DIRECTOR
Robin
Vice
Erica Rucker is LEO Weekly’s editor-inchief. In addition to her work at LEO, she is a haphazard writer, photographer, tarot card reader, and fair-to-middling purveyor of motherhood. Her earliest memories are of telling stories to her family and promising that the next would be shorter than the first. They never were.
BY ERICA RUCKER
You know what’s more embarrassing than Trump? The average white American man. Think Ohio Senator JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson who are upset about divorce. These are late Millennials and Gen X’ers with an axe to grind about their own parents’ failings. Vance’s mother married at least three times. Johnson, who was the product of a teen pregnancy, saw his parents divorce as well. But, I digress. No, actually I don’t.
Now I hear the chorus of “Not All” rising. Yea, there are some good ones. I married one and even he has his struggles.
Then there are the JD Vances and Mike Johnsons who want to trap poor unsuspecting trad wives into marriages that leave them knocked up and financially dependent, in what I’d call a serious “eww brotha eww” moment. If you don’t know what that means, look up the sound byte and put JD Vance’s face on it.
Fuck these guys. The destruction of their childhood families had nothing to do with the ease of divorce, but probably everything to do with the guys they revere and call, “dad.”
Apparently there is a growing group of — wait for it — Republican men who want to make getting a divorce harder. You guessed it, Vance and Johnson are singing that tired, childhood trauma dirge loud and clear instead of seeking therapy.
It’s this kind of projection that too many men, particularly white Republican men get trapped in.
Never has it been more obvious that Republicans have jumped the shark past Reagan than right now. The twice-married Reagan signed the first no-fault divorce bill into law as Governor of California in 1969.
And to make this bid to snare women into tragic unhappiness and baby production more ridiculous, they want the thrice-married, multi-extramarital-affairs cad Trump as their leader.
We are living in very stupid times, people.
My question to Republican voters is, what do you really stand for? Don’t say “American values” because what does that mean? If it’s about the American family, who is the blueprint because it can’t be Trump, can it?
If it’s about fiscal conservatism, how do you explain tax dollars funding silly fights like abortion that keeps tax dollars funneling into legal fights when it would be cheaper to fund healthcare without limits.
It can’t be about religion because most
of these folks talk a lot about God but do the very opposite of the teachings. So please tell me? What is it?
Here’s my guess. You don’t even know yourself, and I know why.
Have you heard of the game Three Card Monte? It’s a game where cards or a ball under a cup gets shuffled around while you try to guess where your card or the ball is.
That’s the Republican platform.
Modern Republicans have no actual intention of helping American people or families, but they will shuffle the cards of manufactured rage and get you all angry about abortion, immigration, or family values but never actually tell you what those are.
You’re never going to guess where the ball is.
Remember when being a Republican meant something?
It wasn’t a party for whiners but people who actually stood for something identifiable. Reagan did it. George Bush, Sr. did it but somewhere the messaging got lost in the foolery.
It’s been a long time coming. Nixon got it started when he hopped in the cesspool of the Southern Strategy and Reagan sealed it when he cupped the fuzzy balls of evangelical ministers
Now the Republican party is every bit as stupid as predicted, maybe more. I don’t think most folks who identify with that
“R” want to be perceived that way though. To be fair, and with some bit of compassion, I get why these folks are hanging on to this mess of a party. It isn’t about any of those values, immigration, or abortions. It’s about the past and sadly, it’s a past that won’t ever return and the people who should be speaking for them are zealots with attention deficits and mommy/daddy issues.
But what about “our guns?”
It’s the ball again, sorry folks. It’s bait to keep you strung out on this stupid carnival ride. I’m definitely not trying to convince you to become a Democrat, that’s another fucking mess in itself but I would like to urge you to think bigger than what you’re being fed by these people.
Think past them. What is the America you want? Write it down. Does your dream match theirs?
Do they even tell you what they want and how they will actually get you there?
If it’s a series of rage bombs, I’m just going to say to you, that’s a big ass red flag and this relationship is a doom spiral. If this is a story about divorce — it is and it isn’t — America needs to divorce Republicans.
BY DAN CANON
On the first day, the robin brushes up on our porch, scratches at the window above the back door, and drops three tiny sticks on a ledge that cannot be more than five inches wide. The sticks fall to the warped, unfinished decking, where they will remain until removed by forces apathetic to human intervention. The robin flies away.
She flies up again with three more sticks, again places them on the ledge, and again the sticks flutter to the deck. The robin tilts her head to track the components of her would-be brooding space. Unfazed, she flies off and returns with more sticks.
We watch half smiling through the steam rising from our coffee. It happens five or six more times. “Good luck, stupid.” Off to work.
On the second day, same thing.
On the third day, same thing.
By the fourth day, the sticks on the deck are somehow no longer “sticks” but more like what English-speaking humans would call “brush,” held together by dried birdshit. Alarmingly, there is also a collection of brush on the ledge, such that it may not be correct to call it “brush” anymore but rather the beginnings of a “nest.”
Were it not for the slightness of the ledge, the back porch would be decent real estate for a growing family of robins. It is covered from the elements, eyes of predators, and easy access of thieves. But the ledge is a structural defect so significant that it should drive the mother to find better housing. It doesn’t. She might lay eggs in that mess. And then what? It’s only a matter of time until the eggs fall to the deck, since there can be nothing in that small space adequate to contain the rolling of little blue marbles. We’ll have to scrape up the mess, and maybe it won’t be a regular egg mess, maybe it will be a gross, gooey bird fetus mess. Unless the dogs get to it first. Bleah.
“The hell are you doing?” I ask her. No reply. “Ignorant fucker. Go away!” She does, but not for long. She is swooping back with more sticks every few minutes, dropping some, leaving some. Swooping, dropping, leaving.
On the sixth day, there is something like a bowl made of buckwheat noodles growing up and leaning forward out of the ledge. It is a masterwork of precarity, but it could hold an egg. One. Maybe. This, as I consider it, is even worse than I had feared. At some point, a baby bird may hatch out of that egg. And then what? It’ll fall out of the nest and
the children will find a little bird corpse. Then the dogs will get it. Bleccch.
We mostly forget about the nest for two weeks. Then one morning we see them: four - four - tiny beaks, like spades jabbing upward. Mama is swooping back and forth again, but this time with worms or whatever it is these underdeveloped dinosaur wieners eat. I stare in awe up at the ledge for a while, cross myself, and go back inside. This development, as I consider it, is the worst yet. Now four of these mutants are surely going to fall eight feet onto our deck and make it even filthier than usual. And then what? A scene of carnage rivaling Gettysburg, that’s what. I’d rather the dogs take care of this one but bleeeaaaarrrrrgh.
A robin is not an interesting bird to write about. This is so even if you concede that birds are interesting to write about, or read about, which I do not. While one might find sufficient poetic juice to squeeze from, say, a bird of prey or a flightless waterfowl, the robin remains singularly uninteresting among birds. Its song isn’t especially beautiful. It doesn’t symbolize anything. Except for the fact that its scientific name is turdus migratorius , it has no inherent comedic value. It is one of the most common creatures in the Midwest.
Not only is the main character of our story uninteresting, but the story itself is dull.
Here’s how it ends: After a few days, three of the babies fly away. One scruffy fledgling remains who cannot seem to summon the nerve required to hop off the ledge. When he finally does, he clumsily flutters down to the deck, where he sits for a moment, his ordinary brown head cocked, his inky black eye peering vacantly up at me through our back door. “Ah, this will be our casualty, at long last,” I worry. I open the door. The runt flies away. The end.
This is the story of the robin, as boring as it is true. A common bird does a common thing and nothing dies. You expect calamity, but you get the mundane. This theme is at least as archetypal as hubris, but still: yawn. There is no deeper truth to be gleaned here, it is simply the blundering juggernaut of nature, amorally charging ahead, immune to consequence, victory, or sorrow. But it is the writer’s job to connect things that have no connection, no matter how jacked up or contrived, and I find myself in this moment very much in need of redemption stories, of heroes surviving peril despite all odds, of courageous animals who build homes for their babies, of anything that says “maybe it’s all going to be okay,” even when a tragic ending appears certain.
BY CALEB STULTZ
The 2025 budget was passed with few changes to the original proposal
Louisville Metro Council voted on Thursday, June 20, to approve the city’s fiscal year 2025 budget with almost unanimous approval, greenlighting programs in Mayor Craig Greenberg’s (D) budget that previously did not have the funding to move forward, with other major cornerstones of previous budgets still seeing major funding.
On Thursday, the council voted 22 in favor, one against (Councilwoman Shameka ParrishWright) and one abstaining (Councilman Jecorey Arthur due to a cited conflict of interest) for the operating budget for the City of Louisville. The 22 council members also voted “yes” for the capital budget.
Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright voted against the budget, citing ethical and transparency concerns regarding Louisville Economic Development Alliance (LEDA).
“I cannot wholeheartedly vote for something that does not meet the needs, that funds the shells of organizations that are trying to use public dollars for private funding,” she said during the meeting.
Some featured proposals for the mayor’s second budget included initiatives that put funding into universal pre-K education programs funded by a mixture of city budget and private investments, known as Thrive by 5 Louisville.
“I want to thank Metro Council for approving next year’s budget with overwhelming, bipartisan support,” Greenberg said in a statement. “This budget makes key investments to reduce crime,
build more affordable housing, help end family and youth homelessness, and spur new economic development and job creation.”
Were there any changes to the budget since the original proposal?
Earlier this week, council members met to discuss amendments to the city’s budget, with leaders of various programs potentially seeing cuts coming to make their case for their programs in Louisville.
Though it would see a massive slash in budget, the HeARTS program did not secure any more funding from the amended budget than the original, leaving it at a 20% operating budget from last year (from $1 million in 2024 to $200,000 in 2025 fiscal year).
Jefferson Council Soil and Water Conservation District and the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension said their proposed cuts would leave them with $30,000 respectively, which could ultimately end their programs.
The council agreed to add $83,200 to the conservation district, with $152,500 going to the cooperative extension, which restores half of its money that would have been lost in the original budget.
