For one moment— and that’s all you’ll be able to stomach — really look at Eddie Murphy’s filmography. You will notice how his bad films (and most transcend that feeble definition, falling more often into the “wretched” category) far outweigh the good. You will see that the handful of good films — Murphy’s Holy Trinity of Funny: 48 Hrs.,…
All burned out: William Prann isn’t so hot after all. Though People magazine recently named the Kansas City banker one of the country’s most eligible bachelors (Kansas City Strip, July 13), Playgirl isn’t likely to be calling in the near future. Eligible bachelorettes might not be, either. People’s Web site followed up its July 10 print edition by asking readers,…
The Naked and the Dead In your article about Webb Garlinghouse and Lake Edun (“The Naked Truth,” July 6), reporter Mary Spiro Levin referred to Lake Edun’s annual outreach activity as “Back to Edun.” Actually it’s “Return to Edun.” This is trivial and picky, but Lake Edun’s flier is quite clear about the name. A more significant gaffe is Topeka…
Gracie the cat met a lethal dose of pentobarbital before Shauna and Darin Willoughby even knew he was missing. The way the Willoughbys tell it, Gracie was a charismatic cat who would put his paw on the door to signal that he wanted to go out and would expectantly hold out his face whenever a family member made kissing noises….
Richards-Gebaur neighbors cast their votes for a new runway — and wasted their energy. Some of the people at the Blue River Bible Church last Tuesday had to be asking themselves why they’d come. They were there for a presentation on new runway possibilities at Richards-Gebaur Memorial Airport. But common sense seemed absent from the premises, and a certain absurdity…
Joe Booth ignored his shoes, grabbed his pants and shirt, and hurried his wife, Norma, into the hallway. Flames were climbing outside his window that Friday morning at the Las Vegas MGM Grand, built in 1973 as the world’s largest resort hotel. “They were small flames,” Joe remembers. “I didn’t think we were going to be gone long. I could…
In the course of two hours, Neil Gaiman speaks 10,000 words (or damned near, when transcribed), and it seems a shame to waste a single one, since there is not an uh or y’know among them. Even the most eloquent writer gets lost in thought every now and then…uh…y’know? But not Gaiman, who speaks like he writes and never…
In addition to eating lemon grass noodles and duck noodle soup, there are lots of things to do at Thai 2000. On one visit, for example, we looked at intriguing photos as we flipped through a stack of glossy Thai fashion magazines near our booth. And when the TV set mounted on the ceiling near the kitchen is turned…
20 Thursday InPlay Theatre Company poses a hypothetical question: What would happen if Zora Neale Hurston and other artists, intellectuals, and activists got together to throw a party for Langston Hughes? The answer lies in local actress Jacqee Gafford’s original script, Harlem Knights. The play, set in the renaissance of black intellectual life in 1927 Harlem, is about hopes…
In 1967, Chris Brethwaite, then 12, saw an unidentified flying object in the Albuquerque evening sky. For three nights, he and a group of friends gathered to watch the “nebulous ball of white light” travel the same path through the sky. On the third night, Brethwaite encountered an alien. “A 7-foot tall, luminous orange man suddenly materialized right where I…
With all the recent hoopla about saving the crumbling old Walt Disney Laugh-O-Gram Studio, no one seems to remember that Disney wasn’t the only entertainment icon to spend formative years in Kansas City. Thank You Walt Disney is the sugary name of the nonprofit group devoted to saving the long-abandoned building at 1127 E. 31st Street. (The organization hosts…
By the looks of the scene on the University of Kansas campus that night, it looked as if CNN was preparing to cover another invasion of Grenada. Only Morton’s Steakhouse had more dishes (though the ones at KU were the satellite kind), and power outlets were a rare find, each with enough equipment plugged into it to zap the…
Once upon a time, Miles McMahon was an actor on a roll. Fresh out of the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s competitive MFA acting program, he was landing parts at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and the Unicorn, where his performance as Joe, the furtively gay Mormon, in Angels in America brought a Kansas City Drama Desk nomination. Like…
Although the end might be the same, the means to achieve it often differs between men and women. Generally, a man imposes his will and a woman draws one into her circle of influence. It’s the difference between working from the top down or from the bottom up, politically speaking. This dichotomy has been eroding over the past few…
While Thursday night’s No Doubt show at Sandstone offered a glimpse at one of the alternative scene’s big-name female vocalists, several other women in rock showcased their sizable talents at El Torreon the same evening. First to perform was One Damn Canadian, the only group on the bill to feature no female members. This band added a classic-rock slant…
Performances by such entertainers as Britney Spears often are made into punchlines by jaded hipsters, but Monday night’s concert at Sandstone proved that many of these criticisms are off-base observations from people who have never actually attended one of these stars’ shows. For one thing, the music came from a talented band, not a DAT, and the bass lines to…
Carnage, burn, dislocate, kill: A quick word-search of this festival’s lineup yields these intimidating results, which, as metal fans know, bodes well for the caliber of brutality to be unleashed. (For reference, “limp” is not such an indicator.) The headliners (Cephalic Carnage on Saturday and the Dillinger Escape Plan on Sunday) mix grindcore fury with jazz and prog-rock touches. Other…
For those who bemoan the absence of political commentary from today’s popular punk and ska groups, Plea for Peace offers a one-stop resource center that doubles as a showcase for bands that are down for the cause. Mike Park, an activist known for his participation in the Anti-Racist Action organization as well as his contributions to the diversity-minded ska groups…
Due to the logistical impossibility of traveling from coast to coast without passing through the Midwest (oh, and of course the irresistible lure of barbecue and fountains), Kansas City manages to corral most major tours. Unfortunately, a few events manage to slip through the cracks. In May, The Cure’s farewell lap around the country inspired many local fans to make…
With such song titles as “Baddest Ones Around,” “We Are Loud,” and “Rock Will Never Stop,” it’s easy to hypothesize that Fussion plays all-out, Motörhead-style high-volume metal. However, this trio prefers a midpace, relatively low-key sound that favors solos over ventures into double-time. Highlights include the Sabbath-style sludge of “What I’m Looking For,” which features compliments such as baby, you’re…
Despite its name, this Overland Park-based trio should have the power to unite kids instead of dividing them, as it moves between Pavement-style indie-rock, bouncy new-wave-flavored pop, and guitar-powered heavier fare. Singer/drummer Brian Lynn, the former bassist of Grither, adds a political slant to his lyrics, as he rants about daddy’s little tax break on “Kid Prophet” and paints an…
El Torreon will cease to exist for one weekend. In its place, rising out of the fiery depths of the underworld, Hell On Earth: The Midwest Hardcore and Metalfest will emerge. Starting at noon on Saturday and Sunday, July 22 and 23, more than 10 bands will bring their own particular brands of heavy rock to the brave souls…
The FlysOutta My Way(Trauma)Credit Trauma Records with creating a cottage industry for clone bands. Bush and The Flys call Trauma home, and both bands have made a career out of sounding unoriginal, crafting radio-ready rock songs that somehow make money while helping destroy the very genre of music the acts supposedly champion. If looking for a Sugar Ray/Offspring type of…
With the rush to market all the rap/metal hybrid bands, some of the originators have a hard time proving their mettle these days. England’s Pitchshifter was updating new-wave synths into new-metal crunch way before Orgy ever got dressed for the ball. Even its last album title, www.pitchshifter.com, was a visionary stab at the heart of all the modern-day musical matters….
