Occupation: Executive director, Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus
Hometown: Excelsior Springs
Current neighborhood: Elms Boulevard in Excelsior Springs
Who or what is your sidekick? My 5-year-old daughter, Mackenzie
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? I would be a professional political activist ... oh, wait, that's what I am.
What was the last local restaurant you patronized? Ventana
Where do you drink? Westport Coffeehouse or Brio ... depends on the drink.
The Rhodes wrestling family has spilled a lot of blood in rings around the world, including Kansas City. Patriarch "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes was a champion in the 1960s, '70s and '80s (holding the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship in '68, and dropping the NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Ric Flair in September 1981 at Memorial Hall).
Cody Rhodes was destined to follow his father and his half-brother, Dustin "Goldust" Rhodes, into the business. As a teenager, he refereed matches for his dad's now-defunct independent promotion and sneaked into mini matches when he thought his dad wasn't looking. "I never imagined doing anything else," Rhodes says.
The second-generation star is keeping his family tradition alive in the world's biggest wrestling company. On May 20, Rhodes is one of the featured grapplers on Monday Night Raw, broadcasting live from the Sprint Center on the USA Network. After a lengthy tour of the United Kingdom, Rhodes called The Pitch from his home in Johns Creek, Georgia, to talk about his memories of Kansas City, his mustache and his challenge to Morgan Freeman.
Occupation: Creative director for the motion design and animation team at T2 Studios. If you're curious about what the hell that is, hit t2.tv. If you still have questions, call me. I like curious people.
Hometown: Hays, Kansas
Current neighborhood: Union Hill
Who or what is your sidekick? I can't imagine anyone being more supportive than my wife, Sarah. My cat, Laika, is also quite the crony.
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? I've been a licensed pilot since high school, so I imagine something in the field of aviation. However, I would hope a parallel universe would be much more advanced, so my day job would likely be designing and building personal flying vehicles.
Occupation: Executive director and chief lifesaving officer at the Kansas City Pet Project. My organization operates the largest and only open-admission animal shelter in Kansas City, which includes the KCMO Animal Shelter (behind the stadiums on Raytown Road) and a new Pet Adoption Center in Zona Rosa. We are committed to operating Kansas City's animal shelter as a no-kill facility.
Hometown: Columbia, Missouri
Current neighborhood: Near Mill Creek Streamway Park, in Lenexa
Who or what is your sidekick? My dog, Oscar. He's an 8-year-old Sheltie-Pekingese mix that I adopted from a local shelter. He's totally devoted to me and never leaves my side when I'm at home.
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? I would be a doctor in an ER trauma center. I love organized chaos - fast-paced, long, crazy days are my thing!
Occupation: Artistic director, Kansas City Ballet
Hometown: Seattle
Current neighborhood: Columbus Park
Who or what is your sidekick? Jason Pollen, artist and former chair of the fiber department at the Kansas City Art Institute
Occupation: Actor, singer, producer
Hometown: Leawood
Current neighborhood: Bel Air, California
Who or what is your sidekick? My kiddos, Shep (6) and Gunner (3), and my husband, Shane
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? I always felt there was something quite badass about being an FBI agent.
Name: MaryJo Thompson
Occupation: Retired police officer, Box Tops coordinator for St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School
Hometown: St. Louis
Current neighborhood: KCMO, north of the river, near Liberty
Who or what is your sidekick? My amazing husband!
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? Archaeologist
What was the last local restaurant you patronized? Pizza Ranch. Love the gluten-free pizzas.
What's your favorite charity? Anyone who supports a cure for cancer.
In the beginning, Artopia's fashion show gave designers all the love. The past few years, it showcased boutiques. Saturday, though, Kansas City designers reclaim the runway - a resurgence that intensifies the local spotlight.
"For me, this year it's about making sure the local designers are supported again," says Courtney Perry, who's directing Artopia's fashion show for the second year. "After all, Artopia is all about focusing on supporting the artist."
Perry has been an Artopia staple since its inception and is no stranger to embracing the individuals fueling the city's creative scene. She's the jewelry and accessory designer behind House of Cochon, and she directs other shows, including Fashion on the Fringe. With her husband, Alex Perry, she turned an abandoned church into the Arts Asylum, a visual- and performing-arts center.
For this show, she has sought variety from several strong designers. The resulting lineup: Wendy McMillian of WM Couture, a veteran designer known for her fun party dresses; Michelle Kleineweber of Little Shell Designs, who transforms sheer fabrics into youthful, feminine looks; and Emma Lammers, a student making a name for herself with her London-circa-1960 flair.
What's your occupation?
Conkright: Shopper strategist
Cloud: Stay-at-home mom ... and the "drinking" part of "Boutiquing and Drinking." Most moms will agree this makes sense.
What's your hometown?
Conkright: Lenexa
Cloud: Lenexa
What's your current neighborhood?
Conkright: Brookside
Cloud: Lenexa ... that's not a typo.
Who or what is your sidekick?
Conkright: My best friend, Rachel, and my sister
Cloud: My husband, son or sister - I rarely leave home without them.
What career would you choose in an alternate reality?
Conkright: I would travel the world making coffee-table books about unique spaces and places.
Cloud: I would like to be Anthony Bourdain ... to just eat and sip my way around the world! And apparently he gets paid? I would have done it for free. He is a much better negotiator, I guess.
Whedon wrote Firefly, a science-fiction Western, mostly, as a moody character study often punctuated with action and humor, and infused it with enough soul and humanity to devastate the small audience that had found the show before Fox strapped it into its little child-safety car seat and then backed the car into a lake. Its resurrection as the excellent film Serenity, in 2005, gave Whedon and his cast the opportunity to revisit their characters and finish the story.
Baldwin's acting career began in 1980, when he was selected to play Chris Makepeace's teen protector, Ricky Linderman, in My Bodyguard. His credits include Full Metal Jacket and an IMDB list of TV guest roles as long as, well, something really long and impressive - let's say The Silmarillion, in deference to elf enthusiasts attending this weekend's events downtown.
Voltaire - the saloon, not the philosopher - opens tonight
Big Rip Brewing Co. expands the Northland's beer universe
Rob Zombie is coming to Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper are headed to Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
KC Pride Festival 2013? Yes, it's still on
Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn face two new civil lawsuits
WWE's Monday Night Raw returns to Kansas City October 14
Police leave Union Station after suspicious package found