There were other budget amendments added to the fiscal budget for 2025, including $500,000 to Kentucky College Art and Design, which would be half of the original $1 million, which is set to receive $5 million in state funding.
In its additional provision, the council called for the Mayor’s Office to review how it allocates funds in future budgets going forward.
“No funds will be awarded in the FY26 and any future budgets until such improved processes are adopted and a process and procedures for distribution of these funds are accepted,” according to the budget.
The reductions come from a lack of funding after American Rescue Funds dried up
TARC is set to reduce 22 out of its 30 routes.
The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) will reduce 22 out of its 30 routes starting this coming Sunday, June 30, due to budget restrictions. The budget reduction comes as money from the American Rescue Plan has dried up for TARC, which will no longer be able to go as far for the majority of its routes with a 20% reduction in funding.
The service reductions will reduce service on weekdays down to what is typically seen on Saturdays, the transit service stated in a rider alert on Wednesday, June 12. For now, TARC3 services will remain the same as fixed route services are the only ones being impacted. All hours and frequency of service from TARC will remain the same on Saturdays and Sundays.
TARC stated that Route #29 Eastern Parkway will now re-route to the north end of Cherokee Park, which may affect riders who are unaware. Here are the routes that will see reduced service:
Route #2 Second Street
Route #6 Sixth Street
The United States’ highest court will decide whether prohibition of hormone therapy to adolescents is constitutional
After Kentucky passed controversial Senate Bill 150, many wondered if the nation’s highest court would review the law.
The Supreme Court of the United States will review the constitutionality of transgender youth healthcare in a landmark decision that could affect millions of adolescent transgender people across the country.
Last year, Kentucky introduced and passed Senate Bill 150, which prohibited the prescription of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to adolescents and young adults 18 or younger, regardless of medical
Route #12 Twelfth Street
Route #15 Market Street
Route #17 Bardstown Road
Route #18 Dixie Highway
Route #19 Muhammad Ali Blvd
Route #21 Chestnut Street
Route #25 Oak-Westport Crosstown
Route #27 Hill Street
Route #29 Eastern Parkway – Will
re-route to the north side of Cherokee Park. See draft schedule for details.
Route #31 Shelbyville Road
Route #40 Taylorsville Road
Route #43 Portland Poplar Level
Route #52 Medical Center Circulator
Route #63 Crums Lane
Route #71 Jeffersonville-Louisville-New
Albany
Route #72 Clarksville
Route #94 Cardinal Shuttle
Discontinued routes:
Route #46 National Turnpike-Outer
Loop
Route #73 West Louisville-River Ridge
Route #74 Chamberlain Lane-River Ridge
No changes in routes:
Route #4 Fourth Street
Route #10 Dixie Rapid
Route #22 Twenty Second Street
Route #23 Broadway
Route #28 Preston Highway
necessity from the young person, their parents and their medical providers. The law immediately would stop all treatment to transgender youth who were already receiving care prior to the passed law.
Though the Court has not decided to review the Kentucky law, a similar Tennessee law has been appealed and agreed to review by the Supreme Court, and its outcome of the Department of Justice’s challenge to the Sixth Circuit’s decision will determine how transgender youth receive care in Kentucky and beyond.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU-KY) said its challenge to the Kentucky law successfully pursued injunction from the healthcare ban going to effect at the district level, meaning that transgender youth could still receive care until the court has time to review the bill to determine its constitutionality.
Route #75 Bluegrass Circulator
Route #93 UPS Shuttle-UofL-JCTC
Route #99 UPS Shuttle West Louisville
“This is not an easy decision,” said TARC Executive Director Ozzy Gibson in the rider alert. “But this is an opportunity to avoid layoffs and keep hard-working Louisvillians employed and able to support their families.
And by keeping more TARC staff working under the TARC umbrella, we’re preserving our ability to provide expanded service in the future if revenue is found.” You can find more information about the changes at ridetarc.org.
“Our legal team is pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to consider reversing the Sixth Circuit’s decision upholding these cruel and unconstitutional laws,” said ACLU-KY Legal Director Corey Shapiro in a press release. “Our clients and their doctors simply want to provide the best medical care that is necessary for these amazing youth. We remain optimistic that the Supreme Court will agree and ultimately strike down these bans.”
By Jeff Polk
While they formed in, and have always been, based out of New York City, indie rock veterans Antietam are one of the most Louisville bands of all time. This is, of course, due to husband and wife duo Tim Harris (bass/vocals) and Tara Key (vocals/ guitars/keys) — both Louisville natives — who were two of the founding members of the Louisville punk scene back in 1978. First, Tara with her band No Fun, followed a few weeks later by Tim and the Babylon Dance Band, (which Tara would later join as well). Their style, sound, and songwriting were among the first cogs in creating the post-rock/post-hardcore style of music that came to be known as the “Louisville sound” by the early 1990’s, and their influence on the bands that popularized that sound cannot be overstated.
After moving East and getting married, Tara and Tim formed Antietam on Derby Day of 1984. The early years saw the band working with several other musicians, (including a few Louisville transplants from the early punk rock scene), before finding NYC native Josh Madell, who joined on drums in 1990 and has been with the band ever since. Now 40 years in, Antietam is making some of the best music of their career, as evident in their latest release - the four-song EP Pitch & Yaw,
released in May of this year to celebrate the band’s anniversary. And while LEO didn’t have a chance to catch up with Tim and Tara in person, (they were on vacation in Italy at the time), we did get them to answer a whole slew of questions by email.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity)
LEO: With bands like No Fun, Babylon Dance Band, The Endtables, The Blinders, and The I-Holes all forming within weeks of each other in 1978, was there a general consensus amongst everyone involved that all of you were going to jumpstart the Louisville punk scene, or did it all happen organically?
Tim Harris: I would say the latter. I don’t think anyone was really thinking about starting a scene, but a kind of magical spontaneous combustion blew up around town. What we all shared was a Louisville recipe of a dedication to the craft of the composition and the performance on the one hand, and the desire to make something happen on the other.
In the beginning, we couldn’t really get gigs in conventional bars, so we performed in barns, the art school, galleries, the Teenage Pregnancy School, the women’s prison, the St. Matthews Potato Festival, a German beer hall, and our living room.
There weren’t really rewards except each other’s attention. Any kind of job or career wasn’t even a possibility. Form a great band like the Endtables and you get to play in our living room!
We played little bars that would let us play because they didn’t really know what it was and because we asked politely. Then a bunch of punk rockers would show up at the Schooner in Portland or Willo’s on Oak Street, and eventually Dave and Marsha at the South 40 in Iroquois welcomed a repeated thing that became a scene.
For this interview, I jotted down the names of bands from that time, like the Dickbrains, Malignant Growth, Your Food, all early comrades on through Squirrel Bait, Kinghorse, Slint and Rodan. But when I got to 40 bands, I thought STOP! I better not name names - it’s just impossible not to leave somebody out. Where is Languid and Flaccid? Where is Orange Orange? There were so many good, interesting bands from Louisville.
Tara Key: It was never a conscious move. When Bruce [Witsiepe] and Tony [Pinotti] asked me to come jam with them and I left hours later with blood-covered hands and an exhilaration I had never felt before, I knew this [was] where I needed to be, and who I needed to be. But it was about self-fulfillment and not to spearhead a movement. We may have been first, but
in a matter of weeks we had all joined together to be the authors of something bigger than us individually and it grew by snowball, not by design. That’s the great thing about Louisville - the music we made was not out of response to something and somewhere else, it was solely about where we were, who we were, and could have only been made right there and then.
Playing punk in Louisville in the late 70’s & early 80’s, was there ever trouble from people who saw you all as weird?
TH: The BDB played a gig in a barn. We tried to talk our way out of the gig, but the barn’s hostess insisted she liked punk rock. But her guests didn’t all share that. This guy started hassling us, saying “We don’t want to hear this shit.” When Chip [Nold] replied, “Don’t call my music shit,” this righteous aesthete punched him in the face. We considered a brawl, but not really being brawlers, we packed up and left. Later, Chip and I mused about that incident, that, unlike some punks, we didn’t wear provocative clothes or safety pins, we didn’t act confrontationally or try to offend people, we just played this new music. We agreed that this raging maniac punched Chip for “purely aesthetic considerations.”
TK: Playing music in the first couple of years was often about cultural confrontation by default. There were not really places for
us to play and we had to make a round peg fit a square hole. There was not the support of press or radio, so news of shows was spread by word of mouth and guerrilla-style posters plastered to telephone poles. But the BDB really didn’t view our music as provocative - I like to think that we were proselytizers for the positive possibilities of music as a bridge maker, not a bridge burner. We wanted to play in every neighborhood. We wanted to use our music as a conduit for breaking down class structure and geography, and, yes, Louisville was striated in those ways. We thought that if people listened, danced, and, most important, started their own bands, more could be found in common than in contrast and that would be a healthy thing. Rock and Roll evangelists that we were, our efforts did not always prove to be successful - at worst collision, and sometimes at best leading to head-scratching bewilderment on the part of the audience, and so we found ourselves in situations like Tim described. I can remember that barn party incident
like it was yesterday, Tim and I instinctively backing Chip up with our guitars hoisted in the air ready for some El Kabong action. Being in a band felt like belonging to a platoon.
Not many bands that have been around 40 years or longer bother putting out new music, and when they do it’s usually uninspired and only to have something to tour on. However, the four songs on Pitch & Yaw sound fresh and driven, like they exist because you all truly needed them to exist. Where do you still find the inspiration to continue to create?
TH: That’s a good question and we are so gratified to hear you say that! As for where it comes from, I’m really not sure.
TK: Nor am I sure, but where the inspiration comes from feels more like the beginning days of our playing together than ever. The music comes because it needs to come. Songs demand our attention and care. Our guitars need us! I feel like we are making the best music of our lives by tuning out the
white noise and tuning in the good noise that is an endless source of excitement and is the self-generating fuel to keep making said noise in new and beautiful ways.
What songs are you proudest of creating and why?
TH: “My Friend Roger” - Sean and I jammed out the riff, Tara did her first feedback magic, and Chip wrote my favorite lyrics ever. It just came together.
