Johnson County diners can go deli-rious over two new eateries, with the March opening of TooJay’s Original Gourmet Deli on 119th Street, followed by the April 9 opening of the second location for another imported delicatessen, Jason’s Deli, just a few blocks west at 12010 Metcalf. (The first Jason’s Deli is still at 8931 Metcalf.) Unlike TooJay’s, the Texas-based Jason’s…
In little more than a month, the newest chain restaurant imported into Johnson County has become the busiest — customers have been standing in line to wait for a table at TooJay’s. That’s good news for the restaurant’s owners, Roger Gondek and his partners (who also own the Kansas City Hooters franchise). The local TooJay’s is the first outside…
19 Thursday “Society tends to be amused by mischievous youth,” Dogbert once told a troubled teen. “I went on a two-week murder spree,” the lad replied. “Hee hee hee,” Dogbert responded, wagging his tail. Similarly, as a band name, Thug Murder is a bit of a turnoff. But when people discover that this trio is actually three petite women…
The phrase “you’re not from around here” takes on a whole new meaning in the forest. There it’s foreign plants, not foreign people, that natives don’t take a liking to. It’s not their jobs these intruders want — it’s their space and sunlight. At the Blue River Glades Natural Area in Swope Park, one weed — the garlic mustard plant…
Two decades ago, Tennessee Williams offered some advice to young playwrights: “Don’t bore the audience. I mean, even if you have to resort to totally arbitrary killing onstage or pointless gunfire, at least it will capture their attention and keep them awake.” For 21-year-old Leah Green, keeping the audience awake and at attention is doubly important because she also…
Picture a day when all across America there are puppet activities,” says the Puppeteers of America Web site in promoting the National Day of Puppetry on Saturday, April 28. “Picture the … puppet visibility.” Some might think more people would run screaming from such an image than would champ at the bit in anticipation, but in actuality, puppetry in Kansas…
Pornosonic’s Cream Streets seems like a good enough idea at first — if some literary types read Playboy for the articles, then some music fans probably watch ’70s porn for the songs — but the fun stops prematurely. Cream Streets takes all the classic elements of porn rock (talk box, synthesizers and wah-wah pedals) and overindulges like a Gen X-er…
Equally repulsive and resonant, Scottish sadcore group Arab Strap’s The Red Thread is addictive in spite of itself. Fully formed in ways the group’s previous three discs only hinted at with wisps of melody and rhythmic insistence, The Red Thread repositions Arab Strap as a mush-mouthed Steely Dan. Although singer/lyricist Aidan Moffat is significantly cruder than Donald Fagen (he opened…
Keyboards provide eerie atmosphere for sullen Goth acts and nauseatingly smiley-faced beats for teeny-poppers. They serve as the instrument of choice for bands with a futuristic motif while providing a link to the fluffy-haired bands of two decades past. In the latest contradictory quirk, keyboards have been embraced by techno-geek humorists who compose stand-up symphonies in their basements and subversive…
The Artist Formerly Known as the Symbol has reclaimed his birth name. Fans can call this gifted Minneapolis-born musical tyrant Prince again, but the bigger issue is whether he’ll be able to recapture the magic from his majestic prime, when he strung together such classic albums as 1999, Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade and Sign of…
No moment summed up the fifth annual Klammies better than one an hour before the awards ceremony began. The members of nominated metal band Descension had just arrived in full costume, their imposing spikes and albino makeup rendering them as inviting as porcupines in war paint. Another recent arrival to the ceremonies was Buck O’Neill, the former Kansas City Monarchs…
For proof that cynicism hasn’t reached epidemic proportions, look no farther than Kemper Arena, where the Billy Joel and Elton John Face to Face tour landed April 12. With an average ticket price of $100, the show still sold out, and the largely middle-aged crowd was never less than thrilled with the predictable set lists. In Joel’s case, his selections…
