Punditocracy

A new season of flying fishnets and sharp elbows is underway for those derby vixens of the Kansas City Roller Warriors. Lauren Taylor, a.k.a. Auntie Embolism, joined us to discuss their upcoming bout and the face-smashing feminism of our very own roller derby league.

The rubber-walloping weekend warriors of Kaw Valley Kickball League are back. While the kingly pursuit of kickball has sprouted leagues across the nation, KVKL has developed a distinctly Lawrencian character all its own. This rich pageantry of townies, pre-pubescent sport, and beer has become a summertime staple. Thirty teams representing many Lawrence businesses and other groups take to the diamond every Sunday starting this week, often with costumes and mascots, for the silliest spectacle in short-shorts you'll see around here. Ballers Mike Tiffany, Adina Scanland, Andrea Vieux, Geoff Wright, and Adrian Proctor joined us to preview the new season of Kaw Valley Kickball.

Charles S. McVey joins us to discuss his new album,"Animal," and getting peed on by Jesus. (CAUTION: This interview may contain backwards messages.)

Could high school students make the next “Citizen Kane”? Well, realistically, probably not. But it’s not like Orson Welles was cranking out masterpieces while struggling with the most awkward years of his life—so the kids in the Focus Film Festival deserve some accolades. Organizer and Lawrence High teacher Jeff Kuhr—along with underage auteurs Chase Billings, Ryan Hobbs, and Kyler Thomann—joined us to discuss the upcoming Liberty Hall event and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.”

The Found Footage Festival salvages our shameful VHS heritage from the dumpster of history.

The noxious depravity of comedian Doug Stanhope, set to soothing digital white noise and space age lounge music.

Mayor Mike Dever and Simran Sethi chat up the Climate Protection Task Force and how Lawrence can kick ass in the green economy.

Jacki Becker and Deron Belt preview the upcoming season of Kaw Valley Kickball League. Prepare for short shorts and awful gonad jokes.

Kevin Willmott chats up his new Sundance Film Festival entry, "The Only Good Indian," at a crowded diner in Park City, Utah.

Auditory hallucinations from the year that was.

On Thursday nights, in a peculiar phenomenon which might inspire a spit take from ascetic fuddy duddies, Henry’s Upstairs transubstantiates from a secular saloon into a slightly sloshed seminary. Theology on Tap invites people of all faiths and denominations to gather round for some spirited talk about the spiritual. Hosts Valerie Miller-Coleman and Rev. Josh Longbottom join us to discuss God, government, and Grey Goose.

If you've got a premature ejaculation problem and/or a shoe fetish you're afraid to bring up with your partner, then "Kansas in Heat" wants to hear from you. This KJHK call-in show has been fielding questions about everything from chronic masturbation to kinky pillow talk for over a year now, and they've yet to drain the well when it comes to issues of sex and relationships. Hosted by PhD students Mike Anderson and Nichole Kathol, "Kansas in Heat" offers a forum for those with love life issues who might be too embarrassed to chat about leather play and what not with their pastor. And Anderson and Kathol are taking the show on the road, broadcasting live at the Jackpot Saloon and taking questions from the audience. Both hosts joined us to discuss strengthening your relationship and your pelvic muscles.

Who knew that taking benign clip art of office toadies and filling their word balloons with blisteringly profane political commentary would propel you to the upper echelons of contemporary American satire? David Rees, apparently. His comic strip, "Get Your War On," is carried by Rolling Stone and alternative newspapers across the country (including, FYI, lawrence.com at one point) and has recently been adapted into an animated series appearing online at The Huffington Post and 23/6 News. "Get Your War On," filthy and Bush-bashing as it is, has exhibited in museums and been praised by the New York Times as a "glorious excoriation of our post-9/11 loony bin." To celebrate the release of "Get Your War On: The Definitive Account of the War on Terror, 2001-2008," David Rees graciously joined us to talk shit on a bunch of things.

After releasing dozens of albums and touring virtually non-stop for 20+ years, one could be forgiven for slipping it into cruise control for a while. But that's not what won Ani DiFranco an army of devotees and feminist icon status. The outspoken folk-funk-rock pioneer shows no sign of slowing her crusade to achieve independence both artistically and politically. "Red Letter Year," her 18th studio LP-not counting her numerous live albums-is out via her own label, Righteous Babe Records the day after she plays Lawrence. Amid the hullabaloo of preparing a new album and tour-never mind being a mom-she's still characteristically plugged into the current electoral climate. DiFranco joined us over the phone to discuss Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, getting out the vote-oh, and her new album.

