Living in the Scoot Utopia

Posted by ScooterJ at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk around midtown. The teardrop-shaped route was 13.8 miles long and took me into a few areas I haven't walked through before. The route ran south roughly along Walnut and then Gilham, then west mainly along 43rd, north along Bell, northeast along Karnes, and then back north along Baltimore. The walk was slightly over 4 hours long. I took 19,031 steps and burned 1,357 calories.

I took several photos along the way, this time with a bonus section inside Union Cemetery. I also took a couple of pictures by request. Click on the route map below to launch the photo gallery.

Posted by ScooterJ at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Though I'm currently doing 2-3 mile walks a few times a week, I'm only posting the longer ones on my blog.

This afternoon I took a walk to the Plaza and back. The loop was 11.4 miles and took about 3-1/2 hours to complete. I took 16,296 steps and burned 1,147 calories.

As I was walking along I could not help but notice what a truly beautiful city Kansas City is. Both natural and architectural beauty. And there are so many details -- tiny little quirky shops, overlooked stonework, and fascinating architecture. Much of this can only really be noticed by touring the city on foot. If you have only experienced Kansas City by car, you are truly missing out.

As usual I took several photos along the way. Click on the route map below to launch the photo gallery.

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last night I went to karaoke intending to sing just 3 or 4 songs but ended up doing quite a few more. I was congested and didn't feeel like I was at my best on any of them.

The repeats I sang were: Elvira, Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, Superstition, You're The One That I Want, and Love Potion Number 9.

The new songs I sang were For Whom The Bell Tolls, You Were Always On My Mind, and Stayin' Alive -- which left my throat and lungs exhausted. :)

Evidently a bit of an altercation broke out shortly after I left and security had to be called. That's the second time in the past 3 weeks that I missed seeing something like that.

Posted by ScooterJ at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past Saturday my buddy Brandon and I went out for one final day of reckless irresponsibility before he becomes a father next week. We know we succeeded because we don't really remember the end of the night other than a few flashes of images. :)

We do know that we went to 16 bars, played a session of Texas Hold-em at one of them and Silver Strike Bowling at another, and had probably around 25 beers each.

Along the way I passed the 200 mark in my list of all the bars I have been to. Here's a quick rundown of the new ones added to the list:

#197: Bar Lenexa, KS. Yeah, that's the name. Located on Santa Fe Trail Drive, just east of Old Towne Lenexa.

#198: VFW Post 846 Overland Park, KS. Since it was Veteran's Day we wanted to stop in and have a drink with some vets. We bought a round for all the guys in there, but not before one of them had already bought us a round too.

#199: Rusty's Last Chance Shawnee, KS. The beers here were enormous, so we played bar trivia for a while to pace ourselves.

#200: The Red Balloon Shawnee, KS. For my 200th bar we decided to hit up the famous karaoke bar that I've heard so many stories about. Of course there was no karaoke going on early on a Saturday afternoon but I can at least finally say I've been there.

#201: Birdie's Overland Park, KS. I used to live just a few blocks away, but since that was back when "bars are for the dregs of society" I had never been.

#202: The Roxy Overland Park, KS. Stopping here was really more of an afterhought as we weren't originally planning to. This was one of those deals where we had to make an extra stop in order to relieve our bladders. :)

#203: The Piano Room Waldo, Kansas City, MO. Third time's the charm on this south Waldo staple -- my previous two attempts to visit this place were thwarted literally at the door. I liked the music here - live piano/horn performances and big band/swing on the sound system between sets.

Starting from The Piano Room we walked the remainder of the night. The rest of the places we hit up Saturday night were all places I've been before. Having my bar poker virginity taken at The Village Lounge was probably the most nervewracking part of the night for me - I was assigned to a table of strangers and in my nervousness the first thing I did was spill my beer on the table. At the night went on things became more of a blur but the best I can tell we apparently ended the night after a brief stop in Bobby Baker's.

