Cover Story
Quilt of many stories
“Women’s contributions (to history) — they made none.” Those were fightin’ words to Judy Chicago. When proclaimed as truth by her male history professor at UCLA in the early 1960s, the statement so shocked Chicago that she dedicated her entire artistic career to proving it wrong. When discussing that time in her life, Chicago says,…
Book: Back on the train
‘Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World — From the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief’ By Tom Zoellner. Viking; 314 pgs., $27.95. In 1950, in the twilight of passenger train service, my grandmother took me on a train ride from her home in Bourbon, Mo., to Sullivan, five miles away. A conductor in…
Guest Commentary
BY DAVID V. HAWPE Around the world, people risk their lives to vote, while in Louisville’s 9th Metro Council District, the turnout was less than 33 percent. And by the way, that’s down from more than 40 percent in 2010. We’re not talking here about the sweat-and-muscle South End, where I grew up, and where…
Up to 11
Rare and infectious In a recent issue of LEO, Evan Patterson of the band Young Widows reflected on the idea of music as religion, where going to band practice or listening to records is as transcendental of an experience for him as attending church can be for others. Many musicians can surely relate to this…
Advice: Savage Love
Q: I’m a 25-year-old straight guy. Last month, I was in the locker room at my gym. It was 4 a.m., and I was the only one around. I was getting ready to leave when I noticed someone exiting the showers. He kinda caught me looking (he was very well-endowed), and I quickly turned my…
B-sides
Mothers of re-invention Axel Cooper spent most of his 20s in Louisville, playing with Tyrone, Instant Camera, The Phantom Family Halo and Sapat. But after he rounded 30, he found his life changing rapidly: expecting his first child, out of the city and farming in small-town Ramsey, Ind. He wrote the songs for the first…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: BREAKING BAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES 2008; $113.98-$230.99; UR It would be an insult to our readers to review any aspect of this amazing, genre-busting cable-TV drama about high school chemistry teacher Bryan Cranston, who discovers he has lung cancer and turns to cooking meth to provide for himself and his family.…
Locavore Lore: Not just a gluten for punishment
The nation’s gluten-free obsession is getting out of hand. What began as a dietary restriction needed for roughly 1 percent of the American population has become a $10.5 billion-a-year business. Everyone from those cookie-pushing Girl Scouts to vodka distillers has introduced gluten-free products over the last few years. The New York Times even reported that…
Taste Bud: Sergio’s has way more than just beer
If you’re going to Sergio’s World Beers in Butchertown, chances are you are going for one (or several) of the 1,500 or so beers owner Sergio Ribenhoim keeps in coolers and on draft. Maybe you want a nice Victory Brewing DirtWolf or that elusive Schneider Aventinus Doppelbock, or perhaps the tart tastiness of my current…
Industry Standard: Insider info for those who dine out
My long-suffering fiancé and I, peckish on the day after Derby, decided to try a hip new-ish spot. It’s not so new that they shouldn’t be on point already, but still new enough that most folks we know hadn’t been there yet. We didn’t make a reservation. But in light of what transpired, I’m gonna…
Gone to the dogs
One phrase repeatedly pops up as Kelsey Westbrook talks: “judgment-free zone.” As one of the co-founders of Saving Sunny, a local nonprofit focused primarily on the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of “bully breeds,” Westbrook has long battled against the stereotypes held about dogs like the American pit bull terrier or Rottweiler. Now, her nonprofit’s latest…
One shining audit
Kentucky State Auditor Adam Edelen last week gave taxpayers a gargantuan gift in his yearlong audit of Jefferson County Public Schools: a comprehensive roadmap for reform and modernization of an antiquated, inefficient, bloated bureaucracy “that benefits itself and keeps the board in the dark.” In an interview with Devin Katayama, WFPL’s education reporter, he gave…
Theater: Music and fart jokes
At some performances of the national touring version of the musical “The Book of Mormon,” 90-year-old couples in the front row will jump up, eager to sing and dance along. So says Christopher John O’Neill, 32, who plays the leading role of Elder Arnold Cunningham. When word first spread that Trey Parker and Matt Stone,…
Trust deficit
Mayor Greg Fischer presented his 2014-15 budget to Metro Council last week, the major component of which is a 3 percent franchise fee on LG&E customers’ gas bills, adding nearly $5 million to the budget. Nearly the identical amount of money will go toward public safety improvements — in the wake of a night of…
Staffpicks
Thursday, May 29 Frank X. Walker Brown Hotel 335 W. Broadway spalding.edu Free; 5:30 p.m. Kentucky poet laureate Frank X. Walker will be discussing his work at a free presentation sponsored by Spalding University’s brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program. A Spalding MFA graduate, Walker earned the title of the 2014 Diana M.…
Culture: Sweet, sweet fantasy
The shark from “Jaws,” the USS Enterprise, light sabers and droids — all of the best sci-fi and fantasy the big and small screens have to offer have one thing in common: They’re cool to look at. WonderFest has been attending to Louisville’s visual-effects buffs for the past quarter-century, ringing in its 25th installment this…
Mood music vets open up the Watter works
A recently released documentary about Slint, the landmark band from Louisville, asked when their visionary composer/drummer Britt Walford, who has not played in a band making new music in almost 20 years, might ever return to active duty — and possibly change the face of music all over again? It’s a lot to ask of…
Inbox — May 28, 2014
Soul of Council Abraham Heschel said, “Wherever you are, be the soul of that place.” Attica Scott has consistently been the soul of the Metro Council and of the 1st District she has served. Her work on so many important issues will be valued and her witness heard clearly long after she steps away from…
Plugged In
Readers are strongly encouraged to call ahead to verify these listings. To get your musical act listed, send email to pberkowitz@leoweekly.com with PLUGGED IN in the subject line. The deadline is FRIDAY at NOON the week before the show happens. We do not accept listings via social networking sites. Wed MAY 28 Baxter’s 942:…
Mortified
Recently I found myself watching the documentary “Mortified Nation,” based on the confessional reading series “Mortified.” People go on stage and read their diaries from middle school or high school. I’m sure there are also journals of shame well into the post-secondary years. After watching this documentary, I decided to research a bit of my…
