Lil Wayne is performing at Starlight monday night, and officials at the outdoor theater say they won't let anyone near the joint without a ticket. I guess they are afraid that throngs of Castrato will show up and start singing Danke Schoen while tossing glitter at passersby. .... Say what? Lil Wayne isn't related to Wayne Newton? Oh, THAT Lil Wayne, the blunt smoking, Codeine syrup drinking, face tattooed, kinda crazy Rapper. That explains it. Now the real question, who is the meat head who booked a rap act at a theater that is better known for third rate musicals and Jim Nabors. Seriously, who did these geniuses think was going to show up for a Lil Wayne concert, Mormons?
It never ceases to amaze me that people can be so clueless. The management at Starlight plans to beef up security, hire extra cops, and check the tickets of the young, mostly black fans who might show up. They haven't come out and said as much, but the fear is a bunch of urban black kids will raise hell, hang out in the parking lot, and maybe start shooting each other for shits and grins. Now said genius will face accusations of discrimination and racism, and this time it's a good call. Starlight doesn't normally check tickets to get in the parking area, not for Wayne Newton, Jim Nabors, played out 70's love rock bands, or any of the other acts performing at that venue. So when they book a hip hop act, then start changing the way they deal with the folks coming to the show, when said act and fans are mostly black, then that is discrimination and dare I say it racism. While their fears may not be totally unfounded, that point is moot. They deserve whatever bad publicity they get, for being stupid enough to book an act then treat the concert goers differently than the milk toast crowd who normally show up in Birkenstocks to watch a third rate performance of My Fair Lady. Solution: don't book acts if you are afraid of the attendees. This story came by way of TKC.
So 17 self entitled shit heels from Prairie Village got their Plum smuggler bike shorts in a wad over traffic tickets they received for blowing a stop sign. I guess their loud voices demanding equal rights on the road didn't go unheard. Now if the Kansas City PD would grow a pair and start enforcing traffic laws violated by cyclists, there might be a little more peace and harmony between the guys in funny helmets and folks in cars. I was all set to spew a wheel barrow load of insults and one liners over the outrage by local cyclists, sadly they pissed in my Post Toasties and didn't play into my hands. I fully expected the local Bike blogs to go all defensive and start crying foul for being singled out, but they didn't. For the most part they agreed that the clowns in PV had it coming for disobeying the rules of the road. I may have to rethink my stereotypical opinions and attitudes about cyclists. Then again as long as the unkempt Critical mASSes are running amok through the city on their monthly ride, and as long as idiots keep blocking entire lanes of traffic through the major roads in this city, I guess I can keep disliking anyone in neon spandex who slows me down. I will concede that there seems to be a growing movement among cyclists to be a little considerate of the cars that outweigh them by thousands of pounds. Just don't honk at a bike rider, it's against the law.
Nadia Pflaum at the Pitch had a really good story about an especially brutal rape that occurred not far from KU medical center about 9 years ago. The victim gets my vote for the most ballsy woman , or man ever. It was a good read you can check it out here. Then she did a short follow up piece on a retired sex crime cop who tracked a few of the different rapists that preyed on Westport and midtown victims. This detective, Clarence Gibson, made the following statement during the interview; "We started followin' this guy everywhere he went. We saw him entering this house through a sliding glass door. Soon as he left, half the squad followed him, the other half knocked on [the woman's] door. She said, 'A guy just broke into my house and raped me.' So that's how they caught him."
I hope this was a misquote, but I doubt it. If a group of cops stood by while some freak broke into a womans home, raped her, then fled the scene, then every last one of them should be fired if they are still working, stripped of their pensions, and forced to reenact the basement scene in Pulp Fiction, and not in the role of Zed. I'm thinking more along the lines of Ving Rhames role as the unwilling catcher Marsellus Wallace. Seriously how wrong would it be for the cops to stand by while some creep did his dirt in order to get a case on the guy. It doesn't surprise me, I'm just shocked the old Dick admitted it.
Okay that's a wrap. Have a safe weekend.
Quick hit comments:
ReplyDelete1.I rarely go to large events any more. Too many alcohol fueled assholes for my taste. I'm all for "all law, all the time" at these venues.
2.Yes, more tickets for bikers blowing stop signs, riding on the wrong side of the road, riding on the sidewalk and not signaling. If you think it's bad here, try living in a college town. I actually cheered the snow, because it would chase all but the most diehard bikers off the road.
3. Amen and amen.
You have a great weekend, too.
