Brian Groh — Summer People (Ecco)
Brian Groh — Summer People This debut novel gives a glimpse into the most endearing type of mid-twenties male psyche — the type that's slightly neurotic and slightly naive, distracted by sexual desire but trying to do the right thing. Nathan Empson, a college dropout from Cleveland, scores a summer job in posh coastal…
News: Exploitation or Opportunity?
Natalie Hager Exploitation of day laborers is common, according to Curt Braymen, a board member with the Day Labor Organizing Project. What would you be willing to do for $33 a day? How about starting work at 2:50 p.m. and being your on your feet working until you clock out at 11 p.m.? Add…
Locals Only: : J. Dorsey Blues Band
Sara Yaste The J. Dorsey Blues Band INTERVIEW BY SARA YASTE Perched across from Dick's liquor store, the J. Dorsey Blues Band wiles away inside an ancient Masonic Temple, now known as the Covington Lodge. Their searing callback to the days of the Delta invokes images of beat-up kicks and empty pockets, perfect fodder…
Twin Peaks: The Second Season (Paramount)
Twin Peaks: The Second Season 1990-'91, Not Rated When filmmaker David Lynch wanted to continue on television the surreal, subconsciously pitched exploration of the underside of small-town life that he began in Blue Velvet, he changed the medium. Although it lasted only 30 episodes and two seasons in 1990-1991 on ABC (the first season…
News to Use
Democrats Discuss Justice "Justice in the 21st century" is the theme of the Hamilton County Democratic Forum from 7-9 p.m. May 1 at the 20th Century Theater in Oakley. Cincinnati City Councilman Cecil Thomas will talk about the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence. Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune will speak about the county's safety plan,…
Cover Story: Gourmet Takeaway
Matt Borgerding Toni Davena and Mary McMabon, owners of What's for Dinner? The typical American family has changed a lot over the past 30 years, and our eating habits have changed, too. Long gone are the days when the whole family sat at the dining table together every evening, enjoying a balanced meal lovingly…
Music: Well After ‘The Fall’
Lorelei K. Wilson Perfect Jewish Couple If you require any proof that music has a life beyond the immediacy of its release, Shari Lauter and Kelly Hale will be glad to testify. A good deal of the evidence is found on Time Capsule, a new 7-track EP that chronicles the Cincinnati duo's mid-'80s recorded…
News: Berding Endorsed but Damaged
Jeff Berding Jeff Berding: party problem? The power of incumbency might not be enough to help Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Berding in the Nov. 6 election. A meeting of the Cincinnati Democratic Committee (CDC) last week, held to decide which candidates to endorse, erupted into a rank-and-file revolt against Berding. After a tumultuous debate…
Maryse Conde — The Story of the Cannibal Woman (Atria)
Maryse Conde — The Story of the Cannibal Woman This novel leaves you foggy. The story begins in Cape Town, South Africa, and a black woman from Guadeloupe, Rosélie, who suddenly finds herself alone. Her longtime lover and 'husband' — though technically the two never married — has been shot and killed outside a…
Cover Story: Where to Eat Like a Lady
Scott Beseler Brandi Daniels If restaurants were car dealerships the kitchen would be the service department. Testosterone rages, expletives fly and jokes are, to say the least, colorful. But these times, they are a-changin'. The White House has its first female executive chef and, according the National Restaurant Association, the latest stats cite that…
News: Will It Stay or Go?
Jon Hughes Sitwell's features local artists' work … Even in the pre-rush, quiet morning hours, Lisa Storie, Sitwell's Coffeehouse owner, works feverishly, darting behind the shop counter, making drinks, sliding cookies into the oven. She worries about getting the homemade soup made. Outside, she puts out iron-black tables and chairs for smokers, even though…
Film: Deep Cover
Jaap Vrenegoor Carice van Houten's tour de force performance carries the epic Black Book. Black Book is Paul Verhoeven's first film made in his native Netherlands since 1985, and he brings to it valuable lessons he learned while working for 20 years in Hollywood (everything from Robocop to Starship Troopers) to forge an unprecedented…
Diner: Review: The Palace Restaurant
Joe Lamb He swears it was the suit. My husband insists that what we now refer to as The Lucky Suit should get credit for one of the finest dining experiences we've ever had. Ever. Where did this occur, you ask? The Palace Restaurant in the Cincinnatian Hotel Downtown. It might cause martial strife,…
Only Dick Knows Dick
Understandably fed up with having to repeatedly point out how wrong we all are about the progress and prosecution of the war in Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney has decided it's time move on to smugly dismissing a few of our other wrongheaded notions. The Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl.…
The Sheds You’ve Got A Light (
The Sheds — You've Got a Light Cincinnati Indie Folk duo The Sheds have released other albums before their brand new You've Got a Light, but don't look for them in your favorite CD store. The band simply put the releases (including this one) up on their Web site for free download. While that…
And I Shall Name Thee Metallica
HOT Thank God the Parents Weren't Anal Cunt Fans You thought Ricky Bobby naming his kids "Walker" and "Texas Ranger" in Talladega Nights was preposterous? The idea of Borat calling his son Hooeylewis seem too farfetched? Well, truth has proven itself stranger than fiction once again — there is a real, honest-to-goodness baby named "Metallica"…
Troublemaker’s Journal
Linda Watson, one of your neighbors here in Cincinnati, is having a hard time making it. I thought you'd want to know. Maybe we can do something to help. The issue is this: Watson works and works hard — but she's not making a living. And she's just one of millions. Watson moved here 17…
