Yearly Archives: 2011
Today: The Jardine’s Saga is Over… For Now
When it comes to tangled webs, it doesn’t get much more convoluted than Jardine’s…
At least for now, the confusion and uncertain future of Kansas City’s top jazz club has been stemmed. things came to a head yesterday when Chartwell Realty main man Joseph Fulgenzi and his partner Robert McCain walked into the offices of the Pitch to buy advertising, identifying themselves as the new owners of Jardine’s.
Think perfect storm.
Perfect in the sense that Chartwell is Jardine’s nextdoor neighbor and a respected tenant of the American Century-owned building that houses Jardine’s. And perfect also because former Jardine’s co-owner Pat Hanrahan has agreed to return to the club and oversee its operations and the booking of local jazz bands.
Glazer: Scribe Watches NFL Season Grind to and End & This Week’s Picks
The NFL season just goes too fast…
Seems only yesterday teams and fans across America just knew that this was THEIR YEAR! In the end reality sets in and most of the same teams are back in the playoffs. And only four or five of them have a real shot to win the Super Bowl. Very few surprises.
This year the big surprise is the Cincinnati Bengals. The San Francisco 49ers are also a surprise – not for winning the division – but for having one of the NFL’S best records. The Detroit Lions are a bit of a shocker, but not as much. People like me saw this one coming.
Leftridge: The Dirty Dozen Top Malt Liquors for New Year’s Eve
Money’s tight. You just spent a shitload to fix your son’s cleft palette, your wife had her hours at TJ Maxx cutback so far she’s barely working at all and the student loans from your worthless animal husbandry degree are piling up faster than elephant shit at a circus.
Life sucks.
But New Year’s Eve waits for no man, and you need to get lubricated and loose. Champagne’s a little rich for your blood and wine makes you blackout and do unspeakable things to your life-sized poster of Bo Jackson. So what’s that leave?
Malt liquor.
But in this battered economy, malt liquors are a dime a dozen. How does one get the most bang for their buck? Simple. I’ve designed a complex formula that utilizes alcohol content by volume, divisible by cost per cubic cent, multiplied by incident of “punching a police-horse” in the snout. Here are the winners.
Glazer: Scribe’s Holiday Flashback to His Daze in the Joint
Nobody wants to go to prison…
However you do meet some great characters at those joints. But it’s kinda like getting stuck too long at the neighborhood bar with only the one chick waitress and tons of guys that won’t shut up. This time of year I think about some of those inmates, either free, dead or back in the ‘crap house.’
Christmas was always a joy in the joint…
One year they came around with a box of gifts, NFL coffee cups. Yeah, I took the Chiefs cup. Must have been in 1986 or 1987. We saw lots of Chiefs games because the Raiders, Chargers and Broncos were in the Western Division with KC. I spent all my time in West Coast prisons so lucky me. Winter Sundays with the Chiefs. I kept that cup for a few years before a Raider fan stole it from me and used it for rock throwing practice. Damn, I wanted that cup for a memento – oh well.
Oddly I made some great friends in the joint.
Today: Jardine’s Saddles Up for New Year’s Eve Comeback
Amidst rumors of a deal to retool Jardine’s, the beleaguered Plaza jazz club has announced plans to be open for New Year’s Eve...
"Jardines has a new team that will start on New Year’s Eve," says owner Beena Raja. "Its a party with the Pete Cole Quartet featuring the one and only Chris Clark on piano. And we will jazz it out from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. with a $5 cover."
Attendees can opt for the four course NYE menue at $35 per person or you can order a la carte.
New Jack City: What to See This Weekend? Jack to the Rescue!
It’s been a fantastic holiday week at the boxoffice thus far…
It kicked in midday on Christmas and is primed to continue strong through New Year’s weekend. If you’ve even driven past Kansas City’s theater parking lots the past few days you know what I’m talking about.
Still haven’t decided on what to see? Let me be of help. Here are MY BEST BETS AT BOXOFFICE—by catagory:
First for ALL-AGES (family friendly) FILMS:
Leftridge: This Year in Sports
So it’s that time of year when we sit back and take stock of the “calendar that was” with a grueling list meant to encompass a million things that happened over the past 12 months. Every publication that’s worth its weight in readers compiles some sort of regurgitated inventory of “Top Sports Things That Happened,” and “2011 Highlights in the World of Athletics.” (or trout-fishing, independent movie-making, shit you ate at your in-laws for Sunday dinner, etc. You get the point)
Frankly, I find it a tedious task and I for one will not participate. People like lists because they’re easy to skim and skip around, but I ask you: do you really like lists? Or do you read them because you’re supposed to like lists?
