http://www.kentucky.com/living/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com Living 60 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:18:17 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/319/story/106513.html http://www.kentucky.com/319/story/106513.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:17 EDT herald-leader.com (it should be in JPEG format, at least 3 MB in size and the full image file; no camera phone photos, please), or mail original photos to: Vacation Photos, Lexington Herald-Leader/Features, 100 Midland Avenue, Lexington, Ky. 40508. Photographs cannot be returned, and publication in the paper or on Kentucky.com is not guaranteed.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/545773.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/545773.html Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:07 EDT
WADI RUM, Jordan . The sun, a blazing orange ball, beat down mercilessly as my driver and I bounced over sand dunes in our creaky Land Rover. The landscape, almost lunar in its composition of dunes, fissures and jagged rock . indeed, it is known to Bedouins who live here as the Valley of the Moon . has a stark, desolate beauty. The area is best known for being the place where T.E. Lawrence, an obscure British civil servant, morphed into Lawrence of Arabia, soldier, adventurer and defender of the Arabs against the Turks.

Peering across the seemingly unending desert dunes, I began to feel a bit like Patricia of Arabia, especially when, against the horizon, I spotted a camel caravan inching its way across the sand toward us. I stared in fascination as the camels, swaggering and strutting to the jangle of bells draped across their necks, stopped just shy of the Rover. My fascination turned to disbelief when the head camel driver jumped to the ground, made a "click-click" motion at my camera, threw his arm across his camel's hump and flashed a smile, which proved several teeth short of a mouthful.

So much for channeling Lawrence of Arabia and his solitary wanderings. A photo op is a photo op . even in this remote outpost in the Jordanian desert.

Those in search of the past, both distant and near, can find it in Jordan, a little visited (by Americans, at least) Middle Eastern nation. Officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (its royal family is part of the Hashemite clan of an ancient Arabian tribe thought to be descended from the prophet Mohammed), the nation's cultural heritage is a mosaic of Islamic, Jewish and Christian traditions. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/538787.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/538787.html Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:06 EDT
After two years of planning and fund-raising, officials have announced that Atlanta's proposed $125 million civil and human rights museum will be built in a prime tourist zone of the city's downtown.

The Center for Civil and Human Rights will be between The New World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. Coke donated the $10 million, 2.5-acre parcel in October 2006.

The site was chosen over a location closer to The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change . a few miles away in the same neighborhood as King's birthplace, the church where he preached and the tomb where he and his wife, Coretta, are buried.

The new museum is scheduled to break ground next year and will showcase the city and state's contributions to human rights efforts around the world. Morehouse College's Martin Luther King Jr. Collection is expected to be the centerpiece of the project. For more information, visit www.cchrpartnership.org. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/538786.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/538786.html Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:46 EDT
BARCELONA . Spain's northeastern city of Barcelona, set between verdant mountains and the Mediterranean sea, basks in a well-earned reputation as one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations.

With a dramatic rocky coastline cradling little fishing ports to the north and almost endless sandy beaches stretching to the south, the capital of the Catalan region has acted as a powerful tourist magnet since the late 1950s.

About 59 million foreign visitors last year made Spain the world's third most visited holiday destination, a position . behind France and ahead of the United States . it has held consistently for decades.

Thanks to its setting and the beauty of Catalonia, its coasts and offshore islands, millions of tourists explore Barcelona annually. Once there, it is easy to understand why. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/538784.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/538784.html Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:10 EDT
We want to see you on your vacation - holding a Herald-Leader. Send us the picture and tell us where you were there. You mus include your name, address and a daytime phone number and must identify those in the photo, from left to right. Any photo not meeting these criteria will not be considered for publication.

Send it via e-mail to vacationphotos@herald-leader.com (it should be in JPG format, at least 3 MB in size and the full image file), or mail original photos to: Vacation Photos, Lexington Herald-Leader/ Features, 100 Midland Avenue, Lexington, Ky. 40508.

The photos run periodically on the Sunday Travel page and on Kentucky.com.

Photographs cannot be returned, and publication is not guaranteed. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/531304.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/531304.html Sun, 21 Sep 2008 02:01 EDT
KEY WEST, Fla. . Imagine that Hieronymus Bosch and Federico Fellini got together with the express purpose of creating an island. The artist and the filmmaker . both known for their bizarre flights of fantasy . would probably have come up with something resembling Key West.

