KC Confidential | Hearne Christopher, Uncensored

Glazer: Reality TV Show Shoot Goes Down May 22, 23 @ Stanford’s

Posted on May 11, 2015 by admin

It sure would be nice to have a national television show at Stanford & Sons...

A reality crew from LA will shoot 10 hours a day May 22nd and 23rd at our new club at Rosana Square.

So how’d it happen?

The producers who were with The Kardashians were looking for a show about an unique, funny and kinda crazy family that owned and ran a business in the Midwest. The folks in LA saw the animated pilot on Stanfords that did well in Montreal at the comedy festival a couple years ago. You can still see it, just Google “Stanfords animated pilot.” They liked what they saw and checked in with their local film crew that works this area. This company has nine shows on the air or ready to go now.

They contacted us about three weeks back and a tv crew came to the club and did screen tests on me, my brother Jeff and my father Stan. They also shot interviews with some staff. Then the crew came back on an open mic night and interviewed 20 or so other comics and staff.

The guys in LA liked the screen tests and the idea of doing a show at Stanfords, mostly on what happens off stage. The arguing, the media, the audience behavior and so on. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Craig Glazer, Stan Glazer | 8 Comments

Leftridge: Crap for Sale on Craigslist, Mother’s Day Edition

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Brandon Leftridge

Recent studies have shown that, scientifically, most people were born with a mother. (Or born from a mother? Born OF a mother? Whatever.)

Furthermore, a 1998 survey by research doctors in the field of science shows that most people keep their mothers for most of their lives.

Mothers, it would seem, are important.

So once a year, we decide to let our mothers know how much they mean to us by buying them fancy furs and luxury cars. Or we get them a homemade card where we misspell their name, gifted in tandem with a macaroni-art portrait of a blob that is supposed to resemble them. Because the thing is, we’re all cash-strapped thanks to Obamacare and Stock Markets so maybe a coffee mug made out of mud from my backyard is the BEST I CAN DO, MOM, FUCKING JESUS CHRIST!

Anyway, if you don’t have money for fur or a Mercedes or even an oven in which to bake your mud mug, you can always rely on Craigslist.

Let’s go shopping for our moms! Continue reading →

Posted in Brandon Leftridge | Tagged Brandon Leftridge, Craigslist, crap for sale on craigslist, Joe Montana, Mother's Day, murderer | 48 Comments

Lefsetz: Sack the Patriots Over Deflategate? Don’t Kid Yourself

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Bob Lefsetz

Take away their Super Bowl victory…

That’s right, strip them of their success, show that rules matter.

But we don’t anymore in America.

That’s what the underclass doesn’t understand…the level of cheating that goes on by their overlords, the rich and famous, the corporate titans, the sports stars. They keep telling us we’ve got to work harder, to be like them, to make it when the truth is they’ve had advantages and have greased the totem pole so we can’t climb it and all the while keep uttering duplicitous statements that keep us off our guard.

Kind of like Lance Armstrong.

You know who’s a national hero? Greg LeMond. LeMond won the Tour de France when Americans weren’t paying attention. He went on record that Lance doped and he lost his bike deal, he was demonized, his life was ruined.

Because if you stand up against the winners in today’s society you’re a loser.

Kind of like Edward Snowden.

Do you think the appeals court would be saying the NSA went too far if it weren’t for Snowden? Of course not, justices are human, not infallible. The law is malleable, they sway with the wind.

Actions matter. Identities matter. Yet somehow in the dash for cash and fame these concepts have been plowed under. Continue reading →

Posted in Bob Lefsetz | Tagged Bob Lefsetz, Deflategate, Taylor Swift, Tom Brady | 19 Comments

Hearne: ‘Duke’s on Grand’ Sodomy Story Keeps Getting Tawdrier

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Hearne Christopher Jr.

Prosecutor Jill Icenhower

Alleged dirtbag Dennis Skeen grinned sheepishly as he was lead from the courtroom yesterday in an orange jumpsuit and chains…

I know because I was sitting in the front row right next to Skeen’s wife Michelle who glared as he passed but a few feet in front of us.

The former Westport hotdog vendor had just been denied a reduced bail after smoking hot Jackson County prosecutor Jill Icenhower convinced the judge that Skeen was a flight risk as he faces “multiple life sentences” for attempted rape, sodomy and sexual abuse.

Skeen’s lawyer argued that there were multiple things on the controversial video that shows Skeen putting the moves on a lifeless, 20-something Duke’s on Grand staffer “that haven’t been revealed yet.”

The attorney also made it clear that while Skeen had not been accused of slipping anything into the woman victim’s drink, that indeed he had not done anything of the sort.
“This is not the time to argue the case,” the judge responded. Continue reading →

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged Dennis Skeen, Dukes on Grand, Jill Icenhower | 18 Comments

Jack Goes Confidential: Mismatched Pair Yuks Up ‘HOT PURSUIT’

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Jack Poessiger

I have to admit that my expectations for HOT PURSUIT were pretty limited…

That after seeing the trailer. On top of which, I’d suffered through Melissa McCarthy’s TAMMY last summer.

