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Glazer: Scribe Plunks Down His 8 Bucks, Picks Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Winners
What started as a few pages of pretty girls in swimming suits a few decades back is now is the biggest selling Sports Illustrated issue of the year…
The entire mag is dedicated to beautiful women in small pieces of clothing.
I find it odd that a sports rag’s biggie of the year is always semi-nude ladies. Why not just buy Playboy and see everything? In fact, many of the girls over the years from S.I. end up nude in Playboy or other zines.
This is the ‘classy one,’ I guess.
Leftridge: Spring Has Sprung, Grass Has Riz, Here Comes Jonathan Sanch…iz?
Cue the effed-out Don Henley song that seemingly has NOTHING to do with baseball, yet is played incessantly at major league ballparks around the country and on highlight clip-shows, ad nauseam. You know—the one about Dead Head stickers on a Cadillac, don’t look back, you can never look back. Yeah, that one.
Or you can go with John Fogerty’s “Centerfield,” the baseball song with the deceptively difficult hand-clapping rhythm that makes 30,000 white people look even whiter than they actually are.
Whatever your poison, it’s baseball time, boys and girls. All around the league, pitchers, catchers, coaches and overachievers will be reporting to either Florida or Arizona today, to shake off the rust, lose their Chipotle-guts and start the wheels a’turnin for the next 6 months where we’ll be consistently reminded that, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Boy howdy.
The fresh-faced, eager beavers of the Kansas City Royals are a compelling team for a number of reasons.
Jolly: Sushi Nightclub Atmosphere = Leawood’s RA
I thought that the nightclub paired with food scene in Kansas City had all but died out…
At least in Johnson County – but apparently I was wrong. On the Wednesday I went with friends to RA Sushi it was more packed than a Frontier flight leaving KCI.
Ra is located on 11638 Ash St. in Leawood on the edge of Park Place next to Town Center Plaza. When I arrived at 6pm I was reminded what a nightmare parking is in this area. If you chose to park in one of the large garages in Park Place then get ready for a bit of a walk. Bad weather will make this more unpleasant. But if you can, try to get a spot remotely close to RA or any of the eateries there and good luck. There are just a few parking spots available and for some reason they’re all 30 minutes only.
What a brilliant idea someone had when designing this area.
Whinery: Whitney Houston & The Drug War
Having just watched the funeral of this legendary performer I can’t help but wonder if the way society treats drug addiction didn’t somehow contribute to her death…
Drug addiction is a public health issue that is primarily handled by the criminal justice system. Instead of throwing addicts into rehab we throw them in prison, which makes no sense whatsoever. A lot of people are of the opinion that drugs are evil, that they cause crime and ruin lives- all of which are true but isn’t because they are criminalized?
By making drugs illegal the prices are artificially inflated, the proceeds are used to fund criminal enterprises and billions are being wasted in the “Prison- Industrial Complex” warehousing people that are sick and not necessarily criminal.
What if drugs were decriminalized, taxed and addicts were rehabilitated instead of incarcerated?
Glazer: Scribe’s First Love & Peeping Tom Experience, The One That Got Away
We all had that ONE!
Remember, the first love. No, not the one you slept with first. The girl in your fifth or sixth grade class…that you fell in LOVE with. Remember?
They call it "puppy love," but I call it ‘the real thing – no love in life is ever stronger.
She stood 5′ 5," tall for a fifth grade girl. Her hair was jet black and she had the skin color of a Victoria Secret model before there were any. She was dark brown, always tan somehow. The face of a smiling angel. Her name was Janice Woods and all the boys at Briarwood were in love with this young lady.
That is, all the boys in our fifth grade class. Why wouldn’t you be?
Star Search: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…Who Will Rule KC’s Arts Scene?
The $64 million question at the Kansas City Star: Who will lord over KC’s arts and entertainment scene?
The guessing game is now on as to who will succeed the newspaper’s features editor, Mary Lou Nolan, my old boss. It’s a big job – riding herd over the FYI and A&E (Arts & Entertainment) sections and Star Magazine.
Or as the mostly male editors at the newspaper tend to regard it, the "womens sections."
