river cities' reader - issue 835 - july 25, 2013
TRANSCRIPT
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River Cities Reader Vol. 20 No. 835 July 25 - August 7, 20132 Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com
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River Cities Reader Vol. 20 No. 835 July 25 - August 7, 2013 3Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com
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River Cities Reader Vol. 20 No. 835 July 25 - August 7, 20134 Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com
Davenport, Iowa 563.326.7804www.fggeartmuseum.org
Figge Art MuseuM speciAl event
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Warhola works at the Andy Warhol
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Andy Warhol Foundation.
Image courtesy of the Andy
Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh
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River Cities Reader Vol. 20 No. 835 July 25 - August 7, 2013 5Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com
familys Chicago legacy is one of Daleysbiggest liabilities and, Im told, the easiestto understand. His banks investment in thehugely controversial Chicago parking-meterdeal is another big hit. Daleys lead role in thepassage of the North American Free TradeAgreement doesnt play well with labor-
union members. But afterconsulting several politicalpros, some of whom havebeen (or may eventually
be) involved in attackingDaley, I decided to go witha question about JPMorganChase.
It is, as I said, not a fairquestion, but with Quinnundoubtedly planning abrutal populist assault onDaley, its probably close tosomething youll eventually
see in an ad, although I didnt include the fact
that Daleys bank bought a fleet of new jets afew weeks after receiving its federal bailout, norcould I use faces and voices of Illinoisans whowere wrongly foreclosed upon.
Would you be more likely or less likely tovote for a Democratic gubernatorial candidatewho ran a major bank that received federalbailout money, foreclosed on large numbers ofIllinois homeowners, and engaged in predatorysubprime mortgage lending? voters wereasked.
Unsurprisingly, that question moved theneedle in a big way. According to the poll, awhopping 73 percent of Democrats were lesslikely to vote for the candidate. Results such asthat indicate the issue has major traction. Just16 percent said it didnt make any difference,and another 11 percent said it made themmore likely to vote for the candidate possiblya negative reaction to the harsh nature of aquestion about a fellow party member.
The question proved devastatinglyeffective, said pollster Gregg Durham. Theresponses will certainly give Mr. Quinn apolitical harpoon that could cause significantdamage.
Yes, Quinn has serious problems. Thats whythe incumbent is only receiving the potentialvotes of 38 percent of his own party members.The June poll found that a mere 33 percent ofDemocrats approved of his job performance,for crying out loud.
Incumbents with lousy poll numbers suchas Quinn have no other choice but to attack,
attack, attack. And Daley will definitely providea target-rich environment for the governor.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a dailypolitical newsletter) and CapitolFax.com.
ILLINOIS POLITICS
Governor Pat Quinn is leading hissole Democratic-primary rival, andchallenger Bill Daley will have some
serious problems with his blue-chip rsum,according to a new Capitol Fax/We AskAmerica poll.
The poll of 1,394 likely Democratic primaryvoters found Quinnleading Daley by fivepoints, 38-33. Thatsexactly where the two
stood in a January poll.A June poll had Daleyleading Quinn by a point,38-37, but since thenQuinn has made somepopular moves, includingvetoing legislative salariesout of the budget andusing his veto powers torewrite the concealed-carry bill.
The most recent poll was taken July 17,a day after Attorney General Lisa Madiganshook up the race by announcing her decisionnot to run for governor. It had a margin oferror of 2.6 percent. Cell phones made up 28percent of those called.
Twenty-eight percent of likely primaryvoters were undecided, suggesting that thereis plenty of room for movement by either manand possibly an opening for someone else toenter the race.
According to the poll, Quinn leads amongwomen by seven points (38-31) and amongmen by two points (40-38). Quinn has a 47-27lead among African Americans and a 45-36lead among Latinos. Daley leads 37-35 withwhite Democrats. Daley leads by only a pointin the suburban collar counties and by sixpoints Downstate; Quinn has a 15-point leadin Chicago and a nine-point lead in CookCounty.
But a question crafted to mimic a campaignattack shows a potentially killer Daleyweakness. Daley was the Midwest chair ofJPMorgan Chase a too big to fail bank when it received $25 billion in federal bailoutmoney, according to the CNN Money Website. The company also agreed to settle with thefederal government on federal mortgage-fraudand wrongful-foreclosure charges.
Because I wanted to see how Democraticvoters would react to attack rhetoric, thequestion I posed was neither fair nor balanced.Campaigns do this sort of thing all the time
to see where their weaknesses are, so its not aradical concept by any means.
Daley has several very big negatives,according to people in both parties whohave polled or focus-grouped the race. His
by Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
Poll Shows Daley Vulnerableto Bank Attacks
A question
crafted to mimic acampaign attack
shows a potentially
killer Daley
weakness.
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Support for Industrial Hemp Grows Even in Congress
The Drug Wars Collateral Damage
By most standards, Jason Kak-erts Iowa Hemp for Victorypage on Facebook (Facebook.
com/IowaHempforVictory) is amodest grassroots political effort.He started the page in 2011, and thisweek it had only 58 likes.
This is just getting started out,the 31-year-old graphic artist said lastweek in his studio at the BucktownCenter for the Arts. Right now this iskind of a one-man show.
But Kakert (a former RiverCities Readerintern) is an eloquentadvocate for industrial hemp, andhes part of a movement thats gainingsignificant traction. Last month, theU.S. House by a vote of 225 to 200 passed an amendment to the farmbill that would allow institutions ofhigher education to grow or cultivateindustrial hemp for the purpose of
agricultural or academic research,according to the amendmentssummary. The amendment onlyapplies to [the nine] states thatalready permit industrial hempgrowth and cultivation under state law.
The amendment is now attached tothe House-passed farm bill, but its fate isuncertain at best; the larger politics of thefarm bill dwarf this particular issue.
Yet the amendments passage represented
a major surprise victory for hemp advocates.As Tom Murphy, the national outreachcoordinator and a board member of the not-for-profit organization Vote Hemp, said in aninterview last week: We were expecting a 50to 375 defeat.
He called passage of the amendmentthe culmination of years of education andlobbying, and also said support was easierto garner because it was an agricultural-research bill for higher education instead of
a more sweeping effort to legalize industrialhemp.For the uninitiated, industrial hemp
is hailed as a hardy, versatile crop. Somepeople claim it can literally save the world,but a more realistic, sober analysis comesfrom last months Congressional ResearchService report Hemp as an AgriculturalCommodity (RCReader.com/y/hemp1):Some estimate that the global market forhemp consists of more than 25,000 products.... Hemp fibers are used in a wide range of
products, including fabrics and textiles, yarnsand raw or processed spun fibers, paper,carpeting, home furnishings, constructionand insulation materials, auto parts, andcomposites. The interior stalk (hurd) is
used in various applications such as animalbedding, raw-material inputs, low-qualitypapers, and composites. Hemp seed andoilcake are used in a range of foods andbeverages, and can be an alternative foodprotein source. Oil from the crushed hempseed is an ingredient in a range of body-careproducts and also nutritional supplements.Hemp seed is also used for industrialoils, cosmetics and personal care, andpharmaceuticals, among other composites.
During World War II, the federalgovernment encouraged farmers to growhemp (and it made the film Hemp for Victory,from which Kakerts Facebook page gets itsname). Kakert said hes found references to11 hemp-processing plants in Iowa fromthat era, and his interest in the subject was
spurred when he came across a manual for aDeere & Company hemp harvester from the1940s.
Kakert said hes excited by the possibilitiesof hemps myriad uses. He would like to printon hemp canvas, for example.
And he believes that legalized industrialhemp could be a boon to the local economy:We wouldnt have to get cotton from downsouth; we could make hemp fabric thatsgrown in Iowa. If I want to build a house out
of hempcrete, why should I have to import itfrom the UK?
He added: The U.S. is importing millionsof dollars in hemp products that could begrown and made in the United States. Whyis this?
The reason is that industrialhemp is a Schedule I drug under theControlled Substance Acts definitionof marijuana (all parts of the plantCannabis sativa L), and it cannotbe grown or processed in the UnitedStates without a permit from theDrug Enforcement Administration(DEA). However, hemp products canbe imported into the United States.
Equating industrial hemp withthe drug marijuana dates back to theMarihuana Tax Act of 1937. Afterthat law was ruled unconstitutionalin 1969 in Leary V. United States,Congress responded in 1970 with theControlled Substances Act.
At that point, Murphy said, therewas no hemp industry in the UnitedStates to fight the laws definitionsthat made industrial hemp an illegaldrug: The last industrial-hemp
crop grown commercially was donein 1957 in Wisconsin, so when theControlled Substances Act was beingdrafted, there were no hemp farmersor processors to say, Hey, wait a
minute. What about us?Kakert said that lawmakers didnt
necessarily realize they were throwingthe baby out with the bathwater, yet thelegal linkage remains. As a result, the issueof industrial hemp is often tied to (and
confused with) drug legalization, and Kakertand other industrial-hemp advocates areadamant about drawing distinctions betweenthem.
