A Night Out

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Organically grown grapes? Do they make a better wine? I talked it over a little bit with the friendly clerk at Trader Joe’s and decided why not try it? It’s a clean, crisp — as they say — a 2010 white table wine called Dynamic from Lake County in California.

A glass on the front porch is what I have in mind. Just before leaving to go to Knuckleheads, a saloon on the right side of the railroad tracks close to the river. The bill is Tom Russell,  a folksy song and story-teller man.

There really isn’t much better than to get the chance to sit and listen to live music in a funky bar with a bunch of people who have the same taste in music as you do.

Isn’t October great?

Location, Location

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Put your name on a waiting list and you never know what will  happen. But that’s  how I ended up in a box seat on opening night for Turandot, the Lyric Opera’s first performance, at the new Kauffman performing arts center in Kansas City

I was greeted by a server holding a tray of champagne — and guided into a door that opened to a spacious area with 4 chairs angled toward an enclosed balcony overlooking the orchestra.

I settled in close to the railing so that I could put my champagne glass on the ledge. I looked to the left. Close enough to talk to were theatre-goers in rows just outside my box seat.  I caught people looking over to where I sat and  imagined them wondering how much my seat had cost.

Here Turandot (Lise Lindstrom) gazes up to check out my box seat.

I casually sipped my champagne as if I did not know that ushers had insisted that the others  leave their unfinished drinks in the lobby bar.  The server brought in a menu announcing an order of seasoned nuts, fresh fruit and a modest cheese tray for two could be delivered immediately for 45.00. I waved her away, saying that I had already had dinner.

The lights dimmed. I took off my shoes and pulled back in the chair. The opera? Oh, it was amazing. But not nearly as good as my box seat.

Walter and the Oven Season

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Walter, a friendly clerk at the Sear’s Scratch and Dent Appliance Store down in the East Bottoms, announced that it is the beginning of Oven Season.  document_recipe_2659_SFS_SlowCookerStew_CC_article

“From here on out,” he says, “people start dreaming of what they can bake, roast, broil, saute, boil and lightly sear. They’ll squint at their old stoves and mentally switch them out for sleeker, bigger, more robust models. I’ll see ‘em coming in,  all the way through December.”

He nods toward a bunch refrigerators.

“Those sales slump after summer. Nobody’s thinkin’ about guh spah choh,” he drawls,
“ it’s all about beef stew.”

Sometimes you just have to listen to learn.

Inside Out

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TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out in 1984 as a meeting of the minds of like-minded people interested in big ideas. Speakers have 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most engaging ways possible. Surprisingly, people were willing to pay what was then $4400 to attend and hob nob with others also willing to pay to play.

The TED Prize was introduced  in 2005.  It is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and much more important, One Wish to Change the World. The 2011 award went to JR, a self-styled artivist from France. 

I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world…INSIDE OUT.

JR has turned number of places in the world inside-out with his black and white portrait projects such as Women are Heroes. It features the faces of resilient women who live in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum; the portraits are super-sized and cut in two. The bottom half of their faces are glued to rooftops on a hillside; the top half of the portraits shows their eyes pasted onto train cars. Every time the train passes, for a few seconds, the faces are complete.

Israelis and Palestinians are together in his Face 2 Face project; JR wall-papered both sides of security fences/barriers with portraits in 8 different cities.

Want to be a part of the art? Join the Inside-Out Project. Take a black and white photo or series of photos. Send it in to be made into a poster, when it is returned decide where you want it to hang. Open to individuals and groups world-wide. As JR would say, It’s a way to stand up for what you care about. 

Brownbackistan

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Brownbackistan logoI am not in the great-state-of-Kansas anymore, I’m in the not-so-great-a-state-of-Brownbackistan.

Sam Brownback was elected governor in 2010 and it’s been a downhill ride ever since. Before he even unpacked his desk accessories, he started slashing government spending with a huge machete.

The Kansas Arts Commission (KAC) was a target. He dissolved the commission and left the staff seeking greener pastures.

The Kansas Senate said, “Just a minute, buster.” And they appropriated money for KAC to continue. But before the budget was approved, Brownback used his line-item veto to erase the $689,000 designated for KAC, effectively making Kansas ineligible for matching federal dollars and giving Kansas the distinction of being the only state without an arts commission.

Personally, I find it very interesting that Sam Brownback was the only governor to attend Governor Rick Perry’s prayer event this past August. I really doubt that all of the other invitations got lost in the mail.

(Buy a  t-shirt from Welcome to Brownbackistan on facebook; the artist, Emily Eakes, is donating $2.00 from each sale to the arts.)

Java Jolt

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Are you a little melancholy about summer’s end? Maybe all those projects you earmarked for summer didn’t quite get wrapped up? What you need is a coffee break. Here is a recipe to cheer you up and give you energy to make a brand new list.

Cold-Brewed Ice Coffeeiced coffee
Makes: Two drinks or enough for you to have more.

1/3 cup ground coffee (medium-coarse) Milk (if you want)

In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass filled with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste. If you want, add milk.

There is a big taste difference between left-over coffee and this cold-brewed concentrate. Make up some and  keep in the refrigerator for your next drop-in guests. They will think they died and ended up in Starbuck Heaven.

Seen on Smitten Kitchen from The New York Times

Cruising

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owls of the nileI am trying to work my way down Time’s Best Blogs for 2011. But I didn’t get very far once I hit Cool Hunting. It’s a mash-up of what’s up and coming in design, technology, arts, culture, food and style – in short something for everyone.

In just a manner of minutes, I learned about chocolate bars with potato chips in them, scoped out some work boots and found a place to get great wall-art. This is Owls of the Nile by Rachel Caldwell.

Not to mention that I felt like a hipster for the rest of the day.