Some Missouri lawmakers want to force welfare recipients to take drug tests in order to receive government aid. They’re mostly the ones with R’s after their names. Folks like state Sen. Jason Crowell (R-Cape Girardeau) and state Rep. Casey Guernsey (R-Bethany). State Rep. Ellen Brandom (R-Sikeston) is sponsoring H.B. 1377. Kudos to state Rep. Ryan Silvey (R-Kansas City) for tacking…
A successful Super Bowl party has some of the same characteristics of any party — with the exception that it’s not enough to have food and drinks out for the initial rush. You need to have timed releases that correspond to the game itself. Just as Herm Edwards found out, it’s all a matter of clock management. Before the Game…
The victim of a shooting at 51st and Walrond early Sunday has died from his injuries. Kansas City police say 24-year-old Terrell Parker has died. Officers found Parker with life-threatening injuries in the driver’s seat of a white Chevy Impala at the intersection. Witnesses told police that Parker was sitting in his car when he was shot. Several people ran…
OK, so synthetic marijuana is on its way to being outlawed in Kansas. So let’s legalize medical marijuana! Kansas state Rep. Gail Finney introduced a bill to make marijuana legal with a doctor’s script. You can imagine how popular this is among Sunflower State lawmakers. Finney, a Wichita Democrat who has lupus, says it’s the right thing to do for…
Denny’s wins…by a grand slam We’ve covered crepes in the The Pitch and the upcoming National Pancake Day celebration at IHOP in Fat City this week, but we’re not finished with flapkjacks yet. I’ve recently tasted pancakes at two downtown diners: the venerable Denny’s at 1600 Broadway (which has one of the best views of the under-construction Performing Arts Center)…
%{}% It might not get more specific than an octogenarian kosher chef — but Bubbe is the star of “Feed Me Bubbe,” one of the Internet’s most popular cooking shows. A photographic tour of the most recent Brewmaster Dinner at McCoy’s House that will make you want to catch the next one in March. A link to a map that…
In the new book Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and its Legacy, edited by Nikolaos Kotsopoulos, the reader gets a full overview of the genre. The book has several introductory essays describing the history of krautrock, and its origins in the music of the post-WWII GIs. Much is made of the dates Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention played in the…
With wry, incisive lyricism and a melancholic, melodic sound, Matt Wilson (of Trip Shakespeare) and John Munson (of Semisonic) create earnest, lilting pop lullabies as the Twilight Hours. But perhaps the Twilight Hours speak best for themselves. Take this description from their MySpace, for example. “A beautiful name, The Twilight Hours. And the music is ravishing. But who are these…
The official, full-length trailer for Gorillaz’s forthcoming album, Plastic Beach is now online. It sort of ties together all the various little bits and pieces that the group’s been putting on their YouTube channel over the past few days. Granted, it reveals absolutely nothing about the the album — unless you count the fact that we can be assured that…
Visitors to the Mutual Musicians Foundation can see the struggle it’s been to rejuvenate 18th and Vine. Across the street from the foundation (this week’s feature subject), six historic homes hide behind a metal fence and plywood. The homes on the 1800 block of Highland Avenue were reportedly built between 1885 and 1915. In 2002, the late Jane Flynn took…
In a somewhat ironic development, considering all the fuss about dress codes and safety, the Cordish Company just signed a deal that will make KC’s downtown synonymous with bare-knuckle violence around the country. According to a Cordish press release, the company has started a partnership with Bellator Fighting Championships, a mixed-martial-arts promoter, to televise six events from two Cordish sites…
Each Thursday, your Crap Archivist brings you the finest in forgotten and bewildering crap culled from basements, thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets. I do this for one reason: Knowledge is power. Dancing With Demons: The Music’s Real Master Author: Jeff Godwin Date: 1988 Publisher: Chick Publications Discovered at: Brookside estate sale The Cover Promises: Best Burning Man…
A theatrical cavalcade of great American music penned by one of America’s musical icons, lyricist, composer and singer Johnny Mercer – featuring 50 songs from 50 years. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sun., Feb. 7, 2 p.m.; Sun., Feb. 14, 3 p.m. Starts: Feb. 4. Continues through March 7, 2010 Tags: Johnny Mercer, Night & Day
Featured artist Sean Jones performs with the Conservatory Concert Jazz Band. Sat., Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m., 2010 Tags: Night & Day, Sean Jones
Filmmakers, actors and industry insiders discuss Hollywood’s take on black love in movies. This panel discussion draws from contemporary films as well as the earliest days of cinema history in order to provide a complete perspective on how African Americans have been portrayed in film when it comes to romance and love. This panel discussion features: Diallo Javonne French Filmmaker…
Learn about the love lives of animals during the Kansas City Zoo’s annual Valentine’s event for adults. Sat., Feb. 6, 7-9 p.m., 2010 Tags: kansas city zoo, Night & Day
Pecha Kucha is a casual gathering of artists, architects, and other creative people having a drink and sharing their ideas and latest projects in a quick presentation of 20 slides that advance automatically every 20 seconds. Thu., Feb. 4, 7:30-10 p.m., 2010 Tags: Night & Day
Steve Frykholm will have worked at Herman Miller for forty years. He’s learned a thing or two during that time, as a designer, creative director, and advisor while working on Herman Miller’s award-winning annual reports, product brochures, posters, catalogs, publications, ads, websites, and videos. Hear about his experiences during this presentation of Kansas City Design Week. Fri., Feb. 5, 11:30…
Whatever your liberal-arts-degree liberalism may dictate about the literary canon and minority authors, the canon has nothing against dead, blind, white men. Homer, Milton and Joyce all lived significant parts of their lives without the benefit of sight, and (Finnegans Wake excepted) it never stopped them from creating some of the most beautiful lines ever written. Now, VSA Arts of…
This year’s lunar Chinese New Year — the Year of the Tiger, according to Chinese astrology — falls on Valentine’s Day, though that’s not the day the Kansas City Chinese Association is celebrating the holiday. The KCCA has chosen to welcome the new year a week early. Tonight at 7, the organization ushers in the Tiger on a rousing note,…
Gary Jenkins doesn’t believe in the idea of Black History Month. “It’s American history month,” he says. Designations aside, the lawyer and part-time documentary filmmaker celebrates February with three screenings of his newest documentary, Negroes to Hire. The film, based on a collection of slave narratives that were gathered through the Federal Writers’ Project (1936-38), sheds cinematic light on the…
