Cover Story
Bull shit
Ralph Packard walks into his barn carrying a five-gallon bucket filled with small, yellowish pellets of feed. The swine — young, inexperienced and craving anything to eat — swarm him, trampling the plastic feed trays. They’re losing themselves in the pursuit, all squeals and snorts. At this stage, everything is food. They’ll chew on your…
Live or let die?
For only the third time in 20 years, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson pulled out the veto pen on Tuesday to send back legislation he says would undermine Louisville’s economic rebound. In a letter to Metro Council, the mayor stated the labor standards ordinance that passed last week would put Louisville at a serious disadvantage with…
Theater: Fristoe shines in Pandora’s ‘I Am My Own Wife’
(Pandora Productions presents Doug Wright’s “I Am My Own Wife,” directed by Rand Harmon. Continues through May 23 in the Bunbury Theatre. For tickets, call 216-5502 or visit www.pandoraprods.org.) A curator is both guardian and steward, charged with managing the affairs of objects and meticulously attending to their preservation. German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf saved…
Kingston come
The Kentucky Reggae Festival celebrates its 18th anniversary, and what’s a better way to spend a weekend than sipping Red Stripe and listening to the sounds made famous by Marley, Tosh, Perry and Romeo? Don’t let the bill dissuade you: The relative lack of “recognizable” names is ultimately unimportant, as scene and vibe are what…
My 401(k) is ‘alive and well’*
Over the years, a period spanning 2005 to the present, I’ve discussed with you many times my personal finances. But I’ve always talked supply-side — why my ability to write off this laptop computer come tax season has allowed me to be more productive, or how the Bush-era cuts in capital gains taxes have helped…
The missing link
The East End rapist attacked his first-known victim in 1996, breaking into her Douglass Hills apartment at 4:15 a.m. The woman woke to find the man — who had stringy brown hair, wore wire-rimmed glasses and smelled of cigarettes — in her bed. The same attacker would sexually assault at least four more women in…
B-Sides: Music & Other Ephemera
Since No Salvation dropped last year, Coliseum has without a doubt earned the title of Laziest Louisville band: two European tours, a Japan and Australia leg, a nine-week North American trek with Napalm Death, a specialty 7-inch release on Deathwish Records and even their own custom skateboard (courtesy of Hooligan). Slackers. The trio’s May 22…
Review: Aaron Siskind exposed
A group of people of various ages sitting in a kitchen — not exactly the most riveting image. It’s an average event, a moment that happens many times a day around the world. Yet it becomes special when revealed who made it and why it was made. Aaron Siskind (1903-91) created “Kitchen Scene, Harlem” as…
Book: Palahniuk does himself one better in new book
Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk. Doubleday; 256 pages, $24.95. I remember the moment I started hating Chuck Palahniuk. It was halfway through “Diary” when I thought I’d figured out all his tropes: The protagonist with the strange occupation/hobby who has a friend who draws him into a new world and is finally met with a major,…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: HARLAN ELLISON: DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH 2007; $26.95, UR A long-overdue biodoc on the angriest, most talented, foul-mouthed asshole ever to grace a printed page. While arguably wasting his gifts on such dreck as “Babylon 5” and latter-day “Twilight Zones,” Harlan Ellison truly believes in the power of sci-fi to save…
Leaves in the Gutter
FACT: The last Superchunk full-length came out in 2001. It (Here’s to Shutting Up) was fucking great. FACT: 2001 feels like a long time ago. Probably because it was. The long wait for new material has ended with the release of this soon-to-be classic EP. Hell, even the normally eye-roll inducing “acoustic demo” is great.…
Treasure trove
Roberto Gyemant’s headfirst dive into Panamanian music of the ’60s and ’70s is carefully curated: The second volume, Panama 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical and Calypso Funk on the Isthmus, 1967-77, out June 9 on Soundway, is a hip-shaking time warp that Gyemant, originally from San Francisco, began in 2002. In David, Panama, a hot,…
Book: Spalding rolls out the Fest of Contemporary Writing
This one’s for readers and writers. Spalding University’s Festival of Contemporary Writing, which starts Saturday, May 23, will offer free readings for eight days. The 30 presenting writers include faculty, guests and alumni of Spalding’s brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing program. Featured attendees at this spring’s program include the winner of the 2006…