So I was prepared—and got exactly what I had expected – as in a female not-so-buddy slapstick road trip comedy.

Think of it as THELMA AND LOUISE meets SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT.

HOT PURSUIT is what one would call a High Concept Movie.

Translation: Its plot can pretty well be described in one sentence. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Hot Pursuit, Jack Poessdiger, Reece Witherspoon | 2 Comments

Steele: But He Was Such a ‘Caring, Beautiful’ Jihadi!

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Rich Steele

Nadir Soofi in an image from his Facebook page.

It turns out that Nadir Soofi – one of the two ISIS-inspired jihadis who hoped to kill scores of people at the inaugural Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest – has a local connection…

His father and stepmother live in Kansas City.

Soofi and his running mate, Elton Simpson, made the mistake of confusing Texas with Paris. In Texas, the security guards have real guns, and they know how to use them. One 60-year-old guard, though wounded himself, managed to take out both the would-be jihadis.

The Kansas City Star, like most major media outlets, felt bad for the jihadis.

Reporter Eric Adler had nary a contrary word to say about the stepmom’s rant:

“My question is, what did they (the organizers) get out of this? How was this event a productive thing for either now or in the future? How was this productive for the average U.S. citizen? Can you answer that one question? How does it make America a better place? This is what I want to know.”

I’ll let the extraordinarily brave event organizer Pam Geller answer that question: Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Rich Steele | 38 Comments

Donnelly: Star is Born in Sporting KC Win Over Chicago

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Matthew Donnelly

Tim Melia

After allowing eight goals in the previous four matches – including a whopping four at the Houston Dynamo last week – Sporting Kansas City boss Peter Vermes decided it was time to bench his brand new, Chilean, starting goalkeeper, Luis Marin…

In Marin’s place, Vermes inserted 6-year MLS benchwarmer Tim Melia against the visiting Chicago Fire on Sunday. Over the years, Melia bounced around between clubs as a pool goalkeeper, and before that he had a couple year stint with the horrible Chivas USA – a team MLS euthanized in late 2014.

So when Melia was announced as the starter, it certainly looked pretty bad for Marin.

It’s not like Peter Schmeichel was waiting in the wings. What I’m saying is that Vermes must be pretty pissed at the Chilean to abandon him this early in his first season in KC.

But then something awesome happened. Continue reading →

Posted in Mark Valentine, Uncategorized | Tagged Luis Marin, Matt Bressler, SPORTING KC, Tim Melia | 1 Comment

Leftridge: Here Comes the Fight of the Century (Is What People Said on Saturday When This Was Originally Written)

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Brandon Leftridge

***This piece was originally scheduled to run Saturday, May 2nd. Oops.***

There’s a boxing contest tonight, and according to those who know these sort of things, it’s the biggest match since “Gentleman” George Gagland fought “Irish” Mickey O’Syphilis for two consecutive days at the Poughkeepsie Fairgrounds in 1909. (RIP O’Syphillis.)

You’ve probably heard the staggering numbers—winner AND loser each stand to make nine digits, Vegas is expecting $70mil in bets, 3 million people will shell out of the pay-per-view—but really it is only the last fact that is of any consequence to you.

Will you be one of those 3,000,000 people dropping $100 to watch two small, solidly built men pound the shit out of each other for upwards of 12 rounds? Well, you shouldn’t be. Here’s why this whole thing sucks. Continue reading →

Posted in Brandon Leftridge, Sports | Tagged Brandon Leftridge, fight of the century, Floyd Mayweather, huge piece of shit, Manny Pacquiao, wolverines eating dicks | 15 Comments

New Jack City: The High Costs of Business Travel

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Jack Poessiger

They’re in, Business Travel News’s cost measurements for the top 100 domestic markets this year…

These indexes are used by Corporate America to judge the cost of lodging, food and car rentals in various cities. They also often determine the per diems paid by businesses to traveling employees.

The highest per diem averages are for San Francisco – as in $509.50 per day.

The lowest at No. 100 was Shreveport where a mere $241.16 should get you through a business day.

So how did Kansas City fare? Continue reading →

Posted in Jack_Poessiger | Tagged Business Travel News, Crossroads KC, Jack Poessiger, Steve Glorioso | 10 Comments

Glazer: The Scribe Analysis & Prediction That Almost Got Away

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Craig Glazer

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will each make more than $100 million…

It’s the fight of THIS century, at least money wise and 2100 is a long way off. Are they both undefeated? No. Are they the two best ever in their weight class? No. Are either of the two the best pound for pound fighters of all time? No way.

