Are Netflix executives reading our minds? There’s been an eerie pattern throughout the pandemic, in regard to the most popular programming emerging on the streaming platform. In an uncanny way, it’s mirrored the attitudes and zeitgeist of society at that time, especially over the past year during the time of covid. Certainly, some of it […]
“If you work in the media, you’re going to get fired.” My college Journalism 101 teacher said that to our eager group of 18-year-olds on my first day in his class. Great way to introduce us to his curriculum, and the business, right? He told us it wasn’t meant to be a cautionary statement, merely […]
Today, negotiations are set to continue on another covid stimulus bill. Nancy Pelosi has said, to her credit, that she doesn’t want Congress to adjourn without another one. And, Steven Mnuchin, also to his credit, has seemed eager to likewise get a deal done. And make no doubt about it, there NEEDS to be another […]
Throughout this week, we’ve been featuring stories on Quad-Cities band Einstein’s Sister, which is releasing its first record in almost two decades this weekend, during Record Store Day at CoOp Records in Moline. The band – Kerry Tucker, Bill Douglas, Marty Reyhons, Steven Volk, and Andy Brock – is releasing a double-A side single, “Standing […]
There are very few shows you can deem “must see” anymore, although not as much due to their quality, as due to the fact that not many shows can truly be described as being targeted for a wide audience anymore. We live in a world that’s become increasingly fragmented and subdivided, and invariably there are […]
Denny and Brett Hitchcock are the most tenacious of entrepreneurs. For over 40 years, their business, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, has endured a handful of recessions, booming and barren economic conditions, and, now, a pandemic. It certainly hasn’t been easy. Especially not in 2020. Both father and son have said, without hyperbole, that their business […]
There’s a scene in Nick Hornby’s “High Fidelity” where the lead character, played by John Cusack, asks whether or not it’s fair to judge people largely on their music tastes. So, is it? What kind of music do you like? Who are your favorite singers? What’s your favorite song? When I was younger, particularly in […]
Katy Perry didn’t just kiss a girl and liked it, she faked her own death apparently and liked that too. And why the hell not? Everyone needs a hobby. As we thankfully roll into the last quarter of this craptastic year, the conspiracy theories just keep getting weirder and weirder. Some of them are pretty […]
Bullying. I revisit this subject, and this column topic, every year around this time, because every year, a new school session starts and invariably the potential for children abusing other children rises. Even this year, and maybe especially this year, due to covid-19 and the inherent pressures and stresses surrounding it, the potential for kids […]
Ever walk into your house after you’ve been away, or walk into a room and notice a strange smell? That happened this week, after the Midwest hurricane knocked three trees and multiple branches onto my house and around my yard. The power was out, my phone was out, and internet was (and still is) out, […]
