Slipknot on The Iowa Journal

This has been a tough week for fans and the band members of Slipknot. The Des Moines based band lost their left-handed bass player and heart and soul of the band in Paul Gray. He found dead in a hotel room in Urbandale on Monday.

Grey was on a piece of video seen here when we talked about Iowa’s music industry. The small feature is here. That program also featured the Quad City based website Daytrotter, which is run by Sean Moeller.

During that program, we had M. Shawn Crahan on the program to talk about the music scene for Slipknot and also The Nada’s as Jason Walsmith was on the program as well.

We then had Crahan on again, who is a percussionist and founding member of the band, back on 2010. This time we were talking about the vision for Iowa’s future. This program included Michael Gartner, Kesho Scott and Daniel Shipton. My post on the program can be found here.

A story about the background of what Paul Gray meant to the band and the music scene, here’s Kyle Munson’s column in the Des Moines Register.

The Iowa Journal looks at the Vision for Iowa

Judy Blank, Daniel Shipton, Michael Gartner, M. Shawn Crahan, Kesho Scott, Nancy Crowfoot, Paul Yeager following the taping of The Iowa Journal episode #317. Show recorded in Johnston, IA at IPTV studios. (Credit: Iowa Public Television)

Thanks to all who watched our Vision for Iowa program that aired Thursday. Here’s a look at the producers of the show and the guests.

We’ve had a couple of stories about the preview to the show. Here’s my take, here is the version the Silicon Prairie News website posted on us.

You still have a few chances to see the show in full HD on IPTV.

The Iowa Journal will air Friday night at 630p on Iowa Public Television ahead of the Penn State @ Iowa wrestling meet.

If you have over the antenna or converter box or access to all 3 Iowa Public Television signals you can watch the rebroadcast Saturday morning on our .3 service. So, if you’re in Raymond, you can watch on 32.3.

Or, you can just click here for the full program that is already on our website. Please, tell your friends. Share with neighbors, then tell us what you think of Michael Gartner‘s big idea for Iowa. Will it work? Not sure what that big idea is? Then you’ll have to watch the program.

What about Slipknot’s M. Shawn Crahan and his view for Iowa. What does he think will solve our problems? Click here to find out.

How about Kesho Scott of Grinnell College? Her views on what great strides Iowa has made were very complimentary to the state. But, does she consider herself an Iowan?

Is Iowa on the road to success or is it a hard road to run like the Brady Street Hill in Davenport?

And Daniel Shipton? Where does he think resources need to go to keep more young people, like him, here in Iowa?

Please visit here and leave your comments about our program. Where did we miss on this show?

Would you like to see what other shows we’ve done on the Iowa Journal? It just so happens there’s a page for that to list all our programs.

Did you know we looked at the Iowa Wine industry?
How about the art in public places including the display in the Pappajohn Art Sculpture?
Autism in Iowa? And we looked at the floods of 2008 and what, if anything can be done to prevent future disasters.

We want to hear that you care about this show and want to see it continue. As of now, we are slated to leave the air in June because of the budget reduction here at IPTV and the State of Iowa. Your comments are valued and appreciated. Again, just drop your comments here about our show. And if you like us, tell your friends about why you think this show is important in discussing topics that have an impact on all Iowans.

Next week we go after tax credits again. This issue is again a hot one in the Iowa Legislature. We visited the topic once, but feel it needs to be looked at again.

Vision for Iowa

Iowa. Don't come here. Maybe that should be our motto. If you don't come here, you would not see this sunrise over Bellevue and the Mississippi River.

Thursday night you’ll get to hear the view of 4 Iowans on the future of the state. Where are we headed? Are we all about year-round school? Is it keeping the best and brightest here through education incentives? Or is it all about the love?

We do drop a couple of good points on you, but you may be surprised in how our varied panel agreed on some things.

A little background here.

View of the Iowa State capital from Downtown Des Moines

We wanted to take a different approach to the beginning-of-the-year-what-can-we-expect show. We also didn’t want to totally do the show on politics or what the Iowa Legislature needs to do in the upcoming session. That’s what Iowa Press is for.

We wanted to do something a bit different. The producers of the show, Nancy Crowfoot, Judy Blank and myself started heading to a roundtable-type discussion show. Bring in some guests and ask their views on the future of the state.

Producer Judy Blank said one day during a meeting, “how about putting Michael Gartner next to Shawn Crahan?”

That would mean putting the former president of NBC News, editor of the Wall Street Journal, Iowa Board of Regents member, owner of the Iowa Cubs next to a percussionist of the heavy-metal and Grammy award-winning band Slipknot.

I loved the idea. Just the 2-shot of them next to each other was worth the price of admission.

We then went back and forth on the rest of show. I wanted to put 8 or 10 people on a panel and just go crazy for an hour. I did not win that part of the discussion.

