It's All About...

Movies, music and munching for the weekend.

Happy weekend!

Here's the to-do:

Movies: New this week are Fred Claus, King of California, Lions for Lambs and P2. Did you notice our fancy new five-star rating system?

Music: Strings are big this weekend, with the Reel World String Band celebrating its 30th anniversary on Saturday and Flying Fingers! concert with Andrew Leonard, Pat Kirtley and Endless Road Strings at Singletary Center tonight.

• Also, The Dialectics CD release party, with Club Dub, will be Saturday at The Dame.
• If I were capable of anything but binge sleep on Friday nights, I'd drive to Louisville for the Buddy Guy/Shemekia Copeland show tonight at the Kentucky Center's Whitney Hall.

Books: Let me just say it one more time -- Kentucky Book Fair, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Frankfort Convention Center. I'll be rocking the H-L booth at 11 a.m., and perusing the fair for many hours after. Come visit. (Did you go to JB last night? Did you see the massive crowd there for Music of Coal? Wasn't that fabulous?)

Eat: Clinton H. Comley reviewed Natasha's this week -- sounds like he dug the goulash, the hummus and the gypsy dancers.  In other news, Sharon Thompson reports that a new Cosi opened in Victorian Square and YES, the Farmers Market is still open! Eat, and enjoy!

Best bathrooms, best music, best food...

The Seal of Awesomeness returns this month with a very personal hunt: best bathrooms.

I needed a lot of help with this one; I'm no great judge of men's bathrooms. It's All About Bathroom Awesomeness Research Team member Jeff Bowen provided the guy's perspective. What we realized: we have very different values when it comes to restrooms. He was impressed by a lot of stalls. I was horrified by broken tampon machines. He cared less about decor. I wanted a bathroom where I could hang out.

Like the one pictured above at Third Street Stuff: it's probably the most colorful we encountered. Fight boring bathroom tile with paint!

Check out the other bathrooms we loved.

Otherwise, it's all about...

Reads: The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning will celebrate 15 years of writing workshops and community education from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Friday. Check it out at 251 W. Second St.

Stage: Kentucky Ballet Theatre presents Dracula at the Lexington Opera House, 401 W. Short St. Shows are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

• Hamlet! Actors Guild of Lexington continues its run this weekend at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.
• And for not-exactly-Hamlet, there's Kate Clinton! The comedian will be at UK's Singletary Center for the Arts at 7 p.m Saturday. Doors open at 5 p.m., silent auction at 5:30 p.m.

Music: Will Hoge is playing at The Dame Friday night, and he's all great and folky-poppy-soulful, but I'm so, so excited that he's playing with one of my favorite Detroit bands, The Hard Lessons. They're fantastic: they've got a look and sensibility from pop radio of the past, but a sound that's more gritty club of today.  ::sigh:: I just love them.

Food: Linda Blackford reviewed Le Bistro, but the news everybody seems to be talking about this week is the return of Furlongs. It's back at the cursed spots at 735 E. Main St. with its menu of Cajun and American fare.

• For the not-so-rocking crowd, the Lexington Philharmonic's second concert of the season starts at 8 p.m. Friday. They'll play Tchaikovsky's Suite From Sleeping Beauty, Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite and Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with guitar soloist Pablo Villegas. The big draw, though, is guest conductor Kayoko Dan. She's the first candidate for the Lexington Philharmonic conductor position being vacated by George Zack after 30 years. Tonight is her night to impress.

Movies: New this week, we have Dan in Real Life, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Darjeeling Limited, Lars and the Real Girl and Saw IV.

It's all about fall: Keeneland and pumpkin martinis!

It's the first weekend of October, surely, surely it will start to look and feel like fall soon?

::sigh::

I guess we're already running a list of Halloween events, and a recipe for a pumpkin martini, which sounds awesome for my cinnamon-craving self.

And hey, at least there's Keeneland! Even without fall colors, the H-L photographers offered up their tips to take great horse photos, drunken celebration photos and architecture photos.

This is how fall should look...

Photo by Ron Garrison

Otherwise, it's all about...

