WRITING: (1) Short Fiction (up to 1,000 words) (2) Poetry (up to 48 lines)
CARTOON: (3) A single-page cartoon. Can be either a single or multiple panel cartoon.
PHOTOGRAPHY: (4) Color Photography — a single photo
Black-And-White Photography — a single photo
Do not include your name or other personal identification in the file name or meta-data.
THE RULES (please read carefully): You may submit one entry in a single category or in all of them. Do not include your name or any personal identification on your submissions. Stories, poems or photos with names or personal identification will be disqualified.
PHOTOS:
Files must be submitted as a .JPG and in a resolution of at least 200 dpi, with 300 dpi preferred.
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John Yarmuth
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Scott Recker, srecker@leoweekly.com
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Erica Rucker, erucker@leoweekly.com
STAFF WRITER
Josh Wood, jwood@leoweekly.com
STAFF WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER
Carolyn Brown, cbrown@leoweekly.com
SHORT STORIES AND POEMS:
Text must be submitted in one of these formats: Word (.DOC or .DOCX) or Rich Text (.RTF). For all entries, the title on the document must match the file name. For instance, if the poem is called “Roses,” then the file name will be “Roses.” If the piece does not have a title, then use “untitled” in the file name and on the document.
CARTOONS:
Must be submitted as a .JPG and in a resolution of at least 200 dpi, with 300 dpi preferred. The title on the document must match the file name.
By submitting material, authors grant LEO one-time print publishing rights, including permission to publish material on LEO’s website. LEO employees and regular freelancers are not eligible. Winners will be published in the March 1st, 2023 issue of LEO Weekly
Go to leoweekly.com to find the submission form. The link will also be pinned to the top of our Facebook and Twitter pages.
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Talon Hampton, thampton@leoweekly.com
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Jo Anne Triplett, jtriplettart@yahoo.com
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Marsha Blacker, mblacker@leoweekly.com
WORKING at an alt-weekly is a rollercoaster ride.
There are days and pockets of time when everything is going right, when the work barely feels like work, when a wild amount of high-end content gets produced by a skeleton-crew staff.
But when it rains, it generally pours.
Ownership changes, staff overhauls, a pandemic, tightened advertiser budgets, a lack of resources, confusion, unpredictable bean counters being unpredictable bean counters — it’s all a formula to make difficult storms fall upon an editorial staff.
The strangest part is that the last few years have been a pretty even mixture at LEO: There was a lot of incredible work by the award-winning staff, and there were also some of the toughest times I’ve seen during my career in journalism.
But, that volatility sometimes means knowing when it’s time to go, and after eight years with the publication, I’ll be stepping away from the paper on Jan. 19 (although I hope to still contribute some freelance writing).
To be clear: I’m burned out, but I also have a lot of faith in the future of LEO. The next EIC, Erica Rucker — who has been a part of LEO for a long time — absolutely has the vision and experience to evolve LEO. I’m looking forward to being a fan.
So, in my final editor’s note, I just wanted to send out some thank-you notes.
1) To everyone I’ve ever worked with at LEO: thank you for your talent, your passion, your brilliant work, the laughs and pushing me to learn every day. I’ve watched both staffers and freelancers think up and execute some really thoughtful stories. For a long time, I’ve always said that
the staff at LEO punches above its weight and exceeds the sums of its parts — as it also did before my time here — and that takes some serious hunger and sacrifice from a lot of people to do. For that, I’m super grateful.
And to all of the journalists at other outlets in the city: you’ve always inspired me in the same way.
2) To the city of Louisville: thank you for being full of interesting and creative people, unique places, a criminally underrated arts and music scene and the drive to be different. The city and state — like almost everywhere else — both have a laundry list of problems and some shitty politicians, but there are a lot of good people, a lot of delightfully weird people and a lot of ambitious people who are doing cool things. After living here for almost a decade, there’s no place I’d
3) To the readers: thank you for your time, your support and sometimes your anger. By picking up the paper and/or clicking on our website, you sustain the publication. Sometimes you have praised us, other times you have challenged us to be better, and both of those reactions have ultimately made us better.
And one last reminder: It’s a tough time for journalism, so pick up the print edition of LEO every chance you get; if you like a story, share it on social media; if you have a restaurant, bar, shop, etc. that you want to get the word out about, advertise.
A strong alt-weekly is an important part of a community. Protect this one. •
The following is an excerpt from “Consent Is ____: The Things They Didn’t Teach in Sex Ed,” a forthcoming book by LEO columnist James Wilkerson that will be published by Nanny Goat Press on Jan. 16. It will run for $16.99.
kindness.”
19
ONE general misconception about express consent is that it ruins the mood. There are some that think that if you’re in the throes of passions, asking for permission will be a complete turnoff, snapping their partner out of their romantic haze and back to reality. I personally have never known this to be the case, but because I love some good old fashioned empirical research, I polled 20 women asking them, “if you were about to hook up with a guy and he verbally asked for consent, would that alter your mood in anyway?” 19 of the 20 all stated that being asked for consent would not turn them off (the one respondent that didn’t answer “no” stated that as she has never been asked for consent before, she wasn’t quite sure how she would react. Let that sink in).
Several respondents elaborated on their answer, stating that verbally asking for consent conveys an overall theme of respect. One respondent said, “it shows respect and also eliminates the dangers of making assumptions.” Another similarly stated, “I would feel it was respectful and would prefer it. It means he actually appreciates me as a human, much more than a man who just assumes.” A third respondent simply stated that it “shows
Another thing the survey revealed is that express consent need not be awkward. In fact, you’re better off if it isn’t. 35% of the women in the survey stated the way in which the consent was asked for needed to be right. One respondent stated that verbally asking for consent wouldn’t alter her mood, as long as it wasn’t asked for in a “creepy way” while another respondent stated it needs to be done “tactfully.” One respondent even stated that verbally asking for consent could even positively alter her mood “depending on the delivery.” Perhaps that is what some men are worried about: the delivery. The angel on your left shoulder says, “just ask” while the devil on your right says, “you might screw it up.” One thing about asking for consent I’ve come to realize though, is that asking for it doesn’t have to be a huge production. In my day, the phrase “is this cool?” was usually enough to let me know whether in fact it was “cool” or not. The answer was either “sure” or “nah.” As one respondent states “you don’t have to go too far with the asking. Asking ‘is this okay’ or ‘are you sure’ is not a turn off.”
of the 20 all stated that being asked for consent would not turn them off (the one respondent that didn’t answer “no” stated that as she has never been asked for consent before, she wasn’t quite sure how she would react. Let that sink in).
You want to know what would be a huge turnoff though? One joke (well… I think it’s a joke) that I hear from time to time is, “I’ll just have her sign a contract.” To which I say, “look, if you are able to get someone to sign a legal document right before they have sex with you, then your game is far better than mine!” When they say, “try not to make it awkward”, I think this is what they are talking about. I know Dave Chappelle may have famously gotten his partner to sign the “love contract” in a skit on his legendary TV show, but I would imagine producing pre-arranged documentation affixed to a clipboard from your nightstand in the real world would probably be frowned upon. Stranger things have happened though.
So, what of implied consent? In a guest lecture, about 5% of audience members will raise their hand to claim they would prefer implied consent over express. When asked why, typically the response is “it’s just more natural.” I can agree with that in some instances. For example, my wife and I pretty much have our romantic pattern down to a science. We have been together for a while and
as such, know our parameters. That’s not to say that we always want what is in those parameters. But when we don’t, we know the other’s body language enough to know to stop and move on. When she responds to me whispering sweet nothings in her ear by rolling over and showing her back to me while pulling the quilt over her head, that’s pretty much my sign that it “ain’t happening” tonight. So, in an instance like that, implied works best for us. Even still, sometimes we have verbal conversations about our likes and dislikes with express consent always sneaking back into the fray.
When discussing consent in a sterile environment like a classroom or through this book, it’s easy to see the obvious benefits of express consent and lean towards it as your choice. But if we catalog our past experiences, there is a good chance we’d see that a lot of our encounters involved implied consent. As I typically tell students, sometimes implied is appropriate. Other times express is fine.
But neither? Well, when consent is totally absent, you have officially entered “catch a case territory.” And that is somewhere you don’t want to be. •
ON JAN. 2, businessman Craig Greenberg was sworn in as Louisville’s 51st mayor.
The former 21c Museum Hotels CEO inherits a city where trust in city government — and particularly law enforcement — remains frayed following the March 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor and months of protests that followed.
