Archives: September 2007

News

Two-Wheel Discrimination

Rita is the type of customer that Town Center Plaza executives must salivate over. She’s a 50-something grandmother who lives in an upscale subdivision in Leawood. Her husband is a well-known business owner, so she has plenty of money to spend at the development’s trendy retailers. She’s on a first-name basis with the clerks at Williams-Sonoma — but she doesn’t…
News

My Secret Life in the Klan

Peter Rugg,

I was already nervous when I saw the woman. There was nothing intimidating about her, just a woman in her mid-30s in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt, on an evening hike in early August. Still, when she passed me, I looked away from her. It was my first time distributing KKK fliers, and I didn’t want to…

News

A Socialite’s Fall

Eric Barton,

  Michael J. Alexander kept his child porn in a folder labeled “Segafredo.” Hearing the name of that long-dead Plaza nightclub was the only real surprise during the former ad executive’s appearance in federal court today. Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles, Alexander faced Federal Judge Nanette Laughrey and pleaded guilty to nine counts of receiving child pornography over…

Music

No Spoon For You!

Jason Harper,

The Spoon concert, scheduled for Wednesday, October 3, is canceled. We’ve heard it straight from the show’s would-have-been promoter, Jacki Becker. Sorry, kids. And now, A Bit of Fry and Laurie. Categories: Music

News

Model Looks

Eric Barton,

  Kansas City Fashion Week kicked off in the West Bottoms last night with a party and style show at the Foundation Room. Fashion Week continues with events at the Foundation Room through Friday. For a rundown of events, see KC.WearHaus.org. For more photos, keep reading. Categories: News

News

Mike Gundy’s Tantrum Still Doesn’t Beat McRae’s

Eric Barton,

No doubt this blowup by OSU football coach Mike Gundy will go down as one of the best tirades ever in sports. But come on, Gundy, couldn’t you at least throw a phone or send the entire contents of your desk flying? Because here in KC, that’s how a good sports temper tantrum goes down. I’m talking the best of…

News

Welcome Home, Vets

CJ Janovy,

Anyone who just got back from a tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan and is worried about health care should stop by the Welcome Home celebration Thursday at the Kansas City VA Medical Center, 4801 Linwood Boulevard, from 3 to 5 p.m. The ads bill it as a party, but more important, it’s a chance to get the “nearly…
Music

Get On Office

Jason Harper,

Missing a day at the office, I don’t feel so guilty about. But missing Office when it played KC at the Westport Beach Club, September 21, I feel terrible about. Why? Because Office is, as of discovering them today, my new favorite band from Chicago. It’s about time this New Wave revival lightened up and rediscovered the Cars. Like records…

Music

Pointless Forest Sends S.O.S.

Jason Harper,

  BY CRYSTAL K. WIEBE It ain’t easy to live on rock and roll – or to live with it. The Pointless Forest, a midtown KC party house that frequently hosts underground rock shows, seemed a little worse for the wear when I watched a show there back in May. In this past entry, you can read about how one…
Music

Save Us, Gram Parsons

Jason Harper,

From a recent press release: “The Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc ® is a non-profit organization founded in 1969 to bring radio broadcasters from around the world together with the Country music industry for the purpose of ensuring the continued vitality of the Country radio format. They do this by idea sharing and education through an annual convention called the Country…
News

Atticus! Atticus! It’s Banned Books Week.

Chris Packham,

Mark your calendars for the seven days between September 29 and October 6, because the ACLU is celebrating Banned Books Week, the Shark Week of censorship. At 7 p.m. October 3, author Chris Finan reads from his ponderously titled From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America at the Kansas…

Railroad Earth

Railroad Earth live at the Crossroads
Music

Monday Music Junkie: Thunderheist, Hot Chip, Deerhoof & more

Jason Harper,

BY ANDY VIHSTADT Titular Homicide It looks like Electric Six is going to take this year’s longest album title with I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master. Suck on that, Modest Mouse. Stereogum has the first single, “Dance Pattern”. Peace Offering I’m a little bummed that Deerhoof skipped us on this year’s lengthy Friendship…

News

The Inescapable Frances Semler

CJ Janovy,

  Skybus offers one-way air fares from KCI to Columbus, Ohio, for as little as $10. Columbus might not be the most exotic destination in the United States, but it’s the city where I was born. I took a Skybus jet to Columbus on Thursday night. The next morning, however, I felt as though I had never left Kansas City….
News

Wink: Sex Positive!

