By PETER RUGG We’re getting closer to Tuesday’s vote on the city smoking ban, and almost everyone who’s visited their favorite dive bar in the last month has seen those “Vote No on Question 3” signs. As someone who’s struggled with my own nicotine demons, I can appreciate the city wanting to protect me from myself. But Kansas City,…
By CRYSTAL K. WIEBE A Springfield band (with some members now living in Kansas City) has apparently landed a spot on the Lollapalooza line-up. If you go to the Lollapalooza Web site and download the flier, you’ll notice the name Ha Ha Tonka listed below all of the super famous headliners. Once known by the stoner-friendly name Amsterband, Ha Ha…
BY DAVID MARTIN The mystery man behind the ad campaign against the bus tax chooses to remain in the shadows. A lawyer named Philip N. Krause incorporated American Democracy Alliance, the outfit that reportedly gave $75,000 to the last-minute campaign against the sales tax that benefits the bus system. The tax is up for a renewal on Tuesday. Krause…
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM God Hates SB 244: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a do-over bill restricting protests at funerals — for instance, demonstrations that reveal who “God hates.” The Pitch’s Justin Kendall has done a great job covering the cartoony Phelps family for years while never once resorting to played-out Dave Barryisms regarding stories “which we are not making…
Local writer and entertainer David Wayne Reed is more than just your average Bowie fan. Together with other local performers, Reed is putting on a Bowie tribute show this Friday, April 4, at La Esquina (1000 West 25th Street). “Let’s Bowie” is the first in an installment of tribute shows curated by Reed for Urban Culture Project. Read to…
By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI Photos by Michael Boles For the past eight months, a group of urban cyclists have been sprucing up a long-forgotten storefront at 31st and Troost. It’s the building with “Niece’s Bags” still painted on the glass-fronted entryway. They’ve been pulling up old floorboards, building a storage shed and collecting donations and tools since last summer. This…
By Justin Kendall The Kansas Jayhawks had a great season, reaching the Final Four for the first time since 2003. But Bill Self’s basketball team may have just received the kiss of death, thanks to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius announced today that she’s betting a barbecue dinner from Fiorella’s Jack Stack that the Jayhawks will whip Roy Williams’…
By CHARLES FERRUZZA Last week, Egg McMuffin inventor Herb Peterson died at age 89 in his Santa Barbara home. This brought back a wave of nostalgia. For many years my idea of the perfect breakfast was a cup of black coffee, a granola bar and a Marlboro Light. Then I went through a phase where I started each morning…
George Michael’s new greatest hits collection, which spans two CDs and comes with six new songs and a bunch of remastered tracks, does NOT include “I Want Your Sex.” I would trade all of those new bloated duets for that one pimp-ass jam. Aw… crap. Bloody tracklist after the bloody jump. Categories: Music Tags: careless whispers, things that make you…
In case you doubted that the Life and Times was in the studio, recording a new album, well, this video, posted today on YouTube, should set your punk ass straight. Categories: Music Tags: the Life and Times, your punk ass
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM Ren McCormack for City Council: I’d never heard of the Alcohol Beverage Advisory Group before, but doesn’t it sound absolutely kick-ass? Unfortunately, its name is deceptive, just like the American Center for Wildlife Conservation Policy, a conservative think-tank advocating for anti-Mexican eugenics programs. It’s all trickery. Ideally, the Alcohol Beverage Advisory Group would consist of Jimmy…
By ERIC BARTON Last week, Pitch contributor Chris Rasmussen wrote this item for the Bugs & Cranks blog that suggested ways to teach his child about the lifetime of misery she’ll face if she becomes a Royals fan. Now Chris is getting parenting tips via a video response from broadcaster Trev Alberts: Chris then posted this response to the response,…
Tired of celebrating Cinco de Mayo by passing out in a pool of Corona- and margarita-filled vomit? Well, this weekend, the Guadalupe Centers Inc. (1015 Avenida Cesar E. Chavez) offers a family-friendly Cinco de Mayo Fiesta that still promises a rockin’ good time. Today, local Tex-Mex-style bands Las Estrellas and Tropical Azul perform (dancing is highly encouraged). Then, on…
Synergy is the name of the game for the Donkey Show, a local variety program that’s been tossing Kansas City’s salad for four years. It fuses the disciplines of music and gaming — the sort you might partake of at an 8-year-old’s birthday party. Pity the fool who embarks on a stare-down against Bacon Shoe; it’s hard enough to keep…
It is very possible that Sinbad will have a greater effect on the presidential race than the Royals will have on the American League pennant race. Unlike Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Royals will probably corkscrew into last place in the AL Central, not onto a runway with alumni of Star Search. The boys in blue do have a number of…
Poor New Orleans: Will we ever think of it again without first thinking of Katrina? Who knows — but Heather Weathers may or may not help. The New Orleans performance artist is in town for her exhibition Death of a Stereotype: Super Fun Feminist Happy Hour! She will show her new video and photographs tonight at the Slap-n-Tickle (504 East…
My hypochondriac mother warned me before I went off to college that sharing makeup is unsanitary. Luckily, the guys (and gals) starring in the University of Kansas’ annual Brown Bag Drag Show know enough to bring their own mascara. It’s usually one of the most popular events of KU’s Pride Week, so arrive at the Kansas Union early and get…
Developer Larry Sells likes to say that when he assumed the burden of a decrepit Uptown Theater (3700 Broadway, 816-753-8665), he wasn’t simply trying to make a buck. His revitalization of the building has also involved his political outlook, which is dominated by green-living issues and conspiracy theories. Today, a kindred spirit to Sells appears at the Uptown: Richard Gage,…
Comic books are much cooler than they used to be. Once upon a time, readers were automatically classified as outcasts. Now, comics-loving hipsters scoff as superhero references on shows such as Lost fly over the heads of their peers. Enjoy these happy golden years of pop-culture superiority this weekend at Planet Comicon at the Overland Park International Trade Center (6800…
Although both institutions are full of creative people, there’s little collaboration between the faculties of the Kansas City Art Institute and the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The ArtSounds series is an exception. Six times a year, the Art Institute and the conservatory put on a musical and artistic performance together. Tonight’s event, “Music…
Here’s some trivia you won’t hear on Jeopardy: What 1970s “rock-and-roll revivalist comedy group” was featured in the movie Grease, had a syndicated TV variety show — one episode featured the Ramones as guest stars — and performed at Woodstock? Just ask Kansas City native “Screamin’ Scott” Simon for the answer. Simon has been a member of Sha Na Na…
The Writers Place needs to pay the bills, y’all, because being the destination for KC’s literati as well as the more passively literate doesn’t come cheap. Today, the organization that has brought you your favorite literary events gratis is seeking your support. The Walk for Words fundraiser aims to generate revenue to continue sponsoring workshops, readings, retreats, and appearances by…
If any local publication knows how to party, it’s this rag. Take Artopia, for example. That’s the bash The Pitch throws every year as we give away $1,000 each to four local artists whom we deem MasterMinds. The check presentation is just one of about 25 events taking place between 7 and 11 p.m. tonight inside and in front of…
College is supposed to be a time to meet new friends and explore new social situations. So it sucks that Lawrence can’t seem to support a gay club. “There’s been clubs that have come and gone in the past but nothing that seems to last more than six months,” says Stefan Vogler, a University of Kansas senior. “So it’s…