Greenberg’s opponents warned he would be a continuation of the administration of Greg Fischer, another businessman turned politician, who led Louisville for the last 12 years. But Greenberg is adamant that his administration will forge a new direction and change the way things are done in Kentucky’s largest city.
Here are four challenges that the new administration will face.
Public safety was Greenberg’s marquee issue on the campaign trail and remains at the top of his agenda in office.
In his inauguration speech at Metro Hall on Jan. 2, Greenberg said his administration’s “first and highest priority” is “making Louisville a safer city.”
“That means a city where we all feel safe, in every neighborhood, every business, every park and every bus stop. That’s critical and necessary everywhere, and especially right here as we work to reinvigorate our beautiful downtown,” he added.
After back-to-back years of record-setting homicide numbers in 2020 and 2021, Louisville saw about an 8% drop in homicides last year according to statistics released by the Louisville Metro Police Department in late December. LMPD also said non-fatal shootings had dropped by a third from 2021.
Greenberg, who survived an assassination attempt at his Butchertown campaign office last February, says while the city’s short-staffed police department needs to be bolstered, they are only one part of reducing violence.
“Becoming a safer and more just city is essential to everything we do. And let me be clear: improving public safety is about much
In the last days of Greg Fischer’s term in o ce, he quietly unveiled a historical marker commemorating 2020’s racial justice protests in Je erson Square Park, the center of the Breonna Taylor protests that year that is also home to a memorial to fallen police o cers. The River City Fraternal Order of Police was predictably pissed, releasing a statement calling the protesters rioters and saying that the placement of the marker “shows a complete lack of reverence for our fallen o cers and their families.” The FOP added that things like the protest marker are behind the o cer shortage in the city. For all the talk about changing culture at LMPD in the years since the killing of Breonna Taylor, the FOP’s statement dismissing how Louisvillians protested, cried and died in the square while pushing for a better Louisville tells you all you need to know about how much the culture has changed.
Louisville’s 51st mayor has said the right things — about addressing inequities, about the need for transparency, about the need to nd ways to reduce violence that do not solely revolve around the police — but in the end, it’s action that matters. There is the promise of actual change in what Greenberg says, but that could wilt, it could die on the vine. Only time will tell.
Andy Beshear’s medical marijuana executive order went into e ect on Jan. 1, yet it’s still as confusing as ever. Exactly what kind of paperwork do you need from your doctor? Who knows. What has the governor told law enforcement about enforcing the order? They won’t tell us. What happens if a cop nds weed in your car and calls your doctor who gave you a note saying you have PTSD but didn’t explicitly prescribe you marijuana or know you were taking a road trip to Illinois this weekend? That seems dicey. On Dec. 29 — less than 72 hours until the executive order went into e ect — Beshear said that “palm cards” guiding law enforcement would be distributed by Jan. 1, aka the day it took e ect. And by the number of misconduct cases in Louisville alone, we know Kentucky cops really understand laws and regulations the rst time they read them.
Beshear has readily admitted that action by the state legislature on medical marijuana would be much more meaningful than his executive order. The thing is: Well, we’re banking on a General Assembly that’s controlled by a super-majority of Republican dinosaurs who have consistently stonewalled medical marijuana legislation. We’re hoping for the best, but this is kind of a mess.
more than policing. It’s also about preventing as many crimes as possible through outreach, investment, communication, building trust, community violence intervention strategies, which we will expand,” he said in his inaugural address. “Making our city safer means taking on historic challenges like poverty, substance abuse, childhood trauma, mental health, hopelessness and all the factors that put too many people on a path that leads to crime and tragedy.”
As of this writing, Louisville has seen four homicides over the first 60 hours of 2023.
Parallel to Greenberg’s message of public safety were his calls to make LMPD the “best trained, the most trusted and most transparent police department in America.”
Fulfilling that goal is likely a long road. Trust in police in Louisville remains low after the killing of Breonna Taylor, a heavy-handed response to protests that followed and further instances of police misconduct coming to light.
The department is currently facing a wide-ranging Department of Justice pattern or practice investigation that is ultimately expected to result in a potentially long and costly federal consent decree.
Separately, the DOJ has indicted seven LMPD officers on federal misconduct charges in the past year alone. In October, two of those officers were sentenced to prison for assaulting pedestrians by throwing drinks from unmarked police vehicles; while one officer involved in the drinks-throwing received three months in prison, the other received two and a half years for his additional role in a scheme where he used police technology to help hack and extort with stolen sexually explicit material. Katie
Crews, the LMPD officer who fired pepper balls in the moments leading up to the fatal shooting of West End barbecue chef David McAtee on June 1, 2020, is set to be sentenced later this month. And of four LMPD officers charged in relation to the March 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor, one has pleaded guilty while three await trial.
Under former Mayor Greg Fischer, the city said it was working to get ahead of the DOJ’s findings by making proactive reforms. In May, then Chief of Police Erika Shields told Metro Council that there were things in LMPD’s outdated lesson plans she was embarrassed by and that she wanted more civilian oversight of police training. (Investigations by LEO Weekly found LMPD training materials that portrayed police as avengers who carry out God’s wrath as well as a course that aimed to have students be able to “identify aspects of Hispanic/Latino culture that may pose hazards to law enforcement.” Reporting by WDRB uncovered LMPD warrant training materials that included the Ernest Hemingway quote “there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter.”)
In November, Shields announced she would be stepping down in the new administration, later saying she had essentially been given the option of resigning or being fired. Speaking to KET last month, Shields warned that she expected the DOJ report on LMPD to be “scathing” and said she feared that a high turnover rate in leadership at the department could lead to officer misconduct.
In early December, Greenberg announced that Jacquelyn GwinnVillaroel — who was Shields’ hand-selected second-in-command — would lead the embattled department as interim chief of police the day he took office.
The administration is currently searching for a permanent police chief.
Boone Shell • 2912 Brownsboro Rd
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Liquor
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The trust shattered by the police killing of Breonna Taylor was only exacerbated by city government’s taciturn response when people demanded answers. That lack of transparency — and the public’s frustration with it — would become a hallmark of the last years of the Fischer administration.
Greenberg says he will handle things differently and made transparency a cornerstone of his campaign.
“We will improve transparency, collaboration and accountability at LMPD and throughout all of Metro Government — and that starts with me,” said Greenberg in his inauguration speech on Jan. 2. “Part of my job as mayor is holding others accountable. And I expect every one of you here today and everyone in the city of Louisville to hold me accountable.”
With the administration in its infancy, it remains to be seen how those promises of transparency play out in reality. However, the Greenberg administration will
likely have its work cut out even if it does go in with the best intentions.
LMPD, an organization long considered opaque by journalists, remains tight-lipped on many incidents and even has refused to cooperate with the city’s inspector general’s office, a city agency charged with investigating potential police misconduct. And a short-staffed open records department already facing a backlog of requests means open records requests, a staple of transparent government and accountability, can take many months to fulfill.
Ahead of his inauguration, Greenberg told LEO Weekly that the turnaround time on open records requests was “unacceptable” and that his administration would work to budget more open records staff. He also told LEO that “more transparency and accountability within LMPD are critically important as we look to continue rebuilding trust between the department and the entire community it serves.”
In an interview with LEO in March of
last year, Greenberg said it was important for LMPD and the city to disclose details about incidents when they occur and admit when mistakes are made.
On his first day in office, Greenberg recognized that “the promise of our city is still out of reach for far, far too many people” and that “while some parts of our city are growing and thriving, there are neighborhoods that are hurting.”
Louisville is home to often glaring inequity; in parts it is a city of immense wealth, but it is also a city of sprawling food deserts, abandoned homes and the cyclical trap of generational poverty. On the map, those inequities are often mirrored by race, with Black-majority areas by and large more underrepresented and impoverished than whiter areas.Over the decades, promises have been made to combat poverty and inequity. Yet, Louisville’s divides remain as sharp as ever.
Greenberg says his administration will work to address those longstanding inequities.
“We must build on the work that’s already happening in West Louisville and direct more investments and resources to
these important neighborhoods. That’s one of the ways we’ll work to counter the impact of generations of disinvestment and systemic racism,” Greenberg said in his inaugural address. “It’s also essential that we consider racial justice and equity as part of every decision we make at Metro Government.”
Inequity in Louisville and across the country is intertwined with housing needs.
According to a 2019 housing needs assessment, Louisville was lacking 30,000 affordable housing units. Campaigning, Greenberg said he would build 15,000 affordable housing units and prioritize the redevelopment of abandoned lots and buildings.
Running through all of Louisville’s 623 voting precincts while campaigning, Greenberg said he saw both the city’s diversity and its inequity firsthand.
