Wastlanders: In Memory of Mary Yeiser

Stop by the Yeiser Art Center tonight, 5-7 p.m., and pay tribute to the memory of Miss Mary Yeiser — she's the artist who got the whole thing rolling. Tonight's show is an exhibit by the Wastelanders, a group of artists living and working in the Paducah area for more than 20 years. Participating artists include E.J. Abell (that's her painting of Miss Mary, above), Paula Danby, Mark Donham, Nancy Flowers, Juanita Gilliam, Glenn Hall, Kristi Hanson, Craig Rhodes, Sarah Roush, Jane Viterisi and Jerry Watson. Through June 14. 442.2453.

What's for Dinner?

It's not too late to get tix to the Carson Center's Vintner's Dinner tonight (443.9932, ext. 240 or 241)! And look what David of Artisan Kitchen is cookin' up!

Just Come!

Doors open this evening at 5 p.m. for the Carson Center's Wine Tasting and Auction! Call up and reserve your ticket (443.9932, x240 or x241), or just buy a ticket at the door.

Artisan Kitchen has whipped up the hors d'oeuvres, vintners Claudia Sansone-Hampton and Dr. Rob Hampton of StoneFly Vineyard and Ken Nerlove of Elkhorn Peak Cellars will be there to talk about their fabulous wines and the auction rocks! Here's the list of all the items!

We've offered up two fun auction items: three months of iList Paducah sponsorship as well as a "Blog-tail" party where we'll supply the food, fun beverages and several fun bloggers who will help the winner get started with his or her own blog, Facebook page or MySpace page. So bid early and bid often!

See you there! By the way, a few seats are still available for the Vintner's Dinner Friday night, too, so just give a call to the number above to reserve your spot!

Aynex: The Musical

Grab your hankies, click here and see why we're so sad about Aynex leaving.

iList Paducah Welcomes Carol Gault!

iList Paducah's newest sponsor, gorgeous Carol Gault, is running for Paducah's City Commission this year. She's got a great new Web site up, carolgault.com, with interesting info about her background, why she's running, what folk say about her, hot topics and how folk can get involved.

For the past five years, Carol headed Paducah Main Street where she and her team brought all sorts of great things back to downtown, including businesses. Before stepping down to launch her commissioner campaign, Carol helped attract 40 new businesses, along with lots of great apartments — 60 new ones at last count — for folks lovin' downtown living.

With a tagline of Leadership that Listens, Carol is eager to hear from us. Congrats, and good luck, Carol!

Look Who's Wearing an iList Paducah T-shirt!

It's Maurie McGarvey, Paducah Bank's gorgeous HR director! She's here with husband Joe, who's modeling a T-shirt from one of our other favorite organizations, the River's Edge Film Festival, and Sammy! Many thanks to Maurie and Paducah Bank for bringing the ice cream truck around for our Band Brawl last Saturday!

Now THIS is an Indy Movie!

The coolest library ever, our own McCracken County Public Library, is teaming up with the coolest Star Wars fans ever, the Paducah Imperials, to host an Indiana Jones Movie Trilogy. It's 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, May 17, at the library. Bring your bullwhips and fedoras — but leave your snakes at home. Indy hates snakes.

Don't Be Poo-Pooing Paducah...

...Cuz according to Benny Goodman and Carmen Miranda, it's another name for Paradise!

(Thanks, everyone, for sending me the link!)

One Heck of a Brawl, Y'all!

Many thanks to everyone who came out for our first DJ Urban Kobbb's Lowertown Band Brawl on Saturday! It was a great afternoon — and all six bands were beyond awesome! Emcee Chuck Tate of the Carson Center kept things rolling along with DJ Urban Kobbb, himself, offering up some great tracks between each band's performance.

So the top three winners are (in alpha order): Special D, The American Freedom Machine and The Union Suit! See them compete again for the $1,000, $500 and $250 cash prizes at the Lowertown Art and Music Festival on Sunday, May 25.

In the meantime, here are some pix:


Direct from Louisville: The American Freedom Machine!


Pre-prom festivity from Edging Kelli!


Please Standby was on fire!


And so were their fans!


Father-and-son band NoaZark rocked!


The Union Suit played many of the crowd's favorites....


