Lazy downtown loft dwellers and the cubicle-confined can now order those awesome Brick sweet-potato fries for delivery — on two wheels. Local bike fanatic Jason Wingate and a couple of friends recently started Fountain City Courier, a bicycle delivery service. The cyclists are on call from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays. The…
It was Carol Burnett who said, “Comedy is tragedy plus time.” And it was Robert Schimmel who said lymphoma plus questionable sexual exploits plus the death of a son at age 11 (also cancer) plus frank honesty equal some of the most hard-hitting comedy around. OK, Schimmel didn’t say it himself, but the fact that he has overcome those obstacles…
Stephanie Kersley, keyboardist and mandolin player for Sterilize Stereo, is my next-door neighbor. Her apartment will soon be vacant, though, because her band is piling into a school bus, purchased supercheap from a guy in Chicago, and heading to Portland, Oregon, to live together and continue making music. That’s too bad, because no one else around sounds quite like Sterilize…
If you’ve ever had the urge to lambaste Lawrence, the annual Victor Continental Show is your primo flogger. Its all-Larryville cast rips Jayhawkers a new arsehole with the precision of a Brandon Rush jumpshot. It’s all in good fun, but it can turn vicious when gigolo master of ceremonies Victor (Jerry Mitchell) has a few too many Gibsons and…
It takes a bold personality to pull off a Peggy Noland outfit. The local fashion designer favors bright colors, full-body leotards and eye-boggling patterns. It’s not exactly workwear — unless your work involves being the center of attention at, say, a rock show. Hence, Noland’s emerging status as a clothier of indie musicians, including Kianna Alarid, lead singer and…
Along with grotesque fashion trends and some of the worst creations in the history of music, the 1970s inspired a number of experimental sports leagues. Most of these leagues, such as the World Football League and the American Basketball Association, died in obscurity. World Team Tennis survived, despite the misfortune of having one of its franchises, Billie Jean King’s Philadelphia…
Although the name brings to mind an adult-oriented late-night cable program, KC After Dark is strictly for children. Through August, the city-funded program invites kids ages 11-18 to participate in some squeaky-clean, adult-supervised weekend activities — including visits to wet-’n’-wild Tiffany Springs Water Park and fun-and-games complex Power Play — all for the low, low price of $50. Friday nights…
“K10” by Cavaliers: If you love her, let her go. That was Stephen Wolfe’s motto four years ago, after the dissolution of his Lawrence band Getaway Driver. But after a year or so exchanging cold, blank stares with that forsaken guitar in the corner, Wolfe picked it up — and damned if that muse didn’t come crawling right back. This…
The last hour of The Darkness is exactly what the game should have been from its opening moments: a magnificent, bloodthirsty mix of firepower and hellish wrath. Playing the role of Jackie Estacado — a hit man who inherited demonic powers via a family curse — you will spend the game’s final act unleashing hell on those who’ve wronged…
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (Shout!) Avenue Montaigne (THINKfilm) Baxter (Lionsgate) The Best of the Colgate Comedy Hour (Passport) Beer Drinkers in Space (Tempe) Birdman & the Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series (Turner) Esther Williams: Volume 1 (Warner Bros.) Gunsmoke: The First Season (Paramount) The Happy Hooker Trilogy (MGM) The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Fox) The Incredible Hulk: The Complete…
Red Dawn: Collector’s Edition (MGM) John Milius’ 1984 war pic was a mighty bonkers release even back then; not since the 1950s had something come down the pike so rife with Commie paranoia. Russian and Cuban forces invade the U.S. with tanks and choppers and the whole shebang, only to be met with Brat Pack resistance (Charlie Sheen, Jennifer…
8-Track: The Sounds of the ’70s Each decade, radio’s definition of “oldies” refreshes itself in accordance with the key demographic’s nostalgic sweet spot. These days, the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys of the world have been cut for the Elton Johns and — shudder — Billy Joels. Nobody knows more about tonguing said sweet spots than the American Heartland Theatre, where…
