Little Village magazine issue 279: Feb. 19 - Mar. 3, 2020

A L W A Y S

ISSUE 279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020

F R E E

Royceann Porter on moving to Iowa, making history and being courted by 2020 candidates

LV Recommends: Vivian’s Soul Food

Dandelion Stompers (Just try not to dance)

Alyssa Limperis at Floodwater

The Actors’ Gang The New Colossus

$10

STUDENT TICKETS

Saturday, February 29, 7:30 pm Performed in twelve languages (with English supertitles) with live music, poetry, and kinetic movement, The New Colossus asks an essential question: Who are we as a nation? The play explores the true stories of twelve people in the United States today because their families fled their countries of origin to escape oppression. Actors from around the world share the stage to tell heart-wrenching stories, weaving a single narrative of desperate people drawn to the promise of America.

Audio Description is available for this performance.

TICKETS: ADULT: $20 COLLEGE STUDENT: $10 YOUTH: $10

Order online hancher.uiowa.edu Call (319) 335-1160 or 800-HANCHER Accessibility Services (319) 335-1158

EVENT SPONSORS: Richard and Vicki Siefers Alan and Liz Swanson

Photo: Ashley Randall

Discover more at hancher.uiowa.edu Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Hancher in advance at (319) 335-1158.

The Chieftains The Irish Goodbye

$10

STUDENT TICKETS

Wednesday, March 4, 7:30 pm One of Ireland’s most treasured musical ensembles, The Chieftains are six-time Grammy winners and incomparable instrumentalists and innovators who honor and extend the breadth and depth of traditional Irish music. The band’s tour of the United States will feature the breathtaking virtuosity for which the group is known. Join us for a trip to the Emerald Isle just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. TICKETS: ADULT: $65 | $55 | $45 COLLEGE STUDENT: $58 | $10 YOUTH: $32 | $10

Order online hancher.uiowa.edu Call (319) 335-1160 or 800-HANCHER Accessibility Services (319) 335-1158

EVENT SPONSORS: Lee and Kazi Alward Nancy Andreasen and Terry Gwinn Deborah K. and Ian E. Bullion GreenState Credit Union Casey D. Mahon Gary and Nancy Pacha David and Noreen Revier Tallgrass Business Resources

Discover more at hancher.uiowa.edu Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Hancher in advance at (319) 335-1158.

$10 STUDENT TICKETS

CLUB

Dreamers’ Circus Sunday, March 8, 5:30 pm & 8:00 pm Nikolaj Busk (piano and accordion), Ale Carr (Nordic cittern), and Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (violin) view their Nordic folk roots as a point of departure rather than a fixed destination. The trio blends this adventurous attitude with outstanding musicianship to recast tradition into something startlingly original.

Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen is also the first violinist for the Danish String Quartet, performing at Hancher on May 4.

TICKETS:

EVENT SPONSORS:

ADULT: $25 (5:30 PM) | $15 (8:00 PM)

Dale and Linda Baker

COLLEGE STUDENT: $10 (5:30 PM) | $10 (8:00 PM) YOUTH: $10 (5:30 PM) | $10 (8:00 PM)

$10 STUDENT TICKETS

CLUB

Melissa Aldana Quartet Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 pm & 9:00 pm Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana first picked up the alto, but an encounter with the music of Sonny Rollins led to a switch to tenor. When she was 24, she became the first female—and first South American musician—to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. The Chicago Tribune says, “Aldana stands as an irrepressibly creative phrase-maker, sidestepping cliché at almost every turn.” She’ll bring that irrepressible energy to the intimate space of Club Hancher.

TICKETS:

EVENT SPONSORS:

ADULT: $25 (6:30 PM) | $15 (9:00 PM)

Jerry and Judy Musser

COLLEGE STUDENT: $10 (6:30 PM) | $10 (9:00 PM) YOUTH: $10 (6:30 PM) | $10 (9:00 PM)

Discover more at hancher.uiowa.edu Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Hancher in advance at (319) 335-1158.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

$10

STUDENT TICKETS

Robert Battle, Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Associate Artistic Director Tuesday, March 10, 7:30 pm The extraordinary dancers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater make their first appearance on the new Hancher stage with a program that will be undeniably revelatory. Artistic Director Robert Battle has remained true to the vision of his predecessors— Ailey himself and Judith Jamison—while also expanding the company’s work with a wide array of choreographers. The performance will close with Revelations, Ailey’s masterwork that is as powerful today as it was when it debuted in 1960.

PROGRAM:

BUSK Aszure Barton, choreographer Ode Jamar Roberts, choreographer Revelations Alvin Ailey, choreographer TICKETS: ADULT: $75 | $65 | $55 COLLEGE STUDENT: $67 | $10 YOUTH: $37 | $10

Order online hancher.uiowa.edu Call (319) 335-1160 or 800-HANCHER Accessibility Services (319) 335-1158

EVENT SPONSORS: Photo: Andrew Eccles

John and Ellen Buchanan Ed and Patricia Folsom The McIntyre Foundation Robert and Kathleen Staley

Discover more at hancher.uiowa.edu Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Hancher in advance at (319) 335-1158.

VOL. 28 ISSUE 279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 ALWAYS FREE LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM PUBLISHER MATTHEW STEELE Jordan Sellergren / Little Village

DIGITAL DIRECTOR DREW BULMAN ART DIRECTOR JORDAN SELLERGREN MANAGING EDITOR EMMA MCCLATCHEY ARTS EDITOR GENEVIEVE TRAINOR NEWS DIRECTOR PAUL BRENNAN VISUAL REPORTER—PHOTO ZAK NEUMANN VISUAL REPORTER­—VIDEO JASON SMITH STAFF WRITER/EDITOR IZABELA ZALUSKA FOOD & DRINK DIRECTOR FRANKIE SCHNECKLOTH DISTRIBUTION BRIAN JOHANNESSEN, DAI GWILLIAM, NORBERT SARSFIELD, NICOLE ELDRIDGE,

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20

22

Royceann’s Story

Food for the Soul

Fais Do-Do and Jazz Tunes, Too

The Johnson County Supervisor dives into her past and shares a recipe.

A review of Vivian’s Soul Food, fresh off the space and menu upgrade.

Bring your dancing shoes to the Dandelion Stompers’ Mardi Gras show.

PAUL BRENNAN

TIFFANI GREEN

KEMBREW MCLEOD

8 - Letters & Interactions 10 - Brock About Town 14 - Profile 18 - En Español 20 - Bread & Butter

22 - Prairie Pop 26 - A-List 27 - Staff Picks 29 - Events Calendar 41 - Ad Index

42 - Dear Kiki 45 - Astrology 47 - Local Albums 49 - Local Books 51 - Crossword

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Little Village is an independent, community-supported news and culture publication based in Iowa City. Through journalism, essays and events, we work to improve our community in the Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids area according to a few core values: environmental sustainability, affordability and access, economic and labor justice, racial justice, gender equity, quality healthcare, quality education and critical culture.

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A L W A Y S

ISSUE 279 FEb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020

F R E E

Royceann Porter on moving to Iowa, making history and being courted by 2020 candidates

LV Recommends: Vivian’s Soul Food

Dandelion Stompers (Just try not to dance)

Alyssa Limperis at Floodwater

Cover photo by Zak Neumann

POWERED BY CAFE DEL SOL ROASTING LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 7

LETTERS LV encourages community members, including candidates for office, to submit letters to Editor@LittleVillageMag.com. To be considered for print publication, letters should be under 500 words. Preference is given to letters that have not been published elsewhere.

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EASTERN IOWA

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DEAR GOVERNOR REYNOLDS, We are writing as concerned high school students in Iowa.

We are writing to ask you three questions: 1. What is your climate emergency plan?

Governors in 24 other states, including neighboring Wisconsin and Illinois, have committed to the U.S. Climate Alliance, and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent by 2025.

2. Do you plan to appoint a Climate Change Advisory Council, which was originally established in 2007?

3. Would you agree to meet with high school students to discuss our concerns about our

LittleVillageMag.com/App

climate crisis in Iowa today?

As you know, historic flooding has had a devastating impact on Iowans—and our state economy. According to the recent study, “An Uncertain Future for Iowa: The Outlook for Iowa Communities and Flooding as our Climate Changes,” these impacts are “still small compared with what is projected over the next few decades under moderate and higher emission scenarios.”

We are proud of our state’s leadership in renewable energy, especially in wind energy production. However, even with such great wind energy endeavors, our state registered a 3.3 percent increase in our greenhouse gas emissions, according to the latest report released by your Department of Natural Resources. The

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report concluded that statewide Iowa greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase from 137.40 to 145.79 metric tons by 2030.

According to a report by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050,” if we hope to avert irreversible consequences from climate change.

Thank you for your time. We look forward to hearing your response to our questions.

Sincerely, Massimo Paciotto Biggers Alex Howe ‘Iowa, you have shocked the nation’ as a smartphone app derails reporting of Democratic caucus results The irony is that the results are all public, as caucuses are inherently the most transparent process available. Every person in every room knows their room’s results.

—Genie Z. Not shocked, we should have seen it coming when they failed so miserably on the online caucus. They based their reporting in an essentially untested app and then precincts couldn’t get through on their hotline. This whole thing is a colossal failure by those at the highest levels of the IDP responsible for [the] caucus reporting plan.

No more caucus, no more chances, primary going forward and the ones responsible for making us a flyover state need to take responsibility. They had one job-get the count in on time. No more blameshifting, no more excuses, primary forward.

—Julie V. The AP gives up on trying to declare a caucus winner, as Iowa Democratic Party reports 100 percent of results In delegate count, Pete won by a hair.

In the raw numbers (second alignment) Bernie won by an eyelash. —John F.M.

yers Meet with area emplo

Apply for spring/su mme job openin r gs

March 5 | 4-6 P.M.

Robert A. Lee Recreation Center

In partnership with Iowa Works and Vocational Rehabilitation Services Job seekers of all ages welcome | Call 319-356-5022 for details

THANK YOU TO THE LOCAL BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS HELPING PUBLIC SPACE ONE CREATE OUR NEW HOME(S)!

INTERACTIONS ‘The Republican Party is a cult’: Trump challenger Joe Walsh drops out of 2020 race after being booed during Iowa Caucus

/LittleVillage READER POLL: Which of the four flavors are you?

Couldn’t stand this angry birther Tea Party loudmouth and was happy he was not re-elected, but at least he now shows he has a tiny bit of decency. I welcome that, but nevertheless wouldn’t vote for him in any election. —Marcia C.C. Wow, that video of an entire room of people unable to take even a tiny bit of criticism is sad, but telling. They start booing and yelling like children who need a timeout!

—Alex D. Caucus-pocalypse, day 3: An almost-finished count, phone trolls, a hackable app and a call to recanvass We should also acknowledge the elephant in the room, that Pete Buttigieg is specifically questioning the results of the satellite precincts. These satellite precincts are new

23.3% Bitter 20% Sour

6.7% Sweet as of this year, and only exist to increase voter turnout of traditionally underrepresented communities. As far as I know, the Sanders campaign is the only campaign that made any organized attempt to engage with the issues that are important to these communities and encouraged these voters to participate. These satellites are far more diverse, and therefore likely more

B R O C K A B O U T T O W N

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AU D R E Y B R O C K

ANXIETY As a comedian, I try to stay up to date on the latest trends and issues.

If I’m going to make people laugh, I need to know what they care about (and, more importantly, what they hate. When the fickle tide of public opinion turns against someone or something, from a celebrity accused of sexual misconduct to those tiny ’90s sunglasses people were wearing for a while, comedians are the sharks circling below.)

Unfortunately, as a person, I am terrible at knowing what’s going on. At any given moment, I’m at best 25 percent in actual, physical reality. I cannot name a single movie that’s out right now. I know there’s nothing more irritating than someone who’s proud of their utter self-absorption, and I’m not. I’m just way too lazy to do anything about it.

That said, I’m very excited to get in on the latest hot trend sweeping the nation: anxiety. Actually, not to sound like a hipster, but I’m glad the rest of you are getting in on it with me. All my life I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. If I have a cough, it’s cancer. If I start dating a great guy, he secretly finds me repellent and just can’t find a good way to tell me. If something’s good, no it’s not.

This used to be considered a bad thing. People would tell me I was “cynical” or “a good candidate for therapy.”