“Northern Star” - the first song on Tara’s [solo album] Bourbon County. I don’t even play on it. I’m a producer but Jon Williams of the Volcano Suns was really responsible for the sound at his cabin up in northern Vermont. Wolf [Knapp] played the bass, Ron Ward, later of Speedball Baby, the drums. It was a moment.
“Birdwatching” on IOI. I love playing rock music with Josh and Tara and that for me is the most ecstatic tune to lock in on.
And well, all four of the new ones on Pitch & Yaw.
TK: God, Tim, way to read my mind. I
seriously named every one of those myself!
To elaborate: On “Roger” I took my first extended solo, and recorded feedback overdubs - the first overdubs ever by me.
On “Northern Star” I first added my surroundings to a recording. I played a propane tank next to the house with a big stick for an overdub. Those Vermont recordings were musical EST sessions. I learned to use the environment in recording; to let time and place be players on the record too. I did not make music in the same way after that.
On “Birdwatching” I felt like I had finally translated the helix of notes that live in my brain. And I realized my Stax horndrenched fantasy thanks to the majesty of our friends in the Scenic Horns.
The new songs on Pitch & Yaw are really exciting for me. I hear a patience in each song that seems new. A deliberate telling of each tale rather than a breathless recounting of events. As the person who often throws a gazillion ideas at the wall while recording and then edits down, I purposely
I feel like we are making the best music of our lives by tuning out the white noise and tuning in the good noise that is an endless source of excitement and is the self-generating fuel to keep making said noise in new and beautiful ways.
left space and breadth in the recordings where I may have tried to cram a lot in each box before. A little less Rauschenberg and a little more Zen. I look forward to expanding on that premise.
Any plans on coming back through Louisville anytime soon for a show?
TH: We last played Louisville in 2019 outside at Turners courtesy of Juanita. Tara Jane O’Neil was on the bill and Chip and Wink [O’Bannon] joined Antietam to play some BDB songs - the last time Wink graced a stage. It’s heartbreaking to think about that beautiful night on the Ohio River; Will Oldham dancing next to the stage with his baby in his arms, me afterward helping Wink and Teresa load up his amp. Then he died and we all made His Majesty’s Request, at first conceived by Tara to keep him alive.
TK: There are no current plans to play Louisville, but I would love to. Louisville shows are always extraordinary and, as evidenced by the Turners show, usually as laden with import as a rain swollen thundercloud. Or, perhaps, like a barrel of good vibe explosives. I hope I will always
be allowed to maintain dual citizenship in NYC and Louisville. I follow every severe weather outbreak as if I live there. In fact, while mixing “Pitch & Yaw” (the song) on April 2 (which is about, in part, a vision of flying back in time to see my family all together in Shawnee Park), I had a split screen up on my phone of Marc Weinberg at WDRB and Ryan Hall tracking the severe weather. I was just as tense as if I was in my basement on Macmore Place in Crescent Hill or my front porch at 3208 Vermont.
Finally, you’ve been together since the Babylon Dance Band years and married for as long as Antietam has been going, what is the secret to your long relationship?
TH: We basically like to do the same things, except Tara doesn’t swim and I’m not on Facebook.
TK: I honestly could not have said it better!
For more on Antietam, check out the band’s website at www.antietamtheband.com, and get their latest EP - Pitch & Yaw, as well as all previous releases and merchandise at antietamnyc.bandcamp.com.
Tight margins and new age attendees have changed the landscape of local live music, but independent venues still want to build local music culture in Louisville
BY CALEB STULTZ
Headliners Music Hall has been a cornerstone of the music venue industry for over a decade in Louisville.
In recent years, the venue has seen its fair share of trouble with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing a wrench in every aspect of live entertainment there. Moving forward with tight margins has made keeping entertainment in Louisville a headache for Billy Hardison, who co-owns the venue and acts as vice president of the Kentucky chapter of the National Independent Venue Association, a nationwide lobbying arm that pushed the United States Congress to pass the Save Our Stages Act, which helped venues stay afloat during the pandemic.
Though NIVA got the act passed, that doesn’t mean money showed up immediately. Hardison told LEO Weekly in an interview over the phone that even though Headliners was approved for “a slice of the pie” as he puts it, they didn’t see money for months, doubling down the stress of keeping a venue open with no revenue sources other than live entertainment.
“Initially (the feeling of closing) was terror, but also in our line of work.. If there weren’t fire to put out, we wouldn’t have jobs.” he said. “We just kind of went into action, also. So we tried to stay busy enough to not think about that fear, like, ‘What do we need to do right now to batten down the hatches?’ ‘How are we going to take care of our people?’ ‘What can we do to take care of our people?’ We’re not having revenue coming in. That’s what was… the parallel path of fear and reacting to the situation… and try to be as proactive as we can.”
And as Hardison puts it, the swift movement of small and large venues across the city and across the country alike put the pieces into place fast to help keep everyone afloat during the height of the pandemic. He says communication was vital for the survival of venues if live entertainment was going to live through the pandemic. Simply waiting on Congress was not enough, action needed to be taken, and Hardison was inexperienced but willing to do whatever it took to keep his business alive.
“The first thing that we learned is that, you know, without even communicating around it, we were all basically doing a lot of the
same things to prepare for it in the same ways,” he said. “And then seeing what we could do for our employees, and what can be done for other artists and for touring crews. Everybody shared a lot of notes really early on, because NIVA came together really quickly, in that way. And then it was kind of a ‘everybody get in the boat’ mentality. So… having that happen, which was not my idea, I just happen to be fortunate enough to be in that mix.
“One of our members, Sean Waterson from Cleveland, had a statement early on that I like to repeat. He said, ‘We have 1000 different members and 1000 different ways of doing business.’ And that was kind of why there wasn’t a whole lot of communication prior to the pandemic, because it was a lot of apples and oranges conversations, but we started to learn what we all had in common, as opposed to what was different. And then we all learn from that.”
Hardison said he and his team were “anxious” as time went on and no money was coming to Headliners, or any other venues around them after the act was passed. Making the necessary means to make ends meet meant sacrifices that could potentially
do more damage than good.
“We were anxious to say the least,” he said. “... We had to build a pretty big coalition. Then we had to set up some pretty stringent rules around what constituted a live, independent venue… there were a lot of entities that we had to share this pot of money with.”
Now, looking ahead, Hardison says challenges of the post-pandemic world are coming to light, and venues are having to make changes that could alter the very fabric of live entertainment economics, or as he puts it, “the beer and parking business.”
“A lot of these new kids just don’t drink, which is great,” Hardison said. “The problem with that is that the way that the industry economics are set up, independent venues, all venues work on very tight margins, including location. A 6% margin at the end of the year, for a lot of venues is great, which a lot of business people would say well, that’s nuts. Why do you even do it?”
That answer, for Billy, comes as no surprise. The love of the local arts in Louisville runs deep for independent venues that work to harbor a business model that is not only profitable (even if within extremely
tight margins), but beneficial for the culture of Louisville’s music community.
In a text message after the interview, Hardison said:
“Where we go from here is for independent venues to work together (through NIVA for example) and with their communities to find ways to cut overhead, relieve regulatory costs and to recognize that for-profit venues are just as much a part of the fabric of local arts as non-profits and deserve at least some of the same opportunities to be subsidized,” he stated. “As we are seeing an alarming amount of venues (especially in Europe) and small businesses in general close, we have to ask ourselves, as successful as arena business is right now, where will the next Jack Harlow cut his/her teeth if not in small independent venues?”
FRIDAY, JULY 5
‘Murica Fudge Yeah!
Air Devil’s Inn | 2802 Taylorsville Rd. | facebook. com/mamabeefreaksngeeks | $5 | 9 p.m.
Host Mz. Mama Bee brings the Freaks N’ Geeks show to the Bowman Field adjacent Air Devil’s Inn for a celebration of ‘Murica. Drag queens, drag kings — and a vivid spectrum of gender expressions in between — will satirize all things patriotic and Americana. The 21 and older show will also feature Louisville punk band FMK, whose name stands for whatever you want it to stand for.
— Aria Baci
TUESDAY, JULY 9
Killer Queen: A Tribute To Queen Brown Theater | 315 W Broadway | tickets. kentuckyperformingarts.org | $45.05 | 7:30 p.m.
Head back in time to see the spirit of Queen with Killer Queen, a show that promises fun and nostalgia for Queen fans all over Louisville. The band will perform hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You” for a night you won’t forget. See the nearly-uncanny performance of Patrick Myers during this special event.
SATURDAY, JULY 6 ROARchestra
Louisville Zoo | louisvillezoo.org | $30 (Adults) $15 (Kids) 2 & under free! | 7-10 p.m.
The Louisville Zoo is teaming up with Louisville Orchestra to bring back the exciting ROARchestra event after a 15-year hiatus. During this family-friendly evening, you can get up-close with animal wildlife while listening to live classical music. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 8:30 p.m. Conductor Teddy Abrams will be joined by guest vocalists Jason Clayborn and Daria Raymore with backup singers Teaira Dunn, CeCe Dunn, and Latiana Clayborn, Don’t miss this evening of classical masterpieces accompanied by soulful pop hits! —Sydney Catinna
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10
Multimedia Dystopia on Tour
The Monarch | 1318 Bardstown Rd. | themonarchmac.org | Donation (online or at door) | 8 p.m.
In author/musician Scott Guild’s world as written (in prose and in song) under the title “Plastic,” who are the figures at a particular level at a given time? They might be the cast of a sitcom baked in surrealism. Or doll-avatars being considered by some future folk as virtual reality offerings preferable to the decimated Earth. But consideration should also be given to the eco-terrorists—among the few figures on the landscape who’ve found inspiration and the grit to follow-up. Careful, though: they might threaten the existence of Erin, who’s the protagonist in the novel and the album-length soundtrack. Guild can be expected to shine in a variety of twisted prisms during his spoken-word performance, while the musical portion of the ambitiously satirical program at The Monarch Music and Art Center might offer clearer rewards, akin to the melodic side of gently bracing prog.
