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New Jack City: What’s Next in Airline Travel—Pay Per Pee At 35,000 Feet?
With the latest hint by the airline industry being it will introduce yet another add-on fee, it’s always fun to check on Europe’s largest discount carrier RYANAIR to see what its brain trust is up to…
That’s because a bunch of today’s most irritating fees were originated by RYANAIR and made it across the pond and were adopted by America’s major airlines.
But before we go there, here’s what could become North America’s latest passenger squeeze play.
According to USA TODAY the newest gotcha could be a fee of up to $20 for the privilege to be among the first persons to exit the aircraft upon arrival at the gate.
Glazer: Bogus Ann-Margret Death Report Sparks ‘Bombshell’ Flashback for Scribe
I was planning on writing a story yesterday on Where have all the Hollywood Bombshells gone?
I’d just caught part of the movie Bye, Bye, Birdie with Ann-Margret before going to work. It was filmed in 1963 and co-starred Dick Van Dyke. Ann was about 22 at the time, but played a 16 year old high school girl in the movie.
And she was so sexy back then.
As I watched her move around I thought to myself, she’s still hot even by today’s standards. Then it came to me.
Why aren’t there more smoking hot, iconic female movie stars like her today?
There haven’t been for some time. You know, large breasted women (with real breasts) and bubble butts – girls who can move it – sing, dance, even act.
Next I was shocked to read, SHE WAS KILLED IN NEW ZEALAND.
Hearne: The 2012 Kansas City All Star Game, Too Much of a Good Thing?
In what feels like just a few short years (but is actually closer to a lifetime) Major League Baseball‘s gone from No. 1 on my list to not even on my list….
And I suspect I’m not alone.
If my mother hadn’t given away my baseball card collection, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now writing this. I’d be jet skiing with Mitt Romney or wind surfing with John Kerry in Nantucket.
I was that into baseball…despite how bad the team here was. I even liked that silly mascot mule.
When the Royals got good – like pretty much everybody else – I hopped on the bandwagon. However the passion was really never the same. And after the team fell out of bed, I completed the process of moving on in life.
Without baseball.
Today: The End of Days for CD Players in Cars & Software in General
As a little kid I faintly remember my parents having had odd-sized 78 RPM vinyl records….
I didn’t understand much about them, other than they played at a rate of 78 revolutions-per-minute on a turntable versus the standard long playing record album of the day that played at 33 RPM. When my older siblings struck teen, I learned about 45 RPM records. They were tiny by comparison, but packed a powerful punch in that they held only the very best songs. No filler.
At some point later in the 1960s do-it-yourself recorded music hit the mainstream marketplace.
They came before my time, but have you ever seen one of those old reel-to-reel tape recorders with giant spools of audio tape? They were pretty cool looking. Kinda like the old bicycles with those giant front tires on them were cool.
But like the gigundo-tired bikes, reel-to-reel tapes were unwieldy
Glazer: Scribe Outed by The Slammer After Bogus Assault Arrest, Says He’s Not Guilty
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If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone…
Matthew Creed of Shawnee was posting minor arrests on a Website locally. Then the guy would offer to take down people’s misdemeanor arrest mugshots if you paid him $199!
"The guy is a bottom feeder vulture," said Jay Norton, a long time Johnson County Attorney, who had clients up on the site. "The idea he was trying to help the community is a farce."
Creed started the site, blabbermouthkc.com in May. He then sent arrested folks a letter with their mugshot on it asking for the money if they wanted it removed! What is the world coming too?
It gets better…
Many of the arrests were DUI, However many more were people who failed to show up for court for like traffic tickets. And oh yeah, a funny thing called, people who were NOT GUILTY OF ANYTHING.
Meaning their cases were in error, the charges were dismissed or they were not guilty.
A year ago I was arrested on a phony, totally made up, zero evidence, assault case.
Starbeams: Royals 1st Inning Stretch, Foreplay in San Diego & Romney Tops Obama in Ks.
Security is ready for the All-Star Game. For example, several guards will be placed near the exits of Kauffman Stadium to keep Royals fans from leaving after the traditional first inning exit.
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A San Diego fireworks show accidentally launched its 20-minute set of fireworks in 15 seconds. What a coincidence? This happens to me during foreplay!
Donnelly: Hottest Ticket in Town? Sporting KC Saturday & Former SKC Man Davy Arnaud Can’t Believe It
Sporting KC bounced back in a big way on the road this week at Montreal...
Despite not playing its best and conceding many dangerous chances to the home side, KC came away with a 3-1 win boosting the team’s confidence as they head home for Saturday’s 7 pm grudge match against the team that dashed their championship dreams last season, the Houston Dynamo.
And tickets for this baby are going fast, if they’re not already gone. I just looked on Sporting’s ticket site and there werer literally about 8 tickets available. Yep, Sporting Kansas City is the hottest ticket in town right now, aside from the MLB All Star game of course.
