Monday, April 14, 2008

Monday Morning Assortment


I spent Sunday visiting one of those treasures nearly in our own backyard that I'd never made it to, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I didn't get much sleep before driving up there, so as I struggled to keep my eyes open behind the wheel I frequently thought about how nice it would be to just hop on a train in Moline or even Davenport and end up in downtown Chicago. Unfortunately, I don't know that Amtrak would have been helpful in transporting a couple 7-foot-tall IKEA bookshelves back to the QC. Shedd was great of course, but I came away thinking that Dubuque's Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium looks pretty good in a city 50x smaller than Chicago.

Does anyone else think its odd that the Abbey Hotel is using the Isle of Capri hotels as its reason for changing to a rehab center? I mean, I've never stayed at an IOC property, but are these large casino hotels really targeting the same market as a historic bed and breakfast? It just seems like it would be a completely different demographic.

Why is it that the Bix at 6 debate always turns into an argument between SoLo residents acting like these 6 nights a year are ruining their lives (they aren't) and one or more persons that insults anyone who voices their displeasure with the Bix at 6 system as being "unalthletic," anti-fitness," etc. (not true either) Where are the people working for a compromise? I suppose this 4 practice runs instead of 6 is as close as we'll get this year.

Listening to the police radio the last few nights, it seems like there's been a fight (or several) at the "Drunken Monkey" on Rockingham about every night lately. It seems like its time to look into their liquor license, except the state just handcuffs cities on that issue anyway. When police are forced to be nightly visitors to a bar, is that business really a net positive for the city?

Keith Meyer continues to rant and rave about Steve Ahrens supposedly "taking over" the farmer's market, despite the fact that the vendors remaining downtown will be forming their own group to run the market shortly. Why is it that while most people can admit that other people have different opinions, anyone who disagrees with Keith is either corrupt, incompetent, or an idiot? I have never heard anything along the lines of "I understand your side of the argument, but we'll have to agree to disagree," from him. As far as the market, some people clearly don't realize what a sad running joke the whole "green bean war" was to most Davenport citizens. There were clearly some negative issues with the previous groups, and I hope that this new group can work together like adults instead of drawing a sitcom-style white line down the middle of the farmer's market. Locating a farmer's market at a mall seems contrary to the whole idea of a farmer's market.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are certainly obsessed with Meyer.You have been attackin the man for years man. Can't handle his honesty? Get a dog to teach you the difference between what is good and what is bad.

Anonymous said...

Keith' honesty stops at the end of his nose; he can't see past it!

Unknown said...

I don't think it's unreasonable at all to require the farmer's market folks to rearrange so that the whole operation is safer. It's pathetic that they couldn't agree on doing something for the safety of their customers. But I guess if they actually listened to their customers, they'd all be staying on the riverfront, too.

Mixing cars and hundreds of people on foot just is not a good mix. This is a city parking lot, and a city-sanctioned event. If someone had gotten hurt, I could easily envision someone suing the city over it. Then we'd all be wondering why it took so long to fix this safety issue.

Unknown said...

Oh, and regarding the Abbey - I just think they saw a use for their property that could make more money than it was. Blaming the IOC was just an excuse.

Anonymous said...

Dogs eat cat poop and roll on dead animals.

I suppose that might match the thought process that a certain ex-alderman puts into determining what is good and what is bad.

Anonymous said...

Why do dogs (and other animals) eat poop?
Many animals eat poop on a regular basis. These include rabbits, rodents, gorillas, many insects such as dung beetles and flies, and yes, dogs. (Keep that in mind the next time a dog wants to lick you!) Herbivores such as rabbits and rodents eat their own poop because their diet of plants is hard to digest efficiently, and they have to make two passes at it to get everything out of the meal. This is equivalent to a cow chewing its cud, only cows are able to re-eat their food without having to poop it out first. Another reason why animals eat poop is that poop contains vitamins produced by their intestinal bacteria. The animal is unable to absorb the vitamins through the intestinal wall, but can get at them by eating the poop. Another reason that animals such as dogs and flies eat poop is that poop contains a certain amount of protein. Dogs are particularly fond of cat poop because cat poop is high in protein. I had a friend with a dog and a cat, and he never had to clean the kitty litter. The dog took care of it.

