Subject: Nicole Reinertson

• Following the Missouri River 340: A How To

  July 30, 2008

• Why I Did Not Review Melissa Etheridge Last Night at the Midland Theatre

  September 10, 2008

• Slide Show and REVIEW: Jenny Lewis at the Granada, 9/18/08

  September 19, 2008

• KC Beer Fest 2008 rocks the parking garage

  October 21, 2008

• Concert Review: Alanis Morissette at the Midland

  October 29, 2008

• Roller derby rocks downtown for season opener

  Whether his comment was inspired by the sprawling line to purchase tickets, the packed lobby of extended families or the 20-minute wait for an $8.50 can of Miller Lite, one spectator summed up the scene perfectly as he entered Municipal Auditorium Saturday night: "Wow, this has gotten legit." It was the first bout of the season for Kansas City's four-team, all-women roller derby league. Now in their fifth year, the Roller Warriors have moved up: from a Northland skating rink to the cavernous

  January 26, 2009

• Slush-boarding in Power & Light

  Professional snowboarders careening down a trick course in the middle of downtown Kansas City? The Midwest Scion Open sounded like a worthy spectacle that would pack the Power & Light District with curious spectators and extreme sports fans. Alas, it wasn't just the snow that melted to muddy slush on Saturday. The spectacle fizzled, too.

  February 9, 2009

• Concert Review: Japanther and Ninjasonik at the Jackpot Music Hall

  By NICOLE REINERTSON Positive Mental Attitude is thought to have originated from the '70s D.C. hardcore band Bad Brains. P.M.A. is still alive and actually thriving as I witnessed last night at the Jackpot in Lawrence. Japanther and Ninjasonik, two bands from NYC, rolled into town and really showed us how they do as they headlined for local bands Fortuning and Coat Party. Nicole ReinertsonClick for slide show. Fortuning kicked off at 11pm. The three-piece band from Lawrence brought to mind

  April 9, 2009

• 2009 Natural Southern States Classic

  Terre Kern flexes her natural muscles.By Nicole Reinertson.Pitch photog Nicole Rinertson shot some photos of muscle-bound hulks and (hulkettes) over the weekend at the 2009 Natural Southern States Classic, a drug-free bodybuilding competition held in Liberty. Click here to see the rippling results.

  April 21, 2009

• Slide Show: An*l C*nt at the Ri*t R*om

  The one and only An*l C*nt recently rolled out of its native Boston suburbs for its Wearing Out Our Welcome Tour, the hardcore, super-offensive band's 20th anniversary jaunt. Judging by our photographer's shots from this past Saturday's show at the Riot Room, AxCx wore out the local crowd, too. Nicole ReinertsonClick on photo for slide show

  May 4, 2009

• Kansas City Gay Pride Festival 2009 in pictures

  Nicole ReinertsonThe Friday night street party at 19th and Main was huge.The Kansas City Gay Pride Festival took over Kansas City last weekend. If you vaguely remember the past three days -- did I really see zombies? -- here's photographic evidence in slideshow form of the last few days.

  June 8, 2009

• Westside Block Party at la Esquina

  Nicole ReinertsonLast Friday's Westside Block Party was full of low riders, sweet art, music and generally cool stuff. Here's a look back.

  June 8, 2009

• Wayward Weekender: American Waste

  In the beginning was the Cruz. And the Cruz was with Satan, and the Cruz was Satan. Photos by Nicole Reinertson This perversion of the first verse of the Gospel of John pretty well sums up my experience of day one of American Waste this past Saturday upon the newly refurbished, hallowed grounds of the Beaumont Club. The festival ran Saturday and Sunday, dividing around 40 hardcore and metal bands between two stages, one inside and one set up outside in the "Back Yard," a clean, sunny lot

  June 9, 2009

• The U.S. Air Guitar Championships' 2009 Kansas City Regional

  Nicole ReinertsonAir guitar hall of famers Hot Lixx Hulahan and Bjorn Turoque came to Kansas City looking for the next air guitar hero.Last night, the U.S. Air Guitar Championships stopped in Kansas City at the Record Bar, and one Kansas Citian -- Eric "Mean" Melin -- proved his air ax act was worthy of a spot in the U.S. championships in Washington, D.C. I'll have more later, but until then, here's a slideshow. 

