Ticket to CraftCrawl, Saturday, May 18, 2013.

The roof Grand Opening was today, May 18, 2013 at John Barleycorn’s location on Kinzie Street in River North, Chicago.

It was 83 degrees out and did not rain—a beautiful day, so this stop, which lasted for close to 2 hours and involved 5 of us, was definitely the best. I love the ambiance of the place, and the beers were $4 while the Gentleman Jack (7&7, basically), which are usually $11, were only $5. We ended up eating onion rings, small beef tenderloin and hamburger sliders and enjoying ourselves until approximately 4:30 p.m. when we moved next door to Moe’s Cantina.

Manager Emmett Kelly (left) and owner Sam Sanchez (right) at John Barleycorn’s (also a force in Moe’s Cantina and 4 other bars, with other investors).

Looking down on the crowd at John Barleycorn’s from the steps leading to the roof.

Moe’s Cantina, right next door to John Barleycorn’s at 149 W. Kinzie St. in River North, Chicago.

I have to be honest and say that the first two at 149 W. Kinzie St. right next door to one another were the very best of the bunch, although I would consider the outdoor seating of some others during summer.

Entry for the Celebrity Cruise give-away, e-mailed in.

Craig hopes his stamped passport is a winner in the Celebrity Cruise drawing.

A very beautiful day.

My feet hurt.

p[Tomorrow, he has tests for various things...mostly ultrasound-type tests for carotid artery involvement or plaque, ECCO, DOPPLER. Unfortunately, the TEE (trans esophageal echo cardiogram) that Iowa City would like costs $3,000 and our insurance will not cover it. [It was canceled without even asking us while we were seeing Dr. Elliot Shon at University Hospitals.] My question: will the Doppler and ECCO tests be enough? How is it possible to be just sitting there, stress-free, no pain, no trauma, and just lose your vision? It’s scary.

On a happier note, a woman from Bettendorf, Iowa (last name, Waterman) who was with her son (Frank?) was selected for a make-over and looked great.

I sure hope the test tomorrow will pin down the source of this flukey thing that caused my husband to go blind while sitting on a Cancun beach having a drink with a doctor friend. Apparently, there is only a 90 minute window of time in which you could regnerate the eye.

I feel sad.

The play focuses on two novice Mormon missionaries who are completing training for their obligatory 2-years of missionary work (Mitt Romney spent his time in France). As the play opens, the eager young acolytes are about to learn their new assignments. They’ll spend two years yoked with a partner, after completing training at the Church of Latter Day Saints Missionary Training Center (referred to as “Mission Control” at one point in the play).

Most of the new missionaries get plum assignments and celebrate:

“Norway! Trolls & gnomes!” say the first pair.

“France! Pastries & crepes!” say the next two.

“Japan! Soy sauce & Mothra!” exult the third pair.

And then Elder Price (Nic Rouleau) and Elder Cunningham (Ben Platt) (aka Kevin Price and Aaron Cunningham) receive their assignment: northern Uganda. To add to Elder Price’s chagrin, Elder Cunningham is a nerdy screw-up who has a tendency to creatively blend fact and fiction (okay—he lies), employing his overactive imagination. Aaron’s own father regards him, pretty much, as a failure and Aaron has few friends.

Elder Price, however, is the Golden Boy. (Actor Rouleau came straight from the Broadway cast). He is confident he is going to do great things. One of the songs he sings tells us this in no uncertain terms: “You and Me (But Mostly Me)” Aaron Cunningham is just glad to have a friend at all, especially one who is not supposed to leave his side at any time (according to missionary rules), since he has mostly been a friendless nerd up until now. Aaron thinks that Kevin will really be his best friend during the next two years.

A running joke has Elder Price convinced that Orlando is the epicenter of the world. (“I’m going where you need me most—Orlando.”) Maybe you have to have spent time in Orlando as an adult without a child in tow to identify with the barren concrete experience Orlando really represents. I spent 2 winters in a row there. Orlando makes northern Uganda look less bleak.

However, northern Uganda represents trouble with a capital “T.”

As the duo arrives in Uganda, their luggage is immediately stolen by warlords. The pair find that Uganda is not fertile ground for converts. There are already 10 missionaries in place who have failed to score a single baptism. And it doesn’t look good for Kevin and Aaron, since they soon learn that the poverty-stricken Uganda natives are dealing with an AIDS epidemic and a warlord whose mission is to circumcise all females in the village. Even the doctor of the village confesses (constantly), “I have maggots in my scrotum.” (This is one of the few phrases I can reprint that doesn’t involve using the “F” word or something else equally unprintable.)