John Wilson is literally a fresh face on the Kansas political scene. This 24-year-old KU alum looks more like a clean-shaven grad student than the usual stuffed suits and liver spots you'd find moldering in the halls of Topeka. Given his youth and relative inexperience, few expected Wilson to make much of a dent when he threw his hat in the ring as the Democratic candidate against Tom Sloan, who's represented Lawrence and the 45th district in the state House for 14 years. Yet Wilson actually managed to out-raise his Republican opponent in campaign donations during the last filing quarter. Granted, Sloan still has tens of thousands of dollars more in the bank, but the enthusiasm generated by Wilson's campaign has stirred things up a bit. Wilson joined us to discuss his improbable campaign.

You know what? Screw the Olympics. They think that just because the world lavishes so much attention on them, and they're a symbol of human achievement and the ties that unite us as a species and blah blah blah, that they're better than the rest of us Jane and Joe Sixpacks? Phooey! Deron Belt and Jason "Cougar" Hwang-warrior-scholars of the Kaw Valley Kickball League-joined us to discuss the clash of kickball titans known as the KVKL Playoffs and why those underage Chinese gymnasts should stick to making the sweat-shop sneakers we use for kicking balls and ass.

You know what? F*ck the Olympics. They think that just because the world lavishes so much attention on them, and they're a symbol of human achievement and the ties that unite us as a species and blah blah blah, that they're better than the rest of us Jane and Joe Sixpacks? Phooey! You haven't reached the pinnacle of diddly shit until you've chugged a few of our namesakes and spent an afternoon in seminal fluid boiling heat while kicking the holy snot out of a four square ball. Michael Phelps would swim back up his mom's birth canal in terror if he spent more than 30 seconds on a field in the Kaw Valley Kickball League (KVKL). Deron Belt and Jason "Cougar" Hwang-warrior-scholars of the KVKL-joined us to discuss the clash of kickball titans known as the KVKL Playoffs and why those underage Chinese gymnasts should stick to making the sweat-shop sneakers we use for kicking balls and ass.

Jim Slattery has the unenviable task-some would say quixotic journey-of attempting to be the first Kansas Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate since 1930. A former member of the Kansas delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives, Slattery is now facing popular incumbent Pat Roberts, a Republican senator who has become an intractable institution since first arriving in Washington in 1967.

The Victor Continental Show has been lauded with many superlatives over its impressive decade-long run. This intrinsic pillar of the Lawrence arts could alternately be described as a raucous variety program harkening back the heyday of Vaudeville, or as an incisive sketch comedy revue satirizing our culture's innumerable foibles a la Swift or Voltaire. But perhaps nothing captures the essence of The Victor Continental Show with more precision, or more insight, than labeling it a "Tijuana Crime Scene." "Google that shit," suggests Andy Morton, writer and performer with Victor Continental, for the intellectually curious. "But don't click on 'Google Image.'" Mr. Morton, Kitty Steffens and Will Averill, Victor veterans all, joined us to reminisce on 10 years of wine, women and wolf crotches.

A 250-pound dwarf named Bleachy and '70s soft rock pioneer Christopher "F*cking" Cross are on the line for you. Well, not really-your life isn't that exciting-but you can simulate the experience with "Just Farr A Laugh Vol. 1 & 2: The Greatest Prank Phone Calls Ever!" The collection is a reissue of long out-of-print punkings by Andrew Earles and Jeff Jensen-Jensen being a former Kansas City resident and current KU "star f*cker." "Just Farr A Laugh" is less about humiliating the poor recipients of the calls and more about creating a sadly believable alternate reality where Morris Day really wants to party at Coyote Ugly and a man who goes by "Ditchweed" is positive that a PT Cruiser will solve his mid-life crisis. Jeff Jensen joined us by theme-appropriate phone in Brooklyn while making his friend some nachos.

