Entertainment overnight

Quite a voice.  And I mean that in two different ways:



Thanks to Donna Allen Wood for introducing me to Floyd Red Crow Westerman

Links:  Floyd Red Crow Westerman - Wikipedia

Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman - IMDb

KC Gazette blog brought back, updated

I got word today:

Kansas City Gazette

Gee, I wish...

I wish I'd married a billionaire so people could say such nice things about me for so long.



Tough life, though.


Really.

New blog (to me) in town

Here it is:

Dodge's Motorcycle Adventures

And he's on YouTube, too:

 

New Blog Website (www.dodgerider.net) - YouTube

 

I was walking into the Quik Trip at I-35 and Lamar today and this guy with a matching motorcycle helmet and jacket was walking out. The jacket and helmt were both bright, bright yellow and that would have made me notice but what really got me was that he clearly had a camera on the side of his helmet.

 

I went on to the register and made my brief, quick purchase, all the while thinking about this guy with a camera on the side of his head. I'd kept my eye on him and saw he was still in the parking lot. I had to go ask him about it.

 

In a short conversation, he told me he liked to videotape his rides and did it frequently. He also told me he had a blog--that mentioned above--he also had, as well as his videos on YouTube.

 

I had to check it out.

Quote of the day

"...the suggestion that arming more Americans would “solve” the problem is even more ludicrous; over 300 million registered guns exist in this country now. Exactly how many more would “solve” the problem?

600 million?"

Great, great post from a local blogger: http://willnotbetelevised.com/tv/2012/12/a-3-scotch-night/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+willnotbetelevised%2Frss+%28WNBTv+-+Good+TV%21%29

KC Chiefs make big announcement

The Kansas City Chiefs announced today they are going to take the entire team and coaching staff to Manhattan, Kansas later this week to see how the K-State football team plays the game of football.

In related news, the Kansas City Royals announced, shortly thereafter, that they'll be making no such trips anywhere as it's not their intention to have "winning seasons."

Owner David Glass is quoted as saying "Don't be silly."



:)

2 KC Institutions that desperately need updating

There are two--count 'em, two--Kansas City retail institutions in the area that have locations that are in such really awful condition, it's difficult to believe how neglected and downright ugly they are.

The first is Berbiglia's Liquor stores.

The two stores that are ironically closest to the city's most prime retail space, the Country Club Plaza, are a couple of the best, worst examples of ugly retail spots in the city. The first is on Westport Road, just to the West of Southwest Trafficway while the 2nd is at the corner of 45th and Madison.

These 2 stores are dumps. It's stunning this company has the nerve to keep these ugly, rundown retail facilities open. It looks as though they only want to sell to alcoholic street people. Without updating this place, they have a lot of nerve keeping it open. It's an insult to the customers who come through the door. I should think the Berbiglia family is or would be embarrassed by these really awful eyesores, should any still be around, as I believe they are.

Both have what must surely the original linoleum vinyl tile flooring when the shops were opened, they look that bad. They're way overused and neglected. You'd think they'd be an embarrassment to the owners of the chain but clearly they're not. They've been in this condition for years and to date, it appears they have no regard for their stores and, worse, no respect for or appreciation of their customers. They simply want to suck all the money and profit from the stores they can and never update. The customers they seem to be catering to would be the alcoholics off the street. If this isn't the customers they want, they should invest in their stores at least enough to make it clear otherwise.

Their store out on 75th Street, near State Line makes it clear they know they wouldn't have clients without also having a nice-looking, attractive, comfortable store, too.

The second local company that sorely, sorely needs updating and a bit of investment are the two Winstead's restaurants.

Have you been in lately?

Sure, the hamburgers and fries are just as they ever were... but that carpet?

It's not only badly worn in the main path areas but it's downright filthy. Whatever shades of mauve it used to be is now a deep, dark, dirty brown. It is beyon not pretty. It doesn't give you the feeling you've walked into a clean restaurant, certainly. And it's true at both the Plaza location and the one out West on Shawnee Mission Parkway, near I-35.

