Mancow: How the Hyatt Disaster & Bob Walkenhorst Derailed KC's Rainmakers
In 1986 "Rockin' at the T-Dance" by Kansas City's Rainmakers was forbidden @ my former station Q104 back when it was a hit music station.
The song dared to blame the Hyatt Corporation for the Hyatt Regency Skywalks disaster. Too young to remember? Look it up. It's a filthy, dark mark in Kansas City history that many "suits" would like the Cowtown to forget.
Shoddy, cheap work lead to a massacre.
My parents lost friends at that Tea Dance while the band played Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll" on a hot July evening. It impacted my family & haunted me with nightmares for years .
Why did Q104 ban the Rainmakers song?
Starbeams: Gentlemen, Start Your Pinholes, White Flight & Birth of an Egg
Our first solar eclipse this year is late Sunday afternoon. It's also one of the few times I can look at something through a pinhole in public without getting arrested!
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Minorities have now surpassed whites in U.S. births. Does this mean Johnson County residents will call the police if they see me in the neighborhood?
Whinery: Marilyn Manson Disappoints at Uptown
Don’t know what it is with rock stars who don’t play their hits...
I saw Marilyn Manson last night for probably the 10th time- but only the second show since the late 1990’s. I'd seen him several times on the “Dead to the World” tour –in support of the seminal recording “Anti -Christ Superstar”
Which coincided with the 1996 Presidential Campaign - the second term of Bill Clinton, a “laydown” (sorry sexual metaphors are intrinsically linked to the man) - over the Great Senator from Kansas- Robert J. Dole. Back when America wasn’t perpetually involved in major wars.
Jack Goes Confidential: 'Battleship' Turns Naval Exercise into Oceanic Transformers
The Hasbro toy empire has done well for itself...
To date they've brought, among others, TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE to the big screen and both franchises were hugely successful.
So why quit now?
Hasbro's latest transformation is the overly-long board game, alien invasion spectacle BATTLESHIP. Think of it as a 'Transformers' of sorts on the high seas.
"Let's see if we can buy the world another day!"
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Donnelly: Taj Mahal @ Knuckleheads, May 16, 2012
Taj Mahal celebrated his 70th birthday onstage Wednesday at Knuckleheads in front of an enthusiastic crowd that packed the patio and upper decks, and filled about half of the inside area.
Even KC mayor Sly James and his crew found their way into the Bottoms to catch the show, drink some beer, and eat a bunch of fried food. Now there’s a platform I can really get behind.
As Taj took the stage he was presented with a huge guitar-shaped cake and serenaded with a spirited rendition of happy birthday. The storied bluesman seemed to appreciate the gesture, but didn’t say much and quickly launched into the opener, an instrumental jam that displayed his trademark tremolo-soaked, syncopated guitar picking.
He’s still got it, I thought to myself, even at 70.
Mermaid: Pistol Packing Mama Hits the Bullet Hole for Thrills & Chills
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I guess my curiosity with guns started when I saw a hot pink Sig Sauer Mosquito. 22 online...
It was a lot meaner than a new pair of shoes but still toted some major bling! I've wanted a gun ever since.
This week I got my wish when my boyfriend, David, took me to the Bullet Hole after some extreme begging on my part. We both have family heirloom guns and I thought it would be great to learn how to shoot them. It's always been on my bucket list and I think in the back of my mind I now wanted to have the personal protection in my home. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the experience or not, but I was pretty excited to try it out...
Walking in to the Bullet Hole, it was a serious yet friendly atmosphere.
We showed them our guns and they checked them to make sure they were in good working order. Corey, an expert Bullet Hole guide, seemed impressed with my Belgium Browning 9mm. He said he'd never seen one quite like it.
Naturally I was pleased that my gun was getting some respect.
Hearne: RockFest 2012; So Many Boobies, So Few Beads
About last weekend's RockFest at Liberty Memorial...
The one where an estimated 55,000 head-bangers bellied up to 15 bands for nearly a dozen hours of drunken and disorderly debauchery. A politcally correct, freelance concert review in the Star glossed over the depravity by referring to "the antics of uninhibited women" and musicians who "actively encouraged...lewd behavior."
Leaving to reader's imaginations the question, how lewd was it?
"It was a great people watching crowd," says Westporter Bill Nigro, who worked the event. "Because you saw everybody from the beautiful people to the not-so-beautiful people. There were some stunning women there and there were some other ones that weren't."
Diplomatically said - but let's take it a step farther - how stunning?
"There was quite a bit of flashing," Nigro says. "I've never seen so many flashes. Ever."
Hearne: Best Buy Victim of Times, Sex Scandal, 'Psychological Marketing'
What goes around comes around...
