How are you feeling about the reported easing of the recession?
Add comment July 31st, 2009
So, the recession eased in the second quarter, this AP story says.
Are you feeling better about the economy?
Archive for July, 2009
Obama’s, Gates’ and Crowley’s beer tastes
6 comments July 30th, 2009
Granted, I only clicked through a few of the 15.6 million hits I discovered this morning when I googled “Obama and Gates and beer” (without the quote marks).
But I didn’t see one commenting on the tastes of the beers the trio will down today at the White House in the let’s-all-get-along-like-ebony-and-ivory-summit-to-diffuse-the-racial-profiling/cop-profiling/presidential-comment-stupidity hubbub.
Obama reportedly wants Bud Light; Harvard University professor Henry Gates, maybe Red Stripe; and police Sgt. James Crowley, Blue Moon.
Paul J. Richards / AFP/Getty Images in the Los Angeles Times
These are reportedly the beers of choice, from left, of Police Sgt. James Crowley, President Obama and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Well, unlike my colleague Kevin Haas, who in GO tomorrow writes about his high-fivin’ reasons for not drinking, I do drink beer. And I especially like the way Blue Moon tastes. It has a more pronounced orange flavor than other beers. I drink it when I’m especially hungry; it’s like eating a piece of dense bread from your local bakery.
I like an occasional Red Stripe, a Jamaican brew. It has a sharp bitterness at first taste, but that taste doesn’t hang around. And the beer is light enough. But I’m at a loss of words to nicely describe Bud Light, other than it is light-tasting. The only time, and not ever very often, that I drink it is when the only other option is Miller Lite.
Actually, I usually drink Corona, mostly because it’s lighter than Blue Moon and Blue Moon isn’t as available at eateries and bars.
Which beers do you like, and why? Post your comments.
If you had to choose among these three beers (and you didn't have to pay to drink it), which would prefer?
Derby raises $1,000 for arts group
Add comment July 29th, 2009
The Rockford Rage roller derby league is donating $1,000 to the Rockford Area Arts Council as a result of its Starving Artist art sale where members and artists sold their works for $600. The other $400 came from proceeds from the group’s bout the same day on July 25 at the Indoor Sports Center in Loves Park.
Derby member Jan Fosse builds a sculpture of roller skate wheels, which was sold to benefit the Rockford Area Arts Council. (Katy Mull photo)
Colbert’s face on new Nielsen guitar
Add comment July 28th, 2009
Wonder how long it’ll take for Stephen Colbert to book Rick Nielsen to play on “The Colbert Report” again?
Not long, I’ll bet, seeing as how Nielsen’s new DiPinto guitar has Colbert’s face and upper body plastered all over it.
(photo at dipintocustomshop.com)
The last time Cheap Trick guitarist Nielsen and vocalist Robin Zander played on the show was June 29. Colbert was impressed with the Rockford-based power poppers’ release on 8-track of its new CD, “The Latest.”
Cheap Trick to play on Conan in midst of career second-wind
1 comment July 27th, 2009
On the inaugural show of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” on June 1, O’Brien “ran” from New York City, where his former late-night show broadcast from, to Los Angeles, his new base city, while Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” hit played in its entirety.
On Sept. 1, the 35-year-old, Rockford-based power popsters who are in the midst of a busy second wind in their career, will play a song off their latest album, “The Latest,” on O’Brien’s show, according to the quartet’s Web site. The song, “Sick Man of Europe,” rocks more than pops, thank you very much.
Cheap Trick will be winding down in California that week from a summer tour with Def Leppard. Then it’s on to Las Vegas. At the Las Vegas Hilton, band members will “take on one of the most ambitious projects of their career - performing what is perhaps rock’s most iconic album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, according to glidemagazine.com.
The show runs for nine nights Sept. 13-15, 17-19 and 21-23. Tickets cost $65 to $95.
Rockford Symphony donations down, but budget balanced
Add comment July 27th, 2009
The Rockford Symphony Orchestra collected $108,000 less in donations, including funding from the Rockford Area Arts Council, Black Magic Ball revenue and gifts from individuals and corporations in its 2008-2009 season, according to a news release. That represented a 19 percent decrease in contributions. Its fiscal year ended June 30.