So whats the big deal?

Because these two are the only real big names in today’s boxing world.

Five or six years ago they were considered the best pound for pound fighters out there.

Now maybe not.

But the fight world wanted to see this fight, badly. So everyone waited.

May weather kept winning and in the meantime he got five domestic violence charges and sent one lady to the hospital he beat her with his fists so badly and then he pulled a weapon on her. Nice.

For all that he got like 90 days in jail.

OJ took back some paintings and memorabillia, got 15 years and he’s still in prison.

Nevada’s not a liberal state. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Craig Glazer | 35 Comments

Hearne: The Move from Heck is O-V-E-R

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Hearne Christopher Jr.

Sorry about that, gang…

However I just undertook a ridiculously difficult move – all of like four miles – to new digs here in Lawrence. And while that’s an infinitesimally small step for mankind, it was a gigantic pain in the you-know-what for me and an emotionally crippling trauma for Craig Glazer.

Sutherland: When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Dwight D. Sutherland, Jr.

Michelle Johnson, the Kansas City Star’s ‘Diversity Diva’, was able to put succinctly into words an idea that I had struggled with for some time…

Johnson drew on her experience as an employment lawyer to explain why some types of lawsuits were easier to win than others. She learned that jurors are reluctant to hold an employer liable for discrimination against the handicapped because they are reluctant to attribute such base motives to someone else. It’s disturbing to think, after all, that a person could be harassed or fired through no fault of their own, i.e. because of their physical disability.

However people do understand someone acting on a personal grudge or resentment, because they are more candid in recognizing that they themselves have acted from such motives. Thus, Johnson, said it’s much easier to win a verdict based on a claim of retaliatory behavior, which they will admit is understandable, even though wrong.

As Johnson puts it, “People don’t like to believe that unfair things happen.”

She cites articles which show a widespread belief that since “the world is basically fair and just, thus, people who have horrible things happen to them involving other human beings must have brought it on themselves.” Facing Uncomfortable Truths Means Opening Ourselves To Pain, 2-9-15. Continue reading →

Posted in Dwight D. Sutherland, Jr. | Tagged Dwight Sutherland, Kansas City Star, Michelle Johnson | 21 Comments

Lefsetz: The Great Cable TV Ripoff Coming To An End

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Bob Lefsetz

The Discovery Channel’s Naked and Afraid

Nobody wants to watch the Discovery Channel…

Only 2.9 million people viewed Naked and Afraid. But a 100 million paid for it. More than a buck a month. The CEO made $156 million. Now what?

Lawsuits.

Verizon is following the customer, allowing its FiOS TV subscribers to pick and choose channels. And the content providers are going nuts!

Sound familiar?

Let me analogize for you.

A CD cost $12. But people only wanted to hear one song. Continue reading →

Posted in Bob Lefsetz | Tagged Bob Lefsetz, U2 | 13 Comments

Steele: The Star’s Odd Take on Terrorism

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Rich Steele

Having milked the Bishop Finn resignation for every merciless drop, and having no new 30-year-old altar boy scandals to embellish, The Star has returned to its one true love, domestic terrorism…

No, we’re not talking about the fact that the ISIS-loving Nation of Islam, in cahoots with the Crips and the Bloods and the New Black Panther Party, has been center stage in the burning and sacking of Baltimore.

We’re talking about white right wing terrorism…once more.

The number two headline on the Star’s Thursday email blast reads, “Domestic terrorism: Landscape of white nationalist groups is changing.”

Click on the headline and one confronts the new face of this terrorism, an older, bespectacled man in a jacket and tie and his middle age daughter standing under a billboard for their Internet radio station, WhitePrideradio.com. Continue reading →

Posted in Rich Steele | Tagged Bishop Finn, Ku Klux Klan, Rich Steele, WhitePrideradio.com | 5 Comments

Starbeams: ‘No Means Bud,’ Royal Bonkings, Chiefs Feeling a Draft

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Kelly Urich

Budweiser says it “Missed the mark” when labeling its ad campaign with “The perfect beer for removing the word NO from your vocabulary.”

Maybe they really are unfiltered?

*******

The Royals are repeatedly being hit in the head with nasty pitches from other teams. Alcides Escobar was hit this week with a 96 mph fastball that knocked him out of the game and tensions are high. The fighting has gotten so bad the Royals remaining games will be televised on Pay-Per-View.

******* Continue reading →

Posted in Starbeams | Tagged Kelly Urich, The Buzz 99.7 FM | Comments Off

Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Avengers’ Dropping the Hammer on Ultron

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Jack Poessiger

No synopsis, plot or spoilers here!

Instead here’s my overview of what will likely be this summer’s top performing movie:

While AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is the follow-up to the third biggest grossing movie of all time (the others being AVATAR and TITANIC) it actually picks up where 2014’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER left off.

