Staffpicks
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13 Stacey Mitchhart Stacey Mitchhart plays Stevie Ray’s Blues Bar on Wednesday, August 13. Thirteen couldn’t be a luckier number for this bluesman, because that’s the number of freakin’ endorsements he has. In laymen’s terms, music companies give you free or reduced-price gear in exchange for you promoting it by, eh, playing it. …
War — what is it good for? – Kentucky native brings the message home
Donnie Mather, a New York-based actor, brings his one-man tour de force to Louisville this weekend. The show, conceived and performed by Mather, is essentially a meditation on war. But don’t worry: This isn’t another knee-jerk liberal rant about life after 9/11. At opening, Mather is in his underwear. He removes the tape over his…
Gannett Watch
LEO Weekly print exclusive: Velocity editor David Daley has been promoted to lifestyle editor at The Courier-Journal. And that’s only the beginning of the virtually exclusive information obtained exclusively by LEO Weekly. It appears Daley’s promotion might be the first step toward rolling Velocity — Gannett’s local lifestyle weekly — more firmly into The C-J’s…
What a Week
+5 Warning to those prone to road rage: Prepare to be pissed off for the good of the environment. Last week, Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order allowing slow-moving electric vehicles on many state roadways. The order will allow environmentally conscious drivers to operate the sluggish yet rechargeable electric cars on roads with speed…
A new smog-slayer in town
Mayor Abramson last Friday appointed Lauren Anderson executive director of the Air Pollution Control District, the agency that monitors air quality and develops emissions standards for the area. Anderson replaces longtime director Art Williams, who retired earlier this year. Among other things, Williams oversaw the implementation of the Strategic Toxic Air Reduction program, created to…
Glass house – Housing chief was divisive, former colleagues say
The ringer on Dona O’Sullivan’s phone jabbered like an insistent child for most of Friday afternoon. A former Metro government worker who retired from the Department of Housing and Family Services in March, O’Sullivan fielded calls from old co-workers wanting to trade stories about Kimberly Bunton, the 37-year-old department director and former attorney who had…
Dirty trick – Defeated council candidate Ken Herndon to file a defamation lawsuit in response to homophobic campaign flier
A former candidate for Louisville Metro Council is preparing to file a defamation lawsuit in an effort to find out who is responsible for distributing an anti-gay campaign flier that might have cost him the election. In May, Ken Herndon narrowly lost the Democratic primary for the 6th District seat to incumbent George Unseld by…
Football fever – Die-hard Cards fans flock to first practice
If Grantland Rice — the doyen of football scribes — had been on the scene, he might have rendered poesy from the dripping, leaden skies. The air was thick and brown as hummus, and only the gray pall kept the heat index below triple digits. Yet the day marked the Season of the Switch, from…
MUSIC PREVIEW – Nomadic, theatric, magnetic: A Fable worth telling
Faun Fables w/ Lucky Pineapple, Virgin Flame Sunday, Aug. 17 Sixth & Oak Collective Sixth & Oak streets $10; 8 p.m. Half a decade ago, Dawn McCarthy bid farewell to New York City’s hustle and began Faun Fables. A fan of physical theater and experimental music, her project, which includes longtime collaborator and Sleepytime Gorilla…
Music Reviews
Conor Oberst Conor Oberst (MERGE) Conor Oberst is a divisive character. Enough people have praised him as the boy wonder of modern indie rock. An equal number think he’s an erudite, over-hyped snob. The location where he conceived his first solo album in 13 years — in a spiritual, E.T.-friendly Aztec city in Mexico —…
B-Sides – MUSIC & OTHER EPHEMERA – Ridin’ the ‘Horse
In its heyday, Kinghorse meted out a startling and sometimes horrifying trail of uncompromising rock and hardcore. Frontman Sean Garrison, guitarist Mark Abromavage, bassist Mike Bucayu and drummer Kevin Brownstein shook foundations and incited outrageous, skankified bliss. To commemorate, Louisville Lip Records founder Shawn Severs is putting out a long-overdue compilation of Kinghorse covers by…
David Gubbs, the incidental optimist
Friday, Aug. 15 David Grubbs is probably a lot smarter than most people. So smart that his latest solo effort, An Optimist Notes the Dusk, seems to fly over your head upon the first few listens. Grubbs is used to being considered a heady listen. His first outfit, the late, great Louisville band Squirrel Bait,…
