I want to have a commemorative plate destruction party. I was thinking about some Christmastime introduction to this column, and all I could think about was some single woman carefully setting up commemorative plates around her living room, in their little stands, and getting the lighting just right, and it was making me insane with [...]

Hi, Kent Williams here. I kinda sorta talked to Melody about doing a Weekender post, but we didn’t really get beyond the ’sure why not?’ planning stage, so I’m operating here on the principle that it’s easier to apologize than ask permission. Anyhoo…
The Mill
Thursday: Monroe Crossing. A Bluegrass outfit that tours nationally and won awards [...]

Welcome to the War on Xmas, pt. II. If it were up to me, starting every Oct. 1st, every department store–and one random radio station–would start playing Halloween music all damn day and night. From the classics (Boris Pickett’s “Monster Mash”) to unheralded gems (Bob Marley’s “Dracula”) to the downright stupid (Zacherley’s “Dinner with Drac”), [...]

Labor Day weekend: the end of white shoes, sure, but also the first school-day off–and the start of National Potato Month (seriously). Oh yeah, right here and now, the great month of September, National Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month. September, National ADHD Awareness month, and–wait–what was I talking about again? Just kidding. Celebrate [...]

After the Independence Day success of the 80-35 Music Festival in Des Moines and the Jazz Festival here, it’s Cedar Rapids’s turn to get into the summer festival mix with its second annual New Bohemia Music Festival. This year they were planning for major expansion and a more youthful sound, but the floodwaters washed away [...]

As I write this, July 1 is creeping up like doomsday for many local smokers, and depending on your daily nicotine needs, shows are either going to be a lot more comfortable or a mild pain in the ass. The Mill has been experimenting with nonsmoking shows for some time now, on nights where the [...]