They’re Happy to Pay Taxes
Immigration reform supporters will hold a rally Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of Tax Day, to publicize recent research that indicates allowing current undocumented immigrants — or “illegal aliens” — to become legal, tax-paying citizens would produce billions of dollars in new tax revenues.—- The rally will feature speakers from local businesses and government who…
Blurring the Lines Between News and Advertising Content
Gannett’s Indianapolis Star has a real mess on its hands involving a breach of ethics and the readers’ trust. Here’s what the Indianapolis News Guild reported: “Features reporter TJ Banes wrote on summer camps in January 2007 — only to have the story ‘repurposed’ and used with her byline as part of a metro section…
Riding Into the Future
Eyeing its goal of joining "more progressive" cities with an active bicycling culture, Cincinnati has released an initial blueprint for its Bicycle Master Plan, a network of more than 300 miles of bike routes that could soon have more residents leaving their cars at home and pedaling to work. The plan, released online last week…
Back in Record Time
It hasn’t happened yet, but Shake It Records co-owner Darren Blase expects it to start occurring soon. “The next big thing will be people trading in their CDs to buy vinyl,” he jokes. Actually, half-jokes. As Record Store Day — the national celebration of independent record stores — approaches on Saturday, new and used vinyl…
Earth Day Events
The 40th annual Cincinnati Earth Day Celebration features environmental exhibitors and activities, a recycled costume contest and environmental awards. Live music and exciting exhibits throughout the day. Noon-5:30p.m. April 17. Free. Sawyer Point, Downtown riverfront, www.cincinnatiearthday.org or 513-231-7719. More info in the four-page Earth Day insert in this week’s CityBeat. Local artists present an Earth…
Jakob Dylan, John Butler, BoDeans, Rebel Montez, David Byrne/Fatboy Slim, Sharon Jones & and the Dap Kings, Martin Sexton and More
It’s been a fairly good week. Nothing significant in the news has pushed my outrage button, though I’m still not sure how to interpret the FCC’s loss/Comcast’s win in federal court over their dispute concerning Internet neutrality. I suspect that between government and business the loser is always going to be us, regardless of the…
Amped-up Hot Rods
Amp Electric Vehicles (AMP) plans to generate a serious buzz around town by producing 100-percent electric production cars. They reconfigure three standard vehicles — Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Skye and Chevy Equinox — to get up to 150 miles from a single charge and hope to produce up to 1,000 cars per year, operating at the…
Red Onion Cafe (Review)
Critic's Pick On a drizzly Thursday evening, there’s a 40-minute wait at Monroe’s Red Onion Café. Stuffed cheek-by-jowl into a tiny vestibule are well-dressed couples (including a vivacious 93-year-old and her affable husband) sipping Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. A specials chalkboard mentions Shrimp Scampi, Lake Perch and Boeuf Bourguignon. A veritable mission statement is on…
Embracing New Ideas
Most local residents are familiar with the saying “When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it’s always 20 years behind the times.” Variously attributed to Mark Twain or Will Rogers, things have changed a bit since the days of typewriters and railroads. But it’s not nearly enough, say…
The Birth of a Green Corner
Greener Stock is in its infancy and has occupied its space in Columbia-Tusculum for a little more than two months. But the green building supply retailer must develop quickly, a not so simple task for a business born in the middle of a recession. Believe it or not, architect Heather E. Curless, owner of Greener…
Take a Hike
Pick just about any local outdoor trail, and Tamara York has almost certainly been down it. She wrote the book on local hiking trails — literally — with her 2009 publication of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Cincinnati (via local publisher Clerisy Press and their outdoor imprint, Menasha Ridge). “People in Cincinnati don’t realize what…