—T.E. Lyons
MONDAY, JULY 8
Metal Monday at Highlands Taproom Presents: Sadistic Creator and Goose Hydra Highlands Taproom | 1058 Bardstown Rd. | Search Facebook | Free | 9 p.m. | 21+
Raise hell, and fuck shit up on a Monday night with Louisville death metal legends Sadistic Creator and new to the scene hardcore/doom/stoner metal band Goose Hydra! Now a decade in as a band, (or at least close to), Sadistic Creator plays all-out brutal death metal — fast, loud, and heavy as fuuuuuck! And Goose Hydra — featuring former Belushi Speed Ball bassist Tony Hazelip on guitar — is slinging enough powerhouse riffs to put you in traction. Go ahead and get your excuses in order because you’re calling in sick to work on Tuesday.
—Jeff Polk
THURSDAY, JULY 11
Queer Lit Spicier than Nashville Hot Chicken Carmichael’s Bookstore | 2720 Frankfort Ave. | carmichaelsbookstore.com | Free | 7 p.m.
Is there a more sturdy track on which to steer a sassy romance than the summoning of a sophisticate to their humble roots—followed by their self-realization that their life needs a jumpstart? This has been the hallmark of many a sweet tale, going back lifetimes. But if you’re a reader who wants to turn pages that blend a familiar course with sharp (but still comfy) new spins, author Mary Liza Hartong has delivered a delicious summer read. As the author will share at a reading/signing at Carmichael’s, her debut novel “Love and Hot Chicken” posits a daughter of rural Tennessee come home deciding not to go back to academia, at least for a spell. She’s grieving, as is her wise Mamma—and soon enough young PJ has made a place in local culture, dishing up that palate-scalding poultry. She also may have found a place to fully heal herself—in the heart of a potential girlfriend who has a way with a song.
—T.E. Lyons
FRIDAY, JULY 12
Emo Night at Headliners
Headliners Music Hall | 1386 Lexington Rd. | Search Facebook | $16 | 9 p.m.
Obviously, this night might be the night that you will fall for Emo music and have the best time of your life with big feelings and great music to go along with it. Atreyu singer Brandon Saller will be on hand for the party. It’s wild that Emo keeps going but as long as young folks have big hearts and big moods, Emo nights will continue to happen.
—Erica Rucker
SUNDAY, JULY 14
Kusama: Infinity
Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. 3rd St. | speedmuseum.org | Free | 12:30 p.m.
See enigmatic and controversial artist Yayoi Kusama at work in this documentary directed by Heather Lenz. The documentary recounts the young artist as she tries to make her entry into the New York Art Scene and chronicles the troubled life of the prolific artist whose work spans multiple genres and mediums. The film is being shown in conjunction with the opening of Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room: “Let’s Survive Forever,” which goes on view July 12.
—Erica Rucker
SATURDAY, JULY 13
Clairvoyance and Ink
Aurora Gallery and Boutique | 1264 S. Shelby St. | auroragallerylouisville.com | Free | 6 p.m.
The opening reception for the solo exhibition of local printmaker and painter Kayla Lewis will explore the connections between divination and the creative process. Her work unveils the profound relationship she shares with the mystical art of divination, and her aesthetic schema are inspired by traditional American tattoo art, folklore, and mythical zoology.
— Aria Baci
SUNDAY, JULY 14
Louisville Anime Fest
Triple Crown Pavilion | 1780 Plantside Dr. | Search Facebook | $20, Kids Free | 10 a.m.
If you’re a fan of Anime, Louisville is hosting the second annual Anime Fest to celebrate all things Anime. Otaku culture is alive and well. Expect to see voice actors, artists, lip sync contests, a maid cafe, and more.
—Erica Rucker
SATURDAY, JULY 13
NuLu Summer Fest
East Market Street | 600-800 Blocks of East Market St. | nulu.org | Free | 12 p.m.
Heading outdoors this weekend and looking for a spot to shop? NuLu has the spot for you. Featuring live music, cocktails, food and summer fun, NuLu is set to host its latest summer fest for Louisvillians all over the city. The event will also include the NuLu Summer Fest Cocktail Competition for spectators to enjoy.
—Caleb Stultz
MONDAY, JULY 15
Louisville Burger Week
Various | LouisvilleBurgerWeek.com | $7 per burger | Times Vary
Get ready for Burger Week where participating restaurants will share some of their most adventurous burger creations for the low price of $7. Patrons can participate in prize drawings with chances to win up to $300. Download the Burger Week app and get ready for a week of trying new places and lots of burger fun.
—Erica Rucker
BY BRYCE RUSSELL
Gregory Alan Isakov graced the stage at the Louisville Palace on Sunday, June 16, touring in support of his new album Appaloosa Bones . After a magnificent opening set by Liberian artist Mon Rovîa, Isakov stepped onto the stage and opened his show with his stunning song “Amsterdam,” setting the mood for a night filled with heartfelt lyrics and beautiful, swelling instrumentation.
It was Isakov’s first Louisville concert since he performed at Headliners in 2019. With new songs from Appaloosa Bones, as well as older classics, the Colorado-based songwriter had the audience at the Palace hypnotized, totally absorbed in the music. Earlier in the week before the show, LEO had a chance to interview him to talk about Appaloosa Bones, Colorado, and what he’s been listening to.
LEO: Your new album, Appaloosa Bones, has a slightly different sound and theme from some of your past work. What impacted that sound, the sort of western feel and cowboy-esque imagery you can hear throughout?
Gregory: It’s funny that made it in. A lot of times the landscapes where I’m at make it into the songs, and I wrote a bunch of that record in West Texas, near Big Bend National Park. I put together all the songs at home in the studio where I live. I think I tracked [around] 35 songs of stuff that was cooking for me, and just slowly whittled it down and it turned out that a lot of the songs that made it were from that part of the world.
So, your home now is in Boulder, Colorado. What was it about Boulder that drew you in and made you want to live there? It’s funny, I’m shocked I’m still there. I came out there to build a horticulture school, and then I met my band. I managed a few farms out there, and then finally got my own land about ten years ago, and so now I feel like I’m pretty rooted, pretty affixed to it now.
One part of your work that has always struck me has been the storytelling present in your lyrics. Do the stories in your music come along as you craft the song, or do you have an idea of them before you begin work on a new piece?
I never know what it’s going to be before I write it. In a lot of ways that’s the magic to it. I’m sure as a writer you can probably relate to that, as you’re just following along, holding onto the reigns. It feels like almost
a co-creative process with this piece of writing and yourself, and you’re asking it what it wants to be. A lot of times I have no idea what they’re about when I’m writing them, and then afterwards I’m like “oh yeah, I think I get it now.”
Appaloosa Bones is your first album since Evening Machines in 2018. Has the idea for this album been marinating since the release of your last one, or did it come relatively recently?
I’ve been working on it probably since then. I’m already working on a new thing. It takes me not very much time to track a record, it’s more that I’m pretty serious about taking the time away from the music and then coming back to it, to make sure it’s going to live for me. I think when you finish a piece of writing or something you get really excited, you’re like “oh this is it! I struck gold!” and then a year later you’ll be like “oh it’s not that good, I don’t know if anyone is going to get it.” So, I like that period of time away from it, and I come back and just check in with it to see if it’s going to be useful to me and other people. I think a lot of the process for me is
just trying to be quiet between sessions, and then going back. Records are not merch, it’s not like “I need a record for a tour,” I want to make things that are going to last hopefully after I’m gone. Maybe that’s an illusion of grandeur but I think in my own little world I want to make something that I feel can stay around. I don’t know if I’ve gotten there yet, but that’s the goal.
You were just featured on a new single from Shovels & Rope earlier this month and one with Noah Kahan in February. How was it collaborating with other artists? Yeah, this year I did a bunch of collaborations, one with Noah and one with Shovels. I did a song with Jeremiah Fraites from The Lumineers, he put out an instrumental record that he was really wanting to do one song with vocals, and he chose this Radiohead song. I loved it. It’s not something I do a ton, but I always have a really good time collaborating with people, it’s really good.
Just because it’s my favorite song of yours, I just wanted to know if you could give any
background into “Saint Valentine” from The Weatherman in 2013?
Yeah, that’s funny, we haven’t played that in a while, maybe we will play it today. I think that a lot of songs for me come out of short writing, short prose, and I always had this picture of this story of this character, Saint Valentine. That holiday has always been this weird Hallmark holiday, there’s always been this weird pressure. I used to wait tables and I remember Valentine’s Day was awesome because the tips were really good, but it was like, “oh God, these poor people.” I feel like there was all this pressure around it, to go out to this nice restaurant and spend a lot of money, and if you don’t do anything it’s whack. So, I had this idea of this character that was a bummer, [who had] this weird veil of this diluted idea. I started there and it went its own way. I remember I used to busk a lot and a few street musicians made it into the song.
What artists have you been listening to on repeat most recently? Anything you want people to listen to and find out about? A lot of music. I’ve been listening to a ton of instrumental music, this guy Alabaster DePlume, he’s a jazz saxophonist. It’s funny, I woke up here in Milwaukee and went down to get a cup of coffee and ran into my friend Sam from Iron & Wine. I have been obsessed with his new album he just put out, so I was talking about the recording of that with him this morning. I love that record. I just think Sam is one of the greatest songwriters that I know right now, just the way he can tie all these elements together in a song. Gosh, I listen to a lot of Nick Drake, probably too much Leonard Cohen still. At the end of the year you get your Spotify wrap-up? Mine was hilarious this year, it was this playlist called “Japanese Fishing Village,” and it was this Japanese Koto music. I seem to have that on repeat a lot at the farm because we wash and pack for two days a week, basically just washing lettuce and bagging it. But yeah, we’d just have this playlist going all day long and it’s this Japanese fishing music. It’s hilarious when Spotify tells you what you’ve been listening to. But yeah, going back, Alabaster DePlume is pretty interesting. He’s got this one record you got to listen to called To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1, it’s a beautiful record, amazing.
LEO now has playlists for Listen Local! Search Spotify for LEO Weekly and have a listen!
