It's All About...

Friday off, but here's a taste of what's on.

Just a few days away from  our nation's birthday, we decided to take a look at some of its best features: the states. This week's mix tape includes songs with state's in the name. (Not a single Kentucky song made the list...because there are so many good ones, we decided to give them their own list next week.) Again, my new favorite Friday morning activity is reading over this list and deciding who among our team of mixers -- Editor Scott, Intern Yvette, Walter Tunis, Rich Copley and myself -- is the biggest Rufus Wainwright fan. Not going to lie, some of those picks will surprise you.

(Can I make a confession? I always like a song more when it mentions a place I've lived. I've listened to the Old 97's sing Coahuila more times than I'd like to admit because of the line, "You never meet no decent girls at Dallas honky tonks." Silly? Yes. I'll raise my hand for that.)

I'm out of the office today, so let's keep this short.

It's all about...

Movies: The tragic news from last night was that after our frustrating drive to Louisville, we arrived at the theater only to learn that the Transformers screening had been sold out for an hour already. I'm still smarting a bit from that one, and you do not get a review today for that very reason. On the upside, we saw 1408 instead -- hey, we were already at the theater! -- and there's nothing bad about John Cusack. Ever.

• Open Season is the Free Friday Flick at Jacobson Park tonight. Pre-show activities start at 7 p.m., and the movie starts at dusk.
• Other new movies this week include Ratatouille, Once, Live Free or Die Hard, Into Great Silence and Evening.
• About the Simpsons vote we keep writing about...apparently, it's not working yet. This is supposed to be the site where it's held, and we were told it would be up Thursday, but there's still no sign of actual content. I'll keep you updated.

TV: It's not exactly TV news for this weekend, but the new American Idol auditions were set. You can head to Dallas, Omaha, Atlanta, Charleston, S.C., Miami or Philadelphia.

Stage: The Lion King is taking the stage at the Kentucky Center in Louisville through July 8.

Visual arts: Aqueous USA 2006. Way out in Ashland, but probably worth seeing if you head to that region.

Amy Winehouse's video, drying tears. (Or drawing them?)

But really, when that smoke-grated voice rolls out, you're seeing an image of someone bigger, older, wiser behind it. So how do you marry little Amy with that kind of sound?

By hiring David LaChapelle, natch.

The man behind flashy celeb portraits and anchor-swinging Gwen Stefani videos directed Winehouse's latest audio-visual treat, Tears Dry On Their Own. It features the songstress strolling through Hollywood, passing all the pimps, prostitutes and preachers like they're flowers blowing along the sidewalk. She's all drab dress, big hair and wandering mind.

Only when she makes it to that seedy hotel, the one done up in a LaChapelle style, does she seem to have a focus. And he's not showing up. In that last shot, when she drops her head into her hands and those tears are about to be anything but dry, that's the image you're looking for, as big, old and wise as that voice.

The White Stripes' Icky Thump.

First, my apologies. After an  soul-draining weekend of packing, moving, cleaning and life-reassessing, I've been cursed with a spotty Internet connection. For now, blogging is scattered. I'll get it back on track as soon as I've found the appropriate cables, which are likely buried beneath shoes, spoons and cans of spray paint.

Moving on.

Icky Thump.

It's now been out for a week, and with each listen, it's more intriguing. Similarly, it gets tougher to say anything critical about it. (Maybe I'm just going soft. As if I had such a steely gaze before.)

Consider my initial reactions versus my current state of mind...

Cover art
First look: They look like that animated band from Mary Poppins. Go! Leap into a painting! Fly a kite! Up to the highest heights!
Later looks: Man, Meg and Jack actually look kind of happy in these photos. That's so sweet. Remember how dour and peaked they looked on, say, De Stijl and White Blood Cells? And how desperately Jack needed to get that caterpillar off his face on Satan? How precious this is! And wow, Jack? Great hair.

Conquest
First listen: Oh my god, it sounds like bad high school theater. Caaaaaaaa-aaaaaahnquehhhhhhhst!
Later listens: Wow, this is such a great cover. Patti Page must be the queen of sass.

Little Cream Soda
First listen: Oooh, neat!
Later listens: Oooooooooh, neat!

Rag and Bone
First listen: What a fun little ditty. I love when they talk. And I just love that line about looking for everything, from Technics turntables to gramophones.
Later listens: What kind of junk are they talking about exactly? In what way are they collecting junk? Do they feel they've done that on their albums? Are they turning junk into something, into money? WOW. How about I just enjoy the song and hush up my little head about this?

