There’s nothing I love more than going to a birthday party. Unless it’s semi-crashing a party, and happily, I did both on a recent Saturday night. The whole thing felt so college that I considered stealing some street signs on my way out. The night started at McCoy’s, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a parking-lot dancefest featuring DJ Westy….
“Animal” by Lights & Siren: This is the story of a band you’ve never heard of. Of course, that’s a bit disingenuous. No one’s going to read, let alone write, a story about a complete unknown, especially when that complete unknown has released only one song and still hasn’t played a live show. But that is the résumé of Lights…
Dear Mexican: This past winter, I was walking around in Boston with a Mexican guy I work with. I was the only person in Boston wearing shorts, but it brought to mind a question I have had for many years. I asked him why Mexicans always wear pants regardless of how hot it is. It blows me away that when…
Burnt Ends, June 21 Give ‘Em Health I am a registered nurse at St. Mary’s Medical Center, and I am very offended by your item “Pay for Pain” (Burnt Ends, June 21). Our ER staff are NOT “hapless and overextended.” We are knowledgeable professionals who are committed to providing excellent health care to our patients. The focus of the “30…
Hey, you, color-coordinated cyclist assholes on Broadway by the Ambassador Hotel. If you want the same rights as every other vehicle on the road, then that means you have to obey the traffic laws of the road. I couldn’t give a shit if your resting heart rate has fallen under your target range and that your training for some inconsequential…
Last week, the builders of the Power & Light District backed out of their promise to open the entertainment district by October. Just the same, we here at the Department of Burnt Ends have been spotting glimpses of what the district will look like when it opens, perhaps next spring. Between the construction barricades and among the piles of dirt,…
We already know that the portable navigation devices made by Olathe-based Garmin can kill Godzilla-type monsters. Thanks to ads that began during this year’s Super Bowl, we understand that Garmin can turn you into a 100-foot-tall, monster-slaying superhero — and still help you from getting lost on your way to the West Bottoms. Garmin’s most recent print campaign shows that…
What does $41.50 buy you these days? At Kauffman Stadium, a so-so seat and all the hot dogs you can Kobayashi before the eighth inning. A Department of Burnt Ends representative bought a ticket for the inaugural cordoning off of the all-you-can-eat seats at the K. Copying the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Royals have set aside a section along the…
This is for Kansas City’s Hispanic community and everyone else who’s pissed off that Mayor Mark Funkhouser appointed Minutemen member Frances Semler to the parks board. I feel your pain. It’s been hard to watch Funkhouser trip all over his gigantic feet in these early days of his administration. After all, I wrote “Funk Star,” a gushy column about…
Former Royal Willie Wilson lingers on the sidewalk near Gate B at Kauffman Stadium. It’s April 28, just minutes to game time on a chilly afternoon, and thousands of fans stream through the turnstiles to watch the Royals take on the Minnesota Twins. Wilson stands an easy throw from the bronze statue of his former teammate George Brett. He watches…
Led Zeppelin V. Tuesday, July 3, at the Record Bar Reviewed by Richard Gintowt So I thought the air guitar championships were at the Record Bar last night, but as it turns out, it was just Be/Non playing the part of Led Zeppelin. Each time I turned around some Hypercolor-clad dude was blissing out with his eyes closed and…
The 4th of July is a dreaded holiday in neighborhoods with high ratios of pyros who like to light fireworks at all hours. And if the launching of bottle rockets seemed a little more incessant this year, you may have The Kansas City Star to thank. A July 2 Star story incorrectly reported that Kansas City, Missouri, allows certain fireworks…
For two weeks this spring, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps picketed a JE Dunn construction site in Olathe for allegedly employing “illegals.” The protest was effective enough to earn the anti-illegal-immigration group a face-to-face meeting with a vice president from one of the country’s largest construction companies. Categories: News, Politics
Your music scene gossip item for the day: This Friday, July 6, is drummer Pete LaPorte’s last show as a Roman Numeral. The affable chap with the metronomic joints is moving to San Francisco. The band has hired ex-Get Up Kids drummer Ryan Pope to take his place. Drop that tidbit while in conversation with the right person at a…
Restaurateur Thelma Oliver is three times hotter than the fiery peppers she uses in her green chili pork. The owner of the two-year-old Mango Room at 1111 Main Street has had about all she can take of downtown construction hurting her business. The current spate of construction — which has the Mango Room’s main entrance wrapped in orange netting and…
%{}% Restaurateur Thelma Oliver is three times hotter than the fiery peppers she uses in her green chili pork. The owner of the two-year-old Mango Room at 1111 Main Street has had about all she can take of downtown construction hurting her business. The current spate of construction — which has the Mango Room’s main entrance wrapped in orange netting…
This past March, Johnson County Community College featured singers and songwriters for a concert called “What Would Woody Do?” Woody being legendary American folkie Woody Guthrie. Anyway, a source passed along the above roasting of Johnson County District AttorneyPhill Kline. In it, guitarist-singer John Mitchell’s Kermit the Frog voice warbles, “He’s absolutely certain where his time should be , not…
You won’t hear this sweet track anywhere else, folks. Leaked to the Pitch against the will of OxBlood Records CEOs Robert “the Bludgeoner” Moore and Megan “Deathlock” Hamilton, this new Ghosty song is making our Monday a full 11% less awful. At least until the record label’s assassins arrive. No, seriously, Moore shared it with us voluntarily, and we’re sharing…
Lately, I’m finding that the best thing in my Sunday-morning Star isn’t some big investigative report but, rather, Aaron Barnhart’s columns about what’s on TV. That was certainly true with his piece yesterday about Al-Jazeera English. Categories: News
Ah, Alyssa Milano. I recently stumbled across you wrapped in your new “Touch” brand Royals baseball gear at mlb.com. You seemed to understand my belief that women at baseball games, especially those in snug home-team baseball T’s, are totally the hottest. That brought me back. You see, I’m shy to admit it, but I’ve had a crush on you since…
