Quadsville

Don't forget to enter this week's photo contest. The theme is "Four," which is vague enough for you to get really creative with it. Deadline is noon Wednesday. Right now there are no submissions. Is this some sort of April Fool's joke????

Other highlights in Quadsville today....

Looks like Marismom is going back to school. She's a little concerned about being a nontraditional student. Give her a few words of encouragement or share your back to school story.

The Google Street View team has been hitting the Quad-Cities. QCImages gives a run down of the various mapping services. Now you have even more cameras to smile for as you drive around town. 

Khadijah Evans is looking for some recipes and soy product recommendations in the American Vegetarians group. Where's your favorite place to get your veg-head food in the Q-C?  

I'm happy to be back in Quadsville after a week away. I'm trying to get caught up on everything today, so I don't have much of an update for you. But I thought since I've been out of the loop, maybe you could update me today. What did I miss while I was gone? What conversations should I make sure to check out?

Drop me line here in the comments.

Other highlights include another blog from cruiser. He's moved on from the various names for the toilet to a nostalgic blog about how times have changed.

And in the Lost group, we're going over pictures from tomorrow's episode along with descriptions of the next two episodes in an attempt to predict what might happen tomorrow. We do this every week and sometimes we're right and most of the time, we're very wrong. You can put in your two cents here, but beware there are spoilers on the blog.

Kevin's Pick: "Green and Dry!" by Misterrobot, LeClaire
Description: This year we were BLUE for the JA e-Dive. Last year we were GREEN.
Time Photo Editor Kevin Schmidt says: "A couple of images caught my 'green' eye this week but the rich color and composition of this image made it quickly stand out as the winner. Sláinte!

Quadsvillagers' Choice: "Lucky Double" by Erin Keith, Bettendorf
 

If you've already done that, stop by the Quadsville Bookworms group. Their first weekly short story discussion has started, this one on Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find." Svenska Kat got the thread started and is looking forward to hearing the other bookworms' take on the tale.

I'll be back at noon with our photo contest winners!

Next month, we are going to try something new. We are going to meet on a Thursday (April 16) and we'll be checking out the newest Bier Stube location in LeClaire. Put it on your calendars! I'll be there from 5:30-7 p.m. and we might even have a special guest... Kay Luna. She's interested in meeting the folks who chat with her on her Working Mom blog.

Did any of you go to the Eagles concert last night? How was it? Someone sang "Witchy Woman" at karaoke last night, but it wasn't quite the same. ;-)

There's a public forum tonight in Rock Island for the mayoral and alderman candidates. I would be there to check it out, but I've got tickets to "Thom Pain" at Harrison Hilltop. Luckily, the candidates are also making a stop at my block club meeting on Sunday. This race is a pretty big deal for Rock Islanders after 20 years of Mayor Mark Schwiebert. Anyone have thoughts on the candidates?

You might also want to check out Sikpuppy's Quadsville Hoopsters group in our Hoops Challenge. Contests are always more fun when you play with friends.

Also, we've got a meet-up tonight at Blueport Junction in Davenport. I'll be there 5:30-7 p.m. to chat with whoever wants to drop by. So far, I've heard from Sikpuppy and Klowner that they are coming. Let me know if you'll be there - I want to make sure I snag a big enough table!

Kay Luna (the brilliant one who sits across from me) just pointed out that it will be very, very difficult to find a seat at the Bier Stube in Moline on Wednesday due to the Eagles concert (which I helped her win tickets to).

SO.... CHANGE OF PLANS!!!

We will go to Blueport Junction this month and save the Stube for next month. So, please meet me at Blueport Junction, 6605 W. River Drive (where 61 and 280 meet) in Davenport. I'll be there 5:30-7 p.m. Let me know if you'll be there.

Earlier post....

Even if you're not as Irish as I am, today's green theme is the perfect chance to celebrate spring and air out the house. It's also a good day to enter your photos of all things green in our photo contest. We've already gotten lots of entries, from crazy St. Pat's parade shots to green shoots emerging in the garden. Keep 'em coming!

