Pumpkin Beer and Oktoberfest Season
Heading into fall, Cincinnati now has almost 30 breweries, with Woodburn Brewery in Walnut Hills and Darkness Brewing in Bellevue being some of our most recent additions. A few more breweries are in the works for this year and next, including Alexandria Brewing and College Hill’s Brink. And along with our increase in breweries comes…
‘Sully’ takes viewers inside the head of a heroic pilot
As both an actor and a director, Clint Eastwood works best in the quiet. Whether in moments of complete stillness or in the heat of the action, the presence of Eastwood emerges in how everything — the hectic pace, the barrage of bombs and/or bullets, the punches thrown and landed, and the yelling — gets…
Pamela Adlon Finds ‘Better Things’
Pamela Adlon is known for many things: her distinctively raspy voice work for characters like Bobby Hill in King of the Hill and Spinelli from Recess, her frequent collaborations with comic Louis C.K., her own career as a comedy writer and producer and her real-life role as a single mom of three daughters. In Louie,…
Connector vs. Streetcar
In terms of urban design and aesthetics, what does it mean for a city to have a “connector” rather than a streetcar system? It hasn’t been a question asked that much, in part because there hasn’t been much time to ask it. To some extent, our Cincinnati Streetcar became the Cincinnati Bell Connector almost out…
What a Week! Aug. 31-Sept. 6
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31 Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s top aide, announced early this week that she was separating from her husband Anthony Weiner, the ousted congressman known for accidentally tweeting publicly when he meant to slide into those DMs. It’s been three years since the “Carlos Danger” sexting scandal, so we were actually overdue for another…
Your Weekend To Do List (Sept. 9-11)
FRIDAY 09 COMEDY: IMPROV FESTIVAL OF CINCINNATI Cincinnati has had a successful Fringe Festival for experimental theater and performance art since 2003, and now another indie stage festival is finding an audience in Cincinnati: the lesser-known Improv Festival of Cincinnati. Organized by OTRimprov and held at Over-the-Rhine’s Know Theatre, it is in its third year…
Sound Advice: Eskimeaux with Basement and OVLOV (Sept. 11)
As an adoptee, Gabrielle Smith knew nothing of her lineage beyond her birth father’s Tlingit heritage (indigenous peoples with roots on the Pacific coast of Canada and in Alaska). So to reclaim her cultural identity, Smith decided as a teenager to perform her lo-fi “Bedroom Pop” under the name Eskimeaux. After a childhood of choir…
Sound Advice: Marc Broussard (Sept. 10)
A decade and a half ago, Marc Broussard was a member of a Christian Rock band. But after its quick demise, the son of Louisiana Hall of Fame guitar legend Ted Broussard went the solo route with his debut album, 2002’s Momentary Setback. Broussard’s finely chiseled good looks and infectious blend of Soul, Pop, R&B,…
Morning News: Greater Cincinnati a test market for supercharged heroin?; Bevin’s 2015 campaign still raising money; Clinton’s unlikely endorsement
Good morning all. Here’s your news today. Was the Greater Cincinnati area a test market for potent, additive-laden heroin? In the aftermath of a huge spike in overdoses, some officials, including Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco, think so. They say the influx of heroin laced with fentanyl and carfentanil, two powerful synthetic opiates, suggests that…
Concerts and Clubs Listings (Sept. 6-12)
Wednesday 07 Arnold’s Bar and Grill – Todd Hepburn. 7 p.m. Blues/Jazz/Various. Free. Bella Luna – RMS Band. 7 p.m. Soft Rock/Jazz. Free. Blind Lemon – Sara Hutchinson. 8 p.m. Acoustic. Free. *Bogart’s – The Used. 7 p.m. Post Hardcore. $29.50. Century Inn Restaurant – Paul Lake. 7 p.m. Pop/Rock/Jazz/Oldies/Various. Free. Jag’s Steak and Seafood…
Parent accuses Mason schools, ‘Enquirer’ of depicting daughter as part of immigrant burden on district
A University Medical Center surgeon and Mason resident whose 5-year-old daughter was portrayed in a newspaper article about the strains brought on the Mason school system by Arabic-speaking immigrant children has filed suit against the system and The Cincinnati Enquirer. The lawsuit, filed by Ayman Mahdy in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati last month, alleges…
Minimum Gauge: “Blurred Lines” lawsuit appeal gets support from hundreds of high-profile musicians
HOT: “Blurred Lines” Appeal Support Most people didn’t care much when Marvin Gaye’s estate was awarded well over $5 million in a case against Pharrell and Robin Thicke over their song “Blurred Lines,” because a jury felt it had enough of a similar “feel” to Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” to warrant copyright infringement.…
Morning News: Tiny affordable houses in OTR less tiny, less affordable; Bill Clinton drops by Cincy; 3CDC makes changes
Good morning all. I hope your Labor Day was grand. In addition to the requisite parties and what not, I packed some snacks, rode my bike to Spring Grove Cemetery and read for hours. It was lovely. But now it’s back to the real world. Let’s talk about the news. Former President Bill Clinton dropped…
A big weekend for ‘Little’ movies at the Esquire
Kick off Labor Day weekend with a pair of 'Little' movies at the Esquire Theatre. Both films open Friday. LITTLE MEN — Veteran director/writer Ira Sachs’ latest cinematic character study centers on a pair of 13-year-old boys in New York City, each struggling to make his way through a transition in life. Jake (Theo Taplitz)…
Morning News: City officials announce new efforts to fight overdoses; lead in CPS water?; who’s spending big on Ohio’s Senate race?
