In 2005, Joe Hammers opened his West Bottoms loft to experimental art and music. He called it the Pistol Social Club. Following the recent closing of the venue, Hammers answered questions (via Facebook chat) about the Pistol’s five years and why it closed. The Pitch: This seems really sudden. Joe Hammers: The announcement was sudden: pow. We reached the end…
Garden of Earthly Delights,” a busy triptych by batshit 15th-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch — a poster of which your roommate probably hung on her side of the dorm room alongside “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt and some Totes McGoats crazy M.C. Escher poster — depicts, among other things, man-beast couplings, a dude poking a flower into another dude’s upturned…
It’s a Friday night, late March. A cold black wind blows up what feels like a deserted Main Street, but inside Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club, a happily inebriated crowd is bouncing to the sunny, Cali-dreamy pop of Steve Poltz and his band. Poltz, wearing a plaid shirt, buttoned-up vest and stingy-brim fedora, is known for co-writing Jewel’s loping 1995 hit…
The feds don’t really like people who send money to terrorist organizations, be they Cobra or Al Qaeda. Khalid Ouazzani, 32, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to sending $23,000 to the latter terrorist organization as well as bank fraud and money laundering between August 2007 to February 2010. Ouazzani waived his right to a grand jury. The charges against…
While I was hoping that Adult Swim’s “8 Singles 8 Weeks” was going to be some sort or manner of embarrassing people found in online dating websites, I will also accept eight free downloads of single tracks. Sure, it’s a way to try and sell you a Kia, but y’know — free tunes! For this inaugural week, they’re offering up…
License me or I could die If you’re harboring unlicensed pets, you better get them street legal. Kansas City’s animal control workers are going door to door to make sure your pets are licensed. If they aren’t, you have a fine coming. After hearing about pet owners being surprised at home, I called animal control to see what was up….
The Place: Swagger Fine Spirits and Food, 8431 Wornall Road, 816-361-4388. The Hours: Monday to Saturday, 3 to 7 p.m. The Vibe: Tin signs hang over the bar that runs along the right-hand side of Swagger. At 5 p.m., only a single barstool was empty and the rest were filled by men, who enjoyed teasing each other and the…
He is a lineman for the county. He’s the Rhinestone Cowboy. He is Glen Campbell, and he is bringing his show to the Topeka Performing Arts Center on Sunday, July 11. Campbell is, of course, best known for his compositions “Rhinestone Cowboy” (a number one hit in 1975) and “Wichita Lineman,” to say nothing of “By the Time I Get…
It sure doesn’t look 25 years old The 60th anniversary of the first Dairy Queen store — in Joliet, Illinois — will be next month. One of Dairy Queen’s signature desserts, however, the Blizzard, turned 25 this year and is getting a lot more hoopla. The Minneapolis-based company recently launched a promotion called “Operation Happy Birthday,” requesting that fans (over the…
The family of a fallen marine that’s suing Topeka’s gay hating Westboro Baptist Church has found an ally in Kansas Attorney General Steve Six. Next month, Six will file an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting Albert Snyder, who sued Fred Phelps and his church for picketing the 2006 funeral of his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder,…
Kansas City had a band called Punchline long before the band of the same name popped up on Fueled By Ramen. KC’s Punchline seemed to take more from the “punch” part of their name, as opposed to the joking meaning of the word. It seemed appropriate to bring up this song, from the band’s self-titled debut EP, since former Punchline…
Kansas City, Kansas, police say the body found Monday near Interstate 670 and State Line Road belongs to Robert G. Thomas, a 48-year-old Harrisonville, Missouri, man. Police are conducting a “death investigation.” When Thomas’ body was initially discovered, police called his death “suspicious.” We’re still waiting to find out Thomas’ cause of death. If you have information about Thomas’ death,…
With typical candor, Kansas City Public Library CEO Crosby Kemper III tells The Kansas City Star today that its tabulation of recent library security problems is on the money. “We’ve been lucky that we haven’t had a really major incident,” he admits. Kemper cites homeless persons downtown as a contributing factor to what the Star reports is a 59 percent…
Canned food is essential. For most dinners I prepare, canned beans or tomatoes factor in to some degree. In addition, I’ve seen enough apocalypse movies to know that canned food will be the difference between making it and becoming a zombie. But in seeking to provide us with a range of culinary options, some canned-goods manufacturers are taking the product…
Kansas state Sen. Chris Steineger wasn’t talking about his former campaign finance director, Mike Sager, last week. But the Kansas City, Kansas, Democrat dropped Sager’s name a lot during a Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission hearing on Tuesday. Steineger blamed Sager for not purging lobbyists names from his campaign donor lists, leading to lobbyists getting hit up for donations during the…
A dozen cars waited in the drive-thru and an equal number of people were inside the store less than two hours after Dunkin’ Donuts opened at 7446 Metcalf this morning. %{}%Two guys in shorts and sleeveless shirts were walking out of the 24-hour Fitness that shares a parking lot with the donut shop as I pulled into a space around…
H&R Block calls it “strategic realignment.” But it’s really just good old fashioned layoffs. The Kansas City-based tax prep company is slashing 400 jobs — 165 of which are in Kansas City, according to the Star. “Changes like these are never easy and we appreciate the hard work and loyalty of the affected associates,” Russ Smyth, president and chief executive…
%{}% What happens when the Bacon Explosion meets the KFC Double Down? Find out here. Droolworthy photos and a recap of dinner at The National Country Club in Parkville featuring Top Chef contestants Eli Kirshtein and Kevin Gillespie. Celery is an aphrodisiac, according to a new study. So that’s why that bucket of chicken hasn’t found you love. Go for…
Masses (formerly known as Sizelove) have a new EP coming out in June, and guitarist Adam Hess sent us an unmastered track off it, called “Seekers.” His enthusiastic missive had this to say about the recording process: We wanted something organic. We were tired of sacrificing quality for money, such as in the studio. We wanted a process, an evolution….
Kansas City police are calling the two men in this surveillance video “persons of interest” in the May 6 homicide of 20-year-old Michael L. Rhodes, and they’re asking the public for help identifying them. Rhodes was shot and killed a gas station/convenience store at 4501 Cleveland around 7:23 p.m. At the time of the shooting, police said there were several…
After a recent stunt, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback has lost the ability to complain that his words were taken out of context. Ever. On Monday, the head of a think tank sent a letter to the Pentagon in response to a suspect piece of correspondence that Brownback sent on Friday. Brownback is leading an effort in the Senate to exempt…
