Cover Story
Heat Index: Summer Guide 2009
Help me Belski! There are some really great things about technology. E-mail is nice, even though it’s putting the postal service out of business and scraping at the soul of American letters. Here and there I’ve appreciated ordering pizza online. And the curing of dangerous diseases — that’s something we can all get behind. Technology…
‘Idol’ chatter
I can’t believe Adam Lambert didn’t win “American Idol.” He was the strongest performer, has a level of musicality far superior to any other competitor, and a voice with a range and depth that doesn’t quit. Not many people can actually stand out while performing with KISS — a band whose costumes are as iconic…
Summer: Frozen assets
Half the year you’ve got it made, the other half not so much. We set out to find people who work in cool conditions — we’re talking cold, not hip here, folks (we all know the third-shift Highlands Taco Bell workers would win that one). These people sweat it out from 9 to 5 without,…
Summer: Pope licked: Be adventurous, Louisville, and visit the Goatman
For generations, good Louisvillians have steered clear of the Norfolk Southern rail trestle that spans the curious patch of land known as Pope Lick Creek, just east of the Gene Snyder Freeway. And why not? Any one of the city’s numerous, award-winning parks could easily suffice, in the frightened estimation of these pious citizens, for…
Summer: Cruises on the Belle of Louisville
Louisville gets hot in the summer. Muggy, sweaty, gym sock-style hot. Right about the time the WHAS-11 fan drive rolls around and we all begin having involuntary ice storm fantasy flashbacks, consider getting out on the The Belle of Louisville where, for the price of a movie ticket and a box of Dots, you can…
Summer Listings: Farmers Markets
Farmers Markets For more info on area farmers markets, go to www.kyagr.com (Kentucky Department of Agriculture) and www.louisvillegreenguide.org. LOUISVILLE 18th Street Farmers Market — 1811 Standard Ave., May-Dec. 24, Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., 778-1672. Amerigo Farmers Market — 871 Hurstbourne Pkwy., May-Oct., 8 a.m.-noon. Bardstown Road/Highlands Farmers Market — Presbyterian Church parking lot, 1722 Bardstown Rd., thru Dec. 20,…
Thank You Very Quickly
Why’s it difficult to blend Afrobeat rhythms with guitar-heavy rock? There have been plenty of successful one-offs that were considered “fusion” — think Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and recently Vampire Weekend. But each was eventually tainted with percussion-happy pastiche. The half-Kenyan, half-American group Extra Golden now has a breakthrough with their third album.…
Fielding change
Louisville Bats manager Rick Sweet would probably find it a lot easier to win games if he didn’t have to play musical chairs with his line-up. Last season Danny Dorn was an outfielder at Chattanooga, but now Sweet has him at first base in Louisville. Ben Jukich came up as a starting pitcher. Now he’s…
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Smog mastermind Bill Callahan traffics in the same casual baritone speak-singing of latter-day Lou Reed, but adds just enough of Lyle Lovett’s amiable wryness to keep the delivery light on its feet. This makes Eagle lyrical and often very pretty, but light on melody. Ironically, Eagle’s most winning songs are typically its most melodic (“The…
Summer: If you can’t do it, canoe it
Canoeing is the ultimate family experience — if for no other reason than, well, it’s still bonding if everyone ends up in the water. The Lou-iana area has some great opportunities for chillin’ on the water this summer, even if you have no boat to row. Saturday, May 30, is a good chance to get…
The poor outdoors
With its two-bedroom cottages, fireplaces and lake views, Pennyrile Forest, located near Dawson Springs, Ky., has made an idyllic getaway for John and Marie Hourigan over the years. Since their first trip there in 1960, the couple has bounced around Kentucky’s dozens of state parks, vacationing with their family each summer. “Kentucky is as about…
Relief pitch
Poor Jim Bunning. He looks old these days. And tired. A recent news-Googling indicates that the former major league pitcher is under a lot of pressure. He faces a tough primary challenger or five, has been the most (only?) outspoken critic of his party’s misguided leadership, says hilarious and stupid things weekly — including a…
Summer: The little city that did
We are near the end of a two-hour architecture tour of Columbus, Ind. — pop. 39,817 — when I finally ask Carole Rice, the affable volunteer guide sitting at the front of the bus, why all the yards we’ve seen are so clean. “For the most part, there’s a lot of pride in this town,”…
Summer: Safety dance
What do serpentine lines, heat exhaustion, smelly hippies, EMTs, the haze of pot smoke, drunk misanthropes and hefty ticket prices have in common? They’re at a summer festival near you. Bonnaroo, Coachella, Langerado, Outside Lands, Pitchfork, Lollapalooza — doesn’t matter. Where there’s a throng of musos, self-inflicted cliffhanger moments are practically guaranteed. Do’s and don’ts…
B-Sides: Music & Other Ephemera
The following are the Kentucky State Fair’s free concerts that will be held at Cardinal Stadium beginning at 8 p.m. Aug. 20: Peter Frampton, The Afters Aug. 21: The Commodores Aug. 22: Shinedown, Rev Theory Aug. 23: An Evening with the Oak Ridge Boys Aug. 24: Jeremy Camp, Southeast Worship Band Aug. 25: Gary Allan,…
Blue Bluer Bluest
