My earliest memory of Harry Murphy is a party in the sticky late summer of 1999. My roommate was ready to bow out early, so Harry offered to walk her back to the dorm. During the next morning’s rehash of the night before, she admitted that Harry hadn’t tried anything, you know, funny. Cute, friendly and polite, I thought. The…
This summer, bike enthusiast Eric Rogers posted a morbid map on his blog, www.kcbike.info. It plotted where metro bicyclists have been hit and killed over the past decade. In his research, he also determined a gruesome trend: This year’s five cycling fatalities match a record set in 2002. Back in 2002, Kansas City, Missouri, City Council members were so…
Dear Mexican: I have very, very light skin because of my Scandinavian heritage. Around Halloween, someone asked me if it was white-face makeup. Why is it that Mexican men find my pallor so fascinating? Fair Maiden Dear Fair Maiden: BECAUSE YOU’RE WHITE. Mexicans love gabachos, even though you’ve fucked our country for 500 years — literally (recall the maiden-raping conquistadors)…
The Strip’s phone rang a couple of weeks ago with an offer it couldn’t refuse. Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline’s spokeswoman had called your meaty narrator to see if the Strip wanted a 45-minute, one-on-one interview with Dr. Phill. Hell, yes! That was exactly 45 minutes more than the Strip had ever received with Kline. More often, the Pitch’s requests…
A few years ago, the guys who run Major League Soccer came up with a business plan: Exploit children. MLS remains a money loser operating at the margins of professional sports. But the league found that it could get public assistance for new stadiums by pairing them with youth soccer fields. The league now has its sights on Johnson…
A gold Chevy Trailblazer bearing two “Support Our Troops” magnets rolls past flag-waving bikers and roaring motorcycles. Then it motors past men and women carrying signs thanking God for dead American soldiers. The SUV parks in the lot across from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Independence. As the Samoan family exits the vehicle, Shirley Phelps-Roper says, “Oh, I’ve got a…
Well, looky there, it’s back. Want to know more? I don’t. So, last night, I got into some serious word-eating right before the altar of Crazytalk. It was enough to make me want to write about music this time instead of just tell you about people doing idiotic things dressed in costumes. What happened was I’d said this rock-and-r Olathe…