  June 10, 2009

• Mean Melin wins the U.S. Air Guitar Championships' Kansas City Regional

  Nicole ReinertsonMean Melin won the 2009 U.S. Air Guitar Championships' Kansas City Regional competion at the Record Bar Tuesday night.Mean Melin rocked so hard that he split his pants. It wasn't the usual pants split from behind but in the crotch ... in front of a crowded Record Bar ... while playing air guitar.  Luckily for him -- and us -- he was wearing tighty whities. Even luckier, Mean Melin has no shame.Mean Melin is the air guitar alter ego of Eric Melin. Going into Tuesday night's

  June 10, 2009

• Review: Quixotic, Lux Esalare

  I remember walking out of the Quixotic performance at the Uptown Theater last year thinking, "That was the coolest shit I have ever seen." A ballet on acid? A circus from another dimension? I didn't even know how to describe it. Luckily, the indescribable occurs every year and, this past Friday, June 19, the trippy local troupe that mixes acrobatics, dance and live music unveiled its 2009 creation, Lux Esalare.Nicole ReinertsonClick on photo for slide show.

  June 23, 2009

• Review Slide Show: Tilly and the Wall at the Granada

  BY NICOLE REINERTSON What do you do when the tap-dancing percussion section of your band gets pregnant? Go on tour! Duh. Tilly and the Wall were joined by Lawrence locals Fourth of July and Fortuning Saturday night at the Granada. Dancer Jamie Pressnall, the band's sole percussionist, subtly announced (wearing a Peggy Noland dress complete with baby and umbilical cord) she is five months pregnant. Nicole ReinertsonClick for slide show.

  June 29, 2009

• Urban Farms Tour

  Nicole ReinertsonI know I'm not the only one who's passed the artsy Obama sign, constructed with mismatched sign letters and mounted on a wall of wooden pallets, at 3314 Troost and wished I could get inside to take a closer look. From the street, the lot beside the black-and-teal artist studio looks like some kind of secret garden. It lived up to my curiosity.  I was just one of scores of interested residents who paraded through Hoop Dog

  June 29, 2009

• Recap: Taste of Troost, July 4

  This past July 4 in Kansas City, one of the busiest street corners in Kansas City was 76th and Troost -- the parking lot of 7th Heaven -- where from early afternoon to about 8 o'clock, rappers, bands and herds of neighborhood people held court at the second annual Taste of Troost festival. Nicole ReinertsonCash Image The fest had been about seven or eight weeks in the making. Three whiteboys -- Adam (son of 7th Heaven owner Jan) Fichman, Kevin Sweeney and Rob Scott of Lifted Logic -- along wit

  July 6, 2009

• KC Explorers battle but can't bounce back against Newport Beach

  In 2008, the Kansas City Explorers charged to the World Team Tennis finals with the best record in the league. Unfortunately, this year's not working out so well. Nicole Reinertson Explorer Mike RussellExplorer Millie Sequera went down with a season-ending shoulder injury 10 days before the first match and was replaced by a 15-year-old Canadian, Eugenie Bouchard, who's been playing her age. Last night, hobbling in to their second home game at Barney Allis Plaza with a 1-2 record, anoth

  July 8, 2009

• Photos: the Ssion's Fool's Gold movie sshoot

  Yesterday at the Scottish Rite Temple on Linwood, art-pop shovers and makers the Ssion assembled a posse of feral children of all ages to shoot footage for an upcoming movie, sponsored by the local art space Grand Arts. Our photographer was there to capture some of the greasepainted-on-unibrow/nose/mustache act-ssion. Nicole ReinertsonClick on photo for sslide sshow.

  July 15, 2009

• Don't do anything "out of line" tonight at Starlight, warns Action News

  Seems that Starlight officials are anticipating trouble at tonight's Lil Wayne concert. According to a report filed by NBC Action News reporter Victoria Swoboda, the Starlight is upping security, planning to use "different procedures." Nicole Reinertson​ Says the report: The new procedures are targeted to control the crowds. Officials are concerned about cruising and they also fear that some crowd members that enjoy Lil Wayne might also be inclined to do something out of line in the park

  August 24, 2009

• KCTV knows the little girls understand Lil Wayne

  Thanks, KCTV Channel 5, for never letting the facts get in the way of some good, scary hearsay. Nicole Reinertson​After teasing Monday's 10 p.m. newscast with the onscreen graphic "Overland Park woman raped in parking lot" (that's a paraphrase, but consider the CSI: Miami audience hooked), Channel 5 opened its broadcast not with that or with coverage of Sen. Claire McCaskill's health-care town hall that evening. Instead, last night's lead story was that the Lil Wayne concert already under

