Night & Day Events
Thursday, July 29
Today the Kansas City Art Institute launches a new artsy-fartsy (in a good way) film program called Digital Lounge. Curators from the H&R Block Artspace choose feature films, documentaries about art and artists and their own favorites from the genres of animation, narrative shorts and videos. Today’s offerings are Werner Herzog’s My Best Friend (1999) at 1 p.m., Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night (1973) at 3:30 p.m. and Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s Lost in La Mancha (2002) at 6 p.m. From now until September 2, look for more screenings at 1, 3:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursdays and at 1 and 3:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. All films are shown at the Artspace (16 East 43rd Street). Call 816-561-5563 for more information.
Friday, July 30
The annual Wyandotte County Fair has so much to offer in the form of entertainment: pig races, a petting zoo and monster trucks galore. But nothing — nothing — has us more excited than the KFC Live and Cookin’ Tour. Here visitors are encouraged to enter their tastiest side-dish recipe for a chance at $5,000 and the glory of having it reproduced at their local KFC. According to organizers, winners “may even have the opportunity to be part of KFC’s national menu sometime in the future.” Just so there’s no confusion, a side dish is defined as “a dish that is served with, but is subordinate to, a main course.” The competition takes place from 4 to 10 p.m. today, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow and from noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. The Wyandotte County Fairgrounds are located at 1405 North 98th Street, between State Avenue and Parallel Parkway; call 816-471-2900 for more information.
Saturday, July 31
If we said Marco Pascolini is the best guitarist in town, that would be, like, our opinion. But in this case, it’s a fact. The dude is some sort of mad scientist, but with a guitar instead of beakers and Bunsen burners. He’s a scientist of sound, man. Pascolini fuses his wailing space-guitar sounds with the roots-and-country-influenced rock outfit the Snakebite Orphans tonight at Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club (3402 Main) with the Gaslights and Brother Trucker. We’ve always been a fan of head Orphan Mark Stevenson’s songwriting, but now, with a lineup shuffle that’s brought in Pascolini, bassist Mike “DJ Clem” Stover and drummer Mike Meyers (not the Canadian comedian), we couldn’t be happier with the new crew. Call 816-753-1909 for details.
Sunday, August 1
We love to support local authors, such as David Hanson. We even love to support them when their books have very silly premises, like what happens when a nun becomes the pitcher for a professional baseball team. And we like the T-Bones. We think their competition today, which tests the baseball skills of girls ages 6 to 16, is a good way to promote participation in sports. But we also think that the event’s name, Throw Like a Girl, perpetuates the stereotype that girls aren’t serious athletes. And we have a feeling that Jennie Finch, softball’s It Girl, would agree. She throws a 71-mile-an-hour pitch that baseball darlings Mike Cameron, Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza can’t touch. So even though we think you should go to the game and support local teams, local authors and aspiring female athletes, we also think you should call 913-328-2255 and complain about the name. The competition starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Community America Ballpark (1800 Village West Parkway in Kansas City, Kansas). David Hanson will be there to sign copies of his The Spring Habit.
Monday, August 2
We’ve been too busy watching those rich sluts traipse across the country in The Simple Life 2 to notice that there’s a problem with America’s foreign policy. How are we supposed to keep up with global crises when there are, like, 50 bazillion channels to choose from, not to mention pressing concerns about choosing a color for our new iPod Mini. Seriously — they’ve got five new colors, so who cares if we’re in Iraq for the long haul. But, damn it, we’re gonna go to this world-politics discussion anyway. Evelyn N. Farkas, foreign policy adviser to the U.S. Congress, speaks today in the Helzberg Auditorium on the fifth floor of the Kansas City Public Library (14 West 10th Street). Registration, which takes $10 out of our iPod budget, starts at 6:30 p.m.; the lecture begins at 7. Call 816-221-4204 for information.
Tuesday, August 3
For the 38th year running, the Brandeis Used Book Sale is back with 65-cent books. Of course, they aren’t all that cheap — last year, the rarest selections were going for about two hundred bones. But bargain hunters can find some fabulous deals. The sale started Saturday, July 31, and runs until Saturday, August 7; check it out today from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Look also for sheet music, tapes and records at the Metcalf South mall, 9635 Metcalf in Overland Park. For information, call 913-362-3092.
Wednesday, August 4
When the Anime Society of Kansas City warns that the content of its Wednesday-night screening at the University of Missouri-Kansas City will include “extreme violence and adult themes,” it’s not fucking around. Japanese comics (manga) and animated movies (anime) are usually hyperviolent and filled with strange sexual situations. We’re talking no-holds-barred stuff that would make even expat underground illustrator R. Crumb flinch. For example, one popular Japanese series is entitled Rape Man. Luckily tonight’s screening — two episodes of the Hellsing series and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, a full-length anime feature — is a little more tame. This is the fifth installment of a six-part viewing and discussion series; the discussion group convenes at 5:30 p.m. in room 312 of Royall Hall (800 East 52nd Street). Register for this single viewing for $9 or for the remaining two nights for $14. (Next up is “Captive Audience Night” on August 18.) Call 816-235-1448 to register.