Shopping: One sad sign of fall -- the last of the Lexington Loose Leaf Antique and Collectible shows is coming up Oct. 12-14. Go stake out your vintage suitcases and aging oak furniture at 528 Angliana Ave.

Music: Walter Tunis points out Tony Trischka's show at The Dame tonight. (I'm looking forward to Man Man there on Oct. 13.)

TV: Alecia Whitaker will again appear on Deal or No Deal tonight on NBC. Check it out at 8 p.m. tonight on NBC, and then stick around -- the premiere episode of Friday Night Lights comes on at 9 p.m.

Stage: A classic show, 12 Angry Men, opens at the Lexington Opera House this weekend.

Viz Arts: Heather Castro reviewed Appalachian Portfolio, 1959-1963: Photographs by Andrew Stern and Russell Lee's Coalfield Life. Looks fascinating -- can't wait to see it at the University of Kentucky's Tuska Center for Contemporary Art inside the Fine Arts Building.

Movies: New ones this weekend are The Heartbreak Kid, The Jane Austen Book Club, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure and Feel the Noise, which wasn't reviewed.

The Print Edition: Fall movies, gallery hops, the good War.

Kentucky gets cool and beautiful, and how are we rewarded? With a busy weekend. Consider starting the weekend with Gallery Hop, and click below to find more about the Fall Movie Guide, Ken Burns' The War, a tribute to Homer Ledford, one of my favorite musical of all time and a very yummy review of Stella's Kentucky Deli.

Visual Arts: It's Gallery Hop night! There are several you might want to explore.

James Baker Hall. Photo by Darrell Lovitt.

• With his camera, Kentucky poet and photographer James Baker Hall explored the lives of four gay Central Kentucky artists who are over fifty in Four Beyond Fifty. The photographs are on display at Gallerie Soleil, 363 W. Short St.
• Photographer Andrew Stern's Appalachian Portfolio: 1959-1963 opens tonight at University of Kentucky's Tuska Gallery inside the Fine Arts Building at Rose Street and Patterson Drive.
• A teeny, tiny installation will be up from 5-8 p.m. in a missing brick in the Third Street Stuff building at the corner of Third Street and Limestone. No kidding. Check it out. It's very sweet; go see and you'll know why.

Festivals, music, movies and free burritos to come...

Part of me misses summer already. No more summer mixes. No more promises of summer vacations. No more big summer movies.

But I expect the temperature will drop any time, and the leaves will turn, albeit sooner than they should, thank you Mother Nature. Rich Copley has a preview of our Fall Arts Preview, which will land in your Herald-Leader on Sunday. And then, there will be festivals. It's all about...

Sho-Stoppas. Photo by David Stephenson.

Festivals: We're hitting that time of year when every weekend introduces a new festival, often named after a food item or local tradition. One of the coolest in our area, no question, is the Roots & Heritage Festival that takes over downtown. A big old list of events makes it stretch all weekend, but Mary Meehan wrote a fun little feature about the Sho-Stoppas dance team that'll perform this weekend.

Music: Walter Tunis is al about the electronic music project Silver Apples, which is playing at University of Kentucky's Memorial Hall with a lineup three deep, and Uncle Earl, which is playing at WoodSongs, and later in Louisville. I'm kind of gearing up for Thursday, when Apples in Stereo, Aqueduct and the High Water Marks will play at The Dame.

Movies: We've got some new stuff this week, but nothing that looks like a blockbuster. There's Death at a Funeral, Shoot 'Em Up, 3:10 to Yuma and The Brothers Solomon, which wasn't reviewed, but involves a lovely young pregnant lady -- maybe you could just see Knocked Up again?

Eat: Wendy Miller reviewed Ginza III Hibachi Steak House and Sushi Bar in Frankfort. Just adding to the Japanese offerings in the area, I guess.

• A few points from Sharon Thompson's column: If you buy lunch for grandma at Vardens Cafe, 509 Main Street in Paris, they'll provide the dessert for free on Grandparents Day on Sunday. Awww. And there's more free stuff: Moe's Southwest Grill is celebrating four years in Lexington from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday -- burritos are free, "no strings attached," the owner said.

HSM2 or chamber music: What's your weekend style?