Anonymous said...

Why Dogs Love to Roll in Smelly Stuff
by Ron Kurtus (15 June 2002)

For some reason, dogs love to roll in something smelly. Of course, owners don't like this, but is seems to be a basic behavior trait of the canine. The reason may be a basic instinct going back to wolves and wild dogs.

Questions you may have include:

What is an example of a dog rolling in something smelly?
Why do they do it?
What to do about it?
This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.

Personal experience
When our Golden Retriever was about a year old, we brought her to a small Wisconsin lake. She was roaming around freely and went into some bushes. I was wonder what she was doing there, so I took a look. There she was, rolling on a dead fish that someone had thrown into the bushes. That fish must have been there for days, because did it ever stink!

We were gagging in the car throughout the trip home, even with all the windows open. It took a good bath and plenty of scrubbing to get that smell out of her fur.

Since then, I've always kept an eye out for any random animal feces or anything else that is smelly and tempting to her.

Reason they do it
Sometimes dogs will roll in the grass or in something smelly right after getting a bath. Some dog shampoos have perfumes that may be pleasant to humans but smell awful to the animal. It is just an effort to mask the unpleasant and un-dog-like odor.

Wolves will often roll in decomposing carcasses or the feces of plant eating animals or herbivores. This would mask their own scent and enable them to sneak up on their prey without detection. It could even fool members of the other species into accepting it as one of their own. This ancient instinct may have carried over to domesticated dogs.

Another school for thought is that dogs may roll in smelly things to 'advertise' what they have found to other dogs.



Mmm! What was he rolling in?

Rolling in their own feces or that of another dog is not as common and actually may be distorted behavior or a way to get attention.

What to do
Although rolling in something smelly is not desirable behavior, you should not punish the dog for doing what is only natural. It is better to try to prevent the chances of the behavior by keeping an eye on your pet. Fortunately, the behavior seems to diminish as the dog gets more mature.

Also, if it happens after a bath, you might try a different, unscented shampoo.

Dogs that roll in dog feces or their own may be seeking more attention and just doing something like that to get some sort of attention.

Summary
Dogs will usually roll in smelly or rotting things to mask their own smell, whether it is unpleasant to them or due to some natural instinct. The best bet is to keep an eye on your animal, when it looks like it found something interesting.

Anonymous said...

Well now I'll be able to get to sleep at night. Been mulling the dogs-eat-poop question every night for months now.
Thanks,

Anonymous said...

To some of you people knowledge is a really dangerous thing so go hang man with cutsey eye on the industrial barrel and watch rats run across the floor to the music of copshow radio.

QuadCityImages said...

Out of all the directions I thought the comments might go on this after I posted it this morning, this wasn't one of them.

Anonymous said...

QCI u read my mind...if thats where u were going with the dubuque aquarium. why not an aquarium in the qc?? and a history and science museum? childredns museum?

Unknown said...

You mean like the Putnam? Or the Bettendorf Family Museum?

hoganj300 said...

The Weather Channel is covering the Rock River in Moline right now!

Anonymous said...

“Rolling in it”, an analogy to Keith’s nature?

Anonymous said...

Between this and the previous thread, there has been a favorable amount of 'poop talk'

Anonymous said...

pioneer, sry but those places arent impressive

Anonymous said...

Steve and the Market vendors all make the right choice, and both they and the people attending the market will all be better off for it. Thank the Lord Keith no longer has a microphone in front of him to stir things up in the paper.

Anonymous said...

I look forward to the new farmers market downtown. Why would anyone want to go to Northpark parking lot, when you can be down be the river. Steve Ahrens is doing a great job on the river.
I think an aquarium in Davenport with Mississippi River fish would be a great addition to Davenport. As for a childrens museum, Bettendorf already has a fine one, at the Putnum is a wonderful museum. Lets everyone start to push this aquarium idea.

