Who else got a Fiber One bar delivered along with their Kansas City Star on Saturday? The paper’s plastic sleeve was a big ad for the chewy bar from General Mills; inside the bag — along with my newspaper — was a Fiber One sealed in a plastic pouch. It was “naturally flavored oats and chocolate,” though I wonder whether…
Don’t take it personal, Patrick Carney. Your bandmate just needs a little time away from you. Dan Auerbach (best known as the Jon Spencer of the Black Keys’ blues explosion) is unveiling his first solo LP in a couple of months. He claims on the album’s one-sheet: “This record is a mixture of things I like to listen to; psychedelia,…
%{}% This post is called Needless Extravagance but any item that cools a bottle of wine or any other liquid in one minute is not really needless. You’ll want to buy one after reading about the Cooler Cooper. A couple days too late maybe, but here’s a take on why hangovers happen and ways to stop them. Apparently there is…
Is it just me, or does the new New Yorker profile of Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy) make him seem like an uptight, vain hippie prick? It wouldn’t be so bad — on the contrary, it’d make him even more interesting — if there was something truly inspiring or compelling about the man to latch onto (insert beard joke)….
Hey, Pitch readers. We published a bunch of year-end reflections this week, with Martin’s column about the Year in Stupidity, my take on the year in Funk and Gloria, Charles Ferruzza’s recap of a horrible year in the local restaurant industry. In print, look for Forester Michael’s cool photos of the year in music. But that copy went to bed…
I know on Wednesday I said I’d most likely stay home and fall asleep well before Dick Clark Ryan Seacrest dropped the ball. Well something inside me (Sparks) made me venture out. Actually, I was already out and about in Lawrence watching the KU Bowl Game. Feeling in a festive-yet-cheap mode and away from the three free places I recommended,…
Dan over at Gone Mild latest post lays out case for why Kansas City should “bulldoze” Power & Light District. Dan makes some good points but as one of the commenters (blogger Keith Sader) of the post says, “Since the Power & Flight district opened, douchebaggery has declined by a huge amount in older, funner entertainment districts.” In other words,…
KC Star rock critic Tim Finn comes back from an absence and pens this absolutely fantastic post about his late-wife, KC Star food critic Lauren Chapin. A special post-holiday recipe of cold-cheese-dip that’s actually hot that’s so good/bad the poster’s wife will not eat it. Lunch counters aside, this sushi-on-the-go place shows it can do Korean well. Plus, it’s close,…
With Israeli air strikes targeting the Gaza strip and explosions rocking the Palestinian territory, hundreds of demonstrators gathered yesterday at the intersection of 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway to call for an end to the escalating violence. Brandishing signs condemning Israel actions and chanting for a Free Palestine, the group held vigil for hours as young men waving flags…
Each Thursday, your Crap Archivist brings you the finest in forgotten and bewildering crap culled from area basements, thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets. I do this for one reason: Knowledge is power. Fuzzy Mules, Pink Slippers Volume One: Came a Clown Author: McAllister Ransom Publisher: Kohinoor Books, Baltimore Date: 1990 Discovered at: American Veterans Thrift Store, Allston, MA…
Discovered in a box so big that your Crap Archivist had to climb inside it, this 1982 datebook is a marvel of local history, an accidental chronicle of a time, a place and an unidentified diarist’s determination never to exceed a personal weight of 115 pounds. Twenty-seven years ago, this proved difficult in a country that was more Big Mac…
The Brick takes this one for its willingness to accept all sorts of craziness from the amateurs on Wednesday nights. An open mic for MCs at the Peanut can result in some great performances. Same goes for poetry slams, which are even trickier to pull off. Things are looser at the Brick — damned if you know what’s coming next….
With winter winds blowing, it’s nice to dream of lazy summer afternoons spent fishing or skimming across the lake in a brand-new boat. Warm temperatures are still a few months away, but the 55th-Annual Kansas City Boat and Sportshow starts today. Head to Bartle Hall (301 West 13th Street) to preview the goods that will be hot once the leaves…
If two things were ever meant for each other, it’s reading and bathrooms. The Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library has both in a setting befitting royalty, or at least rich bankers, which is not surprising, given that the building was originally the headquarters of First National Bank. The reading rooms are nice, but it’s the stately bathroom…
The Pitch Best Place to Make Out, 2008: A question certain to occur to any couple tonguing each other in the leafy, secluded bower on the southeast side of the Nelson-Atkins grounds: Did the landscapers design this spot for lovers? A rustic nook of wild-looking plant life and old-world witchery, this smallish, stone-paved circle feels something like an old fountain…
Walkers, runners and cyclists can take revenge against the exhaust-pipe set and claim the center line of Cliff Drive after 2 p.m. on Fridays, when park workers close the road to traffic. The leafy route begins at the Paseo, winds past limestone bluffs and a lake, and skirts the entrance to Corinthian Hall before reaching the Carl J. DiCapo Fountain…
4800 West 119th Street in Leawood, 913-469-9663). Penn State finished strong over Indiana and Michigan State. See the Nittany Lions go head to head against No. 5 USC on your own screen in your own booth, with $4 Jäger bombs and vodka Red Bulls, when the Rose Bowl starts at 4 p.m. Thu., Jan. 1, 2009 Tags: leawood, Michigan State…
(10428 Metcalf in Overland Park, 913-649-1700) All pints are $3 all day. Perfect for watching Nebraska vs. Clemson in the Gator Bowl at noon. Thu., Jan. 1, 2009 Tags: Clemson Tigers (Football), Nebraska Cornhuskers (Football), Night & Day, overland park
For the past three years, singer and “poetry diva” Sharon Eiker has thrown open the doors to the haunted stone mansion that houses the Writers Place (3607 Pennsylvania, 816-753-1090) to celebrate New Year’s Day with a noon-to-midnight reading. Today she does it again, wiring up an open-mic format. Anyone with original poetry or essays (or who wants to read someone…
The work of Robert Wodzinski and Christopher Roeleveld uses images found online to subvert the corporate design culture. Tonight’s opening in the Cocoon Gallery of the Arts Incubator (115 West 18th Street, 816-421-2292) features a collection of video collaborations and animated GIFs. The reception runs from 5 to 9 p.m., and the show will be on view all month. Fri.,…
Writer and self-taught artist Joshua Rizer puts a cynical twist on myths, archetypes and literary figures in his new oil paintings and drawings, on exhibit at Skinless Productions Gallery (504 East 18th Street, 660-441-2031) from 6 to 10 p.m. The improvisational funk-rock group In the Moment performs at 7 p.m. Fri., Jan. 2, 6-10 p.m., 2009 Tags: Joshua Rizer, Night…
Clinton Paugh’s new spontaneous works experiment with natural materials such as plants, soil, spices, chalk and clay. The art addresses, as Paugh puts it, “the beauty and wonder that is our planet.” The exhibit opens tonight between 6 and 9 p.m. at Red-Light (323 Southwest Boulevard, 816-421-1484) and continues through January 24. Fri., Jan. 2, 6-9 p.m.; Jan. 3-24, 2009…
Discounts on works displayed. Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art (2004 Baltimore, 816-221-2626). Fri., Jan. 2, 6-9 p.m., 2009 Tags: Baltimore, Night & Day
Mixed media by Lynne Hodgman, on display from 6 to 9 p.m. at Pi Gallery (419 East 18th Street, 816-210-6534). Fri., Jan. 2, 6-9 p.m., 2009 Tags: Lynne Hodgman, Night & Day
