After the success of its first record fair, back in June, West Bottoms restaurant and bar Voltaire is playing host to a holiday version of the event Saturday, December 2. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Got What U Like, Brothers Music and Vinyl Underground, among other local vendors and collectors, will dare you to give away as presents the cool…
Occupation: Director of engineering at BlooomTwitter handle: @Blooominc (my best work is there)Hometown: OlatheCurrent neighborhood: Weatherby LakeWhat I do (in 140 characters or less): I lead Blooom’s software and technology team. We build software that will (hopefully) help millions of people retire sooner.What’s your addiction? I’m a little obsessed with trying to automate my house. My wife says I’ve gone…
If you’re like me, you probably ate your weight in turkey and pie over the last week or so. Here, then, for anyone still couch-bound or otherwise still recovering, is a slate of music and visuals to help you feel better. Of course, some of this stuff may inspire you to get on a stationary bike, an elliptical or a…
Always a gritty spectacle, Jackson County government has descended into exhausting ugliness.The legislature is feuding with the county executive. Employees report tanking morale. The county-run jail is a house of horrors. Property assessments are screwed up. And nervous insiders speculate that the FBI’s years-long fascination with county contracts may be building toward indictment.A scapegoat is in order here. But who?…
Monday, November 27As noted in our updated column from last week, Rye’s grand opening on the Plaza (4646 J.C. Nichols Parkway) has been moved to today. So go forth and get fried chicken, minus the drive to Leawood. Tuesday, November 28Bier Station (120 East Gregory Boulevard) is hosting Cinder Block Brewery today for a release party for Black Squirrel, a barrel-aged…
Dear Dan: I’m a twentysomething straight woman. About a month ago, I had a really vivid dream in which I was at a party and engaging with a guy I had just met. We were seriously flirting. Then my fiancé showed up — my real, flesh-and-blood, sleeping-next-to-me fiancé — whom we’ll call G. In the dream, I proceeded to shower G with…
From behind the warehouse door, you could see the green glow. It was drawing us toward it like bugs to a porch light. Beyond, we expected something like a bug’s paradise, an unexpected verdant terrain in the city.Past the door and through a vine partition was the night’s version of an urban Eden: Alter Art Space, where I’d RSVP’d to…
Mark Harper was a child when he dug his first crate, rifling his older brother’s vinyl collection. His brother, who is 10 years his senior, had moved out, but he often invited Harper over to hang out on the weekends. “There wasn’t much to do, but there was a crate of classic rock,” Harper says.By the time Harper enrolled at…
One morning last month, my wife sent me a two-word, one-emoji text. The words were “Antioch Park.” The emoji was one signalling mourning. Uh-oh, I thought.Had the park’s Wild West village, a beloved children’s play area for something like half a century, been torn down? If old Johnson County’s Boot Hill was itself 6 feet under, there were going to be…
Editor’s note: Rye is now tentatively set to open Monday, November 27.Wednesday, November 22Webster House (1644 Wyandotte) is hosting a dinner of pre-Thanksgiving indulgences tonight, beginning at 5. This $40, three-course dinner ($15 for kids; prices do not include tax or gratuity) is conspicuously absent of turkey but does include options such as truffle-braised beef short ribs, citrus-glazed Corvina bass, cassoulet sausage…
Do you remember the last time you dialed a residential landline? If your communication habits are anything like mine, it’s been, what, maybe a decade? Ten years since you had to summon an outmoded etiquette: What if she’s not home? Will there be an answering machine? When will she get the message? What if someone else — a roommate, a…
St. VincentNovember 19, 2017Uptown TheaterSt .Vincent (Annie Clark) being no stranger to the unconventional, it was not entirely a surprise that her show last night at the Uptown deviated from a typical show structure. What initially sounded like a haul — a 25-minute film followed by two sets of music — ultimately proved to be a refreshing, novel experience. Blazing…
Every story improves with a villain. And for a pumped-up crowd in the Lied Center at the University of Kansas on a balmy October evening, a certain swaggering fabricator is most hiss-worthy — a down-ballot Kansas politician turned national menace.The American Civil Liberties Union has brought some of its home-office leaders to Lawrence to launch its “Let People Vote” initiative, carefully…
Some unsung bands get to look back nobly upon one genuine “almost made it” moment.Then there’s Truck Stop Love.A country-tinged rock band from Manhattan, Kansas, could expect few favors in 1990, yet odd blessings seemed to rain down on this quartet from the Sunflower State’s other college town. The first demo by bassist and singer Brad Huhmann, drummer (and, later,…
I was honored to appear with Esther Perel at the Orpheum Theater in Vancouver, British Columbia, a few weeks ago to discuss her new book, The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity. Questions were submitted on cards before the show — some for me, some for Esther, some for both of us — and we got to as many as we…
Lady GagaWednesday, November 15, 2017Sprint CenterTen years into her reign as one of the world’s biggest pop stars, Lady Gaga is a highly precise and supremely effective performer. Her massive set (both in scope and equipment) at the Sprint Center began last night promptly at 8:30, complete with a countdown clock positioned at the front of the stage letting fans know exactly…
What are you retirement plans? Social Security, a 401(k), maybe a pension if you’re really lucky?You’re a sucker. If you really want to enjoy your golden years, you should be angling for an executive role with the city of Independence, Missouri. Let us look at the example of Leon Daggett. As director of Independence Power & Light, Daggett earned a…
There’s no gossip like restaurant gossip. A KC restaurant owner told me a story recently about an old job: “At a previous restaurant I managed, we had a food runner who was dating a cook. The cook decided it was too intense and decided to pull back. At the end of the night, the chef comes upstairs and says, ‘I need…
Tuesday, November 14Glenmorangie brand ambassador Dan Crowell will be at Rye (10551 Mission Road, Leawood) tonight for a four-course dinner featuring selections from the legendary maker of Scotch whisky. Executive chef Ryan Williams has developed a menu of some rich fall offerings to match with the spirit: Courses include glazed veal sweetbreads with pomegranate and chervil, and a roasted quail…
Dear Dan: I’m a 40-year-old bi man. I’ve been with my 33-year-old bi wife for three years and married for one. When we first met, she made it clear that she was in a long-term (more than three years) “Daddy” relationship with an older man. I figured out six months later that her “Daddy” was her boss and business partner. He…
Tyler, The Creator and his Odd Future crew used to be known for their turn-of-the-decade amalgamation of skateboard culture, left-field hip-hop, and punk-rock energy. Each night of their early tours consisted of screaming superfans and hypebeasts, malicious mosh-pitters and frustrated security guards. Many wrote Tyler off as nothing more than a troublemaker, a provocateur whose 15 minutes were ticking by…
Stephen Sondheim affixes his style to fairy tales in Into the Woods, a combination that converts already dark-tinged stories into deeper, edgier entertainment. The musical opened on Broadway 30 years ago to critical acclaim and several Tony Award nominations (winning three, including for James Lapine’s book and for Sondheim’s score) and has seen revivals and uncountable stagings since. The production at…
There are more videos this month than we’ve ever featured in Cine Local. Whatever your tastes, you’re likely to find something to sate it among this cavalcade — be it Kartez Marcel and Rory Fresco’s hip-hop, the pop of Berwanger and Hembree, Katy Guillen & the Girls’ blues, or the glam punk of Wick and the Tricks. And that’s just…
Spinning Tree Theatre’s latest production has undeniable curb appeal for those who’ve always wondered what favorite local players John Rensenhouse and Victor Raider-Wexler look like in heels. But when the novelty wears off, something more satisfying takes its place: Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina, an engrossing 2014 play with a retro focus and feel.The script is set in a remote region…
