Don’t Forget! CycLOUvia Happens This Sunday, Oct. 14th

Despite the seemingly goofy name*, CycLOUvia is happening on Bardstown Road this Sunday, October 14th, and we’re glad for it! Here’s the deal: Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue will be CLOSED to all automobile traffic between Douglass Boulevard and Broadway, open only to pedestrians and bicyclists (and other non-motorized folks) from 1:30 to 6:30 PM. Here’s a map of the closed area, with automobile access points: http://cyclouvia.org/map.

Even TARC buses are being detoured, so you know it’s serious. Serious fun! As someone who works part-time in two businesses on Bardstown Road (including a business that was recently damaged by a drunk driver — thankfully no one was hurt), I can’t think of anything better than to have a nice, chill day without aggressively-speeding or cluelessly-phone-talking car drivers on what is generally a pretty badly congested, lacklusterly policed road.

*the term comes from cyclovia, a successful 30-year long program to reduce automobile traffic in Bogota, Colombia.

The Third CROPPED OUT FESTIVAL begins TOMORROW

Our friends begin their annual CROPPED OUT festival tomorrow, September 28th (which, coincidentally, is my birthday!) at the American Turners Club on River Road, so let’s take a look at this year’s lineup, schedule, and tomfoolery. Firstly, if you haven’t seen this preview video yet, what planet are you from? Well, you better get in your saucer and get here soon! Check it out:

The entire schedule, broken down by venue, is available here: http://croppedoutmusic.com/cropped-out-2012-schedule/. Let’s take a look at each day’s offerings, shall we? Our “picks to click” are in bold:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th at the TURNERS CLUB (3125 River Road) –
Turner Tavern: SHE MIGHT BITE, MICROWAVES, THE SEDIMENT CLUB, TWIN SISTER RADIO, TV GHOST, CHAIN & THE GANG
Scully Alley: DISCO DOOM, GANGLY YOUTH, BUCK GOOTER, LANTERN, EUGENE CHADBOURNE
Phreedom Hall: THE RITCHIE WHITE ORCHESTRA, JANDEK, STREET GNAR, SLUG GUTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th at the TURNERS CLUB (3125 River Road) –
Turner Tavern: BINARY MARKETING SHOW, CAVE BEARS, GRAY/ZERANG DUO, COOL MEMORIES, SHAVED WOMEN, DAVID LIEBE HART, R. STEVIE MOORE
Scully Alley: WET, KARK, GLOBSTERS, WHITE WALLS, NEW MOTHER NATURE, GUERILLA TOSS, NEIL HAMBURGER
Phreedom Hall: BLACK KASPAR, RAW THUG, CRYS, PC WORSHIP, MERCHANDISE, LIL B
Spooky Beach: ASHCAN ORCHESTRA

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th at the WORKHORSE BALLROOM (1312 Lexington Road) –
PAPA M, WOODEN WAND, JOZEF van WISSEM

Wait, you want more? Well, we’ve got more for ya! How about a DOWNLOADABLE MIX of lots of this year’s CROPPED OUT performers, put together by CROPPED OUT homie James Ardery? Sound good? Well here it is! And here’s the tracklist:

1. Jozef van Wissem, “Lux Divinitatis”
2. PC Worship, “Tides”
3. Wooden Wand, “Servant to Blues”
4. CRYS, “Pass on the Third”
5. Shaved Women, “Circles”
6. Eugene Chadbourne, “Wine Me Up”
7. Globsters, “Roll You Up and Smoke You”
8. White Walls, “The Milk of a Lonely Man”
9. Microwaves, “Hammerspace”
10. Lil B, “Still Cookin’”
11. Guerilla Toss, “Breeding Snakes 4 Variety”
12. Buck Gooter, “Consider the Grackles”
13. Merchandise, “Time”
14. Wet, “Wetter than Wet Pt. 2: Pink Pearl”
15. Gangly Youth, “Jangly Youth”
16. The Ritchie White Orchestra, “Matt Says 2″
17. Chain & The Gang, “If Only I Had Your Brain”
18. R. Stevie Moore, “Schoolgirl”
19. Lantern, “Dreammine”
20. The Phantom Family Halo, “Black and White Magic”

It’ll only be up for a limited time, so grab it like it’s hot. Yeah. And enjoy.