Well, good morning. I didn’t see you there. I was just finishing up today’s morning news update. Let’s talk about it, shall we? Mayor John Cranley and Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld will announce new city initiatives to fight the ongoing rise in heroin addiction and overdoses today at 10 a.m. in Westwood, per a news release…
Stage Door: Another Opening, Another Show – Lots of Shows!
Labor Day weekend means that Cincinnati’s theaters are putting the final touches on shows that will kick off their 2016-17 seasons. This weekend, you’ll find previews of the Playhouse’s production of a stage adaptation of John Irving’s memorable comic novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany. (The show’s official opening is next Thursday, but previews are…
Your Weekend To Do List (Sept. 2-5)
FRIDAY 02 ART: THE SHOP AT DIVISIBLE The Shop is a two-person exhibition of selected works by Cincinnati-based artist Geoffrey “Skip” Cullen and Jason Rohlf of Brooklyn, N.Y., curated by Seth Wade, an artist and current MFA candidate at the University of Cincinnati. Cullen, a University of Cincinnati instructor and one half of the artists/partners…
Morning News: Trump, Clinton speak in Cincinnati
Good morning all. Here’s what’s happening out in the world today, delivered straight to the comfort of your computer or iPhone screen so you don’t have to actually venture out into that scary, confusing place known as reality. We’re going to focus on the presidential election for this roundup, since both candidates have spoken here…
Early Results and the First Amendment
I’ve been at our family fishing camp for almost a month: no road, no papers, no TV, no internet, no social media, no telephone. Obviously, I’m out of touch with the latest pratfalls of the news media, but hours spent fishing for dinner offered time to think. Here is an idea that stuck: More than…
What a Week! Aug. 24-30
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24 Since we apparently can’t get through a week without making poor Harambe roll over in his gorilla grave, here we go: Despite the Cincinnati Zoo’s pleas, the world is not done laughing about the ape’s death and legacy. Last week the zoo publicly begged for the end of Harambe memes. Thane Maynard…
‘Abandoned’ explores deserted public spaces
Humans are fascinated by once busy and vital spaces that have become deserted. Hell, even Chernobyl is now a tourist attraction. There’s something creepy but alluring about the idea of exploring something once ordinary and populated — malls, parks, entire towns — that were previously tourist attractions but have gone by the wayside, in some…
No Illumination From Dim ‘Light Between Oceans’
In the alternative universe loosely contained in my brain, director Derek Cianfrance is a younger Coen brother, desperate to step out of the shadow of his older snarky siblings. That dynamic duo, whose work leaps from madcap Molotov cocktails (Raising Arizona) to dark ruminations on the human condition (No Country for Old Men), could reanimate…
Sculptural Books and Plant-Based Art
With roots in the Japanese tradition of bonsai and the Chinese practice of tray landscape known as “penjing,” art that depicts or utilizes organic forms is not a recent development. Western artists have long represented plants and flowers in still-lifes and landscapes — often employing the materials themselves (using plant-based surfaces and pigments) to create…
Tasha Golden’s humanist poetry earns praise
When an artist leads an examined life, all past roads clearly inform the present. Take, for example, Tasha Golden, one half of long-time Cincinnati Alt Folk duo Ellery and whose first book, Once You Had Hands, recently was a finalist for a 2016 Ohioana Book Award in Poetry. Currently a doctoral student at the University…
Notes Before the Start of a New Theater Season
Annually I’ve devoted a late-summer column to theater etiquette. My basic message has been, “Behave yourself.” To that I’d add, “Be thoughtful.” The biggest offender continues to be mobile phones. They’re a continuous problem, despite clever and humorous warnings before a show begins and also sometimes during intermission for anyone who turned one back on…
Three Cincinnatians win Globe Grants to display new, innovative work in OTR
A 360-degree map of Cincinnati, a pop-up eco store and a community internet radio station will be the installations on display next year at the innovative Globe, a storefront-like gallery located at 1805 Elm St. near Findlay Market. It is an arm of People’s Liberty, which describes itself as a “philanthropic lab that brings together…
