High Art and a Low Down Injustice
Allen Wade Pretty toilets, all in a row: a zoning protest in Anderson Township. Having decided the Anderson Township Board of Zoning Appeals is full of crap, homeowners Robin Sutton and Allen Lade have started a "potty protest," using their yard as a forum. The couple had applied for a zoning variance to erect a…
Film: Devils and Dabblers
Caroline (Kate Hudson), a live-in nurse for Ben (John Hurt), uncovers a terrifying secret in the foreboding mansion of her employer in The Skeleton Key. On the first track of his 1993 album Triage, David Baerwald created a noirish "Secret Silken World," full of "sex and submission" where inhabitants got to "feel like the devil…
In Love with Boobs
I've been seeing this great guy for about two years now. A few months back I stumbled upon some she-male photos on our computer. When I confronted him, he said that it was in response to a "nightmare" he had from watching HBO late at night or something. I asked him to be honest with…
Rafael Palmeiro Put ‘Kick Me’ Sign on His Own Back
Jerry Dowling Up until last month, Rafael Palmeiro distinguished himself as a future Hall of Famer without being especially famous, an all-time baseball great without ever being a great of a specific time. Since coming up with the Chicago Cubs in 1986, he's reached the top 10 in either league's MVP voting only three times,…
Locals Only: : Ace of Spades
Kevin and Cats Walking Backwards Striking a balance between writing gratifying music and presenting an audience with engaging performances can be difficult. For Cats Walking Backwards, a new band featuring a number of scene veterans, a mixture of experience, talent and maturity has helped them land on all fours. Guitarist Alex Hall and bassist Kevin…
Diner: Feasting with abandon
If you're like me, the toughest part about dining out can be choosing what to eat. Mapping out a winning meal can be a decision-making challenge, with an internal monologue going something like this: "If I get this appetizer, will it work with that entrée? Shall I try something different or go with what I…
The Lesson of Chaos
Some of you, I realize, live inperpetual chaos and disorder and really don't mind it, maybe even thrive in it. Since my natural inclination is to orderliness, chaos is unnatural and uncomfortable for me, creating anxiety and fear. I'm speaking to those of you who would describe yourself this way. When we see things happening…
Right Court, Right Argument Can Make All the Difference
Should a person be able to sue the police in a civil suit for money damages for failing to enforce a restraining order? The answer from the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions during the last week of its term was no, but I think the answer could have been different with a different legal theory. The…
Music: Kick Out the Jam
LKewis Recordings With his new CD Beauty and the Beat, Boston-based Edan created a masterpiece that some have called a Hip Hop Pet Sounds You might have to dig around a little at your usual Cincinnati mall record store to find music from the artists appearing at this weekend's renowned Scribble Jam Hip Hop festival…
Diner: One Last Bite
For starts, become an equestrian, girl sleuth, cat trainer, forest ranger or movie star. Fail miserably at each, ideally by age 16 when brimming with disillusionment, you will compose long passages about thwarted desire in red ink in your journal (the one with your favorite Beatle, John Lennon, on the cover). Show it to Mr.…
Symphony in Anger
"When the President proposed going to war, I did everything I could to stop it," says composer Rick Sowash before sitting down at the basement piano in his Prospect Hill home to play his latest piece, a musical act of protest titled "Trio No. 13, Passacaglia and Fugue." Sowash was in the Oct. 7, 2002,…
Shamtastic
Since 2001, Thee Shams have put out CDs and vinyl in conjunction with no less than six record labels. With their full-length releases, the band has moved from Orange Recordings to Fat Possum Records to their current home, local imprint Shake It Records. Judging by the title and cover art for their new disc, Sign…
Upcoming Concert Reviews of The Paybacks, Paul K and More…
Swami Records Demolition Doll Rods The Paybacks with The Gore Gore Girls, The Wankers and The Hypochondriacs Thursday
Amy Warner
Rich Sofranko Amy Warner dazzled CSF audiences in Virginia Woolf; she returns this season in Richard III. The word is out that Cincinnati Entertainment Award nominee AMY WARNER will be back at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival in the coming season in Richard III; her 2005 nomination came for a breathtaking Martha in Who's Afraid of…
Cover Story: ‘I’m Hungry”
Sean Hughes 'I'm Hungry" I decided to move back to Cincinnati after the April 2001 riots. It seemed unjustifiable that I should be working on criminal justice reform in New York City when my hometown was under siege because of issues of race and class. On the television I watched phalanxes of Cincinnati police move…
News to Use
Mayoral Debate The Greenwich, in conjunction with the Walnut Hills Area Council, hosts a debate by candidates for mayor of Cincinnati at 8 p.m. Saturday. Democratic candidates State Sen. Mark Mallory, Vice Mayor Alicia Reece and City Councilman David Pepper and Republican candidate the Rev. Charles Winburn have agreed to participate, according to Mark Yates,…
News: Signing It All Away
Graham Lienhart Laura Cox, whose loan was based on an inflated appraisal, is fighting to keep her house. It sounded like a good move. As a single parent of two boys with an almost 26-year track record at her job, Silverton resident Laura Cox thought she knew enough about people to trust the mortgage broker…
Church Must Come Clean
I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated the recent cover story on Richard Strunck ("Sins of the Father," issue of July 20-26). It was, of course, shocking and horrible. I was glad to see Gregory Flannery's comment right at the start that he wasn't going to provide a "happy-crap moral." My…
Please Come to Boston
About the only thing I knew about Boston when the plane landed was that I liked the old Dave Loggins song from the 1970s where he's asking his girlfriend to "please come to Boston for the springtime." It turns out Boston is a wonderful city to visit. On my first night while drinking in the…
Gun Play
The Cleves Police Department has some unusual ways of handling other people's firearms. A recent investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office led to no criminal charges but found evidence that one Cleves officer tossed a confiscated handgun into either the Great Miami River or the Whitewater River an officer on orders from a superior…
Music: The Great Divide
Oliver Meinerding Like oil, the soil's "black gold," Hip Hop is a natural resource that attracts investment. Stakes are high, and since everyone wants to strike big, idioms like "underground" and "keepin' it street" seem to be an artist's litmus test for authenticity. Ironically, before Hip Hop sales wore a Soundscan tracking device on its…