Now, all that’s considered more or less normal. My mother called me last week, asking if I knew where she could buy surgical masks, because she’s worried about getting coronavirus. On Caucus Night, people I went to high school with, who couldn’t have named three world leaders then, posted pictures from their caucus locations with captions like, “Just doing my part to repair our hobbled democracy.” I know a woman who has a Google alert for “global warming.” Can you even imagine? I sure am glad to be so well-adjusted. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to Sephora. I had to get rid of most of my makeup, because it all had parabens in it. They’re the silent killer, you know.

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INTERACTIONS representative of America as a whole than most of Iowa’s precincts. Yet sadly, here we are today, where Pete Buttigieg and seemingly the entire Democratic operation has decided to pull the brakes because Buttigieg is clearly afraid of losing his somewhat arbitrary lead in state delegate

equivalents, which for some reason determines who “wins” Iowa and not the popular vote.

—Owen P.

Used to be right down the street from my house in Coralville when I was in college!

Thursday nights $12 all you can drink beer!

—Chris G.

Your Village: Whatever happened to the area’s last strip club?

Forgot all about this [the Coralville Earthpark] project. At the time, we were all talking about “global warming” rather than “climate change” and it seemed a bit paradoxical to build a rain forest in Iowa. Now we have a Trader Joes in that location that sells cheap “organic” beef raised on South and Central American clear cut lands that used to be rain forests. Progress I guess. —Craig A.

S T R E S S F R A C T U R E S

JOHN

MARTINEK

Hy-Vee stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids will cut back hours starting next week I see absolutely no reason for 24 hour access to any kind of shopping. Nothing but an inefficient distribution of resources.

—Tania D. This really sucks. I enjoy late night shopping at Hy-Vee, it’s convenient and fast when there’s no crowds. Usually one of the people stocking the shelves will get called up to help check and it’s not a big deal, not too disruptive. They should keep them 24 hrs.

—Mike T. Q&A with Audra Yokley, intimacy choreographer for the stage

IOWA CITY EASTSIDE

This was a cool article! (I learned that there are people who choreograph intimate scenes in theater!): also something that everyone can takeaway: “Easily the idea of enthusiastic consent. That is relevant for our daily lives.” —Maria H.

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819 S. 1ST AVENUE, IOWA CITY 12 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

L E F LA

A F E TH

T N I JO

ree t S n in L .

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ity C a t, Iow

COMMUNITY

The Rise of Royceann Her journey from Iowa newcomer to local leader was paved in blood, sweat and social justice.

BY PAUL BRENNAN

F

our days before the Iowa Caucus, Johnson County Supervisor Royceann Porter got a phone call from Pete Buttigieg.

“This was the first time I’d heard from him in the whole 14 months of the campaign,” Porter said. “He said, ‘Do you think I could persuade you to come over to my team?’”

Porter had endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president earlier that week.

“I said, ‘No sir,’” she recalled, laughing.

It’s no surprise Buttigieg would call Porter.

He’s been trying to prove he can win over voters of color, and Porter made history in 2018 when she became the first black person elected to countywide office in Johnson County. And long before her election victory, Porter had a reputation as a leading social justice activist, someone people of color and others who felt unrepresented could turn to for help and advice.

Porter had started caucus season as a staunch supporter of Sen. Cory Booker, who had endorsed her when she was running for the Board of Supervisors. Despite her commitment to Booker, when Sen. Kamala Harris held her first town hall in Iowa City, Harris chose Porter to be its moderator. When Booker dropped out of the race in January, several campaigns tried to earn her endorsement before she chose Warren.

The results of the 2020 Iowa Caucus may have been muddled, but they did show one thing clearly: Royceann Porter has come a long way from when she moved to Iowa three decades ago to take a job at a slaughterhouse.

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•

“I was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan,” Porter said. “I grew up in the projects. To me, it was a wonderful childhood.”

But like a lot of cities, Saginaw saw a large influx of drugs in the 1980s, along with an increase in violence and other related problems.

“I just didn’t want to be there anymore,” Porter said.

14 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

Zak Neumann / Little Village

In 1989, she went to an IBP job fair. IBP— Iowa Beef Processors—was a meatpacking company, the largest beef packer and the second-largest pork processor in the country. (In 2001, it was purchased by Tyson Foods.) The company was in Michigan recruiting workers for its pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa.

“At that time minimum wage was $3.35 an hour, and they were paying $6 an hour,” Porter recalled. IBP was also offering to arrange housing for workers.

“They were telling us a lot of good stuff

about living down here in Iowa,” Porter said.

“So, a bunch of us packed up like the Beverly Hillbillies and came on down to Washington County.”

There was an immediate culture shock.

Rural Iowa was very different than Saginaw, or any other place she’d spent time. There was also immediate disappointment.

The housing was a shared mobile home in a trailer court in Washington. The company was charging an exorbitant rent, and that rent was automatically deducted from an employee’s paycheck.

LittleVillageMag.com

But the worst part was the job.

It’s difficult to imagine Royceann Porter at IBP. She’s vivacious, a presence in every room she enters. Porter laughs easily and often, but quickly turns serious when the occasion calls for it. She always seems busy, so it’s hard to picture her standing in one place hour after hour, as hogs are dismembered.

“I started on the kill floor,” Porter said. Her job was cutting connective tissue from hearts and kidneys. “It was so bloody. After the third day, I couldn’t even do it. It was making me sick to my stomach.”

She was moved to a less bloody area of the kill floor, where workers trimmed pig ears.

But the smell of blood was still too much. So she was transferred to the cold floor, where hams were packaged. It wasn’t much better.

Porter quit IBP after 33 days. If she stuck it out for 35 days, IBP promised to pay her travel expenses back to Michigan, but Porter had decided to stay in Iowa anyway. She found a new job and a new place to live, both of which were big improvements. But one good thing did come of her time at the pork processing plant.

“I met my husband at IBP,” Porter recalled, with a big smile. Michael Porter worked next to her during her brief time trimming ears.

“We’ve been together ever since.”

Royceann White and Michael Porter married in 1992. They have two daughters, Antonia and Staci, both of whom are now in their 20s.

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•

The same year they got married, the Porters moved to Iowa City. At first, both worked at an auto parts factory, but Royceann eventually quit to spend more time at home with their daughters.

It was during this time she first engaged in community activism.

“I got involved because of what I saw at South East Junior High, where my daughter went to school,” Porter said. “I noticed that kids who were moving here from Chicago were getting into fights, and I noticed how the school was calling the police on those kids.”

She thought a lot of the problems stemmed from a cultural gap between teachers and administrators who didn’t understand the backgrounds and experiences of kids who were having a hard time adjusting to a new and very different city. Porter was sure there were ways to bridge the gap that would prevent problems from reaching the point where

for businesses and personal homes, pop-up shows and public art events blackearthgallery.com @black_earth_gallery blackearthgallery@gmail.com If art isn’t important, then why does it have so much power?

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 15

COMMUNITY the police were called.

“I started a parents group, because we didn’t want these kids to be part of the pipeline to prison,” she explained.

Over the years, the scope of her activism has widened. She’s worked on such issues as improving access to mental health services, expanding affordable housing, promoting workers’ rights and trying to help newly arrived people of color adjust to life in

Long before her election victory, Porter had a reputation as a leading social justice activist, someone people of color and others who felt unrepresented could turn to for help and advice.

Porter, originally a Cory Booker supporter, endorsed Elizabeth Warren after Booker left the race in January. Zak Neumann / Little Village

Royceann Porter’s Fried Chicken

“F

Iowa. The jobs she’s held have also reflected her interests in social justice and community engagement. Porter’s been a juvenile court liaison and a caseworker for Shelter House; she’s run community outreach programs for the Salvation Army and organized workers for the Teamsters.

But Porter is best known in Iowa City for her work on issues regarding treatment of people of color by police and the justice system. She’s been a leader on the Coalition for Racial Justice, co-founded the Black Voices Project and served on the Iowa City

• Wash that chicken off really good.

CULINARY EVENT! Black Voices Project’s

• Sprinkle with salt, pepper, seasoning salt and

Annual Soul Food Dinner, Robert A. Lee

a little Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.

Recreation Center, Friday, Feb. 28, 6-9 p.m.

• Rub it in so it’s all over the chicken.

• Put your oil in the pan, and let it get hot. While it’s getting hot, you put the chicken you sea-

ood will bring people out.” These are

soned in flour. Just flour.

words Royceann Porter lives by. She has

• Shake the flour off, and

Porter’s fried chicken, mac and cheese and much more will be on offer at the Black Voices Project’s

been using food to attract folks to communi-

put the chicken in the oil. (I

ty events for years, cooking classic soul food

like to put the top on my pan,

dishes using recipes and techniques she learned

because it keeps the chicken

watching her mother in the kitchen, including

juicy.)

fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, fried cab-

• Let the chicken cook for approxi-

launched a GoFundMe page, collecting con-

bage, green beans and corn.

mately five minutes, then turn it over and put

tributions to help cover expenses.) This year’s

the cover back on the pan and cook for anoth-

dinner will also honor longtime community

and cheese, but it’s a recipe she doesn’t share.

er five minutes. After that, I take the top off—

activist Charlie Eastham, one of the co-found-

“I can’t give up the macaroni,” she told Little

now I want it to get crispy.

ers of the Black Voices Project.

Village, shaking her head and laughing. “That’s

• Flip the chicken, let it cook for a couple of

sacred.” But she was willing to divulge how she

minutes. Then flip it again, and let the other

er in fellowship,” Porter said. “And to help cel-

prepares her no-batter fried chicken.

side cook for a couple of minutes.

ebrate Black History Month.”

Porter is especially well-known for her mac

16 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

annual soul food dinner, Friday, Feb. 28 at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center in Iowa City. The dinner is free and open to the public. (Porter has

“This is just to bring the community togeth-

LittleVillageMag.com

Community Police Review Board (CPRB), as well as the Johnson County Disproportionate Minority Contact Committee and the Juvenile Justice Youth Development Policy Board.

“She is a very driven person, especially on equity issues,” Iowa City Chief of Police Jody Matherly told Little Village. “She’s not afraid to get out front and say something is wrong and we need to fix it.”

“But she doesn’t just complain, she also brings ideas for solutions. I find that admirable.”

“And this is not just with me and my agency,” continued Matherly, who’s been in Iowa City since 2017. “I’ve seen her help others to come up with ideas to fix problems.”

He added, “She’s got a big heart.”

Porter’s relations with the ICPD, however, haven’t always been this good.

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•

In 2011, Porter held a birthday party at the Saddlebrook Clubhouse for her youngest daughter, who was turning 17.

“We probably had 75 or 80 kids come to the party,” Porter recalled. “A fight broke out between Cedar Rapids kids and Iowa City kids.”

It was a big fight. Porter called the police, but by the time they arrived—according to a Daily Iowan report, 12 officers responded— most of the kids involved in the fight were gone.

“It ended up being total chaos. We cleaned things up and went home. That was Saturday night.”

On Tuesday morning, Porter was stunned to learn she had been charged with “keeping a disorderly house,” a simple misdemeanor, because of the party.

Porter was confused because she had working relationships with many police officers—she was serving on the CPRB at the time, and working as a juvenile court liaison—and none of them had let her know there was a problem.

Porter remains convinced that then-Iowa City Chief of Police Sam Hargadine wanted her charged as payback for her criticisms of the department, even though Hargadine denied the allegation.

Rather than pay the $100 fine for a disorderly house violation, Porter went to court.

She won the case, but ended up losing her job as a juvenile court liaison as a result of the

Cont. >> on pg. 36

COMMUNITY En Español

En bordado cultural Un matrimonio improbable entre un hombre Mexicano Americano y una mujer hindú.

POR JOSE MIRANDA

F

ueron muchos y en varias ocasiones los que me dijeron que casarme con una mujer Hydro era cosa imposible. Mas fácil sería ser aceptado en la Universidad de Harvard.

Más fácil lanzarme como astronauta y rascar la faz de la luna. Sí, mucho más fácil sería hacer semejante cosa que casarme con una mujer Hydro. ¿Y qué es una Hydro? En pocas palabras, es apodo para una persona de la ciudad Hyderabad, India. Un apodo para aquellas personas de familias tradicionales en las cuales arreglan bodas y no creen en matrimonio por amor. Un apodo para aquellas mujeres que solo se casan con personas desi, musulmanes, y que son hablantes del lenguaje urdu. Y un apodo para decirle a un hombre Mexicano Americano, criado cristiano, sin ningún conocimiento y práctica del subcontinente indio, y sin caravana de tesoros siguiéndome, que tal anhelo era algo imposible.

Ya subiendo las escaleras del escenario, en lo que marca el primer día de nuestras fiestas de boda, recuerdo todas estas advertencias.