BY JEFF POLK
The EPBs
Three - EP
Chris deRome seems to be quite the wellrounded artist. I first became acquainted with him via his solo project Chenille oKeel and his synth pop/trip-hop album Big Big released last year. Then earlier this year he dropped two ukulele tracks, (“Knuckle Sandwich,” and “Magical Fish”), out of nowhere that sounded nothing like anything on Big Big. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that his latest endeavor, The EPBs, sounds nothing like either of those releases. If you remember the deRomefronted local band Valley from a little over a decade ago, then you have a good idea of what to expect here. The EPBs find deRome and former Valley guitarist Kevin Bois working together again as a duo, but with a greater focus on the singer/songwriter aspect of their sound. Opening track “Feather in the Flame” — a rework of the Valley song “The Cross vs. The Boat” — sees the duo nailing a James Taylor kind of vibe, with the song amassing an impressive 13,000 streams on Spotify within two months of its release. “I’ve Got the Mouth’’ features deRome’s distinctively unique, wonderfully odd yet charming vocal stylings set to a Woody Guthrie-ish melody. Closing track “Bob Ross” finds a groove reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s acoustic material. Recorded live in deRome’s yoga studio, the production here is as crisp, clear and professional sounding as any studio recording I’ve heard, providing rich, warm tones to the guitar and vocals throughout. This is a very impressive start to a project I certainly hope deRome and Bois continue to pursue.
instagram.com/the_epbs
“The Gunrunner” - single
A German steel manufacturer and arms dealer who sold weapons and secret information to both sides during WW1 and was obsessed with the smell of horse shit. An American rocket scientist and follower of Aleister Crowley’s religious movement Thelema who, together with Scientology’s founder, conducted rituals and sex magic for the incantation of a goddess. These are the inspirations behind the two tracks that make up Plague IX’s latest single. I guess if you’re going to write songs, make them interesting! “The Gunrunner”, arguably Plague IX’s best track to date, deals with Alfred Krupp, who had part of his mansion built over horse stables so the smell of horse shit would waft up into the house. He’d sell arms to country leaders in this house while also spying on them to gain information he could later sell. Musically this track hits hard - like a combination of S.O.D., Motorhead, and Black Flag. The first half of “S.M.A. / A Hymn to Pan” deals with Jack Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard’s attempt to bring about the incarnation of Thelemite goddess Babalon, which apparently included going into the Mojave Desert and masturbating on rocks. The second half of the song is a poem written by Alister Crowley, which he would recite a part of before Parsons would send up a rocket as a type of blessing. This track has more of an early ‘80s punk feel, bringing to mind bands like The Dicks and Agent Orange. Both of these tracks are a preview for an upcoming full-length album, which if these tracks are any indication, should be great!
plagueix.bandcamp.com
Producing a Kind Generation “Eternal Sunshine” - single
Not only are Producing a Kind Generation one of the most underrated bands in Louisville, (seriously, stop sleeping on this band), but they are also one of the most prolific. “Eternal Sunshine” is the first single off their upcoming album to be released later this year, which will mark their fourth full-length release in two years. Yeah, that seems like it would be way too much material in that short of a span, but the thing is that it’s all been quality material. The kind of material that most bands strive for their whole existence to create seems to flow out of this trio constantly and consistently. I would say that their music is like its own entity that chose this band to express itself, but it just boils down to pure talent here — and PaKG has it on every level. “Eternal Sunshine” is a smooth, melodic, groove-oriented funkrock track with its soul rooted in the blues that finds vocalist/guitarist Dre Smith lyrically flowing an open love letter while bassist Aaron “Ace” Holmes and drummer Kym Williams, with help from keyboardist DeAldon Watson, lay down a thick, deep, rich groove. Surprisingly sparse on guitar during the first half of the track, Smith kicks it up a notch during the last minute with some tasty riffs. With their penchant for writing catchy as hell songs with huge hooks and solid, funky backbones, PaKG is one of those bands that you not only hear, you feel.
Pakg.world
Tin Zelkova
“Almost Home” - single
If you’re not already familiar with Tin Zelkova, my only question is why? You certainly should be, as they have been garnering a lot of radio play both locally and nationally, and have received high praise from the media, (including yours truly in these very pages of LEO). I’m not sure any other local band better embodies the spirit of classic ‘70s rock while fully embracing the feel of modern rock quite like Tin Zelkova. As I’ve said before, they are one of those bands who would fit in on any bill regardless of who else was playing, as their sound offers a little something for everyone. This latest track is a mid-tempo, groove-oriented song with a big hook-filled chorus backed by encouraging lyrics inspired by the journey of life. Said vocalist/bassist Steven Thompson of the lyrics; “Everyone’s going somewhere whether we want to or not. Heading to where we are going physically, spiritually and emotionally, and it’s a song of encouragement to endure your journey because you’re almost home. You’re almost at your destination so keep going. Don’t hold back. Keep moving forward and fix your eyes on what’s ahead while leaving our past behind. This world has a lot of trouble to offer us on this ride through life, but we’re getting closer to where we’re headed and we can roll through this together.” The band is currently working on their second full-length album and recently concluded a West Coast tour where they graced the stage of the famed Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood. This rock was made to roll!
linktr.ee/TinZelkova
BY ROBIN GARR
One of the first things I noticed when I took my seat at a table in Perso was the high quality of the table itself: Burnished wood, smooth as silk, it reminded me of the work of Shaker artisans.
Then I unrolled the black cloth napkin and noticed something unusual about the quality stainless flatware: Every surface was mirrorshiny, without a single dishwasher spot in sight, almost as if each piece had been wiped clean by hand before service.
And speaking of service, that was great too: Friendly but not smarmy, attentive but not bothersome, there when we needed them, good with eye contact and a smile. So what, you say? How about the food?
building: The style, the decor, the attractive tableware, the mood, and the cuisine are classically simple yet highlighted with unexpected flourishes; all of very good quality.
The menu continues its farm-to-table ethos with a menu that changes with the seasons but always includes house-made charcuterie and breads, craft cocktails and a thoughtful bar program, and, of course, Roman-style pizza.
This is not cheap eats, but pricing is reasonable and fair. Charcuterie boards sufficient for three or four are priced from $9 to $18. Dishes billed as “mostly vegetables” include six starters from $12 to $17 and three entrees from $21 to $25. “Land and Sea” dishes feature four starters from $12 to $23 and nine entrees from $24 to
Chef-owner Emil David’s creative, chefdriven, Italian-accented cuisine is remarkably good. We’ll get to that. But seeing those other, seemingly smaller signals of attentiveness and care from the moment we sat down signaled management that cares, a level of care that permeates the entire Perso dining experience.
$42, plus a single $75 outlier, a 16-ounce 30-day aged rib eye. Included in those categories are four Roman-style pizzas priced from $23 to $29. A three-course prix fixe menu is available Sundays through Wednesdays at a flat $29; and a family-style three-course chef’s dinner for your table is $55 per person.
Perso 741 E. Oak St. 290-5721 persorestaurant.com facebook.com/persorestaurant instagram.com/persorestaurant
of cauliflower, roasted to tender perfection, was dusted with a subtly peppery and aromatic spice mix. It sat atop a thick pool of pureed cauliflower and was flanked by tiny, crunchy and tangy quick-pickled cauliflower florets.
The three-course prix fixe ($29), available dine-in only, offers a choice among four starters, four entrees, and two desserts. A portion of all Prix Fixe sales is given to Blessings in a Backpack, a worthy organization that helps feed local school children who suffer from food insecurity.
A hearty pasta e fagioli starter mixed plump cranberry beans and fresh campanelle pasta in a thick tomato sauce, topped with grated mild pecorino toscano cheese and snipped basil leaves.
Osso buco was built on a grass-fed beef shank braised to full doneness, yielding a dark, intensely flavorful chunk of beef. An intense stock reduction was poured over the meat and pooled on the plate, with thick, al dente asparagus spears and a pea tendril garnish. It’s a gift to be simple, as the Shakers sang, and this approach through simplicity yielded a dish with real class.
The “chef’s choice” prix fixe dessert was a “candy scone,” fresh-baked and filled with tiny bits of Reese Cups, Twix, and other candies, served with blobs of sweet mascarpone cheese and a caramel drizzle.
in its
A relatively new addition, Perso got its start in the pandemic autumn of 2021 as Square Cut, a pizzeria with a Roman twist that landed in Shelby Park after two years as a popular food truck. Its Roman-style pies were popular with their squarish hand-formed construction, thin but relatively crisp, loaded with toppings and cheese. Then Chef David started featuring special dishes with farm-to-table ingredients and chef-driven flourishes. By early in 2023 the evolution from Square Cut to Perso was complete.
There is a unified aesthetic to Perso’s space in this attractive two-story 19th century red-brick
We combined a prix fixe selection and several a la carte items to make an abundant meal without a flaw.
A grilled artichoke dip starter ($15) began with a pool of thick, creamy and gently smoky artichoke puree drizzled with a pool of black tahini and garnished with a garden of pea tendrils and garlicky snipped ramps. It was served with a round of spectacularly good house-made bread the size of a baseball, crisp on the outside and fluffy within, dotted with a peppery spice mix on top. Cauliflower three ways ($21) was impressive in presentation and taste. A whole head
An exceptionally good dinner was $68.90 plus a $20 tip. We couldn’t resist paying homage to Perso’s heritage with a formaggio pizza ($23) to go. A blend of mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, garlic cream, and herbs on a hand-thrown, artisanal-bread base, it was as memorable as everything else about Perso.
Noise Level: When this modest-size room is full, the sound definitely rises, with average levels ranging from 74.2dB to 77.2dB on repeated checks; but the high ceiling and an acoustically helpful wall of wooden slats seemed to help: Conversation was always possible.
Accessibility: The restaurant and restrooms appear accessible to unassisted wheelchair users. Tables are fairly closely spaced but easily moved, and a wide walkway through the room was available.
A spin-off of his previous feature brings action horror back home.
BY ARIA BACI
On a balmy Saturday in June, at 7 p.m. in theater 7 at Baxter Avenue Theatre, Louisville native Shane Woodson screened his newest feature film “7 Days to Hell.” Woodson is the writer, director, producer, and star of “7 Days to Hell,” an unholy amalgam of horror, crime, action, and comedy. Although currently based in Los Angeles, he grew up in the Highlands. Woodson wrote his script in seven days. “Seven is my favorite number, and I feel so good about this: ‘7 Days to Hell,’ 7 p.m. in theater number seven. Head back to triple sevens. And that’s blackjack, 21. You can’t beat that.”
