Hampton Stevens

Stories by Hampton Stevens

Sounding Smarter

Russian jets continued to strike in support of Syrian ground troops. The Russians may also be backing an Iranian-led offensive forming in the northern province of Aleppo in support of the Syrian regime. Hey, weren’t they supposed to be fighting ISIS? Speaking of Iran, this week its state-run media broadcast pictures of a huge underground tunnel filled with ballistic…

NASCAR at Kansas Speedway

The Weekender

Let’s get this out of the way quickly. Game 1 of the ALCS is Friday night. Game 2 is Saturday afternoon. Game 3 is Monday night. There’s your weekend. If you absolutely insist on doing something between all the nail-biting baseball, however, we – forgive the horrible pun – have all your bases covered. STRUMMING When you get a chance to…

Musings on Baseball, Luck and Quantum Physics: Making the Case for Magic Socks

Ask any sports fan about superstitions. We’ll likely give you an earful. We love to wear our lucky socks, hats and jerseys. We sit in a favorite chair for the game or only listen to the radio. We fidget, knock wood, rub totems and visualize. Bud Light had a fun, popular series of commercials a…

Sounding Smarter

Russian warplanes violated Turkey’s airspace. Two days later, the Russian navy fired 26 cruise missiles at targets in Syria. Four of the missiles went so far off course they landed in rural Iran. Meanwhile Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, celebrated his 63rd birthday by teaming up with NHL legends to play hockey against Russian tycoons and officials. Putin scored a Kim Jong-un-ish seven…

Kansas City Ballet Company Dancers, from left, Logan Pachciarz and Liang Fu rehearse for "The Three Musketeers". (Credit: Kansas City Ballet)

The Weekender

Don’t kid yourself. This weekend – and, with luck, most of the next few weeks – Kansas City nightlife will be completely dominated by the Royals’ playoff run. It doesn’t matter if you are promoting a rock concert, staging a ballet, or just throwing a birthday party, crowds are going to be real hard to…

Because it’s root-root-root for the home team…

Contributor Hampton Stevens and Multimedia Producer John McGrath get hyped at the K.

Sunset on the Country Club Plaza

Sounding Smart

INTERNATIONAL Russia moved forcefully into Syria. Many of the targets seem to be non-IS opponents of Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. So that’s not terribly helpful. India announced a new plan to lower its rate of greenhouse gas emissions. The plan includes an aggressive adoption of renewable energies, such as wind and solar, but the nation nevertheless remains highly…

The Entire History of KC…

Crazy about this city. We believe if we don’t know our past, we’ll never understand the future. That’s why we made this KC sizzle reel. It’s almost 200 years of local history packed into a single, two-minute video. What are your favorite moments? And what favorite moments did we leave out? Comment below or find us @flatlandkc.

It definitely passes the smell test. The American Royal's World Series of Barbecue moves to Arrowhead Stadium for the first time this weekend. (Credit: American Royal)

The Weekender

Fall has fallen, and there’s no prettier time to be in our town. Make the most of the season this weekend by busting out the sweaters and hoodies, snorting a few lines of pumpkin spice, and getting out to see what the city has to offer. GAWKING First Friday art walks are always a fine time, provided…

Weekending

Parking Live theater has an excitement that no other form of entertainment can match. We have a world-class company right here in KC with the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. What we don’t have – not yet, anyway – is a world-class theater facility to match. That, however, is about to change. Spencer Theatre, the KC…