It’s 10 p.m. on a Friday, and The Orb’s Alex Paterson enjoys the beautiful view as he works his way through the evening’s third interview. “It’s almost a full moon tonight,” he quietly interrupts. “It’s a very clear night, and I’m standing in the garden.” At home with his girlfriend and year-old daughter, Paterson relishes such serene moments, knowing that…
On April 19, when Boston hosts its annual music awards, Hard Rock Band nominees Reach the Sky and Dropkick Murphys won’t be in attendance. Rather, both acts will be at The Granada, clueing in the Midwest as to why Reach the Sky has earned a slot on Boston’s ballot for two straight years. And while Reach the Sky’s Ian Larrabee…
Commencing with titles none-too-subtly placed over the bosom of a troubled young mother (Russian actress Dina Korzun) and wending its swift way through the generous advances of a lovable lout (Paddy Considine, the one-man goon squad of A Room for Romeo Brass), Last Resort is a film obsessed with nurturing. While the project is set primarily in a disturbing…
If you don’t like Tom Green, there’s no point in going anywhere near Freddy Got Fingered, as it won’t win you over. If you don’t know much about Tom Green but are curious, you might be well advised to watch videotapes of his show first, and be aware that inasmuch as it is still possible to shock and offend the…
“Tony Muser has reached the pinnacle of his profession mostly due to one quality: He’s a hard-ass. He dresses up his players in fatigues and writes witty sayings like “Take no prisoners” on the lineup card. And baseball men absolutely love shit like that. Allard Baird is clearly impressed by Muser’s toughness; in fact, he might even be a little…
Cup your right hand to your ear and turn toward the west. Listen carefully and you’ll hear it. The whining and bitching coming out of Lawrence from the KU men’s swimming and tennis teams are loud enough to hear from Westport. These cries of pain and injustice from KU typically are reserved for Saturdays after K-State’s football team has loosened…
Ignorance Is Bliss The joy of rednecks: The irony of Mr. Gary Davis’ letter regarding “the Pitch … stereotyp people” (April 5) was thickly pungent but rather humorous. I question the brilliance of the Western Missouri Shooters Alliance in electing such a flagrant bigot. Mr. Davis derides the Pitch for its characterization of the WMSA and then goes on to…
How do you plead? During the Cold War, savvy American travelers knew not to brazenly photograph architectural treasures in Red Square: better to simply hold the camera waist high and nonchalantly shoot while pretending to gawk. In this post-Timothy McVeigh era, however, we can save the airfare and enjoy the spectacle of arrogant government paranoia right here at home: Photographing…
Joe Simon doesn’t read comic books anymore, and not because he’s an 87-year-old man with far better ways to spend his time. The former and, perhaps, future comics writer and illustrator simply doesn’t get them anymore; he doesn’t know who they’re for, what they’re about, why most of them even exist. Back in his day, Simon and his colleagues,…
The Kansas Department of Transportation finally has the consent of Haskell Indian Nations University to build the South Lawrence Trafficway, a long-discussed route for Kansas Highway 10 that would whoosh cars and trucks around the south side of Lawrence rather than idle them through the extended strip mall that is 23rd Street. Conditional permission came from the Bureau of Indian…
That was good thinking there, Mark McCloud. On a cool, breezy San Francisco morning, he awoke around 8 or 9. Feeling chivalrous, the 46-year-old artist decided to fetch some coffee from a nearby shop for his sleeping girlfriend, Caroline. She’d like that. McCloud headed out the door of his Victorian house and walked down Twentieth Street to the coffee shop….
Lenexa’s Holy Land Cafe isn’t the only local restaurant specializing in the Middle Eastern cuisine influenced by the “five general spheres” Rose Dosti names in her book Mideast & Mediterranean Cuisines. Dosti cites Persia (now Iran), the Near East (Turkey, Armenia and Greece), the Arab countries (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt) and the North African regions of Libya, Algeria,…
