It’s always a hoot getting different people’s takes on the news media…
Having spent years conning, kissing up to – and at times – dodging reporters, then running and gunning at the Pitch and later playing hide-and-seek with editors at the Star for 16 years, I’ve got a fairly broad perspective from both inside and out on how things work in the news biz.
Most folks don’t quite get it. Continue reading
Just a short note to the KC Confidential commenting cognescenti and the many readers who depend on this site for news, humor and most importantly sarcasm…
To all your fathers, may God bless them in their struggles, their familial relationships, their vocations and their prayers. Continue reading
Ever see one of those tee shirts that read, U.S. Olympic Drinking Team?
I always figured they were little more than crass college kid magnets, but saw enough of them around that somebody must have liked ’em.
Kinda like some of the shirts Joe-College.com in Lawrence was selling a few years back. They weren’t my cup of tea – “Muck Fizzou,” “Our Coach Can Eat Your Coach” and “My Babysitter Went to K-State,” but…
Hey, different strokes.
Enter the lovely, blue wristbands KU Boobs was selling for $5 until they got busted by the legal eagles that convinced KU to let them run Joe-College out of town. The wristbands read: “I ♥ KU Boobs” Continue reading
Sexy stews, hot nurses, a hooker with nothing on under that fur coat– who says it hasn’t been hot at Starlight this week?
Check out the well-produced and wonderfully acted national tour of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (now thru Sunday) if you feel a chill and are looking for a thrill. Continue reading
So I’ve been house-hunting. For the first time ever. And I’ve learned some things. Not things that new buyers need to know, necessarily—I think I’m still figuring that part out—but things that sellers should know. Things that I’ve learned after evenings spent traipsing from hovel to abode and from palace to shanty, my vision blurred from sweat, my disposition already soured by the constant, needling thought of how much money I’ll be spending.
So much new debt, so long ridiculous dream of retiring at 40.
Well, if I find a house, that is. Because frankly, it’s ridiculously hard. And yeah, I’ve heard everyone state that they looked at 50-1,000 houses before buying, and maybe I’ve only looked at 15 or so. And maybe Prairie Village is an unforgiving mistress due to her insatiable appetite for dollars-per-square-footage, penchant for scary basements and undying desirability.
But honestly, I don’t think I’m asking TOO much. I don’t expect a mansion, or anything even remotely close. All I want is a few bedrooms, a couple of bathrooms, and a deep well in the backyard that I can chuck shit down. (The well is negotiable.)
What I DON’T want, however, is a crap-shack. And believe me, I’ve seen plenty. On more than one occasion in this journey, I’ve walked into a house and had an almost immediate desire to turn right around and pretend like the whole thing was an accident. I literally couldn’t even fathom how some of these people were expecting to sell their house. Continue reading
Anything which would double a television network’s audience is bound to get our attention…
That is exactly what happened with PBS after it screened the popular series “Downton Abbey,” three years ago. Naturally the elitist cultural gate keepers dismissed it as the silliest of soap operas, made marginally socially acceptable by Anglophilia and snobbery.
Leaving aside the production values of the series – which are painstaking and meticulous – critics are almost universally dismissive of the plot line, saying it is ludicrously improbable; filled as it is with scandal, gossip, and intrigue, both downstairs and up, in a great English country house. Continue reading
Faster than a speeding bullet? Maybe…
But this Superman isn’t your grandparents’ caped crusader, and that could be a good thing. Especially when you compare it to director Bryan Singer‘s 2006 version that starred Brandon Routh and misfired with both barrels.
Don’t underestimate the teaming of DARK KNIGHT director—now producer and co-writer—Christopher Nolan with WATCHMEN and 300 director Zack Snyder. Their combined mission: Warner Brothers SECOND reboot of the Superman franchise at an estimated pricetag of $225 million.
What to expect from Henry Cavill‘s interpretation as the MAN OF STEEL? Continue reading
A moment of silence please for the ladies room at Halls Plaza…
That’s right, while upscale, elite shoppers are bemoaning the pending passing of Kansas City’s finest department store, women from all walks of life are dreading the loss of Kansas City’s finest-by-far women’s restroom.
“I overheard some gals talking about it in a restaurant,” says Theater League honcho Mark Edelman. “One said that’s what she’ll miss the most about the store– she’d walk all the way from the West side – Better Cheddar, Anthropologie or whatever stores are over there – just to use the Halls powder room.” Continue reading
Damn the field looked good, perfect, green and lush – especially when compared to that travesty that they put down in Seattle the night before, for the US-Panama World Cup qualifier.
But there wasn’t much time to think about things like that, or the great Wednesday night crowd. In just the 2nd minute off a Paulo Nagamura giveaway in Sporting KC‘s defensive third, Orlando City broke toward goal and put a ball into the side netting. So, 1-0 Orlando. Just like that. Continue reading
This just in…
The bad news beat goes on at the Kansas City Star. Publisher Mi-Ai Parrish emailed staffers today that they would get a second week of unpaid vacation this year.
“While we have had many signs of recovery, we continue to track below prior year revenue,” it begins. “As such, the decision has been made to require a one-week furlough in the second half of the year.
“Most full-time employees at The Kansas City Star will be required to take the furlough…”
Hold it right there and brace yourselves for a humility check. Continue reading
The University of Kansas Athletics Department doesn’t want to shut down @KUboobs on Twitter, they just want the site to stop selling merchandise with the word “KU” on it. I have a simple fix: Tell them all KU merchandise stands for “Kelly Urich!” I’ve been associated with boobs for years.
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And investigation by The Kansas City Star reveals Mission, Kansas hands out more traffic tickets than most cities three times the size of the small town. And I work exactly half-way between the Mission Lamar’s and Krispy Kreme, so I’m at GROUND ZERO. Continue reading
I called this one a month ago…
Last weekend, while headed to the West Bottoms for First Friday, I was standing in line waiting for coffee behind a dude wearing one of those lame TAP-OUT t-shirts. It struck me funny as to why someone would actually wear one of those in public.
But when he turned to leave and noticed me gawking at him and made eye contact, I said something like, “Thank you so much for not kicking my ass for no apparent reason.”
He turned, shook his head and walked out.
Dish Network honcho Charlie Ergen wasn’t so lucky. Continue reading
Full week of events in the KC metro…
We’ve got Sporting Kansas City defending their US Open Cup championship on Wednesday at the Legends. The Westport Summer Beer Festival goes down Saturday in front of McCoy’s (sponsored by Sporting KC). And then there’s all the usual stuff that comes with the temperatures finally reaching into the 90s, like heading out to the lake, hitting a park for a picnic, or making a jaunt to the local pool.
Plus, some good shows… Continue reading
It must be maddening for you people…
Do you mind if I call you “you people?” Of course you do. Chances are you won’t like the rest of what I’ve got to say much either, but here goes.
Do sports really matter? I mean, really, truly matter?
The obvious answer is no, but for the sake of argument, let’s go with the more nuanced, yes and no, and then cover it from both sides. Do sports matter to most folks to the extent it does to say, Craig Glazer, your beloved former scribe?
Of course not. Continue reading
Director Steven Soderbergh‘s BEHIND THE CANDELABRA was apparently too gay for commercial theatrical exhibition in the United States…
So instead it ended up on HBO where it has performed surprisingly well in the ratings. In world markets though the Michael Douglas-Matt Damon lovefest will make it to the big screen prior to reaching secondary distribution platforms.
Raising the question, is Hollywood starting to hold back on gay themed movies? Continue reading
Deck the Halls…
Halls Plaza will close next summer and consolidate into a larger, remodeled Halls Crown Center some 20 blocks away. The downside; this is the last anchor tenant and old guard, local store left on the Plaza. On a positive note, this will consolidate all the pretentiousness into a single location.
Reliable sources tell me that three new tenants will occupy the old Halls space; Dollar General, Dollar Store and Dollar Tree. Continue reading
Lauren Ward
Disses Hickman Mills & Kansas City
About last night’s gargantuan Tony Awards ceremony in New York…
As I mentioned yesterday, one of the Kansas City Star‘s three front page feature stories Sunday implied that Kansas City was in for a big night on Broadway.
“Spotlight is on Kansas City at Sunday Night’s Tony Awards,” read the headline.
The implication being that Hickman Mills grad Lauren Ward and the KC Rep’s “A Christmas Story, The Musical” were strong candidates to bring home big time Broadway theater awards so we should all watch last night’s Tony Awards.
I mean, this was front page deal, right? Wrong. Continue reading
A black bear sighting has been confirmed near Nevada, Missouri. Experts say a black bear is very similar to a polar bear, except it’s a much better dancer.
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Your iPhone has 20 times more bacteria than your toilet. Michael Douglas has already claimed to have caught something from SIRI.
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There’s a reason the Kansas City Star promotes its Sunday edition as a coupon cornucopia…
Starting with the fact that it’s a no brainer. Smart businesses market to their strengths and clearly the Star views the vast tonnage of grocery coupons and ad inserts as it’s strong suit. And I’m sure for many people that’s true, but for many others like me, eh.
Paging through today’s Star, it struck me, not for the first time but it hit home, there really isn’t very much news or compelling content in the Sunday paper. Despite that it’s the newspaper’s main profit center.
It’s mostly filler really. Continue reading
Analysts agree that Dozier’s tight shirts enhanced his draft potential.
“With the eighth overall pick in the 2013 Major League Baseball amateur draft, the Kansas City Royals take O’Jesus Whogivesashit from For Fuck’s Sake State University.”
Or that might as well have been what they said. Because honestly, who SERIOUSLY gives a shit at this point? The team is awful again, the organization is appalling and the ability to draft and develop—it’s mostly a “development” issue, according to analysts—is embarrassingly bad.
So okay, okay, they took shortstop Hunter Dozier, a 6’4”, 220 lbs junior from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. The internet (via ESPN.com) said this about Dozier:
“There are amateur shortstops that can stay up the middle. Then there are those who will likely need to move to third base. Dozier fits in the latter category, but it looks like he has the profile for the hot corner. Big and strong, Dozier was putting up gaudy numbers during his junior season to move up Draft boards as the spring progressed.”
Well that’s just splendid. Continue reading
