Earlier this month, I talked with Nicholas Segura about a Daily Show skit that he had just filmed. The skit finally aired last night. Segura, who runs an ethnic talent agency with Luis J. Garcia, hopped in the back of Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi's
truck and was whisked away to Excelsior Spring to fill in for a guy who
watches the U.S.-Mexico border from his home computer. Here's the whole
skit:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Borderline Cops | ||||
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We've just been informed that there's still time to apply to play the "Kia Kevin Says Stage" at the Vans Warped Tour Kansas City stop (Bonner Springs, actually) on August 4, 2009. But the deadline is tomorrow, April 1. Eek!
Register and apply right here at Sonicbids, the musician booking and networking site that is delivering band submissions to the Warped Tour. To enter, you'll need to assemble an EPK, or electronic press kit, which includes photos, band resume, MP3s, videos -- all that stuff.
The good news is that putting together an EPK is not as daunting as it sounds. For example, if you're a member of the Furios Bros. of Buckner, Missouri, there's no doubt which photo you go with for your press kit. You go with this one.
Because it's good to show that Warped Tour's typically hot climes will not stop you and your fellow furious bros from playing; you just put on your shorts, rip off your sleeves (like you do at the beginning of each working week) and you're good to rock, rain or shine. Also, be sure to include this shot of your bass player, for several reasons...
1) To show that he likes the USA.
2) To show that he will not get lost on the Warped Tour grounds thanks to his remote headset.
3) To show that he still has the lush, verdant armpit hair of a young man.
4) To show that he is Jesse "the Body" Ventura.
Should anyone doubt how hardcore you are, include this photo, in which you're slicing your neighbor Ted Matthews' face off with a guitar string for interrupting your practice/guitar-eating session.
Lastly, be sure to punctuate the photo portion of your EPK with a photo that sends a clear message. That message being, "Even without our instruments, we can still melt your face -- with our faces alone!!!"
If you get lost in the process, just remember Kevin Costner's wise words from The Untouchables: "Surprise is half the battle. Many things are half the battle. Losing is half the battle. Let's think about what's the whole battle." See? Turning FURIOUS into FAMOUS is as simple as putting together the right EPK. Class dismissed.
Wow. Never thought I'd see this. A cousin of Andre Jones, one of the four Raytown homicide victims, posted this video on YouTube from Jones' visitation.
Jones' cousin asks anybody with info to come forward. Gotta give TKC credit for finding this one.
| Flickr: Lolo_ |
Many radio and TV broadcasts this morning led with this story: a major recall of roasted pistachios because of fears of potential salmonella contimation.
The good news: No illnesses have been reported, thus far, due to a reported salmonella strain discovered during routine tests by Kraft at a California food processing plant. But the peanut crisis, earlier this year, has food manufacturers going nuts over the possibility of potential lawsuits. The tainted peanut problem that reportedly started at the problem-plagued Peanut Corporation of America led to the largest food recall in U.S. history.
The Not-So-Good-News: The California processing plant is recalling one million pounds of roasted pistachios. The Kroger supermarket chain is recalling pistachios sold in 31 states and the FDA has issued a "stop eating pistachios" warning.
I'm really sick of the abortion wars. George Tiller gets acquitted, then the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts announces new allegations against the Wichita abortion doctor. Then come the howls that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius isn't fit to be secretary of Health and Human Services ... because she's for abortion rights. Even after she signs a law that anti-abortion folks should be happy about. They're not happy. Nothing's good enough.
Then we get an e-mail from Wichita-based Operation Rescue. It's filled with all that stuff and then this crap: "Abortion chain owner's family dies in tragic plane crash."
Two of Irving "Bud" Feldkamp III's daughters and five of his grandchildren died in a plane crash Sunday in Montana. Feldkamp owns a bunch of abortion clinics. The e-mail quotes Operation Rescue president Troy Newman, whose sympathy is laced with the insincerity of someone consumed by his agenda.
"We are saddened by this tragic loss of life and pray for the surviving Feldkamp family that this will draw them to seek repentance and salvation. We also pray that this tragedy will emphasize to them the value of human life and will cause them to immediately to [sic] get out of the abortion business."Newman couldn't help but pile on.
God makes it very clear what he thinks of those that shed innocent blood:God is punishing Feldkamp for owning abortion clinics by killing his family members? This is from a man whose "senior policy advisor" was convicted of conspiring to blow up a clinic.
"Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you." -- Ezekiel 35:6
The concert wire continues to hum. The latest: Canadian chart-toppers Metric are coming to the Granada in Lawrence on June 12. The band's new album, Fantasies, comes out on American tax day, April 14. You can preorder it and get a few tracks instantly at ilovemetric.com. (Fantasies involving Metric frontwoman Emily Haines are free.) Here's the latest video from the album, for the single "Gimme Sympathy."
Leon Daggett, the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public of Public Utilities' former general manager, is suing the utility for allegedly breaching his resignation agreement.
In the lawsuit filed on March 13, Daggett alleges that BPU board members Mary Gonzales and Loretta Colombel breached his contract by making disparaging remarks about him. Daggett claims Colombel bad mouthed him at a March 10, 2009, candidate
forum at Kansas City Kansas Community College. He claims Gonzales
violated the agreement with a letter included in the BPU's 2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
Daggett also alleges that the utility stopped making payments to his pension before an agreed upon date (June 30, 2008) and never reimbursed for his time and expenses for testifying on behalf of
the BPU in August 2007. The hearing was part of an investigation by the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Daggett, who didn't return a call for comment, is asking for at least $75,000. In December 2006, the BPU's board of directors terminated Daggett after
10 years. The board paid him more than $600,000 in a severance package
to walk away, but the board never publicly explained his firing.
"We disagree with the allegations," BPU spokesman David Mehlhaff said, "and we will vigorously defend or side."
Mehlhaff said the case was being handled by Wyandotte County Chief Legal Counsel Hal Walker
Reached for comment, Walker denied the allegations.
"He feels like we breached his resignation agreement," Walker told The Pitch. "We deny that and we'll let a court decide."
Chicago's Maps & Atlases bridge an unlikely divide between math-rock (being the domain of mostly dudes obsessing over Mars Volta's YouTube footage) and indie-pop (the comfy cocoon of under-exercised Belle-and-Sebastian-loving library rats). Maps & Atlases toy with your inner metronome with all kinds of outlandish time signatures, stop-starts, midsong interjections, and waterfalls of guitar arpeggios cascading toward organized chaos. Amazingly, frontman Dave Davison's unorthodox, nasally voice leads the note orgy into an authentic and oddly soothing pop. For a group that has only completed two EPs, Maps' sound is remarkably well put together -- perfect for those who have admired Deerhoof's zany pioneering spirit but have been kept at arm's length by the more grating edges. -- Elliott Johnston
Maps and Atlases - Pigeon from If You Make It on Vimeo.
For the 11th episode of The Miles Bonny Show, your host-with-the-most was going to interview Chuck D. But the requests for an encore of episode 9, which featured yours truly, Jason Fiddlyfanks Harper, came pouring in like a biblical flood, and Miles had no choice to invite me back. Behold!
The Miles Bonny Show #011 - TRAILER - Jason SPEAKS!! from miles bonny on Vimeo.
You can view the whole episode at www.milesbonnyshow.com. Contents of episode 11: me, my pink shirt, Miles talking about food, us both talking about music, me demonstrating how to levitate the David Blaine way and, of course, plenty of GAME.
For some live Bonny, drop by the Phoenix tonight, where he and Joc Max will be spinning from 8 p.m. to midnight. D'oh! Miles's "Case of the Mondays" gig at the Phoenix ended last week.
Fancy desserts -- fancy everything -- is fast going out of style during this economic climate. Newsweek is reporting that fine dining establishments around the world are cutting out frills. The frills might include tablecloths and fresh flowers... and amuse-bouches.
The Intercontinental Hotel Kansas City is keeping a few frills for its Oak Room, including a formal afternoon tea. It's by reservation only and the hotel prefers to offer the tea service on Fridays and Saturdays (although, one manager told me, they will make exceptions) from 2 to 4 p.m. If you're feeling flush, the tea is priced at $21 per person.
I'm not exactly a high tea sort of guy, but my elegant friend Lauren insisted that I join her and a few friends -- including a handsome British-born gentleman who clearly knew what a formal tea was supposed to be all about -- for the experience last week.
The Oak Room offers a choice of eight different teas, herbal and traditional, served in pre-warmed white china pots. Lauren and the others had a bit of champagne before the tea was served and noshed on fresh strawberries marinated in Grand Marnier and fluffy spoonfuls of Devonshire cream.
I felt as if I had stepped into a Merchant & Ivory film when the dainty little tea treats arrived: miniature sandwiches prepared with crabmeat or roasted vegetables, a plate of fresh scones and sweetbreads, and another plate laden with jewel-like pastries. After guiltily eating two fondant-covered petit fours, I really felt as if I should speaking with a British accent. Luckily, that idea passed quickly.
The server, an articulate young man with an encyclopedic knowledge of tea and pastries, fussed over our group as if he were the head butler at Kensington Palace.
After a modest assortment of those itsy-bitsy little sandwiches and teeny-weeny little cakes, I went home and ate a real, normal-sized sandwich.
The revolution is here: Let them eat bread!
Royals fan sprints on the field, steals rosin bag
Soundgarden's sludgy sound, last night at the Midland (review)
Oklahoma Joe's ribs named the best in the country by The Daily Meal
Parisi's Pete Licata is a World Barista Championship semifinalist
Burt Bacharach's musical magic is your Memorial Day YouTube project
Homer's Drive-In: the oldest drive-through in the metro
Story celebrates with a pig roast and other weekend possibilities
Kansas House ignores Brownback, Senate, goes home early for long weekend