Candidates On: Axing the City Manager’s Job
CityBeat’s continuing coverage of non-incumbent candidates for Cincinnati City Council today features a question about the city manager’s position. We asked the candidates, “Do you believe the city manager’s position should be abolished in favor of giving executive authority to the mayor, as has been suggested in the past?”—- Anitra Brockman (Green): “I do believe…
Events: Sugoicon
If Cosplay, Shinjuku or FICE mean anything to you, you probably already know that the 10th annual Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky anime convention is this weekend. But you don't have to be a Princess Mononoke buff to enjoy this weekend-long extravaganza. It's Halloween, so bust out that old Sailor Moon costume and check out some awesome Japanese…
Halloween: Zombie Crawl
The DeComposition Zombie Crawl invites you to drag your sorry, dead ass across Covington and devour the living! It’s the final week of Covington’s Full Spectrum, so come dressed to kill or let your hosts zombie you up with spooky makeup at the first stop, Molly Malone’s (112 E. Fourth St.) from 6-7 p.m. The…
Music: Ingrid Michaelson
New York singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson saw her profile rise pretty dramatically in 2007 when Old Navy built their fall sweater campaign around her quietly infectious song “The Way I Am.” The song quickly made its way to radio, the upper reaches of the charts and the kind of ubiquitous status that can seriously inhibit a…
Onstage: All’s Well That Ends Well
All’s Well That Ends Well at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company ends up neatly with loose threads tidied away. Heroine Helena is a moon-eyed maiden in love above her station. She’s also skillful, willful, driven and manipulative. These contradictions are so fetchingly etched and explicated by Kelly Mengelkoch (pictured) that sweet Helena deserves to end up with…
Music: Russian Circles
Russian Circles might very well be capturing the transmissions of a complex, little known galaxy far away. In crafting snaking, ornate instrumental passages with nary a word to be heard, the group’s material offers the possibility that they have special access to a distant away satellite and are using its transcendental signals to fuel their…
Halloween: Run Like Hell
Cross-dressing and parading the streets of Cincinnati doesn’t have a better home than the 18th edition of Run Like Hell. If you’re serious about your cardiac health or you just feel like dressing up and being drunk in public, show up at the corner of Dana and Woodburn Friday for this one of a kind…
Comedy: Adam Hunter
Comedian Adam Hunter, it seems, really wants to give you, the comedy fan, your money’s worth. “It’s definitely fast-paced,” he says describing his act. “As many jokes per minute as I can possibly fit into a set. It’s fun, a little edgy. You’re definitely going to laugh. A lot of sex, drugs and Rock &…
Music: Mason Jennings with Anni Rossi
For more than a decade, Mason Jennings has built a rabid fanbase as an acoustic troubadour, starting with the sparse sound and emotional depth of his 1998 self-titled debut, continuing with the Jazz/Folk/Blues direction of his politically-charged sophomore album, 2000’s Birds Flying Away, and coming to fruition with the glory-and-story-of-love song cycle on 2002’s Century…
Whom Would a Federal Shield Law Shield?
