Tuesday, September 29, 2009

If it includes Mr. Mister, it must be cool

Last night at the Back Door, Roommate and I had a conversation with a disbelieving bar patron about how sometimes Louisville gets movies and movie premieres that other, bigger cities don't. And this afternoon, Roommate dumped this little tidbit in my inbox.

It turns out Louisville and NYC are the only cities where the movie Adventures of Power is opening next weekend-- right at our little ol' Baxter Avenue Theater. How cool is that? Not LA, not Miami. Louisville. Anyone know why? I can't profess to having heard anything about this movie, and I'm kind of a film blog geek.

The Wikipedias have this to say: “Adventures of Power” is a comedy about a mine-worker named Power whose love of drums and lack of musical skill has turned him into the ridiculed "air drummer" of his small town. But when Power's union-leader father calls a strike at the mine, Power discovers an underground subculture of air-drummers who just might hold the key to changing the world. Power's journey across America brings him face-to-face with his town's greatest enemy, and allows him to discover the beat within his own heart.

Sounds interesting. Way more interesting is the awesome cast line-up: Adrian Grenier, Michael McKean, and Jane Lynch (who's starting to really piss me off on Glee). WAY more interesting is the wackadoo soundtrack line-up: Rush, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, Phil Collins, Dazz Band, Loverboy, Bow Wow Wow, Woodie Guthrie.

Who knows? No matter what, my thinking is you should go out and support the movie regardless, just to send the message to Hollywood that Louisville is a good place to open films.

And as they say on the big blogs, hat tip to Roommate for sending this juicy bit along. And if you know why Louisville was tapped for this opener, please let me know.

Tuesday Afternoon Randomness

I'm having yet again another "I'm feeling jazzed about Louisville" day. There's just so much good stuff going on these days, it's hard not to feel the jazz. Even when it's totally yucko outside like it is today.

  • First up: tomorrow is the last Waterfront Wednesday of the year. Sniffles. I am not familiar with any of the artists, Bell X1, the Workers, or Company of Thieves. But it's Waterfront Wednesday, so I will be there. I'll be there hoping that the Company of Thieves guy wears the hippo on his head again.
  • This is the final week to see Rocky Horror live. It's practically sold out, you know. And I've been hearing super good things about it. This Louisvillager is going to lose her Rocky virginity on Thursday night. There are still tickets left for Thursday night, so you could watch!
  • Thanks to Broken Sidewalk for bringing us information about the adorable art installation on East Market Street. I actually startled someone on a bicycle while walking toward Nulu Fest. I saw the crazy white doggie prancing around the window of the old Wayside building and exclaimed, "Holy crap!" (Yes I said "crap" not the other word.) Sorry, bike dude. If you haven't seen "Sniff" yet, go, go, go! He'll (she'll?) only be around til Oct 30. (I think there's a missed Halloween opportunity there. Couldn't they make the puppy go all Cujo on Halloween and scare the bejeezus out of people? Good times.)
  • This weekend is the Louisville International Film Festival. This is a very exciting event, chock full of new films you won't see anywhere else. (But not Adventures in Power) And like with the Labryinth seminar, if I didn't have a Meatspace job, I would TOTALLY shell out the $60 for the all day Friday and Saturday pass. It's a steal.
Brrr... do I really need to turn on the heat in September? Disappointing. Otherwise, Louisville, you're my hero.

David Bowie, Minotaurs, and Other Good Things Found in Labryinths

David Bowie in Labyrinth
I love my Meatspace job.  It's a calling.  It truly is.  And I am grateful, in this economy, to have a Meatspace job that pays my bills so I can fart around on the interwebs and keep up my blogging hobby.  

That being said, there is so much cool shit to do out there!  And I can't do a lot of it because I have be a responsible, professional, adult. And it makes me want to stomp my feet, throw a temper tantrum, and then pout for a while.