And Special D performed songs from their new album, Over and Over!

Look for more details and photos on iList Paducah this Wednesday!

Speaking of the Brawl...

So that's Monica Bilak, above, with Chuck Tate, the Brawl's emcee. Monica is gorgeous. And creative. And funny. And did a bunch of stuff to pull off the Brawl on Saturday. And here's a snippet of a conversation I had with a hottie band member whose name, lucky for him, I've forgotten:

Hottie Band Member (HBM), nodding toward Monica:
Hey, is she seeing anybody?

Me:
Oh, yeah, totally. Very happily married.

HBM:
Oh.

Me:
But if you're single, I'd love to feature you as an iDate of the Week on iList Paducah!

HBM:
What's that?

Me, with a bit of emphasis:
Uh, it's the Web site that's sponsoring the event. I do a fun Q&A each week with a single person. You game?

HBM:
Ah, no, I better not. My girlfriend wouldn't like it.

Me:
Right-o.

WKCTC Gad-Gee-A-Shun Pix

Congratulations West Kentucky Community & Technical College grads! Your photos are posted on the Jones Photography Web sIte!

Speaking of Aynex...

So evidently Aynex still thinks she's leaving us after the Lowertown Art and Music Festival, May 23-25. She's been doing blog posts lately about the things in Paducah she's going to miss. I'm honored to be included.

Thanks, Aynex. I'll miss you too. Or have I already told you that a thousand times?

Stay tuned, by the way, for Aynex: The Musical! Coming to a YouTube near you!

Aspiring Aynex!

Aynex Mercado's Adios Paducah show last Friday at Aspire Arts, 611 North 6th St., was a huge success, with a bidding war breaking out over her fabulous Texaco quilt, below, left...


...and several of her other gorgeous pieces selling, as well! The Market House one below, left, will soon be hanging in iList Paducah's world headquarters!


Lots of cute folk were there, including Corey O'Rourke and Aynex's longtime pal Maria, who came all the way from Puerto Rico...


Even City Manager stopped by to try to talk Aynex out of leaving Paducah:



And Mamacita and Papacita Irwin provided much of the evening's music:



If you missed the opening, just give a call to Aspire Arts, 575.3349. Aynex's quilts will hang through the end of the month, and a few are still for sale! Check out her Web site, too, for more great pieces! Congratulations, Aynex! Please stay!

Happy Mother's/StepMother's Day!

Wow, what a great weekend! Aynex's show at Aspire Arts! DJ Urban Kobbb's Band Brawl! Post-event celebrations! I am, to say the least, a little pooped. And this being Mother's Day (or in my case, StepMother's Day), I'm taking the afternoon off. Plus I had champagne at lunch, so that pretty much halts anything resembling productivity. I'll recap the weekend's events tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a photo of my mom, Mary Lee. This was taken the morning of my wedding, Nov. 26, 2005. Isn't she pretty? It was a very happy, happy day.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! And to all moms and stepmoms and extended family moms! We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. And the dads. But mostly you.

Great Music Today: 3 p.m.!

Six hot bands battle it out in DJ Urban Kobbb's 2008 Lowertown Band Brawl, 3-6:30 p.m., today, Saturday, May 10, at the historic Texaco station at 7th and Madison streets.

The top three bands will perform at the Lowertown Art and Music Festival on Sunday, May 25, from 2-4 p.m. They'll battle it out again there, competing for cash prizes. The winning band takes home $1,000, with the second-place winners receiving $500 and third-place winners receiving $250. DJ Urban Kobbb will spin tunes between bands.

Here a look at the bands (their bios are on iList Paducah):


The American Freedom Machine


Edging Kelli


Please Standby


NoaZark


The Union Suit


Special D

Judges are Hooper of Hooper Booking and Promotion, Darris Shelby of Just Us Entertainment, Adam Shull of the Paducah Sun and me! The fabulous Chuck Tate of the Carson Center emcees.

Don't miss the Paducah Bank ice cream truck on Saturday, 3-4 p.m.! Free ice cream! Paducah Bank rocks!

Rowton Tennis Supports Salvation Army

Angie Kinsey's Paducah Sun story about the Salvation Army's food pantry shortage prompted sweet, sweet Nathan Rowton of Rowton Indoor Tennis Center to serve up this nice offer:

Bring in canned goods and non-perishable food items today and by 6 p.m. tomorrow, and Nathan will turn them over to The Salvation Army's food pantry. Plus, give you a dollar certificate for each item, up to $10, for use in the pro-shop (for $20 items or more).

Rock on, Nathan. And Angie!

Adios, Aynex....

NOTE: I'm repeating this post from a few weeks ago. Aynex's show is tonight! Please come! We're going to tie her up and chain her to a radiator so that she can never leave.


Well, this is about the saddest thing ever. Our lovely and beautiful and very funny and talented and beyond creative Aynex Mercado is leaving us. She's in search of new adventures, and there's no doubt that her new friends and neighbors will fall in love with her as hard as we all have. You really can't help it. She is truly, truly amazing.


Plan to say goodbye at her upcoming Adios Paducah exhibit. It's 6-8 p.m., Friday, May 9, at Aspire Arts Gallery, 611 North 6th St. She'll be around for a few more weeks before moving to Maryland during the May 23 LowerTown Festival weekend.

And if you think you can talk her into staying, send her an email. In the meantime, she has, of course, made a video.

And Cynthia's Favorite Memory Is:

Find out here!

Who's Your Mama?

OK, so Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, May 11. Along with really nice jewelry, I suspect what mama needs is a really nice brunch. That she doesn't have to cook. Or serve. Or clean up after.

I'm sure there's lots of great brunches going on around town, but I know of these three, which all sound pretty fabulous. As long as jewels are involved somewhere along the line. Here's the scoop:


Green Turtle Bay's Commonwealth Yacht Club. It's from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and includes a special book signing by Stephanie Ray Brown of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Reservations: 270.362.4444.



The Stranded Cow, 527 North 6th St., in LowerTown. Grace Clemency and her team are cookin' up some special dishes, beginning at 11 a.m. Reservations: 575.0220.


And the á la carte WKCTC series Mother's Day Lunch at Max's, prepared by the lovely Laura Duff. The artisan cheese course begins at 12:30 p.m., with lunch served at 1 p.m. Reservations: 534.3086.


And then, what could be better than special treatments at Medical Spa 7? These folks know how to take care of mom — all you need to do is book her appointment. And look! She even has on her new Mother's Day diamond earrings! Now that's the combination I'm talkin' about! Click on the images to enlarge, by the way.

Know of other great things for moms? Just use the comments link below!

Happy Mother's Day to all moms!

I'm All A-Twitter!

I'm in love with a new Web do-hickey thingy. Actually, it's not new. It's been around since March 2006. But I figure if I catch up with a Web do-hickey thingy within its first five years, I'm not too far behind the techno curve. Plus Iris Shreve Garrott and Laura K. both use it, so it must be good.

It's called Twitter, and it's this super neat, fast, free and easy way to keep in touch with people you like — even people you don't know, but are sure you would like if you actually got to meet them during happy hour sometime.

It looks like this:


It's very much like the Status Updates in Facebook — except you get to pick who you want to follow and their "tweets" are all collected for you in one place. And then folks can follow you — and you can see who they're following and, if you like what you read, you can follow them, too. So it's all one big Twitter love fest.

So why do I need to know that it's almost quittin' time for Iris? Because I like her and might want to see if she's up for a beer. And what about Laura K. getting locked up for MDA? Her tweet includes a link for us to donate, and I'm always amazed and impressed by how well Laura uses the Web to market everything.

And on top of that, it's a great way to toss out questions and get quick answers as well as to spread the good word about something going on. And you know I'm all about that.

And even more on top of that, Twitterers are very creative, smart and funny. All you have to do is poke around a bit and you'll find folks you want to follow.

You're not going to want to like it. You think you don't have time for it. You think it sounds really silly. But give it a try, and soon you'll be happily tethered to Twitter, tweetin' along like the rest of us.

Plus, if you follow me, I'll follow you!

The Brawl is ON!

Six hot bands will battle it out in DJ Urban Kobbb's 2008 Lowertown Band Brawl, 3-6:30 p.m., Saturday, May 10, at the historic Texaco station at 7th and Madison streets. The brawl is sponsored by iList Paducah and the City of Paducah.

