I’m traveling to Ferguson, Missouri this weekend to protest…Governor Jay Nixon saying Missouruh, instead of Missouri.
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Instead of helping keep the peace, President Obama is vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard, where pretentious liberal folk use the word “summer” as a verb.
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THE EXPENDABLES 3 merges old school with new blood…
Combining aging beefcake with newly recruited fighters in a PG-13 rated mission to take down Mel Gibson who co-founded the Expendables but went rogue—and in a BIG way!
A new era for old Deleteables?
Probably as they come face-to-face with Gibson who has become a ruthless arms trader and just a mean mother******.
Sure, these new additions to the rag tag team are younger, faster and more tech-savvy, but never send a boy to do a man’s job. Especially in this, the most personal battle yet.
Expect lots of zingers interwoven with the film’s non-stop almost Roadrunner like action.
But probably the best of ’em is delivered by a rescued Wesley Snipes as Doctor Death. When asked why he was locked up Snipes answers, “Tax evasion.” Continue reading
Ferguson, Missouri
Will America ever get over the racial divide?
This country’s racial divide was not created overnight and will certainly not be swept away overnight. Everyone has perceived views of every racial group that exists in America. And these perceived views have been evolving in every American largely through the influence of the media, through news, through the learning of history and through interpersonal contact of people of different ethnic groups.
This is natural because that’s how we learn to perceive the environment and people around us.
Unfortunately in America the perceptions of minorities has been slanted throughout history based upon the status of the minority in question in our society.
For instance, the Irish were looked down upon as ignorant drunkards. Italians were viewed as criminals. And Eastern Europeans were considered ignorant and only good for manual labor. Asians were seen as crafty, not to be trusted and excellent at math.
Do I really need to go on about Jewish people, African Americans and Hispanics?
We pretty much all know what those perceptions have been.
However in America today the African American situation is different because to an extent, African Americans can control how they’re perceived and the media presents them. Continue reading
Robin Williams reminds me of Mark 8:36…
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
I spent several days with Robin Williams years ago near my house in Pacific Heights San Francisco. I also spent several days with Michael Jackson in Kansas City during the Bad Tour in 1987. And I met Elvis at the Hilton in Vegas as a lad.
What do all these people have in common? They were all MISERABLE! Continue reading
Vivien Jennings & Roger Doeren of Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kansas
Seems like only yesterday microscopically small Rainy Day Books was fighting the good fight against the corporate bad guys…
You know, Borders, Barnes & Noble.
To do so, Rainy Day owners Vivien Jennings and Roger Doeren brought out the big guns. Heavy hitters like Martha Stewart, Anne Rice, Jimmy Carter and Hilary Clinton.
The idea being to sponsor free-with-the-purchase of an autographed book author events. Events that would generate tons of publicity and goodwill and at the same time increased sales. The program elevated the Fairway bookstore from mom and pop shop status to tres glam book boutique.
And you know what? It worked. Still is.
However times change. Borders is roadkill and Barnes & Noble gets most book buyers sympathy vote as it hangs on for dear life, fighting for its survival against an almost certain death by Internet.
Meanwhile, back on the Worldwide Web, Jeff Bezo‘s “everything store” Amazon has been making mincemeat out of anybody and everybody and is currently waging a book war with a large publisher and many of the authors Rainy Day’s been schmoozing for two decades.
Now cometh entertainment maverick Bob Lefsetz to set us all straight:
Continue reading
Yesterday was new Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure‘s first day on the job…
I’m sure the 43 year-old executive spent most of his day at the clinic doing his pee test, filling out HR insurance forms, getting his employee handbook, 401K explanation, etc. Tuesday was most likely his real first day calling the shots and sitting behind the big desk.
So what’s in store for the new guy and what signs should we look for from the Tower of Pure Thought to tell us that Sprint will survive? Or in the words of the late Tom Leathers, that the campus will not be turned into Section 8 housing?
What skills play to Claure’s advantage? Continue reading
Robin Williams and first wife Valerie Velardi
How many times must we see our so-called heroes unmasked before we learn our lesson?
To separate actors like Robin Williams from the characters they play in movies and on dumbed down appearances on the Tonight Show. To remove them from the pedestals they may or may not deserve and reserve our worship for more worthy subjects who might not happen to be big movie stars or play for the Royals or Chiefs.
Of course, that tends to run counter to human nature.
Take Kansas City Star entertainment and celebrity gossip writer Lisa Gutierrez‘s brief today, “Laughing through our tears: RIP, Robin Williams.”
“Some celebrities touch us so deeply with their work that when they die it hurts like the loss of a family member,” Gutierrez writes. “Robin Williams, who died Monday, was one of those actors…So for now, let us remember how he made us roar. But gosh darn it, it’s so hard to laugh through the tears.”
Journalists like Gutierrez are usually among the first to pounce when someone like Williams, soccer star Hope Solo or O.J. Simpson cross that all too familiar line over to the dark side.
