Not just for sluggers anymore

“They’ve rattled some teeth that needed to be rattled,” said Bob Hill, longtime local columnist for The Courier-Journal. “Louisville’s always been more than what it thought it was, and now it’s figured it out. It’s been a basketball and beer town until now. Now we have some way-out art to go with it. And it’s home folks doing it.”

“They” are Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, “the whiskey-money couple turning this old river town on its head.” Their latest creation: a 61-story trio of towers that will dominate Louisville’s skyline –

It will feature an acre-sized “island,” open to the public, that will hover 22 stories in the air.

It will contain a contemporary art museum, restaurants and retail stores, 85 luxury condominiums, 150 lofts, a 300-room hotel, office space and a 1,100-car underground parking garage.

The $380 million Museum Plaza, a radical skyscraper whose design is being introduced to the public today, will add a contemporary landmark to downtown Louisville when it’s completed in 2010.

More from Georgia’s stupidest congressman

And that’s saying something.

Colbert: “You have not introduced a single piece of legislation since you entered Congress.”

Westmoreland: “That’s correct.”

Colbert: “This has been called a do-nothing Congress. Is it safe to say you’re the do nothingest?”

Westmoreland: “I, I … Well, there’s one other do-nothinger. I don’t know who that is, but they’re a Democrat. “

Looking for homophobia in the Muslim world

It’s not hard —

“The schools of thought disagree about the punishment. Some say they should be punished like fornicators. Some say we should throw them from a high place, like God did with the people of Sodom. Some say we should burn them, and so on. There is disagreement.”

— Yusuf Qaradawi, a prominent Muslim cleric

Sounds like something you might have heard from an Old South plantation owner pondering the best way to correct a runaway slave. 

The last word …

on corrupt former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell belongs to AJC columnist Cynthia Tucker:

There is irony aplenty in his downfall. He didn’t try to uphold the legacy of the black pioneers who came before him; yet, he race-baited when it suited him. He accused white detractors of racism and ridiculed black critics as Uncle Toms. But a mixed-race jury didn’t buy his excuses. In the end, his record of corruption was too much to ignore.

Campbell is getting what he deserves. He worked hard to violate every standard of ethics and every principle of common propriety. Unfortunately, his prison stint won’t wash the stain of his tenure away.

As usual, Cindy T. nails it, and so does former Atlanta police officer Lou Arcangeli –

“The words that come to mind are sordid, hedonistic, squalid, self-centered and selfish — and I voted for him.

One show I won’t be watching

I try to avoid the LOGO channel — Lifetime for queers — at all costs, and the gay and lesbian network makes it easy for me with shows like this:

“That Gay Ghost,” a half-hour sitcom pilot that centers on the members of a conservative family whose lives are changed when they discover that a gay ghost named Cosmo is living in the closet of their new home.

I’m guessing Cosmo enjoys show tunes, shopping and stereotypes.

My dog ate all my homework last night

“If the public didn’t care, I as an entertainer wouldn’t have been a success,” he said.

He would be Dustin Diamond, who’s appealing to his legions of fans to save his home in Milwaukee.

Diamond, best known as geeky Screech Powers on the 1989-1993 teen comedy series “Saved by the Bell,” is selling T-shirts with his photo on them to try to raise $250,000 so he doesn’t lose his gray two-story house under a foreclosure order. …

Diamond, 29, is trying to sell nearly 30,000 shirts — at $15 or $20 (autographed) each — to supplement the income he makes as a standup comic so he doesn’t have to move from his Port Washington home, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee.

The T-shirt has a photo of Diamond holding a sign that says, “Save My House.” The back of the shirt reads, “I paid $15.00 to save Screeech’s house.” The third “e” was added to get around copyright laws, he said.

He’s selling the shirts on his Web site: http://www.getdshirts.com.

I’ve had my own brush with a washed-up child star, once interviewing former Partridge Family drummer Brian Forster, who toted show memorabilia with him wherever he went. When I asked him if he kept in touch with his former co-stars, he said he still chatted with the girl who played Tracy. However, Susan Dey wouldn’t return his calls.