Therefore, I will painstakingly go month-by-month through 2011 to briefly recap the highlights and the lowlights in an effort to encapsulate things that happened. In sports. Let’s start with January, since, well, since it’s the first month, I suppose.
January:
Roberto Alomar, who may or may not have AIDS (this site’s too crappy for links– just google it), and Bert Blyleven are elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jeff Fisher (Tennessee Titans) and Eric Mangini (Cleveland Browns) get fired, and the 49ers hire Jim Harbaugh, who I thought was really cool when I was younger because I had a football card where he had spiked hair (this is the same reason Kevin Seitzer was my favorite Kansas City Royal).
The Seahawks become the first team with a losing record to win a playoff game. Jesus weeps.
The Chiefs, who somehow won the division and weaseled their way into the playoffs, get beat like a drum by a much better Baltimore Ravens team.
Mermaid: The Dirty Dozen Top Champagnes for New Year’s Eve
The Top 10 (OK 12) Champagnes for New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is coming and you don’t feel like paying 100 bucks to go to a bar for the night but still wanna get your drink on and celebrate the new year or say goodbye to a really bad one.
Here’s my list of the top 12 (just couldn’t narrow it to 10) champagnes I love.
1. Moet & Chandon Imperial (same as discontinued White Star) Approx. $45
2. Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve Approx. $45
3.Barefoot Bubbly California Premium Extra Dry (Good if you are on a budget) Approx. $9
4 . Veuve Clicquot Non-Vintage Brut Yellow Label Approx. $45
Sounds Good: Split Lip@Bottleneck, Minden@RecordBar
Some call it amateur night…
You know it as New Year’s Eve.
To the hardcore drinkers and scenesters it’s a night to make fun of those slobbering fools who can’t handle their shizz, getting totally, stupidly wrecked.
"Too many amateurs on the road tonight, I’m staying in," they say. "Those rookies really need to leave the drunk driving to us professionals."
They look disgusted and feel invaded, like they have somehow earned more of a right to party by paying their drunken dues all year in all the dark, dirty bars seven nights a week. Then their liver jumps out of their chest and strangles them to death…
Today: The Sad Demise of David R. Spivey Books, Maps & Fine Arts in Westport
Chalk one up for Father Time and the Internet…
In a matter of days, a 33 year-old Westport institution – David R. Spivey Books, Maps & Fine Art – will take it’s place in the history books.
"I’m alright, I’m just retiring," says Spivey. "I’m in the process of selling everything."
Spivey sold the building at 825 Westport Road to neighbor Joe Zwillenberg of the Westport Flea Market.
Spivey’s Web site says, "David R. Spivey has been buying, selling and appraising old maps, rare books and fine art since 1978. Over the years, Spivey’s has grown to be the largest old map, print and book dealer in the Midwest…We have five floors of maps, prints, fine art and books. Our building dates to 1910 and sits on the old Santa Fe trail in historic Westport."
Hearne: The KC Confidential Comments Section Cleanup
To the majority of KC Confidential readers and commenters, I salute you…
Instead of one or two word, anonymous putdown comments (like a certain local blog) or allowing no comments at all (like another), KCC gets mostly some pretty entertaining and thoughtful comments. The "stage names" may shield their identities, but most KCC commenters think things through and bring something to the table in the way of suggestions and/or criticism.
They may get carried away with the ALL-CAPS button or unleash an ungentlemanly word here or there, but for the most part they’re an important ingredient to the overall mix of ideas and viewpoints on this site.
Then there are the odd haters…
Glazer: Two Backup Pro Bowlers for Chiefs Says it All
Yep, Derrick Johnson will finally go to Honolulu on January 29th…
He sure did earn that trip. And Tamba Hali will return to the Pro Bowl. Both as back-ups. Hali did not play last year so this time he will likely see some action.
Nobody on the Chiefs offense even got a sniff.
Oh, the guy we fired, Brian Waters, he’s going to the Pro Bowl but from New England. You know, the guys who have home field advantage in the playoffs. Brian was sure sad to leave, right. He was past it – uh-huh – pro bowl guy.
New Jack City: For All That Was Bad at the Movies In 2011, Here’s What Made it Worthwhile
Last week was my lineup of movie stinkers..
Now here are the movies that made my twisted life as a critic all worth it.
My 10 favorite films to play in Kansas City during 2011:
# 1—THE HELP—Great ensemble film. Lots of kudos all around but for some reason Emma Stone isn’t getting enough of them for her superb performance as Skeeter.
# 2—THE IDES OF MARCH—Here’s the great American political story with dream casting of Gosling, Clooney, Hoffman, Tomei & Giamatti—not to mention superb direction by Mr. Clooney himself.
