels, 38 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Diversions / Sean Finn / Little Village
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BY ERIN CASEY
with environmental disaster among the possible consequences. (New Energies is the last Catan expansion designed by Teuber, who passed away in April 2023.) And since 2002, there has been a World Championship for Catan players. The next event, coming up in 2025, will be the 14th. Since 2008, the biennial World Championship has traded locations between the U.S. and Germany, although the most recent was held in Malta. Details have not yet been announced for 2025. Participating countries send up to two representatives to the world events, which for 2025 will include 2023 U.S. national champion Griffin Burstyn—and whoever wins the 2024 National Tournament, happening later this year in Minneapolis. You can show off your own building and trading skills as you compete to become the dominant force on the island of Catan this month at Gamicon Arsenic. The Des Moines-based Rook Room is partnering with Eastern Iowa’s Mindbridge Foundation (Icon, AnimeIowa) at their 33rd annual gaming convention (Feb. 23-25) to present a Catan National Qualifier Tournament. It’s the second qualifier the Rook Room will host this season—there was one held in West Des Moines last October, making Iowa the only state its size with multiple qualifier events. “This will actually be the second time we’ve collaborated with Gamicon and we can’t wait!” Tandeski said of the intrastate partnership. “In the past, both as attendees and presenters, we’ve found Gamicon has some of the best, most welcoming people in their community of gamers, so we’re always excited to be a part of the weekend and will always come back to hang out with them
in whatever capacity.” Preliminary rounds will be held on Friday, Feb. 23, followed by the semi-finals and finals on Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Radisson Hotel (formerly the Marriott) in Cedar Rapids. On average, preliminaries take three hours, while the semi-final and final take about an hour each. Everyone, no matter their experience level, is welcome. “You won’t find any gatekeepers here,” Tandeski said. “We do our best to make sure that all of our players understand that while there are some super cool prizes involved, the main point is to have fun playing and be kind while doing it.” The winners of this qualifier will earn a seat at the 2024 United States Championship (date TBA), hosted by Catan Studio. Qualified players will receive invitations beginning in late spring. The U.S. champion will go on to compete in the 2025 World Championship, as well as the Americas tournament, which is a new event that will take place in the off-years from the World Championship. Pre-registration is required for the tournament. There is no cost to enter, but Gamicon registration is required for entry (weekend passes start at $30). All players must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents over 18 years of age. The winner will receive an official Catan prize pack as well as a seat at the U.S. Championship. If wheat and sheep aren’t your speed, Gamicon Arsenic offers several other tournaments as well. You can flex your skills at the U.S. National Qualifier for Munchkin, as well as for Euchre, Hearts and Spades (“strict Hoyle rules” apply). The guest of honor for the three-day convention is role-playing game designer Nat Barmore (Dread).
Play It Again, Sam Many local game stores provide collections and space for board gaming, but organizations like the Rook Room are becoming increasingly common, partnering with restaurants and bars to offer pop-up game nights and more. Check out the upcoming events below!
The Dealt Hand Events held around the Des Moines area thedealthand.com Cocktails and Cardboard, New Northwestern Cocktail & Wine Bar, Des Moines, Thursdays at 6 p.m. Family Friendly Board Game Day, Peace Tree Brewing, Des Moines, Sundays, Feb. 2 and 18, 2 p.m. Game Night for Grown-ups, Happy Apple Celebrations, Norwalk, Fridays, Feb. 9 and 23, 6 p.m. Game Night, Sugar Grove Goods, Dallas Center, Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. On the horizon: Camp ReFresh Board Game Retreat, Des Moines Y Camp, Boone, April 2628, $300
The Rook Room Events held around the Des Moines area therookroom.com Prism Tabletop Club LGBTQ+, Slow Down Coffee Co, Des Moines, Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m., Free Puzzlepalooza Jigsaw Puzzle Competition, Peace Tree Brewing, Des Moines, Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m., $40/team of four Catan National Qualifier, Gamicon Arsenic, Radisson Hotel, Cedar Rapids, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 23-24, Free ($30 convention registration required for access)
FEBRUARY 10 – MAY 12, 2024 ANNA K. MEREDITH GALLERY CURATED BY FITSUM SHEBESHE ORGANIZED BY INDEPENDENT CURATORS INTERNATIONAL
OPENING CELEBRATION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9 | 5 –7 PM DESMOINESARTCENTER.ORG States of Becoming is a traveling exhibition curated by Fitsum Shebeshe and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. Lead funding is provided by the Hartfield Foundation as part of an initiative to support ICI’s commitment to new curatorial voices who will shape the future of the field, and ICI’s Curatorial Intensive alumni as they move through the stages of their career. States of Becoming is made possible with the generous support of ICI’s Board of Trustees and International Forum. Crozier Fine Arts is the Preferred Art Logistics Partner. Exhibition graphics by Untitled Agency, Marrakech. Additional support for the Des Moines presentation provided by The Harriet S. and J. Locke Macomber Art Center Fund.
Diversions: Games & Cafe Events held around the Iowa City area indiegogo.com/projects/diversions-games-cafe Look for events in March
Sioux City Tabletop Gamers Nonprofit in Sioux City siouxcitytabletopg.wixsite.com/my-site Occasional game nights as well as Spring and Fall conventions. On the horizon: Free Spring Convention, Sioux City Convention Center, May 17-19
Graham’s Games Café Arcade and Board Games in Winterset grahamsgamecafe.com Open Fridays, 6-9 p.m. and Saturdays, 3-7 p.m., $7 cover per day for unlimited play. Also available for rentals: one hour, $100; two hours, $175; additional time $50/hour.
Good Restaurant and Lounge Upstairs lounge “hangout zone” in Burlington goodburlington.com Dedicated space stocked with games for dropin play, open Wednesday-Saturday, 5-10 p.m.
Mental Health Broadlawns Medical Center offers the most comprehensive delivery system for mental health services in Central Iowa. Our professionals are dedicated to excellence, compassion and personalized care.
Culture A-List: Central Iowa
My Ramona “It’s all hits” at Cupid’s Lounge, a night of laughs, lovin’ and local music. BY SEAN DENGLER
the
Public Space One Board of Directors are looking for passionate community members committed to creative action, expression and process to build the next generation of our artist-led organization in Iowa City. Make something big with us.
D
es Moines rock outfit Ramona & the Sometimes wants to sweep you off your feet—or at least rock your socks off—at their Valentine’s takeover of xBk Live, Cupid’s Lounge: Songs About Love by Talented Locals. “The reason we came up with the whole concept is because Valentine’s Day kind of sucks,” explained lead singer Ramona Muse Lambert. “Unless you want to go on kind of a romantic dinner date at a crowded restaurant, there’s not much to do,” Ramona said. “So we were trying to make something for everybody.” “And also you don’t have to be romantically involved to enjoy [the show],” Derek Muse Lambert, drummer in the band and husband to Ramona, added. “We try to make it about all interpretations of love, one of which could be love for
Cupid’s Lounge: Songs About Love by Talented Locals xBk Live, Des Moines, Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8:30 p.m., $13-18 Courtesy of the artists
“Ramona and Derek are two of the most clever, funny people I know. They have such innovative ideas that they combine with self-consciously dumb humor. The biggest joy comes from seeing them make their insane ideas come to life.” ––Elliot Imes the community and everybody that’s putting this thing on together.” “Ramona has put on a few of these shows and they’re always phenomenal. It is a joy to get people together for a fun silly light hearted performance, and what better time for that than Valentine’s Day in the middle of winter?” said Adam Callanan, a horn player in xBk house band the Lovin’ Forkful, which will serve as a backing band for various artists during the show. “[The first Cupid’s Lounge] turned into this legendary show that a lot of people participated in,” Ramona said. Unfortunately, it took place in February 2020 — just before the world shut down and the original venue, the Vaudeville Mews, met its unfortunate demise (the club became one of many pandemic casualties in October 2020). “We had a ton of our close friends,” Derek said of the show. “A lot of them worked at the Mews or played there a ton, myself included … It was most of our, like, last show at the Mews, so it was this cool way to go.” Inspired by those great memories, the pair created a Halloween show called Goblin’s Lounge, which they hosted at xBk in 2023.