Last year Jack Poessiger and I were talking to the head of one of Kansas City's biggest commercial real estate firms about a fancy-schmancy new retail development he was working on. One for which he'd procured Best Buy as an anchor tenant. Isn't that a little risky, I asked. Nah, he assured me, Best Buy was blue chip. A few days later I sent him a couple links to business stories suggesting otherwise.
Now check out this graph from an Associated Press story earlier this week about an unrelated sex scandal that has cost Best Buy both its CEO and founder.
"The latest revelations are part of a scandal that couldn't have come at a worse time for the 46-year-old retailer. The company, which has more than 1,400 U.S. locations, is struggling to regain its footing as it faces increased competition from online retailers and discounters. Customers have all but abandoned buying at so-called 'big box' stores like Best Buy."
"All but abandoned" Sound familiar? It should.
Sounds Good: Taj Mahal@Knuckleheads, Grant Hart@Tap Room, P-Funk@Crossroads, Bad Veins@Replay, CIB & Ghosty@Replay
For those that don't know, this week is American Craft Beer Week...
Yeah, I know it sounds like it was made up by American craft brewers. But it does have a few benefits, particularly if you're in the Larry neck of the woods this Thursday evening. Free State is teaming up with local milk gurus Iwig's Dairy at the Farmer's Market near 19th and Mass. Word on the street is that these two local favs will be combining their wares to make the famous Oatmeal Stout Ice Cream Floats.
And that's just ONE of the benefits of American Craft Beer Week! Trust me, there's lots more.
By the way, next week is KC Entertainment Blog Week, so you know what that means.
Some good music this week, check it out...
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Starbeams: So Spray Me, Dodge City Showdown & Snakebit @ Walmart
Spray-on seed has been has been added to the grounds at Liberty Memorial as part of a $3.6 million restoration. This is nothing new as several dudes at the memorial over the years have asked me if I would like some of their spray-on seed.
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Dodge City street gang members have been charged recently with alleged racketeering and murder. The term 'Dodge City Street Gang' was immediately trademarked by the History Channel.
Jack Goes Confidential: 'The Dictator' In Loving Memory Of Kim Jong-Il
What can I say about Sacha Baron Cohen that hasn't been said a million times before?
You either love him or hate him. He's the master of unstaged and unscripted ambush, confrontational comedy. And naturally, most of it's pretty offensive by today's PC standards.
The old DA ALI G SHOW followed by BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHAN and BRUNO certainly are proof of his obsession and his success.
But with THE DICTATOR Cohen ventures into uncharted territory.
Namely, scripted comedy using real actors. In this case Ben Kingsley and Anna Faris and a storyline of a tiny nation's dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.
Glazer: Scribe & Hottie Off to Puerto Rico for a Week
As we reach middle age we often find that we have or take very little time for ourselves...
We're always saving for our futures - but guess what - if you're over 45, it's already here! It's time to enjoy life and your friends. Most of you have all worked hard and maybe raised a couple kids, now it's your turn.
However, too many of us bought into the big lie. One of many, actually.
That when you grow up everything will be swell. You'll be able to drive and own a car and won't need your mom or the neighbor to give you a ride. You'll get married, have a great job and kids and everything will be aces. Oh yeah, and you'll have great and loyal friends - tons of 'em!
What we eventually learn is that life is not too fair.
Glazer: An All Star Game With No All Stars, the Indignity of it All
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So how bad is this Royals season thus far?
We have an All Star game here in about a month and we don't even have a single All Star on the Royals!!! At least not now. Maybe one will pop up in time for the mid season classic, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Before the season we thought we had about three or four.
Eric Hosmer, for sure, maybe Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon and possibly even Danny Duffy. It looks like this today: Hosmer is batting under .200 and has all year - there's even talk of sending him back to the minors. WOW! Mike, I mean Moose, is decent with an average just over .300 and a weak four homers. He's our best bet as of today. Moose is also an outstanding 3rd baseman. Alex Gordon has been average, batting in the mid .200's (.258 now) with just 4 home runs and 16 RBI's - very average.
Now we get to the best - or is it worst - news.
Hearne: Pitch Congratulates Bogus 'Best Of' Buddy, Travel & Leisure Magazine
Will we ever learn?
I mean, really - we're such suckers. It's high time Kansas City media quit pandering to inconsequential "best of" promotions promulgated by loser magazines with little to no research credibility. Publications's like Travel & Leisure, which twice in two months has annointed KC in one of its so-called "surveys."
Contrived surveys that are published with zero information about how they were complied, the number of participants - you know, pretty much whatever one would want or need to know to consider the survey relevant or legit.
Kinda like those Pitch 'Best Of" issues...
So it's not really surprising that it was the Pitch which annointed Travel & Leisure's latest bit of tripe by "reporting" the results:
That Kansas City is the country's 8th best burger city.
Hearne: KU Students & Fans Celebrate Basketball Coach Bill Self's Rug
You know what they say about, if it ain't KU basketball season in Lawrence, it ain't happening...