I split the two up, Kakert said, becausethe biggest hurdle right now ... is that theresstill this misunderstanding and this stigmathat you say hemp, [and] a lot of people say,Im against marijuana.
That confusion, he said, makes it difficultfor many legislators to support industrial
hemp. (See sidebar.) Lawmakers dont wantto be considered soft on drugs, Kakert said,since this has been collateral damage in thedrug war. Its got that stigma attached.
Although industrial hemp and the drugmarijuana come from the same species ofplant (Cannabis sativa), theyre differentvarieties, theyre grown differently, andthey look different because of how theyrecultivated and the parts of them that areused. Most crucially from a drug-controlperspective, theyre distinguished by the
percentage of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),the psychoactive component ofCannabis;industrial hemp is bred or processed to havea relatively low percentage of THC comparedto drug marijuana.
Because of that, Kakert said, discussing
industrial hemp and the drug marijuanatogether makes no sense, and he refusedto state a position on legalizing marijuana
as a drug. Its like asking somebody whomanufactures oregano or powdered sugarwhat they think about drug policy, justbecause they look the same as marijuana
and cocaine, he said.Vote Hemps Murphy said that the DEA
exploits the legal situation: The only reason
that theres a stigma attached to industrialhemp is because of law enforcement andspecifically the DEA saying that there is
no difference between the varieties. Its alldefined as marijuana under the ControlledSubstances Act. They can intentionallyconfuse and conflate things.
The current lumping together of industrialhemp and drug marijuana is in significantpart simply maintaining the tough-on-
drugs status quo. But Murphy said the DEAalso continues its opposition because itsarguments are so weak. Legalization, he said,would make the agencys stated concerns
look like little more than unfounded fear-mongering.
Undermining OppositionLaw-enforcement organizations most
notably the DEA generally oppose hemplegalization even when it has nothing to do
with legalizing the drug marijuana.The core rationale was tersely outlined
by Gil Kerlikowske, the director of theOffice of National Drug Control Policy, in astatement last year: Hemp and marijuanaare part of the same species of cannabisplant. While most of the THC in cannabisplants is concentrated in the marijuana,all parts of the plant ... can contain THC, aSchedule I controlled substance.
This is largely a false-premise argument,
hemp activists claim. The central problemwith U.S. drug policy as it relates toindustrial hemp, they say, is precisely theControlled Substances Act definition,which doesnt differentiate something onesmokes to get high from something thatwould provide no high if smoked.
Other claims opposing industrial hempare similarly dubious. The DEAs talkingpoints on the issue were published by theHuffington Post last month, and the agency
made two primary arguments against thefarm-bill amendment.
Actually, it made two basic argumentsagainst the legalization of industrial hempgenerally, neither of which would reallyapply given the amendments narrow
COVER STORY
A hemp field in France. Photo by Barbetorte
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by Jeff Ignatius
scope: First, it is impossible to distinguisha marijuana plant containing 0.3 percentor less of THC from a marijuana plantcontaining higher THC levels withoutscientific analysis. The bill would therebymake it essentially impossible for lawenforcement to enter a grow site todetermine the THC content of the hempplants since there would be no way toestablish probable cause to obtain a search
warrant without first entering the premisesto collect samples. As a result, the bill wouldprovide easy cover to hide more potentmarijuana plants. Second, even if all themarijuana plants contained 0.3 percentor less THC, they would still provide anenormous quantity of psychoactive materialbecause it is very easy and inexpensive toconvert low-grade marijuana into high-grade hashish oil.
The primary argument, then, is a purelylogistical one that law-enforcementagencies wouldnt be able to visually tellindustrial hemp from drug marijuana.Related to this is a claim that industrial anddrug Cannabis could be grown in the samefield together.
These assertions have been mocked byhemp activists and with good reason.The oilseed and fiber varieties are bothsown differently f rom the drug varieties,Murphy said. They are row crops theyare not a horticultural crop and theyreharvested at different times, and theywould look distinctly different from the air,especially just based on density.
The Congressional Research Service
report supports that: Among the visualplant differences are plant height (hemp isencouraged to grow tall, whereas marijuanais selected to grow short and tightlyclustered); cultivation (hemp is grown asa single main stalk with few leaves andbranches, whereas marijuana is encouragedto become bushy with many leaves andbranches to promote flowers and buds); andplanting density (hemp is densely plantedto discourage branching and flowering,whereas marijuana plants are well-spaced).
Theres also the issue that intermingledhemp and marijuana crops would cross-pollinate, resulting in both being poor fortheir intended use. As former CIA Director(and hemp activist) James Woolsey has
been quoted as saying: If you wanted tohide marijuana in a field of industrial hemp,youd have to be very high.
Furthermore, because of asset-forfeiturelaws, trying to hide drug marijuana ina farm field of industrial hemp wouldbe extremely risky even if low-THCCannabis were removed from ScheduleI. Anybody violating the ControlledSubstances Act in such a brazen manner ...
would be literally betting the farm, Murphysaid.He added that the DEA seems intractable
on the issue because its stated fears wontbecome reality. If they allow industrialhemp to be grown, it shows that theyvebeen lying all along that its all the same,we cant tell the difference, he said.
And drugs wont become a largerproblem, he said, addressing opponentsclaim that industrial hemp is the camelsnose under the tent. Drug warriors assert,he said, that if you allow industrial-hempfarming, therell be kids shooting up heroinin the streets.
The Market for HempThe Congressional Research Service
estimates that the market for hemp
products in the United States was roughly$500 million in 2012 and growing. The
report states that global hemp cultivation in roughly 30 countries, includingCanada was 200,000 acres and 380
million pounds in 2011.One argument against legalizing
industrial hemp is that its long-termmarket prospects arent strong. When
Kentucky earlier this year was debatinglegalizing hemp production, the law-
enforcement coalition Operation UNITEfocused on this aspect in its press release.
One sheriff said: Is there a limited marketfor industrial hemp? Probably so, but
the market is not going to be as great astheyre proposing it to be. Where are the
independent studies? If there was a huge
market for hemp, there would be lobbyistssitting in Washington trying to get this
legalized on a national level.The Congressional Research Service
said studies have provided contradictoryfindings about the market prospects for
domestic hemp production in the UnitedStates. Some studies have found that by
legalizing hemp production, agriculturalproducers ... could benefit. But the U.S.
Department of Agriculture concluded that
hemp markets are, and will likely remain,small, thin markets.
Kakert said its silly to inject market
potential into the debate over legalizingindustrial hemp. Whos to say that anindustry should be illegal based on market
speculation? he said. If I want to gomake ketchup popsicles and people think
its a terrible idea, that doesnt mean itshould be illegal.
He conceded that starting out, it would
probably be considered a specialty crop,and it would be something that farmerscould use to diversify their crop rotations.
... If its something farmers arent interestedin, so be it. But they should at least have
the opportunity. ... When you prohibit amarket, nobody really knows until thatmarket is a free market.
The current prohibition of industrialhemp, he added, looks particularly
odd in light of the governments Hemp
for Victory campaign. Wheres thedisconnect? Kakert asked. Where didit go from being a patriot to basically a
felon? ... Wheres the burden of proofhere? We should be asking, Whats the
justification for prohibition?
Quad Cities Reps LargelySilent on Industrial Hemp
The River Cities Readercontacted the
six members of Congress representing
the Quad Cities and 13 state legislators
representing Scott and Rock Island counties to
gauge lawmakers knowledge of and opinions
on the issue of industrial hemp. Only three of
the 19 lawmakers responded.
Press secretaries for members of Congresswere asked their bosses views on the House
farm-bill amendment allowing for limited
industrial-hemp growth and their opinions on
legalizing industrial hemp beyond institutions
of higher education.
State legislators were asked about their
familiarity with the issue and their opinions
on state-level industrial-hemp legislation.
(Both Illinois and Iowa had an industrial-
hemp bill introduced this year, but neither got
out of committee.)Legislators were e-mailed questions on
July 17 and asked to respond by July 22. The
limited number of responses and the content
of them appear to suggest that industrial
hemp remains a poorly understood issue that
is a low priority among people representing
the Quad Cities or perhaps that its tenuous
associations with drug policy make legislators
hesitant to answer questions.
Among U.S. senators and representatives,
only a representative of U.S. Senator Chuck
Grassley (R-Iowa) responded: Senator
Grassley is looking into this issue, wrote Press
Secretary Beth Pellett Levine. It hasnt come
up in the Senate.
Although no representative of U.S. Senator
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) responded, Harkins
office did provide some information in an
e-mail response to local hemp activist Jason
Kakert: That particular amendment was
not among those debated on the Senate floorduring Senate consideration of the farm bill.