Of course, a wealth of information, including tickets, is available at www.croppedoutmusic.com. Don’t miss what promises to be an awesome weekend! And we’ll see you there, by some bonfire, tellin’ jokes or something…

UPDATE, 9/27/2012: CROPPED OUT IS A DAY AWAY!

Some lineup changes to note: DAHM is unfortunately sick, so he will be missing this year’s CROPPED OUT. Get well, Dahm!

In his place are not one but two doozies: 90′s power-violence pioneers SUPPRESSION (from Roanoke, VA) and FAT HISTORY MONTH (from Boston, MA; on Sophomore Lounge).

Lots of food trucks and vendors and whatnot will be there too, so don’t forget the tomfoolery!

Aung San Suu Kyi to Speak at U of L

The Courier-Journal is reporting this evening that Nobel Prize winner and Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi will speak at the University of Louisville on September 24th:

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, a longtime pro-democracy activist in Myanmar who spent nearly two decades under house arrest, will speak Sept. 24 at the University of Louisville.

Suu Kyi’s visit — organized by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a fierce critic of Myanmar’s military junta — comes amid reforms in the former Burma that recently led the United States to restore full diplomatic relations.

In April, Suu Kyi was elected to the country’s parliament, more than 20 years after she was placed under house arrest in the violent crackdown that followed a short-lived pro-democracy movement.

McConnell, who has championed Suu Kyi’s cause and was among the U.S. leaders, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to recently visit the once-closed Southeast Asian nation, invited Suu Kyi to stop in Louisville, university officials said.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi symbolizes the peaceful struggle for freedom, democracy and reconciliation in Burma,” McConnell said. “Having her visit the University of Louisville and the Commonwealth of Kentucky is a great honor. I appreciate that she accepted my invitation, and we look forward to welcoming her to the Bluegrass State.”

Despite not being a big fan of McConnell, we gotta say, this is pretty fantastic, and we thank the Senator and the University for giving Suu Kyi the opportunity to speak in Louisville. Here’s how to get tickets:

The Center for Asian Democracy is inviting people in the Louisville community with ties to Myanmar to attend Aung San Suu Kyi’s talk Sept. 24 — including some in the refugee community. A limited number of tickets will be available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Those who want to request a ticket can do so at www.mcconnellcenter.org starting Monday.

Also, as a reminder, the Dalai Lama will visit Louisville in mid-May, 2013.

TONIGHT! A BENEFIT FOR TOM CARTER at ZANZABAR!

Cropped Out and The Other Side of Life are proud to present:

A BENEFIT FOR TOM CARTER

(photo of Tom Carter by Stephan Laackman)

with

SAPAT (on Siltbreeze; from Louisville, KY)
TROPICAL TRASH (Louisville, KY; on Loin Seepage/Sophomore Lounge)
SHEDDING (from Louisville, Kentucky)
R. KEENAN LAWLER (from Louisville, Kentucky)

Thursday, August 16th
at ZANZABAR
2100 S. Preston
9 PM, 21-and-over
$5 entry fee; additional donations encouraged
100% of all proceeds will be donated to The Robert Thomas Carter Irrevocable Trust.

ABOUT TOM CARTER:

While on a tour of Europe this spring with his band Charalambides, the Brooklyn based guitarist Tom Carter was hospitalized in Berlin, Germany for serious complications of pneumonia. In mid-July, Tom was transferred to a medical rehabilitation facility in Germany, near the Baltic Sea. Tom will receive medical care, monitoring and physical rehabilitation at the facility until the end of July. His doctors are also recommending that Tom not return to employment and normal levels of pre-illness activity until January 2013. This recommendation will be periodically reevaluated, but it seems to fall in line with common recovery projections for people who have experienced pneumonia at this level of seriousness. It is still unknown whether Tom will be able to return to New York immediately after the rehabilitation, or if it will be necessary for him to, instead, reside elsewhere with his family for a time. Although his condition continues to improve, Tom is still weak and his condition must come closer to what his normal baseline health will be, in order for doctors to assess what type of further treatment he will need in the US. It does seem to be certain that Tom will require follow up care once back in the States.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:

Tom Carter is a tremendous musician, and a caring, compassionate individual who will need long-term help to recover from his illness. Cropped Out, The Other Side of Life, and the musicians playing the benefit are joining forces with a number of promoters, musicians, and concerned friends of Tom all across the South to curate benefit shows during the middle of August. This unique situation of multiple forces across an entire region presents a rare opportunity to help a friend who has given us so much over the years — his music, friendship, and encouragement.

(Photo of Sapat by Ginger Goss, from Loin Seepage.)

Spawned from the formidable Louisville, KY collective known as Black Velvet Fuckere, SAPAT resides as the centrifugal force in this Midwestern psychedelic madrigal set in the psychosexual backwaters of the mighty Ohio River. For the entirety of the ‘00 decade, members have kept busy collaborating with and/or massaging the egos of various and sundry avant-pontiffs such as Robert Fripp, Magik Markers, Dead Child and Eugene Chadbourne – when not honing the orgone energy of SAPAT.

TROPICAL TRASH have caused quite a stir with their new 7″, Fear of Suffering, on Sophomore Lounge. Still Single describes TROPICAL TRASH as an “Excellent combination of thrashing energy and solid ideas that break apart and recombine in novel, tuneful ways.” They’re just as thrilling live as on record, so don’t miss this opportunity to rock out with ‘em!

SHEDDING has been a solo vehicle for Connor Bell since 2001, and has released several items over those years available at Ocio and Hometapes. SHEDDING‘s music is meditative and still, eerie and unsettling — yet with a spectacular sense of melody.

R. KEENAN LAWLER is a musician and sound artist based in Louisville Kentucky. For over 25 years his musical journey has taken him from early experiments with reverb tanks, noise and tape decks to all manner of avant-garde, “new” music, psychedelia, electro-acoustic, drone, ethnic and sampler-based work. LAWLER is best known for developing a highly personal and exploratory language for the metal bodied resonator guitar which Baltimore’s John Berdnt called “Cosmic, monolithic and deeply American.” Primarily a solo performer, he is also known for collaborative work. His guitar playing is also heard on releases by Paul K., Jack Wright, My Morning Jacket and on Matmos’ The Civil War. He has collaborated or performed with a wide range of forward-thinking musicians and mavericks including Rhys Chatham, John Butcher, Eliott Sharp, Charalambides, Ignaz Schick/Perlonex, Kaffe Matthews, Burning Star Core, Jason Kahn, Ut Gret, Thaniel Ion Lee, Ed Wilcox, Ramesh Srinivasan, Kevin Drumm, Arco Flute Foundation, Helena Espvall, Ian Nagoski, Connor Bell, Andy Willis, Alan Licht, Taksuya Nakatani, Tom Carter, Bhob Rainey, Aaron Rosenblum, Joe Dutkiewicz, Evergreen, Eric Carbonara and Joseph Suchy.

Check out helptomcarter.org to see other ways that you can help contribute to Tom’s recovery!

Find the Facebook invite here: http://www.facebook.com/events/428050753912799.

To join our email list, send an email to hstencil@gmail.com. You can also join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/232825523444477/.

UPDATE, 8/17/2012: Hey Louisville! We raised $475 last night to benefit Tom Carter and help with his recuperation from pneumonia. Thanks again to everyone who attended, played, or otherwise helped with the benefit, and thanks again to Zanzabar for hosting it.

The Mammoth Profiled By a Dinosaur

(photo of Hallie Jones and Aron Conaway from the Courier-Journal.)

Okay, so the snarky headline was too good to pass up. In yesterday’s Courier-Journal, there was an excellent, and expansive, profile of The Mammoth, the behemoth multi-use arts space in Louisville’s Park Hill neighborhood, run by Aron Conaway and Hallie Jones:

Now, with this three-story, 90,000-square-foot building — where Conaway and Jones live on the first floor — and another attached building with 36,000 square feet, the couple are poised to see their dream become a reality.

