This Weeks Day-By-Day Picks
Thursday, March 25, 2004
This week, the University of Kansas campus clears out for spring break. While the student body fans out across the country to practice feats of superhuman drinking, KU’s Natural History Museum (1345 Jayhawk Boulevard on the KU campus in Lawrence) dons figurative tights and a cape to teach the secrets of Superhero Science. The museum intends to show its visitors how knowing about stuff like physics, chemistry and biology can help produce the effects of not-at-all boring stuff like flight, superstrength, telepathy, super-vision and, our favorite, invisibility. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Saturday, the museum demystifies these phenomena with activities that allow visitors to “attune their hearing and vision to bionic proportions.” To help out with costume ideas — because a hero is only as super as his design team — local comic-book artists and writers are on hand to push the creative process along. For details, call 785-864-4450.
Friday, March 26, 2004
Jaimes Friedgen and Rachel Smith are reportedly the hottest dancers among a young generation that’s really heating up the Argentine tango. Starting tonight at 8, Friedgen and Smith bring their stuff to the Jack-O-Lantern Ballroom (adjacent to the First Calvary Baptist Church, 3921 Baltimore). Tangoessence: The Force That Binds Us is a class for students of all levels, especially those who are thinking about taking more advanced classes over the weekend. After the first class, the Jack-O-Lantern hosts a milonga (tango party) and a performance by Friedgen and Smith. The fee for the Friday workshop is $15. For more information on the rest of the weekend’s events, see www.ko-arts.com or call 816-931-9545.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
An obvious way to tell if a band has a devoted following is to go to one of its performances and count the people singing along. It’s one thing to pack people into a venue, but burning lyrics into fans’ brains is a whole other accomplishment. The first time we saw a performance by Hairy Apes BMX — which stands for Butt Moving Xperience — we felt out of place for not rapping along. We still can’t recall any of the lyrics, but the shows are always memorable. With an all-star roster that boasts the multitalented Mike Dillon, who has played with everyone from Les Claypool to Karl Denson to the Polyphonic Spree, Hairy Apes BMX is sure to get the butts moving tonight at the Brick (1727 McGee). Admission is $8. For details, call 816-421-1634.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Avast, ye landlubbers. The time for setting sail with your mates is nigh. OK, our pirate fantasy has one setback: The sailboats out at Lake Jacomo won’t be ready until summer brings nicer weather. Until then, our crew of salty dogs must settle for one of the Lake Jacomo Marina‘s 24 pontoon boats. It’s not necessarily sailing, but hey, it’s floating — so back off before we make your scurvy ass walk the plank. The fee for pontoon rentals is $35 an hour plus the cost of gasoline. Pontoon buccaneers need only bring a valid driver’s license to rent a vessel. The marina, located 15 minutes east of Kansas City in Fleming Park just south of Woods Chapel Road on West Park Road, is open from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. For details and directions, call 816-753-1909.
Monday, March 29, 2004
A nickname like the Ragin’ Cajun might lead people to believe that James Carville is some kind of celebrity chef who cooks with Southern charm. Well, he’s not. He’s a political consultant who heats up elections and boils Republicans. Carville came to prominence in 1992, when he and George Stephanopoulos helped steer Bill Clinton’s then-overlooked presidential campaign toward landslide success. In the years since, Carville’s blip has stayed on the political radar thanks to his frank observations as a cohost of CNN’s Crossfire. Tonight, he brings his no-bullshit outlook to the Lied Center (1600 Stewart Drive in Lawrence) for a 7:30 lecture. We have a feeling he’ll be saying things about the 2004 election that you won’t hear anywhere else. Tickets cost $13. For details, call 785-864-7469.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Henry David Thoreau would have wanted us to throw out our Xboxes and iPods because, as he wrote in Walden, “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” But wait — this palm-sized device replaces a whole shelf of CDs, man. We’re no longer shackled by a bulky Case Logic book, and now that we carry this thing everywhere, there’s nothing in our cars attracting window smashers. So perhaps we don’t fully understand Thoreau’s treatise on transcendentalism. Maybe we should attend Mike McKelley’s Communiversity class Walden: Thoreau as Spiritual Guide from 7 to 9 p.m. at the All Souls Unitarian Church (4501 Walnut). OK, we’ll read the book ahead of time. Call 816-531-2551 to register, and bring $16.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Bayard Rustin played a critical role behind the scenes of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s. Years before organizing the march on Washington, D.C., that inspired Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, for example, Rustin was telling young King all about Gandhi’s nonviolent teachings. Such accomplishments likely would have earned any straight man much-deserved respect. But Rustin was not straight, and even as racial tolerance was increasing, homophobia ran rampant. The activist’s sexual orientation cost him important leadership positions in the civil rights movement and earned him threats, beatings and imprisonment. Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin tells the story of the once-silent activist who bounced back to fight for his beliefs up until his death in 1987. The free screening of the documentary starts at 6 p.m. at Tivoli Cinemas (4050 Pennsylvania). Producer and director Nancy D. Kates will be on hand for a discussion. The event is open to the public, but reservations are required. For details, call 816-235-6222.
