Net Worth: Wife shares husband’s sleep-talkin’ orations in popular blog
I snore. I have for quite some time, but it didn’t become an issue until I got “married.”
‘Messenger’ filmmaker explores war’s effect on the home front
It’s been a good year in Hollywood for Israeli directors named Oren.
Hollywood Hawks: Casting directors help foster link between Kansas and entertainment industry
Maria Skeels is hungry, and she's surrounded by food. But she's not allowed to touch any of it. The Leavenworth native is one of the casting directors for the upcoming Fox series "MasterChef" ...
Net Worth: Manners often lacking on social networking hub
I’ve been known to go on tirades about the plummeting lack of manners and etiquette at movie theaters. I’ve even been on the aggressive end of sending a patron’s phone flying toward the exit after a cellular conversation went on too long during the climax of an adventure pic. So you texters beware ... But today my diatribe takes aim at my favorite social networking site.
Net Worth: Techno-heavy holidays salvaged by batch of weird books
Overwhelmed by the invasiveness of iPhones, MacBooks and Nintendo DS players favored by my family, I vowed to stop the madness.
Net Worth: Memorable Web discoveries help bolster 2009
While Americans are spending most of December obsessing over what gifts to give, journalists occupy their time mulling over what awards to bestow.
Net Worth: Motion pictures inspire blogs — and vice versa
Blog. It’s an ugly word. Like a cross between blemish and hog.
Holiday haiku hoopla: Readers deliver poems that celebrate the winter season
Perhaps it's the crisp winter air. Maybe it's the anticipation of Christmas or the deluge of holiday spirit. Whatever the reason, it's clear that readers can't get enough of the annual Holiday Haiku contest ...
What's the matter with Kansas?: Thomas Frank’s best-selling book is transformed into an acclaimed documentary film
Author Thomas Frank was just another buttoned-down, Ronald Reagan-loving suburbanite when he headed to college in 1983. The transition from Johnson County to Douglas County proved jarring. Within his first semester at Kansas University his ideals tilted to port. And it wasn’t politics per se that spurred the shift.
Net Worth: Web site dedicated to visits with ‘sketchy’ Santas
My daughter is asking many Santa-related questions.
Net Worth: Top searches on the top site hit rock bottom
If you were to assume LJWorld.com or Lawrence.com are my home pages, think again.
Mass distraction: University Theatre stages contemporary play scrutinizing how an over-stimulated society treats ADD
Cell phones, video games, Facebook. E-mail, TiVo, Twitter. Laptops, podcasts, earbuds. SpongeBob ... Talk about distractions. It's a wonder anybody can think straight these days...
Center of attention: New LAC director acclimates to challenging post
Susan Tate is not a painter. She’s not a sculptor or a ballet dancer or a Shakespearean actress. On Tuesday, however, Tate will be become fully immersed in the world of art when she takes over as the new executive director of the Lawrence Arts Center.
Net Worth: Failed handymen the subject of visual mockery on Web
I’m not good at fixing things. Sure, I can set up a home stereo system or program a VCR, but tasks that fall into the “handyman” realm are a continual mystery.
Transcendent deli: Filmmaker examines mystique behind family’s famed eatery
From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. Just a white and reddish-brown shack in a residential neighborhood. But for many Kansans, it’s a landmark as significant as the state Capitol or Allen Fieldhouse.
Net Worth: Accidental cult following helps remodel untidy ‘Room’
“Nobody knows anything.” That cautionary maxim attributed to screenwriter William Goldman (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”) is among the most oft repeated in Hollywood.
Net Worth: Endless supply of television tunes elicits nostalgia, confusion
When local X 92.9 FM abruptly changed its format last month from modern rock to television theme songs, only the most mentally frail believed it to be a permanent solution.
Western Union: 'Only Good Indian' explores cultural history through revisionist drama
“It’s revisionist in that it’s told from the point of view of Native Americans,” says Lawrence film director Kevin Willmott. “There’s not a white surrogate in the film to make the story ‘OK.’ I want people to experience the story from the point of view of the people it’s about. That still is a huge challenge in America” ...
Net Worth: The Monster Engine combines tots and terror
It’s no secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday.
Primal fears: The best horror films of the decade
An unexplored cave system. A quarantined apartment complex. What was that noise?
Rock 'n' roll fantasy: Chris Daughtry turns from ‘American Idol’ castoff into chart-topping rock icon
Daughtry. Although the name has yet to conjure the singular power of Hendrix or Clapton or Cobain, singer-guitarist Chris Daughtry is well on his way.
Beyond the beat: Scottish percussion icon redefines the notions of sound
During a rehearsal last week with the Lexington Philharmonic in Kentucky, Evelyn Glennie invited a group of hearing-impaired children on the stage with her.