How cool is THIS??  The Louisville Seminary is holding a WEEK LONG seminar on Labryinths. Yes, my friends, I said a whole seminar on Labryinths.  A week long seminar.  On all kinds of Labryinthy goodness.  

I'm so twitterpated about this idea that I am contemplating the irony of calling in sick with Swine Flu for that week and going to this seminar about sacred spaces.  Check out the schedule below.   ;I want networking time to discuss MY labryinth-making needs.  I want to build a masking tape labryinth in fifteen minutes.  

You know what the best part of this seminar is??  The whole week of Labryinthian madness costs a mere $150.  And that's because we missed the September 26 "early bird" deadline.  If we'd been early birds, we would have paid half that.  Yeppers.  All this for just $75. 

Sigh.  Another missed opportunity.


MON-WED, October 26-28—LABYRINTH SEMINAR
• The basics of sacred geometry and its application to labyrinths
• Classical and medieval labyrinth design principles 
• Considerations for building permanent and temporary labyrinths 
• How to build a masking tape labyrinth in 15 minutes
• Principles for making your own contemporary design
• Tips on how to get a labyrinth for your... (church, school, hospital) 
• Networking time to discuss your labyrinth-making needs
THURS-FRI, October 29-30—BUILDING A CHARTRES STYLE LABYRINTH
Participants will join Robert Ferré in constructing a brick path Chartres style labyrinth on the grounds of Farmington Plantation in Louisville. This project will be a joint effort of Louisville Seminary's Biennial Labyrinth Conference, Historic Farmington Plantation, andSullivan University.







Saturday, September 26, 2009

Nulu Festival: Another Reason I Love Louisville


Today's revelation: I don't volunteer enough. Seriously, I have all kinds of time on my hands most weeks, and there's no reason on God's green earth I shouldn't be putting it to use to help good causes. So if you've got a good cause out there, and you need a warm body who's not so great at heavy lifting or cold-calling people, Lou's your gal.

Revelation #2: My "retail" skills are way too good. It's kind of scary. I was hocking tshirts and chatting up buyers like it was, well, my calling.

Well, this has been a weekend that makes you proud to be a Louisvillager. As I said in my last post, IdeaFestival represents the very best of Louisville and all the hopes that this Louisvillager has for the future of the city. And tonight I volunteered at the first Nulu Festival, working the t-shirt stand. (That's the t-shirt stand above, pre-monsoon.) And despite the fact that the torrential rains washed out the last two or so hours of the festival, I think I can safely say that Nulu Festival is probably the best new festival in the city.

Celebrating the "rebirth" of the downtown East Market district, the East Market Street Business Association joined forces with Leadership Louisville and the Bingham Fellows to create the Nulu Festival. The festival was supposed to last from 5-11p, but it was cut short by a storm around 9:15pm. The music line-up alone made it worth attending for the entire event (which I did). The evening opened with the cover band, the Generic Alternatives. They were mostly good. I especially appreciated their cover of REM's "Superman." They were followed by the fantastic Thomas A Minor and the Picket Line, a bluegrass band. The Instruction turned out to be the discovery of the evening-- they had an awesome sound, and I am definitely going to seek out their shows.

Once Ben Sollee took the stage, I had no fewer than a half dozen people stop by the tshirt booth and say, "Who IS this guy??" When I explained who he was, the most common response was, "And he's LOCAL? You're kidding me??" No joke, kids, Ben Sollee is a frigging local treasure. In fact, I am going to download his album from iTunes as soon as I am done blogging. Roommate and I agree that Sollee's set at Bonnaroo 2009 was one of the best shows of the festival. If I were, ahem, actually getting any action these days, I could easily see Sollee's music replacing (or supplementing) Leonard Cohen as my "favorite music to get busy to." (Is that TMI? Blame the Jim Beam.)

Sollee was a trooper and played through much of the downpour. Unfortunately the Festival was canceled once the winds picked up and started blowing tents around and Lucky Pineapple never got to play. Rumor had it that they had a HUGE act planned with more than a dozen instruments and, at least according to the rumor, a choir. Such a shame.

Nulu Festival featured yummo burgers and brats and chicken by White Oak and some great looking panini by Bodega (where I had lunch today-- why do I always forget that Bodega exists?? It's such a totally charming place! And man, they make a mean lobster bisque!). Wine by Felice Vineyards and BBC brews.

Speaking of brews, there's a new place opening up on Market-- a beer store, right by Toast. Apparently they're opening in a few weeks, but opened their doors for the Festival. I don't know anything about it yet, but as it involves beer I will be sure to find out ASAP.

Most of the other booths at the Festival focused on eco-friendly stuff. There was a booth for the proposed botanical gardens and for a park proposed for Market. I'd promised myself that during my next break from the t-shirt booth, I'd check those out more earnestly, but the rains cut short my evening.

Overall, the first 4.5 hrs of the Nulu Festival were an unmitigated success. Great tunes, great food, great drink, great crowds, and almost preternaturally great weather-- especially given the total sog that this week has been. I look forward to next year's festival and to volunteering again.

And again, if you need a volunteer, let me know. I am, sigh, especially good at selling t-shirts. (the Nulu Festival t-shirts were especially cute and very reasonably priced at $7)

Friday, September 25, 2009

IdeaFestival = Nerd Christmas

Dear Louisville,

I love you.

I know in the past week you've dumped so much rain on us that my undies are damp even before I put them on. I take some responsibility for that. I could close up the windows and turn on the AC and dry Casa Lou out. But it's been cool and lovely, despite the rain. And while every surface of my house feels like an energetic puppy dog came in and licked it, I just can't, in good conscience, dole out those hard earned dineros to LG&E.

And I know that in two months or maybe three, you and I will have serious issues. Once late fall/early winter rolls in, I will be gnashing my teeth, cursing your arctic damp cold, hating the fact that you are several states north of the tropics. I promise, when those days come about I will try to remember how much I love you now, right now, at this moment.

Because this week, I love you lots. Heaps. Tons. Because this week has been IdeaFestival 2009.

Thanks to my friend @mizhellion who could not use the all-access IdeaFest pass she won via Twitter, I have been able to partake in as many IdeaFestival events as my work schedule has allowed. Two years ago, I also had an all-access pass (last year I couldn't do any IdeaFest stuff because of chemo) and was likewise enamored. See my coverage of IdeaFestival 2006 here.

Louisville, IdeaFestival represents the best that you have to offer. In the three days that I've attended IdeaFestival events, I have heard again and again from out of town visitors how impressed they are with you. Despite the shitty weather. Despite the fact that some of the visitors are staying in crappy hotels.

Today was the first day I could nick out of work early and hit a couple of great lectures. I saw John McPherson, the creator of the Close to Home daily comic-- one of the few comics in the newspaper that are worth reading these days. I missed the first half of his presentation; by the time I got there he was reading readers' letters responding to some of his more controversial comics. Hilarious.

Then I got to see Paul Osterlund, a man who retired from Intel and then set his sights on social entrepreneurialism. He invested in a substance called Zeba, a starch-based material that kind of looks like Grape-Nuts that holds 500% its mass in water. While Zeba has many industrial and commercial uses, Osterlund is most interested in promoting its use in arid and struggling climates. Bury a teaspoon or less of Zeba in the ground when you plant a seed, and when rains come, it will soak up 500% of its mass in water and then feed that water to your plant during dry spells.

Osterlund gave each of his audience members 1 teaspoon of the stuff. Geek that I am, I rushed home and tried it out. I poured around 1/8 of a teaspoon in a saucer and then added a few squirts of water. By the time I'd gone to the bathroom and come out, the Zeba had overflowed the saucer. So I poured the saucer into a measuring cup and kept adding more water. Five hours later, I am still adding more water to that 1/8 teaspoon of Zeba. So far, it has successfully turned more than a cup of water into jelly.