Presiento sus miradas fijas, fuertes, y curiosas, ese mar de caras que me estudian a cada paso que doy, y me ajusto la turbina y el sherwani para entonces voltear a verlos.

Enfrentó a la familia de mi esposa Hydro.

Algunos han escuchado de mí y algunos han conjurado todo lo malo que han visto en las películas para llegar a cierta conclusión de quién soy yo. Pero aquí estoy, en pleno desafío, después de laborar tanto para entender los detallitos y las grandes verdades de su cultura—aprendiendo y absorbiendo lo más posible para que la vida de mi amada no sea tan difícil y su gente no le dé la espalda.

Al fin, las puertas de la sala de recepción se abren, y me entregan a mi esposa. Llega majestuosa en su palanquín resguardado por sus hermanos, primos, y tíos. Los mismos que algún día fueron barrera para nuestra unión y ahora son sus pilares. Ella sonríe y luce hermosa en su lehenga rojo con bordado dorado, mientras su bello rostro resplandece con joyas de oro y una dupatta que adorna

18 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

Jordan Sellergren / Little Village

su pelo. Una explosión de henna pinta sus manos y palmas con tradición y sentimiento.

Sus ojos grandes y oscuros me buscan, con pupilas que destellan, como para confirmar que esto no es solo un sueño, una aurora que ha de esfumarse.

Mi dulhan, mi novia, llega al escenario y me extiende su mano para que la reciba. Un gesto romántico en cualquier boda, y aún más extraordinario para nosotros. Si supieran nuestros invitados cuantas batallas culturales han estallado y cuantos valores forjados en dos continentes tuvieron que ser sumados en pocas palabras o en un suspiro. Si supieran que detrás de toda esta celebración se ha jugado un ajedrez con trocitos de corazón en cada jaque. Si supieran que ya son varias las capas de mi identidad que se suman al esfuerzo. Si supieran que ha tomado ya una década para llegar al presente.

Cultural Embroidery An unlikely marriage between a Mexican-American man and an Indian woman. WRITTEN AND TRANSLATED BY JOSE MIRANDA

I

was told, numerous times, that to marry a Hydro girl was impossible.

Easier to get into Harvard. Easier to become an astronaut and grace the face of the moon. Hydro, short for a person from Hyderabad, India; short for a lady from a traditional family that arranges marriages, whose folks don’t believe in love marriages; short for women who only marry their own desi; Muslim, Urdu-speaking, Hydros.

Short-hand for an impossible aspiration for a Mexican-American man raised Protestant,

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without a lick of Urdu, lacking a caravan of wealth and sponsors behind him.

Ascending the steps up the stage on our first day of marriage, the admonitions echo from memory. I can sense their eyes scanning me as I affix my stole and sherwani and balance my turban. I face my audience, a teeming sea of stern, curious faces behind me: My Hydro bride’s family. Some have heard of me, some have pieced together bits amalgamated from Hollywood movies to draw conclusions of the stranger, the outsider, marrying into the family. But here I stand before them, having done everything as culturally respectful as possible, digging deep into the culture to grasp its deeper truths—seeking to absorb their values and philosophy into my own and hoping to garner support and mitigate opposition to save my bride from being shunned by family and community.

The back doors to the reception hall open, and my bride is brought atop a palanquin, carried by her brothers, cousins and uncles.

All the people who once seemed to stand firmly against this union, now our pillars.

She beams brightly in her red and gold ornate lehenga, her lustrous big eyes and her lovely face accentuated by the traditional gold jewelry and the dupatta crowning her head. Lavish henna runs up her hands like an explosion of sentiment. Her eyes connect with my own and we try to ascertain that this is in fact real, that this far-fetched moment is coming to fruition.

My dulhan is brought to the stage and I stretch my hand to hers. A most romantic and iconic moment in any wedding, and for us even more extraordinary. If our guests only knew how many careful cross-cultural battles had to be waged, how many beliefs forged on different continents and over millennia had to be harmonized into few non-inflammatory words; if they could only appreciate the deliberate, emotional chess board constantly flaring in the background; if they only knew how many layers of my identity had to be erased or repackaged to not offend sensibilities. I wonder what our guests would say if they knew it took a decade to allow this moment to happen.

Jose Miranda is a doctoral student at the University of Iowa, pursuing a degree in teaching and learning: language, literacy and culture. He works for the Belin Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development. Jose hails from Chicago, Illinois.

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BREAD & BUTTER

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LV Recommends:

Vivian’s Soul Food 2925 Williams Pkwy SW, Cedar Rapids, 319-396-2229 vivianssoulfoodcr.com

I

n honor of Galentine’s Day, and to cheer us up in the face of bitter cold temperatures, my daughter Isabelle and I headed to Vivian’s Soul Food for dinner. I had been once before, at their original location on 16th Ave SW in Cedar Rapids, for a Bernie Sanders event; I was impressed with the amazing food and the warmth and attentiveness of their staff, so I was excited to check out their new space and expanded menu.

Spouses Jerome and Brianna Smallwood opened Vivian’s in 2017 to showcase classic soul food and fill a void they saw in the Cedar Rapids restaurant scene. The business is named after Jerome’s mother, who taught him how to cook. The restaurant has been so successful that after less than three years in business, they needed bigger digs.

The new and improved Vivian’s is housed in a building that once held a Zio Johno’s.

The first thing I noticed on entering was the vibrant and welcoming décor featuring bold wall colors and furniture to match. The owners’ love of music is evident everywhere you look, from the floor-to-ceiling paintings of black musicians to a guitar mounted on the wall to a playlist of R&B, soul and rap songs spanning five decades—including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, James Brown and the Temptations— soundtracking your meal. The space is also much larger than the old one, with more than double the amount of seating.

We were greeted by a friendly hostess and seated opposite a large portrait of an Afroed soul singer. The server who helped us was attentive, friendly and, thinking I was underage, offered me a drink from their selection of Coke products, which immediately improved my day.

In addition to more space and a new look, Vivian’s now features a full bar serving cocktails and beer. After scrutinizing my ID, our server let me order an old fashioned, which was delicious and warming. They’ve also expanded their menu, adding appetizers and a number of new dishes to their selection of daily dinner specials. Prices range from

20 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

Jordan Sellergren / Little Village

$5-14 for appetizers and the dinner options range from $13-24. Most include two side dishes and a cornbread muffin.

It was hard to choose with so many delicious-sounding options, but Izzy settled on Jayanni’s Favorite Shrimp with candied yams and macaroni and cheese and I chose the fried chicken, candied yams and collard greens.

Our food arrived quickly and looked so amazing, I couldn’t wait to dive in. As a person who doesn’t like the things on my plate to touch each other, I appreciated that the side dishes were served in ramekins that sat on the plate with the main entrée. My fried chicken was crispy and perfectly cooked on the inside, and the greens were tender and delicately spicy. I don’t know what they put on their candied yams, but I have been staunchly against sweet yam dishes for years and Vivian’s has forced me to reconsider my opinion.

In the name of thoroughness, I tried Izzy’s food, too. The shrimp was tender and savory and the mac and cheese was so good I ended up ordering some for myself. The portions are generous; Izzy rose to the occasion and

Owners Jerome and Brianna Smallwood at Vivian’s original location, November 2019. Jav Ducker / Little Village

finished hers, but I took enough leftovers home to have a substantial lunch the following day. We also ordered desserts—peach cobbler for her and caramel cake for me—at $6 apiece. We took them home to eat in front of the TV, and in keeping with the rest of the meal, they were both excellent and large enough that we each had some left over to enjoy the next day.

The philosophy that underpinned the food and restaurant, Jeremy told me, involves fresh ingredients, keeping things simple and familiar—but above all, doing things the right way.

“I’m about not cutting corners,” he said.

“There might be an easier way, or a faster way, but that isn’t always the right way.”

—Tiffani Green

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When you purchase a Reader Perk, you double your money at locally owned shops and restaurants, they get an affordable way to get the word out and Little Village gets a little support along the way!

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CULTURE

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Prairie Pop

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Iowa City’s New Orleans-style jazz group Dandelion Stompers are back for their annual Mardi Gras show. BY KEMBREW MCLEOD

D

on’t go to a Dandelion Stompers show expecting to just sit there and watch.

“Oh, man,” said Dandelion Stompers bandleader Chris Clark. “Dancers really make it a party. We work hard to interact with the audience when they’re sitting down and watching, but once they are up and dancing, it goes to a whole new level.”

After forming in 2014, this New Orleansstyle traditional jazz group has built up quite a following that can bust many a move— from the lindy hop and foxtrot to balboa and even a little country line dancing thrown into the mix.

Dandelion Stompers shows are participatory events, and their upcoming annual Mardi Gras show at the Mill on Feb. 25 will tear the roof off the sucker.

“From the beginning,” vocalist Katie Roche said, “we’ve been attracting swing dancers, and the dance floor is always packed—the sweatiest, most committed dancers.”

“They play swing music, and they’re pretty freaking good at it,” said Zach Beckman, who started listening to this style in 2018 when he was a senior in college, soon after he hooked up with a group of Cedar Rapids-based swing-dance enthusiasts named 5 Seasons Swing. “There’s always this interplay between the band’s energy and the dancers’ energy, particularly communicated through the breaks in the song and the overall feel of the music.”

“I love the energy at live shows, and at

Dandelion Stompers shows in particular,” added Tonia Walters, also from 5 Seasons Swing. “We want to dance to music we enjoy, played by musicians who love what they do.

You can tell they are enjoying themselves, and that feeds the dancers’ energies. It’s a bit of a symbiotic relationship.”

“SO MANY OF THE SONGS ARE ABOUT DRUGS AND SEX.”

It was like bees to honey. From the very beginning, a core group began following the Stompers from show to show (the band plays about 15 to 25 gigs a year). Think Deadheads, minus the visual markers of that particular milieu—no tie-dyes and noodle dancing.

Instead, you’re more likely to see sharpdressed folks doing the sailor step.

“When I go out, I really like to see a show.

I want a lot of sound and fun up there,” Clark said. “Seeing people time their moves to our song really creates a feedback loop that pushes us to take it up a notch.”

The Dandelion Stompers largely stick to jazz and blues music of the 1920s, with a few 1930s numbers thrown in and the occasional cover of a contemporary song done in a tradjazz style. They have, for instance, covered Dave Moore’s “Who Stole the Preacher’s Whiskey?,” whose subject matter fits right in with the other vintage tunes.

“Chris is very conscious of adhering to

Photo by Zak Nuemann

CULTURE

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playing songs of the era,” Roche said. “It’s bawdiness, dirty lyrics, turns of phrase and the language is so much fun. So many of the songs are about drugs and sex.”

Roche had been talking to Clark for years about wanting to sing jazz—to belt and let loose—as opposed to singing pretty with Awful Purdies and other groups. The two quickly realized that their mutual love of early jazz was an obvious jumping-off point.

“I started looking around for more interested folks,” Clark said, “and I really hit the jackpot with this band! All the horn players came from a jazz background, and the rhythm players were coming in from an oldtime and bluegrass background. It just worked out.”

The Dandelion Stompers’ original mixed-gender lineup included Roche on vocals and Clark on baritone sax—though he plays several instruments very well—along with Ira Greenstein on trombone, Katie Greenstein on trumpet, Suzanne Smith on clarinet, bassist Brandi Janssen, guitarist Marc Janssen and Jacob Yarrow on alto sax.

“Later on,” Clark said, “Devin van Holsteijn joined us on alto sax and Tim Crumley on trumpet and cornet and later percussion. I feel really lucky to play with this group of people.”

The band works from sheet music, which creates a basic map that lets the musicians explore, improvise and reinvent a song as they go. Chris Clark functions as a kind of conductor, organizing the live performance through a combination of hand signals, foot-pointing, eye contact and plain old shouting to signal when, for instance, someone takes a solo.

“So as long as you have the map, you can go exploring,” Roche added. “What I really enjoy about playing jazz is that you can’t be at the table and not be able to hang with the mystery of it, and go somewhere different. The happiest moment in any show is when we’re laughing at the surprise of where the song landed.”

Given all this, the Dandelion Stompers are ideal musical hosts for a Mardi Gras-themed event, timed for Fat Tuesday, the last big night of revelry before Lent. The best kind of revelry always includes loud, raucous music, and the Stompers are happy to oblige.

For the band’s sixth annual Mardi Gras show, the Mill has adapted its menu to echo the flavors of New Orleans. This food (and drink) will serve as fuel for the calorie-burning dancers, many of whom are connected to the University of Iowa Swing Dance Club, Balboa Club and 5 Seasons Swing—along with an assortment of ballroom dancers and people who just want to freestyle.

