Scroll down this page to see a picture of Kansas City's amazing new Performing Arts Center. Yes, I agree that it looks like a piece of pasta. However, it is a very expensive piece of pasta - $400,000,000
worth.

It is being funded privately, although the City helped with the parking structure. It has been under construction for a long time, and two men have died working on it. (I've got to wonder whether the crazy shape had something to do with their rig tipping over.)

Anyhow, we the people of Kansas City are all being asked to pay for this thing, but there is no space there for a small concert. (By small I mean less than 1000 people.) Once there was provision for such things, but as soon as the big okay was given, the small venues were dropped from the plans. The wing with the small halls has been replaced by a grassy lawn, which will of course attract hoboes.

So, when we bring a band to town, where do we put on the concert? At a church. A church has what we need; seating, restrooms, parking, and a place to play - maybe even a stage - in the front.

The church people are friendly and co-operative. But the media, the suits and the government run the gamut from uninterested to contemptuous. They don't want to hear the music of their ancestors.