“One of the things I learned running all those miles across the city during my campaign is that there are people in parts of our city who don’t feel like they are part of our city. We have to change that, starting now,” he said during his inauguration.
•
LEO loves a list, and this is one of our yearly favorites. Louisville is a creative town. Art, food, music — it’s just who we are. Our local music scene nets golden eggs each year; and these are some of our absolute favorites of 2022. From popular local acts like Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Ben Sollee and Marzz who’ve gone on to acclaim past these city streets, to those making waves in the underground like Jikininki, Connie Kissel and Belushi Speed Ball, it’s once again the time where we remind you to “put some respect” on the name of Louisville and give its music scene the reverence that it deserves. If you’d gotten out of the habit of going to shows because of the pandemic or because you’re an old fogey now, start a new mid-life crisis or just reconnect with the visceral experience of live music and get out to see these acts. Louisville music goes hard, and we love to see it.
Back in January, Ben Sollee proclaimed that (for himself at least) 2022 was going to be a year of intention. “With all the headlines and products competing for my attention, it’s more important than ever to practice and protect mindful activities and time,” he said in a hopeful Facebook post, adding, “It is my daily (sometimes hourly) challenge to set intentions that nudge my family and me towards where we want to be. Often that means slowing down and connecting with my body.” For the noted Kentucky cellist and composer, these borderline Buddhist ideas are precisely what the lyric-less track, “Slow Flow,” is all about. In other words, Sollee hopes that, while listening, you will take a few moments to turn off your mind, relax and float downstream with him. Perhaps taking a cue from longtime pal Jim James, Sollee recorded this improvised instrumental meditation on a farm far away, in an old grain silo at the break of day. Accordingly, this number is a vivid recollection of Sollee and his cello achieving a flow state, responding to the various calls of nature, and entering the deep reverberations provided by the location itself.
—Kevin Murphy WilsonNormally, strange gems like “Broadcast Interrupted” by Aaron West and Danish musician Jeroen Diepenmaat might be left in the cold on best-of-year compilations, which would be an egregious error. While it’s hard to slap a concrete description on the song, it would be wisest to think of it as a serious thinker’s piece, one where the meaning is left entirely to the audience. It’s a performance that renders a different experience for every listener, and, at over seven minutes long, it’s less a song than it is an operatic movement; a short concerto of a cosmic darkness, if you will. If you’re in need of any songs for your “floating through the endless blackness of outer space” playlist, then look no further than this gem straight out of the Oort Cloud. — Tyrel Kessinger
Combine the vocals of Jim Morrison with grunge and thoughtful storytelling inspired by a Hieronymus Bosch painting and you get “Writhe,” a single by New Albany-based rock band The Histrionics. Incredibly, the lyrics consist of only 53 words — 30 if you remove the duplicates — but they work with the heavy, dizzying riffs in a way that perfectly suits the story of a soul on its way into Hell. This, by the
way, is more than just a bunch of kids getting together to make something that’s accidentally good; this is a full-on project. The talent that’s already come out of this young three-piece band — the oldest member of which is only 23 — is just incredible, and we’ve got plenty of reasons to be excited for their upcoming album. Good things are in store for The Histrionics, and we’re writhing with anticipation for what comes next. —Carolyn
BrownOut on cassette via local imprint Rising Beast Records, Jikininki’s “NonChalanto” gets in a groove and howls from the void. So David Lynch of them. I found this track just before the year ended and fell in love with the way that it guides me through a dark place, very much like a Lynch film. It is tense, a little scary, yet it drives you into the night and never leaves you alone on a wet road. The song feels dangerous and unexpected, but it’s played in a pocket, and you never actually leave it. You ride it to the next track. The only thing I know about the artist is that they were born and raised in Louisville. I guess I know they’re a bit of a ‘spooky muffin,’ and that’s comforting because this track, as unsettling as it is, also comes with some comfort, if you’re into hissing darkness. —Erica Rucker
If you haven’t given LUX a listen yet, do so now. I’ll wait. “We Toss Suns,” the first track off their debut EP Dirty Mirrors, is a great place to start. Equal parts shoegaze, indie rock and post-hardcore, “We Toss Suns” manages to combine high-energy guitar and pounding, frantic drums with melancholic vocals and melody to create a hauntingly beautiful dreamlike soundscape. Of the song, LUX’s Chaz Owens (vocals/guitar) says: “The song is one of the first we’ve made. It’s a really personal song about loss of childhood/innocence, etc. It’s definitely a song that will stick with us for a while.” The bridge on this song alone, with its early Radiohead-ish breakdown that explodes into a cacophony of guitar-driven noise before flowing smoothly back into the verse again, gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. No band this young should be this good right off the bat. There are bands out there that have been together longer than LUX’s members have been alive that are nowhere near this level of songwriting. No doubt in my mind that LUX could easily be Louisville’s next White Reaper or My Morning Jacket. —Jeff Polk
Routine Caffeine is one of Louisville’s best new bands to emerge during the 2020s, and their rich dream-pop continued to shine on their 2022 album, Spaghetti Junction. A particularly magnetic song from the record is “Straws,” a strikingly-lush, carefullydynamic track that is an emotionally-charged whirlwind about leaving the past behind. The way that Routine Caffeine builds, shifts and controls this song is reminiscent of the local trio Twin Limb, as they use psychedelic architecture to take listeners’ brains to different dimensions while puppet-mastering heartstrings. The song ends with an exclamation point. The line, “I took down pictures, it was long overdue,” is heavy enough, but it’s reinforced by the gigantic soundscape being completely dropped all at once, leaving the listener in silence for the final few seconds to sit with those words. —Scott Recker
Upon first listen, “Snakey” is an unassuming number, but under the hood there is a lot of slick layering that makes this song one of the chillest — albeit slightly (in-a-good-way!) strange — jams of the year. Here, Wombo excels at extracting the best ingredients of the early ‘90s alt-indie sound. The engine of the song is fueled by the tight bounce of a Pixies-dusted bass riff that somehow manages to plow both over and under the other instrumentation like so much hot glue. Sydney Chadwick’s android croon-talk mesmerizes, splicing through the music like a warm static fuzz. At a little over two minutes, you might be surprised to find that it took so long to go nowhere, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that was exactly what Wombo wanted us to realize. —Tyrel Kessinger
The song that lands Will Oldham (working here as Bonnie “Prince” Billy) on this “Best of 2022” list has actually been with him for a little while. That is to say that although the “Outsider” single dropped this year, the track was cut (and produced with Mark Nevers) back in 2016. What’s more, the tune was likely in Oldham’s head long before that, as it was first written and recorded somewhat obscurely by the Ramones nearly 40 years ago. Out of the controlled chaos of the original, Oldham fashions homespun melody in a big way. To achieve such stunning results, the BPB version was created with a little help from Peter Townsend, Chris Scruggs, William Tyler and D.C. Berman. And, importantly, when an industry outsider like Oldham delivers lines such as, “Everything you know, it disturbs me so,” it’s easy to believe him. An added bonus is the single’s evocative cover artwork that was brilliantly crafted by Elsa Hansen Oldham. —Kevin Murphy Wilson
Yeah, I know it’s a bit of a stretch to list a band from Lexington in a piece about local songs. However, it is my opinion that StormToker plays Louisville often enough to be considered local. Honestly, though, I just really love this song and want to turn people on to this band. For the most part, StormToker plays a sludgy mix of stoner metal, doom, thrash, heavy blues, psych and prog rock in downtuned and very heavy, groove-driven songs. They are not really the kind of band you can pigeonhole, but at the same time not a band you’d expect to hear a jangly, upbeat rockabilly tune from. Yet smack-dab in the middle of their latest album, The Mother Tree, there it is! Guitarist/vocalist Anthony Grigsby said: “I got really heavy into Colter Wall. ‘The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie’ blew me away. It was just simple and powerful. I wanted to kind of emulate it.” However, StormToker being StormToker, the tune is rolling right along when all of a sudden the chorus kicks in and you get clubbed over the head with massively heavy doom-ish stoner metal, then right back into the rockabilly verse, leaving the listener wondering what just happened? Lyrically, with the refrain of “Where you’re born is where you’ll die, my friend,” this is a rather blunt and depressing tune about being a wage slave for life. Overall, “Poor Man’s Doom” is certainly a crowning moment for this Lexington trio. —Jeff Polk
Louisville is still the city where the creative brain can live and thrive. Connie Kissel is a pianist, saxophonist and electronic artist from Louisville. They sometimes play or record under the moniker of Pharmacy Girl and did this song, “Tightly Wound,” as a piece of their degree project. “Tightly Wound” starts in a groove and then breaks out in a bit of a frenzy of distortion and glitches. It’s a good song for a day in the studio painting or working up photos. Definitely one for the creative set. There is something a bit dark about “Tightly Wound” that almost drifts into the world of goth/electronic, but somehow it stays just outside that pigeonhole as probably a tad too out there, too weird... wonderfully weird. It feels very ‘80s and makes me want to dig into a rewatch of “Liquid Sky” or “ Lair of the White Worm.” —Erica Rucker
White Reaper has subtly twisted and tweaked their sound and lyrics over the years, working from a fullspeed-ahead fuzz-punk band barely out of their teens that leaned on music that was both catchy and rowdy, to a more versatile, exploratory style that carefully incorporates slow-moving evolution and introspective thoughts and stories. Despite all of that, a White Reaper song always sounds like a White Reaper song — a characteristic of a solid foundation. “Pages” — the first single off the upcoming album, Asking For A Ride (Jan. 27) — has an acoustic-to-explosion, loud-quiet dynamic that features a classic White Reaper feel-good anthemic melody. Underneath that surface, however, it’s a song about breaking through to the other side of the constant brain swirls and sleepless nights that follow the crashing and burning of a relationship that needed to end. The protagonist knows it was the right call, but it still sucks. “Pages” never feels overcomplicated or weighed down, but there are layers to unpack.
