Dec 1-7, 2010

Dec 1-7, 2010 / Vol. 17 / No. 3

Julian Assange Quotes Rupert Murdoch

After WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange voluntarily turned himself into British authorities today, he was denied bail and remains in custody until at least Dec. 14, according to The Guardian newspaper in London. Assange, 39, was told by London Metropolitan police about new charges he faces in connection with two sexual encounters he had in Sweden.…

Ohio Music Blogs Release Holiday Album

Two music blogs based in Ohio — Cincinnati's own Each Note Secure and Columbus-based Donewaiting.com — have joined forces to put the spotlight on Ohio music, spread some holiday cheer and raise some money for a good cause. The digital-only A Very Ohio Christmas compilation features newly written holiday tunes as well as traditional (and…

Zuckerberg Critiques ‘The Social Network’

Did anyone else see baby-faced Facebook founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg on 60 Minutes the other night? The 26-year-old multi-billionaire told interviewer Leslie Stahl that, after initially vowing that he would never see David Fincher's Facebook origin story, The Social Network, he took the entire company to check out the film the day it opened in theaters.…

Date Night Eats for the Holidays

Last week we covered family-friendly dining suggestions to accompany holiday activities. Date night is a little different. I don’t want to be the one to say that Scuba Santa’s not sexy — hey, roly poly people in wetsuits might be just the ticket for some. But when you’re fueling up for fun under the mistletoe,…

Voinovich and Deters

[WINNER] GEORGE VOINOVICH: Maybe it's easier to stand up for principle when you're retiring in a few weeks, but the Republican U.S. senator from Cleveland has never been afraid to buck his party, when needed. Now Voinovich is calling out skittish President Obama and dogmatic GOP lawmakers for their deal to extend the Bush tax…

Events: REDUX

Ever watched Jurassic Park and thought that something was missing? Wanna create a new soundtrack for a Spielberg classic? Join Cincinnati native Chris Collins for REDUX, an improvised redubbing of JP. This fan-dub will occur in three 30-minute secessions, one each for sound effects, vocals and music. Make sure to bring your culture baggage and…

Music: Ben Weaver

What is it about gravelly voiced singer/songwriters from Minnesota? St. Paul-raised Ben Weaver has been making music for the better part of his 31 years and began generating acclaim with his first foray into the studio, 1999’s El Camino Blues, recorded before he was old enough to drink in the bars where he played. The…

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Review)

For the third Narnia franchise installment, veteran director Michael Apted takes over helming duties performed by Andrew Adamson on the first two films. Sadly Apted, the filmmaker famous for the hugely influential 7Up documentary series, is confined by a script that is a mere sketch of C.S. Lewis' original novel. The result is a disposable…

Jay Bolotin Onstage

Since first showing his wood sculptures at Carl Solway Gallery in 1980, Jay Bolotin has become one of Cincinnati’s most acclaimed artists. He has gone on to make and score a film based on his narratively complex and mysterious woodcuts, Jackleg Testament, that has attracted an international following. Earlier this year, he had an ambitious…

Events: Mount Adams Reindog Parade

Dog = man’s best friend. Reindeer = Santa’s transportation. Dogs dressed up as reindeer = freakishly adorable. Parading your dressed-up best friend for all to see? Now that’s what the Christmas season is all about. The Mount Adams Reindog Parade has given pooch owners a chance to do just that for 20 years. This year’s…

Pot Law a Bust, Critics Say

As Cincinnati City Council frets about how to close a $62 million budget deficit, some local activists are asking officials to consider repealing an ordinance they say isn't enforced evenly and wastes taxpayers’ money. Critics allege that city’s Anti-Marijuana Ordinance is being used to target specific races and is adding to the city’s crippling budget…

The Hiders

There are ghosts, and they float within the 14 tracks of The Hiders’ Four Letter Town. Both spooky and concrete, the searching lyrics are clear and important, revealing stories of celebration and confusion, of love lost and wisdom found. A ghost in its own right, the title track is one that lead singer/guitarist Billy Alletzhauser…

Questions I’ll Never Ask

I consider myself a pretty decent guy. With people that I see and meet, I try to be nice and polite. I make the attempt to treat other people the way I want to be treated. But let me be honest here. Maybe I am a horrible person. When I pay attention to the people…

Alex Chin [Chef, Suzie Wong’s]

Hong Kong native Alex Chin has been an innovator in Asian cuisine in Cincinnati for over 25 years, from his first small restaurant in Clifton to his critically acclaimed Pacific Moon Café. Currently Chef Chin is overseeing the kitchen at Suzie Wong’s (1544 Madison Road, East Walnut Hills, 513-751-3333). The sleek dining room serves as…

Comedy: Kyle Grooms

Despite his bespectacled appearance, comedian Kyle Grooms is not a geek. “Nah, not at all,” he says, laughing. “I do stuff about how people perceive me and how I perceive myself. Because I wear glasses people automatically assume I’m going to be a little bit nerdy. Just wearing glasses and growing up in the hood…

The Sword

It might surprise you to learn that there was a time when Metal was the domain of badass guitarists and hammer-and-tong rhythm sections, well before spandex and hairspray became an accepted part of the presentation. Back in those days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth (and its stages), Metal was defined by thundering riffs, blistering solos,…

Events: Light Up OTR

The revitalization of Over-the-Rhine has become a symbol of our city's ability to come together and face a problem hand-in-hand. This Friday, Light Up OTR gives everyone another chance to join this movement to vivify the once-depressed area while simultaneously spreading holiday spirit. The goal is for volunteers to disperse 943 luminaries, representing the number…

Onstage: Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)

Only have time for one holiday show? I have two reasons for recommending Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s off-site production at Arnold’s Bar & Grill in downtown Cincinnati. First, as the title says, it’s “every Christmas story ever told.” The other is that it’s a great deal of fun and that’s probably what you’re looking for, right?…

Events: Front Porch Society

If you’re a fan of The Moth podcast or This American Life, you’re probably already familiar with the concept of “true stories told onstage without notes.” The Front Porch Society is a local incarnation of this intriguing, salon-style happening. The gatherings are monthly open mics for anyone with a yarn to spin. This month’s theme…

Art: Sweet Tooth (Revisited) at BonBonerie

Bill Ross’ paintings are often populated by anthropomorphized animals, day-dreamy colorful patterns and signifiers of a long Midwestern memory, such as water towers and expansive fields. But as often as anything else recurs, so do pink iced desserts. These confectionary depictions lend themselves to their current context in Sweet Tooth (Revisited) at the BonBonerie (2030…

Schoolhouse Restaurant (Review)

The family-owned Schoolhouse Restaurant in Camp Dennison recently reopened after a kitchen fire in June. Luckily, the fire was contained and the dining room suffered only smoke and water damage. Longtime owners the Miller family restored the schoolhouse to how it used to be, with antiques encircling the dining room, big round tables and the…

Music: The Sword

It might surprise you to learn that there was a time when Metal was the domain of badass guitarists and hammer-and-tong rhythm sections, well before spandex and hairspray became an accepted part of the presentation. Back in those days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth (and its stages), Metal was defined by thundering riffs, blistering solos,…

Onstage: The Santaland Diaries

I discovered David Sedaris via a wickedly funny monologue on NPR about working as an elf at Macy’s in New York City. When The Santaland Diaries became a theater piece a decade ago, I was entertained, especially if a good actor took it on. This year I wanted to see Joshua Steele, a talented local…

Skeetones

Although they didn’t grab any mantle accessories at this year’s Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony, the audience reaction when Skeetones were announced for their nominations in the New Artist and Electronic categories is evidence that the band might consider drafting acceptance speeches for 2011. The band has been generating big buzz since its official debut just…

Art: Marcia Alscher at The Betts House

In a pleasing departure from the usual holiday frou-frou, The Betts House is showing small, uncluttered, abstracted house portraits by Marcia Alscher, who understands the geometry of buildings in a visceral way. The Betts House, built in 1804 and now the oldest brick house in Ohio, is itself small and uncluttered. Alscher's paintings are perfectly…

