Staffpicks
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11 Murphy’s Law & Dead City Rejects New York hardcore punks Murphy’s Law stop by Uncle Pleasant’s for a no-frills performance the group has managed to make hay out of despite a lack of support from major labels. Fusing hardcore punk with reggae and ska music, Murphy’s Law released more than a dozen…
Cable Boxing – LEO”s weekly TV rehash – Battlestar Geektactica
Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Episode 9: “The Hub” Sci-Fi, Fridays, 10 p.m., aired June 6. Starring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis and Tricia Helfer. Synopsis: In pursuit of the enemy’s Resurrection Hub, a misfit team of Viper pilots and Cylon rebels become uneasy collaborators in formulating a battleplan. Note:…
¡ ASK A MEXICAN ! – Muy caliente summer edition
Dear Readers: The Mexican has previously published only one Best Of column in his nearly four years living under his cousin’s identity in this country, but I must pull this week’s first pregunta out of the archives, because ustedes keep asking it — obviously, not enough of you bought my paperback, since it’s on Page…
Legacy gets green award
On the heels of the announcement that Louisville has the fifth-largest carbon footprint per capita of the country’s 100-biggest cities comes some good green news: The National Association of Home Builders has named Legacy Lofts, that multi-colored condo complex at the corner of East Main and Campbell streets in East Downtown, the “National Multifamily Green…
Summary of My Discontent – Buying a legacy
When Bill Gates retires as Chief Software Architect at Microsoft next month to focus on philanthropy, historians will begin to ponder the legacy of one of America’s preeminent robber barons. Capitalism’s inherent call to thievery and blind competitiveness has rarely manifested its wickedness as richly as it has in the adorkable utensil of Bill Gates.…
Stuck between a rock and a disability hearing
The massive waitlist at the Social Security Administration leaves many without care Photo by JANET HENDERSON: Ricky Sanders’ health problems — and his inability to get Social Security disability benefits — make it difficult to afford things for his grandson, Josh. Among other things, Josh needs a humidifier to help with respiratory problems. Ricky Sanders’…
What A Week
+3 Soaring diesel prices are forcing TARC to raise rates and cut service, just when people (and the planet) need it most. Hoping to improve TARC (and probably giving anti-tax crusader Chris Thieneman a slight woody), the Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation — CART — proposed a countywide referendum to raise the occupational…
Gannett Watch:
The nation’s largest newspaper chain announced last week it would write down its assets by as much as $3 billion this quarter, giving the public a view into a declining company (and industry) that has continued to struggle at a lower profit margin than ever before. Over the last year, the Associated Press reports, Gannett…
A house out of order – Kentucky Democrats keep fighting about Clinton/Obama, ignoring bigger issues at their own peril
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Sharon Woods of Floyd County sat outside the Lexington Convention Center on Saturday smoking a cigarette, a wrinkled Hillary Clinton sticker pasted to her shirt. She was waiting for the start of the Kentucky Democratic Party convention. Only a few hours earlier, Clinton announced what everyone knew a week ago or more:…
The Video Tapeworm – Releases through Tuesday, June 17
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS BE KIND REWIND 2008; $27.95-$35.95, PG-13 Jack Black and Mos Def are having a ball with this goofy little love letter to movie-geeks everywhere. They work in the last VHS rental store on the planet, where a freak accident erases EVERYTHING. Rather than give up (and tell the boss), they shoot…
The Great Lawn has its own soul-ution
The Southern-fried food and music of this year’s traveling Soul Food Festival are making their way back to Louisville, with Atlantic Starr and Dru Hill in tow. Louisville is the second stop on this year’s tour, and organizer Ken Clay says he’s hoping to build on last year’s success. This year’s lineup takes over the…
B-Sides – MUSIC & OTHER EPHEMERA
Keep Louisville Gonzo Proving that one man and a guitar can still be interesting, Jose Gonzales returns Saturday, this time to Headliners Music Hall, where he joins Lexington’s Neva Geoffrey. Showtime is 9 p.m., and tickets are $15. This is the second date of his North American tour, which he kicked off at Bonnaroo this…
Roots rock”s most unlikely sketch artist; here”s to Charlie
Wednesday, June 11 James McMurtry has made his name as a singer/songwriter by doing just that: brilliant little character sketches of people going from place to place living their lives, long rambling diatribes about the status quo, and some that lie in the space between these two. But lately, McMurtry’s taken on a different persona:…
Music Reviews
Evil Urges My Morning Jacket (ATO) Exploiting the elasticity of music? Alluding to the circle of life? You could go crazy digging into reasons that MMJ was so determined to dick around with musical styles after their big live album. The more important question is how in the hell they did it so well. Mostly…
Why is this man the happiest man in the world?
