Onstage: Review: Ella
Sandy Underwood Tina Fabrique is Ella at the Cincinnati Playhouse. Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald died in 1996 at the age of 79, but that's not apparent to audiences spending an evening at the Cincinnati Playhouse, where Tina Fabrique is bringing her back to vibrant, tuneful life in Ella, singing nearly two dozen numbers made famous…
News: 21,173 Miles and 419 Teens
Robin Bowman Cincinnati native Robin Bowman still keeps in touch with a lot of the teens she photographed for her book, It's Complicated. After hanging out with the Zapatista Liberation Army in Mexico for a few years and a stint in Rwanda, taking pictures of teenagers sounds like it would be an absurdly simple…
Sound Advice: : Backyard Tire Fire and The Cops
Backyard Tire Fire Backyard Tire Fire with Rev. Horton Heat and Nashville Pussy Friday · Southgate House A lot of bands get an Americana sticker slapped on their tour trunk because they throw a session bone to a pedal steel player, which gives them the illusion of plaintive rootsiness. Backyard Tire Fire is not…
Noting anniversaries of events society would rather not remember
Where does one start with a 40th anniversary? Not our marriage. That was two years ago. How about: Paris student demonstrations. Tet offensive. LBJ refuses to run for reelection. Chicago police riot at Democratic national convention. Black Power salute at Olympic games. Congress passes anti-discrimination fair housing law. Sirhan Sirhan kills Bobby Kennedy. James Earl…
Health Coverage for the Uninsured
It was my twice-a-week migraines that prompted my wife to call the United Way's 211 helpline and make an appointment for me to see a doctor at a local clinic. "Keep it or cancel it," she told me. "It's your choice." I'd made a long list of excuses as to why I hadn't done anything…
Music: Mighty White
Shawn Abnoxious White Girls It was a rainy and cold night. A sense of urgency swept over me as I stood at what I thought was the street's end looking for an address but finding no numbers on any of the houses. I would later discover that electric cobras were allegedly watching me from…
Another seven days of wacky TV celebrities, killer salsa and hiding in plain sight
Is that meth in your pocket or are you just happy to be on TV? WEDNESDAY APRIL 16 Former fan-favorite Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has informed the media that Carson Palmer's name ain't Bennett and he ain't in it. Upon learning that Palmer thought Johnson would be present at the team's mandatory training…
News: Breaking the Wave
Joe Lamb Tom Luken was one of many local Democrats to address the crowded April 21 Central Commitee meeting. Because Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune took the politically risky move of placing a proposed sales tax on the ballot last fall, local Democrats should reward him by ensuring he doesn't face a competitor this…
Art: Review: C’mon Everybody, Get Up!
Emily Maxwell Terence Hammonds created dance-floor sculptures for his new exhibition, C'mon Everybody, Get Up! At the risk of sounding naìve, I'll say that racism always surprises me. It shocks me that the images of riots, violence and radical protest that Terence Hammonds incorporates into his work are taken from a few decades ago.…
She Was Somebody
As strange as it might seem, for the past few years I've started most mornings looking through the local obituaries online. On March 3, I finally could stop. My friend passed away. She was difficult to know. We worked together more than 30 years ago at a machine tool manufacturer here in town. I worked…
Okkervil River, Cincinnati Flower Show, Asian Culture Fest, Alvin Ailey Dance and much more
Sean Hughes Cincinnati Flower Show WEDNESDAY 4/23 ART: ART ACADEMY OF CINCINNATI For young artists, BFA senior shows are about playing well with others and relishing in their own accomplishments. The best of them find a way of constructing a cohesive common ground for dialogue, offering palpable connections both visually and conceptually in the…
Tell Me You Love Me (HBO)
Tell Me You Love Me 2007, Not Rated The first season of the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me examines the stories of three couples in therapy. There's the twentysomethings on the verge of marriage, standing on the ledge together, afraid to jump, to experience that first moment when the ground might not…
Building a Strong Three-Legged Stool
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's what John E.E. Dalberg Acton, a British writer and historian, said in 1887. And it's what Dan La Botz, local writer and UC history professor, seems to be saying about Cincinnati in 2008. Margo Pierce's cover story "Ruling Class" examines the larger issues raised by…
CAM’s New, Offbeat Collection
For a 127-year-old institution, the Cincinnati Art Museum isn't resting on its laurels or on dated 19th-century notions of what constitutes fine art. If you've been there lately and seen the red Jaguar E-type racer in a front gallery or the bizarre collection of plastic coffee-cup lids briefly displayed in the Cincinnati Wing, you probably…
Diner: Review: Eddie Merlot’s
Joe Lamb I can't help recalling the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit when I think of the name of one of our newest steakhouses, Eddie Merlot's. Oh wait, that was Eddie Valiant. As it turns out, this Eddie doesn't have a private investigator's license or even ties to the mob. According to the restaurant's…