If you've seen "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, then you're well acquainted with how virtually impossible it is to describe. Imagine sketch comedy in the vein of "Mr. Show," Andy Kaufman's confrontational brand of anti-humor, and video effects that look ripped from a Soviet-era infomercial produced by an autistic David Lynch-and you've still failed. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim met as film students at Temple University in Philadelphia, where they discovered that they really didn't care all that much for being film students and started making videos just to amuse themselves. A typical example of this early work features the duo dressed up as Batman & Robin, taking massive bong hits, and flying over the ocean with John McCain at their side. "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" jumps mercilessly from commercial parodies for products such as "The Poop Tube" to synth-laden musical numbers performed by a hideously deformed and vomiting little boy, with a whole host of slightly creepy social satire and spasm-inducing montages in between. They're somehow going to be performing all of this live in Lawrence. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim took some time out from filming their third season to uncomfortably disseminate misinformation with us about the "Awesome Tour 2008!"

Somehow, in the midst of Lawrence's Final Four bender, Matt Armstrong and Gavon find a few fleeting moments of quasi-sobriety to snipe about Hillary Clinton's sniper moment. Also, '80s comics who are more trustworthy than Clinton, the media discovering Obama's dirty little secret (he's black), and the great Jayhawk riots of '08. Speaking of which...WHOOOOOOOO!!!

Daniel Tosh, and his particular brand of bug-eyed deadpan, has carved out a niche for himself in the comedy world as being a pure stand-up comic. He doesn't have a TV show, he's not trying to be taken seriously in some crappy indie film, and he's not Dane Cook-he just tells jokes. Burnishing his comedy cred, Tosh has appeared on all of the late night biggies multiple times, getting his bona fides stamped by Letterman and Leno. This California-via-Florida resident spends most of his down time surfing, and that slacker Zen informs his musings on everything from midget parades to buying girlfriends on eBay. He's got a DVD of his Comedy Central special, "Completely Serious," and an album, "True Stories That I Made Up," chronicling his college-friendly smart-assery. To promote his upcoming appearance in Lawrence, Daniel Tosh joined us for a quick conversation from his California home to discuss Nazis, bongs and those damn hillbillies from Memphis.

Clinton, Obama, McCain and a healthy amount of beer make for the most inebriated episode of Punditocracy yet! Join Gavon, Matt Armstrong (Hate the Player) and Jill Ensley (Godjilla) as they offer up political and cultural analysis under the influence. Taffeta, Iron Man and Rick Astley might make guest appearances...although I really don't remember for sure. Damn but that new Boulevard Smokestack is plenty powerful.

This latest installment of Punditocracy completely abdicates its duty as a political watchdog podcast to shamelessly wallow in fame and collagen! That's right, it's our annual Oscars podcast! Maggie Allen (of Corn on the Macabre blogging fame) and Matt Armstrong (he of the mighty Hate the Player blog), join Gavon (of your neighborhood's sex offender registry) to predict the winners of this year's Academy Awards and dish...dish...DISH! As we try to decide what sucks worse, "Juno" or "Atonement," things get cattier than a slap fight between Perez Hilton and Kathy Griffin! We probably won't help you win your office Oscars pool, but we can at least help you kill an hour while you're at your office. And don't forget the drinking game!

With meteorological conditions comparable to Biblical wrath pounding the globe (if tornadoes in January and snow in Baghdad doesn't put some Old Testament fear in you, nothing will), now seems like a pretty good time to actually do something about climate change. It's that sense of urgency which compels Focus the Nation, a national "teach-in" taking place in over a thousand locations ranging from schools to places of worship. The Lawrence event will be a roundtable discussion held at the Dole Institute of Politics and moderated by local eco-luminary Simran Sethi. Participants will include Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson, Congressman Dennis Moore, Mayor Sue Hack, plus many more Lawrence and statewide politicos. Simran Sethi joined us to talk about this unique event, its efforts to tackle global "weirding," and the possible solutions at all levels of the Kansas community. Click here for more details on the event!

Roundtablery of the bitchiest order returns! Aaron and Gavon go on at length (and it is a long, throbbing episode) about presidential primaries past and future, Glenn Beck's seeping rectum, and Sylvester Stallone's pivotal role in shaping human history. Here's a bonus for those that patiently kept the Punditocracy torch burning: Top 20 Iranian Provocations The U.S. Will Use As An Excuse To Bomb The Crap Out Of Them 1. Didn't answer Cheney's Myspace survey. 2. Thought "Juno" was overrated. 3. That whole removing-Mossadegh-and-installing-the-Shah thing? Never even sent a "Thank You" note. 4. Ate the last taquito. 5. Always picking Muqtada al-Sadr over Condi for kickball games. 6. Re-gifted weapons to North Korea by just scratching out "From, Reagan" on the card. 7. Never waterboarded any U.S. hostages, making us look like total dicks. 8. Aren't big on spooning. 9. Constantly smell like tahini. 10. Hate our freedom, especially when we try to spread it all over their face. 11. Are aggressively bearded. 12. Selfishly think their oil belongs to them. 13. Didn't even have the common decency to suicide bomb our warships. 14. Ahmadenijad drunkenly made a pass at Jenna Bush, then George H.W. Bush. 15. Suspended their nuclear enrichment program like a bunch of d-bags. 16. Never accepted our apology for all of those "Ayatollah Ass-a-hole-ah" t-shirts. That's just petty. 17. Insist on being brown. 18. Hello?!?! Executing the mentally retarded? That's our turf. Kindly stop frontin'. 19. Supplied IED technology to Iraqi insurgents-even though they didn't. Jerks. 20. Double dipping. Eww.

Hey, remember 2007? You know, back in the day, when silly fads like "iPhones" and "suspending the writ of habeas corpus" were all the rage? Ah, yesterday... This New Year's Eve, As we mainline fried Coke directly into our veins, it would behoove us to pause and remember what made 2007 so great. That's right-celebrities and other newsmakers. We've compiled a list of suggested New Year's resolutions for those cultural and political leaders who made 2007 so memorable. Consider it a "Thank You" to those brave soldiers serving on the frontlines of porno-style journalism. Let's help these pillars of oligarchy make 2008 next year's 2007! Grab a warm can of tainted Chinese dog food, fire up the white noise generator so the NSA wiretap can't hear, and enjoy our New Year's resolutions for the wretched and famous!

It's the Actual News holiday hootenanny! Put it in Santa's opium pipe and smoke it! Well, to be honest, there's nothing particularly festive about this episode...spree killing, torture, and homophobia top the news. Unless you consider Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Oprah demented elves, it's not very Christmas-y at all, really. Is there a Pacific Rim holiday celebrating explosive diarrhea? Well, if so, this Punditocracy is gonna be the most magical festival of human liquid expellant EVER!

Condi Rice! Trent Lott! Phill Kline! Rudy Giuliani! Evel Knievel! It's a who's who of the damned for this week's Actual News! Plus a lot of stuff about Lawrence: Top 20 Other Places the Lawrence City Commission Wants to Shut Down 1. Bourgeois Pig (too pinko) 2. International House of Pancakes (too global) 3. African Adorned (too African) 4. Replay Lounge (too sodomite) 5. Tres Mexicanos (three mexicans too many) 6. Goodwill (too poor) 7. Red Lyon Tavern (too Irish) 8. Paddy O'Quigley's (way too Irish) 9. Granada (too...Granada-y) 10. Super Target (too often pronounced with French accent) 11. Mediterranean Market (too Greek) 12. It's Brother's! (too greek) 13. Free State Brewery (too abolitionist) 14. Pieroguys (too wherever-the-hell-pierogies-come-from) 15. The Hookah Bar (too Islamofascist) 16. The Merc (too white people with dreadlocks) 17. Schlotzky's Deli (too potentially Jewish) 18. Liquid Tan (too brown) 19. The Bottleneck (too close to Last Call...blackness may be contagious) 20. Ethics panel investigating Lawrence City Commission (too ethical)

Racism! Flooding! Corruption! Shopping! It's Punditocracy's Actual News, and it's doing its best to make a mockery of the most depressing news stories of our day. Join President Bush, Kanye West and Mark Mangino for another coarsening of our national discourse! Did we mention shopping?

Presented by the Missouri Tourism Board (formerly the Grand Council of Aryan Confederacy) "Howdy, stranger! Lovely day for a constitutional, wouldn't you agree? Say, where 'ya headed? What's that? Someplace with art, culture and a diversified gene pool? Well, you've obviously never been to Missouri, partner. Yes, Missouri...we're the 18th largest state, our official tree is the flowering dogwood, and we haven't had a typhus outbreak in over three weeks. And you can take that to the Jew run bank!"

Nathan Explosion, William Murderface, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Toki Wartooth, and Pickles want to melt your face off. For that is what Dethklok, the metalest of all metal bands they form, was born from the fiery pits to do. Their debut album, "The Dethalbum," was the highest charting death metal album in Billboard history. That's it. But wait, there's more: their DVD's are consistently best sellers, and their current tour, including a stop here in Lawrence, has sold out across the country. They're also a cartoon. Dethklok is the fictional band around which the Adult Swim animated series "Metalocalypse" revolves, and they're now eager to violently penetrate your ear-holes in person. The show was created by Brendon Small, formerly of Adult Swim's "Home Movies," who writes and performs virtually all of the groin-gouging music for "Metalocalypse." He's decided to take Dethklok out on the road for a multimedia assault, and while it may be damn funny, it's no joke. There's going to be an honest to Odin band, fronted by Small, performing live under footage of Dethklok as they disembowel this or that. Brendon Small was kind enough the step into our animated podcast studio the day before Dethklok was set to annihilate senses at KU.

News! With sounds! What will those magicians on the web-tubes think of next!?!? KU football, city hall corruption, and Paris Hilton doing things with elephants are but some of the hubbub from this week's Actual News. It's Punditocracy's podcast palaver of the past week! UPDATE: According to Paris Hilton's publicist, the story in this week's Actual News regarding Hilton's activism on behalf of drunken elephants--and the villagers they've killed in north east India--is a hoax.*..."Paris Hilton giving a crap about what happens to poor people in developing countries? This story was obviously concocted," said the publicist. "I mean, she couldn't find India on a map of India, let alone pronounce the north eastern states of 'Assam and Meghalaya.' Concerned about elephant welfare? The woman upholstered her stretch Hummer in elephant skin and bathes in liquefied tusk ivory every night. Once again, the media has irresponsibly portrayed Paris Hilton as a caring human being. For shame, media-for shame."

Top 20 Interesting Facts About Lance Armstrong Dating Ashley Olsen 1. Olsen can use a Live Strong bracelet as a hula hoop 2. Armstrong enjoys saying "I'm gettin' my Tour de Freak on" 3. Olsen likes being with one of the few men alive who's been more doped than her 4. In a pinch, Armstrong can use Olsen as a replacement spoke in his bike wheel 5. Armstrong feels a sentimental connection with Olsen since she's the same age as his testicle was when it died 6. In a fit of spite, Cheryl Crow is now dating adorable "Jerry Maguire" wunderkind, Jonathan Lipnicki 7. Armstrong is never quite sure if he's making out with Mary Kate or Ashley--and he really doesn't give a damn 8. Olsen's former "Full House" costar, Dave Coulier--when informed of the relationship--was heard uttering the phrase "sloppy seconds" 9. When bumpin' uglies, the loud washboard sounds--emitted by Armstrong and Olsen's bony rib cages grinding together--attracts jug bands from far and wide 10. Inspired by her new beau, Olsen is releasing a series of "Heave Strong" bracelets to celebrate her vigorous bulimia 11. Armstrong already has his sights set on Suri Cruise 12. Taking an inappropriately young and emaciated mistress is Armstrong's way of getting back into the good graces of the French people 13. Armstrong friend Matthew McConaughey, while really high, mistook Olsen for a chihuahua--but still hit on her anyway 14. Armstrong and Olsen enjoy sharing romantic dinners of IV bags filled with Red Bull and cocaine 15. Mary Kate Olsen "will not be ignored" and has inquired if Armstrong has any pet rabbits 16. When they first started dating, Olsen initially thought Armstrong was "that guy who did something on the moon or something" 17. Armstrong, for his part, initially thought Olsen was a flesh eating goblin brought about by steroid withdrawals 18. Adding to their long list of similar interests, Armstrong's Nike merchandise and Olsen's teen fashion line are made at the same Chinese sweat shop 19. Olsen can conveniently fit in the basket on Armstrong's handle bars 20. It makes for great Actual News fodder (along with Britney Spears, Pervez Musharraf, and the Writer's Guild strike)

Garth Brooks, the Boston Red Sox and flesh eating ghouls (other than Robert Novak) round out the round up of this week's Actual News. Zombies gotta eat too, fool, so fatten up your brain with Punditocracy's knowledge nuggets!

It's our super spooky Halloween edition of Punditocracy's Actual News! Granted, it's mostly made spooky by the terrifying return of Phill Kline, but we also have chill inducing tid-bits on Stephen Colbert, Sam Brownback and homosexual warlocks. Stuff your gullet with candy corn and our caramel coated podcast!