Onstage: A Christmas Carol at Cincinnati Playhouse

The most tried and true of old holiday friends is A Christmas Carol at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, back for its 20th year. It’s an excellent re-telling of Ebenezer Scrooge’s night with the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come performed on a miraculous set with turntables and trap doors, constantly moving…

Events: SantaCon

What does Santa do those other 364 days of the year? Pub crawls, of course. Dress up in your favorite Santa Claus suit and join others in spreading holiday cheer at SantaCon. This Saturday, wake up to a text detailing where you will meet up with hundreds of other Santas. Then enjoy getting messages from…

The Nutcracker in 3D (Review)

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } When Mary (Elle Fanning) receives a special Christmas gift (a wooden nut-cracking toy soldier) from her Uncle Albert (Nathan Lane), it kicks off a series of magical adventures between the real world and her imagination where the doll, nicknamed NC (Charlie Rowe), needs her help defeating the evil Rat King…

Kepi Ghoulie with The Queers and Dead North

In 2009, Kepi Ghoulie proved just how much of a lovable softy he really is. The guitarist/singer of the Groovie Ghoulies, a now defunct Pop-Punk band, screenprinted a pair of red and white Valentine's Day cards for sale through Asian Man Records. One had a whale gracing the front while the other featured a rat.…

Music: Roger Klug

Roger Klug is the first to admit that his recorded output has been somewhat sporadic over the course of his career. Things were fairly regular in the 1990s: His acclaimed work with The Willies early in the decade; his 1995 solo debut, Mama Mama ich bin in dem La La Land; his excellent 1997 follow-up,…

Music: Kepi Ghoulie

In 2009, Kepi Ghoulie proved just how much of a lovable softy he really is. The guitarist/singer of the Groovie Ghoulies, a now defunct Pop-Punk band, screenprinted a pair of red and white Valentine's Day cards for sale through Asian Man Records. One had a whale gracing the front while the other featured a rat.…

Ben Weaver

What is it about gravelly voiced singer/songwriters from Minnesota? St. Paul-raised Ben Weaver has been making music for the better part of his 31 years and began generating acclaim with his first foray into the studio, 1999’s El Camino Blues, recorded before he was old enough to drink in the bars where he played. The…

Roger Klug Power Trio

Roger Klug is the first to admit that his recorded output has been somewhat sporadic over the course of his career. Things were fairly regular in the 1990s: His acclaimed work with The Willies early in the decade; his 1995 solo debut, Mama Mama ich bin in dem La La Land; his excellent 1997 follow-up,…

Events: Sparkle Holiday Party

Eat, drink, shimmer and be merry as the Women’s Professional Network of Greater Cincinnati wines and dines the general public this Friday at the Sparkle Holiday Party. Come sporting your most glistening garments for a chance to win an array of spectacular door prizes, including holiday gifts, candles, decorations and other sparkling things like jewelry.…

Events: Powerhouse Holiday Rock Poster Party

Newly Newport-based Powerhouse Factories' annual poster party is back, armed with another smorgasbord of gig posters from both the Factory's archive and newer creations for such diverse bands as Fang Island, The Walkmen, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Ghostface Killah (who actually made a curious tour stop at the Mad Hatter a few months back),…

Local MTV: Walk the Moon, Trademark Aaron

No, by "Local MTV," we don't mean some new reality show featuring pregnant 16-year-olds entering rehab for their crack addiction, hoarding and narrow interior design skills. That "M" once stood for music (or so we're told) and today we are offering you a look at a couple of local musical acts that recently produced music…

Hackers Strike Back at Bank

Just hours after a Swiss bank froze access today to a legal defense fund established for WikiLeaks provocateur Julian Assange, a group of hackers have shut down the bank's Web site in an escalating "infowar." A group calling itself Operation Payback took responsibility for the Internet attack on the Swiss bank, PostFinance, via its Twitter…

Are the Bearcats for Real?

