Welcome To Kansas City

Joy and Pain

My first impression of the Troost Avenue Festival wasn't good. It initially struck me as a sad little affair. The longer I stuck around, however, the more I began to appreciate the one-day event. I laughed out loud when organizers literally pulled the plug on an appearance by a crew representing Ain't No Love Entertainment. They'd been peppering their sad sack raps with the "n" and "f" words. I laughed even harder as only two people clapped when Kansas City, Missouri, school board member Airick West was introduced. (I was one of his two fans.) And genuinely good times kicked in when kids affiliated with nearby Operation Breakthrough danced as an R&B band played War's "Slippin' Into Darkness" and Maze's "Joy and Pain."

In Which I Admit My Frailty

Killing animals with guns never bothered me. I shot plenty of game when I was a kid. The trappings of hunting trips, however, made me flinch. The drinking and smoking didn't faze me, but I found listening to older men joking about women deeply disturbing. Even before I was ten years old I knew I'd always prefer the private affections of a girl to the rowdy kinship of a group of guys.

Both Sides Now

The clouds over Kansas City were spectacular today. I suppose they seemed phantasmagorical because we'd been blanketed by low gray skies for days on end. "Ice cream castles in the air" indeed.

Nails

The appeal of painted fingernails is lost on me. I don't find the practice attractive. Dirt under a person's nails, on the other hand, can be bewitching.

Trashed

My little town recently implemented a new trash policy. I am not pleased. The need to set limits on quantities is understandable, but making paper bags mandatory for "yard waste" is not working out for me. The flimsy containers cost fifty cents each. And mine just dissolved in today's rain. Lesser citizens might reasonably consider dumping their waste on the front steps of city hall.

A Swinging Place For Swinging People

I don't believe I've ever posted a non-original image at Happy In Bag. When my friend Rick sent me this treasure earlier today, however, I knew I had to break form. As I once noted at Plastic Sax, my Kansas City jazz blog, Milton's was the first adult bar to serve me. (The near-beer joints in Kansas don't really count.) I was sixteen when I first slouched into the jazz tavern. It provided me with quite an education. Fellow jazz blogger KCJazzLark recently remembered the legendary Milton Morris.

I Hear a Symphony

I'm beginning to regret mocking a model of the Kauffman Center For the Performing Arts a couple years ago. The future home of the Kansas City Symphony quickens my pulse each time I spot it. This view from Kansas reveals how the structure has already altered the city's skyline. Here's a webcam of the construction site.