The album is turning out to be like a good movie. The more I listen, the more I hear. The stories become more vivid, the sounds more meaningful. I'm still not really on the rock-bagpipe bandwagon, but check back with me in a week.

 

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Consider: Kentucky could host the world premiere of The Simpsons movie.
We've got one of 14 Springfields that are vying for the premiere. As of today, you should be able to go here to vote for the Springfield that most represents the spirit of the animated town. (It's not up and running yet, though, as far as I can tell.) The voting ends July 9 and the winner will be announced around July 10. For some serious analysis of our chances and our reasoning, check out Copious Notes.

Drums Across the Bluegrass tonight!

Spirit of JSU at Drums Across the Bluegrass. 2005.

Good news, sportsfans. It's Drums Across the Bluegrass night in Lexington, which means you'll be able to hear the beat all the way down Tates Creek Road.

For the uninitiated, it's a big old drum corps show right here in our home state. It draws the big and small, the famous and the newborn. You think it sounds lame, I know, but believe me, it is one of the best nights of the year here.

A few reasons why...

• The music is fantastic. Corps members practice for multiple seasons so they can march, dash, play, spit fire and bake peanut butter cookies all at once. No note is out of place. The Cadets and Phantom Regiment are among the top-scoring groups every year. You'll want to see it.
• The crowd is passionate. You think you know passion because you live in Kentucky and passion is what we do here. But these are parents, music lovers and band geeks who will follow these groups, Phish-style, for weeks and months at a time. Some of them marched, but many just love it. And don't even try, say, getting up to get a Coke during a performance. The booing and hissing will send you diving under the bleachers.
• The participants are local. This show is organized largely by Southwind, Lexington's own corps. There are kids from across the globe that come to Kentucky to participate, but there are plenty from this state, too. As they like to put it, they're Kentucky's musical ambassadors. Be nice to them.

To check it out, head to Tates Creek High School, 1111 Centre Parkway in Lexington. Call 859-268-5244 for ticket information. And check out the H-L tomorrow for results and photos.

Carolina Crown at Drums Across the Bluegrass.2005.

Tonight's lineup:
Southwind, Lexington, KY
The Cadets, Allentown, PA
Phantom Regiment, Rockford, IL
Carolina Crown, Fort Mill, SC
Boston Crusaders, Boston, MA
Spirit from JSU, Jacksonville, AL
Teal Sound, Jacksonville, FL

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Listen: Silence.
That's what you'll hear if you tune into most Internet radio stations today. They're protesting the fee increases to play songs starting July 15. Some say the increases will close some operations, leaving you with exactly what you hear today -- not much.

Prepare: The KY Women Writers Conference announced its lineup of presenters.
It's back, under new management, at a new time, with what appears to be a smaller, more streamlined approach. The big speaker is Sally Jenkins, a reporter for the Washington Post and author of eight books. The conference will run Sept. 28-29.

Weekend to-dos: Local music, new movies, girly comedy and Shakespeare.

And moving. At least, that's the to-do for my weekend.

The soundtrack for the packing and lifting will by The White Stripes' Icky Thump. Since its release on Tuesday, it's my new favorite way to distract from real life. I reviewed it this week, but I promise a longer discussion next week. Suffice to say that the album manages to be exciting and new while completely nostalgic for me. Would you agree, Stripesfans?

In other music news, our summer mix this week focused on songs with animals in the titles. I realize that we made a huge gaffe by not including the obvious: Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones. Thank heaven we're not calling this a "best of" list, or I'd be embarrassed.

Also to be all about this weekend...

Movies: The newbies for the week are A Mighty Heart, which sounds fantastic, and 1408, which got a fab review considering it's a thriller. And then there's Evan Almighty, which I so want to like, because I do love Steve Carrell. But...not looking good.

• Free Friday Flicks at Jacobson Park features Charlotte's Web. If I weren't packing the contents of my home into boxes, I'd so be there. It's a pig! And a spider! What's not to love?
• Boston filmmaker Jean Donohue is working on a documentary about Lexington's "infamous artistic underground," called The Last of the Pagan Babies. An invitation-only fund-raiser will show a part of it on Saturday. To attend, call (859) 581-0033 or e-mail jdonohue@mwg.org.

Stage: The first of many locally produced Shakespeare productions will continue this weekend. Check out Love's Labour's Lost at Equus Run Vineyards in Midway. You can find Rich Copley's impressions of opening night, plus an audio report on it, over at Copious Notes.

• The Southern Fried Chicks Comedy Tour will stop at the Lexington Opera House tonight to film a special for CMT. See our Q&A with Etta May here.