After Elder Price witnesses a brutal slaying (gunshot at point blank range) Kevin announces he is giving up, requesting a transfer, and going home. Aaron is going to have to fend for himself. He does like an attractive native girl (played by 2008 “American Idol” finalist Syesha Mercado), Nabulungi. At various points, Elder Cunningham (Aaron) refers to Nabulungi as Nellie Furtado, Nala and Necrophilia, so there is that running joke, as well.

Aaron, the underdog, with Elder Price (Kevin) leaving, soon realizes he is going to have to step up to the plate. He will have to make it on his own (“man up”). As the lyric goes, “When someone had to die to save us all from sin, Jesus manned up and took it on the chin.” So, as Aaron also sings, “I’m talkin,’ they’re listenin.’ My stories are glistenin’.” He begins spinning a much more interesting version of the Mormon faith to the previously disinterested villagers. Aaron’s version incorporates elements of “Star Wars,” “Star Trek” and bits and pieces of Aaron’s creativity run amok. Elder Cunningham’s approach leads to conversions aplenty and a vision of Salt Lake City (mispronounced in the song the villagers sing about this golden place) as the Promised Land. Soon the entire village is signing up to become Mormon. One hilarious segment involves the impromptu “play” that the villagers put on for the Mormon mucky-mucks who come to Uganda to applaud the team’s unprecedented success—to the surprise and chagrin of Kevin and Aaron—letting the Powers-that-be know what they have learned about their new faith.

While the always-welcome story of the underdog made good entertainment, the funniest lines were actual tenets of the LSD Church. “I Believe,” one of the play’s most-often quoted songs (because it is one of the few clean ones) says, “A Mormon just believes and I believe it means me getting my own planet.” Joseph Smith digging up golden plates in a field in Missouri and “Who knew the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri” or, “In 1978, God changed his mind about black people” are all true tenets of the Mormon faith—give or take a bit of poetic license with the way they’re stated onstage, and the fact that this play ran while Mitt Romney, a Mormon, was running for President of the United States just makes it all that much more apropos.

I also enjoyed the employee in the women’s rest room who had taken it upon herself to organize the lines during the 15-minute intermission. “Nobody comes in here until I say so!” barked the large African-American organizer, who let exactly 10 women in at a time and pointed out open stalls. She traffic-directed like a pro. Thanks to her, the women in the audience made it back to their seats in time for the hilarious second half.

A truly funny evening and well worth craning around a slim pillar while using small opera glasses to see the actors onstage up-close-and-personal…or at all.

Yesterday I let some kind of Turkish fish eat dead skin from my feet. It took all of my courage to put my feet in the tank, as I HATE people (or fish) messing with my feet. However, the twins have new fish, and I thought they’d get a kick out of this, and it was thrown in for free with some spa services. (later today: facial plus massage).

We had a large “brunch” for all eleven of us at our Royal Sands digs, and tomorrow we move to the Royal Islander and are joined by Dr. John and Pamela Rhodes of Des Moines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4FHrwTcKQA (Video of fish feeding frenzy)

After reading the first book in ‘The Color of Evil’ series, I was anxious to crack on with the second. My main question from the first cliff hanger we were left with from that book was, ‘What happened to Stevie Scranton?’. Stevie played a main part in the book ‘Red is for Rage’ and it was satisfying to discover more about this character. There were many instances where I was reading the novel, and the author simply matter-of-factedly snuffed out a main character. I’m not going to give the story away, but one particular character was developed, and I was thinking that the way his story would pan out would be that he would have a happy ending. Never make assumptions in a Wilson book. I was shocked when this character was ‘offed’! This book deals with many, many issues that are prevalent in society today – paedophile rings, self-harming, teenage pregnancy – and even though they are shocking topics, the author deals with them sensitively. This isn’t a book for readers expecting happy endings. The reader is lulled into a false sense of security, and shot down in a matter of fact, abrupt way. The sharp style of writing suits the story perfectly. The book is beautifully written and it was nice to ‘meet up’ with characters I had become familiar with from ‘The Color of Evil’. Pogo – the serial killer from the first book – didn’t take centre stage in this second novel, and I did miss him slightly, but there were enough ‘evil doers’ brought in to keep me satisfied. I especially liked the author’s notes at the end of the book, explaining about the geography about locations mentioned in the book and facts that were quoted in the book. A fabulous read and I can’t wait to read the third book, as yet again the author has left us wondering, ‘What happens next?’.