What is there to be happy about in this bleak and miserable world anymore? I can think of a few things, but let’s face it, it’s simply hip to be emo these days. Oh, the despair. Photo by Marion Stalens: Monk, author and photographer Matthieu Ricard has been called “the happiest man in the world”…
Erosia
LEO welcomes letters that are brief (250 words max) and thoughtful. Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to EROSIA, 640 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or e-mail to leo@leoweekly.com. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity. Go…
Dim Sum touch our hearts
Centuries ago, long before “small plates” became trendy and before the Spanish came up with the idea of placing a little dish with a snack on top of their Sherry glasses to keep the fruit flies out of their wine, the Chinese realized that a procession of small plates bearing bite-sized snacks would be a…
Aftertastes
HANABI SUSHI & JAPANESE CUISINE, 6027 Timber Ridge Dr., 228-8244. Hanabi Sushi is just down the strip from the Prospect Bristol Bar & Grille. The extensive menu offers fare that is fresh and competently prepared. (Reviewed 4/30/08; Rating: N/A) STEVENS & STEVENS DELI, 1114 Bardstown Rd., 584-3354, HYPERLINK “http://www.stevensandstevensdeli.com” www.stevensandstevensdeli.com. Located in the back of…
Mug Shots – Your beer is The Man
In my May 14 column, readers were treated to a brief look at the cost and pricing structure of a lucrative business that trails only the international petroleum conglomerates in effortless price gouging. Namely, America’s sports concessionaires, who parlay restricted competition and megabrewery complicity into what I noted after a visit to a Reds game:…
Chairman Wao – A LOUISVILLIAN INVADES CHINA – Bloodsport 2
No, I’m not talking about a sequel to a classic ’80s martial arts flick. I won’t be fighting any kung-fu masters, mean-ass ninjas or even little guys who fight in the style of the monkey. (If I had made that film, that dude definitely would have won! He was rad!) No, I’m talking about the…
Plain Brown Rapper – The Rapper”s Top 10 Raps
PREFATORY REMARKS: This is column number 273. I have two more Raps to go. I will address The Second Amendment in Rap 274 and The Revolution Solution in my final column. I am advised by my new Masters at LEO that starting with this column, my own damn opinion will run every week until the…
On Media – Is there any reason to watch live TV anymore?
DVR penetration in America is near 1 in 4 households. Stations now get adjusted numbers that account for their DVR audience. It’s a big item on the network worry list, because the main benefit is that viewers can skip commercials. Remember when all the rage was taping soap operas every day on a VCR? My…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Lights, cameras and a lot of Louisville action
This week, LEO brings you its first Film Issue. It is a superb document in my view, cultivated almost entirely by music editor/maniac Mat Herron, who has refused sleep these many months in favor of caffeine, booze and who knows what else for longer now than this job may be worth. He is an animal,…
Splatters
ART NEWS BITS The Louisville Graphic Design Association (www.lgda.org) will host a lecture by Mirko Ilic on Thursday, June 19, at 6 p.m. at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. He’s the co-author of “The Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics.” $10, $5 for students, free for LGDA members. RSVP at lgda.rsvp@gmail.com. …
Werner Reiterer exhibit takes off full-steam ahead
Pranks.com posted the Speed Art Museum’s latest exhibition, “Werner Reiterer: Raw Loop,” in its “art pranks” section. I asked Julien Robson, the Speed’s Curator of Contemporary Art and long-time friend of the artist, what he thought Reiterer’s reaction would be. “Werner would rather enjoy that,” he said, smiling. “He likes the sense of subversion and…
FILM Issue: On Location with Conrad Bachmann
Conrad Bachmann Actor Conrad Bachmann, Actor: Submitted photo The question is, what hasn’t Bachmann done? A self-described utility actor, “Connie,” a former Air Force showman, is known nationwide for his role in “Tremors” (thus placing him squarely within Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon), and for serving as Bing Crosby’s stunt double. Noticed by a casting…
FILM Issue: On Location with William Mapother
William Mapother Actor William Mapother, Actor: Submitted photo Otherwise known as Tom Cruise’s cousin, William Mapother continues his credible rise in Hollywood both as an actor and an advocate. Anyone who saw “In The Bedroom” took notice of Mapother’s bone-chilling performance. He’s active off-camera, too: He was recently elected to serve a term on the…
FILM Issue: On Location – Breakouts
Sonja DeVries Producer/Director “Passion project” would be an accurate description of Sonja DeVries’ latest film-in-process, tentatively called “Rubbertown.” Although the script isn’t finished, DeVries, director of the documentaries “Refuseniks” and “Gay Cuba,” said that “Rubbertown,” a feature film, spotlights one of Louisville’s most environmentally controversial neighborhoods through the prism of a Gulf War vet returning…
FILM Issue: On Location – Kentucky has produced a kaleidoscope of cinephiles, near and far
From this list, you would think Sunset Boulevard was just around the corner, instead of 3,000 miles away. Louisville has spawned actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, set designers and other citizens who forsake real jobs for unabashed celluloid bliss. Some have stayed, some have relocated, but the common threads remain. As is inevitable with Louisville filmmaking’s…
Out of Focus – Lights, Camera, Kentucky! knows film projects can breathe life into Kentucky”s economy. They”re not the ones
Like a Hitchcock film, let’s start where we are now, then unravel how we got here and why where we are matters. Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond has a budget problem. The university has a proposed curriculum for a master’s degree in film and media arts, not only a first in Kentucky, but also the…
LEO Film Issue 2008 – Sharp Shooters – For the Louisville Film Society, a movie is more than what”s on celluloid
Instead of appearing, Shelby Lee Adams left an e-mail, a three-page thing, that had been printed and taped to the wall near the elevator, just outside the room where a film about his photography was to be shown. Part screed and part apology, his e-mail had been delivered to the crowd of about 40 last…
Erosia
LEO welcomes letters that are brief (250 words max) and thoughtful. Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to EROSIA, 640 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or e-mail to leo@leoweekly.com. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity. Correction …