—Scott Recker
Party-punk band Anemic Royalty is a fixture in the Louisville music scene, and this track shows us exactly why: it’s catchy as hell, right from that fun, perfect-forsinging-along intro. But the song is about growing up and the changes that come with it, a perfect fit for these young rockers. The last time I heard this song live, I was sweating inside the big bowl at the Extreme Park, surrounded by thousands of other people who were just as young — if not younger — than Anemic Royalty. It was a perfect channel for their energy. The more I listen to “Looking Forward,” the more I’m convinced it could’ve been the perfect theme song for a teen comedy movie or TV show in the early 2000s. —Carolyn Brown
Honestly, I could’ve picked any song on this album to write about for this piece, as they are all amazing. The underlying reason for which lies in the fact that they are all just a bit strange and incredibly intriguing. Sunshine’s overwhelming abundance of musical talent affords them the ability to craft songs in such a way that the listener is never quite sure where they are going to go with them at any given moment. And Sunshine is a band that can and does change up rhythms, tempos and even musical genres at the drop of a dime. They make complex polyrhythmic song structures look easy, and do so while loading their songs up with catchy hooks and making it all flow together seamlessly smooth with an infectiously energetic delivery. There is nothing out there quite like Sunshine. This song alone is a little bit Ween, a little bit Frank Zappa, a little bit Primus, a little bit Slint, and just a hint of Black Flag. I have no idea what the song is about because even though the lyrics are fairly easy to understand, there are so many interesting things going on here musically that I can’t focus on them even after repeated listenings. The band calls their sound “alternative/experimental/jazz punk”, and it is a fantastic journey into the wonderfully bizarre. —Jeff Polk
I’m a fan of vocals, and Marzz has them. Even though this song technically was out the year before, the official release date says 2022, so I’m cheating and adding it to this list… again. But if you missed this song, you’re truly missing one of the most lovely vocals of the year. Marzz sings with a similar sensibility to artists like SZA and H.E.R. (with whom they toured), and yet, there is something older, wiser and smoother bubbling in the voice of this young artist. The way they slide between notes, full steps, half steps is simply mesmerizing. They do this without gymnastics and delivers the skills with clean lines and clarity that some artists give away in mumbling. LEO has written about Marzz several times and we can’t get enough of them or this song. —Erica Rucker
Spotify
Jordan Jetson merges consistency and unpredictably in a slick way — the lyrics are always clever and thoughtful, the production is always airtight, but the songs always push in new directions and twist and turn in short amounts of time. Within the same song — and often in the same verse — he often alters the rhythm of his flow in magnetic ways. On “Uknowit,” Jetson combines a rollercoaster ride of dense bars in a verse, with a concise, breathable, effect-driven chorus, packing a lot of substance in a track that clocks in at two and a half minutes. And, as usual, the phrases he turns are filed with gold — so much so that you can listen to the short song ten times and on the 11th listen, you’ll find things you missed. Some of his lines are like riddles, others are straightforward and obvious, but everything is worded in ways you haven’t heard before — he avoids the minefields of cliches. “Uknowit” and most of his other material aren’t story songs and lean more into cut-and-paste, stream-ofconscious framing but similar to a great novelist, Jetson has a style that would be impossible to replicate. His talent is singular. —Scott Recker
This song was made for tripping out, and I mean that in the very best way. It absolutely drips with pure psychedelic groove from the funky, shoulder-shaking start to the nonsensical, wordplay-laden lyrics — “The stuff he knows gives me a stuffy nose / Caesar shouts seize her from the phone / Some mothers let some others chaperone.” Hell, even the music video is literally just colorful, fluorescent visuals, the kind you’re meant to stare at under some kind of influence. If this song had come out when I was a psychedelia-obsessed hippie teenager, there is a 1000% chance I would’ve had it on repeat every day. Alas, it only came out in 2022. Turn on, tune in, drop out — or just enjoy it like normal, because it’s really good — and listen to “Acetone.” —Carolyn Brown
Throughout the songs and characters that populate her delightful new LP, The Spur, Joan Shelley consciously confronts both the darkness and the light that appear in her life as if it’s this giant coincidence of opposites that makes her (and the rest of us by extension) human. In fact, at one point on the album, she astutely observes that “it takes so much” just to exist in this form. “Forever Blues,” on its own, is a perfect example of the sort of dichotomy that often overtakes the Louisville-based songwriter. Here, Shelley’s voice is softly juxtaposed with Meg Baird’s for a bittersweet delivery of the litany of fears that haunt Shelley’s worried mind at one particularly happy moment in time. More specifically, with this song, Shelley’s lyrics alternate between celebrating domestic bliss and acknowledging the deep unease that is simultaneously lurking about the brand new heartache that may or may not lie just around the bend.
—Kevin Murphy Wilson
“So I’m a hypocrite
/ I stole this guitar riff / Original music makes me sick,” yells Belushi Speed Ball vocalist/guitarist Vinny Castellano at the beginning of the song, tongue firmly planted in cheek. This song isn’t just inspired by Municipal Waste; it was purposely written to sound exactly like them. Later in the song, Castellano even goes as far as to refer to his own band as “no-talent musical hacks” and “performers who alienate fans.” However, don’t dismiss this as a joke track — it’s far from it. Regarding the song, Castellano says: “We never intentionally tried to sound like one particular artist. BUT for this particular song, driven by spite [inspired by a fan’s snarky comment] we gave it our best effort to emulate ‘The Waste.’ It’s way more difficult to achieve this than people might think. The song is honestly one of the hardest musical pieces we ever wrote.” “Ripping Off Municipal Waste” is an intense, two-minute blast of crossover thrash that’s full of breakneck speed riffing, blasting drums, unrelenting vocals, chugging hardcore breakdowns and a gang-vocal-style chorus that is impossible not to scream along to at their shows. This song is the musical equivalent of being repeatedly bashed in the face with a full can of LaCroix. It’s one of the best mosh pit songs ever. No wonder it’s already become one of the band’s signature
pieces, as it’s an amazing showcase of just how talented Belushi Speed Ball truly is. —Jeff Polk
A little toxic but, look, I love a good metal sex groove, and “Rule Thirteen” is perfect. If you’ve got any issue on the spectrum of things that can make a life both fucked up and fun, then bring this song along for the soundtrack. Louisville’s punk/metal scene has always delivered jewels, and this band is no different. They kick pretty hard and even toss in a metal version of “Wicked Games” for those who wonder what that might sound like. But back to the song at hand… it is the song for those volatile times in a relationship. Fighting, fucking, fighting, fucking. Remember those times? Not the healthiest, but goddammit, they were fun. I don’t recommend living like that, but who is to stop you from having a good time? Certainly not me. —Erica Rucker
The feeling of being stuck or stagnant in the wrong place, unhappy in the same circular circumstances, or, worse yet, knowing you have to move on from a broken relationship to beat that empty feeling is a pretty ubiquitous thing, and since it’s something most of us have experienced and almost all of us fear, it makes for good fuel for pop culture storytelling. In under two minutes, Shitfire captures that sort of suffering with no-frills, lighting-in-a-bottle punkrock on “No Home,” a song about needing to go, and needing to go now. Crafted in the rugged style of legendary bands like the The Stooges or The Runaways, Shitfire manages to tell a complete story in a short amount of time. They give you everything that you need — the bare-bones sketches — and let you color in the rest. That theme transfers to their entire 2022 record, Howdy Bitch. Or, as they put it on their Bandcamp page: “This record comes in just under 11 minutes so you can get your rocks off and still have time to microwave and eat a corndog.” —Scott Recker
Moremen Gallery | 710 W. Main St. | moremengallery.com | Free
Paul Paletti Gallery | 713 E. Market St. | paulpalettigallery.com | Free
The new work by Nashville artist Marilyn Murphy looks like you have seen it before. That’s because her style resembles 1940s-‘50s magazine illustrations. But I doubt those images were as curious and dreamlike as Murphy’s. Her people are “involved in an improbable action or working at some curious task,” she said, where “objects are beyond reach or curiously out of human scale …” —Jo Anne Triplett
DREAM
THROUGH FEB. 26
‘Sam Gilliam (1933-2022)’
According to NPR, there are less than 400 oneroom schoolhouses still standing. California photographer Diana Schoenfeld has documented close to 170 of them in her ongoing series “Schoolhouse Odyssey.” The black and white prints re ect the stillness of what she calls “ghost schools.” Other series in the exhibition are collage still life compositions of women and nature.—Jo Anne Triplett
The Filson Historical Society | 1310 S. 3rd St. | lsonhistorical.org | $15 (non-members | 6 p.m.