When I started at the Star in the early 1990s, one of the first things new editor Art Brisbane did was usher out the two male editors that had been running the section and installing a three woman chain of command. Times have changed however and with the attrition of the past several years there are far fewer women candidates in the pipeline capable of replacing Nolan.
Today: Uptown Theater Mardi Gras Wilding, ‘Carnivale du Soul’ Saturday
Get the jump on Fat Tueday this weekend at the Uptown…
The 2012 Carnivàle du Soul featuring the band Hearts of Darkness goes down Saturday night at the Uptown Theater at 3700 Broadway.
"It’ll be a Mardi Gras event with Hearts of Darkness, the band Goodfoot and there’ll be DJs as well," says the Uptown’s Fred Cannon. "The doors are at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. and goes until 1 a.m."
Wanna save some money – like a lot of money?
Starbeams: THE TOP 5 SIGNS YOU GOT A BAD BOTTLE OF CHOCOLATE ALE
TOP 5 SIGNS YOU GOT A BAD BOTTLE OF CHOCOLATE ALE:
#5. When you realize you’re too drunk to drive you call a Cadbury.
#4. In the heat of passion you scream, "Oh, Henry!"
#3. You ask girls at the bar if they would like to see your "Willy Wonka."
Jack Goes Confidential: ‘This Means War’ Makes for 97 Minute Turkey Shoot
I had heard good things about THIS MEANS WAR…
But after leaving the critic’s screening last week I had to wonder if the people who’d given me that information had actually seen the same movie I’d just sat through?
Then there was the full page advance display ad for the film in last Sunday’s New York Times. The sub-headline read: "The most fun you can have at the movies."
Did someone really say that about this movie? Unbelievable.
Glazer: Comedy Heavyweights Headed to KC @ Improv, Midland and Stanford’s
A hot streak for big name comics coming to KC is about to unfold…
D.L. Hughley stops by the Improv this weekend. I worked with D.L. when he had his own series back in the late 90’s. His first show here was at Stanford’s in Westport. However these days we don’t do many urban acts at Legends, so he’s an Improv guy..but still a very funny man. The Improv loves the urban comedy.
On the other side of the scope this March Ron White, the former Blue Collar star is at the Midland. Ron’s a great person. We had him at both Stanford’s in Westport and Overland Park. Before Blue Collar Ron didn’t draw well. He asked me to give him one more shot back around 2000 so I said O.K.
Leftridge: Tales from the Tweet: Now With More Iron Sheik!
Do me a favor. I want you to sit back, close your eyes, and think of the craziest Iranian person you know. I know, I know, this might take a second, but I’ll wait patiently.
There, you got it? Good.
Look, I don’t know who you thought of—the guy who runs the place where you go to get your car fixed, the one who runs the lunch place who makes you feel slightly uncomfortable (because he never smiles while you scarf down your shawarma)—but I promise, unequivocally, that the person who you thought of isn’t nearly as insane as the Iron Sheik.
Born Robert Edelman in Adina, Minnesota Hossein Khosrow Vaziri in Tehran, Iran, “Sheikie,” as he refers to himself, is absolutely, certifiably nuts. Cocaine fueled rants on Howard Stern aside, one need look no further than his brilliantly disturbed Twitter feed. Let’s examine.
@the_ironshiek
“i watch the lebron i watch the kobe. if i want i beat the living fuck out of both of them make them cry like virgil. still i respect them”
One of the former WWE Heavyweight Champion’s favorite running themes is hatred of his 1980’s wrestling colleagues. Is this shtick? Can he not break character, lo’ these many years removed?
Sounds Good: Red Bull Thre3style DJ Battle@Beaumont, Stephen Malkmus@Granada
Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and hopefully you made it through unscathed…
Hopefully you got through that awkward night where you had to pretend you actually have "feelings" and that you care about something other than shoving food down your hole, guzzling brewdogs, and the occasional strange.
You made it!
So now forget about all that b.s. you told your sweetie and regain a bit of your manhood by watching some local DJs fight to the death at the Beaumont this Saturday. I heard that they do it with knives like they did in the music video for Bad by tying their hands together… and then dancing around a bit.