Sorry, Louisville, I didn't mean to let my Mythbusters-esque geekdom take hold of this blog entry. I'm trying to celebrate YOU, my adopted hometown.

So, Louisville, I love you for so many reasons, but I love you tonight because tonight you hosted a sold-out crowd of folk who wanted to listen to Anthony Bourdain speak at the Kentucky Center. Sold out. And when Bourdain took the stage, before he even spoke a word you gave him a standing ovation.

My favorite quote of the night, Bourdain said: "Not giving a shit turned out to be a good business model."

Dear Louisville, I love you. I love you most when you are showcasing the cutting edge, when you are celebrating the radical, when you are highlighting the best we have to offer.

In a couple of months, we'll be at odds. Tonight, though, I love you Louisville.

xo
Lou

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Congrats!

A big congrats to our friend Michelle at www.consuminglouisville.com for being the Leo Readers' Choice Best Entertainment Blog in Louisville.  

And we're just going to call Consuming Louisville the Best Local Website period, seeing that it came in second to Louisville Mojo.  

Really? Best local website for what? Arranging late night booty calls? Am I wrong? Mojo fans, if you're out there, explain why it won Best Local Website. Educate me.


Monday, September 21, 2009

Louisvillagers on the Red Carpet!


Yeah, yeah, I love House too, but look who's standing right behind Cuddy at the Emmys! It's one of our favorite Kentucky Colonels, Kynt from the Amazing Race! And that mass of pink fluff behind him belongs to the other half of the "dating Goths," Vyxsin!

How the heck are you guys?

I have to admit, K & V dropped off my radar when they left Possibility City for Hollywood, but it's nice to see their star is still shining bright enough to light up this year's red carpet.

Good on you, kids! Look at him smile. He's clearly a Huddy supporter.

Ok, I'm really showing my pop culture knickers now.

Picture from www.ew.com

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Good News, Everyone! Scary Man now in Jail!

Every time I've gone downtown in the past couple of months, I've thought about Sunny the Pooch.  If you've forgotten, back in July, in broad daylight, some degenerate pulled over to the side of the road on the Second Street Bridge and tossed Sunny the Pooch over the edge into the Ohio River.  Sunny's attempted murder was witnessed by dozens of people both on the bridge and at Joe's Crab Shack.  But some marvelous instance of serendipity, it just so happened that some Louisville firefighters were on a diving training session and were able to save the dog's life. A waitress from Joe's immediately adopted the pooch (at one point it was reported that the waitress was going to have to move out of her apartment because it didn't allow more than one dog and she already had a dog-- what ever happened to that story?)

Well, folks, the degenerate has a name.  It is Damon Bledsoe.  And according to WLKY:  According to arrest records, Bledsoe told four people that he threw the dog off the bridge and also threatened to throw a witness' two kittens "in the sewer."

I, for one, could not be more pleased to know that Damon Bledsoe is behind bars.  Second degree animal cruelty? What's the penalty for that?  Please please please be huge and painful. 

What kind of person chucks a pup off of a bridge? And then TELLS people about it?  Thank you "four people" for turning this m.f. in!

Holy Moly: Grail at Baxter!!

You know how I love the Midnight Movies at the Baxter Avenue Theaters, but the September 26 Midnight Movie totally takes the cake:  Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Heck yeah!

Q: What else floats?
A: Very small rocks.

Who's in?

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Loueyville on Facebook

Why the heck not, eh?

There's a nifty little badge to the right, click it and be friends with Lou...

I mean, you're already friends with Lou, but now you can be Facebook Friends so she can tell you that she's getting ready to brush her teeth or that this episode of True Blood is really whack or share a quiz that says that the Muppet she most resembles is Beaker...

Good times.

Random Tuesday Randomness: Swayze, Kanye, Jugbands, and more

How about this weather, Louisvillagers? Can't beat it. It's hard to stay sad for too long when the weather is this beautiful. And Lou's been battling the blues this week:
  • First there was Sunday's season-ending loss for the Bats at Slugger Field. Thanks to our Bats for providing another amazing year of some of the best cheap fun to be had in Louisville. Those damn Durham Bulls. They're our Captain Hammer.

