Hot Topics

Real-Estate

No Picture

Business, Culture, LoUnique, Media, Real-Estate November 1, 2011

Silence is Not Golden for ear X-tacy

Even though John would probably prefer an excerpt from XTC, I’m opening with a poignant line from Green Day: It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right, I hope you  had the time of your life. Nothing says “No comment” like an empty, locked store. It proved to be a mysterious and disturbing Halloween this past weekend as one of Louisville’s mainstays of music, culture and community activism rose into the spirit world. By the equally strange calendar date of 11/1/11, local news trucks scanned the famous typewritten letters across the  building’s Bardstown Road frontage. A reporter on a…

No Picture

Culture, LoUnique, Real-Estate, Rick October 31, 2011

The End of the Ear

In the end, all that ear X-tacy fans were left with was this letter from long-time owner John Timmons. Sadly, the city’s lost an icon. Dear Louisville, and all who have shopped, supported, and loved ear X-tacy over the years, It has been a dream come true…actually, a dream exceeded, to be part of your musical lives here in Louisville for the last 26 years. My life was changed forever, and guided by the power of music since I can remember. Music has been the soul, the heart, the passion of my life for my entire 56 years. The record…

No Picture

Business, Culture, Food and Dining, LoUnique, Real-Estate October 28, 2011

TGIF Local Lunch Post – Gobblin’ at the Seelbach and Brown for a Memorable (Perhaps Haunted) Meal?

Ask any ghost buster or history writer in town and you’ll discover that Louisville is not only a great place to live but a fine city to haunt.  From Whiskey Row to Sleepy Hollow; Cherokee to Waverly,  our county is brimming with the restless past. To celebrate those living and hungry for a hot meal on this Halloween weekend, I’m suggesting a visit to the Seelbach and the Brown for lunch with the stars. Make that four Stars and four Diamond each. At the Seelbach’s Otto’s Cafe, you may be greeted by the Lady in the Blue Dress. Here’s a hint…

No Picture

Business, Culture, Food and Dining, LoUnique, Real-Estate, Uncategorised October 25, 2011

Clifton Gets a Slice of Life and a Sweet Scoop – Comfy Cow and Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen

  I’m talking to Homemade Pie Kitchen owner Adam Burckle He is smiling and gesturing but I lost him at “..,going to be incredible!” His voice cannot compete with the drill and hammers on the roof above. His excitement can. Standing with one shoe on hardwood floor and another on raw concrete base,  Adam is surrounded by sawdust, dangling cords and buckets of paint. Yet…. If they bake it we will come. Right? Opening is planned by Friday this week. Me? I’ll wait patiently for a slab of their famous Dutch Apple w/Caramel. By a fireplace and with a shot…

No Picture

Business, Food and Dining, Health, LoUnique, Media, Real-Estate, Uncategorised October 21, 2011

TGIF Local Lunch Post – There’s a Troll Under the Bridge!

It’s not every day you can utter the word “bridge” in this neck of the woods and get a positive response but this week, it’s all good at the Troll Pub Under the Bridge. Located at the historic corner of 2nd and Washington, this establishment offers stacked sandwiches to rib eye steaks, regional favorites and vegetarian offerings. The architectural miracle in itself is mesmerizing yet the affordable, diverse menu will hold your attention and appetite. Step back into time and greet the spirits in the rafters of Whiskey Row while digging into a juicy half-pound bison burger with sides of…

No Picture

Business, Culture, Media, Politics, Real-Estate, Uncategorised August 23, 2011

Turning Blue – Todd Reminds Activists “People need to get a life.”

  Trying to contact Todd Blue for a comment or suggest an interview has been difficult but not without it’s enlightening and frustrating moments over the past seven months.  I’m trying to make sense from a volatile email I received a week ago from Cobalt Ventures CEO Todd Blue, so the following timeline leading to the outburst is hopefully therapeutic for this scribe. In late February, I was compiling Blue’s segment of the series “Two Cents on the Iron Quarter,” he was thorough and firm. Okay, a little kvetching but he was under duress. Understood. I became interested in following…

No Picture

Business, Culture, Green, Media, Politics, Real-Estate, Uncategorised July 27, 2011

Rest In Pieces, 306-310 East Main or Remember the Elmo

The chain link fence was adjusted to protect passers-by from falling brick, metal and glass. The  humid summer air hung with silt and grains of time as the backhoe reached up into the second floor of the building that housed many a bar, restaurant and office space in its day and peeled back the walls with much rumble and crash. It would take a tornado or quake moments destroy such a sturdy building but as for now, Nature has very little say in the matter. I see where at least three gentlemen have a job, job job –to ring out…

No Picture

Business, I Was There, Real-Estate, Rick July 26, 2011

Homearama a Hit at Norton Commons

Here’s some evidence that the economy is turning — they’re packing them in at Homearama at Norton Commons, where 21 homes (16 already sold) are on display. The two-week showcase of homes in the East End has been host to hundreds of visitors since opening July 16. Last night was no exception, as a break in the heat seemed to bring out a big crowd, and there was a lot of waiting to go up and down stairs in every house. There’s nothing like Norton Commons — the architecture is meant to bring back memories of Louisville neighborhoods of the…

No Picture

Business, Culture, Education, Green, Health, LoUnique, Politics, Real-Estate, Sport, Uncategorised June 5, 2011

Watch your step, Louisville!

Last month I learned that my hometown, Louisville, Ky, is at the bottom of the American Fitness Index – number 49 among 50 cities studied. And a few days later I found that Louisville is among the most dangerous midwestern cities for pedestrians, according to the Transportation for America study “Dangerous By Design.” I’m disappointed, but not surprised. I’m angry as hell. I’m embarrassed. I hope you are, too. Infrastructure too expensive? When I see our nation’s crumbling roads and bridges it makes me crazy. It’s like rubbing salt into a fresh wound when you realize that motorists are –…

No Picture

Culture, Green, I Was There, Politics, Real-Estate May 23, 2011

It took a Church, a bridge and a scam to bring me back to the blogosphere…

  There are a few things that bother me more than lack of integrity, hypocrisy and just plain stupidity. The aforementioned subjects cover all three, and not in any particular order. Today, we shall cover the Church as mentioned in the title, the bridge and scam are soon to follow… After a short tete-a-tete with the neighboring church over the last year and hopes that they will actually glean some common sense about an expansion project, alas, they are once again stampeding forward against all the neighbors wishes. Here is the scenario: East end church grows in size. Now needs…