That’s not quite the point of Pastor Timmy Gibson’s field trip, which he’s calling “24 Hours in the Life of a Homeless Person,” scheduled for tomorrow. But if it goes according to plan, the stunt will land Gibson and his church on television and attract an audience for his September sermon series, “Why We Christians Suck Sometimes.”
STUFF TO DO THIS WEEKEND FOR LESS THAN THE COST OF A DOWN-PAYMENT ON A CHEESEBURGER
If you’re like me, you’re nearly broke enough to consider applying to be Jerry Mazer’s intern and breaking into the subprime cheeseburger loan market. (I just totally squicked myself out even writing that.) Of course, I do have my own milk crate to sit on and, according to my girlfriend, am more than capable of talking in a wheedling, whingey voice. This would not be a paid internship, would it? You’d be sitting on your milk crate outside Barnes & Noble right next to Jerry, so you could totally absorb Jerry Mazer’s Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Non-existent Cheeseburgers, and he would be all hot and sweaty, and people would shout “GET A JOB!” at you all day.
While I was in Lawrence last night, I swung by Liberty Hall to check on the turnout for a concert promoting the book You’re Welcome, aka Ho’ Huntin’ and Bitch Bangin’, Wurd, which basically encourages men to use alcohol and deception to get women into bed. I don’t think authors Clay Perkins and Devin Lawrence liked the Night & Day blurb I wrote about them in the August 23 issue of the Pitch very much, especially after it inspired local band Pendergast to pull out of the show.
The Pitch and Pendergast probably can’t take all of the credit for last night’s failure, though. I’m guessing the rest of the line-up – unknowns Justin Hopkins of Los Angeles and Nick Pagliari from Memphis – probably figured in there, too, along with the event’s $10.50 ticket price. My friend Lisa and I encountered Lawrence and Hopkins in front of the Liberty Hall at about 9:30 p.m. Hopkins, whose name was on the marquee, said there was “no one” inside. Lawrence, all spiffed up for a night carousing as his alter ego Ash Nightshade, shoved fliers at us. He winked and said they had decided to make the show free “for all the ladies of Lawrence” (the city).
Yeah, we just kept walking.
-- Crystal K. Wiebe
The parks board put the resolution – which states that dog parks should avoid residential areas such as the one surrounding Sunnyside Park -- on the agenda with minimal notice and did not allow public comment on the item. “Makes me want to just throw in the towel and move to Johnson County, Kansas,” disappointed constituent Allyson Berberich wrote to Funkhouser in an e-mail shared with the media.
Funkhouser is out of town. A spokesman, Kendrick Blackwood, says this morning that the mayor supports the construction of more dog parks and would applaud the Waldo group's efforts. But he indicates that Funkhouser will not move to overrule the parks board’s decision. “He appointed them, and he empowered them as well,” Blackwood says.
Asked about the way yesterday's meeting was conducted, Blackwood says he expects that Funkhouser will be briefed on how the decision was made. – David Martin
These days Paul Lovelace is a 30-year-old documentary filmmaker in New York City. He travels the country shilling his own motion picture projects – and on his own dime. Last night Lovelace returned to Kansas City (he’s a 1995 graduate of Shawnee Mission South High School) for a screening of the film The Holy Modal Rounders…Bound to Lose at Screenland; Lovelace co-directed the documentary about the famed psychedelic folk duo with Sam Wainwright Douglas and was also one of the film’s four producers.
We first reported on the program here, back before it had the cool name, AIM4PEACE: Community Meditation Program. Back then, in May, they said the program might make a late August launch at the earliest. At the time, Rachel Riley, organizer of the 24th Street Nonviolent Marchers, worried that the program would focus more on fat salaried jobs for city staff than actually stopping violence. An August 24 release from the city says the program is still looking to fill 12 positions, including a program coordinator and intervention and outreach workers. They’ll be recruiting until September 10, so if you think you’ve got what it takes to talk people out of shooting each other, you can get in touch with Tracie McClendon, of the Community Justice Program, at 816-513-3886, or apply online here; or apply in person on the fourth floor of City Hall.
The program is worth a chance. It would just be nice if it would get moving before Christmas. – Peter Rugg
Yesterday, I stopped by the Charlie Parker birthday festivities at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. I’m embarrassed to say that the free fried chicken and cake lured me out, rather than any Bird- or jazz-love. The food was delicious, though; the chicken was fried up by Wingbusters, and the sheet cake, above, had a cheery “Happy birthday Charlie Parker” squiggled onto it in frosting.
