Orchids and Onions for Our Sole Surviving Daily
It’s Orchids and Onions, Darts and Flowers for Curmudgeon’s home-delivered Enquirer. I’m not paid to re-edit our Sole Surviving Daily, but given its central role as an information source, there are times I’m moved to comment. So here goes: • Orchid: Few journalistic traditions are as wasteful as unsigned editorials stating management’s opinion on something it…
Candy-Coated Easter
Lent, the Christian period of religious observation leading up to the Easter holiday, is traditionally a time for repentance and self-sacrifice. So there’s nothing better than splurging on Easter morning sweets to help compensate for those weeks of missed indulgences. Easter is the second most important candy-eating occasion in America (next to Halloween), and the…
The Gay (K)not
There is a chasm between the law, love, marriage and homosexuality in America, but they keep bumping into one another like they’re on the prowl in a gay bar: doing that Stranger Tango — checking one another out from a distance until one makes The Move. And then they end up going home together to…
Soup-er Woman
Nearly six years ago, Corrie Loeffler received a soup cookbook for Christmas. “It was called The Soup Bible or something like that and it had a ridiculous amount of soup recipes, ” she says. The book inspired the idea of a month-long daily soup-making project, with friends coming over to share it. “My boyfriend at…
Ohio Ranks Poorly in Transparency Study
Ohio scored fifth-worst in a nationwide government transparency survey conducted by a national consumer group focused on investigating and advocating for American citizens against powerful interest groups. The group gave Ohio a “D-” ranking after its government spending transparency website earned 51 points out of 100 in U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s fifth annual “Following…
Debate Over Central Parkway Bike Lane Continues
A handful of business owners along Central Parkway have taken exception to a progressive piece of cycling infrastructure the city is considering adding along Central Parkway between downtown and Clifton. City Council’s Neighborhoods Committee will hold a hearing April 21 to allow both sides to offer their perspectives. Cyclists say the protected bike lanes will…
A Tavola Madeira Now Open
Favorite OTR eatery (and this year's Best of Cincinnati winner for Best Pizza, non-chain) A Tavola opens its new Madeira location today at 4 p.m. Located in a former bank that once housed a sushi restaurant, A Tavola has given the building a facelift with new flooring, lighting from Switch Lighting & Design, custom banquettes…
Event: DAAPWORKS Opening Reception
Now might be your only chance to get up close and personal with the future of design, architecture, urban planning and (of course) art in all forms as the newest crop of artists, designers, rising fashion stars, architects and planners put their best work on display. You’re invited to get the first look at this…
Onstage: The Short Tree and the Bird That Could Not Sing
Playhouse in the Park’s Off The Hill Production brings The Short Tree and the Bird That Could Not Sing to Price Hill’s Dunham Recreation Center. The popular original children’s play follows the unlikely friendship between a tree and an unflappable bird with a less than perfect singing voice. The bird and tree’s relationship is centered…
Event: OTR Easter Egg Hunt
Be a part of Over-the-Rhine’s big egg-travaganza in Washington Park. Children ages 3 through 12 can participate in hoppin’ festivities including OTR’s largest Easter egg hunt with more than 5,000 candy-filled eggs, prizes, crafts, face-painting and photo opportunities with the Easter Bunny. Crafts start at 9 a.m. followed by Easter Bunny photos and face painting.…
Event: Night of Vonnegut
For local literati, living close to Indianapolis’ Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, which opened in 2011, is a true treat. At the library, fans can sit hunched over a blue typewriter next to Vonnegut’s famous rooster lamp; check out Vonnegut’s drawings; see his last pack of cigarettes and other intimate belongings donated by his family; and…
Event: Cincinnati Earth Day Celebration
Earth Day is a celebration of our natural community, focusing on environmental education and stewardship. And from traditional Native American drum circles to scavenger hunts and a petting zoo, Cincinnati’s 44th Earth Day party has a lot to offer. More than 7,000 people attended last year’s event, so expect a big turnout for a day…
Comedy: Rajiv Satyal
“I turned 30 and I freaked out,” says comedian Rajiv Satyal about his decision to leave Cincinnati in 2006. While still working at P&G (which also produced comics Josh Sneed, Greg Warren and Drew Tarvin) Satyal came to a realization: “I love Cincinnati, I love Ohio, but I cannot spend my entire life here.” He…
Event: Simply Swinging
Be transported back to 1959 — when the songs were swinging, the manhattans were dry and the ties were narrow — as you and your partner swing and sway to the tunes of Sinatra-esque crooner Steve Lippia, one of the most prominent, in-demand Rat Pack-style vocalists in the nation, accompanied by the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz…
