<PARTY>
Wednesday, Dec. 31
New Year’s Eve
For as much as I like to go out and have a good time, you’d think this would be one of my favorite holidays. Wrong. I hate New Year’s Eve. I hate tall cover charges and free champagne. I hate unfulfilled expectations. I hate not kissing someone at midnight and being called out for it. I hate waiting for taxis. I hate having too many options that all suck.
So instead of continuing with my assault on partying, I’ll use this space for something, eh, useful. Here are some numbers to keep handy: City Scoot (566-6384); Ready Cab (657-0360), Yellow Cab (636-5511); Taxi Taxi (339-0708); Cross Town Taxi (375-0204); Louisville Transportation Co. (637-6511); Green Cab (635-6400) and Day & Night Taxi Service (777-5516). —Sara Havens
<MUSIC>
Thursday, Jan. 1
Zandt it do
The digs are different, but the theme’s the same. The Monkey Wrench will host this year’s Townes Van Zandt tribute, which honors one of the grittiest, gutsiest songwriters ever to strap on an acoustic.
This concert celebrates Van Zandt’s life by featuring local artists covering their favorite songs from his oeuvre. You don’t necessarily have to like Van Zandt’s music to appreciate the spirit behind the event, and it’s a chance to keep from becoming a New Year’s Day cliché: sitting on your ass, bemoaning the lush surroundings that overtook you the previous evening.
Among the artists scheduled to perform are Tim Krekel, Brigid Kaelin, Mickey Clark, Paul K., Hambone, and Kathleen Hoye. Van Zandt’s widow and son might show up, as they have in years past. —Mat Herron
The Monkey Wrench
1024 Barret Ave.
582-2433
Free (donations accepted); 8 p.m.
<HOOP>
Saturday, Jan. 3
‘Hardwood Classic’
The WHAS Crusade for Children has been around since 1954 and has, in that time, raised more than $123 million for local kiddos with special needs. This year, WHAS-11 sports director Kyle Draper adds the “Hardwood Classic,” a hoops tourney featuring some local celebs who may or may not be able to actually play basketball.
Former UK b-ball standout Scott Padgett and former U of L QB Dave Ragone top the list, which includes Tony Stallings, Duane Lightfoot, Mario Urrutia, Keenan Burton, and R. Prophet. For the record, that’s two hoopsters, four footballers, one rapper, and one sports anchor. Should be a legit hoot. —Stephen George
Hoops
12101 Sycamore Station Place
81-HOOPS
www.whascrusade.org
$10 gen. admission, $25 reserved; 7 p.m.
<THEATER>
Jan. 1-18
Pandora’s ‘Pulp’
Lesbian pulp fiction novels were prevalent in the ’50s, yet purchasing one as a woman was like coming out at a cash register. First written as masturbation material for men, many prominent lesbians started penning stories using pseudonyms, including Ann Bannon, Marijane Meaker and Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Pandora Productions’ latest production “Pulp” is a throwback to the pulp fiction era — mixing camp, comedy and music with the backdrop of Chicago’s The Well, a predecessor of Tink’s, if you will. Written by Patricia Kane with music by Andre Pluess and Amy Warren, the story follows butch Terry Logan as her life intertwines with the characters she stumbles upon at The Well. —Sara Havens
Henry Clay Building
604 S. Third St.
www.pandoraprods.org
$17 ($15 adv.); 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m. on Jan. 4 & 10)
<MUSIC>
Friday, Jan. 2
Sonic Epitaph
In metal world, a kiss is as good as a bite. In metal world, the double kick drum is a mating call. In metal world, goatees attract women in leather and roses.
On Friday, metal world invades Phoenix Hill during Eddy Metal’s Original Rock Showcase. One of the bands featured is Sonic Epitaph from La Grange. It’s pretty easy to write off bands that identify themselves as “symphonic metal,” probably because of that dorky guy you went to high school with who was really into Dream Theater. Sonic Epitaph wears the symphonic metal tag without being (too) overly dramatic or singing about spaceships and elves. There’s a certain amount of theatricality to their songs, a theatricality that great metal thrives on, that says, “Yeah, I hurt. But I’d rather rock.”
