Kentucky Arts and Culture

A Lexington man, en route to Virginia, is using a unique mode of transportation and along the way drawing lots of attention and making drivers and other passersby take a second glance. Michael Spugnardi is riding in style. However, that style isn't found in the same categories as Mercedes, BMW, or anything else motorized. Spugnardi is riding his three-wheeled, recumbent tricycle all the way from his home to his in-laws residence in Madison, Va.

A fun run that mixes sci-fi with wellness takes place this weekend in Danville.  Rich Copley, of the Lexington Herald Leader Newspaper, previews “Trun.”  Rich also looks ahead at the only live performance this summer at Woodland Park in downtown Lexington.  The park was once a regular summer venue for theater and concerts.

Three World War II-era military planes will be flying into Lexington this Friday, giving the public a glimpse at two rare bombers and a Mustang fighter plane.  It's one thing to see WWII planes locked away at a museum; it's another to crawl inside them.

A Louisville Zoo gorilla has died at the age of 52. Timmy, the oldest male western lowland gorilla in North America, was euthanized today after experiencing several years of medical problems, including heart disease and arthritis. The zoo’s veterinarian says Timmy had responded well to treatment for several months but began to decline in recent weeks.

Buyers and sellers alike are gearing up for what has become known nationwide as one of the best yard sales ever. The annual U.S. 127 Yard Sale — also known as the World’s Longest Yard Sale and/or the 127 Corridor Sale — officially gets under way Thursday and runs through Sunday. However, some vendors are already plying their wares beside the highway to serve eager buyers.

The Louisville Orchestra’s management and musicians continue their mediation this week. The two sides have been at odds over a new contract agreement. The management, which filed for Chapter 11 last year, is seeking to cut the number of full-time musicians. They’ve put forwrada plan that would group the players into tiers and sign various tiers to different-length. Another proposal would cut benefits and pay. The musicians have called it unacceptable.

A sculpture honoring the 49 people who died in the crash of Comair Flight 5191 will be unveiled this month at a service commemorating the fifth anniversary of the crash. The dedication service, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 27 at The Arboretum on Lexington's Alumni Drive, will include remarks by local ministers and family members of three people who died in the crash. More than 350 family members and friends of the crash victims are scheduled to attend.

While 3-D technology increasingly becomes the norm in mainstream films, theaters boast the latest and loudest speakers, and moviegoing has become a predominantly indoor pastime, some people still seem to prefer the simplicity of the past: the drive-in. It's a past that dates back almost 80 years, and it allows people to be essentially in their own private movie theaters, free to create their own experience. That nostalgia and experience are what have kept people coming back to drive-in theaters, even when there was a time it looked as if they could die out, fans say. "People don't go to the drive-in or a normal theater for just the movie. It's the experience," said Chris Erwin, manager of Judy Drive-In in Mount Sterling. "The drive-in experience is one that can't be duplicated no matter what's on screen. Its charm is that it's simple."

The University of Kentucky has recently partnered with the nation of South Africa on an academic program titled "Kentucky and South Africa, Different Lands, Common Ground". The collaboration provides an opportunity for UK students to travel and learn more about the people and issues facing the once-segregated country.

International Studies student Corinne Price is back from an internship at the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children in Cape Town, and she recently shared her experiences with Alan Lytle.

The Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children (SBCWC ) is a one-stop center in Cape Town, South Africa for women and children who are survivors of abuse. Their vision is the creation of a safe and secure society and a human rights culture where women and children are empowered to exercise their full rights.

After a spring and summer in which storms have taken down their fair share of power lines and poles, electric lineman from around the state gathered Thursday for a more competitive approach at the Kentucky Lineman’s Rodeo at the Buck Jenkins Service Center off Bowling Green's Commerce Drive. With poles and cherry pickers creating a unique field for competition, lineman hauled equipment around the site, competing at various events, including phase swap, pole climb, cross arm and hurt man.

Sometime before Louivy Bare was to turn 81, his daughter, Karen Wolfe, asked him what was one thing he had always wanted to do in life that he had never gotten to do. His answer was twofold: he wanted to ride in a hot air balloon, and he wanted to visit Alaska. While Bare said he believes his chance to get to Alaska may never come, he will be able to experience a balloon ride at this year's Buffalo Trace Balloon Race.

Sit down, Lexington. Throw on your Snuggie, recline in your Barcalounger and have a nice, long Mario Kart marathon. All comers are welcome to do just that — or whatever un-activity appeals to them — during the Sedentary Parade, a tongue-in-cheek response to Lexington's recent designation as the country's laziest city in Men's Health magazine.

The hidden is unveiled this weekend in Lexington.  A sound sculpture, sponsored by Lexarts, resurrects a buried river.  And, an exhibit at the University of Kentucky lifts the veil on veils.  Arts and cultural reporter Rich Copley of the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper offers a preview of both artworks.

Forty years ago today, Charley Pride and his longtime producer Cowboy Jack Clement walked into a recording studio after lunch and emerged before dinner with three new tracks. Pride says he had no idea that one of them—“Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’”—would become a country colossus. But to really appreciate the magnitude of Pride’s more than thirty year-long hit-making heyday, it’s best to go to the beginning.

The National Quartet Convention will host former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft at its annual event in Louisville later this year. Ashcroft served as attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005.  He is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at the Kentucky Exposition Center on Sept. 15 and will also sing several gospel songs he has written, according to a convention spokesperson.

Early next month, a panel of preservationists will select a house in Louisville to be rehabilitated under a new project called Preservation S.O.S.—Save Our Shotguns. It’s a style of house that symbolizes many of Louisville’s older neighborhoods. There are many variations, but shotgun houses typically have a long, rectangular floor plan: one room wide, three to five rooms in a row with doorways often on the same side of the house.