Event: Beer Autism Hope
Arnold’s has partnered with Great Lakes Brewing Company to host #BeerAutismHope, a fundraiser to assist those with autism. Great Lakes will be tapping a cask-conditioned firkin of their impossible-to-find and extremely delicious Cherry Vanilla Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. For each pint sold, a dollar will be donated to Lance’s Room, a charity to fund scholarships for…
Music: Sidewalk Chalk
Sidewalk Chalk’s just-released second album, Leaves, opens with a live clip in which frontdude/rapper Rico Sisney and frontlady/singer Maggie Vagle ask a crowd to shout the Hip Hop crew’s name on the count of three. It’s a fitting intro because this Chicago octet is, first and foremost, interested in interaction, about stirring minds and moving…
Music: Tunes & Blooms
The Cincinnati Zoo celebrates its Zoo Blooms flower and tulip exhibit with live music after-hours in the botanical gardens Thursdays in April. This week, check out a live performance from Reggae artists The Cliftones. As the Zoo says, “Why tip-toe through the tulips when you can rock the garden?” 6-8:30 p.m. Free. 3400 Vine St.,…
Event: Oyster Festival
Seafood lovers unite at Washington Platform’s 28th annual Oyster Festival. Jon Diebold, chef and owner of Washington Platform, has prepared a menu with more than 40 oyster dishes ranging from fresh-shucked oysters on the half-shell and oyster tacos to oyster-stuffed jalapenos and everything in between. Guests can test their “Pearls of Wisdom” in contests to…
Art: Sharareh Khosravani MFA Installation at UC
This is the time of year that the University of Cincinnati’s various gallery spaces come alive with art. Most of those places are specifically designated for the exhibition of art, while others become exhibition spaces by default. DAAP MFA student Sharareh Khosravani’s thesis work, which is currently installed in Van Wormer Hall, is worth the…
Event: CORV Food Guide Release Party
The annual Central Ohio River Valley (CORV) Local Food Guide celebrates its release (find one inside this week’s CityBeat) and upcoming Earth Day with a party at Om Eco Café in Clifton. The CORV guide is a directory of area food resources that connects residents of Greater Cincinnati, Southwest Ohio, Southeast Indiana and Northern Kentucky…
Cincinnati Takes Over New York City
Cincinnati's arts groups and chefs are road tripping it to New York City for a seven-day showcase highlighting the eats, arts and culture of the Queen City for Cincy in NYC. The showcase, which runs May 6 through May 12, features events and performances from the Cincinnati Ballet, CCM alumni, the May Festival Chorus and…
Media Musings from Cincinnati and Beyond
The Enquirer recently took down a story by a “contributor” who works for the organization her story promoted. That relationship was not included in the story or byline information. A growing ethic in online journalism involves updates, changes, corrections, deletions, etc. The news media are supposed to tell us when they do that. The Enquirer…
Your Weekend To Do List: 4/11-4/13
This weekend’s forecast includes warm weather, a bit of rain, a few clouds and tons of art. Whether you want to watch it, make it, buy it or just support local arts organizations, art is all around this weekend — starting with the last Macy’s Arts Sampler of the season, presented by ArtsWave. Macy’s Arts…
Stage Door: Green Day and More
If you follow music coverage in CityBeat (hey, isn't that really why you pick up the paper?), you're certainly aware of Green Day's 2004 recording American Idiot. But since you're reading my weekend theater previews, you must be interested in other kinds of performance, so here's a tip: For two nights only, Green Day's American…
Thoughts After Binge-Watching ‘House of Cards’
Alfred Hitchcock made Psycho infamous by killing off the main character 30 minutes into the movie. Audiences were shocked — some even walked out of the theater. This had never been done before. Viewers had already invested 30 minutes into Janet Leigh. But her character’s death — as shocking as it was — created an…
Ohio Ranks Poorly in Government Transparency
Ohio scored fifth-worst in a nationwide government transparency survey conducted by a national consumer group focused on investigating and advocating for American citizens against powerful interest groups. The group gave Ohio a “D-” ranking after its government spending transparency website earned 51 points out of 100 in U.S. Public Interest Research Group's fifth annual “Following…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
The fellas of Mad Men showed off their mad manes (sorry) when Jon Hamm and Pete Campbell revealed some pretty epic ‘dos to the public this week. Let’s start with Mr. Draper. Apparently in all my research of Jon Hamm (Read: browsing his free-ballin’ pics), neither I — nor the rest of the Internet —…
Easter Brunch Specials