A sequel to “8 Days to Hell,” an anthology of interconnected narratives about spree killers in LA, “7 Days to Hell” is a self-contained story that functions as a distinctive starting point for a planned series. “’8 Days to Hell’ is what kicked us off,” Woodson says. “Now we’ve got ‘7 Days to Hell’ and I’m going to do 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 — and then we’ll be in hell!” He has ideas germinating for how to grow his franchise over time. “My goal is to have a big horror franchise out of this, and it’s getting bigger and better each time.”
He found an independent distributor for “8 Days to Hell” and it has been generating consistent revenue. “7 Days to Hell” is a bigger production. “Better camera lenses, lighting, and grip equipment. Better cast. Everything about it is better,” he says. “I’m very happy with how it with how it has come together.” A distributor has already made an offer on ‘7 Days to Hell.’ “And I haven’t even shopped it yet, which is a good sign!”
The film features Woodson as JJ, a rock and roll cowboy whose unbothered demeanor recalls a Quentin Tarantino character. Woodson’s co-star is Colombian-born Andrea Garcés Lopez, who performed alongside Sofía Vergara in the Netflix miniseries “Griselda.” The diverse cast is rounded out by Haitianborn Denise Milfort, and Louisville native Phil Cherry, whom local audiences will recognize from his tenure on the faculty of the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, and his work with both Kentucky Shakespeare and the Kentucky Center for the Arts. Although filmed entirely in LA, all four leads were at the Louisville premiere.
An unfortunate — and at times, morbidly hilarious — series of events leads JJ to make a literal deal with the actual devil. The devil is named Hellena (Garcés Lopez), who delivers
her sardonic dialog with a sultry voice, calling JJ on an metaphysical flip phone to assign him seven murders that he must commit in seven days, or burn forever. Adored in a bandana under a cowboy hat and a red sequin smoking jacket, JJ cruising the streets of LA in his vintage car, looking for his assignments. And then he meets a sex worker (Milfort) in desperate need. If this sounds like the plot of a midnight movie that you discover by chance yet cannot look away from, it is. But the real magic of this film is in its roots.
A graduate of Atherton High School, Woodson did not go on to study film production in college like so many film geeks have before and since. Instead, he became a stage actor, auditioning around Louisville until he found roles. “My father was a writer, and my grandmother was a painter, so I come from a family of artists,” he says. His creative intuition and determination to make art soon led him to the film industry.
Woodson has been acting professionally since 1991. He relocated to LA in 1999. He has since been cast in “Zodiac” with Jake Gyllenhaal, “Take” with Minnie Driver, and “Resident Evil: Extinction” with Milla Jovovich. Although he has enjoyed — and still enjoys
— being in front of the camera, the more he learns about the process of filmmaking, the more enjoys being behind the camera too. With a resourcefulness reminiscent of do-it-yourself filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez, Woodson produces his ambitious films on modest budgets. He does almost everything himself. When he cannot, he finds a friend.
The score for “7 Days to Hell” is by Thomas J. Peters. This is the first time the two have worked together, but Woodson says, “he’s my guy going forward because he plays most of the instruments … he plays the trumpet,
plays electric guitar, plays piano. My post [-production] sound guy, Patrick Giraudi? He’s an Emmy winner. This guy’s done over 700 films. He did about $50,000 worth of post sound for pennies on the dollar because he’s one of my friends.”
Woodson is the principal investor in the film, but clarifies that investments from fellow Louisvillians are what made it possible. His close friend John Dant, owner of the Back Door Bar and Grill, who passed away after a sudden onset of illness in October 2023, was one of the executive producers. An underworld nightclub in “7 Days to Hell” is named
The Back Door as an homage.
“We were going to have the wrap party at the Back Door,” Woodson says. “But since he passed away, we’re looking for another place here in Louisville where we’re all going to hang out afterwards.” That place ended up being Nostalgic Cocktail House + Restaurant in the Highlands. Cast members celebrated with family, friends, and investors.
Woodsons says “7 Days to Hell” was truly a labor of love. “Everyone that worked on this worked on it because they loved the story and the team, and it was a real group effort to get this baby shot and taken through post. I can’t wait for people to see it because we’ve been very meticulous.”
Before he left Louisville, Woodson had worked as an usher at Village 8. He has screened his previous films there, but since Village 8 closed, he decided to screen “7 Days to Hell” at Village 8’s sister location, Baxter Avenue. “I haven’t screened there before, and this is where I grew up, so it’s good to bring it home.”
Woodson’s co-star Garcés Lopez is new to Louisville and says she loves it here. She moved to LA when she was 20 years old. She met Woodson in 2023 during the Writers Guild of America strike. “My agents weren’t submitting me for anything, so I did a self submission for this project online,” she says. “I saw the breakdown and it said ‘Sexy Dracula.’ So I was like, this is right up my alley. I’m going to submit.”
She was skeptical at first. “But then you get your sides. Once I got the audition sides, that’s when I fell in love with the character.” In the same way that JJ makes a deal with Hellena in “7 Days to Hell,” Garcés Lopez makes a deal with the viewer, the terms of which are: Believe in the wild conceit of this story, and I will captivate you in every scene. “I’m like, is it bad acting, what am I doing?” Garcés Lopez asks with a laugh. “But then, I’m like, no. I remember being told in school, if you believe it, then when you’re over the top, it’s fine.” She went to the Beverly Hills Playhouse Acting School, a school for film actors founded by Milton Katselas in 1978. Her fellow alumni include Michele Pfeiffer, George Clooney, and Jim Carrey, among many others.
Garcés Lopez thinks “7 Days to Hell” creates a niche, a horror comedy not so unlike the Addams Family — but with billowing smoke, gushing blood, and copious F-bombs. She believes this film is going to be the seed that grows a franchise. She is already excited for the low-light, Gothic production design of “6 Days to Hell,” and (although not entirely decided yet), the Colombian look of “5 Days to Hell.” “We want to involve farms and forests and rivers and waterfalls … very nature-based with more sunlight.”
Woodson shares this excitement for future installations in the “Days to Hell” series, and adds that he has three projects that he wants to film in Louisville. One is a documentary about the life of Henrietta Helm — a reallife ancestor of Phil Cherry — one of the first Black students to attend public school in Louisville, who grew up to be an educator. “We want to do that project.” Woodson also wants to produce “Mantis Women from Outer Space,” a campy 1950s sci-fi tribute to Ed Wood in Louisville. And then, of course, “6 Days to Hell,” of which he says, “I could potentially film that entire movie in Louisville.”
In one scene in “7 Days to Hell,” JJ says, “I’m from Planet Louisville.” The sold-out theater cheered. Woodson’s upbringing here has informed his creativity and his resilience. The experience he has gained in LA will inform his future work Louisville. And he plans to do whatever it takes to tell his stories.
“Quality, not quantity. That’s been my thing. I’ve only made six features, but I always do the best I can. I learn from each one, and I’ve never gone back and recut any of them,” he says. “You just make it the best you can make it at that point in your life, and then the next one gets better because you learn things.”
Filmmaking is not only an art, it is also a distinctly commercial venture. Many aspiring filmmakers struggle to bring their ideas to life, or to share their work with a wider-than-local audience. To this, Woodson says that rather than waiting for opportunities to be offered to you, you have to go out into the world and create your own. “Make your opportunity,” Woodson says with all the bravado of a midnight movie anti-hero. “Don’t wait. Make.”
BY TRACY HEIGHTCHEW
Hailing from Ashland, KY, director Allison Anders has built a career weaving stories of women and their relationships to each other and to the places where they live. She experienced a lot of abuse and upheaval growing up, and those experiences, along with her unconventional and rich life among artists and musicians has informed a lot of her artistic creations. She makes heartfelt films full of authentic observations about how women move through space, along with a sensitivity to spoken language and the emotional truth of music. Her second film, “Gas, Food, Lodging,” released in 1993, was a pillar of the early 90s New Hollywood movement, and set a standard for personal, independent filmmaking. The story of a single mom raising teenage daughters in a small New Mexico town paralleled Anders’ own life, and she used her experience growing up in a small town Kentucky to flesh out the trapped atmosphere the teenage characters resent.
“Mi Vida Loca” Screening and Discussion with Director Allison Anders
Thursday, July 11
$12 / $8 for Speed or Women in Film KY members
Speed Cinema, 2035 S. Third St. www.speedmuseum.org/cinema
While “Gas, Food, Lodging” is her best known and most celebrated film among rarified cinefiles, “Mi Vida Loca” (1994) may be her most admired work among diverse audiences around the world. A slice of life film focused on young Chicanas growing up in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood in the early 90s, this perspective-shifting fable features a mix of non-professional and professional actors, many of whom were Anders’ neighbors. The film utilizes a multitude of voice-overs to tell a variety of stories from the neighborhood, using the tale of best friends Sad Girl and Mousie and the father of their children, Ernesto, as a springboard into the friendships and rivalries among these female gang members. In the thirty years since this film’s release, admiration for “Mi Vida Loca” has grown, which, considering that the only way to stream the film is via Youtube uploads, is proof that marketing alone does not make an audience. The film’s authenticity is key to its success. Allison Anders was very aware of her status as a white woman in a Latino neighborhood and deliberately set out to
not make a preachy, colonizing movie. Everything in the film, from the dialogue and music to the locations and clothes, was consulted about and approved by the people who lived in the neighborhood, with money spent in the neighborhood. The unusual mix of romanticism and realism gives the film a chance to grow as the viewer ages too, and what appealed to me about the film when I was 16 is different from what appeals today. The love triangle between Mousie, Sad Girl, and Ernesto is less interesting today than the career plans of Giggles, newly released from prison and determined not to depend on men to get through life, especially when
told opposite Whisper’s story as she develops her drug trade.
