Cover Story
It’s not easy being Green
When the Louisville Arena Authority invited the Metro Council to the KFC Yum! Center’s inaugural gala, each member received two complimentary tickets, worth $100 a piece. Councilwoman Judy Green, it turns out, ended up with an extra pair. Just days before the Oct. 14 celebration, a representative from the District 1 councilwoman’s office told the…
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. March…
Getting serious about national debt
With a federal debt of $14 trillion and annual deficits running nearly $1.5 trillion, the United States must take swift austerity measures or risk losing its No. 1 NCAA ranking. Fortunately, no matter where we fall on the political divide, most Americans agree on one fundamental economic principle: Locally raised hot wings go really well…
Drive my car
I knew I was teasing the beast when I posted the Bertrand Russell quote about religion as my status on Facebook last week, but I never expected the epic thread of (150+) comments that followed. While many of my facebos (virtual friends) are sensitive to the belief systems of others (I’m sure most of them…
Lien on me
It sounds very American: For 46 years, Grace Brockington has called the Parkland neighborhood home. In 1965, she and her husband, Tommie, bought a white two-story house with a fenced-in backyard. With Grace working as a dietary aide at St. Mary’s & Elizabeth’s Hospital, and Tommie, an Army veteran with 22 years of service, working…
Underneath the Pine
Two years removed from the backlash-ready chillwave blitz, Toro Y Moi proves the best way to transcend hype is to have the songwriting chops to match it. Chaz Budnick’s melodies have a narcotic warmth that sustains Underneath the Pine, even as the album gets same-y in its second half. Budnick occasionally goes overboard with the…
What’s the big idea?
The exchange of ideas in a public forum is not exactly a new concept. But the notion of name-brand public lectures — known as idea salons — is a relatively new trend, one that’s caught on locally. National idea conferences including Bioneers, PechaKucha 20×20 and TED are becoming annual fixtures in Louisville, where they’ve been…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: COLIN MOCHRIE & BRAD SHERWOOD: TWO MAN GROUP 2010; $14.95, UR One of the saddest atrocities committed by Disney Corp. after buying ABC was its persecution of Drew Carey and his amazing band of comics. Here Colin and Brad, from the late, lamented “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” keep their free-wheeling…
Culture: Space invaders
Retro games have made a big comeback thanks to emulators and downloads, but much of the action and community was lost when it became cheaper to bring the arcade to your living room. Anyone who grew up with a console remembers kicking and screaming in Toys “R” Us while being dragged away from the plastic-cased…
The Taste Bud: Ham(burger) and eggs … lunch or breakfast?
Like most of us, I grew up eating eggs — fried eggs, scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, sunny-side-up eggs. My dad was a big-time egg lover; he used to mix up scrambled eggs in a glass measuring cup, dropping in little pieces of sliced American cheese as he stirred, before pouring it into a hot skillet…
Film: Acting up
We’ve all seen that kid in the camcorder section of the electronics store. She stops in her tracks after spotting herself on the showroom televisions. The recognition usually begins with a simple hand gesture, followed by a complex series of bobs, weaves and snaky, Axl Rose-type slithers. The trance breaks when a parent calls “Let’s…
Industry Standard: Insider info for those who dine out
It’s still full-on dark as I use my key. Moonlight catches on stainless steel corners as I open and close the door behind me. I breathe in the pleasant ghosts of baking bread, bleached cutting boards, roasted garlic. Hello, kitchen. The linen closet door creaks. I shake out one snowy white apron — snap —…
Earth movers
Playing in the moment is as important as technique for Railroad Earth. The group, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary in May, released its latest, self-titled studio album in October. They stop Friday at Headliners, where, as mandolin player and John Skehan says, anything goes. LEO: What was it like working with producers Angelo Montrone and Michael…
Film: A driving fast
“Dude, it’s just a mosque,” blogged Aman Ali, a New York writer and filmmaker after a visit to Park 51. The infamous “Ground Zero Mosque” is where Ali and partner Bassam Tariq kicked off their cross-country web project, “30 Mosques in 30 Days.” The launch coincided with the start of Ramadan, as well as the…
Appalatin
Appalatin’s (www.appalatin.com) self-titled debut album is out this week. The five-piece roots ensemble blends folk and bluegrass with sounds indigenous to Latin America — three members are from Nicaragua, Ecuador and Mexico. The album was recorded at Don Ernst Studios with a grant from Kentucky Arts Council, and features backup vocals by Kentucky Homefront host…
Comedy: Comedian happy L.A. is in his rearview mirror
Comedian Mack Dryden says that almost every time he tells a local he moved from L.A. to Louisville, he gets the same reaction: “They say, ‘Wow, that must be some kind of culture shock,’ as if L.A. has all the culture and Louisville has none. That’s ridiculous,” he says in his slight Southern accent. “Louisville…
Smart Flesh
These guys met on a wooden-bats-only baseball team, and the band’s website says that Smart Flesh was recorded in an abandoned pasta sauce factory in Rhode Island. That sounds like the worst brand of contrived hipster nonsense until you hear the results. It’s in the same vein of pretty, under-styled folk-rock as The Avett Brothers,…
American Craze
At their best, The Deloreans fuse infectious power pop, kitchen sink arrangements and the bravura of Roy Orbison’s Monument singles into an intoxicating brew. At their worst, their pretensions become insufferable, as undercooked melodies buckle under the weight of Jeremy Perry’s scenery-devouring vocals. Both extremes can be found in abundance throughout American Craze; each keeps…
Theater: True grit
Women Behind Bars A production by the Alley Theater at Art Sanctuary. Directed by Kathi E.B. Ellis. Continues through March 12 at 1205 E. Washington St. For tickets or more information, visit www.thealleytheater.org. Inside the charmingly haphazard warehouse/gym/gallery space that is the Alley Theater’s home base stands a gray, lonely set, representing the New York…
Staffpicks
March 2-6 ‘A Perfect Wedding’ U of L Playhouse 1911 S. Third St. • 852-6814 $8-$12; 8 p.m. (plus 3 p.m. Sun.) It’s one of those plays where some folks are frolicking through a forest and stumbling into mischief, causing everything to fall apart and come back together in unexpected ways — you know, kind…
Inbox — March 2, 2011
Inspired Freeway Attn: Ricky L. Jones Your “Freeway Ricky Ross” column is powerful (LEO Weekly, Feb. 16). As a skilled writer, a remarkable professor who teaches and mentors students, and person who eluded Atlanta’s drug-rotted-project’s grim reaper via wise choices, you, unknowingly, filled a leadership void of someone who can address sensitive issues with nary…
This rolled oyster hits a Home Run
The demise of Flabby’s Schnitzelburg last July, following on the heels of its sibling eatery, Mazzoni’s, which failed in the autumn of 2008 at the ripe old age of 124, seemed to spell the death of a great Louisville culinary tradition — the “rolled” oyster. This savory confection is a ration of fresh, just-shucked oysters…
Degeneration Street
Can you blame Murray Lightburn for wanting to set a little Arcade Fire? After a decade with The Dears, he still seems to carry the whole band on his shoulders (even marrying band-mate Natalia Yanchak). Their band’s latest only really imitates their more successful Canadian neighbors a couple of times — and those serve to…
Culture: Podcasts You Might Be Missing
Favorite comedy podcasts among LEO readers, according to my highly non-scientific survey of the demographic, are “WTF,” hosted by Marc Maron, and “The Nerdist,” hosted by Chris Hardwick. Both are smart shows that go well beyond the usual blither-blather by virtue of lengthy, intimate interviews with comedians and other media stars. Maron is one of…