The top three will perform at the Lowertown Art and Music Festival on Sunday, May 25, from 2-4 p.m. They'll battle it out again there, competing for cash prizes. The winning band takes home $1,000, with the second-place winners receiving $500 and third-place winners receiving $250. DJ Urban Kobbb will spin tunes between bands.

Here are the bands competing on Saturday, May 10:

The American Freedom Machine, 3 p.m.
Edging Kelli, 3:40 p.m.
Please Standby, 4:20 p.m.
Noazark, 5 p.m.
The Union Suit, 5:40 p.m.
Special D, 6:10 p.m.

Check out their bios and photos!

Judges include Hooper from Hooper Booking and Promotion; Adam Shull, entertainment writer for the Paducah Sun, Darris Shelby, Just Us Entertainment and me. The Carson Center's Chuck Tate will emcee the event.

"The Band Brawl is exactly the type of thing I love to see happening for our town," says Hooper, a recent iDate of the Week. "Paducah did such great things for local artists with LowerTown, and I think that the city and its musicians can have that same great friendship. Seemingly little things like this are actually the huge events that can establish the next decade or so of how our musical community will prosper or flounder."

Everyone is invited and encouraged to come to the brawl. It's free, and it's guaranteed fun. Plus DJ Urban Kobbb will spin tunes between sets!

Consignment Sale Benefits Starfish

Our friends at Starfish Orphan Ministry will benefit from a children's consignment sale, May 15-17. Be sure to stop by Clothes of Many Closets, 3174 Park Ave. (formerly Heil Beauty Supply) and pick up a few things. Click the image for more details!

Zink: The Myth, The Legend, The Zebra

The good folks of Market House Theatre present the comic drama “Zink: The Myth, The Legend, The Zebra” this weekend and next in their Studio Theatre, 120 Market House Square.

Here's the press release scoop: Zink is a story about 10-year-old Becky (played by Sydney Hughes, above, right, with Adriana Fitch, who plays Ice Z). She's just been diagnosed with cancer, and is introduced to a scary world of hospitals and chemotherapy. But she doesn’t have to go through this alone. A trio of singing zebras keeps her company! Imaginative, funny and heartbreaking, the zebras teach Becky to discover the power of her uniqueness and the unbeatable spirit of her own heart.

Marsha Cash plays Becky's mother, Michael Cochran plays her father and Sawyer Rambo plays her brother. Buy tix online!

First Greenway Trail Walk Coming Up!

Help break in the new Greenway Trail by participating in this Women’s Health Walk on May 17, sponsored by the beautiful staff of
Contemporary OB/GYN of Western Kentucky! Click the image for more details. Walk on!

Nathan Rowton Serves Up Ryder Tix Chances

Wanna surprise someone special with Ryder Cup tickets? Then purchase a few "chances" from tennis pro Nathan Rowton of the Paul Rowton Indoor Tennis Center. Nathan is selling them for $100 apiece, with the drawing set for 8:30 p.m. on June 28.

The lucky winner receives two tickets for six days, including parking and transportation — with all proceeds going to the Raise A Racquet Foundation. This organization does all sorts of things to make tennis available to everyone in Kentucky. Nathan is in his third year on the board.

This year's Ryder Cup is set for Sept. 16-21 at The Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. You don't have to be present at the drawing to win. You just have to buy a bunch of tickets. Email Nathan or call him, 444.8363, for more details.

Time to Get Your Wine & Auction Tix!

Great food, a wonderful Pinot and Cab Franc and an oh la la auction await! Tickets are still available for the Carson Center's Wine Tasting & Auction Thursday, May 15, and Friday, May 16. Get your tax-deductible tickets by calling 443.9932, x240 or x241. It's big fun, no doubt about it!

Homework Home Stretch

With just a few weeks until school is out, homework is probably less appealing than ever to your little (and not so little!) ones. Luckily there's the McCracken County Public Library’s Live Homework Help program.