Contemporary reviews of “Mi Vida Loca” were very bothered by what they described as a lack of cohesion in the film, and many reviews reveal a longing for a thorough storyline. This reviewer thinks they may have missed the point of the experiment on display, which is an impressionistic look at everyday life with its small and large episodes, told by the people who live the story. It’s a beautiful movie that sets a pre-gentrified Echo Park and its Chicana culture in amber.
I am proud to say that I will be joining Allison onstage after this screening for a discussion about the impact of “Mi Vida Loca” thirty years later. She is always a delight to listen to, and her insights into filmmaking are refreshingly candid, straightforward, and entertaining. I look forward to hearing her reflections all these years later.
12th Annual Harry Dean Stanton Fest
July 12-14
Lexington, KY
www.harrydeanstantonfest.org
Ms. Anders will be in her home state to attend the 12th Annual Harry Dean Stanton
Fest, Lexington’s celebration of the incomparable beloved Kentucky character actor. This year the festival is focused on Stanton’s lifelong love of music with a line-up of films that are about musicianship or have a heavy focus on soundtrack. Anders will be joined onstage by Houston post-punk band MyDolls following a screening of “Paris, Texas.” Director Wim Wenders gave Anders her start as a PA on this film, which also showcased Mydolls onstage. Later that night, Mydolls will also be playing along with The Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson at the Green Lantern Bar. Other highlights from this year’s HDS Fest include a graveside screening of “Repo Man” in Blue Grass Memorial Gardens, and free screenings of “Cool Hand Luke,” “Paris, Texas,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Cisco Pike,” and “The Rose,” all playing at the Lexington Public Library’s Farish Theater. The festival closes with a Kentucky Theatre screening of Paolo Sorrentino’s “This Must Be the Place,” featuring a post-film discussion with musician/actor Will Oldham.
ROB BREZSNY
ARIES (March 21-April 19): The “nirvana fallacy” is the belief that because something is less than utterly perfect, it is gravely defective or even irredeemably broken. Wikipedia says, “The nirvana fallacy compares actual things with unrealistic, idealized alternatives.” Most of us are susceptible to this flawed approach to dealing with the messiness of human existence. But it’s especially important that you avoid such thinking in the coming weeks. To inspire you to find excellence and value in the midst of untidy jumbles and rumpled complexities, I recommend you have fun with the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. It prizes and praises the soulful beauty found in things that are irregular, incomplete, and imperfect.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You are coming to a fork in the road—a crux where two paths diverge. What should you do? Author Marie Forleo says, “When it comes to forks in the road, your heart always knows the answer, not your mind.” Here’s my corollary: Choose the path that will best nourish your soul’s desires. Now here’s your homework, Taurus: Contact your Future Self in a dream or meditation and ask that beautiful genius to provide you with a message and a sign. Plus, invite them to give you a wink with either the left eye or right eye.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Last year, you sent out a clear message to life requesting help and support. It didn’t get the response you wished for. You felt sad. But now I have good news. One or both of the following may soon occur. 1. Your original message will finally lead to a response that buoys your soul. 2. You will send out a new message similar to the one in 2023, and this time you will get a response that makes you feel helped and supported. Maybe you didn’t want to have to be so patient, Gemini, but I’m glad you refused to give up hope.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The Fates have authorized me to authorize you to be bold and spunky. You have permission to initiate gutsy experiments and to dare challenging feats. Luck and grace will be on your side as you consider adventures you’ve long wished you had the nerve to entertain. Don’t do anything risky or foolish, of course. Avoid acting like you’re entitled to grab rewards you have not yet earned. But don’t be self-consciously cautious or timid, either. Proceed as if help and resources will arrive through the magic of your audacity. Assume you will be able to summon more confidence than usual.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): All of us, including me, have aspects of our lives that are stale or
unkempt, even decaying. What would you say is the most worn-out thing about you? Are there parts of your psyche or environment that would benefit from a surge of clean-up and revival? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to attend to these matters. You are likely to attract extra help and inspiration as you make your world brighter and livelier. The first rule of the purgation and rejuvenation process: Have fun!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): On those rare occasions when I buy furniture from online stores, I try hard to find sources that will send me the stuff already assembled. I hate spending the time to put together jumbles of wood and metal. More importantly, I am inept at doing so. In alignment with astrological omens, I recommend you take my approach in regard to every situation in your life during the coming weeks. Your operative metaphor should be this: Whatever you want or need, get it already fully assembled.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): When Adragon De Mello was born under the sign of Libra in 1976, his father had big plans for him. Dad wanted him to get a PhD in physics by age 12, garner a Nobel Prize by 16, get elected President of the United States by 26, and then become head of a world government by 30. I’d love for you to fantasize about big, unruly dreams like that in the coming weeks—although with less egotism and more amusement and adventurousness. Give yourself a license to play with amazing scenarios that inspire you to enlarge your understanding of your own destiny. Provide your future with a dose of healing wildness.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Your horoscopes are too complicated,” a reader named Estelle wrote to me recently. “You give us too many ideas. Your language is too fancy. I just want simple advice in plain words.” I wrote back to tell her that if I did what she asked, I wouldn’t be myself. “Plenty of other astrologers out there can meet your needs,” I concluded. As for you, dear Scorpio, I think you will especially benefit from influences like me in the coming weeks—people who appreciate nuance and subtlety, who love the poetry of life, who eschew clichés and conventional wisdom, who can nurture your rich, spicy, complicated soul.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The coming weeks will be prime time for you to re-imagine the history of your destiny. How might you do that? In your imagination, revisit important events from the past and
reinterpret them using the new wisdom you’ve gained since they happened. If possible, perform any atonement, adjustment, or intervention that will transform the meaning of what happened once upon a time. Give the story of your life a fresh title. Rename the chapters. Look at old photos and videos and describe to yourself what you know now about those people and situations that you didn’t know back then. Are there key events from the old days that you have repressed or ignored? Raise them up into the light of consciousness.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In 1972, before the internet existed, Capricorn actor Anthony Hopkins spent a day visiting London bookstores in search of a certain tome: *The Girl from Petrovka*. Unable to locate a copy, he decided to head home. On the way, he sat on a random bench, where he found the original manuscript of *The Girl of Petrovka*. It had been stolen from the book’s author George Feifer and abandoned there by the thief. I predict an almost equally unlikely or roundabout discovery or revelation for you in the coming days. Prediction: You may not unearth what you’re looking for in an obvious place, but you will ultimately unearth it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquariusborn Desmond Doss (1919–2006) joined the American army at the beginning of World War II. But because of his religious beliefs, he refused to use weapons. He became a medic who accompanied troops to Guam and the Philippines. During the next few years, he won three medals of honor, which are usually given solely to armed combatants. His bravest act came in 1944, when he saved the lives of 70 wounded soldiers during a battle. I propose we make him your inspirational role model for the coming weeks, Aquarius. In his spirit, I invite you to blend valor and peace-making. Synergize compassion and fierce courage. Mix a knack for poise and healing with a quest for adventure.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): What types of people are you most attracted to, Pisces? Not just those you find most romantically and sexually appealing, but also those with whom a vibrant alliance is most gracefully created. And those you’re inclined to seek out for collaborative work and play. This knowledge is valuable information to have; it helps you gravitate toward relationships that are healthy for you. Now and then, though, it’s wise to experiment with connections and influences that aren’t obviously natural—to move outside your usual set of expectations and engage with characters you can’t immediately categorize. I suspect the coming weeks will be one of those times.
Homework: Who is the most important person or animal in your life? I invite you to give them a surprising gift.
Hey Dan: For the longest time I’ve been into the feederism kink. It’s specifically the weight gain aspect of this kink — making myself or others bigger — that turns me on. I’ve always felt uneasy about this due to the health risks and have kept it hidden. I recently got a wonderful girlfriend, our relationship is great, and we have really great sex. She’s curvy but wants to lose weight. I also want to lose weight with her and for both of us to be healthy. But occasionally I’m overcome with the urge to get into weight gain kink play. I told my girlfriend about my kink, and although she accepts it and accepts me, she doesn’t want to pursue anything related to it. When I feel the need to indulge this fetish, I scratch the itch with strangers I meet online. I wish I could just turn this part of me off and enjoy the wonderful relationship that I have. Can a fetish like this be made to fade over time or am I just going to try and focus on other things when these urges come on? Can I Yuck My Own Yum?
For a kinkster, finding a romantic partner who shares your kink is wonderful but rare; finding a romantic partner who doesn’t share your kink but who’s willing to indulge you — finding someone who’s GGG (and being GGG in return) — is the next best thing. But people with truly niche kinks typically wind up in relationships with romantic partners who don’t share their kinks and are unwilling or unable to indulge them. Some kinks are too extreme for even the most GGG partner and in some cases a kink — however mild — may be a libido killer or an emotional trigger for a vanilla partner. Someone who suffers from claustrophobia can’t spend the night in a bondage box, someone with food issues won’t be able to indulge a feeder/gainer kink. (For the record: I’m not suggesting your partner has food issues just because she wants to lose a little weight.)
But unlike old soldiers, kinks don’t fade away, CIYMOY, and like Alex Forrest, they will not be ignored. So, a kinky person — particularly a kinky person in a relationship with a vanilla partner who can’t or won’t go there — needs an outlet that allows them to explore their kinks in a safe and controlled manner. Without that outlet — without that allowance — a kinkster will seize or create an opportunity to get their kink on, often with a disinhibiting assist from drugs and alcohol, and these seized opportunities have a much greater chance of blowing up lives and destroying relationships.
Seeing as your girlfriend already knows about your kink, CIYMOY, she must know — she should assume — that you’re having a wank about it once in a while. And if not getting to act out your fantasies IRL is the price of admission you’re willing to pay to be with her, allowing you to explore your kinks with strangers on the Internet — allowing you to swap feeder/gainer stories and memes with people you’re never going to meet IRL — is the price she should pay, and pay happily, to be with you.
