At work, Xiaofen, a legal secretary, begins to view herself through the sordid lives of her employer’s clients. In her personal life, Xiaofen’s fears and anxieties are compounded by her relationships with her estranged father; her matchmaking mother; and her boyfriend, a compulsive gambler and magnet for trouble who was recently released from prison. In the award-winning 2006 film The…
What better way to ring in the impending new year than with a new wardrobe? Join like-minded ladies at Swap Til You Drop at the Loft (1331 Union). The clothes aren’t exactly new — just new to you. From 3 to 5 p.m., swappers bring a bag (or two, or five or 20) of women’s clothing or shoes, then redeem…
For such a slight, unassuming fellow, the slyly deadpan and bitingly funny Todd Barry has done pretty well for himself professionally: He has performed for Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman; headlined two Comedy Central Presents specials; and played bongos with Flight of the Conchords. He has recorded three albums, including 2005’s Medium Energy, which The Onion named as…
Americana music often comes loaded with a certain kitschy absurdity. Onstage, husband-and-wife folk duo Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart tell stories, make jokes and inflict puns. (Earle’s debut solo album carries the atrociously cornball title Simple Gearle.) And the band’s touring 1999 Chevy Suburban is billed as “the crew” on the pair’s website, its odometer displayed in pasted numbers on…
This isn’t really yard-sale season. And City Center Square (1100 Main) isn’t blessed with the kind of green patch usually associated with such events. Nevertheless, a room inside the downtown commerce and office building is the site of the Yard Sale Exhibition, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. You can probably guess by the word exhibition that this isn’t the kind…
Musical Theater Heritage’s holiday tradition continues with the third annual A Spectacular Christmas, featuring American Tenor Nathan Granner, Lauren Braton, and Sarah Kleeman singing warm holiday classics. Thursdays, 7 p.m.; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: Dec. 2. Continues through Dec. 19, 2010 Tags: Lauren Braton, Night & Day, Sarah Kleeman
Followers of Sufism seek divine love, peace and knowledge through a direct, personal experience with God — no small endeavor, considering that pesky human characteristics like greed, pride and ego often get in the way of enlightenment. One of the most famous practitioners of Sufism was a 13th-century Muslim named Rumi. A poet, jurist, theologian and teacher, he promoted tolerance,…
How many times can you hear “Jingle Bell Rock” or “The Little Drummer Boy” without wanting to bash your head right through a drum? Exactly. Recover your holiday cheer with a bon vivant evening with Ron Megee, who delirously channels former Kansas City resident Joan Crawford. The show is directed by Megee’s frequent partner-in-camp Jeff Church. Trailing a suffocating fog…
Like a Christmas tale mad-libbed from TMZ entries, White Nose Christmas: A Tabloid Nativity of Rehab and Rebirth is the story of Brindsay Kardilton, a Hollywood It Girl whose taste for nose candy and other vices lands her, à la Lindsay Lohan, in the slammer for DUI. There, Kardilton is visited by ghosts of rehab past, present and future; makes…
Postcommodity is an interdisciplinary American Indian arts collective that uses visual arts, music and performance to “decolonize” the narrative of American Indians and explore ideas of cultural self-determination. At Stan Herd’s Studio (512 East Ninth Street in Lawrence) at 8 p.m., Raven Chacon, Steven J. Yazzie, Nathan Young and Kade L. Twist perform a new cycle of futurist American Indian…
It’s getting easier for local filmmakers to see their movies on a local screen. CinemaKC, a recently organized professional organization, helps get indie flicks with Kansas and Missouri ties into rotation at Screenland Crown Center (2450 Grand, 816-545-8034). The latest is the romantic comedy Works in Progress, a project written, produced and directed by married moviemakers Stephen and Mary Pruitt….
With the contemporary but very jolly demands of consumerism, eating and good will, the holiday season is a cardiac event waiting for the right moment to strike. Step away for a couple of hours to see the bedecked halls of the Kansas City Artists Coalition (201 Wyandotte, 816-421-5222), where five artists are exhibiting their works and discussing them at a…
Yesterday on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, reporter Ben Markus aired a story on how an infestation of the coffee borer is causing havoc in the Kona coffee fields in Hawaii and that Kona coffee — already one of the priciest beans in the coffee market — is going to get even more expensive. Adding insult to injury is that…
I know that getting an anchor tenant for the Sprint Center is the longest of long shots. But I’m still a fan of the Sprint Center and what it’s done for downtown Kansas City. HeavyKev, not so much. He’s got visions of empty arenas dancing in his head. The floor is yours, Mr. HeavyKev: This is another reason why building…
Bad news for the Chiefs. Quarterback Matt Cassel might not be playing Sunday. According to NFL reporter Adam Schefter’s Twitter update: “Chiefs QB Matt Cassel underwent an appendectomy this morning, according to a league source. Big question mark for Sunday now.” And here’s the official word from the Chiefs: “The Kansas City Chiefs announced that QB Matt Cassel underwent an…
The season to be jolly is here, so Fat City is looking around for holiday gift ideas, preferably the kind that can be eaten (or used to make something that can be devoured). Leslie Stockard, owner of the popular Waldo bruncheonette the Classic Cookie, has been putting up “Coming Soon” fliers around her cozy little restaurant lately. The handbills announce…
OK, guys. It’s time for a little stress eating, but then we really need to get healthy. For real. United HealthGroup released a study it commissioned that shows how healthy each state is, and Missouri has a lot of room for improvement. The Show-Me State displayed its fondness for massive artery-stuffing meals topped off by a Lucky Strike, extinguished into…
Do you eat, breathe and sleep music? Are you a confident, witty writer? Are you well-acquainted with Kansas City’s local music scene? Well, bully for you! You should apply to be an intern for Wayward. Categories: Music Tags: internships
Yesterday, when we wrote about Sean Moriarty, former R Bar bartender, finding a new job at the Majestic Restaurant, R Bar owner Joy Jacobs wasn’t around to comment. This morning, she called Fat City. “Sean is a great guy and a great bartender, but we get really busy here on weekends and I don’t think he liked the chaotic pace…
Today is the 30th anniversary of the night that John Lennon was killed outside his apartment at the Dakota, in New York City. I am one of the many people whose life was undoubtedly influenced by Lennon’s work, but I wasn’t born for another six years after Lennon’s life ended. My parents’ only recollection was that the night was beautiful,…
Former University of Kansas football player Jamal Greene allegedly held four KU students at gunpoint while a teammate searched an apartment for drugs and money. This got Greene kicked off the football team (alleged partner in crime Vernon Brooks was had already been booted from the team) and in a lot of legal hot water. But now it looks like…
Ecologists keep tabs on sturgeon, a prehistoric fish that likes the Missouri River’s muddy waters. The pallid sturgeon and the lake sturgeon are endangered, and the more common shovelnose sturgeon has become “a species of concern.” In addition to habitat loss and overfishing, sturgeon face another possible challenge: The pill. The prevalence of sturgeon with male and female sex organs…
Tech N9ne may rule Kansas City, but it looks like he’s got Lee’s Summit securely under his belt, too. The rap star has a pizza named after him at Next Door Pizza, which our food critic Charles Ferruzza reviews in this week’s Pitch. Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the yummy, edible version of Tech’s persona: Categories: Music Tags: pizza,…
