Raglan Road is a classy, if Disney-fied, new-old Irish saloon. Raglan Road, 170 East 14th Street, 816-994-9700. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Price: $$-$$$ You don’t have to pore over musty history books or old newsreels to know that the squeaky-clean “Main Street USA” at Disneyland or Walt Disney World bears only scant resemblance…
If you want a hot romance, you need look no further than Ice: A Victorian Romance at the Linda Hall Library. William B. Ashworth, the curator, is an associate professor of history at University of Missouri-Kansas City and has organized astonishing exhibitions from the library’s rare-books collection. The exhibition covers the period of arctic exploration from 1818 to 1860. Those…
It could be easy to make too much of The Drawer Boy. It’s certainly the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s most affecting, involving production since Jitney, almost two years back. The gentle, rural comedy darkens as it becomes a pained psychodrama of memory and storytelling. This is the final show in an otherwise leaderless, at times bloodless season of trifles at…
At halftime, things looked grim for the Kansas City Tribe. The Tribe — the latest addition to the collective of women’s football in Kansas City — traveled to Texas to play its first-ever game April 12 against the Dallas Diamonds. On that cool Saturday evening, the powerhouse Diamonds unleashed their star player, Jessica Springer. The linebacker and running back, who…
Army Spc. Jeremy Hall did two tours in Iraq, saw his share of fire and came back in one piece. Too bad he needs a bodyguard to keep his fellow soldiers from attacking him now that he’s back in the States. Hall’s problems started in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner in 2006, during his second tour. One of the men…
A plaid work shirt straddles razor wire that guards points of entry to the old Greyhound station in downtown Kansas City. The garment rests atop the security fence with what appears to be purpose, suggesting an attempted breaking and entering. The shirt’s former owner must have been desperate for warmth or a place to get high. The old bus station,…
Dear Mexican: I’m a California white boy with many Mexican friends. In addition to that, I’ve been running a fantasy baseball league for nine years. For the first time, we have a large percentage of Mexicans in our league. Of the 14 teams, Mexicans run three of them, and one gabacho has a Mexican wife. One of those Mexican-run teams…
Feature: “We ❤ Matt,” May 8 Cool Buddies I read Jen Chen’s story about Matthew Pope and his classmates at Shawnee Mission East twice. Not because I missed anything the first time. I read it again because it made me feel so good. Made me want to be back in school again. I’m so tired of the agents of intolerance…
Catching up on the local blogosquare, I came across this post on Democracy and Hip-Hop. It mostly concerns the New Orleans Bounce music documentary Ya Heard Me (which I’m now dying to see), but in the post, author Krisna Best characterizes KC’s culture as compared with New Orleans’ in this brisk, proud and knowing sweep: I’ll be right up front,…
News has reached the Wayward Blog of local jazz supporter Ed Fenner’s death this past Sunday, May 18. I found out via Plastic Sax, who cited Fenner’s sales work for JAM Magazine, his management of the ambassadors’ jazz calendar and his plans to develop the comprehensive Web site KC Jazz Voice this year. Fenner’s death is “a devastating blow to…
2 Live Jews By ANDY VIHSTADT After breaking his longtime vow of never performing live a couple years ago, David Berman, and wife Cassie, are currently in the middle of an international tour to promote Silver Jews’ upcoming LP6. No U.S. dates have been set, but keep your eyes peeled for Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, out June 17 on Drag…
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM Star sticks fork in downtown, determines undoneness: Kansas City deserves a “pat on the back” for its downtown Renaissance. Yes, I said “Renaissance,” with all the lutes, pantaloons and attention-hungry repertory theater hopefuls that implies. Ten years ago, what did you see when you drove through downtown Kansas City? It looked like someone had dropped a…
By ERIC BARTON Back in the mid-’90s, a manager at Hallmark Cards went to her boss to ask him to fast-track a line of cards for Kwanzaa. The holiday was getting mainstream attention, and the manager explained that American Greetings and other competitors were likely working on the same idea. Her boss quickly shot down the idea. “Kwanzaa can’t be…
Feature artists Shay Estes and Mark Lowrey rekindle the torch song, seek cell phone sponsorship. MP3: “Where You At” by Shay Estes and Mark Lowrey. Jocks, queers, tigers after the jump. Categories: Music
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN No Boston player needs a cork more than Manny. Seriously. Enough. Yes, you used to be charming. It used to be fun to read about the Red Sox, like Roger Angell, John Updike, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Halberstam and others chronicled every near miss with verve and intelligence. Pesky, Galehouse, Buckner, Dent — they were a terrific…
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN No Boston player needs a cork more than Manny. Seriously. Enough. Yes, you used to be charming. It used to be fun to read about the Red Sox, like Roger Angell, John Updike, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Halberstam and others chronicled every near miss with verve and intelligence. Pesky, Galehouse, Buckner, Dent — they were a terrific…
The Cure May 19, 2008 The Starlight Theatre Better Than: Sitting in a dark basement, shrouded in candlelight, listening to the Cure. By ANNIE ZALESKI Dear Diary, Oh my goth. Last night I saw the Cure for the very first time. I wasn’t the biggest fan growing up – my heart belonged to Morrissey as a mopey teenager, you see…
By JASON HARPER That head-swallowing afro wig, pink striped bathrobe and red Gibson SG belong to none other than Adam Stotts, frontman for the bands Overstep and the Lucky Graves and, most recently, Solid Gold Easy, a classic-rock-themed, three-piece cover band that played two sets this past Sunday night at Fred P. Ott’s on the Plaza. Joining Stotts are drummer/backup…
Mellow Gold by ANDY VIHSTADT Beck unveiled a new one from his upcoming Modern Guilt, due sometime early summer. Along with production from Danger Mouse, Beck’s tenth LP will include backing vocals from Cat Power’s Chan Marshall. Get a preview with the 60’s psychedelic track, “Chemtrails,” streaming here. Categories: Music
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM While we’re on the subject, Micheal Mahoney is cool as Kim Deal: Ruth Bates, a city employee who filed an EEOC complaint alleging that Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s wife, Gloria Squitiro, referred to her as “mammy” at the office, has been fired from her job at City Hall. CLASSY! That’s really the best way of handling it,…
The Cure played at Starlight Theater last night to the delight of fans and the discontent of giraffes sleeping nearby. Our own Scott Spychalski took photos. Click below to view the slideshow. Categories: Music Tags: slideshows, the cure
By JASON HARPER If you can look more jaunty with your jacket thrown over your shoulder while strolling through the Plaza than Larry Kirwan did this past Saturday, then you should run for office. I encountered the author and legendary leader of Irish/Bronx-based rock band Black 47 at the Bloomsday Books tent, where they were selling Black 47 CDs and…
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN Memphis fans wish Darrell had failed algebra. Local college basketball fans act stunned that Kansas center Darrell Arthur may not have been “college material” and lacked a working knowledge of algebra. In other breaking news, man bites dog and Generallismo Franco is still dead. Anyone who follows college basketball knows the following: 1. Talented basketball players with…
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN Memphis fans wish Darrell had failed algebra. Local college basketball fans act stunned that Kansas center Darrell Arthur may not have been “college material” and lacked a working knowledge of algebra. In other breaking news, man bites dog and Generallismo Franco is still dead. Anyone who follows college basketball knows the following: 1. Talented basketball players with…