“That was a huge hit,” Ramona said. And its success led to this upcoming return to Cupid’s Lounge. So what can you expect at this show? “A good time,” said Ramona. And Derek added, “Laughter, tears [and] dancing.” “Every time we do one of these shows, I get texts and emails and there’s a lot of Instagram stories … People just saying, ‘that was so fun’ … Because it is unpredictable and wild and you’re all in it, you’re all trying to pull this thing off together,” Ramona said. “It’s a musical/comedy experience unlike anything [the audience] will ever see,” Elliot Imes, another member of the Lovin’ Forkful, said in a text message. “No one else will do this bizarre spectrum of covers, interspersed with weird characters. We’re one of a kind (okay, maybe someone in, like, Portland is doing this, but who cares).” “It’s … something that’s kind of memorable and a little bit insane,” Derek said. “We like to make things that are very ambitious and see if we can do it or see what it turns into.” “It’s fun to maintain an unpredictable, unpredictability in this predictable world,” added Ramona. “Just trying to make things an
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experience when a lot of things are made an experience through an algorithm.” “Ramona and Derek are two of the most clever, funny people I know,” Imes said. “They have such innovative ideas that they combine with self-consciously dumb humor, which is everything I love. When we’ve done these shows in the past, the biggest joy comes from seeing them make their insane ideas come to life. It’s an honor to be a part of that.” “It usually feels like people just kind of lose themselves in how many things are happening at once,” Derek said. “Just, like, different singers coming out; you don’t know what song is coming next and people are dancing and singing along and having a great time.” The show opens with the Friendly Foreheads, who cover ’90s female-lead pop acts such as the Cranberries, Natalie Merchant and Faith Hill. Then Ramona and the Sometimes will play a set of originals before a showcase where local musicians from bands like Odd Pets, Adam in the Parking Lot, Acid Legs and others perform love songs for around an hour to close out the show. “Our set list goes from ABBA to Magnetic Fields to Dexys Midnight Runners,” Ramona said of the eclectic showcase. “We got some Meatloaf. I got some Whitney Houston. I think we do some genuine ‘love songs between couples,’ but a lot of it’s a little bit of a parody of the entire concept of Valentine’s Day.” There will be comedic bits in between performances. And DJ Dame Roddy Exotic (who named herself after her “werewolf” guinea pig, Roddy) will be playing a dancy, romantic, eclectic mix of punk, lover’s rock, psychedelic and soul in between performances. Expect visual elements, as well. “We spend some time on outfits,” Ramona said. “It’s kind of a vaudeville sort of thing. We’ll have … some epic cardboard hearts.” Photographer Annick Sjobakken, whose work has been shown in Time Magazine, the New York Times and other publications and exhibitions, will bring back her photo booth from the original Cupid’s Lounge. “She kind of turns everybody into her art project,” said Ramona. “We like to bring visual art to the music, and so Annick is part of that experience.” Ultimately, this event will be a level-up from the pre-pandemic original. “It’s all hits. And also, it’s not random, because I have a spreadsheet to prove it. The first Cupid’s Lounge did not have a spreadsheet, but we’ve gotten to the point where I have a strict practice schedule. I’m sending out emails, baby,” Ramona said.
WINE FOOD BEER
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EDITORS’ PICKS: February 2024 Planning an event? Add it to littlevillagemag.com/calendar! Please include event name, date, time, venue name/address, admission price (or range) and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). Contact calendar@littlevillagemag.com with any questions.
MUSIC
Glitterer w/ Glixen and Dolliver, Gabe’s, Iowa
CRANDIC Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Tray Wellington Band, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, $20-25
City, Friday, March 1 at 8:30
Friday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. John
p.m., $15-20 East coasters Glitterer are
Waite, Englert Theatre, Iowa
scheduled to play a Track Zero show at Gabe’s just after releasing their newest 12-song LP, Rationale via Anti Records on Feb. 23. Glitterer’s sound is deceptively upbeat, synth-infused and their music has been described as introspective alt-rock. Rationale is inspired greatly by the “many streams of indie rock and post-punk/hardcore that course through the variegated musical landscape of Washington, D.C.,” the band’s home city. Get to the gig early for supporting acts Glixen and Dolliver.
Friday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. Mardi Gras Celebration w/Winterland, Ideal Theater, Cedar Rapids, $15 Friday, Feb. 9 at 9 p.m. Secret Formula w/Two Canes & KWTF, Gabe’s, Iowa City, $10
Glitterer via Englert Theatre
City, $20-65
Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m. Amy Friedel
Sunday, Feb. 18 at 7:30
Saturday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.
DSM
and Luke Viertel: Valentine’s
p.m. Local Showcase Series:
The Steel Wheels, CSPS Hall,
Thursday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.
Cabaret, Opus Concert Cafe,
Bootcamp, Bovinophobic Bile
$20-25
Arkansauce w/Alleygrass, xBk
Cedar Rapids, $32
Puddle, I Wil, Englert Theatre, $10-15
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7:30
Live, Des Moines, $15-20 Sunday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Scotty
Postmodern Jukebox, Englert
McCreery, Vibrant Music Hall,
Theatre, $25-80
Waukee, $34-135
p.m. Local Showcase Series:
Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7:30
Halfloves, Early Girl, Spirit
p.m. Elizabeth Moen Duo,
Awake, Englert Theatre, $10-15
James Theater, Iowa City, $15-
Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
20
The Blind Boys of Alabama,
Nickel Creek, Hoyt Sherman
Englert Theatre, $20-58
Place, Des Moines, $39.50-85
Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. Mardi Gras w/Dandelion Stompers
Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
and Swampland Jewels,
Marc Janssen and Brian
Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. Iowa
Friday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. Heatbox
Wildwood Smokehouse &
Johannesen, James Theater,
Metal Underground, CSPS Hall, $14
& Mark Joseph Dual Album
Saloon, Iowa City, $10
$10-20
Release, xBk Live, $18-22 Friday, March 1 at 8 p.m. Not
Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Katy
Quite Brothers, Wildwood
Friday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. No
Blake Shaw Bigish Band, James
& The Honky Tonks w/Travis
Smokehouse & Saloon, $10
Sleep, Wooly’s, Des Moines, $20
Theater, Iowa City, $12-25
Feutz, Wildwood Smokehouse Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m.
Duke Ellington Sacred Music
She’s Crafty: Chicago’s All-
& Saloon, $10 Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Red Cedar Chamber Music,
Friday, Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. Dirty
Concerts w/Kantorei and
Female Beastie Boys Tribute,
James Theater, $15-20
Ground, Dizzy Bridges, Maaaze,
Johnson County Landmark,
Wooly’s, $15
Lou Sherry, Gabe’s, $10
Hancher Auditorium, Free
Isaac Rudd & The Revolvers,
Saturday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. 28
Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m.