A smattering of local restaurants offering special Easter menus and buffets on Sunday, April 20. Reservations required. A Touch of Elegance: Entrees include beef tenderloin, honey-glazed ham, fish, chicken and vegetarian choices plus a traditional breakfast including goetta and smoked salmon. There will also be a baby chick display; after brunch, the chicks will be donated…
Spring Cocktails
Spring is officially here, and Old Man Winter — the guest who overstayed his welcome — has left the building. Cincinnati can finally relish the warm weather with a few celebratory drinks. Just in case you’ve forgotten where to drink and what spring drinking should taste like, don’t worry. We’ve compiled a list of essential…
Gomez Salsa (Profile)
Every evening, Over-the-Rhine brims with patrons waiting for tables at practically all of the neighborhood’s hot and trendy restaurants — especially those that don’t take reservations. Cincinnati native Andrew Gomez has devised a solution to feed the impatient, hungry masses more quickly: a walk-up taco window. Soon to open in the old Lucy Blue Pizza…
OTR Foundation to Host Property Rehabilitation Series
The Over-the-Rhine Foundation will host a series of upcoming workshops aimed at educating people interested in downtown living on how to rehabilitate properties. Part of the nonprofit’s mission is to engage community members in the neighborhood’s future as a compliment to larger development companies’ efforts, which have largely shaped OTR’s resurgence in recent years. This…
Cincinnati Named One of Six GOP National Convention Site Finalists
Cincinnati was recently named to a shortlist of potential 2016 Republican National Convention host cities, and a coalition of local politicians and business leaders held a press conference on City Hall’s front steps on April 2 to praise the city’s recent progress and its potential to host such an influential — and economically impactful —…
Federal Judge to Rule Ohio’s Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional
A federal judge in Cincinnati last week announced plans to overturn Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage. The ruling will not legalize same-sex marriage in Ohio but deems unconstitutional the state’s gay marriage ban and refusal to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages. “My declaration will provide further that denying full faith and credit to decrees of adoption…
Continued Cuts
C ity Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld helped coordinate a contingent of bipartisan, elected officials to testify at a House Finance Committee meeting last week against Gov. John Kasich’s proposed across-the-board income tax cuts, which Sittenfeld connects to a decline in important public services around Cincinnati. Kasich’s administration claims Cincinnati’s ongoing budget shortfalls stem from structural deficiencies…
Guttermouth
Punk Rock covers a lot of serious, meaty topics — individualism, anger, materialism, rebellion. But as Guttermouth has proven, Punk Rock can also be about spitting in the face of propriety for the sheer pleasure of it: They are reportedly banned in Canada and have a song about a donkey sex show. Led by vocalist…
Keb’ Mo’
When Keb’ Mo’ performs at Dave Finkelman Auditorium in Middletown this Saturday, he does so 10 days before the release of his first solo recording in three years. Titled BLUESAmericana, the album’s name captures the multi-genre lines that Mo’ has crossed throughout his career. Yes, Mo’ (real name: Kevin Moore) has always staked his claim…
The War on Drugs with White Laces
The cover for The War on Drugs’ latest album, Lost in the Dream, finds frontman Adam Granduciel looking down pensively, his fuzzy, mop-headed silhouette semi-obscured by light flowing through a window. The gauzy image is the perfect encapsulation of the Philadelphia band’s brand of melancholic Psych Pop, a sound at once familiar and tough to…
The David Mayfield Parade
There’s a party rolling across the country and setting up shop in various venues across the land called The David Mayfield Parade. Next stop: Newport, Ky. Leading the parade is none other than Kent, Ohio’s David Mayfield himself, who grew up performing in his family’s band. That life spent onstage has served Mayfield well. The…
It’s Our Anniversary
Twenty years ago this month images from Rwanda were telecast around the world, and they were images of bones — bones bleached white by the sun and drained dry of blood and flesh — littering roadsides, piled in open graves, stacked in abandoned churches and markets and washed up along the shore lines of small…
Worst Week Ever!: April 2-8
Percenters of all Kinds Could Clash at GOP “Convention ’n Coneys 2016” It used to be that Cincinnati would throw our hats in the ring to be considered for a national or regional event that would bring a ton of money to us, and organizers would just laugh. But these days our combination of sports,…
Cincinnati Music Releases News and Notes
Widely acclaimed Cincinnati rockers Buffalo Killers will have their first album for new label Sun Pedal Recordings (distributed through Warner Music Group), the phenomenal Heavy Reverie, in digital and physical record stores nationwide on May 13. But the group recently announced that Reverie is available now for those who buy it via mail order. Cincinnati…
Arlo Can You Go?