And while it's not like every single thing in Larry revolves around Allen Field House, it does seem that way at times. Take the recent student newspaper Top 20 "KU Bucket List" of stuff the kids want to do before graduating.
No. 10: "See Bill Self without his toupée: 'That’s something I’ve always been interested in. It looks so real. I think he has the sides still, but not the top.' — Killian Cull, a sophomore from Overland Park."
KU fans and foes have argued for years about whether the KU basketball coach wears a rug or not.
Donnelly: Sporting Self Destruct to Drop 3rd in a Row, Vermes Rips Refs
Sporting Kansas City played a decent first half Saturday at the Chicago Fire.
Bobby Convey notched his first goal of the season with a one-timer that was set up nicely by Roger Espinoza's cut back cross and KC went to the locker room at the half up on the home side 1-0.
The second half was a completely different story. By the time the final whistle blew, Sporting had conceded a penalty, been shown a red card, and saw one of its alleged leaders attempt a fancy juggle inside his own 6 yard box which resulted in the go ahead Chicago goal.
Yeah, total nightmare.
So after starting the season 7-0, KC now sits at 7-3. Sure, the results have been disappointing, but more troubling has been Sporting's play of late.
New Jack City: Movies on the Silver Screen Still the Best Bet
No matter how you slice or dice it, movie theaters continue to be the least expensive out-of-home entertainment...
And for the record the five year U.S. screen count---from 2007 through 2011---has risen from 38,803 to 39,718. That's an increase of 2.35%.
Here are some interesting stats courtesy of the National Association of Theater Owners---N.A.T.O. for short.
Since 1981, ticket prices have increased, on average, less than the rate of inflation. Forty years ago the average 1971 ticket price was $1.65. In 2011 dollars that ticket would cost $9.16.
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Hearne: And Now the 'Rest of the Story' on the AMC Entertainment 'China Crisis'
It's one thing for the hometown paper to get scooped on a huge story like AMC Entertainment selling out to the Chinese...
Quite another to pull up short on its front page followup. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened earlier this week when the Star rolled out its version of the New York Times scoop on AMC being in talks to sell the company "or a significant stake" to China's Wanda Group.
How serious is Wanda? Apparently very.
"The Chinese group has reportedly been eyeing an acquisition since president Wang Jianlin said in a speech at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2011 that his company would 'shock the world' with an acquisition to be made within the year," the news organization Want China Times reported yesterday.
Now a little much-needed background and perspective.
Tony: The Key To Eternal Blog Survival
I'm often comforted and frightened by the thought that so many of the words I've blogged on the Internets will remain archived until the end of recorded human history and for a short time thereafter.
Either by way of The Wayback Machine or the secret dossier that Google and Facebook are keeping on all of us. The Web really is a lot more permanent than people realize. Despite the fact that local online publishing operations tend to have the lifespan of a June-bug.
So, because I'm a generous and kind soul with a penchant for busty lingerie models, I'd like to share the keys to bloggy immortality. And while I can't promise any of my advice will earn gentle readers even pocket change to help with their electricity bill, it'll certainly delight potential employees who need an excuse to pass on your application.
Now, on to the advice . . .
Glazer: Scribe Wishes His Mom Happy Mother's Day
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Like many of you, I lost my mother a few years back..
We only have one real mom and one real dad, so when they're gone it hurts. I think of my mother Rita Trantham every day. Yes, she was once Rita Glazer, but my father and mother divorced long ago. Her second husband John, was a great guy, but he too passed away this year.
On mother's deathbed she said she was proud of me and we had that long last talk.
It was painful, but I'm glad we did. You readers all know the "Glazer Boys" stories, so clearly we had many issues. My mother had far more sad days with us three kids than good ones. No doubt. I wish my mom would have lived to see King of Sting come out, but she died in 2007 when the book was done but not yet printed. She knew it was being published though. My mother also died just short of the opening of Stanford and Sons at the Legends. She did visit the complex and saw it being built before she was bed ridden.
What I most remember about my mom was how well liked she was in Kansas City.
Jack Goes Confidential: 'DARK SHADOWS' Serves Up Retro Weirdness
Never having been a fan of ABC's old TV soaper my expectations of Tim Burton's movie adaptation were at best "in-check."
And guess what DARK SHADOWS the movie pretty well delivered on those expectations. Not more. Maybe even a little less.
Twisting the shows storyline just a bit, Warner Brothers' big screen adaptation maintains the basic plot of Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) who in 1752, along with his family, set sail for America where he became quite the heartbreaker.
But when he broke the wrong woman's heart---she got even!
She also happened to be a jealous witch who cursed him, destroyed his family, turned him into a vampire and buried Barnabas alive chained to his coffin.