Speed Art Museum | 2035 S. Third St. | speedmuseum.org | Prices vary Sam Gilliam is one for the art history books. He attended UofL, then made his name in Washington, D.C., where he became best known for his draped canvas installations. His color eld paintings with close ties to sculpture made him an important abstract artist of his generation. We’re lucky in Louisville that we can see examples of his many stages of work, especially in this exhibition at the Speed Art Museum in honor of his death last year.
The Waverly Hills Sanatorium was a treatment center for tuberculosis from 1901 to 1961, and during that time, it saw the darkest days of a brutal infectious disease and the ght against it. This talk by Lynn Pohl — who has a Ph.D. in history from Indiana University — will cover the stories of the patients and sta from that time. Her book, “ Waverly Hills Sanatorium: A History,” was published in 2022. —Scott Recker
Frazier Museum | 829 W. Main St. | fraziermuseum.org | $14 | 3 p.m.
He may have left the building quite a while ago, but Elvis Presley is still The King. One of the leading experts on the singer/actor as musical groundbreaker (and heartbreaker) is also one of Louisville’s most outstanding writers — and Alanna Nash will be at Frazier History Museum on the afternoon of Presley’s birthday. Nash’s book “The Colonel” became a prominent item of renewed interest when last year’s biopic “Elvis” featured an outlandish performance by Tom Hanks, trying the capture the enigmatic character of Presley’s personal manager. Local keyboard ace Todd Hildreth will be along to provide a proper Presley program for interludes. (Museum members get in free; book club members have a pre-program at 2 p.m.)—T.E. Lyons SATURDAY,
Le Moo | 2300 Lexington Rd. | lemoorestaurant.com/drag-brunch | $40 | Seatings at 10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Performers Anya Androvna, Champagne, Eris Jolie, Stevie Dicks and Umi Naughty will put on a spellbinding drag show themed around that one really famous wizard boy. Also, obviously, there’ll be brunch food. — Carolyn Brown
Speed Museum Cinema | 2035 S. 3rd St. | speedmuseum.org/cinema | $12/$8 (Speed Members) | 5-10 p.m.
“Holy Spider” follows the real life journey of female journalist Arezoo Rahimi who goes undercover to track the “Spider Killer,” who was murdering sex workers in Iran in 2000-2001. More than 16 women were killed in the city of Mashhad and “Holy Spider” tells the tale of how misogyny made the murderer a hero who was seen as “cleansing” the city instead of murdering poor women. We could tell you more, but we’d rather you go see the lm, directed by Ali Abbasi and starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won the Cannes Best Actress award for the role. —Erica Rucker
Harlem Globetrotters: 2023 World Tour
KFC Yum! Center | 1 Arena Plaza | kfcyumcenter.com | $25-$130 | 7 p.m.
The Globetrotters will dance, dribble and dunk their ways into our hearts yet again. I can give this one a strong personal recommendation since I covered last year’s show, but do you really need one? It’s the Harlem Globetrotters! Of course they’re gonna be awesome! —Carolyn Brown
Aurora Gallery | 1264 S. Shelby St. | auroragallerylouisville.com | Free | 5-10 p.m.
[un]bound will be the rst month-long solo show at Aurora Gallery with works by printmaker and Hite Art Institute Graduate Katie Knudson. With subjects from the political to sexuality and more, Knudson will get the space to share her creative vision with local art-seekers. The artist will be present on opening night, so be sure to stop by and o er a good word — and maybe get one too.
By Nik Vechery | leo@leoweekly.com
—Erica Rucker
Second Chances Wildlife Center | 487 Gentry Lane, Mt. Washington | secondchanceswildlife.org | $25 | 2 p.m.
The Second Chances Wildlife Center is a non-pro t animal rescue center, and they are o ering a tour to see areas of the facility that are often closed to the general public. While animal interactions are not part of this event, participants will get a 45-minute guided tour, plus 15 minutes in the gift shop. It’s an opportunity to see how an animal sanctuary operates. —Scott Recker
the piece alongside Beethoven’s Fifth “Emperor” Piano Concerto, which will feature soloist Jonathan Biss.
The show will happen at Kentucky Center for the Arts.
The Creator Corps program composers have set up residence in Shelby Park neighborhood with a dedicated workspace for composition and all working within the community as ambassadors for the Orchestra.
“Lisa, TJ and Tyler are consummate examples of 21st-century artist-leaders,” said Abrams in a press release. “Their musical talents match their intellect, and they share a remarkable sensitivity to the needs of the world beyond musical composition.”
Future Creator Corps concerts on March 4 and March 11 will feature world premieres by TJ Cole and Tyler Taylor.
Ron Whitehead, the U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate and GonzoFest co-founder, recently announced on social media that GonzoFest will return in 2023 for one final time.
Houndmouth, the alt-blues New Albany band behind tracks like “Darlin’” and “Sedona,” will play two shows at The Whirling Tiger on Friday, Jan. 20, and Saturday, Jan. 21.
Tickets are $45 in advance and are on sale now.
The band’s last concert in the Louisville area was at Bourbon & Beyond in September, the same month that The
Whirling Tiger closed suddenly, dealing a blow to the Louisville performing arts community.
However, the venue recently reopened (albeit only as a Christmas pop-up last month) under new management — and co-owner Mark Evans is Houndmouth’s former tour manager. Evans had previously announced that the venue would fully reopen in January.
In a message to LEO, Evans said, “Those dudes are some of my best friends on the planet. When [co-owner] Alley [McDowell] and I were talking about who we’d like to grand open our new venue there was zero hesitation or consideration for anyone else to do it. It had to be
On Jan. 14, the Louisville Orchestra will premiere “Send the Carriage Through,” a piece by Lisa Bielawa, one of the three full-time resident composers under the Louisville Orchestra Creator Corps residency program.
With music director and Musical America 2022 Conductor of the Year Teddy Abrams, the Orchestra will perform
GonzoFest is a weekend festival that celebrates and honors the legacy of Louisvillian author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson. The festival has been on hiatus since 2019 (take a wild guess why).
In 2023, Whitehead said in the social media post, GonzoFest will be at High Horse Bar, though he and co-founder Dennie Humphrey have not yet chosen a date or a lineup of performers.
“We agreed that 10 Gonzofests will be enough. We also agreed to make the 10th Anniversary Gonzofest extra special in every way we can,” Whitehead wrote.
“Many people have asked me if there will be a 10th Anniversary Gonzofest,” he added. “I can finally say HELL YES!!!!” •
LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA TO PREMIERE “SEND THE CARRIAGE THROUGH,” A CREATOR CORPS WORK ON JAN. 14Ron Whitehead at a past GonzoFest. | PHOTO BY NIK VECHERY.
By Robin Garr | LouisvilleHotBytes.com
NOT LONG after the turn of this century, I’m not sure that many of us would have predicted the rise of St. Matthews as one of the city’s most active bar and nightlife zones.
So I guess it shouldn’t surprise us that this suburban village has suddenly become a go-to zone for Asian eateries with estimable bars.
Say what?
