Cover Story
Animal house
On a recent tour of Louisville Metro Animal Services’ Manslick Road shelter, agency spokeswoman Jackie Gulbe shows me something I never thought I’d see. Against the loading dock’s far concrete wall — past an obstacle course of haphazardly strewn animal cages, water hoses and a large walk-in freezer — is a hulking, story-tall metal box…
The Taste Bud: Ahoy, it’s … bluegill?
My grandfather was no fan of the fish known as bluegill. Pappaw, as we called him, always complained that while he liked the flavor, they were too small and were too skilled at cleaning the bait from his hook. I was just a kid when we fished Pappaw’s little pond in Greensburg, Ky., so I…
Appalachian Voices
The July 22 kickoff to the Appalachian Voices tour at Lexington’s Opera House was a stunner. Yim Yames, Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore turned in a show that straddled the line between bluegrass hoedown and confessional while raising awareness about mountaintop removal in Appalachia. Activist Jason Howard and novelist Silas House broke up the…
Staffpicks
July 28-Aug. 1 Big John Richardson Comedy Caravan 1250 Bardstown Road • 459-0022 www.bigjohnrichardson.com $8-$15; various times Big John Richardson is one of the funniest and nicest guys in comedy, and he’s headlining this weekend at Comedy Caravan. Through his spot-on observational humor — appropriate for audiences from 16 to 60 and from church pews…
Locavore Lore: Savor the flavors a little longer
Some things should only be enjoyed at certain times of the year. Pumpkin pie, eggnog and tanning fit into this category. Also, tomato sandwiches. Let’s talk about ’mater sammiches. In the summer, when tomatoes are ripe, there is nothing better than a well-seasoned tomato sandwich. You know what I’m talking about — the kind…
Wishful thinking
Did you see the full moon last week? Like a giant flashlight in the sky, it was hard to miss. But as anyone who has worked in retail or customer service can tell you, the mysterious power of the full moon can be found not just in the sky, but also in the way people…
Joyful uncertainty
What do Rush Limbaugh, Christopher Hitchins and your average militant Jihadi have in common outside of being complete assholes? All of them know something and are very, very sure about it. Their belief is so clear and resolute that each one is able to express it as Undeniable Certainty to the exclusion of any other.…
Bear trap
Joe Stickney needs a beat, or he can’t dance to it. The drummer for Bear In Heaven says that for the band’s breakthrough album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth, satisfaction arrived either when hips moved or heads nodded. “It’s good to think about your audience while you’re making music, but you don’t want to pander to…
Comedy: Pauly Shore is all grown up, bro
When Pauly Shore burst into our collective consciousness two decades ago, the world wasn’t quite ready for what they got … and I’m still not sure if they’re ready. “I like Louisville,” Pauly says of his upcoming shows at The Improv. “I’m sure it’s going to be crazy at Fourth Street Live. There’s nothing better…
The Parallels Amongst Ourselves
In today’s scuzzy garage-punk/smirky synth-pop indie climate, the Interpol/Editors-style glide of Sugar Army’s debut platter feels like a flickering dispatch from 2004. Credit them for bucking trends even just slightly, and for imbuing their post-punk revival-revivalism with far more muscle than today’s guitar/drum machine duos. One key asset is singer Patrick McLaughlin, whose keening instrument…
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. July…
Deth Red Sabaoth
With all his side projects in classical music, comics and film, one might wonder why Glenn would write and release another Danzig album. Doesn’t he know that he can’t outdo himself? Apparently not, and I like his gumption. You hear it in the opener, “Hammer of the Gods,” and my personal favorite, “Rebel Spirit,” which…
Dolla Green
The face of hip-hop is changing, but Dolla Green didn’t quite get the message. Think of your favorite rapper. Now think of that rapper’s earliest song. That’s Dolla Green. His beats are irresistible and will indeed have your head moving, but his rhymes are raw and hold little substance. It’s all been said and done.…
Jerry’s kids