The University of Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team is 7-0. A quick glance at the ’Cats next two games (Utah Valley on Dec. 11 and Georgia Southern on Dec. 14, both home games) reveals that a 9-0 start is highly likely before heading into their first real road tests: Dec. 18 at Oklahoma and Dec.…

Pop-Up Theater

Cincinnati finally got its first "pop-up shop," a holiday effort by local merchants to band together to take over unused retail space in Over-the-Rhine for a short period and then vacate when done. See photos from its opening weekend here. 'Tis also the season for pop-up theater, smaller productions that are squeezed in between performances…

John Morris Russell to Head Cincinnati Pops

John Morris Russell has been named the new conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, succeeding the orchestra’s founder and long-time conductor Erich Kunzel, who passed away in September 2009. Russell will officially begin his tenure on Sept. 1, 2011, but he’s a familiar face around Music Hall because he served as associate conductor of the Cincinnati…

Cinderella (Review)

Critic's Pick Brains trump beauty in Cinderella, now playing at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, where every December another familiar fairy tale gets a fun musical makeover. This year’s installment features a philosophy-loving heroine (exceptional homegrown talent Brooke Rucidlo) who calls her critter sidekicks Plato, Socrates and Aristotle (a toad, spider and crow, respectively; no cute…

The Santaland Diaries/Season’s Greetings (Review)

Critic's Pick I discovered David Sedaris via a wickedly funny monologue on NPR about working as an elf at Macy’s in New York City. When The Santaland Diaries became a theater piece a decade ago, I was entertained, especially if a good actor took it on. Unfortunately, the piece is typically paired with Sedaris’ very…

Onstage: The Finkles’ Theater Show at Know Theatre

The Finkles’ Theater Show, a gleeful hour of stage calamities conceived by Minneapolis-based partners Ryan Lear and Rachel Petrie, was the breakout hit of the 2010 Cincy Fringe Festival. Cleverly constructed, sharply written and hilariously performed, it’s a simultaneous celebration and lampoon of all that is sacred and silly in the histrionic realm. Squeaky scenery?…

The Warrior’s Way (Review)

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } An assassin (Dong-gun Jang channeling the young Chow Yun-Fat) who refuses to kill an infant — the last of his master’s people — and ends up hiding out in America with the baby among a carny troupe in the Wild West in The Warrior’s Way. Could Clint Eastwood’s Man With…

God Bless Our Holiday Shows, Every One!

I annually face the holidays with mixed emotions. I love the holiday season, but I also know that it means I’ll be in overdrive, attending numerous theatrical holiday productions. Every theater company in Cincinnati and beyond knows that December is not only the season for good cheer but an opportunity to put a show onstage…

Seabird’s Holiday Tour for Africa

Like a lot of Cincinnati musical acts, the Pop Rock band Seabird is getting into the spirit of the holidays and performing benefit shows for charity. But unlike the band’s Queen City peers, the Credential/EMI recording artists are doing their charitable work via performances throughout the Midwestern and southern U.S. Seabird’s current “Over the Hills…

The Number You’re Not Supposed to Have

If you like pissing off overly authoritarian government initiatives, then you need to bookmark and use the following Web address. It's http://213.251.145.96/—- That's the new Internet home of WikiLeaks, which has been bouncing around the Web this week as the U.S. government and other nations pressure various servers not to host the controversial site. Originally…

Stars Align at MOTR and The Comet

My Rock show stars must have been alignment last night: I somehow managed to see two great bands at two great bars, located in completely separate neighborhoods of Cincinnati, and I caught both sets in their entirety, which means the stars were really in alignment.—- Brian Baker was right about Atlantic/Pacific’s debut album, Meet Your…

Friday Movie Roundup: Docs Dominate

After weeks of multifarious movie-house options (23 over the last month, to be exact), we have only three releases this week. Curiously, two of the three are documentaries (A Film Unfinished and The Tillman Story, a pair that reveal war to be the hellish, dehumanizing debacle it always will be), a welcome trend that has…

Revolving Stage Door

Usually I make a theater recommendation for the weekend on Friday, but this week, I'm talking about another Stage Door, the one at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company where it's serving as an exit for someone who has played a big role in keeping the company stable and focused since 1999. —- CSC Managing Director Rebecca Bromels…