Amazon UK link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-is-for-Rage-ebook/dp/B00B8W2G3S/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1365055353&sr=8-1&keywords=red+is+for+rage+wilson

Robin Throne’s new novel “Her Kind” to be FREE as Kindle download in April.

I lived in a house on Great River Road in Le Claire throughout the writing of Her Kind, and was inspired daily by the shifting river surface that seemed to possess a unique moodiness affected by current, wind, and sky. While the river may be an obvious metaphor for a life, I continued to be intrigued by the historical documents that referred to the vast watershed as the “father of waters” versus those rare documents that referred to the “mother of waters.” Her Kind explores the latter, and traces a family’s migration in a direct line from England, to New England, to Iowa from a woman’s perspective. Stopping in the middle. Staying put once crossing the great river and finding her way throughout.

Watershed Picture.

Get the Kindle version of Robin Throne’s Her Kind, a novel FREE from April 5-7! Like Connie Corcoran Wilson, who earned the award in 2010, she is the recipient of the 2013 David R. Collins Literary Achievement Award, and see why Her Kind readers are giving 5-stars at GoodReads!
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Dr. Robin Throne of LeClaire was recently named recipient of the Midwest Writing Center’s David R. Collins Literary Achievement Award at a ceremony at Davenport’s Outing Club. Robin has a doctorate in educational research, assessment and evaluation, is a founding member of the LeClaire (IA) Writing Group, and has published a poetry chapbook, 2 novels, an academic monograph and other works.

Nominated by Nancy A Schaefer, Ms. Throne joins 2010 winner me (Connie Corcoran Wilson, March 20, 2010), 2009 winner Mike McCarty and original recipient Sean Leary, former Arts & Entertainment Editor for the Moline Dispatch. The award is given not only for writing achievement, but for supporting and promoting literacy in the Quad Cities. As with other recipients, Dr. Throne is a member of and has been active in support of the Midwest Writing Center.

Robin started the Mississippi Valley Chapbook contest, great River Writers’ Retreat, the Collins’ Poetry Residency and mentored the residency, as well as starting online classes, formatting a poetry book and The Atlas and blogging for MWC (Midwest Writing Center). She advises students on dissertations for North Central University in Arizona and is this semester’s faculty adviser for the Eastern Iowa Community College student newspaper.

“I have not read the first book in this series “The Color of Evil” but had no problem picking up on what was going on in ” Red is for Rage” . Suspenseful and Intriguing. After I started reading I quickly became absorbed and anticipating what would come next . Connie does a great job of bringing it all together in one book.I highly recommend reading RED IS FOR RAGE.”

http://ebookimpresario.com/2013/03/24/book-of-the-week-red-is-for-rage-by-connie-corcoran-wilson-thriller/

You can track clickthroughs to your Amazon sales page here:

http://amzn.to/Yp3y1j+

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3K8XJEM0AVPPN

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B8W2G3S/ref=cm_cr_thx_view

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/red-is-for-rage-connie-corcoran-wilson/1114287311?ean=2940015978759

http://gmtaliterarycommunity.blogspot.com/2013/03/red-is-for-rage-color-of-evil-2-by.html

ow.ly/jdlLN

The NEW book won’t be “free” for a while. However, the FIRST book in the series THE COLOR OF EVIL is where you should be starting, and it’s on a special sale price now. Check out the dedicated site at RedIsforRage.com and see what bloggers feel about “Red Is for Rage.” (www.RedIsforRage.com).

1) March 16 – “The FlipSide of Julianne – Interview
2) March 18 – “My Cozie Corner” – Review
3) March 18 – Spotlight and Giveaway
4) March 19 – “Mallory Heart Reviews – Review
5) March 24 – “Krystal’s Enchanting Reads” – Review
6) March 25 – “Heather Books and Quilts”
7) March 29 – “The Cerebral Writer” – Interview with Yours Truly
8) March 29 – “Heather Saving” – Giveaway
9) March 30 – “Sylv-Jenkins.com – Review
10) April 3 – Heather – Interview with the author
11) April 8 – Lisa, “Fiction Writing”
12) April 9 – Lisa, Interview
13) April 9 – Crystal, “I totally Paused”
14) April 10 – Makayla’s “Book Reviews” – Giveaway
15) April 11 – Amber “Peaceful Wishing”
16) April 12 – Bev at “The Wormhole” – Giveaway
17) April 15 – Kari at “From the TBR Pile”
18) April 17 – Christina at “Recent Reads” (none)