Next week Brandon's wife goes in for a c-section and Brandon will be a new dad. He's a little freaked out but I can tell by the attention to detail he has shown so far in his preparations that he's going to do just fine. Most likely this means the end of our big benders except for maybe 1 or 2 special occasions a year, but after he gets settled into the new routine I'm sure we'll still have a beer or two here and there. :) Good luck to you, father-to-be!

Posted by ScooterJ at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Almost every Thursday I go down to Winslow's for karaoke. And for those of you who know me well, that must seem totally out of character because one thing you know that I never do is get up in front of a bunch of strangers and do... well... anything.

It was a little slow tonight, perhaps due to everyone celebrating the 17th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, so I was able to get lots of songs in. In fact, tonight set a new record at 10 songs.

On The Road Again - Willie Nelson. Grade: B+. This is one of my favorite songs and one of my staples. I started a little high and so had to crack into falsetto during the chorus.

Hotel California - The Eagles. Grade: B. First time for me -- sang this as a duet with a guy who wanted to sing it but who was skittish about singing it alone.

House of the Rising Sun - The Animals. Grade: B-. I never sang this before but I think I did pretty well. There was a verse or two I wasn't sure were low or high in pitch.

Elvira - The Oak Ridge Boys. Grade: A. This is my signature song and gets better every time I do it. Giddy Up.

Lean On Me - Rascall Flats. Grade: B+. Did this as a trio but I think I did pretty damn well.

Superstitious - Stevie Wonder. Grade: B. This was a new one for me and needs a little work. I didn't exactly channel Stevie but I impressed myself with the energy I put into it.

Peaceful Easy Feeling - The Eagles. Grade: B+. I had meant to put in "Take It Easy" but skipped a line while writing my entry. That's ok, this is a pleasant mellow song that I love. I think I did pretty well.

Love Shack - The B-52s. Grade: A. I LOVE doing this song, it is so much fun. Works best as a trio but I had to do it as a duet tonight.

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain - Willie Nelson. Grade: A- This sweet, sad song is one of my faves. I started slightly high, forcing my voice to crack in the chorus.

You're The One That I Want- Olivia Newton John & John Travolta. Grade: A-. The last time I sang this was 1999. Another fun one to sing.

Got 5 new songs in tonight, gonna shoot for 2 or 3 more new songs next week.

Posted by ScooterJ at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Voters wanting to send a message that KC needs a workable light rail system accidently passed Clay Chastain's latest ballot measure yesterday.

I'm all for light rail and I really hope it goes through, but first we need to now take a look at what we have done and fix one embarassing glitch in that election's outcome: we need to repeal section 3.

Section 3:
Implement an aerial gondola tram system providing passenger service between Union Station, Liberty Memorial, and Penn Valley Park; remove all thru vehicular roads, including Broadway, in the park and re-route traffic around the park; replace roads with landscaped transportation corridors for new bicycle & walking pathways, the gondola, and a wooden light rail truss bridge; with the funds also to be used to retire bond indebtedness related to the projects, and to help secure additional federal, state, and regional transportation funds?

Closing Broadway from 27th to 31st would be a disaster. More traffic would be forced onto Southwest Trafficway, a thoroughfare that many are trying to reduce traffic on. It would eliminate the only direct route that connects The Plaza, Westport, and Downtown. Businesses along Broadway in Midtown would face a drop in customers due to no longer being on a through-street. Left turns would have to be legalized on Southwest Trafficway in order to provide access, which would create total gridlock and increase accidents, injuries, and deaths.

Plus, we just spent millions of dollars replacing a bridge that would now suddenly no longer be used.

And a gondola to so that fat, lazy people can get across Pershing without walking? Well, here's what that would do to Kansas City's most famous postcard view:

Question 2 passed, that's terrific. But now we must get on the bandwagon and make sure Section 3 is repealed.

Looks like Seth was thinking along the same lines as me.

Posted by ScooterJ at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I'm looking forward to getting out and voting tomorrow morning. Here's how I intend to vote on all the items on my ballot. If you want to try to sway me, here's your chance!

