Film: Pomp and Controversy
The poster from Ken Russell's Salome's Last Dance, starring Imogen Millais-Scott, serves as the cover of Joseph Lanza's Phallic Frenzy. The author's notes on Joseph Lanza state that he "specializes in speculative nonfiction." This might be euphemistic, one supposes, of a historian who doesn't bother to sort colorful gossip from verifiable fact, and who…
News: Green Means ‘Run Like Hell’
C. Matthew Hamby Green means go — or that's what is used to mean for pre-schoolers. If State Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls) and State Rep. Michael DeBose (D-Cleveland) get their way, kids will have to learn that in Ohio green means "run away." Senate Bill 56 and House Bill 83 would require convicted…
Locals Only: : Tonefarmer
Melinda Welch Back in 1990, I could recklessly drive my crappy Olds down to Vine Street, park illegally and haul a psuedo-laundry bag into Sudsy Malone's, sneaking inside to sit on a washer and enjoy the tunes. Rob Hamrick's band Sleep Theatre had already slipped into Cincinnati's scene by that time, bringing an original…
Film: Review: The Simpsons Movie
20th Century Fox America's favorite yellow family loses little of its satiric edge The Simpsons Movie. At one point, animated paterfamilias Homer Simpson asks if audiences are going to pay to see a movie with characters and stories they could just as easily see on commercially saturated television. Well, I spent time watching The…
Sound Advice: : Walter Trout, Ted Leo and Rasputina
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists Walter Trout Saturday · Sawyer Point (Cincy Blues Fest) If we're known by the company we keep, Walter Trout should be one well-known Blues guitar-slinging so-and-so. For the first half of his 35-plus year career, he was a touring sideman for the likes of Big Mama Thornton, Joe Tex…
News: Home Improvement Can Be HIP
Cheap loans for home improvements in Hamilton County have gone largely untouched but are now attracting borrowers. In 2002 County Commissioner Todd Portune spearheaded the Hamilton County Home Improvement Program (HIP), which allows residents to take out loans for home improvement at rates up to 3 percent lower than the market rate. There are no…
Okkervil River: The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar Records)
OKKERVIL RIVER — The Stage Names It's no surprise that Okkervil River's catalog has a distinct album-to-album feel, as frontman Will Sheff has been the only consistent member since the band formed in Austin, Tex., nearly a decade ago. But the band's shifting sonic point isn't just a product of their rotating lineup; Sheff's…
Why I Hate New Year’s Eve
When CityBeat published its obituary for The Cincinnati/ Kentucky Post early this year, we didn't gloat over the prospect of becoming the region's "other" paper. Rather, it's an opportunity we embrace now that Scripps finally has confirmed that the region's afternoon paper will die New Year's Eve. That doesn't make it easier to read the…
News to Use
Saving Antioch The second in a series of meetings of the Antioch College Board of Trustees will be held Aug. 25 in Cincinnati. The purpose is to discuss next steps in working strategically toward the re-opening of Antioch College. A session from 9-11:30 a.m. will be a town hall open to all constituents. In the…
Share this Place
The soundtrack to a fascinating multimedia performance with a bug's-eye view is released next week by indie stalwart K Records. Commissioned earlier this year by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Mirah and the Spectratone International's Share This Place is a cool collaboration with Kyle Hanson and Lori Goldston of Black Cat Orchestra, boasting a…
AVANT-GARDE 2: EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA 1928-1954 (KINO)
AVANT-GARDE 2: EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA 1928-1954 1928-'54, Not Rated Kino's second two-DVD set compiled from the collection of experimental cinema advocate Raymond Rohauer is a godsend. Covering 1928-1954, Avant-Garde 2 spans the generation that saw movies come into their own. Mainstream cinemas flourished in these years, but beneath the majesty simultaneously grew an underground movement…
Music: The Birds Are the Word
Volvoment While using Blues, Pop, Prog and Psychedelia, Birds of Avalon say don't be afraid if any of those genres make you cringe. When Paul Siler and Cheetie Kumar decide to make changes in their lives, they don't dick around. Nearly three years ago, the pair agreed it was time to leave their longstanding…
Cover Story: Surviving Iraq
Sean Hughes Combat is only half the battle – surviving Iraq Lance Cpl. Andrew Hildebrand narrowly dodged insurgent rounds that burst through the walls into the kitchen of an Iraqi house. He and his team members simultaneously tried to elude ricochet from their own rounds; unlike the opposition, their unit's ammo was unable to…
Crowley Honored, Leads Some More
Joe Lamb Peace activists share their message with traffic in Northside during a July 27 vigil. Cincinnati City Councilman David Crowley last week received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the national Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Joe Solmonese, president of the organization, presented the award at a dinner at the Contemporary Arts Center. The HRC…
Between the Lions
