Night & Day Events

13 Thursday
The title of tonight’s installment of Rockhurst University’s Cinema Series — A Taxing Woman — is strikingly literal. This 1987 Japanese film is about a female tax collector who, frankly, kicks ass. In a country where personal incomes are taxed at rates up to 80 percent, it’s not just tax evaders who have to make an art of their dealings; tax collectors must be as clever as spies and as tough as bounty hunters. When this “taxing woman” comes face-to-face with a wily businessman, the two initiate a relationship of mutual admiration, recognizing that on some level they’re playing the same game. The year of the film’s release is most evident in a scene during which a Nintendo game takes over the screen for what seems to be an inordinately long time. (Anyone who knows the Super Mario Brothers music a little too well is likely to get stuck on it for the rest of the night.) In addition, the movie affords a rare glimpse of an intriguing contemporary Japanese phenomenon: a “love hotel,” where couples rent by-the-hour rooms that look as if they’ve been decorated by sixteen-year-old girls. Another word of warning: Although this series is sponsored by a Jesuit college, there is a lot of sex in A Taxing Woman. And yes, the image in the opening scene is exactly what you think it is. The movie starts at 7 p.m. in Rockhurst’s Mabee Theater, 54th and Troost. Admission costs $3. For more information, call 816-501-4895.

Practitioners of what is considered high culture tend to insist that pop culture is strictly pop, with no real culture to speak of. But novelist Michael Chabon has done something unusual in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay: He’s written a novel in traditional form whose protagonists are comic-book artists. Set in the 1940s, an era with unimaginably real villains to conquer, Chabon’s book is about a Czech refugee and his American cousin, who invent a hero called The Escapist. Through him, they fight World War II on the page. Chabon discusses this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 West 47th Street, at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call Rainy Day Books at 913-384-3126.

14 Friday
The Fluke Gallery has to be one of the best-kept (until now, anyway) secrets in the arts community. Located in William Howell’s home at 3440 Jefferson, the space is comfortable, and the art tends to be playful and original. Tonight from 6 to 9 is the opening for Anne M. Gagel’s Remembering the Time When Coppertone Children Blew Bubbles in Your Face. For once, “blow me” isn’t a retort; it’s pure nostalgia. Gagel’s art depicts blower after blower in such an appealing way that viewers will want to go out and blow some more when Howell sends them home.
Tonight’s other gallery crawlers are participating in the Nelson’s Party ‘Arty art crawl; after paying $25 for a ticket, they’ll be heading to Wild West Border Deli and Bar, 1717 West 9th Street in the West Bottoms, before going home. The bar doesn’t officially open until October, so tonight is a sneak preview of what promises to be an exciting new addition to Kansas City’s nightlife. The original Pabst mosaic in the front entrance deserves special notice, as does the working dumbwaiter with a painting by Peregrine Honig inside. The party lasts from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. For more information, call 816-751-1278.

15 Saturday
From 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, the City Market at 5th and Walnut is full of vendors selling produce — it’s the time of year when apple cider appears on stands. And if fresh plums aren’t your idea of good weekend excitement, it’s the second night of the Oyster Festival. If you missed Reverend Horton Heat and the Daybirds last night, you can still catch retro band Dr. Zhivegas from 6 to 11:30 tonight. A chef from McCormick and Schmick’s will supervise the oyster preparation, so it should be fancy eats for the Guinness-drinking crew. Tickets are $5. For more information, call 816-842-1271.

16 Sunday
Kansas City’s voters behave in enigmatic ways, but city auditor Mark Funkhouser thinks he can help us understand what we were doing when we said no to light rail and yes to a tourism tax on August 7. Not only that, but he can project the practical implications of our choices, answering questions about whether our restaurants will be safer places to eat and how traffic and parking problems will be affected. Maybe we can even find out why our city favors metal plates as a remedy for potholes — but we won’t hold our breath on that last item. Funkhouser begins his discussion at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut, at 10 a.m. For more information, call 816-523-7666.

17 Monday
The Brookside Brass Quintet plays today at noon at Johnson County Community College’s Carlsen Center, 12345 College Boulevard. These professional musicians — five of them, all playing brass instruments — have been blowing their own horns together for ten years. The show is free, but seating is limited. For more information, call 913-469-8500.

18 Tuesday
Ken Aptekar takes a sort of found-object approach to his art; that is, he borrows classical images from Western art and superimposes on them fairly cryptic text by inscribing the glass of the frames. The text most often tells stories from his own family history, revealing an obsession with judgment. But how, for example, the fact that his grandfather died of a heart attack when he had to appear in small-claims court is related to the artist’s hatred of his name is a little unclear. Interpretations may vary. Aptekar’s work is on display at the Kemper Museum, 4420 Warwick. For more information, call 816-753-5784.

19 Wednesday
Peter Maxx Lawrence, whose colorful painting exhibition/coming-out show at the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library last February was called The Man Who Was Too Loud, now brings his ink-and-charcoal-on-paper works to the Tribal Grill, 1808 1/2 West 39th Street, for an exhibition titled Recluse. This show — as the title implies — is a departure from his earlier, more outgoing style. As a matter of comparison, the artwork now on display could make for a heated dinner conversation. For more information, call 816-756-5566.