However if you don’t have a ticket yet and still want in, don’t sweat it too much. There are several good options for scoring an after-market ticket. The option I use most is simply showing up at LIVESTRONG, heading towards the wafting barbecue smoke and looking for the blue flags flapping in the breeze. There’s almost always a super fan with an extra ticket to unload, and a few times they wouldn’t even allow me to pay for it.
They may also make you chug a beer for good measure and to prove your loyalty to SKC.
Jack Goes Confidential: ‘To Rome with Love’—Woody’s Tribute To Eternal City
I’m not the biggest Woody Allen, fan but I don’t think I’ve missed a single one of his films in his long career…
For example, I enjoyed his earlier movies more than what came later. Movie like ANNIE HALL, BANANAS, EVERYTHING YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX, MANHATTAN and BULLETS OVER BROADWAY.
After those, I kinda lost interest but I still watched them.
The turnaround came with Allen’s later films like VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA in 2008 and again with last year’s wistful MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, in which Allen did not appear. Instead he concentrated his talents strictly behind the camera.
Allen’s latest is called TO ROME WITH LOVE and it opens in Kansas City today.
Hearne: Addams Family Heats Up Starlight with Tepid Fare
I’m not a theater critic, but I’m playing one today…
So let me say up front, the opening night performance of The Addams Family at Starlight Theatre didn’t knock my socks off. Just as the musical didn’t for critics and audiences on Broadway. But hey, it’s a musical, based on a television show, based on a cartoon strip.
And it’s reportedly grossed more than $60 million on Broadway and that ain’t chump change.
Since then it’s been tweaked by writers and producers for the touring edition, However in the final analysis there still just isn’t enough in the way of catchy songs, plot or script writing to overcome the sweltering outdoor heat, even though Starlight has bent over backwards to provide complimentary water, ice and misting stations.
New Jack City: Don’t Knock Film Factory Economics 101, The Amazing Spider-Man
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One of the biggest complaints about Hollywood concerns its never ending sequels and reboots…
But can you blame the studios?
Franchises are the bread and butter of the Industry. Beloved characters targeting younger moviegoers while at the same time capitalizing on the nostalgia factor of older ones. And with tightening production dollars, the franchise sequels and/or reboots become ever more important in the marketplace.
Case in point THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!
As The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out in a piece about Sony (Columbia) Pictures, "A (Spider-Man) reboot was a way to escape the spiral of diminishing returns.
Whinery: DOES AMERICA STILL HAVE THE SPIRIT OF 1776?
As Americans all over this great nation celebrate Independence Day –
are we really that independent any more?
Headlines shout that record number of citizens are “disabled”, on food stamps, or receiving some sort of government assistance. Government is now involved in one way or another in over half of the gross national product and is the nation’s largest employer…
And Government doesn’t even do great things anymore.
Leftridge: Mr. Brightside Presents a Royals June Recap
And as June marched on, its oppressive, triple-digit heat gripping Kansas City by the balls and roasting the flesh of the inhabitants therein, a curious thing began to happen to the city’s baseball team: they began to play decent baseball.
Despite pitcher Felipe Paulino’s groin strain that somehow morphed into an injury requiring season-ending Tommy John surgery, and despite the glaringly evident fact that Jonathan Sanchez is a useless pile of crap that needs to be jettisoned—and now—the Royals find themselves 6 games under .500 and only 5.5 games back in the lousy American League Central.
After April’s miserable origins, and an up and down May, the ROYALS ARE 5.5 GAMES BACK IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL. It seems improbably, but I assure you, it is not.
And though Sanchez is as exciting as making out with your stepmom at the lake, and Jonathan Broxton will almost certainly begin to finally, spectacularly implode, finally losing his luck in the 9th inning heart-attacks for which he is so mystifyingly fond (a man of his stature can only wiggle for so long), there are players on this team who have made all of this winning possible. They are June’s Heroes, and they shall not go unnoticed.
Glazer: 4th of July Flashback; Blowing Up Dear Old Dad & The Plaza
The Fourth Of July has always been one of my favorite holidays…
Ah yes, the fireworks. If you’re a guy you remember the M-80‘s and Cherry Bombs. The good fireworks were always illegal, so those were the fireworks we always wanted. And somehow we’d end up with a box or two of them. They were like 20 firecrackers rolled into one.
It was almost like dope back in the day….
Who had them? Where did we need to sneak off to get them? I knew DAD WOULD FND THEM and so it was. Good old dad to the rescue. How in the world did that man know where to find these illegal beauties? I never did know.
Now the cherry bombs looked nice, but were not as powerful as the M-80’s. So if you were cool you’d light one of those bad boy and throw it up in the air as far as you could send that bomb. The blast came seconds later, a puff of smoke, a loud blast, heaven.