What can be said about Robert Novak that hasn't already been said? He's a veteran Washington reporter that's established himself as the preeminent conservative opinion maker of the last fifty years. He's a nationally syndicated columnist, has been a prominent cable news commentator, helped define modern political discourse-oh, and he's the guy that outed undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. He doesn't like to talk much about that, however. Even though he had no problem blabbing the classified identity of Plame in his column-passed along to him by Karl Rove as part of a coordinated effort to discredit her husband, Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy-Novak is ironically tight lipped when it comes to discussing the matter today. You can't really blame him, though, considering that he may have come very close to jail time during the resulting investigation into the Plame leak by US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald sent journalist Judith Miller to jail for contempt and convicted Dick Cheney hatchet man Scooter Libby of obstruction of justice, so Novak's probably still a bit squeamish about the whole thing. Aside from that inconsequential chapter of his life in which he was the catalyst for one of America's most infamous political scandals, Novak's life is an open book-a book called "Prince of Darkness: 50 Years of Reporting In Washington," which you can conveniently buy following Novak's lecture at the Dole Center of Politics. He'll even sign it for you! Just don't mention Valerie Plame-and for God's sake, whatever you do, don't bring up Jon Stewart. Robert Novak was kind enough to join lawrence.com over the phone and not discuss a lot of things.

Great Ann Coulter's Adam's Apple! Punditocracy's froth flinging fulmination format has returned from exile! Aaron and Gavon go pie-hole to pie-hole about who's going to get more shat upon by the Bush Administration: poor sick kids or Iran. We also slip in some references to Larry Craig, Fred Thompson's zombie campaign, and pre-mortem masturbation to make up for lost time. The punditry part of Punditocracy has returned! It's over an hour of commercial and decency free opinions that you didn't even realize you needed! It's a politics and culture resurrection...praise Brownback!

Obscure fat jokes collide with not so obscure fat jokes! Al Gore, KU football, NSA wiretapping and competitive alcoholism get the Actual News treatment. It's Punditocracy's pod-sized digestive of not so current events!

Britney Spears, Willy the Wildcat, Larry Craig and other unspeakable atrocities make the cut for this week's roundup of unpleasant news. Strap on your MP3-alator and absorb Punditocracy's Actual News!

Neil LaBute is not a bastard. Nor is Neil LaBute a misanthrope, a misogynist or a malcontent. Despite the repellent nature of the characters and scenarios he's conjured for stage and screen, LaBute-over the phone, anyway-is a pretty likable guy. He's not one of the soulless, woman-hating corporate assholes from is breakout film "In the Company of Men." He isn't a manipulative, callow prick like the cretins who populate his play and movie, "The Shape of Things." He's none of these things-but he's eerily good at creating these convincingly awful people and placing them in a morally repugnant fictional world. His acidic body of work also includes "Your Friends and Neighbors" and "Nurse Betty" for film, along with "Fat Pig" and "In A Dark Dark House" for theater. LaBute, in fact, is so unlike one of his sociopathic douchebags that he will be returning to KU-where he received a masters degree in theater and film in 1989-to kindly deliver a lecture on his work called "Life Onstage and on Film." Also uncocksuckerlike of him, LaBute took time out of finishing his upcoming film, "Lakeview Terrace" (with Samuel L. Jackson,) to chat with little ol' lawrence.com. He spoke with us from his editing suite in Los Angeles about revisiting Lawrence, conspiracy theories surrounding his work, and having his own adjective.

Although he adamantly refuses to be defined by it, Andrew Roufa's wrenching personal history and its influence on his hip-hop persona, Adru the Misphit, is difficult to ignore. Born in Texas and raised in Manhattan, Kan., the 33-year-old Roufa has spent many of the last 10 years in mental or correctional institutions following an LSD triggered slide into what doctors diagnosed as bipolar manic-depression. Frequent psychotic episodes led to sometimes brutal encounters with the law in Manhattan and Kansas City, nearly costing him his freedom and potentially more. Relocating to Lawrence, the world weary MC has since taken control of his life and redoubled his passion for music. The end product of these therapeutic sessions is "Dying on My Feet," Adru the Misphit's first full length album. The album is a who's who of area hip-hop luminaries, featuring production and guest appearances from Nezbeat, Miles Bonny, Johnny Quest, iD and others. "Dying on My Feet" intertwines cutting social commentary with haunting beats, taking the listener on a grim journey not just through Adru's personal travails, but the American psyche as well. It's a journey the Misphit hopes will serve as both warning and inspiration. Andrew Roufa joined us to talk about life, liberty and the pursuit of "pegging" the Bush twins.

