Technology & Pop Culture

Creepy Showbiz Pizza Robots Premiered At Antioch Mall?!

Posted by Bradley under Kansas City, Personal

Apparently Antioch Mall was the home of the very first Showbiz Pizza in 1980.

My inner child just cried.

Like the time I looked up Mitzi Mozzerela’s skirt and was horrified at the vagina-less pneumatics that were there.  Ahhh, memories.

Anyway, I only mention all of this because those creepy singing robots (AKA the Rock-afire Explosion) have been known to sing other, not-so-kid-friendly songs.

Electric Feel - MGMT, Conquest - White Stripes, 4 Minutes - Madonna, Love In This Club - Usher

I stumbled upon the Antioch Mall connection while doing some background research.  And if you have some cash to spare the original creator of the bots will program any almost any song you like.

http://starsof.com/fans/

Enjoy a trip down memory lane courtesy of some very devoted people.

http://www.showbizpizza.com/rae/index.html

[Thanks Tony!]

Tags: 1980, Antioch Mall, Kansas City, Mitzi Mozzerela, Robots, Rock-afire Explosion, Showbiz Pizza

Anthony Bourdain Dishes To Kansas City

Posted by Bradley under Food, Kansas City, Personal

Anthony Bourdain is a chef, world traveler and lover of all food that is weird.  His show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations which airs on the Travel Channel is now in its fifth season.

All that background aside… he’s coming to Kansas City to give a presentation entitled “A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Conditions” at the Midland Theatre on September 16.

With a private reception with Anthony at the Bristol in the Power & Light District to follow precede happen sometime.

http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Invitation.aspx?e=e396410c-7fff-42e8-aa96-b76fcc916d35

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Anthony_Bourdain

Tags: Anthony Bourdain, Bristol, Kansas City, Midland Theatre, Power & Light District

Mayor Releases Light Rail Plan, Favors Northland

Posted by Bradley under News, Personal

Thoughts?

http://www.kcmo.org/mayor/transit.pdf

Tags: Funkhouser, Kansas City, Light Rail, Mayor

Kansas City Named 22nd Most Wired City in America

Posted by Bradley under Technology

Forbes.com ranked Kansas City #22 on their list of America’s Most Wired Cities. Which surprises me. A lot of Internet traffic moves beneath our streets as we are a major point-of-presence for many of the Tier 1, backbone Internet tubes. Maybe they should factor that into their equation next year.
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/09/wired-cities-wifi-tech-wireless-cx_ew_0110wired.html

Tags: Forbes, Internet, Kansas City, Most Wired

Letter to the Mayor

Posted by Bradley under Personal

Hi Gloria and Mark! Yesterday was a great day for our great city! The opening of the Sprint Center is the catalyst our hometown needed to launch us into the next chapter of our greatness. I so very much loved walking around the new facility with a smile on my face and a sense of fullness in my heart. These are exciting times for Kansas City. As much as our roads are a reflection of how much we care about our city the little details in and around the Sprint Center are also a reflection of our commitment to the new arena. With this in mind I must insist that you do the following three things.

1. Fix the round LED video displays outside the Sprint Center. Our city loves art, we live and breed it. Please! Please, make sure the LED displays in the art installation are always working without dead pixels or corrupted pixels. This is embarrassing and makes us look like we don’t care about maintaining our technological infrastructure. The LED displays should be monitored daily for dead pixels and fixed as soon as any are noticed.
2. Implement consistent, standardized, unified Parking signage around the Sprint Center. Develop an icon that has immediate recognition that the lot is available for parking for events at the Sprint Center. Place this icon high on a pole at the corners of the parking lots or high on the concrete of existing multi-level parking structures. Include the cost of regular parking and event parking prices immediately under the logo. Don’t over complicate the icon. Simple is better. I need to know what lots are available, with just a glance, for parking. Ever been to Boston? Emulate their parking icon and signage surrounding the TD Banknorth arena. (I had never been to Boston and was able to find parking for a Madonna concert within a few glances driving near the arena.) I have lived in Kansas City all my life and it took me about 8 minutes to locate parking for the Sprint Center.
3. In addition to the new parking sinage and icons there needs to be signs with directional arrows every block, within a five block radius, that direct people where said parking lots are for the Sprint Center. These signs should include the new parking icon with an estimate of the number of feet or blocks to the nearest parking option. These signs should also direct people where the Sprint Center is in relation to the sign. Our downtown is very tight and confusing even to me, let alone people coming from other cities.

As a 26 year old man I have a unique, useful demographic perspective for improving our hometown. We, as the youth, are the new Kansas City. Let’s stop relying on ideas from people in suits sitting behind desks and develop a task-force of 18-30 year olds. We are passionate and motivated.

Mark, I am very proud to have voted for you as mayor of Kansas City. Everything you have done since you took office has been noticeable, and effective. You are a great face for a great town. Now is the time for Kansas City to really show the rest of the nation that we get it. And that we are ready for our new chapter. We have reached our tipping point and we shouldn’t look back.

-Bradley

Tags: Kansas City, Letter, Mayor