Artdive's Annual Spring Open House

Join us to celebrate Artdive's Annual Spring Open House with fabulous local art, food and drinks! APRIL 17TH 5-9 PM, LOCATED AT 1417 WALNUT ST.
See the work of newly featured graffiti artist Jordan Weber. His work deals with issues of consumerism and materialism and their effects on the self-image. There are elements of a “Pop Art” influence along with Japanese culture.
The exhibit will also include new box constructions by artist Kevin House and new splatter paintings by comic illustrator Ron Wagner. Bekah Ash, who recently signed with Hallmark to use her imagery in a line of greeting cards, will also be showing works. Christine Mullane will unveil her latest commissioned collage painting “Reddi Wip Mick.” Rob Reeves will feature a new nightscape, Brent Houzenga will be exhibiting his environmentally friendly recycled window art and new to Artdive is artist Hasan Tosunbegovic who will show his surrealist landscapes. Let’s “Bring in the Spring!” for more info call 515-245-900

Des Moines Art Center "After Many Springs" Community Day

After several months of not finding anything [free] worth blogging about, I'm finally breaking the silence! I'm thinking maybe there's just not a whole lot of free, fun stuff in Des Moines in the winter.

Kindra's grandmother mentioned that the Des Moines Art Center had a Grant Wood exhibit featuring American Gothic, his most recognizable painting.

AFTER MANY SPRINGS Community Day
Sunday, March 29 1 – 4 pm
FREE admission

• Spend the afternoon at the Art Center with family and friends immersed in culture and surrounded by masterpieces!
• Art and dance activities draw inspiration from the vivid landscapes and dramatic weather phenomena depicted in many of the artworks in After Many Springs. Learn about “weather grams” and create one for a friend using biodegradable materials. Interpret the artwork using your body and creative movement.
• Hoot it up with barn dance music from the mighty Barn Owl Band! Its good old-fashioned, toe-tapping, foot-stomping entertainment brought up to date with fresh renditions of time-honored tunes and songs, as well as new compositions that add to the tradition.
• Wear your ruby slippers and watch The Wizard of Oz, 1939.
• View with your own eyes one of the world’s most famous paintings, American Gothic. This is the last day the painting is on view in the exhibition.
• Embark on a treasure hunt through the galleries.
• Enjoy FREE cookies and lemonade.

10/25: West Glen's Annual Halloween Celebration

This event is taking place on October 25th from 3:30-6 pm at West Glen. It includes hay rack rides, trick or treating, hot air balloon rides, games, and more. At 6:30, the movie It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is showing at the Fountain Plaza. Also from 2-4 pm, 3 Dog Bakery is having Dogtoberfest (not sure what this is but I'm guessing it's a sale). So this sounds like a fun time for the whole family.

9/19: Notes and Outdoor Movie Night at West Glen

Friday's Outdoor movie night at West Glen was postponed for this Friday (September 19) due to rain. With the cold, rainy weather, we didn't even think about going - so I don't know if the "Notes" was postponed also but it looks like this week Don Brown Sax and Flute will be at Fuel juice bar.

They'll still be showing Shrek and popcorn sales will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

9/16: Notes at West Glen

Caribou Coffee in West Glen is hosting Maximilian Eubank on guitar. $1 from each drink sale benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

You can listen to some of Maximilian's music on his website - and also check out some of his other upcoming events.

I have not personally seen Maximilian, but on his website his bio says:

I like to describe my music as similar to Bradley Nowell, Jason Mraz, Newton Faulkner and Donovan Frankenreiter. My lyrics and voice are what I have been cultivating for many years, and they are complimented well with my guitar skills. I have been writing songs since I first picked up a guitar when I was 14, and was published in two poetry collections before that. I have written around 60 original songs. The character of my lyrics ranges over the wide spectrum of human emotion. They can be dark, funny, satirical, elated, drunk etc.

My sound has been described as folk rock, anti-folk, acoustic rock, acoustic alternative and singer/songwriter. Personally I think it has a bit of each. My influences range from Led Zeppelin to Mos Def. From Black Sabbath to Al Green. From The Gypsy Kings to The Roots, Martin Sexton, and Newton Faulkner. While my sound is consistent within itself, it is influenced by so many genres of music it is always progressing. I also enjoy putting a bit of a shock factor into my songs. It turns heads. I like the dichotomy of raw rock and roll lyrics set to an acoustic background. I have a song about cigarettes and porn (Concrete) and a song about lesbians (Lady Cops). Throw in some Tenacious D and people start listening.

I have been performing for eight years now my largest crowd being 300, but I would be confident and cool playing in front of any amount of people. I occasionally play with other musicians but when I perform in my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa I mostly perform solo. My set can run as long as 3 hours and consists of original and cover songs. I look forward to any show, large or small, because once I’m on the stage it’s all the same to me.

Free Redbox Rental

We have been doing some Redbox rentals lately to make up for getting rid of DirecTV (again, we loved DirecTV, but at the moment have better uses for that money). For those of you who don't know what RedBox is, think vening machine for movie rentals.

Redbox rentals are a flat $1 per night and you can rent/return from any location without a membership. A credit/debit card is required.

A downside to renting at the machine itself is that you have to decide on what movie you want to watch while standing there. If you had ever seen my wife and I in the video store, we typically make about 3 rounds in the store before either deciding on a movie. Also, the movie you have your heart set on may be sold out from that particular machine, so you have to find another location that has it.

Something that I found out is that you can rent from RedBox online and leisurely select a movie and then reserve it for whatever location DOES have it in stock. Once you reserve it from a location, you just show up, hit the "pick up" button, swipe your card (so they know who you are) and take off with your DVD.

The only other downside I have run into with Redbox is that occassionally the machine you are trying to return the movie to is full and will not accept returns. In that case, you need to find another location that is not full... I have only had that happen once to me, so I don't know of a way around that yet.

So... the FREE part - Click the link below (or maybe just enter the code DVDONME at the machine) to receive a free night's rental.

9/20: What's For Dinner?, Ankeny

We've tried "What's For Dinner" a couple of times and have really enjoyed what they offer. For those of you who don't know about "What's for Dinner", it is a business that helps you create your own ready-to-cook frozen meals.

The primary benefit of WHAT'S for DINNER is the time we can save you preparing 12 meals in just about two hours. We do the shopping and the heavy preparation work. The time saved from menu-planning, shopping, cooking, chopping, and cleaning is yours to enjoy. Fewer last minute trips to the grocery store and no messy kitchen clean up will brighten your day. Families will be able to sit down to a meal together around the table which is so important because “a family that eats together stays together.”

Most meals require little cooking time, so you end up spending less time in the kitchen. In the end, they estimate $3.06 per serving. This isn't like microwave dinner type of food - this is fresh-tasting, home-made (ish) cooking.

For us, "What's For Dinner" helped us get more comfortable in the kitchen and transition from eating out regularly to cooking at home regularly. I think even if you are proficient in the kitchen, it is a good service because you can have meals almost ready to go for those days you don't feel like cooking from scratch.

So... the free part:

We will be hosting our 1st Annual Open House on Saturday, September 20th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Some of the highlights will include: - Sampling of some new recipes for the fall & our appetizer items for the holidays. - Great Give-a-ways! A Freezer, Half Session, items from local businesses and more! - Gift bags that include a discount ranging from 5% to 50% off your entire purchase. We hope you will join us in our celebration – we have been open for 1 year and would like to say Thank You to all of our wonderful customers, family and friends.

What's For Dinner Ankeny
802 S.E. Oralabor Road, Suite 108
Ankeny, IA 50021
(515) 963-3688
wfdankeny@gmail.com

Visit the website