Congress is considering a federal shield law for journalists whose sources, notes, unused images and testimony sometimes are demanded by federal courts and officials. At its most basic level, a shield must protect reporters’ promises of confidentiality to sources. Otherwise, reporters will have to choose between breaking their promise or jail. State laws — in…
Lit: Ryan Mecum
From the author of the slightly dark, slightly irreverent collection of poems, Zombie Haiku, comes a collection of new (also dark and irreverent) haikus, Vampire Haiku. Cincinnati native Ryan Mecum’s latest book follows the life of William Butten, a Mayflower-voyager-turned-vampire, through defining moments in American history in haiku format. Butten spends his three centuries recounting…
Halloween: Bite Me Ball
Have you crafted your best costume yet? Are you looking for somewhere to show it off besides your neighbor’s house party? Grab your costume and head to the Bite Me Ball at the Contemporary Arts Center. Check out the galleries or shop for a cool trinket from the CAC store. After you’ve satisfied your art…
Lit: Teri Casper and Daniel Smith
Authors Teri Casper and Daniel Smith, who conduct bus tours of haunted Cincinnati, sign and discuss their new book, Ghosts of Cincinnati: The Dark Side of the Queen City. The duo shares a chilling mixture of local lore, history and ghost stories. Some of the Cincinnati spooks that are covered in the book include star-crossed…
Music: Foxy Shazam with The Sounds
Foxy Shazam, one of Cincinnati’s hardest-touring bands, isn’t going to get less busy anytime soon. It was recently announced that the eccentric keys-driven quintet — which imaginatively crafts a maniacal, kaleidoscopic brand of Metal/Punk/Rock/Pop fusion and puts on one of the wildest live shows you’ll ever see — has signed with legendary label Sire Records.…
Foxy Shazam with The Sounds
Foxy Shazam, one of Cincinnati’s hardest-touring bands, isn’t going to get less busy anytime soon. It was recently announced that the eccentric keys-driven quintet — which imaginatively crafts a maniacal, kaleidoscopic brand of Metal/Punk/Rock/Pop fusion and puts on one of the wildest live shows you’ll ever see — has signed with legendary label Sire Records.…
All’s Well That Ends Well (Review)
Critic's Pick To paraphrase Bill Clinton, “It depends on what your definition of ‘well’ is.” All’s Well That Ends Well at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC) ends up neatly with loose threads tidied away. That’s one kind of ending “well,” even when the neatness blindsides reason. It ends with revelations, reconciliations and a romantic coupling that…
Rattling Cages
The battles surrounding Issue 2 might be lost to some in an election season dominated by Cincinnati City Council elections, the streetcar referendum and casino gambling. But if you eat eggs, cheese and meat and care about the price and quality of your food, the controversial ballot initiative demands attention. Cut through the rhetoric and…
Guest Editorial: Climate Change Steps Crucial
(*In conjunction with the group 350.org, Cincinnati will be one of dozens of cities worldwide on Saturday that hosts an International Day of Climate Action event. The local event will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fountain Square. Activist Jeff Cobb, of Climate Change Advocates of Cincinnati, outlines why the effort is…
Candidates On: Budget Showdown (Part Two)
Today’s installment of CityBeat’s questions for non-incumbent candidates for Cincinnati City Council is a follow-up to Thursday’s question. In light of the recent budget showdown on City Council and the dispute about whether the Police Department should get an up-front, blanket exemption from the threat of layoffs, we asked, “Do you believe it’s appropriate to…
Battling the ‘Banksters’
Thousands of taxpayers from 20 cities — including Cincinnati — will converge on Chicago beginning Sunday for a protest at a major banking conference. In what’s described as the largest mobilization since the economic crisis began in earnest last year, "Showdown in Chicago” will protest the American Bankers Association (ABA) to demand banks stop spending…
Ingrid Michaelson with Matthew Perryman Jones
New York singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson saw her profile rise pretty dramatically in 2007 when Old Navy built their fall sweater campaign around her quietly infectious song “The Way I Am.” The song quickly made its way to radio, the upper reaches of the charts and the kind of ubiquitous status that can seriously inhibit a…
Saw VI (Review)
Even though Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the psychopathic puppet master pulling the deadly strings in this franchise has been dead for a few installments now, something about the trailers for the latest torture-porn extravaganza speaks to a return to grisly form for the series. He lords over the proceedings as if, in death, he has found…
Russian Circles with Coliseum and Young Widows
Russian Circles might very well be capturing the transmissions of a complex, little known galaxy far away. In crafting snaking, ornate instrumental passages with nary a word to be heard, the group’s material offers the possibility that they have special access to a distant away satellite and are using its transcendental signals to fuel their…