“The dancers are a very diverse range of people,” Roche said. “All kinds of ages and orientations, all sorts of people.”

“The local social dance scene is really strong right now,” Clark added, “and there are clubs in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and the Quad Cities. Folks who like dancing to live music will go out of their way to see a band they enjoy, and we are lucky enough to have become friends with some amazing dancers over the years.”

Most Dandelion Stompers shows end with the musicians applauding the dancers, for good reason.

“The sheer unadulterated joy of limbs moving, music blasting, pure expression and happiness—that’s why I do it,” said Zach Beckman.

“Because all these words boil down to this: Dancing makes me feel great. That’s really all there is to it.”

“At the end of the day,” Clark said, “what I have to do is play music I’m passionate about … while bringing some joy into the world. When I’m playing, dancing or even just listening to this stuff I am filled with joy.”

Kembrew McLeod is a fancy dancer.

MARCH 7, 8, 12

APRIL 4, 5, 9

MAY 2, 3, 7

JUNE 6, 7, 11

WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

THE MUPPET MOVIE

WALL-E

ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS

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A-List

‘Who I Am is Comedy’ Alyssa Limperis will bring her singular POV to Floodwater Comedy Festival.

BY GENEVIEVE TRAINOR

26 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

via the artist

A

lyssa Limperis frequently uses the word “joy” when she speaks of performing. That coincides, for her, with focus, presence and aliveness. “[It’s a] runner’s high, a feeling of no doubt, no pain, doing something that feels right, good and not doing anything else. That’s a rare feeling, with phones and everything else: to know I’m happy in this very moment.”

Limperis, a comedian on the in-house team at the Upright Citizens’ Brigade’s UCB Theatre in New York, headlines the latest installment of the Floodwater Comedy Festival on Feb. 29 at 8:30 p.m. at the Mill. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door.

Floodwater, which runs three days, kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 27. Tickets range from $5 for some individual shows to $55 for a full pass, and proceeds will go to CommUnity and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Johnson County chapter, partner organizations that fest organizers selected by polling the community.

Floodwater is a nonprofit organization (and James Gang member). It was started in 2015 to bring a diverse group of comedians to the Iowa City area as a way of expanding community and helping those in need.

Limperis owes her success largely to her viral video performances, which often feature caricatures festooned with wigs. In some of her most popular videos, she portrays her mother (who also films the videos), deadpanning lines like, “Once I put these coats on, that means we’re leaving within two hours.”

Limperis began her video shorts after her father died as a way to continue doing comedy before she felt ready to go back on stage.

In addition to improv and videos, Limperis hosts the UCB mental health-themed podcast Crazy; In Bed with May Wilkerson, who also directed her solo show, No Bad Days, which centers on her father’s struggle with terminal brain cancer.

“She’s my best friend, lives two doors down,” Limperis said of her close relationship with Wilkerson. “I don’t remember not knowing her.”

Alyssa Limperis, The Mill, Iowa City, Saturday, Feb. 29, 9 p.m., $12-15

Limperis found a unique sense of community among comedians, including Wilkerson.

And the art also provided a point of identity for her, something that led to what she called “a lightness about me.”

“Who I am is comedy. For a while, I couldn’t access it—you feel a little different, don’t know why. But I found comedy in college. An improv group [was] what I was missing. A room with comedians—that’s where I’m at peace. It was the key to the door to what all this is about [that] I wasn’t fully tuned into.”

These twined senses of identity and community make Limperis a natural comedian, allowing her to navigate serious issues with a sense of grace. She humanizes the exaggerated characters that populate her videos and sketches, endowing them with a dignity that solicits the viewer’s empathy.

“All of them have a sense of quiet desperation that they’re masking with something else—moving a lot, being enthusiastic or loud,” she said. “The main thing—they’re characteristics I see in others or myself that I heighten or play with. … It is nice when people can relate to it—you feel less alone and more part of the experience.”

The joy that she finds in performing is a welcome departure, she says, from her usual role as observer.

Floodwater Comedy Festival, Various locations, Iowa City, ThursdaySaturday, Feb. 27-29, $5-55.

“When I am just myself, I evaluate and stay in my head. There’s something freeing about being characters—they don’t exist, they’re not real. … I go in a wig and go big—then I go back to observing. I like having both things.”

The elements, Limperis said, “serve each other.”

The “observer” element gives Limperis’ characters a sense of groundedness and reality.

She credits growing up in a “big loud Greek family” for encouraging her to practice “observing more than adding” at parties.

“When I’m uncomfortable in situations or parties, [observing] takes some of the power back. … I can create art rather than dealing with the strangeness of it.”

Limperis stays grounded personally by finding her core sense of self through multiple characters and comedic formats.

“Knowing your voice is the big thing,” she said. “You want to be yourself. You still have to be yourself, your POV, how you see the world. ... You still see the same version of me,

Cont. >> on pg. 36

WHAT ARE WE DOING? STAFF PICKS: JAN. 22-FEB. 4, 2020

Upcoming Events: EVERY MONDAY - PARCHMENT LOUNGE - 6:30 PM free write session hosted by Iowa Writer's House

CEDAR RAPIDS/IOWA CITY

FEB 14

Cole "The Piano Man" Thomas

FEB 15

Bluetone Jazz Collective LIVE

FEB 16

Luke Hendrickson

FEB 21

Mike Maas & Carlis

FEB 22

Cedar County Cobras

FEB 28

Le Grand Sellegrini

FEB 29

Cole “The Piano Man” Thomas

MAR 6

The Tornadoes

8 PM 6 PM

8 PM 8 PM 8 PM 7 PM

8 PM 8 PM

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EVERY WEDNESDAY - ANDREW'S BAR EXAM - 7:00 PM

MONDAYS ARE HAPPY HOUR EVERY HOUR! SUNDAYS ARE 1/2 OFF ALL PIZZA ALL DAY! (319) 351-5692 • 405 S GILBERT ST, IOWA CITY

Current gallery exhibits open thru Mar 29

Harper & Lee Feb 28

THURSDAY, FEB. 20

23rd Annual DVIP Souper Bowl,

Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 5:30 p.m., $15-25

CSPS HALL 11 0 3 3RD ST S E C ED AR RAPIDS, IA 52401 (31 9) 364- 158 0

www.legionarts.org

The Domestic Violence Intervention Program in Iowa City, which served over 1900 survivors last year, once again presents its “all-you-care-to-eat” buffet of more than 40 donated soups from area restaurants, including the Dandy Lion, Trumpet Blossom and more. Musical phenom Kevin Burt once again performs. There’s nothing new here, folks—just an annual tradition to support a vital local institution, and in the process warm your bellies and your hearts.

Be there. —Genevieve Trainor

FRIDAY, FEB. 21

Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the Dream, First Presbyterian Church, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m., Freewill Donation The Quire of

John Primer & The Real Deal

Mar 1

Eastern Iowa, celebrating 25 years of music-making and community for LGBTQIA

singers, is offering two presentations of this 2017 narrative song cycle that celebrates Bayard Rustin, organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr and a largely behindthe-scenes architect of the Civil Rights movement. Rustin, who was gay, was posthumously pardoned earlier this month by California’s Governor Newsom for a 1953 “sex perversion” charge that netted him 60 days in jail. The Quire performs the piece for free in Iowa City on the 21st, followed by a fundraising event in Cedar Rapids on Feb. 29 at People’s Church Unitarian Universalist. Tickets for that event are $20 for the show only, $35 for the show plus dinner. —GT

SATURDAY, FEB. 22

‘Warrior Women’ screening w/ Madonna Thunder Hawk, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., Free-$15 Women of All Red Nations and

Black Hills Alliance co-founder Madonna Thunder Hawk is touring with the documentary made about her, offering remarks LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 27

WHAT ARE WE DOING? STAFF PICKS: JAN. 22-FEB. 4, 2020

CEDAR RAPIDS/IOWA CITY and leading a discussion afterward. Thunder Hawk, an Oohenumpa Lakota, has served as a delegate to the United Nations and is a tribal liaison to the Lakota People’s Law Project.

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

Stephanie Catlett + Band w/ Crystal City, Former LV staffer Stephanie Catlett surprised many of us when she released her first EP in December. I don’t think I’m the only one who had *no idea* Steph was a songwriter, let alone a damn good one. In particular, the song “Nothing But Fine” is super-honest, pared down, touching and performed beautifully on the EP with Sam Drella’s accompaniment on trumpet. Really something special, people! (Looking for something to do just ahead? I’m playing one block up Gilbert St. at the Sanctuary from 7-9.)

––Jordan Sellergren

SATURDAY, FEB. 29

UAY PrideCon 2020,

Tate High School, Iowa City, 10 a.m., Free (registration required) Count on United Action for Youth

IOWA CITY OLD TRAIN DEPOT

to hold the kind of events that I wish were available when I was a kid. LGBTQ youth will gather at Tate High School (2200 E

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623 S. Dubuque St. / (319) 855-1474 28 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

Marilyn Stringer

Becca Sutlive, Trumpet Blossom Cafe, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $7

Court St) on Feb. 29 for UAY PrideCon, an all-day event with workshops focused on astrology and identity (by Ash Gravity), “becoming and being who you want to be,” (Sadie McDowell), spoken word (Hannah Trew), queer gaming, jewelry-making, LGBTQ athletes, coming out, healthy relationships and more. Local drag stars Roxie Mess, Hazel Sanchez, Ophelia Belle, Frankie D. Lover and the I.C. Kings will also perform during the day. Another awesome offering from UAY: ParentCon, a companion event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for parents of LGBTQ+ teens, featuring discussion groups, family resources and a doctor Q&A. Registration for both cons can

OPEN 11-2AM DAILY

TRY OUR BREADED TENDERLOIN! SERVING FOOD UNTIL 1AM DAILY

be found at unitedactionforyouth.org/pridecon. Oh, and did I mention there’ll be killer swag? —Emma McClatchey

SUNDAY, MARCH 1

John Primer & the Real Deal,

CSPS Legion Arts, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., $1721 John Primer is the definition of Chicago

blues. He’s been on that scene, shaping and defining it, since the early 1970s, and he’s still going strong. You do not want to miss this opportunity to watch a legend at work.

—GT

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM

CALENDAR EVENTS AROUND THE CRANDIC FEB. 19–MAR. 3, 2020

via the artist’s website

Planning an event? Submit event info to calendar@littlevillagemag. com. Include event name, date, time, venue, street address, admission price and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). To find more events, visit littlevillagemag.com/calendar.

Please check venue listing in case details have changed.

Wed., Feb. 19 Iowa City Open Coffee, Merge, Iowa City, 8 a.m., Free (Weekly) Burlington Street Bluegrass Band,

TUESDAY, MARCH 3

Emily Scott Robinson w/ Lily DeTaeye,

The Mill, Iowa City,

8 p.m., $10-14 It can be easy to stay home

rather than go to a singer-songwriter show.

Especially on a Tuesday—what with Netflix, Hulu, comfy pants, work the next day, etc.

Songwriter shows require silence, a certain amount of attention and a real desire to listen to the words. This is daunting when you don’t know who the artist is, but when a listening crowd connects with a songwriter, it can

be the most fulfilling concert experience.

For my money, Emily Scott Robinson is a great candidate to take a shot on. Her writing is modern and engaging, and it has a good sense of humor about it. These are well-crafted stories that sound like they could be on the radio if they, perhaps, weren’t quite so good. (Sick radio burn, Brian. Thanks!). She fits in right alongside modern country-ish female songwriters like Kacey Musgraves, and she certainly deserves to be in that conversation. Joined by breakout Iowa songwriter Lily DeTaeye, The Mill offers plenty of reasons to leave the remote at home on this Tuesday.

