This Saturday, Mar 6, 2010 at 8:00 PM  (7:00 PM DOORS)

JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound with guests to be announced  at The Blue Moose Tap House (formerly The Industry) – Iowa City

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound“The Real Deal” – Chicago Tribune, 05/29/09

In his 1970 Playboy Interview, Ray Charles described soul as “people who do things from the heart.” In performance and on record, there is no question that JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are 100% soul. Like Otis fronting the Stooges, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound get crowds twisting and writhing on the floor, something that’s been sorely missing from live music.

Brooks knocks out his audience with heart and raw emotion, while the Uptown Sound’s post-punk attack updates the MG’s and JB’s groove model, resulting in pure and unrelenting soul music that ranges from sweaty on-the-one workouts, dance-punk booty shakers, garage-rock thump humps, and aching R&B ballads without a missed step in between. JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are not just another throwback group, they came to be during an age of war, manifesting their style of aggressive dance music with lyrics that dig deeper than the standard “baby, baby” fare.

“Neo-soul glory” – New York Times

Born in the great melting pot of Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood in 2007, guitarist Billy Bungeroth, drummer Kevin Marks, and bassist Ben Taylor (Beat Down Sound/September Sessions soundtrack) lay down a ferocious foundation for the soulful shouts of Mr. JC Brooks. The son of a Jersey funk diva set adrift by the disco era, he’s renowned for his take-no-prisoners stage style, leaving audiences with no other choice than to get up and move!

Brooks & co. kicked off 2009 with a bang, playing to an ecstatic SRO crowd at Chicago’s historic Park West Theater, where they were MC and house band for the Numero Group’s critically acclaimed Eccentric Soul Revue. They’ve collaborated with greats like Syl Johnson, the Notations, the Impressions’ Nate Evans, and Tortoise’s Dan Bitney. They’ve appeared on WGN-TV and BBC 6, cut a live session for influential independent radio station WFMU, and been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, TimeOut Chicago, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Now armed with their explosive debut album Beat of Our Own Drum (with Fall ’09 European release via Vampisoul Records) these intense young soul stirrers are bringing it to your door, ready to tour, score, and not be ignored.

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are for the people remaining awake through a great revolution… for people who want to move and not just sit tight…
for soul people!

“One of the most energetic, joyful live bands going on today… like if Otis Redding individually whipped each member of the Velvet Underground off of heroin, and transformed them into a disciplined, show-stopping Stax soul band.” – minneapolisf**kingrocks.com

For Tickets & More Info, visit:  www.ticketweb.com

The Blue Moose
211 Iowa Ave
Iowa City, IA 52240

A pooch kick from where Nate Kaeding booted his way into Hawkeye history books, the former West High and University of Iowa standout and current NFL place-kicker plans to open a new restaurant.

The restaurant hasn’t been named yet, but the plan is for a morning coffee shop, full-service lunch and dinner menus and Sunday brunch, Kaeding said. He and his partners hope to open by early June, Kaeding said.

“Being an Iowa City guy born and raised … I just had an interest to get involved. It was a fun side project for me,” Kaeding said.

Location To Be Former Taste On Melrose

The restaurant will take over the former space of Taste on Melrose, 1006 Melrose Ave., which closed on Feb. 14. The location is in a neighborhood setting just down the road from Kinnick Stadium and UI Hospitals and Clinics, which has 6,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of patient visits a year.

The menu is still being developed, Kaeding said. The meals will be fairly traditional, such as chicken sandwiches and pork tenderloins, but each dish will be made unique by featuring an Iowa ingredient. Prices will range from $9 to $15, he said.

“It will be Iowa ingredient-driven food, and it will be at a price point that will be very accessible,” Kaeding said.

The restaurant will also accommodate sports fans who want to grab a hot dog and burger and watch a game on television, Kaeding said. The plan calls for putting in a patio along the length of the building, Kaeding said.

Kaeding is partnering with Dan Ouverson, who co-owns the Mill Restaurant, and Kevin Perez, a local chef. The trio opened Short’s Burger and Shine, 18 S. Clinton St., in 2008.

Kaeding, who has played for the San Diego Chargers since he left UI 2004, still returns to the Iowa City area in the off-season. The restaurants serve as a good side project for life off the field, Kaeding said.

“Some day football is going to give up on me, so I will have to come up with something to come back to,” Kaeding said. “And, it is fun to be involved in a project that doesn’t have anything to with sports.”

via IC Press Citizen

Financial Times ranks Tippie MBA among world’s best

The Financial Times has again ranked the University of Iowa’s Tippie School of Management one of the best MBA programs in the world.

The London-based international finance and business daily’s 2010 survey ranked Tippie at 12th among public schools in the United States, 36th among all U.S. schools and 64th in the world. The program also ranked Tippie 39th globally for placement success.

The ranking, published in the paper’s Feb. 19 edition, is based on three main areas of data:  alumni salaries and career development; diversity and international reach of the business school and its MBA program; and the school’s research capabilities. This year, the paper ranked 156 business schools from around the world, including, for the first time, three in China.

