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 by Gary North

Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

WikiLeaks’ Marketing Strategy: A Stroke of Genius
T
o understand what WikiLeaks has
done, we must understand economic
cause and effect. Let us begin with a
comparable market: the market for gambling.
Governments arrest bookies. But bookies
are merely providers of the service. The source
of demand is the individual gambler, the guy
who is placing the bets. The infrastructure
that delivers the service is surely basic to the
process, but it is the individual citizen who is
the prime mover. Why? He is paying for it.
Want to understand the process? Follow the
money. It ends with the customer.
The government prosecutes the bookie
because it is cheaper than following the money
to the sources. It’s a matter of the economies of
scale. But it is hypocritical to blame the bookie.
It is cheaper to arrest and try him than to arrest
and try all of his customers, but he is not the
source of the practice. Customers are.
Back to WikiLeaks. Who is the source of
the problem? Readers of articles about the
scandals. This is gossip for educated people.
This is Jerry Springer for college graduates. This
is “You know what she said about him?”
Readers are going to Web sites (plural). They
are not going to the WikiLeaks site. They are
going to the “bookie” sites: The Guardian, Der
Spiegel, , and the New York Times. These are the
national “newspapers of record.” These are the
Establishment’s main news sources in the West.
Do you see what Julian Assange has done?
He has pitted one against another. He gives
them first shot at the leaked documents for a
few days. Then he releases them to everyone.
“Want a scoop? I’ll provide it. Want to be an
also-ran? Just sit on the story.” He has them
salivating for the next release. The papers have
staffers ready to read, write, and post.
This strategy is working. The Establishment
press is all over these stories.
The public, Pavlovian to the core, can’t wait
to get the next bit of gossip. “And then she said
this!”
This is National Enquirer for the literati.
Obama’s spokespeople are playing it cool.
This is wise on their part. Meanwhile, what we
might call the Lieberman/Huckabee/Palin axis
is going ballistic. “We must stop WikiLeaks!”
Really? Why bother with WikiLeaks? Just
arrest the editors and publishers of the outlets
– the major Establishment media. If all those
government-funded official leakers (spies)
are at risk, then the source of this risk is the
Establishment media.
But the critics cannot arrest the editors and
publishers. The ACLU would go into action.
So would the other Establishment media. “This
is a freedom-of-the-press issue! This is a First
Amendment issue.” This is a hits-on-our-site
issue.
When The Guardian did a live interview
with Assange on December 3, it got so much
Web traffic that the site went down.
The incensed critics are not about to stick
their fingers into this media hornets’ nest. So,
they call for Assange’s head. Why? Economies of
scale. It is cheaper to shut down WikiLeaks’ site.
But this does little good. The mirror sites
are too numerous. There is no way to stop the
flow of information on the Web. WikiLeaks is
proving this, day by day.
If the mirror sites go down, there will be
FedEx deliveries to the Establishment outlets of
thumb drives filled with data. Do you think the
media outlets will exercise self-restraint, when
they know that the others have also received
FedEx packages? I don’t think so.
The U.S. government’s attempts to shut down
WikiLeaks, as Assange knew in advance, is
creating enormous publicity for WikiLeaks.
This makes it even less likely that any of the
Establishment media outlets is going to cease
publishing stories based on the leaks. “And
then she said ... !”
The problem is this: The public loves
the gossip. It delights in hearing about the
latest blunder. This is a feeding frenzy. It is
boosting traffic. The press has never been able
to resist this, once a single member of the
Establishment breaks ranks.
Assange has done his homework. He set it
up so that the Big Boys – one per nation – are
given first dibs. There is an implied warning:
“He who hesitates is lost.”
We are witnessing the undermining of the
U.S. government. The stories are harmless.
They are all gossip. But it makes the experts
look like the rest of us – mean-spirited, jealous,
behind-the-back snipers. These experts have
no respect for the bureaucrats on the other side
of the borders. They look like petty schoolgirls.
This undermines the required sense of public
awe.
WikiLeaks is playing Toto. It has raced
behind the curtain and is pulling the pants leg
of the ersatz wizard.
Obama has wisely not joined in the howls of
rage. If he did, he would look like the wizard.
He is letting others do this. The wizard is
clearly impotent.
Maybe the anonymous source of the leaks
will be tried. Maybe Assange will be tried. But
they have made themselves part of history.
They are getting way more than 15 minutes
of fame. They are the Matt Drudges in this
decade. Assange will get a paragraph in some
future U.S. history textbook. He may even
make it into a European history textbook.
WikiLeaks is now headquartered in Iceland.
Iceland is considering passing a law next year
making it the stolen-data-distributional capital
of the world. There will be other small nations
that try to compete for this title.
Or, to quote Wilford Brimley’s character in
Absence of Malice: “You had a leak? You call
what’s goin’ on around here a leak? Boy, the
last time there was a leak like this, Noah built
hisself a boat.”
There will be more leaks. There will be more
scandals. There will be more government
officials exposed as little men behind the
curtain.
More of Gary North’s commentary can be found
at GaryNorth.com.

River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010

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Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Lame Ducks Key in
Civil-Unions Vote
S
ix Illinois House Republicans voted
with 55 Democrats last week to approve
a civil-unions bill. But a few of the
Democratic “yes” votes were a bit more
surprising.
All but one of the six Republicans were
suburbanites. Bill Black, who is retiring
later this month, was the only Downstater.
Representatives Suzi Bassi and Beth Coulson
were suburban “yes” votes who are not
returning next year. Representatives Mark
Beaubien, Rosemary Mulligan, and Skip
Saviano were the other Republican “yes” votes,
and all three are suburban legislators. None
of those was a particularly huge surprise.
Black has been a more traditionally liberal
Republican for years,
endorsed by labor
unions and backed by
many Democrats in his
Eleven of the House’s
district. Black quoted
late U.S. Senator
18 lame ducks provided
Everett Dirksen
during the debate,
needed votes for passage
citing Dirksen’s crucial
last week. At least some of
vote for civil-rights
legislation in 1964 as
those members might have
the basis for his own
position.
But just about every voted “no” had they won
politically targeted
suburban Democratic reelection.
incumbent who
survived the November
election also voted for the plan, even though
they just came off grueling campaigns against
tough opponents. That support was even more
newsworthy.
Representative Keith Farnham (D-Elgin)
won by just a handful of votes two years ago
and beat the same opponent in a rematch
by just 627 votes this year, but he voted for
the civil-unions legislation. Representatives
Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills) and Fred
Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates) were both Tier
One campaign targets, yet they also voted
for the bill. Representative Emily McAsey
(D-Lockport) easily won reelection this year
despite heavy spending by Republicans, and
she also voted “yes.” Representative Jehan
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010
Gordon (D-Peoria) was one of just three
Downstate Democratic Representatives who
voted for the bill who aren’t also lame ducks.
Representative Jack Franks (D-Marengo) has
not been a target in years mainly because he
has cultivated a strongly conservative voting
record, yet he also voted for the civil-unions
bill.
Not all targets were on board. Representative
Kevin McCarthy (D-Orland Park) voted
“present” last week. McCarthy, who survived
a brutal campaign with a relatively narrow
victory against a tea-party Republican, said he
was opposed to the legislation but wanted to
soften the impact by voting the yellow button.
Eleven of the chamber’s 18 lame ducks, all

by Rich Miller EXPERIENCE THE ORIGINAL!
but three of them Democrats, provided needed
votes for passage last week. At least some of
those members might have voted “no” had they
won reelection.
Despite the bipartisan and target-rich
vote in favor of the legislation, last week’s
action probably can’t be used as a model for
non-social-issue votes such as a tax hike.
Black will leave before the January lame-
duck session. Bassi and Beaubien are strong
fiscal conservatives. Saviano is a member of
GOP leadership, which is united against the
Democrats. Polls showed that suburban voters “A PHENOMENON OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS!”
supported civil unions but not tax hikes, so -Washington Post
those Democratic targets who voted “yes” Perfect Gift For
probably won’t be on-board, either. Many The Holidays!
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conservative lately.
The debate last
week was almost
universally respectful
and stayed on the
high road, except
for some weird comments by Representative
Ron Stephens (R-Greenville), who, among
other things, called himself an “old-fashioned
traditionalist” during his remarks. Stephens
has twice had problems with his pharmacy
license for alleged substance-abuse issues, was
recently popped for a DUI, and is divorced.
“Old-fashioned traditionalist”?
The momentous civil-unions bill passed
the Senate the following day with 32 votes
– two more than the minimum required. One
Republican, Senator Dan Rutherford, joined
with 31 Democrats to approve the legislation.
Democrats later claimed that Rutherford had
made a politically smart vote, if it doesn’t ruin
him in a Republican primary. He’ll almost
certainly be able to establish a new – and
strong – base of Chicago-area-fundraising
support for being the only Senate Republican
to stick his neck out on the bill.
Unlike in the House, where only two
Republicans rose in opposition, several Senate
Republicans spoke against the bill, and they
mostly stayed on-message. The Republicans
almost universally complained that the
Democrats were spending no time on solving
the budget crisis and the precarious economic
situation while debating social issues.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a daily
political newsletter) and TheCapitolFaxBlog.
com.

Branstad Picks Durham to Head
Economic-Development
G
overnor-elect Terry Branstad
has picked Siouxland Chamber
of Commerce President Debi
Durham to be the new director of the Iowa
Department of Economic Development.
As Branstad introduced her, the two of
them began outlining how they plan to
change the department into a public/private
partnership and create the 200,000 new
jobs in Iowa that Branstad promised on the
3
campaign trail.
“That takes legislation,” Branstad said
of the transformation to a public/private
partnership. “We’re going to work from the
present framework that exists, but we are
the power of Digital Cable
going to envision where we want to go and
we’re going to lay that out. We did some of
that during the campaign, and we’re now
going to move forward very aggressively on
Online this even during the transition before we
Phone take office. But we will then need to work
through the legislative process to get the
changes made that we want to get made.”
Branstad said he’ll have Durham, 50, start
Bounty Hunter
on Starz® immediately on the analysis of what stays
and what goes in the department, although
he wasn’t sure if that could be accomplished
by January 14.
digital cable Durham praised the staff at the
current Iowa Department of Economic
Your favorite HD channels free. Development and indicated that perhaps
Over 5,000 free On Demand titles. she wouldn’t entirely “clean house” or
replace all of the staff once she’s the new
director.
“I have worked with this team at the
Department of Economic Development,
and I know it is comprised of very
dedicated individuals, and I look forward to
joining them in their efforts as we move this
department forward,” Durham said.
faster online More than 82 percent of workers
at the Iowa Department of Economic
Up to 10x faster than 1.5 DSL. Development are considered “at will” and
15 Mbps speeds and free Web Boost. could be out of a job.
Branstad said Durham will work closely
with Lieutenant Governor-elect Kim
Reynolds, who will be the chair of the
new Commission for the Partnership for
Economic Progress.
Durham stressed that she can’t do it
alone. “Job creation was the cornerstone
of their campaign, and I am charged with
the task of initiating and preparing the
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framework for the new department, which
will be called the Partnership for Economic
Nationwide calls for no extra charge. Progress,” she said. “I think the key word
13 free calling features like Caller ID. Get incredible in this new name is ‘partnership,’ because
savings and enjoy that really is what it’s about. Debi Durham
the conveniences of cannot create 200,000 jobs.”
But Durham said in partnership with
today’s technology the economic-development professionals
1-800-332-0245 when you take all around the state and those in the education
community, state universities, and the
three services.
private sector, Iowa can create and retain
by Lynn Campbell, IowaPolitics.com
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
jobs. She said the involvement of the
private sector must go beyond membership
on state boards. She also said that
anything involving public funding will be
transparent.
The Iowa Democratic Party was quick
to jump on Durham’s comments that
Branstad’s goal of creating 200,000 new jobs
is a “stretch goal.”
“Iowans deserve an administration that
will take job creation seriously instead of
abandoning the promises they made on
the campaign trail,” said Iowa Democratic
Party Chair Sue Dvorsky. “Unfortunately,
less than a month after being elected, the
Branstad/Reynolds administration has
abandoned one of its key promises to
Iowans.”
2010 Sees Record Number
of Midterm Voters
The more than 1.1 million Iowans
who voted in the November 2 election
represented the highest number of total
voters participating in a midterm election
in state history, Iowa Secretary of State
Michael Mauro said.
The turnout of 1,133,434 was 54 percent
of the state’s 2.1 million active and inactive
registered voters. While the percentage was
not the highest because past elections had
fewer registered voters, the number that
turned out was the highest ever.
Voter turnout was announced at a
meeting of the State Board of Canvass,
which made official all results of the
November 2 election except the governor’s
race. (That will be canvassed by the General
Assembly on January 10. Unofficial results
show that Republican Branstad defeated
Democrat Chet Culver 52.2 to 42.8 percent.)
Mauro chaired the meeting, certifying
results of the election in which he lost his
job to Republican Matt Schultz.
Mauro, a former Polk County auditor,
has worked in government overseeing
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
elections for 28 years. He told IowaPolitics.
com that he has not yet made a decision
about his future, despite getting a call from
Governor-elect Branstad shortly after the
election. He said he hasn’t been formally
offered a job from Branstad yet.
For an expanded version of this article, visit
RiverCitiesReader.com.
This weekly summary comes from
IowaPolitics.com, an online government
and politics news service. Reporter Andrew
Duffelmeyer and other correspondents
contributed to this report.


Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Don’t Drink the Water?
Author Paul Connett Wants People to Take a Fresh (or First) Look at Fluoridation
I
f you’re approaching this article on
water fluoridation with trepidation, Paul
Connett knows how you feel.
“I didn’t want this issue,” said Connett,
the co-author of the recently published
book The Case Against Fluoride, in a phone
interview last week.
“When my wife dumped a whole bunch
of papers on my desk one
afternoon in July 1996
and said, ‘Dear, would you
read these papers?’” he
recalled, “I said, ‘What is it?
What’s it about?’ She says,
‘Fluoridation.’ I said, ‘Take
it away. These people are
crazy.’”
Connett already had a
full-time job as a professor
of chemistry at St. Lawrence
University in Canton, New
York. And for a decade he
had been a vocal opponent
of waste incineration, a
cause that sent him around
the world presenting
lectures.
“I didn’t want a third issue,” Connett said.
“I certainly didn’t want this one, which was
stigmatized ... as the province of a bunch
of Flat Earth Society crazy people. And I’d
succumbed to that same notion without
doing any research.”
That night the Village of Canton
was considering whether to continue
fluoridation of the city’s drinking water.
Connett said: “When I started to read the
papers that she put there, my intention was
as quickly as possible to find out where
these crazy anti-fluoridationists had made
some fundamental scientific mistakes and
[determine] that there was nothing to
worry about. ... It didn’t take me long to
realize that there were some very serious
problems with that practice” of fluoridation.
He said he told his wife: “This is going
to be easy. When they hear what I read this
afternoon, there’s no way they’re going to
continue fluoridation.”
Connett was wrong. The crusade to
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010
stop fluoridation of Canton’s drinking
water took more than seven years after
that first night. That initial meeting was
what Connett called his “first shock. All
the dentists and several doctors were lined
up to give their complete, utter, confident
assurance that this was the best thing since
sliced bread. It was perfectly safe.”
After the meeting, Connett said, he
approached one doctor who had spoken
in favor of fluoridation and asked him to
read three papers; the doctor said he didn’t
have time. Connett replied, “You shouldn’t
let these people believe that you’ve read
the literature – and it’s your professional
 judgment that this is perfectly okay – when
that’s obviously not the case.”
Yet that doctor was hardly alone
in speaking without having reviewed
the science behind fluoridation. “That
discussion on that night was a microcosm
of what I was to see for the next 14 years
– that local, state, and federal officials
will go onto public platforms and make
these absolutely, 100-
percent-, 150-percent-
confident statements that
fluoridation is perfectly
safe and perfectly
effective,” Connett said.
“And it’s almost to the
point that they get some
kind of commission
every time they use the
words ‘safe’ and ‘effective.’
It’s like a mantra – ‘safe
and effective,’ ‘safe and
effective.’ And they haven’t
read the literature; they
haven’t read it. And if they
were to do so, they’d be
utterly shocked at the way
they’ve been corralled into
supporting this nonsense.”
So Connett became one of those Flat
Earth Society crazies. And while it’s
unreasonable to expect many people to
have a similarly lightning-quick epiphany,
he hopes that his book will get people
to consider the issue of fluoridation
– probably for the first time – beyond the
endorsements of professional societies and
public-health officials.
Basic Arguments in
The Case Against Fluoride
Connett’s book, which was published
in October, is meant as a corrective to six
decades of fluoridation promotion. While
the provocative subtitle is How Hazardous
Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water &
the Bad Science & Powerful Politics That
Keep It There, the book’s primary concern
is science.
The Case Against Fluoride has three basic
arguments:
• Fluoridation is bad medicine because
it’s a drug given to all without a doctor
consultation, without informed consent,
and without control over the amount of
fluoride ingested. This is primarily an
ethical argument based on the assertion
that fluoride is a drug, in sense of the
Merriam-Webster definition of “a substance
intended for use in the diagnosis, cure,
mitigation, treatment, or prevention of
disease.”
• There is little or no sound scientific
evidence of fluoridation’s effectiveness in
preventing tooth decay. Further, current
evidence suggests that fluoride primarily
by Jeff Ignatius
jeff@rcreader.com
The Strange Case of Fluoridation
inIf youthe Iowa Quad Cities
oppose fluoridation or think that its safety and effectiveness need to be
proved beyond a doubt, good luck in stopping the practice in the Quad Cities.
Illinois in 1967 mandated fluoridation of drinking water, meaning that any change
would need to happen at the state rather than the local level.
The situation is more complicated in the Iowa Quad Cities. The state of Iowa does
not mandate fluoridated drinking water, but local governments served by Iowa
American Water would need to act unanimously to stop it.
Dennis J. Alt, a supervisor with the Water Supply Engineering Section of the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources, wrote in response to an e-mail question: “In Iowa,
a public water system, whether it is publicly or privately owned, can choose to add
chemicals in order to treat the water. They do not need to receive approval from
a unit of government or the people they serve. ... We do not require public water
systems to add fluoride, nor do we prohibit it.” (Utilities still need to comply with
state and federal drinking-water standards.)
So with a water utility owned by a city government, there would be local control.
But when the utility is privately owned – as it is in the Iowa Quad Cities – there isn’t.
This situation was confirmed by the City of Davenport. In a 2007 memo
responding to questions raised by Joel Webber, Acting Corporation Counsel Thomas
D. Warner wrote: “The City does not have jurisdiction over drinking-water quality and
cannot stop fluoridation of the water by the Iowa American Water Company. ... The
[federal] Safe Drinking Water Act, the Iowa Code, and the Iowa Administrative Code
occupy the field in this area and do not allow the City to assume any jurisdiction
over the content of the public drinking water in Davenport.”
Technically speaking, this is true.
However, Iowa American Water claims that it would comply with a request from
local government to stop fluoridation. There’s a big catch, though: Such a request
would need to come from all the Iowa Quad Cities that Iowa American Water serves.
Lisa M. Reisen, Iowa American Water’s manager of external affairs, provided this
statement: “Ceasing fluoridation would require coordination of the cities, the Iowa
Utilities Board, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and likely the health
department. If we were directed by legislation (local or state), we would comply.
Any agreement would have to be unanimous among all the communities served,
because we can’t tailor the treatment to individual communities.”
That means there is effectively regional control over fluoridation in the Iowa Quad
Cities, but not municipal control.
The issue of why Iowa American Water fluoridates the water in the Iowa Quad
Cities lacks a complete answer. Iowa American Water officials cited a 1952 resolution
involving the City of Davenport that started fluoridation here but could not say
whether other municipalities signed on; Reisen said she could not locate a copy of
the resolution. However, it is likely that Riverdale and Bettendorf were also parties;
all three cities began having their water fluoridated on July 27, 1952, according to
the Iowa Department of Public Health.
Reisen wrote that the company has no record of a community request for
fluoridation beyond that resolution from 58 years ago.
And when asked whether the company regularly surveys the communities
it serves about its fluoridation preferences, Reisen wrote: “Iowa American Water
distributes an annual water-quality report to all customers and municipalities that
clearly shows that we do fluoridate the water.” She added that “fluoridation has not
been an issue of concern with our customers or the cities we serve.”
– Jeff Ignatius
works topically (in toothpaste, for example) authors argue that water fluoridation could
rather than systemically (administered have adverse health effects on the teeth (in
through drinking water). Connett and the form of dental fluorosis), brain function
his co-authors review studies supporting (including lower IQ), the endocrine
the benefits of fluoridation and find them system (including the thyroid and pineal
flawed. glands), bones, and kidneys. This section is
• Fluoride administered through the premised on the medical-ethics principle of
public water supply might cause significant Continued On Page 18
health problems. Connett and his co-
 Vol. 18, No. 767
Dec. 9 - 22, 2010
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Gibson, Daniel Levsen, J.K. Martin, Jay Strickland
Sugarcoating Dark Cores
Mini Mansions, December 11 at RIBCO
I
f you want
a sense of
what Mini
Mansions sounds
like, interviews
and reviews
often reference
the Beatles’
experimental
side and the late
singer/songwriter
Elliott Smith. But
you’re advised
not to raise the
comparisons with
Michael Shuman,
the Queens of the
Stone Age bassist
who formed Mini
Mansions in early
2009.
Shuman has previously been up-front
about the influences of and his love for the
Beatles and Smith, but when I asked him
about Mini Mansions’ new self-titled album
compared to the Beatles, he responded
curtly: “I don’t think it sounds anything like
them.” A lot of writers have repeated the
comparison, he said, but “I just think it was
the wrong bandwagon.”
A trio that primarily employs keyboards,
bass, drums, and voices, Mini Mansions
– performing at RIBCO on December
11 – plays pop music that immediately
grabs you but is also streaked with oddity
and darkness. The Beatles comparison is
frankly inevitable because of the vocal style
and harmonies, and the spirit of Smith is
undeniable as well. (For the record, outside
of a closing scream and vocal flourish in
“Monk,” there’s barely a hint of Queens of
the Stone Age.)
Yet Shuman’s dismissal of comparisons
is entirely reasonable. Nobody likes the
implication of being derivative, and The
Beatles are at the root of virtually all
modern pop music, including Smith’s.
More importantly, Mini Mansions’ debut
– released last month – is so confident and
unapologetic in both its weirdness and
the way it sugarcoats dark cores that its
forebears are largely irrelevant.
The band’s sound, Shuman said, was
radically different when the trio began,
with bandmates Zach Dawes (who now
plays bass) and Tyler Parkford (who now
sings and plays keyboards and guitar, and
who shared writing duties with Shuman).
“When we first started, it was a lot more
stripped down, and we didn’t even really
want drums in the band,” said Shuman,
whose primary roles are now drumming
and singing along with some guitar.
“We wanted to make it acoustic, almost
orchestral without percussion. Using three
or four instruments and voices that could
create a more ethereal sound, a broader
landscape of sound.”
But as songs were nearing completion,
the players would switch roles. “We would
try every song in every way,” Shuman said.
What they found, he said, was that many
songs worked well with a foundation of
keyboards, bass, and drums. Mini Mansions
still experiments with arrangement and
roles, Shuman said, but that basic division
of labor has held: “Definitely no rules; it just
seems to be the best formula.”
Aside from being keyboard- rather
than guitar-based, Mini Mansions is
distinguished by what Shuman describes
as a “weird, towering ghostly feeling over
all the songs.” It’s an element of danger
and dread that hangs over the record, a
dimming of the songs’ natural brightness
– an effect alluded to in the album’s three
tone-setting “vignettes.”
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
by Jeff Ignatius
jeff@rcreader.com
Outside
of those,
“Wünderbars”
features flat beats
and subdued
bursts of noise
that pull down
the falsetto
vocals – recalling
the tensions of
Mike Patton’s
Mr. Bungle.
The second
halves of “The
Room Outside”
and “Majik
Marker” detour
into energetic
bass-dominated
Photo by Dustin Rabin interplay
between the
instruments. The initially bouncy “Crime
of the Season” sneaks from summer to
autumn, trading a driving piano for a
horror-movie organ.
“It just kind of happens,” Shuman
explained. “If it’s a simple pop song written
on acoustic guitar, for some reason I always
have this weird urge to just make it feel
like someone’s coming around the corner
– there’s this ominous cloud looming over
the song.”
I asked Shuman about his favorite
example outside of Mini Mansions, and
he paused a long time. “I want to say
something from the Beatles, but I really
don’t want to talk about the Beatles
anymore,” he finally answered, grudgingly
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
settling on the opening of “Blue Jay Way.”
Mini Mansions will perform on Saturday,
December 11, at RIBCO (1815 Second
Avenue in Rock Island). The bill also includes
Break Up Art and Centaur Noir, and the
show starts at 9 p.m. Cover is $5.
For a feature article on Centaur Noir, visit
RCReader.com/y/centaur.
For more information on Mini Mansions,
visit MySpace.com/minimansionsmusic.
To listen to Mini Mansions’ Daytrotter.com
session, visit RCReader.com/y/mansions.


Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick
Jack Frost Saves Christmas, at the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse through
December 26
T
he Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse’s
Jack Frost Saves Christmas is the
most adorable children’s play I’ve
ever seen. Okay, it’s also the only children’s
play I’ve seen since... well, since I was a
child. Still, it brought out the kid in me
as I danced
and sang
along – at the
appropriate,
invited times,
of course
– and I wasn’t
alone; the
children in
attendance
at Saturday’s
performance,
including the
two I brought
along with
me, laughed
and danced
and shouted
exclamations
of delight
at the play’s
proceedings.
The Jack Frost Saves Christmas ensemble
Directed
here by Daniel D.P. Sheridan, this short
(one hour plus intermission) musical tells
the tale of Jack Frost’s birth, his discovery
of his unique gifts, and his attempt to make
friends with the people of Christmas Town.
Initially cast out for his lack of talent,
Jack eventually saves the day – that being
Christmas Day – when he uses his frosty
powers to bring back the missing snow and
cold in time for Santa’s annual sleigh ride.
Santa himself was clearly the crowd
favorite, bringing down the house with
his (unexpected) Hawaiian shirt and red-
velvet shorts trimmed with white fur, and
dancing and joking his way through the
higher-temperature portions of the show.
It helped that St. Nick’s celebrity preceded
him, but also that Janos Horvath managed
to bring the requisite jolliness to the role
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010
while adding his own style of physical
humor, with big gestures and well-chosen
pauses in his vocal deliveries.
While the kids most enjoyed Santa,
no one tickled my fancy more than Don
Denton, double-cast as Penguin and Mr.
Holly. As Penguin, Denton employs a silly,
almost skipping waddle to move around
the stage – one that made me giggle with
every step – and as Mr. Holly, Denton
speaks with an effeminate, condescending
tone that’s more nutty than negative. The
character is the play’s antagonist, but
Denton is so amusing in the role that he’s
easy to like.

By Thom White
Laura Miller – familiar to Circa ’21
patrons as a member of the performing
wait staff, the Bootleggers – is a charmingly
friendly Elizabeth, offering a sense of
wonder in her speech and a soft, supportive
tone in her efforts to be friends with
Jack. Fellow
Bootlegger
Andrea
Moore makes
a wonderful
Rabbit, using
the lower
registers of her
voice to imply
a wisdom in
her words;
her Mom
character is
also good, and
her beautiful
singing voice
is even better.
(With Moore
additionally
serving as
choreographer,
the show’s
dance moves
are nicely sophisticated.) Shouting out
the day’s headlines, Ben Holmes brings
a goofy, frantic nature to his Newspaper
Vendor. And Bret Churchill couldn’t be
more likable as Jack Frost, with a sweet
uncertainty in his voice mixed with a
childlike innocence that makes you want to
hug him.
As is typical of his work, Gregory Hiatt’s
costumes – among them Jack’s elf-like suit
– are impressive, with the animal costumes
especially creative and interesting. Using
mostly headpieces, rather than full-body
outfits, Hiatt has chosen an overstuffed
stuffed-animal look for Raccoon, Rabbit,
and Polar Bear, and his Penguin costume
is perhaps the show’s cutest, with its
headpiece attached to long sleeves closed
at the ends to create wings. And Sheridan
works in a bit of simple, but effective, stage
magic when Jack creates frost on a window;
the moment involved nothing more than
the pulling down of a translucent shade,
but when it happened, it was so unexpected
that it kind of took my breath away.
I expected to be mildly amused by Jack
Frost Saves Christmas, hoping my seven-
and 11-year-old companions would be
delighted by it. What I didn’t expect was
to be so joyously captivated by the sweet,
tender holiday tale myself.
For tickets and information, call (309)786-
7733, extension 2, or visit Circa21.com.

Baileys
on the Rocks
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, at the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre
through December 12
T
he Clinton Area Showboat Theatre’s
production of It’s a Wonderful Life:
A Live Radio Play has several things
going for it. One, it’s nostalgically familiar
– who hasn’t seen the It’s a Wonderful Life
movie at least once? Two, it’s a holiday show
for an audience that’s more than likely in
a Christmas spirit, and already jolly when
sitting down to watch the play. And three,
it’s short, running one hour without an
intermission.
However,
there’s one
major element
missing from the
Showboat’s show
that would make
it really good:
melodrama.
Designed as
a radio show –
We’re throwing an all-day, non-stop party. And you’re invited. that is, a reading
of a script with
Noon Year’s Eve 11am-1pm sound effects,
and not a full-
• Countdown at Noon with non-alcoholic champagne on production
• Free party favors with sets and
• Music by the River City 6 11am—1pm movement – It’s
a Wonderful
New Year’s Eve Day Prime Steak & Lobster Tail Buffet from 10am—11pm just Like: A Live
Radio Play is Members of the It’s A Wonderful Life children’s choir
$19.99*! This buffet features USDA prime steak, fresh lobster tails, fresh salads
one of those stage opportunities that calls
and desserts. *With IMAGE Players Club Card—$24.99 without card. for at least a little overacting. The audience
New Year’s Eve doesn’t get to see much happen as the tale
Smooth Groove unfolds, and therefore has to hear the
• Midnight countdown and balloon drop on casino floor action in the voices and sound effects.
in the Edje Nightclub
• Free midnight non-alcoholic champagne toast 8pm—1am Yet as directed by Patrick Stinson (whose
• Free party favors efforts made the Showboat’s Dracula far
more interesting than the script, and
• Music by the River City 6 10pm—2am Sunday in the Park with George my favorite
production of the several Sundays I’ve
Put a fork in 2010, then in our Steak ‘N’ Eggs Buffet from 12am—3am just $5.99*!
seen), this offering misses the mark, for
*With IMAGE Players Club Card—$7.99 without card
the most part, on both counts. The actors
Music? We’ve got the Edje! For the very best in FREE live entertainment, barely do more than read the scripts in
their hands, the sound effects need to be
there’s only one place to be: the Edje! Every Friday and Saturday 8pm to Midnight! higher in volume, and the man creating
December 10 & 11 Pappa-Razzi December 17 & 18 Gray Wolf Band these effects on stage needs to be more
December 31 & January 1 Smooth Groove prominently featured.
The latter is arguably the most significant
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and failing, in that watching and hearing the
referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537).
sounds being made – dinner plates clanking
SMOKE-
YS
during a meal, high heels walking across a
FR
A
ALW
EE!
floor – are the most fun elements of a radio
show. During Friday night’s performance,
the actor making these sounds seemed
to be right on cue with each one and was
effective in delivering them, but not all
of the sounds could be heard clearly over
309-756-4600 • 800-477-7747 • Open 7am-5am daily the actors’ voices. (The volume on the
microphone picking up the sound effects
By Thom White
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
needed to be at a level that at least matched
the actors’ microphone levels.) I also
wouldn’t have complained if he’d been a bit
more grand with his gestures as he tinkled
flatware against dinner plates and dropped
objects into a barrel of water; his creation
of the sounds’ embellishment of the script’s
words could easily be a show within the
larger show.
Unfortunately, the play’s program does
not list the
characters that
each actor
portrays, and
being previously
familiar with
only three of the
cast members,
I cannot
commend the
majority by
name. (The
choice to list
only the actors
and not their
roles is likely
due to the size
of the cast,
which is at least
doubled by the
employment of
a children’s choir, and the fact that many
take on several different parts.) Some of the
performers, though, notably differentiate
their characters with the use of accents –
Irish, Boston, and a highly amusing Italian
– and each accent is executed remarkably
well; their accuracy and consistency are
especially impressive given how young
most of the actors are (and how often I’ve
heard inconsistent accents on stage).
All of the cast members, however, could
use more inflection, more emotion, in
their voices. That’s not to say that the It’s
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
a Wonderful Life performance, overall, is
flat – it could just use a boost of passion,
since the vocal acting, carrying the weight
of the tale, has to compensate for the lack
of movement and visual storytelling. The
Showboat’s work plays out more as a good
reading of the script than an actual radio
play. Still, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio
Play is a pleasant-enough holiday outing,
mainly for its enjoyable familiarity as a
Christmas tale. To make it a holiday show
to remember, though, the Showboat’s cast
could use a touch more spirit.
For tickets and information, call (563)242-
6760 or visit ClintonShowboat.org.


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Vagabonding
Waiting for Godot, at the Harrison Hilltop Theatre through December 18
W
ith its themes of loneliness,
reality, death, the meaning
(and absurdity) of life, and
the search for self, playwright Samuel
Beckett’s tragicomedy Waiting for Godot
is considered, by some, to be the most
significant English-language play of the
20th Century. Frankly, though, I didn’t
search for meaning in the script during
Thursday night’s Godot performance at
the Harrison Hilltop Theatre, as I was too
busy being entertained, to the point of loud
laughter, by
the captivating
oddity of the
dialogue and
performances
Directed,
here, by Jeff
Kingsbury,
Waiting for
Godot features
two vagabonds,
Vladimir
(David Turley)
and Estragon
(Matt Mercer).
They are
waiting for
someone
named Godot
to arrive. They
bide their time
fussing with Matt Mercer and David Turley
boots and
hats and finding some entertainment in
the antics of traveling actor Pozzo (Bryan
Woods) and his elderly servant Lucky
(Paul Workman), who arrive on a daily
basis, but cannot recall having even met
the vagabonds the day before. And while
Vladimir and Estragon ponder what it is
to be human while observing Pozzo’s self-
importance (and his habit of leading Lucky
on a leash), Godot himself never arrives,
leaving Vladimir and Estragon to wait, day
after day, for a man they’ve never met.
Mercer brings a buffoonish charm to his
role through the use of big gestures, funny
facial contortions, and delightfully unusual
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010
sounds that are similar to sighs and growls.
Turley makes great, amusing use of his
eyes, rolling them here and squinting them
there, to portray frustration with other
characters. Workman, mostly mute during
his time on stage (other than in one really
long, wordy monologue), also delivers
much of his performance through his eyes,
using them to clearly show fear, sadness,
anxiety, and eagerness to please, much like
a dog. (Also like a dog, Workman’s Lucky
pants a lot and drools.) Chad Ackerman
portrays The Boy with a believable
apprehension, using slow speech and
movements to flesh out the simple-minded
10
messenger of Godot.
By Thom White
My favorite of the cast, however, is
Woods, who seems more well-suited to
Pozzo than to any other role I’ve seen
him in on stage. It’s as if he were born to
play the character. My companion for the
evening said Waiting for Godot came to
life when Woods entered, and I agreed;
the play wasn’t lifeless prior to Woods’
entrance, but his grandiose affectations
added quite a bit of punch to it. With an air
of superiority dripping from every line he
spoke, Woods had me in stitches with his
intentionally
pretentious
performance, Searching for holiday stories?
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of sitting a
grand affair
each and
every time
he sat.
Also
serving as set designer, Kingsbury
transforms the Harrison Hilltop’s space
with floor-to-ceiling white curtains for
Godot – two narrower ones creating
wings on the sides of the stage, and a
wider curtain covering its back. They give
the theatre the look and feel of a theatre,
and also give lighting designer Tristan
Tapscott the opportunity to hide lights
behind the wings, where they splash
swaths of illumination across and through
the curtains. The expanse of curtains,
meanwhile, is embellished by a somewhat
abstract tree, creatively made with wooden
planks and sticks; an interchangeable,
hanging moon and sun; a rock (at least I
think it was a rock) made of an overturned,
oblong, metal container; and a painted path
on the floor. Overall, the set is quite simple,
but it makes a magnificent impression.
As does Harrison Hilltop’s Waiting for
Godot. I was so delighted by the production
that my only disappointment was that so
few people were in the audience with me.
Hopefully, though, the rest of the show’s
run finds more people in the theatre’s seats,
which, I think, this highly creative effort
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 Movie Reviews
by Mike Schulz • mike@rcreader.com
Secret Agent Woman
FAIR GAME
Presuming that it might not open locally, I caught
director Doug Liman’s Fair Game – in which Naomi
Watts plays outed CIA operative Valerie Plame, and
Sean Penn plays Plame’s husband, former ambassador
Joe Wilson – in Chicagoland on Thanksgiving night.
I thought the movie
was intelligent and
intensely well acted,
but still didn’t feel
much toward it, and
with so many of
the film’s characters
arguing over events
that, by 2010, have
become old (if still
infuriating) news, my
eyelids grew droopy
during a few scenes Naomi Watts and
too many.
This past weekend, however, Fair Game did indeed
arrive in our area, and with only one other debuting
release to attend (see – or, rather, don’t – The Warrior’s since 1999’s Go, Liman, here, reminds you that he
Way), I thought I’d give the movie another shot. I
am now officially blaming the Thanksgiving-turkey
tryptophan for my initially lukewarm response,
because on a second viewing, I found Liman’s latest
to be positively riveting, an alert, entertaining, and
resonant re-telling of the notorious Plame-Wilson
scandal that’s actually the exact opposite of an
earnestly somber recent-history lesson.
A drama shot and edited like a thriller, Fair Game
follows the real-life events that led to the war in Iraq
and Plame’s secret-agent cover being blown, and
given the (expected) factual omissions and creative
liberties taken, plenty of politically astute audience
members will no doubt have several beefs with
the film’s account of “the truth.” Based on books
authored separately by Plame and Wilson, Fair
Game – with its screenplay by Jez and John-Henry
Butterworth – is unquestionably on the side of its
married protagonists, who are seen solely as patriotic, you off all over again.
righteous, and unjustly maligned throughout. And
even if you fundamentally agree with Plame’s and
Wilson’s conspiracy theories, you can still sense
some Hollywood white-washing going on. Despite
his enjoyable, hammy brio, David Andrews, as
Dick Cheney chief-of-staff Scooter Libby, is just a
mustache-twirl away from caricature, and the subplot Could anyone have thought this was a good idea?
that finds an Iraqi doctor (the excellent Liraz Charhi) Taciturn Dong-gun Jang stares down the camera,
recruited by Plame as an undercover operative plays
too much like the convenient fiction it is.
Yet no one can, or should, expect documentary-
style vérité in a liberal rabble-rouser by the director of salivates, and Kate Bosworth sports the purtiest pink
The Bourne Identity – starring the vociferously liberal lipstick in the Wild Wild West, and it’s all as senseless,
Sean Penn, no less – and while Fair Game might
not be entirely “fair,” it’s still a supremely intelligent,
energetic, and forceful production. Wielding a
hand-held camera, Liman (also credited as the film’s
cinematographer) keeps the action moving with
swift directness, and has an eye for beautifully telling
bits of business; a quick throwaway of Plame and
Listen to Mike every Friday at 9am on ROCK 104-9 FM with Dave & Darren
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Wilson walking down a hallway, him giving her a
playful shove on their way to a deadly serious CIA
conference, provides a lovely bit of marital familiarity.
Liman is also marvelously inventive in his handling
of the story’s increasingly propulsive narrative.
With no type of “three months later” title card ever
popping on the screen, televised news programs
and press conferences
– oftentimes witnessed
merely in the
backgrounds of shots
– continually clue you
in to just where and
when in the Iraq-war
saga you are, and subtly
raise the stakes for
each of Plame’s and
Wilson’s encounters and
Sean Penn in Fair Game setbacks.
Considering its
relatively intimate scale, Fair Game displays major
filmmaking gravitas, and for perhaps the first time
can be a fantastically savvy and generous director
of actors. (A point nearly forgotten thanks to those
plasticized, high-concept outings Mr. & Mrs. Smith
and Jumper.) Delivering a pair of wonderfully
vivid portrayals, Watts and Penn delineate the
gradual meltdown of a once-secure marriage with
heartbreaking emotional accuracy, and the stars are
backed by an almost staggering supporting ensemble:
Sam Shepard and Polly Holliday as Plame’s parents;
Jessica Hecht, Tom McCarthy, Brooke Smith, Ty
Burrell, and Norbert Leo Butz as the dinner-party
friends whom Penn’s Wilson can’t stop (accidentally)
insulting; Bruce McGill, Michael Kelly, Noah
Emmerich, Tim Griffin, and David Denman as CIA
associates forced to turn their backs on Plame. It’s a
SAG-member smörgåsbord of talent, and Fair Game
itself is frequently as exhilarating as its cast, a movie
successfully designed to wake you up, and then piss
THE WARRIOR’S WAY
With its schizophrenic blend of stylized blood-
letting and abject goofiness, The Warrior’s Way is
what you’d get if you combined Shanghai Noon with
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
300 and added a healthy dollop of HBO’s Carnivale.
drunken sharpshooter Geoffrey Rush channels
Tom Waits, ever-villainous Danny Huston (with an
old-timey Phantom of the Opera mask) glowers and
repellent, and tiresome as can be. The film’s one
honest pleasure comes from the amusing reaction
shots of Jang’s toddler, whom the martial-arts master
carries like a suitcase, and who watches the dimwitted
goings-on with an expression of, “Are you freakin’
kidding me with this?” The kid can’t be one year old
and still outsmarts everyone on-screen.
11
 What’s Happenin’ - The All-Quiz Ed
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Music & Dance
Handel’s The Messiah
and The Nutcracker
Augustana College’s Centennial Hall and
Davenport’s Adler Theatre
Saturday, December 11,
and Sunday, December 12
T
he holiday season is a time of
tradition. Gathering together
with friends and family. Sipping
cocoa in front of the fireplace.
Explaining that you would’ve written
Christmas cards
if time hadn’t
slipped away from
you, even though
you were really
just distracted
every night by the
bottles of rum that
George you picked up to
make eggnog ... .
Frideric Handel Oh, I’m sorry – is
that just my tradition?
And for Quad Citians, December
11 and 12 will bring with them two
more annual, and beloved, holiday
events: the Handel Oratorio Society’s
Augustana College presentations
of The Messiah, and Ballet Quad
Cities’ Adler Theatre stagings of The
Nutcracker.
Featuring four internationally
acclaimed soloists – including
mezzo soprano Astrid Robillard
from Stockholm, Sweden – this
year’s Messiah will also boast a full
professional chamber orchestra and
nearly 250 singers from the college
and the Quad Cities community, and
is, if you can believe it, the 130th-
annual performance of composer
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010
12
Ballet Quad Cities’
The Nutcracker
George Frideric Handel’s legendary
work to be held at Augie.
The Nutcracker , meanwhile, will
find those crazy-gifted professional
dancers of Ballet Quad Cities (and
some sure-to-be-adorable oversize
mice) bringing exhilarating life to
Tchaikovsky’s balletic masterpiece,
with pre-performance holiday
tunes sung by the Davenport
Chordbusters, Davenport North’s
high-school choir, and Davenport
Central’s Holiday Singers.
But while you might be familiar
with both Quad Cities traditions,
how do you fare when it comes to
Messiah and Nutcracker trivia? Let’s
find out, shall we?
1) How many days did it take
Handel to compose the entire
Messiah oratorio?
A) 24
B) 47
C) 71
2) Which of the following is not
a dance in The Nutcracker?
A) Spanish
B) Arabian
C) Indian
3) The Messiah is an exception
to the traditional definition of
“oratorio” because it has no _____.
A) spoken narrative or dialogue
B) plot or characters
C) acts or scenes
4) Which character dances with
the Nutcracker Prince in the Pas de
Deux?
A) The Snow Queen
B) The Sugar Plum Fairy
C) Clara
5) In which city, in 1742, did The
Messiah premiere?
A) Dresden
B) Dublin
C) London
6) Which Reader employee
played Drosselmeyer in Ballet
Quad Cities’ 2006 Nutcracker?
A) Todd McGreevy
B) Jeff Ignatius
C) Mike Schulz
Handel’s The Messiah will be
performed at Augustana College’s
Centennial Hall at 8 p.m. on
December 11, and 2 p.m. on
December 12. Tickets range from
$16 to $20, and are available by
calling the Augustana box office
at (309)794-7306 or visiting
Augustana.edu/tickets.
Performances of Ballet Quad
Cities’ The Nutcracker will take
place at the Adler Theatre at 2 and
8 p.m. on December 11, and at
2 p.m. on December 12. Tickets
are $8 to $25, with ages four and
under free, and can be reserved
by calling (800)745-3000 or
visiting BalletQuadCities.com or
AdlerTheatre.com.
of you to remember!
one right? You did? Aw, how sweet
5 – B, 6 – C. Did you get that last
Answers: 1 – A, 2 – C, 3 – B, 4 – B,
Music
who’ll perform an 8 p.m
Daytrotter. Formed in E
composed of Treach, Vi
Naughty by Nature platinum-selling trio wi
Rock Island Brewing Company all proceeds benefiting
Saturday, December 18, 8 p.m. Way Wish List program
Billboard hits from such
A
s we know from the song, Santa makes a list Paradise, and the group
– and checks it twice – to find out who’s naughty You may be particula
or nice. The jolly old elf could save himself the trouble, Nature’s smash single “O
Jackson 5’s “ABC” and f
though, just by heading to the Rock Island Brewing
Company on December 18. Several nicely naughty pop charts – but how w
ones there. musicians’ output? Try
Not that they can help it, as they’re Naughty by Naughty by Nature son
Nature, the Grammy Award-winning hip-hip artists
Comedy
My bitterness aside, there’s sure to o
be all manner of hilarity on hand in 1
this new production by author Scott 2
Double Wider: Murder at the Naumann (pictured – he’s the one on C
Chitlin County Fair and Five the left), with Five Card Murder being
Card Murder performed at Rock Island’s Skellington A
The Lodge Hotel and Skellington Manor Manor on December 17. And the gifted B
It’s a Mystery artists are doubling our C
Friday, December 10, and Friday,
delight this month, with December D
December 17, 6:30 p.m.
10’s Lodge Hotel staging of Naumann’s E
trailer-park whodunit Double Wider: F
W
hen I first heard that Five Card
Murder at the Chitlin County Fair. G
Murder – the latest interactive Both events will begin with a 6:30 H
comedy by the Quad Cities’ It’s a p.m. cocktail hour followed by a
Mystery scrumptious dinner with the mysteries’ R
troupe – respective suspects ... one of whom, in b
concerned a each case, won’t be around for dessert. ti
killing that
While roaring at the performers’ C
takes place
over-the-top antics, It’s a Mystery c
during a guests will have plenty of opportunities o
poker game, I thought it sounded like to study clues and suss out potential It
an ideal setup for big, juicy laughs. assassins. But if you want a leg up
Then, a couple weeks later, some on your fellow sleuths, here’s a little
friends emptied my pockets in a poker pre-introduction: Try guessing which
game of our own. Now I’m just feeling characters are in Five Card Murder,
enormous empathy for the killer. which are in Double Wider, and which
 dition!
by Mike Schulz

Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

mike@rcreader.com

What Else
m. concert co-sponsored by 1) “_____ Anthem” 4) “Mourn You Til I _____ You”
East Orange, New Jersey, and A) Downtown A) Join
Vin Rock, and DJ Kay Gee, the B) Uptown B) Leave
ill headline an event that finds
the Quad-City Times/United
m, and that will showcase
C) Jersey

2) “Feel Me _____”
C) See

h albums as Iicons, Poverty’s
p’s self-titled 1991 debut.
arly familiar with Naughty by
O.P.P.” – which sampled the
found crossover success on the
well do you know the rest of the
filling in the blanks on these
ng titles.
5) “Written on Ya _____”
Is Happenin’
A) Flow A) Mind MUSIC
Thursday, December 9 – Christmas at
B) Right B) Soul
the Speakeasy. Holiday cabaret performance
C) Please C) Kitten
with the Circa ’21 Bootleggers and cast
members from the theatre’s production of
3) “_____ All by My Lonely” Tickets to Naughty by Nature’s RIBCO concert are $20 in Plaid Tidings. The Circa ’21 Speakeasy (1818
A) I’m advance and $25 on the day of the show, and more information Third Avenue, Rock Island). 7 p.m. $10. For
B) Stuck is available by calling (309)793-4060 or visiting RIBCO.com. tickets and information, call (309)786-7733
C) Dirt extension 2 or visit Circa21.com.
Answers: 1 – B, 2 – A, 3 – C, 4 – A, 5 – C. Poor kitten.
Friday, December 10 – A Christmas
Celebration with Rachel West Kramer.

Theatre
Holiday concert with Midwestern Christian
that’s a rather long-winded description of the plot.
one I made up to throw you off track: artist and special guest Jairo Aryizu. Orpheum
I probably could’ve just written “A Zeppeli-i-in!!!”
1) Five Card Murder Theatre (57 South Kellogg Street, Galesburg).
and memories of the movie would’ve come flooding
2) Double Wider: Murder at the Chitlin A Christmas Story back to you.
7 p.m. $11-15. For tickets and information, call
(309)342-2299 or visit TheOrpheum.org.
County Fair
Davenport Junior Theatre As that’s my absolute favorite line of Christmas Friday, December 10 – Crystal Gayle.
Saturday, December 11, through Sunday, December 19 Story dialogue, I’m hoping that this student- Christmas concert with the Grammy Award-
A) Flemm Hockin
performed take on the tale, directed by Jessica winning country-pop singer. Riverside
B) Jack O’Harts

F Sheridan, will find room for it in the show’s hour-

C) Ma Banks
D) Mike the Mark
E) Mo Ron
F) Pastor Prime
G) Pooter Ann
H) Ruby Redd
Reservations to Five Card Murder can
be made by calling (563)344-9187,
ickets to Double Wider: Murder at the
Chitlin County Fair are available by
calling (563)359-1607, and information
on both shows can be found at
tsAMysteryQC.com.
poker-playing friends. The bastards
rather, the name given to me by my
G. “D” is the name I made up ... or
Answers: 1 – B, C, H; 2 – A, E, F,
or this year’s annual holiday presentation,
Davenport Junior Theatre is producing the
stage adaptation of A Christmas Story, the modern
film classic about a boy, his family, and his quest
to secure an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-
shot range model air rifle with a compass in the
stock and this thing which tells time. Of course,
1) “Icicles have been known to kill people!”
2) “Cry! Cry for me, crybaby! Cry!!!”
3) “C-plus! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!”
4) “Meat loaf, smeat loaf, double beet loaf. I hate meat loaf!”
5) “NADDA FINGA!!!”
6) “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”
7) “Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!”
A Christmas Story will performed on Saturdays at 1 and 4
p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., tickets are $5 for ages three and
older, and more information is available by calling (563)326-
7862 or visiting DavenportJuniorTheatre.com.
long running length. But if not, there are dozens
upon dozens of other unforgettable quotes that’ll no
doubt be included. Prep yourself for Junior Theatre’s
Christmas-themed family fun – running December
11 through 19 – by matching the memorable
Christmas Story line with the character who says it.
A) Ralphie Parker
B) Randy Parker
C) Mr. Parker
D) Mrs. Parker
E) Ms. Shields
F) Scut Farkus
G) Santa Claus
be heard in Junior Theatre’s version.
– G, 7 – A. Let’s assume that last one won’t
Answers: 1 – D, 2 – F, 3 – E, 4 – B, 5 – C, 6
Casino & Golf Resort (3184 Highway 22,
Riverside). 8 p.m. $25-35. For tickets and
information, call (877)677-3456 or visit
RiversideCasinoAndResort.com.
Saturday, December 11 – An Old-
Fashioned Christmas. Holiday concert
featuring performances by the Davenport
Chordbusters, Choir Boys, the Second Baptist
Church Brotherhood Male Chorus, Davenport
North High Scho ol Chamber Singers, A
Touch of Fun, and Possible Side Effects.
Second Baptist Church (919 Sixth Avenue,
Rock Island). 2 p.m. $5, ages 12 and under free.
For information, call (563)332-4810.
Sunday, December 12 – Quad City Wind
Ensemble Holiday Chamber Music Concert.
Featuring a variety of Christmastime and
classical pieces – including combinations
for woodwinds, brass, and the organ – with
Continued On Page 17

River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010

Sponsored by

www.putnam.org/polarexpress
13
 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

Celebration of Christmas 2010

Opera@Augustana presents 
Truce of Carols
Libretto and music by Michael Taylor
November 19, 20 & 21 at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $10–$12
Christmas at Augustana 
Ensembles include the Augustana Choir,
Augustana Brass Ensemble, Augustana
Symphony Orchestra, Cantilena
Augustana, Jenny Lind Vocal Ensemble
and Wennerberg Men’s Chorus.
December 3 at 8 p.m. and
December 4 at 4 p.m.
Tickets: $15–$20

Handel Oratorio Society

presents Messiah 
December 11 at 8 p.m.
December 12 at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $16–$20
Augustana Chamber Singers
present Lessons and Carols
December 16 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets: www.augustana.edu/tickets 
Event is free and open to the public. or call the ticket office at 309.794.7306

