Every first day of the month, each park in the Hamilton County Park District offers free admission (no vehicle permit needed) and special discounted activities all day. Stop by Winton Woods, Lake Isabella, Sharon Woods or any other area parks for free fishing, boat rides, wet playground access, golf discounts and more. Find more details here. Sexy Time Live Band Karaoke takes over the back room at Northside Tavern tonight. Sign ups start at 9 p.m. Hofbrauhaus will host Beer Stein-Holding Competitions every Wednesday this month. Beginning at 7 p.m., participants will test their strength and see how long they can hold a full mug of beer with an extended arm. Get your workout at the bar — what more could you want? Winners from the qualifying rounds will compete for the chance to go to New York and Munich’s Oktoberfest. Feel the burn! The Pinstripes heat up Fountain Square for Reggae Wednesday, 7-10 p.m. Snoop Dogg Lion would approve. Tonight the Reds take on the Padres at Great American Ballpark at 7:10 p.m. Get tickets here. When Jersey’s favorite wedding singer Robbie Hart is dumped by his own fiancé at the altar, he is devastating, leaving a trail of ruined receptions behind him. That 1998 Sandler comedy gets a high school makeover as the Cincinnati Young People’s Theater takes on The Wedding Singer for its summer production at the Covedale Center. Expect campy, fun ‘80s hits and costumes, and plenty of talented local teens. Go here for tickets and details on the show (running tonight through Sunday). It’s Bandstand Bluegrass ‘n’ kickball night at Washington Park! The game begins at 6 p.m.; Northern Kentucky Bluegrass Band kicks off at 7

Dave Wakeling brings the current version of his legendary Ska-to-Pop band The English Beat to Oakley tonight to perform at the 20th Century Theater with special guests, Cincinnati's own Ska heroes The Pinstripes (who played with The Beat in Michigan last night as well). I wrote extensively about an interview I did with Wakeling a few years back when The Beat opened for 311 at Riverbend, one of the Top 5 highlights in my career as a music writer (my 13-year-old self is still in disbelief that my … much older self got to hang with one of our heroes). Read all about my fanboy dreams coming true here. Tonight's show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $25.Here's a playlist of some of The English Beat's finer moments (and a track from Wakeling's post-Beat band General Public, songs from which he also performs with his current band).

The 2012 SXSW festival has come to an end and it's left us tired, sore and broke. In retrospect it seems like a meager price for a full week of live music, free booze and hanging out in one of the country's coolest cities. But for many bands, it's just another week on the job.  Among the thousands of artists that apply for SXSW every year, only a small percentage are officially a part of the festival. However, that doesn't stop bands from all over the world, like Cincinnati's The Pinstripes, from taking the stage or at least creating their own. Even if it's on their own dime and they aren't part of an official showcase. The six-member Reggae/Ska/Soul band traveled across the country to perform on the streets of downtown Austin. And, from what band members Matt Kursmark and Leo Murcia say, it seems like they'd happily do it all over again."When we play shows and busk, and hustle the best we can, it's, like, hey, we're from Cincinnati. This is what we have to offer and what our city has to offer, and remember it.  Remember that you had a good time and you moved your butt. We're trying to shake butts, really. Trying to shake as many as possible," Murcia said. The Pinstripes, which played a variety of festivals over the years, note that SXSW is unique in that it definitely carries its own, more "industry-focussed"  tune, compared to others. "I was surprised to see that it's an industry party. It's not for the fans, but I'm also surprised at how many fans there were," Kursmark said. "It's definitely nuts, 'anything goes' to a certain extent. There are a lot of people here who are trying to experience as much as they can, ourselves included, and watching people try to do that is an experience in itself," Murcia added. However, the exclusivity of the festival didn't deter this group from having a good time or making an impression on crowds, particularly the police. "The first time we were practicing our acoustic set on the street outside of Dallas in a neighborhood and we were playing outside. It was a nice day … then someone called the cops for a noise complaint. But the cops said, 'Hey you guys sound really good, but I have to shut you down,' " Kursmark said.Then police officers later asked when and where they were playing at SXSW so they could come check out the show. "The cops really seem to like The Pinstripes, but the people who like the cops don't seem to like The Pinstripes. There must be some algorithm for it. If you find out let us know. We'll try to avoid it at all costs," Murcia said. So, what's the best part of the festival for these guys? "Free. Free food, free beer — that definitely has its negative side of the coin, too," Murcia said. And the worst?"It seems a bit exclusive, it caters to certain bands and genres. It's all about Indie Rock, there's a lot of Punk or whatever, but it seems like there's a lot of  the general showcases seems to be just popular music," Kursmark said. However, the band remains mindful of the opportunity SXSW presents. And they just want to keep doing what they know best — keep playing music. "It's tough to not go see (artists like) Jimmy Cliff (at SXSW), someone who we really admire and respect. This guy is such a direct influence on what we do, but we can 't see him. It sucks It's a bummer, but at the same time the really cool part about it is you go out on the street, play a house show, people are so open to it, People are open to us — people want it. if we can provide that for them, then that's sweet. That's the best part of SXSW and the music," Murcia said.

Tomorrow the music portion of the huge, annual South By Southwest festival in Austin, Tex., kicks off and, as we told you before, Cincinnati music is very well represented this year. Local promotional/licensing organization The All Night Party presents its first ever showcase at SXSW tomorrow at Soho Lounge, featuring performances by Cincy area bands Wussy, The Lions Rampant, The Seedy Seeds and The Sundresses, along with pals Oh My Me (from Lexington) and The Whiskey Daredevils (Cleveland). The Counter Rhythm Group — which has also been assisting local artists with creative promotional opportunities — is helping out with the showcase (and corresponding Midwest by Southwest tour) and, kind folks that they are, the company is offering a free compilation download featuring several of the artists with whom they are working. Click here, hit "Free Download" and enter your email address to get an instant link to the digital files, which include excellent tracks from some of the area's finest, including State Song, Shiny and the Spoon, Ampline, Mad Anthony, The Pinstripes, Alone at 3AM and The Tillers, plus SXSWers R. Ring (one of their first publicly available tracks), Wussy, Ohio Knife and The Sundresses. Pass the link around to show off your city's stellar music scene to all of your out-of-town pals (especially any living in Austin, so they can get out and show some support). And keep checking this blog for reports from the ground in Austin throughout the SXSW festival to see how our locals are faring.

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Sometimes I feel like that scene in Seinfeld where Newman talks himself into a state of bug-eyed crazy as he describes the endless stream of mail that the Post Office is forced to deal with every day. I feel his fictional pain as I look about the Bunker and realize the stacks keep stacking regardless of my efforts to review them. I’m also reminded of an offhand comment made by my glass-half-empty pal Sean Daley when we worked together at Wizard Records way back in the weighty ’80s. One afternoon, Sean started looking around the store with a vacant gaze that suggested either the onset of a stroke or the Percocet kicking in. I asked him what was wrong and he said, “It just occurred to me that my new favorite album could be in here somewhere and I’d never know it because I won’t hear it, and no one I know will buy it and turn me onto it.” That’s how deeply philosophical it got in the store when we were short on customers. Of course, my dilemma doesn’t quite drip with that level of O. Henry irony. I might hear something quite good long after its release, but I have this forum to cover it, regardless of when it was actually hot off the presses.

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