Ramona & the Sometimes:
Wildwood Smokehouse &
Days Later w/the Crust & Worst
Cedar County Cobras, CSPS
Cupid’s Lounge, xBk Live, $13-17
Saloon, $15
Impressions, Gabe’s, $10
Hall, $12-15
Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8:30 p.m.
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 43
EDITORS’ PICKS: February 2024 Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Jeremie Albino,
Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. The Bird Hunters
Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. Steve Sherman,
xBk Live, $15-20
w/Blaine Garrett, xBk Live, $10-50
Prairie Lights, Iowa City, Free
Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. Hootenanny
Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Sicard Hollow
Monday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. Denise Williams,
House Valentine’s Day Murder Mystery Hoot,
w/Erf, xBk Live, $14-50
Marion Public Library, Free
Friday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Death Kill
Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Darius Stewart,
Overdrive, xBk Live, $12-15
Prairie Lights, Free
Friday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Postmodern
Thursday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. Art Lovers Book
Jukebox, Hoyt Sherman Place, $55-95
Club: Vivian Maier, Cedar Rapids Museum of
Lefty’s Live Music, $10 Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. Andy Frasco & The U.N. w/Dogs in a Pile, xBk Live, $32-37 Thursday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. Willi Carlisle w/
Art, Free
Ken Pomeroy, xBk Live, $15-20 Saturday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. Belles w/Kaylyn Sahs, xBk Live, $12-15
Monday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. Margot Livesey w/ Sam Chang, Prairie Lights, Free
Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. Go Ahead and Die, xBk Live, $23.36-25
Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Iowa Poetry Association Poetry Slam, Public Space One
Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Kris Lager, xBk
Close House, Iowa City
Live, $15-20 Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Christina Cooke w/ Max Wellman via Noce
Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. Greensky
Sarah Thankam Mathews, Prairie Lights, Free
Bluegrass, Val Air Ballroom, West Des Moines, $35
Saturday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. One Book, Two Book Festival, FilmScene—The Chauncey,
Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Cat Power,
Iowa City, Free
Hoyt Sherman Place, $49.50-99 Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. Write at the Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. Valentine’s Day w/Max Wellman & Co., Noce, Des Moines,
Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. Sierra Ferrell, Val
Stanley: A Generative Writing Workshop,
Air Ballroom, $29.50
Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City, Free
$18-45 Friday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Reading
Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Wade Bowen,
Blind Boys of Alabama, Hoyt Sherman Place,
Series: Today You Are Perfect, Online, Iowa
Wooly’s, $20
$38-88
City Poetry, Free
Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. Koo Koo, xBK
LITERATURE
Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Leslie Jamison
Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Carol Welsman
CRANDIC
Thursday, Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. Community
w/Gabriel Espinosa & Co., Noce, $25-55
Thursday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. Author Talk: Elana
Book Discussion: Torn Apart, Iowa City
K. Arnold, Marion Public Library, Free
Public Library, Free
Live, $20-50
w/Kaveh Akbar, Prairie Lights, Free
Sunday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. Tommy Doggett Band, xBk Live, $15-20
INDEPENDENT
Highland Park/ Oak Park Neighborhood
The destination is the destination. LV neighborhood group ads offer something for everyone, attracting visitors from near and far.
Shop • Eat • Drink • Live
Join forces with your neighbors today.
Support the businesses that make Iowa unique.
Email: Ads@littlevillagemag.com
44 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Call: 319-855-1474
Up Next at the CCPA!
February 9–11, 2024
February 23–25, March 1–3, 2024
TEMPERATURES ARE DROPPING UTILITY COSTS
ARE RISING
March 8–10, 2024
Screaming Orphans
March 16, 2024 8:00 PM
Visit CoralvilleArts.org for a complete list of events!
Donate today to keep our neighbors in safe, warm housing. bit.ly/whwh
CoralvilleArts.org 319.248.9370 1301 5th St., Coralville
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 45
EDITORS’ PICKS: February 2024
The Author Afterparty: Lyz Lenz, Storyhouse Bookpub, Des Moines, Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m., $8
Kliks Photography
Another exciting Author Afterparty event is slated for late February at Storyhouse Bookpub. Toast with Lyz Lenz as she celebrates the release of her new novel This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life. Your ticket includes desserts by Bay Laurel Baking Co., and drinks.
Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. Carolina
Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m. Meet the
Sunday, Feb. 11 at 12 p.m. National Theatre
Hotchandani, Prairie Lights, Free
Author: Joseph LeValley, Beaverdale Books,
Live: Othello, FilmScene—The Chauncey,
Free
$13.05-20
PERFORMANCE
Sunday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. Lunar New Year,
DSM Sunday, Feb. 4 at 2:30 p.m. Meet the Author: Joshalyn Hickey-Johnson, Beaverdale Books, Free
Englert Theatre, Iowa City, Free-$10
CRANDIC
Closing Sunday, Feb. 11. Inherit the Wind,
Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Sugar & Spice: Panel
Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Roy Wood Jr.,
Iowa City Community Theatre, $11-19
of Romance Writers, Beaverdale Books, Free
Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City, $25-60
Sunday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. Meet the Author:
Friday-Sunday, Feb. 9-11. Sondheim on
Tara Bynum, Hancher Auditorium, Free w/
Nick Hupton, Beaverdale Books, Free
Sondheim, Coralville Center for Performing
RSVP
Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. Reggie Wilson w/
Arts, $16-30 Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. Improv
Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6:45 p.m. Meet the Writer: James Please, Izaak Walton League,
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. My Bloody
Incubator, Mirrorbox Theatre, Cedar Rapids,
Des Moines, Free
Valentine, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, $15-18
$15
Thursday, Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. Book Launch:
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. Bawdy Heat:
Opening Thursday, Feb. 15. The Inseparables,
Mark Daley, Beaverdale Books, Free
A Valentine’s Day Burlesque Experience,
Mirrorbox Theatre, $20-25
James Theater, Iowa City, $30-50 Monday, Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Meet the
Thursday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. Queen’s Night:
Author: Sidney Thompson, Beaverdale
Galentine’s Day, NewBo City Market, Cedar
Books, Free
Rapids, $30-90
INDEPENDENT
Cedar Rapids tourismcedarrapids.com
Come work with us 46 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
JOHN@NEWBO.CO • (319) 382-5128
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM
ORCHESTRA IOWA
Courtesy of Local Libraries LIT
Silent Woods
featuring
Local Libraries LIT: Rich Benjamin, Online, Public Libraries of Johnson County, Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m., Free
The next Local Libraries LIT event features Rich Benjamin, an anthropologist, cultural critic, and author. His novel Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America was selected as an Editor’s Choice by both Booklist and the American Library Association. Local Libraries LIT’s goal is to grow a thriving community which shines with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
NEXT PAGE BOOKS 319.247.2665 | npb.newbo@gmail.com 1105 Third Street SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
ZUILL BAILEY CELLO
MASTERWORKS IV MARCH 23, 2024 Paramount Theatre
MARCH 24, 2024
Coralville Center for the Performing Arts ORCHESTRAIOWA.ORG
•
319.366.8203
EDITORS’ PICKS: February 2024 Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16
Sunday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.
