The only place on earth I can bring a mug from home and have it filled with the drink of my choice is a coffee shop. In fact, I am rewarded and lauded for making this choice as a steward of the environment and general good citizen. Better yet, it doesn’t even have to be clean. The folks at Starbucks…
As the April 6 Kansas City, Missouri, School Board election approaches, we’re profiling each of the candidates. Robert Peterson served on the school board 30 years ago, even taking a turn as the group’s president. But the setting and challenges were far different than the difficulties facing the Kansas City, Missouri, School District. Peterson raised his two boys north of…
%{}% Don’t call them until the phone is working again Yesterday the telephone number for Pizza Bella went directly to a phone company recording that said it was “not a working number.” That was still true as recently as last night, but it turns out there’s a reason for that. The restaurant has a new phone number: 816-471-3300. The new…
When I last checked in with 82-year-old Ivory Mae Thomas, a former Kansas City Plant worker, she wasn’t sure what she’d been contaminated with, but she knew it was bad. Twenty-one years ago, Thomas was working the night shift as a janitor when her supervisors told her to drop everything and rush to the facility’s medical station. There, they had…
James McMurtry scowls out at the crowd like he can’t stand the sight of us, and he sings not like some fool stooping so low as to entertain or some goddamn thing. Scott Spychalski No, he croaks out his hard-truth lyrics like he’s muttering to himself after losing an argument, like he’s bitching about the boss in an empty breakroom,…
%{}% Hidden gems and Mexican food are music to everyone’s ears — apparently there’s a spot in Merriam — La Cabana Del Pollo — that fits the bill. Homemade chicken noodle soup is comforting at any age. In light of the concern that the traditional hot dog shape could be a choking hazard, Fast Company asked RKS Design to engineer…
While we love Lawrence’s Rooftop Vigilantes — the Pitch gave Carrot Atlas “Best Debut Album” in the 2009 Best Of issue, and I did this feature on them back at the beginning of January — it’s certainly nice to see that the love transcends local boundaries. National music blog the Tripwire had this to say about the Vigilantes’ tune “Punched…
Tonight’s Sunflower Showdown pits the No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats against the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks. K-State is riding a seven-game winning streak. For KU, it’s senior night. Unless you’re dropping big bucks to a scalper, you’re probably not getting in the sold out Allen Fieldhouse for the 7 p.m. game. We saw several scenarios in our crystal ball. Tell…
%{}% Charley Morasch, quit stuffing your American government packets in our boxes. Evolution hatin’ Charley Morasch has an important message for America, so either he (or some passionate fan of his) has addressed the people through the most powerful means possible: stuffing a shitty pamphlet into the Pitch box in front of the Half Price Books on Metcalf. This is…
Scene & Heard — wherein local music scene makers give you the lowdown on the soundtrack to their lives. In addition to being the booker for Lawrence’s Replay Lounge, Leslie Kay is a fantastic artist whose work we’ve featured here on Wayward Blog. You can get her arts and goods at her MySpace page (including the amazing “Lawrence fucking Kansas”…
At his Operation Promise Land press conference, Nelson Hopkins told the crowd of reporters that one of his first goals was to attack “Stop Snitching,” the catchphrase-slash-philosophy that discourages cooperating with police. It’s like the Mafioso code of silence, repurposed to protect street crime. When people say they don’t want to snitch, Hopkins says he agrees with them — something…
Our liberty-minded friends over at Dome on the Range note an interesting speech by breast-augmenting Kansas state Sen. Jeff Colyer last weekend. Colyer, whose state Senate site touts that he’s “from Kansas with a conscience,” must have forgotten it was Saturday while speaking at the Johnson County Public Policy Council Legislative Breakfast. Thanks to Twitter updates from former state Rep….
Antennas Up is playing SXSW this year — as an officially selected band, no less. They’ll be in the directory, and industry professionals the world over will see their name. Nice. Since they’ll be having quite a few people beating down the metaphorical door of their website, the band’s offering a free download for the entire month of March. Not…
The East Side Unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City is getting a boost with the help of the federal government, the city, a bank and media attention. Last April, Pitch writer Nadia Pflaum documented the sad state of the Boys & Girls Club on Elmwood Avenue, a site that sits squarely in Kansas City’s most…
O’Fallon loon Cynthia Davis blames the big bad bloggers for raining shame upon her for her role in the birther lawsuit against that communist Kenyan President Obama. Davis still has her heart set on getting President Obama tossed out of office, but she wants you to know that she won’t be silenced — as she channels Glenn Beck in the…
This weekend, Les Izmore of Hearts of Darkness was kind enough to forward “Invisible Men,” a gangster-meets-political track featuring himself and Nic-Rel, a fellow Kansas City MC. The two pay lyrical homage to Ralph Ellison’s epic novel over a ghoulish, looping beat. Izmore unleashes his verse like an electric guitar, an untamed, high-octave antidote to Nic-Rel’s densely polished wordplay. “My…
Several new ales and IPAs are available in the area, each of which is vying for space in your cooler. Fat City talked to a staffer at Royal Liquors (103rd and State Line) for some advice on what to grab. You’ll find the beers discussed below on the back right of the u-shaped check-out counter. At the top of the…
Dreamy indie rockers Beach House won’t be jam-packing Jackpot Music Hall with their narcotic lo-fi haze on April 6 any longer; instead, Up to Eleven Productions has moved the group’s show over to the Granada. That don’t mean you guys won’t be rubbin’ elbows with your fellow show-goers, though—between a stellar new album (Teen Dream) and 96.5 the Buzz’s recent…
From Up to Eleven: Bad news folks… unfortunately the Gossip’s shows at the Bottleneck and their show at the Firebird in St. Louis have been cancelled . bummer. refunds will be availible at point of purchase. Sucktastic. No reason for the cancellations has been given. Categories: Music Tags: canceled shows, Gossip, incoming show, Up to Eleven
Last week on the Plog, Alan Scherstuhl compiled a poignant photo essay about Westport — and all the empty storefronts, some of which had once been popular restaurants. It evoked a lot of nostalgia for readers who remember Westport as one of the most vital restaurant destinations in Kansas City. And it inspired me to cook up a new contest. The…
Last month, a local literary personality experienced a very un-poetic moment in a downtown coffee house. She was, she explained to her Facebook friends, double-charged for her beverage and even worse: She said that she was denied a refund. Naming the venue in question, the lady went on to tell her FB pals that she was complaining in a public…
While his current band, New Found Glory is by no means a band with any sort of credibility, despite having been on hardcore label Bridge 9 for half a second, Chad Gilbert does get some punk cred for having been one of the singers for Shai Halud. So, it is with a lightness of conscience that you can down the…
%{}% If money is a major motivator, then count on the Big Ten expanding. The Chicago Tribune reported the details of a report prepared by Chicago-based investment firm William Blair & Company, which analyzed five schools (Missouri, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers), and the school getting the biggest vote of confidence appears to be Rutgers … with Missouri coming…
