Quadsville

Regular readers will remember that my grandparents gave me their record collection when they bought me a turntable this past Christmas.

While I slowly made my way through their collection, which included everything from a recording of man's first landing on the moon to Barbra Streisand to symphonies performed by the New York Philharmonic, the records didn't really have a place of their own. The old records, plus the new ones I kept buying, just kept getting pushed around my living room in the same banana box my grandparents had used to store them for decades.

And the record player just took up space on an end table because I lacked a legitimate spot for it.

Well, this past weekend I moved all my things into my soon-to-be husband's two-bedroom duplex. While I have no idea where we're going to put everything, the records already have their own space.

I have an ugly, beat-up TV stand that was left in a college house I rented years ago. Finally, I no longer need to use it for the TV because my fiance already has a much nicer one.

But the old monstrosity is absolutely perfect for my vinyl listening pleasures. The record player fits nicely on top, and the space below is just high enough to accommodate the LPs. The problem is I only have room for a few more records and my fiance's dad, who helped us move, said he's giving us the 75 or so records he has stored away. I guess it's a good thing I still have the banana box.

Show to see

Alternative rock band After the Crash from San Diego will make a stop at RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave., Rock Island. The show starts at 10 p.m. tonight, Aug. 6. Cover is $4, and it's 50-cent draft night at the venue.

For more information, visit www.ribco.com or www.myspace.com/afterthecrash on the Web.

For the family

The Jackson County Conservation Board will host a Youth Outdoor Skills Day on Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Huntsville (Iowa) Interpretive Center. Children 7 years and older will receive training in firearms safety, BB guns, archery, fishing, orienteering, canoeing and outdoor cooking.

Refreshments and equipment will be provided. The program starts at 9 a.m., and the cost is $5 in advance or $7 the day of the event. Call (563) 652-3783 to register.

For teens

Quad-City teen band FireSale will perform Friday night at Mojo's Cafe in the River Music Experience, 129 N. Main St., Davenport.

The teens have written several original songs and are trending toward a reggae sound. The show begins at 7 p.m., and admission is free.

For more information, visit www.rivermusicexperience.org, www.myspace.com/firesalerocks or view their Go&Do Live Sessions video at www.qctimes.tv.

He said what?

Mudvayne has worn costumes, makeup and pulled other antics onstage to spice up its shows. Ryan Martinie, the Peoria, Ill.-based band's bass player, was asked whether they have anything planned for their Friday night show at the i wireless Center:

"We've done just about everything. I think we're just about out of ideas. You come to a point where suits and aliens and makeup and mud, well, what haven't we done?"

I knew something was wrong when I caught a small crowd of young boys peering into my mailbox.

After asking them not to mess with the mail, I pulled out the contents and found what they were so interested in.

I had a subscription to Blender magazine, which recently switched to an online-only format. In an effort to be fair, the owner, Alpha Media Group, is sending each of that publication's customers copies of Maxim magazine to finish out the remainder of their Blender subscription.

While the neighborhood boys are sure excited by the switch, I am not. I have zero desire to receive a magazine filled with super-skinny, airbrushed photo versions of the female anatomy. I already have a realistic set of my own, thank you very much. And I sure don't want to encourage the hordes of unattended children in my neighborhood to be rifling through my mail in search of naughty magazines.

I'll be canceling the subscription, and I don't even care whether or not they refund me for the remaining issues of Blender I had coming. I just don't want that filth in my mailbox.