If the owners are smart, they'll one day put in new carpet, then give the staff a bit of a refresher on great service and have a kind of "Grand re-opening" so it gets them some notice and--shock of shocks--free press, media attention and advertising. Imagine that--helping your business and sales by investing in it.

Both of these businesses need to do just that and the sooner the better.

In each case, would it cost the company to update? Sure, you bet it would.

But would it also pay the respective companies in media attention and increased sales?

I think it absolutely would.

Here's hoping.

Links: http://www.berbiglia.com/

http://www.winsteadssteakburger.com

The Nelson has a new exhibit of photography

Happy birthday to a local, fellow blogger

A very happy birthday wish to "Just Me" blogger, Donna.

I hope it's a great one for you, filled with family, friends, great food and some terrific memories.

Enjoy.

On the whole "Win an iPad!" thing

If one more organization promises me that I "...could win an Apple iPad" if I simply take their survey, I'm going to choke somebody.

Things I learned in the last two weeks

--What vetch is;

--What crown vetch is;

--What elderberry bushes look like;

--How beautiful the purple bloom, the flower, is on crown vetch;

--That this weed, crown vetch, fortunately pulls away from the host plant, in this case, elderberry bushes, very easily;

--That elderberry bushes are native to our area (or so I'm told);

--That elderberry bushes and very hearty plants and can take a lot of abuse;

--What a "tractor cruise" is and why people go on them;

--Where the Kansas City, Missouri dump site for yard waste is;

--That is you're from Kansas City, Missouri, you can get great, free mulch at their dump site;

--That straw and hay, in the sunlight, really to shine like gold in the sunlight;

--That after working all day on a farm and being totally wiped out, you can do it again the next day;

--That a bad back doesn't have to keep you from being able to work, even on a farm, working on hay bales;

--What's it like to work with hay and straw, and for hours;

--That if you have a choice of working with two different pitchforks, you make sure you don't get the one with the shorter tines (well, unless you want to slough off and not really work much);

--What a sandpiper's egg looks like (stunningly beautiful and simple);

--That a sandpiper mother will work hard--and for a long time--to protect her egg.

Among other things, no doubt.

Have a great, safe, holiday weekend, y'all.

I'm concerned

We haven't heard from The Crustybastard or Damnitkage in 4 weeks.

To Kim, Brent, Frank (you, too, Frank?) and that other Kevin Evans on Facebook

They say it's your birthday... it's my birthday too, yeah...

It's finally happened

There has finally been a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp film that's been created I don't care for and patently don't want to see. And this is it.

By virtue of numbers, it was bound to happen.

Right?

A PhD to buy a light bulb now?

Have you been to buy a light bulb lately?

Holy cow.

I went the other day to a Lowe's and then to a Home Depot.

First, you have to know the regular bulbs are going away. There are darn few of those.

After that, it's a whole new ballgame.

You need to know there are two options.

The first option is all the new fluorescent bulbs.

Sure, they save money and electricity and energy, more than anything.

You have to see how many Kelvins and lumens so you have the right coloring of the bulb in your room(s).

If you also need a 3-way bulb, fugghedaboudit. There are very few of those. And some of them are just bloody huge. They could be as big as a grown man's fist.

Then there's pricing.

If they're cheap, they only cost a little over $8.00.

Each.

They're supposed to last far longer but some friends have one that blew after less than a year.

Apparently we're supposed to start files at home, keeping track of how long ago we've bought these things and where.

The second option--you'll love this--are the LED bulbs.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of LED bulbs since they last far longer than all the other bulbs--supposedly--but also, they aren't nearly as hot as halogens. (I'm not even going into those here. Suffice to say, they're bloody hot).

Then there's your second option. LED bulbs.

They're a whole 'nother issue. And education.

Same deal, too, where you have to look at how many lumens they put out but also different shapes and sizes.

And now, here again, the issue of price.

