KU Football: The Tradition Continues

In keeping with recent tradition, KU ousted head coach Charlie Weis on Sunday from the perpetually-sinking ship that is KU football.  Here's the LJ-World's front page: note the headline just below the article, from an unrelated story.






Here is our favorite exchange from the KU Sports message boards:

Randy:  "All you trolls from our rivals go away. KU has had some fine moments in its program, has had some super players and is a school better than most in the conference, in one of the most delightful college towns in the country. There is no reason, none, for the University of Kansas to have a sub-par football program. Among all the things going for it KU is blessed to be in neither Oklahoma nor the state of Texas."

Robert: "Everything is just super great!"

Well, at least we got rid of the track at Memorial, right?

Weekend Picks: Comedy, Rock and Roll, Beers and Bierocks

We're busy, but here are some quick picks for each night of your weekend.  DO these things.

It's an all-lady showcase at "Good Time" at the Replay.  Who are these ladies?  We don't know.  Go find out for us.  FB event page here.  Maybe Rob Riggle will drop by if he's in town for Homecoming events already.

 


And it's time to freak out once more (with comedy AND music) at Frank's on Friday.  Details here

 


There's wizard rock on the not-so-secret patio of Wonder Fair on Friday during Final Fridays.  Will you be one of the lucky few who gets in?  Details here.




And I Heart Local Music serves up another triple killer-bill showcase on Friday.  Where have those prolific Psychic Heat folks been hiding lately?  Details here.







We've been drinking Free State Oktoberfest beer for weeks already but this Saturday we'll drink it at St. John's Oktoberfest.  Details here.  Look at this photo presumably taken shortly before a bunch of people descended and began doing the chicken-dance.

Stuff We Like This Week: Free Jazz and Salsa at the Hispanic Heritage Month Festival; The Return of Queen Lizzy's; And the Royals (Again)

The Hispanic Heritage Month Festival may be off your radar unless you're plugged into the university scene, but we have it on good authority that Thursday's event at Five Bar and Tables downtown is going to be stellar, featuring "some of the finest players in the KC Jazz and Latin scene."  If you can't afford Wynton Marsalis at the Lied tonight, console yourself with this FREE show!  Find more info via the FB event page here.

 

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Also, we just received word that God has indeed saved the Queen!  Queen Lizzy's re-opens at the VFW this Friday.  Let's hope it's more successful than that dingy little breakfast buffet that's been in there recently.  Get the full details on their hours here.  Looks like they'll be serving breakfast on weekends, so there will be at least two places in town serving English breakfast for you wankers (if it's still going on at the new Legends sports bar...we don't actually know).  The FB page claims the menu is somewhere on the  page, but we'll be damned if we can spot it.





In the meantime, eat some fish down at the 2nd Annual Abe and Jake's Catfish Fry (with food from Terrebone) on Thursday.  We attended last year's event--which is a benefit for Friends of the Kaw--and found it suitably delicious.  Details here.






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And what else do we like?  Oh, let's say...for the second week in a row... the Royals!  Don't blow it, Royals!

This Week in State and LFK Politics: Lapdances, Zombies, and Food Trucks

It's been a fun week for state politics. 

First off, the Brownback administration tried to run a smear campaign against Democratic challenger Paul Davis after learning he'd once been spotted receiving a lapdance in a rural Kansas strip club during a 90's police raid.

Chip:  "Who hasn't been?  I identify with him more now than I did before."

Apparently most voters agree, since it's largely been a non-story after the initial news.

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Next, perhaps out of fear that the dead would literally rise and vote Democrat, the Brownback administration announced that the Governor would sign a proclamation declaring October to be "Zombie Preparedness Month."  We always thought the Republicans WERE the zombies, as this 2012 LJ-World photo from Mass. Street reveals:

 


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Finally, here in LFK, the City Fathers are expected to (at least slightly) relax their death grip on local food trucks during tonight's City Commission meeting.  Let's hope so, or perhaps it will soon be time to recycle the City Fathers once and for all, as illustrated in this Bob Schumm photo via LJ-World.

Cultural Clusterfuck of the Week: Final Friday Plus Downtown KU Homecoming Parade and Pep Rally

It's always of interest when LFK's cultural worlds collide, and Friday's convergence of Final Friday and KU Homecoming events should be an odd mix (though we personally preferred last year's clash between the Homecoming Parade and the Zombie Walk on the same evening within an hour of each other).

