Well, fingers crossed, this past weekend began the grand re-opening of society after the covid quarantine. In some states, like Illinois, we’re not entirely 100 percent back to normal, but it’s certainly stepping in that direction. On the Iowa side, it’s full boar, all in, back to the way it was, and, again, fingers crossed that we stay that way. People are squirrelly and jacked up like spider monkeys on Mountain Dew after months of being in lockdown on social distancing protocols, and as such, it’s probably going to be a wild couple of weeks. But, as always, it’s... Read More

It’s been said there are no coincidences. All actions, all events, are part of a lattice of connection that perhaps we can’t see, and of which we’re not aware, but that we all feel, consciously or unconsciously. That’s what it means when you say something feels right. It feels like it should be. It feels like it should be of our time. That seems to be true especially when it comes to entertainment. To be sure, at all times, there is popular entertainment. There is always something moving through the transom of our lives, of our consciousness, taking up the spotlight. But there are so few... Read More

Over the last week, or several, I’ve been home, unable to do much but sit around on the couch and watch TV. In between catching up on the shows I’d TiVo’ed ages ago (“Barry” was excellent, BTW), I stopped by to sample a few minutes of daytime TV shows and soap operas. It’s pretty funny in a goofy way, catching up on the amazing, Dickensian plotlines being brought to life by over-actors on a daily basis. After all, how many other stories do I read that feature the names Bianca, Ridge and Alcazar? Even more entertaining are the plot rundowns of the soaps. Some of the descriptions... Read More

What kind of music do you like? Who are your favorite singers? What’s your favorite song? When I was younger, particularly in high school and early college, I was inclined to judge potential friends and girlfriends in large part on their musical and pop-culture tastes. Yes, I was an entertainment snob. Hard to believe, I know. It was always kind of a loaded question, and sometimes a question to ask when you were loaded, but it tended to have grand implications for the way I would look at that person going forward, in a way perhaps small and insignificant, or a way much more significant. It... Read More

Even in the midst of this terrible time, there’s always some good news, always people rising above the depressing and dark news out there and trying their best to do good works and be positive in this world. And every month, I, in conjunction with our media partners at KWQC-TV6’s “Paula Sands Live” bring you some of the positive and uplifting events, actions and individuals in the area. Here are some of the great things going on during this challenging time in the Quad-Cities: Mask Makers Stepping Up In the face of a shortage of masks and a greater need than ever for people... Read More

My son Jackson turned twelve this week. He is undeniably the best person I’ve ever had the honor of meeting, and I’m looking forward to continuing to experience the adventure of his life with him. And as that time goes by, he may ask me for the advice I’ve gained in my years before him and since he’s been born. That’s why I started writing this list of things I’ve learned and I wish my parents had told me. I started it shortly after he was born, and I’ve added to it and published it every year on his birthday since, and, now, I’ve published it in... Read More

Laura Fraembs wasn’t well-known to the general public outside of local media circles. She wasn’t on TV, or radio, and her picture rarely appeared in the newspapers for which she’d worked since 1981, The Dispatch and Rock Island Argus, and then the Quad City Times. In fact, she hated attention and shied away from the spotlight. But Fraembs’ legacy of integrity and veracity, absolutely spartan work ethic, and dedication to the principles of journalism, made her a true star of local media and an irreplaceable part of the newspapers. I was very sad to hear about her passing... Read More

“Hey, have you ever heard the one . . .” And that’s how it would usually begin. With a mischievous grin, a conspiratorial wink, and then that little aside, voiced down as if imparting some ribald secret, which, let’s face it, he usually was. That’s how Ed “Jonesy” Jones would greet me pretty much every time I walked in to Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse in downtown Rock Island. Jonesy shuffled off to that spotlight in the sky on Tuesday, at age 92. He’d been retired from Circa for a few years, since 2014, although he was sorely missed. Jonesy was always one of my favorite elements... Read More

You could tell there was something afowl in Iowa for a while. The scent of something bold, spicy, hot, was in the air. It was an original recipe for chaos that turned extra crispy as the night dragged on. And so it’s no surprise, that we at QuadCities.com have unplucked a savory scoop. And when the national media gazes a popeye on it, they’ll be fileting those who have tried to cover it up, probably in panko. What have they been covering? That the REAL winner of the Iowa caucuses is … None other than… CHICKENZILLA. That’s right. Chickenzilla. That half-chicken, half-dinosaur bird of... Read More

When’s the last time you listened to WOC? How old are you? If you’re somewhere under the age of 65, you probably couldn’t remember your answer to that first question. And if you’re somewhere over the age of 65, you probably couldn’t remember either, only for a different reason. I keed! I keed! In all seriousness though, the audience for local talk radio has been growing older and older over the decades. Most of the shows appeal to a decidedly conservative audience and the demographic for those kinds of shows skews older, and not just in radio. Median age of a Fox News prime time viewer?... Read More