Ask a Mexican: Run for the border
Dear Mexican: Why are there Mexicans in the Border Patrol? What a hypocritical thing to do to our people. —Carne Asada Carlos Dear Wab: Not only are Mexicans in the Border Patrol, but la migra’s own figures show that Latinos make up about 52 percent of the immigration police force, comfortably outnumbering gabachos (that pop…
Humana demolition
Humana Demolition The old Humana building at the corner of Third and Main streets crumbled last Saturday after 500 pounds of explosives were detonated inside the structure. The building implosion was a major step toward construction of a downtown arena, which will serve as the new home for the University of Louisville’s basketball teams. The…
Guest Commentary: In God We Trust?
Joe Phelps In God We Trust? I’m a big fan of God. But Gov. Steve Beshear’s proposal to allow Kentuckians to opt for car license tags that replace the state slogan “Unbridled Spirit” with “In God We Trust” seems like a nice idea with complicated and confusing consequences. I could be accused of professional jealousy…
Summary of My Discontent: Auto Reply
I am currently out of the office and unavailable via e-mail, landline, cell phone, Blackberry, IM, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Friendster or walking up and saying “hi.” Until I return, below are some helpful resources. For spiritual guidance, please consult Emerson’s “Nature,” Merton’s “Zen and the Birds of Appetite,” or Carlin’s “When Will Jesus Bring the…
Editor’s Note: Head of the class
It is June 28, 2007, and a couple handfuls of people are killing time in the superintendent’s conference room on the third floor of the Van Hoose Education Center, headquarters of Jefferson County Public Schools and the Board of Education. A television is tuned to CNN. Laptop computers are dialed into various legal blogs, as…
Inbox — July 22, 2008
CORRECTIONS • Last week’s dining review on Caffe Perusa listed an incorrect telephone number. The number is 491-5459. • In last week’s Music Issue, a story said the band Second Story Man received a grant from the Center for Women and Families to fund an album. That grant came from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. …
Gannett Watch
Profits at Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper publisher and owner of The Courier-Journal, dropped by 36 percent in the second quarter, leaving the company’s stock value at a 23-year low. The dive is attributable in part to dwindling revenue at USA Today, Gannett’s flagship newspaper, which reported a 27 percent decline in ad sales in…
Fresh food frenzy: Local food systems become a city priority
The appetite for locally grown food has increased in recent years, and a new study finds farmers need more resources to keep up with the demand for regional produce and meat. Publicly endorsing this “locavore” movement that’s been gaining ground in Louisville, Mayor Jerry Abramson unveiled an initiative last week aimed at doing just that.…
Pleading the First: A journalist avoids testifying about reporting tactics
A Courier-Journal reporter who obtained sealed documents detailing the mental health of an accused murderer will not have to testify, but the judge who quashed the subpoena believes there are other means of uncovering the source of the leak. In sparing reporter Jason Riley from taking the stand last Thursday, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Mary…
What a Week
By Cassie Book & Jane Mattingly +2 If it’s not broke, why fix it? Just ask Jeffersontown Mayor Clay Foreman. Last week, the mayor announced plans for a new software system to track which employees are filling up at the city’s gas pumps. The new system is being installed in the wake of allegations that…
News Xtra: Game back on for Irish Hill development
The developer Poe Cos. announced Monday that it has resumed plans for a $35 million mixed-use development in the Irish Hill neighborhood, citing newfound neighborhood and government support for the controversial project, which would include a grocery store, smaller shops and restaurants, and office space. Poe pulled plans for the development in May after Jefferson…
News Xtra: ACLU forges ahead in discrimination case
It’s been a decade since a government-funded group home fired a Louisville woman for being gay, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union to file suit on her behalf. And although a federal judge dismissed the case earlier this year, the ACLU isn’t ready to call it quits. The ACLU filed a brief last week with…
Fear not the Super Rat, crazy tunnel-dweller
Sara Havens & Aaron Frank Fear not the Super Rat, crazy tunnel-dweller MonsterQuest Episode 206: “Super Rats” History Channel, Wednesdays, 8 p.m., aired July 16. Narrated by Stan Benard. Synopsis: Rats are the stuff of nightmares, and recent archaeological evidence suggests they once grew to massive sizes. Could these huge rodents make a comeback? Waves…
Staffpicks
Jason Sitzes, Mat Herron, Stephen George, Aaron Frank, Caitlin Bowling, T.E. Lyons, Jo Anne Triplett, Jane Mattingly July 23-27 Tom Mabe Louisvillian Tom Mabe makes a return to the Caravan. This time celebrating television achievement: Mabe’s first episode of “Mabe in America” premiered July 4 on CMT to critical acclaim. Known for making prank calls…
Video Tapeworm
Releases through Tuesday, July 29 THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS PRIVILEGE 1967; $29.95, UR Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones plays a mega-rock-star/corporate-shill in this anti-establishment juggernaut, described by one reviewer as “an immoral and un-Christian picture which mocked the Church, defied authority and encouraged youth in lewd practice!” Our kinda movie! Co-starring the world’s first…
