The Stairway to Heaven is only 150-foot Tall
HOT Rock & Rollercoasters It has been announced that the Hard Rock Café is developing a Rock & Roll-themed amusement park in Myrtle Beach, set to open in spring of next year. One of the centerpieces is a 150-foot tall rollercoaster called "The Stairway to Heaven." Not sure we want to ride anything named after…
Kitchen Surgery
Oh where, oh where did all my noshes go? Is anyone else starting to hyperventilate when they read the newspaper these days? First it was spinach with E. coli, then carrot juice with botulism, egg salad and listeria and lettuce and tomatoes carrying salmonella. Even pet food isn't safe anymore. What's happened to our food…
Film: A Wise Man
Zipporah Films Fighting off the Grim Reaper: Frederick Wiseman, whose Near Death will screen at the CAC beginning Sunday. Frederick Wiseman is one of America's greatest documentary makers. That he seems less well known than such peers as Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens), Errol Morris (The Fog of War) and Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, U.S.A.)…
Music: Tall Stax
Wattstax.com Isaac Hayes says Stax was "a lot of work and a lot of fun." Guitarist Steve Cropper doesn't especially enjoy talking about "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," the song he wrote with Otis Redding just before the singer perished in an airplane crash in 1967. It just brings back sad memories…
Dexter Mausoleum
Graham Lienhart I talked to my parents on the day of their 30th wedding anniversary and was rather surprised to hear that they were passing the day by strolling through Spring Grove Cemetery. Picking out eternity together — that's morbidly cute. After getting over the incongruous, Goth-like pairing of a marriage anniversary and death,…
Wellness Directory: Road to Wellness
As the warm weather approaches and we shed the safety of our cold weather "cocoon wear," we look in the mirror and see the toll hibernation has taken on us. The thought of putting on shorts or a swimsuit repulses us, and we mentally beat ourselves up for lack of control. How could we have…
Jackie Robinson Vs. Don Imus: Real Progress Vs. Cheap Talk
Jerry Dowling Racism is America's original sin and enduring problem. Of all the races and ethnicities, only African Americans, generally, came here against their will, whereupon they've been put to generations of slavery and indignation followed by discrimination and indignation followed by indifference from the government's highest offices. And indignation. When it comes to…
Starcastle — Song of Times (Progrock)
Starcastle —Song of Times Thirty years ago, Starcastle roared out of Champaign, Ill., with an irresistible sound that combined Prog Rock's complexity and Pop's shimmer. Although they took much grief for their proximity to Yes, Starcastle never disappeared up their own asses with album-sided suites of ponderous, impenetrable blather, preferring to examine the bombast…
Upcoming Concert Reviews of JJ Grey, Mofro and More…
Lightning Bolt JJ GREY & MOFRO WITH BACKYARD TIRE FIRE Wednesday · Southgate House A little bit Country, as in Southern culture. A little bit Ghetto, as in raw doggedness. That's the total half-and-half honest truth of JJ Grey & Mofro and the band's latest release, Country Ghetto. As with their previous two albums,…
Urban Design Review Board
The Banks was always envisioned as this region's "front door," but will its architecture reflect its significance? In 1964, Cincinnati knew that world-class architecture was crucial to a city's evolution. That year, city officials formed the URBAN DESIGN REVIEW BOARD (UDRB) to comment on public developments in the central business district and on the…
Of Sheep and Men
I turned 8 in 1977 just before the beginning of fall, so most of the year, the heart of it, I was 7. What do I remember about being 7 or the '70s? Looking back, I'm aware of the factoids and details, the known history of the time — disco and rollerskating, Thurman Munson and…
Deaf Jam
Only in America could you hear Don Imus and Hip Hop uttered in the same breath. That the focus of the Imus fiasco would soon turn toward Hip Hop music and culture came as little surprise to me. After the acerbic radio and TV talk show host made disparaging, bigoted remarks about the mostly African-American…
Living Out Loud: : We Have a Situation Here
Doug was slowly nursing his second beer at a seedy Covington bar. He came into the place that afternoon to meet up with Paul, who owed him 50 bucks. Doug wasn't all that familiar with Covington and was hoping he was sitting in the right pub. Paul was already 15 minutes late. Doug finished his…
News: Learning in the Hood
J.D. Cutter Fall 2006 was the inaugural semester for the Miami University Over-the-Rhine Residency Program. Twelve students participated, integrating academics with a full immersion experience, living and working in inner-city Cincinnati. Most of Miami's student body is white and affluent, so the experience was sometimes startling — and always instructive. Architecture Professor Tom Dutton…
Lookwhos: Look Who’s Eating
Graham Lienhart Shawn Thomas Owner, Behle Street Cafe Shawn Thomas is a happy man. It's spring, and spring and summer are the best time of year at Behle Street Cafe. As soon as nice weather arrives, he opens the patio — and that's the biggest, most exciting time of year. His team has really…
