KC Confidential

“And USA Today – for the younger people – is some sort of website that’s printed out on large paper”

—-  Bill Maher

I was talking to a senior Kansas City Star staffer yesterday about the uncertain future of newspapers when they reminded me of how vinyl records and typewriters have come back in recent years. The idea being that, like that New York Times TV ad, it can be hip for a handsomely-attired, 30-something dude to be seen with an actual newspaper instead of lockstepping it with the laptop and iPad lemmings.

Interesting concept, except the so-called revival of turntable owners is infinitesimally small compared to the number of folks enjoying their music digitally.

And of course, there’s the Green Factor – something Paul Wilson dismisses and disdains as merely politically correct (news flash!). Not to mention the expense and time delay of gathering, editing and publishing the news then delivering it to somebody’s office or driveway.

Pony Express, anyone?

Which brings me to my retro habit of pouring through the Kansas City Star newspaper each day. Continue reading →

At some point being the kid of somebody famous ceases to matter much…

One would think, anyway. Because the kid’s career either takes off or it doesn’t. And I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that at age 44, comedian Richard Pryor‘s daughter Rain is hardly a household word.

Just saying.

That said, the singer / comic with an ultra short resume – most of her seven awards were bestowed upon her by the NAACP and minor entertainment or literary organizations – almost landed a gig here with Stanford’s Comedy Club. Continue reading →

All eyes are on Starlight Theatre following a coup last year…

A questionable coup that sent the capable Denton Yockey packing. Yockey was the successor to Bob Rohlf, the dude who teamed with former Kansas City Chiefs head guy Jack Steadman to save the iconic outdoor theater and preserve a Kansas City institution.

Among other issues, insiders say Starlight’s difficult-to-get-along-with board wanted more concerts to go with the five live theater events Starlight puts on every summer.

Mission accomplished on the concerts…

However all eyes are on fixed the bread and butter musicals Yockey reportedly booked prior to his departure. Continue reading →

Pardon me while I stand in (ever briefly) for the missing in action Paul Wilson…

Remember him? The writer dude who likes to mix it up with that Harley character in the comments section, and who fancies himself as some sorta kinder, gentler, more erudite Craig Glazer. You know, a “well coiffed scribe.”

Anyway, if Wilson were able to dig his you-know-what out of the vacation dust, undoubtedly he would have something to say about the month long overload and overkill by CNN covering Malaysian Flight 370. Frankly, I shudder to even mention it, given the ridiculous amount of  practicality news-free coverage this story has gotten.

However, I think we’re beginning to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Continue reading →

Date night at Cinetopia

Wars can be a good thing…

Not the ones where people die. I’m talking about the ones that pit one business against another. Sometimes it can be in the form of a price war, other times a battle to see who can provide the best product or services.

And for the past several months local movie theater powerhouse AMC Theatres has been furiously readying it’s Leawood Town Center 20 to do battle this summer with formidable competitor Cinetopia and its coming-very-soon Overland Park 18 movieplex.

This one could get ugly, ladies and gentlemen.

And based upon my sampling of AMC’s redo,  Cinetopia may already be poised to win this war.

Seriously. Continue reading →

Things are looking up for former Kansas City Star sports scribe Jason Whitlock…

At long last.

“I’m not saying he’s Bryant Gumbel, but at least he’s showing up,”  says sports guru Craig Glazer. “There’s no point in my guessing his salary, but I think he’s making some halfway decent money now.”

Not long ago, that wasn’t the case.

“If you go back three or so years ago when Jason left the Star and Nick Wright said he was going to make millions of dollars, obviously Nick was wrong. That was somewhat naive of Nick Wright and the number he gave out was outrageous because people like me knew better that those numbers were pretty dicey. Bloggers don’t make that kind of money – even working for the big boys like ESPN and Fox – unless you are an established, big name player.”

However things have changed since the big fella returned to ESPN last year, Glazer says. Continue reading →

Nanny state, anyone?

It’s hard to imagine that a “minority” newspaper columnist would demand that an independent business discriminate against poor, young black kids, but that’s exactly what the Kansas City Star‘s Mary Sanchez did in her column, “Let’s Deal With The Rowdy Youths.”

“Create the environment for chaos, bear the responsibility when the shots are fired and the punches are thrown,” Sanchez begins. “That should be the standard. It doesn’t matter whether the problems are at the zoo during free days, outside Cinemark theaters on the Country Club Plaza or anywhere else in town. The draw is free or cheap. Deal with what shows up.”

I get it. Make things affordable at your own risk and you’re on the hook for bad behavior.

That’s a pretty sweeping statement when you think about it. Continue reading →