Not for the first time, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback is all wet. On January 16, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed plans to build its National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas, a project championed by Brownback, the lame-duck senator. The new $450 million hot zone, which is to start construction in 2010, will replace the federal bio-threat research facility…
The exertions of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison gnaw me to the bone. After the crack photographic exhibitions that have dominated the Nelson-Atkins’ schedule, I was hopeful that the pair’s Restoration might change my negative feelings about their work. But it only hardened my resolve — the parlor trickery of these photos hints at cheap thrills but fails to deliver even…
Perched on the edge of his couch, Steve Tilford performs minor surgery wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and a silver medal of St. Christopher that rests just below his neck. The late-December afternoon casts dim light through the window of his single-story Topeka home. A plastic bag with a biohazard symbol stamped on the front spills its contents…
Dear Mexican: Mi hermano y yo tenemos un dispute. We all know that Mexicans love their bistec sliced muy thin, but why? My brother is adamant that the diet of free-range vacas mexicanas results in tough meat, necessitating a thin slice for easy mastication. I think the reason is purely an economic one because Mexicans are famously poor. Are mis…
It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional chef or amateur, the New York Times has made the discovery that the top new kitchen utensil for 2009 is the cell phone. Who cares about whisks, blenders, wooden spoons, food processors? It’s the cell phone that can “keep grocery lists, find recipes, photograph their handiwork, look up the name of French cheeses,…
Someone’s Got to Pay, last year’s release from Betse, Nate, Phil and Ike has been named Best Alt-Country Album in the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards. These awards are sponsored by the Musician’s Atlas, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and Purevolume.com and, according to the Web site, are voted on by such industry giants as George Jones, Roger Daltrey…
First, they hit Hyde Park in December. Monday night, some lazy revolutionaries rose once again in Kansas City. The tiresome vandals spray-painted “Stop Genocide” and an anarchy symbol on the Pioneer Mother statute inside Penn Valley Park. I ran over there this morning to snap a few photos of the damage. Categories: News Tags: anarchists, Penn Valley Park
The right anterior cerebral hemisphere, probably thinking about foie gras or something else delicious. Unless you’re a neurosurgeon, chances are you don’t mention the right anterior cerebral hemisphere very much in daily conversation. Yet, if you love food, especially fine food, that part of the brain holds the key. This according to two scientists from a university hospital in Zurich, Switzerland,…
Lo, it has come to pass. More or less. Late last year, Record Machine prez Nathan Reusch issued the challenge to his KC label’s resident DJ, Max Justus, to remix the new Kanye West album. Justus ended up working with his eight favorite tracks from 808s (we’re surprised he could find that many!), giving them his own patented electro-dubstep therapy,…
If you’ve passed the original Screenland this week and wondered how it managed to book a dead singing legend to play the Crossroads — the marquee now reads simply “Anita O’Day” — the answer turns out to be simple. Friday, the theater opens the documentary Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, which hit the festival circuit last year….
In case you missed it, NME reported last week that in the upcoming, Febuary issue of Filter, Stephen Patrick Morrissey tells his interviewer that he doesn’t want to go on making music much longer, saying, “I think that would suggest a lack of imagination. A certain lack of dignity also. There has to reach a point where you’ve said enough,…
KMBC-TV reports that a small plane has crashed in a Platte County field near Interstate 435 and Highway 45. KMBC has live aerial video of the crash scene. Update: KSHB-TV says the two people in the crash were taken to the hospital, but they weren’t seriously injured. Categories: News Tags: KMBC-TV, plane crash
Chances are, if you have an idea for an invention whilst devouring a plate of buffalo wings, I’m going to like it. That’s what happened to Dan Ferrara when he missed a phone call due to buffalo hot-sauce all over his hands. I would call that a missed connection but Ferrara called it an opportunity and became co-inventor of “trongs,”…
Hearing that Joe D’s Wine Bar and Cafe in Brookside was closing, I was reminded of former owner and namesake Joe DiGiovanni’s words to me about restaurants that rely significantly on patios for business: I loved the location but the space was too small… when you depend on your patio for 50 percent of revenue on a given night and…
I bought my first box of Girl Scout cookies very young (thank you Jill Eastwood, classmate and most likely top seller of whatever troop she was in) and so learned my lesson about Girl Scout cookies: They must be protected at all costs! Categories: Dining, Food & Drink Tags: Girl Scout Cookies, Girl Scouts, lemon, peanut butter patties, peanut butter…
Yesterday, Hector the dog lobbied Jolie Justus and the Missouri Legislature, promoting animal welfare issues. Hector was once owned for former NFL quarterback, dogfight promoter and current club fed member Michael Vick. Justus writes: “Today Hector was socializing with other dogs, hanging out with little kids and posing for photos. He was a gentle, loving example of why we should…
How much is community service worth to you? How about prison-like-wages of 35 cents per hour? That’s the cost of giving five hours to community service in exchange for one free tall coffee from Starbucks ($1.75). Customers who fill out cards in Starbucks’ stores pledging to volunteer five hours of time will receive one free tall coffee today through Sunday….
%{}% Many interesting facts about Alaska including my favorite, “Moose are apparently much, much more dangerous than bears.” Oh no, not our ice cream! Even peanut butter ice cream is among the items being recalled. There’s a certain sentiment in looking back at your childhood and realizing that, dear lord! your parents spent a lot of money on professional wrestling….
photo: Jim Wright It’s been a while since Pete Yorn has bothered to update his website and MySpace page, so kudos to Heather Browne’s I Am Fuel, You are Friends for posting two new, exclusive tracks from his upcoming releases. According to her blog: “‘Shotgun’ is from Pete’s new full length, produced by Mike Mogis and recorded in Omaha. This…
Kansas City lost one of its best bloggers to Washington, D.C. last week. But Erin in the Real World moved at just the right time. Yesterday, she captured Barack Obama’s inauguration in an amazing photo essay. Erin, we miss you. Good luck. Categories: News, Politics Tags: barack obama, Erin in the Real World, Inauguration Day
We get a lot of e-mails telling us about stories we should write. A third of them are from crazy people. (Jerry, we’re sure the government wants to steal your amazing Sonata because it’s so pimp.) Another third are serious, and a final third we don’t know what to do with. But we’re not sure which category Michael Quijas falls…
I just read City Manger Wayne Cauthen’s comments about the city intensifying its effort to lure an NHL or NBA team to Kansas City over the summer. The Kansas City Business Journal reported that Cauthen told The Central Exchange that the city was waiting for the leagues’ offseasons. Why wait? “They’re not going to give you the time of day”…
It’s been just over a year since brothers Dedric and Delaney Moore chilled us out with their Spaghetti-Western-in-space effort Gringo. Now the instrumentalists from KCK are preparing to release, on CD and vinyl, the new project from their band, Monta at Odds. Outono will be heralded with a release party at the Record Bar on February 13. In the meantime,…