Blazing Red
The girl who sat next to you in sixth period trig, the one with the Ani-inspired boots and the Boys for Pele T-shirt, wants you to like this album. “It’s confessional,” she whispers in your ear, “way better than that other crap you listen to.” You’re holding a copy of, say, Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Master…
Raise high the roof beam, Louisville
Like many of Louisville’s best-kept secrets, Shine Properties got its start because of a horse race. A few years ago, New York real estate developer Gregg Rochman traveled from his suburban Manhattan home to soak in the Oaks Day races. That night, as Rochman was tooling around the city, he found himself at the BBC…
Inbox — May 20, 2009
Varying Views I found Stephen George’s weekly column on the incident involving J.D. Sparks and the Jefferson County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner (LEO Weekly, May 13) an interesting and lively reading about what appears to be very strange and somewhat violent behavior by some little-known conservative zealot. I am not sure it was interesting…
Correcting the past
After starting a new job at the University of Louisville, it took a few months for Kaila Story to get used to the city. Having lived in Philadelphia, she was used to a more diverse urban setting, but the assistant professor was willing to give her new home a chance. “It didn’t remind me of…
Browning’s returns to Slugger Field
Browning’s is back. The brewpub in Slugger Field, with its upscale sister restaurant Park Place on Main, had abruptly closed back in October. Although Browning’s continued brewing craft beer for outside sales, Louisville Bats fans were left high and dry. Now Chef Anoosh Shariat, backed by investors, has put up nearly a half-million dollars to…
Down the final stretch?
They root differently than I do. Watching the Preakness from the Horseman’s Lounge at Churchill Downs, I was all goosebumps and excitement. “Go, Rachel! Go! Run, Rachel, Run!” Not four feet away was Hal Wiggins, Rachel Alexandra’s trainer until she was sold and transferred to Steve Asmussen after winning the Kentucky Oaks. Wiggins was surprisingly…
Reflections
Reflections is the perfect title for this three-disc retrospective of Graham Nash’s nearly 50-year career. Chronologically, the disc starts with the work he did with The Hollies, then with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and finally his solo work. Unfortunately, the passionate, visceral music of the young Nash eclipses the insipid, uninspired work of his…
Meat thermometer
While the Meat Puppets may have a story poised for the much-missed “Behind the Music” (complete with drugs, fights, arrests and break-ups), the most important fact of Meat Puppets v2.0 is that they, almost three decades strong, still fully own and master the genre they helped create during the SST days. Their latest, Sewn Together,…
Deathwatch
ATLANTA — Those of you who read the Message regularly know the last two have been breaks from the norm. Last month, I wrote about my daughter turning 1. I wrote about two of my best friends, their children and their commitment. I wrote about life. Yes, that Message was about life, even though at…
The story of my life
We were talking about the nature of consciousness and the possibility that God exists in the ways that we communicate our unique experiences. And just about the time I expected your eyes to glaze over and roll back in your head, bewildered by the absurdity of my deeply held beliefs, you said, I understand, and…
Art News
Louisville Clay is presenting a ceramics workshop with Seth Payne on Friday and Saturday, May 22-23, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. both days. It’s free and takes place at the U of L HPES/Studio Arts Bldg., 234 S. Floyd St. Contact Dolita Dohrman at 749-1513 for more details. Glassworks (www.louisvilleglassworks.com) is holding a marble tournament on…
Jewellery
When Jewellery was bestowed upon me, I immediately Googled Micachu to find out if it was a Pokemon (is not) or these so-called Shapes had anything to do with Shapes and Sizes, The Shapes, MisShapes, or any other shape-related things with which I was familiar (does not). Initial confusion aside, this sort of “have I…
The Bar Belle: A different kind of buzz
Beer. Speaking of another sweet nectar of the gods, let’s talk honey. More specifically, where honey comes from — the honeybee. Confession: I was not nice to bees in my childhood. There was an open field next to our house, and my brothers and I deemed it our playground. We owned it. We would catch…