Local trio The Lions Rampant are unleashing their latest recording, a six-song effort titled Play Rock N Roll, with a little shindig Saturday at Northside's Gypsy Hut. The Lions are joined by an apparently still unnamed new band that features Craig Fox of the Greenhornes, Brian Olive (formerly of the Greenhornes and Soledad Bros.), Jared…
Moving On
I don't like change. I can see no virtue in it. The unavoidable changes, like growing old and dying, make me wonder why everyone isn't suspicious of words like "development" and "progress." The cheap little businessmen in Sinclair Lewis' novels are anethma to me, with their talk of "onward and upward" at their booster clubs.…
Skip Prosser Was a Coach for All the Right Reasons
Jerry Dowling Skip Prosser would have made a damn fine old man. We should have gotten him for another 30-odd years just so we could go back from time to time, listen and laugh, see his mind, feel a little better. He already helped us see straight, and he improved with age. Prosser, the…
Living Out Loud: : Sunday Morning Coming Down
Fairly early on a Sunday morning I was heading back downtown from the Alpine Laundry in Price Hill. I have this Sunday morning routine down perfectly now. I can get to Price Hill, get two loads of laundry done, do a little grocery shopping at Kroger's and get back home in less than an hour…
Morton’s
Morton's The Steakhouse will be opening in its new space on the second floor of the Carew Tower on Aug. 6. Along with a view of Fountain Square, Morton's will offer a glass-enclosed wine room that can store over 1,200 bottles of wine. The restaurant also introduces Morton's Bar 12-21 and Morton's Bar Bites menu,…
BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP: VOLUME 2 (UNIVERSAL)
BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP: VOLUME 2 1976, Not Rated One of the last series set during World War II, this program — in syndication it was titled Black Sheep Squadron — was loosely based on the memoirs of Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington (played here by Robert Conrad). A decorated Marine fighter pilot, Boyington commanded…
Another Column About Barry Bonds
As I grew into a young man and began to find my way as an adult, the two "possessions" I prized the most were my relationships with music and sports. No wonder I didn't get married until my mid-thirties. When you're trying to establish yourself as a unique person, someone distinct from everyone else your…
Discovering Universal Truths
In late 1992, I was going through a divorce and living for a while on a farm outside of Athens, Ohio. While there, I came across a publication entitled Science of Mind. I noticed the tag line "Change Your Thinking, Change Your World," and I was intrigued with the concept. The magazine was clearly spiritual…
THE HOST (MAGNOLIA)
THE HOST 2006, Rated R It's not wise to dump gallons of formaldehyde into a river — who knows what genetic deformity might pop up decades later? South Korea finds out in this truly incredible monster flick. As much a tongue-in-cheek homage to the Godzilla, Rodan and Gamera daikaiju films as it is a…
Art: and People
Natalie Hager Three generations of art lovers: (L-R) Phyllis Weston, Annie Bolling-Rangeley and Cate Yellig It's been a year since the Phyllis Weston-Annie Bolling Gallery opened on the busy stretch of Madison Road that still carries the historic neighborhood name O'Bryonville. "It feels like home," says Bolling. Weston agrees. "People stop by with their…
Authentic Artists
I suppose it's somewhat unfair of me to criticize Laura James' current piece of journalism regarding the opening of the new Pendleton Art Gallery at Newport on the Levee (The Big Picture, issue of July 25). After all, she was given the daunting challenge of writing an op-ed piece — or was it supposed to…
Music: And Justice for All
Jon Justice After jamming with Tennesse's The Recipe for several years, local singer/guitarist Jon Justice came back to Greater Cincinnati and the Blues he loves. For one so young, Jon Justice has a lot of notches on his 24-year-old belt. He's been a working musician since childhood. His debut album, 2004's Forget About Time,…
Massage: A Variety of Disciplines
After working for a few years as a clinical perfusionist (operating the heart-lung machine during bypass surgery) for a number of hospitals across the country, I grew tired of seeing people on the operating table and being unable to have patient contact that addresses the root of their problems. So I turned to preventive medicine,…
Lookwhos: Look Who’s Eating: Jean-Franois Flechet
Graham Lienhart Jean-Franois Flechet Jean-François Flechet has come a long way from Liège, Belgium. Nine years ago, Flechet came to the United States to complete a doctorate in economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his schooling and relocated to accept a job in Northern Kentucky, then quit his job two years ago…
Cover Story: Cincinnati Area Soldiers Killed in Iraq
May 8, 2003, Private 1st ClassMarlin T. Rockhold , Hamilton Nov. 3, 2004, Sgt. CharlesJoseph Webb , Hamilton Jan. 30, 2005, Private 1st ClassJames H. Miller IV , Cincinnati May 9, 2005, Lance Cpl.Taylor B. Prazynski , Fairfield July 17, 2005, Spec.Ronnie D. Williams , Erlanger Aug. 3, 2005, Lance Cpl.Timothy Michael Bell Jr. ,…
New Edgecliff announces its 2007-08 season
Deogracias Lerma CEA nominee and CCM drama student Mikhail Roberts is featured in Know Theatre's August production of Thrill Me. The bad boys will be acting up this season on the stage of NEW EDGECLIFF THEATRE, which just announced its 2007-08 season, under the theme of "men behaving badly." They'll open with Neil LaBute's…