  August 25, 2009

• Why KC is the luckiest city in World Team Tennis

  Every year, Kansas City tennis fans shell out a measly 25 bucks to get a glimpse of what people pay hundreds to see: the best doubles team in the world. Nicole ReinertsonBob Bryan serving for Kansas City​Bob and Mike Bryan have been the playing for the Kansas City Explorers, our local franchise of World Team Tennis, since 2005, drawing huge crowds when they take the court at Barney Allis Plaza each summer. They're fan favorites not just because they're among the best in the game, but because

  September 3, 2009

• Ssion Snapshots: Boy opening at Grand Arts

  Boy, the brand-new, feature-length film by local music and art collective Ssion, debuted to a packed Tivoli last Thursday night. (Read our review.) The following Friday, September 4, Grand Arts, which funded the film, held a reception for the film, which is showing in the gallery through October 24. We got the hot pix. Nicole Reinertson Ssion leader Cody Critcheloe (center) with special guests Jeppe Laursen (left) of the late Junior Senior and Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner, for which Ssion o

  September 8, 2009

• Will protesters shed tears for park deer?

  Bite Club of KC members aren't giving up their battle to save the deer in Shawnee Mission Park, but they're putting down their protest placards for a somber moment tonight. Nicole ReinertsonJason Miller with Victoria, the dead deer head​As early as today, police sharpshooters will begin harvesting hundreds of deer in the Johnson County park, and animal rights activists intend to commemorate their four-legged friends with a gesture more common to mourn murder victims. Starting at 8 p.m., Bite C

  October 9, 2009

• Will the S.M. Park deer hunt become an annual event?

  In the fiery debate over how to manage the deer in Shawnee Mission Park, Randy Knight heard it all. Nicole Reinertson Randy Knight, community relations manager for JoCo parks​One woman, who lives nearby, suggested scores of animal rights activists line up along the bank of the man-made lake and fan out methodically through the park, banging pots and pans to startle the deer out of the 1,200-acre green space.Another resident proposed trucking in unseemly amounts of lion manure from the

  October 12, 2009

• Slideshow: Zombie Walk 2009

  Photo by Nicole Reinertson​A few minutes before 3 p.m., a limo pulled up on the west side of Mill Creek Park. Like any given Saturday afternoon, a wedding party piled out of the vehicle, brushing off their gowns and readjusting their ties before posing in front of J.C. Nichols fountain. But, on this particular day, the bride and groom stopped dead in their tracks.Circling the famous fountain was an army of blood-covered zombies.Rightfully undeterred by the dreary weather, more than 1

  October 12, 2009

• Slideshow: Beer Fest 2009

  First, a confession: Last year, my friends and I were among the last standing staggering at Beer Fest, sucking down samples of specialty brews even as the cleaning crew was shooing us off the premises. Photos by Nicole Reinertson​But this year was different.  Beer Fest is an annual fundraiser for the Kansas City Free Health Clinic and the AIDS Service Foundation. For several hours each fall the top floor of a parking garage at The Legends shopping district transforms into a brew-swillin

  October 19, 2009

• Slideshow: Ailey II performance at The Folly

  On Friday night, the Folly Theater was full of men and women in tuxedos and ball gowns, sipping wine and greeting each other with kisses on the cheek. The audience for Ailey II was a who's who of city elite: Congressman Emanuel Cleaver; Tom McDonnell, CEO of DST Systems; Kansas City City Manager Wayne Cauthen. Photo by Nicole Reinertson​But those weren't the VIPs at this performance. Up in the balcony, the back rows of the renovated venue were packed with kids in jeans and parkas, all

  October 26, 2009

• KC panel to President Obama: Stop being so nice and start causing a ruckus

  If a combination of national crisis and personal character define a transformational president, Barack Obama is squandering his historic circumstances by being, well, too nice. That was the mostly disappointed analysis from three political and media experts who visited Kansas City for the Harry S. Truman Library Institute's third annual "Forum on the Presidency." At last night's discussion about "Presidential Leadership in Transformational Times," Robert Kuttner best summed up the panel's per

  November 2, 2009

• Slideshow: Tulips on Troost planting

  Photos by Nicole ReinertsonDurwin Rice directs volunteers at Tulips on Troost​Durwin Rice, founder of Tulips on Troost, smiled with confusion and delight at the downright balmy temperatures on Saturday morning. "I feel like we're in the wrong month," he said with a grin.Normally, volunteers who pitch in for the planting events in the fall have to bundle up and keep warm with the knowledge that, come spring, the bulbs will create a cascade of blooms down Troost Avenue. But during the