“The Want for Exploration” – My Morning Jacket flips to a different page
My Morning Jacket w/ The Louisville Leopard Percussionists Saturday, Aug. 16 Waterfront Park Tickets at Slugger Field Box Office (212-2287) or Ticketmaster (361-3100) www.louisville.com (local village) $33.50 ($1 from each of ticket benefits The Center For Women & Families); 6:30 p.m. (gate) All ages BY MAT HERRON mherron@leoweekly.com Offstage, Patrick Hallahan is the jokester anyone…
Falls Fountain Flashback
TWENTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK, LOUISVILLE WAS UNDERWHELMED BY A SORTA-FANCY FOUNTAIN IN THE RIVER, PROVING THAT GIMMICKS DON’T ACTUALLY WORK Twenty years ago, Barry Bingham Sr. bought Louisville a giant fountain. The citizens responded, “No thanks; we’re cool.” Aug. 19, 2008 — As the city prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Louisville…
Inbox — Aug. 13, 2008
CORRECTION In the July 24 Cable Boxing, “the long white thing” from the film “The Neverending Story” is Falkor, not Atreyu. LEO Weekly regrets the error. We promise to brush up on the classics from our youth, starting with “Green Eggs and Ham.” FORGIVE AND FORGE AHEAD As most people now know, there was…
Fountain on Film
Louisville filmmaker Morgan Atkinson lovingly captured the story of the Louisville Falls Fountain in his 1994 documentary, “Falls City.” Besides chronicling the tortured saga of good-icon-gone-wrong, the one-hour film is a whimsical trip down memory lane for Louisville history buffs. Atkinson interviewed many of the prominent players on camera, including Mary Bingham, Dan Ulmer, members…
The Video Tapeworm: Aug, 2008 – Releases through Tuesday, Aug. 19
by David B. King and Bill Raker THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY 2008; $29.95, PG-13 Amy “Enchanted” Adams and Oscar-winner Frances McDormand both sparkle in this charming, old-fashioned comedy. Adams is the high-society singer/actress who hires shy, mousy, middle-aged and unemployed governess McDormand as her new social secretary, launching her…
Suburban Turmoil
Now that school is back in session, thousands of mommies across the suburbs are no doubt moping around their empty houses, sniffling as they pick up the bathing suit little Suzy wore all summer or the baseball bat Tommy carried with him the entire month of June. How I miss my dear, sweet children, they…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Obama the Muslim and other front-page calamities
For many people interested in serious, high-quality journalism, News Corp. honcho Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of The Wall Street Journal last year was a calamity. The Journal, long known for a conservative bent on its editorial page, also happened to be a fine news source — ambitious, broad in scope and, for the most part, fair. …
History repeating?
As former U of L Dean Robert Felner faces the feds, colleagues and students shed light on his turbulent past The e-mail’s subject line read “Justice at Last?” The message relayed sordid details about the brewing scandal surrounding Robert Felner, the former University of Louisville dean under federal investigation for potentially mishandling hundreds of thousands…
Aftertastes
LE RELAIS, Bowman Field, 2817 Taylorsville Rd., 451-9020, www.lerelaisrestaurant.com. Some French restaurants may be pretentious, but Le Relais is simply elegant. Its art deco environs are a perfect match for the setting — inside the Bowman Field Administration Building, circa 1929, (Reviewed 6/18/08; Rating: 96) QUEEN OF SHEBA, 2804 Taylorsville Rd., 459-6301. Ethiopian restaurant Queen…
Can we see your ID? – Comedy Caravan turns 21
On any performance night, if you arrive at the Comedy Caravan early, you can order a decent pour of Makers from Will Hardesty, who serves as head bartender and also happens to be one of Louisville’s funniest comedians. A small table in front of a brick stage modeled after New York’s best-known comedy clubs holds…
The Bar Belle – Party Patrol
Up All Night Party — Aug. 15 Bluegrass Brewing Company is being naughty again. The coffee-tinged brew they concocted last year with Heine Bros. went over so well, they’re at it again — essentially taking the best beverage of the morning and mixing it with the best beverage ever to create an oatmeal stout brewed…
BLT: The ultimate Challenge
B … L … T. Are any three letters better suited to capture the joyful tastes of midsummer’s seasonal bounty? A bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, properly constructed with quality materials, is arguably the greatest sandwich ever invented, an expression of summer at its best, when fresh tomatoes come bursting from gardens in juicy, glowing…