... Generally, I have been supportive of efforts
to facilitate market access for new agricultural
products.
Neither U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
(D-Illinois) nor U.S. Senator Mark Kirk
(R-Illinois) responded, and neither has
indicated a position on industrial hemp.
And while neither U.S. Representative Dave
Loebsack (D-Iowa) nor U.S. Representative
Cheri Bustos (D-Illinois) responded, they didcast votes on the amendment Loebsack in
favor and Bustos against. (Bustos husband is a
captain with the Rock Island County sheriffs
office.)
Among Iowa legislators, only Iowa
Representative Linda Miller (R-Bettendorf)
responded: I do not know much about this
issue, and it has not come up in the Iowa
House, she wrote.
She did hit on a key source of confusion,
however: I do not see the Iowa legislature
being able to come to a consensus on the issue.
It always seems to get mixed up with issues in
regards to legalizing marijuana.
Among Illinois legislators, only Senator
Mike Jacobs (D-Moline) responded. In a
phone interview, he said he was approached
roughly six years ago by a California company
about the issue of industrial hemp, and
his responses showed that hes done some
homework on the issue. Im not afraid ofhemp, he said. Hemp is not marijuana. ... Its
not a recreational drug. Its a product we can
use like corn.
Asked whether industrial hemp should
be re-legalized, he said: Yeah, I do. I think
its kind of ridiculous. ... Living in a farming
community, ... if we could have another
product, another crop that we could use for
household goods, and use for fuel, paper,
building materials, clothing, why wouldnt
we?Still, Jacobs said, its unlikely the Illinois
legislature will move on the issue without
pressure from the public, or from farmers
wanting to grow or companies wanting to
process hemp in the state: I doubt itll come
from within the legislature. ... People have to
raise the issue. Its not the kind of issue that a
politicians going to just run with. ... But ... if
somebody comes forward with a plan ... .
Jeff Ignatius
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River Cities Reader Vol. 20 No. 835 July 25 - August 7, 20138 Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com
Vol. 20 No. 835July 25 - August 7, 2013
River Cities Reader532 W. 3rd St.
Davenport IA 52801
RiverCitiesReader.com
(563)324-0049 (phone)
(563)323-3101 (fax)
Publishing since 1993
The River Cities Readeris an independent
newspaper published every other Thursday, and
available free throughout the Quad Cities and
surrounding areas.
2013 River Cities Reader
AD DEADLINE:5 p.m. Wednesday prior to publication
PUBLISHERTodd McGreevy
EDITORKathleen McCarthy
EDITORIALManaging Editor: Jeff Ignatius [email protected]
Arts Editor, Calendar Editor: Mike Schulz [email protected]
Contributing Writers: Amy Alkon, Rob Brezsny, Rich
Miller, Frederick Morden, Bruce Walters, Thom White
ADVERTISINGAccount Executives:
Roseanne Terrill [email protected]
Advertising Coordinator: Nathan Klaus
Advertising rates, publishing schedule, demographics,and more are available at
QCAdvertising.com
DESIGN/PRODUCTIONArt Director, Production Manager: Shawn Eldridge
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Distribution: William Cook, Steve Cowan Cheri DeLay,Greg FitzPatrick, Daniel Levsen,
Jay Strickland, Doug Wilming
Continued On Page 14
Jass It Up!DanLevinsonsRoofGardenJassBandattheBixBeiderbeckeMemorialJazzFestival, August2and3
by Mike Schulz
He's performed alongside such
talents as Wynton Marsalis and Mel
Torm, and worked as personal
assistant to jazz great Dick Hyman. Hestoured nationally and internationally, land-
ing everywhere from Paris Bilboquet JazzClub to Los Angeles Playboy Mansion.
Hes been featured on Garrison Keillors
A Prairie Home Companion,and thesoundtracks for The Aviator, Ghost World,
andBoardwalk Empire.
But in the early 1980s, says jazzaficionado Dan Levinson, he couldnt even
convince friends to listen to the music he
loved.I was taking records out of a library in
Santa Monica, says the 48-year-old Levinson,
and landed on a record that RCA Victor hadput out called The Best of Dixieland, and the
last track on it was the Original Dixieland Jazz
Bands recording of Livery Stable Blues. It wasthe first so-called jazz record ever issued, in
1917, and I was absolutely blown away by it. I
couldnt get enough of it. And I just assumedthat when I played it for all my friends, they
would feel the same way I did.
So I played it. I said, Listento them! Listento that sound! And I remember them saying,
Oh, God, turn that off. What is that screeching
noise? And I said, Thats the clarinet... .These were the same people who went to
rock concerts and had music blasting in their
ears, but they couldnt listen to 1917 jazz. Theyjust looked at me. What happenedto Dan?
Audiences will get at least some sense of what
happened to Dan during Levinsons forthcomingsets at this years Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz
Festival, when the widely admired, New York-based bandleader and clarinet and saxophoneplayer brings his ensemble Dan Levinsons Roof
Garden Jass Band to Davenports Adler Theatre
and RiverCenter August 2 and 3.With his group performing genre classics
including its own rendition of Livery Stable
Blues and lesser-known titles from the late-1910s through the swing era, Levinson hopes to
inspire an appreciation for early jazz that eluded
his friends 30 years ago. But more than anything,he hopes to inspire simple happiness.
Whats wonderful about this music that we
play, Levinson says during our recent phoneinterview, is that its accessible to people who
know nothing about jazz. You can just listen to it
and feel good. Theres no pretense about it, and
you dont have to understandit. Its all right there
in front of you.
Shortcuts ...A Los Angeles native, Levinson says he
displayed an affinity for music apparently from
a very early age. Im told that when I was twoyears old, I wouldnt go to sleep unless my father
put his transistor radio in my crib.
Yet despite Levinsons musical leaningsfrom childhood on, he says, I didnt have the
discipline to really learn an instrument when
I was young. I kind of dabbled with piano andguitar and singing a little bit, but unfortunately,
I didnt have parents that disciplined me and
forced me to learn. Laughing, he adds, Theywere very indulgent. If I didnt want to practice,
that was okay.
In 1983, Levinson moved to the East Coastto study musical theatre at NYU, a decision that
he says was made because I was always looking
for a shortcut a way to be involved with musicwithout having to practice an instrument.
But when I was 20 years old, I realized
that Id better get cracking and either learn aninstrument or learn to do something, because
I was looking the rest of my life straight in the
face and didnt know how to do anything. And Ireally, reallywanted to be a musician.
He didnt, however, want to pursue the
instruments he dabbled with as a youth. Beinga terrible reader [of music], and playing guitar
and piano where you play multiple notes at once,I really had a hard time. I would just sit for hourstrying to read a page of music, one part at a time.
And so I thought, Well, maybe if I played an
instrument where I only have to play one note at
a time again, a shortcut maybe itll be
easier to learn.
So I took a trumpet lesson first. And
I told my teacher, Look, Im going toschool full-time, and I may not be able
to practice trumpet every day, againlooking for ways not to do all that hard
work. And my teacher Ill never forget
said, Well, man, you dont want to playthe trumpet then. You gotta practice this
instrument every day. If you want to play
an easy instrument that you dont have topractice every day, play the clarinet.
Levinson laughs. So I took a clarinet
lesson, and after the first one, I couldpick out When the Saints Go Marching
in in the low register. And I thought, Yeah, this
is much easier. Thisll be an easy instrument.And I learned very quickly that I was wrong.
Yet he was also determined.
I tend to have an obsessive personality, saysLevinson. If I decide to focus in on something,
I do nothing but that. So I would practice I
know this sounds crazy up to 10 hours a daysometimes. There were practice rooms at NYU,
and I would get in there as soon as my classes
were over, and Id be in there until they threwme out at whatever time that was sometimes
11 oclock at night. And thenId go sit at, like,
the East River, or at a park someplace, or atmy apartment, and just keep practicing. I was
absolutely obsessive about practicing.
Levinson credits several specific jazz artists
with helping him turn those early years ofpractice into a career that has now lasted more
than a quarter-century. One, he says, was James
Rosy McHargue, who was a clarinetist,
saxophonist, arranger, singer, and a greatpersonality. I met him in 1984 when he was 82
years old, and he lived another 15 years after that.He knew and recorded with Frank Trumbauer,
he knew Benny Goodman and all those guys
who were gigging around Chicago, he had metand seen Bix Beiderbecke many times ... .
Can you imagine, Levinson continues,being that close to someone who knew Bix, and
told stories about going to see Bix, and about Bix
taking him to his cabin and playing piano forhim? I was sitting with someone who was there.
Who was my living connection to that era of
music that was my passion. More than anybodyelse, Rosy was my inspiration and my mentor.
