Cover Story
Shot in the dark
It was almost 5 a.m. when the phone rang. The call jarred Mike DiGiuro awake, and he fumbled for the telephone in the dark. The man on the line identified himself as a police dispatcher, and groggy confusion turned to panic. Then came the matter-of-fact statement that changed life in an instant: “Mr. DiGiuro, I’ve…
Theater: Romeo & Juliet’s tragedy is timeless
(The Kentucky Shakespeare Festival presents “Romeo & Juliet.” Directed by Anthony Patton. Continues through July 12 at 8 p.m. in the C. Douglas Ramey Ampitheatre in Central Park. Free. More information at www.kyshakes.org.) Romeo and Juliet, those star-crossed teenage lovers, are such a familiar pair, with contemporary counterparts ranging from Lou Reed songs to…
Film: Teneia Sanders takes a ‘Stand’ for equality
“So, Mr. Freeman, why exactly are you doing this?,” a teenage girl asks from the audience of what appears to be a high school gymnasium. The Mr. Freeman she is referring to in the film could be anyone, and her question could be about anything. “I live here,” Mr. Freeman responds. “I think it is…
Classical Music: Orchestra swaps show tunes for classics, Zoo for floating stage
The big plus of the Louisville Orchestra’s summertime switch from the ROARchestra series at the Louisville Zoo to a Summer Classics series this July at Ballard High School and RiverStage, in Jeffersonville, is the symphony will skip the show tunes and pop medleys and instead play real classical music. The oldies-but-goldies national acts are out,…
Hypocrisy! (The Musical)
There is nothing I love more than a tragic love story: tales of star-crossed lovers, fairy-tale narratives of couples road-tripping it, trying to escape parents and mental hospitals — these things complete me. And I love a good argument — sung, acted out with hats and a cane. Would not life be oh-so-lovely if it…
Mug Shots: Seek and ye shall find
You may have noticed that Mr. Mug Shots took a week off to make way for LEO’s Fake Issue (June 24). Although sorely disappointed at not having the chance to extol the virtues of mega-brew, I used my time on the sidelines to plan the summer beer-drinking calendar. For those who want it all —…
Crazy
Last time, when our theme was “Wish You Were Here,” I knew the phrase would make you think of that song by Pink Floyd. This was a bit of irony on my part because that song, written by Roger Waters and his buddies, was a tribute to Syd Barrett, the founding member of the band…
Sixty-seven ways to feel alive
Hold an ice cube on your belly until it melts. Learn to identify 20 trees by looking at their leaves. Over-tip in an outrageous way, perhaps leaving the garbage man $100 or adding $100 to your $20 bar tab. Thinly dice a scotch bonnet pepper and snort it. Haggle over the price of your groceries.…
Jerry’s kids
There have been grave rumblings in the mayoral race betting pool since last week, so let’s get right to it. First and foremost, attorney Craig Greenberg is out. The Museum Plaza developer and young, bright Jewish lawyer confirmed to LEO Weekly Monday he’s forgoing plans to run in the Democratic primary because the General Assembly…
The never-ending story
On a day when Kentucky’s 3rd District U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth was to announce a Great Leap Forward in Louisville’s “battle against drug trafficking,” the security personnel of the Romano L. Mazzoli Federal Building didn’t check any of us media for weapons or drugs. For that laughing matter, unfortunately, there’s the logic underlying the announcement…
The Wavering Radiant
Metal is a multifaceted beast. Certainly much of it can be indescribably shitty, but the stuff that is good can be downright transcendent. Consider Isis and Wavering Radiant. There’s quite a bit going on under the surface; the album is an album, not a group of recent songs collected together. Themes recur and repeat, and…
Review: White Oak brings Kentucky’s treasures home
The top current food trend can be summed up in one word: local. The Obamas have planted a garden at the White House. Farmers markets are all the rage. Even big chain groceries spotlight a bit of local produce. In 2009, farming is cool. “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” Barbara Kingsolver’s account of eating homegrown and regionally…
Jay Stay Paid
When I die, and my family and friends begin to sift through my belongings, they will find several folders of writings no eyes but mine have ever seen. Will what they read resonate with them? Will they even notice what they’ve found before hitting the shredder? Will they read and then shred, regardless of their…
Inbox — July 8, 2009
Keeping It Weird The LEO Weekly Fake Issue (June 24) was WONDERFUL! Creative, funny, clever, thought-provoking … I can’t praise you enough! As a longtime TV station tech, I howled at the snow machine plan (truer than you know). And I plan to make a bumper sticker with our new state motto, maybe flanked by…
Film: ‘Outrage’ examines hypocrisy of closeted politicians
(Directed by Kirby Dick. UR; 1:29. Starts Friday, July 10, at Village 8 Theatres.) The closet can be a dark and lonely place. It can also be a dangerous one — not only to oneself but many, many others. Especially if you’re a gay politician, forced to keep the door closed to stay in…
Eating Us
Black Moth Super Rainbow performs a difficult feat with Eating Us. The group is able to maintain the distinct, calculated sound that makes them easily recognizable, while branching out to create a remarkably different album. The massive arsenal of antique analog equipment that defined BMSR’s first three albums remains intact — vocoder-saturated vocals of Tobacco,…
Rear View Mirror
Aaron Davis may have recorded the songs on his first full-length solo project where he lives and works in Jackson Hole, Wyo., but this material is born out of growing up in Kentucky, of traveling the interstates, highways, sidestreets and alleys of America and abroad, born out of interacting with the places and people and…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: PEANUTS: 1960s COLLECTION 2009; $29.95, UR If you ever wanted a classic Peanuts TV collection, here’s your chance. To celebrate the anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, Warner Bros. is releasing this box set with “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars,” “Great Pumpkin,” “You’re in Love,” “He’s Your Dog” and “It…
Ahoy!
The Forecastle Festival has done a lot of growing up since its humble beginnings as an afternoon of mid-grade local music performed live at Tyler Park. This year’s three-day affair at the Riverfront Belvedere boasts the most mainstream, hippie-fied lineup yet, with headliners Widespread Panic, The Black Crowes, The Black Keys and The Avett Brothers…
McConnell: one-man political action committee
Lest you think Mitch McConnell is the least interesting person in the world, Louisville author and C-J columnist John David Dyche comes along with the first major political biography of the Senate minority leader and Kentucky’s Republican honcho. His DNA is part sphinx, part King Cobra — and all conservative, although you might be surprised…
Allman Joy
“The river isn’t quite as wide,” Devon Allman says by phone from Ithaca, N.Y., where he and his blues-rock cohorts in Honeytribe rocked Castaways, just off Cornell University’s campus. “I’m just doing my part to keep this kind of music going.” “This kind” is barroom Southern blues-rock, typified on Torch (Livewire), Honeytribe’s latest. As the…
JY 2.0
WASHINGTON – After confirming his district’s 2006 vote by beating former Republican incumbent Anne Northup for the second time in November, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., is securely holding his seat as a junior member of the House of Representatives and enjoying his first tenure under an ideological comrade in the White House. In another…
B-Sides: Music & Other Ephemera
Happy birthday to Beck (1970). Poison Tree Records re-released American Exhaust, the debut album by The Glasspack, digitally through iTunes July 4 to commemorate the band’s 10-year anniversary. The album was remastered by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden). Each download comes with photos and tour poster files, two unfinished and unreleased tracks, “Slut” and “3,000…