Just remember: In metal world, if your head splits open, that means everything’s going to be all right. —Hank Willenbrink
Phoenix Hill Tavern
644 Baxter Ave.
589-4957
www.phoenixhill.com
$5; 8 p.m.
<ART>
Jan. 2-30
‘Processional of Holy Women’
Glynis Mary McManamon is an artist who also happens to be a Roman Catholic nun. Her order focuses on disadvantaged women and girls, a topic McManamon also tackles as an artist. Her forte includes historical and contemporary women who have been martyred, lost to history or misrepresented.
One of the paintings in her “Processional of Holy Women: Courageous Women in the Sacred and Secular World” exhibit is “The Holy Myrrh-bearing Women,” featuring one of the most famous women in the Bible. McManamon explains: “The deal with these seven ladies is they were the first to see Jesus’s resurrection when they went to anoint his body with myrrh and spices. The center figure is St. Mary Magdalen. There’s been a tradition of referring to her as a reformed prostitute (which is not accurate); of course, we also have ‘The Da Vinci Code’ stuff. But her title is most correctly ‘The Apostle to the Apostles.’ All these ladies had means, and they gave financial support to Jesus’s ministry.”
More of McManamon’s work can be seen in her studio, Shepherding Images, at 1910 Bardstown Road. —Jo Anne Triplett
Wayside Expressions Gallery
800 E. Market St.
584-3711
www.waysidechristianmission.org
<FIRE>
Jan. 2-31
‘Playing With Fire’
Fire. Heat. Steam. Some people like playing with this stuff — and they’re not on the run from the police.
Flame Run Hotshop and Gallery is exhibiting glass by its staff of pyromaniacs. The 10 resident artists include co-owners Brook Forrest White Jr. and Susie Slabaugh White, plus Tiffany Ackerman, Jon Capps, Mike Hudson, Paul Nelson, Paul Hugues and Amy Pender.
All of them have different techniques. If you aren’t familiar with their work, it’s worth a visit to meet some of our esteemed local fire starters. —Jo Anne Triplett
Flame Run Hotshop and Gallery
828 E. Market St.
584-5353
www.flamerun.com
<THEATER>
Jan. 6-Feb. 7
Love some ‘Match Games’
I’m gonna go ahead and blame the economy for my cold, cold heart. Where is the love, you ask? Where the money is, I say. And neither is circling this decrepit, bitter soul. So perhaps I should try to thaw my frozen pipes, so to speak, at Actors Theatre’s “Match Games” this month. Billed as a series of 10 short plays on all things love — including but not limited to marriage, dating and threesomes (OK, I just added the last one) — “Match Games” features such shorts as “Sure Thing” by David Ives, “2B (or Not 2B)” by Jacquelyn Reingold and “Eros is Sore Spelled Backwards” by Martin Russell. Assembled by Actors Theatre’s former associate artistic director Michael Bigelow Dixon and literary manager Amy Wegener, the plays will use the same five actors.
If “Match Games” can’t warm my inner love child, perhaps I should wait for Obama’s stimulus package to do the trick. —Sara Havens
Actors Theatre
316 W. Main St.
584-1205
www.actorstheatre.org
$23-$44; various times
<ART>
Through March 1
‘All’s Fair in Art and War’
A country at war (squared) + artists creating work that reflects their lives = art on the subjects of war and politics.
Past battles have won us the right to organize an exhibition such as this, where contemporary artists have freedom of expression. They may support or protest our current engagements, but they have the liberty to say it, and this is a show of strong opinions.
Two Louisvillians are among the international cast of artists. Nick Owens’ paintings focus on war corporations (“McSurgency”) and the selling of violence (“Phasers on Stun”). Our recent presidential election is the territory Shayne Hull covers with “McCain (Hesitation)” and “Obama (The Joker).” —Jo Anne Triplett
21c Museum Hotel
700 W. Main St.
217-6300
www.21cmuseum.org