Music: While all the Bonnaroo kids are still recovering from last weekend, consider the significantly calmer and cleaner Renfro Valley Bluegrass Festival. In a far odder musical moment, during the WoodSongs taping featuring Cherryholmes on Monday, Gov. Ernie Fletcher will re-enact signing HB 171, which made bluegrass the official music of Kentucky. Here's more info from Walter Tunis.

• If hip-hop is more you're style, The Dame will feature CunninLynguists and Devin the Dude tonight, and a launch party for Lexingtonhiphop.com on Thursday.
• Saturday night will bring a Velvet Underground Tribute with local bands to the same stage. More local acts will be on at The Dame this week, during a Petticoat Petticoat/Page France performance Tuesday to celebrate YouAintNoPicasso.com, and then the Parlour Boys next Friday.

Eat: Reviewer Clinton Comley seems to think we'd all be better off grabbing a meal before hitting the new Movie Tavern. His advice: Just stick with the beer. Sounds like a good night to me!

Get Fuzzy, finally.

After many years of anecdotal evidence that Get Fuzzy was a kind-of-popular comic strip, even among people who weren’t getting it in their daily newspaper, it’s finally a fixture on our comics page

It was the clear winner in a recent poll. The runner-up was less clear -– Mutts and Over the Hedge were almost tied –- so we’re auditioning more strips now. You can vote again in July, when we’ll ask for even more opinions on our current comics.

So let's say you're new to a life of fuzz, and not among the bitter hordes burning the H-L for cutting B.C. and Wizard of Id.

Here’s the rundown: Bucky Katt is a lazy, bullying know-it-all who knows nothing. He is, of course, a cat.

Satchel Pooch is sweet, dopey and endlessly loyal, even to the wicked, snaggletoothed cat.

Rob Wilco is their helpless owner, a Lowe Tech grad and single guy who dares not bring women back to his fur-covered apartment. He has the incredible, yet unremarked-on, talent for being able to chat with his animals. Good thing they’re a witty bunch.

To truly get fuzzy, check out Groovitude: A Get Fuzzy Treasury. Published in 2002, just three years after the strip was born, it explains how Bucky and Satch have developed into the immature, adult animals they are. Once you’ve gotten through that, check out LoserPalooza, a new treasury of Get Fuzzy cartoons published just last month. Not kidding: hours of entertainment.

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Ponder: How does a Paducah Gap manager become an Internet/fashion phenom?
By being funny and honest and well-dressed and sweetly Kentuckian. William Sledd, a guy from Paducah, was just named one of Yahoo's People of the Web. You might have seen his fashion pointers on YouTube.

Tales from Ohio.

I have an Ohio problem. As my Ohio-native pal Jeff pointed out, when I drove into the state Monday afternoon, I had a bias against it. I am a Michigan-born Kentucky dweller. Ohio is the giant blob of land between every place I’m trying to go.

My point of view was not helped after miles of flat land and Interstate, when I felt certain that three hours had passed and was shocked to learn it was only one. (One! Just one, long, excruciating hour!)

Things only got worse around exit 176, when Google Maps took us off the main road and onto a series of county and state highways that would eventually drop us in Sandusky, home of Cedar Point. (Maybe I should revise. I have a California problem. Who, over there in Mountain View, suggested these directions?) These are the kind of dusty roads that you could spin off of and not be found for weeks. While more interesting scenery than 71, I was infinitely more focused with not dying here. Decapitated on a roller coaster or free fall? I've accepted those risks. Rotting while staring at an Ohio field? No.

Among other things, we saw all three of Sandusky's indoor water parks -- because one is never enough -- and accidentally drove through Thomas Edison's hometown. (Fun!) We came out alive, and determined to find better directions.

In fairness, every state has its quirks and its dry spots -- have you read our Project Dateline series? -- although the best crack that Ohio-born Jeff could make for Michigan was poking fun at the name "Kalamazoo." ::shrug:: I guess it's a little odd, sure.

Still, I couldn't help but remember a few weeks ago, talking with Drew Curtis, the creator of Fark.com. He told me that if a state other than Florida has a shot at earning that supreme tag of wierdness and surprise on the site, it's Ohio.

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The following are actual moments of conversation from our drive. You know, those moments when Tricia and Yvette, our brave Herald-Leader interns, were awake. I can't blame them. There's not a lot to see on a blazing hot Ohio freeway, even with The Rolling Stones and the AC blasting.
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Somewhere along State Road 13...
Tricia, pointing at a sign: "Look! Guinea pigs for sale!"
About one mile later...
Jamie, pointing at a sign: "Wolf puppies...for sale. Uh oh."
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Shortly before arriving in Sandusky...
Tricia: "There's a drive-thru African  safari!"
Jamie: "Well then, why are we going to Cedar Point?"
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Only slightly lost, in the town of Milan...
Tricia: "This is Thomas Edison's hometown?"
Jamie: "Who would've guessed? He must have been a creative fellow."
Tricia: "Or he was just bored."