Lyle Lovett, Jay Farrar, Benjamin Gibbard, Electric Six and Mike Doughty
My odometer rolled over this week. It seems strangely surreal that I’ve already accumulated a year’s worth of calendar pages, but there’s no arguing with October. It’s here, and I’ve turned. My head certainly doesn’t acknowledge the passed time. Deep in the recesses of my juvenile lizard brain there is a clump of cells trying…
Il Divo (Review)
Hard on the heels of the acclaimed Gomorrah, Italian corruption gets a much quieter but equally vigorous workout in Paolo Sorrentino’s highly stylized portrait of the country’s most enduring political leader, Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti (Toni Servillo). Teflon doesn’t begin to describe the Christian Democrat who led one after another of Italy’s rapid succession of…
Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (Review)
Scattershot and comically unbalanced, Cirque du Freak is a wannabe fantasy horror film that feels like it was shot underwater. Teenage best friends Steve (Josh Hutcherson) and Darren (Chris Massoglia) buy their way into a troop of freaks performing one show at their local small-town theater. Mr. Ribs is so named because his internal organs…
Amelia (Review)
When Amelia Earhart gazed upon a plane taking off into the heavens as a young girl in Kansas, she decided right then and there that there could be no other place for her. We know this because Earhart (Hilary Swank in full blunt and clip mode from her hair to her perfectly brittle accent) tells…
Mason Jennings with Anni Rossi
For more than a decade, Mason Jennings has built a rabid fanbase as an acoustic troubadour, starting with the sparse sound and emotional depth of his 1998 self-titled debut, continuing with the Jazz/Folk/Blues direction of his politically-charged sophomore album, 2000’s Birds Flying Away, and coming to fruition with the glory-and-story-of-love song cycle on 2002’s Century…
Astro Boy (Review)
Sometime in the future, the lucky humans of Metro City live in a floating paradise above the post-apocalyptic surface of the Earth, slaved over by armies of sentient, emotional robots who present happily subservient faces while grumbling to themselves about how they “hate” their jobs. It’s creepy and weird, and it’s something like a mecha…
Friday Movie Roundup: Bite Me, Robert Pattinson
What’s up with the current vampire/zombie craze? Yes, there’s always been interest in the genre and its preoccupation with the dark side of human nature and sexuality — from the books of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice to the movies of Bela Lugosi and George A. Romero to the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.…
Stage Door: ’Tis the Season for Poe
If you're looking to get revved up for Halloween, I can think of no better choice than heading to Cincinnati Shakespeare Company this weekend for Giles Davies' first performance of Poe, a compilation of creepy stories from the master of the macabre.—- Davies spent nine seasons at CSC, where he excelled at playing memorable, kinky…
Don’t Taze My Chest, Bro
After widespread criticism from human rights groups, the maker of the Taser electrical stun gun is now advising law enforcement agencies to avoid shooting people in the chest with the weapon. Taser International, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., recommended the change in a revised training manual issued Oct. 12. The company stated there’s an “extremely low”…
Candidates On: Budget Showdown (Part One)
CityBeat’s ongoing coverage of the non-incumbent candidates for Cincinnati City Council continues with a question on council’s recent budget dispute, about where reductions should be made and whether police officers should face possible layoffs. In the first part of a two-part question, we ask, “During the recent budget showdown on City Council, what — if…
Saturday at Grammer’s: NEIN ON NINE!
Most of us can agree that this Issue 9 business has become a total mess. If passed, this charter amendment won’t necessarily stop the streetcar line from being constructed, but it will force a vote before city leaders can spend money on it. It will also force votes on all other rail spending — including…
UC Alum: ‘One Great Season’ of College Football
University of Cincinnati football fans have enjoyed a couple of pretty great seasons the last two years. That’s partly why UC grad John Wise is in town during this homecoming weekend as part of his “One Great Season” project, a multi-media documentation of the 2009 college football season. But although UC's recent success and 6-0…
Vaughn and Co. (Profile)
Don’t let Ronnie Vaughn’s gruff voice, muscles, short hair and stubble fool you. This frontman delivers words like a charming bear. A born storyteller, Vaughn kicks back in his coffeeshop chair, relaxing like he’s beside a campfire, shooting the shit. He shoots, “When we started playing, we were against the cover thing. We’d play for…
Ichiban (Review)
