Cover Story
What do we do about health care?
John Yarmuth sat hunched coolly forward, arms crossed and resting on the arcing half-moon desk before him. It was a recent Wednesday morning, and he seemed annoyed, having just opened his five minutes of floor time admonishing some Republican colleagues, who had four times attempted to adjourn the meeting. Yarmuth accused them of blocking discussion…
Book: ‘Nobody Move’ settles in with charming lowlifes
Nobody Move By Denis Johnson. FSG Books; 196 pgs., $24.99. Nobody move — and no one will, at least while enthralled by the pages of Denis Johnson’s new book, “Nobody Move.” Johnson follows up his National Book Award-winning novel, “Tree of Smoke,” with this hardboiled throwback to the L.A. crime novels of the late…
Bar Belle: He’s out of my life
As I sipped on the last of my gin and tonic, I stared down at the melting cubes of ice, trying to process it all. He’s out of my life. Did we take him for granted? Were we so cavalier? No matter how it stands, he’s out of our hands. It was a Thursday night…
Justice and the menace
Every time former President George W. Bush talked about bringing justice to a particular set of bad people, I died a little inside. Mostly because it’s a boneheaded way of putting that sentiment into words, but also because I like politicians who puff their chests about as much as I like poison ivy. Bush and…
‘Hello. My name is Joe, and I’m a Baptist’
Being Baptist these days is tough, not only because this diverse group is generally painted with a single brush of public opinion, but also because being Baptist is addictive. How else to explain my visit to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention just to snoop around a bit? Several years ago my congregation…
Inbox — July 1, 2009
No, Sir; I Didn’t Like It (Regarding LEO’s Fake Issue, June 24): FWIW, I didn’t like this issue at all. The Onion has done this type of shtick for how long now? The whole issue seems trite, contrived, forced and not very funny. If Kate “Semicolons are My Life” Welsh is serious about being let…
Federal Reserve Note
Dear God in heaven. Please tell me this is a prank and I’m playing the role of Abbott to Moffi’s Costello. You know what? I’m deciding that this is a joke and will respond in kind: Moffi Don has taken the rare role of rap satirist, lampooning the genre with a mixture of modest (to…
Bastards of Young
About 12:25 a.m. on Feb. 10, Heartless Bastards closed “Late Show with David Letterman.” At the same time, the flesh and blood form of the Heartless Bastards sat in a sports bar somewhere between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Pausing along their way to a Virginia date the following day, the quartet asked to flip on…
The Eternal
Dear Thurston Moore, Hope all is well with you and yours. What grade’s Coco in now? Aw, that’s great, man. OK, so I guess I should get to the point. Well, I just checked out The Eternal and wasn’t sure what to expect. I have to say that I’m getting a little tired of you…
Wilco (The Album)
Not surprisingly, intricate melodies and thought-provoking lyrics abound on Wilco’s latest. Co-produced by the band and Jim Scott, Wilco (The Album) echoes the subtle beauty of Sky Blue Sky, and (a fact not to be taken for granted) it also features the same great line-up as its acclaimed predecessor. From the opening silliness of…
Scramble
With the emergence of garage rock and the success of bands like The White Stripes and The Ting Tings, it was only a matter of time before knock-offs would start coming out of the woodwork. It almost seems like anyone with a poorly tuned guitar, a busted amp and access to a snare drum thinks…
Jerry’s kids
This column’s first round of mayoral chatter set off a knee-jerk response from the local punditry, turning up one new revelation. Besides Council President David Tandy, D-4, and Councilman Jim King, D-10, several names are being thrown around. But the one that keeps popping up with serious traction is attorney Craig Greenberg, who is best…
Criminal justice 101
A University of Louisville student exits Ekstrom Library on the Third Street side and notices four young men approaching in the late-February snow. As the group passes, one man turns and slugs him in the face, prompting him to drop his backpack and sprint to safety at his fraternity house. When the U of L…
Here’s anuddah New York pie. Got a problem?
