So the big stink in KC these days is whether or not Hooters might be trying to buy the Westport Flea Market, one of the coolest dive bars in town. It’s a combination bar/restaurant/flea market. The only such combo I know of anywhere, and certainly some of the best burgers on Earth.

While I’m all for Hooters, I sure don’t want to lose this local institution. And Westport already has too many chains as it is. One of our most unique and historic neighborhoods has been overrun by Starbucks, Chili’s, Sonic, Blockbuster, etc. over the last ten years. It’s beginning to look too much like the suburbs, but with bums. While everyone generally coexists fairly well, the steady chaining of America is causing a death by a thousands cuts to Westport.

At first I was hopefully Hooters might consider the old Johnny Dare’s spot, since it’s ready made for such an establishment, but the news is saying that someone else has already bought that space. So, I say send Hooters to Downtown. It would be a perfect fit in the Power & Light District that is currently under construction. That new party district will already have the usual suspects like Hard Rock, Virgin, ESPN, etc., so Hooters would fit in perfectly. Plus, it’s convenient for the businessmen attending conventions Downtown and near the Penthouse Club that’s rumored to be taking over the Temptations strip club.

Folks, this is America. We should be able to have boobs and burgers.

A lot of people joke about dogs and cats ending up on the plate at Asian restaurants. Gone Mild notices some actual evidence of this in KC’s Old Northeast, a part of town with lots Southeast Asian immigrants and restaurants. Whoa.

It looks like there might a possible radio switch that would bring Air America Radio the KC airwaves. For those so inclined, there is a petition to support this possibility.

Is anyone else secretly hoping for someone with a cameraphone to find Baby Blunt in a booth at Erotic City with his pants around his ankles getting serviced by a trucker? Or instead of a trucker maybe State Senator Matt Bartle? It surely wouldn’t be the first gay sex scandal involving a religous extremist politician…

Last night I hooked up with Mom and the grandparents for a fun game of bingo, was turned out be a great way to decompress after a battle with the nasty rush hour traffic on I-70 out to Higginsville. There was something very soothing about the monotone voice of the caller and the low hum of the bingo machine. My $63 jackpot also helped. And you can’t go wrong with a place that still has ashtrays above the urinals.

“About a year ago I hired a developer in India to do my job. I pay him $12,000 out of the $67,000 I get. He’s happy to have the work. I’m happy that I have to work only 90 minutes a day just supervising the code. My employer thinks I’m telecommuting. Now I’m considering getting a second job and doing the same thing.”

from The Times of India

I recently saw something I couldn’t have dreamed up on my own… A Pentecostal beach volleyball singles mixer. Driving by the sand volleyball court in Roanoke Park, I noticed a group of 20-somethings enjoying a spirited game. Upon closer inspection I realized that all the women were wearing long skirts, long-sleeve shirts, and had their hair pulled up under bonnets. Likewise, the guys were all wearing trousers and long-sleeve shirts.

I can’t say for sure, but they looked like Pentecostals to me. I tried to write something about the sweetness of young evangelicals enjoying a chaste version of an over-sexualized professional sport, but the blog mojo failed me.

Dear Lady Behind Us at the Cake/Weezer Concert,

Were you really surprised to find that people at a concert would want to stand up? Did you really expect to sit in your seat all night with an unobstructed view of the stage? Apparently so, considering your exasperated pleas for people to sit down. Maybe this was your first concert, but judging from your apparent age I doubt that. Perhaps you might be more comfortable at Barry Manilow or Celine Dion concert where the audience’s enthusiasm is more likely expressed through some vigorous, yet seated, toe tapping.

Your Pal,

Eric

P.S. If anyone at Sandstone Verizon Wireless Amphitheater is reading this, your venue sucks. Your prices are outrageous, you have inadequate ingress/egress, your parking lot dudes are useless, your video screens are worthless, and your location is so far away you might as well call yourself the Topeka Amphitheater.

Just hours after this morning’s awful terrorist attacks on the London Underground subways, info is pouring out onto the blogs (Londonist, Metroblogging, London Bloggers, Technorati) and regular folk are posting some amazing photos on Flickr.

This is probably the biggest disaster since the recent popularity of camera phones and moblogging, and it’s very intersting to read and see all of the first-hand stories that aren’t in the headlines. One thing that caused me to scratch my head at first is the number of the screenshots of the television and news web sites. Maybe it’s a digital equivalent of the old practice of saving the Extra! Extra! edition of the newspaper?

Some freaks are already designing ribbons before the corpses are cold!