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ARTS & CULTURE
HOROSCOPES »
WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, OCT. 19, 2015
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Find and tranquility
over the next two days.
Make time for them.
Make time for private rituals. You're especially sensitive. Allow for miracles. Beware misunderstandings. Forgive a fool. Meditate in seclusion. Make plans and weed out impractical ideas. Guard your health.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Friends are helpful. Check
public opinion today and
tomorrow. Accommodate
someone's demands. A new scheme occurs to you, but hold on to your money. First, get organized. You don't have to do it all. Set meetings. Discuss the plan.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Focus to find solutions.
A challenge at work occupies
you over the next few days.
If the financial situation
seems unstable, make
adaptations and compromises. Communication
breakdowns could stall the
action. Have a backup plan.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Be prepared to move quickly. Someone's demanding action ... help them see the bigger picture. Educational journeys hold your focus today and tomorrow. Handle practical priorities, and weigh pros and cons before making reservations. Will the trip generate business?
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) Manage accounts and review numbers today and tomorrow. What you're learning contradicts what you thought. Don't get stopped by the past. Patiently tend your garden. Guard your resources. Keep your agreements. Work out details with your partner.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Consult a good strategist.
Converse with someone attractive over the next few days. Work with a partner to get farther. Learn how to make your system better.
Let go of a preconception.
Misunderstandings are.
Misunderstandings are likely. Listen carefully.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
For the next two days, fulfill promises you've made.
Profit from impeccable service. The details are important. Use logic and new methods to make life easier.
The workload could get intense. Mistakes are part of the learning process.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Relax and enjoy good company over the next few days. Practice your tricks and play around.
Don't forget a get together. Someone may be counting on you. Keep things simple. Lay low with someone cute.
Sagittarius(Nov.22-Dec.21)
Your home and family require more attention over the next two days. Keep costs down ... make improvements without great expense. Repurpose something you already have. Clean, sort and organize. Play with color and fabrics. Try mood lighting.
Capricorn(Dec.22-Jan.19)
Tempers could fray. Carefully choose your words today
and tomorrow. Cleverly craft your message, Check plans and directions. Solutions come from far away. In a conflict of interest, avoid antagonizing your elders. Make it easy on yourself.
Aquarius (Jan.20-Feb.18) The next two days could get extra profitable. Get tools and supplies together. Return communications quickly. Don't spend yet. New information could change your choice. Misunderstandings could prove costly, so take it slow. Consider a spiritual perspective.
Pisces (Feb.19-March 20) Take charge. You're ready to make changes for the better today and tomorrow. Assertiveness works well now. Clean up your speech. Postpone financial discussion. Find ways to cut stress and tension. Ignore nastiness. Proceed with caution.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Former University student Drue Kennedy is the new executive chef at the Eldridge Hotel.
A professional cooking career, from Lawrence to K.C. - then back again
RYAN MILLER
@Ryanmiller UDK
There's a new chef in town, but he's hardly new to Lawrence.
Drue Kennedy, a former University student, is the new executive chef for the Eldridge Hotel on Massachusetts Street. Kennedy said to expect a wide variety of dishes to choose from, including some with Mexican flair from his previous stint with Zocalo on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo.
"There probably will be dishes that will utilize some of those flavors, and techniques, but as an 'American style' restaurant, we kind of do the whole palate," Kennedy said. "It's a country of immigrants so we can do a little bit of everything, and so I intend to do that."
Kennedy's career switch from Kansas City to Lawrence came after he received an unexpected email asking for an interview for his current position after he had applied for the job several years ago.
"I got an email out of the blue from Nancy [Longhurst], our general manager, asking if I'd be interested in interviewing, and I hopped on it," Kennedy said.
The historic location is also what attracted Kennedy to working at the hotel.
"It's always been such a cool, historic venue, and the fact that it's supposed to be haunted is also kind of cool," Kennedy said. "The idea of working in a haunted hotel is kind of cool."
Kennedy said his history as a chef dates back to when he decided to take a year off after attending the University. After the coffee shop he was washing dishes for went out of business, his friend set him up with a job as a cook for Teller's restaurant, which is now Merchants Pub and Plate.
"I had no intention of being a cook, but I needed to pay my bills, so I started cooking at Tellers," Kennedy said. "After about a year and a half of not going back to school, I was thinking about going back to school, and then I started thinking about cooking for a living."
Kennedy found a chef who took him under his wing, and 22 years later, he is still cooking. Over the years, Kennedy said he worked under several talented chefs who helped him become the chef he is today.
"I did train under a lot of really talented guys that were always willing to push me and encouraged me to push myself," Kennedy said, "I feel I'm being successful when I'm not letting myself get lazy — mentally or creatively."
Kennedy said his influences for cooking come from other chefs, ingredients he comes across, and his staff.
