Puzzle. Panic. Perseverance…
You’re in for a spellbinding and emotional two and a half hours of at times unbearable and psychological tension delivered by Oscar nominees and winners that include Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello and Paul Dano.
A script wound as tight and effective as this melodrama is long. Continue reading
This week’s a special one for a certain music venue in Lawrence that’s seen its share of ups and downs over the years.
The Granada on Mass. Street is celebrating its 80th anniversary this week. It was originally a movie theater, but has been a live music venue for the last 20 or so years.
To celebrate, owner Mike Logan has decided to jam-pack some quality shows together, along with some free outdoor events. Tonight is California indie rockers Best Coast; Thursday night is punk revivalists AFI; Friday is alt-folksters Minus the Bear; and Saturday is legendary Cali-ska punks Rancid.
Don’t look now, but Logan has been slowly taking over the Lawrence live music scene. Continue reading
It looked like the smallest crowd of the season so far at Sporting Park on a muggy yet mild Tuesday night for the CONCACAF Champions League showdown against Nicaraguan side Real Esteli.
And the turf was looking bad from the get-go, an issue that’s been plaguing the Sporting ground crew for awhile now, with the Columbus Crew blaming it for three “muscle injuries” after last week’s game. A big patch of it tore up as several Esteli defenders challenged Uri Rosell on a ball up the middle. One of the Esteli defenders tried to tamp it back down, but for the rest of the half we were left with a small mound about 30 yards out right in front of the visitors goal. Continue reading
Buy zanaflex and Generic Tizanidine tablets online for muscle relaxants. Available without prior prescription. Continue reading
I’m really not a beer snob…
Not much of one, anyway. However for some pretty obvious reasons I’ve always preferred the European imports. They just seem to have more body by comparison to the often watered down domestic brands.
For starters a Beck’s, Heineken or St. Pauli Girl generally taste better when consumed in Germany or, for that matter, Mexico, Canada or even on a cruise ship.
Why?
Because U.S. import laws dictate that brewers must include preservatives when exporting their brands into the United States. Hence a Beck’s tastes better in its home country and/or aforementioned locations. Continue reading
Overland Park has delayed the launch of Google Fiber because of a technicality. Apparently, Google’s vans aren’t expensive enough to be seen in Overland Park.
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The Star says the Philadelphia Eagles will see a different side of new Chiefs coach Andy Reid. Come to think of it, there are several sides of Andy Reid that Andy Reid probably hasn’t seen.
******* Continue reading
Who among isn’t hoping that the Pitch makes it?
It won’t be easy and it certainly hasn’t been pretty, but at least the alt weekly nobody really wanted much and that’s struggled to make a profit is still in the hunt. And while not long ago staff defections and layoffs were the order of the day, the alt weekly is actually doing a bit of hiring – and not just to replace another staff defector.
Enter new Pitch music editor Natalie Gallagher.
Gallagher replaces now former music editor David Hudnall, who’s actually moving up the Pitch foodchain into the much-needed role of staff writer. Gallagher joins another worthy recent Pitch acquisition, Steve Vockrodt ( a KC Business Journal escapee). Continue reading
There’s nothing quite like starting off with a bang…
Such was the case last week when former Star sports scribe Jason Whitlock hammered a Sports Illustrated writer, accusing him of being a hack and churning out a bogus hit piece on the Oklahoma State football team “that can’t be taken seriously.”
“Sports Illustrated’s reporting on the scandal at Oklahoma State has been questioned by many – including former players interviewed by the reporters — but the loudest voice challenging the veracity of the magazine’s expose has been told to dial down the rhetoric,” writes the New York Daily News. “Jason Whitlock – who was hired by ESPN last month but hasn’t had a byline on the site yet — came out swinging with an over-the-top attack on SI reporter Thayer Evans on Tuesday, which led his employer to call the columnists remarks ‘not acceptable.’ Continue reading
Luddites of the world arise…
I refer, of course, to those “opposed to, or slow to adopt or incorporate into their lifestyle.”
You know who they are.
More often than not, they’re aging Baby Boomers pride themselves in things like not really knowing how to use their computers. They wouldn’t dream of texting and most certainly decry the annoying, intrusive ubiquity of smart phones.
Younger, wiser heads are largely dismissive of these worshipers of the past. Life goes on without them, so why worry about it, no biggie.
However, most people in the know recognize that not keeping up with technology is lame, unfashionable and unhip even. Nobody’s going to think you’re cool just because you’re not on Facebook or Twitter.
Or are they? Continue reading
Hey, it’s about time…
No way is this year’s Kansas City Chiefs team a first tier NFL squad, says betting-man-turned-scribe Craig Glazer. Still after beginning the season 2-0, he’ll take it.
“What’s nice about it is the Chiefs are not a joke,” Glazer says. “They’re not the clown team they were last year. There’s hope for the Chiefs.”
Super (Bowl) hope?
“No, I don’t think they’re an elite team, they just don’t have the weapons,” Glazer says. “I think the Chiefs might be a 9 game winner but they’re just a Jamaal Charles injury away from everything going kabooey.”
But in the interest of waxing positive after today’s win over Dallas… Continue reading
Well sports fans, last week I had a winning record of 3 and 2…
Not a spectacular start but a decent one. As you can see, there were lots of very close games and while I picked the winners of every game except the Jets, I still lost a few because my winning team didn’t cover the spread. From what I saw on TV and heard from radio analysts picks, three and two was darn good.
Remember, I’m trying to win games, not just focus on the big or popular games, some of those are just too close to call.
That said, let’s talk about the Kansas City Chiefs. Continue reading
In 2011 I went to see George Clinton and P-Funk for the 14,000th time…
I was perfectly content arriving a little late as the opening act, Michael Franti and Spearhead, was largely going to be a waste of time until I could see who I came to see.