Have the brightest days of Iowa already passed and now we're watching the sunset? View over Clear Lake, IA.

We started a list, even soliciting several of your ideas on visionaries or people who are doing some rare things in Iowa, could easily have left the state, or would offer some good discussion points.

I may at a later time post who we started with and how we pared it down. I think the list grew to 40 before Christmas.

We used this criteria to see who would best fit our idea. We asked the question, “what is Iowa’s biggest hurdle and how does that impact your life and livelihood?”

Daniel Shipton, Michael Gartner, M. Shawn Crahan and Kesho Scott, on the set of The Iowa Journal at Iowa Public Television. The picture was taken following the taping of the January 28th, 2010 program. Image from IPTV.

Kesho Scott of Grinnell College has been to Iowa Public Television before to serve other shows. She had views on her role as a college professor and grew up outside of Iowa. She’s been here 20+ years and now calls herself an Iowan. Scott is an associate professor at Grinnell. She’s an author, diversity trainer and won a Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality.

Daniel Shipton was recommended by several people and garnered attention as our pick for the panel. He’s a native Iowan, went to Iowa State for their virtual reality program and stayed in Iowa to do what he does. He is CEO at BitMethod and director of operations at Impromtu Studio in Des Moines. BitMethod does among many things, designs iPhone apps. He’s got 3 on the market now that he’s helped designed. Impromptu has hosted Ignite Des Moines and Movement Bash. He’s interested in fostering the growth of Iowa’s hi-tech industry.

Our program airs Thursday at 8p on Iowa Public Television. It will re-air Friday at 630p. You will be able to view it online at www.iptv.org/iowajournal sometime Friday, if not before.

Here’s where you find the official release.

Gartner was on our program about college sports spending and our media matters or who will report when the reporters are gone show.
Shawn Crahan talked about his role in Slipknot on our Music Industry in Iowa program. He was next to Jason Walsmith of the Nada’s.

Will our future of Iowa be in the urban areas like Cedar Rapids?

So how do you see Iowa in the next 20-30 years?
Who needs to lead change in the state? Does the leadership come from the golden dome in Des Moines or does it come from mainstreet Sioux Center?
What is not being talked about that needs to be?
How and why do we keep young people in our state?
What is your big idea for Iowa?

Welcome to Iowa. We have seasons.

All good questions and I’d like to hear your thoughts on all of them.

If you have any thoughts on the program send them to the bosses here at IPTV.

Want to view the show now? Go ahead and click here for an explanation of clips and more back ground on the show. Or just click here for the video of the show.

What is Iowa’s Future

I gotta tell ‘ya, this upcoming Iowa Journal is a show I really think you should watch.
I think you should watch every show we produce, but this one has something different.

We are looking into the future.
Specifically, what is Iowa’s future?

I will write more as the week goes on, but this show puts the former president of NBC News next to a percussionist of the band Slipknot. The picture alone is worth the tune-in Thursday night at 8p, Friday at 630p on Iowa Public Television.

Daniel Shipton of BitMethod and Impromptu Studio was next to Kesho Scott of Grinnell College. That side of the table was much better looking.

Here’s the official release that is going out now on the inter-webs.

What Is Iowa’s Future?
On the Thursday, January 28 edition
of The Iowa Journal

(Johnston, Iowa) –Thursday’s episode of The Iowa Journal will ask a diverse group of Iowans what they want to see for Iowa’s future. This program airs Thursday, January 28 at 8 p.m. It will be rebroadcast Friday, January 29 at 6:30 p.m. on IPTV and Saturday, January 30 at 8:30 a.m. on IPTV WORLD. It will also be available online at iptv.org/iowajournal.

Iowa faces a recession, unemployment, and out-migration of young people. The Legislature and government leaders work to find solutions. But what solutions can come from the private sector?
In the studio to discuss how to overcome challenging socioeconomic concerns, and who can help harness the state’s potential are four guests:
Michael Gartner is chairman and principal owner of the Iowa Cubs, a member of the Board of Regents, former chairman of Vision Iowa, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
Kesho Scott is an associate professor of American Studies and Sociology at Grinnell College, a Fulbright Scholar, author and diversity trainer, and winner of the Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice.
M. Shawn Crahan is a songwriter, producer, director and founder of Sopra Evil Records. He is a founding member of the Grammy award-winning band Slipknot, and is a member of the band Dirty Little Rabbits.
Daniel Shipton is a web and mobile technology entrepreneur. He is CEO at BitMethod, director of operations at Impromptu Studios, and sponsors events aimed at fostering growth of Iowa’s hi-tech industry.
For more information about The Iowa Journal, visit http://www.iptv.org/iowajournal or call (515) 242-3146. For information on how to watch IPTV WORLD in your area, visit Iptv.org.

Here’s a longer version of the above story. Enjoy. Complete with color pictures. I’m amazed at technology today.