Cover Story
Around the World
Peering into a steaming, turmeric-scented mix of carrots, potatoes and onions simmering in a 24-inch-wide pot, chef Selamawit Deneke feels her mother is with her. In the kitchen of Queen of Sheba, Deneke looks like a seasoned pro, efficient in movements, artistically attentive to subtleties in scents, heat and contrasting textures. She learned how to…
Jerry’s kids
With the new year approaching, a handful of city lawmakers are jockeying for the Metro Council presidency, including a former rival of Mayor-elect Greg Fischer. At least three council members have voiced interest in serving the one-year term as head of the legislative branch: Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Madonna Flood, D-24, Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh, D-9 and…
Staffpicks
Dec. 8-19 ‘A Salvage Yard Christmas’ Henry Clay Building 604 S. Third St. • 595-5306 www.bunburytheatre.org $21; 7:30 p.m. (2 p.m. on Sun.) Think “Sanford and Son” meets “It’s a Wonderful Life” and you’re close to drawing a bead on “A Salvage Yard Christmas,” being staged through Dec. 19 by the Bunbury Theatre Company. In…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: DESPICABLE ME 2010; $29.95-$49.95, PG This animated comedy about a super-villain past his prime has some spectacular moments amid the uneven direction and wandering plot-line. Steve Carell voices Gru, a once-famous bad guy who is losing his pre-eminence to an upstart brainiac named Vector. The real fun comes from Gru’s army…
Art: Trash man
By now you may know I have a passion for trompe l’oeil, as I often proclaim its virtues. That “fool the eye” trick that causes the object depicted to seem to be one thing and then, after several viewings, to reveal its true nature always gets me: a painting on a side of a building…
The Grape Escape: Solo or combo
A good steak requires no sauce, as my father taught me well. On the other hand, eggs only get better with bacon alongside, and even a perfect pancake gains something from a dollop of real maple syrup. Some good things are made to fly solo, it seems, while others work and play best in combinations…
Traffic jams
As a railroad conductor and videographer, Alex O’Nan has had ample opportunity to contemplate the concept of travel and film his surroundings. “To pass the time, I’d always bring my video camera and shoot stuff, going up and down the track,” says O’Nan, 32, drummer and chief songwriter behind Interstates. “When I first started working…
Return of the Century
A creative sea change, Return of the Century lives up to the title’s grandiose implications. Two founding members departed this Chicago pop collective after the release of 2007’s Cold and Kind, but the subsequent directions that muses Edward Anderson, Jeanine O’Toole and Caroline Donovan took both individually (stints with Mahjongg, Disappears, etc.) and collectively (um,…
The Taste Bud: Wagner’s Pharmacy still fans the flame
OK, so you’re going on a first date. What’s it going to be? Dinner at Seviche? A stop at 21c followed by Proof on Main? Hackneyed. Overdone. Where’s your creativity? I recently went on a first date (lunch, to ease the pressure), and after a lot of consideration, I decided on something cozy and casual,…
Bridges for sale?
On a snowy, windswept Thursday morning, nearly 150 people cram inside the conference room of Kye’s reception hall in Jeffersonville, turning the latest meeting of the Louisville-Southern Indiana Bridges Authority into a standing room-only affair, with some attendees spilling out into the building’s chilly entrance hallway, chattering on cell phones or in small, head-shaking clusters.…
A Wikipedia Christmas
Dear Santa: As usual, I’ve had a tough time deciding what to ask for this year. I started to ask for an end to human suffering, but that seemed like more than you and the elves could pull off on short notice, especially during a recession. So I lowered my sights to something more modest,…
Theater: Savage Rose brings a classic to life
The Knight of the Burning Pestle A production by the Savage Rose Classical Theatre Company. Directed by J. Barrett Cooper. Continues through Dec. 11 at the Kentucky Center’s MeX Theater. For tickets or more information, call 584-7777 or visit www.savagerosetheatre.com. Summing up the plot of Francis Beaumont’s “The Knight of the Burning Pestle” is a…
Inbox — Dec. 8, 2010
Correction A music preview in last week’s edition should have said Tim Krekel’s wedding reception took place at The Rudyard Kipling. LEO regrets the error. Love Tsunami On Sunday, Nov. 14, one of the most amazing moments of my life occurred at the River Bend Winery: A few hundred folks from our community, including many…
Tap that
Lloyd Simon, one of the founders of MTV, has launched The Tap, a new music networking site aimed at independent bands seeking to license their music for commercials. “Our former company had a great reputation for discovering unknown and up-and-coming bands … with this reputation for helping new bands, we were receiving 10 to 30…
Tear in the Sun
Shedding, the onetime solo project of Connor Bell, is a one-man affair that we last heard from on 2007’s What God Doesn’t Love, You Won’t Know EP. In the interim, Bell, a hyper-literate musician, curtailed his affinity for structural obscurity by reformatting Shedding’s lineup with Parlour frontman Tim Furnish and drummer Joey Yates (The Loved,…
First Four EPs
The collection on OFF!’s First Four EPs, all the way down to the stark and provocative packaging, could be considered a monument to late ’70s/early ’80s West Coast punk rock. The thing is, the dudes in OFF! and the artist behind the images helped invent the stuff. The band is comprised of Circle Jerks founder…
Angola Soundtrack
Subtitled “The Unique Sound of Luanda, 1968-1976,” this consists of great electric guitarists and carnival bands from Angola’s oft-mentioned golden age of music. These groups wrote and played in relative anonymity to Western audiences until the French label Buda Musique released collections in the late 1990s. Taut, danceable tunes overflow with fantastic rhythmic prowess that…
How much I lied
The last time I saw Richard was really just a couple weeks ago. We were at my cousin Sue’s house for Thanksgiving. He had come down from Chicago-land with his wife and three sons, all about the same age as my son. My sister’s son was there, too. We had a good time watching the…
Book: Historical detail shines in ‘Take Me Home’
Take Me Home By Brian Leung. Harper; 293 pgs., $24.99. “It hadn’t bothered her at all to come upon a person’s bones. That was the Territory, she guessed, seeping in.” The territory in question is Wyoming in the 1880s. The woman who has become somewhat callous is Addie Maine, a 20-year-old from Kentucky who followed…
Sugar
DigiTech Whammy, Boss EH-2 and Boss PQ-4 guitar pedals giveth, and the herd follows. The Sunshine Factory’s full-length was originally an EP, according to its Bandcamp page, until fans clamored for a full record. “Down” and “Twisted and Clover” hump My Bloody Valentine’s leg to a dangerous degree. Only when SF switches on the clean…
Verbena could make Grandpa proud
Verbena Café is one of those places that always seems to smell like home. For Mike Cortino, the smell is likely a reminder of much more. Mike and his wife, Laurie, opened Verbena in Norton Commons this past autumn. They based Verbena’s fare on dishes served in restaurants founded by Mike’s grandfather and operated by…
Arrival Without Departure
Louisville’s tradition for groundbreaking instrumental music needs to include Interstates, and not as a footnote, either. Basically the solo project of drummer/producer/all around nice dude Alex O’Nan, Interstates expanded its line-up to include three other people for this three-song, digital-only release. O’Nan’s instincts for cinematic post-rock led him down similar avenues as contemporaries Maserati and…
Plugged In
Readers are strongly encouraged to call ahead to verify these listings. To get your club, comedian, musical act or karaoke listed, please send e-mail to mherron@leoweekly.com with PLUGGED IN in the subject line. The deadline is NOON THURSDAY the week before the show happens. We do not accept listings via social networking sites. Wed. Dec.…
