Author Archives: admin
Hearne: Anatomy of a Mugging, a Father’s Tale
The anonymous comments crowd can be harsh…
And not just here, pretty much everywhere. Because for some reason or other, people feel compelled to weigh in, have their voices heard. Their uncaring voices too.
Take the young man who was beaten outside of the Granada theater in downtown Lawrence early Thursday morning. Police were called just before 2 a.m. and found a man who’d been knocked to the ground then kicked by two "suspects."
No one was arrested and the man was taken to the hospital with injuries to his face and head.
Enter Lawrence Journal World comments section stalwarts bearing their feeble two-cents worths…
"Was there a hip-hop performance there Wednesday night?" asked the first.
Glazer: The Unfair Pillorying of Royals Star Willie Mays Aikens
He was named after Hall of Famer Willie Mays…
The man would become the hitting star of the 1980 World Series for the Kansas City Royals. He would also spend nearly a lifetime in prison for selling a small amount of cocaine.
Willie Mays Aikens – mostly because he was not too bright – ended up getting run over by a truck.
The truck’s name: Federal Law Enforcement, in this case the D.E.A.
Aikens just had a book written about his life titled, SAFE AT HOME. Reviews have been good. Willie was a solid hitter with the Kansas City Royals from 1980-83. He’s best known for the four home runs hit in a losing cause against the Philly’s in the 1980 World Series.
Yes sir, it was quite a year, maybe the best ever in Royals’ history.
Hearne: Beyond Boffo! Summer Movie Season Biggest Ever
Hail, Caesar!
Or maybe I should say, Great Caesar’s ghost!
That’s pretty much the tone of Jack Poessiger‘s early take on this year’s CinemaCon movie convention live from Caesar’s Palace in Las Veas. Three days in, two to go and Poessiger could barely contain himself.
"This summer looks huge," Poessiger says. "I’ve never seen this many hit movies crammed into this short of a period. I think this is going to be thje biggest summer movie season ever. Beginning with The Avengers next week – I mean, it just doesn’t stop – there’s like two movies a week."
OK, hold it…
Whinery: The Death of Privacy-Part One; the Cyber Intelligent Sharing & Protection Act
Right now in US House of Representatives some of the most sinister legislation ever is working its way through Committee…
It’s called “The Cyber Intelligence and Protection Act” (CISPA).
And at least the fine Reverend and distinguished Member of Congress- Emanuel Cleaver– is not a co-sponsor of this Orwellian Bill… Wish I could say the same about Congressman Yoder… But put the label “National Security” on a piece of legislation and Republicans can be counted on to blindly vote for it.
So what does CISPA do?
In a nutshell- it ends anything vaguely resembling privacy and the free flow of communication on the Internet.
Am I paranoid? No way!
Hearne: The Unfortunate (unexaggerated) Report of the Death of the American Royal
Let’s talk about what’s left of the once great, Kansas City institution known as the American Royal...
When I was a kid I didn’t have a clue about the American Royal outside of getting to hang out downtown and catch a really cool parade once a year. Needless to say, that didn’t last long.
As I grew older my awareness of the local annual Cow & Pony show grew and I was inculcated into the school of thinking that the American Royal was a very important component of the business and social fabric in Kansas City.
After all, local giant-among-men, banker R. Crosby Kemper Jr. was its most ardent supporter.
Plus people of my father’s age with ties to what is sometimes referred to as KC’s "agribusiness industry" gave it more than just lip service – they bought into it big time and backed it with bucks.
Even high society types worshipped at the Royal’s altar, offering their daughters as debutantes in the annual BOTAR Ball.
Hearne: This Just In…Lawrence Barbecue Sucks, Locals Say
You read it right…
The verdict is in on Lawrence Journal World foodie Sarah Henning‘s assertion Tuesday that Anthony Bourdain "should’ve made ‘Reservations’ in Lawrence."
That in reference to the irreverant Travel Channel personality’s recent episode about KC barbecue, Stroud’s fried chicken, the Savoy Grill, Town Topic hamburgers and other local esoteric, edible delights.
But alas, no Lawrence BBQ, Henning lamented.
Glazer: What the Chiefs Should (but won’t) Do in Thursday’s NFL Draft
In just two days it’s here…
The NFL Draft starts Thursday at 7 p.m. and it’s something the Chiefs have generally not fared well at over the years. Case in point, we’ve never drafted a franchise or an elite quarterback.
Not since the Chiefs forebears, the Dallas Texans stole Len Dawson from the old NFL have the Chiefs had a great quarterback. And even Dawson wasn’t drafted by the Chiefs.
So we’re 0-fer for more than half a century. Not bad, huh?