News: Nazis Back Down
White crime caused the cancellation of a march planned for Friday by the American National Socialist Workers Party. Bill White of Roanoke, Va., commander of the party, says the group's Ohio coordinator — a white man named Justin Boyer — is wanted on an arrest warrant for domestic violence in the state of Washington.…
Music: The 40-Year Growth Spurt
Liz Linder While he usually shies away from topical songs, singer/ songwriter Chris Smither says, given the climate today, he could no longer resist. If you ever want living proof that F. Scott Fitzgerald's oft-repeated adage "There are no second acts in American lives" is misguided, go see Chris Smither. This triple threat singer/writer/guitarist…
News to Use
Women Voters Luncheon The League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area presents the Visions For Greater Cincinnati Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. April 19 at the Duke Energy Center. The luncheon features Ellen G. van der Horst, president of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. Tickets are $100. For information, call 513-281-8683. Creative Resistance The 2007…
Y.E.S. Festival
Joan Marcus Jersey Boys is one of seven musicals to be presented by the Broadway Series in 2007-2008. Every two years we get to see a set of new plays at Northern Kentucky University's Y.E.S. Festival. Check out the mini-reviews below and go to citybeat.com for the full commentaries by CityBeat's reviewers. Performances continue…
Rumors, Lies and General Misunderstandings
· My first "blind item!" I feel like Cindy Adams. In the '90s, when The Afghan Whigs were becoming more and more well known, the band would sometimes book "super secret" shows at smaller clubs, going under assumed names like "Gato Negro" and "The Havana Sugar Kings." This Sunday, a certain local band with a…
The Sit-in That Ended Segregation of the Disabled
I'll begin with a quiz. What major American event celebrated its 30th anniversary this week? Bonus question: What group was responsible for the longest "sit-in" protest, taking over a federal building in a major U.S. city, in our nation's history? The answers to both are summed up in one fact. April 5, 30 years ago,…
Smokers, Beware
Thanks to Gregory Flannery for a fascinating and beautifully crafted piece ("Why We Smoke," issue of April 11) about the "bright side" of smoking, which is ironically its darkest aspect: the pleasure and the joy of it. As a practicing family physician, I immediately recognized the article as compulsory reading. I spend so much time…
Locals Only: : The Great Depression
Graham Lienhart The Great Depression In front of a dimly lit stage, there are two guys standing closely together watching just another local band play their set on a Saturday night in Covington. One resembles a human teddy bear — complete with a jovial smile, full beard and friendly demeanor, greeting everyone who passes…
Cover Story: Equal Environmental Rights
Sean Hughes Equal Environmental Rights Pollution is everywhere — exhaust spewing from cars, oil and gas spills from barges and boats on the Ohio River, raw sewage dumped into the Mill Creek, chemical fertilizers and pesticides leaching into ground water. Every human being is exposed to environmental toxins in some way. But not all…
See Berding Run
Joe Lamb Cincinnati City Councilman David Crowley (left) wants the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to protect union organizers. Worried about his odds for getting the Democratic Party's endorsement this week, Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Berding began bombarding the party's precinct executives with automated telephone calls featuring a one-time critic speaking on his behalf.…
The Willowz — Chautauqua (Dim Mak)
The Willowz — Chautauqua The Willowz have been inspiring awe and dropping jaws since their debut EP four years ago, with 2005's full length Talk in Circles earning them Band of the Year honors from the LA Weekly and a slot in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2005 cover story. The Willowz' latest,…
Diner: Review: Beluga
Joe Lamb Snorkeling recently off the northeast coast of Puerto Rico, we found a large conch hidden in the seaweed. The ship's mate broke it open, slicing its fresh meat into tender, paper-thin morsels, "cooking" them in a bit of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Our kids intently watched the entire process and were the first…
Film: Taking Liberties
Freeze!: Simon Pegg (center) and his Hot Fuzz team got you in their sights. I skipped seeing Blades of Glory because I know all too well its comic formula of hammering away at a single joke for an hour and a half. The makers of Hot Fuzz and their previous film Shaun of the…
News: Maddening Expenses
As C.A. MacConnell deals with the numerous challenges involved in coping with bipolar disorder, many people would consider her plight unfortunate. MacConnell's routine includes daily doses of four strong psychotropic medications to alleviate her symptoms, as well as regular therapy sessions to help her understand the chemical imbalances in her brain that — if left…