Cover Story: Servers Sound Off
Scott Beseler Anne Thoman photos by Scott Beseler Food writers crank out a lot of ink on chefs and the magic they create on the plate. But that's only half the story. Somehow that plate's gotta find its way to you so you can slurp down all the delicious delectables it carries. Where would…
Living Out Loud: : The Blacksburg I Know
When I turned on the television and viewed the news that 32 people died in a Virginia Tech classroom in Blacksburg, I thought at first it was a movie. I changed the channel repeatedly, making sure. Deeply concerned, I called my college friends who live in or near Blacksburg. They were all right physically, but…
Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer — Science, Skepticism and the Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind (Bantam)
Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer — Science, Skepticism and the Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind In 1991, Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, Ph.D., was a prominent psychoanalyst and a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Perhaps more importantly, she was a scientist. And then her daughter's valuable, one-of-a-kind harp was stolen. For several months, she…
Farewell, Colonel
Local musician Mark Chenault passed away at around 2 p.m. on April 21 at the Scarlet Oaks hospice facilities in Clifton. He was 53. Chenault was involved as a performer in the local music scene since the late '70s/early '80s. He performed with The Dents, a group that played originals and covers from the then-just-blossoming…
New Orleans Comes to Ohio
New Orleans To Go (139 W. Kemper Road, Springdale, 513-671-2711) makes the best of its angular, strip-mall space, dressing it up with gold, green and purple paint, feathery masks and glittery beads. Zydeco music blares from oversized speakers, and a glass case displays New Orleans souvenirs: colorful bandannas, shot glasses, Voodoo dolls and pictures of…
Curly Tales of the City
Graham Lienhart Cheryl Meadows, director of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, speaks at the April 20 Unity Rally at Washington Park. Outrages New and Old He went and did it: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, ordered his first execution just three months after taking office. During last year's campaign Strickland said that he…
Web Onstage: Eccentric
Sandy Underwood Neva Rae Powers as Florence Foster Jenkins. Florence Foster Jenkins was fond of saying, "People may say I can't sing, but they can't say I didn't sing." If you attend Souvenir, the final production by Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, you'll see — and hear — the truth of her remark. Stephen Temperley's play…
Onstage: The Next Stage
Catlin Kane (L-R) Chris Conner, Brian Isaac Phillips, Amy Warner and Phillips new paramour star in NSC's The Goat. After four seasons of changing venues, New Stage Collective (NSC) has settled into a permanent home. Opening Thursday is a "family drama," after a fashion, although a very dark one — Edward Albee's 2002 Tony…
Diet Audio Ecraez L’ Infame (
Diet Audio — Ecraez L' Infame Cincinnati's Diet Audio might want to put their own sound on a diet. The foursome's debut CD, Ecrasez L' Infame (the phrase, taken from Voltaire, means "crush infamy," which he used as a battle cry against monotheisms) is full of intriguing noises and sounds and is an adroit,…
Health Care Parity Just a Dream?
Thanks to Kevin Osborne for informing us of the plight of working people who can't afford health insurance and/or their medications ("Maddening Expenses," issue of April 18). And kudos to Christine MacConnell for her ongoing efforts toward expanding Medicaid coverage. Lack of access to adequate medical care is reaching crisis levels for many people for…
The Goat
Sandy Underwood Actress Zina Camblin writes plays, too. She's performing in one in Indianapolis. It's a busy week of openings — NEW STAGE COLLECTIVE debuts in its new space on Main Street with Edward Albee's The Goat, ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI (ETC) offers the final production of its 2006-07 season, Souvenir, and the CINCINNATI…
Music: Back to Burning Rubber
Vagrant Records For Saves the Day's latest album, the group shied away from "overproduction," instead making a record that was faithful to the band's live prowess. Sept. 19, 2003, should have been a day of excitement and celebration for Saves The Day. In Reverie, the band's major label debut on DreamWorks Records, had been…
Grumpy Thom Brennaman One of the Season’s Highlights So Far
Jerry Dowling Marty Brennaman entered the Reds radio booth in 1974. A son had already been born. Taking their first breaths with Pete Rose's arrival from the West Side in 1963, the child and the Cincinnati ball club grew from precocious toddlers with true prospects for marking the world when Brennaman called his first…
Upcoming Concert Reviews of Tzar, Iswhat?! and More…
Tzar TZAR WITH ISWHAT?! AND DJ APRYL REIGN Friday · Baba Budan's Combining Hammond B3-feuled Jazz Funk with groovy Rock rhythms and snyths that add an element of '70s Prog, New Wave, G-Funk and modern experimentalism, New York-based two-piece Tzar (not to be confused with L.A. Rock band Tsar) consists of two musicians who…
Angelique Kidjo — Djin Djin (Razor & Tie/Starbucks)
Angelique Kidjo — Djin Djin When World Music artists pair with anointed Pop entities, it usually signifies either the desire of a desperate label to adorn Pop stars with some creative cred or a means to move extra units of a low-profile World artist. That formula doesn't apply to Angelique Kidjo. The Beninese chanteuse…
Web Onstage: Defining Tragedy
Zachary Copfer Amy Warner and Brian Isaac Phillips in THE GOAT/New Stage Collective If you're looking for an evening of light-hearted entertainment, don't choose The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Edward Albee's Tony Award winning play getting its regional premiere by New Stage Collective (NSC) — which happens to be debuting its new theater space…