There Will Be Blood (Paramount)
There Will Be Blood 2007, Rated R Paul Thomas Anderson's flawed yet fascinating epic is a supremely strange period piece that evokes a host of current cultural issues: our obsession with oil, the role of religion in society, the perils of unchecked capitalism, family values. And it's anchored by an immersive, sometimes scary tour-de-force…
Art: Review: Rembrandt: Three Faces of the Master
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid Rembrandt looks confident in "Self-Portrait with Beret and Two Gold Chains." Rembrandt created more than 70 self-portraits during his lifetime. The three currently at the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) reveal the evolution of the Dutch master's painting style and provide a glimpse of the ups and downs of the artist's life.…
Film: Review: CJ7
Sony Pictures Classics (L-R) Xu Jiao, a furry green alien and Stephen Chow star in CJ7. As writer, director, producer and star, Stephen Chow wears more hats at one time than most players in the movie game, but his comic sensibilities are a bit of a throwback. Likely best known in the United States…
Music: Restructural Reinforcement
Touch & Go Records Dayton-via-Brooklyn-via-Philly threesome Enon get back to a "real band" feel on its most recent album, Grass Geysers … Carbon Clouds. Just because nearly five years have passed since the last album of new material from Enon doesn't mean they haven't been busy. The Noise Pop trio, led by former Dayton…
Books: Review: Full Moon: The Melissa Moon Poems
Gary Walton Gary Walton, author ofFull Moon Full Moon: The Melissa Moon Poems is perhaps the finest work yet by local literature professor, writer, musician and poet Gary Walton. Nominated for the Kentucky Literary Award in Poetry, this collection illuminates the character of Melissa Moon, "the beautiful playwright," as she eloquently muses on life,…
The Dragon Painter (New Yorker Video/Yorker Video/Milestone)
THE DRAGON PAINTER 1919, Not Rated Milestone's reputation for producing DVDs with the cinephile in mind solidifies with the release of The Dragon Painter, a once-lost silent classic that reintroduces film fandom to the great Japanese-American actor Sessue Hayakawa. Decades before his Oscar-nomination for The Bridge on the River Kwai, Hayakawa was a Chaplin-…
Bengals Looking to NFL Draft to Turn Themselves Around
Jerry Dowling Going back in time really isn't as difficult as the scientists would have us believe. Those of us looking ahead to the NFL draft see no need to build a space ship that travels faster than the speed of light, since we go backwards in time simply by following the Bengals. The…
Onstage: 2008 Fringe Festival Trailer
Preparations continue for the 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, May 27-June 7 in Over-the-Rhine and Downtown. Get more information here.
Cover Story: Ruling Class
Woodrow J. Hinton Strings Attached Everyone has heard about the smoke-filled room crammed with rich — sometimes just powerful but always white — men hunkered down over a table bickering and dickering over how to manipulate individuals, organizations or politicians to suit their whims. Most believe that scene was relegated to old movies and…
Good Luck Going Car-Free
Even if I wanted to give up the car lifestyle in Greater Cincinnati and, say, bike it, scooter it or just walk, all my options leave a little bad taste in my mouth. With a scooter I could putter around town, Harley owners smugly grinning as they roared by me teetering along in the…
Locals Only: : Fizzgig
Fizzgig Fizzgig Think of the damn amusing (and double platinum) eccentric band Weezer. Similar in Power Pop nature, local group Fizzgig has already scored a huge presence in the U.K. and Japan. With a name like Fizzgig, which refers to a furry, sharp-toothed, alien-like creature from Jim Henson's film The Dark Crystal, one would…
Rumors, Lies and General Misunderstandings
· You can hear some Radiohead influences in Peter Adams' music, but his sophomore album, I Woke With Planets in My Face, is taking a different kind of cue from Thom Yorke and Co. Adams — whose bedroom-made debut, The Spiral Eyes, helped earn him international acclaim, record company attention and a couple of profiles…
Streicher’s Slippery Hold on the Facts
CityBeat Archive Chief Streicher has a few connections that you don't. Once again, Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr.'s actions and comments don't hold up to public scrutiny, giving citizens yet more reason to question his credibility and judgment. Longtime Porkopolis readers will remember that Streicher assigned the Police Department's honor guard — consisting…
This Week in Wellness
The first thinkGREEN event at Marvin's Organic Gardens features live music, food, vendors and more. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. April 26 with presentations including "Learning to Live Green" at 10 a.m., "Basics of Composting" at 11:30 a.m., "Bird & Butterfly Gardening from the Ground Up" at 1 p.m. and "Alternative Energy Sources" at 2:30 p.m. 2055…
When the Stars Align
Emily Maxwell Two of a kind?: Bootsy Collins and Jeff Ruby announce a partnership. Jeff Ruby's restaurants have always been associated with glitz, showmanship and celebrities, but he might be reaching for a new level with his latest dining concept. That's because Bootsy Collins is one of the few Cincinnati characters who can out-glitz…