Hey Dan: I’m a woman in my mid-thirties dating a man in his late thirties. From the beginning my boyfriend has struggled to come from PIV with me and has to jack himself off in order climax. He also never comes from my blowjobs or my hand jobs. This has obviously led to a lot of animosity and finger pointing. He says this has never been an issue for him in the past and the problem is that I lack sexual stamina. He says we have poor sexual chemistry. He has also said he can’t feel much during PIV sex and suggested I start doing kegels. He said this after I had already tried introducing toys, sexy outfits, and having discussions about what he likes. I suggested he stop watching porn and that he should masturbate less and use a pocket pussy when he does to help loosen the death grip, as I cannot compete with what I see him doing when he jacks off. He refused. I feel like I have been making all the effort here and he isn’t making any effort at all.
Am I the problem? His sex life prior to me involved a lot of BDSM and group sex, which concerns me. If that’s what he needs, I can’t provide it. He tells me that he doesn’t need all that but part of me doesn’t believe him. What I know for sure is that I can’t be solely responsible for his orgasms. Is this a problem I can solve on my own or does he have some role to play here? We have been seeing each other for seven months and nothing has improved this situation.
Boyfriends Rejects All Sexual Suggestions
Jesus Christ, break the fuck up already. While some men who suffer from deathgrip syndrome (DGS) manage to retrain their dicks using pocket pussies and/or a lighter touch during masturbation — and are now able to have look-ma-no-hands orgasms — not all men who appear to have DGS actually have DGS. Just as some women require the sensations only a vibrator can provide in order get off, BRASS, some men require the kind of intense pressure only a fist can provide in order to get
off. And just as women who rely on vibrators aren’t broken and don’t need to be fixed, men who rely on their own hand to finish and/or get themselves to the point of orgasmic inevitability before plunging back aren’t broken and don’t need fixing either.
Now, maybe your boyfriend used to get off from PIV alone during those group BDSM sex sessions and maybe he didn’t — he could be lying when he said he’s never had this “problem” before (again: it might not be a problem, it might just be how his dick works) — but he doesn’t seem to be enjoying the sex he’s having with you anymore than you’re enjoying the sex you’re having with him. So, unless you two share a secret kink for slowly shredding another person’s ego and sexual self-esteem, I can’t understand why you’re still fucking each other.
To be clear, BRASS, I don’t think you’re the asshole… or I don’t think you’re the only asshole. A lot of people make the mistake you did — a lot of people assume that a male partner who needs to touch themselves to get off isn’t attracted to them or is somehow broken — but your boyfriend responded to your mistakenbut-made-in-good-faith “suggestions” with the most demeaning shit he could possibly say. If he didn’t feel any sexual chemistry and/or your pussy really didn’t do it for him, he could’ve and should’ve ended the relationship with a face-saving/ego-sparing banality (“It’s not you, it’s me”) or with the truth, gently told (“I don’t feel like we click on a sexual level”). Opting to blame your pussy was a choice — a mean-spirited and vindictive choice.
TLDR: the sex is bad, the guy’s an asshole, and it’s not getting any better. DTMFA.
Hey Dan: My husband is into fetish and BDSM. I am not. I tag along with him to kink events and play parties — at his request — and sometimes play matchmaker by striking up conversations with guys he thinks are hot. The issue is that some of these guys only want to “play” with me or with us if we’re a package deal. This doesn’t happen that often, but it hurts my husband’s feelings when it does and since he can’t take his disappointment out on some guy who walked away, he takes it out on me. He’s very socially awkward, which seems pretty common among the kinky gay men I’ve met through him, so he doesn’t want to go to these events alone. But I don’t want to go if he’s going to blow up at me because
BY DAN SAVAGE
some random rubber twunk wasn’t into him. The have been plenty of times when I played matchmaker successfully and he wound up having a great time with someone, but he obsesses about the times he got rejected and will be — if I may be blunt — kind of an insufferable asshole about it for weeks. A big fetish event is coming up, and I have to decide whether to go and I’m leaning against it. If it matters, I never play with anyone else, as I have a very low libido and I’m satisfied with the vanilla sex I have with my husband. So, it’s not like I’m getting anything out of this sexually. I’m content to let him do his thing and to help out. I’m fine being the “bait,” I’m just sick of being the bad guy.
There’s a middle ground between going to these events with your husband to play the matchmaker and not going to these events at all — and that would be going to these events and refusing to play the matchmaker. But if you were to go to this upcoming event and chatted people up and didn’t include your husband in conversation, he’s almost guaranteed to blow up at you about that. So, as trivial as the issue might seem, I’m gonna suggest booking a session or two with a kink-positive couples’ counselor. Hearing from someone else — hearing from a credentialed expert he’s paying hundreds of dollars to see — that he should be showering you with gratitude for tagging along to these events, not giving you grief when some rubber twunk isn’t into him, might help your husband realize how good he’s got it (you’re the good thing he’s got) even when he doesn’t get it (the rubber twunk who wasn’t interested).
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NOTICE OF INTENT TO SELL FOR TOW AND STORAGE CHARGES
Vehicle: 2015 Buick Enclave VIN:
KL4CJESB3FB084215 Owner: India
Stevenson Lien Holder: BCAF Inc. Storage Facility: Express Towing 24 LLC Address: 4914 Poplar Level Road, Louisville, KY 40219 Phone: 502-442-6333 You have until final date of this publication of this legal notice to contact us.
NOTICE OF INTENT TO SELL FOR TOW AND STORAGE CHARGES
Vehicle: 2015 Buick Enclave VIN:
KL4CJESB3FB084215 Owner: India
Stevenson Lien Holder: BCAF Inc. Storage Facility: Express Towing 24 LLC Address: 4914 Poplar Level Road, Louisville, KY 40219 Phone: 502-442-6333 You have until final date of this publication of this legal notice to contact us.
NOTICE OF INTENT TO SELL FOR TOW AND STORAGE CHARGES
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GROSSMAN TUNING
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BY CHANDI DEITMER AND WYNA LIU
Puzzles Edited by Joel Fagliano
Chandi Deitmer, of Cambridge, Mass., works for Elevate Labs, which makes a brain-training app. Wyna Liu, of New York City, is a puzzles editor and author of the daily New York Times game Connections. Chandi is part of the testing panel for the game, sending her weekly feedback to Wyna. Chandi thought up this theme, and figured, What better person to collaborate with than the Connections queen herself!
ACROSS
1 Many pages in a travel guide
5 Location identifier for a digital photo
11 Biblical verb
15 A garment, maybe?
18 Ingredient in some face masks
19 Extra point as the result of a foul, in basketball lingo
20 Think about it!
21 Narrow part of a cloche
22 APP, CONVENIENCE, GENERAL, THRIFT?
24 Scorch
25 Sitar great Shankar
26 Variable directive
27 Snack sometimes served with birria
29 Pair that’s unlikely to win
31 Mirren who has portrayed three different British queens onscreen
32 HOLIDAY, MONSOON, TAX, TOURIST?
35 It can be a real pane!
37 Horror director Ari
38 Item repeatedly stepped on by Sideshow Bob on ‘‘The Simpsons’’
39 ____ orientation, consideration in American Sign Language
40 A-, DREAM, SWAT, TAG?
44 Stevie Wonder’s ‘‘____ She Lovely’’
48 Fish that shares its name with a body part
49 What some tiny patches cover up
Nickname for Empress Elisabeth of Austria
52 Word before ‘‘boy’’ or after ‘‘boo’’
53 Knock on
55 ____ cave
59 Performance often accompanied by supertitles
61 B-, DATE, LIFETIME, SILENT?
65 Adjuster’s assignments
66 Held sway
67 Mends
68 ‘‘Turn up the volume!’’
69 Tuckered out
70 BOOSTER, BOTTLE, HOUSTON, MODEL?
72 Hit musical about a politician
73 Saunters
74 Its national anthem is ‘‘Jana Gana Mana’’
75 Start of some movement names
76 Neighbor of 74-Across, on a Risk board
78 Cheese with a white mold rind
79 Onetime Britney Spears partner, in the tabloids
83 Jonathan Van of ‘‘Queer Eye’’
85 CERTIFIED, FUNKY, MINTY, POPPIN’?
90 Word that sounds like its first and last letters
91 Hertz, e.g.
93 ‘‘____ directed’’
94 Gives off
BRAND, LIKE, NOTHING, WHAT’S?
Wreck
& Mariam (musical duo)
Lives as lovers
Streaming device whose name means ‘‘six’’ in Japanese
Fighter of Ravana, in Hindu lore 109 BRIDAL, COLD, GATORADE, METEOR? 112 One of Canada’s First Nations
Like whole numbers after they’re multiplied by two
Masked official
Sci-fi sightings
Cries of exasperation
P.T.A. members
Confined, with ‘‘up’’
Ceremony with a censer
Tina Turner or Stevie Nicks, e.g.
Where you might say ‘‘That’s my cue!’’
‘‘That’s what I get’’
Faux pas
Notable bankruptee of 2001
What the nose knows
Whole bunch
Formicary resident
Come to term with?
to a boot, maybe
a state boundary
just north of the Equator
46 One with mainstream tastes, disparagingly
47 Things a wedding D.J. might introduce
51 Honolulu palace name
54 Trojan War hero
55 Share
56 In need of patching, say
57 Where van Gogh’s ‘‘The Yellow House’’ is set
58 Bit of lab work
60 It’s laid on thick for a performance
61 Classic British sitcom character inspired by Jacques Tati
62 Body of work
63 Prospective college students make them
64 Conductance units
65 Unrefined oils
68 ‘‘Zip your lip!’’
70 City that entirely surrounds another country
71 N.Y. commuter line
73 Leader in the Cuban War of Independence
77 ‘‘That’s not surprising’’
78 Prominent feature of dub music
80 Guaranteed to work
81 Delivery abbr.
82 Some, in France
84 Quiet
86 They might be brought back from the beach
87 Lin Ching-____, icon of Chinese-language cinema
88 Lampoons
89 Price point?
92 Start of some movement names
94 Carve
95 Certain criminal, or the agent pursuing them
96 Atlanta university
97 Greets the day
98 Having a handle
99 Word repeated when consoling
100 Propelled a shell
103 Loretta of ‘‘M*A*S*H’’
104 Thick noodle
105 Something an attention-seeker might say
108 Principal on ‘‘Abbott Elementary’’ 110 Insurance option, for short
111 Department that helps a company run, informally
Last week’s answers