The Green List
Recycling Hamilton County RecyclesThe Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services offers news and information on local recycling programs. If you have waste materials and you’re not sure where to take them, this should be your first stop. 513-946-7734, www.hcdoes.org/sw/swhome.htm Northern Kentucky Recycling Centers• River Metals Recycling buys any type of metal. 1220 Licking Pike, Newport,…
Green Construction at Xavier
Going green has reached new heights at Xavier University. Among the environmentally friendly projects currently underway, one in particular has taken over Hoff Quad. A new facility for the Williams College of Business and a state-of-the-art Conaton Learning Commons are being built with green construction features, providing Xavier students, faculty members, staff, alumni and business…
GreenSource Cincinnati
The popular trend to “go green” is catching on not only on an individual level in Cincinnati but also through the renovation of historic downtown buildings. Yet other than recycling, finding ways to jump on the green bandwagon can be challenging. Monroe Mechanical and HOUSH, two companies providing energy-efficient systems since 1954, have opened GreenSource…
Kick-Ass (Review)
When Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) asks why no one has ever tried to be a real-life superhero, the question initially sounds like the fantasies of a comic-book geek a few years away from accepting the realities of life as we all know it. But a funny thing happens as Matthew Vaughn’s pulpy rendering of Mark…
Communal ‘Glee’
I admit that I occasionally watch the popular TV series Glee with some mixed feelings: The musical theater side of me loves it, the serious theater nut thinks it's too shallow for words. But the world seems more in the former camp than the latter, and that's led to a new social phenomena — "Glee…
Events: Cincinnati Fashion Week
The time has finally come for Cincinnati fashion-aficionados to both dress and suit up. Cincinnati Fashion Week (CFW) officially kicks off Monday! Swing downtown April 21, when CFW will show support at "Future Blooms Bazaar," a recycled fashion, crafts and clothing sale at Future Blooms Studio as well as Inspired by Annie, an art opening…
Onstage: Tom Sawyer
Some folks might think that a flying nanny is just what kids want to see, but I can offer an alternative choice that will cost less and might be just as entertaining. For longer than most of us have been around (in fact, since 1924), Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati has been pleasing family audiences with…
Music: Emmitt-Nershi Band
Reese’s had so much success with their chocolate and peanut butter experiment that Drew Emmitt and Bill Nershi decided to try the same thing with salmon and cheese. Emmitt’s Leftover Salmon and Nershi’s String Cheese Incident have been crossing paths on the Newgrass/Jamgrass circuit for a good number of years, and somewhere along the line…
Music: Rocky Votolato
Rocky Votolato's songwriting will take him to the West again and again, given that his newest album, True Devotion, is a win for Barsuk Records, which released it in February. It's a semi-autobiographical Folk-centered collection, one that basically says, "Hi, I'm Rocky, and this is a snapshot of my life during a three-year hiatus." What…
Rocky’s New ‘Devotion’
Tuesday, March 9 was a night of thick snow, jammed highways and, in the end, a disappointed audience awaiting the arrival of Rocky Votolato. The crowd wanted to hear the prolific singer/songwriter's new material and old cuts from treasures like The Brag and Cuss. But they never saw Votolato. They didn't know he was in…
Art: I See Africa at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center
The Kennedy Heights Arts Center’s ambitious I See Africa: Perceptions, Imaginings, and Realities, on view through June 5, presents views of Africa that go beyond the sensationalism of news photos to “articulate the realities of contemporary Africa and Africans,” say organizers. Curator Barbara Gamboa has elicited contributions from the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Museum…
Onstage: Candy Makes You Smart?