Huge mistake.
With no basis in fact, I wrote Franti off – having assigned the “reggae” tag to his music – not my favorite genre.
All but his most ardent fans know Franti primarily from his 2008 and 2012 efforts, “Say Hey (I Love You)” or “The Sound of Sunshine,” but there’s a lot more to this guy and like any artist his background defines his work. Continue reading
I went through some boxes of books up in my attic the other day and was amazed at what I found…
Culled from the libraries of various family members and friends, all now departed, I see that I have enough to keep me busy reading for the rest of my life. I was also touched by the depth and seriousness of the tastes and interests of people I never knew or knew only in some role other than that of serious reader.
I found, for instance, Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Kidnapped” and Thomas Hardy’s “Return of The Native” with my grandfather’s name, “Robert Sutherland,” written on the fly-leaves. He was an eighth grade dropout from Garnett, Kansas. From the dates these editions of the books were published, he was a young man working in Kansas City when he bought them. They were not something he read because he was required to for high school or college because he never went to high school or college. Continue reading
The iPhone 5 S, Big Brother’s dream phone…
I’ve got a tech savvy friend who’s my “go to guy” on privacy issues and how they relate to technology. And when Apple came out with the iPhone 5s and my friend saw that it would be only operate after scanning the owner’s fingerprints – alarm bells went off.
And for good reason.
The iPhone 5s will still be providing GPS location data and employing several apps which datamine all sorts of information which in turn, is transmitted to the government and corporations. But now your biometric information, your fingerprints and facial structure, will be stored in a database and exploited accordingly. Continue reading
Unless you’re heading out to Sporting Park for the Flatlands Festival – featuring Charlie Daniels, Luke Bryan, Darius “don’t-call-me-Hootie” Rucker, Toby Keith, and many more – this weekend looks like a good one to catch some local talent.
The Crossroads Music Festival is happening Saturday, featuring Hearts of Darkness, Grisly Hand, and about a dozen other local bands. Check out their website.
Then check out these local bands… Continue reading
I hate it when I let my expectations get the best of me…
And it happened again THIS week. The film in question was THE FAMILY which returns Robert DeNiro to his mob guy roots and is centered squarely on the Witness Protection Program.
This time DeNiro plays an on the lam whistle blower. An ex-mobster turned snitch trying to stay a step ahead of incarcerated mobsters working with the outside to locate him and his family to seek revenge.
The movie opens as the family – including tough wifey Michelle Pfeiffer – and their kids Dianna (Glee) Agron and John D’Leo are arriving at their latest hideout location: a small village in Normandy, France. Continue reading
For starters, former Hereford House main man Rod Anderson‘s legal eagles blew it…
So says convicted KC businessman Craig Glazer of Stanford & Sons fame.
“I think what the public doesn’t understand is how incredibly unfair the criminal justice system is,” Glazer says. “It should not be punishment to take your case to trial, but it is, because they say, ‘Take these five years or we’re going to hammer you.’ ”
Speaking of which, Anderson reportedly turned down a pair of 5-year plea deals before dumping a fortune in legal bills and zeroing in on a 15 year sentence.
“Nothing against Rod, but from the evidence, it looks like he’s guilty,” Glazer says. “In my case I was innocent, but my lawyer warned me that I was risking my life – did I want to risk 10 years in Leavenworth even though I was innocent. You know, a lot of innocent people get convicted. He also warned me that my legal fees, if it went to trial, would be about $250,000.”
And that’s where Anderson’s lawyers failed him, Glazer says. Continue reading
No one can accuse Jim James of lacking showmanship, that’s for sure.
Throughout his half-full Wednesday night gig at Lawrence’s Liberty Hall, the shaggy shaman slid and pranced around the stage with the bravado of a drunk lounge singer; he winked at members of the front row and extended an E.T.-like finger to touch theirs; he proudly displayed and then bowed down to a golden teddy bear statue; and he randomly threw a towel over his head for several songs.
Confidence is not lacking with this one, to say the least. Continue reading
Ever use Google’s Street View feature?
I do all the time, most recently when a friend heading to the Rockies in her Jeep asked me for trail ideas. Having hiked and camped Rollins Pass many times, I Googled it. I followed the trail from the Moffet Railroad tunnel all the way up to Yankee Doodle Lake. I’ve used it to check future project access and – always being interested in what’s going on down at the beach – I’ve looked at new condos and proximity to the beach; it’s pretty handy.
You can literally walk down the street, anywhere, and never leave the office.
Do you wonder how they get all those pictures in such a seamless manner? They drive down each and every street in one of their funky little robot looking cars with the tripod on top and cameras on every fender. They take the shots; we get a handy little feature on our desk top.
No problem, right?
Well, the Court says big problem.
Continue reading
I remember bits and pieces about being four years old, odd things that make me question just what kind of bizarre childhood I truly had.
I remember that I had two Hot Wheels that I unimaginatively named “Refrigerator” and “High Chair.” I had a pet cockroach named George (we weren’t dirt poor, but we weren’t exactly the Rockefellers, clearly) who my cousin killed by decapitation. (That bastard is in prison now, though for something far more serious than roachacide.) I remember pilfering crabapples from a neighbor’s tree and my grandfather threatening to “cut a switch” because of the theft. My uncle lived in our basement for a spell, and I thought there was a monster down there, mostly because I never saw him on account of the weird hours he kept.
I remember all of this peculiar, trivial stuff, but I’d be an absolute liar if I told you that I remember the Royals playing in the World Series that autumn. I don’t remember the jubilation, or staying up past my bedtime to sneak a peek at history. I don’t recall how this city must have felt, the aura of excitement that must surely accompany a winner. In short, I was around, but I understood it about as well as a housecat might. Continue reading