Another influential musician, Levinson says,
MUSIC
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were the largest vintage graphics he found
to efficiently cover surface areas, and they
often mentioned locations around the Quad
Cities.He added: I collected things for at
least a year and a half for the skin ofPPMH.
As you can tell ... collection is a serious part
of the process. It is a good thing I started
when I did, because as theAmerican Pickers
have become more popular, lard containers
have become more scarce.
As much as the exterior ofPPMHisderived from popular culture, the interior
relates to an elite tradition. Inside, the hut
is a kind ofWunderkammer, or chamber
of wonders. Dating back centuries, such
rooms were showcases for treasured and
valuable collections and are now regarded
as the predecessor of modern museums. A
stuffed alligator would have been mounted
above old master paintings next to African
masks, etc. The walls of Rathjes hut, floor
to ceiling, bear shelves displaying objectsyou might have brought home from
childhood wanderings mammal skulls
next to variegated rocks, and shells next
to a rusted metal toy. Rathjes chamber has
a less stuffed-to-the-gills approach than
some, but it evokes the same sense of pride
in collecting. He has provided a museum
within a museum.
Rathje notes on his Web site that there
is an obsession to make things to get them
out of your head and into the world, to leaveyourself a milepost that marks the passage of
time and an accumulation of effort. Large
in scale, cohesive in concept, and visually
rich, this exhibit achieves a kind of milepost:
a new level of synergy for collaboration
among area artists. It also is the first big-
gallery show focused on a local talent that
has been presented by the Figge in years.
We are given the titleQuestionable
Architectureand asked,Can a structurebe considered architecture if it has noapparent function? This is not a final-exam
topic; the exhibitions structures are witty
artistic accomplishments made to tweak our
imagination about space-making and the
approximation of architecture.
For more information on Terry Rathje, visit
TerryRathje.com. For more information on the
Figge Art Museum, visit FiggeArtMuseum.org.
Sherry C. Maurer holds an MFA in painting,
an MA in art history, and a BFA with a
printmaking concentration. She was the
director of the Augustana College Art Museum
from 1983 to 2013.
Questionable Architecture: Terry Rathje in Collaboration with Steve Banks and Monica Correia, at the Figge through August 25
Elegant Amusement
by Sherry C. Maurer
Tree house, snow fort, dollhouse, sand castle most ofus enjoyed playing with some
kind of architecture as a child. Theexhibition Questionable Architecture,by Terry Rathje in collaboration withSteve Banks and Monica Correia, un-leashes a whiff of that joy for viewerswith fanciful structures that appeal assophisticated art forms.
The exhibition running
through August 25 is located inthe fourth-floor gallery of the Figge
Art Museum, and a transitional
experience is suggested by the lattice-
passageway entrance, constructed
with loosely assembled wood slats
arcing above that recall youthful
explorations in building. Nearly a
dozen structures are in place that
you walk around in the conventional
way, but you also walk into and
through some of the works. Materials
range from a pagoda constructed of
found objects to a tunnel of foam
planks trussed together with bamboo
skewers.
Rathje commutes from the banks
of the Wapsipinicon River in Scott
County to Macomb, where he is an
assistant professor of graphic design
at Western Illinois University. He
received his MFA in 3D design fromthe University of Iowa, which is where
he met mentor and collaborator
Correia presently an associate
professor of design there; her design
work has been gaining international
recognition. Steve Banks, a graduate
of Florida State University, is himself
a Quad Cities artist who creates
multimedia works.
Over the past three decades,
Rathjes work has evolved from two-dimensional paintings and drawings with
naturalistic imagery to wall objects made of
assembled parts, such as used license plates.
In an e-mail this month, Rathje wrote that
he shifted gradually to his three-dimensional
structures, as the objects got larger, and
soon I was thinking about creating spaces,
which naturally starts to overlap with
architecture.
One of the first encounters in the
exhibition is the seven-foot-tall Capagoda(2006), which on approach appears to be
a refined tribute to the architecture of a
Buddhist temple. Such temples are built so
that you wind around the floors in a spiral,
ascending and then descending, gaininga heady spiritual experience. Up close,
Capagodais tipped sideways just enough
to reveal that it actually is made up of
found objects: Shiny hub caps are balanced
on rusted canning-jar lids. The sculpture
melds the elegance of a temple form with
the amusing discovery of the construction
materials. (Rathje noted that he used parts
found in scrap yards and along a river bank.)
Structures in the exhibition often are clad
with recycled metal graphics, sometimesplaying painted signage against manipulated
snippets of license plates. The Way(2008)
juxtaposes the statements OPEN TO
CONJECTURE against NO PLAN B,
among other quips to
contemplate.
The beehive-shaped
wood shelter Skep
(2009) is methodically
fitted together like a
puzzle of many wood
panels. The doorway is
but a foot high, jesting
with our sense of scale:
Its as if we once weresmall enough to enter
but now as adults we
look at the roof; we are
given the perspective
of a giant. Although
perhaps intentional,
I found the presence
of dark dirt scuffs on
the wood surface to be
distracting.
The title of the workOphidian(2012) refers
to snakes, and I liked the
overall undulating tunnel
shape of the piece. But at
first glance I wondered
about the
inconsistent gaps
in the side walls
of foam planks.
Were these
gaps an issue ofcraftsmanship
akin to the dirt
scuffs onSkep?
Onceinside
Ophidian,
however, it was
clear that the
gaps, whether
part of the
original plan for
the piece or something discovered by chance,were intentional. They allow for a gentle
sparkle of light dashes on the shadowed
walls a magical light, not to be missed.
ThePPMH (Personal Portable Museum
Hut)(2012) has an exterior covered in
reclaimed metal signage, deftly arranged
to fill the walls with graphics and color. A
circa-1960 flattened sand bucket printed
with a beach scene idyll, including a child
starting to build a sand castle, is set against
containers for Muriel cigars and Mrs.
Tuckers Shortening.
I asked Rathje if there was a reason for
the frequent recurrence of lard brands in
the piece. He replied that those containers
ART
Clockwise from top: Ophidian, Skep,
PPMH, andCapagoda
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River Cities Reader Vol. 20 No. 835 July 25 - August 7, 2013 11Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com
by Mike Schulz [email protected] Mike Schulz [email protected] Reviews by Mike Schulz [email protected]
TURBOThis might not be incentive enough
to catch Turbo if you werent alreadypredisposed to do so, but in DreamworksAnimations tale of a snail (voiced byRyan Reynolds ... yup, him again ... )who acquires super-sonic velocity and
eventually races the Indianapolis 500,Richard Jenkins voices a character wholooks uncannily like Richard Jenkins. Imean, uncannily. The face, the physique, theair of nervous resignation ... its all there.Whats notthere in director David Sorensfamily entertainment is any deviation fromformula or narrative surprise; its storylineis the standard believe in yourself and youcan accomplish anything pap that wouldcarry more weight if our shell-backed herodidnt become a speed demon through suchimpossible circumstances. But the film issurely sprightly and colorful enough todelight young audiences not up for anotherviewing ofDespicable Me 2 orMonstersUniversity, and beyond Jenkins, there arealternately incongruous and perfectly fittingvoice-actor/character match-ups to keepgrown-up chaperones reasonably amused.Ken Jeong as a petite, wisecracking granny?Pretty great. Paul Giamatti as a kvetchingland mollusk with anger issues? Freakin
priceless.
For reviews ofGrown Ups 2, PacificRim, and other current releases, visitRiverCitiesReader.com.
Follow Mike on Twitter at Twitter.com/MikeSchulzNow.
THE CONJURINGI was about halfway through my screening
ofThe Conjuringwhen I noticed that I was
having a most unusual reaction to director
James Wans haunted-house opus: For the life
of me, I couldnt stop smiling.
Thats not to say that I hadnt also been
jumping out of, and shrinking into, myseat on more than a few occasions; Wans
mostly gore-free scare flick which tells the
purportedly true story of a Rhode Island
family besieged by a malevolent spirit in
1971 is perhaps the most legitimately
startling release of its type since Wans
own Insidious from a couple years back.
Yet that was also the exact reason for my
incessant grinning. Modern fright films are
so routinely disappointing that its a shock,
and a great one, when a genre entry actually
appears to get everything just right, and from
its early-70s mise-en-scne to its disarmingly
committed portrayals to its marvelously
calibrated jolts and protracted creep-outs,
theres hardly a minute in The Conjuringthats
less than than wholly, thrillingly effective.
The scene that first made me aware of my
ceaseless smiles was the one thats been so
smartly exploited in the movies trailers, in
which Lili Taylor plays a seemingly benign
game of hide-and-clap with one of her five
daughters and, without her knowledge, anunseen, unwelcome houseguest. But Wan,
directing with beautiful control and finesse,
sustains his outings funny/scary vibe through
sequences as grand as the climactic exorcism
and moments as subtle as the family poochs
terrified unwillingness to leave the front
porch and enter the house, and his uniformly
outstanding cast navigates a delicate balance
between earned
seriousness and
knowing satire.
