Both Smith and Mapplethorpe found their place, of course, and became famous — she as a quintessential alternative-rocker and he as one of the country’s top fine-art photographers.

A surprising thing happens when you carve out some time in your schedule to travel by bike, even if you’re not an expert — it’s a lot less complicated than it seems, and it’s likely to be a lot more fun than you expect.

With a collective interest in making people travel faster and farther with less effort, the public praised, poked and prodded the two-wheeled (sometimes three- and four-wheeled) machine at each level of its improvement.

The gears are always shifting in Cincinnati’s ever-evolving bike community, but here’s a quick progress report that proves Cincinnati cyclists are doing a whole lot more than spinning their wheels. 

Recreational bicycling groups are popping up around the city. And if you’re apprehensive about bike riding again as an adult — either for safety reasons, lack of city riding experience, fear of cars or you just don’t know where to go — roll up to an organized ride.

Progressives often argue that society has made great strides, but looking at the budget proposal passed by the Republican-controlled Ohio House, there seems to be a strong reluctance by conservatives in power to accept the scientific and social progress made in the past few decades.

Signs alluding to a now-defunct echo of the city’s past — known as “ghost signs” — are slowly being worn away by years of corrosion all around Cincinnati.

Last season, the Reds finished with baseball’s second-best record and won the Central Division for the second time in three years. It was a pretty fun year for Reds fans, who saw the team win 97 games — the most since the 1976 Big Red Machine.

 Before we set our sights on the future of the program — one that looks bright despite the uncertainty surrounded the university’s conference affiliation — we’ll look back at the top 10 moments of the ’Cats’ 2012-13 season. Despite the frustrating second half, there were many awesome dunks and cool things that happened.

When you consider everything that went wrong this season — and everything that, already, is going right for next year — you’ll see that Xavier’s next great team may be closer than you think.

 We’ve already covered the social, political and economic angles of the development of the Horseshoe in previous CityBeat issues, but for this issue, with no real agenda, we decided to just wander a few blocks over to the Horseshoe after work to check out the behemoth and see what all the fuss was about.

I didn’t mean to start the night off in such an anti-social fashion, but the poker room manager surprisingly had a seat open at a no-limit table when I walked up and, as is often the case in public poker settings, the competition looked pretty weak.

Glamble (glam-bl) v. – the act of dressing in formal, eye-catching attire at a casino, with the intent to meet interesting people and obtain excellent service without spending a lot of money; a combination of the words “glamour” and “gamble.”

 Needless to say, we at CityBeat have had a jocular, contentious relationship with Buffett — the man, the myth and the entire unwindulaxing Margaritaville™ industry (but not tequila) — ever since, so the opportunity to check out his restaurant at the Horseshoe Casino was too salacious to pass up.

Outside the balmy perimeter of Margaritaville, conveniently nestled within the confines of the Horseshoe Casino’s walls, sits steakhouse Jack Binion’s, Café Italia and all-you-can-eat Spread Buffet. And each of these kitchens (plus the banquet and event center catering) are overseen by Horseshoe Casino Executive Chef Pete Ghione.  

The road to Sonja Hansen’s home is lined with houses that all look the same. Three left-hand turns off Loveland-Miamiville Road through sidewalk-free suburbia sits the Hansens’ five-bedroom brick house, home of the most infamous lady in Loveland this side of sex-toy merchant Patty Brisben. 

 Theater is a great, creative outlet for kids. Sonja Hansen’s efforts in Loveland inspired dozens of them and engaged their families in a wholesome, enjoyable extracurricular activity. Such undertakings are also learning experiences. Sadly, this lesson in repression over trivial matters sends a terrible message to students.