Opening Tuesday, Feb. 27 at
Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. The
and 17 at 7:30 p.m. The Second
Heartbreak Hotel: Rhythm &
7:30 p.m. Les Misérables, Des
Incredibly True Adventure of
City, Englert Theatre, $20-48
Pep Anti-Valentine’s Variety
Moines Civic Center, $40-165
Two Girls in Love, FilmScene—
Show, xBk Live, Des Moines, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16
$10-50
and 17 Reggie Wilson/Fist
FILM
and Heel Performance Group,
Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Hancher Auditorium, $10-25
American Apollo Preview,
CRANDIC
DMMO, Northcrest Community,
Monday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.
Ames
Somebody: The Revolutionary
Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7:30
The Ped Mall, $8.85-13 Friday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 18 Memories of Murder, FilmScene—The Ped Mall, $8.8513
Films of Madeline Anderson,
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 17
de Monte Carlo, Hancher
Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 and 9:30
FilmScene—The Chauncey, Pay-
and 18 at 11 a.m. The Picture
Auditorium, $20-55
p.m. Amber Autry: Stand Up
What-You-Can-$10
Show: The Princess Diaries,
p.m. Les Ballets Trockadero
Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Opening Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Club, $15-20
The
FilmScene—The Chauncey, Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 10 p.m.
Free-$5
Late Shift at the Grindhouse:
Mountaintop, Riverside Theatre,
Opening Friday, Feb. 16 at 7
Black Mold, FilmScene—The
Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3:30
Iowa City, $15-39
p.m. The Music Man Jr., Class
Chauncey, $8
p.m. Blackwaters + Inward,
Act Productions, Altoona, $10Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25.
16
Hairspray, Hancher Auditorium, $65-119
FilmScene—The Chauncey, PayThursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. Dirty,
Chauncey, Pay-What-You-Can
Nerdy, and Flirty, xBk Live, $30Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25. Red,
What-You-Can-$10
Sansón and Me, FilmScene—The
450
Saturday, Feb. 17 at 10 p.m. Millennium Mambo, FilmScene—
Saturday and Tuesday, Feb.
The Chauncey, Free-$8
10 and 13 at 6:30 p.m. Barking
Coralville Center for Performing Saturday, Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. The
Dogs Never Bite, FilmScene—
Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 6:30
Peking Acrobats, Des Moines
The Ped Mall, Iowa City, $8.85-
p.m. Memories of Murder,
Civic Center, $10-20
13
FilmScene—The Ped Mall, $8.85-
Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Ari
Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.
Shaffir, Hoyt Sherman Place,
Love Jones, FilmScene—The
Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 10 p.m.
Letterkenny: A Night of Stand
Des Moines, $20-60
Chauncey, $10-13
Late Shift at the Grindhouse:
Closing Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2
Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 10 p.m.
p.m. Our Town, Des Moines
Late Shift at the Grindhouse:
Community Playhouse, $29-43
Cupid, FilmScene—The
Thursday, Feb. 22 at 3:30 p.m.
Chauncey, $8
The Picture Show: The Princess
Arts, $16 Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Ben
13
Bailey, Englert Theater, $15-80
Attack of the Beast Creatures,
Up, Englert Theatre, $49.5099.50 Friday-Sunday, March 1-3. Red, Coralville Center for Performing Arts, $16
DSM
FilmScene—The Chauncey, $8
Closing Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2
Diaries, FilmScene—The
p.m. Equus, Tallgrass Theatre
Chauncey, Free-$5
Co., West Des Moines, $33 Friday and Sunday, Feb. 23 and
Opening Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Company, Des Moines
Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
25. The Host, FilmScene—The
Civic Center, $40-150
Les Ballets Trockadero De
Ped Mall, $8.85-11
Monte Carlo, Des Moines Civic Friday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. and
Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Lotus
Center, $15-61
1:30 p.m. The Mitten, Des
Sports Club, FilmScene—The
Moines Community Playhouse,
Thursdays, Feb. 22 and 29 at 7
Chauncey, Pay-What-You-
$6
p.m. Janee “C” Harvey, xBk Live,
Can-$10
$10-15 Saturday, Feb. 24 at 10 p.m.
Opening Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Finding Nemo Jr., Stoner
Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. J
Theater, Des Moines, $19.50-
Tyler Menz: Stand Up Comedy,
24.50
Teehee’s Comedy Club, $10-15
Friday, Feb. 9 at 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Des
p.m. The Host, FilmScene—The
Stephen Taylor: Stand Up
Moines Storytellers Project:
Ped Mall, $8.85-11
Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club
Community, Hoyt Sherman
Audition, FilmScene—The Chauncey, Free-$8 Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6:30
Place, $14-81 48 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Courtesy of Tehee’s CC
FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 3 • DES MOINES CIVIC CENTER DMPA.org · (515) 246-2322 · CIVIC CENTER TICKET OFFICE
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 49
EDITORS’ PICKS: February 2024
Ballerina Boys, Varsity Cinema, Des Moines, Sunday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m., Free
still from ‘Ballerina Boys’
A film highlighting Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (The Trocks), an all-male company that has shared their style and message of equality, inclusion and social justice for 45 years. The screening is presented by Des Moines Performing Arts, Iowa PBS, Ballet Des Moines and Varsity Cinema. There will be a panel discussion following the film.
Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 10 p.m. Late Shift at
Thursdays, Feb. 22 and 29 at 12 a.m. The
Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Contemporary
the Grindhouse: Ice Cream Man, FilmScene—
Lighthouse, Varsity Cinema, $9-12
Issues Forum: DJ Patil, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, $10
The Chauncey, $8
DSM Thursdays, Feb. 8 and 15 at 12 a.m. Cure,
Friday and Sunday, Feb. 23 and 25. Oscar Shorts: Animation Screenings, Des Moines
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 10 a.m. People w/
Art Center, Free
Disabilities-Owned Business Market, NewBo City Market, Cedar Rapids, Free
Varsity Cinema, Des Moines, $9-12 Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. The Thing, Varsity Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. The Taste of Things, Varsity Cinema, $18 Friday and Sunday, Feb. 16 and 18. Oscar Shorts: Documentary Screenings, Des Moines Art Center, Free
Cinema, $9-12
community CRANDIC Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 12 p.m. In Pursuit of
Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 20 and 21.
Food Justice, Globally and Locally, Iowa City
Oscar Shorts: Live Action Screenings, Des
Public Library, Free
Saturday, Feb. 10 at 11 a.m. All Ages Art: Lego Dots Printmaking, Public Space One Close House, Iowa City, Free Saturday, Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. Black Genealogical Research w/Ricki King and Jill Wells, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Free Sunday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. Iowa’s Path to Sustainability, Iowa City Public Library, Free
Moines Art Center, Free Thursday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. Night at the Museum: Date Night, Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City, Free
Exhibition Opening Celebration: States of Becoming, Des Moines Art Free Join the Des Moines Art Center for the opening of States of Becoming, a traveling exhibition that examines relocation, resettling, and assimilation, the dynamic forces that shape the artistic practices of a group of contemporary African artists working in the U.S. Event attendees are also invited to try complimentary African flare cuisine made by Bah Kunda Kitchen. Registration is not required. 50 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Courtesy ofthe DMAC
Center, Friday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.,
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM Monday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. Art Classes w/ Jennifer Black Reinhardt, Sidekick Coffee & Books, Iowa City, $150 Saturday, Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. Queer Coffee Social, Englert Theatre, Iowa City, Free Monday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. Imagining Community in 2030: An Obermann Conversation, Iowa City Public Library, Free
DSM Thursday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. Assemblé: Shervin Lainez
Winefest DSM and Ballet DSM, Willow on Grand, Des Moines, $160 Friday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. Opening Reception: Justin Beller, Moberg Gallery, Free Sunday, Feb. 11 at 1:30 p.m. State of Becoming Artist Discussion, Des Moines Art Center, Free Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m. Take a Pizza My Heart, Big Grove Brewery, Des Moines, $100
Imani Winds, Gallagher Bluedorn, Friday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m., $1-46
Imani Winds, the twice Grammynominated wind quintet, is making an appearance at Gallagher Bluedorn this late February. They’re celebrating over 20 years of music making, and in that time, have gained recognition for their collaborations with jazz musicians, classical composers, and innovative programming that includes commissioned works that include African and Latin American elements. The ensemble regularly performs at significant international concert venues, in addition to chamber music series and festivals in the U.S., and abroad.
