October 24, 2006
Location, location, location. ![][1]There is a church in North KC which promotes the belief that the illuminati and the Masons' still-immense power threatens, if it hasn't already overtaken, our democratic society. Mmmaybe. But in that case, it's doubtful the Masonic Center would have moved from its' massive fortress on 10th and Mass to occupy a "suite" in a strip mall on 23rd. And your kid's soccer coach wouldn't be a member. Calling Anne Rice ![][2]Wedding Dress." Oooh, Lord. What garden and what wedding? Duuude. ![][3]Vanity Plates are for high school girls. This only works for "Princess" or "Bitch" in her Neon. Psych! ![][4]I see: no logical reason this made enough money to stay open on 8th. Then move to Mass. Run! ![][5]Quickly. Lest ye be grind-ed to death. [1]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/blogs/fleming/mason.jpg [2]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/blogs/fleming/dress.jpg [3]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/blogs/fleming/license.jpg [4]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/blogs/fleming/psychic.jpg [5]: http://media.lawrence.com/img/blogs/fleming/brothers.jpg
Comments
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agrabass (anonymous) says...
...the wedding dress...i actually know someone who purchased AND wore a dress for thier most recent nuptual exchange from this little boutique. Scary, anyway i was not invited to the "celebration", but did see photos & it was as hideous as the window display. The relationship followed suit & ended. I can't believe the groom didn't see it coming as she walked down the aisle dressed in circa "damn ugly"!
October 24, 2006 at 1:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
I know someone else who bought a reasonably more tasteful dress for her wedding there. . . damn aplique lace and pearls started popping off halfway down the aisle and the hem fell during the first dance at the reception.
October 24, 2006 at 3:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chewyfally (Falestine Afani Ruzik) says...
I actually went into that damned store to see if I could find a dress for my wedding (a very small ceremony), and when I expressed interest in one of the dresses, I was kindly told that I "could not afford that" by the woman working there and was told not to touch it.
That's okay, all those dresses are butt-ugly anyway.
October 24, 2006 at 8:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
beatle919 (Marcy McGuffie) says...
chewfally: WTF? That's terrible. I like to think that kind of snobbery doesn't exist around these parts. Their loss. Based on what I've seen, they can't really afford to lose any customers.
October 24, 2006 at 8:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
agrabass (anonymous) says...
Based on what I've seen, they can't really afford to lose any customers.
Absolutely...i've gone in thier once & just looking at the fashion makes me itch...god forbid if i actually touched it, which has been confirmed by chewfally.
As for the psychic that moved, i'm not sure how they are making it. I work a few doors down from thier Mass location, & have seen people in there twice since the sign went up. And one group WAS the sign installers.
I'll go see John @ the Sacred Sword on Saturday afternoons. He has never let me down!
October 24, 2006 at 8:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
godjilla (Jill Ensley) says...
THANK you.
My friend and I have been documenting (read: I took one photo) the NEVER-changing window of Calamity Jane's. It's been, what, at least two years.
We finally got up the courage to go in there last year and my friend has never been the same.
October 25, 2006 at 12:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chrisgladfelter (anonymous) says...
I rather enjoy the Stevie Nicks twins at Calamity Janes. They make me think of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and other happy thoughts.
Does anyone know what's going to happen to the former Masonic Temple? I hear it's absolutely huge on the inside, with a giant banquet hall and ballroom. Hmmm, more pricey condos, perhaps.
October 25, 2006 at 1:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dolores2175 (April Fleming) says...
Some dude told me that he was opening a nightclub in the basement with a cafe on the first floor and some sort of clothing store on the upper level. Buuut, since the First Management sign is still out there, it doesn't look like that has panned out for him.
Jilla, I don't remember that window dressing having changed once in my nearly 7 years in town.
October 25, 2006 at 9:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
feeble (anonymous) says...
I ran into some guy years ago who said something similar about the temple, convert the stage/auditorium area into some small theater / music venue, and put a pool hall in the basement.
I imagine that the city commissioners aren't keen on having another establishment with a liquor license on that corner, not to mention this town is kind of saturated when it comes to bars/clubs/music venues, so I always thought the idea as a bit of a pipedream.
I imagine First Management will hold onto the land until they can lock in some out of town business or developer and then refurbish the building, similar to what went on with the building across from the Replay (used to be some call center, now is a Qdoba and T-mobile store.)