For more information about the rankings, visit www.ft.com/mba.

University of Iowa News Release

Community invited to Benefit for Haiti at Englert Theatre Feb. 22

A celebration of Haitian people, history and culture titled “Benefit for Haiti” will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 22, in the Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St. in Iowa City.

The fund-raising event will feature a vibrant mixture of live music, dance, readings and tributes, and is presented by International Programs at the University of Iowa; the UI Caribbean, Diaspora, and Atlantic Studies (CDA) Program; the UI Chief Diversity Office; and the Englert Theatre. Many other UI entities, local businesses and community groups will help cosponsor this university-community collaborative fund-raising event.

The evening will include presentations from current and former UI students from Haiti and Haitian-Americans as well as faculty and students from the UI Division of Performing Arts, the Department of French and Italian and Global Health Studies.

Several guest artists are also generously giving their time for the benefit including: Sean O’Harrow, director of the Figge Museum in Davenport; Joshua Russell, piano faculty from Bradley University in Illinois, who has taught summer music camps in Haiti; and Ed East and the Afro-Latin Project of Waterloo, Iowa who will join forces with the UI’s Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance Ensemble to present several Haitian dance pieces.

Chris Buresh, M.D., clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine with University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, will provide either an in-person or a taped video presentation, sharing poignant insights from his multiple volunteer trips to Haiti. Other representatives from the team that accompanied Buresh to Haiti, including UI medical student Amanda River, also plan to participate.

To view the most up-to-date schedule of performers and presenters, visit http://international.uiowa.edu/benefitforhaiti.asp.

“This is truly an opportunity for everyone to come together to raise funds for two established organizations that can provide significant support to those in Haiti through providing health expertise and helping rebuild libraries,” said Loyce Arthur, co-director of the CDA Program and associate professor and head of design in the UI Department of Theatre Arts in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). “But it’s also a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness and help educate people about the rich arts, history and culture of Haiti.”

General admission tickets for the event will be $5 for UI students and youth up to age 18, and $15 for adults. For those who wish to donate more, there are $25, $50, and $100 ticket options available. Tickets will be available in advance at the Englert Box Office from 1 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the night of the event, at the box office and through the Englert Web site.

Proceeds from the event will be split evenly between Partners in Health and Libraries Without Borders.

Audience members are also invited to wear red and blue, the colors of the Haitian flag, as an act of solidarity, Arthur said.

The Community Health Initiative in conjunction with the UI Carver College of Medicine Physicians for Human Rights will also have a table at the Benefit for Haiti, selling wristbands for $5, with proceeds going to the purchase of supplies for the people of Leogane, Haiti. The wristbands, half red and half blue, say “Haiti in my Heart” on one side and the Haitian Creole version of this phrase, “Ayiti An Mwen Ke”, on the other.

For more information or to make special accommodations to attend this event, call Sarah Shonrock at the Englert Theatre Box Office at 319-688-2653 or sarah@englert.org. The UI Chief Diversity Office will provide an American Sign Language interpreter for the event. For more information, contact diversity@uiowa.edu.

University of Iowa TV (UITV) will tape and rebroadcast the event. Other event partners include: the UI Center for Human Rights in International Programs; the UI Department of French and Italian, the UI School of Music, and the UI Department of Dance, Division of Performing Arts, all in the CLAS; and West Music Company.

For more information, contact Joan Kjaer in International Programs at 319-335-2026 or joan-kjaer@uiowa.edu.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa News Services, 300 Plaza Centre One, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2500

MEDIA CONTACTS: Joan Kjaer, UI International Programs, 319-335-2026, joan-kjaer@uiowa.edu; Lois J. Gray, University News Services, 319-384-0077, lois-gray@uiowa.edu

Enjoy Moulin Rouge at Englerts

Sunday, February 21st at 9 PM

A naïve young poet (Ewan McGregor) falls in love with a cabaret star (Nicole Kidman), and their ill-fated romance serves as a convenient peg on which to hang a dazzling array of songs, from snatches of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music” to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” But the real star is director Baz Luhrmann, who came up with this infectious concoction that won two Oscars for art direction and costume design as well as six other nods.

Monday – Friday
1:00 to 6:00 PM CST
(319) 688-2653
221 East Washington St.

Some events now available for sale on www.IowaTix.com

PROJECT GREEN GARDEN FORUMS

Sunday Garden Forums

Sunday Garden Forums sponsored by Project GREEN and the Iowa City Public Library begin on February 14, 2010 in Room A of the Library. The two hour forums begin at 2:00 PM and feature speakers on a variety of topics. Each Forum will feature an hour slide or power point presentation followed by refreshments and a lengthy opportunity for discussion directly with the presenter for the day.

February 14, 2010 – Marcia Leeper, “Simplify Your Garden”

Marcia Leeper comes to us as a highly recommended speaker. Her passion is gardening. She will present tips for the busy gardener, showing ways to maintain the high impact in your garden’s appearance while reducing the work impact on you. Marcia has been the corporate gardener for August Home Publishing and Garden Gate Magazine for 14 years, designing and maintaining their test gardens and working with the editors of the Garden Gate Magazine.

