Cover Story
Seeking refuge
To the average passerby, the slate facade of the Pleune-Mobley Center on the corner of Highland Avenue and Cherokee Road harbors little more than two stories of tall windows and a small blue sign that reads “Kentucky Refugee Ministries.” But to the 600-plus refugees who will walk through KRM’s doors this year, the narrow climb…
How to drive women wild
When German pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve its new Viagra-like drug for women, the Internet’s jabbering classes became obsessed with a topic not normally discussed on the Internet other than every single moment since its inception: How can we drive women wild? So far, the FDA has refused…
Theater: Gender identity and church explored in ‘The Prodigal’
Once Sheila O’Bannon came to terms with what it meant to have a transgender child, and concluded that her faith could help her through it rather than make her feel ashamed, she decided her family’s story had to be told. But instead of writing an autobiography or going on some reality show, she worked from…
Krazy Fest
Former Endpoint manager and soundman Andy Tinsley announced via Facebook last week that Krazy Fest would return to Louisville in May 2011. Started by Andy Rich, founder of the now-defunct Initial Records in 1998, the festival featured post-hardcore and punk notables such as Avail, Hot Water Music, Thursday, Jimmy Eat World and By the Grace…
Bar Belle: A beer by any other name would taste as sweet
Two weeks ago, I beckoned you to give me your best drunken Shakespeare — write a poem about beer to score two tickets to the Top of the Hops beer fest. The winner, as decided by a sober LEO staff, was Robert Lutz, who just so happened to include my name in his poetic prose…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2010; $29.95-$39.95, R/UR This terrific adult-male fantasy/comedy is sure to spawn a butt-load of imitators, but they’ll have a hard time matching the wit and energy of this rude-and-crude little gem. Three middle-aged buds — John Cusack, Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry — and a nephew head…
‘A Shot in the Arm’
Since 1981, Musicians Emergency Relief Fund has come to the aid of musicians in hard times. This weekend, in conjunction with the Kentuckiana Blues Society, MERF’s Booty Shakin’ Blues Benefit concert continues that mission. Over the years, MERF’s concerts have raised money to assist musicians whose lives have hit a bump in the road: from…
Stuff
Last Thursday morning, while listening to Laurie Anderson’s Big Science on my iPod, I went to pour some milk in my coffee, and the little plastic ring from the milk jug cap fell into my cup. It struck me as funny. I laughed out loud. And then, as it floated there, a little blue circle…
Push
Pianist Jacky Terrasson has moved from Blue Note to Concord for Push, an eclectic collection. Bassist Ben Williams and drummer Jamire Williams (unrelated) groove hard with Terrasson on the second-line opener “Gaux Girl.” The trio’s take on the unlikely medley of “Beat It/Body and Soul” re-imagines both songs so thoroughly they come out sounding like…
Theater: The marriage of tragedy and comedy
The Marriage of Bette and Boo Presented by the Louisville Repertory Company. Written by Christopher Durang, directed by Brian Walker. Showing at Kentucky Center’s MeX Theater through June 27. Call 584-7777 or go to www.lourep.org for more info or tickets. As I come of age, I discover the line between tragedy and comedy growing increasingly…
Broken Hearts And Dirty Windows
This collection of random tracks is exciting and interesting, beat by beat. Playing the album is like wandering into Tootsie’s honkytonk bar in Nashville on an open-mic night — there’s a little bit country, a little bit rock ’n’ roll, a touch of theatricality and a pinch of the unexpected. Lampchop’s “Six O’Clock News” provides…
Jerry’s kids
With 20 applicants seeking to replace the late George Unseld, who died earlier this month after collapsing in his third floor office at City Hall, residents in the 6th District are anxious to hear from the councilman’s would-be successors. “I’m eager to hear their plan for Old Louisville. The neighborhood needs a lot of work,”…
Staffpicks
Friday, June 25 Sustainable Living Fair Rastetter Street (between Frankfort & Payne) www.cultivatingconnections.org Free; 4-9 p.m. Nothing makes me feel better than giving Mother Earth a great big bear hug. But if sentimental nature-talk is not really your thing, there is still something to gain from a stroll up Rastetter Street for the Louisville Sustainable…
Junior
