This Weeks Day-By-Day Picks
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Does it feel as if you’ve been going through the same motions day after day? Don’t get bummed. Focus on the Zenlike meditative qualities in your repetitive daily life. If that doesn’t make sense, go to the Spencer Museum of Art (1301 Mississippi Street on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence) to appreciate the art of ritual in a demonstration of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Dale Slusser of the KU Center for East Asian Studies shows how it’s done in the Spencer’s Central Court starting at 7 p.m. As the sixteenth-century tea master Rikyu wrote, “Though many people drink tea, if you do not know the Way of Tea, tea will drink you up.” Heavy, huh? For details, call 785-864-4710.
Friday, February 13, 2004
While everybody else plays it safe this Friday the 13th, the Park University faculty is going for it. With Art of Deception, Adam Wade Duncan and Elaine Fox perform a vocal love story while guest artist B.J. Lipari interprets their songs on three 7-foot-by-8-foot canvases. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel on the Park University campus (8700 N.W. River Park Drive in Parkville). Admission is free. For details, call 816-584-6486.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Valentine’s Day is one holiday that evenly divides the population into two extremes: the sentimental romantics and the brokenhearted realists. Nowhere will these polarities be more apparent than in Lawrence, Kansas. Starting at 8 p.m., the Horror House, 1305 Tennessee, hosts a one-night extreme-exploring exhibition called Hot, Cold. To aid in attendees’ appreciation of the dichotomous showing, the Horror Housemates bisect the venue in order to create corresponding climates for the temperature-related art. Viewers are encouraged to dress in layers. For details, call 785-550-3595. From there, head to downtown Lawrence for the Olive Gallery’s High School Sweetheart Dance. For those of you who, like us, blew it the first time around, the Olive Gallery (15 East Eighth Street) hosts a dance with an ’80s high school theme from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. Five dollars gets you in to the gallery’s formal party, with music by DJ Cruz. The red walls support pro-love art, while the black walls hold up the “love sucks” component. Contact the Olive Gallery for details at 785-331-4114.
In Kansas City, the Writers Place (3607 Pennsylvania) mounts a poetry contest on Saturday, but don’t bring your notebook. The Second Annual Magnetic Poetry Contest pits poet against poet in a race against time to see who can assemble the most excellent verse using the magnetic word tiles found on refrigerators everywhere. Contestants have from 7 until 8:15 p.m. to select and arrange their poems. If the creative juices are still flowing, contestants can take to the open mike until judges announce the winner, who takes home $50. Admission is $5. For details, call 816-672-2330.
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Saturday might have been for hot love, but Sunday is for hot rods. Today is the final day to check out the World of Wheels, which rolled into Bartle Hall (301 West 13th Street) on Thursday. From 11 a.m. until 8 p.m., the place is crammed with kickass classic and restored antique cars, race cars, customized hogs and futuristic concept cars. We’ll pay the $14 price of admission just to look cool standing next to the 1939 Lincoln Zephyr Phantom Woody Wagon known as the “Zef-Fire.” Station wagons rule. For more information, call 816-513-5000.
Monday, February 16, 2004
Some weekends can be more stressful than an actual week of work, especially when the short time off involves a bogus holiday cooked up by a certain greeting-card company (you know who you are). In order to get our spiritual shit together before punching the clock, we’re going to leave for work an hour earlier than usual to sit in on the weekly Morning Meditation group at the Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 West 47th Street. Starting at 8 a.m., Dr. Marty Dybicz leads a 45-minute silent session followed by a 15-minute sharing time. Just don’t ask us to share our coffee. Enlightenment is cool and everything, but caffeine is sacred. For details, call 816-590-9545.
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t be able to beat up college meatheads. But we can sure as hell enjoy watching them pound the living crap out of each other. Starting at 10 p.m., Knockout Events and the Cadillac Ranch (2515 West Sixth Street, 785-842-9845) present College Fight Night. For the $10 price of admission, blood-lusting freaks can watch from outside of the ring or sign on the dotted line to join the rumble — the price is the same either way. The promoters provide the twenty-ounce gloves, the ring, headgear, mouthpieces, tape, groin protection for the men and breast protection for the women. We’re not counting on it, but wouldn’t it be cool if the Lawrence scenesters used this forum to settle the timeless who’s-cooler-than-whom debate? If we had anything to do with it, the winner of the hipster battle would take home a brand-new coke mirror.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Whether you liked it or not, you probably have some strong feelings about Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine. Did Moore take advantage of the Columbine shooting victims by using them to make his own statement in the controversial documentary? Do gun owners suffer from a debilitating lack of self-confidence, or are they the last of the true patriots, the sons and daughters of liberty? If you’re foaming at the mouth right about now, take a deep breath and head to the West Wyandotte branch of the Kansas City, Kansas, Library (1737 North 82nd Street) at 7 p.m. for a viewing and discussion. Just leave the firearms at home. For details, call 913-596-5800.