Have to be quick with what-to-do advice this morning so I can dive back into the fall TV preview. You'll thank me for this later.

Lexington's first-ever Chamber Music Festival is filling our city with beauty this weekend; next weekend, it'll be Picnic with the Pops. We took a different look at our summer mix this week and compiled our favorite classical music pieces.

Music: Walter Tunis points out the Charlie Sizemore Band and The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi are playing in the area this weekend. And yet, I suspect that High School Musical 2 and American Idols Live will be getting more attention -- the screaming, weeping, hysterical, I (heart) CHRIS-kind.

Movies: The new ones this weekend are Arctic Tale, The Invasion, The Last Legion and Superbad. I really want to love Superbad, because I really do love Judd Apatow, but I have a bad feeling in my stomach about this. Not Daddy Day Camp-bad, but you know.

Visual arts: Yea! It's Woodland Art Fair weekend! Despite the sweltering heat, this is just a cool-as-all-get-out event in town. Read Heather Castro's story to discover some changes at the fair and some of the artists that will be there.

Food: Clinton Comley reviewed Charlie Brown's, 816 E. Euclid Ave., which seems to be summed up in the phrase "none was spectacular, but all were good." Yes, we do need a quintessential hole-in-the-wall in this town, not to mention the mean Bloody Mary that he mentions...

Potter Friday

At 12:01 a.m., we'll witness one of the greatest pop culture events of our time. If only so you can tell your grandkids about the madness surrounding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I suggest you partake.

Here's the list of where you can go around Lexington, and our long list of Potter-related stories, featuring everything from analysis of death in kid lit to contests to spoiler videos.

In keeping with the love for the young teen wizard Potter, plus the debut of the Hairspray movie in Lexington, our summer mix this week, Teen Taste, focuses on teen idols. You can't even imagine the guilty pleasures revealed in this mix.

Now, I'm down in Nashville for a conference, but here's a quick look at what's else is happening this weekend.

It's all about...

Movies: New this week are Eagle vs. Shark, Golden Door, Hairspray, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and Paprika. I guess even Hollywood realized it didn't want to compete with Harry. (Maybe you can take a little break for Hairspray -- it does sound fantastic -- but I'm guess you'll wait till next weekend.)

Music: It's Louisville's Lebowski Fest weekend, which includes Th' Legendary Shack Shakers, Vietnam and Dr. Dog in its lineup. Walter Tunis also digs into a few shows, including Murder by Death, The Gourds and the Old Crow Medicine Show at the Master Musicians Festival, and VHS or Beta at The Dame tonight.

TV: Might want to take another look at the Emmy nominations list. And maybe you should read our interview with Kayne Gillaspie, the Project Runway contestant who is at Miss Priss, 401 W. Main St., from 2:30-4:30 p.m. today signing autographs. (He'll be attending the Miss Kentucky pageant in town this weekend.)

Food: Clinton Comley reviews Oasis. It's closed for vacation until Aug. 3, but...yum.

Working for the Weekend, or How to Keep Busy Outside the Office.

To celebrate the opening of Working: The Musical, our mix CD this week was all about work. (Wow, what a great way to get the weekend started.) We realized exactly how many songs involve hating your job, which is not something most of us at the H-L are familiar with. Nobody works at newspapers for anything less than love.

Here's the mix, Take This Job and Sing It, replete with everything from The Clash to R.E.M. to Dolly Parton to Belle & Sebastian to Stan Ridgeway. *Even Sting makes an appearance on the mix, which is grand, considering that he and the other officers will be at Churchill Downs this weekend.)

My Friday night will involve something I can only marginally call work: the LexArts Ball, A Midsummer Masquerade. I don't usually arrive black tie to work, but this is a special occasion.

 

Not so interested in tuxes, gowns and masks? Here's what's up for the rest of the weekend...

Movies: New movies this week include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as if there is anybody left that hasn't seen it?, Crazy Love and Captivity, which wasn't screened for tickets. ::waving a giant red flag::

• Over the Hedge is this week's Free Friday Flick at Jacobson Park. (The last showing of this movie was rained out.) The sad news is that this is the last one for the summer, so today's the day to be a face-painted, pony-riding, zoo-petting fool. Activities start at 7 p.m., movie starts at dusk.

