It’s time for some recovery, but there are so many cool things to do around here, it’s hard to slow down. No one at LouisvilleKY.com is complaining, of course. My highlight of the week was seeing my musical idol Paul Thorn at Waterfront 
Wednesday. A little pre-concert shower deterred some, but Paula and I made our way up near the stage and even got this pic of Paul and Paula during his last-song jaunt into the crowd.
Highlight #2 was the Ballotin Five-Course Dinner at Buck’s Restaurant. You can hear a little bit about chef Colter Hubsch’s creations, using all four flavors of Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey, on the 3rd episode of EatDrinkTalk, the podcast, with Steve Coomes. Listen here:
Gone Guy: Another big deal was Steve’s announcement on Facebook that’s he will be crafting local dining and drinking stories exclusively on EDT after 70 months and 882 contributions to Insider Louisville. It generated more than 200 LIKES and dozens of encouraging comments. Thanks! We’re just getting started, but you can check it out here.
A Real Food Story: An example of the kind of restaurant coverage we’ll be providing at EatDrinkTalk — the much-discussed departure of the popular El Camino restaurant from the Highlands. While it was easy to focus on the out-of-town corporation coming in to take its place, Steve talked at length with Larry Rice, who explained the real reason behind his plan to relocate El Camino to Germantown, which had to do with the cost of tacos.
She Was Just 17. . . Yes, it’s Abbey Road on the River weekend, so . . . Beatles. You probably didn’t know there’s a great Beatles memorabilia exhibit at the Jeffersontown Historical Museum. I spoke to collector Paul Ratterman for the Jtown Chamber podcast this week, discovering and realizing that the Fab Four were the original masters of merchandising. You can see a record player, lunch boxes, trading cards, posters and more there. I also got to meet Troy Clampitt and Mark Beyer, members of the Rigbys, who have been playing “Love Me Do” for nearly 10 years around town. Listen in here:
Me, I Like to Ride, Ride, Ride: For me, Memorial Day means going down to Waterfront Park with son Luke, getting Jackie Green to check my tires, saying hello to Mike Maloney of the Mayor’s Office, and riding off to Iroquois or Shawnee Park and back on my bike with a few thousand friends. This video tells you all you need to know. Just show up on your bike around 9:30.
Three Years and Counting: I produced Rusty Satellite show #151 this week, and invited Steve Coomes to do a guest interview with Jeremy Johnson of Meta. And I shared my trip to Woodford County to visit with young master distiller Marianne Barnes of Castle and Key.
In other news I noticed:
The Confederate Statue at U of L, Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman rules, can be removed and relocated — a sensible decision. Mayor Fischer hasn’t decided where to put it, but I suggest putting it next to the big fish sign on Dixie Highway. . . You morning TV news watchers are gonna miss Kelsey Starks, who had a big celebration on WHAS-TV for her final day. According to Facebook posts, she’s going to spend her time wisely, as a Mom. . . .Mayor Fisher released his annual budget, including money to move forward on expanding Waterfront Park to the West, and HVAC system repairs at Slugger Field. . . You won’t have to say “O-NU-AH-KO” anymore. U of L announced that 6-10 Chinanu Onuaku will leave school for the NBA. . .Derby winner Nyquist, according to trainer Doug O’Neill, has the sniffles, or some minor illness, and Horse-racing/nyquist-belmont-stakes-illness.html?_r=0″ target=”_blank”>won’t challenge Exaggerator in the Belmont. Don’t expect big TV ratings for that one. . . Louisville Public Media is launching a new $7 million fundraising campaign to upgrade its building, etc. Co-Chairs of the campaign are newly-elected District 8 Councilman Brandon Coan and his wife Summer Auerbach, friends of Rusty Satellite.