At 6:00 pm, omnipresent KU alum Rob Riggle will lead the Homecoming Parade down Mass. followed by a pep rally on 8th street.  Will the festivities impede scenesters from getting to their preferred art galleries?  Will some of the fraternity bros hang around and find their way into Wonder Fair for some art and wizard rock? Who knows?

Either way, it's all gonna be more fun than the fucking Catalina Wine Mixer, if you catch our Riggle reference.

Weekend Picks, Including a Band of LFK Children, More Smutty Metaphors, and Spoon's Return

Thursday brings comedy and tacos to the Replay, but only three headliners are listed for tonight's "Good Time?"  Don't get lazy on us, Harpoon!!  The FB event page is here.






Surely the most adorable event of the week will be a group of musicians' children playing covers of Nirvana and such at the Replay matinee on Friday, as the opening act for Mr. and Mrs. Dodge (also adorable).  The FB event page is here.



Get a sneak peek of the children rockers tonight at 3rd Thursdays at the Percolator (along with short plays by local luminaries like Will Averill).  Details here.


LPL brings LFK's suddenly ever-present Patricia Lockwood to the library for a reading on Friday.  Expect to see a few clueless elderly attendees gasp in shock at the metaphors of the "smutty metaphor queen!"  We were happily on hand last week at her KU reading where she told students that her primary influence was "reading a fuckload of the Bible," called Daniel Tosh a "babyfucker," ordered everyone named Gary to identify themselves, and stunned everyone into submission with a devastating reading of "Rape Joke."



Frank's has got something going on this Saturday.  It looks like this:




Or return to the Replay once more for the most rocking show of the week that is also the most likely to include a bit of tapdancing (if you catch our Schwervon! reference).  Info here

 


And cap off the weekend with a big-name show at Liberty.  Pitchfork digs the hell out of Spoon's new album (we think): "Theirs is an in-between soul happily seeking limbo as its own destination. It's manly in an old-fashioned way, but still scuffed-up and vulnerable."

Throwback Wednesday and the KC Pick of the Day: Die Antwoord

Sure, Wayne Coyne probably made his usual hamster-ball-rolling spectacle of himself at Crossroads KC last night but we suspect the best hijinks of the week will ensure at tonight's Die Antwoord show at Crossroads.  So today we present a "Throwback Wednesday" to Captain Chanute and Darling Nikki's dueling LC review of Die Antwoord's 2012 Liberty Hall show.  It's a post that, for whatever reason, has always racked up a number of hits for us (as did Cap's even earlier review of the first Die Antwoord album).  So why not score a few more hits.  Also, we're lazy today.

Now...who will review the Crossroads show for us?

Enjoy this first edition of "Throwback Wednesday!'

From Oct. 18, 2012:

Captain Chanute:   Ladies and Piels, today my ears are bleeding and I couldn’t be happier! A new era in Larryville Hip began last night and I was there to witness it firsthand. It was a veritable rehash of the Gothic War, as the S. African duo invaded Liberty Hall, flanked by a shirtless and masked DJ Hi-Tek and a giant inflatable penis, pillaging the crowd as they spouted their vulgar, brogued English and barbaric Afrikaans. Luckily enough, I wasn’t alone at the modern-day Adrianople.  I was accompanied by my perennially young girlfriend, Darling Nicky, a firebrand with the face of an angel and the mouth of a sailor. 

Darling Nicky: I can speak for myself, you dick.

CC: Alright. Well, the show was awesome! For me, it was an artistic masterpiece from start to finish as they commanded the stage for an hour and a half, holding their crotches with one hand and a middle finger high in the air with the other.

DN: Masterpiece? When a show begins with a song that goes “DJ Hi-Tek’s gonna fuck you in ass,” I hardly call that art.

CC: Maybe so, but the crowd was so Hip! Tons of scantily-clad vixens in tattered, sexy outfits. It was totally Zef! Amazing how Die Antwoord’s futuristic, streetwise style permeated the place.

DN: That likely speaks to the marketability of one country’s trash to another. I hear Honey Boo Boo is big in England right now.

CC: Well, either way, the crowd was electric! As the strobes flashed and the dubstep beats pulsed from the speakers, the rave-like crowd bounced and swayed in syncopation, singing along in dutiful worship to classics like “Evil Boy” and “Enter the Ninja.”  

DN:  I imagine the crowds at National Socialist Worker’s Party rallies in the early 30’s being pretty similar. 

CC:  Dude, I can’t believe you didn’t think the show was totally Hip!

DN:  I never said that. In fact, the show was easily the Hippest LFK has seen in years.

CC: What?! 

DN:  Yeah, when Ninja told the crowd that overconsumption would cause bugs to infest their asses, pulled security on stage to hump his leg, and then dawned a KU basketball jersey for the encore, I was sold.

Stuff We Like This Week: Royals! Protests! Banned Books!

After last night's thrilling come-from-behind victory, EVERYONE loves the Royals today!  But who knows? We may hate 'em before the night is over.  Photo via @MLB.





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There's not enough good old-fashioned ANGRY protesting in LFK these days.  So stop by the lawn of Strong Hall at KU today for the "Sit Down to Stand Up For Survivors of Sexual Assault" protest.  It's happening right now!  The FB event page is here.






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And LPL's Banned Book trading cards have quickly become a beloved LFK tradition.  The new set will be unveiled at a ceremony Thursday evening at the library.  It's hosted by Edgar Allen Poe.  Details here.

 

Lawrence Restaurant Week Picks: From Shrimp and Grits to Giant Banana Splits (and Corndogs).

Broke scenesters can't afford to do too much in the way of Restaurant Week prix fixe sampling (with many of the prices hovering around $35).  But there are certainly more affordable prices out there as well for various specials.  Keep an eye on the official site for updated menus throughout the week.

Here are a few  items that caught our eye.

Terrebone is busting out the shrimp creole and grits!  $8.50

Ladybird dishes up a "giant banana split" for $12.99.  We're anxious to see a pic of this beast! (but they are closed today).

And Free State's dinner special (quoted below) sounds like a sophisticated feast fit for a king, though it contains no price listing..  We were hoping for a return of the old wedge-cut fries this week, but no such luck.

"Choucroute Garnie:  The classic meal from the Alsace region of France. Cured pork loin and our own thick cut bacon are grilled, along with smoked bratwurst and kielbasa sausage. They’re placed over seasoned and white wine sautéed sauerkraut and boiled baby potatoes.
Recommended beer pairing: Octoberfest or our special wine feature, Alsatian Riesling"

Chip:  "I'm not sure if the 23rd Street Sonic is officially part of Restaurant Week, but they've promised 50 cent corndogs this evening. Ask them about it @23rdStreetSonic." 

Weekend Picks: Comedy, Clipping, Vinyl, Foodies, and a Wonder Fair Patio Show

There's a surprising amount going on in LFK this weekend besides the big Seedco Harvest Fest we already showcased.

Kick off the weekend with a very special 9/11 edition of "Good Time" at the Replay, showcased (appropriately enough) by LFK's "master of melancholy," Mr. Chance Dibben.  The FB event page is here.






A better chance for actual political commentary kicks off after the comedy, with a stellar hip-hop show featuring LA's Clipping and LFK's Ebony Tusks and Heartfelt Anarchy. The FB event page is here.




There is always a music nerd stampede at the first night of the Audio Reader sale, which kicks off at the fairgrounds on Friday.

 

Put a bird on it!  Here's a poster for our pal Til Willis' show at Frank's on Friday.  FB event page here.




Saturday is reserved for SeedCo, obviously.




And on Sunday, Mount Eerie pops up on the patio at...Wonder Fair.  Yes, Wonder Fair has a patio.  Some of you may have discovered La Guerre playing out there during a recent summer Final Friday.  It's pretty cool, except for the Burger Stand grease smells wafting through.  But that's a small price to pay to see Mount Eerie and Your Friend.  Actually, it's a rather large price by Wonder Fair standards ($12).  The FB event page is here and 78 people claim to be going even though the space only holds 60.  We'll be listening from the Burger Stand back patio or possibly near the dumpsters.




And Lawrence Restaurant Week kicks off on Sunday.  We'll have more coverage next week.  Chip is excited about sampling the prix fixe menu at Pickleman's.

Nerd Nite 31 Preview: Nick at (Nerd) Nite

Last month's Nerd Nite was full of old-school ELFK community activists who don't tweet but tonight's pop culture-centric edition is sure to be full of social media-savvy folks waxing nostalgic about Saved By the Bell and such.  The FB event page is here.

The presentations are:

Mathew Klickstein: "Boogers, Burps and Farts: Revisiting Classic Nickelodeon Because It Was Just That Fucking Rad(ical)"

Jon Niccum: "The Worst Gig: Failure as an Art"

Paul Santos: "Unexpected Felt: Puppets, Beards, and Dramatic Tension"

This may be the first time the word "fuck" has been included in a presentation title, but don't quote us on that.  Either way, the presentation itself is still unlikely to drop more f-bombs than Jai Nitz's legendary "fuck"-filled lecture.

