October 2003 Journal
by Todd Comer

Welcome to the first issue of the journal. I decided to start wrting this seperatly because it really was starting to take up too much space in the newsletter, but a lot people seemed to like it ok, so what the heck, let's give it some space here on the site. I have been trying to get other writers for other subjects too, but it seems there is a shortage of writers in this part of the country, either that or they've all moved to Chicago, which does seem to be a growing trend. Although, I did recently speak to RJ about writing a column along the lines of "a look back". I'm not sure what other columns I would like to introduce here, but if anyone has any ideas or is interested in doing a little column once a month, feel free to eMail me your thoughts on the matter.

Anyhow... down to the meat of the matter.

I just got back in to town yesterday from Warsaw, Mo where I was hanging out with my uncle having a few beers watching football and running around town visiting the local establishments. I even took a few photos here and there. Most of them were taken at The Dam Restaurant & Lounge while sitting at the bar indulging ourselves in Beer and Conversation with the Bartender. Really nice guy from KC that just got sick of the city and moved down there. It was a pretty good time going from place to place meeting all the bar owners and tenders down there, though the clientele can sometimes be a little worrisome. One guy told me in a somewhat stern manner, "that's my girl yer takin pitures of". Immediately, warning sirens went off in my head and some little man in a back room of my mind screamed "Proceed with Extreme Caution" and with a little bit of careful explaining, he soon understood that there was no malicious intent and I wasn't just some pervert with a camera. After the girl returned, my uncle complimented her singing and got a similarly paranoid statement, to which he turned to me and said, "That's ok, He's gonna smother the girl and she's gonna run. How true. How true. But for now the two were content to dance and sing a little Karaoke and everyone knew their boundaries and everything was ok.

What in the hell was I doing in Warsaw?

Well, It started on Saturday night with a trip to Springfield. Mo to a little party called "Dance Till Ya Plur". I left sometime around 4 pm on Saturday afternoon after Jon bailed on me because of a situation he had encountered the night before at "Afterhours" at what is now apparently called Studio 13, but everyone knows and loves as "3rd & Guinotte". I'm not sure what happened, but I remember something about a stolen purse, loud music and someone trying to beat him up again. Why does this stuff always happen after I leave?

Anyhow... I digress. I made my way down to my uncle's place Saturday afternoon to exchange some "Propane and Propane Accessories" and hang out for a minute before heading south. The whole way I blasting an assortment of music from mixes by Sasha & Digweed to Styx to Tool to Johnny Cash. So what. I like a little variety. It gives me space to think a little and sing a little, which I don't mind saying I love to do ... alone ... in the car. It was a good drive to say the least. I highly recommend solo road trips, though I don't prefer them.

I got down to Springfield around 10 pm and found the place with no trouble. HAHA! It was at the IFF Local 152 meeting hall. No worries about fires there. Once inside, I found myself surround by the hard pulsing beats of some relic of a Happy HardCore tune from a couple years back and video of the PowerPuff Girls on all sides. That's not to say I didn't like what I heard or saw. It was amazing. The amount of work that went into setting up this party could be seen all around you and heard as well. The DJs were great, one after another, they banged it out. Some old, some new... all good. Some of the earlier and later sets seemed to have a more Jungle feel, but it was still good. I met a lot of great people like Rainbow-Brite... hehe.. you have to love the KandyKidz ... and got a chance to talk a little more with a really good man trying to do really good things, Jason Gomez of Leo Productions. Overall it was a great party. It's too bad a lot more people could not have made it from Kansas City, but there was quite a St Louis crowd down there, as well as Springfield. They even had people from as far off as Dallas, Omaha, Indianapolis and Tulsa.

But after a half-pint of Jaeger and several beers I was getting a little sleepy around 4 am and decided to head out, since I was still facing an hour and a half drive back to Warsaw. Not a bad little drive though and after a good night's sleep and hanging out with family watching the Chiefs and watching CBS show us how ignorant they are about the location of the Kansas CITY Chiefs. And that is how I ended up photographing Karaoke at The Dam Restaurant & Lounge in Warsaw, MO.

The rest of the month was equally as interesting. The first set of photos were from The Clan of Xymox CD Release Party at Davey's Uptown, featuring The Jesus Complex and BioCarbon13. It was pretty good and different from the usual. After that it was out to Lawrence, KS for Heather's Birthday and sipped a few Martinis at the Paradise Cafe. I had the Key Lime Martini which tasted just like a Key Lime Pie.... yummy. Hers wasn't the only birthday that was photographed this month though. Darian with MadNights.com had a good little party down at Mi Cocina on the 25th. bPositive had a good birthday party at John's on the 21st, where I indulged in some really good Techno by J-Fyvo from Detroit. I'm not sure if it was anyone's birthday, but someone invited me out to take photos at house party I first called the Chiwiwi House Party, after the infamous Chiwiwi, but changed the name after I found out the real name was Electronic Trouser Snake party, I guess.

I also caught a performance by the band "I". After hearing a lot about them and apparently, not showing for their Fundraiser soon enough to catch their set, I finally got to catch one of their sets and I really do hope they go far. They have got a sound that is definitely sweet. I can't explain it very well, but if you get the chance, you definitely want to hear these guys.

HipHop coverage continued with a trip to WildStyle Wednesdays at Kabal Restaurant and Nightclub. That night is always a good time. And, there was also ChopShop 7, which was definitely cool. Sherri and my daughter came by for that for a little while and my daughter ended up making good friends with another little girl there who earlier had jumped right in with some of the breakers to show off her moves. They ran around acting goofy for most of the rest of the night, but eh... that's how kids are right?

Speaking of Kabal, I also covered a couple of other events this month for them. After Wild Style Wednesdays, there was Frisky Thursdays featuring Raoul Belmans. That was definitely a fun night and that same Saturday found me back to Kabal for Astro&Glyde on Sin Saturdays. The next week, I was back for a really fantastic performance by The EastCoast Boogiemen VS The Lawnchair Generals. Always some really good talent down there. Personally, I think Kabal is definitely one of the best clubs in Kansas City to hear some really diverse and talented local, national and international DJs.

And... Speaking of Talent, after dropping by for a few tunes and a few laughs at Loose Park, I dropped by the Westport Beach Club because MadNights.com had kicked off their DJ Battle at the Westport Beach Club this month. The finals are to be held on October 5, so come down and cheer for your favorite DJs. That's the only way they can win. If nothing else, they got $1 wells and you get really trashed, really cheap.

But it's not all about drinking though, after a few cocktails and some good tunes at Guerilla Theory on Thursday the 18th, the next day I was honored to have covered the first event for a new production krewe in KC, called CROMA which was held at this really wicket looking stone church in midTown called Solomon's Porch. They have dedicated themselves to providing a safe place where people of ALL ages can dance and socialize. Though several people didn't show up because they were apparently afraid of being "assaulted by bible-thumping Christians", those that did show up for this event found that it was just a party like any other party with good tunes and good people.

On the flip side of that, of course there was the monthly Submission show at Davey's Uptown that always is a good topper for the month. Unfortunately, because of rumors of Vice being there and whatnot, they decided to scale back their show a little to keep from scaring the poor man to death. Usually I try to photograph these Vice Type People because they really aren't anything but devious little Nazi animals that don't have anything better to do with their time than make sure that the world is "conforming" to their twisted ideals about the way things should be, but... it seems I missed him this time.

so... whadya think?

Leave me a comment or two!