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story by Glenn Stewart, photo from the Volker News HUNGRY? The red neon sign catches your eye as you walk or drive by the iconic Fric & Frac on 39th Street Step inside and you're greeted by the delicious aroma of diner classics, smiling faces, and the kind of laughter that makes you want to stay awhile. Now celebrating its 50-year anniversary, Fric & Frac opened in 1976 with Rudy and Judi Ross and it's been a neighborhood staple ever since: timeless, adaptable and proudly inclusive. Favorites like the Max Burger and daily specials keep people coming back And yes, the italian Stallion is still on the menu, just like day ane. For owner Max Ross, Fric & Frac has been part of his life since he was 3 years old.  After joining the business in the late 2000s, he's watched generations grow up and he's known some customers since they were babies. "I'm really proud of what we've achieved it's been hard work, but so worth it for the friends and family ...

  The Brookside light show turned out very likely the best drive through light experience in the middle of town, though a little disjointed overall; still an excellent amusement. Some folks went all out, in the style and form of "Christmas Vacation."  Others remained generally conservative, with row upon row of boring white edging.  It is a journey worth stopping in on, if you have an hour or so to burn on a Sunday night in Kansas City.  The traffic is chaotic even on this slow night.  A little patience goes a long way.  Either that, or park someplace close and go for a walk.  The weather is going to be perfect for it.

A warmer than usual November evening set the stage for a different sort of performance from Stone Lion Puppet Theater than had been done in previous expositions. The drive- through was abandoned, eliminating an evening of wandering about observing the glowing puppets up close. We had expected that and set our course accordingly, first enjoying a good meal from Los Alamos before securing optimal parking at the site of the event . Instead, we found ourselves with a lot of time on our hands, waiting in anticipation.  The urge to give up on the two-and-a-half-hour wait was real, as there was little more to do beyond a handful of vendors and poorly organized food trucks. It was nearly impossible to figure out where one line began and the other ended.  That challenge was only outranked by the viewing angle from the terrace below the stage.   We endured the wait though, with the help of a good sound system surrounding us on the stairs, and a little Spiced Chai fr...

A visit to Searcy found the Riverview Raiders stumped and unable to vanquish the invading Panthers from Heber Springs.  They held fast in the second half, only permitting another 7 points and gain 6 for themselves in the last few minutes of the same.  Most of the game was a brutal beating for them though, with the Panthers scoring goal after goal. We were there for the music though, believe it or not.  A close friend was playing for the Heber Springs Marching Band, and we pounced on the rare opportunity to hear them play.  The opposing team put up on fairly fantastic half-time performance that kept the stands pinned down to their seats.  

The Oak Park High School community gathered for the dedication of a new Vietnam Memorial Healing Wall within the school.    This new memorial will stand as tribute to the hundreds of Oak Park alumni from the classes of 1966 through 1975 who served during the conflict.  It also includes special recognition to a select twelve former students that offered the ultimate sacrifice.   While this memorial will never make up for the loss families suffered, or the negativity showered on recruits lucky enough to return, perhaps it will help remind everyone that were just kids doing what they had to do to succeed in life.  As one of the speakers pointed out, most had little choice.  Many that left were only looking forward to returning home to friends, family, and enablement of new opportunities offered by the military.   video by cwarnes . . . View Photos from the Dedications SmugMug.com . . . The...

  Freedom Fest on the Lake turned out a little more inundated than anyone anticipated.  A wetter normal spring and summer left Greers Ferry Lake higher than normal, with barely twenty feet of beach.  In some places there none to be found at all.   It is not as if that were a bad thing though. All of the surrounding communities continued alignment with the fourth of July, leaving this little resort town with Saturday the 5th all to itself.  A shortage of beachfront pushed folks to improvise.  They met the challenge and it did not become quite as overcrowded as in the past few years.  Lining the edge of the parking lot offered space to dance.  After the band, it enabled relocation for optimal firework viewing, and there was no shortage of space in the water or flotation devices of all sizes, complete with kids jumping from the trees.

A completely random opportunity to visit the Iron District of North Kansas City found a small cluster of brightly painted shipping containers standing ready to serve up a delicious lunch.  Though somewhat overpriced, that appears to be the standard these days. The concept launched in September of 2019 in  what developers assumed was the first logical step in developing a new food and entertainment district for the area .  They were probably on point for that moment in time too.  However, months later, the global shut down would present a whole new obstacle. Emerging mostly unscathed to a much different financial, emotional, and relationship landscape the Iron District continues in the same planned environment.  Offering include sandwiches, tacos, ice cream, breakfast, burgers, as well as Mediterranean and Laotian opportunities. This particular visit enjoyed a Shroomin' Swiss Burger with a side of onion rings from The Iron Grill. It was every bit as delicious as ...