  • And now Swayze. Sigh. If you haven't seen him in Keeping Mum with Rowan Atkinson and Maggie Smith, rent it now.
On the positive side of things:
  • Hear Obama call Kanye a "jackass." Yeah, I know it was supposed to be off the record and all that, but I couldn't help but beam when I heard this. Especially considering my one degree of separation from the Taylor Swift scandal. Obama's probably going to catch crap for this, but I love it!

  • I came home from work today all fired up to make some beef stroganoff but not really wanting to head to the grocery store. And then I was reminded that it's two-for-one burger night at the Monkey Wrench. I always forget that the Tuesday deal at the Monkey Wrench is one of the best cheap eats deals in town. I'll hold off on the stroganoff.

  • Don't forget that this weekend is Arts in the Highlands-- September 19 & 20. The weather is supposed to be beautiful again.

  • You can make it a full weekend of festivals by hitting the Arts in the Highland on the 20th and enjoying America's Happiest Music at the Jug Band Jubilee on September 19.

  • Please, please tell me you're following the Fairdale Bigfoot on Twitter. And on Facebook. His new advice column will appear at Consuming Louisville soon. Email questions to fairdalebigfoot (at) gmail.com. Rumor has it, the Manbeast may run for mayor of Louisville. (no, I don't mean Uncle Mayor Jerry-- he's already said he won't run again).
Coming soon... NULU Festival, IdeaFestival... It's a good time to be a Loueyvillager.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Happy One Year Ikeversary!

One year and a few hours ago, this is what happened to Casa Lou:

Ike 022 by you.

The Upside of Kayne's Assishness...

... it will be a long time before anyone forgets Taylor Swift's win.

... Taylor Swift's acceptance speech is quoted verbatim ALL OVER the internet (and no one else's is).

And both of those facts are excellent news for Mr. Roman White, my dear friend who also happened to direct Taylor Swift's video.

Here, let me add that acceptance speech to my own little corner of the interwebs:

I would really like to thank Roman White, who directed the video, and Lucas Till for being in it... I would like to thank all the fans on Twitter and MySpace and everyone that came out to my shows this summer. And I would like to thank my little brother's high school for letting us shoot there.

Here's a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AHzIq_n-DQ

(No, this has nothing to do with Louisville.)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Original Highlands Music & Art Festival: Why You Have To Go

A little while ago it dawned on me that I had stopped accumulating Rock Star crushes. Once upon a time it seemed like there was no end to the leather-panted, long-haired parade of front men and bassists (always those two, never guitarists or drummers) that peopled my wish list. There was even room to boot the occasional malefactor from the list when his bad boy behavior became... genuinely bad. (I'm thinking of you, Scott Weiland).

The fact that there are no new additions to my Rock Star crush list isn't really a head-scratcher. The names Jonas and Wentz and Meyer don't comfortably nestle with names like Springsteen, Vedder, Le Bon (c'mon, he was beautiful in the 80's!), Bono, and Capps.

Capps? you ask.

Oh yes, Louisvillagers. Grayson Capps. And he's coming to your Original Highland Art and Music Festival on Saturday. (Can you hear my heart pounding through the series of tubes?) I first fell in love with him and his country/blues/Southern rock when we both lived in New Orleans. He played Phoenix Hill last winter, but this is your chance to hear the man in his natural environment-- outside, on a beautiful (we hope) late summer's night, surrounded by beer.

If the marriage of the OH Arts & Music Festival and Grayson Capps were a Facebook status, I would "like" it a dozen times. You'll love this man. You'll love his music. You'll love his soul. And I'd bet good money he'll end up on your Rock Star Crush list too, no matter how you roll.

www.graysoncapps.com

PS. This year, the OH Music and Art Fest benefits Gilda's Club. That's actually a better reason why you have to go.

