¡ ASK A MEXICAN ! Special false-conquest edition
Dear Readers: The paperback version of my book is out in stores now, cheap enough so that even a Guatemalan can afford it. Buy, por favor! Now, on to the preguntas… QDear Mexican: Consider the similarities between my people, the Celtic Scots, and yours, the Hispanic Mexicans. Both our people trace roots back to Spain.…
Weirdness at Woody”s Tavern
Four U of L students, one alumnus and one faculty member say they are filing complaints with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights over racist and sexual epithets directed at them last week at Woody’s Tavern — allegedly by its owner. In a strange twist, however, the owner says it wasn’t him, and denies that…
Ready for their close-up: Hoosiers get a say in the Dem presidential primary for the first time in 40 years
Obama volunteers: Deborah Dansby (left) and Jo Russell spoke to Jimmy Morris (right) and Jeffrey Lodgson during a recent canvassing in New Albany. Jo Russell walked around the front side of a New Albany housing unit, with Deborah Dansby close behind. The women were canvassing for Barack Obama on a pristine Saturday afternoon, and they…
Summary of My Discontent: All eyes (almost) on Derby 2.0
Now that we’ve got the snow, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes out of the way, we’re almost ready to focus on the world’s greatest horse race. But before we can watch Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton cross the finish line, we’ve got the Kentucky Derby to contend with and/or enjoy. Because the presidential primary campaigns have…
Filling the gap left by failing food systems: Will increased local efforts stave off the hunger increases at home?
Today ends a month that saw food riots erupt in at least 33 countries around the world. It’s easy to imagine those outbreaks in developing countries with the situation we face here and now: daily reports of increasing food prices, peppered with news of increasing demand on food pantries that face dwindling supplies. So far,…
Meth hits Hipsterville
A small meth lab explodes in a Highlands basement, leading to a damaging fire. Who let the white trash in? The one-pot method of meth manufacturing: Photo courtesy Louisville Metro Police Department Meth lab fires aren’t supposed to catch in places like the Highlands, according to the fairy tale that says white man’s crack is…
Gannett Watch
Last week, in our zeal to lob grenades at our friends from Gannett, we said the company’s most recent earning reports show it losing money. We should’ve said GCI profits declined from stratospheric to superhuman levels. (We also, in our Derby rant, incorrectly referred to HerStyle when we should’ve said HerScene. We regret our own…
What a Week: The City’s Zeitgeist Radar
+3Kentucky made news in a national ranking that didn’t involve obesity, smoking or basketball! In a study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kentucky scored among the lowest in the nation in drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs. Those hopheads in Wisconsin scored highest and those abstemious Utahans scored lowest. It’s Derby…
Derby Exacta, plus one: Colonel John, Court Vision and Adriano top the 134th Run for the Roses
If you throw out the favorite Big Brown — which we’re going to do — Colonel John becomes a kind of “default choice” to win the Kentucky Derby. He’s a solid alternative for those who find themselves totally turned off by the incessant bragging from the Big Brown barn. But we’re not landing on Colonel…
On Media: Former jock Sellers channels outrage into new book
Shane Sellers spent 26 years as a jockey and won more than 4,000 races. But it’s a good bet that the book he just released will have a bigger impact on horseracing than anything he did in the saddle.Sellers stopped riding four years ago at the peak of his career. He was the primary rider…
Message to the People: Obamamania wants your soul. Just ask Tavis Smiley
While Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to slug it out (Clinton winning the latest round in Pennsylvania), a nasty war rages in black America against the few blacks who dare not only to support Clinton, but even ask questions about Obama. The latest and most public victim was radio and television personality and political…