They’re looking to convert this space, which they now call The Mammoth, into art studios and artists’ residences, an art installation space and art gallery, an independent media center, band practice spaces, a live music venue, film-viewing space and even community gardens and other green spaces.

The idea is to have enough space for artists to have the privacy to work on their own, but also shared space to work together. It includes outfitting the space with equipment for making art.

The plan includes artists pooling their resources and generating income for the endeavor though sideline businesses and eventually renting space to commercial businesses. The couple envisions a nonprofit entity overseeing the shared art-making spaces.

While we haven’t yet been to The Mammoth, we’re excited about it. Read more here.

Dalai Lama to Visit Louisville Next May

(photo of the Dalai Lama from Louisville.com)

Louisville.com is reporting that the Dalai Lama has scheduled a visit to Louisville next year:

The Dalai Lama recently confirmed plans to travel to Louisville next year, on a mission designed to spread blessings and compassion. He is making the trip here to bless a Tibetan Buddhist temple and teaching center, and to also reach out to the general public. He is scheduled to visit Louisville May 19-21, 2013.

The Dalai Lama is a frequent guest of Bloomington, Indiana, where his brother founded a Buddhist center. He, however, is not a frequent guest to Louisville, or even to Kentucky. The last time he was in Kentucky was in 1996 for recognition after he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. The last time he was in Louisville was two years prior to that; the purpose of his 1994 trip was to visit the Cathedral of the Assumption.

In May, the Dalai Lama will be visiting the Drepung Gomang Institute (DGI) and the Tashi Gomang Dharma Center, located on Hubbards Lane.

Pretty exciting news, presuming the Mayans are wrong and the world doesn’t end. Though we can’t help but wonder what Southern Baptist Seminary President and local blowhard Al Mohler has to say about it? Probably nothing as wise or coherent as:

…So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I’m a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald… striking. So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one – big hitter, the Lama – long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? “Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga.” So we finish the 18th and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.” And he says, “Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.” So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.

Music this Weekend, July 26-29

As we’ve said before, the weekend starts early around here, so we’d like to inform you of a few under-the-radar cultural events goin’ on in Louisville (complete with links to peruse!).

First off, our sister blog The Other Side of Life is co-promoting a show tonight in conjunction with Cropped Out and Black Velvet Fuckere:

(Flier by Ryan Davis.)

SAPAT (on Siltbreeze; from Louisville, KY)
BLUES CONTROL (on Drag City; from Coopersburg, PA)
PARLOUR (on Temporary Residence; from Louisville, KY)
WET (from Louisville, KY)

Thursday, July 26th 2012
at The Cathouse
747 S. Preston
All Ages! Doors at 8 PM, $5

There’s more information at the Facebook invite here: http://www.facebook.com/events/121230094685490, and you can read this great interview with BLUES CONTROL in this week’s LEO Weekly:http://leoweekly.com/music/spiritual-station-blues-control.

But if you’re in a more metal mood tonight, you can always check out TORCHE, BUSH LEAGUE, OLD VIKINGS, and NERVOUS ENERGY at Phoenix Hill Tavern for $10, and the show starts at 7 PM (can’t find a flier online, and we can’t bring ourselves to link to Phoenix Hill, but whatever it should still be a good show).

On Friday night, our friends at Astro Black Records (that’s the awesome new record store in the back of Quill’s, run by Jim Marlowe of Tropical Trash) are presenting a rad show at Lisa’s Oak Street Lounge: TROPICAL TRASH, CROSS (from Lexington), and MILK MUSIC (who we keep hearing great things about!) — here’s the Facebook invite for more info: http://www.facebook.com/events/441691975861428/. Lisa’s is at 1004 E. Oak Street (just off the corner of Swan), and $5 with 9 PM doors.