The Flying Saucers may sound like your dad’s garage band, but age clearly doesn’t equal schlock for these bluesy beer-swillers. The Louisville quintet’s first album, Blue Bluer Bluest, has plenty of smoky guitar licks and lyrics of blue-collar woe, all couched in a down-home, welcoming sensibility. That isn’t to say that their style doesn’t get…
Summer: Go jump out of a plane
Who wants to skydive? A group of my friends decided to do this. I figured everyone would chicken-out before me and I wouldn’t have to go. Well, a few months passed and two people backed out … but three more joined. Fast-forward about three weeks to the morning of “drop day.” I didn’t sleep a…
Summer Listings: Activities/Clubs
Clubs/Activities Archery — Cherokee Park, near Scenic Loop, free use of range, 456-3253. Archery — E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, free use of range, 426-8950. Archery — Iroquois Park, free use of range, 456-3253. Backgammon — Backgammon club, $10, Fox & Hound, 302 Bullit Ln., 587-3672. Badminton — E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, 426-8950. Badminton — U of L, Humana Gym,…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: GUITAR QUICK LICKS: CHUCK BERRY 2009; $19.95, UR If you are a hopeless guitar-hack like our own Rowdy Bill Raker, you’ll love this latest picker’s-guide-for-the-hopeless from the guys at Mel Bay Inc. Old Chuck was one of the sloppiest players around, so his signature sound — imitating the piano riffs…
Locavore Lore: Springtime’s star revealed — behold the strawberry
Is it divinely timed rains or just a deepening awareness of and appreciation for the natural world? Whatever the source, this springtime in the Bluegrass is one of the most spectacular I’ve seen, in both the gustatory and visual realms. It’s a locavore’s paradise with the edible delicacies popping up in gardens, forests and fields,…
Book: Irvine Welsh’s ‘Crime’
Crime by Irvine Welsh. W.W. Norton; 352 pgs., $14.95. Gotta hand it to Irvine Welsh: Few writers can create reprehensible characters as skillfully as he can. From drug addicts and alcoholics to crooked cops and petty criminals to pornographers and whores, Welsh populates his fiction with a remarkably seedy brand of lowlife. His latest novel,…
Fun City Pizza tossed up a slice of life back in the day
Artist and gallery owner Julius Friedman swears he has no recollection of the moment. Given that it occurred Back in the Day, that isn’t such a surprise. If you remember the ’70s, you didn’t really live them. That’s how the saying goes, right? Then again, this happened at the counter-cultural and gustatory phenomenon known as…
Mug Shots: Let’s play local ball
If you’re a baseball fan, it’s important to contemplate the legacy of the late Bill Veeck, who was a true American original. Veeck was the rarest of all baseball creatures, a team owner deserving of enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. His specialized skill was reviving moribund franchises with zany, fan-friendly marketing schemes and inventive…
Summer: Play hooky in the heat
Who seriously wants to be stuck in a cube, looking at the back of a head you’ve been yearning to hurl a stapler at for years, when the weather outside is glorious? Hmm. Not any sensible person I know. Obviously playing hooky isn’t for the weak-willed, and it should only be risked once a year…
Casualties of technology
As heartbreaking as it is, at least it’s good to know that The Courier-Journal will publish its last print edition on Sunday, May 19, 2019. Now that we know that, we can get back to fretting about iPhone vs. Kindle and whether the University of Kentucky has spent enough money to buy itself an NCAA…
S/T
Despite their name, Chico Fellini’s scope never feels cinematic; rather, their self-titled debut is insular and airless in a way that still manages to conjure plenty of drama in its own right. The band is light on their feet, but any air in the mix is consumed by Christopher Dennison’s imperious, scenery-chewing croon. Dennison’s vocals…
Inbox — May 27, 2009
Let’s Get Along The idea that this city is racist, as Kaila Story describes it in her ongoing controversy with Woody’s Tavern (LEO Weekly, May 20), is absurd. While Louisville is by far not perfect, its track record on civil rights and race relations is stellar compared to nearly every other city in the South…
Summer: Learning to camp on my terms
I am a big fan of camping, but that wasn’t always the case. As much as I love the outdoors, there are certain comforts I have come to expect, like vermin-free shelter, food that hasn’t been tampered with by woodland creatures, and a reasonable degree of certainty that I’m not going to die. This, I…
Summer Listings: Concerts
•MAY 27 — Gomez, Steel Train: Headliners, 1386 Lexington Road, 584-8088, www.headlinerslouisville.com, $19 (adv.) / $21(door) 9 p.m., 18+ 27 — WFPK Waterfront Wednesday: The Meat Puppets, The Features, Broken Spurs: Harbor Lawn at Waterfront Park, 5 p.m. (weather permitting); free 27 — The Ataris, Sugar Spell It Out, Nowhere Fast, Alcohawk: Skull Alley;…
Summer Listings: Area Festivals
Summer Festival Guide •Greater Louisville JUNE 5-6 — British Bash: St. Joe’s Children’s Home, 2823 Frankfort Ave., featuring live music, food and more than 200 British cars, 499-2253 or www.britishbash.com. 5-6 — Portland Family Reunion Festival: Northwestern Pkwy., 33rd-35th streets, Fri. 5-11 p.m., Sat. noon-11 p.m., features carnival rides, booths, a parade (Sat., noon), arts…
Bassist again among The Children
Local dub-based experimental band The Children are playing a rooftop show at Glassworks on Friday. This is a good opportunity to catch up with them for at least two reasons. First, the entire evening is planned as a celebration of dub, including the screening of a documentary that shows how this style spun off of…