We're particularly excited about Niccum's lecture, especially since we've been too lazy to read his book thus far.  Maybe we'll win a copy as a door prize?  Plus, we hear Nerd Nite beer coozies are now on sale!  And stay late for screenings of Nick at Nite material (there better be drinking games involved!).

 

 

Preposterous Sport of the Week: Bubble Soccer Arrives in LFK / Festival of the Week: Seedco Harvest Festival

Sure, the people watching and the hijinks in the stands at KVKL kickball are a lot of fun, but the games themselves are generally boring as dirt unless you're playing in one.  We're looking for a sport that's ridiculous ON the field.  Luckily, Bubble Soccer has arrived in LFK and will be taking over Watson Park for a few weeks of matches.  Yes, it's a game where you're encased in a bubble except for your legs and you smash into each other and roll around and shit.  Like this:

Check out the Lawrence Bubble Soccer page on FB here.




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Sadly, summer festival season is over.  But, luckily, fall festival season has arrived.  SeedCo hosts a SeedCo Harvest Festival on Saturday in ELFK and the forecast is looking appropriately autumnal (or maybe more like winter, with lows in the fucking 30s already).  The FB event page promises 8 bands, 21 visual artists, and 16 food and drink vendors. $8 in advance and $10 at the door.   Sure, it's the same bands you see every night at Replay and Jackpot, but they're all in one place, and with music and art.  Don't pretend like you won't attend.  Hopefully Dean Monkey and the Dropouts are planning some kind of pagan harvest ritual in their doo-wop set.  Official website here

Weekly Picks, Campus Edition: Open Forums and Patricia Lockwood

Following last year's embarrassing social media scandal, KU kicked off the fall semester with an embarrassing rape scandal which led to a rather clever and potent bit of hashtivism on Twitter:  the hashtag #AGreatPlaceToBeUnsafe. #AGreatPlaceToBeUnsafe.

Tomorrow's open forum on the issue at ECM borrows the phrase. Visit the FB event page here for  "#AGreatPlaceToBeUnsafe: An Open Forum on KU's Mishandling of Sexual Assault."   We're not entirely sure what to make of this bit of info: "Oh Snap! Photography has graciously donated their talents, and will be bringing a photo booth to this forum."


 

On Thursday (September 11) LFK's literary darling and very own "slutty metaphor queen" pops up for a reading and Q&A at the Commons. We like to pretend we're pals with her now since we partied with her (briefly) at the Pig this summer.   Will she read the legendary "Rape Joke" poem in connection to the current scandal?  We'd be awfully surprised if she doesn't. Then again, maybe she'll just discuss the events of 9/11.  The FB event page is here.

"The rape joke is if you write a poem called Rape Joke, you’re asking for it to become the only thing people remember about you."

Weekend Music Picks: A Very Special Message From The Noise FM, Plus Joyce Manor, Muscle Worship, and More

Nobody brings you more unknown bands than Jackpot Saloon, but this weekend they're mixing it up with a buzzy show by Joyce Manor tonight and a stellar quadruple-bill on Friday (you've certainly heard of at least three of the bands). We asked Alex from The Noise FM to send us a preview of the show and discuss the Noise Boys' plans for their big homecoming weekend in LFK.  Enjoy.

Jackpot Music Hall

Friday, September 5

The Sluts, The Noise FM, Westerners, Chambers

9pm

Ages 18+

$3-5

"We’re back home in Lawrence at Jackpot this Friday, September 5 with The Sluts, Westerners and Chambers for the one year anniversary of our record Attraction. We’ll see if Jackpot’s gotten around to rebuilding the stage after our last show when our homemade stage lights, duct-taped together from Home Depot industrial work lamps and coated in flammable spray paint from a Dollar General Store clearance aisle, nearly engulfed Austin’s drum set in a chemical fire. Despite the stench of singed hair, it was a hell of a light show.

It’s nice to have some distance between the release of the last record. It means we can focus less on trying to cram all of the tunes from Attraction into our setlist and more on incorporating some of our (equally brilliant) older material and fan favorites. Much like how Pearl Jam’s back-catalogue of over 180 songs means they never play the same set twice, our vast collection of 19 songs (3 of which are Rod Stewart covers) means fans are in for a night of only the choicest audio nuggets.

