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Donnelly: Gaslight Anthem at the Bottleneck, July 12, 2012
The Gaslight Anthem stormed into Lawrence Thursday for a sold out performance at the Bottleneck…
And man was it hot in there.
Not only was the band up for the occasion, but the masses of sweaty dudes inside the venue created a fog in the air reminiscent of my high school locker room. The closer to the stage I ventured, the more suffocating the heat and humidity became, so I was content to chill for most of the night by the soundboard.
The band started off strong with Great Expectations, 45, Old White Lincoln, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, before unleashing a searing version of American Slang that set off an already pumped up crowd.
Nothing could stop gregarious front man Brian Fallon as he rollicked through the band’s material old and new.
One Moment of Your Time, Please—The KC Confidential Guide to a 95 Degree Super Flea
Ol’ Skip Sleyster went to the great swap meet in the sky, but his Super Flea Swap & Shop lives on...
Located in the historic Northeast section, the Super Flea offers bargains, knockoffs and barely legal items for area bargain hunters. Porte de Vanves in Paris, LA’s Slauson Super Mall and Kobey’s Swap Meet in San Diego may be the best in the biz, but the Super Flea holds its own.
The Paris and San Diego’s swap meets are outdoors, but KC’s is laid out like the infamous Slauson.
Super Flea is housed in an old storage warehouse errected by Aaron Montgomery Ward. Various vendor stalls occupy the sprawling and dizzying layout. The warehouse lacks A/C but box fans make the experience bearable, so be prepared to sweat for your deals.
Hearne: MU Supporter Calls for Sanity in College Athletics in Wake of Penn State Scandal
Follow the money? No way…
A review of Southeastern Conference athletic departments that showed newcomer Missouri ranking in the bottom tier in both sports revenues and expenditures was hailed in yesterday’s Kansas City Star as a clarion call for MU to raise more money. That is if it intends to compete on the playing field in its new conference.
In 2011 Missouri took in and spent about $64 million on sports programs. That’s about half of what the top SEC schools raked in – $20 million less than lowly Kentucky even.
To which longtime Missouri supporter Larry Sells says: "I don’t think raising all that money means anything. If they get it, they spend it. Maybe sometime they’ll want to think of themselves as a university instead of a football stadium with a college attached."
Missouri and other schools need to get their priorities straight, Sells says.
"I don’t know that it’s so important to have a $6 million coach as opposed to a $2 million coach," he muses.
Hearne: Former Star Columnist Posnanski Still Giving ‘Silent Treatment” on Paterno
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The silence is deafening…
It’s hard to imagine being in a more awkward position than the one former Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski finds himself in today. Then again, worse things could happen. After all, Posnanski banked a reported $750,000 writing fee for his upcoming book about fallen Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
But what began as a picture perfect Posnanski blowjob about a beloved sports icon – something Joe clearly excells at – has taken nasty turn after nasty turn since the Penn State child abuse sex scandal broke last year.
It took an even nastier turn today with the release of a scathing report nailing Paterno for particpating – and possiblly spearheading – a coverup for convicted former right hand man Jerry Sandusky.
Starbeams: KC Boos, Tom Cruise Divorce, Katy Perry’s Boobs & Donald Rumsfeld to Dole
Many national viewers were surprised to see Kansas City fans booing Robinson Cano at the Home Run Derby Monday. What they don’t realize is, for 20 years Kauffman Stadium has had a monopoly on booing.
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The booing continued on the red carpet on the Country Club Plaza. Unfortunately, Sacha Baron Cohen wasn’t able to attend the event.
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Billy Butler is having a blast during his first All-Star appearance. Mainly because Royal bacon blue hot dogs are free to the players.
Glazer: Order Up! A Serving of Crow for Remorseful Scribe
In today’s Kansas City Star Sam Mellinger wrote what might be his best piece as a sports journalist…
The headline: GLIMPSES OF GLORY FOR SUFFERING FANS.
Like a couple of the comment folks, he made me feel kinda bad for going all negative on our All Star game. I WAS WRONG. The game and event did matter. The fans here were excited. It made us feel more important and brought smiles to a frustrated fan base that loves sports.
Mellinger was dead bang right.
Who am I to put down such a fantastic effort by our city and its people? Hey I am proud to be from Kansas City. Even nut job Harley’s comments hit home, I was being a SCROOGE.
Hearne: Kansas City Got Shafted by Fox Sports All Star Coverage
Somebody done somebody wrong…
Like a lame country western song, Fox Sports hung Kansas city out to dry in its coverage of last night’s All Star Game. So says local PR guy extraordinaire Will Gregory.
"Here’s the pathetic thing," Gregory says. "Every single act Fox had at the stadium were country and western singers. And not even huge names – like B level American Idol singers. So it makes everybody across the country think we’re this hick town.
Donnelly: Beach House at Liberty Hall, July 10, 2012
I rolled into Liberty Hall at about 9:05, which provided the perfect amount of time to get a Free State Beer before the show started.
Beach House went on around 9:15, and Liberty Hall—although not at its 1000 person capacity- was pretty packed. And surprisingly, the audience was more versatile than I expected…not just a bunch of hipsters.
The band opened the show with Wild, the second song off their latest album, Bloom.
Although singer/pianist Victoria Legrand does have a strong, full voice, it wasn’t until the third song, Norway, from their 2010 album, Teen Dream, that the band really took command of the audience.
Leftridge: Hold Your Laughter, It’s Time for the Royals’ Midseason Awards
Even though baseball is an insignificant, dying sport patronized by fools and those without panache (according to my esteemed editor), it’s still a thing that happens for six months of the year so I figure we might as well talk about it.
And seeing as how we’re halfway through this ridiculous grind, I figured we’d do that ubiquitous “Midpoint Awards” thing that every other hack sportswriter trots out to kill inches between the fever that accompanies Spring Training, the realization that your team probably isn’t going to be in contention and the start of NFL training camps.
When you’re covering the Royals, God love ‘em, sometimes you’ve gotta dig.
But I say that half-heartedly. To write this season off as a waste is a terrible mistake. Despite some recent slippage, they’re still within (a somewhat) respectable distance of .500, something that hasn’t happened since 2003. Most of the position players we’re seeing on a daily basis are foundational blocks for the teams that are supposed to be winning championships down the line.
If you’re into growth and development, and watching kids—yes, kids—play with energy and cock-eyed optimism, is this ever the team for you.
Whinery: The Death of Privacy, Warrantless Mobil Phone Tracking Epidemic
The Right of the People to be Secure in their Persons, Houses, Papers and Effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon PROBABLE CAUSE by Oath
or Affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons to be seized…
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
A report released by the major mobile phone networks in the USA – a Country that still pretends to protect its citizen/subjects from unreasonable search and seizure – shows a shocking uptick in requests by law enforcement agencies for mobile phone data.
And not so surprisingly, most law enforcement agencies do not provide a proper warrant.
New Jack City: Cable TV War Erupts in Kansas City
So you woke up this morning, congratulations!
You turned on the coffeemaker, went to the bathroom and then turned on the TV for your morning fix of ABC-TV’s Good Morning America or whatever.
However if you’re a Time Warner Cable customer all you got—and are still getting at the time of this writing—is some Hallmark Channel movie fluff.
So you kicked your TV, threw the remote against the wall and bitched about the heartwarming family story being shown where GMA was to be.
What the hell is going on?
Continue reading
Back Talk:
Once upon a time there were comments…
Clever, surly, outlandish ones – disgusting ones even. You know who you are. And unlike some local media / entertainment sites, KC Confidential – against our better judgement at times – greenlights readers to deliver the good, the bad and the ugly.
Most of the time.
Several months back we started Back Talk. Kind of a "greatest hits" compilation from KCC‘s gifted-at-times, always ardent comment-ributors. Unfortunately, no sooner did we debut it, than a spate of difficulties with the new Web site slowed the comments section to a trickle.
That was then – today, I re-gift to you, Back Talk…
Givenchy Menswear: What Not To Wear
Excuse me, House of Givenchy, but is Riccardo Tisci on crack?
Let’s just cut to the chase.
Tisci’s Fall 2011 Menswear Collection is for the inner-Goth. His mostly black collection includes a brigade of pale, sad model-boys in baggy shorts and black leggings.
Not exactly my cup of tea, but it could be worse—wait…it is worse.
Hearne: Would You believe MLS Attendence Better Than NBA & NHL?
It’s not exactly new, but with Sporting Kansas City’s first game in its new digs Thursday, it’s worth a reminder..
For all the red-blooded American sports fans who love to diss the sport we call soccer, attendence last year for Major League Soccer actually surpassed that of the NBA and NHL. That’s right, boys and girls. Lowly American professional soccer somehow slipped past pro basketball and ice hockey.
Bull hockey, you say?
Check it out.
Tonight: Jimmy C’s Money Talks, HC’s Dart Throw Walks
Just how fast can a skinny white boy from the burbs eat a scarcely-cooked crow?
This fast!
It’s still early. However word that the polls south the of the river were slow – even with kickass weather -, combined with an early 69-31 lead up north for Mike Burke over Sly James have experts like Tony Botello and Larry Sells giving me the distinct impression that James goose is cooked.
If Sly pulls it out – and the concensus seems to be that he needs 40 percent of the vote up north – he will have to be on the receiving end of some sort of landslide later in the southland. But with a light turnout – the old guard white folks who live off Ward Parkway like Jim "Jimmy C" Fitzpatrick – will likely get their way.