—Brian Johannesen

The Mill, Iowa City, 6 p.m., $5 (2nd & 4th Wednesdays) DJ Workshop w/ Matt Rissi, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., Free Reading: Brandon Taylor, ‘Real Life,’ Prairie Lights, Iowa City, 7 p.m., Free Talk Art, The Mill, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m., Free (Weekly) Open Mic Night, Penguin’s Comedy Club, Cedar Rapids, 8 p.m., Free (Weekly) Brother Moses w/ Stay Outside, The BeSides, Gabe’s, Iowa City, 8:30 p.m., $8 Karaoke with Vidal, Moco Game Room & Hot Dog Bar, Cedar Rapids, 9 p.m., Free (Weekly) Underground Karaoke with Spencer, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 9 p.m., Free (Weekly) Open Stage, Studio 13, Iowa City, 10 p.m., Free (Weekly) Late Shift at the Grindhouse, FilmScene—

THERE’S EVEN MORE

Chauncey, Iowa City, 10 p.m., $4 (Weekly)

Thu., Feb. 20 I.C. Press Co-op open shop, Public Space One, Iowa City, 4 p.m., Free (Weekly) Therapy Thursday, NewBo City Market, 5:30 p.m., Free (Weekly) The Domestic Violence Intervention

Use the Little Village app to discover events, invite friends and add plans to your calendar. LittleVillageMag.com/app

Program’s 23rd Annual ‘Souper Bowl,’ Coralville Marriott Hotel, Coralville, 5:30 p.m., $15-25 From Anxiety to Action: Recognizing & Releasing Limiting Beliefs, Zukin’s Professional Services Office, Iowa City, 6 p.m., Free LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 29

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Transform Your Life, Quaker Friends Meeting House, Iowa City, 6:30 p.m., $5-10 (Weekly) Line Dancing and Lessons, Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon, Iowa City, 6:30 p.m., Free (Weekly) Novel Conversations, Coralville Public Library, 7 p.m., Free (3rd Thursday) Thursday Night Live Open Mic, Uptown Bill’s, Iowa City, 7 p.m., Free (Weekly) Daddy-O, Parlor City Pub and Eatery, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., Free (Weekly) Reading: Mitchell S. Jackson, ‘Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family,’ Prairie Lights, Iowa City, 7 p.m., Free Live Jazz, Clinton Street Social Club, Iowa City, 8 p.m., Free (1st & 3rd Thursdays) Karaoke Thursday, Studio 13, Iowa City, 8 p.m., Free (Weekly) Vinyl Swap, Moco Game Room & Hot Dog Bar, Cedar Rapids, 9 p.m., Free (Weekly) Kris Lager Band, Gabe’s, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $10 DJ Loomer Thirsty Thursday Dance Party, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 10 p.m., Free (Weekly)

Fri., Feb. 21 NewBo City Market Blood Drive, NewBo City Market, Cedar Rapids, 10 a.m., Free Iowa City Darwin Day, Various locations, Iowa City, 11 a.m., Free Reading: Dana R. Fisher, ‘American Resistance: From the Women’s March to the Blue Wave,’ Prairie Lights, Iowa City, 12 p.m., Free Friday Night Out, Ceramics Center, Cedar Rapids, 6:30 p.m., $40 (2nd Friday) Science on Screen: ‘The Fly,’ FilmScene— Ped Mall, Iowa City, 6:30 p.m., Free FAC Dance Party, The Union, Iowa City, 7 p.m. (Weekly) Regina High School: The Wizard of Oz, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, Coralville, 7 p.m., $12-22 (Opening night— through Feb. 23) Syed Umar Warsi, Amir Safi and Amal Kassir: An Evening of Spoken Word Poetry, Hancher—Strauss Hall, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m, $10-25 The Quire Presents: Bayard Rustin—The Man Behind the Dream, First Presbyterian Church, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m., Freewill Donation ‘Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,’ Rich Heritage of Cedar Rapids Theatre, Cedar Rapids, 7:30 p.m., $16-19 Adult Prom feat Plastic Relations, Big Grove Brewery, Iowa City, 8 p.m., Free

QUAD CITIES Preservation 101, Davenport Public Library—Fairmount Branch, Davenport, Saturday, Feb. 22, 10 a.m., Free (Registration required) Join the

Iowa State University Extension and the Davenport Public Library for a course on food preservation. Learn how to make your food last longer and keep it safe to eat through a few different methods, like canning, dehydrating and freezing. Those who struggle with how to store extra garden produce and keep it fresh will find this course helpful.

—Paige Underwood

WAKE Presents: Truckfighters w/ Valley of the Sun, Daykeeper, Rock Island Brewing Company, Rock Island, Saturday, Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $18 It’s a guaranteed great night

when my favorite metal bar teams up with the eminent RIBCo; this time they bring us Swedish ambassadors of stoner doom Truckfighters with support from (relatively) local compatriots Daykeeper, Valley of the Sun and a secret third TBA! —Melanie Hanson

their unique drink menu and take advantage of a free Knudsen show! —MH

Alyssa Leicht

Iowa City Meditation Class: How To

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Anthony Worden and the Illiterati w/ Chrash, Dark Family, Rozz-Tox, Rock Island, Saturday, Feb. 29, 9 p.m., $5-10 sliding scale A couple weeks after releasing his

new album, Voilá, Anthony Worden and the Illiterati return to Rozz-Tox for a night of new wave nourishment. Worden’s new album touches on baroque pop, new wave, psychedelic and ’60s rock sounds. The night is rounded out with phantom rock trio Chrash and the neo-psychedelic swirling sounds of Dark Family. —PU

Opening Reception: Power Frauen Exhibit, German American Heritage Center, Davenport, Saturday, Feb. 29, 5:30 p.m., Free If you thought JoJo

Rabbit’s mom kicked ass, you can’t miss the opening of this exhibit: “Power Frauen: German Women Who Dared to Dream.” In honor of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment—which granted women the right to vote—celebrate strength in the face of adversity with an appropriate live soundtrack courtesy of local troubadour Liv Carrow. The Grape Life and Crane & Pelican will bring the wine and snacks. —MH

Lewis Knudsen, Bootleg Hill Honey Meads, Davenport, Saturday, Feb. 29, 7 p.m., Free

The natural Part Two of your Leap Night out is just a few blocks down 2nd Street from the GAHC: singer-songwriter Lewis Knudsen plays at this intimate venue for the first time.

East Downtown has an opening for small rooms since the Racoon Motel bit it, and Bootleg Hill looks ready to step in. Check out

via the artist

EDITORS’ PICKS

Kamasi Washington, The Rust Belt, East Moline, Tuesday, March 3, 8 p.m., $27-40 Kamasi Washington is a jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and an absolute genius.

Washington makes an awe-inspiring, lasting impression through home speakers, so fathoming exactly how special, moving and inspiring a live performance will be is almost unimaginable. Washington has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, Lauryn Hill, Snoop Dogg, Wayne Shorter and countless others. This is your chance to see a jazz legend in the making.

—PU

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 31

EDITORS’ PICKS Todd McComas, Penguin’s, Cedar Rapids, 8 p.m., $15-18 Mike Maas & Carlis, Sanctuary Pub, Iowa City, 8 p.m., Free The Plott Hounds w/ Drew Dixon, Wildwood Saloon & Smokehouse, Iowa City, 8 p.m., $10-20 Latin Night w/ FUZE, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $5-10 (Weekly) Manic Focus & Mersiv w/ Daily Bread, Gabe’s, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $18-20 Sad Iron Music w/ The Bernemann Brothers, The Mill, Iowa City, 9 .m., $7 rubbur w/ 6 Odd Rats, Trumpet Blossom, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $7 SoulShake, Gabe’s, Iowa City, 10 p.m., Free (Weekly) Citrus Sunday w/ Rosemark, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 10 p.m., $5 Sasha Belle Presents: Friday Night Drag & Dance Party, Studio 13, Iowa City, 10:30 p.m., $5 (Weekly)

Sat, Feb. 22 Iowa City Darwin Day, Various locations, Iowa City, 9:30 a.m., Free One Book Two Book, Hotel Vetro, Iowa City, 10 a.m., Free Simple Meal Planning with Alina Warner, CHC, New Pioneer Co-op, Cedar Rapids, 10 a.m., $15 Movin’ at the Museum: POUND, Nat’l Czech & Slovak Museum, Cedar Rapids, 10 a.m., Free Family Storytime, Iowa City Public Library, 10:30 a.m., Free (Weekly) I.C. Press Co-op Open Shop, Public Space One, Iowa City, 12 p.m., Free (Weekly) Reading: Carin Bondar, ‘Wild Moms,’ Prairie Lights, Iowa City, 3 p.m., Free CinéVino: ‘Somm,’ NewBo City Market, Cedar Rapids, 6 p.m., $10 Gathe Raho, Englert Theatre, Iowa City, 6:30 p.m., Free-$10

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Saturday, March 7, 2020 @ The Hearst Center, Cedar Falls // thehearst.org

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM ‘Warrior Women’ screening w/ Madonna Thunder Hawk, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., Free-$15 The Poor Poor Rich w/ Interstellar Cave Dweller, Iowa Brewing Company, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m.

Negin Farsad, Hancher—Hadley Stage, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m., $10-40 Disney in Concert, Paramount Theatre, Cedar Rapids, 7:30 p.m., $18-99 ‘Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,’ Rich Heritage of Cedar Rapids Theatre, Cedar Rapids, 7:30 p.m., $16-19 Todd McComas, Penguin’s, Cedar Rapids, 8 p.m., $15-18 Cedar County Cobras, Sanctuary Pub, Iowa City, 8 p.m., Free ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ The Mill, Iowa City, 8 p.m., $12 Jumbies w/ BYOBrass, DJ Modei, Wildwood Saloon & Smokehouse, Iowa City, 8 p.m., $10-20 Dead Emperors w/ 3 Finger Betty, Sleepover, ARM, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 8 p.m., $7-10 Elation Dance Party, Studio 13, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $5 (Weekly) Bijou After Hours: ‘Paper Moon,’ FilmScene— Chauncey, Iowa City, 10 p.m., $7

Sun., Feb. 23 Artifactory Presents: June Art In The

Julie Mehretu, Entropia (review), 2004. Lithograph and screenprint on Arches 88 paper Printed by Cole Rogers, assisted by Mia Keeler, Tyler Starr, Joanne Price, and Zac Adams. Published by Highpoint Editions and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

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Afternoon, The Center, Iowa City, 1 p.m., Free (3rd

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Sunday)

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One Book Two Book Write Out Loud, Macbride Auditorium, Iowa City, 1 p.m., Free Sunday Funday, Iowa City Public Library, Iowa City, 2 p.m., Free (Weekly)

JANUARY 24 – APRIL 5, 2020 For program information, visit grinnell.edu/museum

Hawkeye Wrestling Club Bash, Big Grove Brewery, Iowa City, 2 p.m., Free ‘Boeing Boeing,’ Giving Tree Theater, Marion, 2 p.m., $22-37 (Final performance)

Free admission and new hours!

‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,’

Sunday 1 – 5 p.m.; Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Theatre Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids, 2:30 p.m., $22-

Thursday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

45 (Final performance) Opening Reception: Chimney & other fragments, Prairie Lights Cafe, Iowa City, 4 p.m., Free Dope Day, The Mill, Iowa City, 7 p.m., Free

Mon., Feb. 24 Open Mic, The Mill, Iowa City, 7 p.m., Free (Weekly) Comedy Open Mic with Spencer & Dan, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 9 p.m., Free (Weekly) Say Anything Karaoke, Gabe’s, Iowa City, 10 p.m., Free (Weekly)

Tue., Feb. 25 Bijou Film Forum: ‘Roger & Me,’ FilmScene— Chauncey, 6 p.m., $7

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EDITORS’ PICKS Fat Tuesday with The Dandelion

Floodwater: Big Grove Comedy

Stompers, The Mill, Iowa City, 6

Rave, Big Grove Brewery, Iowa City,

p.m., $12-15

9:30 p.m., $5-7

Open Mic, Moco Game Room & Hot Dog Bar, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., Free

Fri., Feb. 28

(Weekly)

NewBo Open Coffee, Roasters

Blues Jam, Parlor City Pub and

Coffeehouse in NewBo City Market,

Eatery, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., Free

Cedar Rapids, 8 a.m., Free (2nd & 4th

(Weekly)

Fridays)

Weekly Old-Timey Jam Sessions,

Gamicon Copper, Marriott Hotel,

Trumpet Blossom Cafe, Iowa City,

Cedar Rapids, Free-$60 (through

7:30 p.m., Free (Weekly)

March 1)

Front Bar Karaoke, The Mill, Iowa

Floodwater: Below Deck, Yacht

City, 9 p.m., Free (Weekly)

Club, Iowa City, 5 p.m., $5-7

Karaoke with Vidal, Moco Game

Iowa Children’s Museum

Room & Hot Dog Bar, Cedar Rapids, 9

Celebrate Play Gala, Coralville

p.m., Free (Weekly)

Marriott Hotel & Conference Center,

Dance Party with DJ Jamaican

5:30 p.m., $100

Daddy, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 9 p.m.,

Floodwater: Improv Typhoon,

Free (Weekly)

Treehouse, Iowa City, 6:30 p.m., $5-7

Comedy & Karaoke, Studio 13,

Floodwater: Captain Gabe’s

Iowa City, 9 p.m., Free (Weekly)

Comedy Hour, Gabe’s, Iowa City,

Wed., Feb. 26

6:45 p.m., $5-7

Burlington Street Bluegrass

City, 7:30 p.m., $10-30 (Opening

Band, The Mill, Iowa City, 6 p.m., $5

night—through Mar. 15)

(2nd & 4th Wednesdays)

Harper & Lee, CSPS Hall, Cedar

Thu., Feb. 27

Rapids, 8 p.m., $7-11

State of the Schools, Englert

Cedar Rapids, 8 p.m., $37.50-55

Theatre, Iowa City, 7:30 a.m., Free

Darren Carter w/ Tom E

FRI 02.28 Floodwater Comedy Festival Presents: Kristen Toomey

100+ Men PhilanthroParty &

Thompson, Penguin’s, Cedar Rapids,

Giving Event, Big Grove Brewery,

8 p.m., $15-18

Iowa City, 5:30 p.m., Free

Le Grand Sellegrini (Jordan

‘Mosquita y Mari,’ FilmScene—

Sellergren), Sanctuary Pub, Iowa

FRI 02.28 Floodwater Comedy Festival Showcase

Chauncey, Iowa City, 5:30 p.m., Free

City, 8 p.m., Free

Heritage Caretakers of Moravia

Clapton & Bowie Tribute,

Exhibit Opening, Nat’l Czech &

Wildwood Saloon & Smokehouse, Iowa

Slovak Museum, Cedar Rapids, 5:30

City,, 8 p.m., $10-20

p.m., Free

Floodwater: Kristen Toomey, The

Farm To Table Dinner, Indian

Mill, Iowa City, 8:30 p.m., $12-15

Creek Nature Center, Cedar Rapids, 6

Anthony Worden & the Illiterati

p.m., $100

Album Release Party w/ Jack

Floodwater: Ian Abramson &

Lion, Purple Frank, Gabe’s, Iowa City,

Zach Peterson, Big Grove Brewery,

9 p.m., $8

Iowa City, 7 p.m., $7-10

Stephanie Catlett + Band w/

Floodwater: Magic & Medicine,

Crystal City, Becca Sutlive,

Treehouse, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m.,

Trumpet Blossom, Iowa City, 9p.m.,

$5-7

$7

The Get Up Kids, Gabe’s, Iowa City,

Floodwater: Late Night

8 p.m., $20-24

Showcase, The Mill, Iowa City, 11

Aaron Watson, Wildwood Saloon &

p.m., $5

Smokehouse, Iowa City, 8 p.m., $25 I.C. Kings “Awkward Love,”

Sat., Feb. 29

Studio 13, Iowa City, 9:30 p.m., $5

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SAT 02.29 Floodwater Comedy Festival Presents: Alyssa Limperis MON 03.02 Open Mic with J. Knight TUE 03.03 Emily Scott Robinson w. Lily DeTaeye

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>> Cont. from pg. 17

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incident. Porter filed a complaint with the CPRB over the police department’s behavior in the case. In response, Chief Hargadine reviewed his department’s conduct. He found no wrong-doing. The CPRB, with Porter abstaining, voted unanimously to accept the chief’s report.

Porter said she found the whole episode incredibly stressful, but didn’t let it discourage her. Temporarily unemployed, she started taking classes at Kirkwood Community College, which eventually led to a degree in social work.

Troubled by the behavior of the police and the CPRB, she helped found the Coalition for Racial Justice. Porter also started thinking about becoming more directly involved in politics.

In 2013, she ran for Iowa City Council and lost. In October 2018, when Johnson County Supervisor Kurt Friese died, Porter was working for the social justice arm of Teamsters Local 238. Porter said it was Jesse Case, the union’s secretary-treasurer and principal officer, who first encouraged her to run in the special election for Friese’s seat.

“I never really thought about how nobody black had won countywide before, until people started telling me I’d be the first,” Porter said. “So I thought, that just means I’ve got to fight a little harder.”

She easily scored the Democratic Party nomination, and won the special election with 56 percent of the vote.

Even as a supervisor, she’s still involved in activism through the Black Voices Project. And she’s still focused on school issues: she’s the Board of Supervisors’ liaison to the Iowa City Community School District.

Asked about her biggest accomplishment, Porter didn’t know what to say. But after giving the question some thought, she replied, “If I’ve made a difference in one person’s life, then I’ve done OK.”

just with different parts heightened. … It is a long journey to really knowing who you are.

But the more you [perform], the more you get closer to who you are. … My goal in life is to get closer and closer to that. It’ll never be done.”

That search for self-awareness finds its way into her more traditional comedy, too. “Have kids and start a family? Wish I could but I’m far too busy staring at my phone,” she jokes on Twitter. “’GYM, TAN, LAUNDRY’ - me making a list of things I refuse to do,” reads another tweet.

The balance between identity and community, introspection and observation, imbues her comedy with both sensibility and joy. This, combined with her goal of connecting to audiences, will undoubtedly continue to net her success in the world of comedy.

“The main thing I’ve noticed—whether writing about grief or a lunatic talking about Bud Light from Boston (but they’re both based in reality and realness) ... As long as you’re tapping into something real, that’s what people want. We don’t want to feel alone,” Limperis said. “People gravitate toward what is honest.”

But she also acknowledges that her time spent as caregiver for her father helped her appreciate the other attribute of comedy: the appeal of laughter when honesty becomes difficult.

“It was a deeply dark experience, every single day. In that realm, the honesty is too much—it is watching the person you love fall apart. The escape is a laugh with a friend. …

[Comedy] can be an escape or an honest reaction to reality.”

Fortunately, Limperis’s work has a maturity that resonates with people looking for either quality of comedy. She’s really funny.

Limperis is looking forward to Floodwater, her first time in Iowa City, noting that festivals offer “a nice communal feeling.”

“It’s like summer camp for adults,” she said.

Ultimately, Limperis states, “Comedy is better with friends. Collaborative work is more likely to be joyful.”

Paul Brennan is Little Village’s news director.

36 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279

Daniel Boscaljon is an agnostic theologian and experimental humanist with an interest in art, community and joy. To learn about his life or to access his work, please visit danielboscaljon.com. His next public presentation will be on March 11 at 12:30 p.m., discussing “the end of religion” as part of the Art at the End of the World series.

EDITORS’ PICKS ‘Have You Seen My Movie?’ FilmScene— Chauncey, 12 p.m., 3 p.m. & 6 p.m., Free Floodwater: Student Showcase, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 12 p.m., $5-7

WHAT ARE WE DOING? LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/CALENDAR

DES MOINES JANUARY 8-21, 2020

Floodwater: Let’s Do This!, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 4:30 p.m., $5-7 Floodwater: Singing in the Rain: A Musical Comedy Hour, The Mill, Iowa City, 5:45 p.m., $5-7 Chinese New Year Gala, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, Coralville, 6 p.m., $6-10 The Quire Presents: Bayard Rustin—The Man Behind the Dream Dinner Fundraiser, Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist, Iowa City, 6 p.m., $20-35 Floodwater: H2O Show, Eden, Iowa City, 6:30 p.m., $5-7 White Light Exposure

The Actors’ Gang: ‘New Colossus,’ Hancher— Hadley Stage, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m., $10-20 ‘Million Dollar Quartet,’ Paramount Theatre, Cedar Rapids, 8 p.m., $53-78 Darren Carter w/ Tom E Thompson, Penguin’s, Cedar Rapids, 8 p.m., $15-18 Cole “The Piano Man” Thomas, Sanctuary Pub, Iowa City, 8 p.m., Free Floodwater: Alyssa Limperis, The Mill, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $12-15 Dustin Olson w/ Tanner Scheckel, Yacht Club, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $7-10 Bijou After Hours: ‘True Stories,’ FilmScene— Chauncey, Iowa City, 10 p.m., $7 Floodwater: Wet N’ Wild Improv Show, Treehouse, Iowa City, 10:30 p.m., $5-7

Sun., Mar. 1 SaPaDaPaSo Irish Hooley Fundraiser 2020, Veterans Memorial Building, Cedar Rapids, 1 p.m., $2-5 John Primer & the Real Deal, CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, 7 p.m., $17-21

Mon., Mar. 2 Read Across America: Green Eggs and Ham, Hiawatha Public Library, 4:15 p.m., Free

Tue., Mar. 3 The Maid Narratives: Celebration for Women’s History Month w/ Katherine van Wormer, Iowa City Public Library, 3:30 p.m., Free University Lecture Committee: Adam Braun, Englert Theatre, Iowa City, 7:30 p.m., Free Emily Scott Robinson w/ Lily DeTaeye, The Mill, Iowa City, 8 p.m., $10-14 Blunts & Blondes w/ SubDocta, bawldy, Gabe’s, Iowa City, 9 p.m., $20-79

Buzzed History, xBk Live, Feb. 19, 6:30 p.m., Free After a brief hiatus

Mardi Gras, Noce, Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $30 I finally made it to New

and a change of venue to xBk Live, Buzzed History has returned! It borrows its format heavily from the popular web/Comedy Central show Drunk History, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Hosted

by Madison Ray, this month’s edition will feature historical retellings from local history professionals and amateurs alike, rehashing the details of stories related to the show’s theme: “Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History.” So check your expectations of accuracy at the door and prepare yourself for some liquored-up historical facts.

Orleans last year. My sister, brother and I struggled to navigate a large, red Ford F-150 truck through the crowded, bustling streets of the French Quarter. And that was in November, during the off-season. I can’t imagine the mess of beads and debauchery during Mardi Gras. In lieu of the real thing, Noce is throwing a big party with the NOLA Jazz Band to celebrate the holiday. Admission gets you access to a huge spread of Southern comfort food, tarot readings by Mia Farrell, king cake and plenty of Big Easy hospitality to bring in the Lenten season.

Star Parks w/ Zap Tura, Ananya, Vaudeville Mews, Feb. 20, 6:30 p.m., $7 Star Parks’ debut

Backstage Ball, Noce, Feb. 29, 6:30 p.m., $50-180 Every year, the

album, Don’t Dwell, was released via Paper Trail Records in 2016. It was lauded at the time as a chamber pop masterpiece, but I’ve never really thought that genre tag meant anything. The band reminds me more of midera Os Mutantes, with its loose production and heavy dose of ’70s psychedelia, or maybe what Tame Impala would have sounded like if they had stayed away from pop music altogether. Star Parks is currently on tour through March in support of their sophomore album, The New Sounds of Late Capitalism, out this month on Modern Outsider Records.

Des Moines Music Coalition throws a huge party called the Backstage Ball, celebrating the accomplishments of members of the local music community. This year will feature live performances from Lily Detaeye, the Haunted Hallows, Robert Espe and the Hornets. There will also be a bunch of fancy food and drinks and a wine pairing for the high-dollar attendees that this event kind of relies on. It is a fundraiser, after all, and the money they raise goes toward funding the DMMC’s music programming throughout the year, including the 80/35 Music Festival, the all-local GDP Festival and their youth music camps.

—Trey Reis LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 37

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‘And Then They Came for Us,’ Hawse Auditorium, Tama Hall, Hawkeye Community College, Waterloo, Thursday, Feb. 20, 12 p.m., Free This 40-minute documentary

features George Takei and other Japanese Americans who were incarcerated pursuant to Executive Order 9066 and subsequent atrocities. Before the film, audiences are encouraged to visit the accompanying Smithsonian Museum poster exhibition Righting A Wrong: Japanese Americans and WWII, currently on display in Upper Black Hawk Corridor and closing that day. Hawkeye Community College art history professor Kim Behm will introduce the film and give a discussion on exhibition photographer Dorothea Lange.

North American Review Writing Workshop, Hearts Center for the Arts, Cedar Falls, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m., Free This generative writ-

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ing workshop, led by editors from the North American Review, is the first in a series, with monthly workshops planned through May. For the February event, editor Rachel Morgan will lead participants on the theme Writing with Mindfulness—Attention to Poetry. Subsequent events will feature workshops by Brian Pals, Jeremy Schraffenberger and Grant Tracey on fiction, nonfiction and multigenre writing. All experience levels welcome.

Erin Brockovich: The Power of One, Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, Cedar Falls, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m., Free At age 33, as a law clerk for a small

firm in southern California, Erin Brockovich was instrumental in fighting the groundwater contamination case Anderson, et al. v. Pacific Gas and Electric, the $333M settlement for

which was the largest direct-action settlement in the U.S. at the time. Her efforts were spun into a multi-award-winning film bearing her name, and she continued on as a consumer and environmental advocate, tirelessly fighting the good fight nationwide. Most recently, she’s been looking into concerns with Duke Energy in North Carolina. Brockovich is a household name for a reason. Her discussion on the effect that one determined person can have is part of the University of Northern Iowa’s Aldo Leopold Distinguished Lecture series.

9th Annual African American Children and Families Conference, University of Northern Iowa College of Education, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28, Free-$125 The UNI

College of Education is once again presenting its exploration of the challenges facing African-American children, with its goal of “promoting diversity and better understandings among all people as we strive to help children attain positive goals in life through our educational mission.” This year’s theme is Transforming Communities for the Betterment of the Lives of African American Children and Families, and the featured speakers include Dr. Theodora Pinnock, a pediatrician and public health specialist from Tennessee, and Corey Roberto Lanair Holmes, a community leader and motivational speaker originally from Waterloo, now based in Georgia. The event includes a pre-conference on Friday night and a full day of events on Saturday. It’s free to UNI and secondary students, with discounted rates for other college students. Full cost for community members is $65 for the pre-conference, $100 for the conference or $125 for the weekend.

From the Heart: Piano Expressions by Jean & Kelly, Hearst Center for the Arts, Cedar Falls, Sunday, Feb. 1, 1:30 p.m., Freewill donation Local com-

poser Jean Hilbert will perform original work and arrangements; pianist Kelly Parker will play Beethoven, Chopin and more. The pair are raising funds toward the repair of the Hearst Center Steinway piano. Refreshments will be provided.

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 39

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DEAR KIKI

D

ear Kiki, I am a single man; I’m 50 years old. I’m not a typical 50-year-old—I’m an artist, songwriter, performer and have always lived my life outside the mainstream. I’ve been married before and tried during that time to assimilate to a more expected life path. It was not a success. I need to live creatively, simply and not in service of making loads of money.

Anyhow, I have become friends over the past several months with a 25-year-old woman who has a similar disposition to me, has similar life goals and who I get along wonderfully with. I can tell I’m falling in love with her, but due to our age gap, I’ve been afraid to say anything to her.

I can’t imagine a beautiful 25-year-old would want to be with a poor 50-year-old artist. I don’t know what to do. How do I even begin to tell her how I feel without embarrassing myself? Do I have a chance in hell?

—25 years too late Dear Too Late, You’re not. Insert standard platitudes about “love is not a number” and “the heart knows no age” and “you’re only as old as you feel” here. You know this stuff; you live in the 21st century. You fell for her because of your similar temperament, right, and not because of her youth—so why wouldn’t you consider her capable of the same?

What interests me far more, Too Late, is that you believe that you are “not a typical 50-year-old.” Let’s unpack that a little bit. Were you a

LittleVillageMag.com/DearKiki

typical 49-year-old? A typical 35-year-old? What do these terms mean to you? Were you a typical 25-year-old—and, more importantly, is she?

Because here’s the thing: 25 years is not a lot of time. If you think the similarities in your temperaments are due solely to age, what does that mean for 25 years from now? Do you expect her to be a “typical 50-yearold” then, and if so, will you seek out a new 25-year-old? Will you be a typical 75-year-old?

I HAVE BECOME FRIENDS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS WITH A 25-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WHO HAS A SIMILAR DISPOSITION TO ME, HAS SIMILAR LIFE GOALS AND WHO I GET ALONG WONDERFULLY WITH.

You may be atypical generally as a human being (and, frankly, kudos from me for attempting to live an anti-capitalist lifestyle in today’s society), but there is nothing about your age that circumscribes that.

Once you let go of this idea that there exists a “typical” that is defined by age, you may discover several things. You may discover that there are myriad people your age and older who also have similar temperaments

to you. You may discover that the experience you have gained in life has value and is a selling point in any relationship, not something to be embarrassed about.

And you may discover the confidence to invite your friend into a deeper relationship.

Ultimately, age gaps only matter because of the increased potential for a power differential. So long as you are peers (you are not her boss, her mentor, her teacher), then you’re both adults, and (with hopefully unnecessary caveats about a willingness to accept “no” as an answer) you should give it a go. How many chances do you get in life to tell someone you care about how you feel? And after all, age is just a number.

If you’ll let it be.

Xoxo, Kiki

KIKI WANTS QUESTIONS! Questions about love and sex in the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids area can be submitted to dearkiki@littlevillagemag.com, or anonymously at littlevillagemag.com/dearkiki. Questions may be edited for clarity and length, and may appear either in print or online at littlevillagemag.com.

I N S O U T H S I D E I O WA C I T Y

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LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 43

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ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNEY

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1908, British playwright W. Somerset Maugham reached the height of success. Four of his plays were being performed concurrently in four different London theaters. If you were ever in your life going to achieve anything near this level of overflowing popularity or attention, I suspect it would be this year. And if that’s a development you would enjoy and thrive on, I think the coming weeks will be an excellent time to set your intention and take audacious measures.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Do you feel ready to change your mind about an idea or belief or theory that has been losing its usefulness? Would you consider changing your relationship with a once-powerful influence that is becoming less crucial to your life-long goals? Is it possible you have outgrown one of your heroes or teachers? Do you wonder if maybe it’s time for you to put less faith in a certain sacred cow or overvalued idol? According to my analysis of your astrological omens, you’ll benefit from meditating on these questions during the coming weeks.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): When she was alive more than 2,500 years ago, the Greek poet Sappho was so famous for her lyrical creations that people referred to her as “The Poetess” and the “Tenth Muse.” (In Greek mythology, there were nine muses, all goddesses.) She was a prolific writer who produced over 10,000 lines of verse, and even today she remains one of the world’s most celebrated poets. I propose that we make her your inspirational role model for the coming months. In my view, you’re poised to generate a wealth of enduring beauty in your own chosen sphere. Proposed experiment: Regard your daily life as an art project.

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GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Have you ever dropped out of the daily grind for a few hours or even a few days so as to compose a master plan for your life? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to give yourself that necessary luxury. According to my analysis, you’re entering a phase when you’ll generate good fortune for yourself if you think deep thoughts about how to create your future. What would you like the story of your life to be on March 1, 2025? How about March 1, 2030? And March 1, 2035? I encourage you to consult your soul’s code and formulate an inspired, invigorating blueprint for the coming years. Write it down!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1875) is famous for Vanity Fair, a satirical panorama of 19th-century British society. The phrase “Vanity Fair” had been previously used, though with different meanings, in the Bible’s book of Ecclesiastes, as well as in works by John Bunyan and St. Augustine. Thackeray was lying in bed near sleep one night when the idea flew into his head to use it for his own story. He was so thrilled, he leaped up and ran around his room chanting “Vanity Fair! Vanity Fair!” I’m foreseeing at least one epiphany like this for you in the coming weeks, Cancerian. What area of your life needs a burst of delicious inspiration?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Who loves you best, Leo? Which of your allies and loved ones come closest to seeing you and appreciating you for who you really are? Of all the people in your life, which have done most to help you become the soulful star you want to be? Are there gem-like characters on the peripheries of your world that you would like to draw nearer? Are there energy drains that you’ve allowed to play too prominent a role? I hope you’ll meditate on questions like these in the coming weeks. You’re in a phase when you can access a wealth of useful insights and revelations about how to skillfully manage your relationships.

It’s also a good time to reward and nurture those allies who have given you so much.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Doom and gloom dominate the forecasts made by many prophets. They experience perverse glee in predicting, for example, that all the rainforests and rivers will be owned by greedy corporations by 2050, or that extraterrestrial invaders who resemble crocodiles will take control of the U.S. government “for the good of the American people,” or that climate change will eventually render chocolate and bananas obsolete. That’s not how I operate. I deplore the idea that it’s only the nasty prognostications that are interesting. In that spirit, I make the following forecasts: The number of homeless Virgos will decrease dramatically in the near future, as will the number of dreamhome-less Virgos. In fact, I expect you folks will experience extra amounts of domestic bliss in the coming months. You may feel more at home in the world than ever before.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I don’t require everyone I learn from to be an impeccable saint. If I vowed to draw inspiration only from those people who flawlessly embody every one of my ethical principles, there’d be no one to be inspired by. Even one of my greatest heroes, Martin Luther King Jr., cheated on his wife and plagiarized parts of his doctoral dissertation. Where do you stand on this issue, Libra? I bet you will soon be tested. How much imperfection is acceptable to you?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio comedian John Cleese co-founded the troupe Monty Python more than 50 years ago, and he has been generating imaginative humor ever since. I suggest we call on his counsel as you enter the most creative phase of your astrological cycle. “This is the extraordinary thing about creativity,” he says. “If you just keep your mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later you will get a reward from your unconscious.” Here’s another one of Cleese’s insights that will serve you well: “The most creative people have learned to tolerate the slight discomfort of indecision for much longer, and so, just because they put in more pondering time, their solutions are more creative.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) developed a vigorous and expansive vision. That’s why he became a leading intellectual influence in the era known as the Enlightenment. But because of his inventive, sometimes controversial ideas, he was shunned by his fellow Jews and had his books listed on the Catholic Church’s Index of Forbidden Books. Understandably, he sometimes felt isolated.

To compensate, he spent lots of time alone taking wide-ranging journeys in his imagination. Even if you have all the friends and social stimulation you need, I hope you will follow his lead in the coming weeks—by taking wide-ranging journeys in your imagination. It’s time to roam and ramble in inner realms.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Absolute reason expired at eleven o’clock last night,” one character tells another in Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. I’m happy to report that a different development is on the verge of occurring for you, Capricorn. In recent days, there may have been less than an ideal amount of reason and logic circulating in your world. But that situation will soon change. The imminent outbreak of good sense, rigorous sanity and practical wisdom will be quite tonic. Take advantage of this upcoming grace period. Initiate bold actions that are well-grounded in objective rather than subjective truth.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Renowned Aquarian composer Franz Schubert (1797–1828) created more than 700 compositions, some of which are still played by modern musicians.

Many of his works were written on and for the piano—and yet he was so poor that he never owned a piano. If there has been a similar situation in your life, Aquarius—a lack of some crucial tool or support due to financial issues—I see the coming weeks as being an excellent time to set in motion the plans that will enable you to overcome and cure that problem.

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 45

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LOCAL ALBUMS

Stephanie Catlett Meet Me In the Dream STEPHANIECATLETT.BANDCAMP.COM

Stephanie Catlett + Band w/ Crystal City, Becca Sutlive, Trumpet Blossom Cafe, Iowa City, Friday, Feb. 28, 9 p.m., $7

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tephanie Catlett’s EP Meet Me In the Dream was launched into the world on Dec. 18, 2019. Coming at the end of a year in which the corruption and hatred in the world at large augmented acts of courage and hope at the smaller scale, it is unsurprising that the songs remain suspended between the optimism of an artist inspired to create and a world contextualized by troubles and suffering.

The album swims in melancholy, announced by the tender tones of the violin, whose sweetness is balanced by the guitar and Catlett’s voice. The production allows small changes to be heard with great effect: sometimes Suzanne Wedeking’s violin or Sam Drella’s trumpet, sometimes a particular texture from Dana Telsrow’s guitar. Brian Cooper’s drumming allows the different sonic textures to interact gently and gracefully, as Catlett holds the center of each song. Her voice moves from pleasant to interesting within its phrasing, and one suspects that hearing the songs live will only deepen the lovely iteration provided in the album.

The lyrics are complex and poignant. The title track, “Ruined Houses,” looks at the difficulty of accepting change

Submit albums for review: Little Village, 623 S Dubuque St., IC, IA 52240

that has happened when the world contains echoes of what you desire without want. Rather than resignation, the song amplifies a sense of perseverance: “Walking away has never been my strength / But I’ll try today.”

There’s a quiet acceptance of reality that allows a sense of forward motion.

The celebration of hard-fought stalemates continues throughout.

In “So, David,” Catlett offers “... a glass to the prize you never won / To the goodbyes you didn’t say to anyone.” In “Nothing but Fine,” she shows the courage necessary to embrace the space between the overwhelming depression caused by “the news of the day” or “the unbearable knowing of what we have done” and the false solace of a dream “Where we promise this won’t happen next time” and “agree to be nothing but fine.”

Although this sounds bleak, Catlett’s voice manages to be worn but warm—tired, tried but resolute. Nothing is easy in Catlett’s world, but nothing remains impossible. The songs less embody than reflect her difficulties, providing a space for both her and for listeners to find inspiration and solace.

The quality of this surprise debut collection exposes the depth of talent available in Iowa City—from session musicians like Telsrow, Drella and Dan Padley (all of whom have established themselves as excellent musicians in other spaces) to the excellent work of the busy Luke Tweedy at Flat Black Studios, to the art direction by Mara Cole and Jen Knights. The album shows how a local community exists to nourish dreams into reality.

—Daniel Boscaljon Ed. Note: Stephanie Catlett is a former staff member and occasional freelancer for Little Village.

Track six, “What in the World,” works as an effective transition to the more mellow folky side, with foregrounded acoustic guitars and harmonies that recall the Mamas and the Papas. It also serves as a prelude to “Summer Days,” which, true to its name, is on the surface a sunny, Harrisonesque song, but hides a painful recollection of a relationship past. “Took Anthony Worden a walk, but I didn’t get so far. and the Illiterati Took a chance at the next open Voilá bar. Cost me more than I could ever be worth.”

ANTHONYWORDEN.BANDCAMP.COM It’s the last song on the album that highlights the band’s ace-inAnthony Worden and the Illiterati the-hole. “Dime A Dozen Dudes” Album Release Party w/ Jack is a playful bit of soul that pays Lion, Purple Frank, Gabe’s, Iowa tribute to Jennifer Herrema of City, Friday, Feb. 28, 9:30 p.m., $8 the legendary garage punk outfit Royal Trux. I asked Worden oilá, the latest from about the line, “Marshall amp Iowa City band Anthony on a skateboard, never could be Worden and the Illiterati, ignored.” It references the story is a record both timeless and out about Herrema taking her amp to of time, drawing inspiration from CBGB’s on a skateboard. an earlier era when bands focused “I think she properly subverted not just on songwriting but crethe dude rock and roll cliche,” he said.

SIDE ONE IS THE HIGHERAppropriate, then, ENERGY ROCKERS; SIDE TWO that Hofmaier (who also performs solo WRAPS THE ALBUM UP WITH around the area as A SPIN THROUGH FOLKY POP. Penny Peach, Jr.) steps into the limelight on this song, singing the chorus and duetting ating an album as a full artistic with Worden. The best moment of statement. the track is at the end, when she Voilá clearly has two distinct belts a solo reminiscent of Merry sides, even though there aren’t Clayton on the Rolling Stones current plans to release it on visong “Gimme Shelter” or Clare nyl. Side one is the higher-energy Torry on Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig rockers; starting at track six, side in the Sky.” This song promises to two wraps the album up with a be a showstopper live. spin through folky pop with a Every band that sets out to Laurel Canyon vibe. make an album is presented with A highlight from the rockers the nerve-wracking challenge of is the first single from the album, sequencing the songs. Do you “Slightest Notion,” an honestly want to tell a story? How do you perfect execution of ’70s bouncy get the smoothest transitions?

British guitar pop from the likes Where do you put the single? of Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe.

That thoughtful effort paid off in The melody is carried equally by spades with Voilá, a record that organ, guitar and vocals, and the rewards listening to it in full, and smart use of Elly Hofmaier as a often. kind of second chorus really nails the sunny spirit of the song.

—Michael Roeder

V

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LOCAL BOOKS

Submit books for review: Little Village, 623 S Dubuque St., IC, IA 52240

friends and life in question when he is faced with trying to find what he really desires out of them all. Throughout the novel, Wallace keeps his emotions in check, fearing that if he loses control of them, it could threaten his place as the sole African American in his graduate program.

Brandon Taylor Real Life tells a truly disReal Life tinct story about a gay black RIVERHEAD BOOKS man from Alabama who attempts to escape his trauma n his debut novel, Real Life, released Feb. 18, Iowa by way of academia. With this fresh perspective, the novel Writers’ Workshop alum finds its strength in showing Brandon Taylor follows the the way people try to distance story of Wallace, a science gradthemselves both from their uate student in the Midwest who past and from others. is in search of what he really Wallace’s journey is colwants. The book is set over the ored by drama, betrayals, course of just three days, and but most of all, the feeling of it’s filled with betrayals, new wanting to live a “real life.” romance and self-discovery.

The theme comes up frequently in the novel, with the grad REAL LIFE TELLS A TRULY students often lamentDISTINCT STORY ABOUT ing how much easier A GAY BLACK MAN FROM things would be if they didn’t have a life in ALABAMA WHO ATTEMPTS academia and instead TO ESCAPE HIS TRAUMA worked and lived like

BY WAY OF ACADEMIA. “normal people.”

The characters’ tense exchanges in Real Life always begin with Taylor paints his narrative mundane social interactions, with a palette of themes that before building to a dynamic, include relationships, grief and cruel argument. The exploratrauma. At the start, readers see tion of cruelty is one of the Wallace several weeks after his most remarkable elements of father died, believing that he is the novel—Wallace describes doing fine, not experiencing the friendship as an exchange of expected stages of grief. That cruelty between two people. feeling seems to stem from the Wallace’s world view is fact that his upbringing was clouded by past trauma, and spotted with tragic moments, the novel shows how that many with his parents at the causes him to go down a center. road he never would have Wallace is a recluse and tries otherwise. Real Life is a comto be alone much of the time, pelling social drama adeptly but after he is roped into spendcomplemented by Taylor’s ing time with his estranged felprose. I’ll definitely be keeplow grad students, he gets into ing an eye out for his next both high-tension drama and novel. romantic entanglement.

—Austin J. Yerington Wallace finds his studies,

I

Cory Christiansen, illus.

Mackinzie Rekers A Visit to Lost Otter Farm SELF-PUBLISHED

E

very year, the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature offers One Book Two Book, a festival for all kids, from the book character meet-and-greets for your toddler (with unbelievably tolerant folks dressed in full-coverage, big-headed costumes) to the Junior High Writing Jam and the Comic Book Confidential Workshop to entice even your surliest newly minted teen.

The centerpiece of One Book Two Book is its student writing competition and celebration.

Students in grades 1-8 from the Iowa City–Cedar Rapids area submit one page of written work (any style) in English, French or Spanish. A team from ACT selects two winners per grade—one for skill (clarity, structure) and one for passion (creativity, expressiveness)—who are honored at the Write Out Loud event on Sunday.

But One Book Two Book isn’t just for kids who already love writing; it’s to inspire all youth and show them what’s possible.

There are storytime events and two sessions of storytelling with the maestro, Darrin Crow. And one of the authors reading this year is North Liberty writer Cory Christiansen, who just released his self-published children’s book A Visit to Lost Otter Farm.

Illustrated by Mackinzie Rekers (an Iowa Citian), A Visit to Lost Otter Farm is a charming, personal telling of a family visit to Christiansen’s sister’s home in

upper Michigan. It’s a lovely example of how to create a distinct world and draw readers into it. It’s also relatable to young readers, told with a sense of wonder and whimsy.

The real star of the book is the titular otter—not the focus of the text, but gracing many of the spreads through Rekers’ warm, funny, utterly delightful artwork.

Wherever the curious creature pops up, Rekers imbues it with a playfulness that shines on the page and elevates the story. The other characters and the landscapes they inhabit are captivating as well.

Some clever turns of phrase ground the narrative (“There are stands of trees with grace and power / And prairies speckled with purple coneflower” is a favorite). But it’s the illustrations that will have you wanting to turn these pages again and again.

—Genevieve Trainor

One Book Two Book (all events at hotelVetro unless otherwise noted) Saturday, Feb. 22 Comic Book Confidential Workshop for Grades 5-8, 10 a.m.

The Little Engine That Could, 10 a.m.

Storyteller Darrin Crow, 10:30 a.m.

Storytime with Sidekick Coffee and Books, 11 a.m.

A Visit to Lost Otter Farm, 11:30 a.m.

Book Character Meet and Greet, 12 p.m.

Jr. High Writing Jam!, 12 p.m., The Mill Young Author Autograph Session, 12 p.m.

Storytelling with Darrin Crow II, 12:30 p.m.

Absolute Science, 1 p.m.

Book Character Meet and Greet, 2 p.m.

Storytime: This is Frog by Harriett Evans, 2:30 p.m.

Storytime with Usborne Books & More, 2:30 p.m.

Performances by Nolte Academy, 3 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 23 Write Out Loud, 1 p.m., Macbride Hall

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 49

Winter provides a unique perspective and highlights the changing beauty to the outdoors. These colder months of the year allow for hiking, snowshoeing, wildlife watching, photography, and much more.

AWARDED BEST PUB 2015, 2016 & 2018

WINTER FUN

in linn county parks

SLEDDING

The area next to Red Cedar Lodge at Squaw Creek Park and a hill by Woodpecker Lodge at Pinicon Ridge Park are popular for sledding during the winter months.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

Linn County Conservation trails that are available for cross-country skiing include: Matsell Bridge Natural Area 5 miles Morgan Creek Park 3.8 miles Squaw Creek Park 3.5 miles Wickiup Hill Learning Center 3.3 miles Pinicon Ridge Park 1.5 miles 4” of snow is required for our equipment to be able to groom trails. Tracks are first “rolled” and then “groomed”. Hikers, horses, and dogs are encouraged to stay off the Nordic ski track.

WINTER SAFETY TIPS

Dress in layers for the weather Wear bright colors Keep hydrated Only venture on ice more than 4” thick

ICE FISHING

Ice fishing opportunities are abundant along the Wapsipinicon and Cedar rivers.

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BY JULIANA TRINGALI GOLDEN

LittleVillageMag.com

The American Values Club Crossword is edited by Ben Tausig.

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ACROSS 1. Just the best people 5. Pieces of skating equipment 10. Novelist Sue Monk ___ 14. It only acts on impulse 15. Item in a manicurist’s kit 16. Lot size, commonly 17. Rival candidate of 10-Down (well, until early November, anyway) 18. Kept to oneself, as

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information 19. Cry weakly, as a cat 20. Cuban dance performed by puffy little dogs?

23. Saint in a Brazilian city name 24. Brother to Judy 25. Strive 28. Micronesian nation known for its coral 30. Stroke of luck 31. Somewhat 33. Singer with the 2017

album Ctrl 36. Encouragement, at a frat party, to gulp down the juice of some Jamaican gourds?

40. Word of address before some heart-to-heart talks 41. Feudal subject 42. Renaissance painter Guido 43. Comes out, as an album 45. Is mad about

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47. Informant, so to speak 49. Teen drama that introduced Chrismukkah 51. British toast delivered with a haughty air?

56. Greek goddess garb 57. Do an outstanding job 58. Key of the Go-Go’s “Vacation”: Abbr.

60. Features of some memorials 61. Popular Japanese export

62. “Until next time ...”

63. Persistent pain 64. “Oof, that is not good ...”

65. Annual Austin festival, briefly

Ketchum 31. Q&A part, briefly 32. Boot brand from Down Under 34. Region 35. Words on a thrift store tag 37. Fancier material than paper, for napkins 38. Fruit from a rose 39. Chainstitches, say 44. Fill with new people, as a show 45. Hero who visits Hades 46. “Give it to me straight, ___” 47. Raise hell 48. Land line?

49. IBM slogan that inspired an Apple slogan 50. Turning point 52. “Where ___ mind?”

53. Tea whose name means “tea” 54. The (really) big screen 55. Team whose fans were involved in a notable 2019 World Series booing episode 59. Mandible locale

DOWN 1. Shoot the breeze 2. Greedy, amoral TV archetype 3. Creature drawn to flames 4. Asking too many questions, say 5. “___ Me” (1965 Fontella Bass hit) 6. Boy who meets the Magi in a Menotti opera 7. Pivotal era for women 8. Stern opposition?

9. Dovetail 10. See 17-Across 11. Fridge amenity 12. BBC series starring Jodie Whittaker, for short 13. Audio effect common in dub music 21. Card game introduced to casinos in the 1990s 22. Common trope beginning?

LV278 ANSWERS :D 25. Basics, so to L G B T Q I A + speak A P R I L OV A SO L E S 26. NYC neighbor- P I A N O N A T L E O V I S L I NG E T A A RN A Z hood where the E E L GRU R E N E N E Beastie Boys used J E E P I ND Y T B I R D D E E T S to hang out C A R B S MA P R A R E S 27. Hashtags, by OBOE HO L L A HUC K M L K WE T S U I T S R I another name B E E RH A T GRUN T E D 28. Keep treading S L E E T F RON T COME SOU T ON T OP the same path T RO I I MP E I HO L E 29. Pokémon S A S S N A D A L I NO T A P E S K NO T S N E T S protagonist ___

LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV279 Feb. 19–Mar. 3, 2020 51