The Flipped Lid: What does snow have to do with patriotism?
If you think good things are on their wayAnd the world will improve, don’t hold your breath.Just go to the graveyard and ask around.—Mark Strand from “Some Last Words” My husband and I recently saw Clint Eastwood’s War World II battle of Iwo Jima film, “Flags of Our Fathers.” Toward the film’s conclusion, the narrator…
Guest Commentary: Please, please, please, don’t go!
Bruce Linn When people talk about traveling or living abroad, they often talk of the opportunity to get to know a different culture. What’s harder to describe in that scenario is how you become more aware of your own culture, either in its absence or through the perceptions of people who grew up in another…
The Culture Maven: Oh, dear, what a year
The Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six is best described thusly:Cockamamie. Ms. Prim and Proper in Prison, Martha Stewart, admitted Christmas week that she used to have a crush on satellite radio’s premier skank dog, Howard Stern. Until she met him.That’s the kind of topsy-turvy annum it was. For decades it’s been a universally…
On Media: When a gift card really is an Original idea
I hate gift cards. Giving one is a great way to say, “I couldn’t bother getting a gift for you, so here’s $20. But you have to spend it at the Olive Garden.” Without doubt, though, the grandmothers of the world are thrilled. The colorful little cards surely eliminate the top worry on their Christmas…
Bluegrass Politics: Predictions for ’07
As crazy as Kentucky’s political scene was in 2006, I believe it will only get nuttier in 2007. Here are my predictions: Familiar faces. Despite rampant speculation to the contrary, Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) and Auditor Crit Luallen (D) decide to seek re-election to their posts. Neither faces significant primary opposition and they both…
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. CorrectionsLast…
DAVE BARRY 2006 YEAR IN REVIEW (BY DAVE BARRY), Tribune Media Services
Year In Review 2006 It was a momentous year, a year of events that will echo in the annals of history the way a dropped plate of calamari echoes in an Italian restaurant with a tile floor. Decades from now, our grandchildren will come to us and say, “Tell us, Grandpa or Grandma as the…
Man on fire: A chat about the future
see: downtown development, housing, the arena, the Bridges Project and 8664 — with Mayor Jerry Abramson mayor Most of Mayor Jerry Abramson’s speeches, no matter the subject, are laden with a resounding sense of optimism. To his detractors, this may be his greatest and most annoying fault: If everything in Jerry’s World is always hopeful…
City Strobe: Neighbor to OLCH: It’s not you, it’s your volume
John Glenn wants to clear up a few things.The owner of a Hill Street apartment complex behind Old Louisville Coffeehouse loves what manager Peter Berkowitz has done with the place. “I am so thankful the coffeehouse is there,” said Glenn, 46, who, since October, has repeatedly called Metro Police about the venue’s amplified shows because…
Rumor & Innuendo
Give the points. Ohio State will crush Florida. Sources advise the Buckeyes are focused and want to cement their spot in history. Cards’ future QB. I continue to be advised Brian Brohm will return for his senior season. Heisman innuendo is mighty persuasive. As for his replacement, next year or in the future, Hunter Cantwell…
The winners of  and answers to  LEO’s 2006 Not-Good-For-Nothing Quiz
“Only a good-for-nothing is not interested in his past.” —Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis Several people took our annual year-end Not Good For Nothing Quiz on-line (answers printed below), therefore qualifying to compete for some cool prizes. Thank you to everyone who played and hopefully enjoyed the quiz, and congratulations to these winners:1.…
Staff Picks
Jan. 4-25Women’s Film Festival` There is a strange and interesting lineup of films at the Ursuline Sisters’ Women’s Film Festival, the sort of list that flies in the face of most festival programming. Strange because, for one thing, the screenings have been spread across a full month (January). One film shows every Thursday night at…
Video Tapeworm: Releases through Tuesday, Jan. 9