(Patrick Wilson and
Ron Livingston are
especially engaging,
and Vera Farmiga,
with her gift for
lending emotionalgravitas to every
role she undertakes,
is a figure of
heartbreaking
empathy here.) The floorboards creak, the walls
groan, your heart races, and your horror-loving
happiness just keeps escalating in The Conjuring,
a stylish and ticklish Boo! movie in which the
only proper response is Yay!
R.I.P.D. and RED 2As a huge fan of her for more than 20 years
now, I nearly plotzed when I realized that two
of the movies Id be seeing over the weekend
would feature Mary-Louise Parker in significant
roles. In retrospect, I wouldve been even more
stoked if those movies werent R.I.P.D. and RED
2, but cest la vie.
Of the pair, I found director Robert
Schwentkes R.I.P.D. the less enjoyable one,
mostly because I liked the film better when
it was calledMen in Black. With its initialsstanding for Rest in Peace Department,
this supernatural action comedy finds Ryan
Reynolds deceased Boston cop and Jeff Bridges
deceased gunslinger recruited to bring yowling
monsters to justice while the apocalypse
looms, and its likeMIB without cleverness,
sharp pacing, or decent effects. (Parker plays
the Rip Torn to Reynolds Will Smith and
Bridges Tommy
Lee Jones.) But
while Schwentkes
effort looks shoddy
and sounds tinny,
and Reynolds
appears bored
and embarrassed,
you can at leastexperience some
mild pleasure via
Bridges skillfully
mush-mouthed
Rooster Cogburn parody and Parkers
witheringly acerbic wit; R.I.P.D. doesnt deserve
the performers, but once were stuck with their
movie, we certainly do.
As for RED 2,director Dean Parisots sequel
to 2010s action slapstick about retired and
extremely dangerous assassins, its not onlymore fun than R.I.P.D.; its more fun than RED.
Granted, considering the movies incoherently
staged mayhem and senseless narrative
involving a potential doomsday device, its
stillnot very good, and star Bruce Willis looks
as unengaged here as Ryan Reynolds does in
R.I.P.D. Yet freed from delivering the originals
relentless exposition, John Malkovich, Helen
Mirren, and others lend the film considerable
comic flair were even given a momentary,
in-joke face-off between dueling HannibalLecters Brian Cox and Anthony Hopkins and
the brilliantly deadpan Parker is a continual
hoot as Willis newly gun-toting amour, whom
characters keep referring to as the girl. Given
that Parker herself is 48, that seems somewhat
demeaning, but as RED 2 marks the performers
first leading role on-screen over a quarter-century film career, who am I to bitch?
Listen to Mike every Friday at 9am on ROCK 104-9 FM with Dave & Darren
Ghost World
Vera Farmiga in The Conjuring
INMEMORIAM:
MILDRED FISH HARNACK
EXHIBIT OPENS SUNDAY,
AUGUST 4THATTHE GERMAN
AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER
Holocaust Education Committeeof the Greater Quad City Area
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TheatreThe AcharniansLincoln Park
Saturday, July 27, through
Sunday, August 4
Hard as it is to believe,summers almost over.And I know its almost overbecause its already time forGenesius Guilds annual,end-of-summer slapstick inRock Islands Lincoln Park which, this year, is Guildfounder Don Wootens takeon the Aristophanes comedyThe Acharnians.
Running July 27 throughAugust 4, this tongue-in-cheek updatingof the classic Greek play will no doubtboast all of the elements we Guild fans
look forward to in Wootens season-enders:gentle skewerings of local celebrities andinstitutions (including Genesius Guilditself) and not-so-gentle skewerings ofnational politicians and pop-culturefixtures; exposition delivered throughfamiliar ditties featuring new, satiric lyrics;a mad, Keystone Cops-esque chase aroundthe Lincoln Park stage complete withfrenzied leaps in the air and a climacticgroup pratfall; Bob Hanske. But what
you might not know in advance of seeingThe Acharnians is what Aristophanestale first staged in 425 BCE is actuallyabout. So sit back, because this storys ahumdinger.
Theres this man named Dikaiopolis,
you see, whos exhausted
by the ongoingPeloponnesian War,and frustrated by thepoliticians who refuse toseek an end to it. Yet afterbefriending an immortalnamed Amphitheus,Dikaiopolis is granted aprivate peace for his ownhousehold one thatssoon disrupted by the
arrival of an angry mob offarmers. Seizing a hostagein the form of a hefty bagof charcoal, Dikaiopolisdemands that the farmersleave him be, and makesplans to deliver a public,anti-war diatribe withthe help of his playwright
neighbor Euripides. And in short order, allof these events lead to Dikaiopolis finding
his head on a chopping block, and theplays chorus members arguing over themorality of the war, and farmers daughtersdisguising themselves as pigs, and anAthenian sycophant winding up packed instraw, and ... .
And you havent read a word Ive written,have you?
Oh, for Petes sake, its MichelangelosBacchus statue, people! Its featured on The
Acharnians Wikipedia page! Its artisticnudity, so letsfocus here!
Ah, forget it. The Acharnians will beperformed on Saturdays and Sundays at8 p.m., admission is free (though donationsare encouraged), and more information isavailable by visiting Genesius.org.
Whats HappeninWhats HappeninEventMississippi Valley FairMississippi Valley Fairgrounds
Tuesday, July 30, through Sunday, August 4
The eagerlyanticipatedsummertime blast thatis the Mississippi ValleyFair will take place July
30 through August 4 atthe Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, which meansits time for me to again extol the annual joysof the events carnival rides, local musicians,contests, arts and crafts vendors, childrensactivities ... . Oh, who are we kidding? Its time
for me to again extol the joys of funnel cakes.Man, but those things are tasty.
But this year, the musical headliners serv ingas the fairs nightly grandstand attractionsform such an impressive collective of artiststhat sugar-coated foodstuffs, for me, takean immediate backseat. I mean, think aboutit: Toby Keith on Tuesday; Josh Turner onWednesday; Dwight Yoakam on Thursday;Lynyrd Skynyrd on Friday; Diamond Rio onSaturday; and Jake Owen (pictured) on Sunday.
Theatre12 Angry MenDistrict Theatre
Thursday, August 1, through
Saturday, August 10
One of the great entertainmentsof the 20th Century will soonbe in performance at the DistrictTheatre, as the Rock Island venueplays host to Reginald Roses
timeless jury-room drama 12Angry Men August 1 through 12.An intense, thought-provoking,frequently funny work adaptedfrom Roses acclaimed golden-age-
of-television presentation,the production explores
the perks and perils of theAmerican judicial systemthrough the story of onedefendants potentially
wrongful sentencing, and its TVprecursor inspired an Oscar-nominated, 1957 film directed bythe late, great Sidney Lumet.
Over the years, 12 Angry Menhas also inspired a great manyactors to seek out roles as theshows squabbling jurors, and forhis District Theatre presentation,director Tristan Tapscott hasassembled a mixed-gender cast thatincludes (in numerical order) SaraKutzli, Bob Manasco, Pat Flaherty,
Patti Flaherty, Mitch DHamer, Doug Kutzli, E
Steve Touvelle, WayneRuebling, and Deb ShiBut lets say youre fa
with Lumets classic, awanting to know whosthe Lee J. Cobb and Mroles in the District shremember which charbased solely on their ju(which are also their cnames). Just sing theseto the 12 Days of Chrand all will be clear!
For the 12 angry jurDistrict gives to thee ...
Twelve shes in ad
youimagineiftheanswertothatlastonewasactuallyAorC?Moviewouldvebeenafreakinbloodbath.
1) performed the iconic hits Free Bird and S2) had a chart-topping single with Why Dont3) had a chart-topping album with Barefoot Blu4) won a Grammy Award for The Reason5) starred in a movie titled Beer for My Horses6) was on the receiving end of Billy Bob Thornt
RiverCitiesReader.com
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What ElseIs HappeninMUSIC
Saturday, July 27 Battery: Masters of
Metallica. Heavy-metal tribute musicians
in concert. Rock Island Brewing Company
(1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island). 9:30p.m. $10. For information, call (309)793-
4060 or visit RIBCO.com.
Tuesday, July 30 John Hiatt & theCombo. Concert with the venerable
singer/songwriter/guitarist, featuring an
opening set by Holly Williams. EnglertTheatre (221 East Washington Street,
Iowa City). 8 p.m. $35-45. For tickets and
information, call (319)688-2653 or visitEnglert.org.
Wednesday, July 31 Joy Kills Sorrow.
Boston-based string band in an Intimate atthe Englert presentation. Englert Theatre
(221 East Washington Street, Iowa City). 8p.m. $15. For tickets and information, call(319)688-2653 or visit Englert.org.
