Yearly Archives: 2011
OTC: Players & Media Turn To Twits On Whether Cutler Quit
“I’m sorry. I don’t need an MRI to confirm King Cutler quit. FOX cameras provided all the evidence I need. … Despite all their strong words defending Cutler, I bet you couldn’t pay Brian Urlacher and Lovie Smith to start Cutler’s car for the next month. Cutler is the new Steve Bartman, the interfering Cubs fan.”Jason Whitlock, who compares Cutler to Lebron James quitting on the Cavs, FoxSports.com
GH: Whitlock isn’t alone in crucifying Cutler on a subject he admits having no facts. Whitlock doesn’t need an MRI to defame Cutler to the masses. It is why today’s media is more powerful than ever and more wrong than ever. Read on.
“Read all the tweets from current and former players that defended Jay Cutler. Yeah, there weren’t any. … Hey, if I’m wrong I’ll apologize.”
Mike Golic, on the numerous people in the NFL and media (himself included) who condemned the Bears’ QB for quitting on his team, ESPN Radio
GH: The one thing in common with all those current and former players, Whitlock, Golic is that just like you and I, they weren’t there. They watched on television like you and I and then made maybe career-damaging comments about a player’s courage, heart and competitiveness that they could not have known. It is simply too high a price for Cutler to have to pay so these people can be controversial or add another twit to their Twitter account.
Mike Golic, on the numerous people in the NFL and media (himself included) who condemned the Bears’ QB for quitting on his team, ESPN Radio
GH: The one thing in common with all those current and former players, Whitlock, Golic is that just like you and I, they weren’t there. They watched on television like you and I and then made maybe career-damaging comments about a player’s courage, heart and competitiveness that they could not have known. It is simply too high a price for Cutler to have to pay so these people can be controversial or add another twit to their Twitter account.
Today: Nigro Cries Foul, Vows the Strip Won’t Trip
Please be kind to Bill Nigro…
A certain local blogger – let’s see, what is his name? Oh yeah, Tony – has been riding the Kansas City Strip trolly system hard and putting it away harshly on his blog Tony’s Kansas City.
Not enough riders, too much tax money – never shoulda been subsidized by Kansas City, Tony says.
Enough already, Nigro cries.
CAR: First KC FIAT Due Any Day, Fiat Studio to Open in March
Be it ever so humble…
In a matter of days Olathe Dodge will add Fiat of Olathe and become Kansas City’s exclusive area Fiat car dealer. And in mere days, it will get its first demo in – a spanking new 2012 Fiat 500. Meanwhile, the game is afoot on designing and morphing its used car office building in a snazzy, new Fiat Studio.
"What’s funny is we are starting on the building February 1st," says general manager Jeff Briggs. "But I will have a new Fiat 500 here in the next few days for people to look at and test drive."
The official launch for Fiat North America’s new 500 goes down Feb. 8 to 10 in Los Angeles, Briggs says.
Joe Miller: Not so fast! Staffer Says No Renaissance for Streetside
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I was thrilled when I read on this site that Vinyl Renaissance is taking over the old Streetside Records in Westport.
I bought a vintage Dual turntable recently and I’m slowly turning my digital music collection into something tangible. Vinyl Renaissance has one of the best selections in the area (plus they sell super-top-of-the-line audiophile equipment like Macintosh that’s cool to look at and fantasize about being rich.)
The only downside is that it’s in the worst possible location in the metro area.
Seriously, going to VR’s outpost in a circa-1950 strip mall on a frontage road just off of Shawnee Mission Parkway is like descending into the darkest ring of suburban hell.
No, it’s worse. It’s like a prototype of suburban hell.
Today: Streetside Countdown On, Sports Hyperbole Inc.
Best hurry!
By the time you read this you’ll have about an hour to haul ass to Westport and be there for the final hurrah of Streetside Records. Everything in the store had been marked to half the listed sale prices. Further closing discounts may yet be being offered.
You’ve got until 6 p.m., OK?
Which brings us to the reported rescue effort underway by Vinyl Renaissance. VR and Streetside staffers having confirmed the effort, VR’s manager took exception to the reports but declined further comment.
Let me tell you though, however they decide to cut the cake, all signs point to VR (or possibly some of its ownership group) looking at taking over Streetside’s space and running some kind of a retail music operation in it.
Now let’s talk about sports hyperbole for a minute…
Glazer: Kansas City Held Hostage by Star’s Smokescreen
According to Westport leader and merchant Bill Nigro, the KC Star is not telling you the entire story when it comes to the smoking ban in Kansas City.
"They are not telling you the truth," said Nigro, following his meeting with The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Nigro felt that after reading the Star‘s Saturday front page story, they left out most of what he explained at the event.
