Cast No Shadow

We still can't seem to find a great non-chain steak house in KC. A travesty, right? Well the in dependant Nielsen group met up and ate at Phillips Chop House the other night. And let me tell you, I don't think anyone was very impressed. First off, my whiskey sour was made with a pre -made mixer I could've bought in the grocery (unlike McCormick & Schmick , which was handmade). All the sides were great, including my scallops on the side. However, a medium-well filet of beef should be slightly pink in the middle, but what I received was Well Done, as well as everyone elses , except for the guy who ordered Medium (which looked Medium Rare). The flavor was much better than Plaza III, but Houston's has so far been the best steak in KC so far. Down the road, between uptown and the Plaza, in the Crossroads District is a little place my dad turned us onto, Town Topic. HOLY COW. Best burgers I've had. They're a larger tastier meatier version of a White Kastle or ...

What Would Jesus Do? Probably not join a militant group in India and kill a Hindu religious leader, sparking even more violence . Isn't that against one of the Commandments? If you have problems with a great classic rock song, instead of changing the lyrics to make them family-friendly, just choose a different song! Instead of "I'm gonna give you every inch of my love" Leona Lewis sang "..every bit of my love" and altogether dropped "Shake for me, girl, I wanna be your backdoor man" at the Olympics closing ceremony . And Jimmy Page was a part of it! I'm sorry but the Zep is such a sellout now...first Cadillac commercials and now this. I might understand a paycheck for some music over a commercial, but to completely change lyrics to a great song just for a buck? What happened to rock 'n roll? And to appease the Chinese? "I always believed in the music we did and that's why it was uncompromising." Jimmy Page I'm...

If you're going to try to be a funny politician, at least be original. Last night on Jay Leno, McCain quipped that he was so old (how old is he?) that “My social security number is 8.” That was an obvious rip-off of the Simpsons episode (The Mansion Family Season 11, episode 12) when Mr Burns is filling out a medical form: "Let's see, social security number … naught, naught, naught … naught, naught, naught, two … Damn Roosevelt!"

Can you believe that after NPR ran this story about women's beach volleyball at the Olympics, some way-too-conservative people took offense at Holly McPeak's (3 Olympic showings with 1 bronze medal) comment that "It really is the most functional uniform for beach volleyball."??? Get a life! It's beach volleyball! What do you want them to wear? Apparently, 1 listener wanted them in one-pieces, an option they do have. Sheesh. Nevermind the men wear swim trunks. Nevermind men swimmers are shirtless. Nevermind women's gymnastics uniforms leave little to the imagination.

In my opinion, the bipartisan election process is a disgrace to democracy. There are only 2 voices...you might as well flip a coin. Some would say that to vote Independent is to throw away your vote. Well, I'm going to stick it to the man in 08 and vote Independent for Ralph Nader. Yup, he's running again, but I'm sick of elections where I feel like I have to vote for the lesser of 2 evils. If enough people refused to buy into the Republican/Democrat way of running the election (have you seen any debates? or read/watched current media?), then maybe some actual issues would be addressed instead of repetitive rhetoric. I think Nader has some great views on certain current issues, and on ones I disagree with, at least he has a clearly stated position. Some guys won't give you a straight answer. He stands for: Full medicare for all Living wage Cutting the bloated military budget (contract fraud) Taxpayer subsidies to big corporations Bailouts to crooked Wall Street f...

I just finished rereading Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and our great 40th Anniversary Hardback Edition at that, with included author's sketches. I remember I had a hard time getting through it the first time, but either time or rereading made the 2nd time much more comprehensible. I didn't get as lost being in the Chief's head as I did the first go round. I still compared it alot to the movie, which I really enjoy, but still prefer the book and the minor variances in scenes like the fishing expedition and the very end encounter with Nurse Ratched. If you didn't make it to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art the last few months, you missed a great exhibition by Chakaia Booker entitled Rubber Made, consisting entirely of used auto and bike tires. The textures she creates is simply amazing, some pieces looking like they were constructed of feathers, and others were melted, fusing the rubber together and lending more shape to birds and candles...

I found this at Stuff on Brookside : What Would Jesus Do? Probably not open fire with a shotgun during a children's performance. From the police affidavit of the Unitarian Church shooter : Adkisson "stated that he had targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of the major media outlets," investigator Steve Still wrote. What Would Jesus Do? Probably take Rick Warren's stance on the upcoming election in a recent interview with Melissa Block on NPR : "You have a right to promote whatever view you hold, and you have a right to try to convince me that I ought to change my mind....I think one of the things I've tried to do with evangelicals is to get them to not deny their pre-existing agenda but to e...

It was just as well that the Flobots had to reschedule their performance at the Power and Light District last night, because I don't think I could've handled standing on my feet for a few hours. Laura Anne got up early, so naturally I followed suit half an hour later. And by early, I mean I got up at like 545am and started on a big day of paperwork at 630am. I am down to 13 Write Ups, but did survey today, adding 2 more (including one double). I worked for several hours, then we had to go run some errands to Wal Mart and Kinko's, then fixed 2 resurveys, and finally ended up at the worst addressed apartment complex I have ever seen in my 6 years. The entire complex had to be walked, every vestibule checked, with several building types and each vestibule with its own individual street address. To top it off, the unhelpful building manager called the cops on us, but it was easy to explain to them what we were doing and who we were with, so they left us alone. I did get three p...

Dennis and Debra (Dana's parents) came up to KC for a little getaway this week, so we've been hanging out with them. First up was a dinner at Houston's down on the Plaza. No lie, I had the biggest pork chop of my life there--at least 3.5" thick! They bake it for a while first, then grill it! Wow. And my Boulevard Wheat went perfectly with it. Laura branched out and got the maui rib eye, but I think both her and I are too accustomed to the filet's tenderness to really enjoy another cut 100%. I had the couscous for a side--first time I had tried it. It was...different, but I ate it all. It was served cold, something I was not expecting, but the fresh mint & tomato really made it work. After work yesterday, we met up with Dana's family again at Vinino's down at the Power and Light District for some great Italian. Laura and I split the manicotti, which was tasty, but Debra's tortellini was a little better. Dana's calzone looked OK, but...