"If they want to learn something that I don't know or I can't do, then I have to learn it so I can teach them, or we'll learn it together," Kennedy said. "So it's nice to have a staff
that will push me to become a better cook."
Kennedy said he's inspired to cook by food that he would want to eat.
"For the most part I tend to cook dishes that sound good to me and that taste good to me," he said. "I don't have a lot of luck trying to cook outside of that paradigm, and luckily I have a pretty broad flavor palate that I like."
The hardest challenge for Kennedy isn't cooking — it's the commute from Kansas City to Lawrence. He is still searching for housing in Lawrence.
"[The commute is] just a nice kind of way to unwind and let go some of the stress," Kennedy said. "But it's time away from my wife and stepson and dogs."
Looking toward the future, Kennedy said he wants to eventually own his own restaurant.
"The ultimate dream would be to have a little bed-andbreakfast out in the country
somewhere that my wife and I would run," Kennedy said. "The older I get, the more I think that living kind of out in the middle of nowhere appeals to me."
Kennedy said the biggest takeaway he wishes for people eating his food is a delicious meal and good service.
"If you're willing to try and experiment that's great, but for the most part I just want you to eat something delicious," he said. "I just want to make you happy, I want you to leave having felt that you've been taken care of."
Kennedy said one thing to expect from his cooking is for it to not always be the same.
The Sharp Sisters opened for David Cook at the Lied Center on Saturday night. JOHN CLAYTON/CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
"I'd like to think that my cooking now would be different from my cooking last year regardless, because it's always going to change and shift and grow," he said. "I'm not the same cook now that I was a year ago, or two years ago, or 10 years ago."
— Edited by Derek Skillett
Talent show winners collide: The Sharp Sisters of KU's Got Talent and 'Idol' winner David Cook
RYAN MILLER
@Ryanmiller_UDK
Not many up-and-coming bands get the chance to open for a famous musician, but on Saturday night at the Lied Center, sophomore twin sisters Amanda and Kelley Sharp from Olathe were the opening act for David Cook, the winner of "American Idol" season seven.
"It was just a really good feeling," Kelley said. "The audience was just really receptive, the sound was great, the lighting was great, everything was great."
Although the Lied Center wasn't packed, the audience was still loud, enthusiastic and supportive of the twins and Cook.
The Sharp Sisters heard about the chance to open for Cook several days ago after the executive director of the Lied Center, Derek Kwan, asked them to submit their music to be approved by Cook's management.
During the twins' opening act, they performed nearly half a dozen original songs, including "Devil and Me," "Forever and Always," and the song that won them KU's Got Talent last year, "Haystack."
The audience became even
more receptive with each song, and by the time their last song, "Con-man," ended, the twins were getting loud cheers and support from everyone.
"It's a good experience, it's great to open for someone that people actually know," Amanda said.
Kelley said she wasn't worried about performing.
"I was more nervous to be opening for David Cook than to actually perform" she said.
"That's how people get famous, that's how you get discovered, you slowly earn your spot as the headliner," Amanda said. "Most people don't just rocket to stardom."
Amanda said that opening for David Cook, or any famous artist, would help them get their foot in the door in the future.
Standing with the crowd were the sisters' parents, Brent and Holly Sharp, who both went to the University.
"As a mom, it was really rewarding to hear them at a venue where they could be really appreciated. It was a great evening, and we appreciate all that Lawrence gives the girls," Holly said.
Brent said he was pleased with how the show turned out.
1 thought they did a really
winner was an experience she said she would never forget.
Haley Hennier, a sophomore from Kansas City who was working at the show, said she enjoyed the Sharp Sisters' music.
good job," he said. "The sound here at the Lied Center is just phenomenal, and it just really helped out, but I thought their set was excellent."
"I thought they were actually really awesome. I had like never heard of them before, and I was pleasantly surprised that they sounded really good live and put on a cool show," Hennier said.
Hennier ended up doing more than just working at Cook's show. After dancing to the music in the back, Cook called out to her from across
Hennier said that although she was nervous, the experience was exciting and hilarious.
the room and said that everyone should have been dancing like her. After mishearing her name and calling Hennier "AJ," Cook started a new song and called her onto the stage to lead the audience with her dancing.
Meeting David Cook live on stage and getting a picture taken with the "American Idol"
"I was shaking because I was nervous, but I ran back to my friend who was in the bazk and we screamed a little bit because we were fan-girling from middle school 'American Idol,' Hennier said.
"Thirteen-year-old me cried a little bit," she said. "It was pretty nostalgic."
Cook rounded out the night by playing some of his older music, a couple covers and some songs from his new album. Cook interacted with the audience quite a bit during the show — he responded to some comments, talked about the Royals and made fun of his brother, who was in the back of the room.
Over all, the night went off without a hitch for Cook and the Sharp Sisters, and Amanda Said it was the little things that counted in the end.
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