Archives: July 2009

Friday Freebies

And once again, we bring you Friday Freebies, wherein we present things to do this weekend that won’t cost you any more than the gas it takes to get to ’em. Obviously, it being the first Friday of July, First Fridays down in the Crossroads is your best bet to get your holiday weekend started. My choice for what to…

Harry’s, Brooksider to serve brief suspensions

Harry’s Country Club and the Brooksider Bar & Grill will close for two days because of violations of Kansas City, Missouri’s liquor laws. The suspensions begin at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Violations included the selling of alcohol to minors, according to the city’s Regulated Industries Division. Categories: News Tags: brooksider, harry’s, regulated industries

What to do this weekend — our suggestions

Celebrate America. Duh — it’s Fourth of July weekend. But seriously, Worlds of Fun is having a Celebrate America Festival every Friday and Saturday in July. Since you’re probably not working today, you should just go now. As a reward for surviving the Orient Express, there will be fireworks in the evening. If you want to wait until Saturday to…

Titan: It’s All Pop! continues to get national notice

From the pages of The Pitch to Fricke’s Picks in Rolling Stone and, most recently, to a brand-new, Minneapolis-based ‘zine, locally born compilation album Titan: It’s All Pop! continues to stretch its midwestern power-pop legs. Refresher: From 1977 to 1981 in Kansas City, Tom Sorrells and Mark Prellberg built a label dedicated to releasing records by Midwest acts like the…

For those who comment, we salute you …

Petite jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg elicited this week’s “Comment of the Week” on the Plog. On Tuesday, Peter Rugg reported that the U.S. Supreme Court had declined to take a case about the constitutionality of Missouri laws directed at the troglodytes who preach a hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism at funerals. “Shepcat,” whom we know to be Brent Shepherd, a…

City ponders hotelzilla as demand falls

If Kansas City, Missouri, leaders decide to subsidize a new, 1,000-room convention hotel, and the hotel falls short of expectations, no one can claim to be surprised. Demand for hotel rooms in Kansas City is expected to fall 6.4 percent this year, according to new study. PKF Hospitality Research indicates that hoteliers’ revenues will fall 15.7 percent this year as…

Anarchy Tour Diary #9: Struttin’ at the Stray Cat

The latest dispatch from Christos and co.’s Anarchy Tour comes from the keyboard of DJ Jamel Rockwell. Rockwell: What’s Good, KC? This is Jamel Rockwell handling the tour diary for the 1st and of July. Tuesday nite we did our thing at the Stray Cat in Tempe, AZ, and it felt good to be on the stage again. The reception…

Put ’em back on, bikers: Nixon vetoes repeal of helmet law

Despite more than a thousand letters and e-mails begging Gov. Jay Nixon to sign a bill that would strike down Missouri’s helmet law, Nixon vetoed it today. The bill would have allowed motorcycle riders 21 and over to ride helmetless on all roads except interstate highways. Missouri Department of Transportation director Pete Rahn issued this statement: “I want to thank…

KCUR Debuts “12 O’Clock Jump” This Saturday Night

Theater League’s jazz, blues and comedy hour, 12 O’Clock Jump, will make its own jump to live broadcast this weekend, when KCUR 89.3 starts carrying the program from midnight to 1 a.m. on Saturday nights. The show features vocalists David Basse and Nedra Dixon; actors Pearl MacDonald and Pete Webber; and musicians Tyrone Clark on bass and Mike Warren on…

First Friday Destination: The Late Show Gallery

July’s First Friday is proximal to the patriotic distraction of Independence Day, and maybe you’re not so much thinking about art. While it’s clearly important to drink American beer while listening to Toby Keith and reading the Constitution by the light of exploding fireworks this weekend, there are some art exhibits open in the Crossroads Art District on Friday night,…