Buy cheap, read more, save McSweeney's.

A drawing for sale on eBay to benefit McSweeney's.

I was browsing Hipster Book Club this weekend when I saw the news that McSweeney's, that funky, funny, flagrantly odd literary journal/indie publisher/literacy education outfit is in financial trouble. The parent company of their distributor, Publishers Group West, filed for bankruptcy late last year, leaving McSweeney's and scads of other small publishers without a big empty hole where profits once sat.

In the case of McSweeney's, the total loss is $130,000. To recoup some of the money quickly, there's a massive sale on everything in the McSweeney's vault. Backlist books, quarterlies, gift books -- all cheap.

And the stuff in seriously short supply -- original lettering by Chris Ware, doodles by Spike Jonze, autographs from Sarah Vowell -- is all for sale in online auctions ending throughout the next few days.

Feel free to drop $5,000 on a painting by Dave Eggers or a $1,000 on a personal tour of The Daily Show by John Hodgman. I'll envy you.

  But the really valuable stuff are the books you can snag from your bedside table and devour. Aside from providing grand literary entertainment, there's a lot of good work going on there to create new generations of lit lovers and creative writers. I don't see much talk of what happens if they don't make back the money. Maybe it's a virtual guarantee obvious that a huge sale on some fab eBay auctions will do the trick. But that kind of risk doesn't sit well with my stomach, or my bookshelf.

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Tell: Send us information about your 2007-08 season!

The H-L is looking for listings for our Fall Arts guide. Concerts, plays, ballets, operas and exhibits in Kentucky and the Cincinnati area will be included in the Lexington Herald-Leader’s annual arts calendar, to be published in early September.

Send your group names, times, dates, places with street addresses, ticket prices and telephone numbers, along with a daytime contact number, to:

Fall Arts Calendar, Attn: Harriett Hendren, 100 Midland Avenue, Lexington, KY 40508 or e-mail information to hhendren@herald-leader.com.

The deadline for submissions is Aug. 1.

If you have questions, call (859) 231-3324 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3324.

What to do away from Bonnaroo.

I suspect my weekend will be filled with painting walls, cleaning windows and packing boxes. Do not follow my example. At least those activities are all made better by a nice summer soundtrack, like the one we built this week to continue our summer of mixes.  In honor of Grand Night for Singing, we focused on our favorite songs from movie soundtracks. This was tough just to narrow it down, so I'm happy Ray Charles, The Shins and Aimee Mann all made the cut.

Otherwise, it's all about...

Barbara Kingsolver, Mr. Wizard, White Stripes and more.

I'm off on another amusement park adventure today, but here's a list of things to do, people to meet, points to ponder and music to hear.

Go: Barbara Kingsolver speaks on UK's campus tonight.

The Kentucky native and best-selling author will be speaking about her new book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, in which she and her family pledged to eat local for a year. Check it out at 7 p.m. tonight at Memorial Hall on University of Kentucky's campus. Note: You need a ticket for this event. I heard they're already gone, so you'll want to check with Joseph-Beth before you show up expecting to talk turkeys with Barb.

Listen: The new White Stripes album is streaming online.
All right, so they're dressed a bit like that bedazzled animated band in Mary Poppins. But the music? Quite good. Icky Thump will be released next week.

Mourn: Mr. Wizard Don Herbert, who died this week.
I remember him from Mr. Wizard's World on Nickelodeon in the 1980s, but he was explaining electricity and colors and all that good stuff long before then. Here's the NPR story, too, which includes video clips.

Read: Why dad gets silly cards and mom gets mushy cards.
Dad, if you're reading this, please understand why I haven't sent a card. You're so much more than a  fishing, golfing, farting, napping, grilling, remote-hogging, car-fixing, emotion-free money machine to me!

Enjoy: Rich Copley is blogging Ichthus!
Expect live updates, interviews, multimedia, all the beautiful things the Internet brings. Yesterday's adventure: pitching a tent in 90-degree heat after donating a pint of blood. That might beat our last newspaper-based tent-pitching experience.

Listen more: Ed McClanahan and Guy Mendes take on Trivial Thursday.
The writer and the photographer will playful wreak havoc on Mick Jeffries' show on WRFL 88.1-FM from 7-9 a.m. today. Yeah, you're going to want to hear them. Listen online by clicking here.