On to the picks…
Whinery: Beware the School Lunch Police
Just when you thought the “Nanny State” couldn’t get any bigger…
Are you ready for your child’s sack lunch to come under scrutiny? By a government inspector, that is. And you wonder why the government is bankrupt.
North Carolina deemed that a lunch consisting of a turkey & cheese on wheat sandwich, a banana, apple juice and potato chips did not meet the “nutritional requirements.”
Incidentally, this was exactly the same lunch I packed for a six year old today.
So what was the Inspector’s recommendation?
Starbeams: Whitney Joins Bin Laden & United States of China
Whitney Houston dead at 48. She was my first African-American crush…unless you count Tootie on Facts of Life.
*******
Remember when we learned that Osama Bin Laden loved Whitney Houston? How he owned several photos of Whitney, all of her albums and reportedly HATED Bobby Brown. Turns out that was his one redeeming quality.
Glazer: Love on the Rocks, Valentine’s Day 2012 in Kansas City
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In recent years Valentine’s Day has become one of THE THREE go out nights of the year…
It replaced New Year’s Eve for couples shortly after the year 2000. I can attest to that at Stanford and Sons. Valentine’s week has been in our Top Three for like a decade.
But for some reason, this year it got lost!
Hearne: Jason Whitlock Gets His You-Know-What in a Racism/Sexism Ringer
From the penthouse to the you-know-what house in two short years…
When former Star sports columnist Jason Whitlock imploded his way out of Kansas City two years back, he went out in style. Kinda. By taking a huge public dump on the local newspaper and outing his boss – Star editor Mike Fannin – for allegedly dipping his pen in the company ink.
Nevermind that few at the Star disagreed.
Donnelly: A Quick Chat With Graham Zusi, Sporting KC’s Rising Star
Don’t know Graham Zusi yet?
Well, you will soon.
Sporting KC’s firestarter will soon be featured on a billboard in downtown KC, flowing locks and all. So maybe you’ll recognize the growing star next time you catch him out at the Crossroads taking in a show, or hiking around a local park.
What else?
Well, after barely playing his first two seasons in the league, he was named the MLS Breakout Player of the Year in 2011, leading Sporting Kansas City to the Eastern Conference finals with his heady midfield play.
New Jack City: KCI Ticket Pricing Heading North?
Mark my words…
The year 2012 could spell the end for KCI to be known as one of the three low-cost ticket airports in the U.S. The other two being Orlando and Las Vegas.
What’s always given us clout – and unusually low pricing – is that we’ve had the luxury of having three discount carriers flying out of here. Those three—Southwest, AirTran and Frontier—have kept the legacy carriers in check.
Something many other markets would kill to get.
So why I am prediciting a future pricing doom for K.C.? Let’s look at the three discounters individually.
Star Search: Kansas City Star Features Head Mary Lou Nolan to Step Down
This one’s personal…
It’s Valentine’s Day and I’m out of town and flying low, so I don’t have the time to give this one a lot of thought right now – other than to do the basic reporting.
Which is…
My old boss Mary Lou Nolan announced today that she will retire on Friday February 24th.
I’ll "revisit" this, as Mary Lou might say in the near future.
But I will say here and now that she will be missed. Maybe not universally, but by and large Mary Lou did a good job during some very difficult times. She certainly was never what one would call cutting edge, but hey, she put up with me for 10 or more years.
And largely was very supportive.
Hearne: One & Done or Will Kanrocksas Return This Summer?
When it comes to the future of the music festival known as Kanrocksas, mum’s the word…
That’s not a good sign. Calls to pretty much all-parties involved (that could be reached) from last summer’s event at the Kansas Speedway yielded a single answer; nobody knows for sure.
Again, not a good sign.
Established festivals like Bonnaroo and Wakarusa have had their dates picked out and up for all to see for months. For good reason. Because to succeed at the level these multi-million dollar events need to, it’s vitally important to keep the faithful informed so they can make plans to attend.
Last year’s inaugural Kanrocksas stumbled out of the gate with a late April announcement.
And it paid the price for being tardy.