The Star story indicated that the no smoking law had NO economic impact on business.
Nigro said in front of the media, "It’s affected many jobs, people are now out of work because of the it. More important, the city allows people to smoke at the Power and Light District, which it owns. Worse yet, they ALLOW SMOKING IN ALL CASINOS.
Guess they don’t care about your health there, huh?
Glazer: Playoffs, Playoffs, Playoffs!
So it’s here at last, the AFC and NFC Championship games. Are you ready?
With all the talk about teams that don’t have enough offense, the four teams remaining are in the top ten in defense…something our Chiefs need to pay close attention to.
Do you feel we belonged in this group after watching them play and our Chiefs play?
I don’t.
The games seem to be on a completely different level – one we’re not in yet. Our defense seems far away from where they need to be, don’t they?
I have to be honest, after those last two losses (Oakland and the Ravens) it was like letting the air out of all of us. We all say how cool it was to win the division and be in the playoffs, but it sure didn’t feel hopeful.
STARBEAMS: Betty White turns 89; Rep Gifford moves to Houston brain trauma center
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I understand she opted for the pat down instead of the body scan so that’s definitely a good sign.
Betty White celebrated her 89th birthday at Hallmark on Thursday.
She says the last time she was in Kansas City she came to trade fur.
Great news as Representative Giffords left the hospital Friday morning and taken to a Tucson airport for a flight to Houston arriving at a hospital that specializes in brain trauma.
Donnelly: Robert Randolph & the Family Band at Liberty Hall, January 21, 2011
Robert Randolph is a confident guy.
And why shouldn’t he be? He was included on Rolling Stone’s 2009 list of the 100 greatest guitar players. He’s played with Clapton, Buddy Guy, Dave Matthews, and Sly & the Family Stone.
So if he wants to wear a black leather, metal studded Mardi Gras mask, he doesn’t think twice, he just goes with it…
McTavish Weekend: Still Ozzy After All These Years
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It’s 1971 and I’m in seventh grade.
One day after school I find myself hanging out in a longhaired schoolmate’s suburban St. Louis garage. His two-day-old band is grinding its gears trying to sound like Black Sabbath and he wants to be Ozzy Osbourne so bad even I can taste the ambition as he shakes his greasy blonde locks and belts out “Iron Man” with a pimply sneer that’s probably been practiced more than a few times in the bedroom mirror.
It’s good to be young, I think, because if you’re old, you’d look crazy doing this. Just like the 62-year-old Osbourne, the eternally nutty rock god and reality TV icon, will no doubt look on Saturday at Sprint Center.
But he does it so well.
Jack Goes Confidential: NO STRINGS ATTACHED Takes Light View of Getting Laid
Just one major new release this weekend...
It’s a romantic comedy exploring the eternal question: What do women REALLY want?
In NO STRING ATTACHED they apparently want to be like men—having their sexual needs fulfilled without those nagging constraints of a relationship.
Natalie Portman plays a busy young doctor who’s on-and-off friends with TV writer Ashton Kutcher. And guess what? She ends up in bed with him.
A mistake?
Today: Lezak Cops to Blown Cast, KC to Pass Des Moines & School’s Out
Gary Lezak is 100 percent right, 100 percent of the time…
Now that we’ve got the bold face lying portion of this story out of the way, let’s revisit Lezak’s prediction that KC would only get maybe 13 inches of snow all winter.
"What you should say is that these two weeks are not going to count in my winter forecast," Lezak quips. "From January 11th to the 24th, we’re not going to count. Because we had 2.9 inches of snow before January 11th and at the end of this storm – we’re probably going to get 3 or 4 more inches. – it should dry out and then maybe we’ll get one or two more snows in February or March."
Glazer: The Amazing Truth Behind Overused Words Exposed!
Is it me or are you sick to death of all those words and phrases that we hear over and over and over again on a daily and hourly bases?
My favorite word to never use again, has to be AMAZING.
It really hit home during last year’s Academy Awards. Seemed every actor or celebrity interviewed got excited and used the word AMAZING 100 times. "Working with Jeff Bridges – he’s amazing. The movie he did was amazing. His talent is amazing. Everyone is amazing."
So how do you feel about this great event?
"Wow, it’s simply amazing!"
OTC: Texas Stabs Big 12’s Future With A $300-Million TV Deal
“The rich didn’t just get richer. The richer just got richest, if they weren’t already. … The announcement of the new 24-hour, every-day-of-the-year network that pays Texas $300 million over the next 20 years comes at a steep cost to the rest of the Big 12 Conference. The final score of Wednesday’s historic, ground-breaking news that sets Texas further apart from the huddled masses was thus: Texas 1, Big 12 0.”Kirk Bohls, columnist, Austin American-Statesman
GH: The jaw-dropping news hit this week – and the money was far more than any of us imagined. So what does this mean to the other nine schools in the new Big 12? Read on.