In the race for mayor of Louisville, it appears Democrat Greg Fischer is launching a negative campaign against Republican Hal Heiner, painting the city lawmaker as a right-wing extremist. At last week’s mayoral debate at Bellarmine University, both candidates were in attack mode. But in the end, Fischer’s jabs proved to be much more scathing.…
The Grape Escape: Locawino
I’m a locavore. I like to keep my carbon footprint as tiny as I reasonably can, and I support local farmers. I’m a regular at the farmers markets, and during the growing season, most of our produce comes from regional farms or our own garden. Meat? Poultry? We’ve sworn off industrial products. If I can’t…
Film: An apocalyptic exposition at Zombiestock
If you’ve ever participated in the Louisville Zombie Walk, you’ve probably found that one of the most amusing parts is when innocent passers-by driving along Bardstown Road are greeted by droves of adults dressed as zombie versions of pop culture icons, historical figures or just random dead people splattered with fake blood. Very few are…
No man is an island
There was a time when Blackacre State Nature Preserve was surrounded primarily by family farms. But these days, Kentucky’s oldest nature preserve is smack dab in the middle of Louisville’s sprawling suburbs, just off bustling Blankenbaker Parkway. The massive Bluegrass Industrial Park with its 800 or so businesses is located nearby, as are numerous housing…
Keep judicial elections on the high road
The ideal justice system is symbolized by Lady Justice, the blindfolded goddess who holds perfectly balanced scales. She represents the fairness and impartiality — untainted by partisanship, bias or the influence of money — that we want our own courts and judges to display. Imagine if we instead had a court system contaminated by party…
Against Love
Windsor for the Derby has floated in and out of the collective consciousness for more than a decade. They were something like the elevator music of the post-rock world: at once present and secondary. Against Love is their 10th, but I was stunned to know there’d been more than two. Quiet and contemplative, it is…
Attilla the Dub
Island fever permeates Rudies. In the tradition of Toots & the Maytals, The Wailers and the ’80s punk flavor of Bad Brains, this 6-year-old Lexington, Ky., combo mines reggae’s persisting themes of justice and Jah. Co-produced by one-time Nine Pound Hammer drummer Brian Pulito, singer Jerrod Figgs veers toward soul on “Gunshot” and H.R. on…
Film: Bloody mamas, brain eaters and teenage cavemen at Fright Night Film Fest
“I seriously had a geek-gasm when I saw that Roger Corman’s coming,” posted Blasko66 on the fan site www.horrorhound.com. It was a sentiment echoed on this and similar sites when the Fright Night Film Fest announced Corman’s upcoming appearance. In addition to an obvious affection for the legendary filmmaker, the resulting web chatter seems to…
Inbox — July 28, 2010
Ethics Dilemma I was disappointed to read that Larry Grant was not reappointed to the Ethics Commission (LEO Weekly, July 21). In my five-plus years working for the Metro Council, Grant stood out as someone who epitomized integrity, character and a willingness to serve the public. I hope whomever is elected mayor this fall will…
Art: Delightful disarray
I obviously don’t watch enough Animal Planet. I didn’t question why a pair of moose and a swarm of tropical budgerigars were in the same photograph. Turns out, the moose were from the American Museum of Natural History, and the parakeets were just one bird — photographer Simen Johan’s pet — digitally multiplied and inserted…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: A PROPHET 2009; $27.95-$38.95, R Mesmerizing, intelligent and ultra-violent French film about an illiterate part-Arab convict who learns to survive in a savage prison by becoming the protégé of the prison’s ruling Corsican gang leader. Nominated for an Oscar and winner of many international awards, this is as dark, dangerous and…
Treasure State
Experimental duo Matmos and Yale School of Music alums So Percussion team up for an album that shows, if nothing else, that new sonics lurk in your junk drawer. That greasy bike chain? An instrument in disguise. Bowl of water? Might as well be a steel drum. But there are actual steel drums, just like…