A night out with the Kansas City Royals found former player Alex Gordon standing for induction to the Royals Hall of Fame.  Celebrating a 14-year career, he is undoubtedly one of the more memorable play makers for the franchise.   During his career he was named American League All-Star three different times and won eight Gold Glove Awards.  He was infamous for diving into the left field stands to turn fouls into outs, and few will forget his game-tying home run in the 2015 World Series.  These achievements are only overshadowed by his personal commitment to the very best person and player he could be.  As former manager and Royals Hall of Famer Ned Yost stated, Alex Gordon was "One-hundred percent, all of the time.” A beautiful night for baseball at "The K" did not turn out so well for team though, who found themselves trailing behind, after having scored first.  They were unable to respond a...

A random Friday evening found our crew testing our memory of track titles in four rounds of music bingo at the local American Legion Hall.  We found we were able to recognize much more than had been expected overall, though it did not help much until near the end.  In the first three rounds, none of the six of us hit at all. The final round found one or another of us winning all three of the prizes for the evening, thereby covering part of the cost our tab!  It probably had more to do with the population level at that time than any other.  Most had departed for the evening.  We had a lot of fun though, enjoying  good drinks and better conversation, matching our wits against a few minutes of melody.  We look forward to giving it another try soon!

A couple of folks from our crew participated in a run out at a local elementary school.  The entire schools showed for this one, lined up and ready to be splashed with some colored powder or another. The more they ran the more colorful they became.  Beats all around set a festive tone for everyone. Those of us participating chilled on the playground after a few laps, then joined back in for another lap or two to close out the day.    Free drinks and snacks refreshed those otherwise banned from enjoying the ice cream truck.  

  An afternoon focused on technology down at J. Rieger & Co. broke up the week nicely, offering a unique learning experience from Pomerol Partners.  Lunch and presentations associated with machine learning and data stack modernization were followed by a discussion around large language models with a few Kansas City IT leaders.   Immediately following that, Abstract Technologies talked about LATAM opportunities through nearshoring staffing services, followed by Black Khaki Brand Communicators discussing maintenance of organization cultural wellness.  Topping things off like a cherry on top, we learned of a new podcast worth listening in on, entitled " Drinks and Data ," hosted by KC technology leaders Kanon Cozad and Shawn Helwig.

The solar eclipse viewing from Arkansas turned out to be a huge non-event.  Once again, the media hyped the situation beyond all recognition, forecasting unmanageable crowds, snarled traffic, and a shortage of resources.  None of this happened or would have happened.  It just does not work that way, no matter how badly the media wants it.  Some got caught in their trap though. Many communities braced for the onslaught, along with the Arkansas Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol, with extra staffing and amenities for customers that never materialized.  Churches and community organizations within the path of the eclipse brought in food trucks, cooked up their food for sale, and blocked off parking lots so that they could charge for parking.  Large towns benefited, but the smaller towns were left wondering where everyone had gone to.  Regardless, we walked away with a few good shots of the sun and enjoyed an uncrowded afternoon with friends an...

There I was minding my own business and the next thing I knew I was surrounded by a flock of elderly folks waiting for the next number to drop.  The coming solar eclipse had paved the way for a marathon bingo night, slated to last for nearly five hours.  I had not done this since I was about 10 and was in for a ride. It all started reasonably enough, with food and general comradery.  All of that quickly dissipated when the numbers started to drop.  Things got serious then, so much so that our crew got shushed a couple times.  Throughout most of the event, the only noise in the room, aside from the lady calling the numbers, the ceaseless whir of smoke-eaters gobbling up the haze of cigarette smoke as quickly as it could.  The efforts was wasted. The crowd carried on undeterred, skillfully dabbing each number called, enraptured by the sound, or lack thereof, and the promise of striking it rich.  A few did, though not quite enough to address t...

Other plans delayed an outing to the annual rock show until afternoon on Saturday, which turned out to be an advantage over most.  Another visiting earlier told of a line stretching out of the entrance nearly a kilometer and spending 45 minutes locating a place to park.  On arrival around 4 pm, it appeared most had given up their effort and retreated.  Parking appeared in the lot, near the entrance, with no wait at all. Entry to the event proved equally simplified, walking right up to the ticket counter and progressing in without obstacle.  Evidence of the throngs of people that had gone before greeted the senses upon entry though.  The entire place smelled of a well-used locker room. Undeterred and forging ahead offered a view of the typical over-priced gems, minerals, and fossils that dominate these affairs.  Quite a few more were selling jewelry than usual, and an entire section stood ready for the glass and plastic bead lovers.   A few oth...

