Props (theater news and banter): “Leap” into Le Fringe
Some of the highest profile names in American theater are in town this month for the Humana Fest, but we needn’t forget about the numerous artists who operate in Louisville year around. The members of the local company Le Petomane are among the region’s most creative and daring. “Leap: a physical comedy” is Le Petomane’s…
Guest Commentary: Is there a word from the church?
The local daily newspaper had several excellent articles related to Black History Month. But across the top of the page was the picture of a handsome 16-year-old black student shot to death the previous night in a parking lot on West Broadway. I think of the recent LEO cover story about the gun brandishing and…
On Media: C-J takes another step to get its “mojos” workin”
Boy, did I feel special. Last Thursday I got an e-mail from Ric Manning, online operations manager for The Courier-Journal, with an invitation to test-drive the paper’s new web template. It is still in beta testing. The site is not quite ready for launch — that’s just weeks away — but Manning told me how…
Erosia (Letters to the Editor) for 3-05-08
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. Rock…
Song of the South End: Valley Station native Greg Maddux has outlasted “The Great Dry Spell.â€
Now, we might finally see that catalog of his.PHOTOS BY SCOTT MCINTYREI first met Greg Maddux in the mid-’80s. We were riding around with Sean Garrison, listening to one of Sean’s Bad Brains tapes. I had heard stories about Greg from mutual friends for a year or so. Nothing necessarily bad or unflattering, mind you,…
WHAT A WEEK: THE CITY”S WEEKLY ZEITGEIST RADAR
+5Because of a “competitive religious marketplace,” nearly half of Americans have switched religions, according to a study by the Pew Forum. But the fastest growing “religion” is no religion — fully 16 percent of us (a record number for America) abstain. Protestantism, which could soon become a minority religion for the first time in American…
ballz (sports report): Cards’ ‘team ego’ is legit
The storyline is virtually the same for every sportswriter covering the University of Louisville men’s basketball team right now: transformation. Who thought this team, with its cataclysmic fall from the Top 10 three months ago, would go 8 for 8 in February, the prologue to college basketball’s real story? It is compelling stuff. What was…
Council group unveils “concept” to fund library expansion
library system: Patrons have full Internet access inside the main library branch downtown. A plan to expand the city’s library system would include major advances in web accessibility. Just four months after a thumping at the ballot box, a concept to expand the city’s library system is back on the books. Councilmen Jim King, D-10,…
Reading, writing and counting cards: Casinos and education keep the drama high in Frankfort
Seeing that the road to a vote on a casino gambling amendment still wasn’t as smooth as they would have liked last week, Kentucky House of Representatives leadership deftly removed one of the stumbling blocks — a fellow representative. Two proposed casino gambling plans initially fell flat before the House elections and constitutional amendments committee.…
Summary of My Discontent: Courting the imbecile vote
With the U.S. presidential election drawing near (only 241 more days to go!), many people have already decided how they’ll vote. And with the election season in its 850th week, it’s easy to see why. As polls have conclusively shown, most voters have made their final decision as a group, be they young, old, African…
News Xtra: Hits from the blog
Online sexual predators nabbed in KYPerverted Justice is the name of a vigilante group that helps state authorities conduct stings to entice child sexual predators, who it then hand-delivers to the NBC television show “To Catch a Predator” for some Must-See TV. Last week in LEO’s print edition, Stephen George wrote about Perverted Justice’s efforts…
¡ ASK A MEXICAN ! On padrinos and the work ethic
Q Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans have padrinos for everything? I never understood why, can you help me out? —The Godfather FanA Dear Wab: Many gabachos have long wondered about the galaxy of godparents that surround Mexicans from birth to death, but it’s no misterio. Ostensibly, godparents (padrino is a godfather, madrina is a godmother, and padrinos…
Cable Boxing: “The Captain” and its “Melrose Place” ties
Welcome to The CaptainEpisode 5: “Mr. Big Meeting” CBS, Mondays, 8:30 p.m., aired March 3. Starring Fran Kranz, Chris Klein, Jeffrey Tambor, JoAnna Garcia, Raquel Welch, Al Madrigal and Valerie Azlynn. Synopsis: After Marty lands Josh a meeting with the president of Paramount, Uncle Saul insists on helping him with his pitch. Also, while Jesus…
Splatters (ART NEWS BITS) for 3-05-08
Art 812: Examples of Janet Essenpries’ coil pottery The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft is now charging a $5 admission for exhibitions. Also new are Artist Membership and Artist-in-Residence programs.Crescent Hill Gallery has moved to 2033 Frankfort Ave. The 2008 Kentucky Crafted: The Market is Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9. Go to…
Lending Leonardo: Speed gets da Vinci notebook on loan from London museum
