Tag: Iowa City

Observations on Jonathan Eig’s Martin Luther King Distinguished Lecture

I discovered that the University of Iowa made a video presentation of Jonathan Eig’s speech for the Martin Luther King Distinguished Lecture on January 21, 2026. Mr. Eig wrote the MLK biography, “King: A Life” which was published in 2023. We just got a copy of it along with “The Autobiography Of MLK. We’re reading them now. We both watched the one-hour long video, which is available only in Panopto format to University of Iowa employees who could not attend the event in person.

He’s an engaging, humorous, and humble guy who spoke without using notes and ad libbed the entire talk which covered the most important events and people in King’s life including his wife and several other famous people in the civil rights era of the 1960s.

He had an interesting anecdote about the young National Park Service ranger, Gordon, “Gunny” Gundrum who adjusted King’s microphone repeatedly while he was giving his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington in 1963. It was caught on camera and interpreted by some as an effort to interfere with the speech. In fact, it was because King was only 5’7” tall and his face was obscured by the microphone. Eig questioned him about it (yes, he was still alive) and at first Gundrum didn’t even recall doing it.

Sena wondered why Eig didn’t mention Rosa Parks in his presentation. In his book, he describes her refusal to take a back seat on a city bus as the catalyst for the Montgomery bus boycott, and her role in considerable detail.

On the other hand, Eig pointed out that King’s wife, Coretta, was the one who taught King about activism in the first place since she had been involved doing that before they ever met.

Eig mentioned that King has attempted suicide twice in his adolescence. On the other hand, even though I’m only partway through his book, I recall these were described early and involved being upset about his grandmother on a couple of occasions. One when his brother slid down a banister, hit his grandmother in the head and knocked her out cold. The other was when she actually died. He was not seriously injured in either incident. Eig also shared that King was psychiatrically hospitalized several times. Some suggested he undergo regular outpatient psychiatric treatment, but he declined because of the stigma.

One of his more moving anecdotes was about what King said just before he was gunned down at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis in 1968. King had stepped outside to get some fresh air. It was a cold and one member of his group suggested he go inside and get a jacket. King replied, “Yes, I will.” As he turned to do so, he was shot and killed. The way Eig framed King’s last words made you think of that statement as an affirmation of how he’d responded to the many challenges and demands in his life.

Saw a Banded Red-tailed Hawk in Our Back Yard!

I got a picture of a banded Red-tailed Hawk today in our back yard. It was pretty exciting. I can’t remember ever seeing one banded. I’ve gotten pictures of them occasionally, most recently before this in July, 2025. That one wasn’t banded.

I checked on the web for any reports of who might be tagging Red-tailed Hawks in Iowa. In recent months there have been a few sightings posted on social media sites. Other birds are being banded as well. There are people who are licensed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to tag birds.

The Hitchcock Nature Center in Pottawattamie County is located in Honey Creek, Iowa, which is near Council Bluffs.

The Iowa Raptor Project is involved in conservation, education, and rehabilitation of birds of prey.

OK, until I saw this video, I admit I thought the snipe was an imaginary bird, an idea I got from the movie “Up.”

Big Mo Pod Show: “Across the Blues Universe”

I heard the Big Mo Blues Show last night and the Big Mo Pod Show today. The podcast song selection was part of the Lunch with Chuck portion of the show, which I don’t know a whole lot about. The Lunch with Chuck thing I’ve heard Big Mo talk about and I think it involves a real guy named Chuck who talks music with Big Mo sometimes, although I’ve not heard an actual live Lunch with Chuck program during the blues show. And it might be another Big Mo running joke.

Big Mo Pod Show 079 – “Across The Blues Universe”

The other thing I want to mention is that I heard Big Mo talk last night just before the Lunch with Chuck thing about something like a “fish psychic”. I think it’s a new comedy bit like MayRee’s Hand-Battered Catfish and Shorty’s Adult Diapers. I can’t remember the whole fish psychic bit, but I’m pretty sure he’ll do it again, maybe even next Friday. I think it’s another faux advertisement, and it might be about some kind of fish psychic who can help you catch lunker bass and the like.