Forget about laughing through those tears. Continue reading
Danny Duffy
Superstar to be
They’re up, they’re down – they’re down, they’re up…
And given the Kansas City Royals decades long track record it’s all but impossible not to fear the worst. Even now, with the team in 1st Place for the first time in many of their fans lifetimes.
That said, let’s give ’em their due – for however long – how bout them Royals?
“How about em,” says Stanford’s main man Craig Glazer, who’s shot more high profile arrows into the team’s backside than possibly any man alive who calls themselves a Royals fan.
“Well, that’s twice now this season that I’ve had to eat crow,” Glazer continues. “You know, I never said they were going to be a bad team, I just didn’t think they’d be a playoff team. This was supposed to be their big year and early on the hitting just wasn’t there. They were all either bad or just OK. Nobody’s a scary hitter and they were getting beat 2-1, 2-0 and 3-2.”
Which brings us to the team’s high point. Continue reading
Say what you will about cheesy Hollywood movies with ultra thin plot lines…
Because when it comes to entertainment, if the special effects deliver, people will go see ’em. Especially when the timing’s right, like it is with Hollywood’s new twister thrill ride, “Into the Storm.”
There’s no escaping that climate change and a media feeding frenzy have catapulted tornadoes onto the front pages, as town-after-town has suffered catastrophic storm damage in recent years. Greensburg, Joplin and Oklahoma City to name three.
Who doesn’t want to see what these nasty buggers look like up close and personal?
And “Into the Storm” delivers those goods and in spades. Continue reading
If there’s one thing Kansas City hates, it’s being branded as flyover hick country…
Which made the reign of country station KFKF (94.1 FM) atop local radio ratings a little unsettling perhaps. And when combining the ratings of KC’s three competing country stations – including Q104 and The Wolf (106.5 FM) – there’s no escaping the fact that country is king here.
At least it was…
Because owing to KFKF’s decline and an upsurge by The Buzz (96.5 FM), rock rules.
That’s right, according to the broadest measure – listeners 12 and older, Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight – KC’s top three rock stations nosed out their country counterparts to take overall top honors in a photo finish.
The final tally: 16.3 percent of listeners for country, 16.6 for rock.
By the way, for those of you who are following the entry into the market of KCPT Channel 19‘s new Triple A station The Bridge, no news is no news.
No good news, anyway – and minimal bad – as the station of choice for Paul Wilson tripped the light fandango in basically last place among halfway legitimate stations.
Now on to the July ratings: Continue reading
I’ll let you guys in on a little secret…
A very little secret, because many of you already know or suspect what former Kansas City Star reporter Jim Fitzpatrick and I understand but seldom talk about.
And that’s that news reporters are not only fallible, they’re often easily deceived and/or mistaken. You see, there’s a measure of truth in the axiom, Jack of all trades, master of none.
Because not all “Jacks” are created equal.
It’s all too common for mainstream reporters – however well intentioned and skeptical – to arrive at naive conclusions. Well articulated and reasoned conclusions – after all most reporters are pretty good writers – but naive ones nonetheless.
Generally speaking it’s the experts in a given field that recognize the ineptitude, while the general public mostly doesn’t have a clue.
Take The Daily Beast’s recent story about, “The Five Lessons the Faltering Music Industry Could Learn from TV. Continue reading
Knile Davis
Is Craig Glazer always wrong?
That’s what some of you guys like to think.
Are these speedy Kansas City Chiefs gonna win one or more games this season? Is my pick to go under a fool’s bet? That’s right, I say go under the 8 1/2 wins. The Chiefs will need 9 wins to cover the bet that I said is impossible. After seeing their win in game one against a decent Bengals team, could I be wrong?
Let’s take a look.
Bright Spots:
The always injured tight end Travis Kelce had a 70 yard touchdown run. Nice. He looked very good out there and we haven’t had a good tight end since Tony G.
De’Anthony Thomas – the new running back from the “Ducks” – was also on fire. And he ran one back to the end zone. Nice.
Running back Knile Davis, the second year back from Arkansas, looked fast and ready to roll with Jamaal Charles in the Chiefs backfield. Nice
Our defense intercepted a couple and cornerback Sean Smith ran one in for a TD. Nice.
And it was a high scoring fun game to watch right? Continue reading
After finishing a sweep of the Diamondbacks last night in Arizona, the Kansas City Royals are now two-and-a-half games back of the division leading Detroit Tigers and have a half-game lead over the Yankees, the Mariners and the Blue Jays for the second Wild Card spot.
Simply put, if the season ended today, the Kansas City Royals would be in the playoffs.
They are 60-53, matching their season-high mark for games over .500, and, since their disastrous post-All-Star Break sweep at the hands of the mostly-lowly Boston Red Sox, 12-3 over their last 15 contests. All in all, pretty crazy.