As CityBeat’s theater critics will tell you, if you're a fan of the theater Cincinnati is a wonderful city to live in. But what if you’re a big theater fan and still a few years away from being able to drive yourself anywhere (legally)? Well, Cincinnati’s “theater for children” scene isn’t too shabby, either. (See…
Valleys
Although Americans enjoy making fun of Canadians, it’s just for show. We’re No. 1 fans of their syrup, 18-year-old drinking age, comedians and their bands. Canada’s latest up-and-coming musical export is Valleys, a Psychedelic Shoegaze trio from Montreal. Music and arts blog Brooklyn Vegan places the band’s debut album, Sometimes Water Kills People, “somewhere between…
Music: The Ataris
Welcome the Night was quite the departure for The Ataris. In 2007, Kris Roe's Indiana-raised group swapped straightforward Pop Punk for drifting, atmospheric Indie Rock, which was a decision not wholly received well. AbsolutePunk.net assigned Welcome a dreadful 43-percent grade, and commenters echoed the sentiment. (One person overdramatically declared, “The Ataris are dead to me.”)…
The Ataris
Welcome the Night was quite the departure for The Ataris. In 2007, Kris Roe's Indiana-raised group swapped straightforward Pop Punk for drifting, atmospheric Indie Rock, which was a decision not wholly received well. AbsolutePunk.net assigned Welcome a dreadful 43-percent grade, and commenters echoed the sentiment. (One person overdramatically declared, “The Ataris are dead to me.”)…
Onstage: Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins uses eye candy, clowning and fancy dancing to retell the whimsical tale of the starchy nanny (Caroline Sheen) who’s “Practically Perfect,” her antic friend Bert the chimney sweep (Gavin Lee) and precocious Jane and Michael Banks (Kelsey Fowler and Carter Thomas), the neglected, troublesome children of a workaholic London banker. There are wonderful…
David Bar Katz and the Truth of ‘Invulnerability’
David Bar Katz probably has more in common with Jerry Siegel than with Superman, but he’s put them onstage together in his world premiere play The History of Invulnerability at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. (Read my review here.) As a kid, Bar Katz was a geek about comic books. He loved Superman then —…
Events: Earth Day
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day Saturday at Sawyer Point with a ton of family-friendly activities and performances. Environmental groups, government agencies and businesses will be on hand to educate the public about environmental stewardship. Hands-on activities include a rock climbing wall, a kayak paddle safety pool, ORSANCO’s aquarium, a baby animal petting zoo…
Onstage: The History of Invulnerability
The first thought to cross your mind when you enter the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s Thompson Shelterhouse Theatre for David Bar Katz’s The History of Invlunerability, a story about Superman and his comic book creator, might sound like an amusing, nostalgic show. The lights come up on Superman. Handsome actor Steve Wilson has that…
Art: A Look to the Future at PAC Gallery
Last summer PAC Gallery in East Walnut Hills opened as a new venture for Phyllis Weston and Annie Bolling, who also ran a namesake gallery in O'Bryonville. Very recently the two parted ways, with Weston retaining the O'Bryonville space and Bolling taking over PAC. The latter now celebrates its new identity with a large group…
Music: Hot Club of Cowtown
When Hot Club of Cowtown coalesced as a trio in 1996, fiddler/vocalist Elana James and guitarist/vocalist/avid 78 collector Whit Smith had already worked together in two other big Swing bands doing ’20s/’30s Hot Jazz, Western Swing and Tin Pan Alley classics. With the leaner, stripped back structure of HCOC, James and Smith continued to rely…
Record Store Day
Record Store Day debuted in April 2008 and has since served as the one day a year for store owners, musicians and faithful supporters of independent record stores to gather and celebrate their mutual efforts to keep the record business alive and well. More than 700 independently-owned record stores in the United States are participating…
Lectures: What Is American Power?