Not just for sluggers anymore

"They’ve rattled some teeth that needed to be rattled," said Bob Hill, longtime local columnist for The Courier-Journal. "Louisville’s always been more than what it thought it was, and now it’s figured it out. It’s been a basketball and beer town until now. Now we have some way-out art to go with it. And it’s home folks doing it."

"They" are Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, "the whiskey-money couple turning this old river town on its head." Their latest creation: a 61-story trio of towers that will dominate Louisville’s skyline –

It will feature an acre-sized "island," open to the public, that will hover 22 stories in the air.

It will contain a contemporary art museum, restaurants and retail stores, 85 luxury condominiums, 150 lofts, a 300-room hotel, office space and a 1,100-car underground parking garage.

The $380 million Museum Plaza, a radical skyscraper whose design is being introduced to the public today, will add a contemporary landmark to downtown Louisville when it’s completed in 2010.

More from Georgia’s stupidest congressman

And that’s saying something.

Colbert: "You have not introduced a single piece of legislation since you entered Congress."

Westmoreland: "That’s correct."

Colbert: "This has been called a do-nothing Congress. Is it safe to say you’re the do nothingest?"

Westmoreland: "I, I … Well, there’s one other do-nothinger. I don’t know who that is, but they’re a Democrat. "

Looking for homophobia in the Muslim world

It’s not hard —

"The schools of thought disagree about the punishment. Some say they should be punished like fornicators. Some say we should throw them from a high place, like God did with the people of Sodom. Some say we should burn them, and so on. There is disagreement."

— Yusuf Qaradawi, a prominent Muslim cleric

Sounds like something you might have heard from an Old South plantation owner pondering the best way to correct a runaway slave. 

The last word …

on corrupt former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell belongs to AJC columnist Cynthia Tucker:

There is irony aplenty in his downfall. He didn’t try to uphold the legacy of the black pioneers who came before him; yet, he race-baited when it suited him. He accused white detractors of racism and ridiculed black critics as Uncle Toms. But a mixed-race jury didn’t buy his excuses. In the end, his record of corruption was too much to ignore.

Campbell is getting what he deserves. He worked hard to violate every standard of ethics and every principle of common propriety. Unfortunately, his prison stint won’t wash the stain of his tenure away.

As usual, Cindy T. nails it, and so does former Atlanta police officer Lou Arcangeli –

"The words that come to mind are sordid, hedonistic, squalid, self-centered and selfish — and I voted for him.

One show I won’t be watching

I try to avoid the LOGO channel — Lifetime for queers — at all costs, and the gay and lesbian network makes it easy for me with shows like this:

"That Gay Ghost," a half-hour sitcom pilot that centers on the members of a conservative family whose lives are changed when they discover that a gay ghost named Cosmo is living in the closet of their new home.

I’m guessing Cosmo enjoys show tunes, shopping and stereotypes.

My dog ate all my homework last night

"If the public didn’t care, I as an entertainer wouldn’t have been a success," he said.

He would be Dustin Diamond, who’s appealing to his legions of fans to save his home in Milwaukee.

Diamond, best known as geeky Screech Powers on the 1989-1993 teen comedy series "Saved by the Bell," is selling T-shirts with his photo on them to try to raise $250,000 so he doesn’t lose his gray two-story house under a foreclosure order. …

Diamond, 29, is trying to sell nearly 30,000 shirts — at $15 or $20 (autographed) each — to supplement the income he makes as a standup comic so he doesn’t have to move from his Port Washington home, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee.

The T-shirt has a photo of Diamond holding a sign that says, "Save My House." The back of the shirt reads, "I paid $15.00 to save Screeech’s house." The third "e" was added to get around copyright laws, he said.

He’s selling the shirts on his Web site: http://www.getdshirts.com.

I’ve had my own brush with a washed-up child star, once interviewing former Partridge Family drummer Brian Forster, who toted show memorabilia with him wherever he went. When I asked him if he kept in touch with his former co-stars, he said he still chatted with the girl who played Tracy. However, Susan Dey wouldn’t return his calls.