October 25, 2006 at 9:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Fritz (anonymous) says...
The window displays at Calamity Janes are going on at least 15 years, and possibly as far back as 19...I think I remember seeing them in the fall of '87 when I got to town. In all that time I haven't met a single person who has bought something there (unlike the hundreds I knew who bought clothes and trinkets at the much missed Natural Way.)
My wife and I went in on a whim when we were dating about 12 years ago, and were treated very rudely, and when I started to get my dander up and say something, my wife practically tore my arm out of it's socket tugging at it and saying "let's just go. C'mon, c'mon." Outside, I asked why she wouldn't let me unleash a fabulous bon mot, and she told me that she had heard rumors that the owner was a real witch, and she didn't want her putting some weird mojo on us. I figured it was the best explanation yet for how she had managed to pay rent on a store that no one bought anything from. Black Magic.
October 25, 2006 at 12:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
feeble (anonymous) says...
Or you can just sell your art work on ebay for seven digits.
October 25, 2006 at 12:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Carmenilla (anonymous) says...
Calamity Jane's is not run by a "witch" although her delusional mind might entertain that notion. No folks, she is yer run-of-the-mill nutjob with money to spare. I would say lithium is probably in order for that Stevie Nick's wannabe. She is not only rude but her taste in "fashion" proves she needs her meds! I went in there a few times in the mid-90's only to be told she had nothing that would fit me (I'm a size 16-so is she...). She also told me I couldn't afford anything there. How can she maintain that shop? I tnink her clientele only exists in her mind.....
October 25, 2006 at 2:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
agrabass (anonymous) says...
geez & I thought I was special...I guess she hates everyone!!!
October 25, 2006 at 11:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
Okay, so now I've gotta go there. This sounds so weird. What would make someone run people out of their store?? Do you think you were discriminated by something (I often hear people are judged by their shoes in places like that. Sounds crazy huh?)? I just gotta see this place.
October 26, 2006 at 10:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
godjilla (Jill Ensley) says...
Keep an eye out for the random taxidermied animals, bad art, and copious amount of doilies. I think it was the dead fox(?) that did my friend in.
Oh, and there AREN'T enough bars in this town....at least none that I really feel drawn to. The Pig is about as close as it gets, now that The Jayhawker has been torn from my clutches...yes, still bitter.
We need a dark, comfy, local watering hole with no TVs, not overrun by kids and townies, with lambic on tap....I don't ask for much.
October 26, 2006 at 11:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jochan (Jocelyn Craft) says...
On Calamity Jane's: The first word in the name says it all. I was not treated rudely, but basely ignored, completely, for about 10 minutes. I too was looking there for a wedding dress, on the basis that I had to look everywhere, just in case. In retrospect, I'm not surprised I didn't find anything there.
Jill: I could so use a bar like that. Just like that. If they had a decent cider on tap instead of lambic, well, I could live with that.
Fritz: Never had enough money to buy at Natural Way, but I miss it just the same.
October 26, 2006 at 2:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ladylaw (Terry Bush) says...
You know, I have never been treated badly in CJ's. Sometimes ignored, but that's a good thing as compared to being hovered over or rudely accosted. The only time I got really negative vibes was when I took someone in who has a dark complexion. Then my habit of touching clothing was commented upon.... Hmmmmm. And I know that the wedding dress in question did have to be re-sewn in order to hold up on the big day. That could have been due to the stress is was being put under - the bride defied custom and put ON weight after the dress was purchased - or to problems in the initial work up. But I almost always get good customer service, wherever I go.... perhaps due to my tendency to SMILE at almost everyone (and the fact I sometimes dress a bit like Stevie Nicks) ....
October 26, 2006 at 2:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
No, ladylaw, it's your tendency to be a well-dressed, well-groomed, professional-looking forty-something white woman wearing tasteful jewelry and tailored clothes..
Smiling gets you *nowhere* in that establishment. I've gone in and flashed my killer grin, started looking at the dresses (God help me, I've wanted to dress like Stevie Nicks since I was five, and you know what? I could pull that shit off and make it look *good*), and been physically steered toward "the bin we keep for people like you" (I guess meaning people who don't have three grand to blow on an old lady's hobby) and was presented with a pickle barrel full of badly-made broomstick skirts priced at 50 bucks a pop.