Hear me out: Within walking distance of the nightlife zone’s epicenter on Shelbyville Road, you’ll find two Vietnamese restaurants (Nam Nam Cafe and District 6 Gastropub), one popular Thai spot (Simply Thai) and a top Indian restaurant (Tikka House). And just a mile down the road sits Oriental House, the 60-plus-year-old OG of local Asian eats.
Five excellent Asian restaurants along a one-mile stretch? I’m not sure that the city’s South End Vietnamese eats zone is much more concentrated than that. Without digging into the statistical details, this development makes me happy.
I’ll grab a meal at most of these places often, even when I’m not reviewing, so
when I realized that I hadn’t been back to District 6 since shortly after its opening in the autumn of 2019, I knew it was time to go back.
We dropped in for lunch on a busy weekday and found the place already crowded and noisy at noon, filled with seemingly happy diners. Its bill of fare, according to the restaurant website, focuses on both traditional and modern dishes that “combine Vietnamese flavors and techniques with local and market-fresh ingredients.”
The bar, a prerequisite for this nightlife zone, offers basic selections of modest wines and beers, basic classic cocktails (all $10), and most interesting, a half-dozen “Vietnamese-inspired” cocktails (all $12).
The Vietnam Smash seems typical: It’s a mix of Buffalo Trace bourbon, a Kentucky bourbon barrel beer reduction, Vietnamese honey simple syrup, fresh squeezed lime and fresh mint.
A lunch special, available until 4 p.m., includes one side and one entrée plus a soft drink or iced tea for $12.75, but flip the menu page and you’ll find many of the
same dishes available on the dinner menu. It offers a broad selection, and most of the 14 small plates, 18 vegan or vegetarian dishes and five curry and noodle bowls are also priced at $12.75 (or less for a few smaller dishes). Only the dozen signature dishes rise into fancy-dining price points: They range from $12 (for pan-fried sticky rice with chorizo, pork and shrimp, or Mama T’s spicy bacon, egg and cheese fried rice) to $28 (for steamed whole sea bass in banana leaves).
We chose one lunch special and ordered a couple of other items à la carte. There appeared to be several servers at work in the busy room, but service was still a bit slow; we waited about 40 minutes for our food, which could be problematic for folks on an hourlong lunch break.
Our lunch special was beef pho and a spring roll, both of which I judged good but not great. They were competently prepared, but my socks remain firmly on my feet.
The spring roll was small — I actually didn’t see it at first, hidden behind a romaine leaf. Its pastry wrapper was fried crisp and sizzling hot. It shattered on first bite. The ingredients within — pork, maybe cabbage or green pepper, a bit of carrot — were finely minced together.
The pho almost filled a deep metal bowl,
with the traditional Vietnamese side dish of fresh bean sprouts, lime wedge, sliced jalapeño and a few springs of Thai basil. A small plastic tub of something like hoisin sauce came alongside.
A great pho will be built on an intense, deeply-flavored beef stock that simmered for many hours. This pho was good, but it was not like that. The broth was clear, with tiny flecks of fat floating on top, but its beef flavor was subtle at best. Plenty of tender rice noodles were mounded in the bowl, topped with about 10 very thin slices of beef, chopped fresh cilantro and sliced white onion and green onion. Adding basil, sprouts and lime from the condiment dish kicked up the flavor as they melded into the dish.
Vietnamese spicy street corn ($6) from the small plates menu reminded me of Mexican elotes with a Vietnamese accent. I liked it a lot. A good-size cob of sweet corn was rubbed with garlicky aioli and a fiery chile sauce and garnished with crisp fried shallots and fresh cilantro.
An order of pagoda noodles ($12.75) from the vegetarian menu was a close cousin to pad Thai. A generous portion of tender, flat rice noodles had been poured over plentiful crisp-tender cauliflower and carrots, a
Vietnamese spicy street corn looks a lot like Mexican-style elotes, but it takes on a Southeast Asian accent with crispy shallots, fresh cilantro and a ery burn.
few cubes of fried tofu and green onions, with scrambled egg bits, chopped peanuts and cilantro on top.
DISTRICT 6 GASTROPUB 3930 Shelbyville Road 873-5561 eatdistrict6.wixsite.com
HISTORY buffs, Kentucky buffs and particularly Kentucky Black history buffs will have a new podcast to geek out on beginning later this month when Stacy Brooks introduces “Black in the Bluegrass,” a podcast that immerses itself in the discussion of Kentucky’s legacy through the Black perspective.
“I’m framing it as a public history podcast. It’s really modeling conversations that matter about Kentucky. And my goal is to talk to people who have a connection to Kentucky, particularly people that have either lived or studied and become passionate about and written about or done something relative to Black folks in Kentucky, urban or Appalachian.”
Building off his own love of history, Brooks has interviewed a variety
Meet our sweet gentleman, Georgie! Georgie came to KHS when his owner could no longer care for him, and now he's looking for his forever home. According to his previous owners, Georgie has gotten along with some cats but not others. Because of this, we think he may do best in a home where he can be the only kitty. Georgie is a very calm and sweet guy who loves head scratches and curling up in his squishy bed. Kitties, like Georgie, with Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are available for an adoption fee of $5. While FIV may sound scary, it's really not! With proper nutrition and veterinary care, FIV-positive cats can live long, healthy lives. Ask the adoption counselor on site for more information.
Meet our handsome boy, Sable! Sable is a one-year-old German Shepherd mix who weighs about 37 pounds. He came to the Kentucky Humane Society when his owners could no longer care for him. Something to know about him is that he has some of the largest ears we have ever seen. If you have been searching for a dog that has perfected the skill of giving the cutest puppy dog eyes, you may have found the one! His previous owners say that Sable is a super sweet guy who appears housetrained and loves being around his people. Sable has met other dogs and has done well, but we would still like him to meet any potential canine siblings to be sure they can be besties! We are unsure how he feels about cats or kids as he has never been around either. If you want a sweet, beautiful, loving pup come meet Sable today! He is spayed, micro-chipped and up-to-date on
of people across Kentucky, such as Phillip Bailey and Frank X Walker, as well as the founding members of the Historically Black Neighborhood Assembly, among others. He starts every conversation with the same question, “What is your connection to Kentucky?’ and he describes his reason for creating “Black in the Bluegrass” as a way to provide a historical legacy of his interviewees’ lives and the conversation that subsequently follows. “The idea is to have the conversation for today, but also have an acknowledgement that these conversations and the content that we’re creating will have a longevity to it. And, so people that are looking at these conversations 50 years down the road, kind of like the Freedom Writers Project, or the Freedmen’s Bureau Project in the early 1900s where they captured stories of people that had been formerly enslaved. Similarly, I’m trying to capture stories from people that are living this history today so that people coming later on down the line, future generations, can hear these conversations and know what types of things people were finding were important.”
Although he started the podcast interviewing people he had personal connections to, or knew from his days
of pursuing a PhD in history from the University of Louisville, Brooks has since been connected to other guests from sharing his rough recordings with people as he is getting the podcast ready to launch. He says he has already generated a decent list of interesting Kentuckians to interview for future podcasts, but is always open to suggestions of other Black Kentuckians whose stories people believe need to be shared.
At the moment, Brooks has recorded seven interviews and is working on getting them edited and polished for launch. His game plan is to release 12 episodes, take a two-month break, release 12 new episodes, and continue work in that cycle for as long as he has people to interview. You will be able to find the episodes at www.blackintheblugrass. com (no e in bluegrass), and you can email Brooks to recommend future interview subjects at blackinthebluegrass@gmail.com.
(Coming soon: an in-depth interview with Brooks.) •
A GALLERY roundup of art shows to see in Louisville this month. Note: This list is a selection of current exhibitions.
“ROBERT
Through Dec. 2023
Solo show by Lexington artist Robert Morgan.
“FRAGILE FIGURES: BEINGS AND TIME”
Through Dec. 2023 A group exhibition of portraits.
21C LOUISVILLE
700 W. Main St.
Hours: Mondays-Sundays, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. 21cmuseumhotels.com
Through Jan. 31
Drawings by N. Deborah Hazlett and ceramics by David Rodger.
Mellwood Art Center
1860 Mellwood Ave., #128
Hours: Fridays-Saturdays, 12-6 p.m. mellwoodartcenter.com
Through Jan. 13
Featuring original artworks from local and regional artists.
BOURNE-SCHWEITZER GALLERY
137 E. Main St., New Albany, IN
Hours: Thursdays-Fridays, noon-5 p.m.; Saturdays, 1-3 p.m. bourne-schweitzergallery.com
Through Feb. 12
Acrylic ink paintings by Uhma Janus.
