While I wouldn’t refer to him as a “lost giant,” Billy Lee Riley is certainly one of the more under appreciated Sun Records artists. Most famous for his hit tune “Flying Saucers Rock ‘n’ Roll” than anything else, Riley was also responsible for “Red Hot,” as well as a follow-up to “Flying Saucers” in “Rocking On the Moon.” “Red Hot”…
There is always some new pastry on the block attempting to dethrone cupcakes. Now, The New York Times is certain that the next best hand-held dessert is nearly as old as the tiny cakes we’ve been enjoying since grade school. Ever had a whoopie pie? The standard version is two round cakes, resembling hamburger buns, around a white icing that’s…
Thursday has been on five labels in the past 10 years. Eyeball, then Victory, then Island, then back to Victory for a live album, then to Temporary Residence for a split EP with Envy, and now they’re on Epitaph. Ridiculous They still sell records, though, and they still draw. They’re using The Fall of Troy as main support for their…
Some people make you feel healthier just talking to them. That’s the case with raw/vegan food chef Rachel Fracassa — who, in addition to catering, teaches a series of food preparation and healthy living classes. Fat City caught up with Fracassa via e-mail to talk about the raw food movement in Kansas City and how someone’s diet might change while…
The debate over whether to give livestock certain classes of antibiotics has returned to the floor of the House of Representatives. A bill proposed back in March by U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-New York) is attempting to restrict the use of antibiotics to prevent illness in farm animals. She’s responding to concerns that the drugs are losing their potency because…
Occasionally you have to wonder what soft-drink executives are thinking. According to the Times Online, Coca-Cola is test marketing a carbonated milk beverage, Vio, in New York City. The four main ingredients are skim milk, sparkling water, fruit and cane sugar. For now, there are four flavors: peach, mango, berry citrus and tropical colada. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated…
Because he’s a ka-jillionaire whose product is mostly shoveled by Wal-Mart and is therefore in no position to sell out anyway, I don’t know why it surprised me that Toby Keith, that big ol’ hunk of American angus, opened his Friday-night Sprint Center show with a seven-minute Ford commercial. Or that hearty Ford logos bedecked his tailgate-themed stage set. Or…
The remains of the only American missing in action in the first Persian Gulf war have been found, the Navy announced Sunday. Capt. Michael “Scott” Speicher, a native of Kansas City, was shot down while flying an F/A-18 Hornet over western Iraq in the opening hours of Operation Desert Storm on January 17, 1991. A tip from local Iraqi citizens…
It sounds like a bad culinary pun, but it’s true: Chef Cole Mowry has a lot on his plate these days. In the next few weeks, he’ll turn 50, become a father, move to Virginia, maybe open a coffee house, definitely be changing diapers and making his own organic baby food. A year ago, he was just wondering if he…
Three people were injured in a shooting at Club Oasis early Monday morning. View Larger Map The Kansas City Star reports that the shooting happened around 2:50 a.m. and when the cops arrived, they found a guy with a gunshot wound to leg. KMBC Channel 9 reports that it was a drive-by shooting. Hours later the Star reports, two more…
Call it a Jazzy Home Companion. Or don’t, if doing so means your kids will avoid it like everything else good you put in front of them. Call it what you want — 12 O’Clock Jump is its official name, and it’s currently the best reason for Kansas Citians who don’t follow the jazz scene to finally tune in. As…
Outside of the major chains, drive-thru coffee isn’t widely available in the metro area. The second Filling Station coffee shop is hoping to change that. The modern coffee stand, located in the shopping plaza at the corner of Westport Road and Southwest Trafficway, is housed within a former instant photo shop. Eight white stools sit on the concrete floor to…
In what seems to be yet another punk show tonight, Norman, Oklahoma’s Over Stars & Gutters will hit the Replay as part of a short midwestern jaunt in support of their self-released debut, Consider This Your Curse. Over Stars & Gutters plays punk in the vein of Dillinger Four, Off With Their Heads, and Banner Pilot. It’s that gruffly emotional…
Lawrence-by-way-of-Austin’s Spence and Kansas City’s Crazy T have teamed up as 2 Year Old Kicks. Spence and Crazy T began making music together in early 2008, first collaborating on “Worldwide,” a track that appeared on Spence’s debut LP Still in School. Several further collaborations followed, and soon the two MCs had adopted a new moniker: 2 Year Old Kicks. The…
%{}% A Kansas Citian tries a Utah staple — fry sauce — which appears to be similar in taste and ingredients to Thousand Island Dressing. A suggestion that local breweries consider beer-in-a-box, which MillerCoors is test-marketing right now. Chef Gordon Ramsay talks to Vanity Fair about the insanity of chefs, President Barack Obama and his delightful cursing. A food-lovers’ guide…
Writer, director and recent UMKC grad Jordan Kerfeld’s four-minute short film Fingers played at the Echotrope New Media Festival in Omaha over the weekend. Last week, Kerfeld uploaded the four-minute short — about a guy dealing with the loss of his index finger and the memories of using the finger — to Vimeo. Watched it Sunday, and it’s intense. Love…
The Kansas City Chiefs reported for training camp last week without 16 players who suited up for the last game of the 2008 season. The ’08 Chiefs were a sorry bunch (record: 2-14), so turnover is to be expected. But it’s worth remembering that former head coach Herm Edwards believed last year’s club had made great progress. Before the season’s…
%{}% Which street was named after a Dutch doctor, who was pivotal in the construction of Kansas City’s first hotel? What bustling business district challenged downtown as a hub of commerce? Where did the richest man in Kansas City live in 1951? Troost Avenue. Surprised? Father David Paisius Altschul was when he first started researching the corridor’s history more than…
A man in his late teens to early twenties was found fatally shot in the 3200 block of East 29th Street early Monday morning. View Larger Map Kansas City police officers were called to the shooting around 1:14 a.m. On arrival they found the man lying in the street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are still looking…
Two people are dead following a shooting and a stabbing early Saturday morning. Kansas City police were called to a shooting at 31st and Elmwood. View Larger Map Witnesses told police that two people were shot inside a vehicle in the 4500 block of Linwood and ended up driving to a local hospital. One of the victims, a 21-year-old black…
A few venerable names in the dining trade closed their doors last month, including, photo at right, the 22-year-old KC Masterpiece in Overland Park (once the flagship restaurant for a mini-empire that included as many as four locations) and the 17-year-old Cafe Italia in the northland. We also reported on the closing of the hot dog shack at the river’s…
