LOUISVILLEKY’s The WEEK: Ahoy! It’s Forecastle Weekend

expect to see this kind of crowd on the Waterfront this weekend for Forecastle

I got a chance to hobnob at the Forecastle Festival’s pre-opening night party at a really unique venue — it’s called LaLa Land, an old house on Lexington Road near those train trestles. It’s listed on Google as a recording studio, and there was plenty of interesting old equipment in there. And it was a great spot to say hello to Rusty Satellite Show friends Chaz Rough, J.K and Holly Weyler McKnight and Gill Holland.

Be sure to check out Rusty guest Jecorey “1200” Arthur as the opening act today at 3, and the Avett Brothers are today’s headliners. Honestly, I’m not familiar with anyone else on Friday’s bill, but I guarantee the expected crowd of 65,000 will make moving around Waterfront Park an adventure. You may want to check out Louisville Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams at 5:15 Saturday, and spend some time in the Bourbon Lodge. You can hear about that on the EatDrinkTalk podcast with Liquor Barn’s Brad Williams.

I count 58 total acts performing this weekend, highlighted by Ryan Adams, the Alabama Shakes, Death Cab for Cuties and the Heartless Bastards. Here’s the interview I had with Jecorey Arthur from his classroom at Hite Elementary:

Adventures in Eating: If you’re paying attention, you know there’s a bunch of new independent restaurants opening up around here in July. Check out our EatDrinkTalk podcast, with co-host Steve Coomes, to learn about the soft openings at SET on Fourth Street and the Red Barn Kitchen in the old Joe’s in Lyndon. Plus we loosened our belts to take in meals at Harvest, Noosh Nosh, Asiatique, Slice and Cooper and Kings. You’ll also want to hear about the Bourbon Brothers and Whisky Chicks in my interview, and Steve’s talk with Dean Corbett about fine dining.

purple pokemonPokemon Stop: I made it through raising 3 boys without succumbing to video game fever, so I’m certainly not going to start playing some Pokemon game now. But a lot of people are. Read Jackie Bentley’s piece on LouisvilleKY.com.

Idiots on Facebook: Looks like another racist idiot is losing his job for letting his true feelings come out on Facebook. Both a Metro Corrections officer and an LMPD officer posted an offensive and racist meme on their Facebook pages, related to the national conflicts between African-Americans and law enforcement. Let’s not pretend that there’s not racism in a post that says:  “If we really wanted you dead all we’d have to do is stop patrolling your neighborhoods. …. And wait.”

WFPL vs. U of L: With so many high-paid media types over at U of L, it’s amazing that the school’s administration still can’t handle criticism and resorts to attacking media operations when it’s caught looking bad. Check out this controversy over reporting by Louisville Public Media about some federal funding being withdrawn from U of L. Former Rusty guest Stephen George refuted each of U of L’s claims online, after the school sent a university-wide email denouncing the stories.  Of course, if it had cooperated with LPM before the story had been written, instead of stonewalling and ignoring interview requests, U of L might have had its story told more favorably.

JamesRamseyBut That’s What They Do Under Jim Ramsey: After the new Board of Trustees met Wednesday, Junior Bridgeman told media that Dr. James Ramsey had not offered his resignation to the new group, as promised weeks ago in the wake of Gov. Matt Bevin’s firing all the previous board members. The next day, Bridgeman changed his tune, saying that Ramsey had offered to step down, but that the board had not acted on it. So, did he or didn’t he, and when will he finally get out of there? My guess is Ramsey is still pulling the strings and manipulating the media.

 

Who Will be the Last Morning DJ?: on Monday, Lynda Lambert announced her departure from 102.3 The Max on Facebook, saying, in part: And I won’t be opening a mic on 102.3 The Max, starting the week and sharing life with all our faithful listeners. A corporate decision was made to take The Max morning show in a different direction, and neither Eric nor I are a part of that direction. No replacement named at the station, of course.

Trump-Pence?  Apparently Donald Trump is on the verge of naming Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, despite records of Pence denouncing Trump repeatedly on the campaign trail and supporting Ted Cruz. The other candidates were Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich, so it’s the lesser of two evils, right?

Good for Jean West: Everybody likes Jean West from her days on local TV at WHAS-TV and WAVE-TV. Now she’s landed a job as communications director for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

And This: The ramp from Story Avenue to I-65 is scheduled to open early next week as crews with Walsh Construction continue to make progress on the Downtown Crossing portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project. And soon, you’ll be able to sign up to pay your bridge tolls — Oh Boy!