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Hearne: Stanford & Sons Last Stand (KCK Style)
Craig Glazer, comic Eddie Ifft & Jeff Glazer on last night at Stanford’s KCL
It was the end of an era – a short one – but nonetheless an era…
After just shy of eight years, Stanford & Sons comedy club at The Legends in KCK is no more. To commemorate the occasion I saddled up for both nights of its final weekend shows at the end of June.
The crowds were a little thin, but the staff’s spirits were high as they looked ahead to what appears to be a huge improvement in the club’s all important asset – location, location, location.
Did I mention that KCK was a beautiful dream that really never came true?
“Unfortunatly, it’s mostly poor folks who live around here,” Stanford’s main man Craig Glazer told me. “And there really is no other entertainment out here anymore. So we are heading in another direction where the people are. I mean, we had a great time here because this is probably the nicest comedy club in the country. Just the main room cost a million bucks to build, because they built it from the ground up.”
Glazer spent the final week of on stage saying goodbye to the KCK crowds and inviting them to visit the new club at Rosana Square on 119th Street in Overland Park.
“Do you guys listen to Johnny Dare?” he asked at the early show Friday. “He’s a punk and I should beat him up and I could…Have a great time tonight; we’ll see you August 15th in Overland Park.”
What Glazer won’t miss about his time at Legends? Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
Tagged Carlos Mencia, Dave Coulier, Kansas City Kansas, Stanford & Sons, The Legends
25 Comments
Hearne: The Sad State of the Union @ The Kansas City Star
Late last year, I took some personal innovatory…
Having written numerous stories about the Kansas City Star since my departure in late 2008 as one of the hundreds and hundreds that have been laid off since the dramatic downturn in both the economy and the fortunes of newspapers, some readers assumed I did so simply because I was an embittered former employee.
Fair enough.
My rationale for doing so – and I gave it considerable thought before embarking on that path – was that I’d critiqued other media (as well as the Star when I was running The Pitch) and because this was a historic period of epic change in the newspaper industry, based on mg experience, contacts and overview, I was uniquely qualified in many ways to report on it and try and put things in perspective.
Don’t forget, the Star tried to hire me back right away to freelance my column for what would have amounted to maybe 40 or 50 cents on the dollar. However, because I’d elected to take my severance pay in 2009 instead of 2008, they were not allowed by parent company McClatchy to do so for a one year period.
At which point I had to wait it out – and presumably behave – and the newspaper could have brought me back in January 2009 instead of January 2008 as they’d wanted.
There were just too many killer, colorful stories to be told as the massive layoffs and cutbacks continued. I couldn’t resist, unwise as that decision was for me personally. Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
Tagged Jason Whitlock, Joe Posnanski, Kansas City Star, Kevin Collison, Mike Hendricks
10 Comments
Hearne: Catching Up On KC’s Not So Merry Media-Go-Round
Robert Butler, let go by KC Library
So many axed and/or out-of-work journalists, so little time…
Kansas City and Lawrence’s Wheel of Misfortune has been turning at a good clip in the media ranks and I’m overdue on weighing in on some of those happenstances, so let’s rectify that now.
First, a shout out of sorts to the Lawrence Journal World‘s Bill Mayer.
Mayer was older than God (for a journalist) when he checked out this past April, yet even in his so-called retirement, he exhibited a keen sense of right, wrong and fair play and had the you-know-what’s to back it up.
For example, Mayer practically single handedly lead the criticism of KU’s athletics department for stepping all over the school’s longtime faithful in the manner it did when it instituted its points system for basketball and football tickets a handful of years back.
I nipped at the KU’s heels to the extent I was allowed in the Kansas City Star – which by the way gave the school a pass, all but ignoring more than a year’s worth of front page news that was well covered in Lawrence by – guess who? – Mayer.
In 2005 I saluted Mayer in a column entitled, Mayer of Lawrence gets in the last word. At that point Mayer was still putting in 20 hour work weeks at the ripe young age of 80.
Check it. Continue reading
Starbeams: Earthquakes in Kansas, Hot Redheads Shortage & Shoot to Kill
The number of earthquakes in Kansas is on the rise but experts aren’t sure why. One guess is because Kansas offers better incentives than Missouri.
