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The Humble Plumb Bob as Art and Napoleon, Iowa History
I thought it would be interesting to share a few remarks (some of which are tangential) about one of the recently installed sculptures included with the collection you can see in the Iowa City parks. It’s part of the Sculptors Showcase for 2026-28 in Iowa City, which I posted about on August 26, 2026. We’re…
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House of Svengoolie Movie” “The Land Unknown”
I saw the Sven Squad hosted 1957 low-budget film, “The Land Unknown” last night and one of my favorite characters was Tyronasaurus Tex, Tyrone for short. This guy in a rubber suit called attention to the dinosaur’s knobby knees. Tyrone got a little too close to the expedition’s helicopter and got a superficial slice wound.…
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Living in the Arms of the Common People
The other day Sena was shopping at the grocery store and she was standing in line at the checkout lane. An African American woman (age maybe thirtyish) was having trouble with her WIC card. That’s the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC for short) debit card. It’s the federal assistance program…
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Field of Dreams Baseball Game in Dyersville Today!
Well, maybe there’ll be a major league baseball game on the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa—or not, given the rain coming down so far this morning. We just found out that the Minnesota Twins are scheduled to play the Philadelphia Phillies today, 6:30 PM central time. It’s going to be wet. It’s a special…
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Svengoolie Show Movie: “Man Made Monster”
Svengoolie Intro: “Calling all stations! Clear the air lanes! Clear all air lanes for the big broadcast! The 1941 movie “Man Made Monster” starred Lon Chaney Jr. (as Big Dan, Dan McCormick) who later starred in “The Wolf Man”) as the monster; Lionel Atwill as Dr. Paul Rigas, the mad scientist who created the monster.…
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Update on Pagliai’s Pizza Building Historic Landmark Status
I just wanted to post an update about what’s going on with Iowa City’s Pagliai’s Pizza building, which is still for sale with the owner’s asking price of $5 million. I mentioned it in a previous post a couple of years ago because it was up for consideration as an historic landmark. The building at…
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Liaison Psychiatrist appointed to Wexford General Hospital in Ireland
A few days ago, I read a news article announcing that a liaison psychiatrist was appointed to Wexford General Hospital, which is located in Ireland. It has around 280 beds. I didn’t see the name of the liaison psychiatrist who will be the lone ranger psychiatric consultant there. That person has my deepest respect as…
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Remarks about “James Alan McPherson:On Becoming An American Writer: Essays & Nonfiction”
I couldn’t think of a less complicated title for this post about the book “James Alan McPherson: On Becoming An American Writer: Essays & Nonfiction.” It’s a collection of James Alan McPherson’s essays, but this humble blog post is not intended to be a review, nothing as grandiose as that. Nobody should think I have…
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New Book on James Alan McPherson
We just got the new book about James Alan McPherson, “On Becoming An American Writer: Essays & Nonfiction.” Well, new to us anyway. It was published in 2023. I started reading the book yesterday. Sena and I talked about it and she’ll read it herself. I started in the middle, by reading “Crabcakes.” I usually…
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Look On Our Wonders of America
Sena and I have been talking lately about how we would reimagine the Mt. Rushmore monument in South Dakota. We’ve never gone to South Dakota to see it. We discussed supplanting the current former U.S. Presidents with various other leaders like Helen Keller, Dr. Jonas Salk, Mahatma Ghandi. We had trouble coming up with a…
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