This Weeks Day-By-Day Picks

Thursday, August 21, 2003

For anyone who hasn’t noticed already, the long period of construction at the Englewood Theater has finally ended, so Kansas Citians with a hankering for old movies on the big screen can get their fill. Today ends a week offering three different movies: Viva Las Vegas, Way Out West and Man Without a Past. Way Out West isn’t showing today, so no Laurel and Hardy for you. But at 7 p.m. you can catch Viva Las Vegas, screened with a short premovie show titled Beatles Come to America. If you can get there earlier, you might as well make it a double feature, starting with the 2002 Finnish film Man Without a Past at 5:30 p.m. The Englewood is located at 10917 Winner Road in Independence. For details, call 913-262-4466.

Friday, August 22, 2003

Where are you going to find out what to wear when you make it to Mars? How will you land your spacecraft? It’s all covered in A Traveler’s Guide to Mars by William K. Hartmann, a scientist who bravely insisted that Mars was not a lifeless rock — even after the mid-’70s, when data from the Viking spacecraft discouraged most Mars enthusiasts within the mainstream scientific community. We’re not talking “life on Mars” as in one-eyed, green things with antennae; we’re talking active volcanoes and drastic climate changes. Now evidence indicates that once-dormant volcanoes are acting up again and there seems to be liquid water on Mars, and Hartmann’s here to tell us about it. Just in time, too. Mars is making a once-in-several-lifetimes appearance superclose to the Earth. This moment is to the space dork what the end of Prohibition must have been to the lush — the end of a long period of barely attainable satisfaction and uncomfortable secrecy. Now, like drunkards breaking out of the speak-easy, amateur astronomers are taking to the streets, dragging telescopes and binoculars with them like so many bottles in brown paper bags. After Hartmann’s multimedia talk at Unity Temple (707 West 47th Street) tonight at 7, there will be telescopes out on the street in the Plaza for people to check out what Hartmann has explained. Please, if someone out there is a thin man with thin lips and little, tiny glasses, wear a suit and ask in a nasal voice whether the Martians have two sexes, like we do. That would be the greatest homage to Mars Attacks ever. For information, call Rainy Day Books at 913-384-3126.

Saturday, August 23, 2003

The American Idol thing has got to ease up sooner or later. We think it’s great to recognize talented youngsters: at school, in swim meets, during recitals and especially at the rodeo — not through pageantlike, consumer-ready game-show spin-offs. The local American Idol spin-off of the week is called Wave the Magical Wand, and it takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. at the John H. Gregg Community Center, 1600 John “Buck” O’Neil Way. For information, call 816-931-9042.

Sunday, August 24, 2003

If the sound of motorcycles revving up their engines scares the bejesus out of you, guess where you don’t want to go today? Downtown Kansas City. The Harley-Davidson Anniversary Ride Home stops here today, and the riders will be greeted with genuine Midwestern hospitality, which we all know takes the form of a festival, a parade or a casserole; in this case, it’s a festival. Called Thunder in the Heartland, today’s party starts at noon on Main Street, between 20th and 27th streets (right around Liberty Memorial and Union Station). For information, call the Thunder hot line at 866-292-3757.

For the loud-engine phobic, an event not taking place downtown is a pro-peace vigil and rally called “Is This The Path to Peace? — Bring the Troops Home Now!” It starts at 5 p.m. by the J.C. Nichols Fountain at 47th and Main, offering talks by Ester Holzendorf of Military Families Speak Out (Holzendorf has one son who fought in the Middle East and another in boot camp); U.S. Army veteran Katherine Menges; Missouri State Representative Vicki Walker; and Debbie Roath, a mother of five whose husband is serving in Iraq and who is a seminary student at St. Paul’s School of Theology. For information, call 816-931-5256 or go to www.kciraqtaskforce.org.

Monday, August 25, 2003

Monday nights can be exciting if you like to beat the crowd (not the kind of beating that results in contact wounds). Late Night Theatre’s Dangerous Dirty Little Liaisons shows not only on weekends, but also on a select few Monday nights during the run. If you want a smaller crowd for optimum enjoyment of “intrigue and deception, male and female, love and betrayal, along with the French Revolution and songs ranging from the Beatles to Aerosmith,” be at 1531 Grand by 8 tonight. Tickets cost $18 and can be purchased by calling 816-235-2700.

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

The meetup phenomenon is totally wacky. Get online and search for meetups on your favorite topic; you’re likely to find something in Kansas City whether you’re a knitter, a graphic designer, an Elvis (there are 48 locally) or an Onion reader. Tonight is the night to be a witch. The meetup location has not yet been chosen, but updates can be obtained at witches.meetup.com. And don’t fuck with them — it’ll come back at you threefold if you do.

Wednesday, August 26, 2003

Local bands that are not just local bands — they excite us; we can’t help it. We aren’t just jumping on the popularity bandwagon. It’s just cool when Midwestern towns that aren’t Chicago get some recognition. We should all be so lucky as Omaha. The Anniversary — a Lawrence-bred Rentals-esque band — plays tonight at the Eighth Street Tap Room in Lawrence (801 New Hampshire). Yelling out requests for “Sweet Marie” probably won’t be frowned upon. That’s what you want to hear, right? The show starts at 10 p.m. For information, call 785-841-6918.