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A proposed amendment could add a lot of firepower to Missouri’s gun laws. The amendment says you can shoot a gun in any direction and hit someone who deserves to be shot.
******* Continue reading
Donnelly: Sweltering Heat Doesn’t Stop Dom’s Selfie Game
Copyright Mike Gunnoe 2014
In its first game since the return of US stars Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, Sporting KC took on the Chicago Fire at hot and humid Sporting Park Sunday afternoon. Both players are reportedly entertaining offers from clubs around the world after their strong performances in Brazil. KC will be lucky to keep them.
“Besler and Zusi both have some decisions to make regarding whether they leave or not, but it won’t be an easy one,” remarked Benny Feilhaber after the 1-1 draw. “Sometimes opting to go elsewhere is something you have to do develop your football career, but it’s never an easy decision when you’re leaving a place you really love. They’ll take their time with the decision, and if they decide to stay, we’re going to be thankful.”
But Dom Dwyer‘s goal celebration in the first half nearly overshadowed the homecoming party. More on that in a sec. Continue reading
Posted in Matthew_Donnelly
Tagged Brazil, Chicago Fire, Graham Zusi, Matt Besler, Peter Vermes, Sporting Kansas city
3 Comments
Lefsetz: Adios MP3 — Digital Follows LPs, 8-Tracks, Cassettes & CDs into Cloud
A wake up call from entertainment and media guru Bob Lefsetz for technophobes still clinging to their landlines, Rolodexes and iPods and iPhones…
Listen closely, because you know, the times they are a changing:
“1. You will delete your MP3s,” Lefsetz predicts. “Just like you tossed your 8-tracks and cassettes, you’ll get rid of your MP3s, all your iTunes purchases, kaput, evaporate, just like that. It will happen when you get a new computer, which isn’t as frequent as before, but the truth is we’re moving to flash storage and it’s more expensive and you get less and you haven’t got room for your music files, never mind the inclination to listen to them.
“Just like you wanted the biggest iPod but are satisfied with the smallest iPhone, you won’t find it necessary to pay extra for more flash storage even when the price comes down, whether it be in computers or mobile handsets. Because everything will be stored in the cloud or delivered to you when requested.
“Hoarding MP3s is like hoarding hieroglyphics, who wants an ancient format no one can read? Especially when it’s just bits and bytes!” Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
4 Comments
Edelman: No Pretender, Jackson Browne Keeps it Real @ The Uptown
A troubadour’s only as valuable as his songs, and Jackson Browne has a bank vault full of em…
Armed with only his trusty ax – actually, 23 of them – and keyboard, Browne worked his way through what appeared to be an impromptu set list Thursday at the Uptown. Shout out a song title and he just might play it; if not: stay, just a little bit longer.
Opening with that by-now familiar anthem, Browne plowed through tunes from a whole passel of his 12 or so original and another seven or eight greatest hits/live albums.
Jumping from piano to a beautiful Martin dreadnought, Browne intoned the mournful “The Barricades of Heaven” from his 1996 release Looking East. That segued into the somewhat more uptempo “Giving That Heaven Away” from 2008’s Time Conqueror, an album that would see a few more selections as the evening wore on. Continue reading
Posted in Mark Edelman
14 Comments
Leftridge: Happy 4th, Unless Obama Has His Way
The hardest part about celebrating America’s Independence Day isn’t grilling the perfect hamburger, or selecting an appropriate array of beers to wow your guests. It’s not trying to keep your dog from nervous-urinating all over your carpet at the sound of the explosions or trying to decide which civic or corporate display to go see. (I grew up watching Worlds of Fun’s celebration from far away, sitting on a hill with a bunch of other low-rent dirt-bag families.)
Anymore, it’s about dealing with the declining personal liberties of our once great nation. To put it bluntly, you can’t light off your own fireworks almost anywhere anymore, without feeling the wrath of an overzealous local police department. Not even in the comfort of your own living room:
@StanfordWhistle Not in KC,MO. The firefighters also would probably not appreciate that.