If anyone feels like meeting up before the show, we’ll probably get to town early to grab a bite to eat at one of our favorite old haunts. We’ve been craving the El Jefe burrito from Esquina, but if we’ve got enough time we’ll swing by Joe Schmo’s for the burger basket and a round of bocce ball."

Here's a great poster via @lemonaidlass.  And take a look at the video of Noise FM's ice-bucket challenge below. Is it the sexiest ice-bucket challenge so far?

 

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The FB event page for tonight's Joyce Manor show at Jackpot is here.  Pitchfork says of their new album: "The successes of Never Hungover Again are numerous, and the foremost is how Joyce Manor's most ambitious and diverse album is just like their other ones—10 songs, 19 minutes, every second as weird as it is instantly enjoyable."  How long will their set be?








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There's a real ruckus of a rock show in the basement at Frank's on Saturday.  We're not sure if Riot! Riot! Riot! is a band or a command.  Let us know.




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The Replay offers a blazing weekend of rock and roll as well.   Friday brings umlaut-aficionados Muscle Worship to the Replay. 


 

And Saturday brings Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond band.  The FB event page is here.  Based on Nato Cole's FB page these guys really like Pearl beer.  But they may have to settle for PBR at the Replay.

 

Good Time at Replay: The Comedians' POV

Sure, we've talked about the ever-growing scene of the Thursday night "Good Time" events at the Replay from an audience perspective but today we asked a few of this week's showcase comedians to share their thoughts. Here's what Michael Pope and Amber Lehman had to say.  The FB event page for the event is here.

Michael Pope:

"I started seriously involving myself in the Lawrence comedy scene back in May, and was privileged (?) to be a part of the last Good Time show in the Eldridge basement, where cell phone signals (and my jokes) went to die. Nobody was really sure how well things would work out with moving to an earlier timeslot at the Replay, but I've been there damn near every Thursday for almost three months and it's been a fantastic experience. I work in Lenexa, but I still brave the horrors of K-10 rush hour each week just to make it in time for the open mic at 6:30. And that's saying something; K-10 is like the Wild West of highways. Every man for himself. The side of the road has more white crosses than a Klan rally.

This Thursday's showcase is my first for the Good Time show, and I'm hoping that with classes back in session the place will be packed with lots of 95-pound, 21-year-old Communications majors named Kelsi. We've got a great lineup this time around, with three talented comedians (and myself I guess) ready to make sweet comedy love to some faces. I hope your readers will come out for both the 6:30 open mic and the 8:00 showcase, throw back a couple $1.50 PBRs and tasty tacos, and vomit up some laughter in the friendly confines of the Replay (where I once saw a drunk asshole get literally picked up and thrown out the door like Jazz on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air)."


Amber Lehman:

"I’ve spent 23 years of my life making bad decisions and my set at Good Time shall be the culmination of my efforts. I’m very quiet and awkward which provides for a riveting stage performance. I can’t guarantee it but more than likely I’ll talk about poop or pee. If anything I’ve mentioned in the past three sentences appeals to you then you should come on down to the Replay Thursday night for a good time."

Beers of the Week: Zombie Monkey at Burger Stand; The Cowboy at Ted's Taphouse; and Miller High-Life (On Ice) / Also: Kansas Gets Naked

Our "beers of the week" column has been absent of late, but we had to bring it back in time for tonight's release of "Zombie Monkey" at Burger Stand (along with a Tallgrass Tap Takeover). 

And since there are a fair amount of gun battles on Lawrence streets these days, Evil Twin's The Cowboy down at Ted's Taphouse might be just the beer if you are heading to a duel (but not a high-noon duel, since Ted's doesn't open prior to noon).

 



And what else?  Well, we spotted Monzie Leo drinking a Miller High-Life on ice with a twist of lime at the Replay last night.  We know a Hamm's on ice is called a "Doorkno" but we don't know what this is called.  A "Monzie" perhaps?

Enjoy this fun Mad Libs-style game via this site.

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When a nude man strolled the streets of Top City last week, many were surprised to learn that there's no Kansas law forbidding it (except "in the context of sexual arousal," and no one was likely to be aroused by this fellow).  But of course the Top City fathers aren't willing to take any risks that such nudity, arousing or not, will spread like wildfire, so they are taking quick action against it.

In the meantime, surely you can strut your bare ass around LFK with impunity.  We've been seeing these signs around town lately if you'd like to get "nude positive."