CAPACITY CONTEMPORARY EXCHANGE
641 W. Main St.
Hours: Wednesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fridays, 12-8 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 12-4 p.m. capacitycontemporary.com
1512 Portland Ave.
Hours: Mondays-Fridays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m.2 p.m. �ıfteen-twelve.com
ANNUAL HOLIDAY EXHIBIT
Through January
Work by Dennis Mader, Cheryl Chapman and Kevin Lippy.
GALERIE HERTZ
Through Jan. 7
Art by the Vevay, IN, resident who died in 2021.
201 E. Spring St., New Albany, IN
Hours: Mondays-Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursdays, noon-8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. carnegiecenter.org
ANNUAL STUDENT EXHIBITION
Through Jan. 6
Show of work by selected BFA students.
CRESSMAN CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
100 E. Main St.
Hours: Wednesdays-Fridays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. louisville.edu/cressman
Through Jan. 8 Louisvillian Brandon Hill’s art focuses on people’s deepest desires.
“BIRTH
Through Jan. 14 Solo show of Imuzi Thompson’s paintings and drawings.
“RETURN
Through Jan. 14 Pottery by Autumn McKay Lindsey.
FIFTEENTWELVE
1253 S. Preston St.
Hours: Thursdays-Saturdays, 12-5 p.m.; most Sundays, 12-4 p.m. galeriehertz.com
Through Jan. 7
A group exhibition in various media of Kentucky winters.
“BEAUTIFUL
Jan. 10-Feb. 13
An all media show that explores the differences in our world.
GALLERY 104, ARTS ASSOCIATION OF OLDHAM COUNTY
104 E. Main St., La Grange
Hours: Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. aaooc.org
Through Jan. 8
Group exhibition examining camou�lage uses in the military and fashion and the meanings behind it.
2721 Taylor Blvd.
Hours: Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. search Instragram and Facebook
Through March
Solo show by one of the resident artists.
KENTUCKY FINE ART GALLERY 2400-C Lime Kiln Lane
Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. kentucky�ıneartgallery.com
Through Jan. 22 Monica Stewart uses paper, wood and �ıbers to explore the facts and �ıctions of connections between nature and humans.
Through Jan. 22 Solo show by Noel W. Anderson re�lecting on the many interpretations of erasure.
715 W. Main St.
Hours: Wednesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. kmacmuseum.org
Through Feb. 15 Shawn Marshall solo exhibition featuring landscape paintings and abstract mixed media pieces.
1734 Bonnycastle Ave.
Hours: Mondays-Thursdays, 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. lowberpilates.com
Through Jan. 21 Solo exhibition by Nashville artist Marilyn Murphy
710 W. Main St., Suite 201
Hours: Thursdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. moremengallery.com
Through March 31 Photographs by Diana Schoenfeld.
713 E. Market St.
Hours: Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. paulpalettigallery.com
Through Jan. 29
Work by new members Dessie Spears, Katherine Corcoran and Mary Burnley.
PYRO GALLERY
1006 E. Washington St. Hours: Fridays-Saturdays, noon-6 p.m.; Sundays 1-4 p.m. pyrogallery.com
“WINTER
Through Jan. 3
Annual show of ornaments.
742 E. Market St.
Hours: Mondays, 11 a.m-5 p.m.; Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. revelrygallery.com
David Rodger.
“ALPHONSE
Through Jan. 23 Exhibition on a master of the Art Nouveau poster.
“SAM GILLIAM (1933-2022)”
Through Feb. 26
In honor of Gilliam’s recent death, the museum is showing works by the former Louisvillian.
“KENTUCKY
Through April 30
Retrospective of the late Kentucky artist’s work.
SPEED ART MUSEUM
2035 S. Third St.
Hours: Fridays, 1-8 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. speedmuseum.org
ACROSS 1 You say it when you ‘‘get it’’ 4 Cell connection inits. 7 Dope 12 Sorta
Writing tip 18 Film critic with a cameo in 1978’s ‘‘Superman’’ 20 Safe bets 22 ‘‘Levitating’’ singer, 2020 24 Stuffed up, in a way 25 Northern New Jersey town 26 Literally, ‘‘father of many’’ 27 2020 No. 1 hit for Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion 28 Longtime cooking show hosted by Alton Brown 30 They may be classified 31 Resident of the second-largest U.S. city 35 Like some bulls 36 Dangerous part of a tour 41 Fan of the album ‘‘Aoxomoxoa,’’ say 43 Dress (up) 44 Flings without strings 45 Yogurt-based Indian drink 46 The Blue Marble 49 ‘‘Ditto!’’ 50 Part of ‘‘fwiw’’ 51 Sit in stir 53 Good people to ask for directions 55 Grok 56 Clothing store sign 58 Owed 59 Parts of many skyscrapers 63 Med. care option 64 South ____ 65 Wilson of film 67 Loud and clear, as a call to action 69 First name among billionaires 71 Demean 74 Woolly ma’am 76 Chats over Twitter, for short 77 ____ al-Fitr (holiday) 79 Lump sum? 83 Hawaiian home parts 85 Grabbed the reins 88 The barber of Seville 89 Singer Grande, to fans 90 Diverse ecosystem 92 Christine of ‘‘The Blacklist’’ 93 French 101 verb 95 Mustangs’ sch. 96 Back tracks? 98 Made bubbly 100 Not stop talking about 102 Supreme Court appointee before Thurgood Marshall 104 ‘‘Dios ____!’’ 105 Firm 107 Pin points? 108 Spacecraft’s reflective attachment 111 Ominous 112 Flexible spade, say 113 Like werewolves 116 Hairsplitter
120 Late actor Eisenberg
In which belts are worn
Ideal beta tester
Gives a boost, informally 129 Roger ____, first film critic to win a Pulitzer for criticism 131 Boots 132 Algebra I calculation 133 Worries 137 Calendar mo. 138 Captain’s log entry, maybe 142 Quinceañera feature 143 2013 Bong Joon Ho thriller 146 Hear out, say 147 N.Y.C. mayor after de Blasio 148 Alien’s line of communication? 149 Speedy travel option 150 Precept 151 John, abroad 152 Young ’uns 153 Cares for
Passport, for one 5 Vegan protein source made from fermented soybeans 6 Big name in ice cream 7 1993 Salt-N-Pepa hit 8 Heart-shaped, as leaves 9 Entree with boiling broth 10 Dash figure 11 No. 1 N.B.A. draft pick in 1992 12 Journalist ____ B. Wells
Outback, e.g.
Stereotypical football coach
Org. with grants
It’s got hops, for short
Superhero comics sound
Ties another knot
Bay Area airport code
Tennis division
Victor ____, role in ‘‘Casablanca’’
Professional saver?
Fad accessory of the 1980s
It comes off the top of one’s head
‘‘Cool beans!’’
Verbose
The eighth of eight
Feeling bad, in a way
Site of Hercules’ first labor
Leave it to beavers
Rage
Main connection?
Some antique furniture
Like 100 vis-à-vis 99, say 84 The Trojan priestess Cassandra, e.g. 86 Two-syllable cheer
Contest
Softened expletive on ‘‘Battlestar Galactica’’
Cutesy ending with most
Marijuana compound, for short
Some coding statements
United
2 The empty squares can be filled with the letters of SPACE OUT, reading top to bottom, to complete new words and phrases.
Having less vermouth, say 101 Air or Ear ender, in tech 103 ‘‘____ live and breathe!’’ 106 No longer funny
Jay with jokes
Does the same as
Blood typing, e.g. 114 Runnin’ ____ (N.C.A.A. basketball team) 115 In and of itself
Shining brightly
Former Jordanian queen
Formal accessory
Text file in a software package
Inundate, as with work
Runner Bolt
Like some parking
Attract while exploiting someone’s weakness
Shades
Cuts off the flow of
Way off the mark 135 Flair
‘‘That’s amusing’’ 3 Rose of Guns N’ Roses 123 456 78910 11 121314151617 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 28 2930 313233 34 35 3637 383940 41 4243 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 5152 53 54 55 56 5758 59606162 63 64 6566 67 686970 717273 7475 76 7778 79808182 83 848586 87 88 89 9091 92 9394 95 96 97 98 99100 101 102 103 104 105106 107 108109 110 111 112 113114115 116 117118119 120 121122 123124125126 127 128 129 130131 132 133134135 136137 138 139140141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 AHALTESCHMOISHNIB REXREEDSHOOINSDUALIPA PHLEGMYFORTLEEABRAHAM WAPGOODEATSADS ANGELENOPAPALWARZONE DEADHEADTOGCASUALSEX LASSIPLANETEARTHSOAMI ITSDOTIME LOCALSGET BOYSDUEIBARSHMOSEAS OWENCLARIONELON ABASEEWEDMSEIDSUGAR LANAISTOOKOVERFIGARO ARIREEFLAHTIETRESMU BSIDESAERATEDHARPON ABEFORTASMIOROCKSOLID MATS SOLARSAIL DIRE ACELUPINE PEDANTNED KARATEENDUSERGOOSES EBERTOUSTSSLOPE SWEATSITMARSTARDATE TILDESNOWPIERCERHUMOR ADAMSET PHONEHOMEACELA TENETSEANTOTSTENDS
4 The empty squares can be filled with the letters of SPACE OUT, reading top to bottom, to complete new words and phrases.
