* Worried about gaining 20 pounds over the holidays? Imagine yourself eating as much as you want instead of actually doing it and you might be able to keep the pounds off. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh discovered that repeated exposure to a certain food decreases your desire to eat more, even if […]
Posted inSpecials
Reiver football grows across the river
Here’s something to keep your eye on for 2011 — Iowa Western football. It took Coach Scott Strohmeier all of two years to turn the school into a player in the junior college ranks. In 2008 the Council Bluffs community college didn’t even have football. In 2010 the Reivers finished their second season 9-2 and […]
Posted inMovies
We’re Killing Christian Bale
Look, either we give Christian Bale an Oscar or God knows what he’ll do to himself. Have you seen him in The Fighter ? That dude looks like the “after” picture in Satan’s makeover brochure. Bale didn’t just drop weight to play a crackhead, he went full Skeletor up in this bitch. The most shocking […]
Posted inMovies
Cutting Room for December 22
Inside a hollowed-out volcano, in a secret laboratory complete with Tesla coils and a mutated lackey, I’m working on my Top 10 list for the year. I take the whole thing way too seriously, as if there’s a studio executive with gun pressed to his temple murmuring “Please let us top Syrek’s list.” In a […]
Posted inMusic
From Russia With Rock
Mousetrap frontman Patrick Buchanan thought he was getting the opportunity of a lifetime. Little did he know that the next six months would forever change his perspective on life in these United States. But before we get to that, I urge you to get online right now and buy your ticket(s) to the Mousetrap reunion […]
Posted inMusic
Together Again
When Jason Kulbel and Robb Nansel opened Slowdown in the summer of 2007, it was inevitable that there would be a Slowdown Virginia reunion on the stage of the club named for the legendary band. But when that reunion would happen would come down to timing. “We had the idea in our heads around the […]
Posted inMusic
Local Shows on the Holiday Road
* Local music fans will have a hard time staying in this week thanks to an impressive slate of local shows. Thursday, Dec. 23, Satchel Grande and Old Money play The Waiting Room, while Slowdown Virginia and Polecat reunite at Slowdown. Friday, Dec. 24, Banjo Loco and several openers are at Waiting Room. Sunday, Dec. […]
Posted inMusic
Evolutions
Checking out the Funk Trek CD release party at The Waiting Room Friday, Dec. 10, yielded two great sets. Opening the show was Weir, Fairchild & Miller, or the Kris Lager Band without Kris Lager. Jeremiah Weir, John Fairchild and Brandon Miller rocked through some R&B inflected tunes that were musical shout-outs to The Meters […]
Posted inMovies
Fearless, Flawless Box Office Predictions – 12/17
What a jam-packed weekend!!! I mean, daaaaaaamn. You couldn’t have eeked out one of these movies opposite Narnia ? With Black Swan going into heavier rotation, there are 3 movies of note…well, two movies of note and Yogi Bear . I’m calling it now: Tron is going to underperform. Not so much so that it’s […]
Posted inMovies
Two drops of awesome and scheduling news
First: Happy Friday. I mean that. Not in some bullcrap, mass-produced, consumer way. I really hope you’re having a wonderful “Weekend Eve.” Why am I in such a good mood? Let’s move to…Second: I’m on vacation starting Monday. Will I blog? Yes. Will it be with the same frequency? Perhaps. Will it be as regular […]