KC Confidential.com

Knock-knock! Who’s there? Weekend! Weekend, who? Weekend make it, but we’d better get going before it’s time to punch the clock again.

Attention and good morning, fellow citizens. Welcome to the first official day of the three-day Labor Day weekend holiday. Time to rise and shine and cockle-doodle-doo something just for the fun of it.

I know that some of you started celebrating early on Friday. Hell, some of you started celebrating early on the Friday before last year’s Labor Day weekend and haven’t stopped since.

In any event, it’s time to nominally detail some of the essential falderol that makes weekends worth the wait, even for those for whom every day is a Saturday. Ready, set, kick back! Continue reading

You’ve got to love an action-thriller in which the underground network for illegal immigrants is headquartered in a taco truck!

MACHETE is a completely over-the top blast (literally) and is probably the only movie ever to be totally based on a fake movie trailer—one of several that appeared inside of Quentin Tarantino’s GRINDHOUSE a few years ago.

What we’ve got here is a timely splatterfest action story of shady, right wing Senator Robert DeNiro working with a Mexican drug lord to ’secure’ the border—for his own crooked purposes.

What he didn’t count on was that MACHETE - does his name proud – complete with a weed whacker attack. Continue reading

Police in Silver Spring, Maryland fatally shot a guy holding people hostage at the Discovery Channel HQ building.  And this just in,  a bunch of hot Latino women have taken over the METRO WEATHER CHANNEL!

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The Chiefs played the Packers tonight in a rematch of Super Bowl I, the 1967 game that was televised on CBS and NBC.  You never see the network coverage of that game anymore because both networks recorded over their footage which is a travesty. Continue reading

Movie attendance in the U.S. this summer was at its lowest point in five years. Yet revenue hit an all-time high. Apparently, movie theaters have adopted the Royals business model.

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I loved watching the president’s speech coming to an end as ABC went straight into WIPEOUT. That took me from patriotic to brain dead in 2.5 seconds. Continue reading

It has all the trappings of an exciting mystery suspense thriller.

A professional international hit man’s adventures across Europe.  George Clooney in the starring role.

I couldn’t wait for the screening of THE AMERICAN.

Instead what I got was a lifeless, slow insight into this guy’s persona and last assignment.

THE AMERICAN brought back memories of those mid-60’s slow Euro-Thrillers which bored anyone other than the Art House crowd half to death. Continue reading

So, I skipped out on The 2010 Greater Kansas City Bartending Competition not just because I’m lazy and wanted to spend Sunday Afternoon watching G.I. Joe.

But also because I realized the the Sunday drinking was inadvertently making a political statement that runs afoul of the self-interest of so many hipsters in the area.

Without question, it’s a good looking event full of vibrant and young locals with a keen interest in having a good time. Kansas City Photographer Eric Bowers took some choice photos of the party and Kansas City’s cool people were certainly out in full force. But, I just couldn’t help thinking that the boozefest was a bit hypocritical.

Allow me to explain.
Continue reading

I almost lost my mind watching my Kansas City Chiefs lose to the Philadelphia Eagles in Friday’s preseason home opener at Arrowhead Stadium.

But it wasn’t the game that threatened my hold on sanity. It was the totally distracting, please-make-it-stop advertising on the high-tech HD ribbon board extending around the entire inner circle of Arrowhead.

The board’s video overkill promoted future football games, the Chiefs Cheerleaders calendar, soft drinks, beer and so much more. It qualified as the most exasperating thing I’ve encountered in 20 years as a Chiefs season ticket holder. And that’s pretty exasperating.

To say that the board – let’s just call it the “ad ribbon” – constantly sidetracked my focus from the game on the field only begins to communicate the inappropriate pummeling taken by my attention span. Continue reading

Charlie Parker would have been been 90 years old this week; same as Walt Bodine.

The Kansas City alto saxophonist set a standard for playing here that haunts Cowtown reedmen to this day. Paraphrasing Bobby Watson, a guest of mine on Saturday night’s 12th STREET JUMP public radio show: ” When you say you’re from KC and you play the sax, people just expect more from you”  (lot’s of paraphrasing there; sorry, Professor Watson– I think I got the intent, if not the poetry).

Always up for a challenge, KC jazzmen are throwing themselves into the breach once again (they do it every week), to prove they’ve got the goods and more. It’s a holiday weekend. Give em a break– listen in on the best of KC jazz, just like the Bird would be doing today, between chicken wings: Continue reading

It’s a classic case of style over substance…

Better food and wider concourses instead of a better football team. So rather than go over the Chiefs pathetic loss to Philly, let’s look at some other stuff…

Todd Haley the head coach, is different this year. Todd shaves and speaks much more clearly. You can understand him much better in his post game talks. Hey, maybe he’ll dress up a bit on the sidelines this year, huh? Nah.

Todd has also gotten in better shape, he’s lost some weight and muscled up. The guy looks pretty good. And he made it clear, after  reaching 0-3, that he is a very happy with this team. He told us it won’t always be pretty – many games will look like the Philly loss – close but we lose. We don’t know how to win yet.

O.K. glad he’s happy with that, are you? Continue reading

The latest annoying feature on Kansas City streets: Flashing metal stop signs with bright LED lights. They’re being installed where drivers frequently run the stop signs.

TOP 5 OTHER FLASHING SIGNS WE NEED:

#5.  Beware, Johnson County SUV drivers think they have the right of way.

#4.  DO NOT try to read all the bumper stickers on the cars in Westport.

#3.  What part of NO LEFT TURN between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. do you not understand?

#2.  Loading zone…reloading zone!

#1.  Warning!  Plaza Carriage drivers have no idea cars exist…

Kelly Urich

During the week John Morris is one of corporate radio’s mild-mannered engineers who keep Entercom’s 8 local stations humming.

But on weekends John transforms his persona to K.C. Music Man John Christopher offering fans the sounds of the greatest records ever pressed.

John calls the program THE NEON BEAT airing all day Saturday’s through noon and on Sunday’s with a JACK-FM approach to the Baby Boomer hits of the 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s. Continue reading

I hadn’t planned on watching the PRIMETIME EMMYS this Sunday night.

But on second thought I think I will.

Why?

Because Conan O’Brien is nominated in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series catagory for his short-lived stint as NBC’s TONIGHT SHOW host.

And should he win, his acceptance speech could be one for the books! Continue reading