Rolling Stone declared Kaki King a guitar god, and Foo Fighters and Tegan & Sara have employed her brand of guitar-slapping and finger-picking to spruce up their albums. Her solo work has rested mainly on her instrumental skills, evidenced by her contributions to the soundtrack for “Into the Wild.” Junior reveals she still lacks a…
Art: Visions of peace from around the world
It all started around Christmas 2008, when Louisville attorney, peace activist and art collector Allan Weiss founded Peace Postcards. As he began to think about what peace really meant, he decided to hand out postcards to friends and family to gain a bit of insight into what those around him thought. Expecting to receive no…
BeTREYed
Two weeks before the May primary, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s public endorsement gave hope to the hapless senatorial campaign of fellow Republican Trey Grayson. In every credible poll, Grayson, Kentucky’s secretary of state, was trailing tea party darling Rand Paul by double digits; pundits were pondering his political obituary. Suspense spiked amid breathtaking stakes. The…
Operation Purple Rain
Following the fireworks of Thunder Over Louisville, the celebration inside Phat’s Bar & Grill was just getting started in the early morning hours on April 20, 2008. A surveillance tape shows a young woman wearing a tiny bikini top and matching G-string gyrating across a patron’s lap. A second tape of the dressing room shows…
This Is Happening
There has always been a faded, quiet line between all-out, LCD Soundsystem fandom and me, and I’ve finally hopped over. Among a sea of electro-funk wannabes, This is Happening validly delivers incendiary, educated, great shit. Revel in this smart combination of artistic lyrics, electronica, gritty funk and percussion, because James Murphy is clever. His lyrics…
Your Future Our Clutter
Your Future Our Clutter seems like a self-indulgent vanity project that sometimes reaches to the absurd (note the extended warbly keyboard outro to “Cowboy George”). On repeat listens, the album still sounds like a collection of drawn-out, wannabe-epic tracks that don’t move in a cohesive direction. The title of the album is appropriate: Production is…
Man From Another Time
When I first heard one of Steve’s earlier albums, it seemed similar to a lot of minimalist (i.e., mumbling) folk-blues. Listening closer — something you have to do with the cagey Steven Wold, who picks his moments carefully — brings out his wizened, spry, ornery and humble sides. Still, some of what he records is…
The Grape Escape: Chardonnay off the beaten path
Yes, I told you last week that it’s perfectly appropriate to chill your red wine a bit in warmer weather. But when summer’s sultry days clamp down like a moist, heavy wool blanket as they’ve been doing lately, sometimes we’d really rather just go to a white wine and serve it refreshingly chilled. White wine?…
Comedy: The Second City celebrates 50 years
Quick — say something funny! Not too easy, is it? The Second City has practiced the sorcery of improvisational comedy for almost half a century. When their troupes (there are now three incarnations of the Chicago original) take the stage, expectations flee for safety as they channel a singular blend of childlike inventiveness and preternatural…
Film: Hometown girl shines in ‘Winter’s Bone’
Winter’s Bone Starring Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey and Garret Dillahunt. Directed by Debra Granik. Rated R; 1:40. LEO Report Card: A The engine that makes “Winter’s Bone” go is a breakout performance by an alluring, Louisville native, whose beauty never distracts from the film’s sense of real — Jennifer Lawrence…
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. June…
Try a taste of Colombia, señor
Our city is blessed with Latino treats. In addition to a flotilla of taquerias, we’ve got landmarks like Bruce Ucán’s Mayan Café with its Mayan fare from Yucatan and Guatemala, and Anthony Lamas’ Seviche with its Nuevo Latino smorgasbord of goodies from Sonora to Tierra del Fuego. So why do we remain cursed with a…
Like a sleeping dog
After 28 years of working with animals, Bob Risinger thought he had seen it all. But when the veteran Louisville Metro Animal Services employee responded to a report of an overturned cattle truck back in 2005, his decades of experience wouldn’t be enough to prepare him for what happened next. “We helped corral the loose…
Inbox — June 23, 2010
Family First First of all, on behalf of the family, I want to sincerely thank the community for the outpouring of love, support, prayers and condolences as we said goodbye to (my uncle) George Unseld. Uncle George had big shoes to fill, both literally and figuratively. Those shoes belonged to his father, Big Charles. Now…
