Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

"Teach this triple truth to all: 

A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity."

--Buddha

Quote of the Day -- On Religion

“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.

If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

--Albert Einstein

KC Vid

Fun, beautiful KC promotional video.

Nate Evans - Welcome To KC from nate evans on Vimeo.

With a last name like that, how could he go wrong?

Have a great week, y'all.

Kansas City Gets Some Good, National Press This Week

Seen this week, out on the interwebs. We get some promotion.

Weekend Trips to Take This Summer

Missouri: Kansas City

Known for its jazz heritage and incredible barbecue, Kansas City, Missouri, a somewhat underappreciated city, is not only a cheap weekend getaway but an exciting one, too. This is the perfect family-friendly destination. Take the kids to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, enjoy Free Friday Night Flicks at Crown Center, view tons of wildlife in William M. Klein Park and explore nature at the Lakeside Nature Center. Be sure to make time for a Boulevard Brewing tour; taste drinks you can't get elsewhere.

So kudos, Kansas City. Maybe get out there and enjoy some old favorite place or find a new one. Enjoy. And have a great weekend.

NYT Celebrates Our Kansas City Chiefs Today

Yes sir, the one and only New York Times has a very prominent, front sports page article on our own Kansas City Chiefs, our Patrick Mahomes and how we naturally, rightly like--love?--him.

‘He’s Ours. Patrick Mahomes Is Ours.’

Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, accustomed to football disappointment, now have the most exciting player in the N.F.L. on their team, in their town.

And it's a great and of course, true article, we love our Patrick Mahomes and all this winning he's doing but in the print edition of the paper, the headline reads: "Kansas City finally found something to love."

Excuse me?

Excuse me, New York Times.....  Excuse us??

We have LOTS to love around here, make no mistake.

We love our Kansas City Chiefs, for starters. And that's all the time, not just when we're having a stellar season, like right this moment. Sure, we prefer winning them all, including the Super Bowl, like anyone and everyone else but we love our team ALL THE TIME.

Going on, we love our Kansas City Royals. For sure. Absolutely. And that's all the time, too. Sure, we prefer "going all the way" seasons like 1985 and 2015 but we love our team, let there be no doubt.

Going on from there, things we Kansas Citians love:

Our barbecue

The

Country Club Plaza 

All our fountains

Being the "Paris of the Plains"

Ward Parkway and our boulevard system

4 seasons--especially now that winters are milder

Mostly clean air, nearly all the time

Low traffic

Having and being two cities, not just one

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

Union Station

American Jazz Museum

National WWI Museum and Memorial

Kansas City Museum

The Arabia Steamboat Museum

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Arthur Bryant's Barbeque Restaurant

Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que

And a lot more, to be sure.

So thanks, New York Times for the article and coverage but please, ladies and gentlemen, give us more credit than this.

Please.

Kansas City Gets Another Great Write-Up

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Kansas City did, in fact, get yet another good, positive, maybe glowing write up by way of this clickbait article from The Daily Mail. It was in the following article.

 

The Biggest City in Every State

What they had to say about us:

Not to be confused with the neighboring city of the same name in Kansas itself, this is a beautiful city of approximately 480,000 that is often missed by tourists. It said that only Rome has more fountains than Kansas City, Missouri, which also supposedly has more boulevards than Paris. Art deco buildings decorate downtown streets, and the historic city market has plenty of dining and shopping options, as well as a farmers market. The 18th and Vine Historic District houses the American Jazz Museum as well as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and other museums in the city include the National World War I Museum and Liberty Memorial, Crown Center (home of Hallmark Cards and the Hallmark Museum), and a few art museums to boot. The Crossroads Arts District has been referred to as the SoHo of the Midwest, and is particularly busy during the summer. The Kansas City food scene is another reason to stop here. Barbecue food is a local specialty, and the American Royal BBQ Contest is the largest of its kind.

Not just the biggest city in the state but maybe one of the best, as well?

Enjoy your Sunday, y'all.

Run, Don't Walk, to the Nelson!

If you have not yet been to our Nelson-Atkins Museum lately, to see the new acquisition, The Gates of Paradise, and new exhibit "Through the Eyes of PIcasso", it cannot be stressed enough, get this on your calendar.

Through the Eyes of Picasso

For myself, I personally always enjoyed Picasso's works, certainly, of course. But I hadn't studied his source for his work, one of the inspirations of his work early in his life and that is African art. I knew he was an accomplished, traditional painter and artist early on but that was it.

Wow.

This exhibit is a stunner.

It shows many, many of the pieces of African art he himself owned and carried with him his entire life and from which he got so much inspiration. It shows his development as an artist. It is a real education.

There's one more really fantastic thing about this exhibit, too, and that is the way our Nelson positioned the African art from the permanent collection, years ago, when the Bloch addition first opened leads nearly magically, fantastically right into this exhibit. It's almost as if they knew, years ago, that one day they'd get and have this new exhibit and of course, that's impossible.

It reminded me again of how perfect the placement is upstairs, in the old, original building, of the Native American art, next to the early American gallery. Brilliant on their part, once again.

One last thing to be said, too, about this PIcasso exhibit, folks. It's the only gallery in the nation that has it or will have it, presently. It is that special. We are that fortunate.

Then there are the doors.

Go, too, to see Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. The original doors are in Italy at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore. The pair at the Nelson-Atkins are a sister set to those at the Baptistery.

I keep thinking the Nelson can't get any better.

After they opened the American wing of the permanent gallery, I thought "That's it. It can't get any better."

Then they opened the Bloch Gallery and I thought, "That's it."

Then they recently got all the Impressionist pieces from the Bloch family.

And I thought that was it.

Now they have these doors, in the permanent collection and we got this Picasso exhibit, sole exhibit in the nation.

I now no longer think there is a "top" we cannot reach.

All I can say is, Director and CEO Julián Zugazagoitia must live forever.

And remain here.

We. Are. So. Incredibly. Fortunate.

Go.

Go now. Enjoy.

And while you're at it, if you haven't done so already, become a member. It's the best $55 you will ever spend. Besides helping out a fantastic, local institution, you also get discounts on meals at the Rozelle Court and free parking on site and entrance into certain exhibits you would otherwise pay for and finally, part of the membership fee is deductible. If you aren't already a member, you're missing out and in more ways than one!

Link:

Kansas City Picasso Exhibit - USA-Exclusive KC Tour Location‎

Gates of Paradise at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

That Bloch Impressionist Gift to the Nelson?

Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Matisse, Pissaro, Boudin, Caillebotte and so, so much more.

Run, don't walk to the Nelson-Atkins Museum. It is nearly, now, an embarrassment of riches.

This piece, by Gauguin, kicks it off. It is a stunning piece.

There are several, in fact, many, many pieces that I found it difficult to believe we have here in town, right here, here at the Nelson and in the permanent collection. This one, of the dancer, by Toulous Lautrec, is one.

This next one must be seen, there, up close, to be believed.

If the new Impressionist exhibit doesn't give you chills, something may be wrong with you.

The Nelson has always been terrific, of course, and it does keep getting better and better. Now, it very much reminded me of the feeling and experience I had when first I went to the Chicago Art Institute. Even more fantastic than it was and always has been. With this improvement, these additions, it has improved and expanded exponentially.

Go.  Go now. Go soon as possible.