Now move up to 1972 where Barnabas is freshly dug up by an ill-fated construction crew and resurrected in Collinwood only to find his old family's descendants in ruins. There's disco, microwaves, Chevy's---even The Carpenters performing on television for this vampire fish-out-of-water to face.
Car: Fiat Abarth Wins Super Bowl Ad Sweepstakes, Edmunds Says
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Long time no Fiat column...
Seems like only yesterday, KC Confidential was all over the triumphant return of Fiat to the United States. You may recall that in addition to covering the return of the Italian carmaker to America - as a result of Fiat's rescue of the now wildly successful Chrysler - I made an impulse buy and signed on to buy one of the first 500 "Prima Edizione" Fiat 500s, sight unseen, price unknown.
Pretty smart, huh?
As the months dragged on, I reported on the tiny car (seven inches shorter than a Mini Cooper) and defended the little bugger against all comers in KCC's caustic, few-holds-barred comments section.
Was I totally gay? Didn't I know Fiat was short for "Fix it again Tony?" Why not do the right thing and buy a Mini?
Starbeams: The Top Five Signs You're at a Chinese (AMC) Movie Theater
Kansas City based AMC Theatres may be sold to a Chinese company. AMC recently broke ground on its new headquarters at 117th and Nall. However, if they're going to be based in China, they'll need to keep digging for some time.
THE TOP FIVE SIGNS YOU'RE AT A CHINESE BASED MOVIE THEATER:
#5. Romantic comedies involve someone getting kicked.
#4. You can save the popcorn bowl for a hair cut.
#3. Instead of popcorn, you get itty bitty ears of corn.
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Sounds Good: Spring into Summer@Replay, Delbert McClinton@Knuckleheads, Tennis@RecordBar, Truckstop Honeymoon@Barnyard
All my picks this week are on Saturday, so you’ve got some touch choices to make...
Plus there’s a Sporting KC game Saturday at 7:30. The boys in blue are away at rival Chicago, so if you can’t park it in front of the tube at 7:30, make sure to set the old DVR.
In other concert news: the much anticipated James Morrison concert that was scheduled for the Granada tonight has unfortunately been cancelled. I believe Mr. Morrison will be hitting up Jay Leno tonight instead. His loss, right?
On to the picks!
Leftridge: Mother's Day Gift Ideas (Because Every Other Day is About You)
Look, we’ve all got mom’s, you know? (unless your mother is dead—in which case, I’m very, truly sorry for bringing it up. What happened, anyway? She was so young!) But anyway, moms… gotta love ‘em. Be they biological or a step, in-law or kidnapper, they’ve been there for you your whole life. She was there when you graduated high school and accidentally shit your pants with the compounded nervousness of being on a stage in front of thousands of people. She stuck up for you when you were learning to ride a bicycle and you accidentally crashed it into your douchebag neighbor’s Ferrari and put a scratch in it and that greasy Mexican screamed at you and called you a worthless piece of shit, berating you until you felt like ending your life at the tender age of 5.
Moms: God bless each and every one of them. But the truth is, you haven’t done enough for her. Trust me… you haven’t. But the good news is, you can start this coming Sunday. Selecting an appropriate gift is one way of beginning to build the bridge you burned when you stole $15,000 from her savings account and ran off to Thailand where you met a chick who didn’t turn out to be a chick at all (not that you knew that before you married it in a regrettable opiate haze).
Choosing a gift can be tricky, though. What kind of mom is she? Is she a nice mom, or a really nice mom? Does she like to sing, or does she like Singer sewing machines?
Hearne: This Just In...Lawrence Barbecue Sucks, Locals Say
You read it right...
The verdict is in on Lawrence Journal World foodie Sarah Henning's assertion Tuesday that Anthony Bourdain "should've made 'Reservations' in Lawrence."
That in reference to the irreverant Travel Channel personality's recent episode about KC barbecue, Stroud's fried chicken, the Savoy Grill, Town Topic hamburgers and other local esoteric, edible delights.
But alas, no Lawrence BBQ, Henning lamented.
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Donnelly: "We were not sharp enough," says Vermes as Montreal Shuts Out Sporting
Sporting KC continued their mini-slide Saturday night at home against the expansion Montreal Impact, losing to the visitors 2-0.
Let's call it what it was, a poor effort from the boys in blue.
But judging from the immediate online reaction you would think that the sky is falling on the Eastern Conference leaders.
A few examples:
@Sporting_Times tweeted, "When plan b is the same as plan a that happens .............. MLS has figured #SportingKC out."
And then there was this exchange:
@MtRoyalSoccer, a Montreal supporter, tweeted, "@TheDailyWizKC it does not take out anything from #SportingKC but #IMFC have been progressing every single game."
To which @TheDailyWizKC replied, "@MtRoyalSoccer While we've been declining... #SMH."
A little knee jerk perhaps? Certainly there are some issues, as there always are with every team. But the sky is not falling... yet...
