Last week, we raked Missouri Sen. Kit Bond over the mesquite for being a hypocrite about pork. Missouri’s one-man bacon explosion earned honors for wrapping himself around President Barack Obama’s stimulus package — which he voted against — like a gamey strip of Sizzlelean hugging a filet mignon. Au jus, Brute? But it’s not raining pork for everyone — not…
Dear Readers: Before we move on to your spicy preguntas, a bit of housecleaning. Primeramente, gracias to all the know-nothings who responded to my 100-word-essay challenge, which asked them to justify loving legal Mexicans but not the illegal ones. I will publish the best entries on the Mexican’s April Fools’ edición. On a more important note, regarding pinche: Many of…
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Feature: “True True Blood,” February 19 Bloodsucking Friends Peter Rugg’s story on local vampires was so captivating. I have always been intrigued with vampires, and I believe I have only met one whom I know of: a friend I met in high school (2000), and he loaned me a book that he used for referencing the different types. This was…
Last Friday, I had lunch with a friend who said her basement was about to be the site of a music video. Her husband is Quinn McCue, singer for the local zombie bluegrass group the Kansas City Bear Fighters. I didn’t expect to see the finished product for weeks, but the band and director Jacob Frese churned out a campy…
When Larry Gilbert and his partner Brian Heinen opened Out There Cards at 205 Westport Road (in the space formerly occupied by Gilbert’s Larry’s Cards in the 1990s), they filled every nook and cranny with greeting cards — including some hilariously vulgar ones — and candles, gifts, magazines, assorted sexual paraphenalia, holiday decorations and every other imaginable knick-knack and gee-gaw….
If the old Accurso’s Italian restaurant at 5044 Main Street — located in a building that dated back to the turn of the last century — was like walking back into time, the new trattoria, which opens tonight, is thoroughly modern. Owner Joe Accurso had originally planned to open his sleek new space in January, but new restaurants rarely open when…
The National Endowment for the Arts reports today that working artists are unemployed at twice the rate of professional workers. The NEA’s study, titled “Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on Jobs in 2008,” indicates that the economic squeeze is forcing many artists to leave their profession altogether. (The Los Angeles Times has more. A PDF of the full…
For a long time, I didn’t believe that Missouri’s state Legislature could be crazier than Kansas’. This year, thanks to Missouri state reps Cynthia “kisses” Davis and Bryan “Rebel Yell” Stevenson, I know I’m wrong. And it keeps getting better. Missouri House Republicans want a constitutional amendment to stop voter fraud and protect Missourians from “corruption, fraud and tyranny.” If…
Someone suggested a “friend” to me on Facebook this morning. Guerrilla GayBar isn’t really a friend, though. Nor is it a bar. It’s a new event in which a bunch of gay men, women and their friends invade one of “the coolest straight bars” in Kansas City on the second Friday of the month. The first invasion is set to…
%{}% LET LIVE FOREVER IN THE PEOPLE’S MEMORY THE UNPARALLED ACHIEVEMENT OF THE OBAMIST GUARD OF OCTOBER, YOU GUYS! The Barack Hussein Obama Adminstrative junta has put forward a radical plan whereby people — also known as DEATBEAT JOBLESS DEFAULTING LOSER BUMS — get to keep their houses. The newspapers call it a “$75 billion loan modification program,” but I…
Q: Why did God let John Denver die? A: Because his records weren’t selling anymore. That’s just one of many gems from Neil Hamburger, who brings his standup tonight to the Record Bar. Calling himself America’s Funnyman, Hamburger has invented himself as the ultimate parody of the broken, washed-out, unkempt, sloppy, “bad” American comic. Wearing a dime-store tux and sporting…
Awesome farmer’s market Bad Seed is now registering people for spring and summer workshops. From practical to whimsical, there’s something for everybody this year, but the emphasis is definitely on sustained and organic living. Bad Seed offers a dozen courses over several months. Owner Brooke Salvaggio teaches the first one March 15, on how to start your own organic garden….
Flickr: Agnieszka Mazus As a former waiter, I’ve always been opposed to tip-pooling on general principal. Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for teamwork in the front of the house — but an excellent veteran server with a lot of regular clients shouldn’t be penalized by receiving the exact same tip-out as the lousiest waiter in the restaurant. That’s one…
It’s only March, but the National Restaurant Association has already dubbed 2009 “The Year of the Slider.” On Monday, the association linked to an Orange County Register a story about “downsized” foods being a big culinary trend this year. The article points out that slider burgers — a two-bite little sandwich once recognized as the signature sandwich of the Ohio-based…
Flickr: Fuzuoko There are a couple easy ways to get a food-industry worker’s blood boiling. The easiest is to talk about stingy tippers. The second, nearly as effective route, is to casually mention that Rachael Ray is a great chef. What Billy Joel is to other musicians, what Dane Cook is to other comedians, Rachel Ray is to real chefs….
Last month, the City Council voted to save $175,000 a year by privatizing the city’s animal shelter. The contract with Veterinary Management Corp. began last Sunday when the group took over the shelter at 4400 Raytown Road. They’ve since given the animal shelter a new name: Halfway Home Pet Adoptions. Halfway Home employee Jennifer Shive says the transition has been…
John-Alan Suter, alias Milkdrop, knows how to get the music out: Give it away for free! We love the free. Boost your local playlist with two tracks from his mixtape, Rise Before the Fall, which he’ll be releasing, for free, March 10. The tape (or, rather, ZIP file) makes use of beats by Jake One, the Alchemist, Kanye West, Soul…
Lawrence natives have a particular fondness for the month of March. Mostly because of the college basketball tournament, but Free State Brewery executive chef Rick Martin loves March for a different reason. It’s March Mustard Madness at Free State Brewery. Free State claims that they stock 64 different mustards for the event, but Martin clarifies: “No, 64 is only the…
Flickr: write-pudding “There are people in the world so hungry,” said Gandhi, “that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Eating a meal together can be an amazingly unifying experience, which is why the American Friends Service Committee of Kansas City is hosting “Breaking Bread Together: A Dinner with KC Area Iraqi Refugees and Iraq War…
I love Cynthia Davis. The Republican state rep from O’Fallon is a freaking quote machine. I’m certain she never thinks before she speaks — it just comes tumbling out. Like yesterday, when Davis was in a hearing about extending the “no campaigning” barrier at polling places. “Usually, I just smile and wave and look pretty,” Davis said. “And then make…
Much like Cobra Commander never fully harnessed the power of his Weather Dominator, we haven’t fully taken advantage of Twitter. Until today*. The Pitch’s Nadia Pflaum is going to try Tweeting today’s Power & Light dress code hearing, starting at 1:30 p.m. Check http://twitter.com/pitchplog for 140-character updates. I’ll also try to post her updates on the Plog. * Barring technical…