Crazy Train rolls into Louisville (we're a major hub)

Frankly, the oversized cut out of Jim Carey's Scrooge in the lobby of Baxter Avenue Theater freaks me the heck out. And I'm really not all that excited about the upcoming Disney's A Christmas Carol film. In my humble opinion, this story has been adapted on film SO many times in SO many ways-- so many good ways, in fact (the Fonz in An American Christmas Carol, anyone?). That being said, this adaptation is going to be a big deal (because Disney tells me so) and a little bit of its Hollywood flash and sizzle is heading to town this morning. From the press release:

<>"DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL" Train Tour rolls into Louisville offering visitors an exclusive 3D sneak peek from the movie as well as a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of the movie—with artifacts and character designs housed in real train cars. The fun family event is totally free.

Sponsored by Hewlett Packard, the Train Tour will travel more than 16,000 miles and pass through 36 states. Amidst a winter wonderland with holiday décor and Christmas carolers, visitors will see footage from "Disney's A Christmas Carol" inside a 48-foot-wide, 2-story, inflatable 3-D theatre which will be erected in each city. Visitors can also check out the cutting-edge technology behind the film, as well as artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum and interactive games. Radio Disney will invite kids to enter for a chance to become a Movie Surfer representing their hometown. Each Hometown Movie Surfer will get a chance to appear on Disney Channel by filming their very own Movie Surfer's segment! The whole experience is free.

Check it out at 1000 Broadway from this morning at 9am til Sunday at 4pm. Take the kiddies. Or not.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A Deal on the Nines for Us Non Beatles Fans

Yeah, yeah, yeah... the Beatles are great. Total visionaries. Trailblazers. I know.

Maybe Big Mama Lou played Rubber Soul on my nursery turntable one too many times... who knows? But today is just a cool date, not Beatles day, in Loueyville.

What today also is is a good day to start thinking about trying some new restaurants. Restaurant.com is offering 90% off of its $25.00 gift certificates for the next 99 hrs (that's til 9/13 for the math-challenged). So the $25.00 certificates cost one cold hard buck! I plugged in the area code 40204 and pulled up seven pages of restaurants offering the discounted certificates.

This sounds like a scam, but it's not. I've used the certificates at the old Artemesia and the North End. They have a ton of restrictions, so be sure to read the fine print. There's usually a minimum purchase ($35 or two entrees), it usually won't cover booze, and often a mandatory gratuity is tacked on. But at $1 a pop, you can afford to make a mistake or two. Just make sure you show the certificate to your server before you place your order.

I decided to use this opportunity to check out some places I've never been: Old Seelbach Bar, Vincenzo's, Bendoya, Oasis Sushi, the Coach Lamp, and the Riverbend Winery. I'm sure my check at any of these places will well surpass the minimum purchase, so it's probably not a bad deal for the restaurant. And surely if I find that I like one of these places, I'll be back to spend more money.

You need to enter the code NINETY when ordering.

Happy nines day!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Too Disgusted to Write a Headline

I've been meaning to blog about local pizza icon John Schnatter's search for the 1971 Camaro that he sold to help save his dad's bar and to start Papa John's pizza.  It's a cute story with a cute website and a sort of feel-good nostalgic message. And really, what were the odds that the car wasn't sold for scrap a decade ago, right?
 
Wrong.  It actually turned out to be pretty easy to find the car. It had only been owned by two people since Schnatter. Schnatter bought the car for $250,000, as promised, and then threw a $25,000 fee to the previous owners as a "finder's fee." The car came home last week.  You've got one happy pizza guy and two flush families.  Nice.  All's well and good in the world, right?
 
WRONG.  What the heck???  How did this feel good story become so fraking.... fraked up??  First Owner-- the finder's fee woman-- is thinking about filing suit against Papa John for the entire $250,000. She's turning down the finder's fee.  Turns out she tried to buy the car back from Second Owner when she found out about the contest... ugh... this story just makes me so mad.  Read it yourself.