Leonardo Notebook: Photo courtesy of the Speed Art Museum “Codex Forster 1” from Leonardo da Vinci is now on display at the Speed Art Museum. For all you fans of “The Da Vinci Code” book and movie, here’s the chance to see the real thing. There is a Leonardo da Vinci notebook in “Medieval and…
The 32nd Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays
Great falls: Photo by Harlan Taylor Halley Gross and Tom Nelis in “Great Falls” by Lee Blessing, part of the 32nd Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre ‘Great Falls’ does, but not greatly (Actors Theatre presents Lee Blessing’s “Great Falls” through March 30. Directed by Lucie Tiberghien. Part of the 32nd Annual…
CD Reviews for 3-05-08
Go Away WhiteBauhaus(REDEYE)This is not the Bauhaus I remember. Yes, they are still British; yes, they are still self-important; and yes they are still doing New Wave 20 years after New Wave fell out of vogue — but for some reason, this CD feels different. Go Away White sounds closer to the Joy Division side…
B-Sides (MUSIC & OTHER EPHEMERA) for 3-05-08
CausationAs much as we may prattle on about partying and having fun, drunk driving is stupid and dangerous. It just is. Illumina Records, a three-year-old Boston label, is raising awareness of the dangers by releasing a music compilation, Rockers for Life. The Midwest version of this collection features Love Affair, from Finchville, Ky., and Louisville…
Sight Unsound: Perserverance pays off for Jackson Browne
Best suited: Jackson Browne, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, plays the Brown Friday Friday, March 7Though Jackson Browne has presumably been living well off of the royalties from the Eagles’ greatest hits (after a lawsuit, of course), there is much more significance to this legendary songwriter than having co-written “Take It Easy”…
South By … so what? South End throws its own festival
Screwface “There aren’t too many venues in the South End anymore,” says Rico Rakutt, former tour manager for The Glasspack and co-founder of South By South End, a mostly harder-edged, mostly local, all-ages festival taking place Saturday. To host this daylong beast, Bulldog Café won out for Rakutt and co-founder Mike Foley of the hard-rock…
For Black Mountain, Future takes page from past
Amber Webber: far left, sings lead on Black Mountain’s In the Future. She’s a bit Grace Slick and a whole lotta evil. Amber Webber, the backing vocalist for Vancouver collective Black Mountain, lends her talents to the group’s second album, In the Future, and for the first time, sings lead vocals on its denouement, “Night…
Mug Shots: Meg Ryan would approve
Imagine my delight as Publican when the beer I recommended to a knowledgeable (and as a bonus, curvaceous) female customer was immediately proclaimed as “an orgasm in a glass.” Public feedback is seldom of this magnitude, but in truth, the ale in question fully merits the accolade: Rodenbach Grand Cru. Belgium’s Rodenbach brewery uses the…
LEO Eats: The Boombozz theory of evolution
Boombozz Bistro: The most recent addition to the Tony Boombozz empire is the brand-new upscale casual Boombozz Bistro in Jeffersontown with an expanded menu and table service. Like a primordial anchovy creeping out of the sea and beholding bigger and better things on shore, the first Tony Boombozz pizzeria burst into view just a decade…
Aftertastes for 3-05-08
60 WEST BISTRO AND MARTINI BAR, 3939 Shelbyville Rd., 719-9717, www.60westbistro.com. The 5-year-old Cafe Emilie reinvented itself with a new name and image. Owners Emilie and Charles Knieriem are still in charge, and Chef Tim Smith remains in the kitchen, now assisted by sous chef Chris Vanhoozer. (Reviewed 1/23/08; Rating: 84) J. GUMBO’S, 2109 Frankfort…
Video TapeWorm: Releases through Tuesday, March 11
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKSDAN IN REAL LIFE2007; DVD $29.95, PG-13Steve Carell has been looking for his breakout film since ’91’s “Curly Sue.” This still ain’t it, but he’s on the right track. He plays a dedicated, if somewhat beaten-down, widower/single dad who has given up on his own life in favor of providing a stable…
Staffpicks for 3-05-08
Thursday, March 6‘L.I.F.E.’s Lessons’ Anyone who has ever been without personal transportation understands that “good” food, as in food that isn’t a deep-fried cheeseburger or a delivered pepperoni pizza, is difficult, nay impossible, to find in poorer areas such as West Louisville. The problems that stem from this are a documented increase in obesity,…
The Back Lot (FILM NEWS & RUMINATIONS): Frequently Asked Questions (for film critics)
1) “Wow. You really make a living watching movies?”Answer: Nope, not really. Unless you are one of a few dozen lucky individuals in the world who are full-time critics (and even than number is dwindling), writing about movies means hustling for dough. Most film critics support themselves with day jobs (like me) or by being…
Film Reviews for 3-5-08
‘City of Men’ shows Brazil in brutal, beautiful light(Starring Douglas Silva, Darlan Cunha, Jonathan Haagensen, Rodrigo Dos Santos and Luciano Vidigal. Directed by Paulo Morelli. Rated R; 1:50. LEO Report Card: A-) In so many ways, Brazil is the United States multiplied by a factor of 10. As bad as our economic disparities have become,…
