* Band of Horses, Infinite Arms (Columbia/Fat Possum) — BOH had opening tours with Widespread Panic and Pearl Jam this year, and perhaps that reflects the band’s overall appeal better than anything. Infinite is an epic rock ‘n’ roll record, the kind our descendents will look on with the same slack jawed reverence we all […]
Posted inMusic
2010 Top 10
It’s hard to put together these Top 10s in years where there aren’t one or two albums that you know are going to be permanent fixtures on one’s playlist for years to come. Instead, 2010 was a year of great songs on otherwise imperfect records. These stood out amid a crowded pack of good-not-great releases […]
Posted inMusic
Lovin’ Local
Lovin’ Local * It’s True, It’s True * The Mynabirds, What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood * Baby Tears, Baby Tears EP * Son of 76 & The Watchmen, Letters From Shangri-La * All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, Secret Attic Recordings * Tim Kasher, The Game of Monogamy * […]
Posted inCulture
2010 In Stages
If you look back at two types of triumphs in 2010, you could be arguing well into 2011 about the age-old theater question: can the most significant and challenging plays draw big crowds? In the earlier days of the 85-year history of the Omaha Community Playhouse, when they were doing O’Neill and Shaw with regularity, […]
Posted inTheater
Skullduggery On the Move, YIR Leftovers
* When SkullDuggery lost its lease and dropped plays from its schedule, Lilyhorn/Martin Productions was born. So the play with the unprintable title will go next month at the Bancroft Street Market. That’s Shopping and F***ing (when feeling bolder, we include the k but never the horseshoe-shaped vowel). Randall T. Stevens agreed to direct when […]
Posted inCulture
Paint By Numbers
It’s said in any given year in any given metropolitan community that about 25 percent of its population attends a museum or gallery at least once and 15 percent watch or listen to programs about art, artists and museums as well. That’s according to a 2008 Survey of Public Participation sponsored by the National Endowment […]
Posted inFood
Eaten in 2010
Things come and go in the food business just about as regularly as in fashion. That fondue sensation? Defunct. Asian fusion isn’t as enticing as it once was. And let’s not even start on which restaurants shuffled through which strip malls in Omaha’s suburbs. 2010 saw the same closings and openings (notably the near completion […]
Posted inFood
Sandra Lee’s Godawful Kwanzaa Cake
* Gluttons for punishment and those with an affinity for culinary traffic accidents are likely familiar with Food Network personality Sandra Lee’s godawful Kwanzaa cake, an unholy adulteration of angel food cake that Anthony Bourdain claimed would make unlucky viewers’ “eyeballs burst into flames.” Turns out America’s favorite can-opening sweetheart didn’t even come up with […]
Posted inNews
GOP committee has Nelson in its sights
A leader of the National Republican Senatorial Committee told CNN on Dec. 29 that Sen. Ben Nelson’s reelection bid could be one of five key races that could lead to a Republican majority in the Senate in 2012. NRSC executive director Ron Jesmer said Nelson is “in serious trouble and kind of in a league […]
Posted inNews
City seeks delay in firefighters pay raise ruling
The city has asked the Nebraska state labor court to delay a ruling on whether Omaha’s firefighters are entitled to a retroactive raise for 2009 as the two sides continue to negotiate towards a new contract. On Dec. 22, the local firefighters union filed a similar suit against the city, asking the court to determine […]