%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM It’s David Cook Day, Charlie Brown! Look, honest, I got no beef with David Cook Day in Kansas City. Because here’s the thing: I’ve never even seen American Idol. Sorry — I’m just not a man of the people like Hillary Clinton. I think probably something else is on TV that night, but I’m not 100…
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN To follow the translucent Chiefs organization, it is necessary to ascribe meaning to small signals, much as a Kremlinologist would analyze the seating charts at a Politburo meeting. So when Adam Schefter’s article on NFL.com suggests Tyler Thigpen may push Brodie Croyle for playing time (hat tip to the House of Georges blog), I can only offer…
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN To follow the translucent Chiefs organization, it is necessary to ascribe meaning to small signals, much as a Kremlinologist would analyze the seating charts at a Politburo meeting. So when Adam Schefter’s article on NFL.com suggests Tyler Thigpen may push Brodie Croyle for playing time (hat tip to the House of Georges blog), I can only offer…
Here’s a plot we’ve had enough of: A big city professional hauls off for the hinterlands, where he (or — a very slight possibility — she) is first shocked and then amused by the backward ways of the farm set. Soon, though, those farmers stop being galoots, and our book-learned hero gets his head straight, discovering that the simple ways…
From 6 to 9 tonight, the Urban Culture Project spotlights artists from its Studio Residency Program with three shows and two open studios for Third Friday Art Downtown. Painterly La La, at Paragraph Gallery (23 East 12th Street), includes diverse works fashioned from wood, fabric, foam, glass and found objects. Artists and curators speak at 6 p.m. At the Project…
The second-annual LGBT Picnic, presented by the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Kansas City from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., provides a great opportunity for springtime pigging out in Swope Park. This year’s theme is “Unclique,” and promoter Chuck Brackett has no shortage of activities planned to get folks, well, clicking. The lineup includes group dancing led by the…
A tuxedoed Gene Kelly, age 68, roller-boogies. In split screen. Then triple-split screen. And then a great gold X swells up and over him, a chintzy computer effect suggesting that he has just botched a Family Feud answer, and then we’re treated to that year’s girl: Olivia Newton-John, she of the windswept hair, spangled pantsuit and iffy falsetto. She croons…
What happens to a zombie rock-and-roller when he puts his head on the ground? Why, he gets worms! Hear Nashville freak-folk act Zombie Bazooka Patrol sing all about that and being “Better Off Undead” tonight at the Brick (1727 McGee, 816-421-1634). Dress like a zombie to get in free and drink all night for happy-hour prices. Can’t do the zombie…
Even if you’re not enamored of your fellow man, it’s still possible to feel empathy for animals and celebrities. Without benefit of wrinkly forebrains or sentience, animals are empty receptacles for projected emotion — just like Pamela Anderson. The connection: Dan Mathews, 20-year leader of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who has built the organization’s influence by courting…
Studying the oil painting “Self With Green Background,” one wonders about the artist, painted in shadow, staring out with the hunched shoulders and uneasy gaze of a pervert. Hollow-cheeked and sunken-eyed, he wears an expression of mingled guilt and indifference. Who but the most observant would recognize it as the work of John Mellencamp, author of that little ditty about…
Scenic Cliff Drive, on the bluffs above the Missouri River, is a beautiful stretch of road to vaguely admire through the windshield as you speed through George E. Kessler Park at high velocity. So just imagine how much more you’ll appreciate it now that it’s shut down by the Department of Parks and Recreation for Car-Free Weekends. Connecting Columbus Park,…
In a society where many have had their attention spans bankrupted by instant distractions and cheap thrills, the idea of an event to celebrate literature may conjure images of cabals of literati holding opaque discussions about obscure novels.Valissa Smith will have none of that today at the Kansas City Literary Festival from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at on the…
Wheels are probably the most economical, elegant and enduring development in machinery. Thanks to rotating discs, mankind has the ability to travel quickly, gamble efficiently and shape cheese fashionably. If that’s not art, then the dictionary is a liar.Today, make like Optimus Prime and roll out in celebration of the wheel during Art Tougeau’s Wheeled Art Parade in Lawrence. Locally…
Two things to toast at the Folly Theater tonight at the party following the Kansas City Puccini Festival’s production of La Rondine: the master’s 150th birthday, and the maestro’s seventh year of somehow muscling opera onto local stages for free. Free for us, that is. Festival founder and conductor Andy Anderson, one imagines, has to be getting the money from…
Fancy corporate chains and formerly leery suburbanites are reviving downtown Kansas City — or so goes the happy sales pitch since the opening of glitzy Power & Light District. But long before this fluorescent, commercial renaissance, intrepid residents found plenty of reasons to explore KC’s urban core. To revel in the more offbeat sites, back-alley quirks and historic character that…
For a week in 2009, nearly 1,000 disc golfers will descend on Kansas City for the Professional Disc Golf Association’s World Championships. Before the discs fly next year, though, the Kansas City Flying Disc Club needs to raise money to host the championships. It starts today with the fourth-annual Kansas City Disc Golf Day at Rosedale Park (4000 Mission Road…
Today’s visit from World Wrestling Entertainment’s RAW roster promises to be a special time for the ongoing saga of good vs. evil. Last night was the company’s pay-per-view Judgment Day, which featured a championship match between Randy Orton and Triple H in a steel cage. This means that by the time they get to Kansas City, some long-running story lines…
Tuesdays are associated with pressing issues, conflict and competition — in the workplace, productivity tends to be high on this second day of the week. However, in Westport, theories of tension and efficiency are dismissed as the Riot Room (4048 Broadway) presents Elkheart’s Hellbound Happy Hour every Tuesday around 9 p.m. Those looking to take a load off in the…
Does television strike you as one-dimensional? Despite the physical projection of two dimensions of humor, drama or reality, does the entire interaction seem to you to be fraught with one-sided platitudes and people who talk to you, not with you? Are you looking for your leisure time to be more devoted to correcting society’s ills than putting them on outright,…
Barbara Stanwyck stars as an ambitious young woman who uses men and her seductive talents to climb the corporate ladder. Shown as part of the Forbidden Hollywood film series. Thu., May 15, 6 p.m., 2008 Tags: Barbara Stanwyck, Night & Day
Fortunes change quickly in the Arena Football League. After going 10-6 last year, the Kansas City Brigade has sunk to the bottom of the Central Division. The Columbus Destroyers, the Brigade’s opponent tonight, is the last-place team in its division a season after making it to the Arena Bowl. A month ago, the struggling Destroyers hired Lary Kuharich to coordinate…
Today, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (4525 Oak) presents its entire collection of work by Siah Armajani. Despite having been in the collection since the late 1990s, the 12 works have never been exhibited together. That’s a shame — but better late than never. And in this contentious election year, when war is an ongoing and often bitter topic, one…
Mexico is far too often maligned as America’s underdeveloped neighbor to the south. And the country’s intercartel strife and constant pandering from protectionist U.S. politicians are hot topics for the media. So perhaps a chance to festively recapture all that’s great about Mexico is in order.Luckily, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City can help. This weekend, the…
Because the virtues of a healthy diet sometimes are at odds with modern perceptions of convenience and flavor, Slow Food KC works to educate people about the effects of fast-food culture on human health, environmental sustainability, fair trade and the art of food preparation. Tap a toe to the beat of food education tonight at the Louisburg Cider Mill grounds…