There’s an interesting paradigm in singer/songwriter Arlo McKinley’s career. McKinley has only been on the scene since 2012; his alter ego, Tim Carr, was a back-of-the-stage fixture for many years. But when Carr moved into the spotlight, he found it necessary to adopt a new persona to handle the increased attention. “Tim Carr wouldn’t be…
Rio 2
I have to say that I’m still mildly resistant to Hollywood animated features — and their sequels, in particular — but some part of me is willing to give this second go-around with the bird-brained Rio bunch a chance because director (and story guy) Carlos Saldanha has pulled together an eclectic vocal cast that just…
The Raid 2
It would be fair to say that Gareth Evans shocked the action world with his kinetic tour de force The Raid: Redemption, which sent a police officer named Rama (Iko Uwais) into an urban hell zone, a towering high-rise tenement, in search of a mobster protected by killers, thugs and ultimately the police. The Raid…
Particle Fever
Mark Levinson (the writer and director of Prisoner of Time from 1993) immerses himself in the realm of science, documenting the work of a uniquely diverse collection of physicists from around the world. Their project (based on what amounts to the summation of their very field) — an attempt to capture a contained big bang smashing…
Oculus
With assistance from Peter Schlessel, executive producer of Evil Dead and Insidious: Chapter 2, among others, Mike Flanagan directs this creep show affair from a script he co-wrote with Jeff Howard based on a short screenplay he penned with Jeff Seidman, which is a long-winded way of explaining how Oculus is the latest in a…
Breaking ‘Mad’
It’s the beginning of the end for Don Draper, the ’60s and another quality AMC drama as Mad Men (Season Premiere, 10 p.m. Sunday) embarks on the first half of its final chapter. Like Breaking Bad, the series will reach its conclusion over the course of one divided season (seven episodes this year and seven…
Comparing the Supreme Identities of Captain America and Jason Bourne
There’s not a lot of critical love for the comic book genre, despite the box office status reached by mutant hordes’ and various avenging crusaders’ collective assaults. “Too cartoonish,” some whisper. Others sigh because the frames are too reliant on computer-generated images. And it seems an easy jab to berate the movies for their cardboard…
Cincy Sundaes Provides Platform for Community Development
Kristine Frech and Erika Fiola are looking for ideas. Good ones. And they have ice cream. Frech and Fiola created Cincy Sundaes, a collaborative opportunity that provides a space for locals to hear or pitch ideas that benefit the city. A lot of times, these solid, community-based ideas can get lost due to lack of funding, but Cincy…
The Twentieth-Century Way (Review)
Critic's Pick When house lights dim and a play begins, every theatergoer prays to witness something that entertains, transports and, in the best cases, transforms. Every so often a play delivers all three, embracing and transcending theatrical form. Tom Jacobson’s The Twentieth-Century Way, receiving its regional premiere at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, does just that.…
Fascinating Cultural Critic Visits UC for a Radical Confab
I came across the Slovenian theorist/writer Slavoj Žižek in the recent movie The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, in which he passionately used scenes from Hollywood movies to spotlight his observations about the humanist struggle against repression and totalitarianism in oppressive capitalist systems. His actual ideas were so densely intellectual, and delivered in such a rapid-fire…
Growing Up
T he 38th Humana Festival of New American Play s, presented annually by Actors Theatre of Louisville, came to its tumultuous conclusion last weekend, capping off ATL’s 50th anniversary season with a weekend featuring five new, fully produced plays, an anthology show featuring the theater’s interns, as well as a set of 10-minute plays. Starting…
Seeds of Change
Agriculture made the first cities possible — urban agriculture dates back to the first cities formed in Mesopotamia around 3500 B.C. — so it’s fitting that this ancient concept is now shaping urban areas of the future. In Cincinnati, locals from city planners to community groups are furthering the cause, forming progressive partnerships to plant food…
