By C.J. JANOVY The spectacular resignation last fall of former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales overshadowed the odiousness of his predecessor, John Ashcroft. According to some revisionist theories, Gonzales actually made Ashcroft look good – as if Ashcroft hadn’t been the one to initiate the Bush administration’s decimation of the Constitution. Yesterday, the Justice Department released an internal investigation revealing…
There’s no concrete definition on what a good summer beer is, just that it should be light and refreshing, usually with a touch of citrus. Last night, Gordon Biersch threw a tapping party (its second of the year) to debut its new summer brew. Power & Light District brewery’s attempt is an excellent, very drinkable offering most noticeable for what…
By FLANNERY CASHILL D/Will gets cocky with swank summertime raps. MP3: D-Will, “Glory,” from Heir of Abraham (self-released) Punk rocker cum mountain man Tommy Ramone strokes his wiry white beard this week at Mountain Music Shoppe, where he plucks the mandolin and gee-tar for bluegrass duo Uncle Monk. MP3: Uncle Monk, “Home Sweet Reality,” from Uncle Monk (Airday Records) More…
By C.J. JANOVY This week’s issue of Rolling Stone has an interview with American Idol winner and Blue Springs native David Cook. Among the fascinating revelations: at a “glitzy restaurant on the south tip of Manhattan’s Central Park,” Cook is “scared” of foie gras on toast, drowning out the taste with a Sprite, and refuses to eat “a delicate flan…
College Night
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN Your author at work. Is this thing on? To introduce myself, I’m Chris Rasmussen, and I will be one of the authors providing content to this sports blog. When I started blogging some time ago at Bugs & Cranks, as the Royals correspondent, I possessed the three qualifications for any blogger: (a) thoughts, (b) opinions, (c) occasional…
From the tipline: Beginning today and ending July 7, if you preorder Beck’s new one, Modern Guilt, from iTunes you’ll get a password for concert tix presale. Says the Ticketmaster page, Beck is expected to hit the following markets; Albuquerque, NM Boston, MA Chicago, IL El Paso, TX Kansas City, MO Minneapolis, MN New York, NY Phoenix, AZ Um, yes…
By ANDY VIHSTADT After a ten year hiatus, Richard Ashcroft and co. will be releasing their reunion album on August 19. Aptly titled Four, the Verve’s fourth LP will include all four original members. The band posted the first single, “Love is Noise,” yesterday. Stream it here, via MySpace. Categories: Music Tags: download extra, MP3
Anyone who already has a ticket or wants to buy a ticket at the door at tonight’s Matisyahu show at the Crossroads at Grinders can now bring their rabbi — for free. Just go to this web page and print out the “golden ticket.” Apparently, ticket sales aren’t going to well. Not surprising — it’s $28 for GA; $35 for…
By JUSTIN KENDALL Irreverent comedian George Carlin died Sunday. A coworker sent me an e-mail wondering if Fred Phelps and family were celebrating Carlin’s entrance into hell. I had no idea, so I e-mailed Shirley Phelps-Roper. Roper was quick to reply: Categories: News Tags: Dogma, Fred Phelps, George Carlin, Jay and Silent Bob, kevin smith, Shirley Phelps-Roper, Tim Russert, Westboro…
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM Giant ceremonial mayor makes giant ceremonial scissors look like regular, normal-sized scissors: I’m a huge fan of symbolic photo ops involving hard hats, giant pairs of scissors, gold-plated sledgehammers and ceremonial shovels. I start every work project with a gold-plated ceremonial three-hole punch. Every spring, I bring my ceremonial shovel up from the basement, scoop the…
By JASON HARPER Local politicians don’t know where the Embassy is; midtown scenesters don’t know that it’s still open. But the spacious, two-room storefront bar at the intersection of Main and Westport Road is most definitely still open, and its Monday night hip-hop open mic, hosted by KC’s patriarchal Heet Mob, is alive and well. Categories: Music Tags: Dutch Newman,…
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN Umbrellas don’t protect fans from what’s on the scoreboard. Over the weekend, the Royals stumbled upon the one promotional idea guaranteed to sell out the stadium: Blow up a lot of shit and blow it up real good. The Royals will try a number of promotional schemes this year. Some, like Friday, involves blowing up things in…
By CHRIS RASMUSSEN Umbrellas don’t protect fans from what’s on the scoreboard. Over the weekend, the Royals stumbled upon the one promotional idea guaranteed to sell out the stadium: Blow up a lot of shit and blow it up real good. The Royals will try a number of promotional schemes this year. Some, like Friday, involves blowing up things in…
By JASON HARPER Buffalo Saints. Now there’s a band that takes me back. The first time I saw ’em was in early 2004. The next time after that that I saw ’em was election night 2004, when America re-elected George W. Bush. The band was playing the election results watching party at Davey’s. Lead singer and guitarist Tommy Hoskins was…
By NADIA PFLAUM Applause, please, for the informative crime maps on the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department’s Web page. We recently came across this log of hotspots frequented by alleged prostitutes, or as we refer to it around the office, the Ho Map. Categories: News Tags: horny truckers, police, Prostitutes
Matisyahu @ KC Crossroads
The voting is live, folks. Click here to enter your info (so we know you’re real) and vote for your favorite band. Here’s a quick list of the nominees. Categories: Music Tags: PMA 2008
By CHRIS PACKHAM %{}%Sometimes I think I missed my true calling, which is designing graphics for local news broadcasts. KCTV Channel 5 actually has a specific graphic to indicate stories about stabbings, which is simultaneously informative, hilarious and terrifying: Click the image for the story, though it’s not my stated mandate to drive traffic to local true-crime stories. If I…
Gregg Pfister of Sunflower Auction called The Pitch this morning with the news that his auction house is working with former Music Exchange employee Steve Franz and the widow of the store’s late owner Ron Rooks, Nancy Rooks, to sell off the hundreds of thousands of records plus all the posters, flyers and memorabilia — Ron called the stuff “Americana”…
By CHARLES FERRUZZA The good news: One of my favorite weekend breakfast joints — R.J.’s Bob-Be-Que Shack at 5835 Lamar in Mission — is now serving up big platters of smoked meats and eggs during the week. The bad news: It’s one of the few Kansas City restaurants that offers a breakfast too big even for me to finish off….
Expassionates, with Barclay Martin Saturday, 06-21-08 Davey’s Uptown Better than: Lung cancer There’s no place I would have rather experienced my first smoke-free night in Kansas City than Davey’s Uptown. Many a night have I cursed the dive’s omnipresent smoke cloud, and just as many nights I’ve avoided it altogether for that very reason. Thanks to the great voters of…