To say fan expectations are through the roof would be a gross understatement. But one doesn’t have to be a 30 year old nerd still living in his mom’s basement to enjoy this living comic book-in-overdrive outing.

And I say that confidently, having observed a screening audience which consisted of a healthy male mix of just about all ages within the 10 to 54 year old demographic with plenty of females as well.

Right from the start this franchise blockbuster sets the tone. Continue reading →

Posted in Jack_Poessiger | Tagged AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, Jack Poessiger | 3 Comments

Glazer: Baltimore Riots Torpedo Stanford’s Comic

Posted on April 29, 2015 by admin

Rain Pryor

Freddie Gray was just hanging out when cops made eye contact with him…

Gray has a lengthy criminal record with over 20 arrests since 2007 for selling drugs, burglary,making drugs, assaults, the list goes on. Clearly he’s a low level thug at age 25, with two arrests just weeks before an incident in March.

Gray ran when cops just looked at him. He had a concealed weapon on him, a knife. And that’s pretty much all we know thus far.

Gray was placed in the back of a police van, cuffed.

And he was reportedly injured in a wreck the week before.

Did police cause the spinal cord issues that lead to Gray’s death, or was it the wreck and ride in the back of the van?

Nobody really knows at this time.

One thing is clear, Gray was not an innocent young man on his way to work or school or anything close to any of that. Did he deserve to die or be killed? Of course not, but what actually happened remains unknown.

The result:. The worst riots seen in Baltimore since Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in 1968. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Craig Glazer, Rain Pryor, Richard Pryor | 59 Comments

Hearne: Unanswered Questions Linger in ‘Duke’s on Broadway’ Rape Story

Posted on April 29, 2015 by admin

Don’t expect the Duke’s on Grand rape story to go away anytime soon…

There are just too many crazy twists and turns and unanswered questions. Starting with the gaggle of employees who hung out illegally drinking after closing hours to party with owner Dennis Skeen, a former hot dog salesman and the alleged perpetrator.

And that the 23 year old woman victim had been drinking illegally for nearly three hours with Skeen and the other employees who left only minutes before Skeen did the nasty.

In another odd twist, it was three homeless men who say they spotted Skeen taking advantage of his passed out employee and who called the police. One of the homeless gents told KCTV that Skeen threatened them by waving a gun after he dragged the woman’s lifeless body out of sight into a back room. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dennis Skeen, Downtown Pizza, Dukes on Grand, Regulated Industries | 10 Comments

Hearne: The Second Coming of Joe Posnanski?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Hearne Christopher Jr.

Talk about too much of a good thing…

Now that the Kansas City Royals are requiring locals to pay much closer attention, I find myself perusing their game stories in the Kansas City Star far more often. Which generally entails reading what beat writer Andy McCullough has to say – which trust me, is usually a mouthful.

Take today’s game story account of the Royals win at Cleveland:
“A desolate ballpark came alive as Mike Moustakas traipsed back to the Royals dugout. A series of high-pitched catcalls echoed through the barren confines of Progressive Field as Moustakas searched for fresh lumber. A lone voice implored him to hurry up. He did not listen.”

Or Sunday’s loss at Chicago:

“Edinson Volquez handed the baseball, the object that betrayed him in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox, to Royals manager Ned Yost.

Before he exited the diamond, Volquez turned and patted the chest of third baseman Mike Moustakas, the other principal participant in an inning marked by agony.”

Maybe I missed it, but when did Royals wrap-up stories morph into soap opera style melodramas? When did covering what happened in a game take a back seat to over-the-top, breathless nerd overkill?

Former Star sports scribe Joe Posnanski was the master of this genre. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Andy McCullough, Bette Midler, Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Star Business Weekly, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas | 13 Comments

Hearne: Bill Self Teams With Former KU Wild Man for Lawrence Eatery

Posted on April 27, 2015 by admin

Scot Pollard

Maybe Bill Self will stick it out here in Lawrence after all…

I still have my doubts. However it is possible that the KU basketball coach’s philandering days are behind him. And that coaching at the level of an NBA practice squad is starting to grow on him. Hey and living in a $2 million plus mansion wearing, a really snug rug and getting Botox treatments is enough for a dude who came humble origins. Living in a fishbowl with only a small handful of decent restaurants might suffice.

Which may explain why Self is teaming with former KU star Scot Pollard, reportedly to start a new biz at 18th and Mass just south of downtown Lawrence.

Rumor is Polard and Self are planning to open a restaurant there.

And while at first blush a sports bar might make sense, all that glitters in that category ain’t gold. Just ask former KU football star David Lawrence about his year-old, ghost town eatery Legends.

What makes more sense would be to open a second Salty Iguana. Continue reading →

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged Bill Self, David Lawrence, Salty Iguana, Scot Pollard | 7 Comments

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