America Starts Here Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler, both graduates of the Kansas City Art Institute, collaborated for 10 years on the work exhibited here, until Ericson’s death in 1995 at age 39. Their widely recognized work is conceptual — it’s about ideas rather than experiences. Through mixed-media sculptures and installations, they explore the ironies of American life. “Squeaky…
I wanted to hate I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Two straight guys pretending to be gay (insert fiscal excuse here) — been there, done that (insert all known variants on The Odd Couple here). Rampant homophobia hiding behind liberal pleas for tolerance: blech. And it’s true that stereotypes pour out of Chuck & Larry like cheap wine. But…
Did John Waters sell out? Or did our metrosexual age merely render him irrelevant? Long before Hairspray took up residence on the Great White Way in 2002, Waters had abdicated his position as America’s elder statesman of underground smut in favor of a more lucrative career as a neutered mainstream pop-culture icon. Yet Hairspray on Broadway seemed to seal…
It’s summer, so shit’s blowing up onscreen. As always, it’s blowing up more persuasively than the shit blown up the year before. But with each new benchmark in verisimilitude, both the shit and the explosions are biggie-sized, distancing them from the life they ape. Bruce Willis taking out a helicopter with a police cruiser now seems a model of…
If the price of gas gets any higher, I’ll have to start hitchhiking my way to restaurants outside the city limits, like Café Zen in Leavenworth ( Categories: News Tags: Columns, Jim Heavey, Kansas City, kansas city, Mugs-Up Root Beer Drive-In, Shawnee, wichita
At this point in my life, I’m fairly certain that I’m not going to find spiritual enlightenment in a restaurant. I suppose there’s always a possibility, though. Writer Alan Watts once said, “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.” I wasn’t necessarily looking for…
“Selfish Jean” by Travis, from The Boy With No Name (Sony): Travis’ sweet, moody Britpop blends the hook-lined swells of Oasis with the swooning ebb and flow of early Radiohead. Not as majestic (or pretentious) as simpering, near-tears acts such as Coldplay, the easygoing Travis still occasionally rocks out. The band’s latest, The Boy With No Name, follows the disappointing…
“Burn the House Down” by the Coat Party: If Coat Party’s song “Burn the House Down” was a PowerPoint presentation, it would break down to three bullet points: (1) CP is gonna burn this fucking house down, (2) CP has the party to keep this house shaking, and (3) CP has the booty beats to keep the kids rocking. All…
“Annie McGee” by Sterilize Stereo, from Bugs and Daymares: Stephanie Kersley, keyboardist and mandolin player for Sterilize Stereo, is my next-door neighbor. Her apartment will soon be vacant, though, because her band is piling into a school bus (purchased supercheap from a guy in Chicago) and heading to Portland, Oregon, to live together and continue making music. That’s too bad,…
Jazz-hip-hop fusion sounds surprisingly fresh considering that we’re approaching 15 years since Gang Starr’s Guru took the plunge with his first Jazzmatazz album, which featured full-blown collaborations with Branford Marsalis, N’Dea Davenport and Roy Ayers and seemed forward-thinking enough to be billed as “experimental.” The possibilities between the two forms still seem limitless, and Guru has returned with the series’…
It’s hard to imagine that a band could actually get better after Jack White leaves it, but Detroit’s the Go did just that with its 2003 self-titled sophomore release. The group returns next week with its third LP, Howl on the Haunted Beat You Ride, and judging from the first single, “You Go Bangin’ On” (streaming on its MySpace page),…
It’s been three months since CBS Radio fired Don Imus, and the national shitstorm has finally blown over. One person is living like it’s three months ago: Kansas City Star sportswriter Jason Whitlock, who is still humping his moment in the spotlight as Imus’ biggest name-dropper and rap music’s biggest hater. His argument: Why should Imus be pilloried for calling…