Mitch Epstein, who with Susan Bell is responsible for the new "What Is American Power?" posters appearing on billboards and transportation advertising in Cincinnati and Columbus (www.WhatisAmericanPower.com), comes to Cincinnati Art Museum's Fath Auditorium at 7 p.m. April 21 to discuss his project. The images "illuminate the toll that energy production and consumption take on…
Art: Michael Skop at the Fort Thomas Museum
Visit the Fort Thomas Museum in Tower Park through April to view a tribute to a sculptor and teacher whose influence reached beyond the Tristate area and whose sculptural antecedents went back to Auguste Rodin (think “The Thinker”). The late Michael Skop lived in Fort Thomas, taught at Northern Kentucky University and the Cincinnati Art…
Emmitt-Nershi Band
Reese’s had so much success with their chocolate and peanut butter experiment that Drew Emmitt and Bill Nershi decided to try the same thing with salmon and cheese. Emmitt’s Leftover Salmon and Nershi’s String Cheese Incident have been crossing paths on the Newgrass/Jamgrass circuit for a good number of years, and somewhere along the line…
Music: Valleys
Although Americans enjoy making fun of Canadians, it’s just for show. We’re No. 1 fans of their syrup, 18-year-old drinking age, comedians and bands. Canada’s latest up-and-coming musical export is Valleys, a Psychedelic Shoegaze trio from Montreal. Music and arts blog Brooklyn Vegan places the band’s debut album, Sometimes Water Kills People, “somewhere between early…
Events: Crafty Supermarket
After a wildly successful first run at the Northside Tavern, Crafty Supermarket is back, bigger and better, for a spring show in a new location at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center. With 50 craft vendors, delicious food from local restaurants and caterers, a live DJ from PROJECTMILL, do-it-yourself craft activities and more, Crafty Supermarket promises…
Bury the Dead (Review)
Since Irwin Shaw’s expressionistic, ritualistic Bury the Dead opened on Broadway in 1936, five more major wars have come along to prove its horrific accusation: Old men called "generals" march young men off to their slaughter while spouting jingoistic exhortations that civilians accept and industrialists turn into profit. It was Shaw’s first play. He was…
David Wilcox
Seeing your favorite artists live is always a kick, but have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit in while they recorded an album? Fans of David Wilcox — and anyone who loves James Taylor’s contemporary Folk songcraft and intricate guitar work should be: Wilcox’s work over the past two decades stands…
Music: David Wilcox
Seeing your favorite artists live is always a kick, but have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit in while they recorded an album? Fans of David Wilcox can do that very thing Friday and Saturday, when he visits Ric Hordinski’s Monastery studio. For a reasonable $20, you'll bear silent witness to…
Hot Club of Cowtown
When Hot Club of Cowtown coalesced as a trio in 1996, fiddler/vocalist Elana James and guitarist/vocalist/avid 78 collector Whit Smith had already worked together in two other big Swing bands doing ’20s/’30s Hot Jazz, Western Swing and Tin Pan Alley classics. With the leaner, stripped back structure of HCOC, James and Smith continued to rely…
Events: Record Store Day
Record Store Day debuted in April 2008 and has since served as the one day a year for store owners, musicians and faithful supporters of independent record stores to gather and celebrate their mutual efforts to keep the record business alive and well. More than 700 independently-owned record stores in the United States are participating…
Comedy: Paul Mecurio
“It’s slow and quiet, then all of a sudden it’s like you can’t catch your breath,” says comedian Paul Mecurio of his career. These days it’s been a case of the latter for the former Daily Show writer, and fans of his HBO Web series Got No Game will be glad to hear that new…
Mary Poppins (Review)
I remember taking my sisters to see the Disney film of Mary Poppins in 1964. It was a similar scene, awash in kids, at the Aronoff Center for the touring production of Disney’s reinvention of the film as a stage musical. I have fond memories of the film and its tuneful score. Kids seeing the…
The History of Invulnerability (Review)
Critic's Pick The first thought to cross your mind when you enter the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s Thompson Shelterhouse Theatre for David Bar Katz’s The History of Invlunerability, a story about Superman and his comic book creator, might sound like an amusing, nostalgic show. Comic book panels are everywhere you look, and I do…
Thank You, Mr. Driehaus
Some Greater Cincinnati residents said "Thank you" today to U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Price Hill). Working America, an activist group affiliated with the AFL-CIO labor union, delivered over 50 handwritten letters from area residents to the congressman, thanking him for his recent support of President Obama’s health care reform bill. Also, the letters urge Driehaus…