CJ Janovy,

For such a petite person, Elizabeth Rich can be intimidating — especially when she’s shouting, “Is there anything I can help you find?” as you walk through the front door of her sex-toy store, Wink, which opened today at 1415 West 39th Street. It’s a bright, clean space with no sign of plastic penis straws or boob macaroni. Categories: News

News

Fun With Fedoras

Crystal K. Wiebe,

Yesterday, a new coffee shop in Mission gave drink discounts to folks in fedoras. Fedora Day, every Thursday from 2 to 6 p.m., is just one of the quirky specials at Nighthawks Coffeehouse. On other days, the colorful joint gives discounts to tattooed folks and gay patrons. Ink Day is on Wednesdays; Alternative Lifestyle Night is on Tuesdays. Categories: News
Music

Wilco, the Gem of Columbia

Jason Harper,

Wilco, with Dr. Dog. Wednesday, 9-19-07 Outside the Blue Note in Beautiful Downtown Columbia, MO Better than: Having the show inside the Blue Note, where there are places to sit and better vantage points to actually see the bands, as opposed to standing on pavement for three hours behind some tattooed love girl who will not stop invading our space….
News

Revelers Rep KC at Brooklyn Gallery

Jason Harper,

This week in the Village Voice, former Pitch staffer and VV columnist Annie Fischer writes about reliving Kansas City’s 18th Street Mardi Gras traditions at a Brooklyn opening. The God of Indulgence (and Anthropologie) On the weekend of September 15, local artist David Ford, who owns YJ’s Snack Bar and several 18th Street buildings in the Crossroads, flew a crew…

News

Illegal Immigrants to Get Sanctuary in KC

CJ Janovy,

  Here’s breaking news in the fast-moving Frances Semler/Minuteman Civil Defense Corps/National Council of La Raza/NAACP controversy that’s laid siege to our town: Now, the New Sanctuary Movement is coming to Kansas City. Categories: News

Music

Patti LaBelle Does Not Like Being Touched In KC

Jason Harper,

  An alert reader in St. Louis just sent us a link to an article on the national gossip blog DListed.com that reports of an onstage flare-up at Patti LaBelle’s concert in Kansas City last Friday night. Miss Patti Is Pissed! Was anyone out there fortunate enough to witness the event? Touch Patti LaBelle. But only if you know how….
News

Weekend Events Roundup, by An Adorable Kitten

Chris Packham,

Hello! My name is Scout. I am an American short-hair kitten, and I love to pounce on things! Among the things I enjoy attacking: your feet under the blankets, jingle mice from the pet store, other kittens and houseflies. I like to swat at them with my tiny little paws. My owner is named Chris, and he is always coming…

News

Viktor, the Viking from KC

Eric Barton,

  When the Minnesota Vikings come to town this weekend, the team will be bringing more baggage than a Norse boarding party. There’s the four lost Super Bowls, the Whizzinator, the ticket scalping by a former head coach and, of course, the now-infamous pillaging and plundering of their own in October of 2005 aboard a cruise ship on Lake Winnetonka,…

Hank Jr. Warms Up

Chris Rasmussen,

Undergoing a metamorphosis is an inherently messy and uncomfortable experience. Both the Chiefs and the Vikings, who face off in today’s Arrowhead home opener, have recently experienced painful changes, altering the ideologies and personalities of both franchises. The Chiefs have moved from the manic passing attack of the Dick Vermeil era to the more conservative approach of Head Coach Herm…

Fairs of Art

Crystal K. Wiebe,

  An artful KC weekend is coming to a close. But there’s still time to pick up something precious at the 76th-annual Plaza Art Fair on the Country Club Plaza. The fair is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. At 1 p.m., see the Grand Marquis on the event’s main stage. Call 816-753-0100 for more information. There’s also…