1
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010

14

Grace of the Chase and
the Thrill of the Kill
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Need for Speed: Hot
Pursuit
I
’m not a fan of racing games, as they tend
to be far too similar to each other. Only
the Burnout series caught my attention,
primally satisfying in its exhilarating action
with a focus on wrecking other racers
and events designed to cause as much
destruction as possible. So when I saw that
the developers of Burnout were making this
year’s Need for Speed title with a cops-versus-
racers theme, I salivated like Pavlov’s dog.
While not as chaos-oriented as Burnout,
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (on Xbox 360,
PlayStation 3, and Wii) is still a wickedly fun
experience.
You can freely switch between events such
as races, new-car previews, and escaping
the fuzz, or jump into the squad car and
take down racer
suspects one-on-
one or as a group,
or rush across
town to street-
racing busts. As
you progress,
equipment starts
playing a role
in the form of
spike strips and
electromagnetic-
pulse charges to Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
take other cars out. For racers, the intensity
hits a climax when police helicopters are
called in, keeping pace with your car and
dumping panic-inducing spike strips every
so often, followed by police barricades you’ll
need to avoid to survive.
The same extreme matches can be set
up online, with up to four racers and four
officers for some crazy team-based racing
and smashing. All of these events carry
leaderboards for bragging rights against
your friends and grant Bounty points to
reward players with fast new toys, offline
and online alike. Every event features high-
octane action blazing across highways, as
you narrowly avoid traffic and make sharp
turns at breakneck speeds, all while trying
to make your opponents crash in stunning
ways.
The Autolog system introduced in Hot
Pursuit is a simple concept with big results.
It’s basically a more in-depth leaderboard
within the game, allowing you to compare
stats only with friends rather than everyone
worldwide. You can see how they’ve done in
races and what cars they’ve done best with.
You also receive instant updates anytime
someone has surpassed your personal
best in an event. Race challenges can be
recommended to friends, the system will
by Luke Hamilton
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
ssj_4luke@hotmail.com
recommend new friends with similar racing
tastes, and you can take and share flashy
and trivial in the grand scheme of things
– leaves me wanting a better sequel.
racing pictures. It brings comrades and Recruiting assassins is a surprisingly fun
competitors together like peas in a pod. new single-player feature. When you save
It’s not a simulator like the Gran Turismo certain city dwellers from oppression, they
and Forza series, in which upgrading parts dedicate their lives to serve you. You can
and delicate touches matter; it’s mindless, send them away on jobs to earn money and
arcade-style jump-in-and-drive racing at its grow stronger, or call them into your battles
best. Hot Pursuit creates amazing excitement as backup or distractions. It’s addictive
that makes you eager to put the pedal to the watching them progress into full-fledged
metal. assassins, but this once again can make
battles too easy. I can accept that these
Assassin’s Creed: changes help make stealth assassinations
Brotherhood more strategic, but I don’t think the idea was
fully fleshed out before integration.
I’ve had quite the love for the Assassin’s
Multiplayer mode is undoubtedly the
Creed series (on PlayStation 3 and Xbox
standout here. Up to eight players select a
360), but the hype surrounding the
character and get placed in a small section
introduction of multiplayer modes on
of a crowded city, each with a contract to
Brotherhood, the new installment, had me
kill one of the other players. Instead of a
worried the
random massacre like shooter games, you
solo story mode
only earn points by killing your target or
might become
escaping your pursuer(s). It quickly turns
second-fiddle.
into a psychological game, trying to see
My fears were
through your target’s tricks while attempting
realized, but
to remain incognito to both predator and
because the
prey. It’s nerve-wracking and amazingly fun
multiplayer
because of it. With updates coming in team-
features
play variants and maps as free downloads,
some of the
it’s going to have my attention for some time.
tensest playing
Once again I’m left anticipating what will
I’ve ever
happen next in this franchise – whether
experienced,
the developers will bring the story back up
I’m willing to
to earlier standards, or if my interest in the
give the overall package a pass.
narrative is going to get assassinated by my
Picking up at the closing moments of
desire to hunt down friends and strangers
Assassin’s Creed II
online.
(read my review
Surprisingly, I
at RCReader.
think I would
com/y/creed),
be fine with
protagonist Ezio
either result.
returns victorious
to his villa, only
Need for Speed:
to come under
Hot Puruit is
attack from a new
now available
enemy that very
on PlayStation
evening. With his
3 and Xbox 360
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
home destroyed,
for $59.99, and
allies dispersed, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Wii for $49.99.
and equipment lost, Ezio begins picking up
For this review, the author played in multiple
the pieces in the heart of Rome and building
races on both the racer and police sides, and
a brotherhood of assassins.
competed in and recommended races in
Single-player gameplay remains largely
Autolog.
unchanged from the last episode. Combat
has a minor upgrade in “execution streaks”
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is now
in which Ezio can take out many combatants
available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for
at a much faster pace. It comes off as too
$59.99 for the regular edition and $99.99 for
easy at times but still looks exciting. The
the collector’s edition with bonus content. For
larger city of Rome gets the same detailed
this review, the author completed the story
art-design treatment as the previous game,
and played dozens of multiplayer matches.
with historic landmarks and architecture. It’s
still a lot of fun to mess around in the city,
Luke Hamilton is a buyer, creative designer,
but the lackluster story – largely forgettable
and online coordinator for Video Games Etc. 15
 by Bruce Walters
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

Art in Plain Sight: Sol LeWitt Works

I
n 1984, a site-specific sculpture by the assistant working with students, who is the
internationally renowned artist Sol artist? LeWitt likened his wall drawings
LeWitt (1928-2007) was installed near to the plans of an architect, reminding us
the south entrance that we don’t require
of the RiverCenter the architect to lay
on Third Street in the bricks.
Davenport. Titled But that
simply Tower, comparison doesn’t
this sculpture was satisfactorily answer
made of four 21- all the questions
foot-tall slabs of raised by these
concrete bolted to a works. Is “talent”
framework of steel or drawing skill
I-beams. These slabs, irrelevant? Can
made of crushed the re-drawn Wall
marble and silica, Drawing #405 truly
were cast using more be the original
than a half-mile of artwork? If Tower
Styrofoam strips. has no narrative
Additional works and isn’t meant
by LeWitt, Wall to generate an
Drawing #405 and emotional reaction,
Two Wall Drawings, how are we to
were also installed in respond to it?
the center’s atrium at In many ways, any
this time. Longtime work that prompts
LeWitt assistant such questions
Anthony Sansotta – that challenges
worked with area us, that forces us
art students to make to rethink basic
these 18-foot-long conceptions – is
drawings. In all, certainly art. Maybe
roughly 30 Quad even great art. In
Citians helped with this digital age with
the installations new considerations
– including art of appropriation,
students, plasterers, duplication of
carpenters, digital images
painters, cement that are truly
finishers, laborers, indistinguishable
iron workers, from the original,
crane operators, and tools that
truck drivers, and make drawing
electricians. skills a moot point,
Don’t look for such questioning
these works at becomes even more
the RiverCenter, pertinent.
however. Tower Though the
was moved to the sculpture and
Figge Art Museum’s drawings relate to
plaza in October the architectural
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010

2004. The original forms of the

wall drawings were
Photos by Bruce Walters RiverCenter, the
removed from the
RiverCenter, and Wall Drawing #405 was
redrawn inside the Figge at the top of
the stairway leading to the second-floor
galleries. LeWitt claimed this new drawing
is not a re-creation but is still the original
artwork. He regarded his wall drawings
as impermanent and repeatable. And his
work is intentionally unemotional.
These works are striking – even
aesthetically beautiful – objects. Yet also
problematic. If instructions are given to an
present location of
the Tower and the wall drawing is a clear
improvement over their original site. The
sculpture no longer seems crowded by
surrounding buildings, and the view of
the interior drawing is outstanding. The
minimalist exterior and interior of the Figge
work beautifully with both pieces. And,
importantly, they still make us think.
Bruce Walters is a professor of art at
Western Illinois University.

16

Continued from Page 13
What Else
Is Happenin’
a reception following the concert. St. John’s
Lutheran Church (1450 30th Avenue, East
Moline). 3 p.m. $5/adults, students free. For
information, call (309)507-2971 or visit Quad-
City-Wind-Ensemble.webs.com.
Wednesday, December 15 – Kenny G.
Legendary soprano-saxophone stylist in
his “2010 Holiday Show.” Adler Theatre (136
East Third Street, Davenport). 7:30 p.m. $44-
64. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 or visit
AdlerTheatre.com.
Thursday, December 16 – Lessons &
Carols. The Augustana Chamber Singers
and Campus Ministries present the story of
Christ’s birth in readings and song. Augustana
College’s Ascension Chapel (3701 Seventh
Avenue, Rock Island). 4 and 8 p.m. Free
admission. For information, call (309)794-7473.
Friday, December 17 – Rehab. American
Southern rockers in concert, with opener Curb
Service. Rock Island Brewing Company (1815
Second Avenue, Rock Island). 9 p.m. $16-22.
For information, call (309)793-4060 or visit
RIBCO.com.
Friday, December 17, and Saturday,
December 18 – A Nova Christmas. Holiday
concert with the acclaimed vocal ensemble
the Nova Singers. Friday – St. Paul Lutheran
Church (2136 Brady Street, Davenport).
Saturday – First Lutheran Church (364 East
Water Street, Galesburg). 7:30 p.m. $10-15. For
tickets and information, call (309)341-7038 or
visit NovaSingers.com.
Sunday, December 19 – Thelonious
Assault. Six-piece ensemble performs and
educates as part of Polyrhythms’ Third Sunday
Jazz Matinee Workshop Series. The Redstone
Room (129 main Street, Davenport). 3 p.m.
all-ages workshop − $5/adult, children
free; 6 p.m. concert − $10-$15. For tickets
and information, call (309)373-0790 or visit
Polyrhythms.org and RedstoneRoom.com.
THEATRE
Thursday, December 10, through
Sunday, December 19 – The Gift of the Magi.
Musical adaptation of O. Henry’s holiday-
themed short story, presented by New Ground
Theatre, directed by Lora Adams. Village
Theatre (2113 East 11th Street, Village of East
Davenport). Thursday through Saturday and
Tuesday – 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, December 12
– 2 p.m.; Sunday, December 19 – 2:30 p.m. For
tickets and information, call (563)326-7529 or
visit NewGroundTheatre.org.
Sunday, December 19 – Sister’s Christmas
Catechism. Holiday comedy and audience
interaction by the creators of Late Night
Catechism. Orpheum Theatre (57 South
Kellogg Street, Galesburg). 2 p.m. $18-28. For
tickets and information, call (309)342-2299 or
visit TheOrpheum.org.
COMEDY
Thursday, December 30 – Jeff Dunham.
Comedian and master ventriloquist in
his “Identity Crisis Tour 2010.” i wireless
Center (1201 River Drive, Moline). 8 p.m.
$48. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 or visit
iwirelessCenter.com.
Ask
the Advice Goddess
BY AMY ALKON
You Tech My Breath Away
I’ve had some good experiences with
online dating, but I just can’t get over this
feeling that it just isn’t natural or sexy.
– Clicking for Love
People romanticize chance meetings over
highly calculated search algorithms. They
swoon telling the story, “If I hadn’t filled in
for the night nurse the evening he lopped off
his thumb... ,” as opposed to “If I hadn’t typed
16 very specific terms into a search engine
on one of the five online dating sites I have a
membership to... .”
People also love the idea of “the one” – that
one special someone they’re supposedly
fated to be with. In online dating, you’re
trying to weed that special someone out of a
field of thousands of other potential special
someones – making the process feel about as
romantic as a livestock auction. And while the
stigma formerly attached to Internet dating is
largely gone, what it still lacks is any plausible
deniability about one’s intentions. In a bar, you
could be there to grab a beer, but there’s no
pretending you posted your profile because
you were thirsty. In fact, you might as well
stand in the center of town shouting, “Hi, I’m
alone! Here’s how I look! Any takers? Yoo-hoo,
anyone out there?”
In addition to the weirdness of posting your
face on an enormous bulletin board to see if
anyone might end up loving you, there’s the
weirdness of shopping for the love of your life
in between bidding on a used tennis racket
on eBay. But with Internet dating, instead
Deleting Him On
I’m sick of leaving a message asking
a woman out and getting no response.
Most recently, this happened when I left a
voicemail for a woman who’d verbally agreed
to another date. Instead of no reply, I’d even
prefer a lame excuse, like “Hey, in the two
days since our date, I met the love of my life
and don’t want to lead you on.”
– On Hold
It’s called “the chase,” not the “call once and
leave a message, then give up.” If you’re like a
lot of guys, you ask girls out by phone message
as a way of avoiding rejection. Unfortunately,
you won’t avoid rejection this way; you’ll just
avoid hearing it and knowing you can move
on. And while no response probably means
Got A Problem? Ask Amy Alkon.
171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405
or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (AdviceGoddess.com)
©2009, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved.
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
of waiting for that chance meeting, you have
increase-your-chances meetings. With a few
keystrokes, you can connect with countless
people you probably never would’ve met, and
select for the right religious beliefs, smoking
habits, and/or weird sex habits instead of
spending hours trying to tease the answers out
of some guy in a bar.
Where people go wrong is in turning what
should actually be called “online meeting” into
online dating. The same woman who’d go home
with a near stranger she met in a bar will spend
weeks e-mailing a guy to assess how good his
grammar is before she’ll feel safe enough to
meet him. She’ll tell herself she’s vetting the
guy, but what she’s probably doing is getting
attached – not to the actual guy, but her idea of
the guy, and maybe how smart and funny she is
when she’s talking to him. Investing all this time
and emotion can make it somewhat devastating
when she finally meets the guy and finds that
he looks wrong, talks wrong, dresses wrong,
and smells like rotting liver.
So, sure, there are pitfalls in online dating,
but it can be a great tool if you use it wisely.
And when you say it seems unnatural, it’s true
that there was no DragMeByTheHair.com in
the Stone Age, but humans have always tried to
find partners using the best resources at hand.
Go into that painted cave in Lascaux with the
right archeologist, and see if that wall doesn’t
just read “Single, hairy club-dragger seeks
sturdy woman for long walks on what will one
day become the French Riviera... .”
you’re being blown off, there is that slim
chance that a woman accidentally erased your
message. If she’s just ambivalent, and you get
her on the phone, you might charm her into
going out with you again. (It’s a lot easier to
delete a guy than say no to him.)
Never ask a girl out by voicemail. If getting
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
her on the line seems impossible, only leave a
message asking her to call you, not asking her
out. It’s a small distinction, but no response to
“Hey, call me!” allows your ego to maintain
the fiction that she just didn’t call you back
while no response to a dinner invitation pretty
much spells it out: There’s no amount of back
hair you can shave or free filet mignon you
can offer her to ever get her to go out with you
again.
17
 Continued From Page 6
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

Don’t Drink the Water?

