jayplay The University D
Daily Kansan
Thursday February 21,2002 1B
TALK TO US: Contact Kimberly Thompson or Meghan Bainum at (785) 864-4810 or jayplay@kansan.com
STORYTIME: Fun time with Captain Matty and Roscoe on KJHK. SEE PAGE 3B
Yellow House: A decade of variety
SARA SHEPHERD/KANSAN
The Yellow House's cat, Max, looks for a way out of the glass display counter after knocking over a shelf full of Nintendos.
ECLECTIC
Nathan Loukedes, Manchester, N.H., freshman and an employee at The Yellow House, helps a customer The Yellow House, located at 1904 Massachusetts St. sells an ectonic mix of new and used goods, including clothing, wigs and washing machines.
SARASHEPHERD/KANSAN
By Ron Knox
Jayplay writer
Typically, college towns are a mecca for oddities and extremes, serving as a cultural oasis for the young people who live there and the stores and shops they patronize. On occasion, however, the shops elevate themselves to a level above the cultural norms of the area and, in turn, become an icon beyond the culture, serving the community in the most unique of ways.
Such is the Yellow House, a fusion of many conceivable singular stores from appliance repair shop to biker outfitter, at 1904 Massachusetts St., which has been serving Lawrence for a decade.
"We are one of the most well-liked and-known local business," said Nathan Loukedes, a store employee. "We have a lot of strange things here, and people kind of know us for that."
know us for that.
Upon entrance, the merchandise seems diametrically opposed from itself, as if everything had been dropped off by people who assuredly never knew one another. Washers and dryers line the center of the large main room. Above, an assortment of leather goods await purchase and departure, on the back of a Harley.
And the thought arrives: Can leather even be washed? How often can bikers wash their clothes to necessitate ownership of the proper washing equipment?
Then, glancing past the main counter — filled with video games, DVDs and the like — two walls of Styrofoam heads model the other main product of the small strange store: wigs. Any size or shape or even color one could imagine.
"There are lots of different customers for the wigs," Loukedes said. "A lot of college kids want the colored ones for raves and parties. It's kind of a fun thing for kids to do... and they last longer than drugs do.
Aside from the party goers and costume-seekers — e.g., drag queens — the wigs serve a portion of Lawrence who often have nowhere else to turn. These individuals include those stricken with the need for hair after the destructive course of chemotherapy treatments while battling cancer.
"And ever since the Michael Jackson special a few weeks ago, the Afro wigs have been selling like crazy."
The Yellow House is used to this juxtaposition of clientele, as its merchandise is varied enough to serve many different types of people. While the washers and dryers sell themselves, other items are helped off the shelves by students, faculty and staff of the University of Kansas.
"We are one of the most wellliked and-known local business. We have a lot of strange things here, and people kind of know us for that."
Nathan Loukedes store employee
"Professors in the math department send their kids here to get graphing calculators." Loukedes said, pointing at a glass case full of the bulky mathematical devices. "We are usually cheap, and we always have something in that the students can use."
Insofar as community respect, the Yellow House seems to exude it. As a long-time member of the Lawrence retail community, the store has had the opportunity to offer services that are more unique than even the merchandise itself.
"We offer a delivery service that is unmatched in the area," said Carrie Neighbor, who owns the Yellow House with her husband Guy, an ex-football player at the University in the '80s.
Deliveries range from the appliances they sell to legal letters they deliver for local businesses. Since the Yellow House offers the only such service in the area, many, if not all, local stores and employees have used the service at one time or another.
Although its variety of saleable items is vast, the owners implore customers that it is a business with a high standard of quality for its goods and services.
"We are not a pawn shop." Lokedes said. "Everything that comes in the shop goes through a level of maintenance. We only sell certain things, even if that variety is pretty vast."
That being said, the Yellow House will continue to serve an often erratic and diverse college culture, whether through appliance repair service or adornments for party-going heads.
"Lawrence is the capital of weirdness in Kansas," Loukedes said. "And we are 'The Most Unusual Store in Lawrence.'"
Contact Knox at jayplay@kansan.com. This story was edited by Sarah Warren.
RAWK SNOB
Rawk Snob honors borrowed stacks of CDs
Hey, there! What's this you are listening to? Mind if I ask to borrow it for a couple of days — just long enough to burn it, of course — then wait on you to break into my apartment six months later to reclaim it when I forget, despite numerous blunt reminders, that I was supposed to return it?
Even though I guarantee you'll get them back in pristine condition, I'm a pretty irresponsible rakw snob when it comes to returning borrowed material within a reasonable amount of time.