Pizza originated in prehistoric times, food experts say, when Stone Age tribes pounded wheat grains into a coarse batter and baked rough rounds on hot stones. Then they would top this primitive flatbread with whatever roadkill or gleanings were available. They didn’t call it “pizza,” but we think they probably called it good. Tomatoes and…
Book: Blount squeezes love of lexicon out of ‘Alphabet Juice’
Alphabet Juice By Roy Blount Jr. Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux; 368 pgs., $25. I was tempted to make the book’s long subtitle the whole review: “The energies, gists, and spirits of letters, words, and combinations thereof; their roots, bones, innards, piths, pips, and secret parts, tinctures, tonics and essences; with examples of…
Bearing witness, bearing arms
As our car pulls into the vast, sun-baked parking lot of Valley Station’s New Bethel Church, I am shocked to discover the absence of gun-toting rednecks, unwashed hippie pacifists and Louisville Metro Police riot tanks. There is only a trifecta of volunteer sheriff’s deputies, a handful of parked cars and an odd sense of peace…
Moonwalker
I’m not sure if I ever attended a slumber party where somebody didn’t play at least one 45 of Michael Jackson songs. Farrah, while not my favorite Angel (that would be Jaclyn), inspired me to cut “wings” in my hair and yell “Freeze!” while pulling a pretend gun on an imaginary bad guy. When the…
Art: Exhibit pays tribute to late photographer John Ranard
“I photograph first and think later.” This simple statement, found on a placard at the exhibit, is evident to anyone who views his work: The late photographer John Ranard did not create art. He found it. The John Ranard Memorial exhibition, at the Cressman Center for Visual Arts through July 11, features a vast array…
Industry Standard: Insider info for those who dine out
Put that recipe down and back away slowly Recently I overhead a restaurant patron sigh and say, “I wish I could cook like this at home.” Well, guess what? You can! Busy people can easily get stuck in a culinary rut, churning out the same boring repertoire of dishes at home week after week, that…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: KNOWING 2009; $26.95, PG-13 This had the potential to be a killer, pull-out-all-the-stops summer blockbuster — yet intelligent and profound in its implications. The filmmakers decided to put Nicolas Cage on the screen, instead. Here he deciphers a cryptic text found buried in a time capsule that tells him when major…
Shell game
Appreciating the depth, calculation and execution of Tortoise is an easy task. Implementing elements of classic and disparate genres, this Chicago ensemble — now in its 20th year — continues to put on a clinic with its newest album, Beacons of Ancestorship, released last week on Thrill Jockey. Dan Bitney talks about his degree in…
Tim Krekel: 1950-2009
They sent Tim Krekel off in style Sunday afternoon. After a small private service at James Lee Presbyterian Church, several hundred people — led by his son Jason, playing his dad’s guitar, and his widow Debora, suspenders holding up the seersucker suit he’d worn when they were married June 14 — marched down Frankfort Avenue,…
A new Krekel album? Yes indeed
I had the chance to visit with Tim Krekel’s family Monday afternoon, the day after nearly 1,000 people turned out for a rousing musical memorial service at the Vernon Club in Butchertown. They were exhausted, naturally, and still amazed at the outpouring of love they’ve felt ever since Tim was diagnosed with cancer in March.…
Soft Landings
Several months ago, when pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger, aka Sully, safely landed his U.S. Airways plane onto the Hudson River, an awestruck nation called it a mixture of fast thinking and even faster reactions. James “Diamond” Williams, the drummer, leader and manager of legendary funk band The Ohio Players, says Sully’s aim was simple. “We…
Rag Traveler
Since leaving Louisville almost nine months ago, I have seen, touched, tasted, smelled and heard so many things that it feels impossible to sum up my experience in writing. Starting in Louisville in October, along with Jerry — my now infamous 1971 Volkswagen Beetle — I drove north to Chicago, then turned directly south, splitting…
Paul to the Smith&Wessonians
“When someone from within the church tells me that being a Christian and having firearms are contradictions, that they’re incompatible with the Gospel — baloney. As soon as you start saying that it’s not something that Christians do, well, guns are just the foil. The issue now is the Gospel. So in a sense, it…
Rallying for a new revolution
The shade offered by Marjan Javid’s umbrella does little to mitigate the intense early afternoon sun; beads of sweat have collected on the bridge of her nose, and her slow movements and speech indicate the early signs of dehydration. Maybe that’s because the umbrella itself — a flimsy thing, patterned in green, white and red…
B-Sides: Music & Other Ephemera
One of the token groups in the resurgence of traditional American music, The Wiyos are enjoying the synchronous arrival of hard-earned recognition. They join the Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson/John Mellencamp 2009 for 28 dates on the power trio’s summer tour, and have been featured in the BBC documentary “Folk America: Hollerers, Stompers and Old Time Ramblers.”…