The beautifully renovated Lisse Steakhuis is poised to offer intriguing global cuisine
Absolutely stunning. That was our first impression of Lisse Steakhuis’ renovation of the former Chez Nora, which closed in 2014. Even from a block away, the sight of outdoor seating on balconies and a couple coats of bright, white paint made us quicken our steps to enter. And once inside the redesigned first floor, our…
A new city jobs program challenges perceptions about homelessness
There are dust clouds hanging in the stairwells of an empty building on Liberty Street as Michael and Edgar, workers from nonprofit Building Value, hustle to clean out the hulking structure. They’ve just finished sweeping and are now lugging garbage cans full of debris down a narrow set of stairs. As the two work on…
Sound Advice: The Used (Sept. 6-7)
Post Hardcore quintet The Used has been integral to the musical landscape in the new Millennium, as the sound the band helped to shape and advance has influenced numerous second-generation bands. Guitarist Quinn Allman, bassist Jeph Howard and drummer Branden Steineckert assembled in Orem, Utah as Dumb Luck in 2001. The trio had music but…
Sound Advice: The Sheepdogs with Elise Davis (Sept. 1)
Winning a competition isn’t always the best way to achieve musical success. Just ask any of the ultimately anonymous winners of American Idol or The Voice. But for The Sheepdogs, a contest win jumpstarted the Canadian band’s flagging fortunes and vaulted them into a position that had eluded them. The band started with childhood friends…
Sound Advice: Local H (Aug. 31)
Reaching its creative and commercial apex amid the mid-’90s post-Grunge explosion, Local H remains a true believer, releasing eight full-length albums and a slew of EPs in the 20 years since the genre faded from popular view. Well, I should say frontman Scott Lucas has — he’s the only constant over that period, and his…
Celebrate King Records Month this September
September in Cincinnati is King Records Month, and this year marks the 73rd anniversary of the first songs recorded for the classic and seminal Cincinnati-based label that helped shape the course of popular music by releasing iconic records from artists in a variety of genres (notably crossing the “color/genre barrier” by issuing music by R&B…
Fairfield’s The Magic Lightnin’ Boys turn decades of experience into incendiary Blues
It’s almost a Rock & Roll cliché — a hungry young band is motivated to broaden its exposure, gain fans and shine a brighter, more expansive light on its original music. In a sense, The Magic Lightnin’ Boys are that archetype, and while they harbor no illusions about widespread success, the Fairfield, Ohio-based Blues/Rock foursome…
A Streetcar Named Reality
Read more about the Cincinnati streetcar: The long, loopy ride to Cincinnati's first rail transit project in 50 years A guide to art and architecture along the route The hater's guide to the streetcar The new Cincinnati streetcar — officially called the Cincinnati Bell Connector — is inaugurating its service on Friday, Sept. 9, so…
A Guide to Art and Architecture Along the Streetcar Route
When the new streetcar begins operating on Sept. 9, downtown and Over-the-Rhine will look a lot different than they did when the old ones stopped running on April 29, 1951. Not all that’s changed since then has been for the better — how in the world could they have demolished all the downtown movie palaces?…
Morning News: Clinton speaks in Cincy; streetcar gets new duds; Ohio schools most economically segregated in U.S.
Good morning all. Let’s talk news. I’m a little groggy from checking out a great show at The Comet last night, but there’s some big stuff happening here in Cincy, so I’m going to soldier through. You should, too. Today’s the day. Both Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary (and…
The Hater’s Guide to the Streetcar
We get it. You hate the streetcar. Whether your motivation is overt fiscal conservatism, a general failure to understand mass transit, a disinterest in subsidizing economic development or just run of the mill racism, it’s OK — your voice was not among the majority, but you are still part of this post-streetcar society. You are…
How we (hopefully) learned to stop worrying and love the streetcar
Ah, the streetcar. It’s been giving Cincinnatians of all political stripes one kind of ulcer or another since at least 2007. Now it’s finally here, and maybe someday soon we can all stop worrying about it. Before we jump on that train for the first time, however, let’s review the long and winding track that…
