The Lawrence Kansas Monthly Blog

  Hey there folks, me again! Guess what you guys, I just got an update from my folks. The condo just got sold, and in two weeks, I’m finally back in Lawrence! So to kick things off, here’s my summer bucket list of things to do. 1. Pineapple Dream I wanna go to Topeka with Stephanie and try out an ice cream shop called Pineapple Dream. It’s in 6750 SW 29th St., and it’s got Dole Whip just like the ones they have in Disney World. It also has a selection of floats and smoothies of any flavor to pick out. I gotta say that this will be one of my picks on the list. This is what Dole whip in an ice cream cone looks like. If you’ve seen enough like Sylas & Maddy’s and Cold Stone, then consider this my next summer treat. I hope this one cools you off. 2. Fugitive Beach The fun never stops in the coolest water park in Missouri. So I think it’ll be a great place to check out for the summer. If I’m not mistaken about this place, it’s just like the beach in California or in Hawaii. There’s ...

  Back in 2010, Jill and I were talking about putting together a special event for the heart of Lawrence Kansas. You see, I wanted to come up with my own event for "Battle of the Bands". Fortunately, the event needed a lot more work. So when I come back to live in Lawrence Kansas, I'm gonna get together with some friends of mine and help me come up with this special event in music. Now before I start talking about it, I wanna give you the 411 on what "Battle Of The Bands" really is here in Lawrence. A Battle of the Bands is a contest in which many bands, usually rock or metal bands, but often musical acts from a range of different styles, compete for the title of "best band".  Its history though goes back to earlier times, at least the 1930s swing era, when big band battles between famous band leaders like Chick Webb, Casa Loma Orchestra, Benny Goodman and Count Basie were regularly organised in big dancehalls, like the Savoy Ballroom. The winner is de...

Autumn in Larryville When the autumn season comes, September begins. And summer will return next year. And now here's something that you'd like to know. When Labor Day comes, we celebrate. How? Downtown. But the real question is, how do you celebrate Labor Day on this special time of year somewhere in Lawrence. Here's some ideas. 1. Hang out with my friends, get together and meet somewhere for lunch. 2. Join in at the Lawrence Public Library for some special events. 3. Entertain kids at Cordley with my puppets. 4. Get together for Best Buddies once again. (which you already knew about that) 5. Participate at Van Go for a Zine Fest (Paper Plains) 6. Hang out at Americana Music Academy for a jam session. (I'll think about it.) Here are some of the local events I wanna join in. My first September event is the Street Party. It was on Saturday September 3rd at 826 Pennsylvania St. in East Lawrence. When I look at a street party in Lawrence, I think of an all-age type of part...

  August (Still Summer... seriously.) When the month of August begins, it’s still summer. When the school season begins, the summer’s still going. My other ideas keep going and going and going. When back in Lawrence, I thought up with something different and totally new. Have you ever heard of the Kaw River Roots Festival? If you didn’t yet, then let me explain. It happens every year in August. That’s two  days of roots, bluegrass, and Americana music along the bank of the Kansas River at the historic Abe & Jake's Landing in beautiful downtown Lawrence, KS . My suggestion to this event is that someday I can join in the festival and watch the music play here at Abe & Jake’s. For the past years, Americana music has been the home of the sunflower state. In many states, this genre of music is called “American Roots” music. It’s  an amalgam of  American music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the musical ethos of the United ...

  Best Buddies For Life Way back in 2004 for the first time, I joined a program called Best Buddies in KU. For 13 years, I’ve joined that program for fun events, special occasions, parties, and hanging out together. And best of all, I really enjoyed it a lot. Now to make things clear, I wanna get the chance to join Best Buddies once again. So, let’s review some of the buddies I met for my first time. 1. For the first time in Lawrence, I met a friend for the first program for Best Buddies. His name is Mark Lyda. He and I had a lot of fun together. We got together, listened to some music, we got to see The Incredibles, and got together for watch the Super Bowl. One time, I was waiting here at Free State looking for Mark and we got in the car and went to Pizza Hut for dinner. I really enjoyed the buffet in this place. In Pizza Hut, there’s another chain called WingStreet. Mark Lyda even gave me a CD of his own music. It was a great year for the first Best Buddies program. 2. The secon...