The southernmost of the Florida Keys . closer to Cuba (90 miles away) than to Miami (158 miles) and often referred to as "the end of the road" . in more ways than the obvious, revels in its own oddness. The island has its own anthem ( Cheeseburger in Paradise , written by island icon Jimmy Buffett) and its own flag (the blue banner of the Conch Republic.)

The island dubbed itself the Conch Republic when it briefly "seceded" from the United States on April 23, 1982, in protest of a U.S. Border Patrol blockade of cars entering and leaving Key West after the Mariel boatlift in Cuba. It prompted the then-mayor to designate himself prime minister and apply for foreign aid. Key West still celebrates the date, as it does almost everything else that occurs on the island. It's that kind of place.

The torpor of the tropics inspired onetime Kentucky resident John James Audubon to paint birds and Ernest Hemingway to create memorable characters. Harry Truman slept here (in the former officers' quarters of the U.S. Naval Station, which came to be known as the "Little White House"), and Top Gun and Witness actress Kelly McGillis once bused tables here (at her own restaurant, Kelly's Caribbean Bar and Grill). Always a mecca for artists, writers and those who found a 9-to-5 existence too confining, it also appealed to less savory types, who found the island's "live and let live" philosophy greatly to their benefit. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/527468.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/527468.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:18 EDT
After five years of off and on construction, the Woodford County castle will finally open its doors to guests and charity fund-raisers before the end of the year.

Open, that is, to those who can afford a $1,000-a-night room or $3,000-a-night turret suites in what is now called The CastlePost.

That's what owner Tom Post, a Miami lawyer, has renamed the U.S. 60 landmark that he once called the Kentucky Castle.

For $25,000, you can rent the first floor with ballroom, dining room and great hall for 24 hours. Pony up $50,000, and you'll get a three-day weekend to have your own private Renaissance. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/457012.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/457012.html Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:17 EDT
If you do have to stay at home this summer, you can experience a wealth of treasures here in the Bluegrass State, including a town that sprang from a meteor crash and the commonwealth's own version of the Holy Land.

I left my heart in Possum Trot (or maybe Monkey's Eyebrow)

Kentucky is known throughout the world for its Thoroughbreds, and its state slogan, “Unbridled Spirit,” says it all. However, the commonwealth did not ignore some of the less majestic members of the animal kingdom when it came to naming its towns. Visitors can stop off in Rabbit Hash in Northern Kentucky, Monkey's Eyebrow in Western Kentucky, Beaver Bottom in the eastern part of the state, and Elkton in the far southern part of the state near the Tennessee line, which is not to be confused with Elkhorn City on the Virginia line. There is a Butterfly and a Bug (even a Bugtussle.) How about a stopover in Coon City or Possum Trot?

Some Kentucky town names might even give you the shivers — Mousie, Rattlesnake and Spider. And for those who insist on the noble equine, there's always Horse Cave.(If you want to know more about Kentucky communities with funny names, check our archives at www.kentucky.com to read stories from our occasional Project Dateline series by features writer Amy Wilson.)]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/443841.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/443841.html Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:08 EDT
FRANKFORT . OK, lets see a show of hands.

How many of you have taken a day or weekend to really explore our state capital (that field trip back in elementary school doesn't count)?

Because Frankfort is just 30 miles from Lexington, it might be tempting to overlook it in favor of more exotic locales, but that would be a mistake. For a city its size (population 28,000), Frankfort has an .impressive number of historic attractions.

First on any visitor's agenda should probably be a tour of the Capitol and grounds. From its imposing location at the end of flower-lined Capitol Avenue to the beautiful floral clock on the grounds to the elegant Beaux Arts style of the building itself, the Capitol complex is one that all Kentuckians can be proud of. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/418019.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/418019.html Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:01 EDT
Everyone knows what Kentucky is famous for . Thoroughbreds, bourbon and basketball. Muhammad Ali, Mammoth Cave, mint juleps, My Old .Kentucky Home . Bluegrass and .barbecue. Churchill Downs and .Cumberland Falls. The list goes on.

But there's a lot about Kentucky you might not know. It was the birthplace (Garrard County) of anti-.liquor crusader Carrie .Nation, but it also was the first state to plant a commercial vineyard when, in the 18th century, the winemaker of the Marquis de Lafayette tried his hand at Kentucky-grown grapes. The 12th .president of the United States, .Zachary Taylor, although born in Virginia, is buried in .Louisville. John Travolta once performed at Danville's Pioneer Playhouse. In 1893, a pair of Louisville sisters penned the words to Happy Birthday, and the first U.S. performance of a Beethoven symphony took place in Lexington.

When you get right down to it, the Bluegrass State has some downright quirky places . some with cult .followings; others fairly obscure . that are as .fascinating as its better-known spots. To kick off the summer travel season, here are a few of them.

Schmidt's Coca-Cola Museum, Elizabethtown ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/374626.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/374626.html Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:43 EDT
Journalism museum opens

WASHINGTON . A museum devoted to the history and practice of journalism opened Friday in Washington.

The Newseum, located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, is designed to be both fun and educational, with a goal of teaching visitors about the free press and the First Amendment.

One gallery features every photograph that ever won a Pulitzer Prize. Interactive kiosks let visitors try various journalism roles . photographer, editor, reporter or anchor. A theater shows what the museum calls a .4-D. film . a 3-D movie with seats that move and air gusts . that covers news events over more than 150 years. A memorial gallery is dedicated to journalists who died covering the news. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/153203.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/153203.html Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:07 EDT
You're not supposed to put off packing until the last minute, then go to a party and have someone tell you: "Europe is really going through a heat spell right now," and then pack accordingly. But that's just what I did. There might have been some kind of alleged heat wave in Europe, but that must have been the Europe that is not actually located inside Germany. Because Germany never got above 64 degrees and rained six of the seven days I was there. And I only bothered to bring one pair of long pants because I depended on a remark at a party for packing advice.

The weather reminded me of England, but Aachen reminded me of England in other ways, too. Very green, with small and colorful cottage gardens everywhere. Europe still lives the way certain Americans called new urbanists are trying to re-create here. Everything starts in the city center and radiates outward, rather than the other way around. So instead of driving out to the mall to shop, people come into town because all the shops are right in the city center.

In this case the center happens to be a huge cobblestoned area bounded on one side by the Gothic Town Hall, which stands on the site of Charlemagne's former palace. Just down the way is the Dom, or Cathedral, where Charlemagne and 33 other German kings were crowned. In between are shops and cafes and restaurants and bakeries and shoe stores and clothes stores and baby stores, and yes, even some big department stores.

In between those are some museums, art galleries, bars, candy shops and hotels. And more cafes, with seating that spills out over the cobblestones. (Which is why I'm a little worried about the hordes of World Games spectators wandering around downtown Lexington in 2010, where they will find exactly four retail stores and roughly 10 restaurants. So entrepreneurs, get started with the outdoor cafes! Or start a limo service to Target!)]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/124339.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/124339.html Sun, 15 Jul 2007 10:35 EDT
Take us along

Like to travel? Want to be in the paper? Do we have a deal for you. We want to see you on your vacation — holding a Herald-Leader. Send us the picture and tell us where you are and when you were there. You must include your name, address and a daytime phone number. Send it via e-mail to
vacationphotos@herald-leader.com (it should be in JPEG format, at least 3 MB in size and the full image file; no camera phone photos, please), or mail original photos to: Vacation Photos, Lexington Herald-Leader/Features,
100 Midland Avenue, Lexington, Ky. 40508.
Photographs run weekly on the Sunday Travel page and on
Kentucky.com. We'll add a new set of vacation photographs to the Web site every two weeks.

Photographs cannot be returned, and publication is not guaranteed.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/food/story/542826.html http://www.kentucky.com/food/story/542826.html Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:53 EDT
Feeling nervous about the economy and looking for more ways to save money? Cooking at home, instead of eating out, is one solution.

Not only is it generally less expensive to eat at home than to dine out, but often food that you prepare in your own kitchen is healthier because you control the amount of fat, sugar and salt used.

It can take more time to be frugal, but if you can save time and money, that's a plus. Here's a way to do both.

This weekend, set aside an hour to prepare baking mixes that can be used for entrees and desserts. This way, you control the ingredients (eliminating some unpronounceable ones) and cut back on packaging for which you pay a premium. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/150/story/544814.html http://www.kentucky.com/150/story/544814.html Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:14 EDT
An ad for an art class with the lofty title "Botanical Art in the French Court Tradition of the 18th Century" caught my eye.

With my 60th birthday just a month away, I think I wanted some miracle of rejuvenation to shake up the aging process at bit.

So, after a 55-year hiatus from creating expressive masterpieces at the 20th-century kindergarten finger-painting easel, I decided to try my hand with watercolor at the class at the Arboretum on Alumni Drive.

The idea fascinated and frightened me, and with reason . people have laughed at my feeble stick-figure illustration style for years. Yet the idea of experiencing plants from a new perspective tempted me, and the arboretum is a familiar sanctuary. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/545773.html http://www.kentucky.com/163/story/545773.html Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:07 EDT
WADI RUM, Jordan . The sun, a blazing orange ball, beat down mercilessly as my driver and I bounced over sand dunes in our creaky Land Rover. The landscape, almost lunar in its composition of dunes, fissures and jagged rock . indeed, it is known to Bedouins who live here as the Valley of the Moon . has a stark, desolate beauty. The area is best known for being the place where T.E. Lawrence, an obscure British civil servant, morphed into Lawrence of Arabia, soldier, adventurer and defender of the Arabs against the Turks.

Peering across the seemingly unending desert dunes, I began to feel a bit like Patricia of Arabia, especially when, against the horizon, I spotted a camel caravan inching its way across the sand toward us. I stared in fascination as the camels, swaggering and strutting to the jangle of bells draped across their necks, stopped just shy of the Rover. My fascination turned to disbelief when the head camel driver jumped to the ground, made a "click-click" motion at my camera, threw his arm across his camel's hump and flashed a smile, which proved several teeth short of a mouthful.

So much for channeling Lawrence of Arabia and his solitary wanderings. A photo op is a photo op . even in this remote outpost in the Jordanian desert.

Those in search of the past, both distant and near, can find it in Jordan, a little visited (by Americans, at least) Middle Eastern nation. Officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (its royal family is part of the Hashemite clan of an ancient Arabian tribe thought to be descended from the prophet Mohammed), the nation's cultural heritage is a mosaic of Islamic, Jewish and Christian traditions. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/140/story/523490.html http://www.kentucky.com/140/story/523490.html Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:14 EDT
When Time magazine writer Joel Stein learned that all 50 states make wine, he set out to "see if good wine can really be made anywhere." He looked for bottles that cost $15 to $20, and he rated each wine: excellent, good, bad or undrinkable.

Stein, his wife and wine critic Gary Vaynerchuk tasted most of the wines. Twenty were sampled at a wine-tasting party with a dozen friends, and Stein tried one wine while visiting the state where it was made.

"We gained an appreciation for the country. The country, in this case, being France," he said.

In the article that appeared in the Aug. 28 issue of Time, Stein wrote about the Kentucky wine he sampled: "I had an entire group of snotty Los Angelinos demanding we open this wine just so we could make fun of it. There's a white rose on the label, it's from Kentucky, and its name is clearly a desperate attempt to market the wine for weddings and derbies. We were going to bury this wine. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/139/story/547608.html http://www.kentucky.com/139/story/547608.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:25 EDT
Based on what I just learned it's obvious a lot of black women today aren't as thrifty as my mother, the woman who taught me how to manage money.

Many are not socking money away in envelopes as my mother did, and many are not saving as they should.

According to a survey conducted in May for the ING Community Foundation and Essence Magazine, black women give money to family and friends, spend more on expensive retail brand names, and then end up with very little put away for a rainy day.

According to the survey of 1,000 black women, 47 percent said financial obligations to their immediate family, and 68 percent said unchecked shopping sprees, have put them in a precarious financial position. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/547622.html http://www.kentucky.com/148/story/547622.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:50 EDT
WASHINGTON . One in 75 patients who gets a knee or hip replaced must get it replaced again within three years, new research finds. The studies underscore a question: Just how much pounding can a new joint take if you want it to last?

The number of first-time hip and knee replacements is skyrocketing, for good reason. They can be highly successful at relieving debilitating pain and helping people to walk normally again.

Also on the rise are more complex "revisions" in which doctors remove the initial joint implant and put in another. That repeat operation isn't always avoidable, even with high-quality care.

But new research suggests the type of joint replacement you choose and even gender can play a role in whether you need a revision. As people seeking new joints increasingly are younger and more active, a second new study issues a caution about what athletic activity patients should try after recovery. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/food/story/542826.html http://www.kentucky.com/food/story/542826.html Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:53 EDT
Feeling nervous about the economy and looking for more ways to save money? Cooking at home, instead of eating out, is one solution.

Not only is it generally less expensive to eat at home than to dine out, but often food that you prepare in your own kitchen is healthier because you control the amount of fat, sugar and salt used.

It can take more time to be frugal, but if you can save time and money, that's a plus. Here's a way to do both.