Though there is truly no atonement for ridiculously overdue music, I've decided to honor the very best of the teetering stack of borrowed tunes that occupies the top of my stereo, both speakers and that shoe box I always thought contained the money I was going to spend recording my "Hendrix-period" solo album.
Andy Gassaway agassaway@kansan.com
COMMENTARY
Rest assured, my generous and understanding friends, they are swiftly on their
way back to you. In the meantime, to all of my auditory debtors, here goes my tribute to the cream of my pilfered crop:
This reissue of Silver Apples' 1968 and 1969 releases chronicles the early career of arguably one of the most unique bands of the flower power generation. Dan Taylor's pre-trip-hop drum spasms carry most of the tunes as resident weirdo Simeon sings beat poetry
1. Silver Apples - Silver Apples, 1997.
Believe it or not, upon first hearing "You and I," the thunderous beat and frantic synthetic trumpet wailings made me think I was listening to Public Enemy.
like a Cream-era Jack Bruce while creating priceless space-rock sound fragments with his home-made organ.
This six-song album is brief, atmospheric and comfortably trippy, armed with a warm blanket of guitar accents, gentle female vocals and keyboard flourishes that make getting out of bed in the morning a real chore.
2. Experimental Aircraft — Experimental Aircraft, 2000.
The instrumental pieces, like "The Pod Electric," take center stage on the album, reaching crescendos that break up the bleak, My Bloody Valentine-like drones of blissful amd dementia.
Desaparecidos,2002.
3. Read Music/Speak Spanish
The lead singer, Conor Oberst, has a lo-fi acoustic project called Bright Eyes that I never really dug too heavily, but his rock band, Desaparecidos, has resolved most qualms I had with his singing and songwriting.
The band's sound smacks of a Bossa Nova-era Pixies with an overhaul of new-wave synths fleshing out their raw, spur-of-the-moment sound. Most surprisingly, the lyrics are acutely political, fueling witty rants that would probably make Michael Moore break into a smirk ortwo.
Now that I've had a reasonable amount of time to keep, analyze and cherish these borrowed discs, I suppose the only thing left to do is to begin making the rounds to everyone's doorstep, returning their missing gems. Just as soon as I get that last Replacements album copied.
LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR
TODAY
TODAY
The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire
Robert Randolf / Shannon McNally
The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts
Rev. Horton Heat, Nashville Pussy, Split Lip Rayfield
Grand Emporium, 3832 Main St. Li'l Brian and the Ydeco Travelers
Neiner's, 815 N. Noland Road (Flexible) Bullit, Sakred
namelessnumberheadman, & The Hillary Step
Davey's Uptown Ramblers Club, 3402 Main St.
The Pub, 1727 McGee
The Stella Link, Tyko, To Conquer
Jazzhaus,926 Massachusetts St.
Patriot Son
Mojo's, 714 Vermont Dipt
Gladstone Hall, 7010 N. Holmes St.
El Torreon, 3101 Gillham Plaza Cretin 66, The Gadjits, Very Metal, & The Switch Hitters
Open Sunday, Gyrus, The Dank
TOMORROW
TOMORROW
The Bottleneck
Shiner, Vida Blue, Casket Lottery,
Proudentall
Grand Emporium Robert Randolph & the Family Band Sacred Steel
Jazzhaus Band That Saved the World
SATURDAY
The Capsules KJHK 90.7
The Bottleneck Machinehead / Darwin's Waiting Room/Third Strike
Davey's Uptown Ramblers Club
The People, The Gadjits
Grand Emporium
The Pub
Lonnie Brooksee Rivers Kennedy
rolly Theatre, 300 W. 12th St.
Yellowjackets
Jazzhaus Sellout
SUNDAY
Grand Emporium
Sean Costello
The Bottleneck The Calling
Hurricane, 4048 Broadway Guided By Voices, & The Anniversary
MONDAY
The Bottleneck Open mic night featuring The Clumsy Lovers
Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts
Ani DiFranco
The Bottleneck Electric Orange Creme
Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts
Her Space Holiday, nameless-
numberheadman
The Blue Room, 1616 E. 18th St.
Pat Martino Trio featuring Joey
DeFrancope
TUESDAY
MIDLAND Theatre, 1228 Main St.
The Chieftains
The Bottleneck
Ghostly CD release party, The Letter E, Billy Music
Granada Jay Farrar / Mark Spencer / Anders Parker
Grand Emporium Scene 24, King's X, Moke
WEDNESDAY
The Bottleneck
Sick Of it All, Suicide Machines,
The Distillers, Shai Hulud
Grand Emporium Tabla Rasa, Clumsy Lovers
Jazzhaus DJ Stupac & friends
.