March 7, 2010 – Kelly Norris, “The Garden in Four Seasons”

Kelly Norris is a horticulturist, plant breeder, award winning author and nationally acclaimed speaker. Let Kelly take you through the four seasons in the garden, approaching design and plant selection in a way that will enrich your gardening experience. Kelly will sell his book, The Iowa Gardener’s Travel Guide, offering exciting public and private gardens and nurseries in Iowa you may want to visit.

April 11, 2010 – Robert Henrickson, “Great Plants for the Great Plains”

Bob Henrickson is the Assistant Director of Horticulture Programs for the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. He will present plants that are often overlooked, but which are easy to grow and don’t require additional water, fertilizers or pesticides to thrive.

NOTE: BOB IS SPONSORED BY ECO-IOWA CITY AS PART OF THEIR GOAL TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN IOWA CITY

All Forums are free and open to the public. The programs will be televised live on the Library Cable Channel 10 and will be videotaped for checkout in the library’s non-fiction video collection. These forums qualify as education credits for Master Gardeners.

For more information on Sunday Garden Forums and Project Green please visit www.projectgreen.org.

New 50-Bed Hospital In Leogane, Haiti

A group of emergency medicine physicians from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics say they’re determined to help rebuild a better Haiti, including a new 50-bed hospital in the city of Leogane, just outside of Port-au-Prince.

“If we didn’t make things better than they were then we’ve missed a tremendous opportunity,” said Dr. Christopher Buresh, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Buresh and his medical team will travel to Haiti again next week to help in building the hospital and “to take care of folks who are really sick.”

It’s the first step in providing Haitians throughout that region with access to quality health care.

“It’s really going to make a difference,” said Dr. Dan Wing, a second-year resident in emergency medicine at UIHC. “It’s a temporary structure but it’s going to be temporary for five to six years.”

Workers also are training Haitian medical teams to care for their own.

“Our groups are working a lot with nursing students teaching them how to dress amputations, care for these wounds, do stitches, how to put on casts, and things like that,” Buresh said, noting those basic medical techniques can save lives.

“As a team we can make a difference, and it’s going to be a team effort long-term,” Wing said.

CORALVILLE Connection

When Charlie Hamilton hits the road this afternoon with his semi-trailer truck, he’ll be hauling more than bandages, gauze, and medicine.

He’ll be hauling relief, health, and hope for tens of thousands in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who’ve lost all three.

Hamilton, a 55-year-old Teamster from Des Moines will be taking the semi donated by Kirkwood Community College on a 28-hour trip to Miami. From there, the supplies donated by individuals and area health organizations will head for Haiti on Tuesday.

“I don’t care who you are, your heart has to go out to these people,” Hamilton said. “Twenty-eight hours isn’t so bad. I’m happy to help.”

Once they reach Haiti, the supplies will meet up with Dr. Chris Buresh in the Leogane region near Port-au-Prince, where Buresh will put them to work in answering the catastrophic call for medical attention.

Buresh, a professor of medicine at the University of Iowa, is no stranger to Haiti. The doctor has been working with Haitians for seven years, and came back home to Coralville to resupply after a nine-day stint working with victims of the January earthquake.

When he gets back to Haiti, he will have a semi-permanent hospital with 50 beds and a sterile operation room.

“We’ll be averaging 350 patients a day and 20 operations once we get things started,” Buresh said. “They’ve lost any organized medical system, but the Haitians are tough folks, and with real facilities and supplies they can heal much better.”

Buresh said the state of the recovery is chilling. With the capital city’s infrastructure in ruins, he worries about outbreaks of diarrhea, malaria, cholera, measles and even tuberculosis, but his spirit isn’t dampened by the daunting task at hand.

“What’s happened there is horrible,” Buresh said. “But if we didn’t try and do something right, try to help while we could, that’d be the real tragedy.”

And for a while, Buresh worried that tragedy was a reality. Buresh and others had been pooling medical supplies, as well as clothing and food, with no idea how soon or by what means they’d be able to move them into Haiti. But with the help of Gov. Chet Culver’s office, as well as the Clinton Foundation, there’s a spot on a boat for the supplies and an avenue to put Buresh’s skills as a healer to greater use.

“There’s a lot of red tape in getting aid there, and it’s not clear cut either,” said Doug Buchan, 22, a UI senior who has been helping inventory all of the supplies before they’re shipped.

He’ll be going to Haiti in a few days to help unpack and organize the new field hospital.

“There were so many uncertainties of how we’d get it there. But the Governor’s Office stepped in and offered to help us,” Buchan said.

Buchan looks forward to reaching Haiti. He sees it as an opportunity and a gift.

“It’s stressful, but it’s a rewarding stress,” Buchan said. “You can see what you’re doing, and see you’re working to an end to help others … it’s what makes all of this worthwhile.”

Stories by:
Spencer Willems
Gazette
Jami Brinton, KCRG-TV

Dr. Buresh Picture:  Mary Chind/The Register
via AP news