Once the Synthroid has slimmed me down, I'm going to put on the Gucci suit I traded this bitch in rebab three joints and a Xanax for, my "normal people" human-hair wig, and then go in there and systematically start acting more and more like a drunk Paris Hilton. And I want somebody to get it all on tape.
October 26, 2006 at 5:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheEleventhStephanie (anonymous) says...
Misty, while I cannot condone anyone wearing the hideous clothing they sell at Clamity Jane's, I'll be there with my swarthy spouse and video camera.
Speaking of....Until this morning, I had no idea that Nicole Ritchie is black. She's the daughter of Lionel Ritchie? Do I live under a rock?
October 27, 2006 at 11:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Yeah, I didn't know that for a long time, either, but it makes sense that Paris Hilton would want to be known as, you know, tolerant and stuff, because like, her *best friend* is black! Hello!
October 27, 2006 at 1:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Fritz (anonymous) says...
Lionel Ritchie is Nicole's stepfather, not her biological father. She is as lily white as Paris Hilton.
Since I have admitted in public to knowing that information, I must now commit ritual suicide.
October 27, 2006 at 2:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Dazie (Aileen Dingus) says...
I've had the pipe dream of buying the Masonic place and opening a true jazz club. Stage, maybe some recording space, dark curtains and a dance floor... ahhh...
Maybe one of those great big shell bandshell backdrops too.
Somewhere people could dress up to go to but not break the bank.
October 27, 2006 at 4:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Jester (Nick Spacek) says...
Misty: I have a video camera, free time, and a decided tendency towards fucking with... well, people in general, really.
October 27, 2006 at 5:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
just_ducky (Claire Williams) says...
I also have been physically steered to the "bargain" bin containing 50-dollar skirts with poorly-done batik on them. I can understand the shop-owner's resistance to every customer rubbing grubby hands over the burn-out velvet work (would gum up the fabric pretty easily), but rudeness does not equal profit.
Oh and Fritz, be sure your Katana is sharp. Seppuku is not as fun when you gotta work at it.
October 27, 2006 at 6:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Yeah, a properly sharpened folded-steel katana will practically pull itself through your entrails.
October 28, 2006 at 9:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Carmenilla (anonymous) says...
Nicole Ritchie is biracial. Lionel thought she would be a convincing match-up since his wife is a Barbie Stepford clone and he is a truly frightening looking dude. The only thing lily-white about Nicole may be her all-American eating disorder. Bulemia is like so '87....
October 28, 2006 at 5:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LuckyNun (Tanya Spacek) says...
Nicole Ritchie is half Mexican, real last name Escovedo. Lionel adopted her as a little girl, if I'm not mistaken. Thank god for celebrity dirt blogs.
October 29, 2006 at 3:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheEleventhStephanie (anonymous) says...
So I went to Calamity Janes yesterday, with my foul mouth fully loaded to protect myself against any calamities....and there were none. I was politely greeted by the woman who appeared to be the store owner and allowed to browse (and touch things) in peace for about 10 minutes while she attended (politely) to a black female customer. After 10 minutes, I had enough....that place is soooo not my style.
So, that's my part of the experiment. Now if someone could PLEASE explain that Christian bookstore/coffee shop to me, that'd be good.
And thanks to all who have confused me more on the Nicole Rotchie deal.
October 29, 2006 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
Steph, what's not to get about Signs of Life? I've always been treated well there, the coffee is good and the prices are average. The art gallery upstairs is kind of cool.
October 29, 2006 at 9:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheEleventhStephanie (anonymous) says...
I've actually never been there, because I *don't* get it. Is Christian coffee different than, say Muslim coffee? Must I be a Christian to enter? If I'm not a Christian, would I want to enter? I'm not much of a hanger-outer in coffee shops, so I probably won't ever go anyway. Well, I might check out the art gallery, I didn't know that was there. I just always wondered about the place. I don't think "Christian coffee shop" as I have heard it termed is very self explanatory.... I guess that's why I don't get it. Maybe I'll check it out sometime.
October 29, 2006 at 9:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheEleventhStephanie (anonymous) says...
Now who wants to sneak into the Masonic Temple with me?
October 29, 2006 at 9:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
I think that Christian coffee comes with a double shot of guilt, and a good frothy head of self-righteousness if you ask for it right.
