Yearly Archives: 2011
Today: ‘The 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts of All Time’
Here we go again, but this time for all the money…
Talkers Magazine – the talk radio trade pub for folks like Tom Becka and Chris Stigall – has unleashed its list of Top Talkers to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the magazine.
Think of it, 20 years of talk radio dating to the year 1991. And that’s just for the magazine.
Guys like Dave Dawson, Mike Murphy and Mike Shanin rummaging around local airwaves well before that.
I can’t recall the exact date, but I remember when a young freelance writer named C.J. Janovy, working then as an office temp, had the bright idea in the early days of the Pitch to round up a blowhard by the name of Rush Limbaugh and hang him out to dry.
Did she ever.
C.J. taught El Rushbo a lesson he’d never forget.
Donnelly: Mumford & Sons at Wakarusa, June 4, 2011
Well, Arkansas certainly tried to kill these pasty boys from the UK. Almost did, matter of fact.
"It’s really fuckin’ hot up here," lamented lead singer Marcus Mumford as he continually wiped himself down with a towel. Granted, he was wearing black jeans and a long sleeve shirt, not your typical attire for a summer evening in Arkansas.
Word is, midway through their set, Mr. Mumford ran behind the drums and lost his lunch.
But the scorching mid-evening heat didn’t stop Mumford & Sons from putting on one helluva show Saturday night at the Wakarusa Festival.
Most people I talked to said it was the best show of the whole festival. I don’t know that I can really disagree…
Hearne: Time for Sporting Kansas City’s Front Office to Deliver the Goods…or Else
It’s gonna be an uphill battle…
The KC soccer team formerly known as the Wizards – now Sporting Kansas City – face a disturbing dichotomy. On one hand the team is in the well-heeled hands of the main men at Cerner.
New name, new stadium, a couple concerts, better media coverage and an army of suits selling tickets and attending to every sports marketing and operational need imaginable. A front office that rivals – if not exceeds in some ways – that of the Chiefs and Royals.
Trust me, these guys are s-e-r-i-o-u-s.
Former owner Lamar Hunt was a piker by comparison. Sporting has bucks to burn and is not afraid to burn them. On the other hand Lamar – frugal though he was – delivered results on the field.
Today: Rumors About Departure of Embattled KC Star Editor Appear Off Base
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With Star publisher Mark Zieman hightailing it out of town for greener ($$$) pastures there’s been talk editor Mike Fannin might be close behind…
For months, Fannin has kept very odd hours and been noticeably missing-in-action in the newsroom, sources say. Combine that with a litany of potentially career-killing disclosures about Fannin’s personal life and it’s little wonder that the news tongues have been wagging.
It started with former Star columnist Jason Whitlock’s radio and television-aired accusations that Fannin had an "inappropriate relationship" with now-former Star sports editor Holly Lawton. Which dovetailed nicely, with the observations of others in the newsroom and overlapped with Lawton’s divorce and unexplained departure from the newspaper to take a position, uh, job hunting during the worst recession in decades.
Hearne: Calling All Sports, KC Confidential Wants You!
Yeah, you…
Well, maybe. We’re looking for a few inspired folks. Starting with – big surprise – a sportswriter. Someone with some grit and edge and attitude. Somebody looking for a low-seven-figure income (kidding). Better yet, someone so consumed by an all-fired passion for sports he or she would be insulted to be offered any kind of money (kinda not kidding, but okay, still kidding).
Donnelly: My Morning Jacket at Wakarusa, June 3, 2011
Getting to Wakarusa by way of the winding Arkansas roads really made me think this festival is in the middle of nowhere. And that’s a good thing.
As I passed streams and rounded sharp corners, passing farm houses and lumber mills, I wondered if I was heading the wrong way. Nope, there’s the Arkansas State Police command center, set up about a half a mile outside the festival grounds.
Must be on the right track.
When I finally reached the top of the mountain the trees opened up and for miles it was tents, stages, and yes, the huge Ferris Wheel.
Glazer: Who Needs Girlfriends When You’ve Got Hope (The Squirrel)?