Help Lay Baldy to Rest

An account has been created at a local bank to accept donations to help pay for the funeral expenses of a homeless man who died last weekend. William "Baldy" Floyd, 45, died late Sunday night after a fire spread through a camp near Mehring Way and Sixth Street downtown. Baldy was featured in a CityBeat…

A Call for Concert Tragedy Marker

You can join the mission to have a marker placed at the site of the 1979 Who concert tragedy to honor the 11 killed in the pre-show stampede by attending memorial/vigil events set for tomorrow (Friday), the 31st anniversary of the disastrous security failure that changed the concert industry and led to a more careful…

Local Film Conference Debuts Saturday

The first-ever Film Talk 2010, a daylong conference featuring a “series of lectures, collaborative discussions and promotional and networking opportunities for the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana film communities,” takes place this weekend. —- Among the area professionals taking part are veteran cinematographer Jeff Barklage, filmmakers Terry Lukemire (who directed the recently released 4192: The Crowning…

Ensemble Theatre Changes Summer Show

Last evening at the opening of Cinderella (a show that features three of the four women who entertained Cincinnati audiences for a six-week run of the The Marvelous Wonderettes), Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati's Lynn Meyers announced that they'll be back — with the fourth member of their quartet for another go-round with the feel-good girl…

Sundance 2011 Lineup Announced

The Sundance Film Festival announced its 2011 lineup today. The festival, which invades the small ski-resort town of Park City, Utah, Jan. 20-30, will include 115 films from 28 different countries. Befitting a fest known for its nurturing of fresh talent (40 of the 115 are from first-time filmmakers), the 32 films in the U.S.…

Editor Quietly Slips into Town (UPDATED)

(**Update at bottom) As newspaper insiders and others speculate about who will replace Tom Callinan at The Enquirer, sources report that Beryl Love and his wife made a quick trip to Cincinnati two weeks ago, the week before Thanksgiving. Love is executive editor at The Reno Gazette Journal in Nevada, another publication owned by The…

WNKU One-Day Fund Drive

One of our (and your) favorite public radio stations, WNKU (89.7 FM), is hosting a one-day fund-raising drive Dec. 1. Dubbed One Day Wednesday, it's an opportunity for you to contribute before the end of the year and claim a last-minute tax deduction. Plus it would certainly help the station balance the 2010 books. As…

The Tillman Story (Review)

The Bush administration picked the wrong family of Northern Californian atheists to paint with its pro-war brush of “hero” propaganda. The administration's attempted cover-up of the April 22, 2004, "friendly fire" murder of former pro football player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan is dissected in damning detail in Amir Bar-Lev's revealing documentary, narrated by Josh Brolin.…

Man of Movement: Danny Boyle

Danny Boyle's 127 Hours is another intriguing entry in the 54-year-old British director's diverse, rapidly expanding collection of films. Since his impressive mid-1990s one-two breakthrough of Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, Boyle has tried his hand at a number of genres, the sign of an adventurous filmmaker eager to take on new challenges — from a musical…

Aunt Flora’s House of Soul (Review)

CRITIC’S PICK Every so often I stumble onto a restaurant that makes me say “Wow, that was insanely good!” Aunt Flora’s House of Soul in Silverton is the embodiment of that statement. Aunt Flora (aka Katrina Mincy) and her gregarious husband, Ron, opened their new restaurant in August on Montgomery Road in a slightly hard-to-find…

The Best December Art Shows

Let's hope you won’t be too busy during December preparing for and celebrating the various holidays to get to area museums and galleries for their art exhibits. There are quite a few good ones. Here are my recommendations, based either on seeing them or being familiar with the artists/subject matter. Cincinnati Art Museum’s Thomas Gainsborough…

Pleasant Ridge and Meyer Tool

[LOSER] MEYER TOOL: The Camp Washington-based manufacturer of turbine engine components for jets is the subject of a complaint by the U.S. Labor Department. It alleges Meyer violated the federal affirmative action program in the early 2000s by discriminating against black applicants who sought entry-level jobs at the firm, denying them based solely on race.…