Thursday, August 1, through Sunday,
August 4 Bix Beiderbecke Memorial
Jazz Festival. Annual celebration of jazz
great and Davenport native Beiderbecke,
with downtown venues including the AdlerTheatre, Davenport RiverCenter, LeClaire
Park, and the Putnam Museum hosting
concerts, workshops, and more. $45 daypasses, $5-25 single- concert tickets. For
tickets and information, call (563)326-1732
or visit BixSociety.org.Tuesday, August 6, and Thursday,
August 8 A Night of Sunshine. Cabaret
MusicDon McLeanEnglert Theatre
Saturday, July 27, 8 p.m.
(To be sung to the tune of ... well, youll figure it out ... .)
A long, long time ago,I can still remember how his music used to make me smile.And, I knew if he showed up here, Id watch his show, buy him a beer, andMaybe Id be happy for a while.
But then I waited too damned long thought thered be seats, but I was wrong.I should have called the Englert. Yes, Don McLean would be hurt.I cant remember if I cried, right after my Iowa City ride,When hits were played while I stayed outsideThe day my chances died.
So bye bye, ol American Pie.Don McLean was being seen but I was left high and dry,With no ticket in hand for that folk-singing guy.Shouldve known that the demand would be high,Known that the demand would be high.
No, I couldnt see that famous name and inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame.No Vincent or Crying would I hear.Why oh why did I not take to sec to call the Englert and just checkOn whether seats up and disappeared?Now Im feeling sad and all alone, playing Tapestryin my room at home,For, like, the millionth time. Yes, I gotta say that ImRegretting that act of foolish pride, thinking one last ticket they would hideSo I could sneak my ass inside, the day my chances died.
So bye bye, ol American Pie.Couldve charged it on my Master Card, but didnt. And why?Cause I spent my time being lazy and ... ahem ...Don McLean has left the building. Bye bye.Sigh.
Dont let this sad tale happen to you! For tickets to the legendary Don McLeans July 27performance at Iowa Citys Englert Theatre, call (319)688-2653 or visit Englert.org.
by Mike Schulz
Continued On Page 16
Is anyone thinking about funnel cakes anymore?
If youre a fan of these multi-platinum-selling and multiple-award-winning musicians,probably not. And if youre a true fan, youshould have no trouble scoring 100-percenton the quiz above, which asks you to matchthe accomplishment with its accompanyingartist(s).
For more information on this yearsMississippi Valley Fair, visit MVFair.com.
iamond, SallyVillarreal,
ess, Lindapy.miliard are nowplaying, say,rtin Balsamw, but cantcter is whichror numbersaracterrevised lyricsstmas song,
rs, the
ales,
Eleven shes from Europe,Ten awful bigot,
Nine really old guy,Eight Henry Fonda,Seven wishy-washy,Six nice house-painter,Fi-i-i-ive from the slu-u-u-ums!Four wears eyeglasses,Three wont give in,Two sweet milquetoast,And Juror One is the foreman,
you see!
Youre welcome! And happyholidays, folks!
For tickets to 12 Angry Men,call (309)235-1654 or visitDistrictTheatre.com.
Answers:1C,2E,3D,4A,5B,6F.Butcan
eet Home Alabamae Just Dance
e Jean Night
ons sling blade
A) Diamond RioB) Toby KeithC) Lynyrd SkynyrdD) Jake OwenE) Josh TurnerF) Dwight Yoakam
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The pleasing Americana music andnimble, emotive vocals of CarolineRoses America Religious the title
track from her debut album mask massiveamounts of meaning. Perhaps more accurate-ly, they mask a lot ofwords whose meaningyoure left to decipher for yourself.
Take this line, which Rose said shesfrequently asked about: America religious, Ieat slices of white privilege processed by agri-business.
What I wantpeople to get outof that line and thesong in generalis discussionabout what racerelations are like,and what thingslike immigrationreform mean today,and agribusiness,
she said in a recentphone interview promoting her July 30performance at the River Music Experience.
That didnt clear things up much, did it?I dont really care what people think that
it means, she said. As long as theyre talkingabout it, I think its great.
Based onAmerica Religious, Rose certainlybears discussion. The music is varied,compelling, and sharp in its genre, withHere Come the Rain a standout in texture,arrangement, and vocal performance.
But the lyrics are what leap out.America Religious touches on one
aspect of her storytelling, opaquely (perhapsimpenetrably) literate. It begins: Sun beampatches, like lightning in my vision, stumblingtrembling as a tremor in the depths beneaththe trenches.
There are a lot of thoughts in that song,she said, and a lot of words that are sort ofcrammed into the song. I like it that way. Ilike having more words and more meaning
packed very densely into a song so that youcan listen to it more than once and hear newthings each time.
Then theres the much more plainspokenNotes Walking Home from Work, whoseDylan-esque folk style showcases incisive andsmart writing: I go for a walk round halfpast eight and / There on my stoop a manasking for change / I give him a dollar / Heasks for one more / I ask him, What for? /He says, Does it matter? And this is an aside
in a song from the point of view of a manworn down by routine, dissatisfied not withhis station but himself: I think somewherebeyond my chest youll find a spine.
And if those examples make Rose sound
a little too serious, try Six Foot Woman,with its nerdy sexual aggression: Why dontya pink Cadillac me? / Write out a proof andsubtract me?
Despite her lengthy discourses on othersongs, she tersely says of that one, You canprobably gather that songs just about wantingto sleep with everyone.
For somebody still in her early 20s, Rose isthoughtful, mature, and careful about songs
and music. She
said she and hermusical partnerJer Coons finishedbut scrapped tworecords beforereleasingAmericaReligious earlierthis month. Thefirst record thatyou put out is thefirst impression
that people get ofyou, so in my mind it was a really big dealwhat I put out as a first record, she said.
And she recognizes that theres a difficultbalance to find between the words, theirmessages, and the music.
Most songs start as stories or poems, shesaid, but much of what she writes doesnttranslate to music. A lot of them its reallyhard to make into songs, she said. A lotof them just stay as poems. And I could
probably write like 17 books of poems thatdont make it into songs.The key, she said, is to express ideas and
thoughts suitable to pop structures, and tothen craft musical settings that emphasizethem.
Music is a beautiful, powerful thing thatcan make words stand out much more than ifthey were on their own, she said. Im hopingthat the music helps to highlight the wordsrather than deters people from listening to thewords. ... I dont want it to distract from the
words.But she also stressed the importance of
comfortable and relatable styles to drawpeople in: When youve got something tosay, the most important thing is to get peopleto listen. ... If thats in a pop structure, thatsgreat. Whatever tools youve got, I say utilizethem to their full capacity.
Caroline Rose will perform on Tuesday, July 30,on the River Music Experiences Community
Stage. The free all-ages show starts at 7 p.m.,with opener Mo Carter of Busted Chaneliers.
For more information on Caroline Rose, visitCarolineRoseMusic.com.
CarolineRose, July30attheRiverMusicExperience
Get People to Listenby Jeff Ignatius
[email protected] MUSIC
honed my reading skills over the last 20 years,
I can get by all right alongside all those strong
players.He was also, in the mid-90s, occasionally
invited to sit in for an absent Woody Allen
during sets with The Bunk Project, the jazz
ensemble that showcased the filmmakers
intimidating clarinet skills. The musician
admits, however, that those particular gigs
both on the bands Brazilian tour and in
their regular Monday-night sets at New Yorks
famed Michaels Pub did lead to some
disappointment.
Can you imagine the looks on peoples faceswhen I walk out on-stage at Michaels Pub, and
people have paid all this money, and Woodys not
there? asks Levinson with a laugh. You hear
people saying, Oh my God ... who is that?!Among fans of early jazz, such a question
doesnt arise much anymore, considering
Levinsons active leadership of numerous New
York-based ensembles including the New
Millennium All-Stars, the Swing Wing, Fte
Manouche, and his Roof Garden Jass Band.
(A note to the curious: Levinson states that
while tomes have been written about it and
everybody has their different theories why
the original spelling of jass morphed into
jazz in the early 1920s, one theory is that
people couldnt seem to resist the temptation to
obliterate the letter j from bands posters.)
Although the Roof Garden Jass Band was
officially retired in 2007, local jazz favorite
Josh Duffee convinced Levinson to re-form
the ensemble for Bix festival performances in
2010 and this year, and it now boasts several
musicians still in their early 20s.Im very excited about that, says Levinson.
Because its new blood its young guys whove
just discovered this music and they can read
anything I put in front of them.
We had a rehearsal a couple of weeks ago. It
was the first time wed played together, and they
read it as though theyd been playing it their
whole lives. And the beauty of it was watching
them exclaim at the end of an arrangement,
Wow! This isgreat! I cant waitto play this at the
Bix festival!I mean, thats the kind of enthusiasm Ive
been looking for. Because when I play this
music, thats what Ifeel.