  November 9, 2009

• Ripple Glass: The 10-day report

  At the launch party for Ripple Glass last week, the company's CEO, Stacia Stelk, was already reveling in the up-start company's success. Photo by Nicole ReinertsonStacia Stelk, CEO of Ripple Glass​Outside, next to one of the giant, purple recycling bins, Stelk and Andy Barton, vice president of sales for Deffenbaugh Industries, spoke excitedly. Earlier in the week, the two had watched as one of the first collection bins thumped onto the pavement in a lot near the corner of 51st and Main s

  November 11, 2009

• Ripple isn't the only company spinning garbage into goods

  When I spoke to Steve Russell for my story about Ripple Glass this week, he seemed to confirm my -- and many recyclers' -- fears about the fate of the bottles, cans and paper products we toss in our curbside bins each week. Photo by Nicole ReinertsonRipple Glass turns Boulevard Brewing's trash into Owens Cornings' treasure​Russell is the St. Louis-area manager for Strategic Materials, one of the largest recycling companies in the country. For years, the facility in the Gateway City received

  November 12, 2009

• Slideshow: Turn On The Heat fundraiser

  Photos by Nicole ReinertsonPerformance from Vesuvius Tribe​Just in time for the first truly dreary, winter-foreshadowing weekend of the fall, the Arts Incubator made several hundred fans feel all warm and cozy Saturday night. The annual Turn On the Heat fundraiser, which banks money to keep the collective's artists from freezing in their warehouse workshops during the frigid months, was certainly part sizzle. Ceiling-dangling acrobats from Voler aerial fabrics! Fire-breathing jesters from Ve

  November 16, 2009

• Adopt a piece of Troost Avenue

  A few days each fall, dozens of volunteers give up their Saturday morning to help Tulips on Troost plant thousands of bulbs along the East Side artery. So far that sporadic engagement has served the effort well: more than 200,000 flowers have brightened the Avenue over the past three years. But Maureen Lunn, the group's organizer, is looking for a few green thumbs to dig a little deeper. Nicole ReinertsonVolunteers planting tulips at 54th and Troost​You've heard of the Highway Patrol's Adopt

  November 24, 2009

• Movie screening raises cash to help soldiers keep the lights on

  Over the past few weeks, Shelby Diltz canvassed dreary parking lots and left stacks of fliers everywhere she could think of, trying to drum up attendance for a one-night screening of Brothers at War. Nicole ReinertsonShelby Diltz​Produced by actor Gary Sinise, the movie follows Jake Rademacher, a filmmaker who travels to Iraq to better understand the life and work of his two brothers serving in the Army. There's no clear tie to Kansas City -- and Diltz doesn't have a family member serving ov

  December 8, 2009

• Refugees forced to flee apartment after electricity and heat fail

  In late November, Foibe Nibitanga spoke clearly and calmly about the challenges her family faced since arriving in Kansas City. On Sunday, her assertive demeanor had disappeared. With a handful of her eight children pouncing on an old couch beside her, Nibitanga's words were quiet and her eyes were wet. Photo by Nicole ReinertsonThe Burundi family took refuge from the cold at a relative's house this weekend​The Burundian family is among the hundreds of refugees resettled by Jewish Vocational

  January 12, 2010

• Ultra-marathon kayak race movie premier in KC tonight

  It takes a kernel of crazy to paddle across the state of Missouri on a river known as dangerous and dirty in the blazing summer heat. Photo by Nicole Reinertson​It takes almost as much determination to try to capture the blood, sweat and tears with a single video camera. In 2007, filmmaker Jodi Pffeferkorn took her first stab at the Missouri River 340, an ultra-marathon kayak race from Kansas City to St. Charles, but quickly found that covering scores of paddlers over hundreds of miles wa

  January 14, 2010

• Ira Glass at the Lied Center review

  Photo by Nicole ReinertsonIra Glass at the Lied Center​For the first few moments of his show in Lawrence on Saturday night, Ira Glass spoke from a pitch-black stage to the capacity crowd at the Lied Center.In the dark, he played audio clips of high school girls, caught in gang violence, talking about the possibility of being shot on a street corner. In other mediums, Glass pointed out, those girls might be seen as punks. But the power of radio is that you can't see them at all. "On the radio,

  February 22, 2010

• Notes From the Pit: Woods and Real Estate

  Notes From the Pit are quick dispatches from the scene of the show. Nicole Reinertson has some thoughts and shots from Woods and Real Estate last night at the Jackpot in Lawrence:Last night's show was loud(ish). There were only a couple of drunk D-bags that got kicked out; everyone else behaved like kings. (That is, white, Midwestern, American Apparel plastic-too-huge-for-my-face glasses in full effect kings.)Nicole ReinertsonAd Astra ArkestraThe night started with Ad Astra Arkestra. They remin

  March 17, 2010