Wednesday is our next Quadsville meet-up. We'll be at the Bier Stube in Moline from 5:30 - 7 p.m. Let me know if you plan to join us so I know how big of a table to grab. Next month we'll be back in Davenport out at Blueport Junction and we are going to try a Thursday evening.

What a beautiful weekend for a parade! I had a blast at the St. Pat's festivities on Saturday and judging by the packed parade route, many of you did, too. If you snapped some photos, they'd probably make good entries in this week's photo contest. The theme is "Green."

The next couple days are supposed to be even more beautiful, climbing into the 70s by Tuesday. Might be a good opportunity to grab a book and head to your favorite sunny spot outside. The Quadsville Bookworms are organizing a weekly group read and discussion of a short story. You can get the details and suggest a story here.

Brian Ballard of LeClaire wins this week’s contest for “Cave Drip,” taken at Cave of the Mounds.
Times Photo Editor Kevin Schmidt wrote, “Absolutely fantastic image! The combination of the back light and the slow shutter speed allows the camera to capture the splashes of water streaking across the frame. A wonderful way to bring light into the dark.”

Jennifer Majetic’s photo, “Gotcha Now!” received the most votes online. She described the photo as “my dog Raven playing at Bass Street Landing in Moline this past summer.”

And now, our regularly scheduled program...

I saw an incredible Daytrotter presents show at RIBCO yesterday evening. New Zealand indie rockers Cut Off Your Hands played to a respectable early evening crowd (the all-ages show began at 7 p.m. and was wrapped up by 9:30 p.m.).

Like most of the people there, I'd never heard (or heard of) Cut Off Your Hands until yesterday. But I've come to trust Daytrotter man Sean Moeller when he says, "You don't want to miss this show." He compared the band's sound to The Smiths, said they were touring with Ra Ra Riot (one of my favorite bands) and suggested these guys might be the next Vampire Weekend. I was sold.

Then Sean sent a follow-up e-mail reminding everyone it was 50 cent draft night at RIBCO, and that probably sealed the deal for some of the fencesitters. :-)

Cut Off Your Hands put on an incredible, high-energy live show. Their lead singer danced and sang with abandon, clutching a tambourine. Driving tempos, nifty bass lines, sparkling harmonies ... it was impossible not to dance. Actually, I wanted to jump and pounce and spin around until I was dizzy. It's the sort of music that finds the frisky, optimistic child inside you and calls her out to the playground.

I nabbed one of their CDs and will likely have it on constant rotation this weekend (though, there will probably have to be some Celtic tunes mixed in - it IS the weekend of the Grand Parade). If you missed Cut Off Your Hands last night, their Daytrotter session will be up in a few weeks. Or you can check them out in Chicago this weekend. Or, you know, just watch the video below.

And not only that. You can get virtually anywhere in the Quad-Cities in 30 minutes or less. And oftentimes, the drive is not only short, but scenic, from the historic homes to the river to the brightly colored trees in fall.

So what is your favorite drive in the Q-C? Do you have a scenic drive to work? What route to you take when you are cruising around town with visitors?

I cross the Government Bridge every morning, which provides eagle sightings in winter and pelicans in spring and summer. And I love days when the fog collects along the surface of the river (like Tuesday). Tell me about your favorite drives and submit some photos if you have them.

We are working on a map where you can plot the graffiti you see and upload photos of it. As a community, we should be aware of what's happening in our backyards and keep track of the trends. Any neighborhood watch groups out there who want to work on this project with me?

Photo contest

Voting starts at noon today for the latest round in the photo contest. Get your cameras ready for the new round starting Friday. The theme is "Green" and there should be plenty of that in the Quad-Cities this weekend!

I was intrigued by the hub-bub about social networks on today's Editorial Page. Leonard Pitts rants about Twitter as a pointless conveyor of banality. Paul Wessling suggests staying connected with family through a good, old-fashioned paper journal mailed from city to city.

