Kansas City artist and musician Mikal Shapiro asked the artists contributing to Ripe, an exhibit of erotic art at the Crossroads gallery Keyhole, to submit small-scale ink-on-paper drawings. The better to encourage spontaneity, a feature generally lacking in such unsexy occupations as supply-chain management, comptrolling or thoracic surgery but highly valued in sex, art and comedy — three things that…
Paternity test results can be liberating — or devastating. David and Prudence Rexroat, husband and wife, offer DNA testing from an Overland Park strip mall. Paternity testing makes up 10 to 15 percent of the Rexroats’ business. They cultivate it. MedExpress Labs, the Rexroats’ company, markets a “peace of mind” test to men who suspect that a wife or girlfriend…
Chris is a private investigator with Northland Attorneys LLC. Clients frequently hire him to tail their partners, whom they suspect of cheating. We’ve changed his name so he can remain covert as he follows Kansas City’s skulking spouses. The Pitch: What did you do before you became a private investigator? Chris: I worked in the military, doing military intelligence. I…
Marcella was dancing with three other guys, playing the field at America’s Pub in Westport, when an olive-skinned Puerto Rican man tapped her on the shoulder. She’d never seen him before. But that night, in October 1998, William Rivera had been watching her. “Here’s my number,” he told her, ignoring the other suitors. “Call me.” “I called him the next…
I got to work an hour earlier than anyone else that morning. Hidden in my pocket were the four silver rings she’d left in my bathroom. The editor who’d hired me for the internship was the second person to arrive. He told me that he was glad to see me so early and complimented my ambition. This bureau of the…
We had been married a year and a half when he met her at work. We were 30. She was 22. There was a quick change in him. My friends who have gone through this say they experienced the same thing with their husbands. There’s almost a textbook form to it. He got mean. This was in the summer. We…
Why Goner or Hozac haen’t signed Brookyn’s Woozy Vipers yet is surprising. Their brand of lo-fi, two-man bluesy garage rock seems like it would fit into those labels’ rosters like a hand in glove. However, you don’t have to worry about waiting for a label to release Luke and Mitch Meseke’s self-titled release, as it’s available for free download. The…
Michael V. Badalucco admitted in federal court today that he was a bookie for an illegal gambling operation in Kansas City, Missouri. Badalucco, 26, from North Kansas City, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty this afternoon to his role in running an illegal sports bookmaking business. Prosecutors say Badalucco and other bookmakers gave bettors a 1-800…
The “walking taco” has come to Taco Bell — and the result is a black plastic bowl filled with a mushy collection of heartburn to go. The walking taco — chili added to a small bag of Fritos — is one of the foods that is typically associated with the walk to or from a bar. And now it’s available…
Just in case we need to reiterate this — and unfortunately we do, Raymore-Peculiar High School students — giving nooses to African-Americans is still wrong. A Ray-Pec High student gave a 14-year-old black student a noose. KCTV 5 reports that the school is looking into whether it was a stupid, stupid joke or a threat. Either way, the black student’s…
Been meaning to see the exciting documentary on local music, 72 Musicians? Haven’t had the time or the ability to do so? The upcoming showing of the film at the Screenland Armour Theatre on Sunday, February 21, is the way to see it. Not only will you get to see 72 Musicians in the classy environment that is the Screenland…
Ripe, a new exhibit at the West Bottoms Crossroads art space Keyhole, has closed. (Chris Packham reviews the erotically tinged art in this week’s Pitch.) The abrupt cancellation apparently surprised the show’s curator, Mikal Shapiro, who learned via Facebook message that the art had been taken down. According to a post today on Shapiro’s Facebook page: I am very upset…
In case you didn’t catch them, there are some killer shows lurking out in the hazy distance this Spring. Here’s a roundup, in chronological order. Gringo Star. Monday, March 22 at the Riot Room. The Cave Singers, with Moondoggies and Dutchess and the Duke. Wednesday, March 31 at the Replay. *Jonsi of Sigur Ros. Thursday, April 22, at Liberty Hall….
Johnny law has caught up with alleged Haiti donation jar thieves Scott D. Case and Jessica B. McGannon. North Kansas City police arrested Case, 25, and McGannon, 23, yesterday for allegedly swiping a donation jar from a Liberty Culver’s on January 28. Case and McGannon are locked up in the Clay County Detention Center with bond set at $1,500 and…
The venerable Temple Slug shop turns 40 years old in April (and was better-known in the 1970s as a hippie head shop than its current incarnation as a stylish futon dealer). The folks who own it also own the little farmhouse at 4309 Jefferson Street, but it’s taken eight years to turn the building from a tiny rental home into a combination…
All-you-can-eat…and eat A friend of mine — a true connoisseur of Mexican cuisine — turned me on to the two-month-old Pardo’s Grand Buffet restaurant at 904 Southwest Boulevard, on the same retail stretch as the melon-colored Taqueria Mexico. I’ve eaten in the restaurant twice now, including once for Sunday desayuno when scrambled eggs with peppers are on the buffet, along with…
The trial of Israel Mireles, the man accused of killing college student and Internet porn model Emily Sander (porn name Zoey Zane), is underway. According to the Wichita Eagle, Attorney General Steve Six recounted the scene inside room 21 at the El Dorado Motel where authorities say Sander was stabbed and strangled with a telephone cord in November 2007. Prosecutors…
Terry Taylor at Hunt Industries is helping put together a damned neat event. Sunday, May 16, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., the Beaumont Club will be turned into a swap meet. Specifically: This will be a free event for the public to attend where people can have a table for $30 and sell any of their unwanted Records, CDs,…
Melissa Howard convinced a jury that elected officials can be held liable for being sensitive to racial politics. An appeals court says she is entitled to nothing. In 2008, a Platte County jury awarded Howard $2.1 million after hearing evidence that the Kansas City Council took race into account when it rejected Howard and two other white women for a…
By ELGIN SMITH No discussion about an afrobeat group would be complete without a mention of Nigerian musical pioneer Fela Kuti, and NOMO certainly channeled his innovative sound last night. Battling sub-zero temperatures, I made the trek out to Lawrence’s Jackpot Saloon to check out the Chicago afrobeat act—and I wasn’t disappointed. I had heard a little bit of the…
“Thank you, Jonathan…” The use of my first name always catches me off guard when a server or cashier hands back my credit card with the receipt. I invariably go through a mental checklist: Do I know this person? Have i been unintentionally snubbing him or her? If I know my server, when and where did we meet? If I…
This Friday, February 12, the Madrid Theater will be transformed into a Halloween-Valentine’s Day mash-up for Code Red 2010: The Millennial League presents Val-O-Ween. Note: This post is part informational and part correction. Our Pitch Forks e-mail newsletter went out yesterday listing the wrong date for the event; we’re sorry about that. The Zeros headline the event, which features food…
Lawrence T-shirt shop Joe College has pulled anti-Kansas State T-shirts with the slogan, “Frank Martin Mows my lawn.” On the Facebook page of 610 Sports’ Nick Wright, someone posted an e-mail from Joe College responding to criticism of the shirt. “Thanks so much for your email. We sincerely appreciate your thoughts. We had a college student submit the idea to…
While others might bring a seashell back from the beach, Jalene Berger and her husband Douglas brought back the inspiration for a new business venture. The owners of Crossroads Coffeehouse, which opened Monday at 310 Southwest Boulevard, are featuring Intelligentsia Coffee, a small batch roaster out of Chicago that engages in direct-trade coffee. “It was the best cup of coffee…