Quite a lot of time has passed since rolling along to tunes at a skating party, but that is exactly how the evening turned out.  In particular, at what is now River Roll , but used to be Coachlight, a million years ago. The floor has taken quite a beating since our last visit, and danger lurked at every turn. Tiny humans crisscrossed the floor in nearly every direction, defying the most basic pattern.  The more inexperienced crashed ceremoniously all around in a near domino effect, making very little progress. No injuries were reported, and everyone enjoyed a few games along the way, to include the ever -popular Chubby Checker Limbo Rock.  The entire situation proved itself quite an amusing affair and worth of repeating again.

An opportunity arose to sit in on a discussion of the legal aspects surrounding the use of Copilot , a relatively new artificial intelligence system taking over the world of Microsoft. A hundred or so from the technical and legal realms showed up to hear thoughts from the Polsinelli team and Microsoft.  The lineup included Paul Bellacera, Microsoft Principal Technical Specialist, Lead Counsel Dale Kadlec from US Health and Life Sciences Division at Microsoft, Greg Kratofil, Jr, Polsinelli Technology Transactions & Data Privacy Chair from Kansas City, Greg Leighton, Polsinelli Privacy & Incident Response Vice Chair from Chicago, and Matt Todd, Polsinelli Licensing & Transactions Co-Chair  and Restrictive Covenants & Trade Secrets Litigation Co-Chair. Hosts and speakers were warm, inviting, and transparent, offering their thoughts on the current state of affairs and answer a variety of questions from the crowd to the best of their ability, given the lac...

photo borrowed from CNN Story - Wild celebrations greet KC Chiefs as they take to the streets for Super Bowl parade The list of things most interesting to do this year did not include the rally for the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory celebration. Something did not feel right about the whole thing, after watching the escapades last year.  One could blame it on a basic lack of interest in hanging out with the drunks, or the potential of being shot. Turns out neither of those feelings were far from the truth.  The Kansas City Chiefs were as drunk as ever, along with the rest of the city, while the intellectually challenged broke out their weapons and began shooting at one another. Can you feel the love this Valentine's Day? This world has lost its mind. Aside from the absurdity of brats with guns, are these the role models we really want for our children?

An acquaintance won tickets to an special early screening of the upcoming movie " Argylle ."  They were unable to attend, so we made the journey down to North Kansas City for a look and a laugh or two. Trivia kicked things off, with folks competing for the opportunity to win a movie t-shirt.  Mostly oblivious to questions centering around the director, actors, their movies and other associated facts, we walked away empty-handed. A mostly full house turned out, though the Press could not be bothered to make an appearance.  They left nearly two full rows empty, of which the organizer took full advantage.  More of the general audience had arrived than there were seats available.  Those folks eagerly opted for hijacking an empty Press seat above standing or squatting for the two hours in Theater 1. The movie began, proceeded and culminated in the style of James Bond, all the while mocking just about every other outlandish and extraordinary event occurring in that so...

"The Wizard of Oz" returned to the big screen this weekend in celebration of its 85th anniversary.  A reflection of the days before digital, in more ways than one, those that cared most about this film did not miss the rare opportunity.   Alignment of the projector turned out the only drawback to this particular showing at Barrywoods AMC.  A strip all the way across the top of the film appeared off screen, glaringly obvious in only a couple of scenes, though not so much as to detract from the experience. We would not be at a loss at all if this showing, and others noted in the previews, stood as the new normal.  In the days before digital, each year, we anxiously awaited the return of our favorite films to television.  In the post-digital realm, perhaps we will now be waiting to see those same visions on the screen for which they were originally intended. 

A mostly cloudy and chilly 8°C afternoon encouraged on outing to the  44th Annual Eagle Days  for a closer look at these impressive raptors.  Hosted at  Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge , a variety of new and familiar activities made for an interesting day in the rural landscape northwest of St Joseph. The event witnessed a repeat appearance from the ever watchful and somewhat talkative Harpy eagle, a native of the southern Americas, and very much conservation dependent species.  A Golden Eagle joined the conversation after that but appeared pre-occupied with escaping the crying baby in the front row.  The row ended with the continuously piercing gaze from the American Bald Eagle, who lingered afterward the interviews ended for small talk and photos. Numerous sites established around perimeter of the 16 km Wild Good Auto Tour loop offered young and old the opportunity to get a closer look at the Bald Eagles in their locally...