Stem-Cell Research and Roller Skates
According to a July 4 CNN News report, President Bush is "struggling" with whether or not to allow federal funding of research using embryonic stem cells. This isn't surprising news, considering President Bush struggles to tie his shoelaces every morning. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer assures everyone that between his catnaps, his 15-minute…
Onstage: Everybody Walk the Dinosaur
Carol Rosegg Dinosaurs walk the Earth (and sell merchandise) at the Cincinnati Museum Center's The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park: The Lost World Exhibit. Just beneath the jaws of a gigantosaurus, the biggest meat-eating dinosaur known to have roamed the earth, stands a round middle-aged woman in a floppy blue cotton hat and Bermuda shorts.…
News: Welfare Deform
Jymi Bolden Anees Fardan (left) and Nashid A. Shakir, who run the Cincinnati Collective Learning Center, say many social problems can be attributed to the stress of welfare recipients losing thier safety net. Bill Clinton has been out of the Oval Office for about six months, but his legacy continues to affect the everyday…
News: Angels Among Us
Jymi Bolden Rev. Jack Wintz says Franciscan friars have been contributing to Over-the-Rhine for over 150 years. Although the demographics of Over-the-Rhine have changed with time, one group has been a constant presence for more than a century — Franciscan friars. "We've been here for over 150 years, so we feel like it's a…
World of Hurt
You've no doubt heard by now that Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic will soon stand trial before the United Nation War Crimes Tribunal. The charge? Crimes against humanity. (A lesser charge of DUI — Despot-ing Under the Influence — has been dropped.) Ouch. Tough rap. Still, if you're like me (and if you are, you saw…
Music: Freaks & Geeks
Wrastler El Pollo Diablo, on the sights and sounds of the Warped Tour: "Cluck, cluck." The Vans Warped Tour pitches its circus tent in Greater Cincinnati next week to the tune of Ripley's Believe or Not, featuring all things strange, bizarre and unexpected. Complete with paint ball competitions, daredevil motorcross, death-defying skateboarding, insane BMX…
Billy Joe Shaver
Billy Joe Shaver One of the saddest music-related stories of the year so far has to be the early morning death of Eddy Shaver on New Year's Eve. You have to marvel at the resilience of Billy Joe Shaver — Eddy's father and bandmate in Shaver — whose wife and mother also passed away…
Diner: Close to the Wurst
Seeking out German food for a fine-dining experience is tantamount to seeking sex advice from Simon Leis: It's the last call you'll never make. So when my editor assigned me to review Wertheim's Restaurant in Covington, I whined and dragged my feet. Maybe I'm still full. Being third-generation German myself — blonde and blue-eyed with…
Post-Gay Pride?
I recently heard about a New Yorker cartoon that, though it pains me to admit it, perfectly encapsulated my post-Gay Pride state of mind. Two men recline reading the paper, one petting a dog. The other, on the telephone, says, "We're not doing anything for Gay Pride this year. We're here, we're queer, we're used…
Things That Make Me Go Hmmm…
Why do young black folks, especially men, completely disobey traffic and cross in the middle of the street, assuming they won't get hit? If you wouldn't lose your license, wouldn't you like to, just once, run 'em over? And what's up with those 'do rags? When will brothas stop saggin'? Don't they know no one…
Paul Hogan leaves Cincinnati behind and follows his muse to NYC
Unlike many musicians who leave an established band because of "irreconcilable artistic differences" — which is usually record label-speak for "I'm a musical phenom, you guys are holding me back, and I ain't getting enough fucking money, fame or credit, so I'm outta here" — Paul Hogan left local jam band Ray's Music Exchange in…
Relationships
Many moons ago my boyfriend, Ed, and I went to Disney World in Orlando. It was my first visit, and I was so excited. If I recall correctly it was at his insistence that we take his camera. Of course, I was in charge of actually taking all of the photographs. I used up a…
The Big Chill
Last year, while doing research for a cover story marking the 10th anniversary of the CAC's Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition, I interviewed dozens of people involved in mounting the show and fighting the subsequent criminal charges. Many still can't believe Cincinnatians see the Mapplethorpe controversy as a black eye instead of a victory. But even to…
An Escalating Problem: How Long Will the City Hold Us Down?
Geoff Raker Stairway to Heaven? How many city workers does it take to fix an escalator? Never mind. First things first. How many city workers does it take to find out who is responsible for fixing an escalator? Fountain Square is supposed to be the centerpiece of the city of Cincinnati, but it's also…
Music: Short Takes
· Finley Quaye — Vanguard (Epic).Finley Quaye's latest starts out with a sound reminiscent of War's "Spill the Wine" in all its tangential/train-of-thought/spliffed-out riffs over deceptively simple-sounding, thumping Dub rhythms. They eventually cascade — over a churning organ — into a tumble of Jungle beats, returning again to its original lilting Reggae bounce. A…
Is That a Gun in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy About Concealed Weapons?
Proponents of legalizing the carrying of concealed weapons generally feel that such laws deter crime and, in cases when the deterrent effect doesn't kick in, enable citizens to defend themselves and others. Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Cincinnati, is so confident of this that he's crafted a bill to allow everyone to carry concealed weapons right away,…