“Texas’ deal with ESPN is longer and more lucrative – 20 years, $300 million – than what I originally heard but it doesn’t change my feeling. Good for the Longhorns…and the Big 12.”
Blair Kerkhoff, columnist, Kansas City Star
GH: I read Kerkhoff’s comments in The Star on Thursday morning and then revisited them Thursday evening. He could not have meant what he wrote, could he? Obviously, Kerkhoff is either delusional or poorly informed – or maybe just Pollyanna. This ain’t gonna work out well for anyone except Texas – and maybe not even the haughty Horns. Read on.
Blair Kerkhoff, columnist, Kansas City Star
GH: I read Kerkhoff’s comments in The Star on Thursday morning and then revisited them Thursday evening. He could not have meant what he wrote, could he? Obviously, Kerkhoff is either delusional or poorly informed – or maybe just Pollyanna. This ain’t gonna work out well for anyone except Texas – and maybe not even the haughty Horns. Read on.
Tony: Fixing KCC Comments For Good. Again.
The greatest achievement of the Internet has been the ability for malcontents from every walk of life to share their complaints with the world.
Realizing this fact of life has been a slow and steady process for some of the crew here at KCC.
But as of now things are running full steam ahead.
Of course, you d-bags could have solved your own problems if late-adoptor readers ran a decent browser or knew how to ENABLE JAVASCRIPT when an online menu is acting wonky. Sadly, expecting even a modicum of Internet skill from online crybabies is far too much to ask.
So, KCC’s Kick-Ass tech department at The Lazarus Group is making comments dummy-proof and more accessible for anony idiots.
This giant leap forward came after a philosophical debate regarding user feedback. Here’s a bit of background on that topic:
Jennifer: Two Polacks Walk into a Cooking Class…
My mom had recently read about an upcoming Polish Pierogi cooking class in a Strawberry Hill Museum newsletter. In keeping with my "Life List" endeavor, I agreed to challenge myself to this undertaking.
Getting to the class proved to be far more challenging then mastering any cooking skill. When I called the number in the newsletter, I spoke to Cathy Kolenda-Smith who would be teaching the course (funny enough, we went to high school together but were in different classes). Back then, Cathy’s mom owned Sophie’s, a bakery that specialized in all types of baked goods, but put extra special care into Polish specialties like pierogies, golabki and poviticia. Cathy along with her sister and mom, Betty, still make their comforting creations, but now they do it privately by request and for special events.
STARBEAMS: Prego Dolls, Chinese Toys, New Ford, Record Snowfall and Betty White
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There’s a new "pregnancy doll" out that comes with a baby, placenta and cord.
Throw in a camera and call it the Johnson County Community College Barbie!
China has agreed to buy $45 billion in U.S. exports in a policy change celebrated at the White House.
It’s about time we started putting lead into some of their toys.
GO: Robert Randolph, Truckstop Honeymoon & Prince of Darkness Top Weekend’s Don’t Miss List
Stay at home, light a fire, and grab a good book? Oh, hell no! Man up and get out of your jammies… it’ll be worth it, I promise.
Friday, January 21, 2011
*Robert Randolph and the Family Band – Liberty Hall in Lawrence
If you’ve never seen Robert Randolph before, what the hell is wrong with you?
Roberto wails away on the pedal steel (and other guitars), bringing southern blues, funk, soul, and gospel to the needy. His high energy shows can get even the Lawrenc-iest hipster shaking their thang.
New Jack City: BORAT Turns DICTATOR!
Sacha Baron Cohen fans REJOICE!
Paramount Pictures has reunited Baron Cohen with his BORAT and BRUNO director Larry Charles for THE DICTATOR.
According to a studio release, "the film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed."
The release further advises that the story is "inspired by the best selling novel ‘Zabibah and the King’ by Saddam Hussein."
Cohen reportedly will play the dual roles of both the dictator and a goat herder.
Tony: Don’t Forget About Killing Across The State Line
Every few days, somebody dies a violent death in the Kansas City area. And for the most part that murder takes place on the Eastside of KCMO.
However, it’s worth noting that KCK is a much smaller community but still manages to keep up with the homicide rate across the State Line. The smaller size and tax base in KCK means that they aren’t well equipped to deal with the horrible toll that so many homicides take on a community.
A group of academics at Iowa State estimate the cost of homicides at $17.25 million for every murder. So the death toll quickly adds up.
