Cover Story
Cruel and unusual?
First a Valium is administered to relieve anxiety, and presumably to ensure the impending procedure goes smoothly. Prison guards then lead the sedated inmate into the execution chamber where he is strapped to a gurney. Once an IV is in place, a series of three drugs is pumped through the line: The first is a…
Bar Belle: Whiskey holiday
As you know — by reading this column and breathing air in the state of Kentucky — September was Bourbon Heritage Month. I don’t know about you, but thank God it’s October: I barely survived those bourbon-soaked 30 days. In fact, my organs are still pissed; they refused to work last weekend when I bathed…
Comedy: Jim Breuer is on the road again
Jim Breuer is back. The hyper, loud metalhead — with a sometimes quirky and sometimes in-your-face style of comedy — is returning to the stand-up stage, reminding everyone why he is still one of comedy’s sweetest secrets. The former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and star of “Half-Baked” will appear at Improv Comedy Club all…
Beware of blog
Long before mainstream news organizations mentioned Robert Felner — the former University of Louisville dean now charged with money laundering — Page One Kentucky was doggedly reporting on the scandal. Under the editorial control of Jacob Payne, the online news blog probed university officials for answers and exposed hundreds of pages of documents related to…
Their name is Earl
Earl Greyhound began life in 2002 as the pipe dream of New York-based guitarist Matt Whyte. Whyte, who trained in jazz, wanted to get a rock band off the ground. “We kind of met in a situation where late night, we were just playing songs for each other,” bassist/singer Kamara Thomas recalls. “After we played…
Tear it up
Candice Jones maintains an intriguing theory: When an audience member at a Coathangers performance hurls invective and taunts toward the stage, it isn’t typically done out of genuine malice. Instead, the derision comes from a desire to be derided in return. “People love the abuse that they get when they (heckle), asking you to yell…
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 publication. We do not accept listings via social networking sites. Wed Oct 7 Bomhard…
Man in Motion: The Sequel
Justin Lewis was raised on a steady diet of vinyl. “My dad had a huge vinyl collection,” the singer-songwriter says. “I mean, it’s massive, and I pretty much grew up staring at that my entire life.” He counts Louis Armstrong, Neil Young and Tom Waits among his influences. On Friday, the hometowner will (finally) unveil…
Industry Standard: Insider info for those who dine out
“Where do you want to eat?” “I don’t know; where do you want to eat?” Familiar scenario? You’re not alone. All too often, we end up dining somewhere we’ve been many times before. Familiarity is soothing. Predictability is comfortable — like an old pair of shoes you love to wear but hope no one scrutinizes…
The Patron won’t go away, and we’re glad
Early in August, Chef Amber McCool announced “a new path” for the popular Patron Restaurant, involving a move to a still-undisclosed location at an uncertain time. In the meantime, the restaurant at the corner of Frankfort Avenue and Cannons Lane would continue catering and wholesale operations as well as “calendared events.” That calendar, it seems,…
Video TapeWorm
THIS WEEK’S TWIN PEEKS: PAT PAULSEN’S HALF A COMEDY HOUR 1970; $24.95, UR After three years as a writer and regular on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” — and a 1968 run for president! — sad-sack comedian Pat Paulsen finally got his own show … and it tanked spectacularly after only five episodes. Yeah, we…
Theater: You will get bloody at ‘Evil Dead: The Musical’
As I watched gallons of fake blood spill onto a gleeful, plastic-wrapped audience during the Alley Theater’s production of “Evil Dead: The Musical,” one thought kept entering my mind: Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell should be here. They would be having a blast. Like me. Unbridled joy seems to be what director/producer Joey Arena and…
Theater: ATL’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ rocks
Walking into the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre, the simple set appears to be a large, white globe balancing on a skewed checkered floor. Then the show begins. And as it continues, the set transforms into a psychedelic wonderland. Actors Theatre’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” much like the set, continues to reveal…
Pioneering integration
We are all familiar with the iconic figureheads and events of the Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks with quiet eyes gazing out a bus window; the track of a million men, women and children marching on our nation’s Capitol; Martin Luther King Jr.’s unmatched oratory. These became the inspirational symbols that united many of us…
A new way to believe
Edward R. Murrow was, without question, the biggest name in broadcasting. It was the mid-1950s, and Murrow decided it was time for more people to have a voice in his medium. He commissioned more than 800 essays from Americans of all walks of life. These essayists would then record their testimonies of personal faith for…
Art: And we all shine on
Everyone knows Tiffany. If you immediately thought of the jewelry store, the ’80s pop singer or the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” you’re reading the wrong story. In glass, it’s all about Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). Saying he was just an American glass artist is incorrect — he really was a decorative artist, working in ceramics,…
B-Sides: Music & Other Ephemera
If you would’ve said that this year’s Fright Night Film Festival would have been the last time I saw Tony Bailey behind a drumkit, I would’ve called you a liar. Tony, who died last week, was the first person to introduce me to The Jesus Lizard and the first person to show me The Rocket…
More unfair than ever
Equipped with a 5,000-degree torch and industrial eye goggles, glassblower Jeremiah Hunt twirls a piece of orange molten glass that will soon be molded into a small turtle. A crowd has gathered to watch the Louisville native, who is sporting a white T-shirt that reads “Turning Trash Into Treasure.” It is Hunt’s second year selling…
Inbox — Oct. 7, 2009
Not Offended In response to Kyle Sinks’s letter in the Sept. 20 LEO Weekly: I do not take offense to your use of the word “queer” in describing gay bars here in Louisville. As someone who identifies as queer (yes, it’s a legitimate sexual identity), I see the term as a reclamation of a derogatory…
An archive of our own
I went to an exhibit last weekend that was curated by a friend who’s an incredible musician, songwriter and scholar with a master’s degree in folklore. His exhibit documented the work, history and intentions of Rowntree Records, a small, ever-shifting, self-contained collective of musicians experimenting and recording in Richmond, Ind., over the last decade or…
Be afraid. Be very afraid!
“You BITCH!” I really didn’t mean to yell. But she tricked me. It was ingenious, really. You see, I’m not good with needles. At all. So when I went to get my first flu shot at my neighborhood grocery store about 15 years ago, I asked the nurse, “Will it hurt a lot?” She looked…
Before we were bitter
I spent Monday morning at the Highland Presbyterian Weekday School. Some 23 years ago, I became a proud (although I didn’t know it at the time) graduate of the pre-school, tucked inside a two-story post-war style block building on Highland Avenue near Cherokee Road. Highland Pres is upon its 60th anniversary, and director Ann Lacy,…