Music: Walter Tunis points out several exciting musical goings-on in Louisville, including The Police's Saturday show at Churchill Downs, the Violent Femmes' Friday show at Fourth Street Live, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy playing at the zoo with the Louisville Orchestra on Saturday (a tad, um, different, yes.) Next week, the Squirrel Nut Zippers will play at Jim Porter's on Wednesday.

• Closer to home, Lucinda Williams and Charlie Louvin will play The Kentucky Theatre on Tuesday. The Dame has a lot of local acts coming up, including Ill Subliminal tonight and Emily Hagihara on Saturday.

Shopping: We had an in-depth look at the shopping scene at the Junior League Horse Show in the paper earlier this week, and that continues now. Also, it's Lexington Loose Leaf Antique & Collectible Show & Sale this weekend at 528 Angliana Ave. Scoot out to Berea for the Craft Festival this weekend, too. Harriett Hendren also points out that Hunter's Hats is knocking 20-60 percent off. The little shop at 140 Deweese Street provided my Derby hat, which I love so much I'm forever and always trying to fit it into everyday outfits. Say hey to Lucille for me, if you stop by.

Eat: Wendy Miller reviewed Ramsey's, the downtown spot known for comfort food and neck ties, but not on its patrons. I recommend the zucchini burger. (And the pie. I know it's Missy's Pie, but while you're there, grab a piece.)

Stage: In addition to Working: The Musical, Lexington's SummerFest continues with Romeo & Juliet.

Transforming the weekend: Movies, music, food and origami.

Right now, you need to go pick up your Weekender, cut the cover to a square, turn to Page 19 and fold your newspaper into a dinosaur. It's our own nod to the Transformers movie -- that little piece of paper is more than meets the eye.

And if you're just not interested in paper dinos, although I can't imagine why you wouldn't be, here's our summer mix for the week, Bluegrass Tunes. It's all songs about our lovely state, and sometimes performed by artists from here. Love the ear candy.

AND, I hear all this talk of picking the new Seven Wonders of the World, but we've got a poll up with the story asking people to pick Kentucky's best wonder. Mammoth Cave is winning by a landslide, but I'm personally a fan of The Parkette. Notice, though, that Spalding's doughnuts are currently doing better than Louisville Slugger...

And, it's all about...

 

Movies: New this week is Sicko, which I'm dying to see, Transformers, which I've already seen, License to Wed, which I hope never to see despite John Krasinski's starring role and La Vie en Rose , which I didn't know I wanted to see until I read the review this morning. It's a music biopic about French singer Edith Piaf. When I was in high school, my uncle gave me a CD of her music, saying every teenage girl ought to have one. Since then, there have been entire months when it never left the CD player, so it seems silly now that I know so little about her. (Not to mention, the review says Marion Cotillard deserves an Oscar nod. Big words this early.)

• Happy Feet is the Free Friday Flick this week. Pre-show activities start at 7 p.m., and the movie starts at dusk. Animated baby penguins -- it does not get better than that.

Eat: Linda Blackford reviewed the new Istanbul Palace at 393 Waller Ave. in Lexington, and it sounds delicious, with copious vegetarian options.

Listen: The Woodland Jubilee will gather bluegrass musicians at Woodland Park from 5-10 p.m. Saturday. (If it rains, that'll move to 4-9 p.m. Sunday.) Tonight at The Dame, there's a Talking Heads tribute, and on Saturday, Bluegrass Green Earth 7/7/07.

Cheer: Finally, FINALLY, Elizabeth and Anthony hook up in For Better or For Worse. This strip is the closest thing I have to a soap opera. Let me enjoy it. On the topic of comics, go vote in our comics survey and read our full interview with Darby Conley, the creator of our newest strip, Get Fuzzy.

Stage: The Lion King finishes up its run in Louisville this weekend. At Comedy Off Broadway in The Mall at Lexington Green, Vic Henley is on stage. Saw his show last night, and it makes me realize that the only joke you need to get a laugh in Lexington is something with the punchline, "Pitino."

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.