Hi-ho the dairy … oh, who cares? What the agriculture commissioner does and why you should care about him
David Lynn Williams Kentucky’s Department of Agriculture is the quiet kid who never gets asked to play.The office of agriculture commissioner isn’t usually employed as a weapon in the bellicose partisan battle for votes. Ironically, agricultural policy doesn’t serve as fodder in the average dinner table debate, and is becoming less so as fewer young…
A little ditty about Jack and Stan: In the race for the state”s second-most important job
Teena Halbig (center) looks on as Angela Champion: handles the coin toss before last week’s debate between attorney general candidates Jack Conway (left) and Stan Lee. The debate, at the downtown Marriott, was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky, with five co-sponsors. This year at Fancy Farm, the heat-soaked annual picnic where…
What if no one voted?: Assessing the power of the protest non-vote
Ernie Fletcher “I did not vote because there was nobody on the ballot whom I wished to help elect. I could not bring myself to submit again to the indignity of trying to pick the least undesirable candidate; nor did I want to contribute to the ‘mandate’ of a new governor, who would be carried…
Fiction – Moleville: A story
BY SCOTT WADE Illustration by Ben Wade I guess it was none of my business, and I’m still not exactly sure if I’m doing something wrong. It started when I was out for a walk and saw a Dell hard drive in an alley off Bonnycastle not far from Cherokee Park. It looked…
Staffpicks
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 24Portugal. The Show For the last five years, Portugal. The Man has been a band without a country. That is, until last summer, when the Wasilla, Alaska, trio played its first homecoming show in the great white north. “It felt really good going back and realizing, ‘Oh, we do have a home,’” singer…
Guest Commentary: Too much pluribus, not enough unum
I feel so cliché coming home from a visit to Germany with scores of pictures of the magnificent kirches (churches) at the center of every hamlet and city across Deutschland. I was one of the thousands of visitors from around the world each day (except, curiously, during Sunday morning worship services) who stared, pointed and…
On Media: Let”s get ethical
Rick Redding Ed Manassah has been studying the ethics of journalism for more than three decades. On the other hand, Jen DeChellis, a junior at Bellarmine, hadn’t really given it much thought until last week. I asked DeChellis, a business major, what she thought ethics was all about, and got a simple, useful definition: “Ethics…
Bluegrass Beacon: “NC-LBJ” gets a big fat “F”
When President George W. Bush signed into law “No Child Left Behind” six years ago, I thought we were finally on track to improve education. Boy, was I wrong. How did I get snookered into believing that a massive government-spawned education program could result in meaningful change in public schools? Common sense went on vacation…
Erosia
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. Corrections/ClarificationsLast…
City Strobe
Because you don’t know where this paper’s beenUnlike most of the seemingly terrifying stories TV news anchors shout, MRSA is a freak-out you might want to have. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It’s a type of staph infection that is resistant to common antibiotics, including methicillin, oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. After playing in smaller…
Rumor & Innuendo
Riddle me this? Koach Steve, a few questions. What’s with all these 5-yard pass routes when it’s 3rd-and-9? How come none of those young scatbacks who might be breakaway threats haven’t been tried more in the backfield rotation? How come the same defenders who were pretty good tacklers last season are repeatedly coming up empty-handed…
Aftertastes
CONNOR’S PLACE, 207 E. Main St., New Albany, Ind., (812) 944-0207, www.connorsplace.net. A comfortable bar and grill in what locals still call the Maytag Building, Conner’s Place features mostly American menu essentials so you can kick back and relax over a pint. Lunch is served until 2 p.m., when a pub grub menu kicks in.…
