David Lynch's Favorite Caviar

David Lynch, auteur known for classic weird cinema such as Inland Empire, Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Wild at Heart and the television series Twin Peaks, knows a lot about fine cuisine. And Mr. Lynch has declared the best caviar he's ever tasted as coming from, of all places, Kentucky.

Shuckman's Fish Co. & Smokery, located at 3001 West Main Street in Louisville, has a knack for coming up with products loved by those in the know, and has been doing so since 1919. In addition to David Lynch, celebrity testimonials have rolled in for Shuckman's from Emeril Lagasse, Gary Busey, Ned Beatty, David Domine, NPR's Lynne Rossetto Kasper, and Peter Halikas from Dean & Deluca. Even Mikhail Gorbachev and President Clinton have dined on Shuckman's wondrous creations.

So why is one of the nation's leading smoked seafood companies located in Kentucky? I have no idea. It's just one of life's little ironies, like how you have to go to Northern Italy to find the best Southern Italian restaurants.

Visit Shuckman's website here.

Haunts of Old Louisville

Just received this press release from our pal David Dominé in the mail today:

David Domine's Fourth Book Is Released

McClanahan Publishing House is pleased to announce the publication of David Domine's fourth book, HAUNTS OF OLD LOUISVILLE: Gilded Age Ghosts and Haunted Mansions in America's Spookiest Neighborhood. This is the third volume in the popular “Haunted Old Louisville” series, and there are two more yet to come. David’s first book, GHOSTS OF OLD LOUISVILLE: True Stories of Hauntings from America's Largest Victorian Neighborhood, became something of a local phenomenon after its release in 2005 when Publishers Weekly picked up on its unusually high sales numbers and reported nation-wide that “something downright spooky” was happening in Louisville. In its first year alone it saw three printings and sold over 10,000 copies, making David one of the most successful authors of non-fiction in the state. In 2008, his books were featured in the October edition of Southern Living in conjunction with the ghost tours and history and architecture tours he started to promote heritage tourism in Old Louisville, one of the largest historic preservation districts in the nation. David’s stories are unique in that he uses reportedly true tales of hauntings to inform readers about the hidden past that surrounds them.

The release of HAUNTS OF OLD LOUISVILLE was celebrated on August 22 during an autograph party at the Inn at the Park in Old Louisville but a series of book signings has been planned over the next few months. The first official signing will be held at the Frankfort Avenue Carmichael’s at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 3.

Cannel City

Today I received some nice photos from fellow seeker-of-creepiness David Domine, who says:

"I was doing some research in eastern Kentucky a couple of weekends ago, and I drove through this weird little town, Cannel City, which turns out to be one of Kentucky's ghost towns. (I read your post about Fudge, but don't know if you'd heard of this one...)

I found this info about it online."

From that link, we learn:

A type of coal high in volatile constituents and thus burning brightly, cannel coal was once prized as a fuel used in lighting homes and businesses: and so in 1910, the coal veins in this patch of Morgan County in central Kentucky were a significant commercial commodity, enough to warrant a large mining operation, the importation of hundreds of miners, a special railroad (the Ohio and Kentucky Junction-Cannel City line), and a bit later a major chemical plant operated by the Pearsite Company. With all this, Cannel City prospered: churches, a bank, an elegant hotel.

The usefulness of cannel coal, however, declined once coal gas, then electric lighting, became commonplace.