# 3—MONEYBALL—Pitt, Hill & Hoffman. This past year’s triple threat. And what a breakthrough for slimmed down Jonah Hill.
# 4—THE DESCENDANTS—Proof that George Clooney is rapidly becoming one of the our best all around actors,
Glazer: Westwood Greenlights Huge, New Woodside Redevelopment Project
(1).jpg)
A major break-through for Westwood and Johnson County is finally happening…
Woodside Health & Tennis has been trying for years to gain approval from the locals to expand its popular tennis and fitness club into a huge complex for high-end apartment living, shopping, a larger health club, children’s facilities, a new lap indoor pool and tons more.
This is huge.
The plan was approved this week to move the project forward. Owner Blair Tanner and crew now have the backing of Westwood to make it all happen. Tanner hopes construction will begin very soon, by this summer.
Mermaid: From Pet Chipping to Human Chipping, The Fix Is In
RFID, I hadn’t thought much about these letters until the recent Wal Mart scandal…
The one where the company is embedding chips in clothing – mostly underwear and jeans – to "keep track of inventory." Radio-Frequency Identification should be something you start thinking about a lot these days.
Is it Big Brother or a helpful chip for times of trouble, such as a bad accident or a kidnapping of a child?
If you are just hearing about this for the first time, listen up.
Today: A Christmas Olive Branch from Jardine’s Owner to Local Jazz Musicians
.jpg)
In an open letter to Kansas City jazz musicians, Jardine’s owner Beena Raja reached out Christmas Day in an attempt to mend fences and restore sanity to an out-of-control situation that has resulted in the club’s going dark much of the past three weeks.
That after Raja found a handful of her staff drinking illegally at the club at 4 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. Jardine’s general manager / cook then resigned. Two staffers were fired, a third walked out and confusion over what had gone down lead other staffers to believe they too had been fired.
An incident with one server, whose father is a leading member of the local jazz community, resulted in the father calling for other musicians to boycott Jardine’s.
It’s been downhill from there.
Will Raja’s reaching out to musicians work? Is it too late?
Here’s Raja’s late night letter:
"To All,
You don’t know the facts of why this happened.
Glazer: King of Sting Dabs Away a Tear & Sends Out Holiday Best Wishes
With the Lone Ranger it was, "How did you get to be the Lone Ranger?"
With me its, "How did you become the King of Sting?" Well, it started very early in life for me -very early.
When I could barely speak or walk, my Grandma, Nanny Mary, took me to see the Disney movie OLD YELLER. Around 1958 or so. The picture starred Fess Parker (of Davy Crockett Fame), Dorothy McGuire, Tommy Kirk (Musketeers) and my favorite kid actor, Kevin Corcoran, a Disney super star at like age 9.
Chuck Connors (of Rifleman fame) had a small part in it. Chuck traded Kevin a puppy for a frog. And while Kevin’s dad, went off to sell cattle the boys stayed home to keep an eye on mom.
While Old Yeller kept an eye on them all.
Christmas 2011: Through the Past Darkly into Year Four
Merry Christmas…
It’s been quite a year for KC Confidential. Lots of comings and goings – some planned, others not. But for the most part readers have stuck with us through good times and bad. We’re ending the year on a high note with readership up dramatically from where we were just last spring.
How much are we up?
More than double what we started the summer with, and up 90 percent the past three months and well over 300 percent in the last 30 days.
It’s not been easy.
Glazer: Chiefs Lose, Pull Scribe’s Chestnuts Out of The Fire
I know due to all the local attention I got for MY BET, most people wanted me to lose…
I had tons of calls last week during the Packer upset from "concerned" friends. Meaning their real thoughts were…I HOPE YOU CRASH AND BURN. Hey, that’s human nature.
Remember, almost nobody most of you readers know has EVER placed a bet in a sports book in Vegas.
Thus the confusion over the who, what, when, where and why of many of my teaser bets. Most people only bet with friends in pools or not at all. One percent or less have ever made a real bet in Vegas with a sports concern. Sure, they’ve lost at blackjack – so did my grandma.
But only the big boys dare to dare.
Glazer: Scribe Calls Upon Great Santa to Win Bet, Guide This Week’s Picks
Thanks to this site and Johnny Dare, the Craig season bet is on the line for the next 8 days…
The Chiefs play Oakland tomorrow and Denver next weekend. The Bronco’s may not need the game, if they win and the Chargers lose this weekend it’s over, Raiders win the division. So Denver might not play as hard at home next week – I don’t know. So I likely need the RAIDERS, THE HATED RAIDERS to help me…Damn. Who knew?
Last week I sucked on picks, the worst of the year. But overall, the year has been very good. Let’s get back on track, shall we? Ok, lets do it.
All I want for Christmas is one Chiefs loss…Santa, oh Santa…..