This weekend, set aside an hour to prepare baking mixes that can be used for entrees and desserts. This way, you control the ingredients (eliminating some unpronounceable ones) and cut back on packaging for which you pay a premium. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/150/story/544814.html http://www.kentucky.com/150/story/544814.html Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:14 EDT
An ad for an art class with the lofty title "Botanical Art in the French Court Tradition of the 18th Century" caught my eye.

With my 60th birthday just a month away, I think I wanted some miracle of rejuvenation to shake up the aging process at bit.

So, after a 55-year hiatus from creating expressive masterpieces at the 20th-century kindergarten finger-painting easel, I decided to try my hand with watercolor at the class at the Arboretum on Alumni Drive.

The idea fascinated and frightened me, and with reason . people have laughed at my feeble stick-figure illustration style for years. Yet the idea of experiencing plants from a new perspective tempted me, and the arboretum is a familiar sanctuary. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/545851.html http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/545851.html Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:00 EDT
MONROEVILLE, Pa. . As expected, a wide majority of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted Saturday to leave the national church and align with a more conservative South American branch as part of the continuing fallout from the 2003 appointment of an openly gay bishop.

"We have had a historic day here in Monroeville," said Bishop Robert W. Duncan, who was removed by the national church as the diocese's bishop on Sept. 18 because of his push for secession.

Duncan, who is expected to be returned to his post as the diocese realigns, finished his short speech to the audience Saturday with the Spanish salutation, buenos d.as . a reference to the diocese's new affiliation with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina.

In a tense meeting marked by calls for calm from both sides in the debate at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Monroeville, a suburb just east of Pittsburgh, 119 of 191 laity voted in favor of leaving the national church, and 121 of 160 clergy also voted to secede. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/156/story/534991.html http://www.kentucky.com/156/story/534991.html Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:00 EDT
In the same way it has never occurred to you that your cat can run the vacuum, it probably has never occurred to you that your dog can dance . dance with you, in fact.

And yet here, in the gleaming expanse of Uptown Hounds near South Broadway, is a goldish 3-year-old border collie named Hayley running through moves to music, weaving through her owner's legs on cue, spinning, strutting on her hind legs and finishing on her back, belly bared and with one leg poking dramatically through the air, a border collie ready for a Liza Minnelli-style Cabaret turn.

Deb Abigt owns Hayley as well as fellow border collie Chase, the two dogs dancing today. She also owns a poodle and long-haired Chihuahua that haven't made this Saturday's trip to demonstrate canine dance. Abigt says dog-dance is a great sport for dogs that engage in other sports such as agility and is particularly suited to "smart, athletic dogs" of all sizes. What little dogs lack in visual appeal for spectators, she reasons, they make up for in panache: "Small dogs already have a 'wow factor' going on."

Age and infirmity are not limiting factors, she says: She once saw a routine with a dog with a rear wheel cart. Anna Schloff, the Michigan resident who is president of the World Canine Freestyle Organization, says the group has more than 1,000 members and offers categories in competition for both dogs and owners who are handicapped or elderly. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/141/story/547945.html http://www.kentucky.com/141/story/547945.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:17 EDT
Teen, adult pageant entries sought

The 2009 Miss Kentucky USA and Miss Kentucky Teen USA pageants are accepting applications. Girls age 15-19 may enter the Miss Kentucky Teen pageant, and women 18 to 27 are eligible for Miss Kentucky. The winner of the Miss Kentucky pageant will receive an all-expense-paid trip to represent the state at the 2009 Miss USA pageant to be aired on NBC television. The winner of Miss Kentucky Teen will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the 2009 Miss Teen USA pageant. Call (615) 377-6331, or visit www.misskentuckyusa.com.



LCT to help enhance Morehead group ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/147/story/540601.html http://www.kentucky.com/147/story/540601.html Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:29 EDT
Pat Bale weighs maybe 105. Her varicose veins are, needless to say, not a product of obesity. Rather, they are an unwelcome family inheritance, something she knew she was going to have to deal with when, in her 20s, she was already feeling tenderness behind her knees.

She's 60 now. And gravity . which she has dodged in some amazing ways with other body parts . seems to have taken its toll on her legs. Which is not to say they are not slim and tan. It is to say she has leaky valves in her greater saphenous veins, and that has created puddles of blood in some little basements in her lower legs.

That is painful . she has horrible leg cramps at night . and generally not pretty and, way worse than that, dangerous. Left unattended, the problem could put her at risk for chronic pain, swollen limbs, and leg and foot ulcers.

For now she has ropy, bulging, aching superficial venus reflux. And, after trying to handle the problem without surgery, she has decided, with her doctor, to resolve the issue. ]]>