Net Worth: Favorite album covers inspire user illusions
Few things were as revered in junior high school as one’s album collection.
Journey to the center of the ‘Earthwork’: Locally made feature film readies for national premiere
Crop circles. That is the conclusion most people unfamiliar with the film “Earthwork” jump to when writer-director Chris Ordal begins to describe the plot.
Net Worth: Revelatory music video relies on ‘crowdsourced’ contributions
Do people still watch music videos?
‘Idol’ finalist shares hopes and heartbreak
It’s been more than a year since Brooke White experienced being a weekly staple of pop culture as a fifth-place finalist on “American Idol.”
Kansas filmmaker digs into kickball league
After Chris Batte spent a few afternoons attending a friend’s kickball games in Chicago’s Humboldt Park, he decided to document the spirited action for a short film.
Net Worth: Site proves plenty of people should rethink their ink
I am proud of the fact I have no tattoos. I often think back to what would have happened if I’d gained some ink during any of the various stages of my life.
Crude to the Max: Controversial author Tucker Max turns 'inappropriate adventures' into feature film
Tucker Max has earned an über-bad boy reputation (and piles of cash) for his blogging site, which spawned a 2006 debut memoir, "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell." It sold more than a million copies. And now that book has led to his debut film of the same name.
Net Worth: Greetings get personal (and personalized) through e-cards
I had a friend who wrote greeting cards for Hallmark back in the ’80s. But that was prior to the Internet. Now, even if you’re saying the same thing, you have an opportunity to present it in entirely new ways.
Beyond the Valley: Averill family resurrects melodramas from bygone Kansas playhouse
It’s been more than a decade since Lawrence audiences spent their summer weekends cheering for heroes, jeering at villains and pounding down fried chicken dinners.
Man cave dwellers: Area residents carve out unique retreats
When Steve Jack and his wife were building a house north of Lawrence, they agreed he deserved a dedicated room of his own. “When we sat down to discuss the design, the architect actually called it the ‘rock and roll room’ on the plans,” Jack recalls. But what Jack knew was really being put forth was a “man cave.”
Net Worth: Cinematic attention spans eased by 5 Second Movies
I ran into a friend last week who had already been to see “Inglourious Basterds” three times.
Something to write home about: Get Up Kids celebrate 10-year anniversary reissue of pivotal record
No Lawrence band ever put out an album that sold more copies than The Get Up Kids.
Net Worth: Web presents opportunity to rate where one stands on things
Standing in line is among my least-favorite activities.
Rockers versus nerds: KU freshman’s video nominated for MTV award
Shane Reynolds doesn’t consider himself either a rocker or a nerd.
Net Worth: Comedic furor accompanies Führer on the Internet
Never known for his sense of humor, Adolf Hitler is suddenly all the rage in comedic circles.
Net Worth: History lessons presented while under the influence
When mining for comedy gold, there’s a debate whether premise or execution is more important.
Four decades later, memories of Woodstock still fresh
Forty years ago, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair promised “3 Days of Peace, Love, & Music.”
Net Worth: Creepy memories of yesteryear fueled by Kindertrauma
Even though I’m comfortably in my 40s, I am prone to flashbacks of pop-culture memories from my childhood that still creep me out.
Lawrence air guitarist goes home empty-handed
The US Air Guitar Championships boast “25 cities, 1 winner, 0 guitars.”
Ultimate fake look: Lawrence’s ‘Mean Melin’ to showcase imaginary fretboard skills at US Air Guitar Championships
Eric Melin knew from an early age he bore the soul of a guitarist trapped in the body of a drummer.
Net Worth: New site gives ‘crazy people’ the attention they deserve
I’ve received my share of crazy e-mails here at the paper.
New arrangement: Former Lawrence couple dedicate music career to diabetes research
It’s called “the terrible twos” for plenty of reasons.
Not so happy meal: New documentary exposes America's corporate hold on the food chain
When Americans think of the nation’s food industry, they usually conjure images of idyllic pastures filled with grazing cattle and staffed by hard-working farm folk.
Net Worth: ‘Unnecessary quotes’ among grammatical goofs mocked on Web
Most people operating in the journalism field can cite at least one grammatical blunder that ticks them off more than any other.
Net Worth: Why phone a friend when you can buy a celebrity?
If there is one thing this generation of reality TV and gossip blogging has taught us, nothing is more important than being in the presence of celebrities.
Net Worth: Family Circus tampering becomes online obsession
Back at my “old job” coddling alt-weekly journalism in Kansas City, we spent a lot of time making sport of daily newspapers.
Collage spirit: Artist Hangauer rips into pop culture iconography
Zach Hangauer has developed a reputation in Lawrence as an artist with deep ties to the music scene.
