Perceptions of Louisville

Michelle, three points.

1) My characterization (detailed and bumper sticker version) of Thunder may be absurd to you and that's fine. I daresay that at least half of this country's population and a much higher percentage of the world's population would disagree with you. That only matters for the sake that perhaps you ought to consider that there might be some validity to the opposing view.

2) Politicization, in the vein of political parties, wasn't even initially brought up by me. If pointing out the less-than-subliminal political aspects of Thunder is politicizing, then guilty as charged.

3) You like a couple of the things I dislike about Louisville. What did I praise that you agree with or what do you also dislike?

Well.. Just to add my 2 cents.
I've always enjoyed the air show during Thunder... I like to see where my tax dollars are going and I quite enjoy watching precision aeronautical acrobatics.


And another thought....I'm of the opinion that a lot of people in our fair city suffer from a "younger sibling" complex in regard to their feelings about Louisville. For example, WHOOPEE!!! Let's put some signs out proclaiming our status as the "16th Largest city in America".

There is nothing wrong with some civic pride(we do have a lot to be proud of), but it seems that we are constantly comparing ourselves to other cites.
There is often a sort of "trying to prove ourselves to the big guys" attitude that at times can be a little off putting, and sometimes a little off the mark.

A fine example of this was the recent Extreme Makeover that dominated our media coverage and most of our conversations a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm not the biggest fan of our President but he visits our area and isn't acknowledged on the 6:00pm news until after several minutes of airtime that were devoted to the big re-modeling job?

I have lived in other places far from here and never have seen this as much as I have in my hometown.

It seems that some people like to sing our praises a little bit louder sometimes, and there is nothing wrong with that, but really... Who is listening?

Hi All,
This is really an interesting thread. Here's my two-cents worth:
1. Re: To increase market share for bankers and corporations. I can keep this one brief...Carlyle Group, Halliburton, and I'm not sure about Enron. The last one imploded so I can't figure out if it was in there somewhere. Yes, I know Carlyle has brought jobs to Louisville.

2. At Thunder, the early air shows were thrilling and not very "military" oriented. Some military aircraft is really good but I think too much (in whoever's opinion) military presence detracts from the fun.

3. Military and War are not synonymous (now where is that darn spell check?). We can have a well-prepared military without a war and without anyone dying for it.

4. My hubby fought in Vietnam. My nephew served in Bosnia. Oh, I also have an ancestor who served in the Rev. War along with his 5 brothers.

5. I am very proud of the Service members who are giving so much but no matter how much they give or how much is taken from them, they cannot protect my freedom in a country that does not threaten my freedom. Check out Saudi Arabia and see what kind of business we are doing with them, and have done with them since the 1980's. Naturally, I'd dread going to war with them since we have prepared them too well.
Seriously.
Has anyone noticed that since 2000, huge civil protests are strangled and the powers that be refuse to consider the protesters positions? My fears concerning my freedom are over here, not over there.
I apologize in advance if anything I say here offends anyone on the forum. I respect everyone's right to voice their opinion. Lastly, in regard to the need for a third party: In my humble opinion, we don't even have two fully functioning political parties. Thanks, Robin, for this opportunity to share all of our opinions, thoughts, and feelings on this and other topics.

Thanks, folks. This took my mind off my dear deceased brother for a little while anyway. Barb T

Has anyone noticed that since 2000, huge civil protests are strangled and the powers that be refuse to consider the protesters positions? My fears concerning my freedom are over here, not over there.
I apologize in advance if anything I say here offends anyone on the forum. I respect everyone's right to voice their opinion. Lastly, in regard to the need for a third party: In my humble opinion, we don't even have two fully functioning political parties.

Well said and I agree.

Yeah. It's really bad when it's almost 2008, and I don't like ANY candidate in ether party. It seems like politicians are ALL crooks. Anymore, for me, it's a matter of voting for the least crappy of the group of crappy candidates, the one who will take the least of my money (the gov't. gets damn near half, as it is) to throw toward stupid programs that I don't agree with, and are unnecessary in many cases.

Fix welfare. I'd be behind that. Raise minimum wage so people don't HAVE to go on welfare to live. Do -SOMETHING-. I thought the government worked for us, not the other way around. It seems like they just want us to cough up our money and shut up. BOTH parties, not just Democrats, not just Republicans. It's awful. I've never missed an election since I started voting, but it's becoming harder to justify voting for ANYONE.

I see the country going down the crapper due to the hubris and greed of these politicians, and it angers and frustrates me.

Anyway, there I go, being all political and stuff. Getting off the soapbox now.

I have to comment on something: After re-reading this thread, the thing I find most interesting, is that it doesn't really get biting political until someone accused it of being so. It was only then that the you-know-what hit the fan. I guess the important thing to remember is that there is no such thing as inflection in a blog. I don't think that anyone here tries to piss each other off. (It's an open forum, and as such, open to all opinions. Like Robin said, just keep it clean.) I understand that typed words can sometimes hurt people's feelings, but let's all try to remember that no one is trying to hurt our feelings, they're just talking. For all anyone knows, White Castle could have some sentimental meaning to me and I could be highly offended by jokes in reference to it. (Not that it does, I'm just making a point.)