Erosia Xtra: Sojourn responds to April 9 LEO cover story
Dear Mr. George,Thanks for the work you did on the LEO article about Sojourn. We weren’t sure what to expect, but at the end of the day, we all tend to think the article was pretty fair and pretty accurate. There were a couple of issues we felt the need to bring up: FundamentalismWe are…
Erosia (Letters to the Editor)
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. Fair…
Staffpicks
Thursday, May 1ESPN’s Kenny Mayne Would an ordinary booksigning be appropriate for Derby Week? Of course not. Carmichael’s is hosting ESPN horse-racing commentator and sarcastic wit Kenny Mayne, who’s in town because covering Derby and promoting his new hardcover “An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport” kills two birds with one stone. Come to think…
Mug Shots: The hypocrisies of drinking and voting
In 2008, Indiana’s primary election takes place on May 6, and Kentucky’s follows two Tuesdays later on May 20. In both states, Election Day brings with it roughly 11 hours of state-mandated prohibition against the sale of demon rum, and consequently the bars can’t open until the polls close. Of course, one might drink continuously…
Sushi is good in the neighborhood
A few weeks ago, I had occasion to nosh my way through Sushi In The City (LEO, March 12), a sociable fundraising event at which a random selection of local sushi bars (and a few other eateries) provided samples of their wares. The experience was so tasty that it left me craving even more of…
Aftertastes
ROCKWALL BISTRO, 3426 Paoli Pike, Floyds Knobs, Ind., (812) 948-1705, www.rockwallbistro.com. Long known for its lovely setting tucked into an old rock quarry on the Floyds Knobs hills high above Louisville, RockWall has kicked things up a notch or two under Chef Alex Bomba, who arrived last summer from New Orleans. (Reviewed 2/27/08; Rating: 88)…
Derby music roundup: SHOWTIME!
Wednesday, April 30Wednesday at Waterfront Park has been dubbed “RiverFest,” no doubt because of the steamboat race at 5 p.m. But there’s plenty to see if you can’t show up until 7.The Great Stage is the site for a well-selected, three-act bill of young men playing acoustic folk. Starting off is our longtime favorite Scott…
Nightlife Guide 2008: Bar Listings
Clifton/Crescent Hill/Butchertown Big Al’s Beeritaville: 1715 Mellwood Ave., 893-4487, Neighborhood Bar. Domestic Bottle: $1.75. Cool Bartender(s): Nichole, Michael, Kelly, Charlene, Kenny. Bourbons Bistro: 2255 Frankfort Ave., 894-8838, Restaurant/Bar. Domestic Bottle: $2.75. Cool Bartender(s): Tina, Kyle, Margo. Clifton’s Pizza: 2230 Frankfort Ave., 893-3730, www.cliftonspizza.com, Pizza Pub. Domestic Bottle: $2.75. Cool Bartender(s): Rick. Dark Star Tavern:…
Nightlife Guide 2008: The Buzz List: 49 things we love about Louisville”s bars
Bar Guide 2008A few years back, I was in London (England, you wanker) and tried some of the fabled absinthe. The stuff reputedly induces hallucinations, and sure enough, a rabid creature soon clawed at my door. Turns out it was Amy Winehouse looking for a smoke … Absinthe. Beer. Whiskey. Games. Drink specials. Kentucky Derby…
Nightlife Guide 2008: Absinthe makes the heart go yonder
According to Western mythology, Ernest Hemmingway drank absinthe to muster the testicular fortitude to run with the bulls in Pamplona. Vincent Van Gogh was purportedly under absinthe’s influence when he cut off his earlobe and awarded it to a prostitute. A more contemporary fable holds that Ronald Reagan was shit-faced on absinthe when he beseeched…
Video TapeWorm: Releases through Tuesday, May 6
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKSDAVID BECKHAM: LIFE OF AN ICON2007; DVD $19.95, URWhile Beck’s quarter-of-a-BILLION-dollar soccer contract is surely a sign of the Apocalypse, no one in America seems to give a shit. A veritable god throughout the rest of the Western world, the media-savvy kickballer and his handlers nonetheless overestimated the interest in “football” on…