There's some stuff in here about Bush, Iraq and a lawsuit against God...but we all know you came for the Japanese bestiality restaurant. Just...just listen to it and get it over with. Punditocracy's Actual News Podcast: We Report, You Throw Up A Little Bit In Your Mouth.

"We'll say someone wronged me and leave it at that," says Etta Vendetta of her name's shadowy origin. It's an appropriately dramatic tease from this burlesque vixen, whose stage presence and very art form is predicated upon titillation. And much like the artifice of burlesque, that answer is a complete put-on. Vendetta is quick to admit that she actually picked her stage name because she's a big fan of Etta James, and, well, "Vendetta" rhymes with "Etta." It's just a badass name. "But that's not as interesting as it could be," confesses the consummate entertainer alternately known as Amie Nelson. Vendetta is a founding mother of Kansas City bump and grinders the Burly-Q Girly Crew, model for Nikol Lohr's Naughty Needles, vocalist with KC rockers The Afterparty, and producer of Etta Vendetta's Eyeful Tower-a music and striptease revue that frequently sheds clothing in music venues. Etta Vendetta joined lawrence.com to bare all about baring all.

On this somber memorial of September 11th, we must never forget...the stuff that happened last week. That's why Actual News is here! Osama, Mangino, Pavarotti, Popcorn Lung and much more in this super sized bonus edition of the Punditocracy news-pod.

No, YOUdaho! Everything from Larry Craig to gay marriage in Iowa make the not-so-straight round up for Punditocracy's Actual News. Owen Wilson and queer behavior in a bathroom not related to closeted Idaho senators also inform our melange. Widen your stance and flush directly into your iPod!

News that's been aged like fine cheese, it's Punditocracy's Actual News! Gonzales' resignation, Gitmo in Kansas, and Bush's book report are but a few of the moldy curds we serve up for your informational gastronomy. Spread liberally on your iPod and feed it to your malnourished brain.

The pomade-slathered grease monkey club known as "Los Punk Rods" were conceived in a North Lawrence garage in 1999. Back in the day, this informal cabal of custom car gearheads would show off their handmade hot rods to like-minded modders at intimate picnics in Burcham Park, knocking back beers and enjoying some rockabilly tunes. These lazy Sunday exhibitions were eventually souped up into the annual fuel-injected beast known as "Greaserama." Todd Karnahan, known by some as "Punk Rod Todd" and founder of the club which bears his soubriquet, describes "Greaserama" as "a rod and custom show, and sort of a custom culture festival. It's all geared toward home-built, low-buck and traditional nostalgia type hot rods and motorcycles." For the second year in a row, "Greaserama" will be held at the Boulevard Drive-In in Kansas City, where movies will be screened and live music will be blared to supplement a lot full of monster machines. Todd Karnahan joined us to talk about punks, pistons and pomades.

Last week's news, this week's spew! Medical marijuana in Kansas, Michael Vick, war with Iran, and Hurricane Dean are but a few of the topics we regurgitate into your pod-hole. It's Punditocracy's ready made news aggregator for the intellectually lazy!

"I aimed for the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach," lamented Upton Sinclair about his misunderstood, landmark polemic "The Jungle." Turning Sinclair's bellyaching on its head, the organizers of the "Go Organic!" film festival are hoping to spur social change by aiming directly for the gut. Lawrence activist group Films for Action have teamed up with national non-profit Sustainable Table to screen the Rural Route Film Festival. The touring festival features a collection of animated and documentary shorts dealing with how what we eat-and how it's made-impacts our bodies and our environment. Throw in free food from sustainability-conscious Lawrence eatery Local Burger and get Simran Sethi-eco-journalist and host of "The Green" on Sundance Channel-to MC the event, and you've got the "Go Organic!" foodie fest. Tim Hjersted from Films for Action, Local Burger owner Hilary Brown, and Simran Sethi joined us to preview "Go Organic!" and explain why sustainable food simultaneously hits the public in the stomach and the heart.