By DAVID MARTIN
David Cook fans who attended last night's American Idol show at the Sprint Center encountered a picket line. The ACLU's Racial Justice Program organized a protest against the dress code at the Power & Light District.
The ACLU and members of the City Council have complained that the Power & Light District's dress code -- which forbids white T-shirts and baggy clothing-- discriminates against African-Americans. Officials at the Cordish Co., the district's developer, have listened to the objections but held firm. "Nothing was resolved," ACLU attorney Joy Springfield said, "so that's why were here."
Most of the dozen protesters wore white T-shirts and held signs with messages such as "Race neutral" and "KC gave Cordish millions in tax breaks and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." Richard Mabion, a community activist who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, intermittently yelled, "Open it up," as he marched. Mabion wore a shirt he picked up a Quindaro event, not the plain, extra-long white tee popular with young people.
By JOSH ZIEGLER
I got word recently that my Royals season tickets are in a section closed off for construction of Kauffman Stadium. It seems the team assumed they would be out of the playoff run way back at the start of the season, figuring they wouldn't need my section by October.
When I brought my new tickets to the stadium recently, I discovered a bonus. The new tickets they sent me were for another section that was also closed off for construction.
When told of this, the usher said, "Sit wherever you want."
That wasn't so hard considering the crowd looked like this:
By ERIC BARTON
Here I was about to write about the cheapening of the name of Arrowhead Stadium when I came across this well-put version of the same idea at the blog See Katy Write. The author, local magazine editor Katy Ryan, laments about the fact that the Chiefs want to "besmirch the name of the greatest football stadium in the nation" by naming it after a sponsor.
Do you seriously expect me to hold a stadium named after some blood-sucking corporate entity in the same esteem as the hallowed Arrowhead? And your compromise is to keep the original name somewhere in the title. Super. I can't wait until I attend my first game at McDonald's Double Cheeseburger Arrowhead Stadium.
Ryan gives cred to her stance with her own tales of suffering through "the cold, the snow, the rain, the heat," only to see the team flounder. She even backed up her premise with a photo to prove she's been through the worst.
Yep, that photo says it all. Nobody wants to wear ear muffs to Double Cheeseburger Arrowhead.
So, I was talking to my good friend A to Z in St. Louis about how I wish I was a black British guy so I could be a Grime MC. She said she wanted to be British so she could be Lily Allen. Discussion quickly moved to Allen being on a song on Rascal's latest.
Dizzee Rascal and Lily Allen - "Wanna Be"
I listened, and my jaw hit the floor. This song cribs its entire melody from a random song from the forgotten 1976 movie musical Bugsy Malone, starring preteen Scott Baio and Jodie Foster. In the movie, kids play roaring '20s gangsters, break into musical numbers, and shoot at each other with tommy guns loaded with raw biscuit dough. It's insane.
Bugsy Malone - "So You Wanna Be a Boxer"
Oh God I am about to die of nostalgia.
From a Myspace bulletin posted by KC band The Life and Times.
"the summer that wasn't : our handsome bassist and resident hairdo of the band-- Eric Abert--has had one shitdog of a summer. severely twisted his ankle not once but twice at the Riot Room here in KC a few months ago, then when our window was bashed out in SF this past tour it was only his bag that was stolen. then he got roughed up and fined by the Arizon Border Patrol for a little something that should be decriminalized anyway. ahem.
the most recent harshing of Erics' mellow came while on vacation at Playa Escondida on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. he and his girl and 2 other couples had rented a boat to go snorkeling and had just returned when he and the other guys jumped out to pull the boat ashore. ...
Was it a Manta Ray? A shrieking eel? Click More to find out!
By C.J. Janovy
Still feeling high from watching Barack Obama's speech last night? Here are the latest updates from our intrepid (and probably, by now, very hungover) journalist colleagues at Westword, who've been putting out the Demver blog for more than a year now.
And starting now, prep for next week with Elephants in the Room, from our probably already hungover colleagues a at the City Pages in Minneapolis.
God bless you, and God bless America.
BY OWEN MORRIS
Attention Comrades! For giving glory to great leader, the Mother Russia rewards you Proletarian worker with new party!
Tonight is the soft public opening of Czar Bar at 16th Street and Grand. It's a small venue run by two longtime bar-scene regulars, Tony Davis and John Hulston. While it's intended to be a rock-bar, there won't be any bands until next week, and they'll continue to tinker with the layout. It's already attractive and hip on the inside, and with this space and these owners, I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes the it place for the non-Power & Light crowd.
Pitch music editor Jason Harper went to the opening party Wednesday and snapped some photos. Enjoy them in the slideshow below.
By ANDY VIHSTADT
It’s been three years since we’ve seen a proper release from L.A.’s Breakestra. The ten-piece got its start doing live recreations of 60’s and 70’s funk and soul breaks and has since moved on to create its own material. The outfit recently released a 12” for a new track called “Lowdown Stank.” Buy the digital version at Stones Throw or download the title track for free at Breakestra’s MySpace page, right here.
Representative Spam from the Comments:
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Posted at: August 1, 2008 11:46 AM
Janet29 says: Super. It took almost a day to find this info. Thanks, great job. :)
Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination last night with a pretty amazing speech. Uh, I actually mean that. Here's something I don't mean, so you can tell the difference: Kissing Rumer Willis would be exactly like kissing Officer John McClane — only without being gay!
This morning, I feel kind of like I got punched in the head. I can't think of anything mean to say about anyone. Except Wolf Blitzer. Have any of his important valves collapsed yet? Please, please, someone send a basket of cheese fries from the CNN commissary to his office. I'm a peaceful man, and I only wish he'd experience an incapacitating cardiac event that puts him on the sidelines for the duration of the campaign season.
After the jump, some actually mean things about political reporters. Oh, and because there are early reports coming in as I post this that Sen. John McCain might have picked foxy Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, click here, or on this artist's rendering of the Republican ticket, to confirm that you are a Republican:
By CHARLES FERRUZZA
A friend of mine, married to a well-known local restaurateur, called me a couple of weeks ago to share some restaurant gossip. Two friends of hers, wealthy and well-connected, had been “kicked out” of Bluestem one night by the owner, Colby Garrelts.
This couple, it seems, had been sitting at the bar and ordered an appetizer and a bottle of wine and were going to share a dinner. The dinner came out of the kitchen before the appetizer. The couple sent the dinner back to the kitchen and sipped wine until the appetizer was served. After finishing the starter, the bartender brought out a new entrée, but the diners weren’t ready for it yet. They wanted to enjoy their wine, so they sent the dinner back a second time.
That’s when the normally even-tempered Garrelts lost his cool.
Royals fan sprints on the field, steals rosin bag
Oklahoma Joe's ribs named the best in the country by The Daily Meal
Story celebrates with a pig roast and other weekend possibilities
Don't mess with the Army, feds remind two local businesspeople
Soundgarden's sludgy sound, last night at the Midland (review)
Homer's Drive-In: the oldest drive-through in the metro
Parisi's Pete Licata is a World Barista Championship semifinalist
KCPD will breathalyze patrons at Tanner's tonight