The Bar Belle
Trick in a boxSo have you decided on a costume? The parties are this weekend and spill over to Wednesday. What are you going to be? A bare Britney? A rehab escapee a la Lohan? Michael Vick and his dogpound? Larry Birkhead and baby? A dick in a box? This year’s Halloween costumes are definitely…
Dining – Steinert”s: serving the neighborhood since 1883
Steinert’s in New Albany: serves basic pub grub at reasonable prices and is a great place to hear a band or watch IU sports. WITH GUEST BLOGGER KEVIN GIBSON One of the best things about dining out in the Louisville area in this day and age is that we’ve got choices. We can spend…
Video TapeWorm: Releases through Tuesday, Oct. 30
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKSBENNY HILL — COMPLETE & UNADULTERATED MEGASET (1969-1989)2007; DVD $149.95, URYow! Christmas comes early this year with this release of all 58 uncut episodes from the Thames years on 18 discs — nearly 600 sketches (most to the sounds of the late Boots Randolph), some never broadcast in America — plus tons…
“Autocare” actors engage, but script strays
BEWARE 2012 — The cast of “Autocare” during rehearsal. ‘Autocare’Starring Valencia Bass, Mike Burmester, Natalie Curry, Fred Fischer, Jeremy Gutierrez, Ted Lesley, Matt Orme and Liz Vissing. Directed by Steve Woodring. Written by Juergen K. Tossman. A Bunbury Theatre production. Continues through Nov. 4 at the Bunbury Theatre, Henry Clay building, 604 S. Third St.…
Film – Into the Wild
Into the Wild 4 starsStarring Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Hal Holbrook and Catherine Keener. Directed by Sean Penn. Released by Paramount Vantage. Rated R; 2:20 Sean Penn clearly identifies with the protagonist of “Into the Wild,” who shuns his materialistic parents, burns his cash and hitchhikes to Alaska. Only a director who…
Film – Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone 3 starsStarring Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, John Ashton and Robert Wahlberg. Directed by Ben Affleck. Released by Miramax Films. Rated R; 1:55. Poor Ben Affleck. From Oscar winner to laughingstock in only a handful of years. When he hooked up with J Lo and made “Gigli,” it seemed as if…
”Graphic times, Dead again, Redemption
The Photographic TonightJamey See Tai and Chad Blevins haven’t forgotten about you. They were just waiting for the right moment to drop in and say hello. Again. As The Photographic, the two Louisvillians weave together instrumental ambience via See Tai’s looped guitars with Blevins’ pulsating drum work. They’ve finally found a home for their debut…
Tori Amos changes character with help from Doll Posse
Tori Amos comes to the Louisville Palace on Sunday, Oct. 28. BY ALAN SCULLEY For an album about character types, it’s ironic that Tori Amos stepped out of character in making her latest CD, American Doll Posse. She adopts four distinct female characters based on Greek mythology as a way to study and break down…
Interview with a Vampire: Type O Negative”s Peter Steele
Type O Negative comes to Headliners Music Hall on Friday, Oct. 26. Peter Steele is not your typical rock star.For starters, he’s 6-foot-7 and built like an oak tree. To say he cuts an imposing figure is an understatement. Dude is scary looking, an image that has suited him well as bassist and singer for…
CD Reviews – 10/24
CiviliansJoe Henry(ANTI-) It is easy to forget what a gifted artist Joe Henry is simply because of his prowess in the producer’s chair for other people’s projects. In that capacity, he has worked with Bettye LaVette, Solomon Burke, Ani Difranco, Aimee Mann and Elvis Costello, to name a few.Whenever he exhibits a new collection of…
“Elephant Man” and Wayward Actors unequally yoked: Play demands more than company can give
The Elephant Man: Dr. Frederick Treves (Craig Nolan Highley) rescues John Merrick (Joseph Ian Hatfield) from a hostile crowd. ‘The Elephant Man’Starring Maria Aloupis, Jacob Banser, Stuart Hamilton, Joseph Ian Hatfield, Craig Nolan Highley, Andy Higgins, Faith Hoover, Ashley Hoskins, Sidney Hymson, Rich Galey, Katie Graviss, Rick O’Daniel-Munger, Daniel Recktenwald, Jennifer Shank and Pamela Slack.…