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS:CRANK2006; DVD $28.95-$39.95, RJason Statham stars in this shameless uber-actioner about a hitman, poisoned with a toxin that will kill him instantly should his adrenaline level drop to normal. “Fast paced” doesn’t begin to describe the frenetic rush of revenge, sex, acrobatic stunts, gunplay, car crashes, crotch-kicking and any other tool from…
Sight Unsound: Take a load off, go exotic, smell some grass; Ray Smith re-creates ‘The Last Waltz’ at The Rud
[img_assist|nid=3580|title=Tula|desc=Lexington’s Tula, above, and a host of Louisville singer/songwriters will recreate “The Last Waltz.†The legendary concert by The Band turned 30 last year.|link=|align=left|width=200|height=133]Tula. The name says it all. Or rather, it says nothing in particular.Trying to avoid deliberate connotations and not wanting to nourish prejudices among would-be listeners, Ray Smith opted to name his…
Music Xtra: A heavy deal – Coliseum signs with Relapse
Coliseum’s new record is expected to be released in August. The heavy rock trio Coliseum is entering a new phase of its career thanks to a three-album deal with Pennsylvania-based Relapse Records. In Relapse, singer and guitarist Ryan Patterson said the band found an ally who can offer constant promotion and support them while Coliseum…
Aftertastes
The Cutting Board, 2929 Goose Creek Rd., 423-9950, www.cuttingboardcafe.com. The Cutting Board recently moved a few doors up Goose Creek Road to the more spacious quarters that had formerly housed Hungry Pelican. The expanded menu includes a broad range of main courses, including a grilled portobello mushroom dish and a grilled lobster tail, shrimp and…
The Bar Belle: Don’t drink and dial
Of all the things I said, did, fell over, woke up to, failed to remember and spewed last year, my biggest regret is this dangerous little habit of mine the experts have termed “drunk dialing.” It can ruin friendships and destroy families in the push of a button. And if you’re dating someone, forget about…
The Long Review: Compilation draws attention to mountaintop removal
mountain cd When I was a child, my family and I attended the Kentucky Music festivals at the Iroquois Amphitheater. The significance of these events was largely lost on my youthful brain.That is, until I witnessed Nancy Niles Sexton perform “Pretty Polly.” The song itself scared the willies out of me, but the sight of…
Theater Preview: ‘Twelve Angry Men’ revives dialogue through deliberation
Richard Thomas and George Wendt in “12 Angry Men.†In the opening moments of the classic American drama “Twelve Angry Men,” the jury enters its chambers to deliberate on a case concerning a boy charged with first-degree murder. The defendant is poor and has received ineffective representation. Several people have testified that they saw him…
Theater Review: Prolong the holiday spirit with ‘Don We Now Our Gay Apparel’
Don We Now Our Gay Apparel: Alan Meyer, Jamie Harmon and J.C. Nixon play the three wise men in “Don We Now Our Gay Apparel,†a comedy written and performed by Pandora Productions. Got the post-Yule blues? Dizzy from decking one too many halls? Or, do you just hate to see the season end? Pandora…
LEO’s Eat ‘N’ Blog: Get ready for the Year of the Pig, at Liang’s
In Western culture, even those of us who’ve learned to prize the tasty joys of pigmeat can’t fully escape our Old Testament heritage: Calling an associate “pig” will not win you friends or influence people. The Chinese, however, informed by nearly five millennia of pig-loving heritage, take a broader view: In the legend and lore…
Community Listings
Special Events ••Hero’s Ball — join local police and fire fighters to salute Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kentuckiana, Jan. 6, 8pm, $3, Wick’s Pizza Valley Station, 10966 Dixie Highway, 995-4333.Martin Luther King Jr. Observance Day Celebration — Ninth annual celebration breakfast, Jan. 6, 9am, $15, 4018 W. Market St., 485-3823.Louisville Slugger Museum —…
Arts & Entertainment Listings
Special Events Soapbox Sirens — free open forum for artistry/music/poetry/politics, third Thu., 8pm, Alternative 1032 Story Ave., 561-7613.Collaboratory — evening of live music, poetry, graphic arts, collaborative and spontaneous multi-media jams, free, all ages, last Sat./month, 7:30pm, 1741 Frankfort Ave., 896-0172. Visual Arts Bernheim Gallery — exhibiting “Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America”…