Walking into Ichiban, I was confronted with one of those awkward intercultural crisis moments. There sat my friend, at the table, but to get to her I had to somehow circumvent the Japanese kneeling bench that surrounded the table. It never occurred to me to kneel or sit; instead, I vaulted over it, with the…
Rocking the Class X
Radio has become a sterile creative enterprise, guided by playlist consultants who view music as a business at the basest level. Ironically, radio could never have reached this nadir without ’60s and ’70s free-form FM and college radio, which fostered adventurous programming, encouraged DJ individuality and attracted listeners and advertisers in droves, ultimately commercializing the…
The Big Band Theory: 2nd Season (Review)
At first glance it’s easy to dismiss The Big Bang Theory. Some might have no time for what appears to be clichéd aspects of geekdom. Indeed, there’s lots of video game playing, comic book collecting and Star Trek references to be had here. Additionally, a comedy about scientists might leave some people feeling, uh, not…
Loveland Castle Scary Knights
The Loveland Castle has been haunting the Cincinnati area for over twenty years. The castle wasn’t built to scare but offers a great setting for a haunted house. Traveling down the winding road that leads to the castle builds up some eerie suspense. Once you arrive on the grounds, however, the atmosphere is slightly different…
Mutant Chronicles (Review)
In a distant future, competing corporations have divided the Earth, turning it into a non-stop war-field of nationalistic, Orwellian proportions. Battles rage across the globe, and during one particularly brutal frontline assault, an ancient, dormant race of mindless killer mutants is unknowingly unleashed from a prison deep within the planet’s bowels. They make quick mincemeat…
Springboro Haunted Hayride & Black Bog
For 20 years, the Springboro Haunted Hayride & Black Bog has maintained a sort of peculiar charm on its rustic, countryside setting. These two separate attractions are housed on a sprawling farm in the middle of nowhere. The drive there is an excursion itself, but the experience is well worth the voyage. The Haunted Hayride…
Mount Healthy Haunted Hall
The Hall is full of surprises. It’s nestled along a quiet neighborhood street and is a charity haunt, both of which point to a born-to-be-mild haunted experience. But this is far from the truth. Tricks and devilish treats are released even as you wait in line. Is that a dummy or, no, that skeleton is…
The Zen and Art of Tattooing
There’s nothing quite like the experience of getting your first tattoo. People who haven’t had the experience of being laid out under a tattoo gun for hours at a time will commonly ask, “Does it hurt?” Speaking from personal experience: Yes, it hurts. But pain plays a relatively insignificant role in the tattoo process as…
Hollan, The Charter, Berding, Finan
[WINNER] NICHOLAS HOLLAN: In an unusually odd mixture of endorsements, The Cincinnati Enquirer recently included Hollan among its picks for City Council. A first-time candidate with progressive leanings, this thoughtful West Side Democrat is well-qualified for public service due to his work with the Red Cross and United Way. It’s encouraging to see a political…
Oct. 14-20: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY OCT. 14There are some things that even the dumbest kid doesn’t need his mom to tell him more than once: The stove is hot, scary movies aren’t real and eating at Taco Bell will make you poop your pants. A new study hopes to put another surprisingly debatable issue to rest — whether hanging…
Celeb Hair, Hot MCs, Radio Trouble
[HOT] Hair Today, Bought Tomorrow?Leslie Hindman Auctioneers recently auctioned off Elvis Presley collectibles featuring clothes and “sweat-stained scarves,” as well as a clump of what is alleged to be The King’s actual hair. The dark locks are believed to be from when Elvis received his crewcut upon entering the Army in 1958. The auction house…
Good Hair (Review)
As a black man who has had a baby Afro, a Jehri curl, shaved his head, worn dreds and now sports what I like to call a budding Cornel West blowout ’fro, I know a thing or two about the concerns over black hairstyles from the male perspective. I’ve been forced to cut my offending…
I’ve Known Some Soldiers
I considered joining the U.S. National Guard as a teenager. Two military recruiters visited the Catholic elementary school I attended on the west side of Cincinnati. School administrators herded us young boys into a room to listen to two men tell us we should consider enlisting. The images of national guardsmen stacking sandbags to battle…
A Mighty Return for Mallory
Cincinnati Indie/Post Rock trio mallory returned to the local club scene several months ago after an extended hiatus, and this weekend the band celebrates the birthing of its long-awaited second release, … Before It Grows. The seven-track effort is the group’s first since 2002’s the first one hundred years, a mesmerizing debut. The band’s CD…
God Says No (Review)
James Hannaham’s God Says No might be slightly more interesting if it were a work of nonfiction. The fact that it’s not — the fact that Hannaham enjoyed full creative authority in detailing his main character’s struggle with homosexuality — renders the book not merely irrelevant as social commentary but plain boring to boot. Arguably,…
