Brandon Storey earned $24 shoveling snow in Sedalia last Thursday, but he learned that not everyone has his work ethic. Some people want something for nothing. In the most awesome story I’ve seen lately, KMBC Channel 9 interviews the seventh-grader who recalls a thief swiping the hard-earned dough that he was counting at a park. “I was really upset because…
The debate over whether full-strength beer should be sold in Kansas retail, convenience and grocery stores returned to Topeka this week. The Coalition for Jobs and Consumer Choice — its membership includes QuikTrip, Walmart, Hy-Vee, and Casey’s General Stores — held a press conference at the State House on Tuesday to lobby for a change in the liquor laws which…
%{}% Around 9:41 p.m. Wednesday, Kansas City police sent an e-mail to reporters that read: “A ‘person of interest’ is in custody in regard to the Brian Euston homicide (Westport). At this time, we cannot discuss any further details.” In December, the Jackson County Medical Examiner ruled Euston’s death a homicide. Euston, 24, died from a head injury suffered at…
Better than: It would’ve been in any midtown venue. “You on point, Reach?””All the time, Les.” Les Izmore and Reach’s voices flowed back and forth on the stage at the Blue Room, backed by the sounds of Diverse’s rich, honeyed jazz. It was a fusion that felt as natural as breathing — but, for Kansas City, it had the glimmers…
In a world where vinyl jukeboxes are antiques and jukes loaded with compact discs are novelties, it seems that if you want to pick the music at a bar, you’re forced to deal with the Internet-ready players from outfits like TouchTunes and AMI. The Dave’s Stagecoach jukebox is long-gone, and the only local player we can think of that’s still…
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. What Girls Can Be Author: Dean Walley, words; Maria Hughes, art Date: None given; probably the late 1960s Publisher: Hallmark Discovered at: Read “Write” Training Center &…
From the artist’s statement: Jason Barr aka BARRR is a man of many words. These words are manifested into pictures, paintings, & podcasts. His first solo show BARRR: I CAN HAS JAIL reflects the insanity of a man in flux. BARRR shows the conviction & commitment of the “busiest man in Lawrence!!!” I CAN HAS JAIL is the definitive look…
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (4525 Oak, 816-751-1278) hosts tea demonstrations, Chinese games, calligraphers, performances and more on Friday, January 28 (plus a children’s dance performance January 29). Some events require tickets. See nelson-atkins.org. Fri., Jan. 28, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sat., Jan. 29, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2011 Tags: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Night & Day
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet returns to the Harriman-Jewell Series to play a concert of works by Franz Liszt. Fri., Jan. 28, 8 p.m., 2011 Tags: Franz Liszt, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Night & Day
Not a member of one of the 15-plus ridiculously heavy acts ready to set heads bangin’ at the Kansas City Rock & Metal Fest? No worries — not everyone onstage is going to shred on a real instrument. In addition to performances by some of the metro’s most metal acts — At the Left Hand of God, 3 Quarters Coma…
The list of things that haven’t happened at Buzzard Beach (4110 Pennsylvania) is a short one. In fact, nearly everyone has a story about Westport’s most notorious dive. Maybe you slid down the stairs on your ass, after too many 75-cent PBRs, or had an impromptu no-pants party on the patio or evacuated your last-call shots in the parking lot….
Despite what the name might indicate, Pitchapalooza is not a three-day concert organized by this publication. However, this literary occasion does take cues from another popular musical event. Billed as the American Idol of publishing, Pitchapalooza gives would-be authors an opportunity to pitch their book ideas to a panel of publishing professionals following a presentation by David Henry Sterry, known…
Harassment and bullying, often escalating into violence, continue to affect many gays and lesbians, despite society’s increasing acceptance of homosexuality and the popularity of Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project. Rise Up, Speak Out: LGBT Youth Overcoming Violence in Kansas City is a documentary that focuses on the violence and harassment that many local LGBT youth have faced. The film…
Supposedly, winning a male beauty pageant was how Bill Bellamy kick-started his comedy career. First came the tiara, then MTV Beach House. After that: the short-lived Bill Bellamy Show, the legit football flick Any Given Sunday and a whole lot of (forgettable) TV movies. Onscreen, he’s frequently found in compromising romantic situations — playing or getting played. But, hey, how…
Jewell Theatre of William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo., presents Alex Tracy Is Performance Art, a senior theatre performance written and performed by senior theatre major Alex Tracy of Liberty. “Alex Tracy Is Performance Art is strange,” the playwright says. “The one-man show strays from the typical format of drama in an attempt to speak to the audience—telling stories, making observations,…
The Texas Textbook Massacre refers to efforts by the Texas Board of Education to revise textbook standards in order to impart a culturally homogeneous perspective to students. Examples: teaching that the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired by a Christian god, eliminating the legacies of important Latinos, and renaming the slave trade the “Atlantic triangular trade.” (WTF?) And Texas is such…
Lar Lubovitch is a fun name to say: The first word rolls off the tongue, leading the lips into the gentle purse of loo and the soft push of bo that collapses under the staccato vitch. This little syllabic dance belongs to a master choreographer of moving bodies. The Chicago-born Lubovitch founded his New York dance company in 1968. Ten…
Casey Burge, former lead singer of the beloved Lawrence band Kelpie, has started a new project called Pioneer, which is making its stage debut at Crosstown Station (1522 McGee, 816-471-1522) alongside Kansas City indie mainstay Soft Reeds. As Burge, who recently relocated to Kansas City, explains, “The songs are memorable and mysterious — a bit like Kelpie, if we would…
Kay Ryan’s poems are typically slim, which is not to say they are typically simple. Instead, they delight in irregular rhyme, sly wit and surprising turns of moroseness. For example, here’s her poem “Among English Verbs” in its entirety: “Among English verbs/to die is oddest in its/eagerness to be dead,/ immodest in its/ haste to be told —/a verb alchemical/in…
The competition for the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for best new play was stiff, with Tom Stoppard’s critical favorite Rock ‘n’ Roll up against Peter Morgan’s equally popular Frost/Nixon. So when the win went to the relatively unknown Blackbird, no one was more surprised than its author, Scottish playwright David Harrower, whose stated intention was to scandalize and stun. With…
Struggling to finish knitting that scarf you started two years ago? Just now realizing that the sweater you’ve been crocheting while sipping vodka on the couch actually has three sleeves? Before trashing the projects, try getting them back on track with a little professional guidance. Fabric Recycles (9268 Metcalf in Overland Park) salvages sewing machines, fabric, trims and crafts from…
Attention, adult consumers of the written word. The Kansas City Public Library has a challenge for you: Read five books by March 13! Do it and you’ll get a free coffee mug and be entered in a drawing for a Nook e-reader. Plus, you’ll probably expand your mind or something by soaking up some stories the old-fashioned way, instead of…
The success of Mad Men hasn’t created a demand for all vintage cocktails, but Lenny Tocco, the Food & Beverage supervisor at the Raphael Hotel — bartending at Chaz on the Plaza is just one of his many duties — thinks the show has caused a revival in drinking expensive scotch. It’s also caused the occasional resurgence of some out-of-fashion…
Sunday will be the last day of business for Neighbor’s Cafe, the popular family-style diner at 104 S.E. Third Street in downtown Lee’s Summit. The Pitch named the venue “Best Diner” in 2009. But don’t blame the economy for this closing, says co-owner Phil Roberts. Blame the IRS. Categories: Dining, Food & Drink Tags: closing restaurants, Lee’s Summit, Neighbors Cafe