Fox News’ Shocking Results
Although Fox News hasn’t touted the results so far on any of its shows, a poll by the ultra-conservative cable TV network found that the public views President Obama and the Internal Revenue Service more favorably than the Tea Party movement. No, I’m not making this stuff up.—- The poll, which was released Thursday, found…
Friday Movie Roundup: I Love Joan Jett
I loved Joan Jett when I was a kid. I listened to side one of I Love Rock N’ Roll almost every day — often multiple times a day — for more than a year. I turned the volume up on my crappy little radio every time the title song came on Q102 — which…
Free Cardiac Screenings Offered
With so many people laid off or fired these days, one of the worse consequences is some have lost their health insurance. As a result, they are foregoing routine medical care and testing they might otherwise receive to warn of potential problems. When the Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners & Nurse Midwives holds its annual…
Stage Door: Heavy Drama This Weekend
If you can't find some good theater to attend this weekend, you simply aren't looking. I'm sure that fans of musicals will be heading to the Aronoff to check out the tour of Mary Poppins, and for a meaty dramatic classic, you simply can't go wrong with Angels in America at Know Theatre (read my…
Heimlich, Haap In L.A. Weekly
What do Little House on the Prairie, the Dean of Cincinnati and the Heimlich Maneuver have in common? They’re all mentioned in the same article in the current issue of L.A. Weekly.—- The alt-weekly newspaper features a searing article on local resident Dr. Henry Heimlich, alleged creator of the famous choking maneuver, and the fact…
Guest Editorial: Ohio Can Profit from Clean Energy
In 1908, the automobile was considered nothing more than a rich man's plaything. The technology existed but could not yet be applied on a large scale or made affordable. Soon, Henry Ford supplied those missing parts and, with some outside help, transformed the 20th Century. In 2010, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and the rest of…
The Runaways (Review)
Music video director Floria Sigismondi trains her eye on the early days of punkish girl rockers as Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) hook up with producer impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) and set the stage for what would become the runaway success of women in the game of sex and Rock…
Mapplethorpe & the CAC: 20 Years Ago Today
Twenty years ago today one of the most significant moments in modern-day Cincinnati occurred: Police officers walked into the Contemporary Arts Center and presented CAC Director Dennis Barrie and board members with four indictments against Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, which had opened to the public that morning. Barrie (pictured) would later say the police…
Art: Short Straw at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center
Short Straw, up through April 30 at the Center on Clifton Avenue, is about the frustrations of the recession for artists. It is touching to see how much heart, soul and intelligence — and talent — the artists have put into this task. It’s also a reminder how hard the last few years have been…
Disturbing Reality (Review)
Disturbing Reality at the Weston Art Gallery is as much a group therapy session as a group exhibition. In addition to the expected scenes out of a child’s anxiety closet, there are a surprising number of cathartic, even comforting, images. The nine artists in this circle seem to feed off one another, though they didn't…
March 31-April 6: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY MARCH 31 It’s often difficult to judge people who lived in different eras because so many things change: Consider that babe Ruth hit 714 home runs without steroids but Barry Bonds hit 762 after America let people who weren’t white play in the games too. Which is more impressive? Elected representatives from several states…
Art Responds to the Great Recession at Clifton Cultural Arts Center
Erin Deters picked a bad time to get her undergraduate DAAP degree in fashion design and seek to start a career in New York City. She ran smack into the hurricane-force arrival of the great recession. “Being there in the Fall of 2008 was nightmarish,” she says. “Nobody was hiring, banks were failing, the stock…
Foodie Fun in April
Sunday brunch in Northside! From our friends at Melt, there’s a new brunch menu that’s vegetarian heaven. Sweet Potato Tempeh Hash, Bread Pudding French Toast, cage-free eggs and organic peas that were raised with respect. Really. Every Sunday 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Oyster Festival at Washington Platform! It’s the 24th year for this shell-a-bration, through April…
Lit: Richard Russo
