When the $42 million Library Lofts residential complex was finished on October 24, 2003, it was unveiled like a jewel in then-Mayor Kay Barnes’ tiara. The project was considered a vital piece of Barnes’ strategy to resuscitate downtown, and the three buildings have been regularly held up as hallmarks of hip, urban living. The mayor attended the 2003 ribbon-cutting…
As Circuit Court Judge J.D. Williamson prepared to read the jury’s verdict, 15-year-old Courtney Brown clenched her fist so tightly that one of her new French-manicured nails popped off in her palm. “Not guilty.” Her brother, Jawanza Brown, bolted from the defendant’s seat, nearly knocking over the chair. The 17-year-old burst out of the room. As TV news cameras…
A chunky dude with a beard and bald head, just sitting there, playing some flawless, wordless piece on his acoustic guitar — it’s the current all-time highest-rated music video on YouTube. And second all-time highest. And third. Number four is Johnny Cash singing “Hurt.” I didn’t believe it when I heard it, either, so I checked it out. Sure enough,…
I’m a simple, subliterate man. For instance, I believe modal adverbs should come in pairs, like Twinkies. Why say you “might” drive out to the Shady Lady, when you “might could” drive there? So when I go browsing for a good book, I try to pick something that has been rewritten in simpler language by screenwriters, filmed, distributed to…
With all apologies to the business owners whose walls have been hit, I know I’m not the only one getting a kick out of the resurgence of ’70’s-style graffiti gracing our ‘hoods. The monikers Hip Harold, Croatoa, Tom Cruise and a quirky, polka-dotted angel have been showing up on walls, trash cans and alleyways all over midtown and Westport. Categories:…
A couple of nights ago, I was sitting on the patio of the Ben Franklin LatteLand on the Plaza when three women – who were not together — walked by in identical outfits. They sported tight tank tops, heels or wedges and the most hideous pants on earth: the gaucho. I’m dubbing this KC’s warm-weather uniform of choice. Add…
I didn’t bother trying to go to City Hall to watch the new mayor and council get sworn in this morning. I don’t really give a crap about such formalities – I just care about what they do now that they’re in office. But over my lunch hour today, I did take a ceremonial trip downtown in honor of…
Englishman Matt Hales, aka Aqualung, was supposed to open for the Fray at the Starlight tonight, but the Fray had to cancel, so Hales is taking his apparatus over to the Record Bar for quite the rare intimate appearance for this big-ass star of melancholic pop. I saw him play the Grand Emporium a couple of years ago, and was…