Anonymous said...

So,"not technically correct", Ahrens can keep on spreading his lies. He has to take over the existing Farmers Market because it will compete with the Freight House Market. Steve why not take over everything else that uses the riverfronton a regular basis. Do you need a list made up for you? Bandits,Bix, Blues,Builders, thats just some of the B's. What a bunch of B.S.

Anonymous said...

Isn't the Freight House Market an extension/relocation of the previous market? Isn't Ahrens just coordinating the assets we have on our riverfront for the good of Davenport and its citizens?
From the limited amount of press I have read it seems like he is acting as traffic cop/arbitrator in this mess.
I guess the farmer's market is this season's skate park when it comes to city drama.

Anonymous said...

qcmike

There was a meeting on Saturday by the River City Market to coordinate the set up at Northpark Mall and there were over 40 vendors present to show their commitment to the market. All but a few of the stall are spoken for. Mississippi Valley Growers has just as many- this should be a great season!

Anonymous said...

Steve Ahrens took over the Farmers Market. And yes, Image you are an idiot to believe otherwise.

QCI, the guy who ranted and raved about St. Pauls lying, carries a bucket of lies for the Ahrens and the Administration.

The farmers market people didn't move to the mall because of the traffic issue. They invested over twenty years building the market, only to see Ahrens pull their lease to get control. Get real, please.

Anonymous said...

I'm just wondering..in the last 2 years has the city of Bettendorf fixed the childrens museum? Because when I was last there..2 years ago..things were falling apart or broken. So it wasn't as good as it could be!

Anonymous said...

You mention the "Bix @6" evening runs being 6 nights a week and people upset - come to ILQC's where the annual debate as to whether a motorcycle parade can take place. That's once a year and only takes 45 minutes. Oh my gosh, what are people to do? No other way around.....

QuadCityImages said...

I think the motorcycle rides are funny, because its a bunch of people with illegally loud vehicles expecting a police escort so they can drive 70mph on city streets. I'm with the IL police chiefs on this one.

Anonymous said...

I hate to change the subject, but does anyone know what is going to happen to the old hotel site out on Brady Street (south of Thunder Bay)? I see they are tearing down the old buildings.

QuadCityImages said...

Wow, really?

That's some of the best news for the Brady/Harrison corridor in a while. Hopefully they tear down the old movie theater as well.

According to the Scott County website, that land is owned by Windmill Hill LC. It somewhat appears that the property hasn't been sold since 2000 or 2003, but who knows. Does anyone else out there know, or is this another secret secret development?

Anonymous said...

The former hotel site on Brady is being developed to house a group of showrooms for home ideas and contractor offices to take advantage of the Menards development.

QuadCityImages said...

Well, I guess that possibly answers that.

Anonymous said...

I think the old theater is going to be redeveloped for Tri City Electric's new home.

QuadCityImages said...

How come this stuff hasn't hit the professional media? Or have I just missed it?

I'd be nice to see TriCity move some of its more industrial operations out of downtown, where they seem scattered over several blocks. Obviously it'd be even nicer to see those blocks developed into more downtown residential.

I'm also curious though how this fits in with the corridor study's preliminary plans for that area. For example, the consultants recommended making the frontage roads 2-way and moving the one on the east side of Brady farther east.

Unknown said...

The rivalry between the two factions of the farmer's market had been brewing for a long time. Ahrens had the unfortunate role of being caught between them. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later, with or without Ahrens. It's childish, and those wise enough to stay on the riverfront will be getting my business.

Anonymous said...

QCI:

I don't think the Tri City Electric deal has been announced publicly and not 100% that it is a done deal.

Anonymous said...

Realize you hate the Reader but you might want to check out the article on the farmers market and apologize to meyer.

QuadCityImages said...

If you're talking about what I saw, its not an article, its a letter to the editor from a very biased party.

Anonymous said...

"biased" might be the understatement of the year. You can tell even in the tone of that letter how difficult it would be to negotiate with her.