Archives: October 2010

Jack In The Box will open in KCK on November 1

Jack is back. Jack In The Box will open its doors on Monday, November 1, at 9 a.m. in the Prescott Shopping Plaza Center (211 South 18th Street, right off of I-70). I got a call yesterday from spokesperson Brian Luscomb, who saw yesterday’s post about the chain and decided to share the official opening date for the Kansas City,…

Riverfront takes another step to becoming less hobo-o-rific

KC’s riverfront aspires for more than van dwellings. ​ Kansas City, Missouri, used to stash its disasters on the riverfront. Supposedly the rubble from the Hyatt skywalk collapse, the Kemper Arena roof cave-in and the Wayne Miner housing project all wound up in the dump situated between the Heart of America and Paseo bridges. The rubble’s been hauled away as…

Canadian sex-ed comics are, like everything Canadian, hilariously reasonable

​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. Big Break Comics Author: Paul McNally (words) and Chris Hlady (pencils/color/design) Date: 1988 Publisher: The Committee on Unplanned Pregnancy, Winnipeg Discovered at: Garage sale, Gimli, Manitoba Representative…

Peanuts

She and Her Productions debuts a new performance space with this production of a musical about everyone’s favorite loser, Charlie Brown. You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown features musical vignettes and highlights from the life of the bald-headed kid and his friends and dog. Fri., Oct. 15, 8 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 16, 8 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 17, 2 p.m.; Mon.,…

Jackass 3D

The ultra-lo-fi, skate-culture-spawned, extreme-stunt brand that turned its freak show of featured players into celebrities, the Jackass franchise pounces on Hollywood’s latest cash-cow fad with its third feature film. Even in 3-D, the basic formula is the same as it has been for a decade: staged daredevil antics (one titled “Sweatsuit Cocktail” is slightly more literal than “Poo Cocktail Supreme”…

Hauzparty

Chamber music was never intended to be performed in the echoing formal silence of concert and recital halls. For hundreds of years, these smaller pieces were enjoyed among friends in the chambers of private homes — hence the genre’s name. Since its founding 11 years ago by violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane (formerly of the London Symphony Orchestra), Bach Aria Soloists…

No Paternity Testing

The reality show America’s Got Talent, The Gong Show for the new millennium, brings the live stage version of the popular prime-time game show to the Midland (1228 Main, 816-283-9921) at 7:30 p.m. Hosted by Jerry Springer, the show is headlined by recent Season 5 winner, singer-songwriter Michael Grimm. Also performing are the season’s three runners-up: 10-year-old opera prodigy Jackie…

Pucking Awesome

Three decades have passed since the National Hockey League’s Kansas City Scouts played in this town, but local fans continue to watch live hockey, irrespective of the setting and the league in which the team plays. After following the now-defunct Blades at Kemper Arena, local puck enthusiasts drive to Independence to watch minor-league hockey. The commute is worth it. The…

Stripper Poles and Pirouettes

If the legendarily surly, drunk and prolific poet Charles Bukowski had stopped guzzling beer and chasing stripper ass long enough to take up dancing and choreograph a ballet, he might have created something like Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Set in a sketchy strip club, this comedy tells the story of a jealous and vengeful Russian danseur who hires a mobster…

Sippin’ Suds

Have staycations been getting in the way of actual traveling? KCBeerfest isn’t a genuine stamp on your passport, but you can acculturate yourself on adult beverages of the world. Stop by the Legends at Village West (specifically, the parking lot next to the shopping center’s parking garage) from 2 to 5 p.m. for an extensive tasting session and a chance…

Kansas City Ability Day

Individuals and families of all ages will have the opportunity to participate in various adapted programs and sports, such as volleyball, softball, flag football, gymnastics, aquatics, hand cycling, golf, climbing, track & field, ballroom dancing and soccer. The sporting events will be hosted by organizations that offer camps, clinics and/or sessions in a particular sport. Sun., Oct. 17, 1-4 p.m.,…

For the Birds

The migratory paths of penguins don’t pass through this area, so getting the tuxedoed birds to Kansas City requires more creative measures. And setting up a home for them at the Kansas City Zoo (6800 Zoo Drive) doesn’t come cheap. Raise a glass — and funds — for flightless birds during Pints for Penguins, from 5 to 7 p.m. The…

Pumpkin heads

With Halloween fast approaching, is your porch guarded by a squatty orange sentry yet? If not, head to a local pumpkin patch before the pickings get too slim. Unlike the pumpkin stands in grocery-store parking lots, an actual pumpkin farm provides a real experience. Take a hayride, pet a goat, mosey through a haunted barn. Warm up with fresh apple…

Write, Damn You!

Get to know local wordsmiths this weekend during the third annual MCC-Longview Literary Festival at Mel Aytes Education Center (500 Southwest Longview Road, Lee’s Summit) on the campus of Metropolitan Community College-Longview. Published writers (including journalists, novelists, bloggers and poets) lead workshops, give lectures and read aloud, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday. The free event promises…

Dogtober

October is a month of beloved traditions: carving pumpkins, celebrating German heritage, watching the leaves change color. Oh, and dressing the dog up in a humiliating costume and parading it through downtown Lawrence. Dogtoberfest provides a venue for embarrassing dog costumes and so much more at South Park (12th Street and Massachusetts in Lawrence). This fundraiser for the Lawrence Community…

Cure-baret

Of course you care about the fight against breast cancer. But do you care enough to watch a dazzlingly entertaining and provocative variety show featuring some of the city’s most beautiful and talented female burlesque, belly and aerial dancers? If you’re committed enough to make that sacrifice, make a date for the Cabaret for the Cure benefit, showcasing performances by…

Ecstatic Exposito

The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Boulevard in Overland Park, ­913-469-3000) celebrates autumn with glorious views of hue by a trio of colorists dedicated to abstraction. For decades, Stanley Whitney (a 1968 Kansas City Art Institute graduate) struggled to find his own path to color, away from the Color Field giants, whose works he…

MUAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Allhallows Eve is still a week and a half away, but you can avoid the last-minute holiday rush and get your adrenaline pumping now, as Horror Remix Presents … Halloween. Revel in two hours of terror featuring a trash trio from 1988: Hack-O-Lantern, Night of the Demons and Hollow Gate. How bad are they? The first was released only in…

Zombie Prom II: Under the Sea

Zombie Prom II features artists of different mediums collaborating to celebrate Halloween with art, zombies and local horror films. The show will include local filmmakers showing their original horror films, a costume contest and crowning of Zombie Prom King and Queen. Prom photos will also be taken with a under the sea theme. Sat., Oct. 16, 7 p.m.-midnight, 2010 Tags:…

Bellator Tools

Can you name boxing’s heavyweight champion? Don’t worry, not many can. But KC fans of mixed martial arts not only can name the Bellator Mixed Martial Arts champion but also watch a heavyweight world championship bout when Bellator XXXII erupts at 6 p.m. in the Power & Light District (14th Street and Grand). The fight card features a heavyweight title…

Boulevard’s Alex Rodriguez talks four-pack Smokestacks, hints at collaboration with Christopher Elbow

With beer pairings and chefs taking beer lists as seriously as the wine they serve, it makes sense that I’m learning about the future of Boulevard Brewery from a former chef. Cellarman Alex Rodriguez has been with the brewery for a decade, a career that began with him hand closing six-packs. On Friday, he walked me down the automated line…