News: Writing the Law
Graham Lienhart Judge Mark Painter wants lawyers to write more clearly. They file in with cups of coffee, glasses of iced tea, lemonade, soft drinks and take their seats in a large room at the Cincinnati Bar Center on Sixth Street downtown. There are more than three dozen of them, most of them lawyers,…
News: Progressive Blitz
Matt Borgerding The new Democratic majority in Congress should act on progressive economic proposals within the first 100 hours of taking office, according to David Little of Change America Now, seen here distributing literature on Election Day. The middle class is once again the political pawn being positioned on the congressional chessboard, this time…
Locals Only: : The Lions Rampant
The Lions Rampant The Lions Rampant "The lion costumes … hmm," says Stuart Mackenzie with a wry chuckle. "It wasn't something we planned, you know, we weren't looking for any shtick. But it ended up being fun … plus, it's just about impossible to take yourself too seriously when you're 'that jerk in the…
Diner: Seafood Gets a Square Deal
McCormick & Schmick's Go: 21 East Fifth St., Downtown Call: 513-721-9339 Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday Prices: Moderate to expensive Payment: MasterCard and Visa Red Meat Alternatives: Lots of fish, plus a small salad menu Accessibility: Fully accessible Grade: B- The walls of McCormick & Schmick's, Fountain Square's new…
Stop Shutting out Parents
Susan Cranley is clueless! It's indefensible that the Cincinnati Board of Education president would even say that the state has a lot of clout because they provide 21 percent of the local schools' budget ("Cutting Classes," issue of Dec. 13). The federal government provides a significant proportion of the local budget, as do taxpayers, so…
News: He Wasn’t Just No. 81
Ben L. Kaufman Marilyn Logan, grandmother of a homicide victim, meets D'Angelo Harkness, killed five days later. Sixteen-year-old boys aren't supposed to live in fear. But D'Angelo Ja' Ron Harkness was afraid of being killed, and he had good reason to be. He's dead now. The Walnut Hills teen was shot near his home…
Scarlett Thomas — The End of Mr. Y (Harvest Books)
Scarlett Thomas —The End of Mr. Y Scarlett Thomas manages to transform a philosophical treatise into a novel, and a good novel at that. It begins with a young English woman, Ariel, on a half-assed quest for the answer to everything — to a world, finally, "without mystery." Ariel's outlet is a small column…
Film: For Your Consideration
Universal Pictures Clive Owen and Julianne Moore star in director Alfonso Cuaron's astute thriller, Children of Men. JASON GARGANO 1. Children of Men Gloriously crafted and affectingly acted, Alfonso Cuaron's warning shot of a thriller takes on the pressing issues of the day — immigration, the environment and globalization in 2027 London — without…
Cover Story: ‘I’m in a Singular Position’
Jymi Bolden Dennis Kucinich hopes to be the next U.S. President from Ohio. When I first interviewed U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland) during the 2004 presidential primaries, anti-war protesters were admiring him as the sane voice of the Democratic Party — a man who actually read books and gave intelligent speeches. To his opponents,…
Music: The Year in Your Ear
IsWhat?! — The Life We Chose · ISWHAT?! — THE LIFE WE CHOSE IsWhat?! has been one of the more interesting acts in the region since forming 10 years ago, with their strong, poetic blend of Jazz and Hip Hop rhythms and brilliant, sharp lyricism. Those elements and more came together perfectly on The…
Bombing Questions Still Unanswered
Graham Lienhart (L-R) The Rev. Matthew Stevens, Gordon Maham and John Henry "Be Kind" Simmons celebrate. We'll probably never know for sure the relationship between the Midwest Bank Robbers and the late Timothy McVeigh, who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City. But a report last week by the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee…
Film: Suburban Life
New Line Cinema Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson illuminate Little Children. Little Children, a poignant and subtly humorous dissection of suburban American life directed by In the Bedroom's Todd Field, includes the best single scene in a movie this year. Ronald McGorvey, a convicted pedophile played wonderfully by former child star Jackie Earle Haley,…
Making and Keeping Wellness Resolutions
Well, this is it — the time of year that most of us resolve to improve ourselves and get our act together. Unfortunately, though, most individuals' New Year's resolutions don't last as long as their New Year's Eve hangover! Here are seven steps to make any goal stick and become real. Write out each of…
Art: Whimsy or Not?
Manifest Gallery Margot Cormier Splane's "Black and White Tourists Visit Egypt." Contemporary art comes in sundry forms. Usually, we want it to tell us something — about politics, about injustice, about the state of the world. The current group show at Manifest Gallery (2727 Woodburn Ave., East Walnut Hills), Whimsical Muse, plays around with…
YIR: Bengals’ Snap Collapse Doesn’t Tarnish Good Season
Jerry Dowling Ordinarily, one looks back on the year in sports and brushes it away. Usually it was just another year. You might be dramatic and say the year, like any year, was distinctive for its changes and events. Usually you'd be lying. But 2006 really was different. Regime change swept through two major…
2007 Alteractive Series
Harlan Taylor Rha Goddess stars in Low, a one-woman show opening at Playhouse in the Park on Jan. 10. The Cincinnati Playhouse this week announced the 2007 ALTERACTIVE series, its seventh year of performance artists and other fringe-styled acts. (See story on page 31.) Those performances are one-night stands, but the Playhouse has also…
Requiem for a Bass Player
Bob Bodley died of cancer on Christmas Day, and the lights at the Blue Wisp will be a little dimmer this weekend. He was a superb musican who passed in his prime, and he was a great gift to us. Bob demonstrated how to live richly and to honor our own talents as artists and…
Music: Family Affair
Stephen Boyd Beau Alquizola (second from right) gets by with a little help from his musical friends. The O'Jays classic "Family Reunion" opens with the line, "It's so nice to see all the folks you love together," and that sentiment sums up my feelings as I entered the Poison Room on Dec. 9 for…
Hard Times Ahead for Journalists and Their Customers
Judgments on the annus horribilis that ended Sunday and fearful predictions for the new year: Our government — from Cincinnati City Hall to the White House — will continue to obstruct reporters' efforts to tell us what our governments are doing. Lazy, partisan and ideological prosecutors will continue to pursue reporters' records, notes and sources…
Many More Girls On A Stage
A new music series kicks off in a big way with the first "One More Girl On A Stage" multi-artist concert at the Southgate House this Saturday. The show is the brainchild of local musician Kelly Thomas, who is being assisted in the planning by several other volunteers and organizers (including many of the musicians…
Pho Paris
The new year brings lots of new dining news in town. Pho Paris, Jean-Robert de Cavel's Vietnamese-French fusion restaurant, is moving from Oakley to Covington at the end of January. They'll be in the former space of Scalea's and the Continental Lounge, two doors down from the Greenup Café. Pho Paris, started as a joint…
James Landale — The Last Duel (Cannongate Books)
James Landale — The Last Duel "Let's settle this like gentlemen," and "Let's take this outside" have become clichés of contemporary fiction. But there was a time when these words were balanced by the weight of history. To play on another cliché, men were men and a violent contest was a search for justice…
Living Out Loud: : Manners for an Appetizer
Let me make one point very clear: Because you have money doesn't mean you have class. No sooner than I started the job, I ended it, couldn't give the customary two weeks' notice before I said my goodbye. I can't take a lot. When I'm good at something, I tend to do whatever it is…
Onstage: Adult Content
Playhouse In The PArk Familiar face: The Playhouse's annual alteractive series kicks off with Tim Miller's 1001 Beds on Feb. 19. If one of your recent New Year's resolutions was to expand your theatrical horizons, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is ready to give you some choices. This week the Eden Park theater…
News to Use
Life in Occupied Palestine What is the experience of everyday life in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel? How do people live, work and create a community? What are the possibilities for the future? What might we do to improve the situation? "Life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Gaza and the West Bank — A…
