Tomorrow morning, Kansas will wake with a jolt in a bathtub filled with ice, and a monkey wearing a fez scampering across the floor of the dirty Thailand bathroom that the state has been sleeping in. It will stagger to the mirror, mouth agape, as it considers the freshly inked tribal tattoo lining its face. This hangover just got a…
It’s about time our region’s strip clubs and adult bookstores got a mark in the ‘Win’ column. Today, Kansas senators voted 22-17 to leave the “Community Defense Act” in committee, essentially killing it for the remainder of the 2011 legislative session. Had the bill gotten to a full vote and passed the House and Senate, it could’ve shuttered the majority…
Kansas City Star publisher and professional optimist Mark Zieman could be leaving his current post for a job at corporate, according to media blogger John Landsberg, who’s pretty clued in to the happenings at the city’s major daily. Landsberg says Zieman may be named vice president of operations at the McClatchy Co., the Star’s owner. If true, Zieman would follow…
Yes, the 73-year-old Guy’s Snacks is still headquartered in the Kansas City metro — in Overland Park, to be specific — where the late Guy Caldwell started his peanut-roasting business in 1938. The company has had a roller-coaster history since food giant Borden purchased the business in 1979, attempting to go head-to-head with snack-food goliath Frito-Lay — a conglomerate that’s…
I can’t vouch for the validity of this video, but here’s Ajax the Parrot rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs. Really. I want to believe. Ajax says, “Go Chiefs go” over and over as announcer Kevin Harlan calls a game in the background. The YouTube video description says: “My parrot Ajax cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City’s own…
Mother’s Day is, historically, one of the busiest days in the restaurant industry. Because the holiday always falls on the second Sunday in May, it’s been a tradition to take Mom to lunch or brunch instead of dinner. It’s not too late to book a table for this Sunday, when mothers all over Kansas City get the special treatment they…
As you can imagine, Wayward receives a ton of albums. Talented writers review many of these albums but rarely mention an album’s cover art. Well, those days of silence are now behind us. I recently raided the music editor’s desk at The Pitch in search of awkward album covers. Within five minutes, I found a dozen. To add to the…
Authorities found four of Bethany and Paul Jenkins’ children, locked in a basement bedroom with feces smeared on the walls and carpet, in a story that’ll just make you sick. A black cable was knotted around the bedroom’s doorknob where the children — two boys, 2 and 7 years old, and two girls, 3 and 8 years old — were…
Chef Carl Thorne-Thomsen is only weeks away from opening his new restaurant, Story (3931 West 69th Terrace), in Prairie Village. Yesterday, he delved into how his culinary career has brought him from Wichita to Kansas City. Tomorrow, he’ll talk about the restaurant space and some of the items he’s planning for the menu at Story. Today, he’s answering all of…
As if you didn’t already have enough reasons to love us: The Pitch has an exclusive pre-sale for Kings of Leon tickets at Sandstone (with Band of Horses) on Monday, August 29. You can score tickets to the show beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 5, until 10 p.m. Friday, May 6 — that’s two days before the general public gets…
A Johnson County judge sentenced Gerald Scott Calbeck to 330 months in prison for his role in the slaying of Keighley Ann Alyea. In February, Calbeck, 20, pleaded guilty to charges of intentional second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery. Calbeck, Dustin Hilt and Joseph Mattox kidnapped Alyea on September 30, 2009. Alyea,18, reportedly confronted Hilt for sleeping with her…
Singer-songwriters either stink or are magnificent; there’s no in-between. Sprinkle a little too much sap atop your sentiment and you’re screwed. Likewise, lyrics that are too sweet can go south quickly. Luckily, Joe Pug and Strand of Oaks have mastered the art of song and lyric writing. Each artist played captivating sets that won over the medium-sized crowd at the…
Maybe it’s a metaphor for our oversized appetites, but food can’t stay in the trucks traveling on Missouri’s highways. In January, it was 50 pigs running around on Interstate 435. The following month, more than 40,000 pounds of bagged mayonnaise shut down Interstate 44. And now, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Political Fix reports that several hundred pounds of chicken parts…
The Bible (supposedly) and this billboard at Charlotte and Truman are guaranteeing Judgment Day on May 21. That’s only 16 days away, so you better sleep in your best suit or dress on May 20. The time of the Rapture is clearly to be determined. Categories: News Tags: Judgment Day, May 21
To the rest of the nation, it’s National BBQ Month. For us here in Kansas City, it’s just May. USA Today is hoping to discover the best barbecue in the country via its Best of the Road contest jointly governed by Rand McNally. Out of 30 places, Gemato’s Wood Pit Barbecue in Naperville, Illinois, is tied with Famous Dave’s Barbecue…
The Oakland, California, garage-pop outfit Hunx and His Punx stopped through Lawrence for Scion’s Garage Fest last fall. While washing my hands in the crowded men’s room at Liberty Hall, Seth “Hunx” Bogart approached the sink next to me and muttered under his breath, “Ugh, there’s way too many straight people in this town.” To call Hunx flamboyantly gay would…
Score cheap tickets to the collaboration between Quixotic and the Kansas City Symphony. (We just might have a couple of pairs of tickets to give away to you faithful readers, too — just keep checking back here.) But if you want to grab discounted tickets to the May 13 and May 14 event — full tickets will run you from…
Jackson County Legislator James Tindall has let it be known that he’d like to see Kevin Harrell become the next prosecutor. Harrell is one of three finalists being considered by County Executive Mike Sanders, who is filling a vacancy that James Kanatzar left when he became a circuit court judge. Tindall has not officially endorsed Harrell, the chief deputy prosecutor,…
The Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s production of Peer Gynt makes strikingly clear why Ibsen is considered “the father of modern theater,” and perhaps the greatest playwright since Shakespeare. Variously a fairy tale, a pilgrim’s progress, a recurring nightmare, a prodigal’s return, an Everyman story, and a raw autobiography of Ibsen himself, the play is streaked through with inventiveness and fantasy…
Cinco de Mayo is neither Mexican Independence Day nor more than a regional holiday in Mexico. But it might be hard to remember historical details while you’re drinking a Dos Equis and eating a tamale. We encourage you to raise a glass today and toast the 4,000 Mexican soldiers who triumphed over the 8,000-strong French army at the Battle of…
This year’s festival is directed by Richard Alan Nichols and features the following shows and playwrights: Composting by Glendora Davis of Merriam, Kansas. Who You Got to Believe? by Charlene A. Donaghy of Torrington, Connecticut Badger & Maddy by Dianna A. Lewis of Sante Fe, New Mexico Gravity by Ruth McKee of Sherman Oaks, California Civil Disobedience by Bara Swain…
Those of us who caught the recent national touring show of West Side Story at the Music Hall were reminded anew of Jerome Robbins’ singular talent for explosive, inventive movement. Now, the Kansas City Ballet closes its season — and its 36-year home at the Lyric Theatre (11th Street and Central, 816-931-2232), before moving to the Kauffman Performing Arts Center…