*that was me being funny, btw*
As for the Masonic Temple, it is SO on. I haven't been arrested in half a decade; it's high time I got back on that horse.
October 29, 2006 at 5:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Dazie (Aileen Dingus) says...
I didn't even KNOW it was a "Christian" coffee house until like last week.
Shows you how much I pay attention.
However, I do have an excuse- I've not been frequenting coffee downtown lately, as I'm crushing on the head baristo (?) at Starbuck's. :)
October 29, 2006 at 8:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
leslie (Leslie vonHolten) says...
I attended a wedding reception held at the Masonic Temple--don't want to disappoint, but the coolness ends once you're through those great pillars. Inside is like a depressing VFW hall, with a sharp musty smell to boot.
Didn't want you risking arrest for such a letdown.
October 29, 2006 at 8:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
liz (Liz Weslander) says...
The gallery at Signs of Life is pretty cool with all the huge windows and natural light. The bookstore is also not that different from your average bookstore, unless you start looking really closely. Their "family and parenting" section, which included an entire display dedicated to James Dobson, was where they lost me.
October 30, 2006 at 7:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
Yeah, I think the point of Signs is to be a Christian bookstore that is accessable (I think they'd go out of business otherwise). Not all Christians are stuffy, frumpy and ready to lay a guilt trip on you, they try to convey that with their atmosphere. I think they are also doing well representing the "thinking Christian" who doesn't buy into the right wing, Republican, all-American Jesus. As far as the Dobson books, maybe they're trying to attract and enlighten the aforementioned group.... I don't know.
October 30, 2006 at 8:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheEleventhStephanie (anonymous) says...
I once heard that the Masonic Temple has tunnels leading from it that go below the street.......anyone?
October 30, 2006 at 9:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Fritz (anonymous) says...
When they first opened, I was kind of excited, because the Christian thing was under the radar, and they did such a nice job of renovating. So right after they opened, we go in, get our coffees and start browsing the books. Some art refernces, nice; some literary criticism, fine; some Ann Coulter displayed prominently, well, they have those at Borders, too, I guess; some Micheal Savage, some Rush Limbaugh, some Pat Robertson, OK, surely we'll find the left-leaning stuff soon; oh, look, an entire section on Intelligent Design. OK, we're done here.
My wife has known whoever puts on the gallery shows peripherally through local arts community connections, and the gallery does do some very nice shows, although the overarching theme is "nothing that will question or offend Christianity". Which is fine - there are a lot of voices in the arts world, and a lot of gallery spaces won't give your work a chance if it isn't confrontational. But that bookstore is ridiculous. Whoever is buying for them doesn't come from the "Jesus is love" school of thought so much as the "Jesus is a sweaty, thick-fingered county sheriff in Alabama" line of thinking.
October 30, 2006 at 10:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
Fritz, keep in mind, that was when they first opened. It was an election year and at that time the labels "Christian" and "Republican" were a pair. Most Christians I know are waking up from a hang over caused by the Repubican party. I've noticed a little less Red in there these days (Ann Coulter, REALLY?!?) and I think they are understanding their customer base a little better.
Oh, and Jesus *is* love, no matter what His "followers" are.
October 30, 2006 at 12:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Fritz (anonymous) says...
Sorry, alm77, but "Christian" and "Republican" are still doing the nasty. (But the Republicans always get to be on top.)
October 30, 2006 at 3:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
Oh, contrare (sp?)
http://www.amhersttimes.com/index.php...
Some of us don't want to have anything to do with it.
October 30, 2006 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Fritz (anonymous) says...
Interesting article. But as they say, the exception to the rule . . . proves the rule.
October 31, 2006 at 10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
alm77 (anonymous) says...
You should work toward being less cynical. You're making a gross generalization that is kind of offensive to me. I can't stand being lumped in to some idealic catagory just so that I can be easily dismissed.
October 31, 2006 at 12:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Fritz (anonymous) says...
Call the wahhhhhbulance. If you would read the entries, I wasn't calling you out. Fine - you're an individual - nobody can pin you down! But if you don't believe that the engine that is driving Republican electoral success is a still tight connection to Christian evengelicals, then you've been in a coma the last 15 years. I hope that doesn't offend you.
November 1, 2006 at 8:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )