Subject: California

• Nara

  October 2, 2008

• The Road to Warped

  July 11, 2006

• Truly Wayward

  July 11, 2006

• Smoked Out

  July 9, 2007

• Of Welk and Weed

  January 16, 2008

• Daily Briefs: Eliminating Affirmative Action, Another Smoking Ban, the Kids Are All Right. I Guess.

  February 5, 2008

• National stand for gay rights will include Kansas City

  November 11, 2008

• The great avocado shortage of 2009?

      As if the restaurant industry -- and American diners -- needed any more hits to the pocketbook: Looks like 2009 will be an expensive year for avocados. According to a story in last month's Los Angeles Times, the California avocado crop is expected to be "the smallest since 1990 and possibly even as far back as 1980." The reason? Last June was very hot -- too hot -- "at just the wrong point in the growing season."  That could mean higher prices for the avocado later in the sp

  January 15, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Monday, 01/19

  The importance of a "go-to chili recipe" cannot be overstated. [Pomegranate Pretty]A sad story that shows just how far some people will go for beer. A California man sold his 14-year-old daughter for $16,000, 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat. [AP] Now the FDA is advising people to stay away from all peanut butter products while they try to figure out this pesky salmonella outbreak. [WebMD]I dream about one day being able to afford steakhouses but even I know to avoid the overpriced wi

  January 19, 2009

• Tsunami Bomb

  September 5, 2002

• Best Vendor at the Sports Complex

  October 17, 2002

• Glenn Beck and Jack Cashill hate liberal California. State weeps

  Fox News shouting head Glenn Beck claimed California is driving him "to the edge of insanity." Beck isn't on the edge of insanity; he's there. He proved it last week when he said he'd like to kick California out of the union. Beck wants California gone for fighting off-shore drilling and raising emission standards and Hollywood bailouts. "No offense, California, but beat it, deadbeat!" Beck declared.Uh, really? Yep. To prove his point, Beck invited always credible conspiracy theorist right wing

  February 2, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Tuesday, 02/03

  Online reservation king Open Table is going public. Just because you buy stock in them doesn't mean you'll get a better table. [WSJ]Kind of odd to think about, but there is a patient zero to this financial crisis -- a homeowner in Stockton, California, and dammit, somebody is going to find him or her. [Time]In the "well duh" category, heavy pot usage damages teens' and young adults' brains and makes them think Cheech and Chong is actually funny. [Scientific Blogging]Add to this to foods to watch

  February 3, 2009

• Best Letter-Page Shout-Outs

  October 9, 2003

• Daily Briefs in Brief: No Jump Friday

  Krunk Meridian: California has the country's largest economy, with a well-endowed $15 billion deficit that's expected to grow to $42 billion by 2010. This Slate article documents its many and varied budgetary shortfalls, followed by the suggestion that legalizing and taxing marijuana would actually not be all that much help. Jesus, California is so screwed. BONUS: The headline contains a pun. Kiss my bipartisan legislative grits, Judd Gregg. Douche Maneuver: During the presidential transition,

  February 13, 2009

• There will be no Airborne Toxic Event tonight in Lawrence

  Kristy Sparrow Sometime around midnight, Airborne Toxic Event will not be crooning to a crowd at the Jackpot's Web site in Lawrence. The overly dramatic California rockers have canceled tonight's gig, along with tomorrow night's show in Des Moines, Iowa, according to MySpace. Refunds for the Jackpot show will be offered at the point of purchase, according to the venue's Web site. I say hit the club, anyway. Exciting local duo Audiovox and Glendale, California's Henry Clay People (ATE's tour mat

  February 25, 2009

• Earlimart

  October 21, 2004

• Missouri Rep. Jason Grill fires first shot for calories on menus

  Before yesterday, I'd never heard of Missouri State Rep. Jason Grill, but the young Democrat from the Kansas City area's 32nd district has sponsored a bill to put calorie information on menu boards. House Bill 755 would "require food service establishments that are one of a group of 15 or more doing business nationally to display calorie information to consumers on menu boards. The caloric information will be required to be located alongside prices and similar in size."On his blog, Grill writes

  February 27, 2009

• The Mountain Goats

  March 24, 2005

• 13 & God

  April 28, 2005

• Breakfast Buffet: Friday, 3/20

  KC Meesha has the lead on some good goulash at Grinders this coming Monday. [Kansas City with a Russian Accent]Might want to think twice about those hens before eating an Egg McMuffin. McDonald's is in direct violation of California's Prop 2 with its hen cages. [Civil Eats]Tobacco plants can help fight diabetes but don't rush out and get cigarettes. It takes modified tobacco plants and the benefits will come in pill form. [Scientific Blogging]The Internet has made it easy to customize everything

  March 20, 2009

• The newest nut crisis: pistachio panic?

  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

  March 31, 2009

• New Gaslights MP3: "California"

  It's been a quiet winter, concert-wise, for the Gaslights -- which is to be expected as frontwoman Abigail Henderson continues her cancer treatments. But ray of sunshine has broken through da haze: The band has just announced a new album due out this summer, and you can download the first single, "California," for free below or at thegaslights.com. I think we could all use a taste of the Golden State right about now. Catch the Gaslights live this Saturday, April 4, at the Czar Bar, with Expass

  March 31, 2009

• Nuts to this! Black pepper, spices recalled

  Flickr: sikh_kaur_lioness First peanuts, then pistachios, now...pepper? Black and white pepper products manufactured by California-based Union International Food have been voluntarily recalled by the company. These products were primarily sold in the California and Oregon regions; they have been associated with an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened people in four states, including 33 people in California.

  April 2, 2009

• Heavy Heavy Low Low

  October 19, 2006

• Some bean counters have their numbers wrong

  April 16, 2009

• Support gay Mexicans – at home and in California

  October 30, 2008

• Bottle Shock

  August 14, 2008

• Intimate Epics

  January 31, 2008

• Sick Society

  Here's a check on all of those hospitals that have supposedly closed, overwhelmed by illegals without health insurance.

  November 15, 2007

• Powwow Wow

  October 11, 2007

• The Girl Is a Ghost

  December 8, 2005

• Santa-Cali-Gon Days

  Friday, September 3, through Monday, September 6, in downtown Independence.

  September 2, 2004

• The Velvet Teen

  Monday, August 23, at Jackpot Saloon.

  August 19, 2004

• Aberdeen

  Friday, December 19, at Balanca's Pyro Room.

  December 18, 2003

• Nickel Creek

  Sunday, November 9, at Liberty Hall, and Tuesday, November 11, at Memorial Hall.

  November 6, 2003

• Hieroglyphics

  Monday, October 20, at the Granada.

  October 16, 2003

• Tsunami Bomb

  Sunday, September 21, at the Bottleneck.

  September 18, 2003

• Best Hangout if You Have a Yellow Motorcycle With a Leather Jacket to Match

  Latte' Land Espresso

  October 18, 2001

• Various Artists

  Strait Up (Virgin)

  January 25, 2001

• Running on Empty

  Gas station dealers find Big Oil blocking the way in their struggles against extinction (Part 2 of 2).

  November 2, 2000

• StreetPunk 2000: The Midwest Oi! Fest

  El Torreon -- Saturday, May 27, 2000

  June 1, 2000

• Saturday, May 27

  Shaking Treeat McCoy's Public House

  May 25, 2000

• NBC Action News smells something fishy

  If you didn't catch the local news last night, KSHB really put it to many restaurants in the area who are serving fish that's not what they claim it to be. The station's reporters tested 20 restaurants who serve expensive fish. Of the 20, only three -- The Savoy, Bonefish and Islamorada -- actually served the fish advertised on the menu. Another five or so restaurants served a variation of the species or had legitimate excuses. The Red Snapper did serve snapper to an undercover reporter, just no

  May 13, 2009

• Cow producing too much milk? Better kill it

  People aren't drinking as much milk as they used to, and the price has fallen. Yet, there are more dairy cows than ever, all eating feed -- and the price of that keeps rising. The result is that $10 of milk can cost $17 to produce. As Bloomberg News writes,In California, the largest milk-producing state, dairies lost $1.07 per 100 pounds in April, compared with profits of $11.23 in July 2007, based on feed costs and milk prices, USDA data show. In January, the state was the most unprofitable in

  June 23, 2009

• Italian wine class tonight

  The problem with learning about wine is that there is so much to learn. People will make the mistake of trying to learn everything from one book or over the course of a special dinner, and come away with their slightly tipsy head overloaded with information. Which brings up another reason why it's hard to learn -- it's only fun to talk about wine when you're drinking it, but that doesn't make for the best scenario to remember information. As with other complicated subjects such as classical

  July 1, 2009

• All That Jazmin

  July 9, 2009

• A few words about Bordeaux

  Notice the appellation sticker below the main label. The best place to start learning wine is with Bordeaux and Burgundy. While both terms are used a lot, many people remain unclear about what they mean. First, both refer to regions or appellations in France, not a specific type of grape. So right away, you know anybody who says "I'd like a glass of Californian Bordeaux" has no idea what they're talking about. Even fewer people know the specific grapes that make the two regions famous. Burgundy

  July 15, 2009

• The chance to play winemaker

  ​The sun sets over the vineyard where your grapes are growing. They're harvested and pressed before being carefully aged in oak casks. These are the dreams of those who have begun to consider retirement. Well, them, and Korean pop music producers. A recent Bloomberg article visits the Bordeaux vineyard of California-based Crushpad, a custom-wine company that has been helping clients create their own vintages since 2004. The French arm of their do-it-yourself wine operation opened in May of thi

  August 4, 2009

• KJHK Announces Farmer's Ball Competitors

  The competitors for Farmer's Ball, KJHK 90.7FM's annual battle of the bands, have been announced. In no particular order, the bands and acts are: ​Cloud Dog Burger Kingdom Dutch Newman Katlyn Conroy Hidden Pictures The California Craisins Eagle Us Pets DJ Avi This year's competition will differ from years past. Rather than have two nights of competition, with two finalists from each night moving on to a third night of finals, this year will feature "a UFC-style cage match with EIGHT bands

  November 3, 2009