Thursday, April 10
Journalist/author Andrew Ferguson
Do you like the way the media and our fellow citizens treat today’s presidential candidates? Try to imagine what is brought to bear on the man oft-considered the greatest of Americans — good ol’ Kentucky-born Honest Abe. Historical revisionists, impersonators and proprietors of tourist traps are just part of the posse always nipping at his legacy’s heels. Was the Emancipation Proclamation made too soon? Too late? Why do we play Monday-morning quarterback and dog the record of this guy? The parade of history — with its odd tides of favoritism, accusation and (inevitably?) opportunism — gets a sharp-humored look in the book “Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe’s America” by noted journalist Andrew Ferguson. The author is coming to the Main Branch of the Louisville Public Library for discussion and signing on Thursday. This is a free event, but tickets are required. Call the library or visit the website for tickets. —T.E. Lyons
Louisville Free Public Library
301 York St.
574-1644
www.lfpl.org
Free; 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 10
‘Antiques Roadshow’ preview
“Antiques Roadshow,” the popular PBS television show, came to Louisville last year, with the resulting three episodes to air later this month. But if you can’t wait — and want to donate to KET — you can see the shows early and mingle with host Mark L. Walberg, appraiser (and Louisvillian) Wes Cowan and executive producer Marsha Bemko. Reservations are required, with proceeds going to future KET programs and services.
Louisville’s “Antiques Roadshow” event was attended by more than 6,000 people. Highlights include a Saturday Evening Post painting and cover valued at $175,000; a silver mint julep cup worth $2,000; boxing gloves signed by Muhammad Ali for around $3,000; and a Kentucky corner cupboard possibly made by Abraham Lincoln’s father with a value of $8,500.
The three episodes will be broadcast on PBS/KET on April 21, April 28 and May 5. —Jo Anne Triplett
21c Museum Hotel
700 W. Main St.
(800) 866-0366
www.ket.org
$50; 5:30 p.m.
Friday, April 11
$2 Suit Sale
Need some business duds to help you get a gig? Dress For Success Louisville, a local nonprofit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women, can help out. Part of Dress For Success’ mission is providing women with professional attire, and each year the organization puts together a $2 Suit Sale that offers work-appropriate attire, accessories, handbags and shoes — yep, at just two bucks per. Dress For Success also offers support and career development tools, and volunteers and donations are always welcome. —Kevin Gibson
Dress For Success
226 Muhammad Ali Blvd.
584-8050
www.dressforsuccess.org/louisville
Free; 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Friday, April 11
Big Bone Movie Geek Art Show 2
Bryan Renfro likes bad movies. But instead of holing up in a basement and watching “Jaws 3” 14 times in a row — yes, the 3-D version of course — he threw his passion for the pulp into art. “The Movie Geek Art Show came about because I myself am a movie geek, and I have been obsessed with movies pretty much my whole life,” says the mastermind behind the annual Big Bone Art Show. “Then I began to notice a lot of other artists were heavily influenced by movies as well. So I thought, ‘What better way to showcase this connection than to have an art show specifically for movie-themed ORIGINAL artwork.’”
The second installment of the Movie Geek Art Show takes place Friday at, appropriately enough, Wild and Woolly Video. Dress as your favorite geeky film character and you’ll have a chance at more than $100 in prizes. Or just show up for the free popcorn. —Sara Havens
Wild and Woolly Video
1021 Bardstown Road
www.thebigbone.org
Free; 6-9 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 11
See Peoples
Divorce can happen quickly, even where bands are concerned.
Boston’s See Peoples found this out when, in 2000, they changed their name from Cosmic Dilemma to get out of a fruitless record contract. “We sold a few thousand copies and never saw a penny,” singer Will Bradford says, but doesn’t avoid blaming himself. “We were young and stupid. It was an extremely rash decision.”
It would get worse. Cosmic’s fanbase flocked to its improvisational style, but See Peoples focused more on composition. “We lost a lot of fans because of that,” he says. “It took years to recover. On an artistic level, it was completely and utterly worth it.”
Throughout such creative and popularity shifts, See Peoples maintains levity — when your last album is Apocalypse Cow, you know how to laugh at yourself — and it has opened for the likes of Pete Yorn, Presidents of the U.S.A., Sound Tribe Sector 9 and Cracker.
These days, See Peoples has multiple headquarters: Bradford calls Asheville, N.C., home, while other members live in Chicago and Detroit. Geography isn’t that insurmountable though. “We’re completely reliant on Southwest Airlines,” Bradford laughs, and technology makes it easy to kick song ideas back and forth. “Yousendit and Sendspace are fantastic tools.”