Frank Alvarez of Vinyl Renaissance on Needmore’s closing

Because the announcement of Needmore Discs’ imminent closure has sent ripples, murmurs and even shockwaves through the scene, I thought it would be a good idea to check in with that other Shawnee record store, Vinyl Renaissance, just a few blocks north on Nieman Road, at 10922 Shawnee Mission Parkway. Fortunately, retail manager Frank Alvarez (whom you may remember from…

BPU boss keeps job for some reason

The Kansas City Kansan reports that Board of Public Utilities General Manager Don Gray gets to keep his $170,000-a-year job for at least the next 18 months. Pitch staff writer Justin Kendall has written extensively about the BPU, which provides water and electricity services. His stories — and the eventual indictments against BPU officials — depict a place where functionaries…

Erik Voeks On Needmore Discs’ Closing

We wrote yesterday about the impending closure of Needmore Discs, and how sad it was to see another local record store go. Erik Voeks was kind enough to give me a few more details on the specifics behind closing the store down: “The music retail business has been changing for years (obviously). With everybody moving to downloads it’s become harder…

Kansas chaplain is one step closer to sainthood

Father Emil Kapaun of Pilsen, Kansas, is one step closer to canonization since a Vatican investigator’s visit June 26th. Andrea Ambrosi, the investigator for the Roman Catholic Church, visited family members of Chase Kear, who miraculously recovered from a traumatic brain injury. The family told Ambrosi that they prayed to Father Kapaun during Kear’s hospitalization and recovery. Kapaun has a…

Staged Waldo assault leads to guilty plea

Lindsey D. Craword, the Kansas City woman who hired a man to assault her in a ridiculous attempt to advance a sexual-harassment suit, pleaded guilty today in federal court to wire fraud. Crawford admits that she and a friend hired man to assault them in the detached garage of her Waldo residence. Crawford and Julie R. Bernet claimed initially that…

Missouri Wine and Beer Festival this July Fourth

The Elms Resort & Spa of Excelsior Springs celebrates its 121st anniversary this year. The building has acquired a reputation as the type of place where some guests don’t check out. The resort is proud to share stories of its guests’ experiences at night. Writes one former guest Dianna L. Painter: During the night I was awakened by two soft…

WTF? Gwar’s Urungus Defeats Tracy Smothers

Let me attempt to explain this as best I can, because I follow professional wrestling, and something like this is beyond even my ability to rationalize. First off, Tracy Smothers is a real professional wrestler, and is probably best known for holding the ECW tag titles with Little Guido. Urungus is best known for fronting GWAR and violently dismembering audience…

Angus burgers now on McDonald’s menus

On trips to two McDonald’s this week (to purchase iced coffee), Fat City learned that the Angus burger the company started testing in different markets three months ago has come to Kansas City. The one-third pound burgers are scheduled to be on most McDonald’s menus by today. They still for around $4 a piece. There are three varieties — a deluxe burger with…

New wetlands to make riverfront less scary

KC River Fest 2009 begins officially tomorrow with a 3 p.m. set by June Bug and the Porch Lights. At 10:30 a.m., the Port Authority of Kansas City is offering 200 free tickets to the event at a ribbon-cutting for the new Riverfront Wetlands Ecosystem Restoration. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers managed the restoration. The project is accessible from…

Video: D/Will, “Knock”

D/Will released The Battery Effect last week, and right on its heels is the second video from the album, “Knock.” Knock- RTL from D/WILL on Vimeo. The song is a collaborative effort with Rhymedy. Together D/Will and Rhymedy are known as RoofTop Legends, and that is a project in the works. Categories: Music Tags: D/Will, hip hop, hip-hop, Rhymedy, RoofTop…

Paging Donner. Party of 33, 32, 31.

Between global warming, bees’ dying and the year 2012 approaching, now seems the right time to broach the sensitive subject of cannibalism. Recipe Star has created a light-hearted quiz asking the timeless question What Would Your Body Taste Like to a Cannibal? Through a series of 14 questions (warning: it will ask you about how fat you are; be prepared…