Richard Russo’s latest, That Old Cape Magic, returns to the novelist’s longtime topic of choice — family, and all the endlessly fascinating narrative and dramatic tension that topic allows. Its very Russo-ian protagonist Jack Griffin — a sixty-something former Hollywood screenwriter who now teaches at a small Northeastern college — is going through an existential…
Music: Cincypunk Fest 9 (Night 1)
Cincypunk Fest celebrates its ninth anniversary this Friday and Saturday on the many stages of the Southgate House in Newport. The fest has raised thousands of dollars for charity since its inception; the recipients of this year’s proceeds are the Animal Adoption Foundation in Hamilton and Cincinnati’s Friends of the Children. This year’s fest again…
A Drinking Club with a Civic Problem
Home to more than 35,000 residents, Westwood is one of Cincinnati’s oldest suburban neighborhoods. Distinguished by its historic charm, the area represents roughly 10 percent of the city’s total population within only six square miles, which officially makes it the largest neighborhood in the city. But is it big enough for everyone — and their…
Extraordinary Rendition
My annual January visit to Santa Fe to cavort with Sarah, my best friend from graduate school, carried more significance this year. Not just because the sepia-toned landscapes, crisp mountain air and crazy-blue-bright skies excite and relax me at the same time but also because, following a riotous autumn, I had some answers I needed…
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Review)
I might be the only critic to compare Diary of a Wimpy Kid to Sex and the City, but bear with me, because Thor Freudenthal’s adaptation of the bestselling pre-teen/teen series by Jeff Kinney feels like a weird alternative universe where Jessica Parker’s Carrie (in all of her self-absorbed glory) is transformed into Greg (Zachary…
Why Did I Get Married Too (Review)
When last we visited the Tyler Perry world of marriage (a world intriguingly devoid of Perry’s signature creation, Madea), Sheila (Jill Scott) had kicked the womanizing Mike (Richard T. Jones) to the curb in favor of Colorado sheriff Troy (Lamman Rucker), a do-right man ready and willing to treat her right. Perry is cinema’s version…
County Officials Should Shine Light on Hiring
James O’Reilly is no slouch. A volunteer law professor at the University of Cincinnati, O’Reilly has taught there for 30 years. He’s also written dozens of textbooks and more than 100 articles on numerous aspects of regulation and liability. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court quoted one of his writings on food and drug law…
Ax Man, Shining Moment, Dylan Banned
[HOT] Guitarmy of One Seattle crime reporters recently unearthed an incident that had police fending off a local guitar enthusiast and his swinging ax. Reports say guests at a Seattle motel were greeted by a creepier-than-Norman-Bates man who, after staring them down earlier, allegedly doused their car with baking soda later that day. Upon discovering…
Two Weddings and a Funeral
Richard Russo’s latest, That Old Cape Magic, returns to the novelist’s longtime topic of choice: family, and all the endlessly fascinating narrative and dramatic tension that topic allows. Its very Russo-ian protagonist Jack Griffin — a sixty-something former Hollywood screenwriter who now teaches at a small Northeastern college — is going through an existential crisis…
City Firefighters and Sue Hardenbergh
[LOSER] Sue Hardenbergh: Some local conservatives are wondering where Hardenbergh’s political loyalties lie. They dislike that the Anderson Township Tea Party leader is supporting a Democrat for Ohio Auditor (Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper) while she’s also running for a seat on the Hamilton County Republican Central Committee. But conservatives say the auditor’s race is…
Music: Cincypunk Fest 9 (Night 2)
Cincypunk Fest, which celebrates its ninth anniversary this Friday and Saturday on the many stages of the Southgate House in Newport. The fest has raised thousands of dollars for charity since its inception; the recipients of this year’s proceeds are the Animal Adoption Foundation in Hamilton and Cincinnati’s Friends of the Children. Music is spread…
CincyPunk Turns 9
We might not have a Bonnaroo or a Lollapalooza, but Cincinnati is pretty rich when it comes to music festivals. Especially if you’re a fan of local music. Throughout the year, locally-focused, multi-performer fests offer a chance for fans to see all their favorites at one event, but they’re also fantastic opportunities for curious newcomers…
GE, Exxon Paid No Taxes in ’09
With the federal income tax deadline looming next week, people can expect Tea Partiers and others to moan and shout about giving some of their money for the common good. If those tax protestors really wanted to make an impact, though, they’d focus on making sure large corporations pay their fair share.—- Forbes magazine reported…
