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Edelman: Unicorn Gets The Rapture (& Fred Phelps)
The far-from-friendly Fred Phelps family usually finds itself outside the theater, ranting on the sidewalk about some wacky message from God.
Well, welcome inside the Unicorn Theatre, oh my Topeka brothers—it’s probably not the one your Scripture had in mind, but the EVERYDAY RAPTURE (now thru June 10) has arrived and you’re in it.
When I saw this smart, hilarious yet touching show on Broadway, I thought the Unicorn would be perfect for EVERYDAY RAPTURE. After all—how many cutting edge theaters can you find within 100 miles of the Kansas state capital? Well, praise the Lord and pass the intermission—Cynthia Levin and company procured the rights to the first-ever production of this little gem outside NYC. Now you can see it and have fun with the Phelps’ kin yourself.
Glazer: My Pal Hearne Takes a Bride
Well, all of us who know Hearne Christopher, knew it was coming…
But he fooled us and got married in Mexico. The sneaky devil! I got the text late last night that one of my best friends Hearne had gotten married when he was south. I know his new wife Kimberly Christopher pretty well. Hearne met her while she was working on a corproate event during a visit to Stanford and Sons at Legends more than a year ago, nearly two in fact.
She is a wonderful young lady. Kimberly is very attractive, smart as a whip, has a great career and is a terrific mom. How did he land her? They will make a fantastic couple. I know Hearne is kinda private with his personal life unlike SOME PEOPLE we all know.
Hearne: Dramatic Cutbacks in New Orleans Bad Sign for Newspapers
Just when devotees of newspapers thought it was safe to go outside…
It’s been an incredibly tough four-plus years for newspapers and magazines. And not just because of the dour economic landscape. The Kansas City Star has laid off hundreds – going from a staffing of more than 2,000 employees 10 years ago to around 700 today. The city’s second largest print player, the Johnson County Sun, is no longer even in business having been shuttered by its area owner that had invested millions in buying and running the suburban weekly. The Pitch was fire saled off to an out-of-town buyers a year ago after years of churning out red ink, its long term future yet in doubt.
And now comes news that the vaunted New Orleans Times-Picayune is poised to enact massive staff cuts and reduce its newspaper circulation from daily to just three days a week this fall. To which I now suggest that you read it here first.
How few times a week can a daily paper publish and remain viable, I asked former Star publisher Art Brisbane in February of 2009.
Glazer: The Premature Death of Royals ‘Superstar’ To Be Eric Hosmer
The Royals are beginning to turn away from their "future super star" Eric Hosmer…
Yep, todays Kansas City Star held more proof of the team’s lack of confidence that their guy will ever be much more than maybe the next Alex Gordon. Meaning a solid player – nothing much more than good – not great. Holy Molly!
So the Royals press dogs have now started pushing for Mike Moustakas, the Moose. He was front page news today – the team’s best third baseman since George Brett. The guy leads the team in homers at seven and is batting .300. They even compare him to all the other good third baseman in the league for range.
They‘re desperate we’re desperate.
Clearly with Hosmer out of the All-Star Game, it’s THE MOOSE, who the Royals want to take his place.
Starbeams: Johnny Rowlands’ “Pornstache,” Kid Curfew, AMC Bails, French Connection
The Kansas City Youth Curfew starts this weekend. Children 18 and younger who are in public after 9:00 p.m. must be on a leash.
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AMC and Cordish have parted ways on AMC’s Mainstreet Theater. It has nothing to do with the Chinese buyout. I’m hoping to get a deal on one of those vibrating leather chairs. Is this a public forum?
Whinery: NY Goes After Blog Commenters, Greek Tragedy, Kool v. Van Halen
Ladies and Gentlemen. May I please have your attention?
I’ve just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story and I need all of you to stop what you’re doing and listen.
CANNONBALL! Ron Burgundy!
The State of the World… I don’t even know where to begin this rant on how we are either hopelessly screwed or face a new beginning- either way- as Bob Dylan said, “The times they are a changing!”
From the “Don’t They Have Something Else Better to Do” file comes this; Republicans in New York State think that the safety of their citizenry is being compromised by anonymous blog commenters. You know the types. And nearly half the Reps in New York’s legislature have signed onto an UNCONSTITUIONAL bill which would force web pages, social media sites and online newspapers to delete any anonymous comments under penalty of law.
Leftridge: Tales From the Tweet: NBA Playoffs, Wright’s Grand Gesture & Canseco vs. Sheik (Finally!)
