It’s a warm, slightly overcast day at 3 p.m. in July. As I’m walking circles around Vanderveer Park, I pause every moments to swipe my phone and pick up the items as they appear in bubbles on my screen. Those items? Three pokeballs, a potion, and a raspberry. And on I go with my afternoon walk. I’m far from alone this day, as the park is filled with hundreds of people, all of them staring at their phones, befriending each other, comparing rosters, fighting over gyms, and coming up with creative strings of swear words to express their disdain for the fickle servers. There’s a few teens,... Read More

EDITOR’S NOTE: Local comic book fan Ryan Franks will be writing about comics and comics culture for QuadCities.com as our new columnist. We hope you enjoy his treks into the comics world! My earliest memory of comic books comes from when I was about three. My parents and I were at some kind of family gathering and a very boring one at that. I had with me Transformers Comic Magazine #4, a digest sized comic collecting Transformers #7 and 8 from the original 1984 run of Marvel comics. Given that I was three I wasn’t able to actually read the book as printed. What I would do is look at the drawings... Read More

Hello and welcome to the new QuadCities.com! We are so excited to share with you some of our new additions to the site, along with the new design and technology involved. I’ve been working with our Publisher, Steve Holmes and our Lead Developer, Trevor Bertucci, the past few months building up to the official debut of this revamp and we’re really excited to unleash it on the world. We know you’re going to love it! Not only is the content terrific but we’ve added a lot of awesome new technology that you can enjoy whether you’re on your PC, your laptop, your tablet or your phone. And we’re... Read More

Some tribes in Africa require a boy to battle a wild beast. Some natives of South American jungles have their adolescent males endure painful rites of strength and endurance. And some groups indigenous to North America believe a boy must make a hallucinogenic journey to find his spirit guide and commune with the otherworld. Here in modern America, there are a handful of important things a boy must accomplish before he can become a man. One in particular is a sacred obligation that will no doubt be one of the most useful skills he will obtain and utilize throughout his life. Of course, I’m... Read More

By now, I’m sure all of you have heard about the controversy surrounding Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention, which, as countless memes and articles have pointed out, bears something of a more than passing resemblance to a Michelle Obama speech from some year that I don’t feel like Googling right now. But, Melania, stay sweet, girl. I feel you. Tonight, I will give my speech at the Republican National Convention. I know, I know, you might not have heard about this. Perhaps this is because the Trump people or the RNC have wanted to keep my appearance hush-hush, perhaps... Read More

Calling all paranormal enthusiasts: Lace up before the Bix 7 and get ready to be running scared as documentarian Chad Calek from reality TV’s “Paranormal State” makes a stop here in Bettendorf on Friday, July 22 for the “Sir NoFace” Paramerican Tour. With phantom lights blinking on command and a promise of seeing a real ghost on film, “Sir NoFace” is set to drum up some real frights. The film documents an investigation sanctioned by the Australian government to validate or “debunk” paranormal phenomenon on Australia’s Cockatoo Island,... Read More

Welcome to the column for all carbon-based life-forms. If you breathe oxygen, this is for you. And if you live on a planet, especially Earth, well, then, you’ve come to the right place. Sorry, but I’m just following the new trend in advertising: casting as absurdly wide a net as possible. Products used to be advertised to a fairly specialized base. Each ad could be counted on to pander in its own unique way. You’d have your commercials aimed at seniors, in which someone sincere who was on TV when it was still seen only in black-and-white would give a testimonial about the product. Said... Read More

Every year around mid-May, thousands of geek-culture lovers make the pilgrimage to Rosemont, Illinois to take part in Anime Central (ACen), the largest and longest-running anime convention in the Midwest. Anime, or Japanese animation, is widely popular in Western pop culture, particularly among teens and young adults, though anyone of any age can enjoy it as there are a multitude of different genres and storylines. These conventions are a gathering place for fans of comics, anime, science fiction, and even table top gaming, and people from all walks of life and fandom can be found in attendance. Anime... Read More

I’m not a big casino guy. I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve gone to casinos to actually gamble, and every single one of those instances was at the insistence of one of my friends. That said, if you are a casino person, you’re going to love the new Rhythm City Casino venue. And if you’re like me, and lukewarm at best on the casinos, you’ll still enjoy the other amenities quite a bit. I was invited to a special sneak preview of the venue at 7077 Elmore Ave., last Sunday, along with the contractors, construction workers, employees and their families, who were there to see... Read More

A man’s worth is determined by the number of people who feel more valuable for having been in his presence. And in this way, Bob Murdock was one of the richest men in the Quad-Cities. “Dr” Bob Murdock passed away late Sunday night and since then a large part of the Quad-Cities community has been awash in shock and sadness over the loss of a great man, a longtime beacon of the community and a good friend. Murdock grew up in Ohio and moved to the Quads in 1991 to help open the long defunct Funny Bone Comedy Club. But like so many things in life, the plans we make often lead us to the destiny... Read More