Memorializing with Permanent Marker

At the Nov. 21 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony, Elliott Ruther from the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation announced one of the organization’s latest missions. While CUMHF has worked for the past couple of years trying to illuminate Cincinnati’s illustrious yet unheralded musical history (leading to historical markers being placed at the sites of groundbreaking King…

Mike Aug [NorthSlice Pizza]

Before opening the NorthSlice Pizza window (1609 Chase Ave., Northside, 513- 541-5858), Mike Aug had worked for specialty food distributors and grocers around town for years but he never worked at a pizza place. Aside from only a little experimenting at home, his first time making pizzas was NorthSlice’s almost-opening night inside the Gypsy Hut…

Restaurant’s Valet Service Sparks Parking War

Home to many free-spirited bohemians and erudite scholars, Clifton’s Gaslight District is one of the most centralized, eclectic and picturesque neighborhoods Cincinnati has to offer. It’s distinguished by gas lamps that illuminate side streets, lending to the neighborhood’s romantic ambiance. It’s also widely recognized for the Ludlow Avenue business district, comprised of numerous independent shops,…

In Defense of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks

There's a pivotal scene in the classic film The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy's tiny dog pulls back a curtain and reveals that “the great and powerful” ruler of Oz merely is an ordinary man, made to seem larger than life and more impressive by smoke and mirrors. Fictional or not, it's a classically American…

Capturing the Hiders

There are ghosts, and they float within the 14 tracks of The Hiders’ Four Letter Town. Both spooky and concrete, the searching lyrics are clear and important, revealing stories of celebration and confusion, of love lost and wisdom found. A ghost in its own right, the title track is one that lead singer/guitarist Billy Alletzhauser…

Colin (Review)

Low-budget zombie films are dime-a-dozen. For the most part, they reflect their cash-strapped status in form and function. Refusing to use their deficiencies to their advantage, they become dumbed-down affairs that pump gore effects, cheap scares and violence at the expense of smart narrative and plot. This sad fact makes Colin all the more precious…

Leaves Off the Trees

Most of the leaves are off the trees now. In walks that I take in my neighborhood, I watch neighbors rake up those leaves — a job I haven’t done in years. However, I remember the last time I did, and it always brings back memories of an old friend. In the early 1980s, my…

Dining Tips for Family Holiday Trips

When you’re headed out for holiday activities, there’s no one-size-fits-all restaurant recommendation. If you’re going to Holiday of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo, you’re probably not going to want the same pre- or post-event dining suggestion as a couple headed to date night under the mistletoe. So here are a few activity-specific, family-friendly recommendations that…

A Film Unfinished (Review)

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Does it matter that a young Israeli filmmaker's imaginative reconstruction of an abandoned Nazi propaganda film about the Warsaw Ghetto is not, strictly speaking, a documentary? Not if it sets a crucial historical record straight. Discovered by East German archivists after World War II and accepted for decades as one…

FamousAches, BitTorrents and SuperBowels

[HOT] This Week in Predictability The musical universe was in perfect order Thanksgiving week. Willie Nelson was busted on his tour bus for marijuana possession by U.S. Border Patrol in Texas. The cop said he smelled pot when the bus door opened (though, if fishing for reasonable cause for a search, he could have just…

Nov. 24-30: Worst Week Ever!

WEDNESDAY NOV. 24 For some of us, a song titled “I Love This Bar” would presumably include a detailed account of fellow patrons wearing shoes that match their scarves and how cool the door guy is for never kicking us out (hey, it's their gin that makes us act unruly). For Country music singer Toby…

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling S(kee)tones!

Although they didn’t grab any mantle accessories at this year’s Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony, the audience reaction when Skeetones were announced for their nominations in the New Artist and Electronic categories is evidence that the band might consider drafting acceptance speeches for 2011. The band has been generating big buzz since its official debut just…

Eat Sugar Joins Mush Records

Cincinnati Electronic Rock four-piece Eat Sugar released its fantastic debut full-length Levántense! this past summer as a digital-only offering. But early next year, the well-received album — which scored a Cincinnati Entertainment Award nomination for 2010’s “Album of the Year” — will be reintroduced to the masses thanks to Eat Sugar’s label home, the wildly…


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