Also Friday night the new lineup of TWIN SISTER RADIO debuts at the Cathouse (747 S. Preston) with THE CARIBBEAN (from Washington, D.C.) and Connor Bell’s SHEDDING. 9 PM, $5. Gonna be tough to make both shows but we’re gonna try!

Saturday night our friends THE LITTLE BROTHERS are playing at Against the Grain, at 401 E. Main in Slugger Field. Not sure if there’s a cover, but they’re playing three sets, with no repeated songs, so that should be excellent. 8:30 PM start time.

On Sunday, whew… we’re gonna rest! Let us know, though, if there’s anything else goin’ on and we’ll list it!

Simpsonville Slaughter Historical Marker to be Dedicated Sunday

(Marker image from 5th Regiment Cavalry, United States Colored Troops site.)

On Sunday, out in Simpsonville just east of Louisville, a new historical marker will be dedicated along U.S. 60, telling the tale of the “Simpsonville Slaughter” that occurred in 1865. We’ll admit, we’d never even heard of this terrible part of our nation’s history until we read the Courier-Journal‘s story on the dedication this morning:

A historical marker noting a Civil War massacre called the Simpsonville Slaughter will be dedicated Sunday along U.S. 60 at Webb Road, one-half mile west of Simpsonville.

On Jan. 25, 1865, while driving a herd of cattle to a slaughterhouse in Louisville, elements of the 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry were attacked near Simpsonville by Confederate guerillas.

Twenty-two soldiers were killed and at least 20 others wounded, including four of whom died later of their wounds.

The cavalry was based at Camp Nelson, and nearly all of the soldiers were former slaves.

The ceremony dedicating the marker will be at 2 p.m. on the 144th anniversary of the incident.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, will begin indoors at the Whitney M. Young Job Corps Center gymnasium; the center is just off U.S. 60.

The marker will then be unveiled at the intersection, less than a quarter-mile from the center.

The keynote speaker at the 2 p.m. service will be W. Stephen McBride, director of interpretation and archaeology at the Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park in Jessamine County. Civil War re-enactors will participate in the ceremony.

Jerry Miller, the volunteer Simpsonville Slaughter project manager with the Shelby County Historical Society, said most of the victims of the attack were buried in a mass grave near the site of the ambush and near where the marker will be erected.

Pretty interesting stuff, to be sure! There’s much more information available both at the 5th Regiment Cavalry site and at the Camp Nelson site.

Short Friends of Otter Creek Park Interview on 84 WHAS

(Otter Creek Park sign from whas.com.)

From our sister blog, Save Otter Creek Park:

84 WHAS aired a short story on Friends of Otter Creek Park this morning. You can read the story here, and listen to it here. There’s a short clip of audio in the piece from when I was interviewed by Suzanne Duvall of 84 WHAS last Friday. Obviously they couldn’t use everything, but the short bit where I point out that Otter Creek Park is one of the things that makes Louisville “unique” was nice.

Both WHAS-11 and WDRB-41 (clicking on the WDRB link will open Windows Media Player) mention the meeting tonight in news stories as well. Links courtesy the Valley Report.

And as the story points out, please don’t forget tonight’s meeting at the Southwest Government Center, 219 Dixie Hwy #106 in Southwest Louisville at 7 PM!

UPDATE: The agenda for tonight’s meeting has been posted here: http://saveottercreekpark.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/agenda-for-tonights-meeting.

Friends of Otter Creek Park Meeting January 5th

Here’s an update on Otter Creek Park happenings from our affiliated blog http://saveottercreekpark.wordpress.com:

The next meeting of the group provisionally entitled Friends of Otter Creek Park will be Monday, January 5th, 2009 at the Southwest Government Center, 7219 Dixie Hwy #106 in Southwest Louisville at 7 PM. This group is a citizen-led, grassroots effort to explore what possibilities exist for keeping Otter Creek Park open for recreational usage and free from commercial, industrial or residential development. Given that Louisville Metro government plans to close OCP on Thursday, January 1st, we are also committed to finding ways to reopen the park to the public as soon as possible.