So what do they have to do to make their first playoff appearance in nearly 30 years? Well, win. Obviously. Continue reading
Think historic…
A changing of the guard was in play in the July 2014 radio ratings as the once almighty Entercom became once again almighty.
In a nutshell, Entercom’s The Point beat Mix 93.3, The Wolf beat KFKF and Q104 and The Rock and The Buzz soared, kicking ass in Adults 18-49.
Even 610 Sports – courtesy of the Kansas City Royals – rose significantly, narrowing the ratings gap with a 4.2 share in Men 18-49 to sports powerhouse WHB’s 4.5 share.
Trust me, the champagne corks were popping.
They most certainly were not however at the radio cluster formerly owned by Wilks Broadcasting that sold – just in time – this past June to Steel City Media of Pittsburgh. Continue reading
Buy advair diskus and Generic Fluticasone-salmeterol tablets online for respiratory tract. Available without prior prescription. Continue reading
CHOCOLAT director Lasse Hallstrom’s delicious culture clash in THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY makes for this summer’s most charming new surprise…
If you enjoy old world foodie fairy tales and loved THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL then this one’s for you.
Helen Mirren stars as chef/proprietress of a classical, very elegant French restaurant on the outskirts of a small town in the south of France.
Enter the Indian Kadam family which, faced with a deadly uprising, has fled their not so idyllic life of running their own restaurant in Mumbai. First stop, London however settling down in the path of Heathrow airport’s main runway just doesn’t cut it.
So it’s on to southern France where papa Kadam buys a rundown and decrepit closed restaurant. Continue reading
New Sprint boss Marcelo Claure hanging with J-Lo at his birthday party
While your well coiffed scribe is trying to enjoy 10 days at my condo, overlooking the magnificent emerald green waters of the Gulf, my email started blowing up from various Sprint employees on what was going down back on the Campus…
On Monday, with Sprint head Dan Hesse knowing that the tea leaves had already been read concerning his fate, issued the following internal email:
“To all senior leaders,
I want to take this opportunity to let you know that Steve Elfman, our President of Products and Services, will be leaving Sprint later this month.
As we announced late last year, Steve had agreed to stay on at Sprint until this coming January. Due to Steve’s efforts, these transition and integration efforts are both ahead of schedule. As a result, Steve will now be leaving us on August 15.”
Why? Continue reading
The answer to the above question: yes and no…
It’s one I had to ask myself for like the zillionth time after reviewing that new twister flick that opens today, Into the Storm.
I’ll get to the movie review a little later.
It’s the ongoing glorification of the mostly dudes who drag around Oklahoma, Kansas and other tornado riddled states chasing twisters for either what passes for research, fun and/or money that jumped out at me. Because it appears to be reaching almost epidemic levels.
As in, anybody and everybody seems to feel like they can do it.
Mostly for grins, although there is a highly vocal minority of “serious” storm chasers who consider themselves to be legit in the same way as fireman and police.
That’s a bit of a stretch to me. Nonetheless, the bottom line is that news networks like CNN – starved for sexy video footage to compliment its amped up storm coverage -and reality shows like the Discovery Channel‘s Storm Chasers have begun championing the practice, sport, whatever you want to call it.
Net result: more and more inexperienced thrill seekers are joining in the fun.
First let’s pin down what we’re talking about:
“Storm chasing is broadly defined as the pursuit of any severe weather condition, regardless of motive, which can be curiosity, adventure, scientific investigation, or for news or media coverage,” according to Wikipedia. “A person who chases storms is known as a storm chaser, or simply a chaser. While witnessing a tornado is the single biggest objective for most chasers, many chase thunderstorms and delight in viewing cumulonimbus and related cloud structures, watching a barrage of hail and lightning and seeing what skycaps unfold.”
And while most so-called experts agree it’s mostly about “thrill seeking” (as depicted in the new movie), “pecuniary interests and competition” may also be involved.
In other words, money and sport. Continue reading
New music pick: Bahamas is Afie by Bahamas.
When it drops: August 19, 2014.
Look, it’s not what you think. It’s not Caribbean music, or reggae or anything. It’s a dude from Toronto, who has been a touring pro guitar player for years, but has recently been doing his own thing, releasing singer-songwriter-y albums under the name Bahamas.
His name is Afie Jurvanen, and from the sneak-peak couple tracks I’ve heard, the new album sounds kind of like a cross between Bon Iver and Jack Johnson. But here’s the thing – this guy is a better singer and guitarist than both of them. And though the clarity and simplicity of his previous two albums are one of their strong points, the new material sounds decidedly more complex in terms of instrumentation and layering.
He’ll be at the RecordBar in KC on October 4th. Check it… Continue reading
The good news! Sprint is about to name a new C.E.O.
The bad: It’s that Royals fan from South Korea.
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Former WKRP in Cincinnati minx Loni Anderson just turned 69. There’s some irony there.
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Jeff Gordon turned 43 this week. Which explains why the banks were closed in Buckner.
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