I ran into a HUGE group of those bike riders as they were turning south onto Lamar off of 91st on Tuesday night, when I was heading home from the market. Assholes were unbelievable. They were all over the damned place, and I couldn't see past them to see if traffic had cleared for me to make my left turn north on Lamar. As I waited, I watched two of them break a bit from the group, and ride out in front of an SUV as it approached them from behind. Can't say I wasn't a bit sad to see the SUV swerve, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteI hate entitled fucktards, regardless of their mode of transportation. I'm glad they're getting called out on their shenanegary when it's caught happening. As far as I'm concerned, it's no different from me getting pulled over for going 37 on Lamar a couple of weeks ago. I accept my mistake and learn from it...why can't they?
People in cars are going to have to get used to it. The world is changing. More people are riding bikes. The roads are not for you only. No one ever intended for roads to be solely for the use of cars. As a cyclist, my tax dollars, the same as yours, went to the construction of these roads. I will continue to use them and continue to obey the rules of the road. I will never leave them, because that's how I get around town and make my livelihood, and none of you have the right to deny me of the use of public infrastructure. Build your own private roads and I'll stay off of them. But if there is a public road for me to use, I'll be there. If I'm going to slow, then quit crying and go around me. It's really as simple as that.
ReplyDeleteTake it easy Lance Armstrong nobody said you cant use the road. The problem occurs when a fraction of one percent of the public disrupts the other 99. whatever percent. You are wrong about the roads never being intended solely for the use of motor vehicles. Thats exactly what they were originally intended for. You also dont pay for tags or license for that bike, or fuel taxes or insurance, or personal property tax, so theres that. You have every right to ride that bike anywhere you like, just dont dick around everybody else while you do it. Seems reasonable.
ReplyDeleteMidtown Miscreant,
ReplyDeleteYou have a very good blog. But I've disagreed with your stance on cycling since I saw some comments of yours on an old Pitch story that told of cyclists getting seriously injured or killed by cars in Kansas City.
First off, you're wrong that roads are intended solely for the use of motor cycles. City and state ordinances say that the roads are also for bicycles. In fact, it's illegal to ride on sidewalks in most instances.
And while you're correct in that bicycles don't command property taxes, I pay the exact same share you do through all those taxes and fees you mentioned from my car that I rarely use. So I don't see how that gives me any less right to the road than anyone else. And even for those without cars, I don't see how the tax issue makes much of a difference. I pay taxes to the Kansas City Chiefs, even though I can't stand them and never go to Arrowhead. Same for some of the new entertainment construction. People who don't know how to read pay taxes to the library, but that's just the way it is.
Back to cycling, I agree full-heartedly with many motorists who object to cyclists who don't follow the rules of the road. It's a major pet peeve of mine. If cyclists expect to share the roads, they should expect to share the rules, as well. I'm constantly chastising people I ride with for running red lights. No argument there. But as long as you're saying it's reasonable to not dick around on the roads, can we agree that it should also be reasonable for me to ride safely on the roads and not expect drivers to swerve at me, to scream profanities at me and otherwise endanger me?
That seems reasonable to me.
I agree with you, and I dont think Ive ever made any comments to the contrary. Now I may have made some smart ass comments on the pitch or on this blog, but I would never advocate anyone endangering a cyclist. This post and my annoyance have always been directed towards the idiots who ride irresponsibly. Ive got a major stick up my ass when it comes to Critical Mass, and the cyclists who cut between cars, blow lights, and seemingly dare anyone to run over them. I think we agree here more than disagree, I just have a caustic way of saying things. I also didnt say that the roads are not currently for the use of cyclists, I said they were originally intended for motor vehicles. I think thats why we have alot of the problems we see today, the current set up isnt conducive to mixing bikes and cars. You seem like a responsible cyclist, I've got no beef with you or like minded people, just the idiots. Stay safe and keep reading, I'll be complaining about someone or another soon.
ReplyDeleteWell, I thought Wayne Newton's plastic surgery had just reached its logical extreme. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
ReplyDeleteMM, if the shoe fits... They want the money that comes along with the rap concert and are trying to head off the pass so to speak on the inherent problems that go with a bunch of young, black concert goers. If they dont want this type of shit, then they need to quit acting like shits.
ReplyDeleteBlack people even know that bad stuff happens, when too many of them get together. Chris Rock did a whole comic routine on it. Bill Cosby got death threats for saying it out loud.
I think they are just calling it as they see it. Call it racism, if you will, they are just protecting the portion of concert goers that just want to have a good time, without getting shot.