KC Confidential

How about we take a more objective look at David Cook?

Between myself and local music industry veteran Mark Valentine, we’ve already pretty well covered the Blue Springs export’s more obvious entertainment career bases.

You know, that Cook got cut by his record company after two albums – the last of which stiffed – that he’s gone from playing arenas, then theaters like the Midland to bars like Knuckleheads here in KC.

And as duly noted by Mark, Cook’s big win on American Idol in 2008 put him in the pop culture history books for all time and should afford him name recognition well into the immediate future. He’ll probably never again be the total nobody he and most bar band musicians that never break out nationally inevitably are.

Nbody can take any of that away from him.

That said, he’s also a card carrying member of a not-so-exclusive club; Idol winners who got dumped by their record labels and are out beating the streets all on their lonesome. Continue reading →

Most mainstream media continue to tiptoe around the subject but…

It’s now clear that a wildly-illegal, over-the-top joyride is to blame for the deaths of “Fast & Furious” star Paul Walker and his race car driving pal late last year.

Put another way, it was no one’s fault but their own, just like local race car driver Brian Haupt of Carriage Motor & Works stated here shortly after the grisly, November 30 accident in Santa Clarita, Calif.

Walker’s Porsche was traveling at more than 100 miles per hour when it spun out of control and crashed, according to a report by the Los Angeles County Coroner.

That’s the bad news… Continue reading →

Banker / civic leader / force of nature R. Crosby Kemper Jr. hated the Kansas City Star…

Seriously.

Kemper despised the newspaper so that six days after his January 2nd death, his obituary has yet to run in the Star.

That’s highly unusual. Because for someone in Kemper’s station of life it’s pretty much de rigueur for families to shell out big bucks to the newspaper for lengthy obituary ads to let everybody know all about the deceased’s accomplishments and where folks can go to pay their respects.

Don’t think for one minute it was an oversight.

Asked if a newspaper obituary would be forthcoming, a spokesperson handling media inquiries for Kemper’s funeral replied tersely, “That’s up to the family.”

Here’s my take on the matter and you can take this to the bank:

Kemper likely made it clear to his family that not one dime was to go to the Star period. Shoot, nobody even phoned in to get the Star’s 7-line freebie obit. Nope, Kemper wanted nothing to do with the newspaper and for more than a decade he made that abundantly clear.

Continue reading →

Rufus Crosby Kemper, Jr.

In another life R. Crosby Kemper, Jr. might have gone by his first name Rufus…

Instead, he reduced that first name to a lowly initial, and called himself Crosby. Later Kemper was known by some as The Big C. It’s hard to say at this point, but maybe it was because Kemper’s peers teased him so viciously as a child he dropped the Rufus handle and decided to just rock with the R.

Whatever.

In the Latin, Rufus is said to have meant “red-headed,” and in ancient Rome it was apparently popular among both saints and sinners – two categories The Big C was well endowed with, especially the latter during his final years.

Too bad Kemper jettisoned his Rufus so hastily – again, perhap because many thought it a dog’s name and/or from childhood hazing – because it’s made something of a comeback.

When I was a kid the only Rufus I knew was wrestler Rufus R. Jones. That Rufus was famous for his head butts. And while Jones wasn’t a particularly dignified Rufus, who could deny Kemper too could butt heads with the best of them? Continue reading →

The Scribe’s take on yesterday’s Chiefs loss to Indy?

“Well, I’m trying to think of a nice thing to say,” says comedy impresario and sports provocateur Craig Glazer. “On the plus side, quarterback Alex Smith played very well.”

That’s the good news, folks, now brace yourselves for the bad.

“Now that we’ve seen the entire season and a playoff game, it’s clear that this Chiefs team has not improved nearly as much as their record once indicated,” Glazer says. “To lose a game they once lead by 28 points in the second half is truly unbelievable. That was one of the worst playoff collapses of all time.”

Now some words of wisdom for the unwashed: Continue reading →