CD Reviews – Part Deux
DithererFog(LEX/WARP) Andrew Broder chose to end one creative exploit as a DJ and begin another, more collaborative incarnation as Fog. Now four albums in, Broder’s choice to wrap his arms around a few pals (one of them whistler/fiddler Andrew Bird) and get their two cents leads us to Ditherer, a beastly, complex cache of rapid-fire…
Bluegrass Beacon: More than a Penney for her thoughts
Education Commissioner Barbara Erwin finally saw the light.It took a police investigation into her recent gig as superintendent in St. Charles, Ill., for Erwin to accept retirement and for Kentucky Board of Education chairman Keith Travis to admit her hiring “wasn’t in our best interest.” It wasn’t in our children’s best interest either, sir. Erwin…
Visual Arts – critical musings: Collecting ( For love or money?)
Antiques Roadshow Writing in “Art for Dummies,” former Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas Hoving said, “The ideal in collecting, the prime goal, is to find the true original, the single, unique work of art created by an artist.” Hoving, known for expanding the Met’s collection during his tenure from 1967-77, is legendary for his…
No More False Dichotomies: Editor”s Note
Forecastle Festival: It came, it saw, it rolledLike a fleeting but major highway repair project, the sixth annual Forecastle Festival has come and gone. So, how was it?In a phrase, not bad. Not bad at all. After moving around constantly, this year Forecastle landed on the Belvedere, closer to where festival grand poobah J.K. McKnight…
City Strobe
Yarmuth secures funding for Weed and Seed programU.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3, announced last week a $192,650 federal grant to continue work on the Newburg Weed and Seed program. Begun in the Newburg neighborhood in 2006, the federal program is one of 250 around the United States that targets specific neighborhoods in an effort to…
Dry-humping Mr. Peabody
What do corporate giveaways, Jody Richards and “alternative” coal technology have in common? They all suck Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards: Photo by Ben Schneider A month ago, House Speaker Jody Richards stood up against Gov. Ernie Fletcher and his call for a special session of the General Assembly by adjourning the House of Representatives.…
Sex, lies and abstinence: A new study reveals that teens are still having sex, even though states like Kentucky try to stop it
BY MARY Q. BURTON The old saying goes that all politics are local. These days, one might also note that all politics are sexual (see sidebar, page 10). From small-town school boards to Washington, D.C., sex is one prominent area where partisan lines are drawn. That impact is certainly felt in states such as Kentucky,…
Rumor & Innuendo
Crystal Blue Persuasion. Former UK football coach Fran Curci was one of four honorees at the Governor’s Cup festivities (Lee Corso, Amos Martin and Jeff Van Note were the others). When his time at the podium arrived, Curci offered no quick, gracious thank you. He spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince the…
Freak mobiles come out at night: Art cars razzle and dazzle Louisville”s streets
The “21C Pip Mobile” created by Monica Mahoney. Considering recent advancements in car technology, things like global positioning systems and hybrid fuel, the idea of gluing Kodak Instamatics to the side of a van seems downright quaint. Yet art car pioneer Harrod Blank, who did just that, will cruise into the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment…
The Speed of Slow
Anyone who rides a 49cc scooter from Louisville to the West Coast and back is worth getting to know. Meet Scott Garner: Photo by Melissa Moody Scott Garner, the first guy we know of to blog his way across the United States on a scooter You must remember to lean. Not in the crotch-rocket, knee…
Erosia
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. Bridge…
CD Reviews – 8/01
Ordinary GhostsPeople Noise(SELF-RELEASED) Though this album is by People Noise, what comes through on the first listen is the music of Smashing Pumpkins, and of their era, and that unconcealed influence is something People Noise will struggle against. The vocals are polished and plaintive, the lyrics imagistic and surreal, the instrumentation tight, steady and rocking.…
He”s Haggard, not harried, and ready for more