This year we can draft a quarterback if GM Scott Pioli wants to roll the dice. Ryan Tannehill of Texas A&M is available, but maybe not at the 11th pick. So if we want him, we might have to trade up and that’s unlikely. If he’s still there at 11 maybe, but even that’s not likely.
Scott still loves Matt Cassel, thick or thin.
So what to do? Here are my thoughts.
Hearne: Promoters Poised to Name New Downtown Venue for City Market Shows
One of Kansas City’s worst venues to catch a concert is no more….
That’s the bad news you might say – that the shows at Kansas City’s historic City Market are history.
However, the really good news is that a new downtown home for the concert series has been found and is about to be announced, sources say.
Will it be along the riverfront in Berkley Park, in the city-owned park to the west of City Market, at Liberty Memorial, the home of Rock Fest or elsewhere?
No word just yet, but there will be more than one show on the docket for this summer, sources say.
Whinery: Susan Sarandon and Ted Nugent, Enemies of the State?
You heard about Ted Nugent being investigated by the Secret Service for giving a fiery speech at the National Rifle Association’s yearly meeting, right?
The one where he said stuff that could be construed as “threatening” to President Obama. That is if you have no sense of humor.
Now I hear Susan Sarandon was denied a security clearance to go to the White House and insists her phone is being tapped by the Government. For what? Unless it’s deemed that her movies are a threat to National Security (which outside of her role as “Janet” in the Rocky Horror Picture Shadow and a scene with Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger – is entirely plausible).
Why would an arch liberal like Ms. Sarandon be deemed too risky to go to the White House?
Starbeams: Bee Gees Send Royals Wake Up Call, Kansas Speedway Makeover, K-Horse
Hey Royals! Robin Gibb was able to wake up from a coma!
*******
Immediately after the STP 400 NASCAR race Sunday, officials began prep work to repave Kansas Speedway. Unfortunately, it’s being repaved by MODOT.
Hearne: Star Fiddles with ‘Hipster’ Best Of While Wall Street Journal Burns P&L
Think of it as a black eye for KC and another nail in former mayor Kay Barnes PR coffin…
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal drilled Kansas City’s Power & Light District and Cordish for the bad bet Barnes made that the taxes generated by the $850 million entertainment district would pay for itself or the city would pick up the tab.
We all know what happened next.
"Today, the project, which sits near the onetime headquarters of Kansas City Power & Light Co., generates less than one-third of what is needed to cover the debt service on the bonds," the Journal reports. "The city is setting aside $12.8 million in its budget for the fiscal year that starts next month to cover the gap, a notable hole in a $1.3 billion budget that calls for $7.6 million in cuts to the fire department."
Worse yet, "Given the sluggish real-estate recovery, the city expects similar gaps to persist for years." the Journal adds.
Sounds Good: Glen Campbell@Uptown, Electric Guest@Granada, Weston Bluegrass Festival, Shooter Jennings & Cody Canada@Crossroads, Real Estate@Bottleneck, Arthur Dodge@Replay
The summer concert season is heating up…
Artists heading into KC include Phish, The Avett Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Van Halen, Chicago, the Doobie Brothers, Taj Mahal, Pat Green, M83, and many, many more.
And despite the few curmudgeonly commenters that think otherwise, for my money there’s still no better way to see a show than outside underneath the stars.
To that end the Crossroads has the first offering of the season this weekend, with a gritty double bill of Shooter Jennings and Cody Canada & the Departed (more on them after the jump).
On to the picks!…
Star Search: Forget Dick Clark & This Year’s Royals, We’ve Got Bobby & Jessica
We interrupt this Dick Clark and Royals wake to bring you a few distractions from….
The national media circus that continues to surround ousted Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino. You know, the dude who was slated to become the poster child for Missouri‘s new SEC football rivalry with the neighboring state that will replace Kansas?
Unfortunately, the 51 year-old Petrino had the romantic misfortune of banging bodies with a 20-something volleyball hottie who was engaged to another Arkansas coach. All of which fell asunder after Petrino dumped his motorcycle recently, babe aboard, and all heck broke out in the biggest college sports sex scandal since Penn State.
Or was it Syracuse?
Glazer: This Year’s Royals Season a ‘Crime Scene’ MLB’s ‘Worst Modern Day Franchise’
Future baseball superstar Eric Hosmer better start staying home nights a little more…
That is if he wants to sign a $25-30 million dollar contract from New York, Los Angeles or Texas somewhere down the road.
Hey babe, they ain’t paying that kinda dough for a .180 hitter with 10 hits in 60 at bats.
Wake up Eric! Even though you’re the new Tony Gonzalez of the night scene in this town, you still have to play like a star, ok? And you might want to avoid hitting into TRIPLE PLAYS. Jeez.
Let’s see, where do I begin in critiquing the Royals?