EDITORS’ PICKS: February 2024 Thursday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. Capital City Pride: Brea Baker, Temple Theater, Des Moines, Free w/RSVP Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. Galentine’s Paint & Pints, Confluence Brewing Company, $37 Thursday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. Beer and Ballet, Big Grove Brewery, Free Sunday, March 3 at 2 p.m. Japanese Hinamatsui Weekend: Kimono Fashion Show, Des Moines Art Center, Free
QUAD CITIES Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Double Feature: In The Mood for Love & Happy Together, RozzTox, Rock Island, Free Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8 a.m. Walk-Ins Welcome: Heart Decor Painting, Board and Brush, Bettendorf, $5 Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8 a.m. Nursery School: Lessons in Gardening with University of
via Naughty Cookie Class
Illinois Extension, Vibrant Arena, Moline, $70
Naughty Cookie Class, Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m. The Shine
INSIDER, FULL DAY, AND DAY PASSES ON SALE NOW!
missioncreekfestival.com/tickets/ 52 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
Box, East Moline, $35
If you need sweets for your hard-to-buy-for (and 18-or-older) sweetie this Valentine’s Day, the Shine Box is holding an erotic cookie decorating event the night before V-Day. Sprinkles, royal icing and edible paint will be provided, just bring your anatomical imagination.
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM
All is Calm 2023-24 Season
Thursday, Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m. Overbooked Book Club: There There by Tommy Orange, Davenport Public Library Fairmount Branch, Free Saturday, Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. Natural Health and Home: Spring Cleaning, Wapsi River Center, Dixon, $8 Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. Quad City Arts Visiting Artist: Jessica Fichot, Moline Public Library, Free
DMPlayhouse.com
Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 6:30 p.m. Read with Pride Book Club, Davenport Public Library Fairmount Branch, Free
COMING SOON
Friday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. Iron Pen 24 Hour Writing Contest, Midwest Writing Center, Online, $10 Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. Hops for Homes, Crawford Brew Works, Bettendorf
WATERLOO/CF Opening Friday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Silent Sky, Waterloo Community Playhouse, $10-22 Friday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. Brad & Kate w/ Ben Rendell, Octopus College Hill, Cedar Falls, $10 Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. Lavender Haze: A Pal-Entine’s Celebration, Waterloo Center for the Arts, $25-30 Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. Harmony
Our Town, 2023-24 Season
Our Town Feb. 2-18, 2024
Dragons Love Tacos Mar. 1-10, 2024
FRIDAY FUNDAY
The Mitten FEB. 9, 2024
CLASSES
Summer class schedule NOW OPEN!
AUDITIONS
Ivy+Bean The Musical FEB. 12, 2024
Electric and Rafter Bat, Octopus College Hill, $10 Mondays, Feb. 12, 19, 26 and March 4 at 4 p.m. Monday Game Night, SingleSpeed Brewing Co., Waterloo, Free Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Kevin Burt & Big Medicine, Gallagher Bluedorn, Cedar Falls, $18-41 Friday, Feb. 23 at 9 a.m. Jamaica Day, Waterloo Center for the Arts, Free
GET TICKETS AND GET INVOLVED:
global flavors. local values. u n r i v a l e d h o s p i ta l i t y .
Centro 1003 Locust St. 515.248.1780 centrodesmoines.com
Django 1420 Locust St. 515.288.0268 djangodesmoines.com
Malo 900 Mulberry St. 515.244.5000 malodesmoines.com
Gateway Market 2002 Woodland 515.243.1754 gatewaymarket.com
Bubba 200 10th St. 515.257.4744 bubbadsm.com
Zombie Burger 300 E. Grand, DSM Jordan Creek, WDM zombieburgerdm.com
O H O S P I TA L I T Y. C O M
DEAR KIKI
D
ear Kiki, I want to fall in love forever. I never want to stop experiencing the rush of new love, and why should I? —Falling Forever
D
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ear FF, It’s intoxicating, isn’t it?! The butterflies, the intensity, the feeling of warmth as your heart races. It’s electric, a fullbody buzz. Who wouldn’t want to keep experiencing that? Well, lots of people, honestly. Anyone who isn’t so great at compartmentalizing, to start. The lure of new love has the power to make you forget other responsibilities. Unless you can lock it away at will, you may find that your friendships and family relationships suffer, your work suffers—even your capacity for self care is at risk. Think back on some of the wildest things you’ve done in the throes of new love: Staying up all night talking is a common one, as is staying up all night doing (ahem) other things. You may have found yourself gazing into your lover’s eyes so deeply that everything else (including, say, dinner cooking on the stove) fades away completely. Perhaps you thrill to the sound of their voice so thoroughly that you ignore those crucial call-waiting beeps. Anything as all-consuming as love carries risk with it. But let’s say you are a champion at mental sequestering, and let’s take it as a given that any possible recipient of your love is, as well. Surely there are no dangers to a permanent honeymoon phase then! Sadly, that’s not the case. Taking the most thoroughly banal perspective, there are four chemicals—the “happy hormones”: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins—which contribute to that intoxicating feeling of new love (and every other type of joy we feel). Most of us are familiar with serotonin— SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are the most commonly prescribed drugs for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which in turn is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder in the U.S., affecting 6.8 million adults. There are studies that find the mood regulator to be bidirectional, meaning your good mood increases your serotonin just as your serotonin levels improve your mood. You and your love make each other happier simply by being happy together. Oxytocin, nature’s bonding agent, is a social chemical that increases empathy and intimacy. It’s triggered primarily by touch, cementing your connection to each other as you hold hands. Endorphins, source of a “runner’s high,”
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is a natural painkiller, triggered by (ahem) exertion. And then there’s dopamine. Sweet, sweet dopamine, which is crucial to our brains’ pleasure and reward system. Dopamine, which can be triggered by many things but is strongly correlated with novelty. That is to say, one of the reasons new love feels so good is because it is new. Aha! Well, the solution then is to just keep finding new partners, right? FF, you know I am a great advocate of polyamory. And that certainly is one way to chase that high. But first of all, it’s a numbers game. Some people search their whole lives and never find even a single “true love.” Finding multiple in quick enough succession to ensure that you never stop feeling the rush is unlikely, at best. And if you maintained relationships with all of them? Well, I don’t have that kind of energy, FF. Do you? Even if you cycle through lovers, moving on the moment the “new car smell” has faded, there’s one big downside: You’ll never get to feel the grounding, buoying, affirming, foundational feeling of aging love. This is something that doesn’t get discussed nearly enough, in my opinion. If new love is the freefall rush of jumping out of a plane, aging love is the magnificent awe that you feel once your parachute opens. The feelings are wholly different but equally as satisfying. New love is intoxicating because it feels like an out-of-body experience, while aging love is what makes you feel comfortable in your body. Often, the annoyances of familiarity and habit can make aging love seem less attractive. But it’s absolutely possible to swim into the deep without anchoring yourself to the seabed. (In fact, some people anchor themselves as a substitute for the experience.) I will never speak ill of new love. But before you choose to chase it exclusively, give yourself the gift of experiencing the fathomless magic of aging love first. It won’t disappoint. ––xoxo, Kiki
KIKI WANTS QUESTIONS! Submit questions anonymously at littlevillagemag.com/dearkiki or non-anonymously to dearkiki@littlevillagemag.com. Questions may be edited for clarity and length, and may appear either in print or online at littlevillagemag.com. LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 55
IOWA CITY COMMUNITY THEATRE would like to invite you to join us for our
69th season, 2024-2025
For tickets or more information, visit our website, (And awww.iowacitycommunitytheatre.com, couple other surprises up our sleeves or wefind hope us to on announce Facebook. soon!) Inherit the Wind iskeep presented by special with For more information, an eye on ourarrangement website and Facebook. Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatist Play Service collection.