“First, do no harm.” The authors emphasize
“the important difference between the
possible health effects caused by fluoride
and those caused by fluoridation. There is
no doubt at all about the former; the debate
rages over the latter.”
Underlying the last two core arguments is
Connett’s assertion that “the whole history
of the exercise [of fluoridation] and the
whole promotion of the exercise has lacked
scientific rigor from the word ‘go’” in 1950,
when the U.S. Public Health Service first
endorsed fluoridation.
The simplest way to state the book’s
premise is that until better scientific studies
can be done on the effects of fluoridation,
the risks of health problems far outweigh
the proven benefits, which The Case Against
Fluoride says are negligible.
As the book’s conclusion states: “When
exposing a whole population to a toxic
substance – especially when the dose
cannot be controlled – both decision
makers and risk calculators have to be
cautious, not cavalier. The decision to
fluoridate does not provide an adequate
margin of safety to protect everyone in the
population, especially the most vulnerable.”
In our interview, Connett summarized:
“I don’t think the notion that swallowing
fluoride decreases tooth decay has been
demonstrated rigorously from a scientific
point of view. There have never been any
double-blind, randomized clinical trials
– the kind of thing the FDA [Food & Drug
Administration] would insist upon if it
actually did its job and investigated fluoride
as a drug. At the moment, it’s classified as
an unapproved drug by the FDA. Why on
Earth they should tolerate an unapproved
drug going to over 180 million Americans
every day is beyond me. ...
“If this practice was being entertained
today, there’s no way on God’s Earth that
they could get away with it.”
Of course, fluoridation is already firmly
established. According to the Centers for
Disease Control & Prevention (CDC),
72.4 percent of Americans – more than
195 million – were receiving fluoridated
drinking water in 2008. In Iowa, the
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010
push them over the edge as being less than
Sidebar: Local Fluoridation
According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, the water supplied to
intelligent, less than balanced, less than
whatever.”
Davenport, Bettendorf, and Riverdale by Iowa American Water and its forebear has
been fluoridated since 1952.
Does Fluoridation Prevent
Iowa American Water has provided fluoridated water to LeClaire since 2003. Tooth Decay?
According to Iowa American Water External Affairs Manager Lisa M. Reisen, the Yet if you read Connett’s book or
company presently serves 142,000 people in the Iowa Quad Cities. peruse the Web site of the Fluoride Action
Moline began fluoridating its water supply in 1955, according to Gregory A. Network (FluorideAlert.org) – of which
Swanson, the city’s utilities general manager. Representatives of neither East Connett is director – he seems eminently
Moline nor Rock Island could verify fluoridation prior to a 1967 state law requiring reasonable.
fluoridation. Take the CDC claim that DMFT
Iowa American Water and the three major Illinois Quad Cities municipalities declined 68 percent over two decades.
presently fluoridate their water with hexafluorosilicic acid purchased from Lucier That information is presented visually
Chemical Industries. in the CDC article, and it’s stunning: As
The product comes from the phosphate-fertilizer industry, and The Case Against fluoridation rises from roughly 40 percent
Fluoride says the chemical is the “fluoridating agent in over 90 percent of the water of the population to more than 50, tooth
supplies fluoridated in the United States.” The book makes an issue of the fact that decay plummets.
these chemicals are “not pharmaceutical grade, meaning that they are not of the Yet The Case Against Fluoride in Chapter
same purity used in dental products.” It claims that the chemical might cause health 6 pairs that graph with one showing tooth
problems beyond those caused by fluoride itself. decay among 12-year-olds for roughly the
– Jeff Ignatius same period in eight countries – four with
fluoridated water and four without. Every
country has a roughly similar decline in
utilities add fluoride to the water to reach water fluoridation continues to be effective tooth decay. Non-fluoridated Denmark
an “optimal” level of 1.0 milligrams per in reducing tooth decay by 20 to 40 percent, dropped from more more than 6 DMFT
liter, with the typical target range between even in an era with widespread availability near 1980 to roughly 1 in 2000.
0.7 and 1.2 milligrams per liter. The federal of fluoride from other sources, such as In other words, the CDC has taken
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fluoride toothpaste.” a correlation and turned it (without
has set fluoride’s “maximum contaminant In 1999, the Centers for Disease evidence) into causation. Tooth decay
level” at 4.0 milligrams per liter. Control & Prevention’s Morbidity & has been dropping steadily and quickly in
Oddly, there’s no local control over Mortality Weekly Report named water industrialized countries around the world,
fluoridation in the Quad Cities. In Illinois, fluoridation one of the “10 great public- whether they fluoridate their water or not.
that’s a function of state law. But in Iowa, health achievements” of the 20th Century. What Connett doesn’t (and can’t) do
the situation is bizarre: Municipalities claim “The effectiveness of community water is fully explain why there’s been such
they have no jurisdiction over fluoridation fluoridation in preventing dental caries a dramatic decline in tooth decay. The
and apparently haven’t asked for fluoridated [cavities] prompted rapid adoption of this widespread use of fluoride toothpaste is
water in decades, yet Iowa American Water public-health measure in cities throughout typically cited as one major factor, and
representatives said the company lets the United States,” the CDC wrote. “As a Connett also suggested that increased
communities decide whether they want result, dental caries declined precipitously income levels, better diets, decreased
fluoridation. (See the sidebar “The Strange during the second half of the 20th Century. pollution, and antibiotics in processed
Case of Fluoridation in the Iowa Quad For example, the mean DMFT [decayed, food might play roles. “I don’t think it’s
Cities.”) missing, or filled permanent teeth] among clear-cut,” he said. “I think there are many
persons aged 12 years in the United States possible factors.”
But Connett and The Case Against
Ringing Endorsements declined 68 percent, from 4.0 in 1966-1970
to 1.3 in 1988-1994.” Fluoride argue persuasively that studies
The first hurdle Connett needs to Add to those unequivocal showing the benefits of fluoridated water
overcome is the widespread and intuitive pronouncements the glib dismissal of have grossly overstated its impact on
belief that fluoridation is good. The general people opposed to fluoridation. A June tooth decay. The authors concede based
public understands that fluoride helps article in Salon.com on GOP U.S. Senate on studies since 1980 that there might be

percentage was 91.8, even though
fluoridation is not required by the state. In
Illinois, where mandatory public-water-
supply fluoridation became state law in
1967, 95.4 percent of residents received
fluoridated drinking water. (Illinois is one
of 12 states to require fluoridation.)
The cities of Rock Island, Moline, and
East Moline fluoridate their water supplies,
and Iowa American Water provides
fluoridated water to the Iowa Quad Cities.
Fluoride is found naturally in many
water supplies. According to Iowa
American Water, fluoride occurs naturally
at a concentration of 0.1 to 0.3 milligrams
18
per liter in the Mississippi River. Water
reduce tooth decay, so adding fluoride to
the water supply seems like a no-brainer.
That thinking is shaped by the dental and
public-health establishments.
The American Dental Association
(ADA), on its “Fluoride & Fluoridation”
Web page (ADA.org/fluoride.aspx), makes
the following claims about fluoridation:
“Community water fluoridation is the
single most effective public-health
measure to prevent tooth decay. ... Studies
conducted throughout the past 65 years
have consistently shown that fluoridation
of community water supplies is safe and
effective in preventing dental decay in both
children and adults. ... Today, studies prove
nominee Sharron Angle was typical in
using opposition to fluoridation as political
shorthand for “crazy”: “There is growing
proof that she is a genuine nut, and not
just a run-of-the-mill hardcore ideologue.
... [I]t’s been revealed ... that Angle is a
staunch opponent of the fluoridation of our
water supply.”
That broad brush, Connett argued in
our interview, keeps people away from the
fluoridation issue. “This I think also applies
to many people in the environmental
movement,” he said. “Many of them are
perceived as being a little close to the edge,
and they won’t touch fluoridation because
they feel that that in the public’s eye will
an “extremely small” protective effect of
fluoridation, “amounting on average to
only a fraction of a tooth surface for the
permanent teeth and not much more for
the baby teeth.”
Connett added in our interview: “Let’s
say for the sake of argument that there is
a small benefit from ingesting fluoride.
It doesn’t rise above the background
noise. Certain factors do rise about the
background noise ... .” In particular,
the authors claim, there is a stronger
relationship between higher incomes and
better oral health than between fluoridation
and better oral health: “According to the
results of a questionnaire administered to

parents in all 50 states by the Department
of Health & Human Services, there is
absolutely no correlation between the
percentage of parents who responded that
their children had very good or excellent
teeth and the percentage of the population
in the state drinking fluoridated water.
However, there is a very strong relation
in all 50 states between the percentage of
parents giving that answer and their income
levels.”
Connett noted that even in the literature
endorsing fluoridation, there has been
backtracking on the benefits of the practice.
For example, the very same CDC article
that lauds fluoridation as one of the 20th
Century’s great public-health achievements
(and presents that grossly misleading
chart) includes this statement: “Fluoride’s
caries-preventive properties initially
were attributed to changes in enamel
during tooth development because of the
association between fluoride and cosmetic
changes in enamel and a belief that fluoride
incorporated into enamel during tooth
development would result in a more
acid-resistant mineral.” That was a major
argument for using water as a fluoride-
delivery mechanism; it was thought there
was a dental-health benefit to ingesting the
fluoride. The article continues: “However,
laboratory and epidemiologic research
suggests that fluoride prevents dental caries
predominately after eruption of the tooth
into the mouth, and its actions primarily
are topical for both adults and children.”
Connett has seized on that statement
and the research behind it to argue that if
fluoride’s benefits are “primarily” topical,
there’s no need to deliver it through the
water.
This phenomenon – of praising
fluoridation while also undermining
claims about is effectiveness – is relatively
common, Connett said. Studies often
espouse the party pro-fluoridation line even
when it’s poorly supported by the presented
evidence – likely a result of researchers
being afraid of having their funding cut off,
he said.
Does Fluoridation Cause
Health Problems?
The claim that fluoridation isn’t effective
at its stated goal is just one component of
The Case Against Fluoride.
The other scientific issue is whether
fluoridation might cause health problems.
This is a serious concern for two reasons.
First, because in communities where the
drinking water is fluoridated, it’s nearly
impossible to avoid at home, at work,
and in restaurants. Second, while the
concentration of fluoride is controlled in
fluoridated water, the amount one ingests
will vary widely depending on one’s
water intake. In other words, the dose is
uncontrolled.
The Case Against Fluoride looks at many
health studies related to fluoride, but a
key piece of research is the 2006 National
Research Council report Fluoride in
Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s
Standards. The report’s summary states:
“After reviewing research on various health
effects from exposure to fluoride, including
studies conducted in the last 10 years,
this report concludes that EPA’s drinking-
water standard for fluoride does not
protect against adverse health effects.” The
study concluded that the drinking-water
standard of 4.0 milligrams per liter should
be lowered but did not recommend to what
level. The EPA has not changed its standard
for fluoride.
The report had consensus that
fluoridation at the maximum allowed
concentration of 4.0 milligrams per liter
can cause several health issues: dental
fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis, and increased
risk of bone fractures. Further, it said more
research is needed in other areas, including
neurobehavioral effects, reproductive and
development effects, and endocrine effects.
It’s critical to understand the difference
between the charge of the National
Research Council report – which only
looked at the maximum contaminant level
of 4.0 milligrams per liter – and typical
fluoridation at 1.0 milligrams per liter. The
negative health effects cited by the National
Research Council might not emerge or be
as serious in that normal water-fluoridation
concentration. The Case Against Fluoride
counters that fluoridation “is indiscriminate
and offers no control over the dose received
by an individual. It makes inadequate
allowance for differing sensitivity to toxic
effects, or for the size and body mass of
recipients ... .”
Connett views the National Research
Council report as a landmark review,
the first thorough and balanced analysis
in the United States of the literature on
fluoridation health effects. “What the
National Research Council report did was
to say that the safe-drinking-water standard
isn’t safe, that the EPA should do a new
health-risk assessment,” he said.
Cracks in the Dam
The Case Against Fluoride was born
of what Connett called “14 years of
frustration” that began with that village
meeting in Canton.
“It’s very difficult to win this argument
with sound bites, because the other side is
covered with white coats and authority,” he
explained. “And so for years, they’ve kept
dentists, doctors, scientists, and the media
away from the details of the issue, away
from the literature. And in place of science,
they’re able to substitute endorsements
[and] ‘authority,’ and also able to denigrate
opponents as junk scientists, etc. ...
“I wanted to write a book that put
everything I knew between two covers ....
Anybody that is prepared to read it will
see how foolish this practice is and why it
needs to be stopped.”
The book is undoubtedly a political
document, in the sense that Connett and
co-authors James Beck and H.S. Micklem
take pains to be accessible to the general
reader and aggressive in their argument
while also being thorough. In Connett’s
view, the book needs to overcome six
decades of endorsements – no small task.
His co-authors initially just reviewed
his text, but Connett eventually asked
them to sign on as co-authors and take a
more active role. While he said the book is
stronger as a result of their contributions,
there was a second motive: “If it’s just my
name on it, they’ll find a way of putting
me into a box and then throwing the box
away. ... I’m just the one crazy person
out there who is opposed to fluoridation.
‘Get rid of Connett and you get rid of the
argument.’ I said, ‘They’re going to ... find
it very difficult if there’s three of us. One
from Canada, one from Scotland, and one
from the United States; one a biologist, one
a chemist, and one a physicist.’”
Yet Connett understands that his book
isn’t enough. The Case Against Fluoride
encourages skepticism of the “official”
perspectives on fluoridation, and it’s only
fair to apply the same level of scrutiny to
his arguments and his interpretation of the
science and the facts.
In that way, one measure of success
for The Case Against Fluoride is whether
it engages the public- and dental-health
communities in a genuine debate about
fluoridation. The book requires a response
so readers can see for themselves whether
Connett and his co-authors are guilty of
the same sins they pin on fluoridation
advocates.
“We make it clear that we’ve read the
literature, we think it’s a bad idea, and
we’re explaining why we think it’s a bad
idea,” Connett said. “I think they’ve had
almost a free ride up to now of getting their
arguments across to the public and to the
media. ... What I think should happen now
is that in a year’s time, we should see a book
which is the case for fluoride, where they
do their damnedest now to ... either agree
with or disagree with every argument in
our book, and to document it as thoroughly
as we have. And in that wash, then, you
will see if we’ve been highly selective in the
literature that we’ve chosen.
“Remember: Our task is to show
that there are flaws in this practice. ...
I’ve sometimes used the analogy that
fluoridation is like building a dam above
by Jeff Ignatius
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
jeff@rcreader.com
a village. If a villager says, ‘I think I see
a crack in your dam,’ it’s not enough to
say, ‘Oh, you’re just a peasant’ or ‘You’re
just a schoolteacher’ or ‘You’re just a
farmer; you’re not an expert on dams,
and therefore we can ignore what you say.’
No. They have to respond to every flaw
that we’ve seen in their dam structure.
They are the ones that are supposed to be
completely on top of this practice. This is
something that they’re forcing on us. ... It’s
they – the ADA and the CDC in particular
– who are ... forcing this on people. ... They
should be able to answer easily – easily
– every argument that we’ve thrown at
them. And we’ve thrown at them as many
arguments as we could, and now we await
their reply.”
But Connett admitted that it’s difficult
to reach beyond those already against
fluoridation: “When I give talks to
communities, by and large the people who
are pro-fluoridation don’t show up.”
And that, he said, is a function of the
authoritative endorsements: “All these
medical associations, all these dental
associations, all these government agencies
have said that fluoridation is good. Who
are we to disagree? ‘Do you really think
all these organizations don’t know what
they’re talking about, that they would
deliberately harm us?’”
Connett doesn’t subscribe to
fluoridation conspiracy theories, that the
practice was a nefarious effort to hurt the
public.
But his book does sketch out a narrative
(based heavily on Christopher Bryson’s
2004 book The Fluoride Deception) that
explains how fluoridation came about
and why it continues: business interests
(including the aluminum and phosphate-
fertilizer industries that produce large
volumes of fluoride waste that’s used
for fluoridation, and the sugar industry
that wanted a way to reduce tooth decay
without reducing sugar in the diet)
combined with well-intentioned but poorly
designed studies.
But if The Case Against Fluoride plays
fair and is accurate, it remains baffling why
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
the ADA and CDC continue to promote
fluoridation. Skeptics of the book might
find this issue hard to overcome.
The authors’ best explanation concerns
liability: “If it is admitted that fluoridation
causes any harm, there are lawyers waiting
in the wings to sue somebody. Many
players might be subject to legal action,
such as the fluoridated dental product
manufacturers, dental organizations that
have endorsed those products, the water
utilities that add the fluoride to water, the
local councils who are practicing medicine
without a license, or the government
health agencies that assure everyone that is
safe to ingest fluoride.”
19
 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

it’s elemental December 9, 2010

November 24 Answers: Right

November 24 Crossword Answers

ACROSS 79. Intoxicating 36. Arson, British style: hyph.