Holy cow. These things can cost you $40 for one bulb.

So if you haven't been out lately, to one of the big stores, be ready for a real education.

Book a lot of time.

You'll be there for a while.

After all, a doctorate in lighting takes some time.

I wish you good luck. And a lot of time.

Jardine's Jazz: the 600 lb. gorilla in the room

As I said earlier, isn't this "cat" really out of the proverbial bag? The owner is, apparently, at least difficult with a history of being tough on her staff, if what is printed locally, on the blogs (http://tipsfortips.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/the-jardines-story/) is true. And face it, we believe it, right? Don't we? The sources seem legitimate and calm and matter-of-fact in their descriptions. So that big "600 lb. gorilla" seems to be, won't you, please, Ms. Owner-of-Jardine's-Jazz-that-Kansas-City-loves-so-much, won't you please sell the place to someone else, make some money, get out of it, leave it alone and let us go back to enjoying this local, cherished institution? Please? As the old saying goes, don't go away mad---just go away. Yet another link: http://www.pitch.com/fatcity/archives/2011/12/06/jardines-drama-the-staff-says-that-owner-beena-was-meana

One is the loneliest number

After watching local Kansas City blogs over the weekend, since Saturday night, up to this moment, I've come to the conclusion that I must be the only blogger who lives on the Plaza.

The silence is pretty deafening.

On the Catholic Priesthood--because more people need to see this

“Somewhere underneath all of this there is a root story that has to do with celibacy. The celibate status of its priests is basically the Catholic church’s last market advantage in the Christian religion racket, but human beings are not designed to be celibate and so problems naturally arise among the population of priests forced to live that terrible lifestyle. Just as it refuses to change its insane and criminal stance on birth control and condoms, the church refuses to change its horrifically cruel policy about priestly celibacy. That’s because it quite correctly perceives that should it begin to dispense with the irrational precepts of its belief system, it would lose its appeal as an ancient purveyor of magical-mystery bullshit and become just a bigger, better-financed, and infinitely more depressing version of a Tony Robbins self-help program.”

- Matt Taibbi

http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2010/03/27/the-catholic-church-is-a-criminal-enterprise/

And yes, if you know local Kansas City blogs, I took this from Matt Payton's blog because, as I said above, more people need to see it. Thanks, Matt!

Link to original post here:
http://mattpayton.tumblr.com/post/484741619

A challenge for Tony and a question for intelligent men and women in town

I'll only address this issue once and that issue is the sexist, stupid, infantile pictures Tony at Tony's KC Blog puts up on that same blog.

My question:

Why?

He's addressed it before on his blog, at least a couple of times but seriously, I don't think people read it because he puts those things up there.

He insists it gets him notice. Or "readership" or something.

But why, too, are local women not saying anything about this?

Is this pathetic, high school age sexism so pervasive that you just put up with it?

Is it so rampant that it makes it okay?

I don't get it.

I'd think intelligent, educated, sophisticated women in town--bloggers and non-bloggers, both, would rail against it and request he--Tony--refrain from posting those really childish, insulting things as soon as possible.

On the one hand, he writes mostly about serious things that are going on in the area, however snarkly.

But on the other, he thinks he needs these pictures of buxom young women, barely dressed, so people will read his blog?

No.

Huh-uh.

It doesn't make sense.

There's a total disconnect there.

And he doesn't have any more self-respect, or respect for his column or respect for his readers to do otherwise.

Tony serves a good purpose---most of the time. He writes okay to good stuff lots of times.

But the pictures, too frequently.

That is some kind of sad.

Sure, it's a reflection on him but it's a reflection on the city, too.

So here's the challenge ladies: challenge Tony to, as I put in his comments on his blog, come to the "adults table" and take down the stupid pictures.

Any takers?

(For the record, I'm hopeful. Think of it as a Quixotic dream. Also, again, I will only bring this up this once. I have no interest in some of silly "blog war", if there is such a thing. I wish Tony well. I just wish he'd get and stay more professional--and adult).