Cover Story
Dining Guide 2010: Manning the world’s largest toaster oven
Guess who’s coming to dinner — repeatedly — at the freshly minted KFC Yum Center, which opened with fanfare in downtown Louisville on Sunday? Only about 22,000 rabid fans for each sold-out event. So who’s going to feed this crowd? Sean Kavanaugh, that’s who. At 45, Kavanaugh is already a 25-year veteran of hotel, convention…
Lasted
Lots to chew on here. An extended exercise of sweet strums, hushed vocals and fieldwork, Lasted builds on the already expansive palette from Thomas Meluch, whose brand of fun is solitary without sounding self-absorbed. “Gloss,” the train-track din of “Weird Door” and medical-room hiss of “Passenger” are sketches in earlier ambient offerings that closely relate…
40 ounces
Tech N9ne has top billing at Headliners Tuesday, Oct. 19, but E-40 might steal the show. After seeing a talent contest as a student at Grambling State University in Louisiana, the Vallejo, Calif., rapper, born Earl Stevens, dove head first into rap and went on to release 10 albums and sell hundreds of thousands of…
Playing possum
I’ve had a lot of interesting jobs in my life: paper boy, furniture mover, jewelry salesman, broker, writer, editor, education bureaucrat, cattle ranch hand, dot-com executive, marketing weenie and fish farmer. I am living proof that being completely unqualified for a job is no excuse for not landing it. And yes, I said “fish farmer.”…
Theater: ‘Irma Vep’ a fun romp through horror classics
The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful By Actors Theatre of Louisville. Directed by Sean Daniels. Continues through Oct. 30 at the Pamela Brown Auditorium, 316 W. Main St. For tickets or more information, call 584-1205 or go to www.actorstheatre.org. Dark and stormy nights. Wolves howling under the silvery, sinister light of a full…
Theater: ‘Sweeney Todd’ weak on the kill
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street By Renegade Art Productions at The Alley Theater. Directed by Sharon Murray Harrah. Continues through Oct. 31 at The Pointe, 1205 E. Washington St. For tickets or more information, call 713-6178 or visit www.thealleytheater.org. Walking into the Alley Theater, I was struck by the crudeness of the pre-show…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2010; $29.95-$39.95, PG While Dreamworks’ “Kung Fu Panda” was a breakout hoot, we actually like this animated outing from that studio better. With fewer big-name star-egos to clutter up the process, “HTTYD” is an unexpectedly entertaining and original tale of a Viking teen misfit who befriends…
Jerry’s Kids
After criticizing Republican Hal Heiner for putting the Jefferson County Public School student assignment plan at the center of mayor’s race, Democrat Greg Fischer followed his lead. A few weeks ago, Heiner argued it was time to end the “failed student assignment plan,” and Fischer immediately pounced on the East End Republican for politicizing school…
Inbox — Oct. 13, 2010
Not So Nulu My wife and I paid a visit to two Louisville festivals Saturday. Though so close they were nearly co-located, the differences between the Nulu Festival and the Bluegrass Brewing Co.-sponsored, beer-centric Volksfest were stark. A mere five minutes of our time was spent at the self-aggrandizing Nulu Fest, which seemed to be…
S/T
That she’s characterized, accurately, as a feminine shredder in a scene waterlogged with male guitarists might’ve served as an initial distinguishing factor, but it won’t be the reason Marnie Stern sticks around. To be sure, her skills have helped to solidify her as an indie rock heroine despite the fact that, let’s be honest, women…
Dining Guide 2010: The Local List
Price Range: $ = $10 or less; $$ = $20 or less; $$$ = $30 or less; $$$$ = more than $30. (Per person for a meal without tip or tax.) Capsule Reviews: Restaurants marked with the special fleur de lis were reviewed in these pages throughout the past year. Restaurants that were the subject…
Art: A Greek temple on the banks of the Ohio
The Louisville Water Company (LWC) is celebrating its 150-year anniversary. Today, of course, we think of water mostly when it doesn’t appear at the tap. But way back when, LWC was forward-thinking and gave the city one of the most beautiful municipal complexes in the nation. A station of “architectural beauty with industrial efficiency ……
Moving the cheese, one rat at a time
More than 40 years ago, Roger Ailes saw the future of American elections. “Television is no gimmick,” the future Fox News president said, “and nobody will ever be elected to major office again without presenting themselves well on it.” These prescient words tumbled from Ailes’ lips during his employment as media sorcerer for Richard Nixon’s…
Got yourself a gun
The 8-year-old elementary school student was carrying a sturdy Beretta .380. He wouldn’t say how he got it, but Eddie Woods is sure he got it illegally. “I don’t know a child that can’t get a gun if they want one,” says Woods, founder of the LIFE Institute, which works with at-risk youth. “In our…
Dining Guide 2010: Ed Hamilton enjoys life’s highs and lows with his family by his side
Ed Hamilton’s sculptures are all over Louisville and the nation, notably the “Spirit of Freedom” African American Civil War memorial on U Street in Washington, D.C., and the new Lincoln Memorial at Waterfront Park downtown. As with his visual works, the artist himself often is found downtown, or wherever beautiful things can be seen —…
Pardon Me
Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights have released a record that rocks. Beyond that, the band has an undeniable sense of swagger, boogie and soul that permeates every song on their debut, Pardon Me. The band looks like they were pulled out of an early ’70s time capsule, with most of the songs sounding like…
Boss lady
In a sense, Cheyenne Marie Mize has been building up to Saturday night for a number of years. The material off her solo debut, Before Lately, which is released nationally this week via SonaBLAST!, remained dormant in varying stages while she added to her musical résumé: a recurring member of the roots troupe Arnett Hollow;…
Dining Guide 2010: For Gill Holland, it’s all about the Mayan Café
Gill Holland says Louisville is kind of like a mole. (As in mo-lay, the classic sauce from the Puebla region of Mexico, not the burrowing critter or skin lesion.) The film and record producer explains that in one legend, mole was invented when a windstorm imperiled a dinner for a Mexican archbishop. The gusts blew…
Blood/Candy
Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow used to fill out the band when Big Star put on reunion shows. After the unfortunate passing of Alex Chilton, they can get back to their own reunion shows. (The Posies supposedly disbanded in the late ’90s, but this is the band’s third release since then.) Here their latest incarnation…
Staffpicks
Thursday, Oct. 14 Kusun Ensemble Kentucky Center 501 W. Main St. • 584-7777 www.kentuckycenter.org $21.75-$25; 8 p.m. In Ga, a language spoken in Ghana, the word “nokoko” means “something, something.” It’s the word the Kusun Ensemble uses to describe the style of music they’ve developed from fusing traditional African rhythms with modern jazz, and using…
Dining Guide 2010: Todd Brashear on the restaurateur next door and the meal that just may have saved him
Todd Brashear is a familiar face in the Highlands and an even more familiar voice everywhere else. The owner of Wild and Woolly Video (home to possibly the largest collection of Russ Meyer films this side of Roger Ebert’s personal library) once played bass in the Louisville punk band Slint, but that was a long…
Halcyon Times
Halcyon Times is the first album Jason & The Scorchers have recorded with the original line-up in 14 years. As one of the architects of what would become the now hipster-friendly alt-country scene, these guys have endured break-ups and reunions, been signed, dropped and signed again. Their woe backs up their bleak tales of blue-collar…
Dining Guide 2010: Chili
It’s tough to understand chili; there are so many different forms of the stuff that it’s nearly impossible to keep track. For instance: True Texas-style chili has no beans in it, just beef and chili peppers, while chili con carne (translated as “chili with meat”) has both meat and beans. Heck, some chili is completely…
Dining Guide 2010: Dawne Gee refuses to name names
Dawne Gee could write her own dining guide, but pinning the WAVE-TV news anchor down on one favorite dish from one restaurant proved impossible. Having spent a career getting to know the city, the native Louisvillian has encountered a cornucopia of favorites along the away. “I’m sorry. I wish I could give you one place,…
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. Oct.…
Dining Guide 2010: Ron Whitehead talks about free spirits, his namesake liquor and speeding in reverse with the king of Gonzo
When “proud hillbilly” Ron Whitehead first went to Oxford, a professor marveled that the Kentucky farm boy was wearing shoes. “I looked at him and said, ‘A smartass. I love smartasses,’” says Whitehead. “‘We’ll get along great. Now, what will you have to drink?’” Starting as a teen on his first trip outside the country…
Gonzo style
Hunter S. Thompson’s legacy energizes and inspires the local art scene as well as his chosen calling: journalism. But many in Louisville think there should be more. “I know that when he came to town with Johnny Depp (who played Hunter on film), what the city did was a big deal, but not as big…
Dining Guide 2010: Herbocrite seeks veggie enlightenment
Some days you feel like a nut, as the old Almond Joy commercial told us, and some days you don’t. As for me, some days I feel like a bloody haunch of barely seared cow flesh. Some days I feel like alfalfa sprouts and tofu. Is there a name for a wannabe vegetarian who likes…
Dining Guide 2010: Brian Leung is torn between pulled pork and gai lan
Asked to name his favorite meal in Louisville, author and U of L professor Brian Leung responds: “This kills me. It’s a dead-even tie between the gai lan at Oriental House and the pulled pork sandwich with a draft beer at Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot. What’s a boy to do who’s both white and Chinese?!”…
Art: Dick Starr
The disclaimer on artist Dick Starr’s website reads: “The art work on this website contains nudity, blood, gore, sex and violence. Some content not suitable for children, senior citizens, priests, girly men …” Well, thanks for the warning, Dick, but it is too gross to look away. Click after stomach-churning click, I was repulsed, shocked,…
I don’t wanna face it
While the recent re-release/remix of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy (in celebration of what would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday) offers a mildly rewarding new perspective on the former Beatle’s creative process, the experience is, of course, tainted by the persistent pain that accompanies his tragic absence. Having been killed mere weeks before…