Expert, live tutors are eager to assist McCracken County students, one-on-one and in real time, with their most difficult assignment, test or project. And check out what kids are saying about it:

• "Thank you for making this Web site for all of us — we really need it, and it's free too! This is the best Web site ever." ~ 5th Grade User

• "I am sooooo glad there is a homework help thing or else I would be soo lost!!!!" ~ 7th Grade User

• "[The tutor] was very helpful and made sure I got the problem done correctly. :)" ~ 12th Grade User

• "This person was very great. She explained things well and I hope I get her again." ~ College Intro User

Fourth grade through college introductory students are welcome to log on and get help with math, social studies, English and science between 2 and 10 p.m., each day. Tutoring is available en Español Sunday through Thursday from 2-10 p.m.

Iris' Eight Belles Tribute

Y'all know how I feel about McCracken County Library's Iris Shreve Garrott. She's a natural writer, photographer and technology buff, and even Twitters.

Open your own free flickr account and you can be pinged each time Iris posts a new image to hers — like the beautiful one, above. She includes a link to this very touching story, too. Iris is so good at posting relevant timely pieces — and often in a heartwarming way, like with her tribute to Eight Belles.

Speaking of Cynthia's...

We've added find three more fun Cynthia's memories from Annette Poole-Malone, Sharla Magee and Martin Fox (all the way from Park City, Utah!). Cynthia's staff has picked the winning entry! Find out who it is on iList Paducah this Wednesday!

Cynthia's de Mayo!

Join the fun 40/50 Group for Cynthia's de Mayo for an afternoon with Jose Cuervos and friends. The margaritas (bartender Brett Duwe's specialty...well, one of them...specialties, I mean...you'll want more than one margarita, of course...) start mixing at 5:30 p.m. That's a mere dos-and-a-half horas from now! Please plan to stop by Cynthia's!

And, by the way, read the latest Cynthia's memories! We'll announce the staff's favorite on iList Paducah this Wednesday!

William's Hair HowTo

OK so I was in a new media seminar yesterday in San Francisco and Sadia Harper, YouTube's HowTo content manager, began her presentation by showing William Sledd's Denim edition video. I, of course, excitedly shrieked: "It's William! It's William!" and then promptly called him on my cell phone like the big goober that I am.

Anyway, here's his latest YouTube HowTo video, which is extremely helpful to those of us with hair care issues. He's a little nake-y in it, too.

Flower Power

Got plants? Get 'em this morning at Etcetera! Click the image to enlarge for details!

Drive-In Movie in LowerTown!

OK, it's not really a drive-in movie — though I guess you could park on Madison at 7th and just sit there in your car and watch. But that wouldn't be very sociable, now would it?

The better option is to bring a lawn chair and a picnic, and sit outdoors with new friends and old for Screen on the Green, 7 p.m., Saturday, May 3. A big screen will be set up in that empty lot at Madison and 7th, and lots of fun folks will be there.

Tonight's flick: Play Time. In this 1967 French comedy, Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourism invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner. Directed by Jacques Tati, 124 min.

Here She Is!

I was wondering if the Hillary folks were coming to town. Turns out they are! And everyone is invited to the opening of the Hillary Clinton Campaign Headquarters. The big event is 5:30-7 p.m., Monday, May 5, at 2130 Lone Oak Rd., in the old "John Deere" building. It's next to McDonald's, which makes me think of the late Phil Hartman's very funny SNL parody of Bill Clinton McDonald's pit stop while out on a jog with his secret service agents.

The campaign's Frank Sedita, regional field representative for the eight Purchase counties, will be on hand. And along with the usual speakers and great food, the Lone Oak High School pep band will keep things hoppin'. For more info, call Paul Friedlander, 519.4737. Rock on, Mz. Hillary! I'm not the world's hugest fan, but having a sister this close to the presidency is pretty awesome in my book.

Hooper Newest iList Paducah Sponsor

Rock on, Hooper! This hottie hot hot music promoter has represented about 450 artists and groups over the years, supporting the success of musicians in Paducah and our surrounding area. And he's super cute, too — in fact he's our iDate of the Week!


If you're in a band and need exposure — or if you're looking for a band to perform at an upcoming event, you need Hooper Booking and Promotion. Just send Hooper an email.

In the meantime, be sure to come to DJ Urban Kobbb's LowerTown Band Brawl, 3-6 p.m., Saturday, May 10, at the historic Texaco station, 7th and Madison. Hooper's one of the judges, so you can see him in action!