When you’re a fan of Kansas City sports, the end of May and early June is a bleak time. The Royals are typically toast, the Chiefs are just starting OTA junk and collegiate athletics—the ones worth paying attention to, anyway—are stagnant. If you’re an NBA or NHL fan (LOLZ! at that last one!!!), this is an exciting time, though. Playoffs, baby.
In case you missed it—and let’s be honest, most of you probably did—the OKC Thunder ousted the Lakers, the Spurs steamrolled the Clippers, the Heat will probably dismiss the Pacers in short order (though it’s worth noting that the Pacers have made it a close series, at least) and the Celtics and the 76ers—wait, what? Are we sure it’s THOSE 76ers? It is? Well…okay, if you say so—are heading into a Game 7 showdown this Saturday.
So just who in the hell is watching this stuff? The Lakers Executive Vice Cougar, for one.
@JeanieBuss (EVP Lakers, Phil Jackson’s GF, Unbelievably sexy lady)
“Congrats to OK City #Thunder. 1st class organization starting at the top. OKC is OK with me – good luck through rest of #NBA playoffs.”
What a thoughtful, classy tweet from someone who is transparently passing along tidings of well-wishes and… whatever. I can’t do this. I didn’t even read whatever her tweet said. I just included her so I could post her picture. Where have I been? Where has SHE been all my life? How did I have no idea that the Executive Whatever in Charge of Holy Shit was so goddamned hot?! Wow. And she’s ridiculously wealthy? AND wears sexy business suits? I’m sold. And totally in trouble with my wife, now. Let’s move on.
Hearne: Mancow Falls for Knuckleheads, Makes Up with Rainmakers, Disses KC Crowd
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It was the best of times and the worst of times…remember that one?
This time out however we’re talking about Saturday’s Rainmakers show at Knuckleheads in the East Bottoms, not the French Revolution. And while it was clearly the age of foolishness, it was hardly the age of wisdom.
Not according to the Kansas City-bred, Chicago shock jock Erich "Mancow" Muller.
"It was fantastic," Mancow says of the show. "I tell you, Bob Walkenhorst‘s hair was gray – which is startling – but they’re still a great band. They’re as good as they were in 1986."
When the Rainmakers took the stage Saturday, Mancow was Johnny on the Spot.
"And the first thing Bob did when he walked out was reach down and shake my hand," Mancow says. "I was front-and-center with my belly against the stage and quite honestly, I was surprised he recognized me."
Sounds Good: Jon Eric@Barnyard, Weir, Robinson, & Greene@Crossroads, Best Coast@Granada
Some cool shows this weekend…
I’ll be taking it a little easy, resting up for the big trip to Mulberry Mountain next weekend for the Wakarusa Festival. I’m planning on talking with festival mastermind Brett Mosiman sometime soon to get the inside scoop on this year’s festivities, which I will, of course, relate to you loyal KCC readers.
And I’ll be reviewing the bands, venue, hula hoopers (or is it hoopists?), etc., live from the mountain top for those of you not brave enough to make the trek yourselves.
In the meantime, here’s where to go…
Jack Goes Confidential: Will Smith Rewrites History. Josh Brolin Nails a Young Tommy Lee Jones
It’s been a decade since MEN IN BLACK 2 hit the big screen in 2002…
To say it was underwhelming is putting it mildly. Gone was the fun, freshness and funny interplay between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones that we all loved in the 1997 original.
So has director Barry Sonnenfeld learned his lesson from the first sequel?
The answer: Sort of.
Katie: Van Halen Storms Sprint Center
I shot for Van Halen last night at Sprint Center. The shooting was rough though. I could only be there for the first three songs and it was from the soundboard. I couldn’t see shit!
But seeing those three songs was freaking amazing.. I can’t really write much about the concert because I didn’t get to stay after that…boo! Still was a pretty neat experience.
Glazer: Scribes Puerto Rican Wilding Sparks ‘Greatest Hits’ Flashback
If you could capture and hold onto just one moment of your life, what would that be?
I know for most of us there are many not-so-great moments and it’s often hard to hold onto that truly wonderful snapshot. I was on the plane coming home yesterday from Puerto Rico – great place – and looking out the window thinking just that – what moment in time was the greatest, the best?
It’s summer now, so I think for so many of us this is that time of year when things seem a bit uplifting.
And so I thought about the good things. It’s hard to narrow it down to just one, but if I had to? I’ve never fathered a baby so that’s not an option. However seeing my nephews playing tennis and looking so happy, expecting to have a life not nearly as rocky as mine or their dads – that’s a pick.
Starbeams: KCPD Radar Love, Obama Does Joplin, Chinese Take Over AMC & Dilly
A 24 year-old Kansas City man has been arrested for allegedly pointing a laser at a KCPD helicopter. Apparently, he became upset when they wouldn’t tell him the location of the rebel base.