MO STATE SENATE: Though I'd prefer a better candidate, I have to go with Claire McCaskill on this one. The important thing here is to get rid of Bush's sniveling, weasly little yes-boy Jim Talent, and a vote for Claire is the only way to do that. This election is too important to waste votes on third-party candidates. (No offense intended to Frank Gilmour or Lydia Lewis.)

MO STATE AUDITOR: I don't give a rat's ass, but since the last few years have shown us how terrible Republican rule is, I'm going for the Democrat, Susan Montee.

U.S.REPRESENTATIVE, 5TH DISTRICT: Unlike many I have no beef with Emmanuel Cleaver, so he'd have my vote regardless of party affiliation.

STATE LEGISLATURE ELECTIONS: Gotta go with the DEMs in these, too. Sorry, REPs, you had your chance and you blew it.

JACKSON COUNTY ELECTIONS: This one is actually a tough call. Because of the whole stadiums lease/tax fiasco I am torn between my hatred of Republicans and my desire to vote out any incumbent I can. These will be game-time decisions. (undecided)

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS: I have not heard of any controversial rulings that I disagree with so I see no reason not to keep them all.

MO AMENDMENT 2 (STEM CELLS): Part of me wants to vote no, only because I find its restrictions a little too restricting. (I don't understand why "clone" is a 4-letter word.) But I will vote YES, because even though it's too restrictive, a "no" vote for that reason would send entirely the wrong message. (If only ballots had a "Please indicate why" text box next to each item.)

MO AMENDMENT 3 (TOBACCO TAX): This gets a hearty NO from me. I am not a smoker but I do not like sin taxes. They are a cop-out, an easy way for politicians to increase revenue without pissing off the majority. The revenue streams from sin taxes make the government addicted to people's addictions. This tax would actually make it in the government's best interest to promote smoking rather than to try to curb smoking.

And yes, I voted for the arena tax (an easy cop-out) and for casino gambling (feeding off addictions). Does that make me a hycocrite? Sure, probably. Deal with it. :)

MO AMENDMENT 6 (TAX EXEMPTION FOR VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS): This amendment is a complicated read and I'm not entirely sure what its purpose is. However I'm going to go with NO on this one. I have nothing against veterans, I just don't think we should be creating new categories of tax exemptions at a time when the state is slashing all of its services.

MO AMENDMENT 7 (PENSIONS, SALARIES FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS): I only just heard of this one today and I have no idea which answer is best, so I will probably leave this one blank unless I learn more before tomorrow morning. (undecided)

MO PROPOSITION B (MINIMUM WAGE): Now matter how I vote on this someone will be mad at me, since I am friends both with winimum-wage workers and people who pay the salaries of minimum-wage workers. However I have seen more anectodal evidence that higher minimum wages help the economy than hurt it. And I really like the part where the minimum wage will automatically increase each year to match the inflation rate -- that's just good common sense. So I give this one a cautious YES.

KC QUESTION 1 (FIRE INSPECTIONS): I don't know how much these cost currently or who pays for them, so I have no idea what this question would be changing. Therefore I plan for now to leave this one blank. (undecided)

KC QUESTION 2 (LIGHT RAIL): I want so badly to vote yes for this, I really do. Had this item just consisted of section 1 and section 2 I'd be all over it with a 'yes' vote. But Clay Chastain just had to throw in that nutty section 3 and screw it all up. So a noble ballot initiative to get a useful light rail line going (section 1) and to use environmentally-friend buses elsewhere (section 2) gets ruined by section 3. What does section 3 call for? Closing all the roads in Penn Valley Park (yes, this includes BROADWAY, an essential north-south corridor), and then building a gondola system to ferry people between Union Station and Liberty Memorial. Yes, a gondola, disrupting the breathtaking views and carrying passengers the whopping distance of..... across the street. (As if we aren't fat and lazy enough already.) Therefore this gets a disappointed NO vote from me.

Posted by ScooterJ at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I walked to La Bodega for dinner tonight, and along the way took several pictures of the Fall colors around Downtown. Click the picture below to view the full gallery.

Posted by ScooterJ at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's what I get for making the mistake of leaving my cubicle during lunch today...

Posted by ScooterJ at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)