But, upon hearing the music, I realized I need to stop treating this KC cultural institution like an after-bars drinkatorium or a free feed-ateria. Even though I was already sold by the music, what really got me into the place was watching this great tap-dancer:
-- Jen Chen
The football season begins for real this Friday night when high schools begin play. Leaving no zone blitz unturned, The Kansas City Star previewed the prep, college and NFL seasons in a special section (several, actually) that appeared in Sunday’s paper.
Even in the football-mad Midwest, the coverage seemed a bit excessive. Here are some stats on “Football ’07”:
43 – Writers, editors, designers, artists, photographers and imagers who worked on the issue, according to the masthead.
6 – Number of sections.
9.2 – Weight, in ounces.
36 – Advertisements for automobile and motorcycle dealerships.
2 – Advertisements promoting appearances by Penthouse Pet Elizabeth Hilden.
2 – Cost-of being fan graphics (Chiefs, Big XII schools).
4 – Images of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning.
3 – Images of overweight head coaches (Mark Mangino [2], Charlie Weis).
3 -- High schools nicknamed "Wildcats" in the Star's preseason top 5 lists (big and small class).
1 – Horrible metaphor, by SMU head coach Phil Bennett, equating NCAA sanctions to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
– David Martin
Eight months after I wrote about my quest to find the smokiest bar in town, I received a package today from one of the finalists. The Clarette Club sent me a T-shirt that lauded its cigarette-friendly status. The front of the forest-green shirt is emblazoned with a drawing of a 12-armed Buddha. Each hand holds a cigarette, and the words “Smoke – Free of Charge” appear under the sacrilicious figure. The back of the T-shirt reads: “We’re so politically incorrect WE STINK.” Not surprisingly, the shirt and the envelope reeked of smoke.
On the same day that a presidential visit snarled traffic around Bartle Hall (really, was building the convention center to straddle the highway such a great idea?), U.S. marshals paid a visit to our local anarchist bookstore – and it wasn’t to pick up some Kafka.
Volunteer Chuck Munson was manning the Crossroads Infoshop and Radical Bookstore at 3109 Troost around 3 in the afternoon last Wednesday when he found a “posse” of U.S. marshals outside the store. Munson writes on his blog that a “woman agent, who was wearing a vest and had weapons, (was) asking questions of two people inside our store.” “I challenged her to show a warrant and she responded that she didn’t need to show a warrant.”
Howdy, y’all. Here’s a picture of me took at my buddy Timmy Tom Bob’s parole party back in April. I’m wearing my favorite T-shirt for the occasion. Given the cyclical nature of historical circumstance, it is my sincere belief that the South will rise again. Further buttressing my theory vis-à-vis an inevitable Confederate resurgence, there are a number of redneck-interest weekend events happening to which I would like to draw your attention.
We got our opportunity last Friday when the Sling Blade star stopped into Gilhouly’s on West 39th Street to find a place to smoke and have a beer.
That night’s bartender, 29-year-old Lisa Beach, said she didn’t recognize the crusty older guy in the gang of seven before he came up to the bar. “He said, ‘I’m Billy. Nice to meet you,’” Beach said. “I don’t think anyone really noticed, and I didn’t want to let anyone know so they wouldn’t swarm him.”
Well, we procured an audio version of his talk and had a bit of fun with it. Here's our version of Bush's outtakes:
AEG president and CEO Tim Leiweke recycled the promises he made to Kansas Citians of a pro basketball or hockey franchise today in a statement released on AEG's Web site. Of course, Leiweke tailored them for a Sin City audience.
In an interview this morning, Funkhouser says that he’s been smart with his personal finances. The debt on the home he and his wife purchased in 1994 is not cause for alarm, he says. “As long I’m making the mortgage payments, you know. I don’t intend to sell it, so I don’t care,” he says.
As was first revealed this week on the blog Tony's Kansas City, Jackson County records indicate that Funkhouser and his wife, Gloria Squitiro, have refinanced their home near Brookside Boulevard on at least a dozen different occasions. The most recent refinancing took place in 2005, when the couple borrowed $445,000 against the home. The county appraiser says the house is worth $293,760.