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President Obama spoke to graduating students in Joplin Monday night. Several residents of Jasper county said it was the first time they had met someone from Kenya.
Whinery: PENN FRASER JILLETTE GOES OFF ON OBAMA
Author/illusionist/comedian/musician Penn Fraser Jillette (of Penn & Teller) is a man known for epic rants…
And he really let Obama have it about the president’s hypocrisy concerning drug laws. Pointing out how Obama in his 1995 book Dreams of My Father admits to “smoking weed” and “doing a little blow” and now he’s letting the Feds crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries in California and Colorado. This is but ANOTHER campaign promise broken by Mr. Obama.
Remember how in 2008 Obama said he would call off the war on medical marijuana?
Donnelly: Mayer Hawthorne at the Granada, May 21, 2012
Apparently, Mayer Hawthorne is taking this neo-soul thing seriously.
When he rolled through Larryville in late 2010 with just one record under his belt, you had to wonder whether this kid’s journey into Motown was real or if it was just a cheeky, ironic hipster wink. I mean, he had already carved out a pretty nice little niche for himself in LA as Haircut, a hip hop DJ, so it wouldn’t have been surprising to find out that Mr. Hawthorne donned the tight sport coat and hit the high notes just for something to do on the side.
New Jack City: What’s In The Cards For AMC Entertainment Kansas City’s Heritage Company?
Sometimes these international buyouts of U.S. companies don’t quite go as expected…
Different customs and practices by the foreign buyer can bring eventual frustration and downright bitterness to the company being bought out. Remember Daimler-Benz and Chrysler?
Current American management may feel that they’re still in charge, but often times they’re really not. And that can be a hard pill to swallow.
Think I’m kidding?
Glazer: Scribe says, ‘It’s a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World!’
It’s a Gay, Gay, Crazy, Mad World out there today…
With films like THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO, playing up lesbian sex with the star as example, you bet it is! Now comes the not-exactly-a-shocker story on John Travolta. Yes, they are coming out of the woodwork to tell the "He offered me money to have sex" stories.
Are they true? It would seem to be the case.
Hollywood has always had its Gay Mafia.
Many – and likely most – of the men and woman in the arts have had same sex moments. Not me, of course. But it’s all too common.
So why the buzz on John?
The media came out on him long ago. He even went into hiding in the 90’s for a few years to let the rumors die down. Remember? Then he did a couple family films, "Look Who’s Talking" and followed with "Pulp Fiction," his big comeback movie.
Hearne: Jack Searches the Heavens for Rationale for AMC Sale to Chinese
What to think of the deal by Chinese company Wanda to buy local movie giant AMC?
Well for starters, that nothing is sacred in the world of high finance and international business. As promised – but not reported locally until recently by KCC – Wanda president Wang Jianlin had boasted in a speech last year that "his company would ‘shock the world’ with an acquisition to be made within the year."
Well, it certainly did come as a shock to Kansas City that one of its prized corporate possessions would no longer be under local (or domestic) ownership and control. After all, AMC employs about 18,500 staffers and owns 346 theaters.
And while undoubtedly the Chinese will want things to remain intact where AMC’s domestic and international business is concerned, it does make one wonder how much longer those two and three connection international flights to the Cowtown will make sense to Wanda execs. Especially given that Kansas City is hardly an entertainment hub.
So we’ll see.
Starbeams: With AMC You Get Egg Rolls, Facebook Founder Pokes & Battleship Missouri to Rescue
Long-time Kansas City owned AMC Theaters has been bought by a Chinese company, but the chain will remain based in Leawood. Former CEO and creator of the megaplex, Stan Durwood, is undoubtedly egg-rolling in his grave.
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday to Priscilla Chan, a California med student. It was the first time since my wedding in 1999 where the vows included the word "poke."
Donnelly: Complacent Sporting Team “Satisfied” With Draw on the Road
After starting off the season 7-0, Sporting KC hit a rough patch – a month-long rough patch…
The boys in blue have not won a game since April 18th, and have struggled to replicate the form they showed early on.
Over the weekend at Colorado KC had a golden opportunity to earn 3 points after heading into the locker room up 2-0 thanks to Teal Bunbury’s first half brace. But Colorado notched two goals of its own in the second half and the game ended in a draw.
“I don’t know if there was a certain point in the game where it really turned,” wondered Bunbury, “but I feel like we took our foot off the pedal a little bit after those two goals when I feel like we should have kept pressing them a little more.”
Yes, KC took their foot off the pedal. But why?