— kcpolice (@kcpolice) July 3, 2014
Posted in Brandon Leftridge
Tagged Benghazi, Brandon Leftridge, grandpa on fire, Obummer
16 Comments
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Review: Shakespeare Fest Goes ‘Game of Thrones” in ‘Winter’s Tale’
A jealousy-mad king, psychotic fathers, petty thieves, abandoned daughter and secret lovers– no, it’s not Season 5 of “Game of Thrones”
Even better, it’s Heart of America Shakespeare Festival‘s THE WINTER’S TALE, ably directed by Sid Garrett, now thru Sunday in Southmoreland Park (47th and Oak across from the Nelson).
Nobody gets pushed out a window, but count this trip to the Bard’s backyard as one of those “things I do for love.”
Plus–unlike HBO– it’s free.
KC Shakes has been doing a great job staging Will’s greatest hits. WINTER’S TALE, alas, is not among them. Though it’s produced every once in a while, it’s not the first of the Canto (not even in the Top 10) to come to mind. I doubt it’s ever seen a professional KC production.
That’s because it’s sort of a mess.
Posted in Mark Edelman
Tagged Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Mark Edelman, The Winter's Tale
1 Comment
Donnelly: Step Aside Haters, The Skinny on This Year’s US World Cup Team
Now that the World Cup is over for the US Men’s National Team, everyone wants to get down and dirty and really analyze WHAT IT ALL MEANS…
Do Americans really care about soccer now?
Why are there so many soccer haters?
Will soccer ever catch on here? Why not?
As a lifelong soccer player, fan, coach, writer, season ticket holder, and guy who almost threw a bar stool through the Johnny’s North window when Wondo missed that tap-in at the end of the Belgium game, here’s my answer to all of that: Who really cares? I know I don’t.
What I do care about is having fun watching soccer games.
I love watching the US in games that matter, like the World Cup, for example. There’s no better soccer viewing experience for the sheer adrenaline thrill, than watching your countrymen battle it out in a high stakes, win-or-go-home situation. And there’s only a couple games that are more high stakes than the knockout round of the Cup, like the round of 8, semifinals, and final.
That’s it. Continue reading
Whinery: Simple Solutions, A 4th of July Primer for All That Ails
I offer this as a Public Service Announcement – and not just to toot my own horn – however I do know a little bit about the “Operation of Government”…
Having a Bachelors in Political Science, Masters in Public Administration (with emphasis Public management) and – the biggest MISTAKE OF MY LIFE – a law degree, I can tell you that running a country is not rocket science. However in the Estados Unidos we are running an EMPIRE, which is an untenable situation.
Fortunately there are some SIMPLE SOLUTIONS to what plagues us as a nation.
1. Obamacare – Have it EXCLUSIVELY cover the uninsured and those who cannot afford coverage – that was tough, I know – and the rest of the population covered by their employers, unions and otherwise. Leave well enough alone. Continue reading
Posted in David Scott Whinery
12 Comments
Hearne: Why Soccer Hasn’t Really Quite Made it Yet in This Country
I’ve been a supporter of soccer in KC and was a season ticket holder for the Wiz and Wizards from the team’s inaugural season until it moved to the lowly T-Bones stadium in 2008…
In other words, I’m no newcomer to following the sport on the world’s stage and the modern evolution of the game in this country.
When the Kansas City Wiz launched in 199 with the potty friendly marketing motto, “You gotta go!” that attracted stadium flyovers by plumbers cracking bathroom jokes, nobody in the local sports media knew quite what to expect.They dutifully gathered at Arrowhead to see what this new-fangled sport was about because it was Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt‘s and they didn’t want to miss the next big thing.
Well, turns out it took awhile. Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
21 Comments
Hearne: Cinetopia OP 18, AMC Town Center Movie War Widens
Suppose they gave a war but nobody came…
That’s clearly the case in the month-old conflict between KC-based AMC and tiny newcomer Cinetopia of Beaverton, Oregon.
However, it’s not the combatants who are missing in action in the movie war between the new Cinetopia’s new Overland Park 18 and AMC’s Town Center 20, it’s the local news media. A media either too short handed and/or fearful of pissing off a pair of influential advertisers.
Nonetheless, a battle of monumental proportions is going down behind the scenes, bubbling just below the surface as Cinetopia in Prairie Fire attempts to gain a foothold and stand its ground against the an industry giant that appears determined to drive its new rival into an early grave .