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INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST
WHERE:
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Fabulous films in a beautiful and welcoming environment! 2023 Film Fest Attendee
5 VENUES
30+ FILMS
Scan for more info! farmtofilmfest.org
56 February 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326
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AST R O LO GY
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It’s the fifth annual Brag Therapy Holiday—for you Aquarians only. During this celebration, we expect you—indeed we want you—to boast with panache. Tell us all in exquisite detail why you are such a marvelous creation. Explain how you have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to transform yourself into a masterpiece of intuitive intelligence. Regale us with stories of your winsome qualities, your heroic triumphs, and your hilarious and poignant adventures on the edge of reality. Make sure we understand how educational and healing it can be to bask in your influence. Show us why we should regard you as a role model. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I invite you to resolve old business, draw unrewarding projects to a close, and finish your lessons at the School of Tough Love. You don’t have to carry out my next proposal, but if you do, I will be glad: Politely and quietly scream, “Get out of my life” at anyone who doesn’t give you the respect and kindness you deserve. I also recommend that you do a WrapIt-Up Ritual. Start by making an altar that pleases you with its beauty. Take scraps of paper and write on each one a description of an influence or experience you want to purge from your life. As you rip each scrap into bits, say this: “I’m grateful for what I have learned from you, but now I am leaving you behind.” ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Happiness” is an amorphous term with a different meaning for everyone. What makes me feel happy may be unlike what works for you. Besides that, any kind of perfect happiness is impossible to achieve. However we define it, we are always a mix of being happy and unhappy. Nevertheless, I invite you to ruminate about the subject in the coming days. I believe you are primed to arrive at a realistic new understanding of your personal version of happiness—and raise your happiness levels by at least 15 percent. Maybe more! Now here are helpful clues from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “Precisely the least thing, the gentlest, lightest thing, the rustling of a lizard, a breath, a whisk, a twinkling of the eye—what’s little makes up the quality of the best happiness. Soft!” TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I invite you to take an inventory of your taboos, inhibitions, and restrictions. Meditate on why you originally adopted them. Evaluate how well they have served you and whether they are still meaningful. If you find any of them have become unnecessary or even injurious, jettison them. And be excited and happy about being free of them. If you decide that some taboos, inhibitions, and restrictions are still wise for you to maintain, thank them for their service and honor the self-protection they provide. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini novelist Gregory Maguire says there are a “thousand ways people shrink from life, as if chance and change are by their nature toxic and disfiguring.” Your assignment in the coming weeks is to contradict his theory. I’m hoping you will interpret all chance and change as potentially expansive, redemptive, and interesting. You will never shrink from life, but will boldly meet challenges and embrace twists of fate as interesting opportunities. I have abundant faith in your ability to carry out this vigorous project! CANCER (June 21-July 22): You could be a masterful eliminator of toxins and wastes in the coming weeks. Do it both for yourself and for those you care about. Start by purging nonessentials that obstruct the flow of the good life. These might include defunct fantasies, mistaken understandings, apathetic attitudes, and unloving approaches. Among the other dross or dreck you could root out is any clutter that’s making familiar environments feel oppressive. By the way, fellow Cancerian, this should be fun. If it’s not, you’re doing it wrong. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): My goals right now are to inspire you in the following three ways: 1. to be full of love for your daily life; 2.
By Rob Brezsny
to adore yourself exactly as you are; 3. to shed any numbness or boredom you feel and replace them with alert aliveness. To help you in this exalted effort, I offer the inspiration of three quotes. 1. “The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson. 2. “The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” – Eden Phillpotts. 3. “I have the mysterious feeling of seeing for the first time something I have always known.” –Bernardo Bertolucci. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In the coming weeks, I hope you avoid sucking up to egotistical manipulators. Please also refrain from being an unappreciated beast of burden and a half-willing pawn in boring games. If you are interested in paying off karmic debts, make sure they are yours, not anyone else’s. If you plan to work hard to lay the foundation for a future liberation, get a guarantee that YOU will be one of the liberated people. PS: I’m fine with you doing unselfish things as long as they will also have selfish benefits. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): One of the great maladies affecting modern people is the atrophy of the soul. It’s related to another affliction: the apathy of the soul. A key contributor to these misfortunes is the entertainment industry. Its shallow and artificial stimuli are engineered to overfeed our egos, leaving our poor souls malnourished. Please note that I have no problem with our egos. They are an important part of our make-up and are essential for healthy functioning. But it’s a shame they hog all the glory and sustenance. Now here’s my climactic message for you, Libra: It’s high time to celebrate a holiday I call Nurture the Soul. Make it last at least three weeks. Homework: Identify three actions you will take to excite, cherish, and enhance your soul. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In myth and legend, pregnancies don’t always begin with two humans having sexual communion. The well-known story of the Virgin Mary tells us she was impregnated when the Holy Spirit, disguised as a dove, whispered in her ear. The Roman goddess Juno conceived her son Mars solely with the help of an enchanted lily flower. The Greek hero Attis germinated inside his virgin mother Nana after she placed a pomegranate in her lap. This might sound outlandish, but I foresee you having a metaphorically comparable experience. Do you believe in the possibility of being fertilized by miraculous magic or a divine spirit? Might you be dramatically awakened or inspired by a very subtle influence? I think it will happen even if you don’t believe. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian computer scientist Grace Hopper (1906–1992) wrote, “The most damaging phrase in the language is: ‘It’s always been done that way.’” I will expand on that wisdom. The most obvious meaning is that we risk ignoring our individualized needs and suppressing our creative inspirations if we mindlessly conform to the habits of society. But it’s equally important not to mindlessly repeat our own longstanding ways of doing things. Maybe they were brilliant and appropriate in the past, but there’s no guarantee they will always be so. In conclusion, Sagittarius, I recommend you rebel against your own personal “it’s always been done that way” as well as everyone else’s. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Being in love is as desirable for you Capricorns as it is for everyone else. You may be less open and dramatic than the rest of us in expressing your yearnings, but they are still a driving force. Here’s an important point: Even if you are not constantly chattering to others about your urges to give and receive intimate care, it’s crucial that you acknowledge them to yourself. To keep your soul healthy, you must be in close touch with this core fuel. You must love your need for love. Now is an excellent time to deepen your appreciation for these truths. LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV326 February 2024 57
Community
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>> Cont. from pg. 29
by the Vatican.” So we talked about it and talked about, and he said, “Yeah, it might be fun. Let me think about it a little bit.” In the meantime, having been raised Catholic, I took off for the high school I graduated from and went up to the door and talked to one of the nuns I used to get taught by and explained that we were doing a show, and asked if it was possible to borrow some nuns’ habits. She said, “Well, usually we don’t have spare nuns’ habits … But there’s some stuff in the attic that’s been retired that no one will wear ever again. Let me check up there and see what we’ve got.” She came back down a little while later and handed me a box with four nuns’ habits in it. And I’m not talking about fake ones. I’m talking 1940s Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary style nuns’ habits. I gave her a big kiss and said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” And she said, “Well you and your friends have a wonderful time with your production of The Sound of Music!” I took off with the nuns’ habits, and they never got returned, and if I’m ever going to go to Hell for anything, that’s probably the one thing that will do it. I took them to rehearsal and dumped them on the ground, and Kenny looked at them and picked one up and said, “Hmm! This one has possibilities.” And everybody else found a nun’s habit. Did you ever wear a habit? I’m responsible
for the nuns’ habits, but I’ve never worn them. I was never one of the nuns for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, because at the time they established it, women weren’t allowed. They are now. And to make it up to me, Kenny had me declared a saint. I have a plaque on my wall.