When I was a kid, my Dad told me, "Son, you can catch a rabbit or a squirrel if you can get salt on their tail."
Good, old Stan…
Remember that one? So like a moron, I would get my little brothers, Jeff and Jack, and go chase the little bastards all over the back yard. We never got close to any of them. When I was a little bigger we moved onto a cardboard box with a string and carrot. That didn’t work either.
I have to admit, like most little kids, I eventually got to play with a couple rabbits. Someone would bring one to "show and tell" at school and we’d get to take the bunny home for a day or two. However, nobody ever brought a squirrel to school.
Today: Former Merriam Councilman Dan Leap’s Peep Show Rocks On
Life goes on…
Controversial, hard rocking Merriam City Councilman Dan Leap is no more. Politically speaking, that is. Leap lost his bid for re-election in April and has returned full time to the business of making Guitar Lamps and working at the family heating and cooling biz in downtown Merriam.
Oh, and fronting for local rock band Pompous Jack.
"Dude, I ain’t on the council anymore," Leap says. "I lost by about 40 votes. I got beat by a school teach, an ex school teacher. I was there for eight years."
Leap narrowly lost his bid to become Merriam’s mayor two years back in a hotly-contested, threeway struggle that resulted in the winner conceding and apologizing for misstated facts in the final days of the campaign.
Hearne: Star Dodges Poison Gas Bullet in Newsroom Nightmare
About that Kansas City Star fire drill Wednesday…
"We had a crazy evacuation," says a staffer of the early morning smoke out. "I walked in at 8:40 a.m. and there was a haze in the newsroom and the fire alarms were going off. Apparently there was a freon leak. And the first floor was all hazy, too."
Now the scary part…
"The fire alarms were going off for half an hour before anybody called the fire department," says the source.
Sounds Good: Yeasayer@Granada; Mumford & Sons@City Market; Langhorne Slim@Bottleneck
Can’t make the trip down to Wakarusa this weekend? 
Or maybe music festivals just aren’t your thing?
There’s still some good shows to catch right here in the KC area, starting tonight with a killer show in Lawrence at the Granada.
Granted, there’s no ten story ferris wheel or anything, but it should still be pretty sweet…
Jack Goes Confidential: New X-MEN Movie Reboots and Surprises!
Naysayers who’d all but written off the X-Men series will be re-evaluating it after 20th Centry-Fox’s newest entry in the franchise!
Producer/writer Bryan Singer wisely followed J.J. Abram’s STAR TREK example by taking the storyline to its beginning– the turbulant 60’s, the Cuban missle crisis and Cold War paranoia!
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is set against those global events at a time before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names of Professor X and Magneto—and to when they first discovered their powers!
Glazer: Watch Out! The Slammer Takes KC by Storm
The wait is over, it’s here: TH
E SLAMMER.
Photos and stories about our local BAD GUYS AND GIRLS. Yep, Johnson,Wyandotte, Jackson and coming soon Platte counties. Photos and tales about people arrested,convicted or on the run in our area. Photos and stories on sex offenders, most wanted and even celebrity crime.
This week it has Nick Nolte, his ugly arrest photo and his replacement nice looking one. Yes, you can replace your creepy arrest picture taken by the photo cop with a nice high school or college picture.
Oh, joy.
Today: Life After The Kansas City Star for Movie Critic Robert W. Butler
Here we go again…
Forget about Thor and Hangover 2, the summer movie season launches tonight with X Men: First Class. And absent for the first time in decades is the watchful eye of venerable Kansas City Star movie critic Robert W. Butler. Butler took a bullet early last month in the latest round of quarterly layoffs and cutbacks at the newspaper.
But wait – he’s baaack!
Like a bad teen terror flick, Butler has risen from the dead (kinda like me), not once but thrice!
On Facebook, a blog and a geezer repository, "Senior Correspondent."
Hearne: Top KC Jazz Guns Mysterious Brush with Buckethead @ Beaumont
On the surface, it was an unlikely match….
To say the very least. Two of Kansas City’s top jazz musicians opening for serial killer-looking guitar god Buckethead at the Beaumont Club last night.
