Flight Sgt. Nicholas Alkemade had a horrifying decision to make. The RAF tail gunner was returning from a raid over Berlin on March 24, 1944, when his Lancaster bomber was attacked by Luftwaffe fighters, caught fire and began to spiral. With his parachute consumed in the flames, Alkemade had to choose between the terror of falling to a quick death…
Janovy: “Still Under Fire,” November 5 Winter Blues Thanks to C.J. Janovy for her column on Anne Winter. It showed how deeply Anne touched our community and just how many people cared for her on different levels. Most importantly, I would like to thank Kurt von Schlemmer for sharing why Anne took her own life. Many of us live with…
There’s a house on the East Side of Kansas City, Missouri, with bullet holes in the windows and gang graffiti on the front door. Few readers will be shocked by this news. What’s unusual about this particular battle-scarred residence, which sits near East 33rd Street and Garfield, is that someone wanted to buy it. Sixteen months ago, the Bank of…
Dear Mexican: Why do most Mexican women cut their long, black hair after reaching the pivotal age of 40? Not only do they cut it, but they also proceed to cut it short and dye it all shades of the most unnatural hair color for Mexicans: red. My own madre is guilty of this offense, and I see it on…
“Everybody wants to work with Woody,” the saying goes. Pretty much everyone in Hollywood wanted to work with director Robert Altman, too — chiefly because of the creative freedom that he afforded his actors within the framework of the stories he filmed. To accommodate his acolytes, Altman shoehorned casts of dozens into films that were often sprawling epics of dysfunction…
Emerging experimental artists pool their energies tonight at the Charlotte Street Foundation’s Urban Culture Project opening of Mythmakers. From 6 to 9 p.m. at the Paragraph Gallery (23 East 12th Street), get a first look at works by 14 or so individual talents and mini collectives, most of them Kansas City Art Institute alumni. Megan Mantia, of Rah! Booty, Ssion…
In recent years, American developers have been giving strip malls the façade of European villages, trying to convince consumers that they’re meandering through some Old World marketplace rather than another fluorescent outlet of Bath and Body Works. For a real taste of traditional European commerce — the kind that really does occur in the shadow of medieval buildings — check…
There is no substitute for the steak-jazz-and-martini craving that hits once the bank account rebounds and the night air begins to chill. Though the niche in Kansas City is full of offerings specific to this combination, fans of the Majestic can indulge again. The long, narrow space at 931 Broadway, erected in 1911, has reopened as a restaurant rather than…
An Interstate 70 Series of a different kind kicks off tonight when former two-time All-American University of Missouri wrestler Tyron “T-Wood” Woodley of St. Louis takes on all-around badass Rudy Bears of Kansas City in mixed martial arts at Memorial Hall (600 North Seventh Street in KCK, 913-549-4853). Woodley (4-0) has won every fight by submission and is known for…
For anyone who feels unmoored in a holiday season without the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s A Christmas Carol, here’s a buoy to cling to. At tonight’s Holiday Brouhaha, a fundraiser for the excellent Actors Theatre of Kansas City, patron-of-the-arts types will be treated to a reading of Daniel Sullivan’s holiday lark Inspecting Carol, a sly farce about a failing Midwestern…
Tonight’s the third Thursday of the month, which means one thing: Castro Movie Night descends upon the Screenland Armour (408 Armour Road, 816-421-9700). This faaaaaabulous event brings the spirit of San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood to the theater for a good cause: Half of the regular $8 ticket price for the evening show goes to an AIDS/HIV-related charity. The Kansas City…
A concert program titled “Nostalgic Classics” sounds like something blanketed in home-fire warmth. But tonight’s Kansas City Civic Orchestra selections aren’t exactly jingle jams — unless you’re shopping for caskets come Black Friday. Sure, the relatively bouncy “London” symphony by Haydn will ease the fatalism in the room after Henry Purcell’s “Funeral Music for Queen Mary.” Until you remember that…
In the center of the vast expanse of the 151st Street corridor, just east of Interstate 35, is the Great Mall of the Great Plains, Olathe’s $137 million, 811,000-square-foot outlet mecca, which opened in 1997. Though it was sold earlier this year, many of the businesses inside it are still active, including JR’s Place (20238 West 151st Street, 913-254-1307), a…
It’s an incredibly rare sporting event that shows off two masters of their craft at the top of their profession. Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson, Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlin, John Elway vs. Joe Montana, and Larry Johnson vs. social-media sites are a few examples of rivals battling for supremacy in professional sports. Today’s noon game at Arrowhead Stadium (1…
It’s one of those bits of useless information that pops up in a game of Trivial Pursuit or on the back of a laminated menu in some greasy spoon: Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird, not the bald eagle. And that was probably the last time an American was kind to a turkey. And, apparently, it…
The Missouri Mavericks, the metro’s new minor-league hockey team, features an actual Missourian. After graduating from Chaminade, the Catholic all-boys high school in St. Louis, forward Derek Pallardy headed east to play hockey at Merrimack College. As a senior, Pallardy served as the team’s captain; his head coach called him a “fourth coach” on the ice. Now 26, Pallardy scored…
For the uninitiated, the often elaborate world of 3-D hobby gaming can seem intimidating. Fortunately for interested onlookers, there’s a relatively simple way to join the fray: the KC Game Fair (1601 North Universal Avenue, in the Intrigue Park Place Hotel, 816-483-9900). Board games, miniature war games, role-playing games and more will be available for players of all experience levels…
This weekend, the Kansas City Symphony raises the dead with the help of two young stars on the rise. In a world premiere, guest pianist Alon Goldstein (age 39) plays Avner Dorman’s new concerto “Lost Souls,” which the symphony commissioned. The 34-year-old Israeli composer has given his work’s three movements Blockbuster-ready names: First comes “Séance,” then “Twilight,” then “Exorcism.” A…
Tony Ross’ bat connected, sending the softball rocketing to the fence. While the outfielders scrambled after what should have been a home run, Ross stopped at second, doubled over and gasped for breath. Then he sat down on the base. The two teams playing were made up of machinists, custodians and guards from the late shift at the Bannister Federal…
Update (November 18): Now with pics! ***After an early morning raid yesterday, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigators took two men into custody on charges related to cockfighting and confiscated enough poultry for a month’s worth of chicken nuggets. Ezequiel Olivas, 44, was charged with three counts of unlawful conduct of cockfighting, which are felonies, and one count of unlawful possession…
Ten local bartenders put their cocktail knowledge and mixology skills to the test this Sunday on-stage at the Uptown Theater during the third annual Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition. “We’re working really hard to showcase bartending as a serious profession and elevate bartenders in Kansas City to that level,” says Ryan Maybee, the event organizer and partner in Manifesto. The…
Fans of Donnie Darko will remember when members of the fire department sift through motivational speaker Jim Cunningham’s burnt-up house and find what’s described as a “kiddie porn dungeon.” Well, we at The Pitch are sad to report there’s such a thing as an incest porn dungeon, too. Fox 4 is reporting what police found when they searched 77-year-old Burrel…
The compilation this tune is from, Kansas City Jazz – 20s, was put out by Audio Book & Music Company, also known as ABM. It’s one of those companies that puts together compilations of songs with obscure copyright statuses. George E. Lee died in 1958 in San Diego, where he’d moved after retiring from music in 1940, so I imagine…