BY CARL CUNNINGHAM Merle Haggard Country guy or rowdy rock rebel. Right-wing conservative or lefty liberal. Cantankerous old coot or sentimental old softie. Call him what you will — Merle Haggard can be and has been all of those things in his 40-odd years in the music business. With the exception of Willie Nelson and…
The Earle of Nashville, killer Queens, Trout blues replica
Justin Earle Saturday, Aug. 4Like his daddy before him, Justin Townes Earle had boarded a bullet train headed for one of two destinations: the penitentiary or the coffin.The son of longtime alt-country bad boy Steve Earle, whose similar exploits are perhaps a bit too well-known, had been thrown out of every school in metropolitan Nashville,…
Out on a limb with fiddlin” Mike Cleveland
Mike Cleveland BY MARY Q. BURTON It takes guts to tell your classically trained violin teacher at 4 years old that you want to play bluegrass music, but that’s exactly what Mike Cleveland did. Originally from Henryville, Ind., and now residing in nearby Charlestown, Cleveland has always called the Metro area home, and thanks to…
The man comes around: Tim Krekel enters new “Season” with soul, conviction
The phrase “full circle” can be a mixed compliment. It could mean you’re right bac Tim Krekel k where you started, entering a new stage of renewal or, on a less flattering tack, that you have nothing left to say.Tim Krekel is not finished talking, not by a long shot. The wiry, goateed minstrel-scribe has…
Theater Review: Grease
CenterStage’s cast of “Grease” ‘Grease’Starring Jay Hemphill, Ilyse Gordon, Jennifer Casey Thompson and Jason Button. Artistic Director: John R. Leffert. Technical Director: Monty Fields. Presented by the Jewish Community Center’s CenterStage Theatre. Continues through Aug. 12. For tickets or more info, call 459-0660. It seems the nation is hungry for fun musicals that hearken to…
The Bar Belle
Buzz me two timesYou can’t cop a buzz twice in one day. I proved that fact Friday when, on assignment, I “researched” the early-morning happenings at area third-shift bars. What I discovered I’ll share at another time. Most devastating was that I couldn’t re-coup later in the night from a pre-dawn buzz. Even with an…
A man, a plan, a great meal: Palindromic dinner at 610 Magnolia
Edward Lee What happens when one becomes so jaded that even the regular dinner at a culinary shrine seems routine? “Ho, hum, dinner at 610 Magnolia again!” Here’s my advice: Kick it up with a special dinner at 610.Frankly, I don’t think I could ever attain such a level of ennui about the restaurant that’s…
Film Review – The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie 4 starsStarring Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Pamela Hayden. Directed by David Silverman. Released by 20th Century Fox. Rated PG-13; 1:25. When it became clear there was to be a “Simpsons” movie, a million dorky fans of the show — including me — almost wet themselves. For non-fans,…
Film Review – No Reservations
No Reservations 2 starsStarring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Clarkson and Jennifer Wade. Directed by Scott Hicks. Released by Warner Bros. Rated PG; 1:45. A PG chick flick is like a fat-free brownie. Might look like a brownie. Might feel like a brownie. Might even smell like a brownie. But, damn, you know…
Staff Picks
Thursday, Aug. 2Art for the Animals The Shamrock Foundation’s Art for the Animals fundraiser is back, now in its 11th year. There’s something for everybody, with art up for auction, jazz by Sara Stivers and an array of appetizers from some of Louisville’s tastiest eateries. The live and silent auctions feature artwork by Richard Francis,…
Video Tapeworm: Releases through Tuesday, Aug. 7
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS DISTURBIA2007; DVD $29.95-$39.95, PG-13In a star-making performance, Shia LaBeouf portrays a young man, bitter and angry after the death of his father, who gets into trouble with the law. His home incarceration is livened by the unbelievably hot girl next door (Sarah Roemer) and the neighbor they suspect is a psycho-killer.…
Aftertastes
FRANK’S STEAKHOUSE, 9601 Shelbyville Rd., 429-3714. This steakhouse has long been a resident of Jeffersonville and now has opened a location in Louisville — in the old Garrett’s location just off Hurstbourne. Like the original, you can expect family-style, casual-upscale American fare, with a heavy focus on steaks and prime rib. (Reviewed 6/20; Rating: 78)…