In a perfect world, all Hollywood releases would be allocated to both plexes.
Unfortunately for consumers, AMC has refused to play blockbuster new movies “day and date” – in other words at the same time as Cinetopia – which is effective;y forcing film distributors into allocating movies to one theater or the other.
Wanna see the kickass new Transformers? Lucky you, it’s now showing at Kansas City’s finest movieplex by far Cinetopia. Come 4th of July weekend however, you won’t be able to see Rolling Stone magazine covergrrrl Melissa McCarthy‘s new blockbuster Tammy there because AMC has it sewed up at Town Center. Continue reading
Posted in Hearne_Christopher
6 Comments
Starbeams: KC to Get VP Convention, World Cup, Sting, Affordable Starbucks?
The Kansas City Chicken
So, let me get this straight. You can lose in the World Cup and still advance? How can we get the Chiefs and Royals into that league?
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Good news! Kansas City is still in the running for the Vice-Presidential convention!
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Posted in Starbeams
2 Comments
Glazer: Dear Diary, Adios Legends, KCK — I’m Out of Here!
Craig Glazer & Club Closing headliner Eddie Ifft
I brought my brother Jeff and some of the staff on stage Saturday night to say goodbye…
It was kinda sad. Stanford & Sons at The Legends was a nice place in a poor location. The crowds were decent Saturday for our final shows. Hey, even TJ Miller the co star of Transformers and HBO’s Silicon Valley took time out to send me a congrats on moving email, and said that he “will’ come in and do the new club late summer.”
Posted in Craig_Glazer
24 Comments
Leftridge: Royals’ Midseason Awards 2014, Ridiculousness Edition
Midway through the 2014 baseball season, the Kansas City Royals find themselves a frustratingly average team, ensconced firmly in second place of the American League Central.
Okay, it’s not the exact midway point in the season yet, but we’re close enough for me to write a column about midseason stuff and have it stick. Seeing as how I’m writing this on the 100th anniversary of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, I am reminded that life is fleeting; postpone a column such as this, and it may never be written. (Although it seems unlikely that there is a Gavrilo Princip waiting for me in the dark, I could like, choke to death on a taquito or something. Later tonight, even.)
So all tomfoolery aside, let’s find out who’s taking home this year’s coveted Completely Useless Nonsensical Trophies. Continue reading
Posted in Brandon Leftridge
Tagged Brandon Leftridge, Cookie Monster, KC Royals, Midseason awards
9 Comments
Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Transformers 4’ a Super-Sized Bag of Robotic Summer Popcorn
It’s been three years since movie-meister Michael Bay last unleashed the epic Transformers battles that left Chicago in ruins—but saved the world…
Now as humanity picks up the pieces, a shadowy group surfaces trying to control the direction of history while a powerful new menace sets the earth in its cross hairs.
You just never know what those black ops guys might be up to.
Welcome to 2014’s menacing (and totally critics proof) popcorn spectacle that is TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION.
It’s Paramount Pictures and Hasbro Productions most anticipated tentpole of the summer. Continue reading
Posted in Jack Poessiger
24 Comments
Sutherland: Republican Convention Fever Sweeps Past KC
You win some, you lose some…
“For there is something about a national convention that makes it as fascinating as a revival or a hanging. It is vulgar. It is stupid. It is tedious; it is hard upon both the higher cerebral centers and the gluteus maximus, and yet it is somehow charming. One sits through long sessions wishing heartily that all the delegators and alternates were dead and in hell and then there comes a show so gaudy and hilarious, so melodramatic and obscene, so unimaginably exhilarating and preposterous that one lives a gorgeous year in an hour.”
These words, by The Sage of Baltimore, the Baltimore Sun’s immortal H.L. Mencken, were written about the 1924 Democratic presidential convention. Taking place in New York, in sweltering heat in July of that year, it went on for 16 days and took 103 ballots to produce a (losing) nominee.
The last time a party’s presidential nomination was decided on the convention floor was in 1976 here in Kansas City. Continue reading
Posted in Dwight D. Sutherland, Jr.
31 Comments