I'm formulating my response to Pitts and will post that on my personal blog later. Paul's idea is neat, although I would argue you don't have to choose pen and paper over electronic communication -- you can have both. Keeping a physical journal is something, at least, that you can pass down and have the satisfaction of sitting back and thumbing through years later. Sure, you could keep text and photo files digitally, but there's the problem of having the right piece of hardware to look at them 10 years from now. Anyone out there who still has files on a floppy disk knows what I'm talking about.

How much do you use social networks, e-mail or text messages to communicate with your inner circle? Do you keep in touch more that way or do you prefer to pick up the phone or write a letter?

Janalglaz wins this week’s “Where is this?” photo contest. Times photo editor Kevin Schmidt writes, “The colors pop and the eye is captured by the lines of the feathers. It made me think, where is that?”
Answer: Niabi Zoo.

Erin Keith received the most votes online for her photo of an “old stone school built in the 1800s and still standing today. (Barely!)”

You can enter photos for the next round - "Motion" - until noon on Wednesday. Have fun!

Our next Quadsville meet-up is Wednesday, March 18, 5:30-7 p.m. I'm thinking Bier Stube would be a good spot. My question to you is: East Village or Moline?

Thinking of moving the meet-up to a Thursday in April, because I've heard from a few folks who want to come but have Wednesday night commitments. What suggestions do you have for places to meet up?

If you're partial to theater (like me) I can second David Burke's review of The Green Room Theatre's "Doubt." You'll be transfixed during and after the show, which is a huge discussion starter. I'd love to hear from those of you who have seen it. Did you side with the priest or the nun, or could you make up your mind?

I'm also looking forward to checking out The Prenzie Players' "Much Ado About Nothing," which opens this weekend. I may also have to check out Quad-City Arts' First Friday, since Lojo Russo is playing. If you missed Final Friday at the Bucktown Center for the Arts last week, I would recommend stopping by Saturday afternoon and checking out the Lytle exhibit in the MidCoast at Bucktown Gallery. I didn't get to spend enough time with it last weekend. Must go back. Of course, you could really just spend the whole day wandering through all the shops and galleries.

I hope this spring weather sticks with us for next weekend - my FAVORITE weekend of the year. The annual St. Patrick Society Grand Parade is March 14 and I can't wait! I've walked that parade in some pretty miserable weather, and still it is always a memorable time spent with friends who still come back to the Quad-Cities for this good, old-fashioned Irish party.

What's coming up that you are looking forward to?

I thought we could have a little fun today with ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's book deal. I'm looking for the best title for his upcoming tell-all book about Illinois politics. Put 'em in the comments below (don't forget to join the Council group first if you're not already a member).

The photo contest submissions end at noon, and I have to say I don't think everyone really understood the point of this contest. Maybe we'll try it again where I go around a take disguised photos of places in the QC and then you guess where they are. Most of the submissions either revealed where the location was or were of spots not even located in the Quad-Cities. (?) But, that shouldn't stop you from checking them out and voting for the one you like best. There are coffee cups at stake, after all.

Davenport goes to the polls today to vote on the Promise and to fill the vacant 2nd Ward alderman seat. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Really curious to see how this all turns out.

Entries are slow in coming in to what could be a really fun photo contest this week. Here's the deal: You take a picture of some place in the Quad-Cities and see if the rest of us can guess where it is. This works particularly well if you use a closer up version of a landmark more recognizable if you zoom out. You still have time to get yours in. Submissions can be made until noon Wednesday. C'mon! Stump me!

I hope your week is off to a good start. I had a busy Sunday at World Thinking Day for the Girl Scouts, where I ran into a few peeps from the site. Teenager and Julie Abdel-Fattah were both working at booths at the annual event showcasing cultures from around the world. It was good to see you, ladies!

My troop had the Austria booth (of course). For "swaps" the visitors to our booth got to make a mini button with the Austrian flag, Edelweiss or Mozart on it. We went through about 400 of them and every time a girl pulled the lever on the button making machine there was a smile. It made me happy to see how much delight the girls took in creating their own button.

What simple pleasures have made you smile lately?