As of this writing, this group has many members but no clear organization or official mission, so defining the group will be the main task of Monday’s meeting. The author of this blog, Joel Hunt, was elected Co-Chairperson of the group along with Patsy Bowman (organizer of the previous two rallies), and as such I wrote an initial email to our members, of which the elements which pertain to the next meeting I’ll share here:

… Our next meeting at the Southwest Government Center on Monday, January 5th, 2009 at 7:00 PM. The meeting will be open to the public and the local news media, as well as any other group with an interest in keeping Otter Creek Park open. Louisville Metro representatives and/or representatives from any other relevant government agency (counties, state, federal) will be invited as well. Information about the meeting will be publicized on http://saveottercreekpark.wordpress.com as well as on the Facebook Save Otter Creek Park group.

As we all know, the Park will be closed by the city on January 1st, so the next steps that we as a group take will be important. With that in mind, being organized and presenting a clear, coherent message to the community at large about what Otter Creek Park means to us and our families is very important. So in turn I’d like to propose that we develop an agenda for the next meeting, with the emphasis first on organizing as a group by determining sub-committees to tackle individual goals (examples: Petitions and Volunteering; Public Relations and Media; Non-Profit and Charity Outreach, etc.), electing officers, and discussing whether this group should or should not be incorporated as some sort of legal entity. Additionally, I think we need to see what petition signatures we as a group can collect in the next two weeks, and consolidate that data into phonebanks and email lists. Lastly, we need to craft a mission statement for the group, as well develop a media strategy to inform the public. That said, these are what I think the priorities should be, but I am more than happy to keep the agenda open not only to members of this committee, but the general public as well. While saving Otter Creek Park is our goal, we should exercise as much transparency as possible to achieve it.

So send along your suggestions for the meeting’s agenda to this email, saveottercreekpark@gmail.com, and I’ll put forth a rough version to send to everyone in the next few days (as time allows — obviously the holidays are busy times for everyone, myself included!). If there’s anyone you think should be involved with this effort but isn’t included on this email, please let me know ASAP! Also, if there are concerned community members out there who don’t use email but want to be involved, please put them in contact with myself and the group. We need as many committed people as possible!

With that in mind, we’re sounding the call now. If you are interested in joining our cause, you are welcome to join us at the Southwest Government Center on Monday the 5th. If you would like to take an active role in helping us develop the agenda for the meeting — as well as what direction the group may take — please contact me at saveottercreekpark@gmail.com. I’ll post the meeting’s agenda in the next few days as soon as a draft version is ready.

Additionally, please contact your Louisville Metro Councilmember and invite them to the meeting. You can do so by contacting them here:

Metro Council
601 W. Jefferson St.
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 574-1100
Address postal mail to individual Councilmember.

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/MetroCouncil/ – This site links to individual Councilmembers.

Additionally, WFPL, Louisville’s National Public Radio station, is running a story this morning that confirms the the City of Louisville is searching for another entity, whether public or private, to run Otter Creek Park after the city closes it this Thursday, January 1st:

Otter Creek Park in Meade County is set to close this week. But efforts aimed at re-opening the park in 2009 are underway.

For decades, Otter Creek Park has been owned and operated by Louisville Metro Government. But the park will close on Friday to help meet a $20 million city budget shortfall.

Metro Parks is looking for another entity to operate the facility, such as the state or the city of Fort Knox. Spokesperson Jason Cissell says even if a new operator is found now, the park will still close this week.

“It would take some time to transition it over to another operating entity, to give them time to staff-up and prepare to operate the facility,” he says. “We don’t have a specific timeframe but we would be hopeful that it would re-open within a matter of months if someone else were able to come in and operate it.”

Cissell says if a public entity doesn’t agree to take over Otter Creek Park, the city may consider private interests. He says a private operator would still be required to keep the facility open to the public, only for recreational use.

This is the first time that Metro Parks has mentioned finding another entity to run OCP, and so far no one from Metro Parks or elsewhere in Louisville Metro government has made an effort to contact our citizens group to inform us of these negotiations. As far as we know, they haven’t contacted any other recreational-interest group, either.