1. Affirm 80. Arterial insert 37. Begat
5. Stylishly new, yet old 81. Shabby: hyph. 38. Go effortlessly
10. Ideology 83. Toy vessels 39. Workplace-chat focal point: 2 wds.
15. Winged deity 84. Gawks 40. Came to
19. In _ (where first found) 85. Son of Zeus and Hera 41. A leavening
20. “Harry Potter” owl 86. Number prefix 43. Hotshot’s cousin
21. The non-clergy 87. Travail 44. Grassy land
22. Fortune 88. Art world’s “Grandma” 47. Dinner guest
23. Pedestrian 90. Goods in transit 48. Approaches
25. Tower personnel’s concern: 2 wds. 91. Onions 49. Bird related to the canary
27. Taproom 95. Safety exit: 2 wds. 51. Midshipman
28. Be sparing 97. Ironclad 53. Messaged a certain way
30. Aids 99. Abbr. in citations 55. Sovereign
31. Baroque instrument 100. On the fritz 56. The March King
32. Turning or tipping 101. Cancel 57. Game piece
33. Stubby tail 102. Genus of olives 58. Winds
34. Proposes 103. Pickled fish 60. Affectedly dramatic
37. Word in a cookbook 104. Thoughts 61. Timid
38. Road across water 105. Furrowed 62. Founded
42. Ecstasy 106. _ -do-well 63. Bone: prefix
43. Jollity 64. Electrical unit
44. Make utterly wet DOWN 65. Winter vehicles without wheels
45. Bedazzle 1. Perplexed 66. Pointless
46. Items for sculling 2. Ampoule 67. Credit-score factor
47. Clay, shaped and fired 3. French 101 verb 69. Roofing pieces
49. Covered walkway 4. Dog-eat-dog 70. Persona non _
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010

50. Before 5. Refutes 73. Winter sports gathering: hyph.

51. Below-ground chambers 6. Jagged at the edges 74. Leather strip
52. Facile 7. Authentic 75. Kitchen cloth: 2 wds.
53. Sneaks a look 8. Howard or Perlman 76. Steed
54. Saw-toothed 9. Antebellum region of the union: 78. Wraparound garment: var.
56. Agent 86 2 wds. 80. Wading bird
58. Room under a roof 10. “Seinfeld” character 82. Three-legged supports
59. Anglo-American poet 11. Spoil 83. Caps
60. Save and save some more 12. Al the trumpeter 84. Flew
61. Thaumaturgy 13. Baseball great Mel _ 86. _ New Guinea
62. Water tank 14. Seaport in Sicily 87. A pronoun
64. Creatures of myth 15. Decadent 88. Very little bit
65. Electromagnetic switch 16. Balsa 89. Spoken
68. Plus 17. Cornelia _ Skinner 90. Garment for a superhero
69. Caps 18. Champagne quality 91. Getz or Kenton
70. Attached a certain way 24. Working time 92. Leer at
71. Anybody 26. Maltreat 93. Little-used pronoun
72. Disturbance 29. Parishioner’s offering 94. Asterisk
73. Portable bed: 2 wds. 32. Elements 95. Retainer
76. Sizable slice 33. Fish also called skipper 96. Bounder
77. Poetic time 34. Woodwinds 98. _ Ben Canaan
20 78. Spread apart 35. Bellbottoms feature
 Live Music Live Music Live
Email all listings to calendar@rcreader.com • Deadline 5 p.m. Thursday before publication
9
thursday
010/12/09 (Thu)
Animate Objects -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Christmas at the Speakeasy -The Circa ‘21
Speakeasy, 1818 3rd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Esperanza Spalding -Englert Theatre, 221
East Washington St. Iowa City, IA
Fool’s Gold -Kilkenny’s, 300 W. 3rd St.
Davenport, IA
Irie Soundsystem w/ DJ THC -QC Zone,
1516 5th Ave Moline, IL
Irish Idol II Karaoke w/ DJ Cash -Molly’s
Pub, 311 3rd St. Sherrard, IL
Jam Session w/ Alan Sweet & the Candy
Makers -The Muddy Waters, 1708 State
St. Bettendorf, IA
Jason Carl -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Jazz Jam w/ the North Scott Jazz Combo
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Live Lunch w/ Nick Vasquez (noon) -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night -The Dam View Inn, 410 2nd
St Davenport, IA
Spankalicious -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S
Linn St Iowa City, IA
The Steady Rollin’ Blues Band featuring
Jimmie Lee Adams -Rascal’s, 1414 15th
St. Moline, IL
Troy Harris, Pianist (6pm) -Red Crow Grille,
2504 53rd St. Bettendorf, IA
friday
2010/12/10 (Fri) 10
A Christmas Celebration with Rachel West
Kramer -The Orpheum Theatre, 60 South
Kellogg Galesburg, IL
ABC Karaoke -Circle Tap, 1345 Locust St.
Davenport, IA
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Andy Jess -Kilkenny ’s, 300 W. 3rd St.
Davenport, IA
Angela Meyer (6pm) -Cool Beanz Coffee-
house, 1325 30th St. Rock Island, IL
Big Funk Guarantee - Adobanga -Iowa
City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa
City, IA
Black Tie Affair: John Johr, Cory Simp-
son, Audiomatic & Jethro/DJ Uplift
-Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington St. Iowa
City, IA
Brown Bag Lunch at Noon: Danika Hol-
mes -Bettendorf Public Library, 2950
Learning Campus Bettendorf, IA
Crossroads -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104 State
St Bettendorf, IA
Crystal Gayle -Riverside Casino and Golf
Resort, 3184 Highway 22 Riverside, IA
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
DJ Night -Uncle Harley’s Bar & Grill, 202 W.
Mayne St. Blue Grass, IA
Fat Dawgs Productions Karaoke & DJ
Service -Shannon’s Bar and Grill, 252 S
State Ave Hampton, IL
Funktastic Five -Uptown Neighborhood
Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr.
Bettendorf, IA
Gray Wolf Band -Martini’s on the Rock,
4619 34th St Rock Island, IL
High Cotton Blues Band -Mojo’s (River
Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Jazz After Five (5pm) - S. Carey - White
Hinterland (9pm) -The Mill, 120 E
Burlington Iowa City, IA
John Resch and Detroit Blues -The Muddy
Waters, 1708 State St. Bettendorf, IA
Karaoke Night -Sneaky Pete’s, 207 Cody
Rd. N. LeClaire, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports
Bar, 1191 19th Street Moline, IL
High Drama @ Tommy’s – December 11
Live Lunch w/ Ren Estrand (noon) -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Mike Blumme Trio (6pm) -Toucan’s Cantina /
Skinny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st Street Milan, IL
Natty Nation -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave. Rock
Island, IL
New Invaders -Riverside Casino and Golf
Resort, 3184 Highway 22 Riverside, IA
Open Mic Coffeehouse -First Lutheran Church
- Rock Island, 1600 20th St. Rock Island, IL
Open Mic Night -McManus Pub, 1401 7th
Ave Moline, IL
Rotate the DJ w/ Chronik Solutionz -M.D.
Green’s, 1808 2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Russ Reyman Trio (5pm) -The Rusty Nail, 2606
W Locust Davenport, IA
Smooth Groove -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s Bar
and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
The Afterdarks - The One Night Standards
- The Magnetos -Rascal’s, 1414 15th St.
Moline, IL
Wes Weeber’s Broke*ss Sellouts -QC Zone,
1516 5th Ave Moline, IL
11
saturday
2010/12/11 (Sat)
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Andy Jess -Kilkenny’s, 300 W. 3rd St. Dav-
enport, IA
Back Track -Ducky’s Lagoon, 13515 78th Ave
Andalusia, IL
Buddy Olson (6pm) -Toucan’s Cantina / Skin-
ny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st Street Milan, IL
Caught in the Act -GB’s Sports Bar, 655 Main
St. New Liberty, IA
Conspiracy Theory -Martini’s on the Rock,
4619 34th St Rock Island, IL
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
Dead Larry - I Like You - Dustin Thomas
-Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa
City, IA
DJ Night -Uncle Harley’s Bar & Grill, 202 W.
Mayne St. Blue Grass, IA
Emily Jawoisz (6pm) -Rock Island Hill-
top, 30th Street & 14th Avenue Rock
Island, IL
Fran & the Country Gentlemen -Milan Amer-
ican Legion, 515 W 1st Ave Milan, IL
Hardball -Greenbriar Restaurant and Lounge,
4506 27th St Moline, IL
High Drama -Tommy’s, 1302 4th Ave Moline, IL
Karaoke Night -Cheers Bar & Grill, 1814 7th
St Moline, IL
Karaoke Night -Moe’s Pizza, 1312 Camanche
Ave Clinton, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Lynn Allen -Rascal’s, 1414 15th St. Moline, IL
Mini Mansions - Break Up Art - Centaur Noir
-RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
New Invaders -Riverside Casino and Golf
Resort, 3184 Highway 22 Riverside, IA
Open Mic Night -Coffee Dive, 226 W. 3rd St.
Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night -One Library, 230 W. 3rd
Street Davenport, IA
Pappa-Razzi -Edje Nightclub at Jumer’s
Casino and Hotel, I-280 & Hwy 92 Rock
Island, IL
Pena Brothers -Beer Belly’s - Rock Island, 1704
2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Pieta Brown - Alexis Stevens -The Mill, 120
E Burlington Iowa City, IA
Salsa and Cumbia DJ Night -La Primavera,
601 15th St. Moline, IL
Sarah Allner (6pm) -Cool Beanz Coffeehouse,
1325 30th St. Rock Island, IL
Schitengigles -The Muddy Waters, 1708 State
St. Bettendorf, IA
Seven Shy -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104 State St
Bettendorf, IA
Smooth Groove -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Songwriters in the Round (3pm) -River Music
Experience, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s Bar
and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
Speedfinger - Mindset Evolution -The Red-
stone Room, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
Tapped Out -Jesse’s Saloon, 803 1st Ave.
Silvis, IL
Tri Tones Jazz Ensemble -Bent River Brewing
Company, 1413 5th Ave. Moline, IL
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Unfound Fear - 20 Foot Forehead - The
Poem -Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington St.
Iowa City, IA
vodkaseven -Route 61 Bar & Grill, 4320 N.
Brady St. Davenport, IA
12
sunday
2010/12/12 (Sun)
Breille -The Hat Eatery & Pub, 1618 W. Locust
St. Davenport, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Supper
Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock Island, IL
Karaoke Night -11th Street Precinct, 2108 E
11th St Davenport, IA
Karaoke w/ Steve K and the Gang -The
Muddy Waters, 1708 State St. Betten-
dorf, IA
Pappa-Razzi -Edje Nightclub at Jumer’s
Casino and Hotel, I-280 & Hwy 92 Rock
Island, IL
Russ Reyman, Pianist (10am-2pm brunch
performance) -The Lodge Hotel, 900
Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
The Avey Brothers -Rascal’s, 1414 15th St.
Moline, IL
The Five Bridges Jazz Band (10am) -Brady
Street Chop House, Radisson QC Plaza
Hotel Davenport, IA
Todd Barry -The Mill, 120 E Burlington
Iowa City, IA
Troy Harris, Pianist (11:30am) -Bass Street
Chop House, 1601 River Dr Moline, IL
monday
2010/12/13 (Mon)
13
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Open Mic w/ J. Knight -The Mill, 120 E
Burlington Iowa City, IA
The Lab Coat Collab. -Englert Theatre, 221
East Washington St. Iowa City, IA
Continued On Page 22
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
21
 Live Music Live Music Liv
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Email all listings to calendar@rcreader.com • Deadline 5 p.m. Thursday before publication
Continued From Page 21
“True Blue Mondays” Lunch w/ Ellis Kell
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
tuesday
2010/12/14 (Tue) 14
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Dance Party USA -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S
Linn St Iowa City, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Supper
Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock Island, IL
Karaoke Night -McManus Pub, 1401 7th
Ave Moline, IL
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Live Lunch w/ Lars Rehnberg (noon) -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night w/ Steve McFate (6:30pm)
-Cool Beanz Coffeehouse, 1325 30th St.
Rock Island, IL
Open Mic w/ Jordan Danielsen -Bier Stube
Davenport, 2228 E 11th St Davenport, IA
Open Mic w/ the Pena Brothers -Racer’s
Edge, 936 15th Ave East Moline, IL
Senior Music Series: Christmas Concert fea-
turing the CASI Band, Jonathan Turner,
& Susan McPeters (5pm) -River Music
Experience, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
The Chris & Wes Show -Rascal’s, 1414 15th
St. Moline, IL
Twosdays Jam with Lojo Russo -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
wednesday
2010/12/15 (Wed) 15
Jam Session -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn
St Iowa City, IA
Jeff Miller (6pm) -G’s Riverfront Cafe, 102 S
Main St Port Byron, IL
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL

*-

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River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010
22
Kenny G: 2010 Holiday Show -Adler Theatre,
136 E. 3rd St. Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night (6:30pm) -Mojo’s (River
Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St MOLINE
Dav-
enport, IA
PUBLISHING COMPANY, L.L.C.
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -The
Torchlight Lounge, 1800 18th Ave East
Moline, IL
The Chris & Wes Show -Mound Street Land-
ing, 1029 Mound St. Davenport, IA
Wild Bill’s Rodeo Show featuring Billy Peiffer
Rascal’s, 1414 15th St. Moline, IL
thursday
2010/12/16 (Thu) 16
Alan Sweet -Kilkenny ’s, 300 W. 3rd St.
Davenport, IA
DJ Johnny O -Greenbriar Restaurant and
Lounge, 4506 27th St Moline, IL
From Gardens to Graveyards - Hello Ra-
mona -River Music Experience, 129 Main
St Davenport, IA
Irie Soundsystem w/ DJ THC -QC Zone, 1516
5th Ave Moline, IL
Irish Idol II Karaoke w/ DJ Cash: Finals
-Molly’s Pub, 311 3rd St. Sherrard, IL
Item 9 & the Mad Hatters - Mad Monks -Iowa
City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Jam Session w/ Alan Sweet & the Candy
Makers -The Muddy Waters, 1708 State
St. Bettendorf, IA
Jason Carl -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Keeley Filgo -Uptown Neighborhood Bar and
Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
Live Lunch w/ Keith Soko (noon) -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night -The Dam View Inn, 410 2nd
St Davenport, IA
The Steady Rollin’ Blues Band featuring
Jimmie Lee Adams -Rascal’s, 1414 15th
St. Moline, IL
DISPATCH
Goodbyehome @ Gabe’s – December 17
The Steepwater Band -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Troy Harris, Pianist (6pm) -Red Crow Grille,
2504 53rd St. Bettendorf, IA
friday
2010/12/17 (Fri) 17
A Very Larry Xmas with Sugar Nipples,
Tri-Polar XXXpesss, & Lovedogs -Up-
town Neighborhood Bar and Grill, 2340
Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
ABC Karaoke -Circle Tap, 1345 Locust St.
Davenport, IA
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Avey Brothers -The Muddy Waters, 1708
State St. Bettendorf, IA
Blue Collar Band -11th Street Precinct,
2108 E 11th St Davenport, IA
“Blues Plate Special” with Tony Hoeppner
(noon) -Mojo’s (River Music Experience),
130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
CC & the Regulators -Checker’s Tavern, 3120
6th St SW Cedar Rapids, IA
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
CUSTOMER:
REP ID:
DJ Night -Uncle Harley’s Bar & Grill, 202 W.
Mayne St. Blue Grass, IA
Ed Franks’ Frank Sinatra Tribute -Ducky’s
Lagoon, 13515 78th Ave Andalusia, IL
Emily Jawoisz -Fireworks Coffeehouse, 2139
16th St. Moline, IL
Fat Dawgs Productions Karaoke & DJ
Service -Shannon’s Bar and Grill, 252 S
State Ave Hampton, IL
Funktastic Five -Martini’s on the Rock, 4619
34th St Rock Island, IL
Gglitch’d - Chasing Shade -Iowa City Yacht
Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Goodbyehome - Danika Holmes - Sheri
Martin -Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington St.
Iowa City, IA
Gray Wolf Band -Jumer’s Casino & Hotel, 777
Jumer Dr. Rock Island, IL
Jazz After Five: Eric Thompson Trio (5pm)
- High & Lonesome (9pm) -The Mill, 120
E Burlington Iowa City, IA
Karaoke Night -Sneaky Pete’s, 207 Cody Rd.
N. LeClaire, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Kevin Presbrey -Kilkenny’s, 300 W. 3rd St.
Davenport, IA
Find YOURSELF Inside…
309-764-YOGA (9642)
www.indigowellness.info
Lee Blackmon (6:30pm) -Mojo’s (River
Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Bermuda Report - Blue Martian Tribe
-Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa
Davenport, IA City, IA
Little Vito & the Torpedos -Riverside Dave11/17/2010 3:44:47
INDIGO PROOF
Casino and Golf Resort, 3184 HighwayTIME
Moore - Gilded Bats - New Broom
PM
(5pm) -The Mill, 120 E Burlington Iowa
710
22 Riverside, IA
NINE-1-1 -The Rusty Nail, 2606FIRST
City, IA
RUN:David12/07/10
W Locust Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Davenport, IA Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
NSAI (6:30pm) -Cool Beanz Coffeehouse, Daytrotter Presents: Naughty by Nature
1325 30th St. Rock Island, IL -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Open Mic Night -McManus Pub, 1401 7th DJ Night -Uncle Harley’s Bar & Grill, 202 W.
Ave Moline, IL Mayne St. Blue Grass, IA
Rehab - Curb Service -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Rotate the DJ w/ Chronik Solutionz -M.D.
Ed Franks’ Frank Sinatra Tribute -Ducky’s
Lagoon, 13515 78th Ave Andalusia, IL
Fool’s Gold -Bent River Brewing Company,
Green’s, 1808 2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL 1413 5th Ave. Moline, IL
Russ Reyman Trio (5pm) -The Rusty Nail,
2606 W Locust Davenport, IA
Frank Drew and the Westside Band
-The Muddy Waters, 1708 State St. Bet-
Sarah Allner -Bucktown Center for the Arts,
tendorf, IA
225 E. 2nd St. Davenport, IA
Gray Wolf Band -Jumer’s Casino & Hotel, 777
Shawn Kellerman -Rascal’s, 1414 15th St.
Jumer Dr. Rock Island, IL
Moline, IL
Heath Alan Band - Todd Clouser (7pm)
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
- Insanguine CD Release Show (10pm)
-Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington St. Iowa
Superfly Samurai -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104
City, IA
State St Bettendorf, IA
Justin Morrissey & Friends -Martini’s on the
The Bucktown Revue -River Music Experi-
Rock, 4619 34th St Rock Island, IL
ence, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Cheers Bar & Grill, 1814 7th
The Fry Daddies (6pm) -Toucan’s Can-
St Moline, IL
tina / Skinny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st Street
Karaoke Night -Moe’s Pizza, 1312 Camanche
Milan, IL
Ave Clinton, IA
The Grass Roots (7 & 10pm) - Little Vito
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
& the Torpedos (8:15 & 11:15pm)
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
-Riverside Casino and Golf Resort, 3184
Keeley Filgo w/ Samuel Filgo & Sarah
Highway 22 Riverside, IA
Allner -The Redstone Room, 129 Main St
uneXpected -Van’s, 3333 Harrison St.
Davenport, IA
Wes Weeber’s Broke*ss Sellouts -QC Zone,
Davenport, IA
Kevin Presbrey -Kilkenny’s, 300 W. 3rd St.
1516 5th Ave Moline, IL Davenport, IA
Lovedogs -GB’s Sports Bar, 655 Main St.
Saturday
2010/12/18 (Sat) 18 New Liberty, IA
Lynn Allen -Uptown Neighborhood Bar and
Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA Mike Blumme Trio (6pm) -Toucan’s Cantina /
Skinny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st Street Milan, IL

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Theraputic massage 6 days/week – Gift certificates – Gift shop with yoga books,
DVDs and accessories. Jewerly, Mom and Baby products, plus more.
ve Music Live Music
SUNday 5 Call 563-324-0049
Nick Harksen - The Fiyah - Aces -River Music
Experience, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
NINE-1-1 -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W Locust
Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night -Coffee Dive, 226 W. 3rd St.
Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night -One Library, 230 W. 3rd Street
Davenport, IA
Rude Punch -Mound Street Landing, 1029
Mound St. Davenport, IA
Salsa and Cumbia DJ Night -La Primavera, 601
15th St. Moline, IL
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s Bar
and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
Sugar Nipples & Halo Of Flies -Rascal’s, 1414
15th St. Moline, IL
The Grass Roots (7 & 10pm) -Riverside
Casino and Golf Resort, 3184 Highway 22
Riverside, IA
The Tangents (6pm) -Cool Beanz Coffeehouse,
1325 30th St. Rock Island, IL
Tronicity -Route 61 Bar & Grill, 4320 N. Brady
St. Davenport, IA
Who Cares -Tommy’s, 1302 4th Ave Moline, IL
Wild Oatz -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104 State St
Bettendorf, IA
sunday
2010/12/19 (Sun) 19
Breille -The Hat Eatery & Pub, 1618 W. Locust
St. Davenport, IA
Daphne Willis - Dave Tamkin - Chris Webb -
Julie Jurgens -Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington
St. Iowa City, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Sup-
per Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock
Island, IL
Jim Ryan - Larry Gibbs - Mike Furnald
(3pm) -Len Brown’s North Shore Inn, 7th
Street and the Rock River Moline, IL
Karaoke Night -11th Street Precinct, 2108
E 11th St Davenport, IA
Karaoke w/ Steve K and the Gang -The
Muddy Waters, 1708 State St. Bet-
tendorf, IA
Russ Reyman, Pianist (10am-2pm brunch
performance) -The Lodge Hotel, 900
Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
The Avey Brothers -Rascal’s, 1414 15th St.
Moline, IL
The Terry Hanson Ensemble (10am) -Brady
Street Chop House, Radisson QC Plaza
Hotel Davenport, IA
Third Sunday Jazz Series featuring The-
lonious Assault (6pm) -The Redstone
Room, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
Troy Harris, Pianist (11:30am) -Bass Street
Chop House, 1601 River Dr Moline, IL
20
monday
2010/12/20 (Mon)
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Open Mic w/ J. Knight -The Mill, 120 E
Burlington Iowa City, IA
“True Blue Mondays” Lunch w/ Ellis Kell
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
TUESDAY
2010/12/21 (Tue) 21
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Dance Party USA -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13
S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Sup-
per Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock
Island, IL
Karaoke Night -McManus Pub, 1401 7th
Ave Moline, IL
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Live Lunch w/ Jonathan Turner (noon)
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Open Mic w/ Jordan Danielsen -Bier Stube
Davenport, 2228 E 11th St Davenport, IA
Open Mic w/ the Pena Brothers -Racer’s Edge,
936 15th Ave East Moline, IL
Santah -The Mill, 120 E Burlington Iowa
City, IA
The Chris & Wes Show -Rascal’s, 1414 15th
St. Moline, IL
22
wednesday
2010/12/22 (Wed)
Drum Circle (6pm) -Teranga House of Africa,
1706 3rd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Jam Session -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn
St Iowa City, IA
Jeff Miller (6pm) -G’s Riverfront Cafe, 102 S
Main St Port Byron, IL
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Open Mic Night (6:30pm) -Mojo’s (River Music
Experience), 130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -The
Torchlight Lounge, 1800 18th Ave East
Moline, IL
Rehab @ RIBCO – December 17
The Chris & Wes Show -Mound Street Land-
ing, 1029 Mound St. Davenport, IA
Wild Bill’s Rodeo Show featuring Billy Pei-
ffer -Rascal’s, 1414 15th St. Moline, IL
23
Thursday
2010/12/23 (Thu)
DJ Scott Ferguson -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Irie Soundsystem w/ DJ THC -QC Zone, 1516
5th Ave Moline, IL
Jam Session w/ Alan Sweet & the Candy
Makers -The Muddy Waters, 1708 State
St. Bettendorf, IA
Jason Carl -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Just Chords -Kilkenny’s, 300 W. 3rd St.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Live Lunch w/ Dave Maxwell (noon) -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night -The Dam View Inn, 410 2nd
St Davenport, IA
Get Your Gig or Venue
HIGHLIGHTED
Advertise in the Reader.
The Old 57’s -Uptown Neighborhood Bar and
Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
The Steady Rollin’ Blues Band featuring
Jimmie Lee Adams -Rascal’s, 1414 15th
St. Moline, IL
Tony Hartman -Mojo’s (River Music Experi-
ence), 130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Troy Harris, Pianist (6pm) -Red Crow Grille,
2504 53rd St. Bettendorf, IA
24
Friday
2010/12/24 (Fri)
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
DJ Night -Uncle Harley’s Bar & Grill, 202 W.
Mayne St. Blue Grass, IA
Fat Dawgs Productions Karaoke & DJ
Service -Shannon’s Bar and Grill, 252 S
State Ave Hampton, IL
FunkDafyed -Riverside Casino and Golf Re-
sort, 3184 Highway 22 Riverside, IA
Karaoke Night -Sneaky Pete’s, 207 Cody Rd.
N. LeClaire, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports Bar,
1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Open Mic Night -McManus Pub, 1401 7th
Ave Moline, IL
Rock ‘n the House Karaoke -Uptown Neigh-
borhood Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills
Dr. Bettendorf, IA
Rotate the DJ w/ Chronik Solutionz -M.D.
Green’s, 1808 2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Russ Reyman Trio (5pm) -The Rusty Nail,
2606 W Locust Davenport, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
25
Saturday
2010/12/25 (Sat)
ABC Karaoke -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
DJ Night -Uncle Harley’s Bar & Grill, 202 W.
Mayne St. Blue Grass, IA
FunkDafyed -Riverside Casino and Golf
Resort, 3184 Highway 22 Riverside, IA
Karaoke Night -Cheers Bar & Grill, 1814
7th St Moline, IL
Karaoke Night -Moe’s Pizza, 1312 Caman-
che Ave Clinton, IA
Karaoke Night -The Old Stardust Sports
Bar, 1191 19th Street Moline, IL
Open Mic Night -Coffee Dive, 226 W. 3rd
St. Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night -One Library, 230 W. 3rd
Street Davenport, IA
Pajama Jammy Jam Gong Show Karaoke
-Uptown Neighborhood Bar and Grill,
2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
Salsa and Cumbia DJ Night -La Primavera,
601 15th St. Moline, IL
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
Sunday
2010/12/26 (Sun) 26
Breille -The Hat Eatery & Pub, 1618 W.
Locust St. Davenport, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Sup-
per Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock
Island, IL
Karaoke Night -11th Street Precinct, 2108
E 11th St Davenport, IA
Karaoke w/ Steve K and the Gang -The
Muddy Waters, 1708 State St. Bet-
tendorf, IA
Kelly Pardekooper -The Blue Moose Tap,
211 Iowa Ave. Iowa City, IA
Russ Reyman, Pianist (10am-2pm brunch
performance) -The Lodge Hotel, 900
Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
The Avey Brothers -Rascal’s, 1414 15th
St. Moline, IL
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767 • December 9 - 22, 2010
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 River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 767• December 9 - 22, 2010 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

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