Hayes Carll? Call ahead
Hayes Carll: Call ahead Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll recently put out an exceptional album. Trouble in Mind is Carll’s third — and once again, he shows himself as one of the brightest and most self-effacing figures you’ll see taking to a roadhouse stage. Sometimes he’s plugging in with rough humor — you’ll even hear a…
Film Reviews
‘Flight of the Red Balloon’ offers kinder, gentler cinema (Starring Juliette Binoche, Hippolyte Girardot, Song Fang, Simon Iteanu and Louise Margolin. Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. UR; 1:54. LEO Report Card: B+) There are quieter, more peaceful directors than Hou Hsiao-Hsien, but not many. The Taiwanese director is part of a generation of international filmmakers who…
The 7th Annual Forecastle Festival Schedule
The 7th Annual Forecastle Festival The Riverfront Belvedere $15-$20 advance/ $18-$23 door Two/Three-Day and V.I.P. Passes available www.forecastlefest.com Thursday Rooftop of Glassworks (815 W. Market St.) Kick-Off Party — 7 p.m. $6; all ages with The Fervor — 8 p.m. The Protomen — 9 p.m. Lucky Pineapple — 10 p.m. DJs Matt Anthony & Woodrow…
Dance mixer: Disco Biscuits want to mess with your head
Aron Magner doesn’t have much time to describe the upcoming album by his band Disco Biscuits, because he’s trotting from car to studio. But the keyboardist isn’t going in to lay down tracks. It’s for rehearsals for a homegrown festival that the band has been hosting since 1999. Disco Biscuits: Photo by Dave Vann Camp…
Golden boys: Chicago indie rock meets Kenyan dance in Extra Golden
Guitarist Ian Eagleson was studying musicology and had traveled to Nairobi on a research grant for his doctoral dissertation on Benga, a popular form of Kenyan dance music he’d been studying since 2000. At the time he was a member of the Chicago indie-rock band Golden, alongside friend and guitarist Alex Minoff, who — when…
A little help from his friends: Benefit to raise money for Louisville musician with MS
A secret is near-impossible to keep, especially a juicy one that includes a couple-hundred people and at least six bands at a well-known venue. But for the last few months, friends and family have been keeping from Jeff Walls the fact that a benefit has been planned in his honor at Jim Porter’s. The big…
Deltron 40202: Del Tha Funky Homosapien storms Forecastle
Independence for a rapper can be a scary proposition. Rap has long been the hired gun of the major labels, easy money on the backs of young and naïve would-be entrepreneurs. Given the current woes of the music industry, if you took major label hip-hop money out of the equation, the lean times of 2008…
Soldier of the Green War
By Christa Martin For the first time in its seven-year history, the Forecastle Festival brings an avowed juggernaut of the American environmental movement to bolster this year’s activism component. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will deliver the festival’s keynote address at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 27, on the West Stage. RFK JR: ILLUSTRATION BY JOE…
Music & Other Ephemera: Louisville Does ‘American Idol’
The first season of “American Idol” held auditions in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and Seattle. Seven short seasons later, Louisville is added to the agenda. Finally, area hopefuls will have their chance to show Randy, Paula and Simon just what they’ve been missing by skipping our city. Well, maybe. In order to make…
Industry Standard: Insider Info for Those Who Dine Out
by Marsha Lynch Behind the Kitchen Door: Part I Even if you’ve never worked in a restaurant, you’ve probably found yourself contemplating the kitchen door, wondering: What exactly is back there? How many people? How roomy is it? You have a right to be curious: They’re making your food back there. Well, follow me. But…
Say konnichiwa to Asahi, St. Matthews” neighborhood sushi bar
If the rate that new Japanese restaurants and sushi bars are coming to town these days continues unabated, I’ve calculated that by May 18, 2021, there should be an individual sushi bar for every citizen of the Derby City. I’ve reviewed enough new local sushi spots in recent months that I’m starting to wonder if…
Music Reviews
Shawn Telford, Aaron Frank, Caitlin Bowling Music Reviews Modern Guilt Beck (DGC) For as laid back and bitchin’ as Beck’s latest collection of amalgamated pop, lo-fi folk and fuzzy rock songs is, Mellow Gold would have been a perfectly apt title. He’s already used it, so Modern Guilt it is. Yes, the electronic minimalism and…
Mug Shots
Share the hops Two months from now, I’ll be leading a group of six determined beercyclists into the quaint, clean streets of Poperinge, Belgium, where we’ll attend the town’s triennial hop festival. It will be my fourth hop festival in Poperinge, dating back to 1999, and I absolutely love it. Hop-growing in West Flanders isn’t…
Aftertastes
JADE PALACE, 1109 Herr Ln., 425-9878. This popular local Chinese eatery has been around for about 20 years, and recently got a new look as the Westport Village renovation put a fancy facade on the old building. (Reviewed 6/11/08; Rating: 86) LE RELAIS, Bowman Field, 2817 Taylorsville Rd., 451-9020, www.lerelaisrestaurant.com. Some French restaurants may be…
Suburban Turmoil: In the Company of Women
I’m not what you’d call a girl’s girl. Plunk me down in a group of women and it’s not long before the squeals, shrill gabbing and veiled bitchery leave me jonesing for my migraine medication and a nice, dark room. As a single girl, this was OK — glorified, even. I was the hapless chick…
