According to Wikipedia, Deborah Harry, lead singer for the new wave band Blondie, which played last night at the Crossroads KC at Grinders, turned 64 this past July 1. Damnit, Wikipedia, where are your manners? If this is correct, and I have a feeling it is — the great and powerful AllMusic.com backs it up — then Harry was 30,…
In the quest to continually perfect flavors, most of the innovations have come on the side of chemical or natural combinations that more accurately mimic their fat-laden counterparts. But a new approach may end up changing the flavor industry. Scientists have invented an “electronic tongue,” a sensor on a computer chip that is capable of discerning differences in artificial sweeteners…
%{}% KC Foodies is working on a Tour De Dalzell — and Souperman was the first stop. A long-delayed visit to LC’s Bar-B-Q ends with an admission that this joint should be on the must-go-to list. Twenty salsas enter; only one can emerge victorious. Welcome to the kumite of chip condiments — Old El Paso fans need not bother. A…
Since the North Vs. South Festival (sixth annual, dontcha know?) gets kicking tomorrow night, it felt appropriate to feature a band that has played several of the festivals in the past, and will also be playing the fest this year (specifically, Friday night at 8:50pm). The Brannock Device are a Kansas City institution at this point. I don’t use that…
Insound is offering up ten works of art from Mike Perry, entitled The Insound 10 Classic, which is a take off of the Insound 20. The Insound 20 was an merch design project pairing Jason Munn with 20 of Insound’s favorite bands, whereas the Insound 10 Classic “is a visual narrative of 20 years (1977-1997) of punk, new wave and…
It only takes a second for Alexander Austin to recall his finest moment impersonating Michael Jackson. “In ninth grade, I played football and we’d have to go out of town for games,” he says, laughing at the memory. “And, on the bus, I’d lead a Michael Jackson song: ‘Dancing Machine.’ All the guys on the team would do the background,…
The Sprint Center is no stranger to protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Last year, a young lady wearing nothing but bikini-bottoms, pasties and a whole lot of orange body paint, crouched in a cage outside the venue to show the activists’ disdain for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. This year, the animal rights’…
This week’s feature story details the first case in Wyandotte County that was charged against the DNA profile of an unidentified individual, in May 2001. Prosecutors all over the country have used this technique — using a coded DNA profile in lieu of a name on charging documents — in cases where time is constrained by statutes of limitations. But…
%{}% The preliminary hearing for the man suspected of killing Emily Sander (known online as Internet porn model Zoey Zane) started Tuesday. Israel Mireles is charged with capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in Sander’s death. Friends testified that they saw Sander, 18, kissing Mireles and later leaving a bar with him, the Associated Press reported. One witness testified…
Sure, any walking talking pepper can wear a sombrero, but dark shades and high-top sneakers? These have to be the hippest jalapeno peppers in the metro. Do you know where this place is? Categories: Dining, Food & Drink
“How about ‘Good Food?’ Too vague? Well, how about ‘Pretty Good Food?’ No?” Kansas City has had a long history of restaurants with names that sort of say it all. In the first half of the 20th century, most of the restaurants in town — according to the City Directories of the period — didn’t even have names: most…
Jackson County prosecutors charged Curtis L. Henderson Jr. with second-degree murder and driving with a revoked license after yesterday’s crash that killed 57-year-old motorcyclist Roger Whisenant at the intersection of Independence and Myrtle. According to a police report, Henderson was driving his truck northbound on Myrtle crossing Independence Avenue at 4:28 p.m. when he struck Whisenant, who was riding his…
The University of Kansas’ student-run radio station, KJHK 90.7FM (your sound alternative), came back from their summer break and free form radio this Monday morning. That means they’re back on the air 24/7, and you can expect a new crop of DJs and attendant special programs. In addition to returning talk shows like Good Evening and the Dick an’ Dyke…
Poor Minnesota Vikings fans. The emotions they must be feeling: After hate, hate, hating a man for so many years only to have their team sign him to a $10 -12 million deal. Here’s the part that will matter to Chiefs fans: ESPN analyst Cris Carter reported that Childress already has told the Vikings that Favre would be starting in…
Get ready, University of Kansas. We expect to see a rush of horny dudes enrolling in journalism school classes if they catch a headline today on Jim Romenesko’s blog: “Kansas University j-school enrollment is 70% female.” All right! Even more jaw-dropping was this quote from KU journalism school dean Ann Brill. “It’s probably a right brain/left brain thing,” Brill told…
In the “they’re still together?” segment of this week’s new releases, Third Eye Blind puts out Ursa Major and Sister Hazel has Release. MUTEMATH’s Armistice is the biggest release this week, as we are really entering the post-summer doldrums in the lead-up to the holiday release season. Allmusic is saying that this is a more experimental album from the band,…
If the beautiful dance of bartending peaked for you in the 1980s, then I salute you as you read this in your sportcoat and T-shirt while your dog, Spuds McKenzie, snoozes at your feet. I suspect however, that you have still have dial-up Internet, so I’ll waste no more time offering a toast to your obstinacy. However, for the rest…
Taking a page from embarrassment-proof PETA, Bite Club of KC is using blood and guts to make the point that using rifles and crossbows to control the deer population at Greater Shawnee Mission Park is barbaric. The group’s Web site features images of deer in various stages of conquest and a dog that’s been carved up and served on a…
In the latest government bailout, spiritual-questing endurance swimmer John Yettaw has been released from a Burmese prison where he was serving a seven-year sentence of hard labor for visiting a house-imprisoned political activist. (The Newsweek screen shot above shows Yettaw’s arrest.) Yettaw has a wife, three exes and a platoon of kids. His current boo, Betty, lives in Falcon, Missouri,…
Some traditions have rightly been lost — aspics (as noted by Julie Powell in Julie and Julia) and Emeril Lagasse come to mind. Others that have disappeared make you long for a past America — heirloom varieties of vegetables, a Hereford House downtown, milk deliveries. Well, one tradition that never left, but seemed to lay dormant, is now back because…
Punknews dot org has teamed up with Vagrant to offer up a dilly of a contest. If you fill out the entry form, you have the possibility of winning tickets to their September 11 show at Harrah’s (or any of the other dates, if you’re planning on taking a vacation), as well as their entire Vagrant discography. That contest is…
%{}% Town hall meetings have been shouty, Brick Tamland like affairs. Here’s your chance to yell like hell at U.S. Sen. Claire “Bear” McCaskill. But only if you want a stern talking to (and she’ll do it, too). McCaskill is holding a town hall in the Swinney Recreation Center on the campus of University of Missouri-Kansas City on Monday, August…
CM Punk doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. He’s straight edge (even has a Pepsi logo tattooed on his shoulder). Of course, in the world of WWE, he’s the bad guy. Punk is chasing World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy. It’s a natural feud since Hardy has twice violated the WWE’s “wellness policy” (three strikes and Vince McMahon growls, “You’re fired,”…