Anyway, I learned something from the pod show today. I’d never heard of something called “race records” which is one term Lightnin Hopkins song “Mojo Hand” led to. Race records were 78-rpm phonograph records marketed to black people back in the days of the victrola, between the years of the 1920s to the 1940s, well before my time.

The other term new to me is the title of Hopkins’ song, “Mojo Hand.” The podcast discussion mentioned that mojo hand referred to African American voodoo charms, one of which happened to be a lucky charm, possibly a dried monkey’s paw. The song is actually about using voodoo to keep a lover from being unfaithful. The song means more now that I know that.

Another thing I learned today was that the song “Feel So Bad” (recorded in 1966) by Little Milton has a lyric in it, “feel like a ball game on a rainy day” that was repeated by boxer Muhammad Ali when he found out he had to wait 6 weeks before the Rumble in the Jungle match in 1974. That was because Foreman had to heal up first because he suffered a laceration above his right eye during a sparring match.

What I also didn’t know was that the Rumble in the Jungle had political overtones. There is an article entitled “Remembering the Rumble in the Jungle” subtitled “The 1974 Rumble in the Jungle was freighted with symbolism regarding American racial politics and the pan-African struggle in the context of the Cold War.”

One more thing I learned from the podcast is related to the song “Wine O’Clock” by Shemekia Copeland. He called this song a women’s support tune and, unlike my disagreement about this issue in last week’s podcast, I tend to agree with this song being about women supporting each other or at least understanding their burdens in a society marked by gender role disparity.

What helped me reach this understanding is an article entitled “What makes up wine o’clock…” published in 2022.

Wright CJC, Miller M, Kuntsche E, Kuntsche S. ‘What makes up wine o’clock? Understanding social practices involved in alcohol use among women aged 40-65 years in Australia. Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Mar;101:103560. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103560. Epub 2021 Dec 29. PMID: 34973490.

The abstract reminds me of the discomfort with the idea of women (or anyone regardless of gender) using alcohol to cope with socially designated roles.

“Think I’ll have another glass; the world can kiss my ass; tick tock, it’s Wine O’Clock.”

I sometimes learn a lot more than I expect from the Big Mo Pod Show.

A Bolt from the Blues!

The title of this post is inspired by a short comment I got today from an Iowa City musician named Ed English. It’s on my blog post from April 14, 2024 entitled “KCCK Big Mo News and More.” I blog a fair amount about the Big Mo (John Heim) Blues Show and the Big Mo Pod Show.

Ed says “Always available on the web and the KCCK App, too… ;0)”

I’m not up to speed on emoticons, but I wonder if it means amazement, although about exactly what I’m not sure. I really appreciate hearing from him.

Anyway, it turns out that Ed English is a long time Iowa City blues music scene guy and he’s part of The Beaker Brothers Band.

Ed (informally known as Uncle Ed) also started the Tanya English Band. Ed and Tanya are married.

I listen to the Big Mo Blues Show every Friday night. When he does the part of his show called The Shout Outs, he mentions Dr. Tanya, healing with the blues. I suspect a lot of the Shout Outs are to local blues musicians, many of them known by nicknames—I think.

I’m honored to get a nod and a wink from Uncle Ed. Now, can we talk about my MayRee’s Hand Battered Catfish tee shirt design?

Success of Johnson County Civil Mental Health Court in its First Year

I’ve been looking for other ways that Iowa addresses mental illness and its impact on homelessness and other adverse outcomes since my last post on the issue.

It turns out that, despite Iowa ranking 51st out of all U.S. states for the low number of psychiatric beds according to the Treatment Advocacy Center statistics (in 2023, it had just two beds per 100,000 patients in need), a new mental health court established in in May of 2023 has made substantial progress in reducing the number of crisis contacts, psychiatric hospitalizations, and days in the hospital. Arrests, jailings, and days in jail were also reduced.

Participants in the new program include the University of Iowa Health Care, Iowa City VA Hospital, the Abbe Center, Guidelink Center, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), Shelter House, and several other mental health service agencies in Johnson County.

The Johnson Mental Health Court continues to operate since June of this year when the pilot program’s funding from the East Central Iowa Mental Health Region was supposed to have ended on June 30, 2025, due to the change in mental health regions. This is a program for patients under involuntary mental health commitment that avoids incarceration and placement in a state psychiatric hospital.

