KC Confidential

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 →

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 →

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 →