Sounds Good: Fourth of July & ACBs@Replay, Fitz and the Tantrums@Crossroads, Red Bull Locally Thrown@Crossroads, Victor Wooten@Granada, Death Cab@Crossroads
So much going on this week and weekend…
Of course there are the various fireworks displays around the area – that’s a given.
There’s also the MLB All Star game and festivities that go along with it, including a 5K on Sunday. There’s a food festival in Lawrence’s Watson Park featuring local food and drinks. There’s a thing called Lawrence Field Day Fest that’s spanning a few nights at the Bottleneck featuring 20-some local and regional bands. There’s a Sporting KC game at LIVESTRONG on Saturday against the team that knocked them out in the semis last season, the Houston Dynamo.
Shall I go on?
If you have any time left at all, think about mixing in one of these killer shows…
Today: Former Star Sports Scribe Posnanski Questionable Choice to Pen Paterno Bio
Get me rewrite…
To be fair, the jury’s out on how good a job Joe Posnanski will do in penning fallen Penn State coach Joe Paterno‘s biography…
That said, there’s little doubt on why the ebullient former Kansas City Star sports scribe was chosen for the task. Posnanski has carved a career in breathing fervor into even the most mundane sports achievements and personalities.
He’s a great writer, if a bit euphoric and hyperbolic at times – like most of the time. So it comes as little surprise that JoePa would feel comfortable and assured he’d receive kid glove treatment at the hands of JoePo.
And what writer wouldn’t leap at the chance to get their mitts on a reported $750,000 writing fee?
Unfortunately, an anticipated, run of the mill journalistic blowjob turned into an ugly, nasty tell-all courtesy of the Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky’s child abuse scandal.
Hearne: Improved Addams Family @ Starlight Worth Checking Out, Theater Insider Says
Not every show makes it big on Broadway…
Not even a number of the good one. So says Theater League main man Mark Edelman. Something about it being too expensive to "fix" things when a show gets off on the wrong foot. Which doesn’t mean things can’t be fine tuned later before the show hits the road.
Which is exactly what happened in the case with the Addam’s Family musical that opens tonight at Starlight Theatre and plays through Sunday, Edelman says.
"It wasn’t a hit on Broadway but the authors went back and tweaked a few things and the word I got is the tour is better than the show on Broadway was," Edelman says.
Including the cast…
Hearne: Food Flipping Japanese Steakhouses Hibachi, Kabuki on Brink
Once upon a time Kansas City was a pretty sleepy city when it came to quality restaurants…
Lots of comfort food joints like Jess & Jim‘s, Stroud’s, Waid’s, Winstead’s, Arthur Bryant’s, Gates, Savoy Grill and however many restaurants whose names began with the word "Putsch’s."
No mas…
No longer must locals strap on a coat and tie and head to places like the American Restaurant or Peppercorn Duck Club to enjoy an upscale, eclectic dining experience.
Far from it.
Hearne: New, Improved Addams Family Hits Starlight; How to Keep Cool
On your marks, get set, swelter…
Tonight’s kickoff of the Addams Family at Starlight Theatre should be a scorcher. As in a tad on the warm side. To that end, Starlight has delivered unto ticketholders some advice on how to beat the heat.
"Every guest is allowed to bring 1 sealed bottle of water into the theatre," Starlight advises. "Complimentary water stations will be placed at our North and East Guest Relations. Water misters will be placed throughout the theatre for guest convenience (and) Starlight has drinking fountains throughout the theatre."
There’s more.
You know it’s really hot when, "Upon request, all concession stands will provide you with a complimentary cup of ice" to theatergoers, Starlight says.
Not that it will be unbearable, adds KSHB weather wonk Gary Lezak.
Starbeams: Fox Anchor Gets Rouses Kelly, Royals Fans on Hot Seat & Bazooka’s Makeover
Erin Andrews said she hopes her move to Fox Sports will help her grow as a journalist. She’s always helped me grow as a viewer.
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Little known fact: New Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto is one letter away from having the initials ESPN.
Glazer: Scribe Sends Up Salute to Hollywood Icon Andy Griffith
To say I knew Andy Griffith is an honor…
Andy died yesterday at age 86 and I officed across the hall from him with producer Dan York at Universal from 1990-1992. I’d run into the legendary star weekly and we talked about new projects. When I mentioned that Nick Kazan had written my life story (a screenplay) then titled OUTLAWS, he smiled.
Andy’s first big break came from Nick’s father Elia Kazan who directed Griffith in "A Face In The Crowd." That’s the movie that made Griffith a star. What I most remember about Andy is that he was tall and always wore a coat and tie. Yes, those were fun and interesting times.
I find it strange when icons like Andy Griffith pass away that there’s so little fanfare.
I guess when you go the distance, live a long life and have so much success, it’s just not as exciting when you die.