See the Peoples at 3 p.m. live at the WFPK studios on South Fourth Street, or catch them later with Local Villains, who are finishing up their first full-length, at Zazoo’s in St. Matthews. —Mat Herron
Zazoo’s
102 Bauer Ave.
894-8030
$5; 9 p.m.
April 11-13
Insomniacathon 2008
Ron Whitehead, the self-described ancient Kentucky outlaw farmboy poet, never runs short of energy; enter Insomniacathon 2008. Since the early 1990s, this music and poetry event has been a near-annual hit, with the performances literally continuing for hours on end. This year, Louisville will be treated to 29 hours of non-stop arts — including music, poetry and film — beginning at 10 p.m. this Friday and continuing into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Expect musical performances by folks such as Brigid Kaelin, danny flanigan and the Troubadours of Divine Bliss, and hear poetry readings by dozens of poets from all parts, including Frank Messina (New York), Amy Cunningham (Cincinnati), Wendy Collona (Austin, Texas), as well as Whitehead himself and a number of young local poets and writers. There will also be a performance by Danny O’Day’s Circus Freak Show featuring The Great Baldini. As you would expect, it all happens at The Rudyard Kipling; tickets are available there or at ear X-tacy. And you were thinking of going to Thunder Over Louisville? Puh-lease. —Kevin Gibson
The Rudyard Kipling
422 W. Oak St.
www.tappingmyownphone.com
$20; 10 p.m.-3:33 a.m. (April 11-13)
Saturday, April 12
Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland
The 84th running of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes comes up Saturday at Keeneland, with top contenders Pyro and Cool Coal Man heading the hopefuls for the famous Kentucky Derby prep. Pyro, winner of the Louisiana Derby, and stablemate of the world’s leading older horse Curlin, with whom he trained over the winter, is the likely strong favorite. But the Nick Zito-trained Cool Coal Man will be near the lead and might prove tough to catch.
Now, that’s if you wish to see Kentucky Derby contenders in the Blue Grass, and revel in being a part of a huge and festive crowd. Other days at Keeneland (which races Wednesday through Sunday through April 25) are not nearly so crowded as Blue Grass Day, and offer patrons more room to roam, and soak in the charm and beauty of the track. (And enjoy the food, which is certainly the finest of any sporting venue in Kentucky.)
Good luck at the races! —Bill Doolittle
Keeneland Race Course
4201 Versailles Road, Lexington
(859) 254-3412
www.keeneland.com
Tuesday, April 15
‘Maya Lin: Architect, Artist, Visionary’
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most visited sites in the United States, with an average of 3 million visitors a year. How it came to be designed is the stuff of legend.
Maya Lin was a 21-year-old architecture student at Yale University when the national contest was announced in 1981. Her reputation was made when she won the commission out of 1,421 designs submitted, although controversy surrounded her black granite wall with its inscribed names. She has since created many projects, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala., and was a jury member for the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. Most of her work is based on political and social awareness.
Lin will be here to discuss her past work and future vision. The program is co-sponsored by U of L's Liberal Studies Project and the Speed Art Museum. —Jo Anne Triplett
Kentucky Center, Bomhard Theater
501 W. Main St.
584-7777
www.kentuckycenter.org
$10; 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15
Galactic & Boots Riley
I don’t know if the folks in Galactic know what they have gotten into. By inviting The Coup’s Boots Riley on this tour, you’ve got to wish them luck in their future border crossings, flight plans and international phone calls. Boots Riley, as the mouthpiece of the Oakland rap group, has made his career pissing off people like Michelle Malkin, who referred to their 2001 Party Music LP as a “stomach-turning example of anti-Americanism disguised as highbrow intellectual expression,” which, of course, makes you want to run out and get it immediately. Now celebrating his 15th year of making records, Boots has perfected the concept of a revolution that’s got to be funky. His newest, Pick A Bigger Weapon, includes appearances by like-minded political artists Tom Morello, Jello Biafra, Talib Kweli and The Roots’ Black Thought.
Galactic’s 2007 album From The Corner To The Block eschews a singer for an emcee-laden experiment. The music is a less jammy, much denser funk, much more suited to the focus and space needed for the genre shift. Boots joins the band for a set of his songs mixed within Galactic’s. Where else can you raise your fist and shake your ass on a Tuesday night? —Damien McPherson
Headliners
1386 Lexington Road
584-8088
$17 (adv.), $20 (door); 7 p.m.