Leftridge: Drunken Online Purchases: MAD Magazine Edition
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If you’re like me, you like booze. It doesn’t matter what kind—we can get into that at another time. And if you’re even MORE like me than I’d care to admit, you enjoy getting on the Internet once you’re drunk and buying stuff.
But what to buy?! Man, there’s an open cesspool of goods to be had. Maybe you had your eye on that thatch of Elvis Presley’s pubic hair. Perhaps your collection will be complete once you’ve obtained a shot-glass full of Patrick Duffy’s saliva. Maybe you just can’t make it another day without a piece of French toast that looks as though Jesus was burned into its grainy surface.
Or maybe, if you’re like me (30 and slightly retarded), you won’t make it without 85 MAD Magazines spanning from 1988-1997. And yeah, your wife will probably be PISSED—you’ve got nowhere to keep them, that money was better suited for a down payment on a wheelchair (don’t ask)—but you can’t help it. You’ve had 14 beers, goddamnit, and $140 seems WAY reasonable.
Donnelly: Sporting Kansas City’s Perfection Comes to an End in Portland
It was a quick turnaround for Sporting KC. They played at Vancouver on Wednesday night, and then finished their Pacific Northwest road trip Saturday night at Portland.
Playing this away game at JELD-WEN Field felt big. The atmosphere there is similar to LIVESTRONG Sporting Park– it was packed to the gills and loud. However the stadium is a fair amount bigger with a capacity of just over 22,000.
KC seemed to thrive on the vibe, rising to the occasion and settling in after a dodgy first 10 minutes.
After 90 minutes, though, the boys in blue were no longer perfect on the season, even though Portland’s only goal came via a charity own goal. More on that in a sec.
Hearne: MSNBC Heavy Hitter Rachel Maddow Lays it Down at The Uptown Today at 2 p.m.
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Sometimes the smartest guy in the room isn’t a guy at all…
Which is usually the case when MSNBC host Rachel Maddow happens to be one of the guys in said room. And the room she’s gonna be in today on Earth Day is the big one at the Uptown Theater.
Consider this a reminder.
Rainy Day Books honcho Vivien Jennings will do the honors, interviewing Maddow about her new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power.
In it Maddow "argues that we’ve drifted away from America’s original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human costs that entails," Amazon says. "Sensible yet provocative, dead serious yet seriously funny, Drift will reinvigorate a "loud and jangly" political debate about how, when, and where to apply America’s strength and power–and who gets to make those decisions."
Maddow will sign copies of her book for attendees.
Leftridge: The Incredible Lightness of Dick Clark
Look, I’m sorry that you’re gone; really, I am. You had a lot of family members probably and this is inevitable at 82 years old and I’m sure that a handful of them are sorry that you’re gone (except those that stood to inherit something. I’m sure they’re probably pretty stoked, and why not?). Point being, you’re dead.
But what did you add, really?
Oh sure, I remember Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve throughout my youth. I remember a man aesthetically youthful beyond his years, a virtual teen foraging deep into his 60’s, as it were and then a 70 year old, and then, unsurprisingly, an octogenarian riddled uncomfortable by a stroke and the damage of time.
You kept giving it your best, however, whether you were under pressure from the Stroke League of America (I’ve seriously heard that this was an issue) or from simple vanity.
Hearne: What’s Wrong with K-State, MU & How Lew Perkins Cost KU $12 million
Let’s’s talk a little sports business and KU, shall we?
With Missourian-turned-Kansan John Kiefer of Kiefs Audio Video fame in Lawrence. Kiefer’s been a Lawrence business and real estate fixture for more than half a century even though he was born and raised in good, old KCMO, so he brings a balanced perspective to the area Big 12 basketball, football and culture wars.
For starters, why does Manhattan, Kansas suck so bad?
"You have to go back to 1959," Kiefer says. "In 1959 Aggieville should have been called Downtown Manhattan."
Kinda like downtown Lawrence is called Downtown Lawrence.
Hearne: Oracle of Lawrence Speaks Out on Best Buy Booty Boondoggle & Free Fall
There’s little doubt that few in Lawrence, Kansas loom larger than businessman John Kieffer…
From humble beginnings on the wrong side of the tracks on Kansas City’s East Side, Kieffer built both an audio/video and commerical real estate empire in the Land of the Jayhawk by being in the exact right place at the exact right time. For 53 years and counting, no less.
Not to mention he’s lived to tell the story.
Kieffer’s take on the ongoing free fall of audio/video giant Best Buy, which recently ousted it’s 50-something, married CEO over a sex scandal with a 20-something woman subordinate, after days earlier announcing the closing of 50 stores, hundreds of layoffs and a plan to downsize its box store biz by opening 100 smaller, Best Buy Mobile stores?