Dan Levinsons Roof Garden Jass Band is
scheduled to play the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial
Jazz Festival at the Adler Theatre (1 p.m. on
August 2 and 7 p.m. on August 3) and Davenport
RiverCenter (9 p.m. on August 2 and 4 p.m. on
August 3). For more information on Levinson and
his ensembles, visit DanLevinson.com.
For the full Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz
Festival performance schedule, see the Readers
Live Music section on pages 20-23 orvisit
BixSociety.org.
Continued From Page 8
is Max Morath, whos a singer and pianist, and
still one of my great friends. He was a television
star in the 50s and 60s, and I befriended himby calling him out of the blue one day he was
listed in the phone directory just to tell him I
loved his music. He invited me over, and I went
to see him, and when we were talking, he said,
Dick Hyman lives upstairs, and I think hes
looking for an assistant.
... and All That JassEnter influential musician number three.
I got that job in 1987, says Levinson of hisemployment with the legendary jazz composer/
pianist Hyman, and held it for six years, until
Dick moved to Florida. And during that time, I
was making all sorts of contacts and practicing,
and he was a great influence on me in terms of
career choices.
One time he said to me, You know, Dan,
you cant make a living just playing the clarinet.
And I said, Well, Benny Goodman did. And
he said, All right. Benny Goodman was Benny
Goodman. But in the 1920s and early 1930s,
before he was Benny Goodman, he was playing
saxophone in studio bands. Even he had to
do it, so you need to play saxophone. So I got
myself an alto and started playing that, and
then somebody gave me a C melody sax, and
ultimately, I learned the saxophone.
(Asked if it was an easy transition from
clarinet to sax, Levinson says, No, but its
easier to go from clarinet to saxophone than
saxophone to clarinet. A lot of what you learn
transfers over, so if Im practicing clarinet, I dont
have to practice saxophone all that much.)During his first summer working for Hyman,
Levinson also formed his first band the same
band, albeit with different musicians, that hell
be bringing to the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial
Jazz Festival.
I put together the Roof Garden Jass Band
the year I graduated from NYU, says Levinson,
and we did a concert my first public concert
on July 1, 1987. The Original Dixieland Jazz
Band tribute event, which was held at the Eisner
& Lubin Auditorium in NYUs Loeb StudentCenter, was sold out, and John S. Wilson in the
New York Times gave it a really good write-up.
And in many ways, Ive never been able to
duplicate that in terms of success, he adds with
a laugh. Just a couple months ago, somebody
wrote to me and said, I was at your concert in
1987 and Ive never forgotten it. It changed my
life.
It also changed Levinsons. The concerts
acclaim led to continued bookings in New York
City; a year-long, 1990 stint in Paris, oftentimesplaying alongside noted jazzman Dick Miller; six
months of jazz immersion in New Orleans; and
a 1993 invitation to join the ensemble of Vince
Giordano & the Nighthwaks, which Levinson
calls a great gig thats still going on now. Having
Jass It Up!by Mike Schulz
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Machine, seems to defy gravity,as it appears to be frozen ina daredevil jump over thefence above our heads. Other
powerful sculptural forms madefrom large iron gears and shafts their precise machined edgescontrasting with raw, rustedsurfaces can be partially seenthrough the fence openings.(Viewed from the street, thestudio is like the last refuge in azombie film.)
Marts sculptures exudestrength, drawn in part from the materialhe has chosen to works with: iron. His
passion for metalwork and welding beganat the age of 10 when his father handedhim a welding torch. His development asan artist working in metals began with achallenge to make a welding bead looklike a roll of dimes by an instructor inYokosuka, Japan, while Mart was enlistedin the Navy. Working at Alter MetalRecycling has given him access to analmost unlimited source of materials forhis artworks.
Mart has effectively worked with notagainst each environment. Althoughthey communicate strikingly differentmessages, both entrances compellinglyreflect their surroundings.
Bruce Walters is a professor of art atWestern Illinois University.
This is part of an occasional series on thehistory of public art in the Quad Cities. Iftheres a piece of public art that youd like to
learn more about, e-mail the location and abrief description to [email protected].
Eric Mart can be reached at [email protected].
ART
The entrance to the
Freight House FarmersMarket at 421 WestRiver Drive in downtownDavenport is framed by a15-foot-tall arched entry. Theartist, Eric Mart, also createdthe gateway to his studio andthe Sol-Iron Gallery at 620West Third Street, just a fewblocks away. Although bothentires are made entirely ofmetal and are similar in size,one is welcoming while theother is intimidating. Theirimpact is shaped, in largepart, by their settings and ourassociations with the objectsused.
The brightly painted,freestanding entrance tothe Freight House FarmersMarket is flanked by a varietyof flowering plants. It feels
friendly and open. Thehandmade, cutout letters areplayful. In this good-naturedcontext, the tines of thepitchfork at the top of thearch seem to reach upward,almost like the rays of arising sun. The vintage rotaryhoes seem like pinwheelsand flowers. Although thearchway serves as a business
sign, it is also a strikingsculptural form.
The use of actual toolsand farm implementseffectively conveys a senseof authenticity. Althoughtheyre used decoratively,one can also sense the artistsrespect for these tools in theirplacement along the spanof the arch overhead. The
unique sign communicatesthat this is a one-of-a kindbusiness, not a franchise orlarge corporation.
The other entrance isin a distinctively differentenvironment. Marts studioand gallery is situatedbetween an empty lot and atattoo parlor. The three-storybrick building is frontedwith an entrance and fence made fromremnant steel plates that rise 12 feet fromthe sidewalks edge. The height of theentrance and fence is itself foreboding.And while the entrance to the farmersmarket is always open, this one is barred
Art in Plain Sight: Two Entrances by Eric Mart
Article and Photos by Bruce Walters
with a reclaimed jail door with rustedbands of riveted metal.
At the west end of the fence facingthe one-way traffic on Third Street isan iron sculpture of a partial skeletonfigure riding a bicycle. The sculpture,titled Greatest Human Cylindrical
Counterclockwise from above:Greatest Human Cylindrical
Machine; Freight House FarmersMarket entrance; Sol-Iron
Gallery entrance
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meet men, theres one thing many will havein common: insisting theyre interested inwhatever you are if they think youre hot.Try to help your friend see that holing upin the art museum isnt the answer. Sure,it might be kismet that Mr. Dreamypantsis standing in the lobby right next toher favorite sculpture, or he might justbe waiting to enjoy the work of Sir JohnHarrington, the guy who invented the flushtoilet found in the free public bathroom.
A Mitey LoveIm 5-foot-8; my fiance is just at 5-foot-
7. Im only comfortable when he wearslifts, especially if Im wearing heels. It maynot seem like a big height difference, butwhen he doesnt wear them, he feels li kemy son. I know theyre uncomfortable, andhe sometimes doesnt feel up to wearingthem. Mostly, though, he wont let me seehim without them, because he knows Imway more attracted to him when hes a tadtaller. I feel bad about this, and Ive prayedthat one day, my strong love for him willlet me ignore this minor flaw.
Trying to Get Above It
The dream was tall, dark, and handsome.Not elfish, dark, and handsome. Still, theproblem here could be seen another way:You need to be shorter. Unfortunately,accomplishing that is the less practical
solution, as it would require a saw. It mighthelp to understand that you want him tobe taller not because youre a bad personbut because youre a product of humanevolution. In our ancestral past, heightin a man likely had mating and survivaladvantages. (The short caveman wouldhave been less able to reach the lion withhis spear: Take that, you big meanie!) Asfor what to do in the present, elevator shoesmight be the solution youre both looking
for. While lifts are inserts stuck into theshoe, mainly raising the heel, elevator shoes,which can be custom-made by a podiatrist,have a hidden platform built in throughoutthe shoe. The latest models are cleverlydesigned and appear to be normal footwear.This means that a man neednt suffer thediscomfort of tromping around in heels justto be attractive to his partner. (Next thingyou know, hell be complaining about thescratchy red lace and underwire digging into
his flesh.)Got A Problem? Ask Amy Alkon.
171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405
or [email protected] (AdviceGoddess.com)2013, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved.
Ask
theAdviceGoddess BY AMY ALKON
Mystery MeetA man my friend was crazy for just
broke up with her. I kind of saw thebreakup coming, as I thought they weretoo different, but she thinks he just falselyadvertised who he really is. They metonline, and he made himself out to bethis guy who loves art and culture, whichto her means going to museums, shows,and lectures and to him means stayinghome and making things. She now insiststhat the only way to meet people is in theactivity you want them to be doing. Forexample, if you want a guy who likes artmuseums and going to cultural events(which she does), youd better hang outin an art museum to find a date. I thinkits a mistake for her not to keep onlinedating, because I think shell meet a lotmore men.