Was it common knowledge that you provided the nuns’ habits? I never thought it
was a big secret. I didn’t think much about it. And then all of this stuff starts coming up in Little Village and other papers about the Iowa City anniversary for Pride, and I start getting mail from friends here in town saying, “Well, why isn’t your name with the list of the folks that were tap-dancing on the street corners during Pride?” and I didn’t know. So I asked Ken about it, and he said, “Well, I don’t talk about it much because I didn’t know how you felt about being outed.” And I said, “Are you out of your mind? We got chased down by fag haters and all kinds of stuff. I’m still here, dude.”
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ALBUM REVIEWS
MR. SOFTHEART Magdalene in Crisis MRSOFTHEARTINTL.BANDCAMP.COM
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omewhere in the search engine results for “magnolia,” there is one of many paintings titled exactly that. It’s just a JPG of the original by Martin Johnson Heade, but thanks to the click-to-zoom functionality on slam.org, you can get close enough to see the wrinkles in the white paint. The digital placard is also doing its best to describe the “voluptuous blossoms.” Any hint of horniness, however, doesn’t translate through the screen. Mr. Softheart opens their debut album, Magdalene In Crisis (released Dec. 22, 2023), with a song that shares the name of the JPG of the painting of the flower. But their “Magnolia” is headed in the other direction, working in retrograde from the webpage, turning pixels into oil paints. “The rubber factory down the street is improving its cyber security,” sings the Softhearts’ frontman, Nick Fisher, a curator paid by the hour, before continuing: “I, too, had dreams.” The whole song has a twinkle to it, like rain made from milk, each droplet designed to be captured on a CinemaScope canvas—but still able to burst against skin. To render such dimensionality throughout the album, the band worked with producer Seth Luloff, who ended up feeding sounds back through some of the same metal, transformers, etc. that the Beatles used to record Revolver at EMI Studios in the 1960s. The effect of that analog circuitry is hot. Felt. Even MIDI files are made flesh and blood, like on lead
Submit albums for review: Little Village, 623 S Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 54420
single “Caravaggio,” when Nick speaks to himself through the void of a microKORG vocoder. He has an actor’s knack for enunciation— just listen to what he does with the word “undulates”—but here his delivery decays into something as ephemeral as a ghost at a house party. Behind the album’s references to the splatter and screams of Italian Baroque paintings are serrated riffs and stabs of synth drenched in the very red Karo syrup of Italian slasher movies. John Fisher and Charlie Patterson, both part-time guitarists/part-time synth players in the strange three-piece lineup, are so eerily in step that each song becomes something of a whodunnit. You can never be sure whose black-gloved hands should be held responsible. That’s not to say they’re out to draw blood. Once one of these catchy shrieks makes its way inside, it’ll simply stay awhile, flowing from appendage to appendage for days on end. Like, say, the jackbooted loop of a lick on “Bon Vivant”
DIISTANCING this love ain’t a film DIISTANCING.BANDCAMP.COM
F
or the last couple of years, Iowa City’s James Hirsch has been releasing music under the name diistancing. His latest, releasing on good old Saint Valentine’s Day, is this love ain’t a film. Featuring seven slow-burning, melancholic love/breakup songs, this diistancing release is stripped-down and raw, incorporating elements of alt-folk and emo into a tight collection of brooding bedroom pop. With the seemingly simple formula of a pair of acoustic chords and swelling reverb, Hirsch is able to faithfully in-
“looking for you” reads like a voice memo that Hirsch couldn’t stop thinking about. “Are you a broken mirror? Are you an open window?” he asks without fear. “I really don’t know,” he concludes, pop-strumming a guitar against the heartbreak. Keep in mind the musical and emotional mileage he is capable of wringing out of just a few chords, especially on the title track. Here, Hirsch is at his most bruised, but there’s something persistent— and yes, cinematic—hiding underneath it all. By the last three songs, full joy emerges, even if it’s tough now, jaded. And yet, Hirsch is able to finally reach for acceptance, via the lingering exploration of “want” and the gentle twang of “break me gently.” Wrapping up with “i hear you,” Hirsch crafts an echo chamber of his own salvation. Defiant guitar strums create sweeping, vibrating echoes. The song concludes while he repeats “I’m still here,” more and more sure each time around. Wrapping up at just under 19 minutes, Hirsch imparts his tale of love
BEHIND THE ALBUM’S REFERENCES TO THE SPLATTER AND SCREAMS OF ITALIAN BAROQUE PAINTINGS ARE SERRATED RIFFS AND STABS OF SYNTH DRENCHED IN THE VERY RED KARO SYRUP OF ITALIAN SLASHER MOVIES.
that carves out a kind of gothy garage rock next to the stimulant of a synth line—splitting the difference between “The Passenger” by Iggy Pop and “Tick” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But it’s the threat of “State Trooper” that’s almost too real. For their cover, the Softhearts move the setting of the song a couple hundred miles east from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska to a sopping-wet stretch of highway like the one in Denis Johnson’s short story, “Car Crash While Hitchhiking.” And though you can hear the narrator going nowhere fast, you can’t help but hit the gas yourself. —Benjamin Jeffery
terpret some of the coldness of that most sanguine holiday. The album opens up with “enclosed: emotional dust,” a two-chord rumination that reaches its pinnacle when Hirsch sings “I can feel your growing absence/More than I ever felt your presence.” If it seems overwrought written out, I promise it’s earnest when he sings it. On “i love you, i’m sorry,” the music breaks entirely after the first verse, and Hirsch opts for a flat-out monologue addressing the person who is no longer in love with him. It’s a real, powerful moment for both Hirsch and the listener—an old-school pop music move that I, for one, could stand hearing more of.