Soooooo, getting back to the point of the original post, I also have to comment that I think it's pretty cool that Michael and his family chose Louisville as their place of relocation. (I'm sorry to hear that it is from the tragedy of New Orleans though. Also an excellent city and hopefully restored quickly.) But to win out over Austin, Chicago and Savannah speaks volumes of Louisville. Holy crap! Those are all amazing places! Michael, welcome to Louisville. I swear, we don't always bicker like this. We're like siblings: arm around the shoulder one minute and punches on the shoulder the next.

Regarding politicization, two things seem apparent to me. 1) Under Bush/Cheney, the divisiveness that was already building (Rush Limbaugh plays a large part in that), racheted up incredibly due to the fact that they have few policy people/it's all about politically-driven ideology to them (Karl Rove), Fox News' influence, and religious "leaders" who are trying to rile people up to raise money 2) Not always, but often-times, "politicizing" is used as a buzzword when someone's "side" is being "threatened."

To take a giant step to the side and get back to part of the original intent of posting about this...It's been great to discover things like taking a walk through the Nature Preserve off of Trevillian Way, finding out that Capriole cheese is as good as most out there, that over in New Albany there's a place with as much Belgian beer selection as most any place, etc. Any tips?

To take a giant step to the side and get back to part of the original intent of posting about this...It's been great to discover things like taking a walk through the Nature Preserve off of Trevillian Way, finding out that Capriole cheese is as good as most out there, that over in New Albany there's a place with as much Belgian beer selection as most any place, etc. Any tips?

Check out the Zoo (it's a surprise to most who have never seen it), Actors Theatre (especially in late March when all the Humana Festival plays are in full rotation), a bike ride from the downtown wharf out to the west side of the county, a walk through Cherokee Park, Slugger Museum ... I"ll stop while you do all these and come back for more ideas!

Carnegie Center for Art & History (in the historic Carnegie Library building, New Albany), http://www.carnegiecenter.org/

Falls of the Ohio, Clarksville (awesome, truly), http://www.fallsoftheohio.org/

The Jazz Factory, Louisville, on Market Street (and the Glass Factory), http://www.jazzfactory.us/home.asp

The Electric Cowboy, http://www.electriccowboylouisville.com/index.php (the best dance floor in Louisville)

To take a giant step to the side and get back to part of the original intent of posting about this...It's been great to discover things like taking a walk through the Nature Preserve off of Trevillian Way, finding out that Capriole cheese is as good as most out there, that over in New Albany there's a place with as much Belgian beer selection as most any place, etc. Any tips?

Maybe not so much now as next spring, be sure to check out the areas farmers markets. Beargrass market,Phoenix hill market,and our favorite the Bardstown road market. Bardstown road market even has a few vendors there all year on Saturday morn.

1) My characterization (detailed and bumper sticker version) of Thunder may be absurd to you and that's fine. I daresay that at least half of this country's population and a much higher percentage of the world's population would disagree with you.

I don't know about the world's population, but there's no way that "at least half" of this country's population agrees with you. Look at the early support for this war. The support has only plummeted with lack of success.

For the record, I half-way agree with you. The militaristic imagery gives me the creeps. I think the planes (including the military ones--especially the military ones) are way cool to watch.

Charles is correct. Support for the war was very high back when the President lied to everyone and said that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He also said that if we didn't attack Saddam over there, he would attack us over here. That scared people into supporting the war.

Of course, all of that turned out to be hogwash, so most americans dropped their support for the invasion of Iraq.

Michael if you haven't had a chance to check out Bernheim Forrest (down I65)
it's well worth a trip and only about a 25 minute drive (depending where in Louisville you're starting out from.) Lots of hiking trails, a nature center (even the parking lot has electrical outlets for electric cars) and all kinds of neat artwork dispersed throughout the park. It's a nice visit anytime of year but it's spectacular in the spring and fall. Don't forget to check out the sky walk too!

Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest

http://www.bernheim.org/

Ahhh, we're back to Louisville. I love my hometown. I don't worry about it being big, bigger, or best, because I love it anyway. I am always surprised to visit other cities, esp. larger ones, and find how much we really do have here. I love Bernheim Forest, the Zoo, our Arts scene,
our wonderful restaurants, and to a history buff...a real treasure of old homes and fabulous architecture. As soon as I feel up to getting out, I'm going to pick up a copy of A VIEW FROM THE TOP by Buzan and McCandless, which is about part of the South End where I grew up. It's about the Kenwood Hill and Iroquois Park area and according to CJ Southwest Neighborhoods section of Nov. 14, money from the book's sale will benefit the 3 very old cabins that is known as Lou Tate's Little Loomhouse. Lou Tate was a nationally known weaver. Despite being raised in the South End, I've never been to the cabins so I am hoping to do that soon, too.