Q: Very long story short, I’m a woman in the process of getting out of a long and abusive marriage. I’m getting therapy. One factor of that abuse: I’m still a virgin, at least as far as penetration is concerned. (That’s another long story.) If I can even find anybody interested in me, how do I tell them the only stuff I know about consensual sex is what I’ve read about it? The few people I’ve told the full story didn’t believe me at first. All I can imagine is a new person running away.
Various Insecurities Rock Genuinely Inexperienced NewbieA: You shouldn’t hesitate to tell someone— particularly a new person you want to have sex with—that you’ve never had penetrative sex before. And while you don’t owe that new person the full story, VIRGIN, you might wanna tell them what you told me. Give them the outline: You want to fuck but you recently got out of an abusive marriage and you’re getting professional help to deal with the emotional fallout—so you’re not asking them to be your therapist—but you are understandably nervous and more than a little scared about the fucking you’d like to do. When we tell someone, “I’ve never done this before,” whatever the “this” we’re talking about might be, we’re letting that person know they’ll need to take things a little slower with us than they might with someone who’s had more experience—with penetrative sex or threesomes or being fisted or, again, whatever the “this” we’re talking about might be. And if we’re in a delicate place emotionally, letting the other person know we might be overwhelmed by big feelings—and big feelings aren’t always bad feelings—shows them we’re taking their comfort into consideration too, VIRGIN, because what we’re saying is, “I don’t want you to feel blindsided if I’m suddenly overwhelmed.”
And if the new person you share these things with responds by running away—if your worst fears are realized—tell yourself that person did you a favor. Because if they run away… they weren’t the right person, they weren’t the person you hoped they were, and you’re far better off finding all that out before you have sex, VIRGIN, not during or after. It may be a favor in a shitty disguise, VIRGIN, but it’s still a favor.
Because the first time you have penetrative sex you want it to be with someone who feels honored that you chose them, not burdened, and who understands they have a special responsibility to make sure you
feel safe before, during, and after. You are a gift. It’s a privilege to get to have sex with you—it’s a privilege to get to have sex with anyone—and being someone’s first, whatever first we’re talking about, carries a special responsibility. If someone doesn’t want that responsibility, VIRGIN, or if they can’t handle that responsibility, they don’t deserve you. The wrong ones will run away. The right one will stick around.
Q: I’m married and it’s... okay. We’re more like friends raising our son together than anything else. There’s no sex, but I’m whatever about that. But I’ve had on and off feelings for a coworker and friend for a few years now. I don’t know if it’s love or lust or whatever. I thought if I admitted my feelings to my crush, it would help me figure things out. It didn’t. I thought it would go one of two ways. Either he would say he didn’t feel the same, avoid me, and I would move on and get over it, or he would lean into it—he would let me know he was interested—and I would talk things over with my husband and we would go from there. But nothing changed. When I told him he basically replied, “Oh, no worries,” and acted the same. We’re still friends, but that’s it. My husband would be down to open things up, I think, as we’ve talked about having a threesome before. But I don’t have any interest in doing that if my crush isn’t into me, because I’m really not interested in anyone else. And to add to the complications, my crush has a girlfriend. What the hell do I do? Just sit here and yearn forever? Cause I’ve been doing that for about three years now and it’s getting old.
A: You’ve already done what a lot of people around here—around here in the comments thread, around here at this particular cultural moment—would’ve strongly urged you not to do: You hit on a coworker! A coworker in a relationship that probably isn’t open! Most opposite-sex relationships aren’t If you hit on your coworker and he responded with “no worries” and he hasn’t treated you any differently since… what the hell is happening? One of two things happened. You either hit on him so subtly he didn’t realize you were hitting on him, WHAT, or he decided to pretend you didn’t hit on him because he isn’t interested in cheating on his girlfriend with a married coworker and/or you aren’t the coworker he would cheat with and he doesn’t want you to feel bad about the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing you
did that day, WHAT, so he’s pretending you didn’t do that thing.
If you want absolute clarity from him, WHAT, you’ll have to risk the dreaded direct question: “I hit on you the other day— because I have crush on you—and ever since I’ve been wondering if that registered and, if it did, what you think.” (Good luck with HR if he got it the first time, wasn’t interested, and “no worries” was his way of saying “no thanks.”) Whatever you decide to do, whatever does or doesn’t happen with your coworker, don’t wait any longer to talk things over with your husband. It’s better to have that conversation about opening up your marriage without the added pressure of a DTF crush waiting for you back at the office.
Q: Polyamory seems like a beautiful concept to me. People have such an amazing capacity for love. However, where I used to see the word “polyamory,” I now frequently see the term “ethical non-monogamy” used instead. What is the difference between the two if any at all? Is the latter just another symptom of American culture’s emotionphobia or am I missing something? I don’t just want to fuck; I want to love the people I fuck. Am I alone in this poly ideal?
Pondering Over Linguistical Yens And Meanings
A: You’re definitely missing something. Ethical non-monogamy (ENM) and polyamory don’t mean the same thing—indeed, a few years ago polyamorous folks were complaining about people who just wanted to fuck describing themselves as polyamorous, which is probably why someone came up with the term ENM. To clarify, not confuse. Think of it like this: Bob and Carol decide to open their relationship on the condition that sex with other people be kept strictly casual—no repeats, no regulars, no feelings. So long as Bob and Carol honor the agreement they made with each other when they opened the relationship, POLYAM, and so long as Bob and Carol don’t mislead their casual sex partners—so long as they don’t encourage outside sex partners to think a
relationship is possible when all they wanna do is fuck—Bob and Carol are practicing non-monogamy in an ethical fashion. So, Bob and Carol are ENM, but they’re not poly. (Bob and Carol, please note: It’s just as important you don’t allow your outside sex partners to assume a relationship is possible; if someone might reasonably assume you’re single and open to dating, you two, you have to proactively inform them you are not.)
Ted and Alice, on the other hand, have a different agreement. They’re in love and committed to each other, but they’re dating other people and open to forming committed and concurrent romantic relationships with their other partners. So long as Ted and Alice are honoring the rules and conditions they set for themselves, they’re practicing non-monogamy in an ethical fashion. So, Ted and Alice, like Bob and Carol, are ENM, but they’re also poly.
And just to make things a little more complicated, POLYAM, while all healthy and functional polyamorous relationships are ENM, not all poly relationships are open relationships. Some triads, some quads, some quints, etc., are very much closed—they’re polyamorous and ENM, but no one else is going to be invited to the join the shared Google calendar.
With my 53-year-old pop culture reference out of the way (Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, which was released in 1969, is streaming now on Apple TV), POLYAM, you are not alone in wanting to love the people you fuck and fuck the people you love—the people you love romantically, of course, not your parents or siblings and other family members. But you shouldn’t assume that people who are ENM without being poly aren’t interested in love or fear intimacy. Two people can be very much in love, POLYAM, while having strict rules about keeping things casual with outside partners.
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Crown Castle is proposing to increase the height of an existing telecommunications monopole structure to 171 feet and add 2 outdoor equipment cabinets at the following site: 3034 Hunsinger Lane, Louisville, Je erson County, Kentucky, 40220, [Lat: 38-13 4.05, Lon: -85-37-31.1]. The structure will be located in Mcmahan Plaza center. Crown Castle invites comments from any interested party on the impact of the proposed action on any districts, sites, buildings, structures or objects signi cant in American history, archaeology, engineering or culture that are listed or determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and/or speci c reason the proposed action may have a signi cant impact on the quality of the human environment. Speci c information regarding the project is available by calling Monica Gambino, 2000 Corporate Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317, Monica.Gambino@CrownCastle.com, 724-416-2516 within 30 days of the date of this publication.