and loss efficiently, then fades away. His music here is about that lowercase love that winds up causing a capital-letter kind of pain. So if all the silly pink hearts and throw-away bouquets this time of year bring you down even a little, then this love ain’t a film is your record. Just don’t listen to it in despair. Take solace in knowing someone else is out there that feels that same heartbroken feeling as you. And they aren’t that far away. —Avery Gregurich
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BOOK REVIEWS
LYZ LENZ This American Ex-Wife CROWN
“M
y marriage ended on a Monday.” Lyz Lenz opens This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life (out Feb. 20, 2024) this simply. And she pulls no punches in laying out her nonfiction narrative that interrogates the traditions and institutions behind marriage. We follow the arc of Lenz’s divorce—her desperation folds wildly into liberation and then into peace—and she cites exhaustive research about the history of marriage and its realities over time. I expected to love this book. I subscribe to Lenz’s newsletter (Men Yell At Me on Substack) and read her other two books. What I did not expect was for a book about divorce to cause me deep introspection and prompt me into awkward conversations with people who have never married. I didn’t expect to question my own motivations to marry (my poor spouse is probably worried about me) or how my straight friends are doing in their marriages. Lenz is careful to note that research and statistics surrounding marriage and divorce are almost exclusive to cishet marriages and primarily from white backgrounds. She is careful to note how the realities behind the statistics have steeper imbalances for poor women and women of color. So when Lenz talks about the patriarchal systems at play she’s talking about the well-documented ways people have been socialized over a couple
Submit books for review: Little Village, 623 S Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 54420
thousand years in the West—and how that plays out in real life. Early in the book Lenz reveals that 70 percent of divorces are initiated by women, then dives headfirst into research that explains this. “Often these women are dismissed as a lone mad woman, unable to cope. They are problems for a therapist and a self-help book to solve. Certainly not a political crisis,” she writes. “But I don’t think that’s true.” Lenz discloses conversations she’s had with unhappy wives and happy divorcees: “These weren’t just stories of women falling out of love, but of a political and cultural and romantic institution that asks too much of wives and mothers and gives too little in return.” At the start of the book, Lenz tells her personal story like she’s revealing a secret, but she grounds her narrative with data. As the book moves forward, the narrative braid weaves more completely. In the beginning, she gives us facts and sadness. In the middle she gives us equal parts fact and wildness. In the end she gives us a sweet denouement, showing readers her own liberation and what that looks like for other divorced women. Marketed in the “Biography & Memoir” category, there are both intimate details and studies of sociology—and they come together to show a candid image of Western marriage, warts and all. But it’s also a beautiful piece of writing. It’s a coming-of-age memoir of liberation. “Identity is a constant negotiation and discovery, something we concoct from the raw material of our lives,” she tells us in what feels like a thesis. This American Ex-Wife is a triumph of creative nonfiction, situating itself in the relatively unique position of being a seriously researched treatise on a cultural phenomenon and also being a piece of literature. This book is Lenz leveling up. —Sarah Elgatian
JASON THOMAS SMITH The Renegade Nuns on Wheels MC, Post Apocalypse, Lost Nation, Iowa (SELF PUBLISHED)
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he newest book by Jason Thomas Smith was released on Sept. 24, 2023. That’s just four days before my most recent birthday, and even reading it now, months later, it feels like a present, gift-wrapped and handed to me on a silver platter. It starts with a desolate town and one lone priest out of a band of scattered apocalypse survivors. The opening scene is straight out of the post-apocalyptic playbook. The sound of motorcycles. A desperate man praying. A town utterly ravaged by nuclear fallout, time and other implements of destruction. Enter the Renegade Nuns, a band of badass, scantily clad women, each in some semblance of holy attire: a wimple here, a rosary there. They enter the town of Lost Nation, Iowa, on a mission, and they will ride over anyone who gets in their way. If you haven’t set this review down already and raced to order this book from your LBS, then I don’t know what to tell you. The premise says it all, and you’ll either love it, or you’ll be one of the people who gets in their way. Smith has a cinematic eye, and The Renegade Nuns on Wheels MC is both an amalgamation of every ridiculously violent end-of-the-world movie ever made, and (as far as I can tell) a wholly original idea. It’s also laugh-out-loud funny. This is a novel for those of us who adored Gunpowder Milkshake. It’s a story for Sam Raimi aficionados. And once it gets going it simply does. not. let.
up. Until the final page. Despite the filmic storytelling, I wouldn’t trade this novel for a film any day. Smith’s way of turning a phrase is delightful, evoking laughter and horror simultaneously and pulling back when necessary in a way that visual media is unable. One fantastic early moment drives this home, turning “show don’t tell” on its head with a description that far exceeds its ocular promise. “Fisty led them back to Marv’s Antique Shop,” he writes, detailing the layout of the town of Lost Nation. “A crude, spray-painted sign hung over a crooked entrance. The word “antique” had been spelled wrong.” This hits differently than if he had chosen a specific misspelling for “antique” and used it every time he referenced the shop. The choice to explain, instead, allows the absurdity to hit, and then fade, instead of becoming a running gag that wears itself out. The entire story takes place over the course of three days, perhaps four (time and its dilation and contraction are recurring themes that Smith both discusses and utilizes). It’s a fast-paced ride that manages to engage multiple shades of morality. Shortly before the “final” battle for humanity, which begins at the book’s halfway point and charges unrelentingly through the last page, the priest from the opening scene contemplates his situation. “High noon. The business suit demons were fighting the Halloween nuns at high noon, two of whom had engaged in disgusting biker sex acts right outside his church window the night before. The priest would never look at a jumbo dill pickle the same way.” If that kind of tongue-in-cheek prose speaks to you, strap some machine guns to your vehicle and blast a path to the nearest bookstore to grab this, before the (uncredited) adorable cover art is replaced by some Hollywood studio’s promotional shot. —Genevieve Trainor
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62. Platonic longing represented four times in this puzzle 64. “When are you getting here?” 65. Fire up? 66. ___ Modern (London gallery) 67. “Exercise index, won’t need Bowflex / And won’t take the one with no skinny legs like Joe ___” (MF DOOM rhyme) 68. Generate again, as an axolotl can a limb 69. Velázquez’s ___ Meninas
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31. 2010s term of endearment 34. “Get it now?” 37. Ice Bucket Challenge cause: Abbr. 38. Platters by the Platters, say 39. Tasty boneless leg, perhaps 40. Mother Sister portrayer Ruby in Do the Right Thing 41. Fitting 42. Passes, as a law 43. Passers’ units: Abbr.
clogged? 28. Certain soap opera plot device 29. ’70s UK genre that thrived in dives 31. Funding for covert operations 32. Author K.A. ___ who wrote the Animorphs series 33. Passing rate? 35. Fully fill 36. Personal statement, e.g. 39. Like much grass-fed meat 45. Sick, so to speak 47. Super-soft silicate 48. Hybrid tennis garment 50. Brazilian hitmaker ___ Ben Jor 51. Cake topper 53. Regular order, with “the” 54. Kellogg’s saltine brand 55. Result of a sick burn? 58. One next in line 59. Aware of 62. Christmas tree choice 63. Drops early in the day
44. With 14-Down, “Three Romances for Violin and Piano” composer 46. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” odist 49. First name on the Supreme Court 52. Japanese syndicate 56. Didn’t hold firm, as in a negotiation 57. ___ Rios, Jamaica 60. Goes down 61. 1920s heater
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MidAmerican Energy:
OBSESSIVELY, RELENTLESSLY BURNING COAL https://linktr.ee/ia_beyondcoal Emma Colman— Organizing Representative emma.colman@sierraclub.org
IG: @sierraclub_iowabc FB: @sierraclubiowabc Twitter: @IABeyondCoal