This civil mental health program didn’t exist until well after I retired and I hope for its continued success.

Luett, T. (2024, April 24). Civil Mental Health Court in Johnson County finds success in first year. The Daily Iowan. https://dailyiowan.com/2024/04/24/civil-mental-health-court-in-johnson-county-finds-success-in-first-year/ Accessed July 30, 2025

Mehaffey, T. (2024, April 14). News Track: ‘Challenging, rewarding’ first year of Johnson County mental health court. The Gazette – Local Iowa News, Sports, Obituaries, and Headlines – Cedar Rapids, Iowa City. https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/news-track-challenging-rewarding-first-year-of-johnson-county-mental-health-court/ Accessed July 30, 2025.

Extreme Heat Warning for I-80 Corridor

There’s an extreme heat warning from the National Weather Service for much of the I-80 corridor today and tomorrow. Heat indices of 95-110+ are expected.

Cooling Centers in Iowa City, IA

Cooling Centers in Coralville, IA

Consider donating to the Iowa City Shelter House Beat the Heat drive!

Starting Without the Big Mo Blues Show Today!

Well, I’ve been waiting all morning for the Big Mo Pod Show and it usually shows up long before now on Saturday morning. In spite of this, Big Mo did say on the blues show last night that the first two songs on the show would be on the pod show and I know what they are. So I’m going to go ahead and start without Big Mo and Producer Noah today.

The first one is a song by someone Big Mo mentioned last week, Monster Mike Welch, “Keep Living Til I Die.” It just happens to be related to my post yesterday on death doulas—only it’s full of raw and feisty humor in how it approaches the usual ideas about death, which can be morbid.

In the lyrics, I think there’s even a classical Greek mythology reference to the river Styx, “I pay my toll at the river…” It could be referring to the river which separates the living from the dead in Hades.

There’s nothing morbid about death in this tune. The singer doesn’t seek death, but neither does he try to run away or hide from it. He’ll just keep living till he dies.

I’m less sure what to think of the next song Big Mo would be on the pod show. It’s by Lil’ Ed & the Imperials, “Walking the Dog.” I can’t make sense of the lyrics.

That’s about as far as I can go so far without the pod show. On the other hand, there was another song on the blues show by an artist I didn’t know about until last night. “Been Here Before” is a striking song because right away I wondered if was about reincarnation. It is sort of related to the idea of what happens after we die.

In fact, the artist, Christone Kingfish Ingram speculates in an interview he might be open to the idea of his have been reincarnated. This is not that different from a few of Dr. H. Steven Moffic’s thoughts about the death, reincarnation, and the afterlife in some of his recent Psychiatric Times columns. A couple of examples are “Past Lives and Psychiatry” and “Past Lives, Death, Dying, and the Afterlife.”

And that’s the “old soul” side of the story about death.

Iowa City Jazz Festival 2025 Kicks Off July 4-6!

Hey, the Iowa City Jazz Festival starts tomorrow! The fireworks will be the evening of July 5, 2025. Read the Little Village story and for a full list of the bands and all see the Summer of the Arts web page!

Have You Heard about the Iowa City Brain Rock?

We’ve lived in the Iowa City area for over 37 years and never heard of the Brain Rock until today. I don’t know how we ever missed it. It’s a work of art called Ridge and Furrow created by artist Peter Randall-Page, a world-famous artist from the United Kingdom.

It’s been called the Brain Rock for obvious reasons because the stone has what you might call gyri and sulci all over its surface. It has recently been relocated from the T. Anne Cleary walkway outside the Pomerantz Career Center to the Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF).

As Randall-Page says, if you trace the line from one side of the sculpture you can follow it to its end on the—far side of the rock, I guess you’d call it.

The other interesting thing about the Brain Rock is that a couple of intoxicated college students urinated on it back in November of 2021. No mention of whether they were trying to trace the furrow. Maybe they’d heard of the urinating sculpture and fountain called Piss in Prague.

A Robin Attacks Our Windows!

Tonight, a female robin attacked our windows. My guess is that it’s attacking its own reflection. A lot of backyard birds are out, nesting, stealing our herbs, pooping on our deck. Sena saw a Baltimore oriole and we both saw a female goldfinch trying to do the same thing as the robin—bite the screen.

We’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks.