KC Confidential

Whaddaya think?

Kansas City’s former alternative newsweekly of record, The Pitch faces a highly uncertain future come April 1st. That’s when the once-venerable entertainment and news pub plans to go from newsprint to coated stock (magazine quality) paper and monthly publication.

Kinda like its big sister zine, The Nashville Scene.

Never mind that this move was reportedly slated to go down six years back when Pitch parent SouthComm Communications made the disastrous decision to take the alt weekly off the hands of Village Voice Media. The Village Voice – under its former name New Times – had bought it from local record store owner named Hal Brody in 1999.

Unfortunately what was left of the Pitch – which at the point that SouthComm bought it – had long been in steady decline. And it continued to shrink in size, revenue and stature, leading up the the recent decision to throw in the towel on weekly publication.

Throughout an extended series of death throes – and even prior to Village Voice taking over – the weekly had wrestled with the whether to keep the several pages of highly profitable cheesy, raunchy sex ads.

At one point the Pitch did away with its sex ads because hurt the mag both in terms of distribution in desirable locations where locals complained and scared off potential advertisers that refused to be associated with that type of content.

However, money was always tight and the sex advertisers were willing to pay top dollar for access to its readership. Kinda like the local strip clubs who used to advertise in the Kansas City Star sports section until publisher Art Brisbane pulled the plug.

It’s like this, not only does sex sell, it pays quite well. Continue reading →

Say what you will about kids movies, this is Hollywood magic at its best…

Could BEAUTY AND THE BEAST be the best Disney (live) family fantasy film ever made?

Some people already think so—and you can include me.

The $64 million question: does this fabulous production favor 1991’s animated feature film or fall more in line with the Broadway stage play?

Frankly, I believe it combines the best of BOTH worlds.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST’s show stopping production numbers and digitally enhanced gothic fantasy sequences are unlike anything we’ve experienced.

It’s really four movies in one.

On one hand it’s an action movie – but also a comedy.

On the other, it’s a romantic drama and a musical. Continue reading →

I’ll make this quick…

A couple observations on the cult-like thinking and behavior of KU basketball fans from behind the Iron Curtain in Lawrence, Kansas.

To spell it out, with rare exception they’re in denial.

To be a KU basketball fan in Lawrence, your devotion must be blind.

Anybody who can find even the slightest wrong – such as players slapping around girlfriends or kicking the you-know-what out of a women’s car outside some bar late at night, is one of two things:

Either a jealous Missouri Tiger fan or someone who just doesn’t get the fact that with ultra rare exception, basketball coach Bill Self and the Kansas athletics department can do no wrong…

Where basketball is concerned, that is. Continue reading →

Give it up for Sam Mellinger and the Kansas City Star…

Don’t rub your eyes, you heard me.

Because at long last somebody in the newspaper’s sports department reached down into their trousers, located something resembling an attitude and – voila – stuck it to KU basketball coach Bill Self and the almighty Jayhawks.

What hath God wrought?

Seriously, KC and Lawrence sportswriters and editors have been sucking up to KU basketball for so long it’s almost unbelievable somebody finally had the guts to do the right thing and call them out for kid glove treatment of male athletes and discrimination against women.

Hey, holding Self and the University of Kansas Athletics Department’s feet to the fire where ethical behavior and treatment of athletes is concerned is no small feat.

You won’t find anybody in Lawrence publicly manning up on that count.

And rightly, as noted by Mellinger,  a Title IX investigation into equal treatment of men and women athletes at KU is a no brainer.

“Four of the Jayhawks’ top seven men’s basketball players have gone off path: arrested, suspended, charged with a crime or found by the university to have likely committed domestic violence,” Mellinger writes. “Some outsiders view this as a sign that the program is teetering on the brink of chaos…”

“Many within the university and program feel the problems are misunderstood, even as school officials decline to clarify while citing privacy constraints and legal guidelines. None of this is productive. None of it is helpful. Worse, it’s a distraction from learning what is true and what is not.

We live in a time of war…

The Culture War –  called by many the “Cold Civil War” – is  a shooting war.  It really became a shooting war after President Obama feted Black Lives Matter representatives at the White House and paid homage to them during his eulogy at the funerals of the dead Dallas cops, who’d been killed by a black man inspired  by that very organization.

The complete bifurcation of America into Salvadore Dali‘s  “Soft Construction With Boiled Beans” began with Obama’s despicable commentary over the dead bodies of cops whose blood trail led directly to the steps of the White House.

Those with eyes that see, have viewed the many attacks from progressive thugs against Trump supporters, free speech and the right to assemble again and again.

Here are ONLY the most recent attacks.

http://www.vdare.com/articles/it-will-come-to-blood-reflections-on-the-lefts-anti-trump-inauguration-tantrum?content=some 230 arrests.

Here in Kansas City, a few days ago, one of our fellow citizens took umbrage with a man who had the temerity to display a Trump  Sticker on his car.  After some inspiring rhetoric, the aforesaid citizen left the idiot Trump supporter  (I gotta call a spade a spade.  Anyone in Kansas City, dumb enough to display a Trump sticker, is either meaner and bigger than Brock Lesner or crazier than Clay Chastain.).

Man With Rifle Livestreams Himself Threatening Stranger Over Trump Sticker | We Are Change

Man With Rifle Livestreams Himself Threatening Stranger Over Trump Sticker …

A selfie-style video of a man threatening to shoot a Donald Trump supporter at a gas station over a bumper stick…

Is it just me, or was that attack deplorable? Continue reading →

The day finally came to say goodbye to the Chiefs best running back ever…

Jamaal Charles  just had too many injuries and hadn’t played much the past two seasons.

Still he holds many of the Chiefs rushing records, including most yards per carry and has four Pro Bowls. Sadly Charles played on average and bad Chiefs teams, so a Hall of Fame career is highly unlikely.

He will be a Chiefs Hall of Famer of course.

There was no big playoff win or game for Jamaal and that is a big reason he can’t get into the HOF down the road.

The Chiefs dumped Charles because they needed the cap room to sign other players.

Eric Berry finally got his money – $70 million over the next 6 years. He’s had a storybook career getting better with age and of course beating cancer. Last year Berry was THE best safety and was an All Pro. He’s earned the money and is the team leader today. Continue reading →

There definitely IS a difference!

My personal preferences are not necessarily what I am actually picking to win in Sunday night’s 89th annual ACADEMY AWARDS hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

I believe the only real contest this year is in the Best Actor category where Denzel Washington (‘Fences’) is running neck-and-neck with Casey Affleck (‘Manchester By The Sea‘) and Ryan Gosling (‘La La Land’) for top honors.

If it were up to me the Oscar would go to Denzel Washington.

But reality should see Casey Affleck making the acceptance speech.

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Best Actress?

My choice AND pick is LA LA’s Emma Stone. No contest here.

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