Friend of Stubborn Woman
People try to put their best foot forwardon dating sites, and rather often, it turns outits not actually their foot.
Of course, deceptive self-marketing isnot exclusive to online dating, and onlinedating does offer certain efficiencies thattrying to meet a man at an art museum orcultural event does not. For example, people
join a dating site specifically because theyare looking for a partner. Some man youspot in a museum may also be looking for
a partner his wife, who was right behindhim just a room ago.
It sounds like your friend is blaming theInternet because a guy she liked didnt likeher back. They maybe both projected whatthey wanted on each other and neededto dig deeper to find out who the personthey were dating really was. This is whatdating is for. Its supposed to be a processof finding out about a person, not I baitedthe hook. I caught the fish. Now lets decide
whats for dinner at the wedding!We often dont need anybody to go tothe trouble of deceiving us. We do thatreally well on our own, like by tellingourselves weve found the perfect personand ignoring any evidence to the contrary.Instead, there needs to be a vetting process,whether you meet a man online or at anart walk. It involves asking questions andlooking to see who he is and being willingto find out that he isnt right for you. This
vetting is essential because, wherever you
performances with Sunshine Ramsey,
featuring performances by Circa 21 singersand musicians, and students from Sunshines
Performing Arts Studio. Circa 21 Dinner
Playhouse (1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island). 7p.m. $15-18. For tickets and information, call
(309)786-7733 extension 2 or visit Circa21.
com.
THEATREThursday, July 25, through Saturday,
August 3 She Loves Me. Tony Award-
winning musical/comedy/romance. Clinton
Area Showboat Theatre (311 Riverview Drive,Clinton). Thursday-Saturday 7:30 p.m., Sunday
and Wednesday 3 p.m.$16-23. For tickets
and information, call (563)242-6760 ior visitClintonShowboat.org.
Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July
27 Les Misrables: School Edition. TheBroadway smash performed by students in
the Centers annual musical-theatre camp,
directed by Dino Hayz. The Center for LivingArts (2008 Fourth Avenue, Rock Island). Friday
and Saturday 7p.m., Saturday and Sunday2 p. m. $15 at the door. For information, call(309)788-5433 or visit Center4Living.com.
Sunday, July 28 The Clown Who
Ran Away. Author Conrad Ceilers familycomedy, performed by the Junior Theatre
Mainstage Company. Davenport Junior
Theatre (2822 Eastern Avenue, Davenport).7 p.m. Pay what its worth ticket pricing.
For information, call (563)326-7862 or visit
DavenportJuniorTheatre.com.Thursday, August 1, through Sunday,
August 11 Monty Pythons Spamalot. Tony
Award-winning musical-comedy slapstick
based on Monty Python & the Holy Grail. TimberLake Playhouse (8215 Black Oak Road, Mt.
Carroll). Tuesday-Saturday 7:30 p.m., Sunday
and Wednesday 2 p.m., August 3 at 3 p.m. $15-23. For tickets and information, call (815)244-
2035 or visit TimberLakePlayhouse.org.Thursday, August 1, through Sunday,
September 1 Lumberjacks in Love. Musical
comedy by the composers and authors
ofGuys on Ice: The Ice-Fishing Musical. OldCreamery Theatre (39 38th Avenue, Amana).
Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m., Sunday,Wednesday, and Thursday 3 p.m. $18-27.50.
For tickets and information, call (319)622-
6194 or visit OldCreamery.com.Friday, August 2, through Sunday,
August 4 Rent. The Pulitzer Prize-winning
rock musical presented by the City Circle Act-ing Company of Coralville. Coralville Center
for the Performing Arts (1301 Fifth Street,
Coralville). Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m., Sun-day 2 p.m. $12-27. For information and tickets,
call (319)248-9370 or visit CoralvilleArts.org.
Saturday, August 3 The Princess &
the Pea. Stage fairytale presented by the
Missoula Childrens Theatre Company.
Ohnward Fine Arts Center (1215 East PlattStreet, Maquoketa). 3 and 6 p.m. $5-10. For
tickets and information, call (563)652-9815 or
visit OhnwardFineArtsCenter.com.Tuesday, August 6, through Saturday,
August 10 Seussical Jr. Hour-long version
of the Tony Award-nominated storybookmusical. Timber Lake Playhouse (8215
Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll). Tuesday and
Thursday-Saturday 2 p.m. $6. For ticketsand information, call (815)244-2035 or visit
TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
VISUAL ARTSFriday, August 2 Flamingo Fling.
Annual tropical party featuring a live artauction of the flamingos previously on
exhibit, a cash bar, light appetizers, a best-
dressed flamingo guest contest, a raffle,and more. Quad City Botanical Center (2525
Fourth Avenue, Rock Island). 7 p.m. $10-15.
For tickets and information, call (309)794-0991 or visit QCGardens.com.
Sunday, August 4, through Sunday,November 3 In Memoriam:Mildred FishHarnack. Exhibit honoring the only Ameri-can woman executed under direct orderfrom Adolph Hitler for her role in the Berlinresistance movement. German AmericanHeritage Center (712 West Second Street,Davenport). Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 a.m.-4p.m., Sundays noon-4 p.m. Free with $3-5admission. For information, call (563)322-8844 or visit GAHC.org.
EVENTSFriday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27
Bucktown and Barrel House Bash. Birthdaycelebration for the venues, featuring a Friday-
night wine walk and an indoor/outdoor
festival on Saturday. Bucktown Center forthe Arts (225 East Second Street, Davenport)
and Barrel House (211 East Second Street,
Davenport). Friday 6-9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free admission. For information, call
(563)324-0667 or visit BucktownArts.com.
Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July27 2013 Street Fest. Annual outdoor
celebration featuring live music, arts and
crafts vendors, a family-fun area, video-game tournaments, and more. Downtown
Davenport (Second Street between Brady
and Ripley streets). Friday 10 a.m., Saturday9 a.m. Free admission. For information, visit
DowntownDavenport.com.Saturday, July 27 Quad-City Times Bix 7
Road Race. 39th-annual, seven-mile foot race
featuring thousands of dollars in prize moneyawarded, with the Jr. Bix 7 for ages 12 andunder. Downtown Davenport (Fifth and Brady
streets). 8 a.m. $35-43 registration, $12-15 Jr.
Bix registration. For information, call (563)383-
Continued From Page 13
What Else Is Happenin
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fiction writer Greg Egan in his story Learning toBe Me. Lets pretend that you, too, have a smalldark jewel inside your skull thats learning to be
you. Its a good metaphor for what I believe hasbeen happening all these years: You have beengradually mastering the art of being the bestLeo you can be. It hasnt been easy. You werentborn knowing how to be your beautiful, radiant,courageous self, but have had to work hard to
activate your potentials. Now youre moving intoan especially critical phase of the process: a timewhen you have the chance to learn how to loveyourself with greater ingenuity.
VIRGO (August 23-September 22):
Dear Astrology Guy: Please tell mewhy I have to work so hard meditate,
reflect, read, analyze, poke, prod, investigate
to discover truths about myself that must beobvious to others. Why is it so hard for me tosee where I need healing and where I need tolet go? Why is it such an ordeal to grasp whatis interfering with my wholeness when I can
quickly pinpoint what other peoples issuesare? Overworked Virgo. Dear Over worked:Im happy to report that you Virgos will soon beoffered a gush of revelations about who you are,
how you can heal, and what strategies will bestserve your quest to minimize your anxiety. Areyou prepared to absorb some intense teachings?For best results, make yourself extra-receptive.
LIBRA (September 23-October22): One of the worlds best race-
car teams is McLaren. It wins about 25 percentof the events in which it competes. Its skilleddrivers account for much of its success, but its
technicians are also pretty sensational. During apit stop in the middle of a race, they can change
all four tires on the car in less than three seconds.Do you have helpers like that, Libra? If you dont,its time to intensify your efforts to get them. And
if you do, its time to call on them to give you anextra boost.
SCORPIO (October 23-November21): Lets try an experiment. Itsrisky, but Im hoping you will do
it with such flair that there will be no karmicblow-back. What I propose, Scorpio, is thatyou have fun expressing more confidence than
usual. I invite you to strut a bit, even swagger,as you demonstrate your command over yourcircumstances. Enjoy acting as if the world isyour plaything ... as if everyone around yousecretly needs you to rise up and be a bigger,
bolder version of yourself. The trick, of course,will be to avoid getting puffed up with grandiosedelusions. Your challenge is to be more wildlydevoted to embodying your souls code withoutlapsing into arrogance.
SAGITTARIUS (November22-December 21): I suspect thatyou are longing to take a quantum
leap of faith, but are also afraid to take that
quantum leap of faith. You sense the potential
Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny'sEXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES& DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES
The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at
1-877-