Start Thanksgiving Beverage Shopping Early
Believe it or not, it’s almost Thanksgiving, and once again I recommend planning ahead for your beverage purchases. Picking out the wine and beer is one task you can accomplish well before the holiday, when you may be busy with more pressing tasks like procuring the perishable side items and brining your bird. So, what…
The Last Of His Mind (Review)
The Last of His Mind is not a laugh a minute. But if it’s not a fun read, perhaps it’s an important one. The subtitle, “A Year in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s,” acknowledges the subject matter as that terror hiding in our closets. We, or someone close to us, will outlive our mind. The value…
Angel of Death Haunted Trail
Chainsaws-a-go-go! If the USS Nightmare and the Dent Schoolhouse are the Hollywood haunts in town, this is surely the low-budget slasher flick. Costumes and props are spartan, but Angel of Death is hellishly, demonically scary. The exit ramp off I-71 is pitch black and the first thing you see is a ROAD CLOSED AHEAD sign.…
Widening the Field
With a dozen candidates vying for the four open seats on the board overseeing Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), this year’s election is turning into a big event for voters. “It’s probably the largest field in recent history,” says David Little, campaign manager for incumbent Catherine Ingram and challengers Ceair Baggett, Joyce Hooks and Lisa Schare.…
St. Williams Haunted House
An ideal haunted house to take the whole family, this haunt is set next to a Catholic church in the parish center. That alone gives it a built in creep, but the whole package is more of an easygoing haunted tour. There are some neat scares — the quaking elevator and the delightfully shocking funeral…
New Home for Raymond Thunder-Sky’s Art
Northside is known as Cincinnati’s hippest, artiest neighborhood, so it’s fitting that a new “post-outsider art” gallery (Thunder-Sky Inc.) will open there Oct. 30. It couldn’t have a better location: 4573 Hamilton Ave., in the string of storefronts that also includes The Comet and N-Vision. Bill Ross and Keith Banner have founded Thunder-Sky Inc., a…
Turpin Field of Fright
Clowns, chainsaw murderers and various grim reapers are loose in Newtown. The winding corn maze is home to other nasty folks including a giant furry man (Bigfoot with an angry streak) and various crazed hillbillies who are none too happy with you treading on their property. It’s a mish mash of the archetypical Jungian gallery…
Possible Utility Sale Sparks Voter Referendum
The possible sale of the Greater Cincinnati Water Works has prompted the latest voter referendum from the We Demand a Vote Coalition. Under a scenario being studied, the city-owned utility would be sold to a newly created regional water authority, overseen by a board of trustees and regulated by rules spelled out in Ohio law.…
The Chambers of Horror
As soon as you descend upon the Chambers of Horror parking lot, you know you’re in for an unnerving experience. Ogling creatures stalk you all the way to the entrance. Once inside, visitors are prepared for the fright night with an evil opening video complete with static and a wicked introduction from Saw’s demented Jigsaw.…
Conflicted in Colerain
Dear Maija, I’m in a fantasy baseball league with a coworker and a bunch of his weird family members and their friends. Last year my buddy won a football league that most of these same dudes were in and nobody paid him the league fees even though the commissioner explicitly wrote in the league chat…
Letters? Oh, We Get Letters
One of the most interesting parts of my job as a columnist involves getting letters, e-mails and online comments on the topics I’ve written about. It’s always surprising which columns elicit the biggest reaction from readers. I might think my pieces on health care reform, the Religious Right or the latest questionable antics by Sheriff…
Tyson (Review)
James Toback’s documentary should be subtitled Mike on Mike: It’s 90 minutes of a recently interviewed Tyson speaking directly to the camera — a single-minded perspective that proves both frustrating and fascinatingly intimate. Rambling, emotional and often surprisingly articulate, Tyson ruminates on everything from his troubled childhood and meteoric rise as a boxer to his…
Tricks, Treats and Spooky Fun for Kids
Halloween is, at its heart, a children’s holiday. Despite the hugely popular and profitable businesses of haunted houses and adult costumes, it’s kids who get more out of October than anyone else. It does not memorialize a war and has little religious significance — the pop culture connection to All Saints Day and the Day…
CityBeat Podcast 31: The Berlin Candy Bomber
On this episode we'll hear from Col. Gail Halvorsen, the original candy bomber from the 1948 Berlin Airlift. When the Soviet Union launched their 1948 blockade of West Berlin, the United States began the Berlin Airlift to bring supplies to West Berlin. Halvorsen launched his own initiative within the Airlift — dropping miniature parachutes with…
