May 20
Dare to: Take a break from hygiene
By Day 2 of your trip to the lake, the veneer of sweat, dead skin, lake water detritus and dried ketchup (blood?) serves as a perfectly functional and ‘natural’ sunscreen.
May 20
Dare to: Camp out at the zoo
‘JUG-O-RUM! JUG-O-RUM!’ We pointed a flashlight at the noise. Staring back were dozens of dinner-plate-sized bullfrogs, dating and mating.
May 20
Dare to: Savor a cool, exotic flavor
When I go out for a scoop, I’m not resting on plain vanilla. I want something new. Don’t you?
May 20
Dare to: Take your kids to see One Direction
The sound of several thousand preteen and teenage girls screaming is a different punishment. It’s one note. And it’s everywhere.
May 20
Dare to: Expand your horizons
Be willing to scrap your original idea when the landscape catches fire. That’s what happened to us one afternoon.
May 20
Dare to: Ride a roller coaster
I know it’s real when the seat belt buckles and the lap bar comes down. I’m locked in a four-passenger car set on a track spanning 1,345 feet. There’s no turning back, but my back is turned. I chose the seat that doesn’t look the five-story ascension in the face. But I can hear the rickety sound of the climb, and my fingers curl tighter and tighter around the safety bar until my nails dig into my palms. The pain reminds me that this is not a nightmare. It’s happening.
May 20
Dare to: Get a bird’s-eye view
Spending time on top of the Liberty Memorial might not seem particularly daring. My fear had more to do with getting from Point A (the ground) to Point B (217 feet up).
May 20
Dare to: Sample Shakespeare and Fringe Fest
I’ve seen R-rated sex farces, a solo re-enactment of ‘The Seven Samurai,’ a musical about growing up in Kansas, clown shows, and stunt shows consisting of nothing but sword fights.
May 20
Dare to: Go to every Royals home game
Watching baseball for a living is a pretty sweet deal — until you realize you can’t stop. Want to catch a movie tonight? Forget it; you’ll be at the ballpark.
May 20
Dare to: Climb a tree
They use ropes and comfy safety harnesses, and teach climbers safety calls to alert those below of falling objects. (If you hear ‘Headache!’ don’t look up.)
May 20
Dare to: Take a tot to Legoland
At Legoland, Harrison bounced from case to case, approaching delirium. “It’s a racetrack! It’s a T. rex! It’s a train! It’s a castle!”
May 20
Dare to: Hit a fastball
The ball whizzed past me into the padded backstop. “Oh-kay,” I said, squinting. “I ... sort of saw that.”
May 20
Dare to: Ride a new (upside-down!) wooden coaster
The sounds of cracking whips and stampeding horses launched us click-clacking up the first hill. That’s when the panic set in.
May 20
Dare to | Rent a B-cycle
I notice people smiling at me. It’s that genial Kansas City smile, so I can’t tell if they’re thinking ‘how charming’ or ‘dork.’
May 19
KC firm T2 Studios puts digital graphics in high gear for events
In the last few years, the Kansas City-based video production firm T2 Studios and its so-called Experience Lab have gained a growing reputation for creating what are called immersion experiences. In a world of way-too-much stuff passing before our eyes, what all these flashy sights are about is an elevated form of marketing.
May 18
KC Symphony, conductor and pianist Asher Fisch overcome early missteps
Parts of Friday’s performance of the Kansas City Symphony, led by conductor and pianist Asher Fisch, were plagued by a variety of issues with balance, blend and synchronization. Despite the flaws, the orchestra was able to capture the music's inherent beauty.
May 16
‘The Guns at Last Light’ completes Rick Atkinson’s long-in-the-making history of WWII
“The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945” is the third volume of Rick Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy, which details the triumph of the Allied powers in Europe and North Africa. He began researching the project in 1999. But, arguably, he began working that story 18 years before that, during a three-hour drive through southeastern Kansas.
May 16
‘An innate taste for art’ defined collector and dealer Byron Cohen
The local art world will remember Byron Cohen, who died May 10 at the age of 72, as a dealer who loved his work and was also good at it. Cohen was an avid art collector before retiring from real estate development to become a dealer.
May 18
Washington Ballet’s ‘The Sun Also Rises’ doesn’t quite succeed
The very idea of a ballet adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises” ought to invite snickers. Yet there was no derision in evidence when the Washington Ballet gave the world premiere of Septime Webre’s two-act staging at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater.
May 19
No weak link in Cantus ensemble’s lineup
The Harriman-Jewell Series presented an eclectic performance Thursday by Cantus, a nine-voice, Minneapolis-based men’s vocal chamber ensemble. “On the Shoulders of Giants” was a polished and rewarding program to hear. The really outstanding voice of the nine belongs to tenor Paul Rudoi, but there’s no weak link in the group.