But through efforts such as a staff reduction, salary freezes and other administrative cost reductions, a 3 percent increase in paid attendance and a grant, the Symphony ended with a balanced budget. The RSO’s annual budget is $1.4 million.
The Symphony ended the season with 2,308 subscribers, up from 2,206 the previous season.
Why I’ll be at Pedal to the Metal at MetroCentre and how to win free CD
9 comments July 24th, 2009
My general interest in heavy metal music has been waning, maybe because I’m finally admitting to getting older and less energized by the genre.
But because I’ve never seen Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society in concert, I decided to buy a ticket to see the band and others Aug. 8 at the MetroCentre. Granted, I’ll be away from the madding crowd on the floor. My daughter and her boyfriend and I will check out the goings-on from a suite with a dozen other people. So, we’ll enjoy the show without being jostled — to put it mildly — about.
(Zakk Wylde, photo at gibson.com)
Anywho, the lineup includes headliner Mudvayne, whom I saw at Ozzfest several years ago. I dig them, too. Static X, whom I saw at Ozzfest and again maybe five years ago at Forest Hills Lodge in Loves Park, is one of my faves. You can almost boogey to their hard riffs.
Oh, in case you hadn’t heard, Chicago-based Dope dropped off the lineup. The band didn’t provide an explanation to the MetroCentre. I saw Dope once in Chicago.
I haven’t seen the rest of the bands, nor had I even heard of them until the concert was announced. They are: Suicide Silence, Hellzapoppin and Bury Your Dead. Bury Your Dead’s publicity people sent me five copies of the death metal/black metal/hardcore punk band’s “It’s Nothing Personal” CD to give away. I’m keeping one, but I’m giving four away.
Here’s how to get one: Tell me in the comments section here by 5 p.m. Aug. 3 why you like heavy metal music. I’ll pick the four comments I like best and let you know via my blog and e-mail if you’re a winner.
And if you want to “review” the concert by posting your comments online after the show, be watching at go.rrstar.com for a thread to do so.
Dakota kid’s burger recipe featured in Red Robin cookbook
Add comment July 23rd, 2009
The Bacon Ranch Chicken Burger recipe invented by Daniel McCaslin, 12, of Dakota in Stephenson County, will be featured in the third annual “Red Robin Kids’ Cook-Off” cookbook.
The cookbook will be available for free download at redrobin.com starting Tuesday. His gourmet burger recipe is one of 50 selected for the book from kids ages six to 12. More than 14,000 entries were submitted. His burger is made with ranch dressing and seasoning, garlic, lemon peper seasoning, romaine lettuce, bacon, potatoes, chicken breast, sharp cheddar cheese and an onion bun.
The cookbook also features back-to-school safety tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The grand-prize-winning burger, the Holy-Peno Burger by Charlie Beckett, 8, of Rathdrum, Idaho, will be sold nationally at Red Robin restaurants from Tuesday to Sept. 13, with 50 cents from every Holy-Peno Burger given to the exploited children center.
Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham MetroCentre show a virtual sellout
7 comments July 22nd, 2009
More than 7,000 tickets have been sold for the July 31 show at the MetroCentre by comedic and controversial ventriloquist Jeff Dunham.
Staff say it’s not technically a sellout yet, but only a few single seats remain, and a suite may open up. For more information, call 815-968-5222.
Yuk it up at Rockford yoga class or explore your previous life
2 comments July 22nd, 2009
For months, abstract artist Roni Golan has been getting local folks to laugh about whatever it is they’re doing through a laughing club at his Rockford studio, Golan Lieberman Gallery, 2209 E. State St.
Now, he and others he’s joining forces with are offering classes on “life regression — exploring your previous life through a journey in time,” speaking peacefully, breath therapy and more yukking-it-up experiences through yoga. He’s calling the new venture of classes “In Balance.”
For more information: 815-979-1944, ronigolan@earthlink.net.