"You know, I opened up for him," said piano man Mark Lowrey, as Buckethead wailed away onstage. "He’s awesome. He’s probably the biggest star I’ve ever opened for. I mean, I closed for Max Weinberg at Jardine’s. But Buckethead’s a mutha fu…I mean, he’s a mofo – I don’t cuss on the record. But I mean, check him out, man."
Caitlin: The Making of a Fashion Run to Wakarusa
I kind of hate to admit it, but I’ve listened to jam bands.
I’ve attended concerts like Phish, Galactic, and Widespread Panic and I’ve driven all the way to Tennessee to go camping at Bonnaroo Music Festival. Three times!
You see, if you grow up in Lawrence and there is an unwritten mandate: at one point in your life – typically before you can legally purchase alcohol – you will think you are a hippie—a cool one, that is.
Today: Blanc Burgers Smashes Groupon Record, Explains How the Game is Played
Oh, ye of little faith…
How many Groupon deals have to go down before skeptics concede that – if structured properly – the half-price marketing schmoozes are win-win deals? Good for buyers, good for sellers.
How about a record-smashing 20,150 Groupons?
That’s how many $10 gets you $20 Blanc Burgers Bottles deals were sold over the weekend by Groupon.
How businesses can afford to sell food for 25 cents on the dollar seems to be the main question.
Simple, says Blanc Burgers main man Ernesto Peralta.
Glazer: Surprise, Surprise! Memorial Weekend Hottie Homecoming at Woodside
It all went down Sunday at Woodside Health and Tennis Club…
Just this side of State Line – yes – in Kansas. The girls were there and once again Woodside proved why it’s No. 1 in hot bodies and poolside fun. Don’t believe me? Check the pics.
I got there before just 11 AM, worked out and hit the pool.
One thing that sets Woodside apart is it has three large pools behind the main clubhouse. Two for adults only, the other a family pool. One pool has cocktail service and a bar. It also has some of Kansas City’s finest ladies.
Donnelly: Wakarusa Godfather on Why Arkansas’s Better Than Lawrence (& More)
Got your tickets yet? Better hurry…
The Wakarusa Festival kicks off this Thursday, June 2nd in Ozark, Arkansas atop Mulberry Mountain. It’s a venue that most everyone can agree is more picturesque – and more friendly – than the original site at Clinton State Park in Lawrence.
"Yeah, the vibe is definitely more relaxed and a lot funner, I think," says Wakarusa main man Brett Mosiman. "It’s really spectacular. On the drive in you start getting really excited going through the mountains and forests and it really is on top of a mountain. There are little creeks and ponds, and our southern campsite is on the Mulberry River. So you can take a dip before coming up and seeing some shows."
The bands Mosiman is looking forward to the most? Some big ones, some small ones and some that most people have never seen.
Hearne: Add Buckethead to Your Bucket List; Tonight @ Beaumont Club
Donning a KFC bucket and a dialed back Friday the 13th mask is hardly a recipe for rock ‘n’ roll success…
That said, it’s worked out quite well for the artist known as Buckethead who headlines tonight the Beaumont Club in Westport. To the tune of 32 albums and a cult following that won’t quit.
"I love Buckethead," says Crossroads and Wakarusa promoter Brett Mosiman. "I’ll see him down on the mountain (Wakarusa in Arkansas) on Thursday."
What to expect at a Buckethead show?
"He’s in costume and in character," Mosiman says. "And he’s got crazy guitar skills. He’s kind of a freak – he’s got eight-inch fingers and plays an incredible guitar. He’s been a Wakarusa favorite for a long time."
Today: The End of the World as We Know It? Nah.
One week ago we were staring down the barrel of the tornado season from hell…
For the second time in just a few days I looked out the backdoor of my Prairie Village home as I listened to sirens and reports of impending storms. A tornado had touched down somewhere in Overland Park said one.
And KSHB weather wonk Gary Lezak perched on his hillside house in South O.P. watching an ominous, swirling cloud approaching from the south while laying down a live play-by-play on Channel 41.
